21st Temple Guard: The Rt. Honourable Saint Maurice
Guardian of A Temple Gate:
The Right Honourable Deacon. St Maurice
Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, or Mauritius) who name also means black, was an Nubian Egyptian, born around the year 250 AD in Thebes, Upper Egypt (capital of the Egyptian New Kingdom, 1575-1069 BC), he was brought up in the region of Luxor. Very little is known about his childhood and early life. What we do know about his life starts when Maurice became a soldier in the Roman army.
He was a committed and skilled soldier and therefore was gradually promoted until he became the commander of the entire Theban legion, comprising approximately a thousand men, supposedly all Christians. His story begins when he and his Legion were called from Thebes, to Gaul (Western Europe) to assist Emperor Maximian to put down a revolt.
However before going into battle, they were ordered to offer sacrifices to the pagan Roman gods and also pay homage to the emperor. Maurice pledged his Legion’s allegiance to Rome, however refused to sacrifice to their gods and stated that for his Legion, service to God superseded all else.
Maximian, although outraged, as he badly needed their assistance, allowed this disobedience on this occasion. However he then ordered the Legion to harass some local Christians, but they refused. This was the last straw, so he ordered the punishment of the Legion, for its insubordination, having every tenth soldier killed, also known as decimation. More orders followed, the Legion refused as encouraged by their leader Maurice, and a second decimation was ordered. In response to the Theban Christians' refusal to attack any fellow Christians, Maximian ordered all the remaining members of his legion to be executed. This event occurred in what is now Switzerland, known as Agaunum, presumably on the site of the present Abbey of St. Maurice.
Saint Maurice became a patron saint of the German Holy Roman Emperors from the 10th century, his sword and spurs were part of the regalia used at coronations of the Austro-Hungarian emperors until 1916. Maurice is also the patron saint of the many European cities and town, found in Switzerland, Germany, France, Hungry, Denmark and other Western European countries.
Several orders of chivalry were established in his honor as well, including the Order of the Golden Fleece, Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, and the Order of Saint Maurice. Over 650 religious foundations dedicated to Saint Maurice can still be found in France and other European countries. Additionally, fifty-two towns and villages in France have been named in his honor.
The Credentials and Significance:
St Maurice although a black African, is one of the few Black people, of great influence within the Christian tradition, who has retained his identity into the Modern age, within western European art. Not only is this very important, but significantly, even though being Black skinned, he has still been revered throughout the middle ages up to the present. St Maurice nevertheless has great value for African Karastians (Christian’s) in this age, first to be reclaimed into our heritage and secondly, as a role model, for refusing to follow foreign idols, disguised as African, Hebrew, Israelite deities.
