The Order Today

St. Lazarus is one of the earliest of the Christian Orders of Chivalry. It is considered to have been founded in Jerusalem as a Military and Hospitaller Order of monks, somewhere between 1098 and 1120, at a time when any knight contracting leprosy was obliged to leave his order and go to the Saint Lazarus hospital. Legend has it that the Order's first Grand Master was the Blessed Gerard, the warrior monk who originally founded the Order of Saint John.  When he contracted leprosy himself and was obliged to leave his own order, he organised the leper knights already in the hospital into a new military order, which had the responsibility of both caring for lepers and fighting for the Cross.  These "living dead" as they referred to themselves, were never very large in number, but were valiant warriors, who usually died to a man in battle. When the Holy Land was eventually lost, the Order moved to France and from there, spread throughout Europe, founding leper hospitals wherever they went. 

Originally Roman Catholic, the Order it is now ecumenical, with members from all Christian walks of life. Although founded specifically to care for sufferers from leprosy - still one of the Order's aims today, other skin diseases are now included.  The Order's aims have also widened, to encompass many other forms of humanitarian aid. These include help for victims of natural and man-made disasters, the care of the terminally ill, of the homeless, orphans and primary health care worldwide. As the decline in Leprosy has not been as rapid as predicted by the World Health Organisation, the Order is once more putting emphasis on its work in that area.

Central Organisation

To be revised

National Jurisdictions.

Each national jurisdiction is known as a Grand Priory, Grand Bailiwick, or Commandery, the head of which is appointed by the Grand Master and is designated a Grand Prior, Grand Bailiff or Commander. These national jurisdictions, some of which have their own churches as well as established headquarters, all hold annual chapter meetings at which progress reports of the past year’s activities and audited financial accounts are presented. They also hold at least one investiture, as well as several fund-raising and social events each year. Many jurisdictions issue a regular newsletter to inform members of Grand Magistral Decrees, international news, forthcoming events, and reports of national activities and interesting articles. 

Local Commanderies.

Each national jurisdiction has the power to create local Commanderies where a sufficient number of members warrant it. The Commander is chosen and appointed by the Head of Jurisdiction. The Commandery officers are chosen and appointed by their Commander. Each Commandery organises a minimum of one church service each year, usually more, as well as social and other fundraising events for both the charitable works of the Order and for local charities of its choice.

International Jurisdictions.

These may be found in Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England and Wales, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Isle of Man, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States and Venezuela. New Jurisdictions and Commanderies are regularly being founded as the Order goes from strength to strength. 

In summary

The Order of Saint Lazarus is an ecumenical organization of Christian hospitallers whose spirit goes back to the Holy Land and the Crusades.

Thousands of members and volunteers continue to work in Grand Priories, Priories, Commanderies and Delegations in the five continents. The Order's traditional humanitarian activities are in the field of leprosy. It maintains leprosaria and dispensaries and sends medical supplies to various medical missions in Africa, and in the Pacific islands. A recent thrust of the American Grand Priory is the support of organ donation, led by its Hospitaller, the Deputy Surgeon General of the US. The Order is also involved in geriatric care for the needy, it operates several Volunteer Ambulance Corps including one for young drug addicts and directly supports a medical and religious mission in Kenya. Among the more noteworthy projects undertaken by the Order has been the weekly transport of basic food and medical supplies to Poland, Russia, the former Yugoslavia and Kosovo.

There are two categories of membership in the Order: Justice, for individuals able to submit nobiliary proofs, and Magisterial Grace for those unable to do so. Christians may be admitted in the following grades: Officer Brother/Sister, Commander Brother/Sister, Knight or Dame, Knight or Dame Commander, Knight or Dame Grand Cross. Ecclesiastics have their own Chaplain ranks. As a mark of the Grand Master's special esteem, the Order may also award a Collar to a head of State and very occasionally to its high dignitaries. The Order also confers decorations of merit to its members and to individuals not necessarily members of the Order who have contributed, by their service, to its humanitarian work.

The order's badge is a green Maltese cross edged in gold, worn in different sizes according to rank. The decoration of merit is a green cross flory. In the English-speaking jurisdictions of the Order members, use post-nominal initials indicating their rank (OLJ, CLJ, KLJ/DLJ, KCLJ/DCLJ, GCLJ) on internal correspondence, and in the ranks of KLJ and above refer to and address one another as "Chevalier".