Day 77 out of 100 to Learn Masonic Ritual and it brings up to the end of our first run through of the Third Degree Raising ceremony. Technically we have covered everything you are going to need to learn ahead of your year in the Chair (barring the Inner Workings for Installing your successor!)
Yesterday we invested the Candidate with his Master Masons Badge, we’re skipping the Working Tools so that leaves…
Learning Masonic Ritual, Day 77 of 100: Closing the Lodge in the Three Degrees
Now then, I before I go onto what we’re doing today I’ll just mention again that we are skipping over the Working Tools in the Third Degree, and we did this for the other two Degrees too. The reason is because in most UK Lodges this isn’t usually done by the Master, but by a Master Mason getting used to doing some floor work, or a Past Master who isn’t holding an office.
Of course, in the Lodge of Emulation it is done by the Master (as well as Fifteen Fellowcrafts, Traditional History and The Charge) and if you belong to a Lodge where you are expected to perform these parts then allocate extra time to learn these pieces.
Remember, there are two objectives of this 100 Study Plan:
- Get yourself word perfect for your Installation,
- Get a good grip on the three Degree ceremonies.
This way when you can spend the month between each Lodge meeting revising and rehearsing for the next ceremony, not having to learn it from scratch. Back to today, and we are Closing the Lodge in the Three Degrees (pages 54-65 in my book of Emulation Ritual). However, because of time constraints (the Raising Ceremony is the longest ceremony) it may be that you may just resume the Lodge in the First Degree (page 68) as already learnt when Closing the Installation Ceremony.
I would recommend looking through the full closing because you may need to do it. In reality closing in full form doesn’t really take that long, so adding a minute or two onto the meeting to close properly is probably worth it. It’s better to learn it and not need it, than have a Provincial visit on the evening and have the guest of honour whisper in your ear that as the ceremony has gone smoothly and quickly you’d might as well do the full closing!