Remembrance and Renewal Ceremony
Medford Valley Scottish Rite
April 15, 2019
The Rose Croix Chapter of Medford Valley will traditionally observe the Celebration of Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday in our Remembrance and Renewal at the Medford Scottish Rite Center on April 15, 2019. The words of this ceremony speak to the hearts and minds of all men but, are especially significant to Brothers of the Scottish Rite and all Masons. The ceremony includes the Mystic Banquet that was first included as a ritual of the Eighteenth Degree which Charles de Ladebat prepared and published in 1856 in New Orleans. The Code of Statutes in 1866 lists Maundy Thursday as a feast day, and as of 1878, the Statutes indicated its observance as obligatory.
In deference to the Maundy Thursday rites of churches however, in 1994 it was deemed appropriate that a Scottish Rite nonobligatory “Celebration of Remembrance and Renewal” should replace the traditional Maundy Thursday observance and be held near the vernal equinox as much as possible.
The ceremony of Remembrance and Renewal, including the Mystic Banquet, is not a religious observance. It is neither the Feast of the Passover nor a Sacrament of the Holy Communion, although it commemorates the spirit of both days.
Chapters of Rose Croix traditionally observe the celebration of the Mystic Banquet as a memorial service honoring the Knights of their Chapter who have passed on during the preceding year.
This observance strengthens the ties of brotherly love, past and present. We meet together to break bread of fraternity, to reconcile ourselves with those we may have offended and, to drink the wine of refreshment and renewal. Thus, we celebrate the lives of our departed Brethren and all mankind. We are reminded that our lives are to be dedicated to the Masonic principles of duty and service to elevate mankind; for what is a man, if a man, does not make the world better?
This effort may be fraught with personal sacrifice, and requires the dedication to principles and values we as Scottish Rite Masons espouse.
As the earth brings forth new life in the spring, this celebration reminds us that the sincere man will find a reality that is seen with more than eyes. In the midst of life’s fleeting shadow, these rituals shed a bright light that reveals an abiding hope and sustaining confidence in man’s innate ability to be reborn.
Please join us at our Remembrance and Renewal Ceremony as announced below.
Remembrance and Renewal Dinner
Apr. 15th, 2019
Ceremony will begin at 6:00pm
Dinner will follow at approx. 6:30pm – Cost $15.00 per person
and can be paid at the door.
RSVP by Apr. 8th, 2019
541-772-2205
Menu:
Lasagna
Green Salad
Garlic Bread
Dessert
Coffee and Water
Medford Scottish Rite Center
3581 Lear Way, Medford, Oregon