BRISBANE Catholics Christopher Schaffer and siblings Joseph, Alice Mary and Caroline Grogan were invested as Knights and Dames of Magistral Grace of the Order of Malta at a Mass in New Farm last week, with their first robed Mass in St Stephen’s Cathedral on Sunday.
The four Brisbane Catholics were invested alongside two Lismore Catholics Alicja and Andrzej Druzynski.
The investiture reflected a journey of many years for the new members.
“I was attracted to the Order’s charisms as a way to more concretely live my faith,” Mr Schaffer said.
“I appreciate the familial nature and expertise of the Members, helping those neglected, forgotten, and marginalised by society.”
Mr Grogan had prayerfully discerned his spiritual path for many years before discovering the Order through Magistral Chaplain Fr Morgan Batt and being approached by Mr Schaffer to “build a nucleus of Order of Malta Volunteers in Brisbane”.
“I felt a providential call to serve,” Mr Grogan said.
Over the years, the volunteers balanced PhD research or working in Brisbane City Hall or being “Called to the Bar” as a Barrister with visiting patients in St Vincent’s Hospital, distributing winter coats to the homeless, sharing hygiene kits, distributing donated dental kits, sharing the Order’s Lourdes pilgrimage and much more.
Alice Mary said the investiture felt “very special, like a hug from Mother Mary”.
“My brother Joe and I basically grew up without a mother, and dad had to look after little Caroline,” she said.
“So Joe and I have always worked well together. When he was invited to serve Jesus through the Order, of course we served together, then Caroline too, and dad as a Lay-Catholic MSC Missionary is also welcome to serve.”
Alice said she wants to make every day “count” when she is with the Order.
Caroline said the investiture was “very humbling”.
She said she was “inspired to give and serve, so what I have received in and through God’s Grace can return to God in my actions, thoughts and deeds”.
Caroline credited her investiture to the Holy Spirit through her dad’s active witness of “Christ’s love, mercy and hope”.
Without witnessing his values, she said “Christ’s teaching would not have been instilled so strongly within the hearts of myself and my siblings”.
“Dad always points to Christ and Mother Mary as our guides,” she said.
North Eastern Regional hospitaller Danny Higgins said the Order provided a spiritual home for its members and advanced dual charisms – Defence of the Faith and Service to Our Lord, the Poor and the Sick.
Mr Higgins said the six members invested last weekend had been “very active in hospitaller works throughout their year of preparation, and for years before”.
Perhaps the most obvious difference between the Order of Malta and many other groups is their traditional attire.
Mr Higgins said the knight’s robes date back to “almost the beginning of our Order in the 12th Century”.
“The White Cross is worn over the heart as a reminder of striving for purity,” he said.
“The eight-pointed cross was brought to Malta by the knights in the 16th Century and is connected with the Eight Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5).
“The dames’ robes are from the 19th Century and are in keeping with the nurses’ night cloaks of the period.”
The robes were a witness and reminder to the daily mission of faith and service.
