Review for Religious - Issue 06.5 (September 1947)

Issue 6.5 of the Review for Religious, 1947.

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Review for Religious - Issue 06.5 (September 1947)
author_facet Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus
author_sort Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus
title Review for Religious - Issue 06.5 (September 1947)
title_short Review for Religious - Issue 06.5 (September 1947)
title_full Review for Religious - Issue 06.5 (September 1947)
title_fullStr Review for Religious - Issue 06.5 (September 1947)
title_full_unstemmed Review for Religious - Issue 06.5 (September 1947)
title_sort review for religious - issue 06.5 (september 1947)
description Issue 6.5 of the Review for Religious, 1947.
publisher Saint Louis University Libraries Digitization Center
publishDate 1947
url http://cdm17321.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/rfr/id/180
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spelling sluoai_rfr-180 Review for Religious - Issue 06.5 (September 1947) Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus Jesuits -- Periodicals; Monasticism and religious orders -- Periodicals. Kelly Issue 6.5 of the Review for Religious, 1947. 1947-09-15 2012-05 PDF RfR.6.5.1947.pdf rfr-1940 BX2400 .R4 Copyright U.S. Central and Southern Province, Society of Jesus. Permission is hereby granted to copy and distribute individual articles for personal, classroom, or workshop use. Please credit Review for Religious and reference the volume, issue, and page number and cite Saint Louis University Libraries as the host of the digital collection. Saint Louis University Libraries Digitization Center text eng Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus --" t Presence of Mary . ¯ .. ..... T.~N. ’J~rgensen , ,, I~,: ~Books Reviewed Communications ~uesfnons Answered ~ VOLUME Vi ~ " SEPTEMBER, 1947 ’ f- -" NUMBER o, CONTENTS, _ EX PE ~OPEP, ATO--Clarence M~Auliff S.J ...... " ¯ ¯ i-.. VOCATION BOOKLETS ....... ~ .......... 271 -"PRIESTS’ DAY"--J. Putz. S.J ...." ........ ~. . 272 THE PRESENCE OF MARYT. N. Jorgensen, S.J ....... , .... 277 ~ OUR C,ONTRIBUTORS ................ 282e CONDITIONS FOR i-IEA~RING A MASS OE OBLIGATION-- Gerald Kelly, S.J. . . ~ ......... "INCLINE UNTO MY AID, 0 GOD"~Richard L. Rooney. S.J. ~ MASTERPIECE ON’GRACE~II " 305 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS~ 24._ Religious Gives Scandal before School Children /. ...... 306 " " 25. CaIIing Doctor when Sister Dies Suddenly .......... 26. Confidential Communications to be Kept Secret ....... -310 - COMMUNICATIONS ................... BOOK REVIEWS~ - ~ The Sacred Heart of Jesus; The Life ~f Christ; Difficult Star 31 ~B OOK TICES ...........~.. " 320 . ....... ..REV~IEW FOR RELIGIOUS, September. 1947. Vol. ,.VI, No’. 5. Publisl~’ed l~i~- monthly; January, MarchzMay,,July, September, and November at ~the College Press, 606 Harrison Street. Topeka, Kansas, by St. Mary’s ~qllege, St. Mary~ with ecclesiastical approbation. Entered as decond class matter January,15, 19.42 at the Post Office, Topeka, Kansas, under the act of Mabch 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis. S.J..G.,Augustine Ellard, S.J.. GeraM Kelly,STd.~ Editorial Secretary: Alfred F. Schneider. S.3. Copyright, 1947, by Adam C. Ellis. Permission is hereby granted for quotations of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author~, Subscriptioti price: 2 dollars a year. Pnnted.m U? S. . Before wrltihg to us, please ~:onsult notice on Inside back cover. Ex Opere Op, erato Clarence McA,uliffe, S.J. WHEN the renowned ’theologian, Peter ~f Poitiers, ~lSenned the Latin phrase ex opere operato nearly eight~ centuries .~ago, he little realized that it would gradually be incorporated into many languages. We English-speakers are familiar with it. We come across it in various catechisms and spiritual books; and we sometime.s ~hear it from the pulpit or the retreat table. We also know-the meaning of the expression, at least in a gen~eral way.. We realize that it.applies to tile produ, cti6n of supernatural effects by certain religious rites., It signifies that these rites, as instruments of God, are vested with a ,latent,~,~.~.xtra0rdinary power so .that their divin~benefit~ exceed byfar the~ personal efforts and deserts of th~ one receiving them. They enable us to, ob~aln divine favors "for nothin~ or almost nothing. ~ Sudh,~concepts of’ex opere operato are su~bstantially true, but they need e:xpansion and clarification. A.better under-standing of the phrase, followed by reflection and prayer, may prove a stimulant to our spiritual lives. It may check the dull routine that tends to se.ttle on our reception of the sacraments of penance find the Eucharist. It may fill our hearts with that spirit of joyful thanksgiving which is such a sturdy lever to our spiritual’advancement. It may,create within us a grea.ter reverence for the aged, whose souls are fairly bursting _with ’divine grace since they have been profitin~ for so ma~ny years from those rites that confer their_blessings spontaneously/or ex opere operato. Although ~:the expre.ssion ex opere operato pertains to the Mass,as v~ell as. to the sacraments, we shall restric~ this -257 CLARENCE MCAULIFFE Review for Religious paper to the sacraments alone. Again; although the phrase sometimes~ref~rs to’-0th~r supernatural effectS, such as the .remission of ,venial sin or,temporal punishment,, it is most frequently apphed tb the p,roduction of sanctifying gra~e; and.We shall concern ourselves with this effect exclusively. In brief; we ~hhl’l try to answer the question: What cisely do we mean when we say th~it the sacraments produce san.ctffymg grace b~ opere ope’rato? ~ ~ Trafi-slated literall’;/’, the phrase rrieans ’"from the Work having b~n"wOrked." In other ~wdrds;a sacrament pro-duces ~race~ by the mere fact of its ~idministr~ation, °"from.~ th~ sacrament having been mad~ a sacrament.’" The phrase i~ opposed’to another rather ~curr~nt expressior~, ex opere operai~ti’S, which is lit~all~ translated "from th~ work of the worker." This contrast affords us the basi~ meamng of’ ex opere, ope’ratb. When grace.is obtained b37 opere ope?aRti~, ~the person himself, moved by actual grace, pro: cures sanc~tifying grace through his otob efforts and merits. But When s~,nctifying grace flows into the ~6ul ex opere operato, i5 does not come from the personal efforts arid merits 0f~ the recipient; bfit from ’the sac.rarne, f~tal r~te ~itself. He~nce a" sacrament confers grace att~orna~ically" or spori-tar~ eousty, ~afid either of these words ’seems to be th~ best ~ Eriglish equivalent for the Latin ex opere op~rato.,, However, it ~ould be a mistake.to c0ndude ’from this o root’ meanin~’~l~of tl~i~ ~pressibn~ that-all recipient~’,c~f ~ny sa’cram(ntqnwiriably receive sanctifying grace~’automatic~illy, withoul~ any activity or ~ooperatioh off their p~t:" ~Only in the case 6f infarits do sacraments impart grace Without any subj(ctiv~ ,activity of the re~ilbients tbemselVes~ When the-water 6f ba~ptism flows on a baby’s head; the sinews of divine grace are straigh.tway implanti~d in its sofil.- Though ¯ - the baby is iricapable of rational actix~ity, though i’t cannot ex~r~ise its~mirid and will so as to perform any acts ~f vir- 258 EX OPERE OPERATO it is nevertheless adopted soiiship ~eptember, 19~ 7 -, tue, ~h,ou~h it,.doest absolutel3; nothing; wrapped "in t~he io3~al robe. of divine through’ gra’ce~ So t6o, if a baptized baby were to be con-firmed or,to receive Holy Communion, it would receive an increase~o~~sanctifying grace from each_of these sacraments despite the fa~t that’if could make no prephration or thanks-giving., and despite its ignorance’ of the very. sacraments’. themselves. Only an infant, therefore, receives grace from a sacramen~ literally for nothing, purely and simply "from " the work ha3ring been worked." ,. Adult~, ~on the other ¯hand, never receive grace sacra-mentally without some previous adtivity of ¯mind and *ill. To begin with, a sacrament cannot even come into existence for an adult, the ";¢¢ork" cannot even be "worked," tlnless he antecedently makes an intdntion to receive it... Such an .intentiOn demands that the adult have,at least~a rudimen: _ tary hnbwledge, of the sacrament as, a sacred-Christian.rite and thathe~ resolt;e, to:accept its administr:ation. But eve~n" when an adult has such an.jritention, it,does not~lwa~ys,fc;i~ low that gra~e will come to him from.a sacrament.. Some~ thifig’ else is ~ required, as will be,clear from ,th~ fo!lowing examl31~. Let us imagine an adult C;itholic wh6is, about to approach the sacrament of confirmation. He has sufficidnt intention and the bishop orrectly,administers the e:~ternal rite: But the recipient’is, in the state of mortal sin.. He’is 0 truly confirmed, he even receives the character br seal of confirmation, but he ieceives no grace. If he repents latdr on, the grace" of the sacrament will come to him; but it will -never.come without repentance for sin.. The sacrament is not fruitful for him because he lacks a necessary subjective ;disposition, thestate of grace. To gain this state, be’must either g6,,to confession or make an act of perfect: cbntrition. - involving a resolution to go to’confession later~on’~ ~ "-_ On the other hand, if an[’.adult has n~.ver sinned seri, 259 CLARENCE MCAULIFFE "Review ~or Reliq~ous bu~ly since his baptism, no repentance is ia.ecessary for the fruitful ~ception of confirmation. Bu:t even in this case grace does not come to the adult for ~nothing, as i’~ does to ,the,infant. An adult must have an intention to rec.eive the sacrament and,"in addition, he must, at some time in his life -at lea.st, have mad, e an act of faith and an act of hope--the- _latter, may be implici’t such as ~ood Catholics ordi.narily make from time to time. Without these the-sacrament can~not produce its grace, even though it is automatic in its operation. __ Wfiat is true of confirmation-is also true of the other" four sacraments of .the living, the Eucharist, holy orders; matrimony, and also extreme unction when this. fast, sacra-ment is receivedunder ordinary conditions. All of them reqtiire both intention and ~the state of grace in their sub-jest. The¯ adult who wishes t6 profit from¯ them-must prepare himself: for their reception, atqeast to this extent. If he does not, the ex Opere oper.ato,energy_of the sacraments is effectively blocked." Indeed, not only does he fail to receiv~ any g.race, but he also commits a mortal sin of sacri-lege if he knowingly approaclSes one of these sacraments without a right intention or without purging his soul of its g.ri~vous sins. The sacraments.of, the dead, baptism" and penance, .like-’. Wise demand subjective acts on the part of. the~adult recipi-eht. Both of the~ require the formulation, of an intentiofi as do the sa, cramehts of the living. Besides, in the case of baptlsm,~ the recipient must p~evibusly make an act of faith. -~ Moreover, if the recipient has committed mortal ~sins, ¯he must repent of them, at least by an act of imperfect contri-tion. If he has never been guilty of such sins, then an inten-tion and the act of faith suffice. As regard~ penance or Con.