Knights of the York Cross of Honor

"As a Knight of the York Cross of Honor, you are a proven servant of the Masonic Fraternity, your inspiration has came from your Past, your duty is in the present , your Hope is in the Future, I ask you always to remember—In all you do , In all you say, In all of your actions, take a good look at yourself, you are someone impression of Freemasonry "

Most Eminent Knight Donald E. Friend, Past Grand Master General

The Knights of the York Cross of Honor (KYCH) is an invitational body within the York Rite.  To even be eligible to be invited into this Order, one must have served as Worshipful Master of a Blue Lodge, High Priest of a Royal Arch Chapter, Illustrious Master of a Council of Cryptic Masons, and Eminent Commander of a Commandery of Knights Templar. Once one is eligible, a member of the KYCH must nominate him, and then the nomination must pass by a unanimous ballot.

The Order was formed in Monroe, North Carolina on March 13,1930. The organization is governed by the Convent General, Knights of the York Cross of Honor, and is international in scope. On June 6,1930 the Convent General of the United States of America was formed to administer the Order. The intent of the Order was to create an honorary group of York Rite Masons who had demonstrated leadership and dedication to the several York Rite Bodies of Freemasonry. The Convent General supervises the York Cross of Honor Research Foundation and supports research into cures for leukemia, and solicits contributions and bequests. The local bodies of the Order are called Priories. The number of Priories permitted in each Grand Jurisdiction is dependent upon the number of chartered Councils or Commanderies.

As it is with any invitational order in Masonry, one should never aspire to be a member in the KYCH, when he has done the required work and done it well, he should be invited to membership. When one is proposed for membership he should never know, and thus would never know if rejected. One would only ever know if he was proposed when he receives official notice that he has been elected to be invited.

The jewel of the Order is a gold crown with the emblem of each York Rite body hung on a blue, red, purple, and white breaded cordon. The colors represent the four York Rite bodies. When a member Knight has been elected to preside over one of the four Grand Bodies, he is invested with the rank of Grand Cross and is awarded a Quadrant to apply to his jewel. A member of KYCH who has served any of the Four Grand York Rite Bodies as presiding Officer is thereby a Knight Grand Cross of Honor, with one Quadrant for each of the Grand Bodies he has served. Each Quadrant is represented by the appropriate color of the order served, i.e., Blue for Lodge, Red for Chapter, Purple for Council, and White for Commandery, if the member is a Past Prior the background of his emblem should be Purple if he is a Knight Grand Cross of Honor, but not a Past Prior, the background should be White.

References

1. (n.d.). Retrieved from Knight of the York Cross of Honour: http://www.hiram.net/michigan22/info.html

2. About the KYCH. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://kych.albertpikedemolay.org/about.html

3. KYCH. (n.d.). Retrieved from Kansas City Metro Area Masonic Information Center: http://kcmasons.info/KYCH.html

4. Rinck, I. D. (1999, April 3). Description. Retrieved from Convent General, Knights of The York Cross of Honor: http://www.k-ych.org/info.html

5. Texoma York Rite. (n.d.). Retrieved from North Texas Priory No. 73, KYCH: http://www.texomayorkrite.org/KYCH/honors.htm