It is the well-known motto and prayer of "The poor soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon", of Jerusalem, in short, the Knights Templar. Motto adopted at the beginning of the existence of the Templar Order, in the twelfth century and taken by all the Orders that are proclaimed to continue the Templar traditions.

But what does this expression used in the Latin language mean and how have the medieval Templars come to adopt it as a motto and as a spiritual Creed?

The phrase above is not an expression invented by the Knights Templar, but Psalm 113: 9, with the following complete writing: “Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your goodness , for your loyalty. ” Since the first song of this Psalm and until its adoption as a motto of the Christian knights-monks, 2000 years have passed, and the adoption of this motto has not been done randomly, but naturally, in the context of a spiritual evolution predestined for the daring soldiers of Christianity.

First, let's see what the Psalm is. The Psalm is a prayer of humility, repentance, or praise to God, said in the way it is written in Los Cantares - Psalter. The oldest prayers, or Christian religious songs, are the Psalms, taken from Jewish worship. The Psalms, in number of 151, are grouped into 5 sections, just as they have been categorized in the Hebrew book Torah, a group made according to them: praise, repentance, pain, sadness. Therefore, the Psalter has also been named the Book of the soul.

The Psalms, in Jewish, means the Book of Praise because they praise the Work of God and his care for all beings. The authors of the Psalms have been the great scholars of antiquity, true initiates in the spiritual sciences, among which also religion: David, Solomon, Ethan, Moses, Hezekiah, and so on. King David has written more than 70 Psalms, Solomon has written 18 Psalms, among which it seems that also Psalm 113. The great Jewish priests have done nothing but record and classify the Psalms, the last group of Psalms, the fifth, being called THE PERFECTION AND PRAISE OF THE WORD OF GOD. This section also forms part of Psalm 113: 9 with the following scripture that I have already shown: Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your goodness, for your loyalty.

Therefore, Psalm 113: 9 shows that the Glory of God is so great that not only men sing the Glory, but also the sea, the mountains, the land and the Jordan River. And this great Glory must always be exalted, said and sung because the Work of the Lord is always manifested. For the Hebrews, the Psalm has a special meaning, through it they remember whenever God has saved them from Egypt, teaching Moses what he has to do to free them from slavery.

The Christian religion has taken the Psalter of the Jews and introduced the Psalms in all religious masses, according to well-chosen criteria. Psalm 113, for example, is sung during Holy Week, before Easter. But not only. Both the Jews as well as the priests and the Christian monks sang this Psalm so many times that something miraculous, weird happened, or obtained great success in their activity. They considered him a praise to the Lord for his greatness and his kindness in relation to the request and the human emptiness before the Divinity. At the same time, Christians thank God because his Son has taken the sins of mankind and raised him the third day after the crucifixion.

Later, the Psalm has been said and sung as a prayer of thanks from Christians when they have won victory in the battles they frequently carried out, both in the Christian kingdoms, as well as against those of other religions. It is considered that victory could be achieved only with the will of God and that is why they brought him songs of praise. From various documentary sources, we learn that Psalm 113 has been frequently sung by the chaplains that accompanied the Christian armies in the first crusade, so prayer in the form we know it, “Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomini Tuo da Gloriam! ”has become well known and sung by the crossed soldiers. Or, rather, since then it has begun to be used very often as a way to thank for any victory, big or small.

One of the significant moments of the first crusade, in which the Crusaders have thanked the Lord by saying Psalm 113: 9, has been the battle of the Antioch Fortress. Being in numerical inferiority, after the conquest of the fortress, in June of 1098, the crossed armies had to reject a counterattack of the Muslim army. Mobilized by the news that the Holy Spear has been found in the fortress church, the Crusaders have defeated the Muslims. The victory of the Crusaders has made the Psalm considered a very powerful prayer, which brought the victory to the Christians, and after the conquest of Jerusalem, in August 1099, it has become a true motto of the new chivalrous brotherhood "The Order of the Holy Sepulcher." The Templars have adopted this motto due to the fact that five of the nine founders have been according to some data, knights of the Holy Sepulcher. The motto has been accepted by San Bernardo de Claraval, who considered, in his work…. That the only true gentlemen are the members of the religious military Orders. Maybe also for that, this motto has been one of the best known, with meanings and effects of the deepest.

