St. John the Baptist & Contemplation
Winter Park No. 239's 2025 St. John's Day Breakfast Keynote Address
On June 28th, 2025, I had the honor of serving as the keynote speaker for Winter Park No. 239’s annual St. John’s Day Breakfast. This cherished tradition, which has been conducted for over 70 years, features a breakfast for attendees, a humorous ceremony welcoming our newly elected Junior Grand Warden, a keynote address, and a rededication to the Master Mason obligation. While the breakfast is open to the public, the remainder of the program is reserved for Master Masons.
The event coincides with June 24th, which Freemasons recognize as St. John’s Day, honoring St. John the Baptist. Alongside St. John the Evangelist, who is celebrated on December 27th, these two figures are regard as the patron saints of Freemasonry. They are recognized not primarily for their religious significance, but for the exemplary virtues and character they represent.
In my address, I explored the connection between St. John the Baptist and the contemplative path, highlighting how Freemasonry’s Craft Degrees (Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason) mirror the Medieval threefold process of contemplation, which ultimately guides the seeker toward union with the Divine.
The address was warmly received, and in response to requests from brothers who wished to revisit it, I am sharing the text for its potential educational value.
I have made minor edits to the original address and included citations where appropriate.
St. John the Baptist & Contemplation
On June 24th, Freemasons celebrate St. John the Baptist, honoring one of the patron saints of our fraternity. As a Masonic figure, he embodies virtue, commitment, and faith. He is also regarded as an exemplar who prepared the way for the coming of Light. From a symbolic perspective, we may view him as the forerunner to the “Golden Dawn” referenced in the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.
Known as the voice of the wilderness, St. John the Baptist may also be viewed as a figure of contemplation.
Before becoming the prophet who stood firm in his convictions and ultimately gave his life for them, he lived a solitary life. He lived a life that we may call deeply contemplative.
In the medieval Christian tradition, contemplation was a profoundly spiritual practice wherein the individual quietly focused the mind on God or Divine truths. This path unfolded through a three-step process: purgatio (purification), illuminatio (illumination), and unitio (union with the Divine).
This same process that instilled preparation, purification, and purpose in the life of our great patron saint is similarly explored in our Craft Degrees.
In the Entered Apprentice degree, the initiate is introduced to a moral and ethical paradigm. It provides the foundation upon which the initiate is to build his spiritual temple, while also teaching the restraints necessary for life both within the Craft and in the profane world. It is here where the initiate is taught that the ways of virtue are beautiful.
In the Fellowcraft degree, which our Grand Lodge #205 Fellow Craft Booklet refers to as the “Masonry of the Mind,” the initiate is charged with undergoing a liberal education. Through this, the initiate seeks to better understand himself, the world he inhabits, and the nature of his relationship with it (2). It is here where the initiate learns that knowledge is attained by degrees.
Finally, in the Master Mason degree, the initiate confronts mortality. He is charged to remain faithful in his obligations, even when faced with the unknown. It is through this that the initiate learns that true wisdom arises from the deepest challenges, including that of overcoming death. In this degree, the initiate learns that wisdom dwells with contemplation; therefore, we should seek it.
Before St. John the Baptist prepared his followers, he prepared himself through silence. So too are we, as Freemasons, called to dwell in silence. Not just to memorize and repeat, but to contemplate and integrate. In doing so, we begin to uncover the Divine Nature that has inspired the greatest sages throughout history.
In Matthew 3:11, St. John the Baptist declares: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I… he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”
This affirms his role as a preparatory figure and a spiritual initiator. It also reminds Freemasons of our transformative work. For while the Craft gives us the tools to shape a better life, it is contemplation that guides us through the fire of transmutation.
St. John the Baptist understood what all true initiates come to know: purification precedes illumination, and wisdom only blossoms in the stillness of contemplation.
So, the next time you find yourself troubled, uncertain, and in search of light in the quarries, pause. Sit in silence. And there, in the quiet temple of your heart, remember the words from our opening charge:
“The ways of Virtue are beautiful.
Knowledge is attained by degrees.
Wisdom dwells with contemplation; therefore, we should seek it” (Florida Masonic Monitor, p. 14).