Brethren all,

I was a third of my current age younger back on that cold March morning a few years after the turn of the century. I found myself waiting to be admitted into a fraternity that I had long thought about but for several years had put off taking the step to journey in that direction – until that moment. The voice that asked “repeat after me” was distinctive and at the time I had no idea that those words would change my life forever. When it was all said and done, I felt the warm sentiments of those who were now my brothers congratulating me on the step that I had just taken. I met many new men and was informed that the brother whose voice guided me through my obligation was a Brigadier General – a man of character – that the fraternity was fortunate to have in our midst.

Nearly two decades later, little did I know that I would have the opportunity over that long period of time to get to know this gentle giant of a man and benefit from his stellar example, unwavering commitment to our Masonic values, steadfast fortitude in the midst of great challenges, impeccable common sense and poignant insight always accompanied by words of wisdom. Now my brothers, we are only a few short months away from having him lead our fraternity as our next Grand Master. To my brother and friend, Rick Baccus, congratulations!! Thank you for serving our great fraternity in your many distinguished roles over the past two decades. I know that I speak for everyone reading these words when I say that we are looking forward to your leadership as our next Grand Master. Ad multos Annos - and always count on my support for you.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate those brothers who were elected to accompany our Grand Master-elect during his term of office. Like me, he is so very fortunate to have an outstanding Grand Council in the persons of R∴W∴ Gilbert J. Fontes, Jr. as our new Deputy Grand Master, R∴W∴ Eric E. Grist as our new Senior Grand Warden and our new and stellar Junior Grand Warden R∴W∴ Stephan H. Saraidarian. These men have greatly distinguished themselves as they have traveled throughout the districts, have gotten to know so many of you and you have seen fit to elect them to serve you over the next several years. The Grand Council also continues to benefit from the years-long commitment of perhaps two of the most accomplished brothers ever to sit on those Grand Chairs – our Grand Secretary R∴W∴Ronald P. Reed and our Grand Treasurer R∴W∴ Michael B. Barboza. These brothers have laid a foundation for future success by enabling our fraternity to venture wisely and steadily into the next several years. My brothers, I hope you can appreciate the incredible Grand Council that you have elected. I know that I am excited for their leadership and the contributions that they currently make to our fraternity as well as the many ways that they will “craft our Craft” to prepare the way for the future by their present endeavors.

Reaping the Benefits of Your Labors

As you are all aware by now, our jurisdiction’s Five-Year Plan continues to incarnate those ideas and plans which you, my brothers, indicated you were looking for from our Grand Jurisdiction. Taking our lead from you, guided by your wise advice and the consensus of the Craft, we continue to press forward with taking steps to improve the path of our fraternity in Rhode Island. The Five Year plan is easily accessed at the end of the Grand Master’s Protocol. Under the Guidance of the Director of Masonic Education, R∴W∴ Timothy Culhane and especially due to the hard work of Forum Director Randy Boone, the first of four Leadership Training Sessions was put on by Grand Lodge in late September. It says a lot about our fraternity that almost twice as many brothers that pre-registered showed up for the two-hour training focusing on preparing Wardens for their journey to the East as well as Masters currently in the role. The workshop was very well received and we expect more brothers to take advantage of these additional trainings over the next several months.

We were also able to share Decision 104 personally with the secretaries that now enables and empowers all lodge secretaries in our Grand Jurisdiction to utilize the same electronic database for record keeping. We have a great tool in Grand View, which not only assists us with memorializing years of data in electronic format, but also to track membership information, as well as assist with inquiries into our fraternity in a secure, protected and safe format. A special word of thanks is owed to R∴W∴ Stephan H. Saraidarian for providing Grand View training during that secretary’s special meeting. My brothers, your lodge Secretaries are dedicated brothers who are eager to learn and bring our fraternity steadily into the future.

I take this opportunity to thank R∴W∴ Mike Southern for his work in maintaining our database and for his ongoing communication with Grand View, which is the Masonic, electronic system used by over 80 percent of Grand Jurisdictions in our country and is also expanding into Canada and growing in popularity in South America. In addition, you may have noticed that we have also enacted some Website enhancements to our Grand Lodge home page. We now have a blog called The Anchor that explores many and varied Masonic topics. A word of thanks is owed to our Public Relations Committee under the chairmanship of R∴W∴ Jack Anderson and also W∴ Edgardo Gonzalez-Lopez, the Senior Warden of Logia Libertad Lodge No. 50 for inaugurating this new blog. Further website enhancements are coming – so stay tuned!

