Tuesday, 6 December 2011

Formation of a Knight of Our Lady: A Personal Experience


-          Introduction and Caveat :
o   There are formal requirements and curricula of formation for different Priories, Preceptories and Provinces of the Order, e.g. the Preceptory of the U.K.
o   My own formation (described below) was somewhat different, having been organised by the Magisterium of the Order and conducted by the Provost of the Order (my co-sponsor) as, owing to the Order’s small numbers in North America, I was attached to no such structure.
o   This paper organises the MSM formation process chronologically, for ease of understanding

-          “Year Zero”: Basic Discernment
Discernment process guided by your Sponsor(s) into the Order, through meetings, correspondence and attendance of at least 3 Chapters, in order to answer the following:

o   What has brought you to where you are in your life of faith? What is your “Catholic CV”?
o   What are you looking for in the MSM?
o   Do you have a vocation to an Order, to Obedience? (NB: Very important question in the Anglo-Saxon world, which so greatly values personal liberty)
o   What questions do you have regarding the MSM Rule of Life?
o   What are your spouse’s views on your joining the MSM?

Benchmarks:
o   Recognition, on a personal level, of the importance of humility within the Order
o   Consecration to Our Lady under the formula of St-Louis-Marie Grignion de Monfort
o   Admission into the Order as a Brother-at-Arms, if so called by the Master

-         First, Second and Third Years: Core Curriculum
Guided readings, captured through a series of 2-page papers, in the following areas:

Spirituality
o   St-Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises
o   Treaty on the True devotion to the Blessed Virgin (St Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort)
o   Rule of Saint Benedict

Chivalry
o   Dom Gérard Lafond’s « Chevalerie d’hier et d’aujourd’hui » (Questions)
o   Léon Gauthier’s Chivalry
o   Biography of a Catholic Knight of your choice

Catholic Philosophy and Metaphysics
o   S.T. Pinckaers’ The Sources of Christian Morality
o   Mgr. André Léonard’s The Metaphysics of Being

Social Action
o   HH John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation « Christi fideles laici » of 1987 on the vocation and mission of the laity in the Church and the world
o   Ecclesia in Europa, Ecclesia in America Encyclicals

Benchmark: Graduation within the Order to the status of Squire, if so called by the Master

-         Fourth Year : The Social Doctrine of the Church

Guided readings on the Social Doctrine of the Church, including select Encyclicals, etc.

Benchmark: A 12-page Memorandum on Chivalry to be prepared and accepted by your Sponsor

-         Fifth Year: Focus on the Active Apostolate

Directed and personally-chosen social apostolates and acts of obedience on behalf of the Order.

       Benchmark: Dubbing as a Knight, if so called by the Master

-          The Rest of your Life

The Knight of Our Lady must unceasingly continue to study, act, learn, share his learnings, and ever more truly convert. It is an ongoing, lifelong obligation of his state.
___

Jean-Paul Gauthier, Old Brompton Oratory, London, 12th June 2011

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