About

What is the Order of the Secret Monitor about?

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A Brief History of the Order

An Order of David and Jonathan existed in Holland in the 18th Century but our present Order was brought from America by Dr. I. Zacharie about 1875. Originally the Order, as worked in America, consisted of a single degree, which could be conferred on any worthy Master Mason by another brother who had received it himself. Under Zacharie, a Grand Council was formed in 1887 and the ritual was extended to the present system of three degrees. Later there followed a problematic period when the Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees was empowered to confer the American version of the Degree. The conflict between the two bodies was resolved in 1931 when all rights were transferred to the Grand Council (later Conclave) of the Order of the Secret Monitor.

The Degrees of the Order and the Ritual
The degrees of the Order are Secret Monitor, Prince and Supreme Ruler. In the First Degree the candidate is 'inducted' as a Secret Monitor. The ceremony is based on the friendship between David (father of Solomon) and Jonathan (son of Saul the first King of Israel). David was a great warrior and a servant of the King. Saul however, soon became jealous of David’s brilliance and plotted to kill him. Through his friendship with Jonathan, David was informed of the plot and fled to the hills for safety. In order to keep David informed of developments within the King’s court, Jonathan devised a special system of communication upon which the Degree embraces and develops.

Saul was informed of the association between David and his son and blamed those around him for encouraging it. Saul embarked on a major search for David, slaughtering many whom he believed to be involved in his concealment but David triumphed and eventually became the second King of Israel. His friendship with Jonathan remained unbroken until the death of the latter. This is the main theme of the Second Degree in which the candidate is “admitted” as a Prince of the Order The Third Degree of the Order is unique in English Freemasonry in that it is also the ceremony of installation, in which the elected brother is installed as Supreme Ruler of his Conclave. As part of the ceremony the newly installed Supreme Ruler also receives his 'commission' (usually from the Provincial Grand Supreme Ruler), which carries the rank of 'Supreme Ruler within the Order'. As installation ceremonies go – this is a long one!

These ceremonies are very moving and it is upon the principles exemplified therein that the system of communicating friendship and caring among the members of the Order is promoted in a practical way.

This is a Society framed upon the principles of self sacrifice; of mutual trust, watchful Brotherly care; of warning in time of danger; solace in time of sorrow; and skillful and effective friendly advice in every circumstance of life: A Society that meets a great and crying need in human affairs and is calculated to benefit those who act up to its tenets.

There are three Degrees in the Order; Induction ceremony, Princes or admission Degree and the Third Degree which is when a Brother is Installed as a Supreme Ruler of his Conclave. At this point he is also commissioned as a Supreme Ruler within the Order. This entitles him to conduct ceremonies in any Conclave.

The Order of the Secret Monitor, which developed from a still more ancient Degree, is the Brotherhood of David and Jonathan and is in its way older than Freemasonry itself. Its principles and its watchwords being founded upon those grand examples set by two worthy Hebrew Princes around 1000 BC as recorded in the Jewish history of the Bible.

History tells us that the “Order of David & Jonathan” was taken to the New World in or about 1658 by Dutch settlers. The inauguration meeting of Grand Conclave, under the banner of Alfred Meadows Conclave No. 1 was held at the Hotel Victoria, London, SW on 15 July 1887.