Your Grand Master, Grand Master-Elect and Grand Secretary also had an opportunity to meet with virtually all lodge secretaries at the Secretaries Guild Meeting in late October. This organization, which exists to serve as a resource to assist lodge secretaries with their work and share ideas about their roles, has begun to blossom under the leadership of W∴ Bob Kempf and his newly elected officers. I was truly impressed with the number of Worshipful Masters who were present at the meeting in support of their secretaries. As a former lodge Secretary, I have always said that fulfilling that role is not hard work, but it is A LOT of work and those who serve in this capacity should be thanked for all that they do for their lodges. I had an opportunity to speak with those gathered at the meeting and share some thoughts about what lodges need to consider when electing a secretary. Not everyone can do that job, so it is incumbent upon every lodge to give due consideration relative to a brother’s talents, flexibility and demeanor when electing him to that position. We are truly blessed in our Grand Jurisdiction to have many talented brothers sitting in the lodge Secretary Chair.

Sowing the Seeds of Wisdom The Past

One of the great benefits of being Grand Master is the ability to have as a critical resource, the years of wisdom and experience that resides in the Past Grand Masters of our Grand Jurisdiction. Last month, I was able to break bread with over a dozen of our past Grand Masters and have a lively discussion of where we are as a fraternity and what we might be able to do for Freemasonry in the future.

Of course, these accomplished brothers have all sat in the Grand East and each of them experienced different challenges and successes. However, they all bring something to the table for consideration and continue to be an important sounding board for your Grand Master. I was happy to be with them and truly appreciate their frank discussion and tremendous support of our Grand Lodge and Freemasonry in general.

Your past Grand Masters truly are a distinguished group that I continue to admire and utilize for advice as we progress forward in our Grand Jurisdiction’s path.

The Present

As Grand Master, one is invited to attend the Annual Communications of other Grand Lodges. We are always grateful for the presence of so many distinguished Grand

Officers from many Jurisdictions that attend our Annual Meeting every May. In like manner, we too want to support Grand Lodge officers in other jurisdictions by accepting invitations to support and celebrate with them.

Your Grand Master was honored to have been invited to the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Portugal in September and congratulate M∴W∴ Armindo Acevedo on completing six years as Grand Master as well as welcome M∴W∴ Paulo Rola in his new role in the Grand East. Freemasonry in Europe is alive and well and I had the opportunity to witness 800 plus brothers from 47 countries in five continents participate in an annual meeting held in four different languages. We are truly a universal brotherhood and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be present.

A few weeks later, we participated in the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Delaware, which was also a very meaningful event. Perhaps no other state in the country shares the similarities of Freemasonry like Rhode Island and Delaware. We are the smallest states and have the same number of lodges. We were pleased to witness M∴W∴ Ronald P. Ferraro bestow the Grand Lodge of Delaware’s highest honor to our very own Right Worshipful Grand Secretary Brother Ronald P. Reed. He has made our fraternity very proud that his role here in Rhode Island is recognized by other Grand Jurisdictions. It is important to note that he received this award – which is usually reserved to past Grand Masters – as a Grand Secretary. To R∴W∴ Reed we extend our most sincere congratulations on this great honor.

The Future

In our last issue, I noted that we were truly pleased to have supported our Rainbow Girls at their Annual Assembly and witnessed firsthand the presence of so many Freemasons at their meeting. In September, I was also able to be present at the DeMolay Conclave. As is always the case, I was truly impressed with the ceremonies, demeanor and character of our DeMolay men. A special word of thanks is owed to Bro. Michael Lawson for all of his labors as the Executive Officer for DeMolay. He has passed the torch to no stranger to DeMolay, W∴ James Oglivie. Both of these men – and all the other brothers who serve as DeMolay Dads - are owed a debt of gratitude for the time, talent and treasure that they share with young men in our community. DeMolay has had such a profound effect upon so many and it is always heartwarming whenever one of them takes the step of joining the fraternity of Freemasons once they are eligible. It is always a joy to see our youth prepare the way. They are not only our future, they are our present and serve as examples among their own peers of what it means to be an upright youth in our society imbued with the virtues necessary to develop and exemplify an upstanding character.

Speaking of “Dad” James Oglivie, your Grand Council was honored to have been present to congratulate our new DeMolay Executive Officer at his Testimonial Dinner in great appreciation for the work he completed as the Grand Commander of Knights Templar and the Appendant Orders of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He was also honored to have the presence of the Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Bro.George F. Hamilton to offer words of congratulations as well. I have known our Right Eminent Past Grand Commander for many years as we progressed through Commandery Line together. He is a Sir Knight like no other. We were pleased to present him our Jurisdiction’s “Bearer of Light” award for all the work he did as Grand Commander over the past year. A word of thanks is owed to this distinguished brother for all that he had done – and continues to do - for Freemasonry.

