Masonic funeral services are one of
the most beautiful ceremonies of the Craft.
They provide an opportunity for the fraternity to reflect on the memory
of a Brother at his passing and to show his family a bit about the organization
he was a member of. They often provide an introduction to freemasonry for the friends and loved ones of a Brother
who has passed and I’ve known a few men who petitioned to join the fraternity
after witnessing a service.
From 2003 to 2008 I was secretary
of the only Masonic Lodge I belonged to at the time. This was a time when many of those Brethren
who were members of the Greatest Generation, that generation that had won World
War II and helped bring greater prosperity to our country and the developed
world, were passing from this life in great numbers. I remember one winter in that time when the
lodge performed six Masonic Funeral Services in less than a month. Suffice it to say that as lodge secretary I
saw more of these services than I wanted to.
Over the years I have had the opportunity to learn the Chaplain part in
the ceremony and have given that part many times. Recently I learned the Worshipful Master
part, though I haven’t yet had to perform the part in a ceremony.
I know that the ritual and work of
Masonic Funeral Rites vary by jurisdiction and your jurisdiction may have
more explicit instruction on the subject I am about to discuss, but having
observed or participated in many of these services in Illinois, I have noticed
that there doesn’t seem to be a prescribed manner in which the Great Lights of
Freemasonry should be displayed. In fact,
I am not sure that I have seen them borne into the room in which the ceremony
takes place and placed on the table set out for that purpose the same way
twice.
This has led me to the question of
this paper--how should the Great Lights of Freemasonry be displayed at a
Masonic Funeral Service in Illinois? And
my thoughts as I shared them with a group of my Brethren that gather monthly to
practice the work and discuss the craft.
Let’s start with what instruction
is given. The Book of Ceremonials of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge Ancient Free and
Accepted Masons of the State of Illinois states, “The Holy Bible should be
borne in a funeral procession and open at the 12th Chapter of
Ecclesiastes, with the square on one page and the compasses on the other.” So while the Book of Ceremonials assumes the Bible as a Brother’s Volume of the
Sacred Law and contemplates a graveside service; we can follow its instruction that
the Bible, if it is a Brother’s VSL, should be opened to a specific Book,
Chapter, and Verse and that the square and compasses should be on separate
pages, regardless of the location of the service.
What isn’t instructed is how the VSL
should be situated in the room or area in which the service takes place, which
page each tool should be on, and why. The
following discussion is offered to illustrate and explain one method of situating
the VSL and placing the tools and the symbolism portrayed in that method. The discussion is an opinion. It carries no official weight or authority and
imposes no requirements on anyone. You
are free to use it or ignore it-- your choice.
As it accommodates an assembly of
Freemasons, it makes sense that the room or space in which the Masonic Funeral
Service takes place should, as closely as practical, be interpreted to be or be
situated in the form of a lodge. In this
situation, the Officiating Master would be in the East and the table provided
for the display of the Great Lights would take the place of the lodge’s altar. The Great Lights would be placed upon the
table in a like manner as on a lodge’s altar.
The officer charged with displaying the Great Lights would carry them to
the west side of the table, face the east, and place them upon the table in the
same manner as they are placed upon a lodge’s altar with the Bible opened to
the 12th Chapter of Ecclesiastes, the text-oriented so that it would be
readable to him as he faces east. He would place the opened compasses on
the right page of the Bible, on his right, and the square on the left.
To begin to understand the
symbolism of this suggested placement of the square and compasses, let us
consider an excerpt from the paper, The
Square and Compasses, produced by the Grand Lodge of Texas and published on
the website masonictrowel.com. “In
ancient symbolism, the square signified the earth, while a circle, drawn with
the compasses, represented the heavens. For the Freemason, the Square
represents what is earthly and material while the Compasses signify the
heavenly and the spiritual. It is not without significance then that the
position of the points of the compasses within the interlaced Square and
Compasses changes as the Freemason progresses from an Entered Apprentice Mason
to a Fellowcraft Mason and finally to a Master Mason. It represents his
progression in life from the here to the hereafter, from birth to the
everlasting life, from the seeker of human knowledge to the seeker of divine
understanding where the spiritual has obtained full mastery and control over
the earthly and material.”
So as a Mason progresses through his life it is hoped that the
weaker part of him, his earthly nature, represented by the square, will yield
to and be subdued by the better part, his divine spiritual nature, symbolized
by the compasses. And when his “journey
of life has ended” the better part, the compasses are emblematically separated
from and placed to the right on the Bible and the weaker, the square, to the left;
as his immortal spirit separates from and leaves the remains of his mortal body
here on Earth and ascends to “that house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens.”
I hope you have found this discussion interesting. I hope it has given you something to reflect on the next time you are in the lodge or the next time you join with your Brethren to offer to the memory of a Brother, “this tribute of affection.”
~BLP
Brian L. Pettice, 33° is a Past Master of Anchor Lodge No. 980 and plural member of Olive Branch Lodge No. 38 in Danville, IL, and an Honorary Member of a couple of others. He is also an active member of both the York and Scottish Rites. He cherishes the Brothers that have become Friends over the years and is thankful for the opportunities Freemasonry gives and has given him to examine and improve himself, to meet people he might not otherwise have had chance to meet, and to do things he might not otherwise have had a chance to do. He is employed as an electrician at the University of Illinois and lives near Alvin, IL with his wife Janet and their son Aidan. He looks forward to sharing the joy the fraternity brings him with others. His email address is aasrmason@gmail.com.
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