GM of Arizona Withdraws Edict Against DeMolay

by Christopher Hodapp

The Grand Lodge of Arizona has apparently resolved its disagreements with Arizona DeMolay. On March 6th, MW Grand Master Michael A. Dale officially rescinded Edict 2025-01, which had briefly forbidden Arizona Masons from sponsoring or participating in any activities involving DeMolay International. The original edict had been issued on February 10th.

According to several brethren there, the Grand Master and others had objected to the makeup of Arizona's DeMolay Foundation board. Of its five directors, three were all members of the same family, which looked and smelled like a serious case of impropriety. 

Grand Master Cuts Off DeMolay From Arizona Freemasons

by Christopher Hodapp

In an edict issued on Monday, MW Michael Dale, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Arizona, cut off the Masonic-related youth group DeMolay International from Arizona Freemasonry. (Click the image above to enlarge)

In his edict, GM Dale (photo at left) - a 27-year veteran of the Marine Corps -  gives no explanation apart from it being due to "the Grand Master's and the Arizona DeMolay State Association's loss of faith and trust in DeMolay International and the Arizona DeMolay Foundation."

The edict reads as follows:

Due to the Grand Master's and the Arizona DeMolay State Association's loss of faith and trust in DeMolay International and the Arizona DeMolay Foundation, effective as of this date, no Mason under the jurisdiction of The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Arizona will be a part of, participate in or sponsor any part of DeMolay International, the Arizona DeMolay Foundation or the Arizona DeMolay State Association or any other DeMolay associated organization.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available. (Note the August 15, 2024 date is incorrect and was probably left in error from a previously used letter. The edict really was issued Monday.)

R.I.P. Edward Sebring

by Christopher Hodapp

          Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:

"The sequel of to-day unsolders all

The goodliest fellowship of famous knights

Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep

They sleep—the men I loved. I think that we

Shall never more, at any future time,

Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds,

Walking about the gardens and the halls

Of Camelot, as in the days that were." *

So very sad today. I just received word that my longtime friend and Brother Ed Sebring passed away Thursday morning, after suffering from Mantle Cell Lymphoma for many months. Many Indiana Knights Templar probably remember Ed best as the editor of the Indiana supplement of the KT Magazine for many, many years, but he was so much more than just a name on a masthead.

I met Ed for the first time 22 summers and a thousand years ago, and since then, we've spoken more to each other in texts and emails than in person. But he was always upbeat, jovial, supportive, and so much more. 

Ed was incredibly enthusiastic about Indiana's DeMolay kids and and our York Rite bodies. When we first started Levant Preceptory as the state's first Medieval period recreation Order of the Temple team, he was our first and most vocal cheerleader.

As a longtime editor, he frequently sent me his take on this or that article or blog post I'd put up. He'd often send me a story idea or a news item to pursue. But we shared other common interests like railroads, history, the old film and video production days, France, and more. 

Health problems dogged Ed over the last decade or so, and he was being treated for cancer for many months. So, we commiserated on that topic as well, sharing stories of the horrors of being trapped in infusion room Barcaloungers, watching helplessly as endless morning chat shows and "Flip This House" reruns droned on the TV set, with no possible hope of wresting the remote control from the hands of fellow patients. 

Years ago, Jeff Naylor said, “When you're young all you ever want to be is older. No one ever explains that the price you pay for that is in the numbers of people you lose who were important in your life.” Dear God, I wish that wasn't so, because knowing it doesn't make it less painful when it happens. But as the years pass and mortality looms larger in the rear-view mirror, it takes on definable features. Ed Sebrings don't pass our way very often, and I sorely regret not having spent more time in his company. I'll miss our phone calls and messages back and forth. The loss of his wisdom, experience and good counsel will leave a void in my life not easily filled.

My heart goes out to dear Cindy Rider, who wrote this morning. She's hoping to have a Masonic service for Ed at Vincennes Lodge No. 1 soon. I'll post more when I know.

His column is broken, and his Brethren mourn.

       Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere:

"Ah! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go?

Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes?

For now I see the true old times are dead,

When every morning brought a noble chance,

And every chance brought out a noble knight.

Such times have been not since the light that led

The holy Elders with the gift of myrrh.

But now the whole ROUND TABLE is dissolved

Which was an image of the mighty world;

And I, the last, go forth companionless,

And the days darken round me, and the years,

Among new men, strange faces, other minds."

