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Mother and flower lecture
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My Brothers: We congratulate you because of the honor conferred upon you tonight. To be elected and made a De Molay is the highest honor that can come to any young man before he reaches his majority.
The degree which you have just received was the first or Initiatory degree of the Order of De Molay. This degree, without a doubt, was far different than you expected. Some of you were led to believe that the Initiation would be one of folly, filled with roughish merriment and silly, clowning frivolities, but instead, you have witnessed a sacred, solemn degree which we know has impressed upon your minds the dignity and grandeur, as well as the high ideals for which our order was founded, for this cause we young men are laboring.
Do not think that we are radical in our beliefs. We have our fun as would be expected of any group of young men or boys. But at our meetings the work must go on in the same solemn manner in which you received our Initiation. At our social gatherings we expect you to be real De Molays, real clean, manly fellows, who can enjoy the pleasures of life and still be men.
In advancing and climbing higher, we constantly run against difficulties which oft-times seem too great for your young minds. For this reason we have in every Chapter of the Order of De Molay, one to whom we can turn to for aid, counsel and advice. One who has weathered the storm, temptation, and ill fate which seems to surround and attempt to overpower youth.
Do you take your troubles to your Dad? Do you go to him for advice? I know at times he does not seem to understand. But if you go to him more often he will understand and help you and give you good advice.
At this time I want to introduce to you Dad _________ of the _______ Chapter of the Order of De Molay. Here is a man whom I know you can trust. Remember, take your troubles to your Dad and he will help you. I want every one of you fellows to make Dad _________ your real pal.
But there is one whom a De Molay honors even more than his Dad. One whom a De Molay places on a secret pedestal as a sacred personage.
I want you to let your minds go adrift on the sea of imagination and try to realize how in the years past your Dad was worried, his business seemed to interest him not. He was wondering, hoping and praying that, that dear sweet woman whom he loved and adored might live through a spell of sickness and agony. Try and visualize how that dear, sweet wonderful woman went down through the valley of the shadow of death that you might live. How she willingly placed herself in the hands of the ever- loving God that her suffering might not be in vain. How she willingly placed herself on the altar of human sacrifice. Who in the morning years of your life cuddled you to her breast and gave you the nourishment that you needed. Who tucked you in your bed to see that you were warm and comfortable. Who throughout the years has watched over you and done all the things that only a Mother could do; and who even today looks after you and loves and honors you as no one else can.
It seems impossible that one person could do so much for you or me. It seems impossible that one person can do so much for us all. But there is one person who has done all this and who is looking after our happi- ness. There is one word that carries an unlimited amount of meaning, and that word is 'Mother'. Mother is the one who has done so much for us all. And how do we show our appreciation? Do you show you love your Mother by really trying to make her happy by doing things for her, by saying things that will please her? If you are not already doing these acts of kindness it is not too late to start today. Do things for her, say things that will please her, for no matter how much you do or say, you can never repay her for what she has done for you.
We have here Mothers' Flowers, red for the Mothers living and white for the Mothers who have passed beyond. There may be some among you whose Mothers have climed the ladder and joined the angels in the Kingdom. For those we can only build a shrine of memory, and at that shrine, love and worship her as she deserves. For those, take a white flower. Take it homne and place it beside her picture and commune with her spirit and thank her and God for what they have done for you. For those whose Mother is living take a red flower, take it home and give it to Mother, put your arms around her and say "Mother, I love you," tell her how much De Molay has helped you to realize how much you really love her.
Some day you will find that flower, I know not where, maybe in her Bible, her prayer book, or some other sacred place, a silent witness of what this night has meant to her.
Transcribed by Jim Bennie PMC Chev RD, Past Chairman, Ritual Committee, Cdn. Supreme Council from an undated typewritten manuscript found in the files of BC’s oldest Chapter and presumed to be an an early version of the Flower Talk. Grammar and spelling intact.
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