"In my younger years I put together words for a masonic funeral service. I conducted several masonic services using these words." (I think you'll agree that these words were elegantly written by Grady and are a tribute that many could use. webmaster.)
(Scripture - Ecclesiastes 12, verses 1-7)
From time immemorial it has been the custom among the masonic fraternity, at the request of a brother or his family, to accompany his remains to the place of interment, and there deposit them with appropriate formalities.
In keeping with this custom, and at the request of the family of our deceased brother [______], whose memory we revere and whose loss we now deplore, we have assembled in the character of masons to offer before the world the last tribute of our affection, to console one another in this hour of grief, and to ponder the significance of this awesome occasion.
He who lies before us, wrapped in unbroken slumber, was our brother. Side by side we traveled life's rugged pathway, and mourned in the dark days of adversity. Our presence here is evidence that we loved him and remember him in scenes which the world knows not of. But, alas, he has been called from us; his labors on earth are over, and like the thousands who have gone before, he will find a resting place in the silent and peaceful grave. Sweetly may be rest!
Death is a solemn visitor, and fills our hearts with sadness. Although we know he is a messenger from God to summon our loved ones from the troubled cares of this world to a life of peace and rest, that he has sent to all the myriads who have gone before, and will soon come to us with all that is promised in the Great Light of Truth--yet he is unwelcome. Solemn because irrevocable--the reality of the lesson taught by the Scythe of Time, which cuts the brittle thread of life and launches us into eternity. We are sad because one so near and dear to us by fraternal ties is gone. The wise and beneficent Author of nature intended, by the endowment of our senses and sympathies, that we should be social creatures enjoying the society and friendship of one another. It is the breaking of
these ties--the loss of companionship and the sudden ending of all association with our departed brother--that plunges us into woe and regret.
As it has pleased Almighty God to claim the soul of our departed brother, may he find mercy in the great day when all men shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body. We must walk in the light while we have light; for the darkness of death may come upon us at a time when we may not be prepared. Take heed, therefore, watch and pray; for you know not when the time is; you know not when the hour cometh--at evening, at midnight, or in the morn. We should so regulate our lives by the lines of rectitude and truth that when the time shall come we may be found worthy to be called from labor to rest, to join the Fraternity of the spirits of just men made perfect.
With reverence, then, let us appeal to Him whose goodness and power know no bounds, that when the hour shall arrive--when the fading taper of human life shall faintly glimmer and cease--our faith shall remove the dark cloud, draw aside the sable curtains of the tomb,and bid hope sustain and cheer the departing spirit. All the mortal remains of our departed brother are enclosed within the narrow coffin. No longer to remain upon the earth, we lay him reverently within its friendly bosom. We consign him to the grave--to the sleep that precedes the resurrection--and there will he slumber until the rchangel's trumpet shall usher in that eventful morn when, at our Supreme Grand Master's word, he will be raised to that blissful Lodge which time cannot remove, and which will remain open to those worthy of admission through the countless ages of eternity. In that heavenly sanctuary the mystic light, unmingled with darkness, will remain unbroken and eternal. There, amid the sunbeam smile of immutable love, beneath the benignent gaze of the All-Seeing Eye, in that temple not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, may Almighty God, in his infinite mercy, grant that we may meet to part no more.
(Prayer)
The lambskin, or white leather Apron, is an emblem of innocence and the badge of a Mason. It is more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle, more honorable than the Star and Garter, when worthily worn. This emblem we now deposit on the casket. By it we are reminded of the universal dominion of Death--Death from which we cannot escape. The arm of Friendship cannot interpose to prevent his coming, not the wealth of the world purchase our release.
"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour,
The paths of glory lead but to the grave."
The evergreen, which once marked the temporary resting place of the illustrious dead, is an emblem of our faith in the immortality of the soul. By it we are reminded that we have within us an immortal part that shall survive the grave, and which shall never die. Thus we are assured that, though we, too, shall soon be clothed in the habiliments of Death and deposited in the silent tomb, yet through our belief in the mercy of God , we may confidently hope that our souls will bloom in eternal spring.
"Tell me not in mournful numbers life is but an empty dream,
And the soul is dead that slumbers, and things are not what they seem.
Life is real, life is earnest; and the grave is not its goal.
Dust thou art to dust returneth was not spoken of the soul."
This, too, we deposit on the casket.
To the grave we consign the mortal remains of our deceased brother.
We cherish his memory in our hearts.
His spirit we commend to God who gave it.
(All masons deposit evergreen.)
Our brother having transcended the cares and troubles of this transitory existence to a state of endless duration in that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns, may we who survive be more strongly bound by the ties of union and friendship; and, during the short space allotted us here, may we wisely and usefully employ our time, and in the reciprocal intercourse of kind and friendly acts, promote the welfare and happiness of each other. I charge you, my brethren to:
"So live, that when thy summons comes to join the innumerable caravan, which moves to that mysterious realm where each shall his chamber in the silent halls of death, thou go not like the quarry slave at night, scourged to his dungeon; but sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave like one who wraps the drapery of his couch about him and lies down to pleasant dreams."
To those of the immediate relatives and friends, who are most heart stricken at the loss we have all sustained, we have but little of this world's consolation to offer; we can only sincerely, deeply, and most affectionately sympathize with you in your afflictive bereavement; but we can say--He who empers the wind to the shorn lamb looks down with infinite compassion upon you in the hour of your desolation, and He will fold the arms of His love and protection around those who put their trust in Him. My friends, let us thank God for the victory over the grave; for when Death seals the lips and chills the form, he cannot hush the sweeter voice nor dim the brighter vision which lingers within the heart. Dark indeed would be our way could we not gather 'round us our loved ones, hold them in our affections, and feel that they are about us. It is this which lifts the hope within us until it can overlook the shadow of our place of probation; which breaks, link after link, the chains that bind us to materiality, and opens to us a world of spiritual beauty. Then be comforted, for your friend, ur brother, is not dead, but shall live again in that blissful world to which we are all hastening.
Soft and safe to you, my brother, be your bed; bright and beautiful be your rising from it. With fragrance eternal may the sprig of acacia here flourish; may the earliest buds of spring unfold heir beauties over this, your resting place; and here may the sweetness of the summer's last flowers linger longest. Though the cold blasts of winter may lay them in the dust and, for a time, destroy their loveliness, their fading is not final, and in the springtime they will surely bloom again. Thus, in the bright morning of the world's resurrection, your mortal frame, now laid in the dust, shall again spring into newness of life, and expand in immortal beauty in realms beyond theskies. Until then, my brother--Until then, farewell.
[Benediction]