CHARGE.--"Invincible Knight, I congratulate you on your having been found worthy to be promoted to this honorable Order of Knighthood. It is highly honorable to all those worthy Knights, who with good faith and diligence, perform its many important duties. The honorable situation to which you are now advanced, and the illustrious office which you now fill is one that was much desired by the first noblemen of Italy, but ambition and jealousy caused his highness, Pope Alexander, to call on his ancient friend, the Grand Master of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, to guard his person and the Holy See, as those Knights were known to be well grounded in the faith, and zealous followers of the Lord. The members of the guard were chosen BY THEIR COUNTENANCES, for it is believed that a plain countenance is an indication of the heart; and that no stranger should gain admission and discover the secrets of this august assembly, this Order of the Christian Mark was conferred on those who went about doing good, and following the example of their illustrious Master, Jesus Christ. Go thou and do likewise.
MOTTO.--"Christus regnat, vincit, triumphat;" [i.e., Christ rules, conquers, triumphs.] Rex regnantium, et Dominus dominantium.
Israel on the left breast, a triangular plate of gold, seven eyes engraved on one side, on the other the letter G in the five points.
HISTORY.--St. Helena, daughter of Caylus, King of Britain, consort of Constantine, and mother of Constantine the Great, in the year 296, made a journey to the Holy Land in search of the cross of Jesus Christ. After leveling the hillocks and destroying the temple of Venus, three crosses were discovered. It was now difficult to discover which of the three was the one sought for by her. By order of his Holiness, Pope Marcellinus, they were borne to the bed of a woman who had long been visited by sickness, and lay at the point of death; she placed her hands upon the second cross first, which rendered her no service; but when she laid her hand upon the third, she was restored to her former health. She instantly arose, giving glory to God, saying, He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of sin was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. On the spot where the crosses were found, St. Helena erected a stately church, one hundred paces long and sixty wide; the east end takes in the place where the crosses stood, and the west of the sepulchre. By leveling the hills, the sepulchre is above the floor of the church, like a grotto, which is twenty feet from the floor to the top of the rock. There is a superb cupola over the sepulchre, and in the aisles are the tombs of Godfrey and Baldwin, kings of Jerusalem. In 302, St. Helena instituted the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This Order was confirmed in 304 by his Holiness, Pope Marcellinus; they were bound by a sacred vow to guard the Holy Sepulchre, protect pilgrims, and fight infidels and enemies of the cross of Christ. The city of Jerusalem was rebuilt and ornamented by Ælius Adrian, Emperor of Rome, and given to the Christians in 120. The Persians took it from them in 637, and in 1008 it fell into the hands of the Turks, under whose oppressions it long groaned, until Peter the Holy steered the western princes to release the distressed church, and in 1096 Godfrey and Baldwin unfurled the banner of the cross and expelled the Turks. He was invested with a crown of laurel, and suffered himself to be called the King of Palestine.