Knight's Path

This Order promotes many values: preserving Spain's historical legacy, respect for others and family, justice, honor, and loyalty. It also promotes generosity, piety, valor, courage, and the protection of the weak and vulnerable. And one more, which I would like to emphasize: solidarity. It costs little.

Nothing would please me more than for the Knights who in the future enter this humble Order to do so aware of what unites us and from a place of moderation, simplicity, honesty and tolerance for differences of any kind.

Let us be Guardian Knights, at all times and in all places.

By Myriam Garrido

Towards the building of the Kingdom.

Every Order of Chivalry suggests courage, quest, and ideals. It aims to contribute to fulfilling humanity's dreams. As sons and daughters of God, we human beings yearn for something grand. We imagine the creation of a world of harmony, and this spirit moves us to join a chivalric order. Arthur and the Round Table, the kingdom of Camelot. Jesus revealed, through his words and deeds, what this new world entails and the efforts we must be willing to make to achieve it.

In the last 2,000 years of history, in the Christian era, the world has experienced great development. But God's desire that His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven has not yet been fulfilled. Every Knight longs to collaborate in creating the Kingdom, a kingdom of freedom, equality, and fraternity. Every Knight must ceaselessly seek the mystical Grail, which is to understand, live, and serve from true love. The blessings of Genesis, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth," can only be understood from this perspective. Every Knight prays to be imbued with true love and thus be able to bring harmony to human society.

The Knight views the Order as a stepping stone to becoming the son or daughter God has longed for since the beginning of time. He anticipates impetus, offers his commitment, and sees signs that we are entering a new era. The Knight is aware that his perseverance, clarity, and open-mindedness are essential to fulfilling his mission. For his country, for the world, and for God.



By Enrique Miguel Sánchez Motos

I can say it has been an honor to have the opportunity to put down these words that come from the heart, and which, written down, will remain forever, as a Spaniard and a Christian, and thinking from the depths of my soul, as if dictated by someone on high. Words that will remain forever, as in this important book of the Order of the Knights Custodians of Calatrava la Vieja.

We live in a time of constant movement, which often leads to activism, with the easy risk of doing for the sake of doing. We must resist this temptation by seeking solace from doing. We strive for many things, yet only one is necessary: to be before doing. It is not right to exist without knowing where we come from, and without doing the small things with love. If we truly want to return the world to its Christian roots, if we want to recover that Christianity that is slowly disappearing from our world, it is necessary that we consecrate our hearts to Christ our God and to Mary. To do and to be, knowing where we come from. May we move forward firmly in these times of difficulty, of anxiety, of persecution, and may it become a reality that more and more hearts are consecrated to Christ and Mary. This will be the sign that the restoration of Christian culture, the return of Christianity, is beginning. And let us ask our God for a heart of flesh, not a heart of stone. It is in the culture of life that we have so much at stake. And that it must begin from the foundation of our own family, from our jobs, from our friends and wherever we go through this life, in which we are just passing through, and that from our way of living and working we must carry out in this way.

I want to contribute to the salvation of all our brothers and sisters, to save everyone from the slavery of not being themselves, to have the freedom to fight for those values that have been left behind today, that are no longer valued, such as respect for one's neighbor, for family, justice, fighting for Spain, for your homeland, this great nation that has risen from all adversities, in which we have won every battle, fought for the greatest thing: honor, which should be our principal motto, and which is not only about having more and being more powerful, but about valuing loyalty, valor, courage, generosity, and protecting the downtrodden, the discouraged, or the disheartened. And this can only be achieved with the help of God.

Good can advance, but for good to advance, what is needed is a royal will, perhaps more than in other times, because when the sense of good, of truth, has been lost, then it is harder, more demanding to promote good, and on many occasions that also implies greater misunderstanding from the society in which we live, but we have to keep going and fighting for good, because good is taking important steps.

In short, it will be an HONOR to belong to this order and to be a KNIGHT CUSTODIAN. Being named a Knight of the Old Order of Calatrava is a path, a union that brings together all these criteria to be implemented on the battlefield, which is the world around us. All this work, this unity and strength of all the men and women who make up this order, with faith and the help of Christ, can build a better society, a society with values, with moral fullness, with helping our neighbors to bear the cross we all carry and make it less heavy.

All for GOD, for our brothers, for the good of Spain and of good Spaniards.

By José Galiano Moreno

What does a chivalric order mean to you?

When I think about what a chivalric order is, or what I consider it to be, I inevitably think of three ideas: the Middle Ages, religious congregations, and Islam. In the Middle Ages, chivalric orders represented the union of chivalric ethics and the principles and values of the monk. Belonging to an order was considered a strong, sacred bond. The knight's loyalty had to be upheld by religious norms and values. The vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, which governed monastic orders, were initially applied to military orders. Over time, chivalric orders became organized around a powerful lord to protect and safeguard his interests. They therefore had a defensive and military function, especially against Islam. (Paradoxically, that threat remains latent today, perhaps in a more subtle but no less dangerous way.) They also had a social character; knights shared not only strictly military duties but also courtly pursuits such as hunting, meals, and leisure.

Why do I want to be part of a chivalric order?

Two guiding principles have shaped and guided my life. On a spiritual level, it is the Catholic faith; I believe in God the Father Almighty, my creator and the creator of all things. On a civic and social level, it is my love for my country, for its customs, values, and traditions. Both of these principles find an ideal fusion in the order of chivalry. Because belonging to the order allows me to defend and practice both ideals. It is the principles of the Catholic faith that guide my steps in the defense of my country, a responsibility of every good Spaniard. I must not and cannot passively observe how this society, devoid of values, destroys our very identity, our traditions, our ideals, and ultimately our beloved country for which so many Spaniards throughout history have given their lives. I think of the new generations, of my children, and I feel a duty to preserve and enhance for them my beloved Spain, a homeland that today bleeds from absurd separatism, frenzied populism, and a rabid anticlericalism that, under the guise of absolute moral relativism, disguises the imposition of the most absurd and destructive principles as false tolerance. The Order allows me, from my role in society—as a mother in my private life and as a teacher in my professional life—to defend and contribute to the greatness of Spain and, at the same time, to be a living witness of Christ on Earth.

By María Lourdes Marín García-Cervigón