Traveling

My brothers, it has been truly heartwarming to have so many of you join with me as I conduct official visitations to the Districts. Your Grand Master’s first visit this year was to the Northern District and was hosted by Mount Moriah Lodge No. 8. A special word of thanks is owed to Worshipful Hector Calderon for the outstanding hospitality he provided. The program, which was put on by the Grand Marshal’s father, gave us an inside look into the behind the scenes operations of major sporting events, as well as other major global occurrences of which he has been a part. I would like to extend a word of gratitude to R∴W∴ Brandt’s dad for sitting among us and sharing his stories. Your Grand Master’s visit to the Metropolitan District took place at Redwood Lodge No. 35. Once again, a special word of thanks is owed to W∴Benjamin Sholes for his hospitality that evening. The program was a very informative look at the world of scam artists and what we can do to prevent being victimized by them. A special word of thanks is owed to W∴ Andrew Brown for facilitating the speaker. As always, it was great to have the ladies with us that evening.

When I was the District Deputy Grand Master of the Central District in 2017-2018, my very first district event was being present at a lodge meeting in the middle of the woods – some place that Manchester Lodge No. 12 calls “The Stone.” I recall taking that hike into the forest and meeting at this unique place while caterpillars cascaded down upon my garb and top hat. It was a “memorable” experience in that regard. However, during that meeting, a more memorable event took place - a brand new Freemason exemplified his proficiency and I was truly impressed. This same brother sent me a very heart-felt and thoughtful email on the eve of my installation as Grand Master asking if I could be present at his installation as Worshipful Master of his lodge. As such, it was an honor for me to attend Manchester’s Annual Communication and witness the installation of Worshipful Norman Neveux. W∴ Neveux has a great group of officers in the lodge and I look forward to his year in the East.

History

My brothers, I want to thank so many of you that made the trip to East Providence in late October to celebrate with us the 100th Anniversary and Rededication Ceremony of the Laying of the Cornerstone of Freemasons’ Hall.

Originally constructed as the lodge building for Rising Sun Lodge No. 30, it was sold to the Grand Lodge several decades ago and is now the physical home of the offices of our Grand Jurisdiction. Much preparation went into putting on that event and a great word of thanks is owed to R∴W∴ Jack Anderson and his committee for all the hard work they did over the four months of planning and preparation. We are grateful for the presence of the media for recording the event as well as live streaming it. We are also indebted to have had members of the Kilwinning Club present, as well as a guest bagpiper in our midst.

A special word of thanks is also owed to Overseas Lodge No. 40 for presenting the colors for that occasion. As you know, we were blessed to have the presence of no less than three current Grand Masters from other Jurisdictions in our midst. I could think of no better way to mark this historic occasion than the bestowal of Honorary Grand Master of

Rhode Island to M∴W∴ Edward C. Page of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, M∴W∴ Daniel R. Hotchkiss of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire and M∴W∴ Donald W. Pratt of the Grand Lodge of Maine. Their presence in our midst helped to solemnize the event. We were also very pleased that the Mayor of East Providence, the Hon. Roberto L. DaSilva was present for this historic occasion in the life of your Grand Lodge. I know that there are others who I should thank – but there are limits to what we can write in an article. To all of you, I also say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Finally my brothers, by the time you are reading this, we will have elected a new President for our country. Whatever the outcome, we must always remain true to our tenets to be the upright men we have vowed to be. We cannot utilize our personal social media soapboxes to provide commentary of a personal nature that is un-Masonic. Our political preferences should never be used to divide or separate us. We may have differing views, but our arms should never be removed from our brother’s shoulder and our firm handshakes need to continue to be genuine.

We learn in our Masonic teachings that while humanity often focuses on outward appearances, our Great Creator looks at the heart. The heart needs to love first before all things are considered. Freemasons do not use words to tear down. Freemasons are in the business of building. Nowhere in our teachings do we find mention of wrecking balls used to tear down buildings or razing an edifice. Rather, we are taught to be cornerstones of our families and communities, we are charged to uplift each other, spread that cement of brotherly love to bind us together – to be an example of unity in a divided world. True power does not reside in any one person or position in our world. Nothing is more powerful than love. Love is our destiny, love is our means and love is our goal.

Lady Beth and I wish you and your families a very peace-filled, joyous and loving Holiday Season – from our hearts to yours.

Fraternally,
Andre H. Faria, Jr. Grand Master