My history with the Order of DeMolay began many years ago, when I was still a high school student at Dom Bosco College in Petrolina. On that occasion, I was invited to attend a lecture where young men, in the same age group, explained the purpose of the Order and concluded by inviting us to the selection process. I was enchanted and accepted!
It is not for nothing: a worldwide fraternity of good young men, lads, which aims to form good men and good leaders. How could I refuse?
I missed something like that in Sobradinho (and I wasn’t introduced to Havok).
Unfortunately, I was prevented from being initiated for reasons beyond my control.
Since then, I have dreamed of being a DeMolay.
A lot of time passed and, one week after being initiated as a Mason, I heard about the proposal to found a chapter of the Order of DeMolay in my city.
Little by little, I learned more and more about this wonderful School of Leaders, participated in events, and accompanied 3 young men from Sobradinho to the weekly meetings of the Casa Nova Chapter, until our lodge managed to install the Guardiões Templários do Grande Lago (Guardians Templar of the Great Lake) Chapter.
The more I know the Order of DeMolay and live with its members, the more I admire it and recognize its potential benefit to our society. It reflects ideals that I have carried since I was very young, which, for lack of motivation, I almost abandoned.
But it was one of these young men from the GTGL Chapter who, upon being initiated, summarized my feelings about the Order well:
“I found in the Order of DeMolay something I had been looking for a long time and didn’t quite know what it was.”
— Whendel Isnardy
I, he, and all DeMolays found a universal fraternity, based on the cultivation of essential virtues and the pursuit of worthy ideals, which provides a challenging environment for personal improvement and for the exercise of citizenship.
Today, much has been achieved by the GTGL, even amidst the prejudice and ignorance of some. I am a witness to the struggles, the maturation, the union, and the victories of the young men who make up the chapter. Everyone is victorious!
Therefore, I am very proud to be part of this history. Even without having been initiated as a youth, I feel like a participant in the chapter and the Order, and I dare say: I am a DeMolay!!!