Sons of Norway
Ritual
Opening Ceremonies
1949
President: We are now about to open … Lodge No. …, Sons of
Norway. Those who are not members of the Order will please retire. Officers will
be clothed with their proper regalia and assume their respective stations.
When the officers have taken their places, the president appoints necessary
temporary officers, where such are needed, and continues:
President: Marshal and Assistant Marshal: You will see that the
lodge is properly guarded, ascertain that all possess the correct password, and
announce the result.
M. and A.M. advance, greet the president with the sign of the Order, give the
password to the president, and proceed to take up the password from the members.
Marshal starts at the president’s left, Asst. Marshal at the president’s
right. Those who do not possess the proper password are directed to the
president. When finished, they assume their stations and announce:
Marshal: President! All is in order on your left.
Asst. Marshal: President! All is in order on your right.
The president raps twice with the gavel and all officers rise.
President: Friends! It is my duty to preside at this meeting; to
maintain order; to see that the officers perform their duties, and to guide the
deliberations with impartiality. Officers, what are your duties?
Vice President: It is my duty to assist you in maintaining order
and to see that no one is allowed to enter or retire during the opening, closing
or initiation ceremonies without your permission.
Social Director: It is my duty to select the songs to be used for
the lodge ceremonies, to direct the singing, and to plan and supervise social
activities.
Counselor: It is my duty to instruct and examine the candidates
who present themselves for initiation, and to guide the other officers with word
and deed.
President: Friends! We are gathered here to transact the business
that may come before this meeting. Let us perform our duties in the spirit of
brotherly love and for the purpose of advancing the best interests of our Order.
We shall now sing our opening song.
The president raps three times and all members rise. After the singing the
president raps once and all are seated.
President: I now declare … Lodge No. … lawfully opened. Inner
guard will request members in the anteroom to enter.
Balloting on Applications
President: Marshal! You will examine the ballot box and exhibit it
to the president and the vice president.
The marshal does as ordered, and when the ballot box has been inspected it is
placed on the center table. Marshal salutes the president and says:
Marshal: President! The ballot box is now ready for the balloting.
If there is no objection, the president may order all applications be voted
on at the same time.
President: We shall now proceed to ballot on the applications read
by the secretary. The black balls reject, the white balls elect. Be careful and
vote for the best of the Order. The members will please proceed to ballot,
starting on my left.
The president raps three times. All rise and remain standing during the
balloting. Music should he provided, if possible. The marshals advance to within
four steps of the center table and remain in such a position, facing each other,
that the voting members must pass between them, and allowing no one to pass
while another is voting. When the balloting seems finished, the president says:
President: Have all, who so desire, voted? Waits
a moment.
Then I declare the balloting closed.
Marshal! You will please exhibit the ballot box to the vice president and the
president.
The president raps once, and the members take their seat. When the marshal
has shown the ballot box to the vice president and advances toward the
president, the president says:
President: Vice President! How do you find the ballot box?
If less than three black balls have been cast, the vice president answers:
Vice President: The ballot box is light, president!
When so assured, the president shall say: President: Such is the
case, and I therefore declare that the candidates voted on have been elected to
membership in our lodge.
If, on the other hand, three or more black balls have been cast, the vice
president shall say: Vice President: The ballot box is dark,
president!
When so assured, and where there are two or more applications, the president
shall say:
President: Such is the case, and I therefore direct that the lodge
ballot on each application separately.
Should there be only one application, however, the president shall say:
President: Such is the case, and I therefore declare the
application rejected.
Initiation Ceremonies
President: Inner Guard! You will ascertain if there are any
candidates in the anteroom who wish to be initiated into our lodge.
Inner guard proceeds to the anteroom, returns and announces:
Inner Guard: President! I find … announces
number of
candidates candidates in the anteroom who
wish to be initiated.
President: Secretary! You will proceed to the anteroom and
ascertain that the applications are in order, and if so, collect the balance of
their initiation fees and report back to the lodge.
The secretary proceeds to the anteroom, and returning announces:
Secretary: I find the following candidates who desire to be
initiated. … reads names.
Their applications are in order and the fees paid.
President: The counselor and the marshal will please advance. They
advance and salute. You will proceed to the anteroom and ascertain
that the candidates are willing to take the pledges and submit to the laws and
regulations as required by our Order.
The two officers salute the vice president and retire to the anteroom where
the counselor instructs the candidates as follows:
Counselor: Candidates! The basic principle of our Order is
brotherly love; our aim and purpose is the preservation of everything good and
noble in the tradition and character of our forefathers. The pledges
required of you apply only to fidelity to our Order, obedience to our laws and
rules, and mutual assistance in case of sickness. Are you willing to take the
pledges and assume the obligations required of you?
