Centennial Memory #99: Grand Master's Class

To celebrate the DeMolay Centennial, PA DeMolay will be observing 100 memories worth celebrating that took place within the DeMolay Chapters and Jurisdiction of Pennsylvania.

Every December, Pennsylvania DeMolay has become known for holding a Membership Induction Class in the honor of a Masonic affiliated dignitary. Some of the previous classes include “Supreme Tall Cedar Class,” “Grand High Priest Class,” “Thomas Ranken Patton Class,” and even a “Walt Disney Class.” Two weeks ago we held the “Right Eminent Grand Commander's Class.”

One of the regular induction classes that PA DeMolay holds is the “Grand Master’s Class,” in honor of the current Right Worshipful Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Traditionally, this celebration takes place every other year, although it has been known to rotate due to the Grand Masters availability.

The classes are held at the Masonic Conference Center - Patton Campus in Elizabethtown. The degree teams are made up of an All-Star cast of DeMolay members from across PA DeMolay. This class allows the members of DeMolay to meet and interact with the Right Worshipful Grand Master (and yes, as the pictures indicate, sometimes that includes a game of basketball). It also gives the Grand Lodge Officers the chance to see the young men perform ritual work and display leadership. PA DeMolay appreciates the continued support of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

Until next time - "Dad" Joe Pullin

Do I have to?

This post is part of series of entries written by the Elected State Officers of PA DeMolay. Each of them have been assigned topics to discuss and offer their opinions on. Today's post is offered by Bro. Alex Rauschenberger, Deputy State Master Councilor. Enjoy!

We have all been there; settling in as a newly installed Chapter officer and  hearing about this “ritual” thing you need to learn.  Somebody hands you a little blue book and tells you to memorize your lines for the next meeting, but why? Why should you have to learn the ritual of our organization?  What possible importance could a few sentences have?  Probably much more than you expect.

Ritual has been learned by  DeMolays since Frank Marshal wrote it almost 100 years ago.  Instilled in that ritual are timeless ideas and lessons, which were as important today as they were back then. Think about the life lessons you’ve learned from DeMolay, from the Preceptors, and from the induction. Our ritual can teach us important lessons that will be with us throughout our lives, such as Respect, Patriotism, and Fidelity.  All of those lessons have been preserved in time in our ritual, but there is more to them than what can be learned by watching our ceremonies.  When you take the time to memorize the ritual, you are taking the time to truly understand what it is that the ritual means and what it is you are saying.  You are able to grasp what the lessons truly mean and by doing that, you are translating those lessons into your daily lives.  

Ritual is also important for academic reasons.  Want to pass with flying colors on your Knights Templar test in history class? Or do incredibly well on the reading and writing portion of your SAT’s?  Then learn the DeMolay ritual. Our ritual was written a long time ago and the English language was a lot different back then.  Not many changes to our ritual have occured in that 100 years and that is often a topic of debate between many DeMolays.  Should we change and modernize the DeMolay ritual so that more people can understand it?  Or should we leave it the same?  I will leave that up to you to decide.  For now, we can benefit from the fact that our ritual is relatively the same as it has always been. It gives us exposure to strange words that we have probably never heard before because they have gone out of style.  Through learning the DeMolay ritual we will understand these words and when they pop up on SAT’s in the future we will have no problem understanding them.  Memorizing ritual will also improve your memorization skills which will make it much easier for you to study for tests.

Ritual is not all about memorizing lines either, it is also about performance.  I am sure many of you have had to give speeches in school on different subjects and for most of you there was a lot of nervousness.  DeMolay ritual can remove that nervousness. Through the process of performing ritual you will become more comfortable speaking in front of groups of people. Whether it is in school, a job interview, or a presentation for work, you will be able to draw upon public speaking skills that you developed in DeMolay.  These  skills will also come in handy if you decide to further your DeMolay career by becoming a Councilor in your Chapter or even a State Officer in your Jurisdiction.

So, ritual is not some boring thing you need to dread, but rather you should think of it as an opportunity; all you have to do is pick up that little blue book and start reading!

Special Guest Post - Allentown Attends Patriots Class

That's right everyone - this week you get a special bonus post! Over the last couple of months I have been getting some fantastic articles from the members of Allentown Chapter relating to their activities and all the fun their Chapter is having. They really have embraced the idea of Take Control! - including doing their own newsletter and articles. I've been able to post most of them on the website, but the most recent one, an article on Patriots Class, was a bit similar to something I had already posted over at www.pademolay.org. However, I'm always in need of articles and I'd hate to discourage our members by not posting their hard work, so, I've decided to post this article by Bro. Evan Quinter, from Allentown Chapter, right here on the PA DeMolay Blog! Thanks for your hard work Evan! Keep it up!

