|
There
are three degrees in the Council of Royal
and Select Masters, two of which are
conferred on a regular basis. The third,
in many areas, s conferred separately and
as a special event.
The
degrees are based on events that occurred
before the Royal Arch and after the third
degree, building on both those degrees. In
a word, the degrees of the Council deal
with PRESERVATION. How did and why did the
Master's Word come to be in the place
where it was discovered in the Royal Arch?
The
Royal Master degree takes place prior to
and shortly following the Master Masons
degree. It deals with a young craftsman
named Adoniram, a close personal friend of
the Grand Master Hiram Abiff, who was
commissioned to craft a piece of work
intended to serve as a reminder of the
mysterious triad, expressive of the
essence and attributes of Deity and of
those great Masonic virtues - Faith, Hope,
and Charity.
Following
its presentation to Hiram, Adoniram
questions him as to what should happen if
one of the Grand Master's, even Hiram
himself, should die before the Word was
communicated to the workmen. Hiram gives
Adoniram assurance that the Word would
indeed be preserved. Then the question
arises, "How was it thus preserved,
and how came it to be in the place where
you found it?
This
question is answered in the Select Master
Degree. In this degree, Hiram is still
alive and the three Grand Masters are
preparing to deposit artifacts, that when
discovered by the craft, would restore the
Master's Word.
The
Select Master Degree teaches at
tentativeness to duty, to set a good watch
over your words and actions that
attachment to duty and to the principles
of Masonry will result in advancement in
life and in the Fraternity.
The
combination of the Royal and Select
Masters degrees represent some of the most
beautiful degree work one could witness.
The
Super Excellent Master Degree, the third
of the Council degrees depicts the
destruction of Solomon's Temple and the
City of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, King
of Babylon during the reign of Zedekiah,
the last King of Judea. The Jewish people
were carried off to seventy years of
slavery in Babylon, as foretold by the
Prophet of God.
Fidelity
is the most important lesson of this
degree. Comprising four separate sections,
the degree is one of the most elaborate
and theatrical in Masonry. It is annually
conferred by York Rites in Marshalltown
and Sioux City.
Compiled
by the Education Committees of Grand York
Rite Bodies in Iowa - August, 2006 http://www.yorkrite.com/ia/ |
