The Mysteries

"Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered" (Luke 11:52)

A mystery from the first has enshrouded the Legend of the Grail.  That the Grail was symbolic and intended to typify the Sacrament of the Holy Communion is abundantly clear from a thousand passages in the various versions of the story.  All beyond this primary indication is indefinite, shadowy, impalpable.

Yet we feel as we read that the words employed are intended to convey some deeper meaning than bears on the face of it.  The romance is more than a romance.  It is also a secret written in cipher.  Its mysticism is as marked as its mystery.

Throughout, there is a continual suggestion of hidden meanings, a recurrent insistence on things seen as types and symbols of things unseen.  When Mallory tells us that ‘the history of the Sancgreal is chronicled  for one of the truest and the holiest that is in this world,’ or an earlier poet that it was written by the hand of Our Lord Himself, it is clear that they meant to draw a clear line of demarcation between this story and the older secular romances of Arthur and his knights.

But wherein lies the difference between them?  What is the key of the cipher?  What is the Presence that haunts and hints at every turn in the path that lies through the hallowed ground ?

"And these men call this vessel

which gives them this grace — the Grail."

The Quest

The central service and mystery of the Christian faith is the Holy Eucharist, and its center is the Holy Cup.  Around this Cup, or Grail, is organized the Knights of the Holy Grail.  The sacrament of the Holy Supper is taught throughout, and is held up as a common service of the Knights.  Impressive beyond description is the sight of a band of Grail Knights and Ladies surrounding the Holy Table.

Central to the work of the Order is the Quest of the Holy Grail — the deeper meaning of the parable and the sacrament.  To all is granted the keeping of something most precious — the indwelling Christ in our hearts.  The quest of the Holy Grail is "to seek mystical union with Christ, to attain spiritual perfection through purification, and to practice an ecstatic religion which keeps one unspotted from the world."  It proclaims the "gospel of faith — faith in God and love and immortality," and bids us to find it.

The mystic and the heroic mold alike after an exalted pattern.  The valiant mission of the Knights, realized in the Quest, is strengthened by the principles and teachings of the Order, which aim to instruct the full-orbed man — body, mind, and soul.  (1) The body, its cleanness, health, and purity, that it is the “temple of the Holy Ghost.” (2) The mind, the wealth of right knowledge, and the strategy of being prepared.  (3) The soul, its companionship with Christ.

The true Knight will put the principles of the Holy Grail, like the motto Excelsior, above his head, and be drawn upward by their irresistible pull for attainment and achievement.

Communion of the Saints

In the fellowship of the Knights of the Holy Grail, we share a deep spiritual and mystical sense of community.  We  gather often to share in prayer, worship, communal meals and the Eucharist.  We feed our souls on the body and blood of Christ and strive to enter more deeply into the sacraments of the Church and the mystical communion of the saints.

While not taking the religious vows of monks and nuns, the life of a Knight of the Holy Grail is no less demanding.  Our aim is to cultivate the interior life (the kingdom of heaven within) while we work for our daily bread.  Members of the Order remain in the outside world and continue the activities of daily life while observing an inner life of prayer and communion with God.

Even while living and working in the world, it is possible for us to share in the mystical life of Christ, whereby we may become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4).  Herein are hidden many mysteries, which the Eastern Church calls deification or divinization, a restoration to the original man or woman of Paradise, created in the Image and Likeness of God.

Knights and Ladies often choose to live close to ancient churches, shrines, cemeteries, or monasteries, separating themselves as much as possible from earthly distractions while concentrating their hearts and minds on the mysteries of God.

Not of This World

The Knights of the Holy Grail strive to present an authentic witness of apostolic Christianity amid the lukewarm atmosphere and worldliness of those who have made a mockery and a scandal of the Church.  We seek the true savor of Christ’s teachings through the supernatural, mystical, visionary, miraculous and otherworldly witness of holy men and women throughout the ages.

“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and walk ye in it, and ye shall find refreshment for your souls”  (Jeremiah 6:16)

The secret life of the soul, wherein it communicates with the Divine, is not of this world.  It is based not upon knowledge alone but can only be experienced in the otherworldly life of the mystic, whose inner life is hidden in Christ.  This way of living is far removed from the frantic and artificial lifestyles of today, with all their crowds, noise, rushing about, greed, consumerism and endless debt.  It is a life of holiness and peace founded upon the wisdom of God, the cultivation of the inner man and depth of soul, and the following of Christ.

“Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world ... They are not of the world, as I also am not of the world”  (John 18:36, 17:16)

Christ may bestow the most extraordinary and supernatural graces upon those who seek Him with all their heart and soul.  By seeking Him with fervency and purity of heart we may attain to a heightened spiritual state, infused with the divine wisdom of the Holy Ghost and the pure love of God.