Our Rule of Life

The community of Pages, Squires, Knights and Ladies of the Order of the Green Cross are bound together as a communion (as are other Christian communities and traditional orders), by three vows that emerged out of the three historic martyrdom movements in Christianity: the red martyrdom, green martyrdom and white martyrdom. Our vows are seen as principles or as a way of living our lives according to the teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They are not laws but flow out of love. So long as they do, our vows are not burdensome but light and life. From the green martyr movement of St. Patrick, we have taken vow of poverty or simplicity; from white martyrdom we have taken a vow of chastity; and from red martyrdom we have taken the vow obedience.

The Vow of poverty or simplicity translates into a lifestyle in which we are willing to be poor or rich, to be abased or abound for the cause of Christ. We believe that the Lord takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servants (Psalm 35:28). We believe that it is God's nature to want to bless us. But we also are living in a culture that is exploitive, manipulative and built on crass consumerism. The capitalism of our country seeks to exploit our natural inclination to be greedy and lustful and materialistic. We believe God wants us to resist the temptation to be greedy or possessive. We have chosen to live our lives in such a way that we will not manipulate people or God's creation for our own ends. We want to be free from hoarding and possessiveness, so that we are free to be generous and bold to use all we have for God without being bound by the fear of poverty . We embrace the responsibility to be faithful stewards of God's creation, and are committed to seek often the silence and solitude of the wildernesses of the earth, as strangers and pilgrims of another world. In this way, we will put ourselves in remembrance that though we are in the world, we are not of the world, but are to keep ourselves separate from it. Our green martyr vow is represented in our green cross and the color green.

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims , abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul."

"If you belonged to the world , it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world , but I have chosen you out of the world . That is why the world hates you."

".come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord."

By confessing the vow of chastity we have accepted the responsibility to walk ion sexual purity. We understand we have been purchased by the blood of our Lord, and that our bodies are not our own. We have surrendered to God that which is ours to give but not to keep: Our entire selves, including our sexuality. We seek to love all people as Christ commands, but the specific emotions and intimacy of sexual relations are expressed only in married life. Some in our midst will be given the gift of marriage, while others the gift of celibacy. However, just as we have renounced possessiveness of the things we have, so we have renounced all forms of possessiveness in terms of exclusive relationships at the expense of the Christian community. What this means is that while in community, we are inclusive of others and share openly and freely of our friendships and relationships in the common bonds of peace and mutual Christian love.

"Owe no man any thing, but to love one a nother : for he that loveth a nother hath fulfilled the law."

"A new command I give you: Love one another . As I have loved you, so you must love one another . By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another ."

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love . Honor one another above yourselves."

"You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature[ 5:13 Or the flesh; also in verses 16, 17, 19 and 24] ; rather, serve one another in love ."

"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart." [Some early manuscripts from a pure heart]

"Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy ."

"You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?"

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another ; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

We have taken the red martyr's vow of Obedience. We understand this vow to mean a joyful abandonment of ourselves to God. We are commanded in scripture to honor those whom God has placed in authority over us, and we seek to recognize and respect the gifts, roles and authority of those who work alongside us in the community of the church . Furthermore, we have been called to be obedient to the Christian faith even if it means laying down our lives rather than denying the faith which has been delivered to the saints. Our vow of obedience puts the needs of the gospel and loyalty to the Lord and His Word, the Bible, above our own. We understand that faithfulness to the first two vows may be preparation for paying the ultimate price for our faith should that day come upon us here, at home, and abroad, as is the case for so many of our Christian brothers and sisters being persecuted and put to death for their faith around the world.

"Greater love has no one than t his , that he lay down his life for his friends."

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."

"Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death , and I will give thee a crown of life."

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death ."

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it."

We engage in a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly rhythm of life and devotion.

DAILY: We engage in the daily disciplines of prayer, bible reading and meditation. Our daily discipline of prayer consists of early morning creedal confessions, both of Nicaea and of Patrick, adoration, confession, the giving of thanks, intercession on the behalf of others, and the making of petitions on behalf of ourselves. We seek to briefly pause and remember our Lord at 9 am (when he made his good confession before Pilate and was crucified), 12 noon (when he was in the agony of dereliction), and 3 pm (when our Lord bowed his head and died, and was buried). We end our day with the prayer of examen, wherein we review our day, and make confession of any sins of omission or commission, receive forgiveness and cleansing, make amendments and give thanks. We also give ourselves to the ongoing study of the doctrines of the true Christian faith, which we, as "keepers of the flame" are avowed to protect, defend, and spread; as well as the study of the lives of the saints and heroes of the saints, that we might glean wisdom from their ordered way of life. We end our day in such a way as to respect our mortality, making sure we get sufficient amounts of proper diet, sleep and rest.

WEEKLY: We devote ourselves to the weekly gathering of the saints on the Lord's Day. We do not merely attend services, but participate in them in worship, prayers, tithing, acts of service and ministry, and in the faithful observance of the sacrament.

MONTHLY: We make a monthly examen of our life before the Lord, reviewing, confessing, receiving forgiveness, making amends, and giving thanks unto the Lord for His mercy and grace, longsuffering and patience, and for His love and faithfulness. We also make a monthly accounting of ourselves with our Pastor, or with a trusted spiritual friend.

YEARLY: We go on a personal pilgrimage yearly, for no less than 3 days, to sojourn alone with God. We seek out places in nature, where we can enjoy the blessings of solitude and quietude; sacred places where our souls might make a careful examen before God, and where we can listen to His still small voice and gain a heart of wisdom and perspective, and wherein we might unclutter our mental closet. We observe the annual vigils and festivals of the church, as we follow the life of Christ throughout the church year, being careful to not only practice the disciplines of abstinence but of engagement, balancing fasting with feasting, silence and solitude with fellowship and witnessing, etc.

We take our vows of renunciation and affirmation from The Book of Common Prayer . We first make them at our baptism, and thereafter reaffirm them at the Holy Saturday Vigil, and then Resurrection Sunday morning. We stand firmly upon these by faith.

We do this in obedience with the Fourth question under the doctrine of Baptism in the section on Catechism which reads:

Q. What is required of us at Baptism?
A. It is required that we renounce Satan, repent of our sins, and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. "O Grant that he may have power and strength to have victory to triumph against the devil, the world and the flesh."

We make our renunciations facing west, away from the Jerusalem in the east, while the minister asking the questions is facing east.

Q. Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?
A. I renounce them.
Q. Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?
A. I renounce them.

We then make our affirmations, this time turning and facing the east, with the minister facing west

Q. Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept Him as your Savior?
A. I do.
Q. Do you put your whole trust in His grace and love?
A. I do.
Q. Do you promise to follow and obey Him as your Lord?
A. I do.