Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

308 GRAND
GRAND
the five orders of architecture, and a case
of mathematical instruments . The apron is
white, lined with blue ; and the jewel is a gold
medal, on which are engraved the orders of
architecture . It is suspended by a stonecolored
ribbon.
Grand Master Mason . The title given to
the Grand Master in the Grand Lodge of Scotland
.
Grand Master of all Symbolic Lodges .
(Venerable Maitre de toutes les Loges .) The
Twentieth Degree in the Ancient and Accepted
Scottish Rite . The presiding of&cer is styled
Venerable Grand Master, and is assisteby
two Wardens in the west . The decorations of
the Lodge are blue and yellow. The old ritual
contains some interesting instructions respecting
the first and second Temple .
Among the traditions preserved by the possessors
of this degree, is one which states that
after the third Temple was destroyed by Titus,
the son of Vespasian, the Christian Freemasons
who were then in the Holy Land, being
filled with sorrow, departed from home with
the determination of building a fourth, and
that, dividing themselves into several bodies,
they dispersed over the various parts of Europe.
The greater number went to Scotland,
and repaired to the town of Kilwinning, where
they established a Lodge and built an abbey,
and where the records of the Order were deposited
. This tradition, preserved in the original
rituals, is a very strong presumptive evidence
that the degree owed its existence to the
Templar system of Ramsay .
Grand Master of Light . One of the various
names bestowed on the degree of Knight
of St. Andrew .
Grand Offerings . According to the English
system of lectures, three important events
recorded in Scripture are designated as the
three grand offerings of Masonry, because
they are said to have occurred on Mount Moriah,
which symbolically represents the ground
floor of the Lodge . These three grand offerings
are as follows : The first grand offering
was when Abraham prepared to offer up his
son Isaac ; the second was when David built
an altar to stay the pestilence with which his
people were afflicted ; and the third was when
Solomqn dedicated to Jehovah the Temple
which he had completed. (See Ground Floor
of the Lodge .)
Grand Officers . The elective officers of
a superintending Masonic body, such as
Grand Lodge, Grand Chapter, etc ., are so
called . The appointed officers are designated
as subordinate officers, but this distinction
is not always strictly observed .
Grand Orient . Most of the Grand
Lodges established by the Latin races, such as
those of France, Spain, Italy, and the South
American States, are called Grand Orients .
The word is thus, in one sense, synonymous
with Grand Lodge ; but these Grand Gents
have often a more extensive obedience than
Grand Lodges, frequently exercising jurisdiction
over the highest degrees, from which English
and American Grand Lodges refrain .
Thus the Grand Orient of France exercises
jurisdiction not only over the seven degrees of
its own Rite, but also over the thirty-three of
the Ancient and Accepted, and over all the
other Rites which are practised in France .
Grand Orient is also used in English and
especially in American, Masonry to indicate
the seat of the Grand Lodge of highest Masonic
power, and is thus equivalent to Grand
East, which see.
Grand Pontiff . (Grand Pontife ou Sublime
Ecossais .) The Nineteenth Degree of the
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The
degree is occupied in an examination of the
Apocalyptic mysteries of the New Jerusalem .
Its officers are a Thrice Puissant and one
Warden . The Thrice Puissant is seated in
the east on a throne canopied with blue, and
wears a white satin robe. The Warden is in the
west, and holds a staff of gold . The members
are clothed in white, with blue fillets embroidered
with twelve stars of gold, and are called
True and Faithful Brothers. The decorations
of the Lodge are blue sprinkled with gold
stars .
Grand Principals. The first three officers
of the Grand Chapter of England are so called .
They are respectively designated as Z ., H .,
and J., meaning Zerubbabel, Haggai, and
Joshua.
Grand Prior. 1 . Each chief or conventual
bailiff of the eight languages of the Order of
Malta-was called a Grand Prior . There were
also other Grand Priors, under whom were
several Commanderies . The Grand Priors of
the Order were twenty-six in number . 2.
The third officer in the Supreme Council of
the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for
the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States .
(See Prior.)
Grand Secretary . The recording and corresponding
officer of a Grand Lodge, whose
signature must be attached to every document
issued from the Grand Lodge ; where
there is no Grand Register or Keeper of the
Seals, he is the custodian of the Seal of the
Grand Lodge . The Regulations of 1722 had
provided for the office, but no appointment
was made until 1723, when William Co er
was chosen by the Grand Lodge . The o ce
was therefore at first an elective one, but Anderson,
in his edition of 1738, says that "ever
since, the new Grand Master, upon his commencement,
appoints the Secretary, or continues
him by returning him the books ."
(P. 161 .) This usage is still pursued by the
modern Grand Lodge of England ; but in
every jurisdiction of this country the office of
Grand Secretary is an elective one . The jewel
of the Grand Secretary is a circle enclosing
two pens crossed. His badge of office was
formerly a bag . (See Bag.)
Grand Stewards. Officers of a Grand
Lodge, whose duty it is to prepare and serve
at the Grand Feast . This duty was at first
performed by the Grand Wardens, but in 1721
they were authorized "to take some Stewards
to their assistance." (Constitutions, 1738,
p . 112 .) This was sometimes done and some-