- fession, it demands even more from the recipient than bap-tism.’ Besides his intention the penit.ent must tell his sins,~ ¯ 260 ,September, 1947 " EX OPERE OPERATO elicit at leas~ imperfect contrition for them, ~nd be willing to accept the satisfaction or penalty imposed by the priest. ;These are ~iainly subjective acts and actions, and without ¯ theH no grace will flow from the sacrament of penance. In-deed, without these acts the s~crament will not even come into existence, in the opinion of the majority of theologians. Deliberately to receive either bap~:ism or penance without their requisite dispositions, as just explained, would be to sin seriously and sacr!legi0usly since such konduct would involve the abuse of sacred instruments instituted by..God Himself. ’ It is obvious, therefore, that,ex opere operato does not mean that an adult can receive grace frorh a sacrament With-but doing ~ anything. He must have the ~requisite disposi-tion. Although this varies somewhat, as explained, accord- -ing to the sacramentto be administered ~and acc0rding~ to other circumstances, it always exacts an intention and other acts of virtue. Since this is the’case, the question naturally arises: How is it true, then’. that the sacraments confer their grace ex opere op~eraio or automatichlly? Does not the word "automatically" exclu’de th~ necessity of any subjective acts on the recipient’s part? To answer thi~ question, let us consider an example or two. Many hunters own .what is called an automatic shot-gun. This differs materially from an ordinary gun. After an ordinary gqn is fired, it must be breached, the empty shell case removed by hand or pumped out, and a fresh shell inserted. .But with an automatic gun the hunter needs only~ pu11 the trigger.. The apparatus itself-ejects the empty shell and moves a fresh one into the combustion chamber. It works "automatically," we say, but nevertheless the hunter does have to do something--he must pull the trig-ger. Take_ another example. The lights in our rooms are automatic. We push the button near the entrance and CLAREN~CE MCAULIFFE , Repie~o for Religious straightway the room is~ illuminated. Bu_tl we do have to do something’---~e must movg the, gadget .nea~r,the door. And ~yet ~e-say that the effect is automatic because th_ere is no~proportion,.between our tin.y push of the sw.itc~:and.the flood of light that follows. The apparatus itself does-the main work provided that we oursel,ves seS.. the.apparatus in motion. Herlce we see that the word "automatic)’ even~as we commonly’use’it~ does not eliminate the need of.personal o fictivity. It rather requires such acti~vity. ,And the .same holds for the sacraments. Adults must-place subjective con-ditions, or grace will never come to them from these ’divine instruments.- ,But once the conditions are placed, the grace deriving from the sacraments comes automatically.~ ¯ To clarify_otBis m.atter yet~ more, let us ~onsider other examples.~ Suppose that a manqn.the state of grace recites the, Hail Mary. He obtains an increase of sanctjfyi.ng grace from, this meritorious act of prayer. But how is this grace produc,ed? Does it come automatically? It does not. It comes, under God, solet~t from his own subjective acts, i.e., ex opere operantis. The Hail Mary is merely an. occasion, not a condition or a cause of grace. A child of four might be laudably taught to recite parrotlik_e the Hail M.~ry. Brat such a recitation would not °produce any sanc, tifying grace ix that child because the prayer in itself has not the power to confer grace. Any grace that come~ from such a~ prayer depends entireI~/, on the subjective acts of the’one praying, and the. child is incapable of any human act. On the other hand," if the same child were to be confirmed at the age~of four, grace would be conferred because confirmation has the intrinsic power in.itself to pour forth grace on an, apt f~cipient,,a baptized child. - Similarly, let us suppose that an adult Catholic is so sick that he has lost the use of reason. Due to lo..n~ habit, he mechanically recites the Hail Mary. Does he obtain" any 262 o ,$epternbe~i’o 1947 Ex OI~ERE O~ERATO grace.frorfi this prayer? None at all, becausehe is not really" praying. He is incapable of any devotion or subjective acts of virti~e while in such an unconscious state. But let us ,.jassume that the same adult is still al~le to swalloW the Sacred Host. Like Catholics generally, he has always intended to receive Viaticum when in dafiger of death. Moreover, is in th~ state of grace from a confession made five weeks ag9. At once. the sacrament of the EucHarist produces an increase of sanctifying grace in~his~soul despite the fact th~it he ~d6es not even know that he is rece_iv.ing Communion and says no.prayer °whatever, eithei before or_a.ft~r reception~ Let-him ~be given extreme .unction and again he will ~be enriched w, ith more sanctifying grace ex opere ope?ato or automatically, sincd every goo,d Cathb!ic h~is .an intention to receive; this sacrament.also When in d~inger of death, and. since .he~,i~s in. the state of. grace at the time’, of its reception, ~ These~~examples illustrate the meaning ’of ex~ opere operato by_ contrasting it w, ith ex opere operant~is.~-~ I,n, ~the latter case~the gobd work or prayer has no: intrinsic efficacy to~,produce grace.:, ,~ It merely, is an occasion c;f,,grace. The :gr~a~e .itself is procured in .its~enti,rety~by-the~ sqbject[vcacts of~the one praying ~or doing the good work. ,The sacra-, ments, on-the contrary., are imbued with a native power ~9 call down the grace of God. All ,they exact of-~,the recipient is a disi~osition, and this odisppsition oftentimes may have bee_n:engendered in the soul .before the sacrament itself is received. We ~annot set fire to sodden wood. Dryness is a con’dition for burning. ’ Neither canna sa~crament, effect its ever-present power to impart grace ~nless ,the~ recipient ,~ is properly disposed. The disposition does not. pr_qduce the grace this is ~the agency,of, the:sacrament alone; but a sacrament c~nnot ~,roduce its~blobmirig~flo~rs .of’ grace in ’the ~esert of an indisposed recipierit. ,, o, ,o W. itch so much understoo~d~we °can no~!! go on to ,a .fur- 0 ,-263 CLARENCE MCAULIFFE .- Reoieu~ [or Religious tber development ofthe°notion of ex opere~op.erato, a dev~e~l-~ opment their, is .of great~conseque~ce to all Cathc~lics but eslSeci, ally to those who are consecrated .to God. All thatwe have said so- far about the disposition required of-: o_ne who receives a sacrament ~p~rtains toowhat, theologians call the "essential." or "’passive" disposition. For sacraments_of the living tb, is passive disposition includes an intention~ and the state of grace. °For sacramei~tsoof,the dead,it entails inten-tion °together with repentance and other~ acts, as already explained~: But this passive disposition ~can be improved by the so-called "active’~ disposition, and it is precisely this attive disposition that is of primary:importance ifi our spir- ~ It is an axiom ~mong theologians that :sacraments operate after the’~fashion of natural causes. This means’, besides other ~things, that sacraments produce a ~reater or lesser°amount of:grace according to the conditiondf the recipient,, just as the amount 6f sunlight that can penetrate "within a building is conditioned on the number of win-dows, skylights: and doors, or just as rapidity of combus-° tion depends upon the degree of dryfiess-in the wood. We may compare the e~sential or passive dispositio.n of the re-cipient to a garret with but one tiny window. Some :light can enter thd:garret, but very little. Without the window, no light could find its way within. So too, without a pas-sive disposition no grace at a.ll’will result from the reception .of a sacrament. But even_with this" disposition, compara-tiveIy. littl.e grace., will be conferred. The active disposition, on the otherhand, might be likened to a sun parlor. Such ~parlors are very bright because they are adapted by ~heir spacious and mariy windows to admit more light. The more and larger the Windows, the brighter will be the sun parlor within. In a similar way, the amount of grace given automaticiqly by a sacrament will var3i according to the ~epteml;er~, 194 7 ; EX OPERE OPERATO quality of the active d, isposition of the recipient. Be this active disposition~ ever so feeble, it will nevertheless enable the ~acrament to pr~duce more grace than if he had solely ~th~ :passive d~spos~tion. ~he more fervent and energetic the~acdve disposition, the more copious will be the~amount of grace, flowing spontaneously from the sacrament. ’In Lshort, thebetter prepared a person is to receive a sacrament, "the~more abundant~the grace that he automatically obtains from that, sacrament. , The practical importance of this solid theological prin.- " ciple js,-obyious; but a significant,,q~estion .arises at once. What presisely is this active disposition? How can it improved?