Ritual for a Mourning Ceremony

Grand Lodge of the State of Israel

 

Translated from the Hebrew by

R. W. Bro. Leon Zeldis

Hon. Assistant Grand Master

Grand Lodge of the State of Israel

 

            The mourning ceremony is part of the normal working of the lodge. The lodge is opened in the first degree; the Minutes of the previous meeting are read out and approved.

            The officers and brethren turn over their aprons and collars (displaying the black lining) before the start of the ceremony. Chairs are arranged on the center of the floor for the family members. After the lodge is ready for the ceremony, the family members of the deceased are introduced while soft music is playing and they are conducted to their seats.

            All lights in the lodge are turned on and, if possible, the room is decorated with black cloth. The symbols are covered with black cloth. On a small table in front of the East are placed: a large bowl, a glass of milk, glass of wine and glass of water. Three columns [on the floor, between the chairs for the family and the East] form a square angle: on the first [SE], hangs a sign with the same of the deceased brother; on the second [SW], a sprig of acacia and on the third {NW], a white candle. On the desk of the Junior Warden is a sprig of acacia. The chair where the deceased used to sit is empty.

 

OPENING

 

            The WM strikes a strong blow with his mallet. All the brethren stand up        without making any sign.

 

WM     Assist me, Brethren, to open the mourning ceremony. Brother Senior Warden, is any of the brethren missing?

 

SW      Yes, Worshipful Master, Brother …. Is missing.

 

WM     Brother Inner Guard, please open the doors of the lodge and let the brother come in.

 

            The Inner Guard opens the door, steps back until being at the center between the columns, while facing the door, waits a moment, then steps forward and closes the door, returns and stands between the columns and, facing the WM, declares:

 

IG        WM, our Brother …… is not here, but his memory remains with us.

 

WM     Brother Secretary, what is the purpose of our assembly here?

 

SEC     To honour the memory of our Brother …… , who was initiated in our Lodge on ………., and who passed to the Eternal East on …………

 

            The Director of Ceremonies lights up the candle.

 

WM     Brethren Deacons, please bring into the lodge what our Brother ……….. left us.

 

            The Deacons go out and return walking with measured steps, carrying the apron and a photo of the deceased brother. They circle the lodge while mourning music is being played until the Deacons lay down the apron and the photo on the empty chair of the deceased; then they return to their places.

 

WM     [Strikes a soft knock]   I open the mourning ceremony with a soft knock, to symbolize the arrival of man to this world. This sound is made by man while being born, when he sees for the first time the light of the world.

 

SW      [strikes a strong knock]   This knock of the mallet symbolizes the stormy life of man on this earth, surrounded by strong sounds.

 

JW       [strikes the sprig of acacia on his desk, breaking it]   The acacia branch is broken. Death has put an end to life on earth. The body of man was sundered from the tree of life and exists no more.

 

WM     Brother Senior Warden, what is the time when Freemasons start their mourning ceremony?

 

SW      At midnight, Worshipful Master.

 

WM     [to the SW]      And why at midnight?

 

SW      Because at that time the world is wrapped in darkness as the veil of mourning.

 

WM     Brother Junior Warden, what is the time?

 

JW       Midnight, Worshipful Master.

 

WM     Brethren, in the name of the Great Architect of the Universe and by virtue of the powers invested in me by the Grand Lodge of the State of Israel, I declare open the mourning ceremony in the memory of Brother……………

            Brethren, please be seated!

 

            The WM pronounces the eulogy. At the end, he descends from the East, lays down three roses on the chair of the deceased brother and returns to his seat.

 

WM     Brother Chaplain, let us pray to the Great Architect of the Universe in the memory of our deceased Brother [he knocks with the mallet and all the brethren stand up – no signs].

