|
|
|||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
THE FORGET ME-NOT
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Forget-Me-Not
(Das Vergissmeinnicht)
The Story Behind This Beloved Emblem Of The Craft in Germany
In Early 1934, soon after Hitler's rise to power, it became evident that Freemasonry was in danger. In that same year, the "Grand Lodge of the Sun" (one of the pre-war German Grand Lodges, located in Bayreuth) realizing the grave dangers involved, adopted the little blue Forget-Me-Not flower as a substitute for the traditional square and compasses. It was felt the flower would provide brethren with an outward means of identification while lessening the risk of possible recognition in public by the Nazis, who were engaged in wholesale confiscation of all Masonic Lodge properties. Freemasonry went undercover, and this delicate flower assumed its role as a symbol of Masonry surviving throughout the reign of darkness.
During the ensuing decade of Nazi power a little blue Forget-Me-Not flower worn in a Brother's lapel served as one method whereby brethren could identify each other in public, and in cities and concentration camps throughout Europe. The Forget-Me-Not distinguished the lapels of countless brethren who staunchly refused to allow the symbolic Light of Masonry to be completely extinguished.
When the 'Grand Lodge of the Sun' was reopened in Bayreuth in 1947, by Past Grand Master Beyer, a little pin in the shape of a Forget-Me-Not was officially adopted as the emblem of that first annual convention of the brethren who had survived the bitter years of semi-darkness to rekindle the Masonic Light.
At the first Annual Convent of the new United Grand Lodge of Germany AF&AM (VGLvD), in 1948, the pin was adopted as an official Masonic emblem in honor of the thousands of valiant Brethren who carried on their masonic work under adverse conditions. The following year, each delegate to the Conference of Grand Masters in Washington, D.C., received one from Dr. Theodor Vogel, Grand Master of the VGLvD.
Thus, did a simple flower blossom forth into a symbol of the fraternity, and become perhaps the most widely worn emblem among Freemasons in Germany; a pin presented ceremoniously to newly-made Masons in most of the Lodges of the American-Canadian Grand Lodge, AF&AM within the United Grand Lodges of Germany. In the years since adoption, its significance world-wide has been attested to by the tens of thousands of brethren who now display it with meaningful pride.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Ten Master Masons
Ten Master Masons, happy, doing fine;
One listened to a rumour, then there were nine.
Nine Master Masons, faithful, never late;
One didn't like the "Master", then there were eight.
Eight Master Masons, on their way to heaven;
One joined to many clubs, then there were seven.
Seven Master Masons, life dealt some hard licks;
One grew discouraged, then there were six.
Six Master Masons, all very much alive;
One lost his interest, then there were five.
Five Master Masons, wishing there were more;
Got into a great dispute, then there were four.
Four Master Masons, busy as could be;
One didn't like the programs, then there were three.
Three Master Masons, was one of them you?
One grew tired of all the work, then there were two.
Two Master Masons with so much to be done;
One said "What's the use?" then there was one.
One Master Mason, found a brother - true!
Brought him to the Lodge, then there were two.
Two Master Masons didn't find work a bore;
Each brought another, then there were four.
Four Master Masons saved their Lodge's fate;
By showing others kindness, then there were eight.
Eight Master Masons, loving their Lodge's bright sheen;
Talked so much about it, they soon counted sixteen.
Sixteen Master Masons, to their obligations true;
Were pleased when their number went to thirty-two.
So we can't put our troubles at the Lodge's door;
It's our fault for harming the Lodge we adore.
Don't fuss about the programs or the "Master" in the East;
Keep your obligation by serving even the very least.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Masonic Ring
Those men who help my dad each day,
They wear those mason rings.
A Square and Compass set in gold,
The praise of which I sing.
My Dad, he hurt his back you know,
One cold and wintry day.
He slipped on fell upon the ice,
The insurance would not pay.
And since that time those rings I see,
On hands that help us much.
With mowing lawns and hauling trash,
Each day my heart they touch.
They even built a house for me,
Amid our backyard tree.
Where all the neighbour kids,
Would play with laughter full of glee.
My Mom she cried from happiness,
The time the Masons came.
To aid our family in distress,
Without a thought of gain.
And when I'm big, just like my Dad,
Of this it must be told.
I want to wear a ring like his,
A Square and Compass gold.
Long years have passed since when,
My Dad was in that plaster cast.
And since I swore that Solemn Oath,
Which unites us to the last.
But more than that I'm proud to say,
I wear his Mason ring.
The one Dad wore for many years,
Until his death this spring.
And one last time his comrades came,
To aid my weeping Mother.
They praised and bid a fond farewell,
To our fallen Brother.
And after which my Son did ask,
About their Aprons white.
And the rings upon their hands,
Of gold so shiny bright.
With tearful eyes I said with pride,
They're men of spirit pure.
Those men who wear those Mason rings,
Of that you can be sure.
And before he went to bed that night,
The family he foretold.
Someday I'll wear a ring like Dad's
A Square and Compass gold.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Banquet Night
"ONCE in so often," King Solomon said,
Watching his quarrymen drill the stone,
"We will club our garlic and wine and bread
And banquet together beneath my Throne,
And all the Brethren shall come to that mess
As Fellow-Craftsmen-no more and no less."
"Send a swift shallop to Hiram of Tyre,
Felling and floating our beautiful trees,
Say that the Brethren and I desire
Talk with our Brethren who use the seas.
And we shall be happy to meet them at mess
As Fellow-Craftsmen-no more and no less."
"Carry this message to Hiram Abif-
Excellent master of forge and mine :-
I and the Brethren would like it if
He and the Brethren will come to dine
(Garments from Bozrah or morning-dress)
As Fellow-Craftsmen-no more and no less."
"God gave the Hyssop and Cedar their place-
Also the Bramble, the Fig and the Thorn-
But that is no reason to black a man's face
Because he is not what he hasn't been born.
And, as touching the Temple, I hold and profess
We are Fellow-Craftsmen-no more and no less."
So it was ordered and so it was done,
And the hewers of wood and the Masons of Mark,
With foc'sle hands of Sidon run
And Navy Lords from the Royal Ark,
Came and sat down and were merry at mess
As Fellow-Craftsmen-no more and no less.
The Quarries are hotter than Hiram's forge,
No one is safe from the dog-whip's reach.
It's mostly snowing up Lebanon gorge,
And it's always blowing off Joppa beach;
But once in so often, the messenger brings
Solomon's mandate : "Forget these things!
Brother to Beggars and Fellow to Kings,
Companion of Princes-forget these things!
Fellow-Craftsmen, forget these things!"
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| page created with Easy Designer |