Revised January 13, 2012
I am a Knight of Rizal.
My motto is “Non Omnis Moriar” 1/ meaning
not all of me shall die or I will not altogether die.
My mandate, within the Order of the Knights of Rizal,
is to accomplish the following general purposes: 2/
• to study the teachings of Dr. Jose Rizal;
• to propagate and inculcate said teachings in the minds
of the Filipino people and other citizens of the world and,
by word and deed, exhort them to emulate and practice
the examples set by Dr. Jose Rizal;
• to promote among the Knights of the Order the true spirit of
patriotism and Rizalian chivalry;
• to develop a perfect union among Filipinos and other citizens
of the world in revering the memory of Dr. Jose Rizal; and
• to organize and hold programs, activities and annual festivities
in honor of Dr. Jose Rizal.
To achieve these purposes, I pledge to carry out and realize the
following specific objectives 3/ in harmony with fellow Knights:
• To study and spread the ideals, teachings and exemplary
life of Dr. Jose Rizal especially among the youth of the Land;
• To organize chapters in the Philippines or any part of the
world, undertake programs which will promote individual
commitment to the ideals and teachings of Rizal, and
encourage enlightened personal involvement in
addressing contemporary issues; and
• To train and develop the youth in character building,
citizenship training, democratic leadership, patriotism,
universal brotherhood, and dedicated service to God,
country and people.
I am a Knight of Rizal.
No thought, no idea, no emotion, no suggestion can frighten,
intimidate, perturb or unsettle me; for they are but ephemeral
waves of mental and emotional states that incessantly come
rolling and crashing against the changeless, timeless ground 4/
of which I am a part.
It is the same sacred, sanctified, solid, supreme ground …
“…donde no hay esclavos, verdugos ni opresores,
donde la fe no mata, donde el que reina es Dios” 5/
… where there are no slaves, hangmen nor oppressors,
where faith does not kill, where he who reigns is God. 6/
I am a Knight of Rizal.
I uphold patriotism as a virtue and a striving, powered by love
for dignity, integrity, justice, liberty, rights and self-esteem.
I love my country with a divinely stamped, eternal, great,
heroic, imperishable and most disinterested love. 7/
To my motherland, I say, as Rizal did:
“Salud! Ah, que es hermoso caer por darte vuelo,
morir por darte vida, morir bajo tu cielo,
y en la encantada tierra la eternidad dormer.” 8/
Cheers! How lovely it is: to fall to give you power to fly,
to die to give you vigor to live, to die under your sky,
and, in the land enchanted, to sleep for eternity! 9/
I am a Knight of Rizal.
I commit and vow to help in giving Rizalist light and moving
my country to poised prosperity rooted in moral potency 10/
and to transcend obstacles to a noble life of overcoming
even if the exertions of struggle might mean my early passing,
after all, the merit and value of a dream or vision worth living for,
is that, as Dr. Rizal and many martyrs proved, it is worth dying for.
From a long-term view, I see all humanity as my family, because:
“Some centuries hence, when mankind shall become enlightened
and redeemed, when there shall be no races, when all peoples shall
become free, when there shall be neither tyrants nor slaves, nor
colonies nor metropolis, when justice shall rule, and man shall
become a citizen of the world, the cult of science alone shall
remain, the word patriotism shall smack of fanaticism, and he
who would boast of patriotic virtues will undoubtedly be confined
as a dangerous sick man, as a perturber of social harmony.” 11/
I am a Knight of Rizal.
Equally respecting and valuing the whole gamut of worldviews,
I believe we are not human beings having spiritual experiences;
but rather we are spiritual beings having human experiences 12/
even as I appreciate others whose principles and convictions
exclude matters beyond material measures and calibrations.
I am resolved not to identify myself with each brief and transitory
heart-mind state passing through me, as they are but temporary
contents of the permanent container that forms, permeates, and
saturates my entire true being; hence, I look for and live the truly
empowering inner life with the eternal 13/
for which, abiding, I stand.
I am a Knight of Rizal.
Verily: “Morir es descansar” 14/ To die is to rest. 15/
To die or be non-attached to the temporal is to abide in the eternal.
