Funeral Service

This service is designated exclusively for the home, church or cemetery, and is distinct from the formal Memorial Service.

Required Parts: Master Councilor: M.C.; Senior Councilor: S.C.; Junior Councilor: J.C.; Senior Deacon: S.D.; Marshal: Mar.; Chaplain: Ch.

Required Paraphernalia: None

Officers take positions shown on Diagram 3.

M.C. Brethren and friends, as members of the Order of DeMolay we are gathered to pay tribute to the memory of a departed brother, taken from our ranks while the morning sun was still upon his face. We are gathered to testify to his virtues - to offer the consolation of his fine ideals that he professed. Death is universal and to it all ages are as one. But death also is the beginning of a new life - a life with God who gave to us an earthly body with which to serve Him for awhile. Today is a time for sadness, but it is also a time for rejoicing, knowing that our brother has completed the earthly time given to him and has returned to live forever in that world that has no end.

Suggested music cue:

M.C. Brother Marshal, what consolation do you bring in this hour of sorrow?

Mar. Our brother knocked at the portals of our Order as a stranger and became a friend and comrade. I bring the consolation of a life before with the everlasting gates have opened wide to receive one who was true to all demands of comradeship and brotherhood.

M.C. Brother Senior Deacon, what consolation do you bring?

S.D. My office is symbolic of companionship and from that station I bring the consolation of an intimacy which will always be cherished by the comrades of our departed brother. He attended us faithfully at all times, and I bring the consolation of an endless journey along the pathway of eternity.

M.C. The East is symbolic of the morning of life and from the station of a rising sun I bring the consolation of youth that began so well the journey now so ultimately ended. I bring the consolation of obligation to which our brother was true, of trusts to which he was faithful, of morning years which fulfilled their promise until death halted the footsteps that pressed so eagerly toward manhood.

M.C. Brother Junior Councilor, what consolation do you bring?

J.C. From the station of the meridian sun, I bring the consolation of approaching manhood which, though never reached, was bright with the promise of the noontime. Our brother wore worthily the Crown of Youth while it rested on his brow. He was a good son; he had reverent faith in the goodness of God; he loved his country as a loyal citizen; his life was clean in word and deed; he was a trusted comrade; he was faithful to every ideal; his life was gentle with courtesy and he displayed all the virtues which our Order enjoins. Had he lived to wear the crown of manhood he would have worn it with honor. I bring the consolation of this certainty that only death left unfilled.

M.C. Brother Senior Councilor, what consolation do you bring?

S.C. The West is symbolic of the eve of life and I bring form the station of the setting sun, the consolation of a journey ended, a life well-lived, of a faith founded on the rock of everlasting days. I bring the consolation of that faith that knows no years, for our brother dwells in the city four-square, where suns neither rise nor set, for the Lamb of God the light thereof. I bring the sweetest consolation of all - the assurance of the holiest promises of our faith, the attainment of the goal of all our striving, the reward of all hopes. Our brother's life, cut off in its morning years, is glorified with duties well-performed and upon shines the splendor of everlasting light.

M.C. My brothers, the consolation we bring at this hour must lighten the grief which we all must feel. To those who were nearest and dearest to our departed brother, we extend our sorrowing sympathy. Words cannot lessen their sense of irreplaceable loss. We can only commend them to the infinite love and pity of the universal Father, with the hopes that in the years to come, the remembrance that our brother was worthy of comradeship of our Order and deserved the commendation of all good me will be a solace to them in bereavement that can never be forgotten.

Suggested music cue:

If the service is not at the grave, M.C. will announce that it will be concluded at the cemetery. If the entire ceremony is conducted at the grave there will be no break in the service.

M.C. Brother Chaplain, you will lead us in prayer.

Ch. Our Father, the soul of our departed brother is with Thee. We commit him to Thy loving kindness and beseech Thee to send the peace of Thine infinite love to those to whom our brother was nearest and dearest. May they find comfort in the remembrance of his virtues; and may we know him in the comradeship of our Chapter gain anew inspiration from his life. May we go from this place reconsecrated to the ideals of good sonship and may we strive as never before to be worthy of our Order. Amen.

ALL Amen.

M.C. May the holy inspiration of this hour abide with us and may we exemplify in our lives the virtues which we have praised in our brother's life, so that we may deserve the tributes we have paid this day to the memory of him. Amen.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, the M.C. and J.C. move toward center position of casket with others following ( all facing casket). M.C. and J.C. turn around and retire with others following in pairs as shown on Diagram 3.