Public DeMolay Ritual

The Order of DeMolay uses ritual and symbolism to engrave wise and serious truths on the hearts and
minds of young men. The words were crafted like a fine painting, all working in concert to impress the ideals
of fidelity and toleration in a manner solemn and yet, understandable, to most youths. Below are pieces and
ceremonies of the ritual that have been released for the public by the International Supreme Council.

I stand before you at this sacred DeMolay altar, upon which we have placed the
mighty bulwarks of our faith: the Holy Bible and the school books. Not far away rests
the banner of our beloved country. Standing as sentries are these seven burning
candles, beacons in the darkness, lights to illuminate our pathway as we journey ever
onward down the road of life. They are symbols of all that is good and right with the
world. They are the standards upon which we as DeMolays have pledged to base our
lives.

The first candle symbolizes the love between parent and child, that love which existed before we were
born, has remained with us all our life through and will follow us even beyond the grave. The sages named
this love "agapé", love for no other reason than the sake of being.

The second candle is emblematic of reverence for all that is sacred. A young man crossing the threshold of
DeMolay for the first time professes a deep and abiding faith in one living and true God. Without this
steadfast faith and the grace of our Heavenly Father, our toil would be for nothing.

The third candle stands for courtesy, a courtesy that transcends friendships, a courtesy which reaches to
the stranger, to the aged, to all men. It is this courtesy that brings a warm feeling and a smile and makes
this life more pleasant for others as it lights the pathway before us.

The fourth candle, the candle in the center of our seven, stands symbolically for comradeship. Millions of
young men such as ourselves have knelt as this symbolic altar and dedicated themselves to the same high
principles of good sonship and good citizenship. As long as we remain faithful to these pledges, as long as
there is an Order of DeMolay, we are one.

The fifth candle stands simply for fidelity. A DeMolay can never justly be false to his vows, his promises,
his friends, his God. He is called upon daily to defend the bulwarks and precepts of the Order that he
might never fail as a leader or as a man.

The sixth candle is symbolic of cleanness. Not only the bodily cleanness which we all practice, but the
cleanness of every thought, word and deed. Only in cleanness can a DeMolay rightly be representative of
the pureness of our teachings.

The last candle is emblematic of patriotism. Perhaps we shall never be called upon to defend our country
on the field of battle, but each day affords new opportunities to stand as good and upright citizens on
behalf of that beloved banner and our hallowed land.

Yet we live in troubled times when the bulwarks of the Bible, flag and school books are in danger of sinking
into the waste of doubt and uncertainty; when these seven glorious precepts may not be the most coveted
standards upon which to base one's life; when trust and justice and brotherhood may not be considered the
most virtuous of qualities.

And if we as DeMolays do not stand unswervingly in defense of the teachings of our Order, if we do not
seek to perpetuate them in our daily lives, then perhaps these flames will be extinguished, muted in the
shadows and darkness shall inherit the land.

Yet each of you, as a DeMolay, holds within your heart a flame, a beacon to guide you through the
darkness. If you can make this light shine upon another, if you can reach into the innermost depths of his
soul and set his flame afire, then therein lies the purpose of the Order of DeMolay, and therein lies your
purpose for living.

Frank Land was a Mason who was asked by a fellow member to find a job for young Louis Lower, whose
father had died the year before. Although Louie's mother had taken a job, the family was still having a
tough time of it, so Louie had decided to do his part in helping his family get by. Frank said he would be
glad to help and hired Louie to work with him. Frank wasn't just an employer to Louie though he became a
friend and a confidante, he took time to listen to Louie, to learn about his hopes and problems to find out his
dreams and help him to achieve them. It was clear to Land that Louie needed more than just a job, and
Louie with many other young men might need the same things.

It was February of 1919, and Louie Lower arranged for himself and eight of his friends to meet with Frank
Land to discuss the formation of a club. The boys were all eager to do so but first they wanted a name.
Frank Land told them of the heroic figures from the past and the one that stuck in their minds was Jacques
DeMolay who had given up his life in the spirit of Comradeship. Less than a month later the Order of
DeMolay held its first meeting. It wasn't long after that, that perhaps the biggest milestone in DeMolay
was passed, the membership of DeMolay had grown from its initial nine members to over sixty. And one of
the young members put forward a motion to limit the club to seventy-five members, there was only a short
discussion and the motion was passed unanimously.

