THE PENNSYLVANIA FREEMASON
in our hearts le t u s ever be mi ndful of a Brother's we lfare, that non e may be in need of tha t which is in our power to supply Let us be thankful and gra teful for a Frat erni ty, a way of l iving, wher ein li bert y, freedom a nd opportunity are granted to all Le t us be grateful for a Fraternity wh ere we have access to philosoph y which includes God in o ur l ives and rec ogn izes o ur sonship to H im. And through that sonshi p we are permitted t o r ealize the ble ssings of a Brotherhood that is big e nough to i nclud e all m en. And wh ich gives a promise of eternal life after death and a glo r ious hereafte r in that house no t made with hands eternal in th e h eave ns So, Brethren, at thi s Thanksgiving-195 4, while we continue our ceasel ess battle with e te rna l vigilance again s t the evils of an imp erfec t world, let us not forget to express our thanks t o an all-wise and all-powerful Lord God, The Grea t Ar chitec t of The Un iverse, for His loving mercy and kindness and ex t end t o H im all honor, glory and praise from sincere and thankfu l hearts. W. A. C.
Thank sgiv ing ... 19 54
Au t umn , with its colo rs so beautiful, its harv es t and its hom eco ming atmosphere, now surrounds us With it comes th e seaso n of Thanksgiving when we should extend our t hanks to an all -wise and all-powerful Lo r d God for all His loving mercy and kindness
Ye t, as we r ead our newps papers, lis ten to our radi os , watch our t elevis ion se ts and look around us we see so mu ch of v ice and crime, juven ile and adult delinque n cy, graft, greed and co rruption that it ma y s ome time cause wond erment a s to what we have to be p r oud of and to be thankful for.
Wh ile, as Freemaso ns, we s hould not, f or one moment, relax o ur efforts in behalf of moral and up r ight living, hon es ty and integrity in private and public affairs, let us not fail to pause and offer thanks t o Him for the bl ess ings we enj oy Let us thank Him for the pri vilege of living in a land where we ca n m ee t as Freemasons, secure from spyi ng and of a secret police d ominated by a paga n di c tator. Let u s be thankful for the bounteo us harvest from the ferti le soil of America, wh ich ins ures us against want and hun ger
Ma y we ever be mindful of the opportunities which are ours in a fr ee countr y, with libe rt y for private en terpri se wh ich pro vides for all who are able and willing to work at employme nt whe reby they may earn their dail y bread. Thankful that we li ve in a country where we can exercise our abi lit ies and become the mas ters of our own destini es Le t us be thankful also for the right to worship our God in th e church of our choice and according to the di ctat es of our own conscience, free from dominatio n by a s tateco ntr o lled church. May we always keep in mind the blessings of close fellowship with our Brethr en , and the opportunity presented within our Fraternity f or the unde rstanding and good will among Members With charity
One of the theories of the ongm of the Fraternity is, that i t s prang from a line of Mas ter Builders or Archi tects The Ma son ic T e mple f r om pavem en t to tur ret and all through its num erou s halls, speaks in the l anguage of architec tur e. Our mystic an cestors in Scotland, France, England, Egypt, Greece , Italy and German y, are all s ugges ted to us by the t ypical styles of d es igns which d is tingu is h th e vario us L odge rooms. They are the most deli gh tful of studies beca use they m inis ter si multaneousl y to th e l ove of ar t. Art, you kn ow, is akin to Fre emaso n r y
New So u ve n ir A lbum
Have yo u seen the new souvenir album e ntit led " The Ma son ic T emple, Philadelphia" where the R W. Grand Lo dge F & A M. of Penns yl vania h olds i ts Quarterly a nd Annual meetings? If n ot, yo u shou ld secure a copy
This album wa s published by th e Committee on Library and Mu se um, and prepared by William J. Pa t e rs on, Librarian and Curato r.
The informat ion contained the rein was collated after a continuous search among old h is toric records, in order to obtain a true and accurate biblica l account of th e various rooms and corr idors throughout the Temp le
On October 22 , 1887, "The Art Assoc iatio n of t he Masonic Temple" was organ ized with th e objec t of decorating and embellis hing the vari o us halls, of giving them artistic, his t o ric and Masonic beauty, and also of dec ora ting with sta tuar y, paint ings and other wo rks of art.