Candidates: I am.
Counselor: We shall now leave you but other officers will escort
you into the lodge.
Counselor and marshal enter the lodge room, salute the president and report:
Counselor: President! The candidates are now ready for admittance
into our lodge.
President: Our membership will now be increased by … new
members. Listen closely to the instructions given the candidates so that we may
again be reminded of the fundamental principles of our Order. Officers! Perform
the ceremonies with dignity, so the candidates may be favorably impressed with
the lodge, and let the guards see that the lodge is not disturbed. Marshal
and assistant marshal will retire to the anteroom and escort the candidates into
the lodge.
The marshals salute the vice president and leave the lodge room.
President: Social Director! You will please name the song of
welcome.
When ready, the marshal signals inner guard is, the usual manner.
Inner Guard, opens wicket or door slightly, and says: Who comes
here?
Marshal: Marshal and assistant marshal with candidates.
Inner Guard: Vice President! Marshal and assistant marshal with
candidates seek admittance.
Vice President: President! Inner guard announces that marshal and
assistant marshal with candidates seek admittance.
President: Admit them. Let us sing our song of welcome.
The president raps three times and all members rise as the door is opened and
the candidates are escorted into the room. They are conducted around the lodge
room, passing the counselor, the president and the social director. They halt in
front of the vice president.
Marshal: Vice President! I present to you these our friends who
desire admittance into our lodge.
Vice President: Candidates! I bid you a hearty welcome. Your
application for membership in our lodge is evidence of some knowledge and
understanding of the aims and purposes of our Order. You will now be
further informed. The Order, Sons of Norway, is a fraternal organization of men
and women of Norwegian birth, descent or affiliation. Our aim is to preserve and
maintain interest in everything that is good and noble in the Norwegian national
character. From history we learn of the discovery of the American
continent by the Norsemen. Leif Erikson is the discoverer of this our grand and
glorious country. Later on thousands of men and women left the land of their
fathers and made for themselves and their children happy homes in this new
world. Here, we, their descendants and affiliates, are enjoying the fruits of
their labor. We are the heirs of the western pathfinders and pioneers whose
great achievements in the upbuilding of this country it is our duty to continue.
The marshals will now conduct you to our Social Director for further
information.
Marshal: Social Director! We now come to you for further
information.
Social Director: The Order, Sons of Norway, has on its emblem the
North Star. As it always points to the north, so shall our aim and endeavor
always lead towards a fixed goal, to help our fellow members. The fundamental
principle of our social activities is the practice of good and true
fraternalism. The fundamental principle of the material welfare of our Order is
protection to its members in cases of sickness, want and adversity. Marshal!
Conduct the candidates to our Counselor.
Marshal: Counselor! Because of your experience and high position,
our social director has sent us to you for further instructions in the
principles of our Order.
Counselor: Friends! On behalf of the Order I again bid you a
hearty and sincere welcome into our lodge, our fraternal home, the motto of
which is Freedom, Fraternity and Progress. The pledges required of you by our
Order do not conflict with your political or religious views. For us the
promises contain pledges of faithfulness to the grandest and noblest ideals of
life, which shall lead us onward and upward on the path to which our motto
points. Loyalty was a predominant trait of our forefathers.
We trust that you who are of Norse descent or affiliation, will
live up to the tradition of the past and take your pledges seriously and
earnestly. The assistance which we promise, and is promised us in case of
sickness and want, the brotherly love and understanding which we pledge, and
this Order pledges us, is dependent on what each member contributes within this
Order. Candidates! Truthfulness and Fidelity are first of all required of you.
Marshal! Conduct the candidates to our president in order that they may
assume the obligations of the Order.
Marshal: President! I present to you these our friends who are now
prepared to take the pledges and assume the obligations required by our Order.
President: My friends! You have been instructed regarding your
duties and obligations in this Order. You will now listen closely to the pledges
required of you.
Pledges
You solemnly promise that you will faithfully observe the laws and
regulations of this Order.
That you will obey all decrees that may be issued by the Supreme Lodge, the
District Lodge, or your Local Lodge, provided they do not conflict with your
civil rights and religious liberty.
That you will, to the best of your ability, assist any member of this Order,
in health as well as in sickness and distress.
That you will be honest and fair with all people and endeavor not to judge
the errors and shortcomings of others.
That you will never introduce any matter of a political or religious nature
into our lodge.
That you will never write or communicate, or give others an opportunity to
communicate any signal or password of this Order, except to members,
and then only in accordance with the laws of the Order. And bear in mind that
this pledge of silence shall remain binding for life.
