Promoting the Fraternity across the World
The annals of the work of the freemasons are filled with many worthy deeds, each performed in the spirit of the fraternity that has been inspired since the order was first established long ago in 1717 when the first Grand Lodge of England was formed in London. Personal growth and social betterment via individual involvement and philanthropy have been the guiding lights of the stonemason guilds that have survived through the ensuing centuries.
Eric Hart was appointed and invested as the Provincial Grand Almoner at Provincial Grand Lodge. He succeeds Ernie Greenhalgh who has retired from the office in order to undertake other national responsibilities within the Masonic care system. Eric will also shortly assume the same role as PrGAlm within Provincial Grand Chapter.
Apart from their practical uses to protect the hands from cold and injury, gloves have symbolic connotations. The old illustrations of operative masons at work do not show them wearing gloves. Their use, then, must have been mostly ceremonial, and their adoption in speculative Freemasonic ritual must be explained by their symbolism. The Italian writer Vanni considers that the origin of the symbolism lies not in their use by certain craftsmen or as protection against the cold, but rather in their military use.
Canterbury Cathedral To Host Service For Freemasons After Receiving £300,000 Donation
Members of the Worshipful Company of Masons and the Livery Company of Masons Trust, with Museum Trustees Roger O’Brien & Tony Eldridge A group from…
James Thompson Lodge No: 3653, met at Clifton Road, Birkenhead on Thursday 22nd September 2016. The main business of the evening was to ‘Initiate’ Mr….
On the bottom scroll is inscribed the motto “Nil nisi clavis deest, nothing but the key is wanting”, which may be taken in its literal sense. Then the…
The earliest known use of the word “Freemasonry” in a printed book, is in a small work by William Boude, published in 1526
WHY IS IT THAT OUR Fraternity bears the name “Freemasonry” instead of “Masonry”? Why the “free” in it? Far back in the Middle Ages a freemason was the name of a builder who could design buildings as well as construct them. He was what we should now call an architect.
I have often wondered at parts of our ritual which have no ready explanation, nor any forthcoming, and which are routinely committed to memory and recited when called upon to do so. One such is “The Perfect Points of Entrance” that demonstrate proof of being a Freemason.