~ ~ ~ .. To answer these questions, it might be helpful ~to eliminate twopossible misconFeptions about this active dis-posit~ on. Firstof all, it should be noted that rank or state of~ life has fiot~ing to do with this disposition. The mere ~act-that a p~rson;is a.priest or nun.or a professional boxer or a dancer or-a bishop does not mean that a:sa~rament will produce more or less grace in that person. The humblest workman is capable of as perfect an active; disposition as the-most exalted cleric. Secondly, it is more commonly held by ~theologians that the power of the sacraments to pour forth their grace is not regulated by the amount of, sa~tifying grace already possessed by the recipient. The state of grace is part of the passiv(.disposition requisite for the reception of a sacrament of the living, but it does not foliow ~that because one recipient .possesses more sanctify-ing grace than another, he will, tfierefore, have a better actfve disposition and thereby receive more. grace from. the sacrament. ~ Towards the close of her life at least, St. Mai-garet Mary quite certainly Was adorned ~ith more ample grace-than her less~saintl~ sisters. But this fact.filone did not enable’St..Margaret Mary to~ obtain ~’ more grace 265 ¯ CLARENCE MCAULIFFE - " Ret~ieto fo? Religious oper.e:otJerato when she apofoach(d ’Holy :Communion. Her~’ce. the’ degree, of s’anct~fying grace:in the’. soul,., d0es ’ not const.ithte_, the active disposition., which,:,conditi, on~. the amount’~of grace to be conferred by a: sacrament, o ~:,,~. -- There is rnbst probhbly but on~ determining ’..factor 6f the active disposition, and~ i’t* is "within’:the. grasp, of,.~: eyery adult Catholic 6f any grade whatever:~ It consists sblely’6f the acts ~f virtue:made by the recipient preparator~l’,to,and with a view to:his reception ot: the sacrament. ~ .L4et.~ffs illtls: :~ Mrs. zB~own decides on Thursday:,evemng:to. go :to Hol)7 Communion th’e next morning; the First F~r.iday-: Sh~ has sufficient intention and she is-in the state of gr;ice. ~ince she has l~his essential~6r tSassive dispositiofl’, the sacrameht is bound to. increase ;the amount of sanctifying grace~in soul. ’Bflt,M~s. Brown prepares w~ll. for Hol’y, Commun-ion; Before falling asleep Thursday evening, she mal~es ~in act’of desir~ to,receive her Lord the next,rngrning. :Tl~is an actof virtue made~with a view to receiving the.Sacra; ment-: Again, she would ordinarily,stay in bed until seven o’cl~ck but instead she rises at sixso that she can. go to.Corn-~ .munii~n: This .act of mortification is an actl, of ,virtu’e, ani:adds to. her active disposition.. Mo~eover’,,..Mrs:[’Browii"i~ ¯ not in~ the bedt of h~alth. It is hard ,for he~ tb fast ia,ndogq out into~ the ~hilly morning air,.but she" doesso in,order to receive Communion.. This self-sacrifice adds~to’her’acti.ve disposition. Once in the church she improves h~r/disposi-tion yet more by devoutly following the prayers.of the sal, especially the three prayers just~ before Communiofi with their expressi6fls of repentance; lb~e, hope,and humii: ity~ Finally,-just before approaching the Holy, Table, she utters a few prayersof gratitude, faith, hope; desire, confi; dence, love, humility. These ,too, increase her active dispo-sition. The entire series of acts of virtue Beginning with her 266 September, 1947 i ¯ EX OPERfl OPERATO - ,pr-a~rer ~f desire.on Thursday ,evening constitute her actSve disposition fo~ "the reception of, Holy Communion,-and grace will be conferred upon her automatically in propor-tion to. this disposition. What a wealth ~of grace will be ~ received by Mrs. Brown. Her dispo.sition is truly like a sun parlor tl~at permits the Lord to pour the light Of his-~acra-merital grac.e copiously into her soul. Her acts of virtue sO" p~tirified her soul that the.Heavenly Bread pro~luced its sanc-tifying eff.ects in mu~h greater abundance. How’much more _profitiible ,was Communion for her than for the Catholic who is in the~’state 6f grace, but who receives the Lord with ", verylittle additional preparation. Not only had the sanc-tuary, of her soul; been.swept clean of sin, but it had been decorated and burnished and adorned. The reserx;oir of her soul’had been enlarged a hundredfold: by her~ fer-vent prepa-ration,.~ and the amou"nt~of grace automatically received cor-. respondedt. oLthis~enlagr ement. : ~ ’," ~ ~ .o~,: ~" .... .With minor differences, "the ~active. di.sposition, is~ the -same forothe other sacraments.as04t:is for Holy Cdmmun~ ion. The penitent~ will receive mo~e grace spon_taneou~ly from confession if he prepares’more devoutly .fo~:its.recep- ~tion by,icts of virtue.. The bett~r his examination of con:. Science, the more de.ep his sorrow, the stronger his resolu-tioh, the more abject his’humility when he comes to the sacred tribunal,, the more sarictifying" gra~e he will receive from the sacrament itself. ;l:’he same holds true for the seminarian abofft to be ordained, for the young couple soon to be married, for the sick man awaiting extreme unction, for the-convert preparing for,baptiSm, for’the girl getting . r~ady for confirmation. Sacrarfients should be-prepared for. Their greater, efficacy depends upon it. The loss sustained by ihadequate, eyen- though sufficient preparation, is incd!~ialhble. It ineans an eteriaal loss, since our olace in heavkn.is ~deter~inei:l by the am6unt 6f sanctifying ,grace 26Z CLARENC.E.MCAULIFFE Re.view/:9r Religious We possess at the moment-of death. But~ thtre is yet another observation of ~ome impo~: tance. Let us revert for a moment, to Mrs. Brown who made such an excellent’ preparation for Holy C6mmunion. W’l~en’ she made h~r ac~ of de~ire on Thursday ~v~ning, she was in the state of grace. She was in’ the same state when she made the other acts of virt~ue before she went to Com~ munion.. Since these various acts-constituted an activedis~ position for Communion. she received automatically more, grace because of them. But she also received sanctifqing grace from them on another score. In themselves these acts ~ofvirtue were good wbrks performed freely in the state of - grace. Hence she also received grace from each~of them ex opere opergntis, since every good work done in the state" dr" grace merits an increase of sanctifying grace. As a.result, these acts of virtue enabled her to obtain more grace not only :f~om the spontaneous operation of the Sacrament but, also - in their own right, so that the sum-total of grace flowing from this one Holy Coml~unionwas still, further aug- -mented.’ In other words, because virtuous acts vivify our souls so that they can receive more grace ex opere operato from the spontaneous’operation of a sacrament, it does not follow that the same acts lose their, right to be rewarded with grace 6ri their own account. The contrary is" true. They" are so, rewarded. The identical virtuous ~cts pr~)duce grace’in" a twofold manner: hs an active disposition; enabling a sacra~ ment. to confer grace more abundantly and as meritorious works in themselves.. ¯ Perhaps ~asingle e~ample can clarifyth~ en[ird matter 6f.this paper. Let us suppose that.an author makes a con-tract with a certain magazine editor. The author.promises to write for this editor alone and for no o~her. Because of-this promise the writer wili receive one huridred dollars a month whether he actually writes anything or not. He has 268 September, 194 ~ Ex OPERE OPEI~,a, TO renounced his liberty to.write for an3? other outlet, he is attached to the 6ne magazine, and for this renounceme, nt he receives a salary. -He does no writing d, uring some months and yet he receives, his check. Sd it is with one who has only the essential oi passive disposition when he receives a sacra-ment.° Provided such a one has an intention and the state of grace when he approaches the sacrament of confirmation, he ,will obtains automatically an increase of grace even i~hough he is unconscious at the timd ani:l makes no prepara-tion whatever. Now, let us s.uppose that the ~uthor ac.tually hands in a-story to the editor. Accor~ling to contract, the auth’or is to receive five dents a ~ord for every manuscript he sub-mits~ and this in additib~ to his regular-salary,,of’,one hun-dreddollars’a month .... His first story has one ~thousand words. ~,~,He expects a check of fiRydollars and is very. much surprised when,~ he receives~ one for ~0ne-hundred dollars~ at dnce reports to the e~itor that he has been.~owerpaid::by fifty dol’lar~. Bu~the_editor replies:/’No, accordipg to your coritracd ’.I ~know, that, you deserve only fifty dollars, .--But the~other fifty isyours too. Look upon it as a bonus.,¯ It is in_addition to your salary, and also to the amount~you have earned by your manuscript." Applying this again tothe example of Mrs. Brown and her reception of Holy Com- °munion, we can say tha~ the’’ fiffy dollars earned by the author corresponds, to the sanctifying grace received by Mrs. Brown ex~opere operantis., It was earned, merited, deserved. The other fifty dollars, the bonus, corresporids ~ith the grace receipted automatically ,by Mrs. Brown from Holy Communion because of her active disposition.. It bonus, ’ unearned, flowing f[om the divine virtue of the Sacrament itself." Ldt us suppose finally that the author next submit~’a story of two thousand words. A~colding to,contract he 269 Reoieto [or Religiott~ should, receive ,one h.undred dollars. Imagine his surprise when he. gets a check for.two hundred dollars. His"bonu~ h.as been increased from fifty to,one hundred dollars.,, Since h~~worked’twice as ha~d and produced a stor~r twice as:long as the first, be’earned one hundred dollars. ]3t~t~ the bonus increased igroportionat_~ly. So it~is with H01~ C~Smmun:- ion and the other sacraments, ~¢nerally-speaking. Theobet-ter .the preparation, ~the. more. grace deserved’., bA opere operantis: ¯ But: since the same preparation with its acts.of, virtue also makes up an active disposition, which enables a sacramerjt f6:operate more bountifully, the recipienf like-" wise receives a~larger amount’ of’ grace automatically -from the sacrament. He receives a larger<b0nus than he would if his.preparation°were less devout. We would notoinsistbn-mathematics in r~ligion, but this ~ example in~ its various aspects may ohelp to clarify tile manner in which-~a person receives g~ace both ex opere operantis :and ex opere~ operato from" a sacrament-. " o,, So’ important is the.active disposition ih’ the recipient of a sacraflient that tlseologians point to a singular fact that may result from’it.’ It is quite certain that Holy, Commtfn, ion-is indued with power to product"more grace-than any other sacrament. "Nevertfieless, it may happen thht Holy Communion may actually confer ,less grace than another sacrament because of,the lack of active disposition . part of the~recipient. ’Suppose, for example, that ,a ~;oun~ man prepares piously fbr confirmation.¯ A few’ week~’la(er l~e!go.es to Communion .in the, state of grace’but w, ithout .any ~proximate’preparation. oil this were to happen, ," it~ is likely that fie, redeived grace more abunda~ntly, frown con-fii~ mation than he does’from Holy Conimunion. It isgtrue that confirmhtion does not contain the wealth of gra’ce of the Eucharist; but.so vital is one’s " active :disposition ’or preparation for a,, sacrament that the" man’s c(3nfir~aation 27O September, 1947 EX OPERE OPERATO well prepared for probably poured fort~ more gr~ace’than even a worthy Communion devoid of stich preparation. Similarly, a sick man who prepares very devoutly for extreme unction may receive more grace from tl~at sacra- ,ment than_ a 15ers6n who approaches Communion negli-gently, even though worthily. " The doctrine of ex opere operato might well l~e made the subject of meditation. Our .reception of the sacraments of pehance a~d the Eucharist can easily develop into rou-tine. We may prepare~arelessly. Our failure to excite a ,sturdy active digposition may be depriving us of floods of dthive~ eixn ~e, ?gprea~c-ee..., SOe"rpieo~ursa ,ttho odutglcha.tc ~ya~p ~pfl itehd.e ,stoac trhaem denotcst rwinilel w~oitfh Gbd’s grace dispel this, care!essn, e~ss an.d.bri~ng us ~o a r~aliza- ? ~ion 9f_~the ~,vast profit to~ be gained from a devout reception of these seven. ~ cbannels~th~at~.are°.brimful~ ,, ., . , of,the waters of sanctifying grace. VOCATION ~BOOKLETS Ifiteresting pamp~ld~, b6oklet~.an~d fold~r~ describing the’work of various reli-gious institutes ~contii~ue ’oto come off~ the’ press_to attract candida[es to .the religious life. In recent months~we have received the following: o .~ Wht.t N~t Be a Paul(st Misiiqnart.l?~a folder desc’ribi~ig the t/aining given to the young Pauli~tand the work he~ may expect to do after his Ordihation tothe priest-hood. For~,furth~r information write to the-Vocation Director, St. Paul’s College, Wasfii~ngton. D.,, C~ ~ : The Domlnicdh Wa~takes us to the Pacific Northwest where the’ Sisters of St. Dofiiinic are seeking can~id.aLe,s to help carry on their work. For copies ,write to the’Dominlcan Sisters. St. Dominic Conve.nt. 2715 Everett Avenue. Everett, Washington. ’ o "" " desuit Brothers describes the work of the lay b~others of the SoCiety of 3esus in the Province of Upper Canada. Young men who desire to be the companions and helpers~ of 2esuit’priests in schools, parishes, and missions ~in Canada, may be <direc~ted~ to tile ~rery Reverend Father Pr~ovincial 2 Dale Avenue. Toronto 5, 6ntaho., " " ¯ ~ \ 271 "Priests’ Day" J. Putz,~g.J. [EDITORS; NOTE: This article’~is, reprinted with permission from’,]Ahe C~elg~l M.onthly (Vol. IV, pp: 137-141), a magaztne for the clergy.pu~lis~hed in India.] THE ~’atholid laity’is in’creasingly conscious of its i~ti-mate union with the life of the Church. This fact is~ manifest in the liturgical reviyal: participation of the laity in the offering of the Mass. Catholic Action is another aspect of the new outlook: participation of the~laity in [he Christian priesthood, in the ai~bstolhte and r~spbhsibility of the hie~alchyi This movement, far from ~timinishing tile impbrtafid~ of pries~ts; as some had feared, 0nly~stresses it. Hence it is. that by the sidd of Catholic Action’we wit~ hess am6ng the lait.y a campaign of prayers foi~ the s~i~ctifi~ cation Of the clergy. The more. they share in" th8 Christiafi apostolate, the more they fed the need for holiness in them-selves and even more in those who lead them and in whose mission they are allowed to share. Action and reaction, mutual solidarity in the Mystical Body of Christ. ~ The priest i~ the representative of~ Christ, His instni-merit, His continua~tor; he is the salt of the earth, the. light of the world’.~’ A sublime dignity and respofisibility! So much depends on him. A holy prii~st~is a ,b!es~sifig for thoia- ~an’ds, for generations of men. When the ~lirector of the Apostleship of Player prese~nted to Plus XI the’intentions for 1923, the Pope looked at them, took up his pen and changed th~ first intention. Instead of "Let us-asks’ ’God to give us saints," he put "Let us ask God to give us priests.’" Then he said: God in heaven and We on earth desire nothing more~ardently than prayers and sacrifices for priests .... Let us l~ray God to give us holy priests. If we obtain this, the rest will follow. Where this is 272 "PRIESTS’ DAY" wanting, all the rest will avail nothing A..s..k first, not that they be numerous, but that they be holy. It is every priest’s duty, inherent in his sacred calling,. sincerely to strive after sanctity. Without this his life is a failure, his work is sterile, his destiny frustrated. (Cf. En-cyclical of Pius XI.) But holy orders have not changed his nature; he has to face a hard struggle against the common difficulties of man and the special dangers of his calling.- He needs prayers--not only for his ministry but for himself--’ if he is to be what his Master wants and the world needs. The enemies of the Church have ~realized that the most effective method of attack is.to slander’ and. discredit thd clergy. The Christian people have understood that they must pray not only for the conversion of sinners but also and particularly for the sanctification of tl~eir priests. With striking generosity, not unfrequently with real heroism, they have tried to meet this need by praying, working; " and suffering for priests. This is not limited to a few souls; it is a real ".movement." The Little-Flower might be con-sidered asits patron. "I have come to the Carmel to save souls and especially to pray for priests." "Every day I offer myself as a victim for priests." "How sublime is our vocation! It is our task to keep the ’salt of the earth’ always fresh .... Yes, let us pray for priests, let us offer our lives for them." "~ Several associations have been started for the purpose of offering prayers and sufferings for priests:° Among these is the League of Intercession for Priests (incorporated into the Apostleship of Prayer), which w:is formed in September, 1925, by the union of two leagues which had originated independently, one in ’England, the other in Italy. But the movement has found its most popular expression in the celebration" of "Priests’ Day" on the first Thuisday or the first Saturday of every month. ,~ 273 J. PUTZ Review [or Religiou~ Here, in brie£ is the history oF this".’campaignfor~.holy. priests." It started with a "Pra~ye~ for my P~St0r and, f6r all Priesti," coffiposdd (in German)’~ by" Father Pascal Scbmid, S.DIS, The immediate su’ceess of this pray~er su~ gested to it~ author a moie ambitious plan,~,~Th~:~faitbful might be.~sk~d to bffer one day" every mon.t~h fo~; the~sancti’- fic~iti6n of priests and candidates fof. the~pfies~hd0d. He chose Saturday~ the day dedicated t6 Mary, Queen~ df Apostles ~nd the~Mother° of the Christian that ,°d~.y the faithffib should offer their Mass "and ~Corri-reunion,, their:prayers and their .work, their "joys and suf-fering’s, throu~gh the hands, of Mary :for the, sa.nctification~ of the clergy.’, ~,If Mass.and Communion~.0we~e im~iossible on ¯ that da~r, these might-be supplied on the’following Sunday or the preceding ,Friday. (For this,reason, the:day chosen was not" the. firSt:Saturday,,:but the Saturday after the first Friday.) ~ ~’The ~first .... Priest’s Saturday,~’ ~as~ celelSrated publicly at0~IS~. Hedx;cig"s, Berlin, on Septerabef 8,-1934. The movenient sprea’d rapidly° through-many~ dioceses, and the,, Superior General’ of the Salv~torian Fathers, obtained ~heHoly Father’s approbation and .blessing for ,this truly Catholic devotion iri a private~ audiefice "on November 21. 1934. ~ ’" ~ ’The next step, which gave the devotion its present form, took place in 1936.. At the end of the ex~te~ded ~ubi-lee year, which, cdmmemorated ~the nineteenth century of. our redempti6n a~d of the institutiori of the priesthood Plus XI’published his;~g.reat encyclical on the ~atholic Priesthood. It concluded with the announcemefit of tlfe new Votive Mas~ of Jesus Christ,’ Eternal .High Priest. Immediately the Superior General of the Salvatorians realized the advantage of connecting this Mass with the movement for the sanctification of priests. He therefor~e petitioned the Holy See for permission to celebrate a singte 274 8eptembero 1947 "PRIESTS’ DAY" Votive,Mass of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, on every Thursday of the inonth (the new Mass had been specially a~signed-~.to,Thursday, the day which commemorates .the institution of the Holy Eucharist and of the Christian pries~hodd)., in all churches and oratories where with the approvaFof the 16cal ordinary prayers are said for the sanc-tificatibn of priests throughout the world. The permission was granted on March 11~, 1936, for all chhrches and ora-tories in which with the consent, of the respective brdinaries special exercises of piety for the sanctification of the clergy are~ held eithdr on ~the morning of the,first Thursday or, ~ith the permission of the bish6p, on the fiist0Sat.urday of every month. (A.A.S. 1936, p. 240).1 Thus the new devotion,secured its, ow, n solemn votive Mass~ ,~with privi-leg~ es simil_ar ~tothat:gf t.he_ Sacre.d H<ar~t..:o.At~ t~e end of the sa~m,e y.e..ar .~.t.h~ ¢.x.e..r~cis.e ~of .