Yet, resting on this vocation to eternal life means not suppressing
but actually reinforcing one’s duty to apply the energies and
resources received from the Uncaused Cause to visions and
actions serving to promote and protect justice and peace
in this realm of the mortal. 16/
“Acordando la fe y la razon” 17/
or making faith and reason agree18/,
I make my days count with works “ad majorem Phil gloriam” 19/
for Inang Bayan’s abundance, blessings, calm, dignity, freedom,
grace, integrity, joy, justice, liberty, life that overcomes,
mental toughness, moral vigor, peace, prosperity and wisdom.
____________________
1/ Official Motto of the Order of the Knights of Rizal;
attributed as a quote from Horace
2/ Section 1, 2006 By-Laws of the Order of the Knights of Rizal,
based on Section 2 of Republic Act No. 646
3/ Section 2, 2006 By-Laws of the Order of the Knights of Rizal
4/ cf Guy Finley, “The Lost Secrets of Prayer”, Llewellyn Publications,
2006, p.56
5/ Penultimate paragraph, Last Farewell of Dr. Rizal
6/ Edwin Bael translation of the same lines in the penultimate paragraph
7/ cf Jose Rizal, “Love of Country”, La Solidaridad, Madrid,
31 Oct 1890, p. 247
8/ Fifth paragraph, Last Farewell of Dr. Rizal
9/ Edwin Bael translation of the same lines in the fifth paragraph
10/ cf “moral and material development” in Rizal’s Letter to the
Governor and Captain General of the Philippine Islands, Hongkong,
21 Mar 1892,Epistolario Rizalino, III, No. 527, p. 306
11/ Jose Rizal, El Filibusterismo, Ghent, 1891, p. 48
12/ cf Quote from Pierre Teillhard de Chardin
13/ cf Guy Finley, op. cit., p. 62
14/ Last phrase of Rizal’s Last Farewell
15/ Edwin Bael translation of the same last phrase.
16/ cf Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 2820
17/ Line # 4, Fifth Stanza, “Hymn To Talisay”, by Dr. Jose Rizal
18/ Edwin Bael translation of that Line from Hymn to Talisay
19/ Taken from a line in one of Rizal’s letters to Mariano Ponce:
“I am very busy these days for I am working
'ad majorem Phil. gloriam'” - a Latin phrase literally meaning
'to the greater glory of the Philippines', a paraphrase of the
more common expression ‘Ad majorem gloriae Dei’.
I am a Knight of Rizal.
My motto is “Non Omnis Moriar” 1/ meaning
not all of me shall die or I will not altogether die.
My mandate, within the Order of the Knights of Rizal,
is to accomplish the following general purposes: 2/
• to study the teachings of Dr. Jose Rizal;
• to propagate and inculcate said teachings in the minds
of the Filipino people and other citizens of the world and,
by word and deed, exhort them to emulate and practice
the examples set by Dr. Jose Rizal;
• to promote among the Knights of the Order the true spirit of
patriotism and Rizalian chivalry;
• to develop a perfect union among Filipinos and other citizens
of the world in revering the memory of Dr. Jose Rizal; and
• to organize and hold programs, activities and annual festivities
in honor of Dr. Jose Rizal.
To achieve these purposes, I pledge to carry out and realize the
following specific objectives 3/ in harmony with fellow Knights:
• To study and spread the ideals, teachings and exemplary
life of Dr. Jose Rizal especially among the youth of the Land;
• To organize chapters in the Philippines or any part of the
world, undertake programs which will promote individual
commitment to the ideals and teachings of Rizal, and
encourage enlightened personal involvement in
addressing contemporary issues; and
• To train and develop the youth in character building,
citizenship training, democratic leadership, patriotism,
universal brotherhood, and dedicated service to God,
country and people.
I am a Knight of Rizal.
No thought, no idea, no emotion, no suggestion can frighten,
intimidate, perturb or unsettle me; for they are but ephemeral
waves of mental and emotional states that incessantly come
rolling and crashing against the changeless, timeless ground 4/
of which I am a part.
It is the same sacred, sanctified, solid, supreme ground …
“…donde no hay esclavos, verdugos ni opresores,
donde la fe no mata, donde el que reina es Dios” 5/
… where there are no slaves, hangmen nor oppressors,
where faith does not kill, where he who reigns is God. 6/
I am a Knight of Rizal.
I uphold patriotism as a virtue and a striving, powered by love
for dignity, integrity, justice, liberty, rights and self-esteem.
