Duncan's Ritual of Freemasonry.pdf - FatimaMovement

necessary forms, is thus admonished that
Masonry is a whole of which each Mason forms a
part.--Lexicon.
The first business which occupies the brethren at
their stated meetings is what is technically called
opening the Lodge. It is a solemn and imposing
rite, and strongly files the attention of every
serious Mason. Every officer is made acquainted
with his duty, and seriously impressed with the
importance attached to his situation.--Theo.
Phil., p. 272-3.
18:1 When a Mason enters a Lodge after it is
opened and at work, he proceeds to the centre of
the Lodge, at the altar, and, facing the Worshipful
Master in the east, gives the duegard and sign of
the degree in which the Lodge is working. The
duegard is never omitted when the Master is
addressed.
28:1 Every initiated person, whether prince, peer,
or peasant, is bound, al least once during his
Masonic career, to pass through this
emblematical p. 29 feature of his profession, as an
unmistakable pledge of fidelity. He may not like
it. He may object to it. He may think it degrading.
But he has no option. He cannot avoid it. If he
seriously intends to be a Mason, he must endure
it with patience, as an indispensable condition of
his tenure. And accordingly no instance is on
record where the privilege of initiation has been
abandoned from a rejection of this preliminary
ceremony. Nor has any one, when the rite has
been completed, ever found reason to question its
propriety. Such a proceeding is, indeed, utterly
improbable, for it bears such a beautiful analogy
to the customs of all primitive nations, that its
origin may be reasonably ascribed to some
unfathomable antiquity, which might probably