Order of Italian Sons
Initiation Ritual
no date
Opening
At the hour fixed for the meeting and with the
presence of not less than ten members of the Lodge (see General Laws) The
Venerable, invested with the proper regalia, shall say from his chair:
VEN., *: Brothers, come to order. The Officers
shall invest their regalia and take their places. The Officers present will follow these orders.
Brothers Masters of Ceremonies, put the ritualistic question to those present.
The Masters of Ceremonies upon meeting at the Altar and saluting the
Venerable, will proceed on their respective sides of the Hall and ask the pass
word of all the members individually. Upon ascertaining that those present are
entitled to remain in the Hail they shall again advance to the Altar and the
first Master of Ceremonies, with his hand on his heart, shall say:
MAS. of CER.: Worthy Venerable, there is no
stranger within our Temple.
VEN.: Brother First Master of Ceremonies, what is
the Sentinel doing?
MAS. of CER.: The Sentinel is keeping watch.
VEN.: Resume your places. The Masters of Ceremonies salute and return to
their places.
VEN.: Brother Recording Secretary, call the roll of the
Officers. The Rec.
Sec. calls the roll and the first Mas. of Cer., standing, answers for all. The
Rec. Sec. records the absentees and announces the names to be substituted
temporarily.
VEN.: Brother Assistant Venerable, upon what principles
is our Order based?
ASS. VEN.: On the principles of LIBERTY, EQUALITY, and
FRATERNITY, and its insignia is a Golden Lion on a white field.
VEN.: Brother Orator, what does our Order intend to do?
ORATOR: The Order intends to unite in one family all those
Italians residing throughout the United States of America and the Dominion of
Canada, provided they have the requisites as stated in the by-laws. The Order
respects any religious, philosophical, or political opinion of its members but
insists in the conception of God, Country, and Nation, and that they do not
profess any doctrines whose tenets would tend to disrupt the existing social
order. The Order encourages its Brothers to become American citizens (or
Canadian) and to take an active part in American civic life.
VEN.: Brothers, will you always uphold these principles?
ALL: Yes, Worthy Venerable.
VEN.: Brothers, in conformity with our bylaws, I declare
… Lodge regularly and legally opened. Order! *
ALL: Worthy Venerable.
Initiation
VEN., *: Brother Recording Secretary, are there any
candidates to be initiated?
REC. SEC: Yes, Worthy Venerable.
VEN.: Brothers Masters of Ceremonies, secure the list of
the Candidates to be initiated from the Recording Secretary, retire to the
waiting room and conduct to us those who are awaiting initiation.
The Masters of Cer., after the usual salute, leave the Hall. When
reentering with the Candidates they must give the secret knock. The Sentinel
will announce them. Meanwhile the Ven. will have chosen from among those
present, Including non-members of the Lodge, a brother to act as Herald. In
choosing he must take care to select the highest ranking member in hierarchy, or
the best qualified brother present.
VEN.: Brother
, you will please assume the duties of Herald and wear the insignia. The
Herald obeys and stands before the Altar.
HERALD: Worthy Venerable, I am at your orders.
SENTINEL, recognizing the knock at the door will say: Worthy Venerable, the Masters of Ceremonies have returned.
VEN.: Admit them, and remember that during the
initiation no one shall be allowed to enter or to leave the Hall. At
this point the Hymn of the Order is sung; the Masters of Cer. enter; the
Candidate or Candidates between them, and lead them towards the Altar stopping
about 3 feet away from it. The Herald advances and addresses the Candidate.
HERALD: Welcome, Brother, to the Temple of our
faith. Thereupon
he extends his arm
to the Candidate and conducts him once around the space between the Altar and
the Ass. Ven. as the Masters of Cer. follow. Then he advances to the Altar,
leaves the Candidate in the center and he moves one step to the left. The
Masters of Gee. remain a short distance behind. if the Candidates are two or
more, they shall follow the first candidate in Indian fashion placing the left
hand on the left shoulder of the one in front of him. Following the above
mentioned march around the Candidates are stationed on both sides of the Altar.
On such occasions the Herald stands in the center before the Altar followed by
the Masters of Cer..
HERALD: Worthy Venerable, the Candidate (or Candidates) in
your presence is qualified for membership and therefore he is worthy of being
enrolled in our family.
VEN.: He is welcome among us, provided he learns and
remembers that the existence of our beloved Order is based upon the devotion and
the loyalty of its members for this Great American Country (in Canada, for this
great Canadian Country) and its Institutions; upon a spiritual cult for the
traditions of Italy, brilliant radiator of civilization throughout the
centuries; upon national consciousness, racial pride and a fervent desire for
group solidarity. Is he willing to bear with us tenaciously towards the
realization of these fulgent principles?
CAND., prompted by the Herald:
Yes, Sir.
VEN.: Then, Brother Herald, conduct our new-corner to
the Worthy Officers who will impart to him the fundamental principles of our
Order.
HERALD salutes and then conducts the Candidate to the ex Ven., and after
saluting him accordingly says: Worthy Brother ex
Venerable, will you please explain our conception of LIBERTY to the Candidate?
EX VEN.: We want a free country as it was conceived by the
founders of this nation: we want freedom from moral, intellectual, and economic
slavery for our Brothers and we shall do all in our power to help them attain
this end. We want individual freedom of mind and thought but, once in our midst,
we desire that the Brothers fulfill their duties in accordance with the tenets
of the Order. This is the conception we have of LIBERTY. The
Herald salutes and proceeds to the Ass. Ven.
