Venerable Order of Saint John

The **Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem** (), is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America.  Its world-wide mission is "to prevent and relieve sickness and injury, and to act to enhance the health and well-being of people anywhere in the world." In 1961 it played a role in the establishment of the Alliance of the Orders of St. John of Jerusalem, and thereafter finally received through a concordat in 1963 collateral recognition by the Order of Malta. The most recent royal charter was  in 1955, with a supplemental charter released in 1974, recognizing the world-wide scope of the organization by setting its present name. In 1999, the order was granted special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

 served as the sovereign head of the order during his reign]]

Knights and Dames receive the award from the Grand Prior when they are touched on the shoulder with a sword and are given their robes and insignia. Post-nominal letters of the order are not used outside the organization itself, except in New Zealand, and a Knight and Dame may not use the prefix *sir* or *dame*, though they may request from their local heraldic authority a personal coats of arms, should they not already possess any, and have it adorned with emblems of the Order of St. John. Further, membership in the order only grants precedence within the society, which is as follows:

# The Sovereign Head
# The Grand Prior
# The Lord Prior of St. John
# The Prior of a Priory or the Knight or Dame Commander of a Commandery when within the territory of the establishment
# The Prelate of the Order
# The Deputy Lord Prior or the Deputy Lord Priors and if more than one in the order of seniority in their grades
# The Sub-Prior of the Order
# Former Great Officers
# Bailiffs and Dames Grand Cross
# The Prior of a Priory or the Knight or Dame Commander of a Commandery outside the territory of the establishment
# Members of the Grand Council not included above in the order of seniority in their grades
# The Principal Officers in the order of their offices
# The Sub-Prelates and the Honorary Sub-Prelates
# The Hospitaller of the Order
# Knights and Dames
# Chaplains
# Commanders
# Officers
# Serving Brothers and Serving Sisters
# Esquires

Precedence within each grade is dictated by dates of appointment, save for those in Grade I who are either a head of state or a member of the royal family of a Commonwealth realm, another Commonwealth country, or foreign state, in which case they all precede the other members of the grade in the following order: may exist within or wholly or partly without the territory of a Priory, known as Dependent or Independent Commanderies, respectively. Any country without a Priory or Commandery of its own is assumed into the "home priory" of England and The Islands, many of these being smaller Commonwealth of Nations states in which the order has only a minor presence.

The Order of St. John is said to have arrived in Canada in 1648, as the second Governor of New France, Charles de Montmagny, was a member of the original order, but it was not until 1883 that the first branch of the modern organization was established in the country, at Quebec City, growing to 12 branches by 1892. The Order of St. John today forms part of the Canadian national honours system, and the Priory, established in 1946 out of the Commandery of Canada, is the largest outside of the United Kingdom, with some 6,000 members. The Canadian monarch's viceroy, the governor general, serves as the Prior and Chief Officer in Canada, while the provincial viceroys the lieutenant governors act as the Vice-Priors, overseeing the administration of the order in their respective provinces. That for the Sovereign Head is gold with arms of white enamel and the embellishments rendered in gold, all surmounted by a jeweled St. Edward's Crown, while those for the officers of the order are the same save for the Grand Prior's having the crown made only of gold; the Lord Prior's having in place of the St. Edward's Crown the coronet in gold of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales; and the Prelate's having instead a representation of a Mitre in gold. Thereafter, the badges are prescribed as follows:

All Bailiffs and Dames Grand Cross may wear their badges either at the left hip on a  (for men) or  (for women) wide, black watered silk ribbon over the right shoulder or from a  wide black band at the collar. Male Knights Justice or Grace must carry their badges on a 16.5mm wide ribbon at the neck, and Commanders, Officers, and Members have theirs on a  straight ribbon suspended from a medal bar on the left breast, while females in all grades may wear their insignia either on a ribbon bow pinned at the left shoulder or hung from a medal bar in the men's fashion, depending on the circumstance and clothing worn. Bailiffs and Dames Grand Cross, Knights and Dames of Justice or Grace, and Chaplains may all also wear a breast star, which appears the same as their badges, only at a diameter of  and without embellishments for those in Grade I and  for those in Grade II. Further, those in these groups are also given a button for wear on the lapel of non-formal civilian clothing, for events such as business meetings of the order. In general, the insignia of the Order of St. John may be worn at all occasions where other decorations are worn, not only those connected with the ceremonies of the order.
, Grand Prior of the Order of St. John, at the investiture service of the order's priory in the United States]]

All members of the Order of St. John are also required to wear specific robes for formal occasions of the society, including a mantle, sopra vest, and hat. The mantles of the Sovereign Head and Grand Prior are all of black silk velvet and lined with white silk, the former's differentiated by an additional train. Bailiffs and Dames Grand Cross and, prior to 1926, Knights of Justice formerly wore black silk robes with a lining of the same material and colour; these members now wear the same mantle as Commanders, Officers, and Esquires, which are made of black merino wool faced with black silk. The only other unique mantles are those of the Medical Officer of the St. John Ophthalmic Hospital, which bears a special pattern, and of Chaplains, which is a black silk robe with full sleeves. Each cloak also bears on its left side a rendition of the order's star in white silk: the Sovereign Head, Grand Prior, and those in the first two grades of the order all have a  diameter emblem; the Sovereign's and Grand Prior's are of white silk with gold adornments, the former's also surmounted by a St. Edward's Crown, while those for Bailiffs and Dames Grand Cross, Knights and Dames of Justice, and Knights and Dames of Grace are rendered in white linen, the first two groups having embellishments in gold silk, the latter in white silk. Similarly, the star for Commanders and Officers is of white linen with white silk ornamentation, though they are only  and  in diameter, respectively. The Secretaries of the order, the priories, and the commanderies also wear the badge superimposed upon two goose quill pens embroidered saltire-wise in white silk. When full mantles and sopra vests are worn a black velvet Tudor style hat is included.

## Eligibility and appointment
The Sovereign makes all appointments to the order as she, in her absolute discretion, shall think fit, though the constitution does impose certain limitations: the maximum number of members is set at 35,000,

To be inducted, new members must recite the organization's declaration:
:"I do solemnly declare that I will be faithful and obedient to The Order of St. John and its Sovereign Head as far as it is consistent with my duty to my [Sovereign/President] and to my country; that I will do everything in my power to uphold its dignity and support its charitable works; and that I will endeavour always to uphold the aims of this Christian Order and to conduct myself as a person of honour."

Notwithstanding the order's devotion to Christian ideals of charity, and its official position that the order has a "Christian character," its Grand Council has since 1999 affirmed that "profession of the Christian Faith should not be a condition of membership of the Order." The issue of the order's Christian character and the issue of "inclusive membership" was dealt with in the Grand Council's *Pro Fide Report* in 2005, wherein it was said that the order's life is shaped by Christian faith and values, but that "[r]ather than the emphasis being primarily upon 'spiritual beliefs or doctrine' it is on works of mercy rendered through St. John"; therefore, while the Great Officers are required to profess the Christian faith, the same is "not an essential condition of membership" and "[t]he onus is on the man or woman who is invited to the privilege of membership to decide whether he or she can with a good conscience promise to be faithful to the stated aims and purposes of this Christian lay order of chivalry." On the subject of inclusive membership, the report stated "Christian hospitality is a criterion which can be applied to the Order's relationships to persons of other religious faiths," and "the Order needs to be characterized by a hospitable disposition towards other faith traditions while holding fast to its own origins and foundational identity in Christian faith."

## Order of Wear in each realm
As the Order of St. John is open to the citizens of sixteen different countries, each with their own system of orders, decorations, and medals, the order's place of precedence varies from country to country. Unlike with other multi-level orders, all the Order of St. John's grades rank between the society's predecessor and successor; some examples follow:

## Related pages
* List of the priors of St John of Jerusalem in England
* Museum of the Order of St John
* Sovereign Military Order of Malta
* Service Medal of the Order of St John

## Notes
## References
## Bibliography
* 

## Other websites
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