On Saturday, December 13, 2008 I had the honor and privilege of watching my younger son, Lucas, join DeMolay. We journied to Elizabethtown, PA for the degrees. I had not been there in over 20 years and boy has the place changed. Patton Campus hosts the Masonic Conference Center and is the headquarters for the Pennsylvania Masonic Youth Foundation. The Patton Campus sports a state of the art multimedia center and facilities that would be jealousy of any other youth organization in America.

The class was named in honor of the current Right Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in Pennsylvania, “Dad” Stephen Gardner.

The day’s events brought back many wonderful memories as a young DeMolay in the 1980s. I was surprised that I could recall most of the ritual work from memory, including major parts from both the Initiatory and DeMolay Degrees.

Looks like I’m going to be the new ritual advisor for Tenleytown-Chevy Chase Chapter in the District of Columbia. I’m really looking forward to it because ritual was “my thing” in DeMolay. Hopefully, Lucas will enjoy DeMolay and learn the valuable lessons that helped shape me over the years.

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The Degree of Chevalier is the highest honor that an active DeMolay can receive. This honor also may be granted to a Senior DeMolay. The Degree is a citation for outstanding and marked DeMolay activity and labor.

Every year on November 8th, those in the Order of DeMolay who hold this degree are bound by a solemn obligation to do the following:

I furthermore and most solemnly promise and vow that hereafter on Novebmer 8th of each year, as a memorial to our founder, Frank Sherman Land, I will hold communion with with a fellow Chevalier or Court of Chevaliers, wherever I may be, and should this be impossible, I will break bread with an Active Demolay or a young man in his teens.

As a Chevalier, I had the honor to attend a Chevalier banquet with Nation’s Capital Court of Chevaliers on Saturday, November 8th for a traditional observance. The event was held at Belmont Mansion near DuPont Circle. Belmont Mansion was built by the famous Belmont family, of Belmont Stakes fame. They sold the building to the Order of the Eastern Star (OES) and the mansion now serves as the international headquarters for OES.

Chevaliers, from young men to older gentelmen, attended the banquet which was catered by Federal Lodge #1 in Washington, DC. We were also graced by the presence of Jerold J. Samet, who served as the Grand Master of the International Supreme Council, Order of DeMolay in 1992. Bro. Samet is also a Past Grand Master of Masons in Washington, DC. Also attending was DC DeMolay’s current Executive Officer, Kurt Hamrock.

This was a fine evening of brotherhood as we revered the memory of our founder, Frank S. Land. It was also a time of renewed commitment for me and that very evening my younger son, Lucas, decided to join DeMolay. I sincerely hope that he will make the same lifelong friendships as I did and enjoy the brotherhood of those in the Order for the rest of his life.

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The Order of DeMolay has many, beautiful public ceremonies that can be used in a variety of settings. One of the most powerful and moving of these is the Flower Talk. Please follow the link to read this ceremony either before or after reading the blog post.

The Flower Talk is a ceremonial presentation given to new DeMolays shortly after their degrees, but it can be given at any time for any audience. It emphasizes filial love (our first cardinal virtue), especially the love of a mother for her son. It also stresses the importance of honoring and respecting womanhood. For the ceremony, both red and white flowers are placed on the altar. The red represents a mother who is still living. The white flowers represent mothers who have departed us. At the appropriate time in the ceremony, the DeMolay is asked to take one of the two flowers. He either gives a red flower to his mother or keeps the white one to always cherish her memory.

I learned the Flower Talk when I was 14 and was invited to give it during public officer installations, Masonic lodges, York Rite,  and Scottish Rite bodies. Several churches asked me to give the Flower Talk for Mother’s Day and the ceremony was always well-received by both clergy and laity. There is never a dry eye in the room when the Flower Talk is presented.

The Flower Talk was my favorite DeMolay ceremony. I was twice the Pennsylvania state champion for ritual work on the Flower Talk and went on to regional competition. But, the greatest champion is one who actually listens to the words and takes to heart the message of this lovely ceremony.

My mother passed away in 2005. The next time I am present when a Flower Talk is given, I want to stand on the opposite side of the altar so that I can take a white flower. Let’s all remember the love our mother’s have given to us. If your mother is still living, please tell her how much you appreicate her. If she is gone, then please cherish and honor her memory.