On Saturday February 12, 2011, several Allentown Chapter members made an exciting trip to see and participate in a real DeMolay induction. On this certain Saturday 5 members, 1 prospect, and 3 advisors traveled to Reading to help out at Patriots Class. Patriots Class is a well known yearly event that was held in Reading, PA.

Allentown Chapter arrived early in the morning to practice the ritual and to rehearse our parts. Once we had finished this we relaxed with some square pizza and various types of sodas. Then, it was on to the real thing.

The participating DeMolays all did their parts successfully and performed awesome ritual. Then, we saw the DeMolay Degree, which was very entertaining. Finally we finished the ritual, ate some last minute snacks and went home after an exhausting day. In the end, it was a good day full of traditional learning experiences and very good pizza.

Editor's Note - The photo attached to this article is from the PA DeMolay coverage of the event. Leave it to a member of Allentown to be making funny faces behind the Deputy State Master Councilor's back. Nice work!   

Can I see the Degrees?

In a world where the exploitation of children is an all too common occurrence, it is rightfully understood that parents may be hesitant about their kids getting involved in an organization, especially one they may not know much about. One of the common concerns is the induction ceremony of the Order, or sometimes called the Degrees. Many parents request to see this performance in advance of their children and it's a request that we most certainly will grant. What follows is a letter written by "Dad" Brent Richards in August of 2001 to the mother of a prospective member with this very question.

The induction ceremonies are rather elaborate, and frankly, in my opinion, quite beautiful and profound.  They date back to our founding in 1919, and have their roots in similar ceremonies that are much older.  The general flow of events is as follows:  New members are greeted outside of the meeting room, and receive some preparatory comments from a member or advisor in charge of "orientation" --before the formal ceremony begins, parents are welcomed to be seated in the main meeting room.  The first of the two reception ceremonies involves a series of "trips" around the room, symbolizing the journey of life, during which the new members are instructed in the basic principles of DeMolay, or "Seven Cardinal Virtues" as we call them:  Love of Parents, Reverence, Courtesy, Camaraderie, Fidelity, Cleanness, and Patriotism.  New members take a symbolic "oath" much like an "oath of office", the Scout Law, or other similar construct.  In this oath, members pledge their support of the high virtues of DeMolay. 

The second of the two ceremonies has always been my favorite.  It is known as an "allegorical" ceremony, in that it is in the form of a play, representing the last trial of Jacques DeMolay, the last master of the Order of Knights Templar (of Crusade fame).  DeMolay, from whom we obviously take our name, was wrongfully imprisoned by the King of France, and eventually executed for his refusal to turn over the names and locations of other officials the king wished to arrest.  We use his story as a lesson in loyalty to friends and principles.  It is a very impressive scene.  It is followed by another shorter section similar to the first ceremony, with a final "vow" reaffirming these principles of faithfulness.

Both of these ceremonies together form one of the most impressive, and certainly most "serious" aspects of our organization.  They are all performed entirely by the young men of our group, and entirely from memory.  I have never failed to be impressed by their performance.

These ceremonies, by long tradition common to most fraternal groups, are closed to non-members --More precisely, to youth who are non-members.  Parents and other adult relatives are always welcome in our meetings, even those designated as "closed."  We do hold to the tradition that a young man formally joining DeMolay will be seeing these ceremonies for the first time.

All this to say, you are all most heartily welcome tomorrow evening.  If your son and/or his friend have decided to join, we can have them participate in the ceremonies tomorrow.  If you feel you would rather see the ceremonies yourself, or need other information of any kind, before your son formally joins us, we'd certainly welcome you and Alex's parents to be our guests tomorrow, to view the ceremonies and ask me any questions you may have, and we can arrange the ceremonies to be performed again for your sons as soon as you like.

If you've not had any contact with fraternal orders before, this may all sound confusing.  Part of the "bond" you observed between our young men last night is based in this formal ceremony, a "shared knowledge" and experience they have together, not known to others of their peers.  Naturally, we don't believe in keeping secrets from our members parents, nor would we want to be seen as encouraging them to do so, hence the welcome to parents at any and all meetings.  

Remember - DeMolay IS NOT a secret society. It is no different than the National Honor Society, the Cub Scouts, or other in groups in that it's meetings aren't just open to anyone who wants to wander in off the street. Take some time to educate your new parents - remember, they are the best place to find new Advisors!

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony