St. Lawrence Rose Croix Chapter No. 293
Meeting Dates:
Met on the third Monday; February, April, October and December. Installation in February.
Consecrated: 19 ( years ago)
Closed: Ken Robson, Recorder. kur16852@gmail.com
Who are we?
Our Order is governed by the ‘Supreme Council 33 Degree for England and Wales and it’s Districts and Chapters Overseas’ and has HRH Duke of Kent, Grand Master of the Craft, as its Patron.
Full details of the requirements for membership of the Order are given in the ‘Rules of the Supreme Council’, but advice would be given by a 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 a year and be in good standing with the Craft before he can join this Order. He must have received his three Craft degrees in a Lodge under The United Grand Lodge of England unless otherwise authorised in the Rules by the Supreme Council. Like all other orders in Freemasonry a candidate must profess a belief in a Supreme Being, but membership is open to members of all faith groups.
The Supreme Council suggests that prospective candidates should apply for membership of a Chapter near to their home or place of work. The ancient & Accepted Rite is an order of Freemasonry comprising a total of 33° degrees of which the Rose of Croix is the 18th Degree.
Local bodies of the Order are known as Rose Croix Chapters and all business is conducted in the 18th Degree, including the the Admission of Candidates (known as “Perfection”) and the Enthronement of the Most wise Sovereign (the equivalent of Worshipful Master in a Craft Lodge).
After the founding of the Premier Grand Lodge in 1717, English Freemasonry became popular in France. In the 1740s and 1750s, possibly in response to Parisian aristocrats mixing freely with social inferiors at lodges, a chaotic variety of Orders emerged. Many had extravagant titles or claimed connections to noble Crusaders or Scotland – a good marketing tactic given the two countries’ historic ties.
In 1761, the ‘Grand Lodge of France and the Sovereign Council of Knights of the East’ granted French trader, Etienne Morin, a patent to establish lodges of all degrees in the West Indies. By 1783 he and colleague, Henry Francken, published the ritual for the 4° to the 25°.
In 1786, the Grand Constitutions added degrees of ‘Scottish’ Masonry to create the 33-degree Rite we know today. It is still commonly known outside England and Wales as the Scottish Rite, though it bears no structural or historical link to Scotland’s Craft Masonry.
What we do
The Rose Croix degree is one of the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, an Order of Freemasonry as old as the Craft itself. 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’.
Why join us?
Joining the Rose Croix (formally the Ancient and Accepted Rite) offers a chance for Master Masons to deepen their understanding of Masonic knowledge, engage with profound and beautiful symbolic rituals, and foster strong friendships and personal growth within a friendly environment.
https://sc33.org.uk
