| St. Johns Masonic Lodge No 788 Cairncastle. (Province of Antrim) |
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| The Holy Saints John have been a part of Freemasonry for centuries. The ancient guilds or trade unions of England each had its patron saint. The patron saint of the hatters, for example, was St. Clement; St. Crispin was the patron saint of the shoemakers. The patron saint of the stonemasons was St. John the Baptist. When Speculative Masonry evolved, St. John the Baptist under-standably became the patron saint of the Freemasons. He was a man of humility and virtue, a man who steadfastly kept his obligations to God, principles that are upheld in the teachings of the Craft. |
| The feast day of St. John the Baptist is June 24 and was celebrated annually by Masons in the British Isles. In 1725, the feast day of St. John the Evangelist on December 27 became the annual feast day of the Grand Lodge of England. St. John the Evangelist, like St. John the Baptist, is a patron saint of Freemasonry. He embodies not only the brotherhood of man, but is the "bringer of light,"that which is the deity within each man. Neither of the Holy Saints John was a Freemason. In colonial America, Masonic elections were frequently held twice a year on the Holy Saints John Days. |
| THE SIGNIFICANCE OF "St. JOHN" |
| JOHN THE BAPTIST (by Sansovino.) |
| JOHN THE EVANGELIST (by Donatello.) |