The Christmas Sword
The masculine equivalent of the “Golden Rose” is the Sword blessed by the Pope at Christmas, and, from time to time, presented to the most valiant princes.
Commonly bestowed during the 15th/ 16th centuries in gratitude for saving Europa from Mohammedan invaders, the Holy Father charged the recipient: “You are a fortification and bulwark to protect the holy Roman Church against the enemies of the Faith. Therefore, may your hand remain firm against the enemies of the Holy See and of the name of Christ, and may your right hand be lifted up, intrepid warrior, as you remove them from the earth.”
Clothed in surplice and cope, the prince would then chant the 5th lesson at Matins, a Christmas sermon of Leo the Great: “When our Lord entered the field of battle against the devil, He did so with a great and wonderful fairness. Being Himself the Almighty, He laid aside His uncreated Majesty to fight with our cruel enemy in our weak flesh…”
Before chanting this lesson, the prince unsheathed the sword, struck it against the ground three times, then brandished it in the air, again three times, and replaced it in the scabbard.
The first blessed sword was given to Charlemagne’s father in AD 758. The most recent one was presented to the last Dauphin of France in 1823. The next one (Deo volente) will be presented to the Great Monarch when the Invaders & the Perfidious are finally purged from Europa and the Earth itself.