Trending Now Order Of The Teutonic Knights Quality Assured [LCyFrzOU]

The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem in Latin: Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum Hierosolymitanorum, also known as the Trending Now Order Of The Teutonic Knights Quality Assured [LCyFrzOU] is a Catholic religious order founded in 1192 to protect and defend the Holy Land during the Crusades.

After the loss of Jerusalem in 1187, some German monks opened a field hospital during the Siege of Acre in 1189-1191, after the siege they continued to care for the sick and established the St. Marien-Hospital of the Germans in Jerusalem ” drawing Christian knights and pilgrims and providing them with religious, medical, nursing and care services, for this in 1199, Pope Celestine III granted them the recognition as an order and instructed the monks to follow the Augustinian Rule and modeled the order after the Knights Templar, which transformed them into a military organization to help defend the the Holy Land and during peace time provide protection and escort to the faithful. The members of the order were committed to the vows of poverty, celibacy, chastity and obedience. Like other orders the Teutonic knights grew, and this created rivalry among political powers and other orders, an example of this was that at one point even the Templars claimed the White Mantle for themselves and even made an official protest and was denied by Pope Innocent III in 1210.

When the Holy Land finally fell under Muslim control in the early 14th century, the order returned to Christendom and faced numerous encounters, mainly with Eastern European States and fended off invasions from the Huns and later Ottomans.

Today, the order still exists as a Catholic Charitable Organization, the head office is in Vienna and has roughly 1,100 members, including 100 priests and 200 nuns who are primarily dedicated serving the poor. They are organized into territorial districts the order calls provinces, which can be understood as regional administrations for the order. In accordance with its original ideals "Self-giving love for those in need is a servant love modeled by Christ", the Order is now active in charitable activities and the educational field. Some of their focus is on the areas of care for the elderly and the disabled, as well as addiction support, while maintaining guest houses in Vienna and Rome. In addition, religious priests are employed as pastors in various parishes and others focus in the order's history.