Order of De Molay

This is a boy’s fraternity organized in 1919 at Kansas City under Masonic sponsorship.  The ritual is “built around the fundamental precepts of love for parents, reverence for sacred things, patriotism, purity, courtesy, comradeship, fidelity, and loyalty to the public school as the citadel of American liberty.”  De Molay was the last Grand Commander of the medieval Knights Templars and died in 1314.  Membership in the fraternity is open to boys from 14 to 21 who are sons of Freemasons or vouched for by one of them as a worthy comrade.  The organization has a ritual, altar with Bible, chaplain, organist, deacons, burial and memorial ceremony. Its ritual is characterized by deism.  Work righteousness abounds in its pages. “A blameless life robs the grave of its victory.”  There are many prayers, but all are Christless.