The Abbey-Principality of San Luigi wishes all visitors to our website a safe and blessed Christmass.

^“For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.

His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and for ever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” – Isaiah 9:6-7

The tabernacle of Prince-Abbot Edmond I, hand-crafted and used in his private oratory, is now a part of the Archive of the Abbey-Principality once more. The tabernacle has been sympathetically restored by its previous custodians at the archive of the American Chapter of the Order of the Crown of Thorns, and is now in use in the oratory of the Prince-Abbot. It is decorated with an ikon of the Theotokos.

The Archive of the Abbey-Principality includes a gold bullion preaching stole of Prince-Abbot Joseph III. Three of these, all made in France during the nineteenth-century, were owned by him: the example in our Archive, a further example in the archive of the American Chapter, and one more which is now in private hands.

The preaching stole, with its characteristic “spade”-shaped ends, is made in cloth of gold decorated with elaborate embroidery in heavy gold bullion.

The Grand Prior of Continental Europe for the San Luigi Orders, H.E. Dr Norbert Wójtowicz, has published his latest book, “Freemasonry and the Catholic Church”, which explores both history and future prospects.

The Prince-Abbot, a staunch monarchist, has been honoured by the Polish Monarchists’ Association (Unia Polskich Ugrupowań Monarchistycznych), receiving the Medal of Merit and the 15 Year Commemorative Medal of the Association. The citation is for “promoting conservative values and traditions, and Polish military history”. The Regent of the Association, H.E. Alexander Podolski, is a Knight of the Order of the Crown of Thorns.

The Prince-Abbot was an invited speaker at the annual Reunion of the Central School of Religion in London today, of which institution he is a Fellow. He delivered a talk entitled The eirenic vision of Ambrose Philipps de Lisle (1809-78) which explored the life and work of this Victorian ecumenist and Catholic convert. Several members of the San Luigi Orders were in the audience.

At leisure, Prince-Abbot Joseph III greatly enjoyed the smoking of fine cigars. Less well-known is his hobby, which was to decorate cigar boxes in an elaborate style using metal foils laid upon designs in relief, also lining them with felt. Some of these were given as presents to friends.

The Archive of the Abbey-Principality has one example of a decorated box of this kind. Silver and gold foils are used, with the lining being of red felt. The last photograph shows the detail of the design inside the lid.

The concordat between the Abbey-Principality and the American Chapter of the Order of the Crown of Thorns in the 1950s brought together Prince-Abbot Edmond I and Archbishop Lowell Paul Wadle in a resolve to work together for the common good and united future of the Order. As part of this agreement, the two prelates each gave and received a pectoral cross. Both crosses are now preserved as part of the Archive of the Abbey-Principality.

Jewelled gold pectoral cross presented by Archbishop Lowell Paul Wadle to Prince-Abbot Edmond I to mark the concordat with the American Chapter of the Order of the Crown of Thorns.

Silver pectoral cross presented by Prince-Abbot Edmond I to Archbishop Lowell Paul Wadle to mark the concordat with the American Chapter of the Order of the Crown of Thorns.