~"Prie..Sts,~ 0Day’,’.,~recd.yed ,,f.urther q~i~a.li en.coura.gemen_t by~,~t.h._e, gran.t:i~g,~,gf :special indul: , ~ :Her~,~:.then, is:an ~nspmng ~dea’, a great movement, whlc-l:~, d~serve~ ~,to, b~e sp~ea~t l~y allYpriests ,and ’religiot~s. H61y" pri~stg are rfio;:e needed-than ev{r, arid modern condi- {i0ias’of life present"special-dangers~for,~riests and make h~finess more difficult. What can be more pleasing to God and-more powerful than the corporate prayer ot} the fdithful for h01y priests? At the same timesuch a practice is bound tO. increase union between laity"and clergy. It will foster among the people esteem and love for their priests, as well as the spirit of co-operation and docility. Among the young it will awaken vocations, ~specially if it becomes a family exercise. To the sick and disabled (who can be so very generous) it offers an inspiring purpose to live and 1As it was the custom in Germany to take the Saturday after the first Friday, the German bishops were subsequently allowed to keep that day (Periodical, 1937, p. 192). J. PUTZ suffer for, namely, t’U be~the."ap6stles of, the, apostles.", . ~ ,, This great ideadoes’appeal to the Christihn,people, .,The movement has~ spread rapidly to’ many ~countfies, ~hundre’ds of thousands have joined i(. No formality is, required~ no edrollment ~needed, no. particular prayer prescribed. Every one can make the exercise (offering Mags, ~ Commun= iofi, and the pr~lyers and works of the whole day for the sanctification of priests) on any day he likes, preferably on the first ~Thursday or the first Saturday, on which days he will be finited to thousands of Catholics .praying all over the world.,. Some zealous souls wil’l feel inspired-to offer a day .every week, or even their whole lives for this. grand intention. In order to encourage the movement and increase its fer-your it s~ems d~sirable that Priests’ Day be publicly cele-brated in parishes, convents, schools, and seminaries. Per-mission must be obtained from the ordinary, who will aiso fix the day-either the first Thursday or the first Saturday of the month. There are appealing reasons for either day.. Thursday commemorates the institution of xhe Eucharist a:nd of the priesthood; Saturday is dedicated to the Queen of Apostles and the,Mother of the;Christian priesthood and thus invites us to offer our prayers through Mary. The special exercises of piety might consist in the recitation after Mass of some prayer.s for the sanctification of priests, for example,0,an,~act of offering and the litanies of Our Lady or of the Holy Name. of Je.sus. (The offering might be made at ~the Offertory of. the Mass.) Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.adds to the solemnity, but is not required. 276 T, N.: Jqrgensen, S~.J: THE ~oreprogre~ss,we~mak~ein the .spiritual-life, the more ~ we learn to turn ~o ~Iary, oft-en d~ring the day. Our temp_tafions are m..o.re, easiol~y; qv.er~.gme,. 0ur,~t~rials ,morse ~ndurab.!~,,’,o~ joys m0r¢,, satisfying because,ofo her strong and 19ving pres.ence. , Bpt-,May~y is ngt present everyNhere b~ her’~ver7 nature as God.is, neither.is,she present inthe man~ner of the Holy Trinity’s indwelling in the’souls of~ the just gor,pre.sen.t phySica!!~y, as are 0~r ea.rthly friends. Ho~ then.~is s.heopresent to us? How and ~why0can she hear us and help us at any, hour or in any place when we turn to herin urgent petition o~ loving.praise? How does she know n~t only eur actions and o~r words but even the secret whisperings, of our hearts? The-following linys will answer these very natural questions by~ discussing the nature of the "f~llness of presence." They, .will also reveal how theologica, lly correct is our ~atural ~mpulse of tur~ning, t6 M, ary with perfect trust no matter what the time or place or occasion. When we think of ~the fullffess of presence, we ofte~ think first of physi~cal,presence.~ This.,is a mis.take. We should think ~firs~t ,of &nqt~tedge.. If three pe0ple are in room a~n~ twp, are,,,tal~,i~g ino a la~guage, whi.ch .the third does npt-~understand, ~if three peopl~e~attend a, football g~me and two~ know alI the rule, s~ and the third does not, if th.~ree people, go to a movie and on~.~is blind,_ or three gq:to an opera and,one is de.af, ~or three gb,tg~ lass a.ndoneds absent-minded .or falls asleep the third parity in all of ,these cases, while physically,p~r~sent, is not .pres~e~t in any full ~way because of his lack of knowiedge of what is going on. 277 T’. N. JOR~ENSEN Reolew/:or Relig~’ou= Powec is the~second essential ~uality of fullness of pres- ~c£?~I~hgfg~p~Qp~gpAq~a~polhng place and two~are citi-zens and the third" is not, if three go-to Mass and two are Gath6hci an~,rece~ve Communmn and the third is n~t a~d cannot, if three go to an American Legion dance and two. are~members~and~cani~anceand.t~e, third is,not ~.Kd cannot, to-a,memng i~:t~e~ ~enare h6ff t~6va~ Senat6rs and talk and-vote: a~~ th~ th~rd.w~ot~ arid ........cannot~’ ~:~n these an~qfi countlesstother ~.such-c~rcumstanees/~the~th~rd;- whale p~ese~t ~pnysx~a.~an~navmg ~some, k~o~l~ff~ om ;s not-~fully--presen~ because .of~ Ns lacks.of p~ Looe’~s~,the~,t~xrd essen~al-~quahty~ of :th~’f~ll~o~ "~f~our ,son: or~ brother:or ~best~’ rr~ena~qsLpmymg we.~are~q~kely~to¯ see ~m~ ~t-every-play.~an~~ .... : .... ~’ not .... ot~ers:~ ~-mother can .walk.~nto, th~ nursery ofa .t..~...e..r. e~.,~AT.. o";u-~n" g,~ ,m~Tan 3ust~engaged can be3ostle~ by a,crowd of~ ten~’t~ousand and’~.be, Consc~ous.~ only of~-the’ -g~rl" atr~S side.," ,~ wdhng, consc;ous? aCt;ve afte~fi6n t6~a perg6n" .what make?~ us ~most,-full¢ present-to pg increasing presepce by "increasing union wi~h~’~h~ gofi~ ...... Power~ gnowled,~e;~ anfl-:lo¢(~theref6re, are~’t~e ~thre~ up,the-tininess or presence: ~ I ne m31eo~e thinks oTer’the,matter~thg ~o~e :exa~ples’tfia’t he ’reeal.ls; tfi~ ’~ore ’fo?cibiy- tNs~.sf~ikei’;him. co~?r~ry;’ the mbr~ fifineaes~ai) a~d msxgn~c~n~’does, mdr~ physical presence reveal itself’ t0 ~,be. We ~Verdm~hhsize physi~aPpresenCe,in out-thoughts bedause m ~ost of~6ur~ experiences ~e~ha~e .to be p~si~ally present bef6re we ~can have poweL~- ~6~ledge, ’a~d 16ve, ~and fro .we fiaturally but wrongly think’that ~hysi~al presd~c~ and th~se qualifies bf 278 - SelOteiObeF,, 1947 ~ ;, , TH_E PRESENCE~OF MARY fiill:~presen~e-are" ~ssentiall~ conn~cfed..~,,TS~!emphasize th~ pSint,’ that there, is °no such~connection, let~me"give one more " exampld~* ~A. person°~dying "of ,,sleeping~ sickness w.ho has alr~.ad.y~lapsed into hi~ last~ofiia ’is~physically present:’ But his presence is little.::better’than th~it of, wcbrpse, ~f6r he ca.- not hear; see;, think; ~alk, lo’ve, or act in any way. One who is absent physically but who knows what is going on and shares in. the activity~be it by inspiration, previous advice, radio, telephone~!’lo_ud spe, a1~e’r, absentee 5allo~, :or any other stich .wa.y--~_~is really°more fully prdsent,;than~one Vcho is physically present but knows arid dbes and.feels nothing. Now let us apply these three.qualities’:bf power, knowl-edge, and lo+e’to’see just ,how fully the Virgin Mai,y_is present-to us when we pray. It ~ill be best to:preface this search with a notd on the k.nowledge which all the blessed have through their union with God. St. Thomas writes: ~Whatever it befitg the blessed to know about what happens to us, even as regards the interior movements of the heart, is made known to them in the Word: and above all their state of glory 5equires that they shohld know tile petitions made to them by ’word or_th~ought. The Rev. George, D. Smith, D.D.~’ Ph.,D., "in discussing the,~e ~ords of St~ Thomas adds: -’ If they know all that is~ of personal concern to them, then assur-edly they are’.acquainted ~ith the needs of those ’~vho are personally connected with the.m, whether these ¯have°had recourse to kheir inter-cession or’not. Hence we can assert that the saints’in heaven~know the,wants of those who on’earth were,J~ound to them byfies of blood or of flie.nd.ship~, :anti’above all of those whom a ~giritual link unites with their heavenly advocates, t . Ma,r,y "has ~xceptibnal kfiowtedge because of her Special ftillnes’~’ bf efij0yfiaentbf tl~e’b~ifi~’ vision. This fullness i~ duefi’r~t’f6 her gr.eat~alounclance~ot grace. I~ is~~du~e Sec- 6ndl~ to her special~sh~re in our sanctification. Through he~r ufiion~ith God as Hii mother, throughher place in.the ~G.. D~" Smith, ~Mar~.l’s Part in Our Rederaptien (New York: Kenedy, !938).,. 279 T.,N. JORG~NS~N incarnati6w and through her mediatrixship, of all .g.races, She deserves, and. needs to know our. lives fully~ in all of~ the ¯ dang;ers, trials, oopportuniti~s, loves of the past and present and future if she is to fulfill all of her duties,rand desires adequately. God gives her, therefore, a unique fullness, of kri0wledge which is immeasurable and has a m~thematical.. infinitude. :Mary has power in an unusual~degree because she is Mediatrix of all Graces, a position given her beca~iSeoShe is the "Mother of Grace." All grace is won forus-by Christ and’comes to us through Mary. Without grace w6 cannot "so, much. as say ’Lord Jesus’ "; without grace we do abso-- lutely nothin~ to merit heaven, advance in holiness, help any soul, or pl~ease God in any wa~’. Grace, then, is most ne.cessary for us at every moment; and all graces:~ome to us through Mary. And her giving of grace to us is not done ’unconsciously Or blindly, or coldly as the force~ of nature co-operate with God without knowing what ,they do. "All that Mary gives she gives according to her nature, according to her exceptional wisdom and love. " Think of what this means. All through the h6urs of every day we need grace to resist temptations, to understand God’s will, to perform acts of virtue. And_ at all times Mary-offers us the grace we need at that particular mo-ment. She offers it wisely, knowing just why and how we need it. She.’0ffers it lovingly, her love for God and her~ love for us both uniting to make her generous in helping us live Christ’s life~--her life.. Each opportunity and .inspira-tion we have, to suffer for God, to overcome our selfishness, to practice any virtue ~vhatsoever it be, is a clear sign to us that,,Mary is actively hell~ing us. Each time we fail to,,use a grace, we disappoint her; each time.we do use one, we. delight her. Our live~ are wrapped up in hers at every moment. 