If you received or have given the Flower Talk, please feel free to comment. If your organization would like to have a Flower Talk presentation, just post a comment as well and I will try put you in touch with someone in who can help arrange one.

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I don’t know about you, but have you ever had this experience? You know, you show up to a meeting at your office or other organization and the meeting is totally nonproductive. What should take 15 minutes ends up taking over an hour, or worse. Then it occurs to you that maybe the person running the meeting just doesn’t know what he or she is doing.

The above experience is the rule rather than the exception and the phenomenon is pervasive. No one seems to know how to run a meeting anymore. Is there anywhere a young man or adult can obtain this experience in a nonthreatening environment? Happily, yes!

DeMolays and Freemasons are great at running meetings. All of our organizational meetings are conducted according to Roberts Rules of Order. I can remember learning basic parliamentary procedure when I was 14 or 15 years old. By the time I was Master Councilor, I had a pretty good handle on how to make and second motions, prepare and deliver a committee report, run a meeting, and deal with secondary and subsidiary motions.

And the skills that I learned as a teenage DeMolay are still with me. I am often complimented at how fast my meetings go, but I really cannot take credit for it. It was through my Masonic youth organization skills that I learned how to do it right.

Parents today are often frustrated at the lack of verbal and communicative skills that their children have. DeMolay, Rainbow, and Job’s Daughters are a great way for your son or daughter to learn these essential skills that will propel them to success in life. It also gets them off the video games and computer chat so that they can interact with human beings on a more personal level.

Adults can also benefit from involvement in the Masonic fraternities. Meetings there are run according to Roberts Rules of Order and you will gain valuable public speaking experience at the same time, which is another dying art in itself.

How about it, does anyone “second the motion” out there? If you do, please comment on your DeMolay or Masonic experience.

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The seven cardinal virtues are presented to a new candidate during the Initiatory Degree. The second degree

in our Order is the DeMolay Degree. The DeMolay Degree exemplifies the final trial of Jacques DeMolay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, before the Inquisition.

Historically, the DeMolay Degree seeks to conflate the events surrounding the arrest and official denouncement of the Order of the Temple and presents them in dramatic form. DeMolay and his three principle officers (i.e.Guy of Auvergne, Hughes de Peralde, and Godfrey de Goneville) are before the Inquisition to answer charges brought against them. For a good summary of these events, visit Jacquesdemolay.org.

The DeMolay Degree impresses upon candidates two supreme lessons: Fidelity and toleration.

DeMolay was faithful unto death to the trust reposed in him. He did not betray his brethren who escaped the clutches of the Inquisition, nor did he reveal the secrets of his Order. All DeMolays are to emulate his example and remain faithful to their promises.

Alongside fidelity is the lesson of toleration. We teach that the trials Jacques DeMolay had to withstand would not have been necessary had he encountered toleration instead of superstitious fanaticism, courtesy from his enemies instead of brutal persecution, and appreciation of his exemplary qualities instead of cruelty stemming from irresponsible power working through unrestrained passion.

After the DeMolay Degree is portrayed, the candidates make a solemn vow to be tolerant in their opinions and not to be hasty in their judgment of others. We are expected to give to others the same right to their beliefs that we expect from them and to give those we would judge the benefit of the doubt.

If tyranny is ever to disappear from the human condition, then the lessons of fidelity and toleration must be embraced by all mankind, particularly by those in power. The DeMolay Degree teaches these most valuable lessons and serves as a bulwark for freedom throughout the world.

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The last jewel that adorns the Crown of Youth is patriotism.

The Order of DeMolay honors and respects those who have served our country in the military, particularly those individuals who have paid the ultimate sacrifice of offering their lives in the defense of freedom. But, we are quick to acknowledge that there is a patriotism of peace as well as a heroism of war.

Many of our young men will not serve in the Armed Forces of the United States, nevertheless they are expected to be good citizens who actively participate in public discourse and who serve their communities well. The discussion of religion and politics is forbidden inside the chapter (as it is in all Masonic organizations), however patriotism and civic duty are openly encouraged. No DeMolay chapter can open without a word of prayer and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to remind us of our duties to God and to our nation.

Patriotism is so important to DeMolay that two of our seven mandatory Obligatory Days (days that we are called to especially remember a certain topic or person) deal with patriotic issues. They are Patriot’s Day (in February) and My Government Day (in July).

