Part 22 (1/2)

Chaplain: The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face to s.h.i.+ne upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance and give us peace. Amen.

RITUAL FOR A LODGE OF SORROW.

The following Ritual for a Lodge of Sorrow is recommended for use in the Lodges. While necessarily of a funeral character, it differs essentially from the burial service. In the latter case, we are in the actual presence of the departed, and engaged in the last rites of affection and respect for one who has been our companion in life, and whose mortal remains we are about to consign to their last resting-place. The Lodge of Sorrow, on the contrary, is intended to celebrate the memory of our departed brethren; and while we thus recall to our recollection their virtues, and temper anew our resolutions so to live, that, when we shall have pa.s.sed the silent portals, our memories may be cherished with grateful remembrance, we learn to look upon death from a more elevated point of view; to see in it the wise and necessary transition from the trials and imperfections of this world, to the perfect life for which our transient journey here has been the school and the preparation.

Vocal and instrumental music are indispensable to the proper effect of the ceremony. The brethren should wear dark clothing, and white gloves and ap.r.o.ns. There is no necessity for any attempt at secrecy in the ceremonies of Sorrow Lodges. They may be held in churches or public halls, or in the presence of friends at the Lodge room, with benefit to all concerned.

Preparation of the Hall.

I. The Lodge room should be appropriately draped in black, and the several stations covered with the same emblem of mourning.

II. On the Master's pedestal is a skull and lighted taper.

III. In the center of the room is placed the catafalque, which consists of a rectangular platform, about six feet long by four feet wide, on which are two smaller platforms, so that three steps are represented. On the third one should be an elevation of convenient height, on which is placed an urn. The platform should be draped in black, and a canopy of black drapery may be raised over the urn and platform.

IV. At each corner of the platform will be placed a candlestick, bearing a lighted taper, and near it, facing the East, will be seated a brother, provided with an extinguisher, to be used at the proper time.

V. During the first part of the ceremonies the lights in the room should burn dimly.

VI. Arrangements should be made to enable the light to be increased to brilliancy at the appropriate point in the ceremony.

VII. On the catafalque will be laid a pair of white gloves, a lambskin ap.r.o.n, and if the deceased brother had been an officer, the appropriate insignia of his office.

VIII. Where the Lodge is held in memory of several brethren, s.h.i.+elds bearing their names are placed around the catafalque.

Opening the Lodge.

The several officers being in their places, and the brethren seated, the Wors.h.i.+pful Master will call up the Lodge and say:

W. M.: Brother Senior Warden, for what purpose are we a.s.sembled?

S. W.: To honor the memory of those brethren whom death hath taken from us; to contemplate our own approaching dissolution; and, by the remembrance of immortality, to raise our souls above the considerations of this transitory existence.

W. M.: Brother Junior Warden, what sentiments should inspire the souls of Masons on occasions like the present?

J. W.: Calm sorrow for the absence of our brethren who have gone before us; earnest solicitude for our own eternal welfare, and a firm faith and reliance upon the wisdom and goodness of the Great Architect of the Universe.

W. M.: Brethren, commending these sentiments to your earnest consideration, and invoking your a.s.sistance in the solemn ceremonies about to take place, I declare this Lodge of Sorrow opened.

The Chaplain, or Wors.h.i.+pful Master, will then offer the following, or some other suitable

Prayer:

Grand Architect of the Universe, in whose holy sight centuries are but as days; to whose omniscience the past and the future are but as one eternal present; look down upon Thy children, who still wander among the delusions of time--who still tremble with dread of dissolution, and shudder at the mysteries of the future; look down, we beseech Thee, from Thy glorious and eternal day into the dark night of our error and presumption, and suffer a ray of Thy divine light to penetrate into our hearts, that in them may awaken and bloom the certainty of life, reliance upon Thy promises, and a.s.surance of a place at Thy right hand.

Amen.