Candidates! You have heard the pledges required of you by our Order. Do you
consent to same?
Candidates: I do.
The president raps once and all members take their seats. The president
continues:
President: You have now taken a solemn pledge, and we expect that
your influence and activities will be with us and for us, that you will, to the
best of your ability, be present at our meetings, and that our association both
here and elsewhere may be of mutual benefit and pleasure. You have on your honor
and conscience promised to respect the ties that unite us. From now on your own
interest and the progress and welfare of this lodge will be closely related. We
expect that you will be sociable and tolerant in your conduct, not easily
offended, and always willing to forgive. The fellowship you experience within
this Order will go with you through life, and may it guide you to a better
understanding of your fellow men. Hold
Sons of Norway’s standard high and let us all by our association and our
conduct show the right understanding of the principles of our Order.
Password
We have a password and certain signals of which I shall now inform you. The
password is changed every six months and is used at the opening of a meeting or
when entering the lodge room during the meeting. Marshal and assistant marshal!
Communicate the password to the candidates. They so do.
The password may be communicated only by the presiding officer and in a
whisper, and never by one member to another unless so ordered by the president.
Admittance, Withdrawal, and Conduct in the Lodge
To gain admittance to the lodge room after the opening of a meeting you give
the following signal at the inner door. The president
gives the signal. Inner guard will then open the wicket, or the door
slightly, and you give that officer the password. You will then be admitted to
the lodge room, whereupon you immediately advance in proper form to the center
of the room and salute the president with the sign of the Order, which is made
in this manner. The president gives the signal.
The president answers with the same sign, and then you may be seated.
When you visit another lodge you are required at the inner door to give your
name and the name and number of your lodge. The name and number of this lodge is
….
If you wish to leave the room during the meeting you advance before the vice
president and salute that officer with the sign of the Order. If there is no
objection to your leaving the room the vice president will answer with the same
sign.
If you are present at the opening of the meeting, you give the officer who
examines the members the password.
If you wish to speak, you rise, salute the president with the sign of the
Order and say, President! When the president has recognized you, you are
entitled to speak.
The voting sign is the same as the salutation sign.
The gavel in the hand of the presiding officer is a symbol of authority. One
rap of the gavel signifies that the lodge shall come to order, or that the
members shall be seated. Raps once.
At two raps the officers rise. Raps twice
and at three raps all members rise. Raps three
times.
The marshals will now conduct the candidates to the center of the room, after
which the members will form the fraternal chain.
Each member gives the right hand to the member on the left, and the left hand
to the member on the right. The candidates with the president and marshals are
in the circle.
President: You are now surrounded by friends whom you may trust as
brothers and sisters. The Fraternal Chain is a symbol of everlasting friendship.
Union of our hands signifies union of our hearts, aims and efforts within our
Order. As our noble ancestors, when they had finished their historic task at
Eidsvoll on the 17th of May, 1814, pledged each other unity and fidelity until
the Dovre mountains should fall, so the circle surrounding us signifies that we,
in our endeavors within the Order shall stand "United and True until Dovre
Falls."
The members repeat in chorus: United And True Until Dovre Falls.
President: By authority of the Order, Sons of Norway, I hereby declare that you are now
members of this lodge, and as such entitled, to all the rights and all the
benefits promised members of the Order by our constitution, by-laws, rules and
customs. I hand you herewith a copy of the constitution and a copy of the
by-laws of this lodge, which I trust you will read.
We shall now take a recess to give everyone an opportunity to become
acquainted with and congratulate the new members. The new members must sign the
membership roster on the secretary’s desk before leaving.
Where local lodges so desire, the candidates may be instructed to join the
Fraternal Chain before the president declares them to be members of the lodge.
While in this position the member and candidates may sing appropriate songs as
the social director may announce.
Flag drills or the use of drill teams to assist in the initiation ceremony is
very appropriate and should be used if possible.
In case the members are initiated outside of a lodge meeting, all ceremonies
are omitted. The candidates take the pledges and are instructed in the secret
work.
Closing Ceremonies
President: Secretary! Do you know of any other business to be
transacted at this meeting?
Secretary, if there is none: President! Our work is completed.
President: Officers and members! I thank you for your presence and
attention. We will now sing our closing song.
Raps three times.
Counselor, after the song is ended: May peace and harmony prevail
within our lodge.
President: The members will please remain standing while the
marshals gather the regalia and song books.
After this has been done the marshals shall report:
Marshal: President! All is in order on your left.
Assistant Marshal: President! All is in order on your right.
President: Our next meeting will be held … at … o’clock. I
now declare this meeting adjourned.