 

CHAP  Our heavenly father, the Great Architect of the Universe, your great name will stand forever while all creation will pass and die. You kill and give life, and the soul of all beings is in your hand. Console us in our mourning on the death of Brother …….. and strengthen our hearts, because you wound and you heal, bring our hearts closer to you, and make our journey easier, since the destiny of a human being is to die. Bless the brethren here assembled and draw them to you with the bonds of your love which knows no boundaries, bless the Brethren of our Order wherever they are found, bless all human beings, abide with us all the days of our life on this earth, and strengthen us to bear, at our end, the burden of death with brave heart and high spirit, for yours is the splendor and the glory from the beginning to the end Amen.

 

WM     We had a Brother, and he is no longer with us.

 

SW      He was called to work in a different Orient.

 

JW       He went to the Eternal East.

 

WM     Blessed be his memory!

 

ALL BRETHREN:     Amen!

 

            The Dignitaries in the East and the Brethren form a fraternal chain on the floor around the lodge, with the two Wardens standing on either side of the WM: the SW to his left and the JW to his right. Between the WM and the JW the chain is broken. The roll is called: the WM calls aloud the name [without the surname] of the Brother SW and this answers "Present!", then calls the name of the brother to his left and this is continued until reaching the JW. He calls "Brother….", and repeats twice more his call, and the answer Present is not heard.

 

WM     Brother Junior Warden, who does not answer?

 

JW       Brother …….., who left us before his time.

 

WM`   Brethren, the chain was broken and one link is missing: our Brother ……… The Brethren grieve his disappearance, and his severed life.

 

            The WM takes hold of the hand of the JW and says:

 

WM     Brethren, let us close the chain, which embraces the world and continues to the Eternal East, and let us continue our work. Brethren, take your seats.

 

            All the Brethren, except for the WM, return to their places. Soft organ music is played.

 

            The WM pours three times from the glass of milk, into the bowl.

 

WM     I pour milk, symbol of childhood, the first food given by love to man at his birth.

 

            He pours three times from the glass of wine into the bowl.

 

WM     I pour wine, symbol of adulthood, which bubbles and gives strength to man in his life.

 

            He pours three times from the glass of water into the bowl.

 

WM     I pour clean, pure water, symbol of the clean and pure soul of our deceased Brother, who was untimely separated from his body.

 

            He removes the sign with the name of the deceased from the first column and says:

 

WM     Brother….., you vanished from the roster of the living.

 

            He breaks the sprig of acacia on the second column and says:

 

WM     The tree of life is broken.

 

            He snuffs the candle on the third column and says:

 

WM     The light of your eyes has dimmed forever.

 

            The WM returns to his place. The organ music stops.

           

            Condolences are presented in the name of the Grand Lodge of the State of Israel.

 

            Condolences are presented in the name of sister lodges.

 

 

CLOSING

 

Wm     Brethren, please stand to close the mourning ceremony. Brother Senior Worden, when do Freemasons close their Mourning Ceremony?

 

SW      At dawn, Worshipful Master.

 

WM     [addressing the SW]   And why is this so, Brother Senior Worden?

 

SW      The same as with the arrival of dawn to the earth, light enters the Lodge, so the soul of our departed Brother …………….. finds its place in the sublime lodge of the Eternal East.

 

WM     [to the SW]   And what else is symbolized by this hour?

 

SW      The light of dawn dissipates the shadows and overcomes the darkness of the night. Thus, we hope, bereavement will be dissipated and we shall move from gloom to bright light. .

 

WM     Brother JW, what is the time?

 

JW       This is the hour when the sun glows and infuses love and light into the hearts of the Brethren throughout the world.

 

WM     Since this is the time when Freemasons close the Mourning Ceremony, I order you, Brother Senior Warden, to close this ceremony.

 

            He strikes three hard knocks with his mallet, and an additional one, harder still.

 

SW      Brethren, by order of the Worshipful Master, I close the Mourning Ceremony.

 

            He strikes one soft knock.

 

JW       Brethren, the Mourning Ceremony is closed, and may we suffer no further affliction.

 

            He strikes one hard knock.

 

            The family of the bereaved leaves the lodge. The brethren turn their regalia and the Lodge continues its normal work according to the agenda.

 

 

Tel-Aviv, 1975.