19°-32° Degree Summaries

19th Degree - Brothers of the Trail

The 19th degree expresses the Scottish Rite core values of Reverence for God, and Integrity. You decide how these concepts of God and integrity are important not only in this drama, but also to your life.

20th Degree - Master Ad Vitam

The Allegory of the Twentieth Degree is presented as a drama of the American spirit confronting the challenge of disloyalty and treason. Masonic principles and leadership are subjected to a crucial test. Well-known historical characters are accurately portrayed but the action is not historically accurate.

21st Degree - Patriarch Noachite

This Degree portrays a meeting of the Grand Chapter of Patriarch Noachites, and makes clear that Freemasonry is not a shield for evil doing and that the pillar of Justice is one of the chief supports of our fraternity.

22nd Degree - Prince of Libanus

In this degree, a brother seeks further advancement by reason of birth and rank in Masonry. He learns that these alone are not sufficient. He is taught that work is honorable, and that the laboring man is his equal. He is admonished to realize that honest work is noble in the sight of man and God.

23rd Degree - Knight of Valor

This degree is the story of four men of God. A Jewish Rabbi, a Roman Catholic Priest, and two Protestant Ministers were called in a time of emergency and catastrophe during World War II to leave their respective Houses of Worship and to serve God and Country in a more Universal House of God.

24^th Degree - Brother of the Forest

The Allegory of the Twenty-fourth Degree explores some of the misunderstandings between the white man and Native Americans. Few men in years past, and perhaps even today, have fully appreciated the history and customs of the American Indian. Although they knew nothing of the Hiramic Legend and the Temple of Solomon, Native Americans were known to practice the “Masonic” virtues of charity, justice, belief in God, and hope of immortality.

25^th Degree - Master of Achievement

Every man learns that in this life he must work if he is to receive the wages of life, food, clothing, and shelter. The wages of life must also include those elements essential to life’s satisfactions: zest for life, happiness, and contentment. This drama focuses on the life and achievements of our famous Brother Benjamin Franklin. His public life epitomizes the Scottish Rite Core Values of Devotion to Country and Service to Humanity.

26^th Degree - Friend and Brother Eternal

The Twenty-sixth Degree teaches us that partisan strife, even when it descends to the level of armed conflict, does not dissolve our obligations as Masons. There is a second lesson to be learned. The virtues of brotherhood give rise to the practice of good citizenship. When the guns fell silent, Masons, North and South, joined hands to heal the wounds of conflict. They devoted their efforts to reunite and rebuild the war-torn nation.

27^th Degree - Knight of Jerusalem

Separation of Church and State always has been a tenet of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. This is the theme of the Twenty-seventh Degree, Knight of Jerusalem. The degree is based on an historical incident in the lives of Emperor Frederick II and his former tutor, Pope Honorius III.

28^th Degree – Knight of the Sun

The allegory of the 28^th degree directs your attention to the development of our Masonic heritage. It shows the fraternity in transition from an operative craft guild to a speculative moral science. This transition was largely completed during the seventeenth century and was an indispensable prerequisite to the formation of the first Grand Lodge in London in 1717. It demonstrates the inability of the moral philosophies of the period to become meaningful in the daily lives of man.

29^th Degree - Knight of St. Andrew

The 29^th degree emphasizes the Masonic teachings of equality and toleration. It represents an incident in the long wars between the Turks and the Christians of Europe. The story relates that a group of Knights of St. Andrew, a Scottish Order of Chivalry, was brought as captives before the Sultan.

30^th Degree – Grand Inspector

The drama of the Thirtieth Degree is a trial scene in a Civil Court in England in the 14th century, during the reign of Edward II. A Knight — who represents each member — aspires to be advanced and finds himself a defendant at the bar of justice. The lesson which he learns in the hard school of experience.

31^st Degree - My Brother’s Keeper

This degree is a fictional adaptation of lessons found in the Old Testament and a parable in the New Testament. It dramatically exemplifies two of the Scottish Rite Core Values; Integrity, and Service. It serves to remind us of our Masonic obligation which all of us have taken in some form, “…that I will help, aid, and assist all brother Master Masons…”

32^nd Degree – Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret

The 32nd degree teaches that Man has the Royal Secret. It is the eternal gift of God—LOVE. It cannot be imparted to mortal men by others. It was incarnate when the Father breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Cherish this love as a divine attribute, a precious birthright, a witness that all men are, indeed, the sons of God.