Members and friends of the Order are encouraged to watch “Blessed Gerard Sasso – ‘The Warrior without a Sword’ produced by Father Enzo Fortunato, Friar Minor Conventual, journalist and writer. This docufilm is the first official documentary about Blessed Fra’ Gerard.

Blessed Gerard Sasso – ‘The Warrior without a Sword’

A reflection by Conf. Joseph Grogan

Journey with Order of Malta founder Blessed Fra’ Gerard Sasso, the ‘Warrior without a Sword’, in this 48-minute documentary, featuring Grand Master Fra’ John Dunlap, and directed by Marco Capasso. A cinematic mosaic of the Order’s millennial mission of Service to the sick and poor and Defence of the Faith.

Blessed Gerard’s journey comes to life through archival treasures, expert insight, aerial cinematography, and an ethereal musical score, illuminating our Order’s legacy of faith, history, altruism, valour, architecture, art, and healing.

Christened “everyone’s Monk”, Blessed Gerard is revealed as a pioneer of spiritual openness and tireless service, inspired by Matthew 25:40, “as you do unto the least, thus you do unto Christ”.

Through prayer, dialogue, compassion, and organisational expertise, Blessed Gerard nurtured inclusion between the West and the East, regardless of religion, nationality, or class. Blessed Gerard’s example during the Crusades transcends religious expansion or military conquest, rather offering a bridge towards an enlightened cultural and evangelical encounter.

Armed defence arose in the Order’s charism as a need to protect the defenceless.

Trace our Order’s Mission from Blessed Gerard’s roots in the maritime Republic of Amalfi, to the seminal hospice in the Holy Land, from the Crusaders’ spirit in Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Rhodes to the Great Siege of Malta 1565, from the Order’s Magistral home in Rome, to our humanitarian and diplomatic missions spanning the globe.

If viewing this documentary on a smartphone, the white subtitles may at times blend into light backdrops, or obscure interviewee names, so please try to view on a larger screen if possible. The Mediterranean vistas, humanitarian action, and the exquisite polychromy of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, will further reward this viewing experience.

Commissioned in divine thanksgiving after the Great Siege of Malta, St John’s Co-Cathedral offers a beacon of spiritual, historical, and aesthetic pilgrimage. A nexus of Church and state, worship, and museum. Here, ‘The Beheading of St John the Baptist’ remains the only masterpiece signed by the Knight, Caravaggio.

During the Enlightenment, the Order’s hospital and School of Anatomy in Malta would spearhead medical expertise and discovery, enhancing ophthalmology and pharmacology, while standardising the bacteriostatic quality of silver in serving Our Lords the sick and poor. At one time the largest hospital structure of its kind in Europe, this sanctuary also deepened upon the healing relationship between body and mind. Decorative tapestries provided both warm insulation and cognitive catharsis. Our Order remains identified as Hospitallers.