The Knight’s Vigil

 The USA 2008 Vigil Ceremony was once again  held at the Our Lady of Theresa Carmelite Monestary in Carmel Valley, CA Friday November 7, 5:00 P.M. After the Knight’s Vigil at the Carmelite Monastery, our Postulants Knights and Dame partook in a silent supper which was held at the Carmel Mission's historical Orchard House in Carmel, CA. It is beleived that the Orchard Mission House is the oldest of it's kind in the state of California built in the 1770's. 

This completed the first part of the Investiture ceremonies.

 Some may ask, what is the vigil and what does it represent? Becoming and being a knight was a very important job, especially for fighting. Young boys at the age of seven had to leave there family to start the training to become a knight (in The Middle Ages). It took a lot of work to become a knight, men spent years in training to reach this goal.

  At the beginning of the journey, boys started out by becoming a page. Being a page was about four years. As they continued in their training, they became a squire for about four years. Squire's stayed with knights and serving at all times. One of the Squire’s job was to maintain the Knights armor and weapons. After years of training their big day would finally come.

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The night before the Squire became a Knight, there would be a ceremony called, "The Knights Vigil" The postulant would be bathed and shaved after which he would be dressed in simple clothing before going to the chapel to pray for guidance on how to be a good Knights.

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                   The Accolade

  In today’s time knighting of an individual is
often done by a King or Queen. In some instances it is also done by the head of a Church. But in the beginning he accolade was delivered by another knight usually a Master Knight. A light blow from a sword on the side of the neck or, on each shoulder accompanied by the words “ Be thou a knight”. This tradition has been ongoing since the High Middle Ages. And it is a tradition that is still alive and well today.

Knight’s Prayer
Carved in the stone of Chartres Cathedral, France is a knightly prayer: