CHAPTER XX

THE CHAPLAIN AND HIS DUTIES
THE Constitutions provide that the Master ‘may’ also appoint a Chaplain; and in any Lodge which has among its members a duly qualified Brother, it is desirable that a Chaplain should be appointed; and, as a _ matter of course, all the devotional portions of the opening and the closing in each Degree and in each of the three Ceremonies would then be performed by him. The impressive- ness and the solemnity of the whole proceed- ings may be enhanced by having a Chaplain to perform those important duties.
The following optional address may be de- livered to the Chaplain on his investiture:
(W. M.) ‘W. Bro. ...., I appoint you Chaplain of the Lodge, and now invest you with the Jewel of your Office, the Open Book. This represents the Volume of the Sacred Law, which is always open upon the Master’s Pedestal when the Brethren are at labour in the Lodge. The Yio the S: L. is the
299
Freemasonry and its Etiquette
greatest of the three great, though emblem- atical, lights in Freemasonry. The Sacred Writings are given as the rule and guide of our Faith. The Sacred Volume will guide us to all Truth, direct our steps in the paths of Happiness, and point out to us the whole Duty of man. Without it the Lodge is not “just ’’; and without an openly avowed belief in its Divine Author, no Candidate can be lawfully initiated into our Order. Your place in the Lodge is near the Worshipful Master, and as, both in the opening and the closing of the Lodge in each Degree, as well as in each of the three Ceremonies, the blessing of the Almighty is invoked on our proceedings, it will be your duty, as far as may be pos- sible, to attend all the meetings of the Lodge, in order that you may exercise your sacred office in the devotional portions of our Cere~ monies.’ * *, * *
If the Chaplain recites the Prayers, he must
follow the Worshipful Master in this manner:
OPENINGS.
First Degree.
W. M.—The Lodge being duly formed before I declare it open.... 300
The Chaplain and his Duties
CHAPLAIN.—....let us invoke, etc.... harmony.