"The brother soul and the brother heart
Of a friend or two,

Make us drift on from the crowd apart
With a friend or two;

For come days happy or come days sad,
We count no hours but the ones made glad
By the hale good times we have ever had
With a friend or two."

With the inspiration thus prompted and strengthened by long and pleasant association with you, I bring to this feast tenebrae these words from the Book of the Law:

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them,

Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.

And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.

Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.

Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but thou shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord.

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am the Lord.

Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him.

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord.

This day, immediately preceding Good Friday, is the most important feastday of the Scottish Rite, symbolizing as it does the Feast of the Passover and the last ceremonial in the life of the Great Master Teacher of the ages. Appropriately the lights are extinguished on this occasion and the Chapter is closed and stays in darkness until the third day which represents the resurrection and a promise of Light and Life forever.

It were idle to attempt to say with any degree of certainty when the ceremonies of Maundy Thursday originated, or why, but it is most probable that they have been handed down from the ancient days of the Jewish Passover and the breaking of bread on ceremonial occasions among friends. But I venture to

say that in a general way we are all familiar with the reasons for this celebration, and that we do not need to be instructed or informed, but the rather that we ought to be reminded on this occasion of our duties and responsibilities; that we ought to make an introspection into our own minds, and endeavor to ascertain if we have fairly fulfilled those duties and responsibilities that are incumbent on all men; to see if we have decently lived up to our obligations as men and as Masons to ourselves and our families, to our neighbors, to our country, and to the Omnific God by whose beneficence we are here permitted to assemble.

Our laws require this celebration, and the observance of the mystic feast is made obligatory upon every Knight of the Rose Croix. Herein each member pledges fealty to the organization and avows that he holds no enmity toward a brother that he will not freely reconcile should he find a responsive feeling in the heart and mind of an erstwhile enemy; and therefore this feast should appeal to all of us to strenuously endeavor to faithfully fulfill our obligations to ourselves, to our neighbors, to our country, and to Almighty God. If any discord has disturbed the feelings of friendship between any of us, here is the

THE GREAT COMMANDMENT

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time and the place to adjust it, for we are so commanded; and this should be done before we are seated at the hallowed table of the paschal lamb. And he who does not in his heart feel a renewed faith in the goodness and mercy of Omnipotent God, who is not mindful of the blessings that have been bestowed upon him, who cannot freely and fully forgive as he is forgiven, who does not enter into the spirit of the commandment to love one another, misses the beauty of the jewel he wears and the glory of the lessons taught him as a Knight of the Rose Croix.

In Pike's Morals and Dogmas it is written that "the degree of Rose Croix is devoted to and symbolizes the final triumph of truth over falsehool, of liberty over slavery, of light over darkness, of life over death, and of good over evil. The great truth it inculcates is, that notwithstanding the existence of Evil, God is infinitely wise, just, and good; that though the affairs of the world proceed by no rule of right or wrong known to us in the narrowness of our views, yet all is right, for it is the work of God; and all evils, all miseries, all misfortunes, are but as drops in the vast current that is sweeping onward, guided by Him, to a great and magnificent result: that at the appointed time, He will redeem and regenerate the world, and the Principle, the Power, and the existence of Evil will then cease; that this will be brought about by such means and instruments as He chooses to employ."

And this brings me to the lesson I desire particularly to bring home to your hearts, as indicated in the Scripture just read, that "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

We all know that hate may be and is daily transmuted into love. We all know that hate maketh the body and the mind sick. And we all know that love is the most potent power in the world, and that unless we cultivate love we cannot be fitted to properly live this life, nor "passover" from this existence to the higher qualities of life-we cannot be fitted for immortality. And immortality of the soul is a tenet of Masonry, a belief therein being found in the innermost consciousness of every man. Influenced by the humility suggested by the ceremonies of Maundy Thursday, love is the pulse-beat of a perfect life.

The passover is the act of passing from one stage of life's activities to another; from one state of being to another and higher state; from one mode or development of consciousness to a more highly developed state. It is therefore the act of giving up one mode-a gross mode of life for a higher and more enlightened one. If here and now we enter into the spirit of the injunction to "love our neighbor as ourself," we shall have within us all the beauty and all the glory of a soul resurrected from sordid meanness to a pinnacle of happiness and joy. Then, and not till then, will we be ready at all times to obey, and cheerfully obey, the great injunction, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Is this humanly possible? Can we love our neighbor as we love ourself? And just what does this imply? Surely the commandment does not carry with it that literally and actually and always we are to share our energies and our efforts with those not of our own immediate family and blood. And the question is pertinent, Who is our neighbor? Is it he who happens to live next door? The answer, my brethren, is clear and positive, that our neighbor is he that is in need and whom we can help. In the matchless story of the Good Samaritan, which stands for all ages as an example of brotherly love and relief, we have it all:

"And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

"He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? "And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself.

live.

"And He said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt

"But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?” And here, clearly and succinctly, ringing down through the ages, unassailable from any angle, is that wonderful answer:

"And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, leaving him half dead.

