Wednesday 4 January 2012

MSM Rule: Chapter XVII -The Knight's Family Life

CHAPTER XVII - THE KNIGHT’S FAMILY LIFE

1. The knights of Our Lady will hold in high esteem Christian marriage instituted by God himself, and raised up by Him to the dignity of a symbol of the union between Christ and his Holy Church; Let them love their wives as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed Himself for her … so that when He took her to Himself she would be glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and faultless[1] (151); in the same way, let wives love their husbands and submit to them as to the Lord; for the husband is the head of his wife just as Christ is the head of the Church[2] (152) Thus their love, carried to God, will reach the fullness of its significance, and will draw down blessings upon their home from on high.

2. Knights who are heads of families should try to recover for the family its true aspect and traditional value, playing their full role as Father whose authority has been established by God. Reflecting as it does the divine paternity, the family is in fact the basic cell of society, and within the family the father is in a way both Priest and King[3]. (153)

3. They will consecrate their homes to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so that peace and love may reign there. They will honour Saint Joseph, son of David[4] (154) and head of the Holy Family, the first knight to serve the Queen of Heaven. They will impart to their families a deep spiritual life by means of traditional practices. They will have prayers in common, at least in the evening. These might begin with a passage of the Bible read aloud, followed by a short period of silent meditation, then the Lord’s Prayer and the Angelic Salutation, recited carefully and religiously, unless Compline be said, then special intentions and finally the Collect for the day. One might pray kneeling during the week and standing on Saturdays and Sundays and during Paschal tide in honour of Our Lord’s Resurrection.

The brothers will say grace before meals, will bless wife and children before going to bed, and generally observe the time-honoured customs of our forefathers within their households.

Each will take care to protect his home from intrusion from the profane world, for it is a sanctuary which must not be soiled[5] (155).

4              Any event of importance in the life of the Knight’s family shall be accompanied by prayer and thanksgiving, and his fellow knights should be associated, because all are brothers and members one of another[6] (156).

5. They will make, wherever possible, a corner of the house into an oratory. They shall try to teach their children the first rudiments of the Faith, following the words of the psalmist: what we have heard and known for our­selves and what our ancestors have told us must not be withheld from their descendants, but be handed on by us to the next generation; that is: the titles of the Lord, his power and the miracles he has done. [7](157)



[1] 151.Ephes. 5, 25-27
[2] 152.Ibid 22-23
[3]
[4] 154.Mt. 1, 20
[5] 155.Cf. for all this chapter Vatican II, Apostolate of the Laity, no.11
[6] 156.Ephes 4, 25
[7] 157.Ps 78, 3-4

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