Daughters of
Isabella
Installation
of Officers
n.d.
Installing
Officer is announced by official title by Regent.
R.:
I
welcome you as our
Installing Officer.
Sisters official
title of I.O., is
present to install
the officers-elect of … Circle hands
gavel
to
I.O..
I.O. requests officers
to vacate stations.
I.O. gives one rap of
gavel.
I.O.:
Sisters,
I am present
to install the officers of … Circle, …. Have they been legally
and duly
elected?
R.:
They
have.
I.O.:
Have
your books been
properly audited, and signed, and bonds secured for financial
officers?
R.:
They
have.
I.O.:
I will
then proceed to
install and will appoint Sister … to act as Marshal for
Installation
ceremonies.
Recording Secretary will please call the roll
of officers, and as names
are called the Marshal will place the officer in front of altar.
Recording
Secretary arises, reads names of officers-elect, and then, if
she he one of them,
takes her position in line.
I.O.:
Sister
Financial
Secretary, are these the duly elected officers, and if so, are
they qualified to
serve?
FIN.
SEC.: They
are.
Officers
must be financial.
I.O.:
Thank
you.
Officers-elect, raise your right hand and place your left hand
over your heart
and repeat after me the following obligation:
That I
will endeavor in every honorable way to promote the growth and
prosperity of
this Order and will deliver to my successor all properties and
moneys which may
be in my possession belonging to the Circle. Lower
the hands.
I.O.:
The
success of
your organization depends largely upon you as its officers; it
demands from you
loyalty to its principles, prompt attendance at meetings, and
the careful and
conscientious performance of the duties of your several
officers.
Marshal
presents Guides and Guards-elect.
I.O.:
Guides,
Guards. Marshal places officers as
called in front of
altar. There is
no ceremony
or rites that is not deserving of faithful
guardianship, and you, dear
friends, are the
trusted sentinels of
our mystic habitation. Let your ears, rather than your lips,
guide you in your
efforts, giving thine
ear to many and thy voice to few; permitting
no one to pass the portals of our abode who is not
duly qualified. These labors are the armor of your defenceless
positions; take them,
and, like true Daughters
of Isabella, use them with caution
firmness and prudence.
Scribe,
you have been selected to record the various items of interest
occurring in your
Circle. It is your duty to give such publicity to all these
happenings as will
further the interests of our Order.
Monitor,
the position to which you have been chosen is a very important
one, and
deserving of your earnest attention. The introduction of strangers
to the
mysteries of your Circle is not the least important. You should be
ready at all
times to discharge those and other duties, without recourse to the
Ceremonial or
Manual of our Order. A pleasant guide to the ambitious ones who
seek to solve
our rites and ceremonies; generous and willing aid rendered to
your sister
officers will serve to advance you, not only in the good opinion
of all, but
will lead to higher honors.
You are
invested with due authority. Please be seated.
Custodian,
the office to which you have been chosen is one of vast importance
to our
organization. You are to aid in the impressive ceremonies of
Initiations; as the
part assigned to you in our ceremonial is most exacting, and to
render them in
an impressive and forceful manner, you will need to give your mind
and best
talents thereto.
A study
of the lines assigned you and a mastering thereof should be your
aim and hope.
Let your efforts win you the sweet reward of unstinted praise, and
the good will
of your sister members.
Please
be seated.
Chancellor,
as it always has been, and is at present in all Catholic
societies, the rule to
open and close each meeting with prayer, and whenever it shall
please God to
call from our midst any member of this Circle, prayer shall be
offered for the
repose of her soul. Upon you, worthy Chancellor, rest these sacred
duties, and
also to assist in the impressive ceremonies of Initiation. Let
this cross remind
you of the sacred duties imposed upon you. With the best wishes of
your
associates, please be seated as the Worthy Chancellor of your
Circle.
Organist,
you and our worthy Chancellor are obligated to bring into our
various ceremonies
a spirit of devotion. Music has the power of exalting the mind and
putting at
rest the turbulent spirit. As organist, therefore, the welfare of
your Circle
rests largely in your hands and may your associate members have no
regret for
placing this great confidence in you. Assume your station as
Organist.
Treasurer,
confidence is one of the immediate jewels of the soul, and never
should be
soiled by sordid greed or listless effort. You have accepted of
the trust that
your sisters have tendered you. You will discharge your duties as
becomes a
trusted servant. When you have served your
Financial Secretary: dear friend and associate, you have been
selected to keep the
accounts of your Circle, the position of trust and
responsibility. Your ability is
conceded; let it be your care that at the end of your term the
work has been
well and faithfully done, and that you have, as a result placed
your foot upon
the ladder that ends in the highest place in your Circle. The
quill is
emblematic of your duties; accept it and the responsibilities
that go therewith.
Please be seated.
Trustees,
you have been selected by the membership to supervise the business
affairs of
your Circle. It is your duty to oversee all bills and to audit all
accounts at
such periods as are provided by our laws. Be seated as Trustees of
this Circle.
Recording
Secretary, through the good will of your associates of this Circle
of friends,
you have been chosen as the recording clerk thereof. Your duties
are many and
demand close and arduous
labor at
your hands. The records that you are to keep are the foundations
of the official
life of your Circle, hence extreme care is required that these
records are
truthful transcripts of our various acts, as they are taken from
time to time.
Do your duty as you understand it, and the reward will be the
gratitude of those
you serve. The scroll is a fitting symbol of your position. Please
be seated.
Vice
Regent, the duties of your position are well defined in the laws
and rules of
our organization. You are the second highest officer thereof, and
in the natural
course of events you will be called upon to exercise and discharge
the duties of
the Regent, should that officer be absent at any of your meetings.
The same
obligations that bind her rest equally upon you. Your ambition
will be to
honorably succeed to the first place in this Circle, and to attain
this let your
services be of such a character that your associates will reward
them, by
conferring upon you the honors thus deserved. Be seated as the
second officer of
this Circle.
Past
Regent, having served your Circle in the capacity of presiding
officer, you
realize more fully than any of its members the many duties and
responsibilities
to be encountered by the newly installed Regent. It should be your
constant aim
to assist and encourage her in her many undertakings.
You
should at all times be willing to give her the benefit of your
past experience.
Such co-operation existing between the two highest officers in the
Circle cannot
help but be a splendid example of unity, friendship and charity
for the members
at large. I now seat you as Past Regent of … Circle.
Regent,
the duties of your position are many and varied, and the success
of your Circle
depends largely upon a faithful discharge of the same. You are to
preside with
absolute fairness at all meetings of the Circle during your term
of office. You
should have no friends to reward, or enemies to punish, but should
treat all
members fairly and impartially. Degree work will be your most
exacting, and let
us hope, your most pleasing duty. You are the chosen
representative of authority,
clothed with merited honor. This will prompt you to a faithful and
diligent
discharge of your laborious and exalted duties. Your authority, as
presiding
officer, from and after this date is now declared.
Your
duties lie before you and with the best wishes of your associates,
you will now
assume the same. Be seated as the Regent of this Circle.
Conclude with the
following invocation: Friends, you have been duly
installed in your several
stations. Your duties will come to you through the channels of
experience, the
greatest of all schools, rather than from the cold formality of
set phrases;
each will labor for good of all, and all will stand united.
Let
the past be a memory sweet to review,
And the
future a bright star to beckon us on,
As in
concord we meet, our love pledge to renew,
Till our
Circle doth widen and shine like the sun.'
I now
declare the officers of … Circle, No. …, duly installed for the
ensuing
term.