Red Cross of Constantine

The ceremony is short and simple, but teaches valuable moral lessons to the candidate, based upon the story of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great,[2] and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge.

On election to serve as Viceroy (the second in command of a Conclave), a member must be admitted to the second degree, by which ceremony he becomes a Venerable Priest-Mason, or an Installed Eusebius.

On election to serve as Sovereign (the leader of a Conclave), a member must be admitted to the third degree, by which ceremony he becomes a Perfect Prince-Mason.

Two additional Christian Orders of Masonry are under the control of the Grand Imperial Conclaves (national ruling bodies) of the Red Cross of Constantine.

The Masonic Order of the Holy Sepulchre has a long and complex ritual of symbolic meaning, based upon the legend of knights guarding the supposed place of burial of Jesus Christ.

[4] A meeting of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre takes place in a ‘Sanctuary’,[5] and the presiding officer is called the 'Prelate'.

A meeting of the Order of St John the Evangelist takes place in a ‘Commandery’,[5] and the presiding officer is called the 'Commander'.

In the following three years, Grand Imperial Conclaves were established in the states of Massachusetts, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, Vermont, Maine and New Jersey.

The two rival authorities, having long co-existed, entered into dialogue in the 1950s, and were reconciled and reunited on 18 February 1958,[13][14] into the single jurisdiction for almost the whole of the United States.

The Red Cross Masons of Maine have chosen to maintain their independence, with their own Grand Imperial Council.

[15] Within the York Rite system the Red Cross of Constantine is considered by many to be the highest honour that can be awarded.

[16] There is a small number of places where the Order has commenced work, but subsequently withdrawn, the earliest being the British Crown dependencies of Jersey and Guernsey.

A similar story applies to the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, where Mediterranean Conclave No 11 was consecrated in 1870, but did not survive.