HERALD: Worthy Brother Assistant Venerable, will you
please explain our conception of EQUALITY to the Candidate?
ASS. VEN.: We believe in the equality of men with relation to
the civil and moral law; we want to be equal in the exercise of our rights and
equal in the fulfillment of our duties so that the benefits of human progress
may be derived and enjoyed by all without racial discrimination. This is the
conception of EQUALITY. The
Herald salutes and proceeds to the Orator.
HERALD: Worthy Orator, will you please explain our
conception of FRATERNITY to the Candidate.
ORATOR: The spiritual essence and the very soul and
structure of the Order is founded in our conception of Fraternity. We
affectionately offer a hand to the humble, to the good, and to the suffering
without discrimination and without prejudice. We protect the widows and the
orphans of our Brothers; to the indigent and to the aged Brothers, economically
destitute we offer all the assistance we possibly can Looking ahead to a more
brilliant future, we cling to the traditions of our Italian origin, and from
them we gain inspiration, hope, and faith. This inspiration, this hope and this
faith we want to be integrated in a glory of our people throughout the world.
This is the conception we have of FRATERNITY.
The Herald salutes and returns to the Altar with the Candidate.
HERALD: Worthy Venerable, the designated Officers have
explained the fundamental concepts of our Order.
VEN., ***: Mr. …, are you willing to accept the basic
concepts of the Order which you have just heard, bar none?
CAN.: Yes, Sir.
VEN.: Brother Herald, before the emblem of our Order,
symbol of courage and strength, read the oath to the Candidate.
HERALD reads: I do solemnly swear to accept
and respect the principles upon which the Order Sons of Italy is based; the laws
of the Supreme Lodge; of the Grand Lodge; and of my Lodge and those amendments
which may be approved in the future.
I promise to respect the deliberations of the
majority; to obey the orders of the Supreme Venerable and of the Grand
Venerable; to help needy Brothers, needy orphans and widows of our Brothers; and
finally never to reveal any of the secrets of our Order.
The Herald will ask the Can, to raise his hand towards the American banner
and then will say: Are you ready to swear on your
honor that you will faithfully conform to what you have just heard?
CAN.: I swear. Raising his hand towards the banner.
HERALD: Worthy Venerable, the Candidate has taken the
formal oath.
VEN.: Brother ..., may God help you keep your oath inviolable, and with this in mind, I
declare you a bona fide member of the … Lodge under the jurisdiction of the
Supreme Lodge and of the Grand Lodge of the State. Brother Herald, will you
please instruct our new Brother in the preliminary secrets of the Order. *
HERALD, addressing the Novice:
The first secrets which every Brother must know are these:
1: How to knock at the door in order to be
announced.
2: The pass word in order to be admitted.
3: The hand shake in order to be recognized.
The Sentinel always stands at the entrance and upon
a knock at the door, will open the same to you. The Herald shows him. Whenever it is
requested of you and in order to gain admission, you must give this pass word to
the Sentinel. The
Herald tells him the pass word. You must remember also that the pass
word is changed every six months by the Supreme Venerable. In order to become
acquainted with the other Brothers, the hand shake is this. The
Herald teaches
him the hand shake.
There are also some formalities which are to be
practiced in the Lodge:
1: On entering the Lodge, when it is in session,
you must advance to the Altar placing your hand on your heart and standing
erect, salute the Venerable with the words: “Worthy Venerable”. Then you
will be seated in any one of the empty seats, and remembering above all never to
walk across the space between the Altar and the Venerable’s Chair because such
space is inviolable. On retiring from the room for any reason, having asked and
secured the permission of the Venerable, you will advance to the Altar and
repeat the same salute.
2: When requesting the floor in your own Lodge, you
raise your hand or request it aloud. In other Lodges, with the permission of the
Venerable, you may speak after the Business of the Day is over, that is, when
the “Good and Welfare of the Order” is reached.
3: The Venerable’s gavel is the symbol of
authority: when the Venerable raps once he means to call the Brothers to order
or to have them be seated;
when he raps twice, he means to honor the visiting
Venerables of other Lodges or he may also be asking the Officers to stand. Three
raps calls for the entire Lodge to stand or to honor visiting Grand Officers and
the Grand Deputy of the Lodge, providing that the Grand Venerable or a Supreme
Officer is not present. Four raps honor the Supreme Officers and the Grand
Venerables as well as other honorary Members, but such honors are riot to be
exercised when the Supreme Master is present. You will do well to remember these
preliminary instructions and observe them. Then addressing the Venerable. Worthy
Venerable, the new Brother has been instructed in the preliminary secrets.
VEN.: Brother Herald, I thank you for the cooperation
given in behalf of the Lodge.
The Herald salutes and conducts the new Brother first to the Venerable for
the hand shake and then to the Financial Secretary to ascertain his financial
standing with the Lodge.
Closing
VEN., ***: Before proceeding to the Closing of the Lodge is
there anything of importance which has not been discussed?
If no one answers the Ven. will continue: Having
completed the business of the Lodge, according to the Laws of the Order, and in
the name of the Grand Lodge of this State and of the Supreme Lodge, I now
declare this meeting officially closed. *
All salute from their places and, with hand on heart, say: Worthy Venerable.