28O 8epternber, 1947 THE PRESENCE OF MARY Mary is not omnipotent, but, since she dispenses the infinite graces of God and since we can get these graces only through her and at her request, her power in our present life is what might be called a mathematical omnipotence from its similarity to mathematical infinitude. That is, whatever power she needs at any time or under any circum-stances whatsoever to guide and help and sanctify us, she has because of her.mediatrixship of all graces~ Mary has the love. I cannot develop this thought now, for even a brief discussion of it would take many pages. There is no need, however, for such development here, for a mother’s love is one thing that all understand. It is because of her motherhood that Mary loves us. Through her consent at the Annunciation, her willing offering on Calvary, and her active co-operation at our baptism she has given us spiritual life. If we lose it through sin, she revives it again through .the graces of the sacrament of penance. Her share in our spirituaF birth and growth, therefore, is like that of our earthly mother’s share in our physical birth and growth, though in both cases the ultimate source of life is God. A mother’s love is not hampered by numbers, for it is a gift from God great enough to embrace any number. Mary loves each of us individually, consciously, personally, at all times, as fully and completely and intensely as though each of us were her only child. She sacrificed Christ gladly to a dreadful death for love of us, and did this when she was still a wayfare~r on earth. Now that she is confirmed in grace in an added way by the beatific vision, she loves us no less. It is a grave insult to her love for Christ to think that she would hesitate to give us anything else that would help us after she has given us Christ, and after she has formed Christ again in the soul of each of us. We have seen how real fullness of presende does not 281 T.N. JORGENSEN depend upon physical presence but upon knowledge, power, and love. We have seen how Ma~y possesses these three qualities in a way far surpassing their possession by :any of our family or friends on earth. In saying any aspiration "or Ave we take it for granted that Mary knows that we call upon her, that she has the power and the love to answer us. Thus we subsconsciously make an effective act of faith in her full presence. I have sought to bring this from our sub-conscious to our conscious minds for a moment because this reflection will greatly deepen our confidence and love. It will increase our peace and joy immeasurably, too, to have this fuller appreciation of Mary’s lo~¢e. At every moment there are souls who reject Mary’s loving help; we can atone for these insults to our mother by offering to-her the work, the worry, the weariness of every hour with patient., even joyful, abandonment to her care. We will never be sinful or fearful or lonely or selfish or sad when we vividly recall that the Queen of Heaven and Earth, Mary, God’s Mother and Our Mother, walks and works with us at every step that we take, assists .us with deepest love in each action that we perform. Least of all will that sense of futility which burdens the earth today have any place in the heart of one who ~emembers that his every action is blessed by her powerful love and grace. OUR C:ONTRIBUTORS J. PUTZ is a member of the theological faculty of St. M, ary’s ~ollege, Kurseong, D. H. Ry., India. T.N. JORGENSEN is on the ~aculty of Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska. RICHARD L. ROONEY is on the staff :of the Queen’s Work, St. Louis, Missouri.:~ CLARENCE MCAULIFFE and GERALD KELLY are professors of dogmatic theology and moral theology respectively at St. Ma.ry’s College, St. Marys, Kansas. 282 Conditions t:or Hearing a Mass ot: Obligation Gerald Kelly, S.J. THE one Catholic church in a certain town is much too small to accommodate all the Sunday worshippers. The result of this crowded condition is that many people are forced to attend Mass while enduring the dis-comfort of standing in the tiny vestibule or even outside the church on the steps and sidewalk. Gilbert, a parish-ioner of sorts, has found what appears to him an agreeable method of avoiding this discomfort. He sits at a table near the door of a little ice-cream parlor across the street from the church. From this point of vantage he can follow the Mass by listening to the organ and watching the standing worshippers. He does not smoke or eat or drink during this time, but he does exchange an occasional greeting with passers-by and customers. All in all, he finds this an ideal way of complying with.the precept of hearing Mass, aiad. he is inclined to hope that the village Church will never be enlarged. Fortunately Gilbert is a purely fictitious character. His story, as just told, is an Americanized version of one of the many problems composed to help seminarians apply the principles of moral theology to concrete cases. Since the " purpose of the present article is to explain some of these principles,¯ an indication of similar problems may provide useful background. The same author who recounts Gilbert’s story also tells of a Brother whose unenviable duty it is to supervize a group of boys lit Sunday Mass and who iso much puzzled by the conduct of three lads, whom we may call Tom, 283 GERALD KELLY Review [or Religious Dick, and Harry. Because of a nosebleed, Tom leaves the chapel j.u’St before the Consecration, but returns immedi-ately afterward. For the same reason Dick slips out just before the priest’s Communion and does not return. Harry, with the marks of late rising arid hasty dressing still visible on his unwashed face and uncombed hair, cautiously edges into the chapel just after the Consecration. It seems to the Brother that all three of these boys are obliged to hear an6ther Mass, but he is not sure of himself and would like further information. Another moralist tells of a young man named Guy, who had accidentally hit upon a, way of fulfilling his feast-day duty in half the usual time. On a day of obligation he happened into a.chapel of religious where several priests were saying Mass. He took his place near two priests one of whom was just beginning Mass when the other had reached the Sanctus. By attending to both priests, Guy was able to hear the first half of one Mass and the second half of the other simultaneously. The result of course was quite gratifying from the point of view of time saved. Later he made inquiries and found that several priests usually said Mass in this chapel, even on days of obligation. Guy resolved to come often and to bring some of his young friends, for they would be just as happy as he at hearing Mass in half the time--to say nothing of avoiding a ser-mon. A final problem concerns Martin, a Catholic gentleman who, apparently by accident, had come to church ten or fifteen minutes before the scheduled parish. Mass. Having commended himself to God, he spent the time of waiting mostly in observing the other parishioners as they arrived. ,While thus occupied he was suddenly startled by the sound of a bell and thus became aware of tl~e fact that a Mass was being celebrated at a side altar and that the priest had just 284 September, 1947 HEARING MASS OF OBLIGATION reached the Sanctus. It occurred tO Martin that this Mass must have begun at about the time he had entered the church and that he had really been present at it all the time. Without further ado, he moved over to the side, heard the remainder of this Mass, and then departed, joyous over the. fact that he had heard the Sanctus bell--for, as he put it to,himself, "I wouldn’t have known I was present at that Mass if I hadn’t heard the bell." Cases like the foregoing may sound amusing, even unreal, yet a study of them is by no means impractical. For the principles used in solving these problems apply not only to the rather unusual cases of Gilbert, Guy, and Martin, but also to the very ordinary problems of late-coming and early leaving, as exemplified by Harry and Dick, and to such commonplace things as talking during Mass, sleeping, observing other women’s hats, and so forth. The basic question to be answered in all such problems is this: Do these people fulfill at least the minimum condi-tions imposed by the Church when she commands us to attend Mass on Sundays and certain feast days? Obviously, to answer the question one muse know the conditions-- where to find them, and how to explain them. The canon law itself simply says that Mass must be heard; it says nothing explicitly about the manner in which this is to be done. .And, as far as I know, except for the occasional condemnation of some erring opinion, other official pro-nouncements of the Church are equally silent on the matter. This silence of official pronouncements is by no ineans an indication that the Church does not require certain con-ditions to be fulfilled by those who assist at a Mass of obli-gation. In this matter, as in many other questions of duty, the mind of the Church is to be discerned in the approved teaching of her moral theologians. 285 GERALD KELLY Review for Religious Moralists commonly teach that the assistance at Mass prescribed for Sundays and feast days includes these four conditions: (I) Bodil~ presence (2)at an entire Mass (3) with the intention of hearing Mass and (4) with the attention proper to this particula/kind of religious acct. If. these conditions are complied with in a certain degree, the precept imposed by the Church is completely fulfilled. A culpable deficiency in any of these minimum essentials is at least venially sinful, and it can be a mortal sin. When a deficiency is inculpable, the only practical problen~ that arises concerns the obligation of making it up at a later Mass. In the subsequent pages these various points will be treated in order. I. COMPLETE FULFILLMENT OF THE PRECEPT ( 1 ) Bodily Presence "Presence" at any kind of function, religious or secu-. lar, is not easily defined. Yet there are many cases in which we can clearly, almost instinctively, discern the difference between presence .and non-presence. For instance, we do not say that a man is bodily present at an opera that he hears by radio or at some civic gathering that takes place so far away that he can follow it only by using a telescope. On the other hand, one who is w.ith the audience in a large theatre, even though he is a great distance from the stage, is always looked upon as being present; and this is true even though some artificial means must be used to help the vision or the hearing--for, example, opera glasses or a loud speaker. Also, when there is some accidental impediment to visionmas happens when the small, timid-man sits behind the woman with the large hatnwe still consider the unfortunate victim to be present. It is much the same with bodily presence at Mass. Cer- 286 ~eptember, 1947 HEARING MASS OF