Red Cross of Constantine
The Masonic and Military Order of the Red Cross of Constantine and the Orders of the Holy Sepulchre and of St. John the Evangelist.
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This Christian Order works three degrees: Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine plus two appendant degrees – Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, and Knight of St. John the Evangelist.
Candidates join the Order in the degree of the Red Cross of Constantine, in which all regular business of the Conclave is conducted.
Regalia for the Red Cross degree consists of a purple sash and a breast jewel bearing a red cross with the initials IHSV. Following receipt of the appendant degrees, members instead wear a white embroidered sash and add a second jewel featuring a black eagle supporting a black lozenge containing two heraldic 'crosses potent', one within the other. No aprons are worn in any of these degrees.
Candidates join the Order in the degree of the Red Cross of Constantine, in which all regular business of the Conclave is conducted.
Regalia for the Red Cross degree consists of a purple sash and a breast jewel bearing a red cross with the initials IHSV. Following receipt of the appendant degrees, members instead wear a white embroidered sash and add a second jewel featuring a black eagle supporting a black lozenge containing two heraldic 'crosses potent', one within the other. No aprons are worn in any of these degrees.
Descriptions of the degrees.
The degree of Knight of the Red Cross of Constantine relates to Constantine the Great, the Roman Emperor who was converted to Christianity following a miraculous vision through which he gained victory on the field of battle. The secret doctrine relating to Constantine’s vision and his banner of victory form the substance of the degree.
The appendant degree of Knight of the Holy Sepulchre is concerned with the three days between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. Masonic tradition informs us that it was instituted after the discovery of the True Cross in 327 A.D. by St. Helena, Constantine’s mother, who was a devout Christian. The Holy Sepulchre is represented in the furniture of the Order, over which a symbolic vigil is mounted by the officers of the degree.
The legend of the appendant degree of Knight of St. John the Evangelist concerns a discovery made in the ruins of the second Temple at Jerusalem and the subsequent founding of the Knights of St. John. The legend is essentially the same as that in the Holy Royal Arch, but transposed in time to the Roman period after the destruction of the Second Temple.
The rituals of the Appendant Orders are particularly impressive, and the lecture delivered with them is highly enlightening in its attempt to explain the allegories of the Craft and Royal Arch in a purely Christian sense.
The two appendant degrees are conferred on new members of the Order by a District Team once a year in a combined ceremony.
Candidates for the Order must be members of the Holy Royal Arch and profess the Trinitarian Christian Faith.
