Masonic Law #14 - July 20, 2007
T.F.S.
Three, five, and seven
3 5 7
By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.
Number 103 – July 20, 2007
This publication, while it is printed with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of A.F. & A. M. of Minnesota, contains the writings and opinions of Ed Halpaus and is not in any way the opinion of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.
“When I say ‘think small’ I do not mean you to be small minded or petty or parochial. I mean that you should focus your ambitions on those things that you can do something about, namely, about yourself and the things over which you have some degree of control: Your temper, your manners, your morals, your habits, your soul.” Rev. Peter J. Gomes
Way back in November of 2005 our then Deputy Grand Master of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons of Minnesota asked me if I would write a series of articles on the Ancient Landmarks.” I was willing to do it, of course, and after our good Brother was elected and installed in the Grand East the articles began to appear in T.F.S., or 3, 5, & 7 as some prefer, and which T.F.S. stands for. This issue is a continuation of those articles on the Landmarks of Masonry and of the Minnesota Masonic Laws.
I’m very glad I was asked to do this, because it solidified the fact that I liked to study the rules, customs, laws, landmarks, and jurisprudence of Freemasonry; it really is interesting to study. I wasn’t surprised, because I always did enjoy reading in the Masonic Code, (Book of Constitutions,) and learning from all the information contained there.
Because of these articles and my interest in these subjects I really like it when a question comes my way that relates to them: So, I was quite fortunate when a question came up a while back that, to me, was really interesting.
The question had to do with, except in a new Lodge at its first election, a Mason cannot be elected to the office of Master of a Lodge until he has been elected and served as a Warden. The question was: “Can a Brother who was elected and served as a Warden in another jurisdiction be elected to the office of Master without holding the office of Warden in the jurisdiction of his current membership?”
This question has to do with Minnesota Masonic Law #14, which states: “That no one can be elected Master of a chartered Lodge, except at its first election, but a Master Mason who shall have served as warden.”
We have the question and we have the Masonic Law, we also have the rules, customs, Landmarks, and the old charges of Freemasonry to look to for the answer to the question. Unfortunately there is no Ancient Landmark, as enumerated by Mackey, which this particular Masonic Law can be compared to for more light on the question.
However, there is something similar in the "Old Charges," which had to do with the Lodges in London: In the Old Charges[i] approved in 1722 in Article IV "Of Masters, Wardens, Fellows, and Apprentices:" It says in part; "No Brother can be a Warden until he has passed the part of a Fellow Craft[ii]; nor a Master, until he has acted as a Warden; nor Grand Warden, until he has been Master of a Lodge; nor Grand Master, unless he has been a Fellow Craft before his election." Here, as in the Minnesota Masonic Law, the rule applies to being a Warden and subsequently a Master of a Lodge under a particular jurisdiction where the Lodge has its charter. The Premiere Grand Lodge, which was formed in 1717, set the rule, custom, and president, about a Mason serving first as a Warden before he can be elected to serve as Master.
Another part of Article IV of the Old Charges also says in part: “All preferment among Masons is grounded upon real worth and personal merit only; that so the lords may be well served, the brethren not put to shame, nor the royal craft despised; therefore no Master or Warden is chosen by seniority, but for his merit.” this might be another subject for a future issue of T.F.S., but it does reinforce in my mind that a Mason who is elected to the office of Master of his Lodge ought to have enough time as a Mason, and officer, in his Lodge and jurisdiction to become totally familiar with the ritual and ceremonies of his Grand Lodge jurisdiction as well as the Laws, Rules, and Customs of his Grand Lodge, so he can be the best he can be when serves as Master. Masons don’t expect the impossible from the Master of their Lodge, they just want him to do the best job he can do, with the able assistance of some learned Brethren.
“The chess board is the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, just, and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance.”
Thomas Henry Huxley
One more thing I’d like to mention on this general subject of Masonic Laws, Ancient Landmarks, Customs, and Rules, is that here in Minnesota during the installation of the Master of a Lodge he is told by the installing officer that “the Book of Constitutions [the Masonic Code] you are to search at all times. Cause it to be read in your Lodge, that none may pretend ignorance of the excellent precepts it enjoins.” The reason this is included in that part of the ceremony of the installation of the Lodge officers, it seems to me, is to make certain that no one does something that will violate the Masonic Code in the jurisdiction because of ignorance of what the code contains. It is a duty of the Master to have it read in his Lodge regularly, because there is a lot of good information contained in the Masonic Code that make a lot of sense and it is very helpful to know.
