Table of Contents

A. McBride
  1. A Prayer Song by Fr. Alfred McBride, OPraem
  2. The Working Tools by A.S. McBride
  3. Notes on identities


[Emessay Notes, a newsletter put out by the Masonic Service Association, carried the following untitled prayer in its Jan.2007 issue, noting that it had been sung at the Grand Masters Banquets in both 2001 and 2006.
okl.]
This prayer is to be sung to the tune of Edelweiss.

Prayer

Bless our friends,
Bless our food,
Come, O Lord, and sit with us.
Make our talk
Glow with peace
Come with your love surround us.
Friendship and Peace,
May they bloom and grow forever.
Bless our friends,
Bless our food,
Bless our homeland forever.
Amen.


[This was found in a small book entitled "Fraternal Poetry and Prose" (1950, 96p.).
okl.]

The Working Tools

Go, work on mind and matter now,
A Master raised to power art thou,
Impress on each and all you can
Wise Heaven's eternal Temple-plan.
As on a trestle-board portray
The great Design, from day to day;
And build, in silence rever'ntly,
The temple of Humanity.

Note: These are almost certainly two different people, but that wasn't known when this page was first set up, and it doesn't seem worthwhile to separate them now, since we don't have a lot of material on either one.


Fr. Alfred McBride, O. Praem.

a biography of Fr. McBride is available here.
He was ordained in 1953 and is (as of c.2006) still alive. Since he is a Catholic priest, it's highly unlikely that he's also a Mason


A.S. McBride

An A.S. McBride was Grand Master of the Texas Grand Lodge in the 1930's. Unfortunately, that was the Grand Lodge of Machinists! A more likely A.S. McBride was the author of the book "Speculative Freemasonry" in 1922. His son, Bro. Andrew McBride of Glasgow, wrote an article based on his late father's notes October 1925, so A.S. must have died by that date.