(‘Rose Croix’)
DISTRICT OF MIDDLESEX
The Rose Croix of Heredom –
The Rose Croix degree is, in fact, the 18th of 33 degrees of the Rite. In the ceremony of joining a Rose Croix Chapter, a brother is ‘Perfected’ as a ‘Prince Rose Croix of Heredom’. In England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, this degree is specifically Christian.
Our Order is governed by ‘The Supreme Council 33º for England and Wales and its Districts and Chapters Overseas’. There are other Supreme Councils throughout the world. Full details of the requirements for membership of the Order are given in the Rules of the Supreme Council but advice can be provided by the Recorder (he is the Secretary) of a Chapter or any of the members.
Essentially, a candidate must have been a Master Mason for at least one full year, be in good standing with the Craft and profess the Trinitarian Christian Faith before he can be elected to this Order. He will also be required, prior to any formal consideration of his candidature, to sign a declaration to this effect. Further, he must have received his three Craft degrees in a Lodge or Lodges under The United Grand Lodge of England, unless otherwise authorised by the Rules of the Supreme Council.
As in other Masonic Orders, a member of a Chapter will be invited, over a period of years, to progress through the Offices in succession, should he so wish, before attaining the Chair as Most Wise Sovereign. The learning requirements of these progressive offices are not too onerous. The ritual of the Chair requires more work but may be shared, the Sovereign conducting various parts of the ceremony of Perfection at different meetings. It is not necessary to have been Worshipful Master of a Craft Lodge before becoming Sovereign.
Some of the names of the Offices in a Chapter, for example, ‘Captain of the Guard’ are reminders of the days, long ago, when the Rose Croix degree was worked by the Knights Templar.
The Ceremony –
The Volume of the Sacred Law used in the Ceremony is the Holy Bible. The symbolic teaching of the ritual is not only most pleasing but is also consistent with the principles of the Christian faith and is largely based on the first Chapter of St. John’s Gospel, at which the Bible is always open during the meetings of a Chapter.
The last part of the Ceremony, which is always conducted before a Chapter is closed, is known as ‘a secular feast of fraternal affection’, whose origins pre-date even Christianity, symbolises the universality of the Order.
The Degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite –
The Ancient and Accepted Rite is an Order of Freemasonry, nearly as old as the Craft, which comprises 33 degrees. The Rose Croix is the 18th degree and is the one performed at length in private Chapters and so has become the usual way of referring to the Rite in general.
The first three degrees of the Craft are deemed to be the equivalent to the first three degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite.
The Intermediate degrees, from the 4th to the 17th, are conferred on a candidate “by name” just before the ceremony of the 18th degree.
Members have the opportunity to see the King Edward VII Chapter of Improvement Demonstration team demonstrate one or two of these Intermediate Degrees each year at various centres around the country.
The 18th degree, or Ceremony of Perfection, is the only degree of the Rite that can be conferred in full by a Chapter of Princes Rose Croix of Heredom, together with the Enthronement (i.e. Installation) of the Sovereign. Subsequent degrees are conferred by The Supreme Council of Sovereign Grand Inspectors General at the Headquarters of the Order, known as the ‘Grand East’, at 10 Duke Street, St James’s, in London. Usually, members are recommended by the Past Sovereigns of their Chapter to be promoted to the 30th degree after having served as Most Wise Sovereign for a year, having performed the required ceremonial and having been a member of the Order for at least three years. The 19th to 29th Degrees are again conferred by name. Promotion to the other Higher Degrees, 31st, 32nd and 33rd, is strictly limited to senior members on the recommendation of their Inspector General.
The Grand Patron of the Order is H.R.H. The Duke of Kent.
The relationship between the Craft and Rose Croix –
The relationship is an extremely close one. The Grand Master, Pro Grand Master and Deputy Grand Master are all members of the 33° and the Grand Master is the Grand Patron of the Order. Similarly, all nine Members of the Supreme Council are Grand Officers of the United Grand Lodge of England.
The District of Middlesex is in the care of an Inspector General, Very Illustrious Brother Dr. Robert Bethel 33°, and currently comprises 14 Chapters meeting as follows: –
| Meeting | Chapter Name | No. |
| At Harrow: | Byron | 370 |
| Argus | 858 | |
| Pax Vobiscum | 900 | |
| At Southgate: | Leeson | 21 |
| Southgate | 674 | |
| At Twickenham: | St. Christopher | 274 |
| Centenary | 377 | |
| All Hallows | 460 | |
| Cubic Stone | 848 | |
| Undivided Trinity | 888 | |
| Middlesex Sovereigns | 1063 | |
| Concorde | 1101 | |
| At Uxbridge: | Serenity | 696 |
For further details about membership of the Order in one of the above Chapters, please contact the District Recorder: –
Telephone: 07939 390 220 or 01923 450 371 and E-mail: dr.middlesex@gmail.com
