Mark Master Masons through a flurry of donations to Mark Benevolent Fund have raised £40,850.00 for the disaster relief in the Caribbean.
“Thanks go to the Brethren and Provinces for their continued generosity in helping those in the Caribbean in their time of distress. Ring-fenced donations via the Mark Benevolent Fund are now closed but you can still help by donating directly to the Shelterbox charity.” Darren Coleman – Charities Manager of The Mark Benevolent Fund
ShelterBox deliver the essentials people need to begin rebuilding their lives in the aftermath of a disaster.
Each disaster is different, and so is every community. ShelterBox don’t believe that one size fits all, so they make considered assessments to provide the exact support that gives people the hope and the power to transform their own lives.
The aid they supply comes in the form of ShelterBoxes and ShelterKits. Their sturdy green ShelterBoxes contain family-sized tents specially designed to withstand the elements and provide people with temporary shelter until they are able to start the process of rebuilding a home.
ShelterKits contain all of the essential tools people need to start repairing and rebuilding homes straight away.
Find out more about Shelterbox: www.shelterbox.org/
More about the ‘Mark’ Degree
The Mark Degree is an important Order for many reasons, next to the Craft and Royal Arch it is the largest of the Masonic orders, and has stood the test of ages.
There are now some 45,000 brethren in over 1700 Mark Lodges within 37 Provinces in the UK.
The Mark is a ceremony or degree [sometimes called the ‘friendly’ degree].
The Mason’s mark featured in long lost degrees or grades, with names such as Mark Master, Mark Man, Mark Ark Link and Chain, Fugitive Mark, Cain’s Mark, Christian Mark and Travelling Mark. How and when the Mark degree, as we acknowledge it, began, is still a matter of debate.
The “Mark” referred to in the title of the Degree takes its name from the mark or symbol which the stonemasons used to identify their own work, so that he may be entitled to receive his wages. These marks can still be found in many Cathedrals [see below] and similar buildings of architectural significance, some of which may be over 1000 years old.
The Mark degree instructs you how that learning can be most usefully and judiciously employed for our own honour. The themes of the Mark degree include regularity, diligence, discipline and a justifiable, but humble, pride in work well done.
The Mark Degree conveys moral and ethical lessons using a ritualised allegory revolving around the building of King Solomon’s Temple. The events of the degree require the candidate to undertake the role of a Fellowcraft. The degree thus may be seen as an extension of the Fellowcraft Degree and the philosophical lessons conveyed are appropriate to that stage in a candidate’s Masonic development.
More Information http://www.glmmm.com/default.aspx