From the Quarries

Why the Royal Arch is a presentation by Roy A. Wells, P.J.G.D. (England), which was first delivered at the Greater Atlanta York Rite Festival, May 13, 1989. It looks at the ‘what’ as well as the ‘why’ of the Royal Arch and delivers a cogent and logical argument for why it is essential for every Master Mason.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Owing to a reported ‘copyright infringement’ in the background images (Which I don’t believe to be true as all video content is taken from freely available sources), the section PASSING THE CHAIR has been deleted from this video. I apologise for this, but it is out of my control.

The missing section had the following narration:

“PASSING THE CHAIR

As we have seen, in the early period only those who had occupied the Chair of a Lodge could be exalted to the Royal Arch. In those days election for Mastership was held every six months from one St. John’s Day to the next, i.e., St. John the Baptist on 24 June, or St. John the Evangelist on 27 December. In some Lodges, however, the Chair remained almost the prerogative of one Brother.

To avoid an evitable decay through lack of qualified Candidates for the Royal Arch a modified form of Installation, minus certain details, was introduced to enable Brethren who had not been in the Chair to enter. This process created “virtual” Masters, and by such means they were ‘Passed the Chair’ without having ruled over a Lodge. Subsequently, amendments were made that permitted Master Masons of twelve months standing to enter.”

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