OBLIGATION t~iinly those who are, inside the church or chapel in-which . Mass is being celebrated are bodily present at the Holy Sac-rificeieven though they are a considerable distance from the priest. And the mere fact that one is situated behind a pil-lar or a large hat ~loes not interfere withthis presence. And if the church is too small to hold the entire congregation, certainly those who are at the ei:lge of the crowd, even. though completely outside the church, are considered as bodily present at the ceremonies. Similarly, when a Mass in the. open air is attended by a vast throng of worshippers, there is no doubt that those who are at the outskirts of the multitude are bodily present at the Mass. The foregoing are clear cases of "being. present" at Mass. An equally clear case of "non-presence" is had when one is so far removed from the priest and congregation that he can follow the Mass only by means of a telescope ’or radio. By such artificial means one can achieve and in-tens! fy a mental union with the priest and do something pleasing to God, but one cannot thus fulfill the Church’s precept unless the Church dispenses with the condition of bodily presence. Thus far I have given only obvious cases. But between these two extremes of clearly determined presence and non-presence there are many cases that are not nearly so evident. For instance, what about a person who remains in the sacristy during Mass? or who stands outside the church, even though there is room .inside? or who is in a nearby room when a Mass is being celebrated in a hospital chapel? or who is ht the window Of a house adjacent to the church? All moralist.~ would agree that, whenever it is possible, presence within the church or chapel where the Mass is celebraked is desirable. But it is one thing to state what is desirable, and quite another to determine what is strictly necessary!. In determining the minimum requisites for such 287 .GERALD KELLY Reoieto ~ or Religions extraordinary ~ases, moralists look first to the person’s ability to follow the Mass. If he is in~ a place where he cannot follow the progress of the Mass with his own senses either directly (by seeing or hearing the’ celebrant) or in-direktly (by Observing the congregation, listening to music or bells, and so forth), then he cannot be said to be present at Mass, even though he is in a room ver~ close to th~ altar. But the power to follow the progress of the Mass .by personal observation is not enough. Moralists all recogriize the fact ~that the element of distance cannot be.,entireIy ignored; in other words, if one is-outside the~church and separated from the other worshippers; this separation must not be so great’asto break the external union between him and the celebrant. It is difficult, however, to make a con-crete estimate of the distance required :to ~break this union. For convenience in solving exceptional cases Cardinal de Lugo suggested that thirtypaces might be/considered the maximum separation between an individual and the church or the congregation (in case Mass is said in the open or in the event that the church does not hold all the worship; pets). His suggestion has won the approval of many moralists, and it may be used as a. safe rule for settling diffi-cult cases. It should be remembered, however, that it was not the Cardinal’os intention to reduce bodily presence to a mere mathematical formula. , The conduct of our friend Gilbert, whose story was told in our introductory problem, is an illustration of an exceptional and very difficult case. Father Genicot, the ¯ moralist who presented this case, thought, that Gilbert could be considered as bodily present, provided he is not too far removed from the other worshippers. I believe that this opinion could be followed; yet my own inclination would be to adopt a stricter view, for it seems to me that by sitting in the ice-cream parlor without necessity Gilbert 288 September, 1947 . HEARING’MAss OF OBLIGATION is really breaking the union between-.himself and the other worshippers. Others with whom’ I have :discussed ~th[s .case~are of the same opinion, but since the case is so uflusual we. doubt if we could insist on this’stricter view. " In practice, therefore,.if we.consider only the element of bodily presence (his attention will .be examined later),; it seems that Gilbert is doing enough to fulfill his duty. ¯ He can follow the progress of the Mass, and he is probably close enough to the other ,worshippers ~to preserve the neces--: sary union with them. We can allow .for the probability of this opinion, even:though we fully realize that~he is not acting as amodel Catholic and even though we cherish a burning desire to give-him a strong talk on the meaning of the Mass together with a pointed suggestion that he could at lea~t occasionally be among those who manage to get inside the church to hear Mass, Moreover, we could add a caution about his attention---but that will:come later (2) An.Entir~ Mass The Church presc.r~bes the hearing of one complete Mass, from beginning to end. There is no difficulty with regard to the beginning, as all authorities agree that the Mass begins with th~ Psalm Judica Me. Concerning the end of the Mass, many ~theologians teach explicitly that the Last Gospel need not be considered as a part of the Mass and that anyone who is present from the beginning to the last blessi_ng is present for an entire Mass. It would not be sound scholarship to deny the author-ity of this view of the Last Gospel. Yet sincerity compels me to-say that I see no really sound foundation for the opinion today. I,t appears to date back to a time when the priest left the altar after having given the last bles~ing~and said the Last Gospel as he walked away. In those days the people were really dismissed with the last blessing; but "is 289 GERALD KELLY that truh today?.’ In’every Mass he°says (except on Good Friday; when there is really noMass)~ t.he priest must say a Last Gospel and must remain at the altar for it. Moreover, the Church prescribes that the Leonine prayers must be said after Mass alternately by priest and peopte--a prescription which Seerris’ to presuppose that the people have not yet ~bcen dismissed. ~ At ariy rate, granted tha~ the opinion concerning the Last Gospel is theoretically solid, it would not be g6od practice to recommend it. ~ Carried toits logical coriclusion it means’that the entire congreg~ition mayleave while the priest ~is still at the altar. At the.minimum such conduct would manifest a lack of sound Christian etiquette and a failure to appreciate the dignity of the officiating priest. The obvious meaning of an "entire Mass" is a Mass in which one part follows another successively. The youthful’ Guy certainly missed this evident sense when he assisted simultaneously at different parts of two Masses. However, he was not the first to hit upon this system of telescoping together the parts of different Masses. Several centuries ago a theologian of the "laxist" school approved this very practicenand the Holy See promptly condemned his teaching! Guy, therefore, will have’to abandon this con-venient wa3~ of hearing Mass in "half the time." For their personal devotion he and his friends and the rest of the faithful ~y"foilow many Masses ~imul.taneously it~ wish: but to comply with their feast-day duty they must be sure to follow an entire Mass, with the. parts following successively and" not’overlapping. What if 6ne assists at an entire Mass by hearing the last part of one Mas~ and the first part of a Mass that fol-lows? This is certainly not the normal way of fulfilling the precepg: yet in the strict meaning of the law it is permls~ sible and Sometimes even obligatory, as we shall see"later. 290 8el~tembero 1947 HEARING MASS OF OBLIGATION However, if one does assist at Mass in this way, one mu~t be sure that the Consecration and Communion are in ~the same Mass, for these two parts make an integrally com-plete sacrifice and should not be separated. Hence, one who arrives at the Offertory of the first Mass would fulfill his duty by remaining till the Offertory of the following Mass: and one who arrives at the Sanctus of one Mass need not stay beyond the same part of the next Mass. But one who comes at the Pater Noster should remain till after the Communion of the following Mass, for only in this way can he assist at the Consecration and Communion of the same Mass. (3) Intention To fulfill this feast-day duty one must intend to hear Mass. It seems almost inconceivable that the faithful would default on their obligation merely through failure to comply with this third condition. I believe it is safe to say that everyone who is present at Mass and who pays or tries tO pay the requisite attention (as will be explained presently) has the intention of hearing Mass. As examples of persons who are present at Mass but do not have the requisite intention, authors generally cite such cases as these: an artist who is in the church .merely to paint pic-tures or to study the other paintings or statuary; a pho-tographer who is present mere[~l to take pictures of the Mass. To these obvious cases we might add the example of our friend Martin. He was present in the church while the Mass at the side altar was going on; but he had not come to hear that Mass and he did not even know the Mass was being celebrated until the Sanctus bell rang. Certainly one cannot intend to hear a Mass which, as far as he is con-cerned, is non-existent. Furthermore, since he did not know the Mass was going on, he paid absolutely no atten- 291 GERALD KELLY Reoieu~ for Religious tion to it. His joy, therefore, at having heard the Sanctus bell is merely the bliss of ignorance. It is to be noted that when theologians speak of the i~tention of hearing Mass they are not referring either to the "motive" for attending Mass or to what is popularly termed ",willingness." Many 6f the faithful would not come to Mass if the Church did not order them to do so; but they do come wilt:ull~ if not willingly--in the popular sense. ’ A husband may grumble when his wife insists, on his going to church, and a child’s reluctance to accompany his parents may be’offset only by the thought of a hairbrush (this example refers to the "good old days") ; but if hus~ band