       And slowly answer'd Arthur from the barge:

"The old order changeth, yielding place to new,

And God fulfills Himself in many ways,

Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.

Comfort thyself: what comfort is in me?

I have lived my life, and that which I have done

May He within Himself make pure! but thou,

If thou shouldst never see my face again,

Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer

Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice

Rise like a fountain for me night and day.

For what are men better than sheep or goats

That nourish a blind life within the brain,

If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer

Both for themselves and those who call them friend?

For so the whole round earth is every way

Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.

But now farewell. I am going a long way

With these thou seëst—if indeed I go—

(For all my mind is clouded with a doubt)

To the island-valley of Avilion;

Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,

Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies

Deep-meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard-lawns

And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea,

Where I will heal me of my grievous wound."

So said he, and the barge with oar and sail

Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan

That, fluting a wild carol ere her death,

Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood

With swarthy webs. Long stood Sir Bedivere

Revolving many memories, till the hull

Look'd one black dot against the verge of dawn,

And on the mere the wailing died away.*

Requiescat in pace.

* From Le Morte d'Arthur by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

California Lodge Restarts Its Youth Groups

by Christopher Hodapp

Turlock Masonic Lodge 236 in Turlock, California got some decent coverage in the local paper this morning. The lodge is bringing back their youth groups, which have been dormant for several years now – Job's Daughters for girls, and DeMolay for boys.

From Job’s Daughters and Demolays give young people a space to foster their growth by Pawan Naidu in the Turlock Journal:

Within the lodge they have separate divisions that help young people grow and develop as individuals. Job’s Daughters help young women ages 10-20 while Demolays helps young men ages 9-21.

Former member of Job’s Daughters, Amanda Sargenti Gomez, said she believes one of the most valuable things the organization taught her was the importance of volunteering and giving back to the community.

“A very important thing for me was being active in the community by volunteering. During my term as Honored Queen we collected toys and books to take to Shriner’s Hospital. We also assisted the Masons by serving at their dinner events,” she said.

“I learned many things from my time in Job’s Daughters. First off, respect for myself, my elders and my peers, as well as proper etiquette. Secondly, I learned public speaking and how to run and organize a meeting. These things have been very important as I developed within my career,” said Gomez.

According to former Demolay member James Banta, the Demolays aim to foster that same growth among young men and have a place where they can be among their peers.

“I think young men in particular find comfort knowing there are other people out there that feel the same way they do,” he said

What sets the Demolays apart from other youth organizations is that it gives their members autonomy about what they want to do.

“The members decide what activities they’re going to do. We do have older individuals there to help guide them along, but the members do all the organizing,” said Banta.

The Demolays do not adhere to one religion and accept members of all faiths as long as they agree to the values of the organization.

“We put our values front and center and as long as you transcribe to those values, you’ll be welcomed,” said Banta.

 

100th Anniversary of DeMolay International

Lessons of the knightly virtues of chivalry like bravery, honor, honesty, faith, charity and humility never go out of style, and they retain their attraction for every generation - especially when they are imparted with the idealistic romance of an earlier Age. The legendary order of the Knights Templar is unquestionably one of the very strongest and most enduring images of faith, honor and courage.

March 24, 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the official launch day in 1919 of DeMolay International (formerly the Order of DeMolay) by Freemason Frank S. Land in Kansas City, Missouri. Named after Jacques de Molay, the famed last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, DeMolay International is a chivalric youth group associated with Freemasonry, specifically for young men between 12 and 21. Based on the seven cardinal virtues of filial love, reverence, courtesy, comradeship, fidelity, cleanness and patriotism, DeMolay International has in its first century encouraged more than a million young men to become leaders of character, including many successful businessmen, public servants, entertainers and athletes. 

A century ago,  Frank Land was very concerned about boys who had lost their fathers during World War I. In 1919, 17-year-old Louis Lower and eight other boys gathered together in Kansas City, Missouri, to create an after-school club. Lower had recently lost his father, and Frank Land liked the boy and wanted to help. He suggested the boys meet in the local Scottish Rite temple building.

The boys were looking for inspiration for a name and structure for the club, and Frank Land was a member of the heroically named Ivanhoe Lodge 446 in Kansas City. He was also an officer in the local Knights Templar commandery, and told the boys the story of Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master of the original Knights Templar who had been imprisoned, falsely accused of heresy, tortured, and finally burned alive in 1314.

