The Elect Lady - Electa |
The scene of the fifth Star Point is laid in Asia Minor, a peninsula lying between the Black Sea on the north and the Mediterranean Sea on the south. On the west coast of the peninsula in Lydian, near the mouth of the Cayster river, situated on high ground of a fertile plain, is Ephesus, the residence of Saint John from about 67 A.D. to the end of his life. Except for occasional visits to established churches in Asia Minor, St. John most probably rarely went out from Ephesus. Asia Minor is a region of extraordinary fertility and beauty, but has bee ruined by centuries of waste and misgovernment. The exact date of the writing of the Epistle is not known, but is placed between 85 - 95 A.D. Our information concerning Electa is based, for the most part on Maonic tradition. She was born and brought up in Asia Minor and, naturally, reared under the principles of paganism. She seems to have been well advanced in years when the edict of the Roman Government was issued against the followers of Christ. It is quite apparent that she was converted to the Christian faith under the preaching of St. Paul. Furthermore, she appears to have been a very influential woman in her community. She apparently spent her income in relieving the poor; devoted much time to the care of the and kept open house for the indigent and hungry travelers. Benevolence seems to have been the great passion of her life -- she sought out those who were lost and ministered to them. The Christian religion, as we have endeavored to make clear, had become quite obnoxious to the people, and pressure was brought upon the Roman government for some action. Electa's mansion was said to have been the most splendid in the province. The edict of the Roman Government was issued against everyone who professed the religion of Christ. All Christians were bound to renounce it under penalty of death. Soldiers were enjoined to execute the law without mercy. All those suspected of holding the Christian faith were commanded to trample upon the cross that was handed to them as a testimony of their renunciation. Electa absolutely refused to comply with the edict. She spurned the test and said that she would never renounce her religion. She and her family were forthwith cast into a dungeon for twelve months, at the end of which time the judge appeared and offered her another opportunity to recant from Christianity, and again she refused. Thereupon she was dragged forth and savagely scourged nigh to death. They were then taken in oxcarts to the nearest hill where she and her family, one by one, were nailed to the cross. She was the last of the family to be crucified, and thus witnessed the tragic death of her husband and children. She may well have uttered with her expiring breath, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." She professed her faith to the whole world, although she knew what reproaches, persecutions even unto death, that she must undergo for the stand that she took. It meant the loss of good name, wealth, of means of doing good, of liberty, of husband and children, and of life itself. Yet she was willing to undergo all these things for the love of Christ and for the Christian religion in which she showed the most implicit faith. What a rich heritage is hers! "For we know that if our earthly house of the tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." |
ELECTA
Her gentle smile and yielding heart |
TO ELECTA
The beautiful hands of our Master |
(Unless specified, written by Mark Keller/Dianna Gillard (Mass. Grand Chapter). Printed by permission.)
The picture of Electa extending hospitality and food to the poor man is one of the beautiful paintings of our Star Points painted on the ceiling of the State Room at the International Temple in Washington, D. C. by local artist Eric Adkins (1996). Each Star Point is painted on one of the major panels in the ceiling. The several emblems and flowers represented by our heroines are painted on smaller panels. Members are invited to visit the Temple at 1618 New Hampshire Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. |