Faith Life of Templars

The Templars were Latin—that is, Catholic—Christians. Their faith was the faith of pre-Reformation Europe, a broad Church which expected believers to attend church only three times a year and did not expect the laity to take an active role in church services. The Templars were not educated in theology and would not have been aware of or even interested in the complex theological debates that were taking place in the Latin Church in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Their function was to serve the Holy Land, not to engage in intellectual debate.

The Templars’ admission ceremony instructed that new members should make their vows to “God and Our Lady” (the Blessed Virgin Mary, Christ's Mother). They swore to be obedient to the master of the order, to preserve their physical chastity, and live without personal property. They also promised to keep the customs of the order, to help to conquer the Holy Land of Jerusalem, never to leave the order without permission from the master, and never to be in a situation where a Christian might be wrongfully deprived of his or her possessions through their authority or advice. When they had made these promises, they were welcomed into the house and promised “the bread and water and poor clothing of the house and much pain and suffering.” Although Jacques de Vitry, bishop of Acre (d. 1240), suggested that some brothers joined a military-religious order to gain prestige and an easier life, the order's official line was that life would not be easy, and that members could expect to sacrifice all their own interests for the sake of God and Our Lady.

Although they formed an active rather than a praying religious order, the Templars expected to focus their lives on prayer and serving God. Their regulations show that their daily timetable was based on the timetable of the monastic Rule of St. Benedict, with prayers to be said at fixed times during the day, known as the “Hours.” If brothers could not say the Hours in chapel because they were travelling on the order's business, they should recite the Lord's Prayer at the appropriate times. They should also say the Lord's Prayer when they went to bed, before and after meals, and in a daily service for the members of the order and their benefactors, living and dead.

Traditionally, the daily life of the Benedictine revolved around the eight canonical hours. The monastic timetable, or Horarium, would begin at midnight with the service, or "office", of Matins (today also called the Office of Readings), followed by the morning office of Lauds at 3am. Before the advent of wax candles in the 14th century, this office was said in the dark or with minimal lighting; and monks were expected to memorize everything. These services could be very long, sometimes lasting till dawn, but usually consisted of a chant, three antiphons, three psalms, and three lessons, along with celebrations of any local saints' days. Afterwards the monks would retire for a few hours of sleep and then rise at 6am to wash and attend the office of Prime. They then gathered in Chapter to receive instructions for the day and to attend to any judicial business. Then came private Mass or spiritual reading or work until 9am when the office of Terce was said, and then High Mass. At noon came the office of Sext and the midday meal. After a brief period of communal recreation, the monk could retire to rest until the office of None at 3pm. This was followed by farming and housekeeping work until after twilight, the evening prayer of Vespers at 6pm, then the night prayer of Compline at 9pm, and retiring to bed, before beginning the cycle again.