To the Editor:
Having family in Worthington, I read the (column) in The Globe: “The Knights of Malta: Why you kneel and pray” (April 22 issue). I am glad that Worthington’s Bill Keitel recently had a chance to travel to Malta and share his experiences. While I haven’t been to Malta myself, I have friends and some family there.
Centuries ago, some of my ancestors’ brothers were said to have been members of the medieval Order of Saint John (of which the name later evolved to the Sovereign Military Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta). The chivalric order was also on Cyprus, and is now largely charitable, instead of Christian Knights wearing battle armor to protect the Faith against oppression.
I think it’s sad that so many people are mostly (or even completely) unaware that the Knights of Malta, along with their brother Catholic Chivalric Order of the Knights Templar HAD to “Defend the Faith”, by sword, so Christianity would literally survive. People around the planet are incredibly diverse. Sadly, not all are friendly, despite what we idealistically hope for.
Two of my heroes are Antoine Etienne de Tousard. He served the Order of Saint John, and is best remembered for fortifying the design of Fort Tigne. The other hero is a former Grand Master of the Order of Saint John, frater Jean de Valette. The capital city of Valetta, Malta, is named after him. It houses a historic Cathedral. The Great Siege of the year 1565 was largely a turning-point victory by Christian armies and navy over their Ottoman rivals.
The nation of Malta AND the Order of Malta were largely teaching us the piety of kneeling and giving “thanks and praise” to the Lord, our God. I think that is wonderful.
Sincerely,
James A. Marples
Longview, Texas