‘Ben at Mariners’

  

RW Bro. Ben Hoff, Past Master of New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education No. 1786 and Highland Park Lodge No. 240, will appear at the podium of historic Mariners Lodge No. 67 in New York City next Wednesday, the thirteenth.

Mariners meets in Masonic Hall (71 W. 23rd Street in Manhattan), inside the Doric Room on the eighth floor.

Ben, a Past Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, is well known about the apartments of the Temple here for his research into the origins and evolution of Craft lodge rituals. I don’t know what his topic for Mariners will be, but I highly recommend attending. It is important to hear a common sense approach containing factual information about Masonic rituals to help you discern reality and history from the fantasy and wishful thinking found in too many contemporary books and papers. Ben draws straight from the source materials – the ritual exposures, monitors, jurisprudence, and other texts – in his skillful investigations into how the degrees and ceremonies we employ today really came to be. Sometimes he travels with a few of these 18th and 19th century treasures from his library for the brethren to see.

From the publicity:

The lecture will be open to properly avouched Masons of every rank who hail from lodges in amity with the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. Lodge opens promptly at 7 p.m. in the Doric Room on the eighth floor of Masonic Hall. Dress is tuxedo or business formal.

The Communication should close at around nine o’clock, with our traditional Lodge Dinner commencing shortly thereafter. Mariners Lodge typically does not formally receive delegations or visiting officers of any kind below the level of a Grand Lodge officer. Master Masons are asked to be seated among the brethren for the Lodge Opening. Entered Apprentices and Fellowcrafts may wait in the anteroom until the lodge is lowered to the First Degree shortly after the lodge is opened.

If you plan to join us for the lecture and would like to get the “full Mariners Lodge experience,” I hope you will also consider attending Mariners Lodge’s own “Maritime Festive Board” Dinner which features our unique ritual and lodge traditions, as well as our well-known hospitality. The dinner will also offer an opportunity to chat with Bro. Hoff.

Seating is limited, however, so if you would like to attend please visit the Mariners Lodge website reservations page to reserve a seat. The cost is $35 per person. If you have any difficulties in reserving on the website, contact rsvpmariners67(at)gmail.com for assistance. Please reserve as soon as possible. Seating is limited to around fifty. (We hosted seventy Masons at our last lecture, meaning twenty were not able to attend the dinner. )