The Red Cross Of Constantine In The United States.

THE RED CROSS OF CONSTANTINE IN THE UNITED STATES .

( Continued from page 359 . )

AVe shall now turn onr attention to the Order of Knights of the Holy Sepulchere . This Order teaches that as Christ jiasscd through the gates of death , we also like him , may rise to lifc everlasting by the exercise of Faith ,

Hope and Charity , which are the pillars of thc New Law , hence the desire to be enrolled as a Christian Knig ht must be founded on true

Christian princijiles , by performing good works , such as giving food to the hungry , drink to the thirsty , and clothing to the naked , to be faithful in the house of the Lord , to love all Christian

Knights , and esjiecially to protect the Holy Sepulchre , and defend it against all the enemies ofthe Christian faith . The novitiate having pledged himself to the performance of these duties , is permitted to unfurl the banner of the cross , and to be enrolled as

a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre , as a member of which Order he learns that the grand mystery of Christian Alasonic Knighthood is a sincere belief in Jesus , the Saviour of men , and that Christian Knights should occupy their time in

the erection of sjiiritual buildings , instead of material edifices , as did our ancient brethren . Let me now direct your attention to our traditional history . The historian Eusebius mentions the fact that after Constantine had

witnessed his remarkable vision of the cross , with the motto , " /// hoc signu rimes , " he caused all the debris to be removed from a certain neglected grave hewn in a rock , which was . said to be the identical one in which Christ had been

buried . History also informs us that at that very time Helena , the mother of Constantine , made a visit

to the Holy City , and learned from aged Christians that thc cross upon which Christ sull ' ered had been thrown into a pit near the jilace of crucifixion , whence it had been removed .

Helena caused strict search to be made , and eventually a pit was discovered containing three crosses , one of whicii she recognised , bj certain tests , as the cross of our Redeemer .

Over the sjiot where the crosses were found , St . Helena and Constantine caused a statel y church to be creeled , and from that circumstance is derived , and from that period we date the ori gin of the Order of Kni ghts ofthe Hol y Sqiulchre .

These Kni ghts were selected onl y from the members of the Order ofthe Red Cross of Constantine , and each upon receiving the accolade ,

and taking the vows of Kni ghthood , was bound to guard the Holy Sepulchre , jirotcet pilgrims , and repel all attacks of the enemies of the cross of Christ .

The Holy Sepulchre remained an object of Christian solicitude until about the year 614 , when Chosroes 11 ., a Persian monarch , swept over Palestine with his army , and cajitured Jerusalem , slaughtering the inhabitants and

destroying the churches . Alodestus , Vicar of the Patriarch of Jerusalem , afterwards rebuilt the churches on their ruins . Adamanus , in the seventh century , described the liit or grave in the . solid rock , over which the

church was built , and St . AVillibald , in 76 ' - , also gave a very minute account of the Holy Sepulchre . In 9 6 9 the Caliph Aluez ordered the buildings to be destroyed , and during the Cilijihate ol

Hakem , in 1010 , the Church ofthe Temjile was entirel y demolished , antl sjiecial efforts vvere made to destroy the sepulchre itself , by means of lire .

l'his church was again rebuilt in 1048 , by the successors of Hakem , and in 1099 , was enlarged and beautified b y the Crusaders , the ca | itors ° ol the city .

At the time of the Persian invasion , of which I have just spoken , the true cross was carried away b y Chosroes IL , but was recovered by Ueraclius , in 629 , who , on September 14 th o ' f that year , marched barefoot and in sackcloth into Jertt-

The Red Cross Of Constantine In The United States.

salem , carrying on his shoulders this jiiece of hol y wood . Age after age we trace its course , until it falls into the hands of the Crusaders , over whom its influence is felt at th'e battle of Hittin , where the

Knights of St . John fought so nobly , under command of Guy , King of Jerusalem . At the beginning of the next century , when the Christians entered Jerusalem with Godfrey , Robert the Alonk , says that the soldiers or Knights of St . John " went to the Holy Sepulchre

of our Lord , in which he was buried . " In 1160 , Benjamin , a Hebrew , makes honourable mention of it as a place of worship , and calls it the Holy Sepulchre . In i ') -70 , Father Boniface was appointed

guardian ol the Holy Sejiulchre , by order of Pojie Julius III ., and undertook the work of repairing the same . In i 8 c 8 the entire mass of buildings was again destroyed by fire . An eminent writer thus describes the

conflagration : " Ihe heat was so excessive that the marble columns which surrounded the circular guilding , in the centre of which stood the sacred grotto , were completely pulverised . " The lamps and chandeliers , with the other vessels of the church , brass and silver and gold , were melted

like wax . The molten lead from the immense dome , which crowned the Holy Sepulchre , [ loured down in torrents . The chapel erected by the Crusaders was entirely consumed . Half of the ornamental jiaintings in the ante-chapel were

scorched , but the Holy Sepulchre itself received not the slightest injury internally , the silk hangings and paintings of . the resurrection remaining unscathed by the flames , the smell of fire not even having passed over them . "

From , these and additional historical facts that could be produced , it is self-evident that the sejiulchre or gave which Constantine uncovered ; and from which his mother , Helena , procured the cross , was : lilt * veritable tomb of Christ—the identical sjiot where the feet of onr risen Saviour lirst jiressed the rock of the world lie had redeemed .

Our ritual instructs us that during the periou of the Crusaders the Order of the Holy Sepulchre llourished ; that since thc loss of the Holy Land it has continued to exist in several countries in Europe , and that its ancient ritual and ceremonies had been preserved intact to this day . AVe now come to the investigation of the Order of St . John the F . vangelist .

