Communication

The meeting of a Lodge is so called. There is a peculiar significance in this term. "To communicate," which, in the Old English form, was "to common," originally meant to share in common with others.

The great sacrament of the Christian church, which denotes a participation in the mysteries of the religion and a fellowship in the church, is called a "communion," which is fundamentally the same as a "communication," for he who partakes of the communion is said "to communicate." Hence, the meetings of Masonic Lodges are called communications, to signify that it is not simply the ordinary meeting of a society for the transaction of business, but that such meeting is the fellowship of men engaged in a common pursuit, and governed by a common principle, and that there is therein a communication or participation of those feelings and elements that constitute a true brotherhood.

The communications of Lodges are regular or stated and special or emergent.
Regular communications are held under the provision of the by-laws, but special communications are called by order of the Master. It is a regulation that no special communication can alter, amend, or rescind the proceedings of a regular communication.

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This page is adapted from the Glossary at Phoenixmasonry — Used with permission.

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