"He will line your apron with gold." …Pericles, Act IV, Scene6 -- William Shakespeare

Dear Brethren:

The Apron -- an emblem of innocence and the badge of a Mason; more ancient that the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle, more honorable than the Star and Garter or any other order that can be conferred upon you at this or any future period, by king, prince, potentate, or any other person, except he be a Mason. We have all heard these words but what do you know about these various orders? The Roman Eagle was Rome’s symbol and ensign of power and might a hundred years before Christ. Philip, Duke of Burgundy founded the Order of the Golden Fleece, in 1490. John II of France in the middle of the Fourteenth Century created the Order of the Star. Edward III of England in 1349 founded the Order of the Garter for himself and twenty-five Knights of the Garter.

The use of the apron is very old—far older than as a garment to protect the clothing of the operative craftsman, or to provide him with a convenient receptacle in which to keep his tools. Girdles, or aprons, were a part of the clothing of the priests of Israel. Candidates for the mysteries of Mithras in Persia were invested with aprons. The ancient Japanese used aprons in religious worship.

“An emblem of innocence, is not, Masonically, an emblem of ignorance.” Rather do we use the original meaning of the word, and make of the apron an emblem of one who does no injury to others. This symbolism is carried out both by color and material; white has always been the color of purity, and the lamb has always been a symbol of harmlessness and gentleness.

Truly he has been a real Mason, in the best sense of the great word, who has worn his lambskin apron during his manhood “with pleasure to himself, and honor to the Fraternity.”

Let us all try to wear our aprons as they were intended. If we are true to our cause, “He will line our apron with gold.”

Fraternally,
John Lacki, Jr.
Worshipful Master