So Mote It Be by Mike Miller, Junior Warden
Why do Freemasons end their prayers with βSo mote it beβ? We may ask ourselves, what do these words mean, and where did they originate?
Mote is an Old English verb meaning may or might (βmayβ is more indicative of present time and βmightβ of past time). Therefore βSo mote it beβ means βSo may it beβ or more briefly βSo be itβ.
The earliest Masonic reference of βSo mote it beβ traces back to the Regis Poem of 1390. This oldest known Masonic document describes the duties of lodge members and contains a charge to which every Mason was required to pledge on his admission to the fraternity. The charge ends with the famous lines:
Amen! Amen! So mote it be!
So say we all for charity.
This ancient tradition, more than 600 years old, comes to us from the time when Masonry was truly operative and our brethren actually cut and laid stone. Our fraternity was founded on these strong principals, passed down from our operative forbearers and now carried forth in our modern speculative practice.
Fraternally,
Mike Miller,
Junior Warden
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