What is Masonry...how do I join?

What's Masonry?

Masonry (or Freemasonry) is the oldest fraternity in the world. No one knows just how old it is because the actual origins have been lost in time, probably; it arose from the guilds of stonemasons who built the castles and cathedrals of the middle ages. Possibly, they were influenced by the Knights Templar, a group of Christian warrior monks formed in 1118 to help protect pilgrims making trips to the Holy Land. In 1717, Masonry created a formal organization in England when the first Grand Lodge was formed. A Grand Lodge is the administrative body in charge of Masonry in some geographical area. In the United States, there is a Grand Lodge in each state. In Canada, there is a Grand Lodge in each province. Local organizations of Masons are called lodges. There are lodges in most towns, and large cities usually have several.

Masonry Does Things in the World.

Masonry teaches that each person has a responsibility to make things better in the world. Most individuals won't be the ones to find a cure for cancer, or eliminate poverty, or help create world peace, but every man and woman and child can do something to help others and to make things a little better. Masonry is deeply involved with helping people, it spends more than US1 .4 million dollars every day in the United States, just to make life a little easier for others. And the great majority of that help goes to people who are not Masons. Some of these charities are vast projects, like the Crippled Children's Hospitals and Burn victims Hospitals, which are funded by the Shriners (a Masonic appendage). Also, Scottish Rite Masons maintain a nation-wide network of over 100 Childhood Language Disorder Clinics, Centers, and Programs. Each helps children afflicted by such conditions as aphasia, dyslexia, stuttering, and related learning or speech disorders. Some services are less noticeable, like helping a widow pay her electric bill or buying coats and shoes for disadvantaged children. And there's just about anything you can think of in-between. But with projects large or small, the Masons of a lodge try to help make the world a better place. The lodge gives them a way to combine with others to do even more good.

Masonry does things "inside" the individual Mason.

"Grow or die" is a great law of all nature. Most people feel a need for continued growth and development as individuals. They feel they are not as honest, or as charitable, or as compassionate, or as loving, or as trusting as they ought to be. Masonry reminds its members over and over again of the importance of these qualities. It lets men associate with other men of honor and integrity who believe that things like honesty, compassion, love and trust are important. In some ways, Masonry is a support group for men who are trying to make the right decisions. It's easier to practice these virtues when you know that those around you think as you do, and won't laugh at you. That's a major reason that Masons enjoy being together.

Masons enjoy each other's company.

It's good to spend time with People you can trust completely, and most Masons find that in their lodge. While much of lodge activity is spent in works of charity or in lessons in self-development, much is also spent in fellowship. Lodges have picnics, camping trips, and many events for the whole family. Simply put, a lodge is a place to spend time with friends. For members only, two basic kinds of meetings take place in a lodge. The most common is a simple business meeting. To open and close the meeting, there is a ceremony whose purpose is to remind us of the virtues by which we are supposed to live. Then there is a reading of the minutes; voting on petitions (applications of men who want to join the fraternity); planning for charitable functions, family events, and other lodge activities; and sharing information about members (called "Brothers," as in most fraternities) who are ill or have some sort or need. The other kind of meeting is one in which people join the fraternity one at which the "degrees" are performed. But every lodge serves more than its own members. Frequently, there are meetings open to the public. Examples are Ladies' Nights, "Brother Bring a Friend Nights," public installations of officers, Cornerstone Laying ceremonies, and other special meetings supporting community events and dealing with topics of local interest. Our organization is also invited to participate in Civic functions and parades.

What does Masonry teach?

Masonry teaches some important principles. There's nothing very surprising on the list. Masonry teaches that: Since God is the Creator, all men and women are the children of God. Because of that, all men and women are brothers and sisters, entitled to dignity, respect for their opinions, and consideration of their feelings. Each person must take responsibility for his or her own life and actions. Neither wealth nor poverty, education nor ignorance, health nor sickness excuses any person from doing the best he or she can do or being the best person possible under the circumstances. No one has the right to tell another person what he or she must think or believe. Each man and woman has an absolute right to intellectual, spiritual, economic, and political freedom. This is a right given by God, not by man. All tyranny, in every form, is illegitimate. Each person must learn and practice self-control. Each person must make sure his spiritual nature triumphs over his animal nature. Another way to say the same thing is that even when we are tempted to anger, we must not be violent. Even when we are tempted to selfishness, we must be charitable. Even when we want to "write someone off," we must remember that he or she is a human and entitled to our respect. Even when we want to give up, we must go on. Even when we are hated, we must return love, or, at a minimum, we must not hate back. It isn't easy! Faith must be in the center of our lives. We find that faith in our houses of worship, not in Freemasonry, but Masonry constantly teaches that a person's faith, whatever it may be, is central to a good life. Each person has a responsibly to be a good Citizen, obeying the law. That doesn't mean we can't try to change things, but change must take place in legal ways. It is important to work to make this world better for all who live in it. Masonry teaches the importance of doing good, not because it assures a person's entrance into heaven, that’s a question for a religion, certainly not a fraternity, but because we have a duty to all other men and women to make their lives as fulfilling as they can be. Honor and integrity are essential to life. Life, without honor and integrity, is without meaning.

