November 8, 2009

An Honor to Be Here

This has been a busy weekend. I'd heard in the late summer that I had been promoted to the rank of Officer in the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (read more at the Saint John website). The investiture was yesterday, and the snap above (grabbed by Millard Cook) is just after the Prior "pinned" me and I stepped aside, assisted by Confrère Barbara Hayward). The Order is all terribly British (revived by Victoria, now led by Elizabeth II, active in England primarily in support of St John's Ambulance). We sang God Save the Queen as part of the celebration, which took place at the recently refurbished Cathedral Church of St John the Divine (not the John of the order, who is the Baptist.) The American Priory, which is growing in numbers (and invested not a few new members, officers, commanders, knights and dames yesterday) has taken the St John's Eye Hospital in Jerusalem (and its branches in the area) under its wing as a particular project, which gives us a strong connection to the original foundation of the Hospitallers. (And, as Americans, we sang The Star Spangled Banner, too, as well as Jerusalem, My Happy Home).

The Englishy bits give me something to look forward to when I am next in London, as the St John's Museum in Clerkenwell (at the site of the medieval foundation, dissolved by that other English monarch Henry VIII) should be open once more after some additional recent renovations. Meanwhile, the events of the weekend surrounding St John's were a treat, and it was a delight to see old friends and meet a few new ones.

Tobias Stanislas Haller BSG

6 comments:

Doorman-Priest said...

You are coming to England? Leeds is nice for a day trip from London.

Country Parson said...

An honor indeed. Congratulations Tobias. But somewhere in the back of my puckish mind I can't help wondering if Dan Brown is mixed up in this some way.
CP

Tobias Stanislas Haller BSG said...

D-P, if not the next visit in February, perhaps later in the year?

CP, well, we were already featured as the "good guys" in Ridley Scott's "Kingdom of Heaven." (It's the Templars you have to watch out for, apparently...)

June Butler said...

Congratulations m'dear Tobias. As CP says, "An honor indeed".

You should visit Leeds. The nicest thing about the city is the Doorman-Priest family, but you'll find other delights there, too.

Tobias Stanislas Haller BSG said...

Thanks, Mimi. Glad to hear you are doing well after your surgery. God bless!

Göran Koch-Swahne said...

Congratulations from here too, dear Tobias!

and I can vouch for what Grand'mère said ;=)