York Rite
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The York Rite (also called the "American Rite") is one of the two main appendant bodies of US Freemasonry, which a Master Mason may join to further his knowledge of Freemasonry. Its name derives from the city of York, where, according to a Masonic legend, the first meetings of Masons in England took place. The other branch is the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Some obediences of the Scottish Rite may confer some of these degrees in Continents where the York Rite is not active. The divisions within the York Rite and the requirements for membership differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but the essentials are the same. In all the workings the one requirement is that all applicants be in possession of the third degree, that of Master Mason.
The York Rite is not found as a single system in the majority of countries outside the United States, nor is any of the separate degrees subject to the local Grand Lodge jurisdiction. Each sovereign and distinct rite or "Order" elsewhere has some differences in ritual details to the York Rite system. However, provided that Grand Lodge in question regards the parent "Craft" jurisdiction as regular, each distinct Order has recognised fraternal inter-relations with the respective Rite within the York system.
[edit] York Rite in the United States of America
The York Rite in the United States is actually a grouping of separate Rites joined in order, namely the Capitular Rite, or Royal Arch Masons (General Grand Chapter - Royal Arch Masons International), the Cryptic Rite, or Cryptic Masons (General Grand Council - Cryptic Masons International) and the Chivalric Orders, or Knights Templar (Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States of America).
The bodies of the York Rite are:
[edit] Royal Arch Masonry
Royal Arch Masonry is the first order a Master Mason joins in the York Rite. The Chapter works the following degrees:
- The Mark Master Mason degree is in some respects an extension of the Fellow Crafts' second degree. In some jurisdictions the degree is conferred in a Fellow Craft Lodge, that is, the second degree of the Blue Lodge.
- The Past Master (Virtual) degree is conferred because of the traditional requirement that only Past Masters of a Blue Lodge may be admitted to Holy Royal Arch. Because there are so many applicants for this degree, Virtual Past Master is required to qualify them for it. Much of the work is the same given to install the Worshipful Master of a Blue Lodge. There is no such requirement or procedure outside the USA.
- In the Most Excellent Master degree the building of King Solomon's Temple, which figures so prominently in Blue Lodge, has been completed. In England the degree is conferred by Cryptic Councils, along with three other degrees below.
- The Royal Arch Mason degree is said by many to be the most beautiful degree in all of Freemasonry. Following the convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter in England on November 10, 2004, there are significant ritual differences from that worked in the USA, fraternal inter-relations remain as before. Freemasons who reach this degree may continue to Cryptic Masonry or go straight to Knights Templar.
[edit] Cryptic Masonry
Membership in the Council of Cryptic Masons (or the Council of Royal and Select Masters in Great Britain and several states in the USA) is not required for membership in the Knights Templar in some jurisdictions, so it is frequently skipped. It is called Cryptic Masonry because a crypt or underground room figures prominently in the degrees. This body is also called the Cryptic Rite. The degrees are:
- Royal Master
- Select Master
- Super-Excellent Master, which is an optional degree — the legend having nothing to do with a crypt.
In Great Britain, a Most Excellent Master degree is offered between Select Master and Super-Excellent Master.
[edit] Knights Templar
Knights Templar is the final order joined in the York Rite. Unlike other Masonic bodies which only require a belief in a Supreme Being regardless of religion, membership in Knights Templar is open only to Master Masons who promise to defend the Christian faith. While the Masonic Knights Templar organization is based on the historical Knights Templar founded in the 12th Century, there is no actual historical link between the two groups.[1]
A local Knights Templar organization is called a Commandery in the United States and a Preceptory elsewhere. In the United States, Knights Templar consists of three degrees:
- Illustrious Order of the Red Cross
- Order of the Knights of Malta (or simply Order of Malta)
- Order of the Temple consisting of:
- Order of Knights Templar
- Consecration to service to country
[edit] The York Rite Sovereign College
An invitational Masonic body open to members who are members of all four York Rite Bodies and who have shown exceptional proficiency in them. The College confers only one degree: Knight of York.