From 1908 to 1926, the re were a numb er of i ss ues of a souvenir album s how ing the var ious places of meeting of The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania from its inception , togethe r wi th exterior and interior views of the p r ese nt Templ e, in color, which are n ow out of print. How The Grand Lodge gradually evolv ed from its humble meeting places in the extreme easte rn part of Philadelphia in the early years of the eighteenth century to its magnificent hom e at Broad and Filbe rt Streets after the l apse of ove r t wo centuries , i s an intere sting study, and is vividly brought ste p by step before the Brethren of the prese nt day by the series of illustrations shown in this album. Illustrations in colo r o f th e prese nt Masonic T emple are only in this album. However, additional inform at ion has bee n furnished regarding th e Museu m Rena issa nce Hall, Gothi c Hall and the numerous mur als t hroughout the building. Thi s album is submitted to the members of t he Fraternity and to the publ ic in the hope that i t wi ll be interest ing t o both.
The Maso n ic Temple is an outs tanding s tructur e and is worthy o f th e adornment whi ch has been b es tow ed upon it, a rchitecturall y in both exte r ior and interi or The corne r -stone of th e Temple was laid on Saint J ohn th e Baptis t 's Day, June 24, 1868, and the building was ded icated September 26, 1873. The beau ti fully bo und so uvenir albums are now availab le at the price of $ 2.00 each, and ma y be had b y contacting Brother William J. Paterso n, Libra rian , Masonic T emple , Broad and Filbert Streets, Philadelph ia 7 , Pa., or by co ntacting any member of the Committ ee on Library and Museum.
J o hn L ow ry Ruth
The Committee on Library and Museum sadly mourn the pass ing of Brother John Low r y Ruth of Lodge No 266, whose sudden dea th interrupted an a ssig nment he was performing so well and enjo ying so much. Brother R uth, a mos t comp e t ent secre ta ry of the committee, had pla yed a gre at part in the planning and designing of th is pub lication He was, indeed, a great man and Master Maso n
P l e d ge of A ll egi a nce
By v irtue of a joint Congre ss ional resol ution approve d by President Eisenhowe r June 14, this year, the words "under God" have been inser t ed following the word nation in the P le dge of Allegiance to The Flag . By this officia l action, the p r oper wording should be: " I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for whic h it stands, one nation, under God, indivisihle, with liberty and justice for all."
"Ther efor e, when we bui ld let us think tha t we b uild f orever. Let it n o t be f or prese nt d elight nor for pr ese nt u se al one Let it be such work as our de scendants will thank us for. And le t us thi n k, as we la y s tone on stone, that a time is to co me when these stones will be held sacred because ou r hands have touched them, an d that m en will say, as they look upon the labor and the wrought s ubstance of t he m, 'See! This our fathe rs did for u s ' "
- JoaN RusKIN
A Message f rorn Our G ra n d Maste r
T IS NOW ove r two and one-quar te r ce nturies that Freemason r y firs t ap peared in the Province wh ich was d es tin ed t o become the Commonwea lth of Pe nn sylvania
Beyond th e City o f Brothe rly Love (Philadelphia) , t o the west an d north were fr ontiers still to be conquered by the slow ly in creas ing t ides of peoples of Europ e wh o sought as ylum from politica l oppressio n as well as to worship God a cco rdin g to the dic ta tes of their creed or r eligious opinion. With t h is fr eed om assured, the wilderness was no obs tacle. Man y faced d a ngers and p ri vations wi th courageous hearts, kn owing that patience, industry and thrift would procure the economic security whi ch was naturall y a pa rt of their quest
Th e coloni zation and de velopment of this new wo r l d o f the fiftee nt h century is one of the whol e worl d s g r eatest epics
In the ea rly peri od of colon izat ion of P ennsylvania, here and there brethren of the Craft met and r ecog nized o ne another as such ; i n the gr owing settlement which was to be come a gr eat c ity on t he Delaware , in the i n te ri or along the rout es o f com merce, th e forts of the mil itar y and in th e dep ths of the fore s t o n the fro ntier.