Practically, you can find DeMolay chapters all across the United States doing civic service projects in their local communities. For example, when I was Master Councilor I organized a project to place flags on veterans graves at a local cemetery for Memorial Day.

No DeMolay can expect to exchange the Crown of Youth for the Crown of Manhood without practicing the virtue of patriotism.

I hope that you found my reflections on the seven cardinal virtues to be informative. I also hope that if you are unfamiliar with the Order of DeMolay that you learned something about our organization and what it stands for. I will be writing more about some other aspects of DeMolay in the days to come, so please subscribe to the feed and visit the blog site regularly. Most importantly, thank YOU for taking the time to visit.

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Aristotle said, “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

The habits practiced when young men enter their teenage years follow us into manhood. We are engaged in self-delusion if we believe that a licentious young man can grow into a pinnacle of virtue. While there are always opportunities to reform and change, we should not let the exception replace the rule. It matters greatly that young men engage in habits that lead to cleanness in thought, word, and deed.

In the DeMolay ritual, candidates promise to lead a clean and moral life. The Sixth Preceptor further instructs them that this consists of avoiding habits that leave us “weakened in body, enfeebled in mind, and debased in heart and soul.”

I cannot stress enough how important this virtue is for our youth to understand and take to heart. Addictions in our society abound, whether to drugs, alcohol, sex, food, and smoking (to name a few). These addictions often present themselves in the teenage years when young men are vulnerable to peer pressure and susceptible to an image of manhood that is distorted by the dominant media culture. If one becomes addicted to these things, it will eventually lead to the consequences so eloquently stated in our ritual. As a physician, I do not need to look hard to see how a smoking addiction leads to serious health consequences. Drug and alcohol addictions destroy the mind as well as the body. Addiction to food has led to an epidemic of obesity leading not only to health problems, but a negative self-image.

DeMolay provides a training ground for habitual practices that counter the negative effects of unclean living. Chapters routinely have sporting events to develop the physical body. Our awards program gives young men a natural high for many activities that promote a disciplined life rather than a dissipative existence. Committing the ritual work to memory helps to recall the virtues and develops a sharp, focused mind. Structured engagement with adult men and involved parents provides role models that our youth so desperately need.

To quote Aristotle once more, “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.” I cannot think of a better environment for the formation of good habits than DeMolay.

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The chapter that I belonged to was named Fidelity, after the fifth cardinal virtue of a DeMolay. Fidelity is the main virtue inculcated in the DeMolay Degree through the heroic example set before us in the life and trial of Jacques DeMolay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar.

Jacques DeMolay gave up his life rather than betray the trust that was reposed in him. While we may never be faced with the same circumstances as Jacques DeMolay, we are called to emulate his example by doing the same should we be called upon to defend our country on the field of battle or to save another human life.

However, fidelity is not only limited to extreme acts of heroism and bravery. A young man need not face martyrdom to show his faithfulness. In our daily lives, we are called upon to be reliable, trustworthy, and men of our word. All too often, promises are made with no intention of keeping them. For a DeMolay, a promise made is a promise fulfilled unless circumstances beyond his control are involved.

A DeMolay is taught that it is faithfulness in these small things that leads to faithfulness in the larger, more weighty matters of life (Luke 16:10).

May we all reflect upon this virtue of fidelity and strive to be faithful in all of our obligations, whether great or small.

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The fourth jewel in the Crown of Youth represents comradeship.

The essence of this virtue is faithful friendships and brotherhood. Life is a lonely journey without true friendship. DeMolays are taught to value friendship and to be loyal companions to friends and to fellow brothers in DeMolay.

This virtue, as well as the next (fidelity), are portrayed allegorically in the DeMolay Degree. Jacques DeMolay refused to betray his friends and brethren in the last days of the Knights Templar. For his defiance of the Inquision, DeMolay was burned at the stake on March 18, 1314. All active DeMolays are required to to hold a religious observance on the Sunday nearest this day to honor our hero and martyr.

Jacques DeMolay could have spared his life by affirming the false charges against the Templars and betraying the brethren who had escaped the Inquisition. Instead, he chose loyalty to his friends and comrades by denouncing the charges, keeping the secrets of his Order, and concealing the identity of those who were in hiding.

Jacques DeMolay’s loyalty to his comrades was unto death. May we emulate his example in how we deal with our friends and brothers.

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