I love my country with a divinely stamped, eternal, great,
heroic, imperishable and most disinterested love. 7/
To my motherland, I say, as Rizal did:
“Salud! Ah, que es hermoso caer por darte vuelo,
morir por darte vida, morir bajo tu cielo,
y en la encantada tierra la eternidad dormer.” 8/
Cheers! How lovely it is: to fall to give you power to fly,
to die to give you vigor to live, to die under your sky,
and, in the land enchanted, to sleep for eternity! 9/
I am a Knight of Rizal.
I commit and vow to help in giving Rizalist light and moving
my country to poised prosperity rooted in moral potency 10/
and to transcend obstacles to a noble life of overcoming
even if the exertions of struggle might mean my early passing,
after all, the merit and value of a dream or vision worth living for,
is that, as Dr. Rizal and many martyrs proved, it is worth dying for.
From a long-term view, I see all humanity as my family, because:
“Some centuries hence, when mankind shall become enlightened
and redeemed, when there shall be no races, when all peoples shall
become free, when there shall be neither tyrants nor slaves, nor
colonies nor metropolis, when justice shall rule, and man shall
become a citizen of the world, the cult of science alone shall
remain, the word patriotism shall smack of fanaticism, and he
who would boast of patriotic virtues will undoubtedly be confined
as a dangerous sick man, as a perturber of social harmony.” 11/
I am a Knight of Rizal.
Equally respecting and valuing the whole gamut of worldviews,
I believe we are not human beings having spiritual experiences;
but rather we are spiritual beings having human experiences 12/
even as I appreciate others whose principles and convictions
exclude matters beyond material measures and calibrations.
I am resolved not to identify myself with each brief and transitory
heart-mind state passing through me, as they are but temporary
contents of the permanent container that forms, permeates, and
saturates my entire true being; hence, I look for and live the truly
empowering inner life with the eternal 13/
for which, abiding, I stand.
I am a Knight of Rizal.
Verily: “Morir es descansar” 14/ To die is to rest. 15/
To die or be non-attached to the temporal is to abide in the eternal.
Yet, resting on this vocation to eternal life means not suppressing
but actually reinforcing one’s duty to apply the energies and
resources received from the Uncaused Cause to visions and
actions serving to promote and protect justice and peace
in this realm of the mortal. 16/
“Acordando la fe y la razon” 17/
or making faith and reason agree18/,
I make my days count with works “ad majorem Phil gloriam” 19/
for Inang Bayan’s abundance, blessings, calm, dignity, freedom,
grace, integrity, joy, justice, liberty, life that overcomes,
mental toughness, moral vigor, peace, prosperity and wisdom.
____________________
1/ Official Motto of the Order of the Knights of Rizal;
attributed as a quote from Horace
2/ Section 1, 2006 By-Laws of the Order of the Knights of Rizal,
based on Section 2 of Republic Act No. 646
3/ Section 2, 2006 By-Laws of the Order of the Knights of Rizal
4/ cf Guy Finley, “The Lost Secrets of Prayer”, Llewellyn Publications,
2006, p.56
5/ Penultimate paragraph, Last Farewell of Dr. Rizal
6/ Edwin Bael translation of the same lines in the penultimate paragraph
7/ cf Jose Rizal, “Love of Country”, La Solidaridad, Madrid,
31 Oct 1890, p. 247
8/ Fifth paragraph, Last Farewell of Dr. Rizal
9/ Edwin Bael translation of the same lines in the fifth paragraph
10/ cf “moral and material development” in Rizal’s Letter to the
Governor and Captain General of the Philippine Islands, Hongkong,
21 Mar 1892,Epistolario Rizalino, III, No. 527, p. 306
11/ Jose Rizal, El Filibusterismo, Ghent, 1891, p. 48
12/ cf Quote from Pierre Teillhard de Chardin
13/ cf Guy Finley, op. cit., p. 62
14/ Last phrase of Rizal’s Last Farewell
15/ Edwin Bael translation of the same last phrase.
16/ cf Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 2820
17/ Line # 4, Fifth Stanza, “Hymn To Talisay”, by Dr. Jose Rizal
18/ Edwin Bael translation of that Line from Hymn to Talisay
19/ Taken from a line in one of Rizal’s letters to Mariano Ponce:
“I am very busy these days for I am working
'ad majorem Phil. gloriam'” - a Latin phrase literally meaning
'to the greater glory of the Philippines', a paraphrase of the
more common expression ‘Ad majorem gloriae Dei’.
