ORDER OF MALTA MOMENT

Every Saturday morning for the past twelve years, hungry and often homeless men, women, and children have gathered in a South Dallas vacant lot to gratefully receive a hot meal from their brothers and sisters who are the knights and dames of the Dallas Region of the Order of Malta. Rain or shine, good weather and bad, the Order of Malta has been there, serving those in desperate need.

In the early 1990s, alone and defenseless in a South Dallas vacant lot, a homeless man died from malnutrition and exposure. This tragic death inspired a human interest article in the Dallas Morning News. The story described his daughter, a young woman in her early 20s, who, after her father’s death, would visit the lot and bring a small amount of food to the homeless and needy who would gather there. One of the story’s readers, Opal Phillips, showed up at the lot to offer her assistance and was shocked to see the number of needy people. When Opal returned home, she called a popular morning radio program to issue a call for help. A management consultant from the Park Cities area of Dallas, well known for her cooking skills, heard her plea. This good-hearted chef was appalled to see so many homeless, hungry people being served by a meager feeding program. Seeking help, she reached out to friends and eventually Bette and Jerry Hoag. Arriving at the vacant lot the next week, the Hoags found Opal there, dressed in her cowboy boots and hat, standing at her van filled with food from her farm. Bette and Jerry were instantly inspired, dedicating themselves for the next 22 years to the Saturday Morning - Vacant Lot Food Ministry to the Homeless. - read more -

In the Sovereign Military Order of Malta Liturgical Calendar, December 2 is celebrated as a memorial under the title “Our Lady of Liesse, Cause of Our Joy”. It is a very old tradition in the Order. In 1134 three Knights of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem,
prisoners of the Muslims in Egypt, reportedly miraculously found or received in their prison a statue of Our Lady, which they named "Notre Dame de Liesse" [“Our Lady of Joy” in French]. In response to their prayers, a young Muslim princess, named Ismerie, took an interest in the Knights and through the intercession of Our Lady and the mercy of God the princess was converted. The princess arranged the escape of the pious crusaders and joined them on their journey to France. They carried the statue with them, and in the region of Laon, about 35 miles northwest of Reims, they founded a church as a resting place for the statue. Through local devotion the church took on the name of the statue, and gave that name to the whole region, so that "Notre Dame de Liesse" came to mean both "Our Lady of Joy" and "Our Lady of [the place called] Liesse". The statue came to be venerated by many, and "Our Lady of Liesse" became the Patroness of the Diocese of Soissons. In 1620 the titular Bailiff of Armenia, Fra' Jacques Chenu de Bellay, built a church to Our Lady of Liesse at Valletta in Malta. The original statue was destroyed during the French Revolution, but the medieval basilica at Liesse remained a center of devotion to the Mother of God, and a new statue was installed and crowned there in 1857. It is still the focus of pilgrimage, especially on Whit Monday.