Page:Manual of the Lodge.pdf/151

106 the flood decayeth and drieth up, so man lieth down and riseth not up, till the heavens shall be no more. Yet, O Lord! have compassion on the children of thy creation, administer them comfort in time of trouble, and save them with an everlasting salvation. So mote it be. Amen.

The five-pointed star has been adopted, in very recent times, as a Masonic symbol. Differing, as it does, entirely from the blazing star, which in the first degree refers to Divine Providence, it is consecrated, in the third degree, as a symbol of the Five Points of Fellowship.

Among the Jews, as, indeed, among all other civilized nations, it was considered not only an act due to decency and humanity, but a religious obligation, to bury and pay honors to the dead. The bier was followed by mourners, who poured out the anguish of their hearts in lamentable wails, and who rehearsed the virtues of the departed, and expressed the sorrow of the survivors "Men," says, "who were distinguished for their rank, and who, at the same time, exhibited a claim to the love and favor of the people for their virtues and their good deeds, were honored with an attendance of vast multitudes, to witness the solemnities of their interment."

The Mosaic law which related to defilement by dead bodies, rendered it necessary that none should be buried near sacred