The purpose of the Collegium Masonicum is to serve as the voice of all Lodges under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi regarding research activities and to provide a Curia to exchange ideas, promote harmony and fellowship and to increase overall awareness of Mississippi’s Masonic history.

Translated from Latin as “bound by law”, the word Collegium originated in ancient Rome and referred to any association of persons which took on a legal personality. Several collegiums, or collegia could function as guilds, social clubs or societies and their organization was often modeled on that of civic governing bodies. The meeting hall of a collegium was known as the Curia, and the Senate of Rome is perhaps the most famous example of a collegium and its forum.

Under Roman law, only three persons were required to create a legal collegium. This was fitting for Masonic collegiums since jurisprudence requires a minimum of three Masons to convene a Master Mason’s Lodge. Though not a tiled meeting, the Mississippi Lodge of Research continues to honor that tradition and requires that three Master Masons be present for any convocation of the Collegium Masonicum as an assembly.

Membership in the Mississippi Lodge of Research is either through dual or plural membership, except in special circumstances, under the regulations promulgated by the Grand Lodge of Mississippi for those types of membership. In that role, each Mason represents his Mother Lodge through additional membership within it. Hence under the Constitutions of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi, the Collegium Masonicum is composed of one delegate from each Lodge who has a member in good standing on the rolls of the Mississippi Lodge of Research DCXL. The presiding Worshipful Master of the Research Lodge serves as Magister Collegium Masonicum or “Master of the Masonic College” and all appointments to the Collegium are at his will and pleasure. By emulating the practices of our ancient Brethren who gathered into academic collegiums, the Mississippi Lodge of Research through the Collegium Masonicum can take a positive step toward preserving our Grand Lodge’s treasured past, as well as solidifying its prosperous future.