The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

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Chapter 7 - Rituals
and hospitals are preparing for the hour of rest (cf. p. 20). He asks the members
to pause in deliberation while the Chaplain offers a prayer and the choir sings
"Sweet Hour of Prayer." The Chaplain then invokes divine blessing upon fathers,
mothers, and sufferers, and all DeMolays finish in unison with a rather child-like
formula: "God bless mother, God bless father, God bless the purposes of
DeMolay. Amen." (p. 21).
7.2.6.2 Treasure-Hunting for Moral and
Patriotic Values:The Order of the
Rainbow for Girls 1512
The Order of the Rainbow for Girls is a youth organization open to girls aged
11 to 20, sponsored by Masonic Lodges, Eastern Star Chapters, or Amaranth
Courts. Any girl of the prescribed age can join, regardless of Masonic affiliation.
Girls without Masonic relationship, e.g. chums of Rainbow Girls, are admitted as
friends of Masons or Eastern Stars, who have to recommend them and sign their
petition.
The Order was founded in 1922 by Rev. W. Mark Sexson (1877 - 1953), who
had for a long time observed the Order of DeMolay for boys and felt that an
equal institution for girls would be necessary for "setting forth some of the truths
of Masonry" (p. 94). Reverend Sexson was raised a Master Mason in
Bloomfield, Indiana, while he served as minister of the First Christian Church of
that city. In 1907, he was made Master of the Royal Secret, 32° in Oklahoma
Consistory No. 1, and in 1911 he was crowned Knight Commander of the Court
of Honor at Guthrie, Oklahoma (cf. p. 92/93). In 1912, Sexson came to
McAlester as Secretary of the McAlester Scottish Rite Bodies, and one year later
he obtained the rank of a 33° Mason and was coroneted as Inspector General
Honorary by the Supreme Council at Washington. Besides being a Royal Arch
Mason and a Knight Templar, he was a Noble of the Mystic Shrine and a
member of Amrita Grotto in Arkansas, and also a Past Grand Patron of the Order
of the Eastern Star in Oklahoma. In 1937, he was initiated into the White Shrine
of Jerusalem 1513 . Sexson held many offices during his Masonic career, to the
highest of which, that of Most Worshipful Grand Master of a sovereign Masonic
Grand Jurisdiction, he was elected in 1928 (cf. p. 93).
Mr. Sexson made himself a name as a lecturer and contributor of fraternal
literature, having spent practically all of his life in this research field, his greatest
1512
If not otherwise noted, the quotations for this section are taken from Ritual. Order of the Rainbow
for Girls, 1948.
1513
With such a vast Masonic background of the founder, it is no wonder that several symbolic
features of the other orders (esp. Eastern Star) have merged into the ritual of the Order of the
Rainbow for Girls.