The nine boys were enthused by the story of de Molay’s bravery and sacrifice, and they decided to name the club DeMolay. By the second meeting, there were 31 boys. “Dad” Land, as he came to be known, contacted a Masonic brother named Frank Marshall and asked him to write an initiation ritual for them.

The Order of DeMolay spread like wildfire across the country. Marshall was careful not to make his degrees too close to those of Freemasonry, lest he be accused of trying to create Freemasonry for kids. DeMolay confers initiation and knighthood on boys, followed by awards of merit, such as Legion of Honor, Chevalier, Blue Honor awards, and Merit Medals. Its members hold office and conduct the ritual and business of the chapter, teaching boys leadership skills, financial responsibility, civic awareness, and public speaking. Like Masonry, it requires belief in a Supreme Being, but not in any specific religion. Today, membership is open to boys between the ages of 12 and 21.

A recent addition to DeMolay allows boys as young as 10 years old to become a Squire of the Round Table and attend DeMolay meetings and functions. It eliminates the pressure of learning ritual and softens the big age differences that can often intimidate a young boy in a group of older ones. A regular DeMolay member, who acts as the Squire Manor’s “big brother,” mentors the younger boys. As in the regular DeMolay meetings, an adult advisor (known as a Dad or a Mom) is always present.

Today, DeMolay has 15,000 active members in the United States and Canada. There are active chapters in Australia, Argentina, Aruba, Philippines, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil, Italy, Peru, Romania, France, Albania, Japan, Montenegro, and Serbia. 

Have you seen this jewel?

When a Brother passes away, his family often has no idea what the dozens of jewels, pins, certificates, aprons, swords, hats and other keepsakes found in a drawer, cigar box or attic trunk really meant to their departed relative, or to the fraternity as a whole. They frequently become nothing more than gimcrack to be unceremoniously sent to the trash, or put out on Ebay to generate a few dollars. In many cases, they are far more important to the departed Brother's lodge or appendant chapter than any monetary price they can fetch, in terms of keeping our heritage alive.

Most of us over 50 at some point have the uncomfortable "If something happens to me" discussion with a member of our family (or we should, anyway), and most Masons at least mention the desire to be buried with our white lambskin apron. Perhaps the simplest way to let our families know not to simply send our other treasured ephemera to the dump is to put a note in storage with our apron. There are lodges that have a tradition of passing along rings from departed brethren to new members or WMs, and PM jewels passed along to the next generation of lodge leaders are a far more meaningful connection to our history than just an aging photo on the wall of the dining room.

Brother Seth Anthony in Pennsylvania was presented with a frustrating situation a few days ago, and for anyone who feels a responsibility to preserve our Masonic heritage, it can be a heartbreaker.

From Who cares about history?

Yesterday I was presented with an item of immeasurable historical importance to Pennsylvania DeMolay. There, on my screen, was the DeMolay Founder's Cross, given to Paul Miller Moore by "Dad" Land himself!

For those who don't know, the Founder's Cross is the rarest DeMolay honor ever given. It was only given by "Dad" Land to persons he desired to honor "for their personal, consistent and conspicuous loyalty to him." The jewel was to be worn over the heart. This was not a Grand or Supreme Council honor-- it was a personal expression of "Dad" Land's heartfelt gratitude. Exactly 135 were given out in his lifetime between 1937 and 1959, and they are never to be issued again. We have never seen a published list of all 135 recipients, and an extensive search of the internet only yielded the names of only a few recipients; James A. Wieland of Pittsburgh, PA; Paul Miller More of Butler, PA; Roy "Friday" Fitzgerald of Kansas City, MO; and Gorman A. McBride, of Kansas City, MO, the First Master Councilor of the Mother Chapter and the only one of the nine original members to be so honored.


In this case, "Dad" Land gave the honor to "Dad" Paul Miller Moore, a Past Grand Commander of Knights Templar of Pennsylvania, and Most Eminent Past Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the United States of America. "Dad" Moore was VERY prominent Freemason in Pennsylvania and even has a Legion of Honor Preceptory named after him (which meets in Butler.) To see "Dad" Moore's Founder's Cross for sale on eBay made my heart sink.

Somehow this important piece of PA DeMolay history made its way into the hands of an antique dealer in Pittsburgh who sold the item off to the highest bidder. PA DeMolay placed a bid on the item, which was close, but, sadly, wasn't high enough to purchase it. Unfortunately we don't know who the winning bidder was. We can only hope that it's a member of the DeMolay family. However, it's also possible that the buyer wasn't part of the Masonic fraternity. Experience has taught us that when pieces of history, like this medal, fall into hands outside of the fraternity it is very unlikely that we will ever get them back.

