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The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem

Magistral Delegation of New Zealand

Nau mai Haere mai - Welcome

The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is an association of Catholic Christian faithful entrusted with an important mission from the Church — to serve as witnesses to the Christian faith and supporters and protectors of the Church and the living Christian communities in the Holy Land. The Order is open to lay faithful, clergy, and professed religious, united in their commitment to support the Christian presence in the Holy Land and to deepen their own faith through the life and mission of the Order.

The Order’s mandate originates from the time of the crusader knights who were responsible for protecting the Christian pilgrims travelling to the sacred sites. Today the Order’s members continue to aid the Church in the Holy Land and to strengthen the practice of Christian life amongst its members.

At the service of the Living Stones in the Holy Land

About the Members

The Order has at its heart an individual commitment to personal spiritual development, a collective endeavour of supporting the Church and Christian people in the Holy Land and across the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem- a jurisdiction that includes Palestine, Israel, Cyprus, and Jordan.

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About the Order

The Order of the Holy Sepulchre originates in a Christian organisation, the Canons, established at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in 1099, immediately after the conquest of the City by the Crusaders. It has religious aims and the function of protecting pilgrims to the Holy Land.

History

In New Zealand, the Order is articulated in a single Magistral Delegation, led by Dame Carleen Anne Blucher, DCHS.
The Grand Prior of the Magistral Delegation is His Excellency, Bishop Stephen Marmion Lowe KC*HS.
The first member in New Zealand was also our first bishop, Jean-Baptiste François Pompallier and he is commonly depicted with the Jerusalem Cross of the Order.

Reproduction of the portrait of Pompallier painted by Marzocchi in Paris in 1848.

Saint Bartolo Longo, KGCHS

I place myself, my God, in your hands; as a son I abandon myself to your fatherly embrace; roll and roll again this mud, it has nothing to say; it is enough that it serve your designs and not resist your will for which I was made. Ask, command, prohibit. What do you wish that I do, or that I not do? Lifted up, knocked down, suffering, dedicated to your works by sacrificing my will to yours, I can only say, as did Mary: ‘Behold I am your servant. O Lord, let it be done to me according to your Word.

Portrait of Saint Bartolo Longo

Saint Bartolo Longo