The Degree Rituals The Supreme Council, 33 ... - Scottish Rite, NMJ

The Degree Rituals
Sublime Prince — The Thirty-second Degree
The 32° of the Scottish Rite had its origin as the 25th and last degree of
the 18th century Rite of Perfection and may be traced back to a French degree
that was extant 250 years ago. The Francken Manuscript of 1783 did not
record the ritual of the degree, but it did describe a major component, the
symbolism of the camp, disclosed the signs and passwords of the degree, and
provided the motto, then as now, “Spes Mea in Deo Est.” Also then as now,
a person admitted to the degree was styled “Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.”
The earliest surviving ritual of the degree appeared in 1845, or soon thereafter,
in the manuscript of Killian Van Rensselaer. At the time a single ritual
encompassed the 30°, 31°, and 32°. In that portion of the composite ritual associated
with the 32°, set in the period of the Crusades, the candidate was
made a prisoner by Moslems and rescued by Knights Templar. By 1875, perhaps
under the influence of the American Civil War and its veterans’ organization,
the Grand Army of the Republic, the 32° had become a military
degree with a Grand Masonic Army attired in a prescribed Consistory uniform.
The rescue of the candidate was made in a dramatic battle scene.
By the turn of the 20th century, however, the military influence had run its
course. Reflecting the changing trend, Ill. John Lloyd Thomas, 33°, later to
become an Active Member for New York and a member of the Committee on
Rituals, proposed a new ritual for the 32°. What Thomas proposed was a dignified
ceremonial with much improved dialogue, and without dramatization.
Adopted as a tentative ritual in 1912, it became the basis of the later ceremonial
section and the current ritual of the 32°.
A few years later, because of continuing interest in a dramatic ritual,
Thomas revised the tentative ritual, separating it into two sections. The first
was the ceremonial ritual with the symbolism of the camp, obligation, and investiture,
climaxing in a stirring call to patriotism. This was followed by a
new dramatic allegory, a medieval scene that portrayed the vigil of Constans,
an aspirant for knighthood, who overcame the temptations of personal selfinterest
and ultimately made the supreme sacrifice in the cause of the “Royal
Secret.” The new ritual with ceremonial and allegory was approved as the
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