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Article MAS ONIC L E GENDS. ← Page 5 of 6 →
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Mas Onic L E Gends.
' ( V jSiicholas , with active charity . The legend of St . Paul , touching his ascension to the third heavens , where he saw things it is" unlawful for man toutter , "is supposedby the professors of the " Ineffable degrees , " to be of use only in expounding their great " Quartemary ;" while the legend describing his descent into hell is claimed by the
Eosicrusians as explanatory of an important point in their mysteries . "We can , however , regard it only as a Christian version of the descent of JEneas into the infernal regions , which Virgil gives us . This last , like portions of the Apocalypse of St . John , is believed to be an allegorical account of initiation into the mysteries of antiquity . What with the ingenious expositions of the learned Faber , and the explanatory lecture of one of the superior degrees in Masonry , we have all that can be expected or desired of a Masonic interpretation
of a book so pregitant with profundity as the Apocalypse of St . John the evangelist and seer , "the belov 6 d disciple " ofourLord . St . Thomas . — "We commenced this article for the purpose of introducing a legend of St . Thomas , whose name has never in any way heretofore been associated with our Order ; a fact to ns inexplicable , as this legend is brimful of Masonry . Wo sainted Christian patriarch has stronger claims to be ranked among the worthies of the Craft , or
placed in the Masonic calendar of saints , than St . Thomas . We think our readers will coincide with us in this opinion , when they come to examine his legend in the light of the well known fact , that the union which existed at and previous to the building of the glorious Ilekail Adonai , or palace of Jehovah , between operative and spiritual Masonry , was not fully dissolved till the latter part of the seventeenth century .
The author of " Disciplina Arcani" ^ refers to an interesting circumstance in the life of St . Thomas , when lie had an interview with his Lord and Master , Jesus of Nazareth , after his resurrection . The legend this author alludes to , though not , as wo think , in the most orthodox manner , in regard to what occurred when the vail of the temple was rent in twain , f will not be understood by the professors of the popular Masonic degrees cultivated in this country ; and it is
not the legend we are about to introduce to our readers . The same author gives us an opinion which we cannot forbear to mention ( though not exactly germane to our subject ) , on account of its originality and importance , if it can be sustained . He says , that by a singular lapsus linguce ^ tho modern Masons have substituted " Tuhalcain" for the Greek word rvjiftax ^ ty ( tttmhocliehi ) , signifying to ho entombed—a word of mystic import among the early Christian Masons .
At foot of Jesus , loving Thomas knelt ; At word of Jesus , doiibting Thomas /^? , The Martyy-tokens iu his hands and side— - With perfect faith . " Mr Loirm my God" ho cried .
J . V 7 ' * Alluded to in a note , ante . * t See Jvoso Cross Degree for an explanation .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Mas Onic L E Gends.
' ( V jSiicholas , with active charity . The legend of St . Paul , touching his ascension to the third heavens , where he saw things it is" unlawful for man toutter , "is supposedby the professors of the " Ineffable degrees , " to be of use only in expounding their great " Quartemary ;" while the legend describing his descent into hell is claimed by the
Eosicrusians as explanatory of an important point in their mysteries . "We can , however , regard it only as a Christian version of the descent of JEneas into the infernal regions , which Virgil gives us . This last , like portions of the Apocalypse of St . John , is believed to be an allegorical account of initiation into the mysteries of antiquity . What with the ingenious expositions of the learned Faber , and the explanatory lecture of one of the superior degrees in Masonry , we have all that can be expected or desired of a Masonic interpretation
of a book so pregitant with profundity as the Apocalypse of St . John the evangelist and seer , "the belov 6 d disciple " ofourLord . St . Thomas . — "We commenced this article for the purpose of introducing a legend of St . Thomas , whose name has never in any way heretofore been associated with our Order ; a fact to ns inexplicable , as this legend is brimful of Masonry . Wo sainted Christian patriarch has stronger claims to be ranked among the worthies of the Craft , or
placed in the Masonic calendar of saints , than St . Thomas . We think our readers will coincide with us in this opinion , when they come to examine his legend in the light of the well known fact , that the union which existed at and previous to the building of the glorious Ilekail Adonai , or palace of Jehovah , between operative and spiritual Masonry , was not fully dissolved till the latter part of the seventeenth century .
The author of " Disciplina Arcani" ^ refers to an interesting circumstance in the life of St . Thomas , when lie had an interview with his Lord and Master , Jesus of Nazareth , after his resurrection . The legend this author alludes to , though not , as wo think , in the most orthodox manner , in regard to what occurred when the vail of the temple was rent in twain , f will not be understood by the professors of the popular Masonic degrees cultivated in this country ; and it is
not the legend we are about to introduce to our readers . The same author gives us an opinion which we cannot forbear to mention ( though not exactly germane to our subject ) , on account of its originality and importance , if it can be sustained . He says , that by a singular lapsus linguce ^ tho modern Masons have substituted " Tuhalcain" for the Greek word rvjiftax ^ ty ( tttmhocliehi ) , signifying to ho entombed—a word of mystic import among the early Christian Masons .
At foot of Jesus , loving Thomas knelt ; At word of Jesus , doiibting Thomas /^? , The Martyy-tokens iu his hands and side— - With perfect faith . " Mr Loirm my God" ho cried .
J . V 7 ' * Alluded to in a note , ante . * t See Jvoso Cross Degree for an explanation .