CHARLOTTE — Members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem – a Catholic order committed to supporting Christians in the Holy Land – gathered March 2 at St. Patrick Cathedral for a Lenten Day of Reflection led by two of its clergy members.
Father John Putnam, chaplain for the order in the Diocese of Charlotte, offered Mass and led a Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction. Father Christopher Roux, pastor and rector of the cathedral, gave the Holy Hour homily, encouraging members to devote their Lenten sacrifices to a particular person or purpose – not merely giving something up for Lent, but intentionally offering up those sacrifices to God in order to help someone else.
The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem was founded nearly a thousand years ago by the pope during the Crusades when Jerusalem came under attack. Today, men and women of the order still sustain and aid the Christian community in the Holy Land through their charitable work.
The order has approximately 30,000 members in 52 countries. Members are encouraged to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The global amount of aid is more than $10 million annually, which supports the work the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and other Catholic institutions by offsetting the running costs of the patriarchate and its 68 parishes – including support for nearly 1,600 teachers and other staff in the educational establishments, patriarchal seminary and the orphanages and clinics and 41 patriarchal schools in Israel, Palestine and Jordan, and providing social and humanitarian aid to families.
Learn more about their work at www.midatlanticeohs.com.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle