Commissioner Angélique Bernard was invested as a Grande Dame of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John last Wednesday.

The ceremony, which took place at Taylor House, was led by Alain Laurencelle, deputy chancellor, Order of St. John (Priory of Canada).

“It is amazing to think that I am now part of an organization that traces its origins to the Knights Hospitaller, of the Crusades, who served the Abbey of St. Mary’s small hospital for sick pilgrims in Jerusalem in the 12th century,” Bernard said in a statement released Friday.

“The mottos of ‘For the Faith’ and ‘In the Service of Humanity’ hold true to this day.”

Established in 1888 by Queen Victoria, the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem is a working order of charitably- minded men and women whose philanthropy is expressed principally through its two foundations, the St. John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem and St. John Ambulance.

The Order was brought into the Canadian Honours System in 1990. Queen Elizabeth II is the Order’s Sovereign, and the Governor General is its Prior in Canada.

Currently, there are about 5,500 active Canadian members in the Order.