Masonic Monitor of the Degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason / together with the Ceremony of Installation, Laying Corner Stones, Dedications, Masonic Burial, Etc.

by George Thornburgh

ANOTHER SERVICE AT THE GRAVE.

At the grave the Lodge forms a circle or semicircle. The Master and other officers of the Lodge take their position at the head of the grave; the Tyler behind the Master, and the mourners at the foot. The religious burial service of the church (if there be any) should be first performed, after which the Masonic service begins:

The following passage of Scripture, from Ecclesiastes, chapter xii, verses 1-7, is read:

Chaplain: Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; while the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain; in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened; and the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low; and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low; also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets; or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Master: One by one they pass away—the brothers of our adoption, the companions of our choice. A brother whose hand we have clasped in the bonds of fraternal fellowship now lies before us in the rigid embrace of death. All that remains of one near and dear to us is passing from our sight, and we know that we shall meet him on earth no more.

We, who knew him so well in our brotherhood, feel that in his departure from among the living, something has gone out of our own lives that can never be again. Thus, as human ties are broken, the world becomes less and less, and the hope to be reunited with friends who are gone, grows more and more. Here is immediate compensation, which, while it cannot assuage our grief, may teach resignation to the inevitable doom of all things mortal.

While we stand around the open grave, in the presence of a body once, and so lately, warm with life and animate with thought, now lingering for a brief moment at the dark portal of the tomb—like a beam of holy light the belief must come, this cannot be all there is of day. Stricken human nature cries out: There must be a dawn beyond this darkness and a never setting sun, while this short life is but a morning star.

The cycles of Time roll with the procession of seasons. Spring is bloom; summer is growth; autumn is fruition; winter is the shroud, and beneath its cold, yet kindly fold, live the germs of a new life. Spring comes again; growth matures, and fruit is eternal. This is the religion and lesson of Nature, and the universal example cannot fail in relation to man. Let us draw comfort and consolation from things visible in this sad scene, and lift our eyes to the invisible Father of all with renewed faith that we are in His Holy Hands. Besides His infinitude of worlds, we have also His word, "That He is All, and All-upholding."

We can do nothing for the dead. We can only offer respect to our brother's inanimate clay, and cherish his memory in the abiding faith that our temporary loss is his eternal gain. In this belief let us commit him with due reverence to the keeping of the All-Father, who is supreme in wisdom, infinite in love, and ordereth all things well.

(Family service to be omitted in case no relatives of the deceased are present.)

While we pay this tribute of respect and love to the memory of our late brother, let us not forget to extend our fraternal sympathy to his deeply afflicted and sorrowing family (wife, children, father, mother, brothers, sisters, as the relatives may be present): In your irreparable bereavement, and as he, for whom we are all mourners, was true to us, and faithful to the ties of our brotherhood, so shall we be true to you in the practice of the principles of Freemasonry and in tender memory of our loved and lost. He gave much of his time to us in devotion to our cause. We owe a grateful acknowledgement to you for his social companionship and service, and mingle our sorrows at parting with yours, his near and dear relations.

Master: "May we be true and faithful; and may we live and die in love!"

Response: "So mote it be."

Master: "May we profess what is good, and always act agreeably to our profession!"

Response: "So mote it be."

Master: "May the Lord bless us and prosper us, and may all our good intentions be crowned with success."

Response: "So mote it be."

The apron is taken from the coffin and handed to the Master; and while the coffin is being lowered into the grave, either of the following funeral dirges may be sung—the one used, to be selected and announced before leaving the lodge-room:

Funeral Dirge.

Air—Pleyel's Hymn.

Solemn strikes the funeral chime,
Notes of our departing time,
As we journey here below
Through a pilgrimage of woe.

Mortals, now indulge a tear,
For Mortality is here;
See how wide her trophies wave,
O'er the slumber of the grave!

Here another guest we bring;
Seraphs of celestial wing,
To our funeral altar come,
Waft our friend and brother home.

Lord of all! below—above—
Fill our hearts with truth and love;
When dissolves our earthly tie,
Take us to Thy lodge on high.

Hark, From the Tombs.

Hark, from the tombs, a doleful sound,
Mine ears attend the cry:
"Ye living men; come view the ground
Where you must shortly lie.

"Princes, this clay must be your bed,
In spite of all your towers;
The tall, the wise, the reverend head
Must lie as low as ours."

Great God! Is this our certain doom?
And are we still secure?
Still walking downward to the tomb,
And yet prepared no more?

Grant us the power of quick'ning grace,
To fit our souls to fly;
Then, when we drop this dying flesh,
We'll rise above the sky.

At the conclusion of the singing, the Master, displaying the apron, continues:

The Lambskin, or white leathern apron, is an emblem of innocence, and the badge of a Mason; more honorable than the crown of royalty, or the emblazoned insignia of princely orders, when worthily worn.

The Master drops the apron into the grave.

Our brother was worthy of its distinction, and it shall bear witness to his virtues, and our confidence in the sincerity of his profession.

W. M.: (Taking off his white glove and holding it up.) This Glove is a symbol of fidelity and is emblematic of that Masonic friendship which bound us to him whose tenement of clay now lies before us. It reminds us that while these mortal eyes shall see him not again, yet, by the practice of the tenets of our noble order and a firm faith and steadfast trust in the Supreme Architect, we hope to clasp once more his vanished hand in friendship and in love. (Deposits glove.) Those whom virtue unites, death can never separate.

The Master, displaying an evergreen sprig, continues:

The Evergreen is emblematic of our Faith in Immortality.

This green sprig is the symbol of that vital spark of our being which continues to glow more divinely when the breath leaves the body, and can never, never, never die.

The Master drops the evergreen in the grave, and the Brothers each make a similar deposit, with as little confusion as possible.

If the place is convenient, they march around the grave in a line. When all are again settled in their places, the public Grand Honors are given by three times three.

The will of God is accomplished; so mote it be. Amen.

The Master then continues:

Change is the universal law of mortality, and the theme of every page of its history. Here we view the most striking illustration of change that can be presented to mortal eyes, minds and hearts. Ties of fraternity, friendship, love, all broken, and earthly pursuits, hopes and affections laid waste by death. Let us profit by this example of the uncertainty of the world, and resolve to live honest, pure and worshipful lives in daily preparation for the summons that will, sooner or later, surely come. It came to our brother, whose remains we have here laid away to rest eternal, and reminds us that we, too, are mortal—subject to the universal law. Our brother is dead, and cannot speak for himself. Let us defend his good name. Frailties he may have had, as what mortal man has not? To err is human, charity is Divine, and judgment is with the Almighty and All-Merciful. In this resting place of the body, virtues only are remembered, and sweet memories bloom.

All must pass through the Shadow of Death, and each one must make the dark journey without the companionship of earthly friend. Let us all hasten to secure the passport of an upright life, to the glories of a better land. Unto the grave we have resigned the body of our brother.

The Master scatters a handful of earth in the grave.

Earth to earth; dust to dust (the S. W. scatters dirt in the grave); ashes to ashes (the J. W. scatters dirt in the grave); there to remain until the dawn of that resplendent day, when again, the morning stars shall sing together, and all the sons of God shall shout for joy.