Soldier-saints of the Order, and their profound impact on European history, were the focus of the Michigan Area’s recent First Saturday symposium, held on October 5 at St. Owen Catholic Church in Bloomfield Hills.

Keynote speaker Hugh Hunter, PhD, of the “Manly Saints Project,” said that the concept of “fighting religious” would not have seemed at all incongruous in the time of the Crusades. St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, among others, appreciated “men of opposition” who battled against the Church’s enemies without, as well as corruption within the Church, Dr. Hunter noted.

Covering nearly one thousand years of the Order’s history, Dr. Hunter focused on such saintly figures as Blessed David Gonson, Blessed Gerard of Villamagna, Saint Hugh Canefri and Blessed Gerland, as well as other members of the Order who played pivotal roles in the Crusades and Great Siege of Malta.

During the Crusades, knightly orders, such as the Templars and Hospitallers, were particularly feared by the Ottoman Empire because of the knights’ expertise in battle. For the Hospitallers, that expertise grew to include naval warfare, particularly pursuing Barbary corsairs that attacked European coastal villages and seized Christians as slaves. For example, Blessed David Gonson served in three tours of duty hunting pirates “as a test of his courage” before being admitted to the Order of Malta in 1533, Dr. Hunter explained. Blessed David Gonson continued to serve on the Order’s ships until his return to England in 1540. He was martyred in 1541 for refusing to recognize Henry VIII as head of the Church in England. In 1929, he was beatified as one of the “Hundred and Seven Martyrs of England and Wales.”

Dr. Hunter also addressed the Order’s role in protecting the island of Malta – and by extension Europe – during the Great Siege of 1565 and the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Grand Master Jean de Valette, who fortified the island and successfully fought off the Ottomans, was later buried in the Maltese city he founded, Valletta, and honored as “the scourge of Africa and Asia and the shield of Europe.”

In keeping with the Michigan Area’s “First Saturday” practice, the day included Mass and the opportunity for Confession. Confessions were heard by Msgr. Michael LeFevre, ChM, the Michigan Area’s chaplain and pastor of St. Owen’s, who also celebrated Mass.

Readings at Mass were proclaimed by Maura Corrigan, Auxiliary, and Thomas Larabell, KM. Michael Bonventre, KM, offered the Prayers of the Faithful. Area Chair Andy Smith, KM, led the group in the Daily Prayer of the Order at the conclusion of Mass.

Breakfast and lunch were provided by Michael Bonventre and Sue Bonventre, DM, members of the Michigan Area’s Hospitality Ministry.

To complete the First Saturday devotion, Michigan Area members recited the Rosary, led by Andy Smith. Msgr. LeFevre offered meditations on the Luminous Mysteries. Among other truths, the Luminous Mysteries teach us that “Divine Providence can lift us only if we’re empty enough to receive it,” Msgr. LeFevre observed.

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