The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

Chapter 8 - Categorization of Rituals 651
Faith, Hope, and Charity 1605
However, charity is not the main target of the brotherhood. It is a virtue
expected of good men who have assembled to work on the "temple of humanity"
and improve their own character. It is a fact that Masonry provides beneficial
services for its members. These services cannot be called "charity," they simply
mean that a brother has to help a destitute brother, and initiates who have joined
the order for the purpose of receiving such advantages have a wrong conception
of the fraternity's true moral aims: "Charity begins for Freemasons with their
duty to aid other Masons at times of acute stress. These are usually during
periods of sickness and death, or when a Masonic widow or orphan is in
need." 1606 The same assertion is expressed by the following French quotation
from a bulletin of the Grande Loge Nationale Français, dated 1963, which
employs the famous metaphor of Freemasonry being a "widow" and the Masons
the "widow's sons":
La traditionnelle vocation à la défense de la Veuve et de l'Orphelin dont
notre siècle parfois, serait-ce aimablement, prend pour nous Maçons,
'Enfants de la Veuve', une signification qui peut sans doute échapper
aux profanes, mais qui dépasse pourtant singulièrement le plan de
l'anecdote. Notre Mère Universelle déplore la perte d'Hiram, comme,
1605 Illustration taken from EOF, vol. I, introductory page.
1606 Muraskin, p 134.