The Masons may have a few secrets, but it is far from being the secret organization it is rumored to be.
Ashburn resident Christopher Evans came upon the first secret when he met another Mason on a cruise he took three years ago. Curious about the organization, he asked questions and realized to be a member he had to ask one.
“It took me a long time to decide,” said Evans, now a senior deacon and a member for almost two years of the male-only charitable organization, here the Ashburn-Sterling Masonic Lodge No. 288. “There was something I wanted to learn, and I feel Masonry is the only way I want to learn it. I’m not sure what. It’s hard to put words to it.”
The second secret involves the way men identify themselves as Masons through grips and passwords, along with the rings they wear marked with the Masonry insignia.
The third secret is harder to describe since what Masonry does cannot be talked about nor put into words, according to information provided by the Grand Lodge of Virginia.
“They are the changes that happen to a man when he really accepts responsibility for his own life and, at the same time, truly decides that his real happiness is in helping others,” according to the Grand Lodge.
Masonry teaches the brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God and is a support group for men who are trying to make the right decisions. Each member has a responsibility to make things better in the world.
“It’s been said Masonry makes good members better,” said senior warden Harry Bacheler of Sterling, whose grandfather was a Mason for more than 50 years. “It has helped me grow as person.”
The Masonry insignia points to some of the organization’s objectives. The “G” refers to God or geometry and sits in the center of an overlapping square and compass. The square symbolizes things of the earth, such as honor, integrity and truthfulness, while the compass symbolizes things of the spirit.
“[Masonry] uses the tools and implements of ancient architectural craftsmen symbolically in a system of instruction designed to build character and moral values in its members,” according to the Grand Lodge.
MASONRY or Freemasonry is the oldest fraternal organization, with written records about the order dating back to 1390. The organization likely arose in the Middle Ages from stonemason guilds responsible for building castles and cathedrals. The stonemasons had schools in their lodges to teach geometry, structural engineering and mathematics.
In 1717, Masonry became a formal organization with the formation of the Grand Lodge in England, the administrative body in charge of Masonry. The organization developed into a fraternity as more of the members were not operative masons but still wanted to join.
Today, the United States has about 13,200 lodges. Each state and, in Canada, each province has a Grand Lodge, while local organizations of Masons are called lodges. The word lodge refers to a group of Masons who meet and the room or building where they meet. Virginia has 330 lodges, four in Loudoun County in Ashburn, Leesburg, Lovettsville and Purcellville.
Ashburn Lodge No. 288 had its beginnings when the Grand Lodge of Virginia issued a charter in February 1906, while Sterling Lodge No. 268 received its charter during the same month in 1971. The Sterling Lodge used the Ashburn Lodge’s meeting place off and on for several years until the two lodges combined in 1998 as Ashburn-Sterling Masonic Lodge No. 288. The current lodge building, located in Ashburn, has been in use since October 1989.
THE ASHBURN-STERLING Masons use the lodge to hold meetings for the organization and other associated organizations that together form the Masonic family. Two such organizations are the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls and the Order of the Eastern Star, originally formed in the 1800s for wives, mothers, sisters and daughters of Masons. In Ashburn, the Baracca Chapter No. 120 Eastern Star has 68 members, both men and women.
Men are required to join the Masons before they can join any other Mason-affiliated organizations. The Masons are associated with 280 fraternal organizations, such as the Scottish Rite Masons and the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shriners. The Shrine Masons or Shriners operate hospitals and three burn institutes nationwide.
“In order to become part of the bigger Masonic family, you need to start as a Mason,” said Ashburn resident Kevin Kelly, worshipful master of the Ashburn-Sterling lodge and a member since 1995. “For me, a lot of it is fellowship. I made a lot of good friends here.”
The Ashburn-Sterling lodge has 113 members. The oldest member is in his eighties and has been a member since the late 1940s. The youngest member is in his early twenties. The Masons have 12 officer positions, including the worshipful master or president, the senior and junior wardens or vice-presidents, the deacons or messengers, and the stewards in charge of refreshments, along with a secretary and treasurer.
“You never know who may be a Mason,” said Bacheler, a member for the past five years. Members include some of the Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Ford, the Roosevelts and J.C. Penney and several other dignitaries and historical figures.
MEMBERS of the Ashburn-Sterling lodge meet on the second Tuesday of the month for an hour-long business meeting and a program on Mason-related topics, such as Mason history, self-development and other topics presented from members or other community speakers. The members occasionally have a dinner meeting but always have coffee and dessert afterwards.
“There’s a lot of things we do that quietly get done. There’s no fanfare about it,” said Ashburn resident Thomas Feely, secretary and a member for 26 years. “I can quietly help in the background with the youth groups on the things that need to be done here.”
The Masons participate in several community projects as individuals and as a club, such as the annual blood drive hosted through the Grand Lodge. The club makes donations each year, donates to scholarship funds and sponsors youth organizations.
“Everybody does something in their own way,” Feely said.