What are the requirements for membership?

The person who wants to join Masonry must be a man (it's a fraternity), sound in body and mind, who believes in God, be at least the minimum age required by Masonry, and has a good reputation. (Incidentally, the "sound in body" requirement -which comes from the stonemasons of the Middle ages-doesn't mean that a physically challenged man cannot be a Mason; many are). Those are the only "formal" requirements. But there are others, not so formal. He should believe in helping others. He should believe that there is more to life than pleasure and money. He should be willing to respect the opinions of others. And he should want to grow and develop as a human being.

So, how does a man become a Mason?

...Customarily, Freemasonry has not considered it proper to solicit for membership.

Traditionally, a Mason would not invite a friend to join, but would wait for the friend to ask "of his own free will".

Some men are surprised that no one has ever asked them to become a Mason. They may even feel that the Masons in their town don't think that they are good enough to join. But it doesn't work that way. For hundreds of years, Masons have been forbidden to ask others to join the fraternity. We can talk to friends about Masonry, we can tell them about what Masonry does. We can tell them why we enjoy it. But we cannot ask, therefore, much less pressure on anyone to join. There is a good reason for that. It isn't that we're trying to be exclusive. But becoming a Mason is a very serious thing. Joining Masonry is making a permanent life commitment to live in certain ways. We've listed most of them above, to live with honor and integrity, to be willing to share and care about others, to trust each other, and to place ultimate trust in God. No one should be "talked into" making such a decision. So, when a man decides he wants to be a Mason, he asks a Mason for a petition or application. He fills it out and gives it to the Mason, and that Mason takes it to the local lodge. The Master of the lodge will appoint a committee to visit with the man and his family, find out a little about him and his reasons for wanting to become a Mason. Tell him and his family about Masonry and answer their questions. The committee reports to the lodge, and the lodge votes on the petition. If the vote is affirmative, and it usually is, the lodge will contact the man to set the date for the Entered Apprentice Degree. When the person has completed all three degrees, he is a Master Mason and a full member of the fraternity. In other words…….2b1 ask 1 !

So, what is a Mason?

A Mason is a man who has decided that he likes to feel good about himself and others. He cares about the future as well as the past, and does what he can, both alone and with others, to make the future good for everyone. Many men over many generations have answered the question, "What is a Mason?" One of the most eloquent was written by the Reverend Joseph Fort Newton, an internationally honored minister during the first half of the 20th Century.

When is a man a Mason?

When he can look out over the rivers, the hills, and the far horizon with a profound sense of his own littleness in the vast scheme of things, and yet have faith, hope, and courage, which is the root of every virtue. When he knows that down in his heart every man is as noble, as vile, as divine, as diabolic, and as lonely as him and seeks to know, to forgive, and to love his fellow man. When he knows how to sympathize with men in their sorrows, yea, even in their sins knowing that each man fights a hard fight against many odds. When he has learned how to make friends and to keep them, and above all how to keep friends with himself when he loves flowers, can hunt birds without a gun, and feels the thrill of an old forgotten joy when he hears the laugh of a little child. When he can be happy and high-minded amid the meaner drudgeries of life. When star-crowned trees and the glint of sunlight on flowing waters, subdue him like the thought of one much loved and long dead. When no voice of distress reaches his ears in vain, and no hand seeks his aid without response. When he finds good in every faith that helps any man to lay hold of divine things and sees majestic meanings in life, whatever the name of that faith may be. When he can look into a wayside puddle and see something beyond mud, and into the face of the most forlorn fellow mortal, and see something beyond sin. When he knows how to pray, how to love, how to hope. When he has kept faith with himself with his fellow man, and with his God; in his hand a sword for evil, in his heart a bit of a song glad to live, but not afraid to die! Such a man has found the only real secret of Masonry, and the one, which it is trying to give to the entire world.

Some famous Freemasons in Philippine history

del Pilar, Marcelo - The "Father of Philippine Masonry", a lawyer who founded the first daily newspaper published in the native Tagalog language.

MacArthur, General Douglas - Commander of Armed Forces in the Philippines.

Rizal, Jos� - "The George Washington of the Philippines" who was a patriot, poet, novelist, physician, and active Mason. Today one finds monuments to Rizal nearly everywhere in the Republic of the Philippines.

Taft, William Howard - Civil governor of the Philippines, Secretary of War, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court and twenty-seventh President of the U.S.

Important Note:
This listing is not all-inclusive nor is it an 'official' list of any sort. Information is derived from sources believed to be accurate. Any errors are solely the fault of the compiler!

Do you have additional names that belong here? If so, send them to us along with your source information. We'll be happy to consider them for inclusion!

Click to go Home!

This website was created and is maintained by webworks, In'tl.