HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF ST JOHN KNIGHTS HOSPITALLER (OSJ MALTA)
Our ecumenical Christian Order is descended from the Knights Hospitaller, founded by the Blessed Gerard who established a hospice in Jerusalem in the early 11th Century.
The Hospitaller Order began as a hospice for pilgrims and the local population and served people of all faiths.
It remains among the oldest and most enduring Orders of chivalry in the world.
The founders of the Order of Saint John assigned their descendants the valiant task to preserve the Christian faith and to serve the sick and the poor, best summarized in the Order’s nearly 1000-year-old motto: Pro Fide, Pro Utilitate Hominum (For Faith, For Service to Humanity).
As members of the Order, we take that challenge very seriously.
Today, modern day Knights and Dames, Serving Sisters and Serving Brothers are involved in providing direct, life changing interventions and aid to people in their own communities and in countries torn apart by war, disease or devastating natural disasters.