Unorgani zed t he y may have been, b ut they had th e sp irit of Freemasonr y in them and it was n ot lo ng until small groups de vise d ways an d means to meet at some favo r able place and time and the re open a Lodge.
I t was withi n th ese Lodges they could commune with one another and di5.;us s th ei mutual problems aud dspirations and • .:i 0W tl e i r fa ith in one anoth er as brethren of the Craft , and t he cho ice they made for themse lves as pion ee r s Th ey were me n who put their trust in God; the fore runners of th ose who have followed in th ei r steps and all cr eating and buildi ng the Mason ic heritage which is now in our care and keeping.
This heritage comes d own to our day because of th e worth of Freemasonry The moral and spiritual influence of it be comes more no ti ceable in th e decade befor e the struggle of the Ameri can colonies for their ind epen denc e ; and , later, the evidences ar e n ot lacking in the words of men a nd their docum ents upon wh i ch rest the foundati on of our na tional l ife, with liber t y and j ustice fo r all.
Through th e yea rs , then, the ancie nt usages, customs and landmarks stand unchang ed in th e vast social and econom ic changes which natur ally follow g row th and de ve lopment and invention , beca use of human r eso ur ce fulness and effo rt. We are a fr ee people
H aving withs to od the test of t im e and the changes which i t b r ings, we mu s t be impressed tha t o ur future grows out of the past. We believe, to o, th a t our existe n ce has been a useful one or else we woul d not have s urvived th e test which came to challenge both worth and usefulness wi thin the first century of Freemaso nry in Penns yl vania.
I n whatev er manner or way we loo k to the future, it is o nly by
in fo rmin g ourselves on the structure, purpose, a nd d eeper meaning of our fraternit y that we ca n perceive, in the rapidly changing social and economic o r der, the necessity for assuming a greater usefulness t han eve r before.
Brethren, you and I have our duties; r eligious, c ivil and fraternal. It is these duties we owe t o o u rselves and to ou r fraternal descendants t hat should concern us in the present.
W ithin recent yea rs, conside r able thought has been give n and tr ial efforts inau gu r ated to ascer tai n an agreeable and effective method of p r ovidi ng ou r membe r ship with a medium which would be devoted to presenting the "State of the Craft." T his is a n all-in clusive term and excepts only t he Rit ualistic Work, fo r which th ere is the authorized School of I nstruction
In our inaugural address at th e last Annual Gr and Communication of the Grand Lodge we presented a p r ogram of devel opment , designed to fulfill a ne ed as well as a r esponsibility to the Craft
As on e of the r esul ts of our r eco mmendations , this publication c omes to you from our Grand Lodge through the function of the present Comm itt ee on Lib ra ry and Museum. You are no doubt informed that by amendment to the Ah iman Re zon it is proposed to c r ea t e a Committee on Masonic Culture which will rep lace the Committee on Library and Mus eum and the Committee on Lec t u r es It shall be the pu r pose of this committee, through the columns of thi3 publicat;on, to provide you with idvrmation that will not on !y be of inte r est but also of usefulness to you To be well and accurately informed is t o increase one's kn owl edge ; and t his is a rich storehouse for t he glory of the Creator, and the betterme nt of man's estate
T he Grand Lodge of P ennsylvania wants you to feel and know tha t it is inte r ested ' in you as an indi vid ual member of th e Lodge which it has warranted and constit u ted . I ts interest, even as yours , goes beyond the boundaries of th ose to whom membership is already a privilege
We , the p resent membership , are the custodian s of the moral, religi ous and philosophical doctrines of ou r institu ti on, and upon us dep ends its future . We reflect its virtues in our daily lives and associations and thereb y cre ate the desire in the hearts of youth and adu l t t o become Freemasons
It is th ere fore one pa rt of our Masonic duty to review and pond er the past This will give us ins piration and direc tion; and thus ensur e the fulfillment of our moral obligation to the Brethren in succeeding generatio ns.
