ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
The Craftsman - DecEMBER 1866
On the
twenty-seventh day of this month [December] Freemasons, throughout the
world, will assemble to celebrate the festival of one of their
patron saints, the loving Evangelist. In the earlier history of
the Craft, Freemasons were specially remarkable for their
observance of these anniversaries. A hearty appreciation of the
full significance attached to them, made the times and seasons,
the new moons and the full moons, the solstices and the
equinoxes, occasions not merely for the interchange of fraternal
greetings, but opportunities for the acquisition of solid
Masonic knowledge, and for the cultivation and strengthening of
those great precepts of Freemasonry, Brotherly Love, Relief and
Truth. That the celebration of the festivals of our patron
saints, while still very generally observed, has lost much of
its value, is as true as it is unfortunate. Nothing can tend
more to the diffusion and prevalence of a pure Masonic spirit
than the right appreciation of the characters of the two Saints
John; nothing can better stir us up to the acquisition of that
right appreciation than the due and proper observance of their
annual festivals. Whether the Saints John were really
Masons or not has been a subject of controversy, and is still a
matter of doubt. Tradition tells us that they belonged to the
sect of the Essenes, according to Josephus, one of the sects
into which the people of Judea were divided, and among whom it
is said, John the Baptist was brought up, acquiring among
them that sturdy force of character, and that simplicity of
dress and diet for which he was remarkable. Those Essenes
were a secret association, by many held to be the same as
the ancient Masons who built the temple, but who at this
time had become rather a body of philosophers than of
operative architects and builders, and in this respect more
closely resembling the speculative Masons of the present
day. Although less numerous than either of the others, the
Essenes were regarded as being quite as much "a sect" of the
Jews as the Sadducees or Pharisees. Josephus tells us that they
lived the same kind of life as do those whom the Greeks call
Pythagorians. They were a distinct brotherhood, holding their
property in common for the common good. The same authority tells
us that before any one was admitted to the sect, he is obliged
to take tremendous oaths, that in the first place he will
exercise piety towards God, and observe justice towards men; do
no harm to any one, either of his own accord, or by the command
of others; that he will always hate the wicked, and be an
assistant to the righteous; that he will ever show fidelity to
all men, and especially to those in authority; because no one
obtains the government without God's assistance; that if he be
in authority he will at no time whatever abuse his authority,
nor endeavor to out-shine his subjects either in his garments or
other finery; that he will be perpetually a lover of truth, and
reprove those that tell lies; that he will keep his hand from
theft, and his soul from unlawful gains; that he will neither
conceal anything from those of his own sect, nor discover any of
their doctrines to others. No! not though any one should compel
him so to do at the hazard of his life. Moreover he swears to
communicate their doctrines to no one any otherwise than as
he received them himself; that he will abstain from robbing,
and will equally preserve the books belonging to their sect,
and the names of their angels or messengers." The Saints
John are said to have been not only members of the Essenian
fraternity, but to have been priests and rulers among them; and
hence it is, according to some writers, that they became patrons
of the order of Freemasonry. Another writer tells us that
under the reign of the Caesars, Freemasonry though surviving,
languished; there was no system and but little coherence. At
this juncture, our traditions tell us, the fraternity feeling
the want of a head, under whom, the Craft might be united,
called upon St. John, the Evangelist, to act as Grand Master. He
replied, that though well stricken in years, being then over
four score years of age, as he had been in early life initiated
into the Order, he would consent to serve, and since his day,
Masonic Lodges which were dedicated to King Solomon, have
been dedicated to the Saints John, both of whom, we learn by our
traditions, were patrons of the Order, and hence arises our
custom of holding our anniversaries upon the festivals of these
two Christian Saints. According to the more generally
received opinion among learned Freemasons, however, among whom
we may mention Brother Mackey, the festivals themselves are more
ancient than the Christian era. They belong to a period
antecedent even to the time when, in the oak forests of
Germany and Britain, the old time Druids and Druidesses,
presided over similar festivals. According to such writers,
these festivals have an astronomical signification, and the
symbol of the parallels, with which all Freemasons are
familiar, although now generally referred to the Saints John,
have a similar origin and signification. The symbol, as
our readers will remember, is the circle bounded by two parallel
lines, representing, according to ancient traditions, the limit
of the sun's apparent course to the northward and southward of
the equator, constituting the winter and summer solstices, or
the shortest and longest days of the year. These days fall
respectively, upon the 22nd December, and 21st June. Freemasons,
professing the Christian religion, being anxious to continue the
celebration of those festivals which had become landmarks, and
finding that the anniversary of the natal of those two saints
fell near those clays, and being desirous to connect their names
with an institution, whose delight it was to emulate their
virtues, they naturally, by allowing the lapse of a few days,
came to celebrate the anniversaries of those two saints, and
eventually to adopt them as their patrons. But important
and interesting as are these inquiries to the studious
antiquarian in Masonic lore, with Masons generally it is
sufficient to know that fn their patron saints, however they
came to be recognized as such, we have exemplars whom it is our
highest interest and our most bounden duty to' emulate. In St.
John the Evangelist, whose anniversary we shall in a few days be
called upon to celebrate, we have the very embodiment of love,
and of brotherly fellowship. No one can read his epistles
without feeling in the presence of a great and loving teacher.
How strikingly does he portray the great duty, the first
cardinal duty of the Mason, brotherly love. He that with he is
in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until
now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there
is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his
brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not
whither he goes, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
And again, This is the message that ye heard from the beginning,
that we should love one another. Throughout all his writings the
same pure spirit is manifested, the same soft, almost
womanly affection, that earned for him the well deserved
name of the beloved disciple. But not only do we imbibe
from the Evangelist the spirit of brotherly love, we have also
the great duty of fidelity, and bold unflinching courage in the
maintenance of the right, presented to us in his character. When
this holy and intrepid man was singled out by the bloody tyrant
Domitian, for proscription and exile, how calmly and boldly did
he face his destiny, his spirit undaunted, his spiritual vision
undimmed, his faith reaching from earth to heaven, mounting upon
the wings of hope to the realms of immortality. His place of
exile, the island of Patmos, was just the spot that a cruel
mature like that of Domitian would select for the exile home of
the good old man. Situated in the AEgean sea, between two
continents, it was a picture of sterility and desolation. The
winds sang a mournful dirge amid its barren hills. The ocean
surge foamed and hissed around its dreary coast. Yet even
here the brave, the truly great man improves calamity for his
own and his fellow's good. He converted his dreary island
home into a temple, wherein became audible to his prophetic
ear the voice of the ever living God.
Remote from man,
with God be passed his days,
Prayer, all his business - all his
pleasure praise:'
And thence we have those bright visions of
a future immortality which are revealed in the revelations of
St. John. How grand an example have we in this truly great
and good man. How well entitled was he to be selected as the
patron saint of an institution whose highest teachings are but a
reflex of his own, whose highest ambition is but to emulate
his virtues. How worthy the earnest effort of every man and
mason, to follow in the footsteps of the holy Evangelist.
When we celebrate the festival of his natal day, may we all
remember his bright record, and learn to live more and more
to attain to the perfection of his exalted
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