Masonry - Third Degree Flashcards
Brother Senior Warden, are you a Master Mason?
(Rises, gives sign) I am.
What induced you to become a Master Mason?
In order that I might travel in foreign countries, work and receive wages as such, and thereby be the better enabled to support myself and family and contribute to the relief of poor distressed Brother Master Masons, their widows and orphans.
Where were you made a Master Mason?
In a just and legally constituted lodge of Master Masons.
Why had you a cable-tow three times about your naked body?
To teach that as I advance in Masonry, my duties and obligations become more and more extended.
How gained you admission?
By three distinct knocks.
What was said to you from within?
Who comes here?
Your Answer?
A brother who has been regularly initiated as an Entered Apprentice, passed to the degree of Fellow Craft, and now wishes to receive further light in Masonry by being raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason.
What were you then asked?
If it were of my own free will and accord that I made this request, if I were duly and truly prepared, worthy and well qualified, and if I had made suitable proficiency in the preceding degrees, all of which being answered in the affirmative, I was asked by what further right or benefit I expected to gain admission.
Your Answer?
By the benefit of the pass.
Did you give the pass?
I did, in due form.
What was then said to you?
I was directed to wait until the Worshipful Master in the East was informed of my request and his answer returned.
What was his answer?
Let him enter and be received in due form.
How were you received?
On both points of the compasses extending from my naked right to left breast, which was to teach me that as the vital parts of man are contained within the breast, so the most useful tenets of our institution are contained within the points of the compasses—Friendship, Morality, and Brotherly Love.
What did the Worshipful Master then demand of you?
From whence I came and where I was traveling.
Your Answer?
From the West and traveling toward the East.
What did he further demand of you?
For what I was in pursuit.
Your Answer?
That which was lost, which by my own endeavor and his assistance I was in hopes to find.
What did he further demand of you?
To what I referred.
Your Answer?
The secrets of a Master Mason.
What was then observed?
The Worshipful Master observed that my pursuit was truly laudable and ordered me to be reconducted to the Senior Warden in the West who taught me to approach the East advancing by three regular steps, my feet forming a right angle of a perfect square, my body erect facing the East.
What did the Worshipful Master then do with you?
He made me a Master Mason.
How?
In due form.
What is that due form?
Kneeling on my naked knees, my body erect, my hands resting on the Holy Bible, square, and compasses, in which due form I took the obligation of a Master Mason.
Repeat it.
I Samuel Austin of my own free will and accord, in the presence of Almighty God and this worshipful lodge, erected to him and dedicated to the holy Saints John do hereby and hereon most
Repeat it.
solemnly and sincerely promise and swear as I have heretofore done but with these additions, that I will not communicate the secrets of a Master Mason to a Fellow Craft, any more than those of a Fellow Craft to an Entered Apprentice, Neither those of an Entered Apprentice to the rest of the world, neither these nor any of them to any person or persons whomsoever, until by strict trial, due examination or lawful information I shall have found him or them as lawful entitled to the same as I am myself. I furthermore promise and swear that I will stand to and abide by all the laws, rules, and regulations of a Master Masons lodge, together with the constitution, laws and edicts of the most worshipful Grand Lodge under whose jurisdiction the same may be holden, so far as they shall come to my knowledge. I furthermore promise and swear that I will answer and obey all due signs and summons sent to me from a lodge of Master Masons or handed me by a brother of this degree, if within the length of my cable-tow. I furthermore promise and swear that I will help aid and assist all poor distressed brother Master Masons, their widows and orphans, they applying to me as such and I finding them worth. I furthermore promise and swear that I will keep a brother Master Masons secrets inviolate when received by me as such, murder and reason alone excepted and that left to my own choice. I furthermore promise and swear that I will not be present at nor give my consent to the making of a woman a mason, an old man in his dotage, a young man in his nonage, an atheist, a libertine, a mad man or a fool, knowing him or them to be such. I Furthermore Promise and swear that I will not visit a clandestine lodge of Masons nor converse on the secrets of Masonry with a clandestine Mason, nor with any one who has been expelled or suspended while under such sentence, knowing him or them to be such. I furthermore promise and swear that I will not cheat, wrong, or defraud a lodge of Master Masons or a brother of this degree, knowingly or wittingly, nor support him in any of his laudable undertakings but will give him due and timely notice that he may ward off all approaching danger. I furthermore promise and swear that I will have no illicit carnal intercourse with a Master Masons wife, mother, sister or daughter nor suffer the same to be done by another if within my power to prevent it. I furthermore promise and swear that I will not give the grand Masonic word in any other manner than that in which I shall receive it, and then in low breath. I furthermore promise and swear that I will not give the Grand Hailing Sign of distress of a Master Mason except in case of most imminent danger or Suffering in the cause of humanity, in a just and Lawfully constituted lodge or for the purpose of instruction and that I will obey it when I see it given or hear the words uttered, by a brother in distress, I will fly to his relief if there is a greater probability of saving his life than of losing my own. To all of these
Repeat it.
all this I most solemnly and sincerely promise and swear with a firm and steadfast resolution to keep and perform the same, without the least equivocation, mental reservation, or secret evasion whatsoever, binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my body severed in twain, my bowels taken from thence and burned to ashes and these ashes scattered by the four winds of heaven that there may be no more rememberance among men or Masons of so vile a wretch as I, should I in the least, knowingly or wittingly violate or transgress this my Master Masons obligation, so help me God and keep me steadfast.
After taking the obligation, what were you asked?
What I most desired.
Your Answer?
Further light in Masonry.
Did you receive it?
I did.
How?
By order of the Worshipful Master and assistance of the brethren.
On being brought to light, what did you discover more than you had heretofore done?
Both points of the compasses elevated above the square, which was to teach me to never lose sight of the Masonic application of that useful and valuable instrument which teaches Friendship, Morality, and Brotherly Love.
What did you then discover?
The Worshipful Master approaching me from the East on the step, under the due guard and with the sign of a Master Mason, which is token of the further continuance of his brotherly love.
After saluting the Wardens, how were you then disposed of?
I was reconducted to the Senior Warden in the West, who taught me how to wear my apron as a Master Mason.
How should a Master Mason wear his apron?
With the bib and apron turned down.
After being taught how to wear your apron as a Master Mason, how were you disposed of?
I was conducted to the right hand of the Worshipful Master in the East, who presented me with the working tools of a Master Mason and taught me their uses.
What are the working tools of a Master Mason?
All the instruments of Masonry indiscriminately, more especially the Trowel.
What is the use of the Trowel?
The Trowel is an instrument made use of by Operative Masons to spread the cement which unites the several parts of a building into one common mass. We, as Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, are taught to make use of it for the more noble and glorious purpose of spreading the cement of Brotherly Love and Affection—that bond which unites us into one sacred band or society of friends and brothers, among whom no contention should ever exist, save that noble contention or emulation of who can best work and best agree.
How were you then disposed of?
I was reconducted to the place from whence I came, there reinvested with that of which I had been divested, and returned to the Lodge for further instruction.
Have you any signs pertaining to this degree?
I have.
Give me a sign.
Give due guard of a Master Mason.
What is that?
The due guard of a Master Mason.
To what does it allude?
To the position in which my hands were placed when I took my obligation and when our ancient brethren assembled at the grave of their Grand Master Hiram Abiff, they found their hands involuntarily placed in this position (Give due guard) to guard their nostrils against the disagreeable effluvia arising from the grave.
Give me another sign.
Give sign of a Master Mason.
What is that?
The sign of a Master Mason.
Has it an allusion?
It has to the penalty of my obligation.
Give me another sign.
Give Grand Hailing Sign of Distress.
What is that?
The Grand Hailing Sign of Distress.
Has it an allusion?
It has to the raising of the body of our Grand Master Hiram Abiff and when our ancient brethren, in token of their sorrow, thrice raised their hands to heaven and exclaimed: (Give words) ‘Oh Lord my God, is there no help for the widow’s son?’
When should that be given?
Never, except in case of most imminent danger or suffering, in the case of innocence and virtue, in a just and lawful constituted lodge, or for the purpose of instruction.
What are the words uttered when the sign cannot be shown?
Oh Lord my God, is there no help for the widow’s son?
Give me a token.
Senior Warden gives token to Junior Deacon or some brother near him.
Will you be off or from?
From.
From what and to what?
From the grip of a Fellow Craft to the pass grip of a Master Mason.
Pass (done). What is that?
The pass grip of a Master Mason.
Has it a name?
It has.
Give it to me.**
(Gives Pass) ‘Tubal Cain.’
Will you be off or from?
From.
From what and to what?
From the pass grip of a Master Mason to the true grip of the same.
Pass. What is this?
The strong grip of a Master Mason or the Lion’s Paw.
Has it a name?
It has.
Give it to me.**
I cannot, nor can it be given except upon the Five Points of Fellowship and in a low breath.
Advance and give it.**
(Candidate advances and whispers the word Mahabon.)
