Hospitality is the fundament of the order of the Brothers Hospitallers. The words is derived from the Latin “hospitalitas” and can be translated as “hospitableness”, but it has to be completed with a few dimensions so that the full meaning of the word could reflect the spirit of the Brothers Hospitallers.
- Hospitality is a devotion to people according to the model of the founder of the order, John of God, which means a wholehearted and unconditioned contribution to people who search for help.
- This devotion should be performed – in order to be able to do good in an appropriate way – with high professional standards.
- A “pure technical professional” devotion would not be suitable for the holistic human being image of St. John of God. Therefore it should be expanded with humanity and concern for the spiritual dimension of people.
Hospitality according to the Brothers Hospitallers is also an unlimited, professionally competent and Christian hospitability .
In addition to the three vows which are taken by the members of every order community (poverty, obedience and chastity) the Brothers Hospitallers also commit themselves to hospitality.
These declarations have to be interpreted as the respective objective of an apostolic work. The starting point for this interpretation is the life of the founder of the order, Saint John of God.
Examples of “New hospitality”
