Pro Fide: The Honour of a Lifetime

The coat of arms of the US Priory of the Order of St. John.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

"The KING has been graciously pleased to sanction the following Promotions in, and Admissions to, the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem with effect from 4 April 2024 the date of His Majesty's sign-manual."  With those words published in the 19 April 2024 edition of The London Gazette, I found myself officially a member of the Order of St. John.  Even now, well over a week or more since the announcement, I still have moments of "that can't be true."  I consider this appointment to be an extraordinary "honour," one that defies my own belief in many ways. 

The coat of arms of Dr. Chad Krouse with the Order of St. John medal for serving members. 
Emblazoned by Quentin Peacock.

Of course, there is a heraldic element in this as well.  To help curb my excitement, I spent some time studying the arms of US Priory which were granted by the College of Arms in 1996 in recognition of its elevation to a priory.  The 1996 grant effectively replaced an earlier grant from 1988--made to the "American Society of the Order of St. John."  

The main arms are simply blazoned:  Gules, a cross throughout Argent, in dexter canton the Royal badge proper.  Each priory is then differenced through an emblem placed at the fess point.  For the US Priory: on a roundel Azure a Bald eagle head erased proper surrounded by thirteen mullets Argent.

Coat of arms, the US Priory of the Order of St. John.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The Order has two mottos:  Pro Fide and Pro Utilitate Hominum.  These two mottoes are translated from Latin, "for the faith," and "in the service to humanity."  Noble goals for us to work towards.  

Coat of arms, the US Priory of the Order of St. John with mottos.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Funny aside.  I was invited to join the members' Facebook Group where I shared my emblazonments of the US Priory and received positive feedback.  However, my good deed sparked several requests for emblazonments of other priories! 

Banner, the US Priory of the Order of St. John.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

As my old mentor used to say, "no good deed goes unpunished."  Indeed.  Thankfully, the differencing of the arms for each priory is fairly simple and straightforward and I was able to make some happy new confreres.

Coat of arms, the Priory in Canada of the Order of St. John.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Coat of arms, the Priory in Australia of the Order of St. John.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024

An illustration of the arms of St. Thomas Fifth Avenue and the US Priory of the Order of St. John.  I wanted to use the maltese crosses as little heraldic flowers.  Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

My investiture will be held at one of my favorite parishes, St. Thomas Fifth Avenue in New York later this year.  While my head continues to spin with excitement, I'm looking forward to this new journey.