Red Cross of Constantine

On admission to the Order a member becomes a Knight-Mason, or a Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine. This ceremony is known as installation, and is performed in a ‘Conclave’. A Conclave is the regular unit of this Order, and the name for any assembly of members of the Order’s first degree. The ceremony is short and simple, but teaches valuable moral lessons to the candidate, based upon the story of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great,[2] and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.

On election to serve as Viceroy (the second in command of a Conclave), a member must be admitted to the second degree, by which ceremony he becomes a Venerable Priest-Mason, or an Installed Eusebius. This ceremony is performed in a ‘College’ of Priests-Mason. A College is the name for any assembly of members of the Order’s second degree. The ceremony is highly spiritual in nature, and incorporates more overtly religious symbolism and ritual. Having received this degree the Installed Eusebius or Priest-Mason is entitled to serve as Viceroy in his own, or any other, Conclave or College. In general this degree may only be conferred on those elected to serve as Viceroy of a Conclave, although exceptions are possible by dispensation.

On election to serve as Sovereign (the leader of a Conclave), a member must be admitted to the third degree, by which ceremony he becomes a Perfect Prince-Mason. The ceremony is performed in a ‘Senate’ of Princes-Mason. A Senate is the name for any assembly of members of the Order’s third degree. Having received this degree the Prince-Mason is entitled to serve as Sovereign in his own, or any other, Conclave or Senate. Except by dispensation, this degree is only ever conferred on those elected as Sovereign. As with all masonic degrees, it may only be conferred on a person once - therefore a person becoming Sovereign for a second time, or in a different Conclave, would be appointed and installed into office, and would not go for a second time through the full degree ceremony.

The Masonic Order should not be confused with the identically named Order of the Holy Sepulchre within the Roman Catholic Church. Although both Orders recall the same historical events, there is no actual connection between them. The Masonic Order of the Holy Sepulchre has a long and complex ritual of symbolic meaning, based upon the legend of knights guarding the supposed place of burial of Jesus Christ. Both the Masonic and ecclesiastical Orders take the Jerusalem Cross as their symbol, but whereas the ecclesiastical Order displays this cross in red on a white shield,[3] the Masonic Order displays the cross within a circle set at the centre of a Cross potent; on the jewel (medal) of the Order, this badge is further enclosed within a black and gold lozenge.[4] A meeting of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre takes place in a ‘Sanctuary’,[5] and the presiding officer is called the 'Prelate'.

This Order is conferred in a short ceremony of an overtly Christian character; it is common for the Order of St John the Evangelist to be conferred on the same day as the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, one ceremony occurring straight after the other. A meeting of the Order of St John the Evangelist takes place in a ‘Commandery’,[5] and the presiding officer is called the 'Commander'. The jewel of the Order of St John the Evangelist features a silver eagle with its wings extended, to which a crown is added in reference to the role of Commander, or any member of the Order who is a current or past Commander. The eagle is a traditional symbol of St John the Evangelist.[6]

The Order had arrived in Canada by 1869 (McLeod Moore Conclave No 13, St John's, New Brunswick), with nine more Conclaves warranted in 1870 (one in Montreal, and the others in the Ontarian cities of Hamilton, London, Peterborough, Toronto, Kingston, Orillia, Trenton, and Belleville) by the English Grand Imperial Conclave,[11]^:55 which had appointed Colonel W. J. B. MacLeod Moore as the Chief Inspector General of the Order for the Dominion of Canada.[12] Although the Canadian members were highly instrumental in introducing the Order into the United States, where it sought independence within just months, the Order in Canada remained under English control for twenty years, until the Grand Imperial Council of Canada was established in 1890.

The Grand Imperial Council of the United States of America, Mexico, and the Philippines has jurisdiction throughout the United States, except the State of Maine. According to its own centenary history, the first American Conclave was United States Premier Conclave No 38 at Washington, Pennsylvania (now Conclave No 1 in America).[12] However, the records of the English Grand Conclave show warrant No 38 applying to St James' Conclave at Maitland, in Canada. Both sources agree that it was consecrated on 14 December 1870. The English records show the first Conclaves consecrated in the United States to have been Cleveland Conclave No 39 at Cleveland, Ohio, and Cincinnati Conclave No 40 at Cincinnati, Ohio, both consecrated in 1871.[11]^:55–56

In 1871 and 1872 a large number of Conclaves were consecrated in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and New York,[11]^:56–58 and during 1872 sovereign Grand Imperial Councils were founded in all three States, starting with Pennsylvania on 14 June 1872. In the following three years, Grand Imperial Conclaves were established in the states of Massachusetts, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, Vermont, Maine and New Jersey.[12] In 1907 most of the individual jurisdictions were united into the GIC of the United States of America, and in 1946 the name was changed to reflect the operation of Conclaves in Mexico and the Philippines.[13]

In 1894, the Grand Imperial Council of Pennsylvania had withdrawn from the Union and established a rival jurisdiction. The two rival authorities, having long co-existed, entered into dialogue in the 1950s, and were reconciled and reunited on 18 February 1958,[12][13] into the single jurisdiction for almost the whole of the United States.

The Red Cross Masons of Maine have chosen to maintain their independence, with their own Grand Imperial Council. The State of Vermont also had its own independent Grand Imperial Council until 1997; in that year Vermont voted to close its independent body, and to be incorporated into the United GIC.[14]

There is a small number of places where the Order has commenced work, but subsequently withdrawn, the earliest being the British Crown dependencies of Jersey and Guernsey. Doyle Conclave No 7 in Court Place, Guernsey, and Concord Conclave No 8 in St Helier, Jersey, were consecrated in 1868 at a time when the Order had just 6 Conclaves (4 in London and 2 in Edinburgh), but they were short-lived, and both had been removed from the role of Conclaves by 1923. A similar story applies to the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, where Mediterranean Conclave No 11 was consecrated in 1870, but did not survive.[15]

In addition, a number of Conclaves were founded in territories of the British Empire or later British dependencies, but failed to survive the changing demographics of independence. Examples of these include Aden Conclave at Aden in modern-day Yemen, Indus Valley Conclave at Mooltan in modern-day Pakistan, St Louis & St Cyprian Conclave in Tunis, Tunisia, Excelsior Conclave at Moulmein in Burma, Lanka Conclave in Sri Lanka, and Rhodesia Conclave in Mufulira in northern Zambia.

In 1942 the Grand Imperial Council of Scotland chartered a new Conclave to meet in Belfast, Northern Ireland. However, following complaints from the Irish masonic authorities the conclave was never consecrated.[16] There remains no Red Cross masonry in Ireland.

• Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George
• Order of the Holy Sepulchre