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Home » Scottish Rite Myths and also Facts » Why do Freemasons end their prayers through the expression “So mote it be”?
Why do Freemasons end their prayers through the phrase “So mote the be”?
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It is customary in modern-day English to finish prayers through a hearty “Amen,” a word meaning “So be it.” it is a Latin word acquired from the Hebrew wordmeaning “certainly.” hence a congregation speak “Amen” is literally speak “So it is in it.” words mote is an archaic verb that means “may” or “might,” and also traces earlier to Old English. The phrase “So mote that be” method “So may it be,” i beg your pardon is the very same as “So it is in it.”Now that we’ve created the equivalence the “Amen” and “So mote that be,” the inquiry remains, “Why do Masons end their prayers with ‘So mote it be’?” The prize goes ago to the Regius Poem of around 1390 AD, the oldest known Masonic paper (now housed in the brother Museum, London). It is among the Old dues or Gothic Constitution supplied by early on Freemasons to manage their trade. It has actually a legendary history, regulations to overview the Mason trade and rules that manners and also moral conduct. The poem ends famously with this couplet:Caption: A information from a facsimile illustrating the close up door couplet the The Regius Poem (Masonic book Club, 1970)Amen! Amen! so mote it be! for this reason say us all because that charity.Thus Freemasons today finish their prayers the same means they go in 1390. The next time you in lodge and also say “So mote that be” after the chaplain finishes a prayer, remember the you are proceeding a 600-year-old Masonic tradition.From the March/April 2009 Scottish Rite Journal