Information AboutYork Rite |
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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. 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 Rite, or Knights Templar (Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States of America). The bodies of the York Rite are: Royal Arch Masonry Royal Arch Masonry is the first order a Master Mason joins in the York Rite. The Chapter works the following degrees:
Cryptic Masonry Membership in the ''Council of Cryptic Masons'' (or the ''Council of Royal and Select Masters'' in Great Britain and Texas) is not required for membership in Knights Templar, 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:
In Great Britain, a ''Most Excellent Master'' degree is offered between Select Master and Super-Excellent Master. 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. 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:
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. Order of the Red Cross of Constantine This is outside the system of degrees of the York Rite, but is considered closely allied to it. The ''Conclave'' is an invitational Masonic body open to members of York Rite Masonry and by special dispensation to Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite
EQUIVALENT BODIES OUTSIDE THE USA Mark Man and Mark Master
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 be a Master Mason. In Scotland the candidate must also be a Mark Master Mason, a degree which can be conferred within Chapter if required.
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. 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, differing significantly from the degrees in the United States:
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. 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:
Candidates are required to be Master Masons Companions of the Holy Royal Arch and to profess the Trinitarian Christian faith. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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