Page 14 - Education Programs

Aye! More than these, for light, added to coming light, may enable your ambitious feet to
tread round after round of the ladder that leads to fame in our Mystic order; and even the purple
of our fraternity may rest upon your honored shoulders; but never again, from mortal hands; never
again, until your enfranchised spirit shall have passed upward and inward, through the pearly
gates, can a greater honor be bestowed, or one more emblematical of purity and innocence, than
that which has been conferred upon you tonight.

This Apron, the special gift of this Lodge, is yours to wear upon all proper occasions
throughout an honorable life, and at your death, is to be placed upon the coffin that contains your
lifeless remains and with them shall be laid beneath the silent clods of the valley.

May the pure and spotless surface of this Apron be an ever-present reminder of “that purity
of heart and uprightness of conduct so essentially necessary,” thus keeping pure your thoughts,
and inspiring nobler deeds and greater achievements.

Then, when at last, your weary feet shall have come to the end of life’s toilsome journey,
and from your nerveless grasp, shall drop, forever, the working tools of life, may the record of
your life and actions be as pure and spotless as this Apron now is; and when your soul, freed from
earth, shall stand naked and alone before the Great White Throne, may it be your portion to hear
from Him who sits thereon, the welcome plaudit: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant! Enter
thou into the joy of thy Lord!”

It is in this apron presentation the new Mason receives a wonderful and most profound lesson and
gains an understanding of the symbolic importance of his Masonic Apron. In this presentation the
Mason is told that whatever he does, wherever he goes, the apron should remind him of his
Masonic obligations. He is told that the apron is not only important as a symbol of his Masonic
membership, but it is also a symbolic reminder to follow the noblest pursuits in life.

The apron reminds the Mason to do his duty to God, his country, his neighbor and his family.
Every time he puts the apron on, he should be reminded of his obligations to God and of that purity
of character and behavior necessary for his proper relationship with God. The Masonic apron is
symbolic of the Masonic teachings designed to make men better citizens and servants of God.
Though Freemasons are not builders of great builders, they are builders of men. As such, the
Masonic apron is an emblem of innocence and the badge of a Mason. May the Mason ever strive
to fulfill the tenets of Freemasonry in heart, mind, and soul.

This article has been adapted from the research paper entitled “The Origin and Development of the Masonic Apron”
by Plez A. Transou which appears in Vol. X of the Transactions of the Texas Lodge of Research.

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