The Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch
"At the Quarterly Communication of 10 December 2003 the United Grand Lodge of England acknowledged and pronounced the status of the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch to be 'an extension to, but neither a superior nor a subordinate part of, the Degrees which precede it'."
The English system of Royal Arch Masonry consists of a single Order which works four ceremonies: the exaltation ceremony to bring in new members and an installation ceremony for each of the three Principals who jointly rule the Chapter. The Holy Royal Arch is the only appendant Order that is actively endorsed by the United Grand Lodge of England.
The theme of the degree revolves around the re-building of the Temple at Jerusalem following the destruction of the first Temple by Nebuchadnezzar and the return of the Jewish people from their exile in Babylon. It concerns the recovery of something that was lost and develops the concepts of man's spirituality. It has variously been called 'the most sacred part of Masonry' and 'the root, heart and marrow of Masonry'.
The Royal Arch is considered to be the completion of "pure ancient Masonry", in the sense that "pure ancient Masonry" can be seen as a journey of self-knowledge and discovery with the Royal Arch completing the practical lessons of the Craft by a contemplation of man's spiritual nature, not replacing but reinforcing and supporting what he has learned from his religion.
Although the Royal Arch ceremony has been worked since the earliest days of speculative Masonry, its position within the corpus of the Masonic degrees has had a complex history. It is not a fourth degree, though it was, at one time, worked as such, but is now considered to be an extension of the three Craft degrees. In older days, membership of the Royal Arch was restricted to Masons who had passed through the Chair of a Craft Lodge and was preceded by at least two intermediate degrees. These restrictions have since been removed and a Master Mason may apply to be exalted into a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons four weeks after receiving his third degree.
The theme of the degree revolves around the re-building of the Temple at Jerusalem following the destruction of the first Temple by Nebuchadnezzar and the return of the Jewish people from their exile in Babylon. It concerns the recovery of something that was lost and develops the concepts of man's spirituality. It has variously been called 'the most sacred part of Masonry' and 'the root, heart and marrow of Masonry'.
The Royal Arch is considered to be the completion of "pure ancient Masonry", in the sense that "pure ancient Masonry" can be seen as a journey of self-knowledge and discovery with the Royal Arch completing the practical lessons of the Craft by a contemplation of man's spiritual nature, not replacing but reinforcing and supporting what he has learned from his religion.
Although the Royal Arch ceremony has been worked since the earliest days of speculative Masonry, its position within the corpus of the Masonic degrees has had a complex history. It is not a fourth degree, though it was, at one time, worked as such, but is now considered to be an extension of the three Craft degrees. In older days, membership of the Royal Arch was restricted to Masons who had passed through the Chair of a Craft Lodge and was preceded by at least two intermediate degrees. These restrictions have since been removed and a Master Mason may apply to be exalted into a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons four weeks after receiving his third degree.