St. John's Day in Winter

Whence came you?

From the Lodge of the Holy Saints John at Jerusalem.

Masonry honors two Saints John. Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist.

It is no coincidence that the feast days of these two Christian Saints fall at or near the Winter and Summer Solstice.

"when Christianity came to the world. Old feasts and festival days were not lightly to be given up, even by those who put their faith upon a Cross. Hence clever men in the early days of Christianity turned the pagan festivals to Christian usage, and the old celebrations of summer and winter solstice became the Sts. Johns' Days of the Middle Ages.
As the slow years passed, those who celebrated thought less and less of what the days really commemorated, and became more and more convinced of their new character. Today, hardly a Freemason gives a thought to the origin of St. John's Day in Winter, or knows his celebration of St. John's Day in midsummer preserves a touch with cavemen ancestors."

No one knows why Freemasonry chose the Holy Saints John and invented the "Lodge of the Holy Saints John at Jerusalem" but perhaps Joseph Fort Newton said it best (as always)

"There is no historical evidence that either of the two Saints of the church were ever members of the Craft. But they were adopted as its patron Saints, after the manner of former times a good manner it is, too and they have remained so in Christian lands. Lodges are dedicated to them, instead of to King Solomon, as formerly.
"So, naturally, there came the idea, or ideal, of a sacred lodge in the Holy City presided over by the Saints John. No such lodge ever existed in fact, and yet it is not a fiction -it is an ideal, and without such ideals our life would be dim and drab. The thought back of the question and answer, then, is that we come from an ideal or Dream Lodge into this actual work-a-day world, where our ideals are to be tested".

Freemasonry is not a Christian organization. Here men of all faiths can meet upon the level as brothers. We do not know just when, or just how, Freemasonry adopted the Saints John. Their days are the Christian adaption of pagan festivals of a time when man, knowing no better, worshipped the sun as the supreme God. Why then choose two Christian Saints as patrons of the craft. It is because of what they represent. As one writer puts it:

"When looking at John the Baptist, one must look at him through an Eastern light. John was a Nazirite from birth, literally set aside for service to God. He let his hair and beard grow wild, because like Sampson, he could not cut his hair, which was forbidden by Mosaic law. His appearance brought to mind, to the people who heard him, the stories of Elijah the prophet who had dressed in similar manner. His clothing was of camel hair, because that was what poor people wore. It was plentiful when the camels shed their coats. It was cheap, warm, and although scratchy, quite waterproof.

John taught "change of character." He pointed fearlessly to the truth, even at the cost of his life. It was better to die for truth than to live a lie, because he knew that the Great Light upon the Altar, the holy scriptures, pointed to a better way, a life with God.

St. John the Evangelist teaches us to subdue our passions, one of the first things every Mason is taught in lodge.

When we follow the Gospels and the Book of Acts in the New Testament, we see a major transformation of young John. He goes from being the hot-tempered young man to one who exhibits peace in his old age. He goes from being intolerant of others, to working with others in sharing his theology of a better way of life."

John the Evangelist taught truth with love. He taught the power of Love in our lives. I can remember when I was younger reading the book of John touched me as no other of the gospels did. There is a powerful faith that comes through when you read it and when he writes in one of his Epistles. "Now are we the sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but when He shall appear we know that we shall be like Him. And every man that has this hope in him purifieth himself even as He is pure." it gave me something to base my faith on and something to strive for. So today is the Feast of St John the Evangelist. Masons all over the world should be having celebrations to honor one of the two patron saints of our Order. If we are not, well then we are missing out on an opportunity.

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