Part 18 (2/2)
This moment, even while I yet speak, the angel of death may receive the fatal mandate to strike you from the role of existence; and the friends who now surround you may be called upon to perform the last sad duty of laying you in the earth, a banquet for worms, and this fair body become as the relic you now hold in your hand. Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of sorrow; he cometh up and is cut down like a flower; he fleeth as a shadow and continueth not; in the midst of life we are in death; of whom may we seek for succor but of Thee, O Lord, who for our sins are justly displeased. Yet, O G.o.d most holy, thou G.o.d most mighty, O holy and most merciful Saviour, deliver us from the pains of eternal death. I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write from henceforth, blessed are the dead that die in the Lord; even so, saith the spirit, for they rest from their labors; be ye also ready, and rest a.s.sured that a firm faith in the truths here revealed will afford you consolation in the gloomy hour of dissolution, and insure you ineffable and eternal happiness in the world to come. Amen and amen.”
Q. Where did your tour of penance end? A. It has not yet ended; neither can it end until this mortal shall put on immortality; for all men err, and all error need repentance.
Q. Were you then permitted to partic.i.p.ate in the fifth libation? A. I was.
Q. Where? A. Within the asylum.
Q. How gained you admittance there? A. After having pa.s.sed my year of penance, I returned to the door of the asylum, where, on giving the alarm, the Warden appeared and demanded, ”Who comes there?”
Q. Your answer? A. Pilgrim penitent, traveling from afar, who begs your permission here to rest, and at the shrine of our departed Lord to offer up his prayers and meditations.
Q. What was then demanded of you? A. What surety can he offer that he is no impostor?
Q. Your answer? A. The commendation of two true and courteous Knights, the Junior and Senior Wardens.
Q. What was then demanded of you? A. By what further right or benefit I expected to gain admittance.
Q. Your answer? A. By the benefit of a pa.s.s-word.
Q. Did you give that pa.s.s-word? A. I did not; my conductor gave it for me.
Q. Give it? A. Golgotha. (It is given as before described.)
Q. What was then said to you? A. Wait with faith and humility, and soon an answer shall be returned to your request.
Q. What was the answer of the Grand Commander? A. That I should be admitted.
Q. What did the Grand Commander then demand? A. Who have you there in charge, Sir Knight?
Q. What answer was returned? A. A pilgrim penitent, traveling from afar, who, having pa.s.sed his term of penance, seeks now to partic.i.p.ate in the fifth libation, thereby to seal his fate.
Q. What did the Grand Commander then observe? A. Pilgrim, in granting your request and receiving you a Knight among our number, I can only offer you a rough habit, coa.r.s.e diet, and severe duties; if, on these conditions, you are still desirous of enlisting under our banners, you will advance and kneel at the base of the triangle.
Q. What did the Grand Commander then observe? A. Pilgrim, the fifth libation is taken in the most solemn and impressive manner; we cannot be too often reminded that we are born to die; and the fifth libation is an emblem of that bitter cup of death, of which we must all sooner or later partake, and from which even the Saviour of the world, notwithstanding his ardent prayers and solicitations, was not exempt.
Q. What was then said to you? A. The Grand Commander asked me if I had any repugnance to partic.i.p.ate in the fifth libation.
Q. Your answer? A. I am willing to conform to the requirements of the Order.
Q. What followed? A. I then took the cup (the upper part of the human skull) in my hand, and repeated after the Grand Commander the following obligation:
”This pure wine I now take in testimony of my belief in the mortality of the body and the immortality of the soul, and may this libation appear as a witness against me, both here and hereafter, and as the sins of the world were laid upon the head of the Saviour, so may all the sins committed by the person whose scull this was be heaped upon my head, in addition to my own, should I ever knowingly or wilfully violate or transgress any obligation that I have heretofore taken, take at this time, or shall at any future period take, in relation to any degree of Masonry, or Order of Knighthood. So help me G.o.d.”
Q. What was this obligation called? A. The sealed obligation.
Q. Why so? A. Because any obligation entered into, or promise made in reference to this obligation, is considered by Knight Templars as more binding and serious than any other special obligation could be.
Q. What followed? A. The Most Excellent Prelate then read the sixth lesson, relative to the election of Matthias. (See Chart.)
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