ORDER OF MALTA MEETINGS
Meetings of this Order are held in a Priory and presided over by a Prior.
The Priory is normally only opened either to receive new knights of the Order, or at the installation of the new Prior. This degree of Christian Knighthood recounts the history of the Knights of Malta and their long struggle against the unenlightened. It traces their progress from the time they left Jerusalem until they reached their final home on the island of Malta.
The attention of all candidates is drawn to the presence of five officers who assume the role of personal staff of the Grand Master, while the other officers represent the heads of the eight Langues or Tongues, into which the ancient Order was divided.
An explanation of the traditional history is given as the final part of the ceremony. The ritual has esoteric meaning and invites the candidate to reflect on the meaning of mystical resurrection.
PROVINCIAL MALTA MEETINGS
The Province of Cheshire and North Wales held its first ever Provincial Priory of Malta meeting on 31 October 2016, in the presence of the Great Sub Prior of Malta, Eminent Knight Steven John Warwick.
The Province has not previously held a separate meeting for the conferment of Provincial Malta rank.
IN 2024, the Province were honoured with the attendance of the recently appointed Great Sub-Prior of Malta, Eminent Knight Alan Howls, Past Provincial Sub-Prior of Staffordshire and Shropshire, at the Provincial Meeting of the Order of Malta. The Provincial Sub-Prior, Eminent Knight Peter Butler, undertook the ceremony with the Great Sub-Prior delivering the Accolade.
The Provincial Prior appointed and invested his Provincial Malta Officers of the year during the conferring of the Degree of St. Paul.
The Great Sub-Prior was presented with a bottle of Cheshire Gin to commemorate his visit.