WILLIAM E. YEAGEH, R. W. Pa st Grand Master
In 1950 The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania received a request for recognition from the Grand Lodge of I srael. Action was deferred as this Grand Lodge did n ot fully meet all the requirements of our standa rd s for r ecognition. Since then the situation in I srael has been most h ap pily solved-not onl y most happily, but in a m os t charitab le an d truly Masonic manner.
The Grand Lodge of Scotland had chartered ten Lodges in Palestine, the oldest of which had rece ived its chart er in 1910. Some three years ago, five of th ese Lodges in I sra el reque s ted permission to return their charters to th e Grand Lodge of Scotland f or the purpose of erecting the Grand Lodge of t he State of Israel.
In 1932, under the sponsorship of the Grand Lodge of Egypt, there was erected in I s rael the Grand Lodge of I s rael. By Jul y, 1953, thi s Grand Lodge of I srael had been recognized in the United States by the Grand Lodges of Alabama, Arizona, California , Colo rado , Conn ect icut, Kan sas, Louisian a, Massachu se tts, Michigan, Montana, New Jer sey, New York, North Dak ota, and Oklahoma; but not by the Grand Lodges of England or Scotland.
When the petition from their five Lodges in P alesti ne was under consideration by the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the prese nce of this Grand Lodge of I srael prese nted the problem of ter rit orial rights. Th e comm ittee in ves tigating the matter taking into consi dera ti on that the Grand Lodge of S cotland had jurisdi ction over Pales t ine as it then was mandated country unde r British Sovereignty, came to the conclus ion that when the Grand Lodge of I srael established itse lf in 1932, without reference to, or recognition by, the Grand Lodge of Scotland, it had infrin ged exis tin g territorial right s Consequently, th e Gr and Lodge of Scotland approved the request of the petit ioning dau ght er Lodges in I srael to establish the Grand Lodge of the State of I srael.
When i t became known that a new Grand Lodge was being erected in I s rae l, Brethren of the existi ng Grand Lodge, whose Grand Mas ter was Broth er Dr. Shaoni, e ntered into negotiations with the Brethren of the organizing committee of th e new Grand L odg e, as it was fe lt desirable, ind ee d esse ntial, to ha ve Ma son ic unification in I srael.
Th ese negotiations were success ful and, on October 20, 1953, a Communication of the Grand Lodge of Scotland was opened in Jerusalem by its R W. Past Grand Mas ter, Th e Right Honorable, The Earl o f El gi n and Kincardine; the surre ndered charters of the five Founder L odges were r eceived and th e Grand Lodge of the State of Israel was erected.
Af ter the Grand Lodge of Scotland had been closed, t he Grand Lodge of th e State of I srael was ope n ed, and Brother Shabe tai Lev y ins ta lled as Gr an d Master. Aft er the cons ti tut on
had been adopted and cha rter s issued to the Founder Lo dges, a tou chin g and moment ous incident occurred-a r esolution was adopted whereby the Grand Lod ge of th e Sta te of I sra el could issue cha rt ers to the L odges comprising the Grand Lodge of I s ra el , providing an assurance be given and an obligation taken tha t the Brethre n of th ese Lodges wou ld adhere to the An cien t Landmarks of the Order, and wou ld maintain and suppor t the Constitution and Laws of the Grand Lodge of the State of I s rael.
Imm ed iately after the pass ing of that r esolution, th e Masters of the fourteen Lodges of th e Grand Lodge of Israel were admitted, took the obligation, and re ceived their new charters.
Th en Brother Dr. Shaoni, and the Most Worshipful Brethren who accompanied him, were ushered into th e Grand Lodge and invited t o the East. As a tok en of the good will which had been established, Broth er Shaoni was placed on the left of the Most Worshipful G rand Master and invested as Immedia te Pa st Grand Mas t er.
When the Grand Lodge of th e State of I s ra el held its election on November 29, 1953, Brother Shabetai Levy, being very s ick, d eclined to continue as Grand Mas ter. Accordingl y, Brother Shaoni, who was Grand Mas ter of the Grand Lodge of I srae l at the tim e of its dissolution, was elected Grand Maste r, and Bro ther J acob Casp i, who had bee n a member of one of the Scottish Lodges, was elected D ep ut y Grand Master. Of the s ixteen officers el ec ted or appointed that day, seve n were from the o ld Grand Lodge o f Israel and nine from th e former Scottis h Lodges.