This Order is unconnected with that of the Knights of St .. J ohn of Jerusalem , or those whicii took possession of Malta . It is the Orderof St . John of Palestine , whose teachings are intimately connected anil interwoven with those of the Kni ghts of the Holy Sejiulchre .

The writings of St . John thc Evangelist develojie all the essential truths of the Christian religion . It was reserved for this hi ghly gifted Apostle to declare in unmistakable terms who and what

constituted the divine Logos or Word . He disclosed and promulgated the hitherto mysterious secret that the Word was with God from the beginning , and was truly God . That it was 1 le who made all things , and for Whom all things had been made . That He was

incarnate in the jierson of Jesus , AVho was born of a Virgin , and sulVered death on the cross . AVe may remark that one of the mysteries of Christian theology is the equality of thc * three divine persons com [ losing the mysterious' Trinity co-equal and co-eternal , hence these Orders of Knighthood are unfitted for Alaster Alasons .

The consubstantiality of the Father and the Son was established by the Council of Nice , comjiosed of three hundred Bishojis , who vvere convened b y Constantine , and in which Eiisebius took a very jirominent jiart .

The doctrine ol' the Trinity has been unanimously received as a fundamental prineijile of tin Christian faith by the Greek , Latin , Oriental and Protestant churches , and it is upon this settled doctrine lhat none but Kni ghts Temjilar can be

recievc'd mio oiircomniiinion , , 1 holy communion in which with loving hearts we eat the bread of love , teaching us to sujiport each oilier , and drink pure wine , that we may remember our vows and learn to sustain each other .

The Red Cross Of Constantine In The United States.

It would be inconsistent with my vows and my duties as your Grand Sovereign to sjieak of our traditional history of the Gosjiel of St . John , of the manner in which it was brought to light , or of its remarkable and providential preservation .

Suffice it to say that he who devotes his time and talents to the attainment of our mysteries is amply repaid for his faith and zeal , by the reception of that sanctified knowledge which St . John proclaimed , when he declared that " In the

beginning was the Word , and the Word was with God , and the Word was God . " Alay we not truly say that among all the degrees of Alasonry or Orders of Knighthood , there are no three which are so intimately connected

as those of the Knights of the Red Cross , of the Holy Sepulchre , and of St . John , all tending to the same end , and teaching the same glorious and eternal truths . Let us then , Sir Knights , as members of this

Christian Order of Knighthood , all strive to make this world a Temple of Love and Peace , by dedicating our hearts , our talents , our lives , our all , to the service of our Great Alaster Immanuel , whose title may be read upon the cross , the emblem of our redemption .

I hese ancient and valuable Orders of Knighthood have been transmitted to America b y the Earl of Bective , through our esteemed and illustrious frater Sir Alfred Creigh , LL . D . under whose enlightened direction and

government , as Chief Intendant General of the United States , Christian Brotherhood has so largely increased both in numbers and influence . Honoured Sir , I bid you a cordial and heartywelcome to this our annual Grand Council , and

I here assure you that for the zeal , ability and faithfulness with whicii you have ever laboured to advance the well-being of onr beloved AIasonic family , you have , as you justly merit , thc high resjiect and deep gratitude of every member

ot our fraternity . Alay your useful life long be spared , that from yonr extensive research , long experience , and mature wisdom , we may gather much

instruction 111 the noble and holy work m whicii we are all engaged , the reward and wages of which are " the gratitude of the Craft and the approval of God . "

ALTIIOUOII Count Renard did not achieve his anticipated victory on Wednesday , it must be owned that his countryman , Air . A . Ahlborn , ot Regent-street , secured a real triumph , as very many striking costumes in the Grand and Private

Stands were of his design and nianafacture . Specially observable was a well-known toilette of yellow and black—the colours of the winnerthe beauty of which seemed to herald the ajiproaching triumph of Doncaster . — Court Journal .

Metropolitan Masonic Meetings.

METROPOLITAN MASONIC MEETINGS .

Forthe Week ending Friday , June 1 2 , 1 S 73 . The Kditor will be glad to have notice from Secretaries of Lcidgvs and Chapters ot any change in jilace or time o meeting .

Saturday , , | imc ; . General Committee Hoys' School , l- ' reemasons' 1 lall , at 4 Chap . ( J 7 i , Kose of Denmark , Star and Garter , Kew Bridge .

sphinx Lodee-- of Instruction ( 1321 )) , Castle Tavern , Cam herwcll-road , at 7 ; Bros . John Thomas and li . Worth ington , Picceptors . Lily Lodge of Instruction ( 820 ) , Greyhound Hotel , liich 1110 ml , . Surrey , at 7 .

Monday , June < j . Strong Matt Lodge of Instruction ( 45 ) , Old Jerusalem Tavern , St . John ' s-gate , Get kciiwcll , at 8 ; lire . Beckett , Preceptor . Sincerity Lodge of Instiuction ( 174 ) , Railway Tavern , l- ' ciichtuch-sticet Station , at 7 . Camden Lodge of Instruction ( 70 ' ) , Adelaide Tavern

Uavcvslock-hiU , -at 8 ; liro . T . A . Adams , Preceptor . Eastern Star Lodge of Instruction ( 05 ) , lloyal 11 ; tei , Alilt cnd-ioad , .. it 7 .. ; o ; Bio . li . Gottheil , I ' rctcptor . lititisli Oak I . odge of Instiuction , Bank ot I-iicr . dsl-. ii

Tavern , Mile-end , at 7 for 8 . St . James ' s Union I . odge of Instruction fiSo ) , ll-rse at . o Groom Tavem , Winsley-street ( opposite the Pantheon ) , Oxford-street , at 8 ; Bro . J . K . Stacey , Preceptor .