Edinburgh, 19 April 2025

My Dear Confreres & Consoeures

As we prepare, in this “Holy Year of Hope”, to witness and to attest of new the Resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ, the very  “de quo” of the charism of our Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, we do so amidst  a world torn by seemingly endless conflict and suffering.

In our search for the “Way” forward, we find example in the Christian Peoples of the Holy Land whose voices, across all denominations and amongst myriad demands for vengeance and retribution, are constantly heard in the face of such adversity, to advocate and to pray for the opening of all hearts to “Forgiveness and Reconciliation”.

Their example brings to mind the words of St Philip Neri viz :

“If a man finds it very hard to forgive injuries, let him look at a Crucifix, and think that Christ shed all His Blood for him, and not only forgave His enemies, but even prayed His Heavenly Father to forgive them also.”;

and of Jesus, viz;

“Mandatum novum do vobis;ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos, ut et vos diligatis”

                                                                                                                   John 13:34

Therefore, let us pray this Eastertide, that across all of humanity the hearts of those touched by conflict, whether actively or passively, may be opened to “Forgiveness and Reconciliation;

and,

Oremus pro invicem

for,

Deus Lo Vult,