Frank Land, or Dad, as he had simply come to be known as by the boys, stepped forward to speak. The
members where silent, for Frank had always told them that it was their organization and he had not spoken
except at the end of meetings since he first met. But "Dad" did indeed have something to say that night.
He told the boys that they were making a mistake that they where being selfish. He pointed out that all
their members were from a single school in Kansas City had gained from there membership, and that there
was no reason that other boys from other schools should not be allowed to gain from and contribute to
DeMolay. He reminded them that "To become big, we must be big." The motion to limit membership was
reconsidered and defeated.

Dad Land was right when he said that many boys could gain from and
contribute to DeMolay, but he probably had no idea just how many boys. By
January of 1921, DeMolay had grown to 52 Chapters across the United
States with membership over 2200 members. A year later there was over 165
Chapters with membership in excess of 28000, by 1924 the membership had
surged to well over 100,000 young men and Frank Land was known as "Dad"
to all of them.

Since that time DeMolay has prospered and fallen, and prospered again. All of our Advisors are known as
Dad's just as Frank Land was and all of them try to live up to his commitment to our Order. Dad Land
spent his entire life in service to DeMolay; he gave tirelessly of his time and energy because he believed
in the order that he insisted was not created by him, but by nine young men.

One story about Frank Land that sticks in my mind, is how when the members of the mother Chapter traveled
to New York City to institute a new Chapter. Frank Land gave them the run of the town telling them that
they must be back in their hotel by 11:00pm. When they weren't back by midnight, he gathered up the other
advisors to go look for them. Frank Land claimed that it was perhaps the saddest moment of his life when he
saw a "Black Maria," a paddy wagon of the New York police go by on the road filled with each and every
one of his DeMolay. His heart sank to think that these boys who he had spent so much time with, whom he
had taken so much pride in could be in such trouble with the law that they had to be taken to jail in a Paddy
Wagon. Then the Black Maria came around the corner and pulled up beside the startled advisors, 22 sets of
arms stuck out of the bars to wave as 22 voices cried out "Hi Dad." The police then offered to give Dad
Land and the other advisors the same tour of the City as they had offered the DeMolays.

When he passed away on Nov. 8th, 1959, his final words were, "It is the beginning". Dad Land was a
deeply spiritual man and his final words expressed his hope of the hereafter, however I would like to think
that he was also thinking of DeMolay when he uttered them. It is up to each of us, to carry on him to strive
to make DeMolay a better organization, to help it grow to make it something that we and Dad Land could
take pride in. Because Brethren, "It is the beginning."

The Order of DeMolay honors womanhood as one of its seven cardinal virtues. And we realize our more
important duty to honor motherhood; but we as young men also need to recognize the other portion of Filial
Love that shapes our growing years: Fatherhood. Tonight, my Brothers, we dedicate this evening to our
fathers; men who desire to guide and mold their sons to emulate or better their manhood years. A son, to rear
a son; that is one of the splendid things of life. A son is as good as an absolute assurance of immortality. To
take your son by the hand when he is young, to lead him out into the spring, to show him the glories of God, the
way he will go. Well, you should know how it is. A father wants to leave the best part of himself to someone
else, his son. And we as sons may be aware of our father's desires to do so, or may seldom even appreciate the
task that he tries to accomplish.

We, growing up in a confused world as an adolescent, find it unusually difficult to really communicate with our
dad. He does not seem to understand us, our beliefs, our speech, our behavior, our wants. We think he and
perhaps his beliefs are wrong, or he is unable to help us with our big problems. But later, we as grown men, will
eventually see his side of the story and face the problems in raising our own sons, even though it is hard to
believe now. It is the Order of DeMolay that enables us to grow up to be better men, better citizens for
tomorrow's world. Our Chapter dads also try to aid us if we think our fathers unable to do so. Or perhaps we
lost a father and then look to an advisor as a father substitute. Such as the founder of our Order when Dad
Land saw fatherless Louis Lower groping for an adult guiding hand. DeMolay, based on such a foundation, has
given three and a half million young men a helping and guiding hand along the path. We, therefore, wish to
extend to our fathers and Chapter dads the most heartiest token of our appreciation as sons and as DeMolays'.
Father, help us further to be good men.

