The Valiant Order of St Martin
The Valiant Order of St Martin exists to recognise the efforts of liberal catholic clergy to serve Christ through the ordinary in free measure and also the exceptional and the extraordinary.
Christ has no limit to the love He shows to those who follow Him. So too the valiant Order of St Martin holds no limit on who can be recognised provided above all and always that Christs example, and respect of and obedience to, that example are followed.
A Tuscan by birth, St. Martin was elected to the papal throne in AD649. He had been a reader and a deacon before his election (but we can find no mention of him being priest), and he was crowned without the consent of Emperor Constans II. Shortly after being elected, Martin convened a synod at the Lateran to condemn monothelitism; the synod defied an order from the emperor to discuss this issue. Constans sent Olympius, the exarch of Ravenna, to bring the Martin to Constantinople for trial. Olympius failed, and in 653, Theodore Collipas, the new exarch, invaded Rome and imprisoned Martin (who was pope), and he spent a year under guard on Naxos. When the party reached Constantinople in 654, Martin was charged with treason and condemned to death. Patriarch Paul II intervened on the his behalf, and the sentence was changed to life imprisonment. Sent to Cherson in the Crimea in 655, Martin starved and died three months after his arrival. He is the last pope to have been martyred.
St Martin shows, like the Christ he served, that there are times when we must step out beyond what is expected of us, indeed, there are times when our conscience must cause us to disobey the 'law' and work beyond the contemporary, alone if necessary; to martyrdom if necessary: to serve the greater good.
Where liberal catholic clergy, of all churches, denominations or labels have shown or meet these qualities, upon proposal and seconding by those who are peers in the Christian faith, they will be recognised by this order of the Liberal Catholic Apostolic Church. Particularly though, the clergy of the LCAC will be recognised when having shown outstanding work and serving by listing in this order. It should be noted, that some will be listed here against their will: they not wanting to seek reward for what they do. However, recognition belongs to those who recognise, rather than those who are recognised...and Christ knows us all as individuals.
The Board of the Valiant Order of St Martin welcomes proposals for membership, current or postumous.
