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About The Priory of Mount Saint Michael's, Pacific Northwest
The history of Mount Saint Michael's is very recent in comparison to almost all other Priories in the United States.
The Young Commandery was found in July 2000 by His Excellency, the Honorable RADM Chev. Andrew P. O’Rourke, GCTJ, GMTJ
Grand Prior O’Rourke installed the Commandery of Mount Saint Michael’s with a territory that included the States of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and Montana.
He selected as their Commander, Chev. Frank E. Mulrine, CFE. GCTJ, Chev. Mulrine started the Commandery with 15 members.
The Commandery held many Socials, House Parties, General Meetings, and functions of different sorts, for the purpose of sharing Templarism with their friends and relatives.
The first Investiture was conducted in August 2001, at the chapel in the Highlands in north Seattle with pomp and ceremony that included a piper, Organist, Acolytes, and was presided over by the Grand Prior Himself, Andrew P. O’Rourke.
The second Investiture was conducted at the Tacoma Elks Lodge in March 2003. The Officiating dignitary was the Grand Dame Chvse. Mary Margaret Borum, DGCTJ, GMTJ,
More members were added, and a new kind of function was developed. On Mother’s day 2004, with the help of Chev. William I. McFadden along with his son, Chev. Peter McFadden KTJ, presented the first Fiddler’s Afternoon, Sponsored by the SMOTJNW.
In October 2004 the Commandery was elevated to the status of Priory with 25 current members.
Chev Frank E. Mulrine, CFE, GCTJ, the commander for five years, requested the current Grand Prior, Col. Chev. Nels Appleby, GCTJ, GMTJ to accept as first Prior of the Priory of Mount Saint Michael’s, Chev. Dennis Lee Biallas, GOTJ.
Chev. Biallis resigned from office in September 24, 2005 for personal reasons. Chev John W. Wrightson III, KCTJ, replaced the past Prior and finished the tour on December 31st, 2006.
Prior John Wrightson III holds The third investiture conducted at the First Congregational United Church of Christ on November 5, 2005 in Portland, Oregon and the following Cocktail party and Banquet was conducted on the Portland Spirit dinner ship, with a cruise on the Willamette River and was hosted by fellow member Chev. Daniel Yates, GOTJ, one of the ship’s principals.
The Fourth Investiture was conducted by Chev, John Wrightson III, at the Mason Methodist Church in North Tacoma, Washington on September 16, 2006 and was presided by the Grand Prior, His Excellency MG. Chev. Robert G.C. Disney, GCTJ, GMTJ.
HE Chev. John Wrightson III, Prior II declines another term as Prior. Priory Officers and members seek to elect new Prior.
The Patron of the Priory of Mt. St.Michael's is the Archangel Michael.
The Priory celebrates the festival of Michael the Archangel on September 29th.
From the beginning of Christian history, there is evidence for the honor in which Michael was held, and he was also venerated by the Jews. The well known passage in the Apocalypse (Rev. xii, 7-9) about the (war in heaven) contributed to his being honored in the West as the 'Captain of the Heavenly Host' and protector of Christians in general and of soldiers in particular.
This most certainly gave rise to the legend of Mount-Saint Michael's in France. Later there were legends of a vision at Saint Michael's Mount in England.
All over Christendom chapels of Mount Saint Michael were built on top of hills and mountains during the 7th-14th centuries.
Coat of Arms of the Priory of Saint Michael
We are a modern Christian Order, dedicated to:
- Seeking God in our lives and promoting love and respect for our community.
- Increasing understanding between religions, helping pilgrims visit holy places and maintaining a Christian presence in the Holy Land.
- Supporting the poor, sick and unjustly accused; standing against oppression and protecting freedom of speech.
- Encouraging the noble ideas of Chivalry; maintaining the monuments, archives and history of the Knights Templar.
About the Order:
- To become a Templar, one must be a Christian.
- The Order does not restrict membership to any single Christian church; it is ecumenical.
- The Order is NOT part of the Free Masons.
- The Order does not engage in politics.
- The Order does not allow members to act contrary to their obligations to their country.
As Knights Templars, we are patriotic and committed to the betterment of our country. We are devoted to the preservation of Liberty, which is essential to freedom of conscience and religion for all and to the performance of good works. The principal mission of the Order is Charity. The Order approaches this mainly through charitable works (both locally and in the Holy Land) which try to help people to help themselves, thereby enhancing Hope.
Our guiding lights are the virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, which members aspire to serve faithfully as Knights of God's Temple. The motto of the Order, "Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed Nomini Tuo da gloriam" is from Psalm 115, verse 1 -- "Not for us, Lord, not for us, but to Thy Name give glory."
The Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, incorporated in the United States, is autonomous and independent. It recognizes the constitution and statutes of the United States and of the several States as sovereign and temporally supreme public law. The Order, in an age of democratic materialism and secular humanism, seeks, by reconstituting an ancient chivalric order, to adopt an organization of proven effectiveness in capturing the allegiance and spirit of dedicated leaders, and to show that spiritual idealism is most certainly relevant and not inconsistent with a sensibility for tradition, nor inconsistent with patriotism or civic duty -- thus the Order's purpose to assist and facilitate the growth of the Virtues of Christian gentlemen and ladies, by endeavor with God's Grace. The members of this Order believe that they have an obligation to preserve in the coalescing of a force similar to that which created knighthood and chivalry. This spirit of the paladin found noble expression in the twentieth century in the words of Thomas MacDonagh, a martyred leader of the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland, "There is always a chance of success for brave men who challenge fortune."
MAJ Charles Andrew Wells, KCTJ
Interested in Joining?
For more information, click to email:
Prior H.E. Rev. Chev. Raymond Lee Morehead, KTJ
A note on the crossed swords in the banners
The artistic depiction of the Templar Crosses with Crossed Swords used on this website differs from most commonly found military and heraldic depictions, which is commonly depicted as crossed swords with the points of the swords up. Our use of the crossed swords reversed with hilts up, is meant by the artist to emphasize the symbolic form of the Christian Cross of the hilt. Three crosses are depicted, representing the Holy Christian Trinity, as we are an ecumenical international Order of Christian Knights and Dames, of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, Priory of Mount Saint Michael's, Knights Templar.
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