[edit] Order of the Red Cross of Constantine
An appendant body of the York Rite. Its full title is The Masonic and Military Order of Knights of the Red Cross of Constantine and Appendant Orders for the United States, Mexico, and the Philippines. Receipants must be Royal Arch Masons and Trinitarian Christians.
An invitational Masonic body with strictly limited membership in each local body, that referred to as a Conclave. It can be viewed essentially as a Christianized renditioning of the Royal Arch, and appears to contain some of the original Christian themes contained in Craft and Capitular masonry before the schism of the Antients and Moderns. It is refered to by some as "Constantinian Masonry" or the Constantinian Rite.
- Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine
- Knight of the Holy Sepulchre
- Knight of Saint John the Evangelist
[edit] Equivalent bodies outside the USA
[edit] Mark Man and Mark Master
- England, Europe and Australasia - The Mark degree is conferred in a separately warranted Lodge of Mark Master Masons. The candidate for Advancement is required to be a Master Mason. A further degree is conferred by a Mark Lodge which is not present in the York Rite, that of Royal Ark Mariner. In Canada, the Royal Ark Mariner degree is conferred by a Council of Royal and Select Masters.
- Scotland - The Mark degree is conferred in a Craft lodge and is seen as completion of the Fellowcraft degree, but the candidate for Advancement is required to be a Master Mason. The Mark may alternatively, and exceptionally, be conferred in a Holy Royal Arch Chapter as a prerequisite for Exaltation to the HRA. His entry into the Chapter is preceded by a short ceremony of Affiliation to its Mark lodge.
[edit] Holy Royal Arch
The Degree of the Holy Royal Arch is very similar to that of the Royal Arch Mason in the York Rite and contains many layers of complexity within its ritual. A candidate for Exaltation is required to have been a Master Mason for four weeks or more.[2] In Scotland the candidate must also be a Mark Master Mason, a degree which can be conferred within Chapter if required.
- England, Europe and Australasia: A Holy Royal Arch Chapter is required to be sponsored by a Craft Lodge and bears the same name and number; however, the HRA is seen as a separate order. Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter is governed from the headquarters of United Grand Lodge of England, but the administration remains distinct. The degree is termed the 'completion of the Master Mason degree' by virtue of the relationship between the ritual content.
- Scotland: The degree is conferred in a Royal Arch Chapter which is within a wholly different administrative structure. Due to a difference in ritual, Royal Arch Masons exalted in England may not attend Scottish Royal Arch Chapters without completing the Scottish exaltation ceremony. However, those Exalted in Scotland may attend Chapter in England, or indeed any Chapter, provided it be in Amity.
[edit] Council of Royal and Select Masters
Outside the United States the Cryptic Council confers the four degrees identified above. Candidates are required to be members of a Royal Arch Chapter and a Mark Master Mason.
[edit] The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta
This order is colloquially known as the Knights Templar. Bodies of the order are known as Preceptories. In Great Britain and other countries these Preceptories confer three degrees:
- Knight Templar
- The passing Order of St. Paul
- Order of Malta
Membership is by invitation and candidates are required to be Master Masons, holders of the degree of the Holy Royal Arch and to sign a declaration that they profess the Doctrine of the Holy and Undivided Trinity.
[edit] The Masonic and Military Order of Knights of the Red Cross of Constantine and of the Orders of the Holy Sepulchre and of St John the Evangelist
Bodies of this order are known as Conclaves and confer the degrees of:
- Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine
- Knight of the Holy Sepulchre
- Knight of Saint John the Evangelist
Candidates are required to be Master Masons Companions of the Holy Royal Arch and to profess the Trinitarian Christian faith.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Knights Templar FAQ, accessed January 28, 2006.
- ^ (English)Supreme Grand Chapter of England How to Join Royal Arch
