Protocol, Etiquette and Essence of Freemasonry

by Bro. Vincent Lombardo, W. Master

Delivered on March 28, 2011
On the Occasion of the Official Visit of the D.D.G.M. to our Lodge

R.W. Brother Michael A. Litvak, distinguished East, and Brethren:

Almost 200 years ago, in 1836, a most distinguished German lodge of that time revised its Constitutions and, among other things, wisely carved in it in stone the following: "By its procedures, peculiar to it, Freemasonry wants to promote the refinement of human beings as such. Clearly it is hereby stated that customs, symbols, and forms are to serve it only as means to the purpose, — that, accordingly, a lodge would be on a very erroneous path, were it to believe that its task was solved by teaching and practicing formality" [Protocol and Etiquette].

For the past couple of years we have received, in monthly installments, the fruits of the labor of the Protocol & Etiquette Committee. Excellent work which has been effective in fostering elegant uniformity in the external appearance of our Craft.

We have seen of late brethren engaged in a race to out-do each other in the observance of these rules of protocol and etiquette, called "Essentials"; we have seen a remarkable improvement in "name-calling" – I mean: the proffering of full list of rank and titles of everybody in sight, the more the merrier, repeatedly, unconcerned about the unstoppable ticking of the clock toward the midnight hour; we have seen deviations to these rules, especially the name-calling rule, big or small, treated as mortal sins – but, what about Essence?

To answer this question I have looked into the past, when Freemasonry was in full bloom; when wise, good and virtuous men gathered together, as equals, for the purpose of fostering the progress of Humanity; when status, station, age, education, rank and all other distinctions among men were considered before Masonry unimportant; when the regent had no hesitation in trading his scepter for the humble apron and sat beside the laborer, addressing one another by the noblest of titles: "Brother".*)

We read in the ritual of the Apprentice Degree approved by the Gran Logia de Cuba in 1947:

"- Profane, you are blindfolded - deprived of the use of the most beautiful of the senses; you don't know the place where you are or the identity of those who surround you, but do not fear: in this Temple you are among men of honor who will help you as guides, as they are committed to support you through the difficulties in life. By your free will and accord you have come to a society that you do not know, bringing with you only your genuine desire to do good. You do not come, profane, to a perfect society, because human perfection does not exist; but you have come to an Institution where pure and virtuous men are found from every country, who seek, without the political antagonisms nor the intransigence of religions, universal brotherhood and progress by means of instruction, love and charity, that should make brothers to all rational beings, in the joys of happiness, as in the pains of misfortune."

Those who are familiar with Cuban Masonry will know that the only title used in a Cuban lodge is that of "Venerable Maestro" designating the W. Master – all other brethren, no matter what office they had held or hold in any other body or Grand Body, call each other "Brother".

(1803) Bro. Johann Gottliebe Fichte wrote:

"Men of all ranks, regents, princes, nobles, the learned, artists, men of business, entered it [Freemasonry]; Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists were initiated and called one another "Brother".

(1808) Bro. Karl Christian Friedrich Krause said:

"In the spirit of Freemasonry all workers [Masons] are to call themselves brothers; because they have as pure humans united like children of one great family of God on earth, in order to make themselves all completed and harmonious, and to foster the progress of mankind on earth;"

In those days, continued Krause, the candidate for initiation was prepared:

" in a room in the lodge, and it was taken away from him all that could remind him of his station and of his peculiarity, so as to appear pure, as a man, as a brother, before the eyes of the Freemasons, who wanted to raise and build men first and Humanity the most, to a pure, undivided [that is: undifferentiated], healthy nature."

Krause again:

"If one were to leave out or add something to our customs and ceremonies, or overload it with vain ornamentations, and at the same time to color it, in so doing he would easily violate the model of Masonry and of the Masonic fraternity, thus destroying the distinctive chiaroscuro which has connected so closely the Spirit with the Essence, which does so well to the heart and the historical meaning"

And finally with Fichte:

"All that looks to differences among men, whether to skill in art or learning or virtue, is before Masonry profane. This conception, firm and thoroughly defined and clear in itself, we must undoubtedly make a canon of Masonry and a principle of critique of everything Masonic if we have to set up such a critique."

As you can see, Brethren, from these brief accounts of years past, of the golden age of the Craft, distinctions and impressive titles were considered profane to the true spirit of Masonry and its Essence: Universal Human Brotherhood.

In our world, today, complete strangers address one another with first names as soon as they first meet – no titles. Are we firmly "on the level" when in lodge we differentiate our members by progressive titles? Are we wise in differentiating our lodges from non-descriptive to "Cornerstone Lodges"? Is a cornerstone lodge more Masonic than a run-of the-mill lodge?

In the latest issue of the Protocol & Etiquette Essentials of March 2011, there is an eloquent explanation of the honorific title "Worshipful" owed to the Master of the lodge – the brother holding the gavel:

"Worshipful" is an old English word signifying "worthy of respect." Masonically it is a title of respect for the office of the presiding officer, the Master of the lodge, whom the brethren believe possessed of sufficient knowledge, wisdom, and integrity to preside over them in a proper manner."

You have seen that, before I attended at the lectern to deliver this brief address, I gave the gavel to the brother entitled to receive it, our DDGM; therefore, at present, as I speak, I am not the "Presiding Officer" and you can call me just Brother. — And so should all past masters and all other past grand officers – as they are no longer presiding – be afforded the highest possible Masonic title: that of "Brother," and nothing more.

Further down in the March issue of P&E Essentials we find these words: "common sense should prevail over protocol."


So mote it be!


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*)   Added here on February 2016, the words of Bro. Christopher Hodapp 33º in his Freemasonry for Dummies, Second Edition, page 59, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Oboken, NJ.   "The president and the gardener":

While he was president, Teddy Roosevelt visited his home lodge, Matinecock #806 in New York, in September 1908.   Afterward, he spoke of the experience of seeing his own gardener serving as Master of the lodge that evening while he sat on the sidelines.   "Clearly I could not call upon him when I came home.   It would have embarrassed him.   Neither could he, without embarrassment, call on me.   In the lodge it was different.   He was over me, thought I was president, and it was good for him, and good for me."
Coat of ArmsIn Masonry, all the trappings of status or prestige worn in the outside world are left on the other side of the door of the lodge — even for presidents.