"And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

"And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him.

"And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him upon his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.. "Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?

"And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise."

Let us, my brethren, make that sort of love a cardinal virtue of our daily lives. Let us attune our hearts to human needs and human sympathies. Let us on every occasion endeavor to let in the sunshine of Good Deeds, and to the erring or disccouraged fellow-mortal do that thing and say that word that will bring joy where there was sorrow, hope where there was despair, and love where there was hate. And "in the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, . . . and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened," you will find the recollection of it the sweetest music that ever enthralled the human heart.

Mof

MAUNDY THURSDAY

(Contributed)

AUNDY Thursday, according to the best authority today, is a corruption of "Dies Mandate," the day of the Commandment. Whether it was the commandment given by Christ to his disciples to commemorate his last supper, or from the new commandment which he gave to them "To love one another" having washed their feet in token of his affection for them, is a matter for honest difference.

It used to be thought that it took the name from the word "Maund" meaning a basket, used to contain the gifts which were distributed on that day, but later research has given the preference to the word for commandment as above.

The washing of feet still persists, and at one time was indulged in by the most powerful monarchs, though where it is practiced now it is done by proxy, after which gifts of food, clothing and money are distributed to the assembled poor. The name "Shere" Thursday is supposed to have originated from the custom of the clergy to clip or shear their hair on that day so as to be presentable on Easter Sunday.

On this occasion, the evening before the tragedy of the sun sinking down to the lowest depths; the tragedy of the slaying of Osiris, of Cama, of Atys, of Dionusos, of Mithra, of all the ancient religious heroes; of the slaughter of the first born of the Egyptians; of the crucifixion of Christ, a feast was held at which

the Paschal Lamb was eaten with bitter herbs. This feast with us, has its peculiar broad, universal meaning, the temporary triumph of darkness over light, or ignorance and superstition over reason and philosophy, of vice and misery over the good and happiness; and with our symbolic Paschal Lamb and green peas we use mint sauce in imitation of the pickled tansy used by the Jews in place of the bitter untreated herb.

The extinguishing of the symbolic lights, the "Tenebrae" is a sombre, aweinspiring ceremony which will make all intelligent Masons think; and whether he be a Jew, Christian, or Pagan, he will see in this celebration outside of any religious allusion to his special doctrines, a reference to the darkness and woe, the gloom and weariness, the ignorance and degradation, the helplessness and necessities of that humanity of which he is a part, and will impel him to use his talents his only in trust-to hasten the coming of that dawning sun of a glorious Easter morn when the light of intelligence will pierce the clouds of mental and moral obscurity; when human sympathy will raise humanity from the degradation and vice of existing conditions; when loving kindness will dry the tears and alleviate the sufferings of our helpless wards, and Easter Sunday be to us a real awakening to the needs and requirements of our neighbors and an inspiration to worthy efforts to deserve, by deeds done, the title of Knights Rose Croix.

THE CHASTENER

O Gloom! Black-vestured and uncanny wraith!
Why stealest from thy dank, unshriven tomb
To spread thy icy blight through life's fair fields,
And mesh my heart in dense and chilling clouds
That shadow all my day, and breed such dread

As grips the soul that shrinks from death's cold clasp?

O Gloom! Of anguished mien and phantom touch!
That from thy caverns drear and grim oft glide
To cause one's blithe and hope-engendered thoughts
To crack and break and tumble down and down,
As may an earthly framework fall a-smash!
Why me strike cold and sick with thy chill breath?

O Gloom! Sharp-visaged, stern and spectral-shaped!
That springeth from some dark, sepulchral crypt
To strangle joy with envy's maliced clasp,
Ard shroud the native light environed in the heart!
Art thou of Law a-fathered and a-mothered,
With place and purpose in the scheme of things?

"In truth-O proud, self-vaunted one--I have
A mission fraught with motive and with love.
Were mortal flesh to know but happiness,
Nor joy nor ease nor riot to eschew,
Man ne'er would turn a sober thought to God,
Nor build the sacred Temple strong and true!"
-Frederick K. Davis

Life

If it be all of life to stand

A moment ere we fall,

And if there be no better land

Where we may clasp a friendly hand,
Why should we live at all?

We look into a loved one's face,

We kiss the baby's hand,
When, lo, we stumble from the race!
Another quickly takes our place

And shatters all we've planned.

We stand beside a mother's grave,
Our tears descend in showers.
We try to say, "to God who gave,"
And time rolls up another wave-
Our children stand at ours.

We fold a loved one to our breast
And vow to love forever;

And yet we know that, like the rest,
We soon must have th' unwelcome guest
Who whispers, "never, never!"

And yet sweet hope o'erfills the heart,

And love holds us in hiding.

Of life this is so small a part

That, at the reaper's call, we start
And go-in faith abiding.

Our very grief with joy is rife;

In crowds we stand quite lonely: Then let us sing while at our strife; Death is, like birth, a phase of life, And means transition only.

-Charles Faustus Whaley, 18°.

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