Ok, as I prepare for the last part of the York Rite I was doing some more reading on the Commandery. I noticed that the York Rite in our area being the in Southern United States does not really have a appealing membership or participation rate as the Shriners or Scottish Rite appendant bodies. Well I am looking forward to this journey for the Order of Commandery continues and finalizes.
I feel the York Rite so far up to the Cryptic Council has been a awesome experience in my quest to seek further light in masonry and in my opinion even though one of the darker appendant bodies, To me seems to be the most exciting.
Here are some pieces of information I found on the Internet about the Order of the Commandery.
The Commandery orders represent a new direction of Masonic thought and experience, in that they no longer refer to Ancient Craft Masonry, but to ideals and practices of chivalry and Christianity.
The first Commandery order, the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross, presents the story of the Jewish Prince, Zerubbabel, and his efforts to secure permission of the Persian King Darius to rebuild the second temple at Jerusalem. The next order, Knight of Malta, is a complete departure from Masonry based on the Old Testament and is the first Christian order. Here, the candidate represents a knightly warrior of the Crusades prior to his departure for the Holy Land. The last order is that of Knight Templar, the crowning glory of the York Rite system. Again, in this totally Christian order, the candidate represents a knightly postulant who desires to unite with a Commandery of Knights Templar during the era of the Crusades.
After several trials to test his faith, courage, and humility, he is rewarded by achieving his desire.
Interesting stuff wish me luck!
Fraternally,
Shane Hale
Freemason Store
Order of The Commandery
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3 comments:
Speaking as a rather new Sir Knight myself, I suspect that you will enjoy yourself.
As a someone who has gone through both the Scottish and York rites I have found a few degrees that I will never forget: the 3rd degree, the 31st degree, and the Order of the Temple. The Order of the Temple is one of the most extrodinary degrees/orders in all of Masonry.
When I first joined the York Rite our bodies were dead, not dying, dead. A group of young/newer members decided to take control and try to save them. At 35 yrs old I am currently the Commander of my Commandery.
We are currently reinventing our York Rite bodies and in the process we are growing. First and foremost we are engaging our members and giving them a reason to come out. We are also growing by the fact that we are spending time working with our candidates giving them education during each of the degrees. We have gone from 8-10 members showing up to 20 plus candidates. While it is a work in progress we are heading in the Rite direction.
I think this is what we need to do here. Thank you brother for the insight. This will definitley be helpful. I definitley might ask you for some of your ideas in the future for tips on engaging and building a better influence in the York rite
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