Do you remember the moment the sword of the accolade touched your head and shoulders as you heard the words that christened you a Templar Knight or Dame? It was a moment I will never forget. But have you asked yourself what actual, real-world authority was vested in that act? The answer is simple. It was the fons honorum (Latin), or the fount of honour.
A fons honorum is a person, who, by virtue of their official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry such as knighthood on other persons.
In the case of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, the Autonomous Grand Priory of the United States of America, our fons honorum is Her Highness Princess Elisabeth zu Ysenburg und Büdingen, Princess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Princess Elisabeth was formally invested as a member of the Order in 1995 in the Priory of St. John the Baptist and accepted the role of patron of the Grand Priory in 1996. She is the first royal personage to assume that position since the death of His Royal Majesty, King Peter II in 1970. Without the authority of the fons honorum, the accolade is an empty gesture in the earthly kingdom of man.
Yet as a Templar Knight or Dame, the touch of your accolade has meaning in two kingdoms. In the earthly kingdom of man, it is through the fount of honour, as just discussed. But our true Templar accolade is conferred primarily through the Kingdom of God, via the Fount of all Life and all Honour – our Lord Master, Jesus the Christ, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords.
Said God in His Holy Word, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him Who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” (1 Peter 2:9)
Princess Elisabeth has an impeccable bloodline and is descended from Dukes and Duchesses of royal families as well as rulers of Russia, Denmark, and Great Britain. But you have an even more impressive heritage. You have been grafted into the olive tree of God’s chosen people (Romans 11:11-25), chosen and adopted by Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3-6), a child of God and joint heir with King Jesus of the tribe of Judah and the royal line of David (Romans 8:14-17), a member of the royal household of God (Ephesians 2:19).
We are warrior monks – poor soldiers of Christ dedicated to battling the forces of darkness in this present age in this earthly kingdom of man (Ephesians 6:12) while we serve the eternal Kingdom of God, loving the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind while we love everyone else as much as we love ourself (Matthew 22:37-39), striving always to protect the children of God from the forces of evil while offering the hope of His marvelous Eternal Light to those yet imprisoned in the world of darkness.
So, now that you recognize your royal heritage, I thought you would be interested in Princess Elisabeth’s bloodline. She is the widow of His Serene Highness Prince Ferdinand Heinrich of Ysenburg and eldest daughter of Prince Friedrich Ferdinand of Schleswig-Holstein- Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Her mother is Duchess Anastasia of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She is the great-granddaughter of Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, wife of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz III of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and daughter of Grand Duke Michael of Russia, younger son of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.
Princess Elisabeth is descended twice from Empress Catherine II “the Great” of Russia. Also, she is a great-great-granddaughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and a great-great-great-great granddaughter of King George III of Great Britain, America’s last King. Princess Elisabeth of Ysenburg is a third cousin of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II of England.
(Recognizing His Excellency, Past Grand Prior CAPT Chev. Keith Larson, GCTJ, GCMTJ for much of the supporting content of this report.)