HS 1043 § C2A3I4 o 10. 1 BANCROFT LIBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA THE 'UNERAL CEREMONY OF THE |nircpenbent Wttn of @blr Mellotos, EMBRACING le Form of Funeral Procession and Regalia, Funeral Service and Funeral Ode, Prayer at the Grave, and Order of Procession. . ADOPTED BY THE GRAND LODGE. i ^'6 ■ SAN FRANCISCO: STEKBUBN & CO., BOOK AND JOB PKINTEES AND ELECTROTYPERS, No. 417 Clay Street, between Sansome and Battery. 1871. '^/jfL/Jl^ k *2. I M^<^ t (Q FORM OF FUNERAL PROCESSION AND REGALIA OF THE INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS. The regalia to be worn by all brothers of the Order when attending the funeral of a deceased brother, to be as follows : A black crape rosette, having a center of the color of the highest degree to which the wearer may have attained, to be worn on the left breast ; above it a sprig of evergreen, and below it (if the wearer be an Elective or Past Officer, the jewel or jewels, which, as such, he may be entitled to wear. The ordinary mourning badge to be worn by brothers in memory of a deceased brother, a strip of black crape passed through one button-hole only of the left lapel of the coat, and tied with a narrow ribbon of the color of the highest degree to which the wearer may have attained. 2 FORM OF FUNERAL PROCESSION. The order of procedure at the funeral of a de- ceased brother to be as follows : At the appointed hour, the Subordinate Lodge of which such brother was a member shall meet at its Lodge Room, and shall open in the Initia- tory Degree ; and the N. G shall appoint a mar- shal and such number of assistant marshals as may be required. The Lodge shall thereupon close, and the brothers shall pass in procession from the Lodge Room to the place from which the funeral may have been appointed to start, in the following order : ORDER OF PROCESSION. 1. The Marshal, wearing a black scarf, and bearing a baton bound with a band of black crape. . ^ 2. The Outside Guardian, bearing a red staff, in like mourning. 3. The Scene Supporters, bearing white wands, in like mourning. 4. Members of the Initiatory Degree, in order of juniority, two abreast. FORM OF FUNERAL PROCESSION. 5. Members of the White, Pink, Royal Blue, Green and Scarlet, Degrees, respectively, in like order. 6. Members of the Lodge having the Patri- archal, G. R., and R P. Degrees, respectively, in like order 7. The Past Grands of the Lodge, in order of juniority. 8. The L G., bearing the regalia and insignia indicative of the rank in the Order of the deceased brother. 9. The Treasurer, Assistant, Permanent or Financial Secretary or Secretaries, and the Secre- tary of the Lodge. 10. The V. G., supported by his R. and L. Supporters, each bearing his wand of office, bound with a band of black crape. 11. The Chaplain, wearing a white scarf, and supported by the Warden and Conductor, each bearing *his staff of office in li^jjjnourning. 12. The N. G., supported by his R. and L. FORM OF FUNERAL PROCESSION. Supporters, each bearing his wand of office in like mourning. 13. Brethren of invited Lodges, those of each Lodge arranged in the order above prescribed ; the Lodges, when more than one may be represented, arranged in order of juniority. On arriving at the place appointed for the start- ing of the funeral, the brothers shall take position in the above order immediately before the corpse, and shall precede it to the place of interment. On arriving at such place of interment, the brothers shall open to the right and left, and allow the corpse, mourners, etc., to pass through, the brothers on either side standing uncovered, the hat held in the left hand of each, and joining hands with each other. And after passing the corpse, mourners, etc., between the two lines, the brothers shall re-form in procession after them in reversed order, and close the procession into and within the place of interment. After the perforr^nce of such religious service as the friends of the deceased may cause there to be FORM OF FUNERAL PROCESSION. performed, and before the final closing of the grave, the brothers shall form silently, and as nearly as may be according to the order above set forth, uncovered, the hat in the left hand of each, and joining hands v^ith each other, in one or more cir- cles, as regular as the nature of the ground may admit, around the grave, when the Chaplain, or in default of a Chaplain, the N. G. may address the brothers and offer up a prayer, or may address the brothers without the offering of a prayer; and after such address, or prayer, or both, or if there be no address or prayer, then after a pause suited to the solemnity of the occasion, the N. G. shall advance singly to the head of the grave and cast into it, with the right hand, the sprig of evergreen from his regalia, and shall return to his place, whereupon the brothers, from left to right, in reg- ular succession, and in such number at a time as not to cause confusion, shall advance to the grave and cast into it (each with the right hand) the sprigs of evergreen from their regalia, and shall return to their places. And after all have done this, and the grave shall have been filled up or FORM OF FUNERAL PROCESSION. closed, the brothers shall silently re-form into pro- cession according to the order observed in coming to the place of interment, and shall return in such order to the Lodge Room, where the N. G. shall declare the funeral ceremonies to be closed. Note. — If the deceased brother, at the time of his death, was a member of an Encampment, or of a State, District or Territorial Grand Lodge or Grand