Rectified Rite: Beneficent Knights of the Holy City, Ritual for the Novitiate

that we leave with these workshops Lodges, but which are the eternal symbols of the invariable rule that must direct all our actions in all places and at all times. After these words, the Brethren, one after the other, say: To order, my brother.
All the brethren draw their swords and place themselves at order.

The Grand Master: Since brother [Name] has merited by his work and his virtues that the secret of the order be unveiled to him, I appreciate this symbolic work of the brethren. He strikes 4 blows .. .., removes his brotherly jewel, and himself extinguishes his 9-branched candlestick; the servants each extinguish their candles and remove their aprons. Then the Grand Master says:

Then, the 4 candles on the walls are extinguished; only one is excepted to illuminate the Grand Master in the reading of the ritual. He then takes his order hat and his pectoral cross, as do the servants. He has the aspirant advance beside him, facing the East. Then he says in a soft voice:

The reign of symbols is finished; let us unveil our secret to this Mason whom his virtues have rendered worthy of being admitted into our holy order original: "S.t ordre".

He strikes a dull blow on the table with the pommel of his sword.

During the closing of the Lodge, the knights guarding around the mausoleum ignite the spirits of wine that are in the urn, and as soon as the Grand Master has struck the warning blow, they pull back [the curtain], which reveals the mausoleum to the aspirant. After a moment of silence, when he has seen the blow of the guardian brother, the Grand Master, who resumes at this moment the title of Commander, strikes a new blow, and one of the guard knights uncovers the inscription that is on the mausoleum.

The Grand Master: Brother, visit and read.

After an instant of silence, he continues:

My dear brother, that is all that remains to us of the illustrious Order of the Knights of the Temple.

After a moment of silence, he continues:

This moment recalls to your memory the Order of the Knights of the Temple. Its riches having excited envy, the forgetting of its initial virtues provided a pretext for the persecutions that rose against it. Those of its members who were able to escape at the time of its ruin took refuge in various countries according to the most constant and universal tradition among us. The principal

and most respectable among them, being initiated into the mysteries of Freemasonry original: "F. M.ie", veiled the misfortunes of the order and secretly perpetuated its existence under some Masonic original: "m.iques" emblems of the destruction and the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem, upon the ruins of which their virtuous founders had written their virtues and their knowledge. These connections will be developed for you in a historical instruction that will be communicated to you afterward. This monument also announces to you that this order has ceased to exist.

After a few moments of silence, he continues:

Brother guards, show now to this brother who we are.

He strikes a new blow; the brother guards uncover the inscription at the back of the room and cover the first one. The Grand Master: Brother, visit and read.

Afterward, he continues:

We are now Knights Beneficent of the Holy City, zealous defenders of the religion of Christ, living in faith, hope, and charity.

After a moment of silence, he says:

The first inscription taught you what we were and what we will no longer be; the second taught you what we are today and what we will be, must be, and wish to be forever: solely devoted to the exercise of all religious, moral, patriotic, and social virtues; to the most enlightened, active, and universal beneficence; and to the preservation and defense of Christianity. It is not and will never be a question among us of reviving the name, the existence, nor the pretensions of the suppressed order to which we succeed; everything makes it a sacred duty for us. Obedience to sovereigns and the laws, the love of peace and of humanity, do not permit us in any way to attempt a condemnable restoration that could only disturb society. The goal of our institution being the exercise of boundless beneficence, it will be accomplished in the greatest extent that we shall direct all our efforts. We cannot extinguish the memory of those to whom a sustained tradition and existing monuments lead us back, but we will conserve from the illustrious order to which we have succeeded only the ardent charity, the active and living principle of all virtues.