Under the “General Principles” section of the Ritual Book It says that the Sign of Fidelity “is required during Work at the Altar, during prayer, whenever directly addressed, either collectively or individually, by an officer of higher rank, and whenever addressing the same. It is not required for general declarations or ordinary discourse while the Lodge is seated, and Candidates do not give this sign while receiving their Degrees. It is given only by Masons who are wearing an Apron.” Let’s focus on the part that talks about interacting with an officer of higher rank. The Master in his Lodge outranks everyone except the Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master and the District Deputy Grand Master. As a result, any time the Master addresses or is addressed by a Brother in Lodge, that Brother should be at the Sign of Fidelity. As explained in a previous post, “Brethren” should be used whenever addressing all the Masons in the Lodge room, whereas “Brothers” is used when addressing multiple Masons but not all Masons in the room. Thus, when the Master says the word “Brethren,” every Mason in the room should come to the Sign of Fidelity because they are being addressed by an officer of higher rank. Why only in “most cases” and not all cases? Because the Sign of Fidelity is not required for “ordinary discourse while the Lodge is seated.” A representative example of this would be the reading and approval of minutes when the Master says, “Brethren, give your attention to the reading of the minutes.” The Lodge is seated at that moment and the Master’s is engaged in ordinary discourse. The Brethren are not required to jump to their feet and come to the Sign of Fidelity just because the Master said, “Brethren.”  However, if the Master were to speak the same words while the Lodge was raised, all present should come to the Sign of Fidelity. The answers provided here reflect GLNY customs, rules, and ritual. We welcome discussion about how these may differ in your jurisdiction.