worn, more honorable than the Star and Garter, or any other order that could be conferred upon you at this or any future period. The Operative Mason wears his apron to protect his clothing from soil or damage incident to his calling; but we, as Speculative Masons, are taught to wear it for a more noble and glorious purpose: that its pure and spotless surface may be to us an ever present reminder of a purity of life and conduct, a never ending argument for nobler deeds, for higher thoughts, for greater achievements. "The Lamb Skin is an emblem of innocence and the Badge of a Mason." When we received it we were charged to wear it with pleasure to our- selves and honor to the Fraternity. What a pre- cious privilege; what a great responsibility! Yet the two are inseparable, for we can wear the apron with pleasure to ourselves only when we wear it with honor to the Fraternity. And the pleasure of wearing the apron lies not in idle dis- play, but in wearing it as an emblem of the pure and spotless heart which should be the goal of every Mason, bearing ever in mind that we have in our keeping the honor and reputation of this great Fraternity. We make our profession openly and the world is watching us; let us then preserve this badge unspotted and unsullied, thus wearing it with honor to the Fraternity.
the "Eye of Horus," known to us Masons as the "All - Seeing Eye" whom the sun, moon, and stars obey. Two of these triangles, placed back to back, form the flap of our Masonic apron. Perhaps the greatest surprise that comes to us as we investigate these prehistoric peoples of our own hemisphere lies in the fact that the stone statues of the Sun - God of the ancient American Mayas, found on the sites of the ruined cities of Yucatan, always show that deity clothed in an apron very similar to that used by this great Fra- ternity. The apron is the Alpha and the Omega, the be- ginning and the end, of a Mason's connection with the terrestrial lodge, being presented to him upon his entrance into the Fraternity and deposit- ed in his grave when he takes his dimit to the Ce- lestial Lodge above. This emblem of innocence and purity, is the Badge of a Mason - more ancient than the Gold- en Fleece or Roman Eagle; and, when worthily
Wear worthily this thy Masonic badge, While still thy body toils to build thy soul A mansion bright, be- yond the gates of death, No edifice that crum- bles back to clay, But a glorious house eternal in the skies.
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