Square and Compasses – 134 March 2023

 In every degree we progress through and in every office to which we are elected or appointed in our Lodges, in our Provincial Grand Lodges and in Grand Lodge we are requested to take an obligation on the Volume of the Sacred Law and in the presence of our fellow brethren. While these obligations may differ in content and length, there is a common thread in every Masonic obligation in which we promise to fulfil certain duties. None of these duties are in conflict with those which we owe to the Great Architect of the Universe, to the laws of our Country or to our families and fellow men. In the Apprentice Degree we promise, for example, to observe the golden rule to “do unto others as we would have them do unto us”; to obey the Brethren to whom the management of the Lodge has been entrusted as well as the Constitution, Laws and Regulations of the Grand Lodge. When a member is elected as Presiding Master of his Lodge he must, for example, promise to maintain and uphold the dignity of his Lodge and to watch over its glory, welfare and prosperity. This is similar to the obligations taken by a Provincial Grand Master on accepting the appointment to this office and by the Grand Master on being elected to the highest office in any Grand Lodge. 

The Square and Compasses No 133 March 2023