My Brothers, when you go home tonight, you should give due thanks and tribute to your father. Flowers are
inappropriate token material; but walk up to him tonight, smile and grip his hand firmly, saying: "Thank you,
dad, for all you have given me so far. May I, with the help of the lessons of DeMolay, grow up to be worthy of
your name." DeMolay asks you to do this small favor as an appreciation of your fathers and of the manhood
you hope you will come to inherit.

My brothers, you have just been permitted to take upon yourselves the name of one of the world's most heroic
knightly figures. Now you can say, "I am a DeMolay." To be deemed worthy of the privilege of entering into
the comradeship of that great army of youth both here and abroad who have dedicated themselves to the ideals
of Jacques DeMolay, demonstrates our confidence that the fineness of your purposes will guide your
development into the highest type of manhood. To be accepted as a DeMolay is, therefore, an honor of which
any young man can be justly proud.

In being received into our ranks, you have been instructed in the seven cardinal virtues of this great Order.
We hope you have been deeply impressed with the lessons they teach. There is no better foundation on which
to build your character and future life than the practice of these virtues. The Order teaches many beautiful
lessons, but none is more important than honor and true respect for womanhood, and more especially for
motherhood. It is fitting, therefore, that you have been called upon to stand again before this altar in a few
moments of special emphasis upon the virtue which has been given first place among the jewels adorning the
Crown of Youth: Filial Love.

For my purpose now, this altar is dedicated to our mothers, whose love never fails. You may rise to positions of
great influence in commercial, political, or professional life, but you can never reach the heights of your
mother's secret hopes for you. You may sink into the lowest depths of infamy and degradation, but never below
the reach of her love. The memory of it will always stir your heart. There is no man so entirely base, so
completely vile, so utterly low, that he does not hold in his heart a shrine sacred and apart for the memory of
his mother's love.

It was your mother who loved you before you were born--who carried you for long months close to her heart and
in the fullness of time took God's hand in hers and passed through the valley of shadows to give you life. It was
she who cared for you during the helpless years of infancy and the scarcely less dependent years of childhood.
As you have grown less dependent, she has done the countless, thoughtful, trouble-healing, helpful and
encouraging things which somehow only mothers seem to know how to do. You may have accepted these
attentions more or less as matters of course, and perhaps without conscious gratitude or any expression of your
appreciation. You are rapidly approaching the time in life when you will be entirely independent of your mother.
The ties with which dependency has bound you to her may be severed as you grow older, but the tie of
mother-love can never be broken.

My body fed your body, son,
But birth's a swift thing
Compared to one and twenty years
Of feeding you with spirit's tears.
I could not make your mind and soul,
But my glad hands have kept you whole.
Your groping hands
Bound me to life with ruthless bands.
And all my living became a prayer,
While all my days built up a stair
For your young feet that trod behind
That you an aspiring way should find.
Think you that life can give you pain
Which does not stab in me again?
Think you that life can give you shame
Which does not make my pride go lame?
And you can do no evil thing
Which sears not me with poisoned sting.
Because of all that I have done,
Remember me in life, O son.
Keep that proud body fine and fair.
My life is monumented there.
For my life make no woman weep,
For my life hold no woman cheap.
And see you give no woman scorn
For that dark night when you were born.

Far in the dim recesses of her heart
Where all is hushed and still,
She keeps a shrine.
'Tis here she kneels in prayer
While from above long shafts of light upon her shine.
Her heart is flower fragrant as she prays.
Aquiver like a candle flame,
Each prayer takes wing
To bless the world she works among,
To leave the radiance of the candles there.

We want each of you to take a flower from the altar. If your mother has passed over to the other shore, you
will choose a white flower and keep it always sacred to her memory. May the sight of it always quicken every
tender memory of her and strengthen you anew in your efforts to be worthy of her hopes and aspirations for
you. If your mother is living, you will choose a red flower. When you go home tonight, give it to your mother.
Tell her it is our recognition of God's best gift to a man: his mother's love. Take her in your arms and say,
"Mother, I've learned a great lesson tonight. The ceremonies have helped me realize more fully how much you
really mean to me. I'm going to try to show you daily how much I appreciate the sacrifices you have made and
the love and care you give me."

Someday you'll find that flower, I know not where, perhaps in her Bible or prayer book or some other sacred
place, a silent witness to what this night has meant to the one whose love for you, her son, is beyond the
comprehension of any son. My brothers, each of you will please take a red or white flower from the altar.