Mystic masonry, or, The symbols of freemasonry and the greater ...

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72 Mystic Masonry.
those who attained the highest degree was quite
small."
"In the Hierarchiae, attributed to St. Dionysius,
the Areopagite, the first' Bishop of Athens, the tradition
of the sacrament is said to have been divided
into three degrees of grades
Purification,
Initiation,
and Accomplishment or Perfection—and it
mentions also, as part of the ceremony, the bringing
to sight. The Apostolic Constitutions, attributed to
Clemens, Bishop of Rome, describe the early church,
and say:
'These regulations must on no account be
communicated to all sorts of persons, because of the
mysteries contained in them.' "
It is interesting to contrast the utterances of early
Bishops of the Christian Church with the Bulls and
Anathemas of excommunication of later Popes,
hurled against the Masons for entertaining the same
doctrines and practicing the same rites. But this
was after the idea of dominion had seized the modern
church, which tolerates no rival, and would destroy
all opposition. Papal supremacy must be
maintained at any cost.
Tertullian, who died about a. d. 216, says in his
Apology
"None are admitted to the religious mysteries
without an oath of secrecy. We appeal to your