Sir Knights,
I hope this months message find you and your family well. Luray Commandery No. 19 is now opening our stated conclaves at the Front Royal Masonic Temple located at 438 Skyline Vista Drive in Front Royal on the first Tuesday of the month. Since relocating to Front Royal, we have lost our support from SK Glenn Mayes and Lady Brenda to prepare and furnish our meals. We will need to discuss how we want to recover from this. One of the most favorite time we have for fellowship is during the meal. More to follow on that topic. For now, we will meet at the 7:30 PM time to open.
Our weekly rehearsals have greatly improved and are well attended. I encourage each of you to come out to the Temple on Sunday afternoons from 2:00 – 4:00 PM to join us. All instruction is provided by our District Instructor, SK J. D. Davis. We will continue to meet weekly until March 22nd. Don’t worry about equipment or ritual, we provide it all. This training is strictly volunteer, as obtaining a Certificate is not a requirement to be elected and installed as a dais officer, it is however the first requirement to qualify for the Pat Myers Award. Anyway, would you want a dais officer that didn’t know the ritual or how to conduct such business of the Commandery? I thought not.
We have our Annual Easter Sunrise Service at the Bell Tower in Luray on Sunday, April 12th at 7:00 AM. All Sir Knights including all Masons are invited to attend along with the Luray community residents. Please where warm clothing as it can be chilly watching the sun rise over the Blue Ridge Mountains. As Christian Sir Knights, we have certain activities that are required and encouraged to attend, Easter Sunday is one of them. Why do Christians celebrate Easter Sunday? Easter, also called Resurrection Sunday, is a festival and holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the new testament as having occurred on the third day after his burial following his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus , preceded by Lent, a 40 day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.
As this Easter approaches, I ask that you contemplate the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian religion is coming under attack by the unbelievers. We are mocked, ridiculed, made fun of and bullied. Since its origins, Easter has been a time of celebration and feasting and many traditional Easter games and customs developed, such as egg rolling, egg tapping, pace egging, cascarones or confetti eggs, and egg decorating. Today Easter is commercially important, seeing wide sales of greeting cards and confectionery such as chocolate Easter eggs as well as other Easter foods. Even many nonChristians celebrate these features of the holiday while ignoring the religious aspects.
What does the resurrection of Jesus mean to you? Jesus suffered an
excruciating death.
Christ Jesus died on the Cross to redeem mankind, to save us from our sins because of his love for us. As recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ was mocked, scorned, and tortured in the praetorium. He carried his cross up the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem to Calvary, was nailed to the Cross, and hung between two common criminals. He suffered an indescribable end, recalled by the Church on Good Friday of Holy Week. One may meditate on the Passion of Christ by reflecting on his Seven Words on the Cross or by a devotion known as The Way of the Cross.
When religious pilgrimages to the Holy Land ended with military occupation of Jerusalem in the Middle Ages, a popular devotion known as The Way of the Cross arose during Lent retracing the Passion, Crucifixion, and Death of Jesus. The fourteen Stations of the Cross are (1) Pilate condemns Jesus to death; (2) Jesus takes up his Cross; (3) He falls the first time; (4) Jesus meets his sorrowful mother Mary; (5) Simon helps carry the cross; (6) Veronica cleans his face; (7) He falls the second time; (8) Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem; (9) He falls the third time; (10) Jesus is stripped of his garments; (11) Jesus is nailed to the cross; (12) Jesus Christ dies on the cross; (13) Our Lord is taken down from the cross; (14) Christ is laid in the tomb.
Here are his Seven Words, the last seven expressions of Jesus Christ on the Cross recorded in Scripture:
1st: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23:34
2nd: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43
3rd: “Jesus said to his mother: “Woman, this is your son.” Then he said
to the disciple: “This is your mother.” John 19:26-27
4th: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34
5th: “I thirst.” John 19:28
6th: When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished;” and he
bowed his head and handed over the spirit. John 19:30
7th: Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Luke 23:46
Sir Knights, this is why we celebrate Easter. This is what we defend as
Christian Soldiers. This is what the world needs to know.
In His Name, I am
SK Dennis M. Haas, KCT
Commander, Luray Commandery No. 19
Unity Lodge No. 146 