PETER
JOHN MILLHEISER
2005
Grand Historian Lecture,
The
Most Excellent Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Florida
Some of the most fascinating changes that
have occurred in the Royal Arch ritual have been those of the legends of the
vault and the veils. Philostorgius, the
fourth century great historian, wrote that as the Roman Emperor Julian was
attempting to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, a stone was dislodged revealing a
hidden vault. Workers were lowered into
the vault, whose dimensions formed a perfect square. One of the workers struck his foot against a
column upon which was found a book wrapped in a fine linen cloth. His companions outside the vault then pulled
this worker up by a rope tied around his waist.
The book appeared new, and written in the book in large letters was the
Gospel of John, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God.”
There were other variations of the vault legend. In the Book
of Enoch, Enoch had a vision from God of nine vaults and he proceeded to
build a secret sanctuary based on the plan that had been revealed to him. The vaults were built one under the other and
in the ninth and lowest vault was a triangle of the purist gold upon which was
inscribed the name of God.
