Inside the Grand Lodge Installation 2024
Nov 15, 2024 · 6 min read
On the second Saturday of November, brothers from every district under our jurisdiction gathered at the Grand Temple for the most important meeting in the masonic calendar: the annual Installation of Grand Officers.\n\nThe afternoon opened with a solemn procession of Past Grand Masters, each bearing the symbols of office — the square, the compasses, the Volume of Sacred Law. Members of the public were admitted for the first portion of the ceremony, and the temple was filled to capacity.\n\nThe outgoing Grand Master gave his farewell address, in which he reflected on the relief work completed during his term: over four hundred families assisted through the benevolent fund, three new lodge buildings consecrated in rural districts, and a record number of new candidates initiated.\n\nThe Installation itself was conducted in private, as tradition requires. What can be said is that every officer who received a warrant did so after a ballot of the assembled brethren, and every commitment was made with the same solemn obligation that has bound officers of this Grand Lodge for over two hundred years.\n\nThe day concluded with the customary festive board, at which the newly-installed Grand Master proposed the traditional toasts — to the craft, to the brethren, to the ladies, and to absent brethren. The oldest brother present, a Past Master of fifty-two years standing, was invited to take wine with the new Grand Master.\n\nPhotographs from the day have been added to the lodge gallery. Any brother who wishes to order a printed copy of the Installation proceedings should write to the Grand Secretary.
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