Worshipful Master's Message - June 2022
/Each month, the Worshipful Master provides an update on current events in relation to Freemasonry in general and Lodge No. 2 in particular. Please see below for for this month’s message from the Worshipful Master of Lodge No. 2.
Dear Brethren,
This month, we celebrate the 264th anniversary of the founding of our Lodge. We are the oldest lodge in Pennsylvania and one of the oldest active Lodges in the world. For over two and a half centuries, this Lodge has served the greater Philadelphia community, providing friendship and brotherly love to fellow Freemasons and Masonic charity to our neighbors. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as Worshipful Master of such a historic institution. Coincidentally, our anniversary meeting this year falls on the exact date that the Ancient Grand Lodge of England issued our first Warrant of Constitution – from June 7, 1758 to June 7, 2022.
But for us in Lodge No. 2, Masonic history is not just something that we read about. We are surrounded by it in every one of our meetings at the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia. I always feel so privileged that our Lodge can call such an iconic landmark home. The Temple, which is itself turning 150 years old next year, houses not only the offices of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and our lodge rooms –it also holds the Masonic Library and Museum, one of the most extensive collections of Masonic records and artifacts anywhere in the world. It is therefore most fitting that we will be hosting Bro. Mike McKee, Executive Director of the Masonic Library and Museum, as our guest speaker for our anniversary meeting.
I look forward to celebrating the 264th birthday of our Lodge with you all!
Sincerely and fraternally,
Paul R. Cleveland
Worshipful Master