A very good way for this to be accomplished by the Master is to delegate the responsibility of this task to the Lodge Education Officer and his Lodge Education Committee. It seems to me that there must be at least one brother in a Lodge who is interested in the Masonic Code or Jurisprudence enough to be willing to perform this small duty to help his Lodge and his Brethren; the LEO should seek him out and ask him to help and then put him on the education committee.
More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by E-mail at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to ed@halpaus.net with Subscribe and the Title, or ‘all 3,’ in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publication you want.
“Living a life is like constructing a building: If you start wrong, you’ll end wrong.”
Willie Bady Jr.
Consuetudo pro lege servatur = [Latin] = Custom is observed as law
From the Great Light of Masonry: “One and the same Law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether he is native-born Israelite or an alien.” Numbers 15:29 NIV
Please remember: if you would like to participate in the latest Masonic Monday Question, please go to http://www.lodgebuilder.org and click on the Lodge Education forum. Past Masonic Monday Questions and the current one may also be read on the Web Site for the G.L. of MN at www.mn-masons.org under Masonic Monday Q&A When you have an answer send it to masonicmonday@gmail.com This weeks question is:
What does the word Libertine signify? Why cannot a Libertine become a Mason?
More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by E-mail at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to ed@halpaus.net with Subscribe and the Title, or ‘all 3,’ in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publication you want.
To read this in PDF click on this link: http://www.halpaus.net/TFS103.pdf
With “Brotherly Love”,
Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer
[i] Also at times referred to as Anderson’s Constitutions.
[ii] Our Worshipful Brother Laurence Dermott, of the ‘Anctient Grand Lodge’ wrote regarding this: “The Wardens are chosen from among the Master Masons.” Dermott also made considerable and important changes in this Old Charge, as did Worshipful Brother Anderson, himself, in his 1738 edition of the Charges, or Anderson’s Constitutions of 1738: The changes referred to bring forward that Master Masons constitute the craft, that the Master Mason degree is a requirement for office.
Three, five, and seven
3 5 7
By Ed Halpaus, Grand Lodge Education Officer.
Number 103 – July 20, 2007
This publication, while it is printed with the permission of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of A.F. & A. M. of Minnesota, contains the writings and opinions of Ed Halpaus and is not in any way the opinion of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.
“When I say ‘think small’ I do not mean you to be small minded or petty or parochial. I mean that you should focus your ambitions on those things that you can do something about, namely, about yourself and the things over which you have some degree of control: Your temper, your manners, your morals, your habits, your soul.” Rev. Peter J. Gomes
Way back in November of 2005 our then Deputy Grand Master of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons of Minnesota asked me if I would write a series of articles on the Ancient Landmarks.” I was willing to do it, of course, and after our good Brother was elected and installed in the Grand East the articles began to appear in T.F.S., or 3, 5, & 7 as some prefer, and which T.F.S. stands for. This issue is a continuation of those articles on the Landmarks of Masonry and of the Minnesota Masonic Laws.
I’m very glad I was asked to do this, because it solidified the fact that I liked to study the rules, customs, laws, landmarks, and jurisprudence of Freemasonry; it really is interesting to study. I wasn’t surprised, because I always did enjoy reading in the Masonic Code, (Book of Constitutions,) and learning from all the information contained there.
Because of these articles and my interest in these subjects I really like it when a question comes my way that relates to them: So, I was quite fortunate when a question came up a while back that, to me, was really interesting.
The question had to do with, except in a new Lodge at its first election, a Mason cannot be elected to the office of Master of a Lodge until he has been elected and served as a Warden. The question was: “Can a Brother who was elected and served as a Warden in another jurisdiction be elected to the office of Master without holding the office of Warden in the jurisdiction of his current membership?”
This question has to do with Minnesota Masonic Law #14, which states: “That no one can be elected Master of a chartered Lodge, except at its first election, but a Master Mason who shall have served as warden.”
We have the question and we have the Masonic Law, we also have the rules, customs, Landmarks, and the old charges of Freemasonry to look to for the answer to the question. Unfortunately there is no Ancient Landmark, as enumerated by Mackey, which this particular Masonic Law can be compared to for more light on the question.
