The Masonic Degree of Rose-Croix and Chrstianity
more splendor ; when our tools have regained their forms , when the light is returned with greater radiance , when the darkness is dispersed and when the new law must reign among us and in the labors of perfect masonry .” 11
And then , after this is an agape ritual called “ Communion Supper ” [ Cène ]. 12 Around a table covered with a white cloth , the brethren share bread and wine ; there are at times along with this , a roasted lamb whose remains will be burned . There must be nothing there but one bread that will be broken ; and the brothers must all drink wine from the same cup . For no doubt to remain about the nature of this ceremony , the ritual specifies that it is
“… a commemoration of Easter and the appearance of J . C . to his disciples in Emmaus .” 13
The set of ceremonies and ritual mechanism of the degree of Sovereign Prince Rose-Croix are therefore performed “… to render allegorically what took place upon the death and upon the resurrection of J . C .” 14
So therefore :
“ The Perfect Mason [...] is the allegory of the redeemer ; this is why it is demanded that all subjects be Christian . The other [ degrees ] can be given to People who know the old Temple ; but the latter can only be given to [ those ] who are subjected to the new law .[...] The principal feast is Holy Thursday .” 15
So it is no surprise to learn that the Rose-Croix ritual of the Marquis de Gages specifies that “ he takes the title of Christian Knight .” 16 The profoundly Christian character
of the Rose-Croix is all the more important because the degree is presented as the last of the Order , the culmination , the Nec plus Ultra of Masonry . This was the case in Lyon in 1761 . This is what emerges both from the manuscript of the Marquis de Gages in 1763 as well as from some letters in 1766 from the Comte de Clermont . They are signed “ Your brother Clermont , Rose Croix parfait Maçon .” 17 The Grand Master of French Freemasonry , moreover , shows his great interest in this eminent degree . Here he congratulates the Senior Warden of the lodge of the Marquis de Gages , his correspondent , who “… humiliated a very respectable visitor , from the Lodge of the House of the King [ la Loge de la Maison du Roy ], about all the degrees that he possessed , and refused him the title of Rose-Croix .”
The Christian nature of the Rose- Croix degree was emphasized from the 18th century onwards .
Thus , in 1766 , in his book “ L ' Etoile Flamboyante ” [“ The Blazing Star ”] the Baron de Tschoudy writes :
“ The Rose-Croix properly speaking , or Maçon d ' Heredon , although , all things considered , this is only a renewed Masonry , or Catholicism put into degrees .” 18
11
Transcript . cit . , R . T . 1971 , 240 .
12
Transcript . cit . , R . T . 1971 , 247 .
13
Transcript . cit . , R . T . 1971 , 241 .
14
Transcript . cit . , R . T . 1971 , 75 .
15
Transcript . cit . , R . T . 1971 , 68 .
16
BN FM4 79 , f ° 101 verso .
17
F . Clément , Contribution à l ’ Etude des Hauts-Degrees de la Francs-Maçonnerie et particulièrement à l ’ Histoire du Rite Ecossais Ancien et Accepté en Belgique , Edition du Sup . Cons . de Belgique , Brussels , 1937 . Chap . III , the letters from Grand-Master Clermont are 34-42 .
18
[ Théodore de Tschoudy ], L ' Etoile Flamboyante ou la société des Francs-Maçons considérée sous tous les aspects , à l ' Orient , Chez le silence [ 1766 ], 149 .
17