[snip]

AS AN APPEAL - if you are the buyer of the Paul Moore Founder's Cross, or you know who the purchaser is, we would greatly appreciate you contacting us at webmaster@pademolay.org or pa.demolay@gmail.com. PA DeMolay is willing to negotiate a fair settlement for the acquisition of this unique medal and piece of PA DeMolay history, to be displayed for all Pennsylvania DeMolay members to see.

DeMolay International Anniversary

While the organization founded in 1919 by Frank S. Land that has become DeMolay International was officially formed on March 24th of that year, longstanding tradition holds that it is more appropriately celebrated on March 18th, the date of the death of Jacques de Molay in Paris in 1314.

Heck, even the French can't agree on the exact date of de Molay's burning—plaques at the site say both March 11th and March 18th.

I am proud to be an Honorary DeMolay Legionnaire, and happily celebrate the 92nd traditional anniversary of the founding of the Order of DeMolay in Kansas City, Missouri. DeMolay is open to young men between the ages of 12 and 21, with more than 1,000 chapters all around the world. Read the history of this tremendous group here.

I don't come from a Masonic family, and I never had the opportunity to join DeMolay as a young man. I wish that I had, and wholeheartedly recommend it to young men who seek a group in which to make new friendships, learn leadership and trust, and most of all, to fulfill a quest for the code of chivalry that has inspired the very best of men for centuries. That is no idle boast.

BTW, the Jacques DeMolay Bobblehead above was created by the lads of Pennsylvania DeMolay. Note the sneaky Pope lurking in the shaows to the left.

Jacques de Molay

This Friday, March 18th is the 697th Anniversary of death of Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master of the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ, the Knights Templar. (Some accounts say March 11th. Even the two commemorative plaques at the execution site in Paris have conflicting dates.)

He was born in the eastern French village of Molay in 1244 or 45. Almost nothing is known of his early life, but he joined the Templars at the age of 21, and served 42 years as a warrior monk.

In 1291, the Holy Land fell back into the hands of the infidel, and would never fully return to Christian rule. The Templars and the Knights Hospitallers fell back to the coastal city of Acre, which was quickly lost. Both orders subsequently went to the island of Cyprus. The Templars remained here, while the Hospitallers later took the island of Rhodes. That too would be lost eventually, and the Hospitallers eventually settled in Malta, where they became known as the knights of Malta. In spite of the modern Masonic orders that unite these two orders of knights, they were bitter rivals for the wealth and favor of Europe and the Church.

Jacques de Molay was elected Grand Master in 1293 at the age of 47. Immediately he set off to England, France, Aragon and Italy to drum up support for a new crusade to the Holy Land, as well as to fend off a growing call for merging the two orders of knights. Politiucally, the Templars were regarded as the men who lost the Holy Land, and monarchies were becoming distrustful of them. France in particular was feeling overrun with returning, aging knights, who still were free from any kind of taxation or even civil laws, by virtue of Papal bulls that held the order above anyone but the Pope.

King Phillip IV of France and his personal henchman Guillaume de Nogaret had been in severe conflict with the then-reigning pope, Boniface VIII. The pope had declared that the king of France had no right to tax Church property, and the king had, obviously, disagreed. De Nogaret kidnapped an important French bishop, and the pope had come out swinging over it. He issued a papal bull proclaiming that kings must be subordinate to the Church, and that popes held ultimate authority over both spiritual and temporal matters on earth. To make sure they got the message, Boniface excommunicated Phillip and de Nogaret. Phillip answered his challenge by sending the brutal, devious and bad-tempered de Nogaret at the head of an army to meet up with Italian allies and capture the pope. Boniface was indeed kidnapped and held for three days. After literally being beaten to a pulp, he was released and died a month later. The French king had proved just who was subordinate to whom, and he didn’t mind a little papal blood on his hands. Pope Boniface’s successor, Pope Benedict XI, lasted only a year in office, poisoned, it was said, by de Nogaret.

But there had been diplomatic difficulties to suffer for killing two popes. Consequently, King Phillip decided it would be easier to just buy one. He began procuring cardinals, pulling strings behind the scenes until the number of French cardinals in the Vatican’s College of Cardinals was equal to the Italian ones. They then obligingly elected his handpicked candidate, Bertrand de Goth, making him Pope Clement V. The city of Rome was in turmoil, and the safety of the Vatican was in question. So, it didn’t take much to convince the new French pope that his life would be in serious danger by living there. Clement obliged by staying in France, having his ceremony of investiture in Lyons. He remained in France, eventually moving the Holy See to the city of Avignon (which was actually owned by the King of Sicily at the time) in 1309, right on Phillip’s back door step, where he built a new papal palace. Catholics often refer to it as the “Babylonian Captivity.” Nowadays it’s usually called the Avignon Papacy or the Great Schism.

Clement had everything Phillip wanted in a pope: he was puny, weak, new in the job, and owed everything to his French king. Now was the time for the boldest move of Phillip’s reign – the arrest of the Knights Templar.

Jacques de Molay left Cyprus to head straight for a meeting with the new Pope, and he had high hopes for success, especially since they were countrymen. He couldn’t at this point have known of the dark forces that were assembling against him behind the scenes. In June of 1307, de Molay rode into Paris at the head of a column of his knights, with a dozen horses laden with gold and silver, to begin the financing the new Crusade. For the next several months, Phillip treated the aging Grand Master with interest and diplomacy, and de Molay believed he and the Order were at a new turning point.

The circumstances of the arrests on October 13th, 1307, and seven years of trials of the Templars are well known to most of us, but we are most concerned with the last Grand Master tonight. By 1314, both the pope and public opinion had abandoned the Knights Templar. The four senior Templar officers in Phillip’s custody had been waiting in prison for seven grim years. All of them were old, the youngest being Geoffroi de Charney, who was almost 60. Jacques de Molay was in his 70s, and had spent four years in solitary confinement.

On March 18th, 1314, the four men were finally led onto a platform in front of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral to hear the charges and make their public confessions. The charges were read, and two of the men accepted their fate of perpetual imprisonment and were led away.

But Jacques de Molay, and his trusted follower Geoffroi de Charney, did not follow suit. Weakened with age and imprisonment, de Molay shouted in a voice that startled the assembly that he and the Templars were innocent of all the charges. They were returned to their cells at once, while Phillip called together his council and quickly pronounced sentence, using the insane logic of the Inquisition; if they had recanted their confessions, then they were considered “relapsed heretics,” and the penalty was the stake.

Late that afternoon, de Molay and de Charney were led to the place of execution, which was a tiny isolated island adjacent to the Isle de la Citè, called the Ile-des-Juifs, the “Island of the Jews.” The condemned men could see Notre Dame Cathedral in the east, but the site was not chosen for their view. Rather, it was chosen so that King Phillip could enjoy the entertainment without leaving his palace just across the River Seine.

Each man was stripped down to his shirt and tied to the stake. Jacques de Molay, with unbelievable courage, asked not only that he be turned to face the Cathedral, but that his hands be freed, so that he could die at prayer. His request was granted. The two men were roasted alive by the Inquisitional method that began slowly with hot coals, so that their agony could be prolonged as much as possible.


When the Pont Neuf was built, the Île des Juifs was joined to the rest of the Île de la Cité, and today there are not one but two plaques near the bridge to commemorate this event. According to legend, Jacques de Molay did not go to his God in silence. Instead, he died defiantly shouting his innocence and that of the Templars, calling on King Phillip and Pope Clement to meet him before the throne of God in one year’s time, where they would all be judged together. Creepily enough, both men, relatively young, would be dead within the year. One month after the death of de Molay, Pope Clement V, age 54, died, it was said of cancer. Phillip the Fair, age 46, would die in a hunting accident probably brought on by a stroke. He died on November 29th.

A non-Masonic order of modern Knights Templar claim deMolay appointed a successor to himself secretly, and the order survived the centuries. Masonic Templars make no such claim, but the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem tells the tale that DeMolay’s skull and leg bones were pulled from the ashes and secretly buried with the document of succession, called the Larmenius Charter. Others claim that during the French revolution, as King Louis XVI’s head was chopped off by the guillotine, someone rushed up from the crowd and proclaimed, “Jacques De Molay, Thou art avenged!”

The gruesome death of Jacques de Molay is the last act of the Templar story. At least, the last act of the accepted, scholarly story of the Knights Templar that is told, in names and dates, between the covers of the history books. But in reality, his death is only the beginning. It’s the beginning of the myth of the Knights Templar, which is the maelstrom around which an endless stream of fact blended with speculation swirls, unabated.

(Adapted from The Templar Code For Dummies)