However, there is something similar in the "Old Charges," which had to do with the Lodges in London: In the Old Charges[i] approved in 1722 in Article IV "Of Masters, Wardens, Fellows, and Apprentices:" It says in part; "No Brother can be a Warden until he has passed the part of a Fellow Craft[ii]; nor a Master, until he has acted as a Warden; nor Grand Warden, until he has been Master of a Lodge; nor Grand Master, unless he has been a Fellow Craft before his election." Here, as in the Minnesota Masonic Law, the rule applies to being a Warden and subsequently a Master of a Lodge under a particular jurisdiction where the Lodge has its charter. The Premiere Grand Lodge, which was formed in 1717, set the rule, custom, and president, about a Mason serving first as a Warden before he can be elected to serve as Master.
Another part of Article IV of the Old Charges also says in part: “All preferment among Masons is grounded upon real worth and personal merit only; that so the lords may be well served, the brethren not put to shame, nor the royal craft despised; therefore no Master or Warden is chosen by seniority, but for his merit.” this might be another subject for a future issue of T.F.S., but it does reinforce in my mind that a Mason who is elected to the office of Master of his Lodge ought to have enough time as a Mason, and officer, in his Lodge and jurisdiction to become totally familiar with the ritual and ceremonies of his Grand Lodge jurisdiction as well as the Laws, Rules, and Customs of his Grand Lodge, so he can be the best he can be when serves as Master. Masons don’t expect the impossible from the Master of their Lodge, they just want him to do the best job he can do, with the able assistance of some learned Brethren.
“The chess board is the world; the pieces are the phenomena of the universe; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, just, and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance.”
Thomas Henry Huxley
One more thing I’d like to mention on this general subject of Masonic Laws, Ancient Landmarks, Customs, and Rules, is that here in Minnesota during the installation of the Master of a Lodge he is told by the installing officer that “the Book of Constitutions [the Masonic Code] you are to search at all times. Cause it to be read in your Lodge, that none may pretend ignorance of the excellent precepts it enjoins.” The reason this is included in that part of the ceremony of the installation of the Lodge officers, it seems to me, is to make certain that no one does something that will violate the Masonic Code in the jurisdiction because of ignorance of what the code contains. It is a duty of the Master to have it read in his Lodge regularly, because there is a lot of good information contained in the Masonic Code that make a lot of sense and it is very helpful to know.
A very good way for this to be accomplished by the Master is to delegate the responsibility of this task to the Lodge Education Officer and his Lodge Education Committee. It seems to me that there must be at least one brother in a Lodge who is interested in the Masonic Code or Jurisprudence enough to be willing to perform this small duty to help his Lodge and his Brethren; the LEO should seek him out and ask him to help and then put him on the education committee.
More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by E-mail at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to ed@halpaus.net with Subscribe and the Title, or ‘all 3,’ in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publication you want.
“Living a life is like constructing a building: If you start wrong, you’ll end wrong.”
Willie Bady Jr.
Consuetudo pro lege servatur = [Latin] = Custom is observed as law
From the Great Light of Masonry: “One and the same Law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether he is native-born Israelite or an alien.” Numbers 15:29 NIV
Please remember: if you would like to participate in the latest Masonic Monday Question, please go to http://www.lodgebuilder.org and click on the Lodge Education forum. Past Masonic Monday Questions and the current one may also be read on the Web Site for the G.L. of MN at www.mn-masons.org under Masonic Monday Q&A When you have an answer send it to masonicmonday@gmail.com This weeks question is:
What does the word Libertine signify? Why cannot a Libertine become a Mason?
More Light – Mehr Licht ©, Masonic Matters © and T.F.S. ©, are sent out by E-mail at no charge to anyone who would like to receive them. If you enjoy these publications please share them with others. To subscribe to any one or all of these publications just send an E-mail to ed@halpaus.net with Subscribe and the Title, or ‘all 3,’ in the subject line and you will be added to the list to receive the publication you want.
To read this in PDF click on this link: http://www.halpaus.net/TFS103.pdf
With “Brotherly Love”,
Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer
[i] Also at times referred to as Anderson’s Constitutions.
[ii] Our Worshipful Brother Laurence Dermott, of the ‘Anctient Grand Lodge’ wrote regarding this: “The Wardens are chosen from among the Master Masons.” Dermott also made considerable and important changes in this Old Charge, as did Worshipful Brother Anderson, himself, in his 1738 edition of the Charges, or Anderson’s Constitutions of 1738: The changes referred to bring forward that Master Masons constitute the craft, that the Master Mason degree is a requirement for office.
Labels: Landmarks