EncamjDment, or of the Grand Lodge of the United States, the Chaplain and (he highest officer or officers pres- ent of such Encamj)ment or Grand body or bodies, supported each by two members thereof, may tahe a position in the funeral i^roces- sion next after the Chaplain and Noble Grand, respectively, of the j Subordinate Lod^e of the deceased; they being entitled to take i^re- cedence of such Noble Grand and of each other— in all processions of the Order, of whatever kind, according to their respective rank — in conducting the ceremony of interment, as above set forth. FUNERAL SERVICF. FUNERAL SERVICE. We are assembled, my brethren, to render the last office which the Ijving may minister to the dead. Man is born to die. The coffin, the grave, the sepulchre, speak to us in terms that cannot be misunderstood, however unheeded it may be^ of "man's latter end." Youth, in its harmlessness and comparative innocency, and manhood, in its wonted vigor and pride of strength, are not more exempt than decrepid and tottering age from the fixed law of being, which dedicates all that is mortal to decay and death. This truth is inscribed in the great volume of nature upon its every page. The beautiful and the sublime which the handiwork of the Creator displays on our every side, fearfully associate the unerring certainty of the end of all things, amid the vividness of the moral which they are ever suggesting to the contemplative mind. 8 FUNERAL SERVICE. Day after day we are called upon to follow our fellow-creatures to that ''bourne whence no trav- eler returns;" but from the house of- mourning we go forth again to mingle in the crowded world, heedless, perhaps, of the precarious tenure of life, and the certainty of that end to which all flesh is rapidly tending. He who gives the vigor of body, without warning paralyzes the stout heart and strikes down the athletic frame ; the living of to- day become the dead of the morrow. Men appear upon and disappear from the stage of life, as wave meets wave and parts upon the troubled waters. " In the midst of life we are in death." He whose lips now echo these tones of solemn warning, in turn will be stilled in the cold and cheerless house of the dead, and in the Prov- idence of God none may escape. Let us, then, so far improve the lesson as to be prepared for that change that leads to life eternal. We now commit our departed brother's body to the grave — earth to earth ; ashes to ashes ; dust to dust. FUNERAL ODE. FUNERAL ODE. How Still and peaceful is the grave, Where, life's vain tumults past, The appointed house, by heaven's decree. Receives us all at last. The wicked there from troubling cease, Their passions rage no more ; And there the weary brother rests • From all the toils he bore. There servants, masters, poor and rich. Partake the same repose; And there in peace the ashes mix Of those who once were foes. All, leveled by the hand of death, Lie sleeping in the tomb, Till God in judgment calls them forth To meet their final doom. lO PRAYER. PRAYER Our Father and our God, who art the resurrec- tion and the Hfe; in whomsoever believeth shall live, though he die; and whosoever liveth and beheveth in thee, shall not die — hear, we beseech Thee, the voice of thy creatures here assembled, ^and turn not away from our supplications. We humbly beseech Thee so to imbue us with a conviction of our entire helplessness and depend- ence upon Thee, that we may be brought to med- itate upon the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death. In the dispensation of Thy Providence Thou has summoned from amongst us our brother, and we, the surviving monuments of Thy mercy, are gathered together to commit his remains to the earth. Give, O God, we beseech Thee, Thy Holy Spirit to us whom Thou hast spared; increase our knowledge, and confirm our faith in Thee forever. Bless and comfort, we pray Thee, those whom it has pleased Thee to add to the number of the PRAYER^ 1 1 disconsolate; buoy them up under this heavy stroke ; sustain them against despondency. O I wilt Thou be their Father and their God, and pour down from on high Thy blessings upon their heads ? Bless, O Heavenly Father, the brethren here assembled; imbue them with the wisdom of Thy laws, and draw them unto Thee with the cords of Thy inestimable love ; impress them with their duty to each other as brethren, and their obliga- tions to the various relations of human life; and finally, bless our beloved Order throughout the globe. Preserve its principles and purposes from innovation ; sustain it from the shafts of enmity — protect it from self-immolation, and shield it from all evil, and unto Thee we shall render the praise forever. Amen,* [The form of prayer adopted, with Funeral Address, and the Ceremony, is left optional with Lodges or Encampments, whether they use it or none; the form prescribed to be used, if any.] ^The Funeral Ode, together with the sentence commencing "We now commit," etc., are no part of the regular Funeral Ceremony, and may be omitted. 12 ORDER OF PROCESSION. ORDER OF PROCESSION. Marshal. Outside Guardian. Scene Supporter. Scene Supporter. Brethren of the Initiatory. '' White Degree. Pink Blue " Green '' Assistant Scarlet " Marshal. Past Grands. Inside Guardian. Permanent Secretary. — Treasurer. — Secretary. R. S.— V. G.— L. S. Assistant Ward. — Chaplain. — Con. Marshal. R. S.— N. G.— L. S. Upon arriving at the place of destination, the procession will halt and open to the right and left, until they come to the N. G., who will pass be- tween the two lines, and they will close in the rear and follow.