Masonic Holy Thursday

While surfing the web, I came across this article about Masonry, written by a man named Jim Shaw - Ceremony. (I have seen this article other places on the web also.)

Near the end of the article, he gives a brief description of the Masonic ceremony for Holy Thursday. He states that the ceremony starts off with, "My brothers, we meet this day to commemorate the death of our most wise and perfect Master - not as inspired or divine, but as at least the greatest of humanity." He continues to write about how the ceremony mimics the Last Supper.

How accurate is this man's account with the actual Holy Thursday ceremony practiced by Masons?

Thought we were going to be late this month, but we got our obligatory Jim Shaw thread in on time.

www.masonicinfo.com...

Hoax Monkeys, not just for anything written by Jim Shaw anymore...

Originally posted by BlackOps13
While surfing the web, I came across this article about Masonry, written by a man named Jim Shaw - Ceremony. (I have seen this article other places on the web also.)

Near the end of the article, he gives a brief description of the Masonic ceremony for Holy Thursday. He states that the ceremony starts off with, "My brothers, we meet this day to commemorate the death of our most wise and perfect Master - not as inspired or divine, but as at least the greatest of humanity." He continues to write about how the ceremony mimics the Last Supper.

How accurate is this man's account with the actual Holy Thursday ceremony practiced by Masons?

Shaw left out an important portion in the sentence of the ritual: "...not as inspired or divine, for that is not for a fraternity to decide, but as at least the greatest among humanity."

This memorial ceremony is thus meaningful for all Scottish Rite Masons, including our Jewish and other non-Christian members. The ceremony of Maundy Thursday does not mimic the Last Supper. Lamb and wine are served by the Master to each Celebrant. Upon giving the brethren the lamb, the Master says, "Take, eat, and give to the hungry", and the brethren partake. With the wine, the Master says "Take, drink, and give to the thirsty", after which the brethren partake.

The Ceremony of Extinguishing the Lights is then performed by the officers of the Chapter (I've been one for years, and have participated in this ceremony many times). On the morning of Easter Sunday, the Ceremony of Relighting the Lights is undertaken by the same officers.

The Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday ceremonies were written by Pike, and are the mandatory annual observances for Chapters of Rose Croix. Most Scottish Rite Temples, including mine, open the ceremonies to the public.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough in my question. I'm aware that Shaw has been debunked by Masonic sources. However, are people to assume that everything this guy has ever said is a complete lie with no truth at all to it? Maybe the answer to that is yes, but I don't think it hurts to ask the question...

I was asking specifically about what he describes for the holy thursday ceremony. I want to know how close, if at all, what he describes for this particular ceremony is to the actual ceremony. If what he describes is completely off the mark, than what is the actual ceremony? (If its against masonic rules to divulge specifics on the ceremony, than say that.) If he is accurate about any part of the ceremony which he describes, then what is correct and incorrect about his description?

Even liars like shaw let some truth slip out from time to time....

thanks Masonic Light, that was the answer I was looking for, not a blanket reject Jim Shaw link. i appreciate the response.

Originally posted by BlackOps13
thanks Masonic Light, that was the answer I was looking for, not a blanket reject Jim Shaw link.

He doesn't seem relevant to your question.

Why not couch the question purely on the basis of the ceremony... Maybe in conjunction with a link like this?

I included Shaw in the question to provide the source of my information and thereby the basis of my question. I didn't want to be accussed of being a troll that is making up lies about masons, so I included my source. I never claimed it was an accurate source...

Originally posted by BlackOps13
thanks Masonic Light, that was the answer I was looking for, not a blanket reject Jim Shaw link. i appreciate the response.

No problem. I just read the paper by Shaw you linked to, and have just a couple of comments.

1. Shaw claims that wine is served out of a human skull during the Mystic Banquet of Maundy Thursday. It is not; the wine is always served from a goblet, usually bearing Templar emblems.

2. For whatever reason, Shaw claims that he and the other officers lit the candles on Maundy Thursday. However, in fact, the officers extinguish the candles on Maundy Thursday, and re-light them on Easter Sunday. This maybe a superficial point, but it indicates to me that Shaw is not quite as familiar with the ceremony as he claims to be. I do not deny that Shaw had witnessed the ceremony as a Scottish Rite Mason, or even participated in it as he claimed, but if he did the Master's part like he said he did, he should be intimately familiar with it (i.e., have the whole thing memorized), and not make that mistake.