A millennium ago,
Christendom saw the need for an Order of Paladins,
committed to the monastic discipline yet pledging their swords to protect pilgrims
seeking to bridge 'the spiritual' and 'the corporeal' among the stones that bore
witness to the most profound intersection of these:
the Resurrection of GOD—Christ Jesus.
Some pilgrims were bulwarks of the Faith,
others were smoldering wicks and bruised reeds;
not a few were even Christian yet still desired the company of those of the Way
rather than loneliness with the wild beasts, and merciless brigands.
The Order was housed within the ruins of the Second Temple;
thus named the Templars, their charge was:
to be faithful in their chivalric vows to GOD and neighbor,
to never retreat while a banner of Christendom was unfurled on the battlefield,
to balance audacity with wisdom,
to receive the Eucharist daily—
those posted in Jerusalem had the privilege to receive the Sacred Mystery in the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre as well as defend it from destruction
(which had happened several times in previous decades).
Popular clericknight, Bernard of Clairvaux, acted as patron to
this unique vision:
an order of priestknights,
who would take up the Psalter in one hand
and the blessed-sword in the other.
No priest, and no other monastic or knightly order, was allowed to
have one foot in the temporal realm,
and one in the eternal as did the Templars.
They would oppose Hell-serving steel and shaft
with the carnal weapons of this world,
even while they were formed to see beyond this worldly veil
and into the evil heavens.
Their battles were for souls,
and the setting was the Cosmic War
declared by GOD in the Paradise of Eden.
Bernard wrote:
“He is truly a fearless knight and secure on every side,
for his soul is protected by the armor of faith
just as his body is protected by armor of steel.
He is thus doubly-armed and need fear neither demons nor men.
Not that he fears death—
no, he desires it.
Why should he fear to live
or fear to die
when for him to live is Christ,
and to die is gain?
Gladly and faithfully he stands for Christ,
but he would prefer to be dissolved and to be with Christ,
by far the better thing.”
Today the temporal battlefields are as often mimicked-reality
powered by unreal-engines and wheels (increasingly moreso!)
as they are true-terrestrial,
but the Arch-Foe hasn't changed;
they and their Tramped-skull Master are motivated as ever for it all to burn,
and mock GOD to set it alight faster
by getting his human creatures to participate.
Too often it seems as though the Church is reluctant to even acknowledge the war
let alone take up its dutiful part in it;
and if we do it is ‘safe’ defensive feints,
not zealous offensive siegecraft.
Faithful Christians on their Crucifix-bearing adventure to Celestial City
are under constant assault from Babel-redux,
the ancient seat of the Dragon-prince and his allies.
More than ever does Christendom need paladins of the Risen Tabernacle
—‘spiritual Templars’—
who daily dwell in Christ through Psalmic prayer (oratio)
and study of His Word-wisdom (meditatio);
who regularly receive His Body+Blood in the Holy Sacrament
and thus all the benefits and blessings of that Mystical Union;
to sally forth and inspire those looking for Christian men to follow
as they reveal the Kingdom of Heaven in their midst—
the Kingdom that is already here but not yet in all its glory (tentatio).
Often that means pushing back the Gates of Hell
and the shadows that strive to keep the Kingdom of their doom hidden
and out of reach to those questing, or weary from the adventure.
There is much to unpack in this ‘Templar Paradigm’.
But this is not possible without first strengthening the bulwark
built on the solid foundation of the JESUS-Rock.
The Medieval Age Templar accepted the reality of the Cosmic War without question.
They knew who was their High King,
and served their neighbors to His glory without pulling punches.
They prayed as fervently for their enemies' salvation—
whom they were about to meet and attempt to destroy in battle!—
as they did for God to preserve their own in that same fight.
Their souls were prepared to die,
and die well,
without reservation.
All this giving resounding force to their confident Deus Vult!
To be able to speak likewise,
the Christian paladin who desires to be a ‘Templar-in-spirit’
in the battle against Babel-redux and Hades
must first know the essence of the Grand Adventure that is Christianity;
must love their King and his Kingdom for whom they have been elected to fight;
must keep their bearings fixed on the blessed image
of the Celestial City upon the height of Mount Zion
so that those they serve will do likewise.
This is the Cosmic War
and you are in it;
you were conscripted the moment you were conceived in your mother's womb.
The glad tidings:
the War is already won,
achieved by the death and resurrection of the KING of Glory,
an epochal battle that took place over a three-day campaign on a Zion hillock.
But battles continue to rage nonetheless by an Enemy seething with reckless hate.
To be stalwart in the fight you must know your chief Lorebook: Holy Writ.
The BIBLE is the only Book that will remind you of your Mystical Royal identity
and Divine inheritance as a son-prince of GOD,
because it was written by GOD Himself through JESUS and His SPIRIT.
More, the BIBLE contains the High-history of your kingly-priest people—
History of which you have taken part
in Mysterious Union with your KING,
via the cosmic time-overlapping Great Sacramentum.
Further, the BIBLE contains the greatest collection of Holy Wisdom ever assembled,
delivered through the sages of GOD from centuries past,
which have come down to us as Preaching & Teaching, Story & Art;
you will learn the Art of Cosmic War from the Ancient of Days,
the Offense of the Light Arts from His sainted-paladins and -clericknights therein,
and how to use the weapons of your spiritual kit—
weapons that become more familiar and more sure in your hands
the more that you engage Babel-redux with them faithfully,
through trial and tribulation as the LORD wills.
Ever onward-Deo Volante.
+++
Quest Waypoint {Read Genesis 37-41}
