Page:Manual of the Lodge.pdf/150

Rh Here another guest we bring—

Seraphs of celestial wing,

To our funeral altar come,

Waft this friend and brother hours

There, enlarged, thy soul shall see

What was vailed in mystery;

Heavenly glories of the place

Show his Maker face to face.

Lord of all! below—above—

Fill our hearts with truth and love;

When dissolves our earthly tie,

Take us to thy Lodge on high.

Prayer at raising a brother to the sublime degree of Master Mason.

Thou, O God! knowest our down-sitting and our up-rising, and understandest our thoughts afar off. Shield and defend us from the evil intentions of our enemies, and support us under the trials and afflictions we are destined to endure, while traveling through this vale of tears. Man, that is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee; thou hast appointed his bounds that he can not pass; turn from him that he may rest, till he shall accomplish his day. For there is hope of a tree if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. But man dieth and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and