"The Festival of the Saints John"

Today is the great day in any Lodge, for it is THE day of the year, the day of Installing the Master, or , as some call it, the Festival of Saint John.   It is so called because Saint John is understood to be the Patron Saint of our Order, though there is no official documentary record to substantiate when Freemasonry was placed under such patronage.

One old lecture is said to state that the dedication of Freemasonry passed from Solomon to Zerubbabel, then to St. John the Baptist. And thence to St. John the Evangelist.   The reason for this is given that the work commenced by St. John the Baptist by his zeal and morality was completed by St. John the Evangelist by his learning and charity.

Our Order, said by the main esoteric fraternities to be the custodian of the Ancient Wisdom, has been much influenced by philosophies and religions, but the one institution which has influenced Freemasonry more than any other, is the Christian Church.   When the early Christians were converting the world from paganism to Christianity they knew that they were dealing with institutions hallowed as having existed from time immemorial.   These religions of old had their lesser and greater festivals as we do.   In these islands the religion of the Druids flourished, whose two chief festivals were those of Mid-Summer and Mid Winter.   The Christian Church did not destroy these festivals of the summer and winter solstices of the Druids but substituted her own festivals for them, appointing Mid Summer day, June 24th as the festival of St. John the Baptist.

St. John the Baptist is recorded as saying to his own disciples, one of whom being St. John the Evangelist, that, as his Great Successor (Jesus) passed by; “ He must increase and I must decrease”, and as the hours of sunlight show a daily decrease after Mid Summer Day, that Day was appointed as his festival.   St. John the Evangelist being the Beloved Apostle of the Baptist’s Great Successor, who must increase, was given the Mid Winter Day, December 27th, after which the hours of sunlight show a daily increase, as his festival.

It is worthy of note that the Ceremony of Installation performed at the first meeting following the Summer Solstice, as conducted before alterations were made to the layout of the temple, when there was an altar in the centre of the temple, those in the Royal Arch would appreciate.   The Master would take his obligation regarding his duties as Master kneeling in the North beside the Altar, then he was seated there, receiving a new spiritual impulse on a higher level of consciousness synonymous with that attributed to St. John the Divine.  The Lodge then opened on higher levels for the new Master to emerge in the East to receive the acknowledgement and begin the rulership of his Lodge.

The first great day in modern Freemasonry is that of Mid Summer Day, 24th June 1717 when the first Grand Lodge was formed with Anthony Sayer as the first Grand Master at the Goose and Gridiron Tavern, St. Paul’s Churchyard.

Probably the next great day is that of Mid Winter Day, St. John’s Day, December 27th 1813 in Freemasons’ Hall, London when the two Grand Lodges of England settled their  differences, thereby founding the United Grand Lodge of England as we know it today.

Mid Summer Day being the festival of St. John the Baptist, who had proclaimed a high standard of morality, it accords with our recognition that to be a fit and proper person to be made a Freemason we are required to be of mature age, sound judgement, and strict morals.
While St. John the Evangelist, whose festival is held on Mid Winter Day, as is clearly seen from his writings, taught by allegory and symbol,  and proclaimed the great doctrine of love, or charity, which is that great virtue taught by our Order.

`Such thoughts as these may be said to give a reasonable explanation as to the choice of the Saints John as our Patron Saints.   They should not be regarded as being in contrast to each other, one denoting the stern, austere way of life and the other, the amiable, social way of living.   Rather their doctrine and teaching should be studied together, for he who is regarded as stern, showed affection and he who is regarded as loveable shows austereness.   Love is a consuming fire, and though fire warms and cheers, it also destroys.   So, too, the purifying flames of love can be painful, for the harsh word of reprimand, or adverse criticism, can be love in operation just as well as, and often more so, than the voice of applause and flattery.

Thus the Saints John are worthy to be honoured and remembered by us on this, our Installation Day, for they are the Two Great Lights of the Old and New Testaments, who not only point out to us The Great Source of  Light, but also define the nature and extent of our activities here on earth.   Long may we honour them by following in their footsteps.

The above address was meant to be recited by the Chaplain at the Installation of  the Master to create an added interest in the history and development of the ceremony, also to encourage the Brethren to investigate the Biblical sources.