“The Holy Trinity ordained that, in this year, there should be three celebrations for us, the members of the Knights of Malta Club, to honour.

Everything began on Bright Thursday, 9 May, precisely on Europe Day —a date on which, in 1877, Mihail Kogălniceanu read the Act of Independence in the Chamber of Deputies. This was followed by 10 May, a day bearing a threefold historical significance associated with the figure of King Carol I: the entry of the Prince into Bucharest (1866), the proclamation of Independence (1877), and the proclamation of the Kingdom of Romania (1881).

As these events took place during Bright Week, the first celebration was that of the Resurrection of the Lord. And there was Light! And we bestowed Light, as within a cathedral of the soul! With faith, emotion, devotion, and reverence, the new members and honorary members of the Club received the Light of the Book as a form of ennoblement. Not by the sword, but by the Book—a symbol of spiritual enlightenment and of closeness to God.

A book represents the torch of the world, and a life without learning is a lifeless existence, as Cato once told us. Paradise lies within us, yet only those who are learned and spiritually ennobled are able to discover it. This, truly, is what it means to be a knight!”