This year our Drumraw Encampment will be playing a central role in the local summer festival entitled Banntastic 2019. This family festival showcases the best of local culture and heritage with a strong emphasis on history. It is a great opportunity to engage with the local community and give them an opportunity to learn more about the rich history and role of the Ancient & Illustrious Order of Knights of Malta.
The festival is the highpoint of the summer and many of our Sir Knights have been involved in its organisation. It will showcase Ulster Scots music and culture which again underscores the links between our Order and its Scottish roots. Indeed many refer to the Malta as the Scots or Scotch Black. The story of the Malta is a mirror of the Ulster-Scots Story as the order was forged in Scotland and exported with the settler community to Ulster where it was tried in the fires or religious war ever since.
Like the Scots-Irish, as they are known in America, the Order was then planted in the New World. Wherever the Christian faith was introduced the Knights of Malta were found. They provided protection and helped to promote the faith through faith and example. It mushroomed in America and was a much larger movement than the Orange Order or any other fraternal body introduced to the States.
Like here the Order continues to survive despite the challenges of secularism and other social pursuits, however, as an invisible benevolent presence in society we continue to work and fight for our faith.
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