It being evident that th e Grand Lodge of the State of I srael is a re s ponsibl e, se lf-governing grou p, having been lawfull y formed and subsc ribing to t h e Ancient Landmarks, Customs and Usages o f th e Craft, and h a ving exclusive author it y in its jurisdiction, The Grand Lodge of Penn sy lvania, at the Quarterly Communication on Ma r ch 3, 1954, ad op ted a r esolution granting the requ es t of the Grand Lodge of th e State of Is rael for recognition Thus there was added one more Grand Lodge to tho se with whom Our Grand Lodge has established fra ternal rel a tions
Cir cu l ati ng Li brary
A plan of "Maso ni c Education" has bee n gi ven a great dea l of thought by th e Committee on Library and Museum for quite some t ime. Following the print ing of the four bo oklets by The Grand Lodge , namely: "On th e Th res h old," "The Entered Apprentice," "The Fe ll ow-Craft," and "The Maste r Mason," th e com mittee con s ide r ed the idea of creating a Circulating Library, whereby the Brethre n of th e Masonic fraternity ma y borrow certain books on Freemasonry to take home and r ead. The comm ittee also rea lized that the members in Philad el phia who are interested in reading " Maso nic Literature" are unable to spare the tim e during the day to vi s it the Library for the purpose of reading, and for ou r Brethren
living in other localities of our Grand Jurisdiction it was utterly impossible. In order to get properly o r ganized it was necessary for our Lib ra r ian to visit ot h er Grand Lodge li b raries th at maintained Ci rcula tin g Libra r ies, to learn h ow th ey operated and to find out i f the Brethren really were interested in read ing books on Freemasonry. He soon learned that Masonic books are in demand by the Brethren , and the Circulating Li bra ri es now in existence have proved a success.
Reporting his findings to the committee at th ei r meeting held on March 17, 195 1, the Librarian was then ins tructed to make up a n overall plan program that would be workable f or a Circulating Library for The Grand Lo dge of Pennsylvania.
On June 6, 1951, the Librarian r epo rt ed t o th e committee the proposed planned program, after whi ch a res olution was presented and act ed upon favorabl y by the committee, to be r ead before Grand L odge in September.
The following Resolu tion was on m o ti o n approved and adopted in Grand Lo dge, September 5, 1951:
" Be it Resolved: Tha t the Committee on Librar y and Museu m be directed and auth orized to create a Circulating Librar y and be pe rmitt ed to loan to th e members of the Mason ic Fratern ity in P en ns ylva nia such b ooks as they m ay deem advisable for general r eading purposes; such Circula t ing Library to be operate d under r ul es which the Committe e ma y from time to time adopt."
Two brochures were th en prepared and prin ted-one cons isting of th e rul es and regulations f or the loaning of books, with a form of application at tached, and the other giving a l ist of Maso ni c books which may be bor rowed. A numb e r of these b r ochures were sent to the secretaries of the subordinate Lodges, including a package of col ored prin te d slips, one to be inserted in eac h Lodge notice, adv s ing the Bre thren the y co uld now bor row b ooks from the Circu lating Librar y, toge ther with other instructions.
In addition to th e above brochures, another pam phlet has been written by o ur Librar ian, Bro t h er Paterson, ent itled "A Suggested Li s t of Bo oks on Freemaso nry for Readers of Mason ic Literature"; and while this l is t of books has no connection with the Circulating Li brary, it was prepared solely to enlighten th e Brethren regarding some of the interesting Mason ic books and pamphlets th at have been printed on Freemasonry.
Th e Lib rarian is pleased to announce that requests are constant ly coming in for books and the Library has loa n e d to the memb er s twel ve hundred and fifty volumes up to the present time
To join the Circulating Lib rar y, simply write to William J. Paterson, Librarian, Masonic Temple, Broad and Fi bert Streets, Philadelphia 7, P a., and copies of the rules and reg ulations and a list of the books yo u may b orrow will be mailed to you. No fee will be r equi r e d
