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Major Eric Reynolds
Padre (Major) Eric Reynolds,
the senior chaplain at the Royal Military College of Canada, was formally
invested into the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (SMOTJ)
on October 1, 2005 at a colourful ceremony conducted at Saint James Anglican
Cathedral in Toronto. Padre Reynolds was posted to RMC this past summer
after having spent two years as the Chief Instructor of the Canadian Forces
Chaplain School and Centre in CFB Borden. He is an Anglican priest from the
diocese of Montreal and has been a military chaplain since 1985.
 The
Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem is also commonly known as the Knights
Templar and is founded on the principles first adopted by the Templars in
1118 A.D. The Middle Ages saw the emergence of two knightly Orders: the
Order of Malta with a specific mission to hospitals, and the Knights Templar
whose role was to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land.
Today the Knights Templar is
a secular-military order of chivalry – a knighthood which is intended for
accomplished Christian military and civilian men (Knights) and women (Dames)
who have demonstrated that they possess high ethical and moral principles
and who wish to carry on the ideals of the Order. Like the Knight Templars
of old, the Order operates as a modern day network of educated professionals
such as senior government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, senior
clergy, military officers, physicians and surgeons, engineers and
historians. These members of the Order provide both a highly respected body
of expertise and a credible influential voice to support the less fortunate
of the world, and to promote the time-tested chivalric ideals of honour,
honesty, civility, tolerance, care of others, and support for ecumenical
religious faith throughout individual nations and throughout the world
community.
 The
virtues of faith, hope and charity are the guiding lights of the Knights
Templar whose members wish to serve, just as the original knights had
served. The Latin motto of the Order is: “Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed
Nomine Tuo ad gloriam” and is translated: “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but
to your name give glory.” The word, not the sword, is the weapon of the
modern Templar Knights. That word is used to serve peace, to help the
oppressed, to assist humanity, to promote education, and to promote and
propagate those values that represent the best of the Christian and
humanistic chivalric traditions. But for every Knight Templar, action must
follow those words!
ROYAL
MILITARY COLLEGE OF CANADA
PO Box 17000, Station Forces * Kingston, Ontario * K7K 7B4 |
