Walk into Henry Lodge No. 57. No, it’s not an underground room with giant stone walls and candlelit lanterns. No gauntlets of blood. No creepy robed men. No Gregorian chanting echoing from far corners, nor any hushed tones being passed around over hand-covered mouths. Nothing screams sinister.
What you will find, rather, is an ordinary, average-sized, split-level building in the corner of a respectable neighborhood in Fairfax City.
“The saying goes that freemasonry makes good men better,” says Chris Chrzanowski, a Worshipful Master of the Henry Lodge No. 57 on Oak Place. Freemason members gathered to welcome guests at their monthly meeting in February.
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Freemasons and visitors head downstairs, into a fluorescent-lit room with row tables and plastic chairs, like any you’d find in a cafeteria. Row after row of pictures of past and present freemasons hang on the walls. Upstairs there's a big carpeted room with wood-paneled walls, cushioned seats around the entire perimeter, and a drape-covered table in the middle of the room. On the table lay three books: the Bible, the Quran, and the Torah.
Around the room you hear the gurgling of conversations, voices that inflect their smiles, and eruptions of laughter bursting in patches here and there. Nothing but kind eyes and attentive ears. Men in suits and button-downs fill the room.
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“Character is everything we are and everything we hope to be,” Chrzanowski continues. He adds that character is what we know about ourselves, and reputation is what others say about us. The significance of respect to them is palpable.
Freemasonry can be summed up as being about the simplest and most wholesome of ideas in life: character, community and camaraderie. They convene to share experiences with these as their underlying themes. When they gather, it’s to support each other as friends and to help their community as neighbors.
Community involvement is an integral part of freemasonry. Their contributions span the gamut of charities.
To be a member, however, one must be male and have a belief in a Supreme Being.
“[It is about] proving something beyond comprehension and control," says Chrzanowski. "It’s about the necessity of accountability.”
What isn’t important, however, is an affiliation with any religion. The process of joining involves three stages, called degrees: Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason. The highest degree possible is Master Mason, though further supplemental, non-promotional degrees can be acquired.
Women also get involved. Freemasons consider the all-female Order of the Eastern Star as the available equivalent.
There are roughly 175 members of the Fairfax City lodge. They stand along with about 40,000 in Virginia. Meetings are held the second Tuesday of every month, the beginning portion of which is open to the public. Also local to the area is the new Patriot Lodge at George Mason University.
“True really close friends I can depend on I can find at the lodge,” says Chrzanowski. “I can come and just socialize and relax.”
