Imagine you’re a Christian pilgrim in the Middle Ages, making the long and dangerous journey to the Holy Land. The roads are filled with bandits and injury and illness are constant threats.
You’re weary and sick from your journey, but it is not safe to stop, so you must journey on.
Then, as you near Jerusalem, you find a surprising refuge. There—despite frequent threats from Islamic forces—is a hospital, is a hospital run by men in black robes with a white cross.
These are the Hospitallers—warriors, caregivers, and protectors of the weak.
The Hospitallers, officially known as the Order of St. John, started as a group of monastics who cared for sick and injured pilgrims in Jerusalem around the 11th century. But as Muslim forces threatened Christian control of the Holy Land, they took up arms to defend both their hospitals and the travelers they served. They became warrior monks, similar to the better-known Templars, but with a special focus on medical care.
Even after the Crusaders lost Jerusalem, the Hospitallers didn’t disappear. They moved first to the island of Rhodes and later to Malta, where they built powerful fortresses and continued to provide medical aid while also fighting off attacks from the Ottoman Empire.
Today, the Hospitaller tradition lives on in the Order of Malta, which focuses on charity and medical missions worldwide. Their hospitals, emergency aid, and disaster relief efforts continue the spirit of those medieval monks who saw Christ in the sick and the suffering.
You don’t need to be a hospitaller to have hospitality—we can all embody the hospitallers’ warmth and generosity! Remind yourself to make your home a refuge with this Come Have Breakfast Dish Towel. Featuring a cute breakfast design and the Scripture passage from John 21:12, “Jesus said to them: ‘Come have breakfast,’” this dish towel will help make your kitchen a place of Christian hospitality. Order yours today from The Catholic Company!