In the period of late feudalism, after the official cancellation of the Order, we find again the motto about many constructions of England and Scotland, which denotes the continuity of the existence and manifestation of the Templar spirit.

What is the meaning of this motto? We believe, in the first place, that by adopting this Psalm as a motto, the Templars have expressed their Creed: "I believe in God, I dedicate my life and fight in his name and for his Glory!" They have declared their Christian faith and Your obedience to God.

Starting from the fact that the Psalm could have been written by Solomon or by David, according to several researchers, another meaning would be the continuity of the spiritual work of the two kings. The search for the Light and the Truth of God King David has received the message of God for the construction of the Temple, and his son King Solomon, has put it into practice, has built the magnificent Temple that combines the two sides: the material and the spiritual. The glorification prayer of God spiritually strengthens the combatant, the Templar, reborn in the Temple of Solomon as a noble knight of Christ. He, the combatant, defends the Christian faith not only on the battlefield, but also spiritual, beginning with his own spiritual elevation.

We can appreciate how being an important meaning of the motto taken from the Psalm and for that reason the religious, moral and spiritual mobilization of the knights before the military actions to defeat the enemies. The mood of the combatant has been and is the most important weapon of any soldier in combat, which ensures the achievement of victory, and prayer had just the activating role in combat.

An interesting aspect is also the way to express the sentences. The Psalms and in general the Christian prayers, were said as rhymed poems, poems with white rhymes or songs. In fact, more than a third of these prayers were sometimes sung also accompanied by rudimentary, period instruments. It is a big difference between song and song. The song, very agile, contains in its text parables or postulates with a great load of wisdom. Just the notion of Singing means "Illumination" or "Wisdom", which explains why the Psalms have also been called Songs.

The aspect has not gone out of sight of the great composers who have made music for different Psalms. The Psalms, as a musical work, have a very special harmony for their spiritual load and the specific musicality of religious prayers.

Psalm 113: 9 is a song, just like the other prayers of the Psalter, with an unmistakable melodic.

Recited, in writing or sung, the Templar motto has been and continues to be an expression full of meanings, of wisdom, which has transcended time at best due to its complex symbolism.

In relation to the great contribution of St. Bernard of Claraval to the recognition, development and existence, in general, of the Order of the Knights Templar, we can draw some conclusions:

- The Order of the Knights Templar had as its main characteristic, that the noble knights, military by definition, education and training, have accepted and adopted the monastic life, while also preserving the quality of the military.

- Saint Bernard, together with Hugues de Payens and the other founding knights, have managed to create a true world of the Templars, a true Templar spirit, totally different from the secular or monastic world. This world of the Templars had its own rules, rights and obligations, was independent in a feudal era of territorial fragmentation and great privileges of the lords. The spirit of the world of the Templars has created a new type of combatant, who had in his right hand the sword and in the left hand the Bible, totally submitted to his commanders and not only to them, glad to give his life for his faith , by his Templar brother, but also by the Christians of the Holy Land.

- This world of the Templars, with its own rules, has generated a multitude of myths, legends and superstitions due to the secrets, mysteries in which the Templars lived and died, far from the eyes of the Church and the kings.

- The spirit of the Templar knight has transcended time and over the centuries has consolidated the prototype of this genre of combatant as a precursor to modern special troops.

- The Templar Order, like the Cistercian Order, has been the first transnational organizations of special efficiency, true models of organization and administrative structure. The propagation of the Templar Order in the Christian countries has been done with the direct support of the Cistercian monasteries and priests who often sent nobles themselves to the Templar Order.

And a large part of this exceptional achievement is due to the visionary San Bernardo de Claraval.

 

 

 

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