Volume of Sacred Law (VSL) is the Masonic term for whatever religious or philosophical texts are displayed during a Lodge meeting.
In English-speaking countries, this is most often the King James Version of the Bible or another standard translation of the Bible. If a Lodge has non-Christian members, other texts may be used, and in Lodges with a membership of mixed religions it is common to find more than one sacred text displayed. Every candidate is given his choice of religious text for his Obligation according to his beliefs.
One of the most notable individual VSLs is the George Washington Inaugural Bible. It belongs to St. John's Lodge No. 1 in New York City and has been used at its meetings since 1767. It is famous, however, for being the Bible used at the first inauguration of George Washington as President of the United States. It was also used (sometimes in conjunction with another Bible) for the Presidential inaugurations of Warren Harding, Dwight Eisenhower, George H. W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter.
Famous quotes containing the words volume of, volume, sacred and/or law:
“Thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain
Unmixed with baser matter.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“A big leather-bound volume makes an ideal razorstrap. A thin book is useful to stick under a table with a broken caster to steady it. A large, flat atlas can be used to cover a window with a broken pane. And a thick, old-fashioned heavy book with a clasp is the finest thing in the world to throw at a noisy cat.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“A hidden strength
Which if Heav’n gave it, may be term’d her own:
‘Tis chastity, my brother, chastity:
She that has that, is clad in compleat steel,
And like a quiver’d Nymph with Arrows keen
May trace huge Forests, and unharbour’d Heaths,
Infamous Hills, and sandy perilous wildes,
Where through the sacred rayes of Chastity,
No savage fierce, Bandite, or mountaneer
Will dare to soyl her Virgin purity,”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
““If the law supposes that,” said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, “the law is a ass—a idiot. If that’s the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is, that his eye may be opened by experience—by experience.””
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)