This article is taken from the June 2019 Issue of the Fraternal Review titled, “The Holy Saints John”.
The operative Masons chose the two Saints John, St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, as patron Saints because one prepared the way and the other builded thereon, or as an old ritual has it, “One finished by his learning what the other began by his zeal, and thus drew a second line parallel to the former.”
OUR PATRON SAINTS
The two Saints John most clearly typify and exemplify the teachings and mission of the fraternity. One was a prophet pointing to the light, whose mission was to prepare the way and lay the foundation for the work of the One who was to be the Light of the World. The other was to become the Apostle of love and to continue the work of his great Master.
The great object of Masonry is the attainment of light and the proper application of the principles of brotherly love. Therefore, these two Apostles are fittingly represented by the two perpendicular parallel lines which touch the circle on which rests the book of the Holy Scriptures. One represents those who are seeking the light. The other is the teacher of those who have found it.
“We are thus led to the conclusion that the connection of the Saints John with the Masonic Institution is rather of a symbolic than of a historical character.”
THE FIDELITY OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
The invincible fidelity of the Baptist reminds us of the Masonic hero who gave up his life rather than forfeit his integrity. As Bro. B. W. Bryant says, his baptism is the symbol of the “cleansing of the heart from the dross of selfishness and vice, and the spiritual initiation of the soul into the knowledge of the very appropriately coincides with the summer solstice, when all visible nature is at the zenith of life, light, and joy.”
THE LOVE OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
“On the other hand,” Bryant continues, “the festival of the Evangelist, who is so fortunately represented as a man in the winter and wisdom of life; who so insistently proclaimed the gospel of brotherly love.
His writings teem with allegories of the mystical initiation into the secrets that lie beyond the veil of material vision, is very properly assigned to that period of the year when life has reached its full maturity and seems about to depart from the earth. Considering all this he too becomes a worthy and appropriate figure for Masonic recognition.”
HARMONY IN THE CYCLES
“We therefore find in these two figures, so peculiarly and even mysteriously connected with Masonry, that broad symbolism which admits of universal interpretation and appreciation. It is truly in harmony with the spirit of ‘that religion in which all men agree’ and is therefore really Masonic.
They tell of the eternal cycle of existence, of manifestation and disappearance, of activity and repose, which is the eternal and immutable law of God, and which is so fittingly expressed in our familiar phrase: ‘From labor to refreshment and from refreshment to labor again’.”
[C.C. Hunt, “The Holy Saints John,” booklet from the Grand Lodge of Iowa, Cedar Rapids, 1923, 4-5;12-13;] 23; 25; 31-32]