and child are present at Mass and pay the requisite attention it may be taken for granted that they have suf-ficient intention. Evidently their motivation could be improved, but even in its present low state it" does not inter-. fere with the fulfillment of the precept. (4) Attention What is this attention--the fourth condition--which seems to be so important in the matter of hearing Mass? By definition it is the "application of the mind" and, when there is question of applying the mind to something that must be perceived through the senses, it also -includes some application of the needed sense faculties. For instance, we attend to what a, person is saying when we not only listen to his words but also mentally focus on’their meafiing. We ¯ attend to What a person is doing when we not only see his actions but also think of them. One who closes his ears certainly does not attend to a conversation, but neither does one who leaves his,ears open but closes his mind against the .meaning of the words by thinking of something entirely different. And the same may be said of "looking without really seeing"--that is, of letting an image strike the eye 292 September° 1947 HEARING MASS OF OBLIGATION without at the same time giving it any thought. The Mass is an .external act of worship. Attention to it, therefore, implies some perception of it by means of sight or hearing and some application of the mind to its religious significance. But ther.e are degrees of attention; and the precise problem of moralists is to ~determine the minimum degree that the Church expects and demands of all. Theo-logians mu~t keep in~ mind that the Mass is for all the faithful: the learned and the unlearned; the saints and the ordinary people; those with highly developed powers of concentration and those in whom this power-is feeble. It cannot be, therefore, that the requisite attention includes the exact following of the words of the ’Mass, or a profound appreciation of the meaning of the sacred ceremonies, or the absence of even involuntary distractions. Such things would dearly be beyond the powers of vas~ numbers of the faithful; hence they cannot reasonably be considered as part of the obligation imposed by the Church.~ In their treatises on attention theologians disagree on certain points. I believe that this disagreement is largely, if not entirely, a matter of terminology; and I think that if we avoid the confusing terminology we can .safely say that all moralists would agree on the following description of the requisite attention for hearing a Mass of precept: The faithful must realize that an act of religious worship is going on, even though they do not appreciate its pro-found significance; and, besides i~tending to take.a part in the act of worship, they must try to keep their minds on some religious considerations and avoid all willful, and unnecessary distracting t,houghts and occupations. One who assists in this manner has at least the minimum atten-tion. A few examples culled t:rom theology bodks may help to illustrate the point. No doubt the best way of assisting at Mass is to follow 293 GERALD KELLY Review [or Religious the words and actions of the celebrant (for example, by using a Missal); yet this is not strictly required.. Other prayers like the Rosary or meditation on the Passion are sufticient." The boy whose mind, despite efforts to the con-trary, keeps Wandering to the ball game to be played that afternoon; the mother who keeps one eye on her restless child, who answers the child’s questions about the "man up there," who tells the child’ every now and then to sit back in the pew and keep quiet; the usher who takes up the collection--all these have, or can have, ~the requisite atten-tion. The boy’s distractions are involuntary; the moth-er’s vigilance is necessary; the usher’s distracting o.ccupation is also necessary. (We suppose, of course, that the usher intends to assist at the Mass and that he tries to keep his mind on the Mass in at least a general way. in many places --perh~ips most places--it is customary for ushers to attend another Mass; and this custom is certainly to be com-mended.) Singing in the choir and playing the organ are estimated on about the same basis as ushering. The music is (or should be) sacred and may be considered a prayer; in fact, at a high Mass it is the most appropriate of prayers. Never-. theless, there is a very real danger that both organist and choir will-overlook the "prayer" element and concentrate only on the music; in this event their occupation can be a real distraction. Hence the caution concerning ushers also applies to them: they must have the intention of’partici-pating in the Mass and must try to apply their minds in some way to the sa~red ceremonies. Conversation"is to be judged in the same way as other distractions. A few passing words may be necessary and. if so, do not interfere in any way with the requisite atten-tion. If such passing remarks are unnecessary, they seem to be the~equivalent of voluntary’and unnecessary distractions; 294 September, 1947 HEARING MASS OF OBLIGATION ¯ and if conversation~is.earnest, and prolonged it can eveia substantially interfere with attention. ~These latter points will be considered more in detail when we treat of culpable deficiences. Whether or not a person .can.go tO. confession during Mass and, at the same .time have the requisite attention has always been a matter of some concern to theologians. There seems to be no difficulty about examining one’s conscience because, since other prayers are permissible, this must also be a legitimate way of occupying one’s mind. But the actual going to confession is a conversation, and it gen-erally calls for a mental concentration that leaves little room for even a vague attention to the Mass. It is not surprising, therefore, that older authors, who were probably thinking in terms of somewhat lengthy confessions, were rather gen-erally of the opinion that confession is incompatible °with the attention required for assisting at a Mass of precept, Many modern authors are more lenient, partly it seems because they are thinking in terms o.f briefer confessions and partly because they think that custom has made it an acceptable procedure, In practice, confession during Mass may now be permitted; but it is advisable to avoid it if pos-sible, particularly during the Canon of the Mass. What about sleeping? The question has to be an-swered with an abundant d6se of common sense. In a really profound sleep there is no attention to the Mass; and the ceremonies thus slept through must be considered On the same basis as omitted parts. But it seems to be some- .what different with regard to drowsiness, fitful nodding, or whatever one wishes to call it. I am referring to the case in which the mind is somewhat like a traffic light--it keeps going on and off; now the person follows the Mass, find then again he doesn’t. The general and reasonable estimate of such cases is to liken the sleep to involuntary distractions 295 GERALD KELLY Revieu., for Religious and to say that the gentle nodder has.at least the minimum attention required by the Church II. CULPABLE DEFECTS Deliberate and inexcusable neglect of any of the four conditions explained in the previous section is~inful. In practice, ’however, we may limit our discussion of culpable defects to two of the conditions: namely, to the omission of the whole or a part of the Mass and to lack of attention while physically present at Mass. Before considering these culpable defects it is well to recall a significant difference between violations of the pre-cept of hearing Mass and such sins as idolatry, hatred of God, murder, and so forth. There cannot be a small idol-atry, ~a slight hatred of God, a tiny murder; of their very nature such things are always se’riously sinful when com-mitted by one who realizes what he is doing. But there can be tiny thefts, small detractions, and slight violations of the precept of bearing Mass. One of the difficult tasks of moralists is to determine when these violations, even though fully, deliberate, are only venially sinful, and when they are of sufficient magnitude to constitute a mortal sin. Partial Omissions Obviously the inexcusable omission of the entire Mass is seriously sinful. This presents no problem. The prob-lem arises in estimating the gravity of partial omissions, for instance, coming late and leaving early. With regard to these partial defe~ts, the points generally agreed on by moral theologians are the following: 1. Inexcusable absence from an~t part of the Mass is sinful, for the precept binds one to hear an entire Mass. 2. Inexcusable absence from a notable part of the Mass is a mortal sin; such absence from a relatively small part is 296 September, 1"947 -, HEARING MASS OF OBI~IGA’rION aoveniat si, ~ 3. :’The distinction between notable’_ and small°is to bd estima~ted acc6~ding to both the ~quantit~]. and.~the :dignit,# of the part omitted. "F~r example, if a part is the equiv~- lent of aboul~ one-third of the entire ceremonies it~ is con~ side-r~ed notable’; and if a part includes a rite~of’ special dig-nity,,, such~ as th.e Consecration or the" Communion, it is ~notable even thoughit.amounts~to much less than one-third of the whole Mass. ¯ 4. Perhaps the most common form of omission: is. late-coming. In former.’-times ther~was some difference 6f 0piriion~ concernihg this case, but today it is commonly agreed :that on~.:,who .arrives before~ the Offertory° and remains, till the ,e’nd of the Mass avoids mortal~sin. Orie rehsoA for this rule"is that the ceremonies ~prece~ling ~he Offertory generally ~amount to about one~third of the ’Mags; hence, .if a part. of ~he. Offerto’ry is also missed, the omissi6n is certainly notable by reason of its length. Another reason is that~the Offertory’mark.s the transition from,the so-called’~’’Mass of the Catechumens" to the "Mass of the Faithful" and is therefore a part of special dignity. (_When .the’ologians say ;’before the Offertor~r;’_’ they mean before° the antiphon that the priest says just before uncovering the chalice. In som~ places a bell is rung at this. time. Where this custom of ringing a bell does not exists. theru°nveiling of the chalice may be taken as the practical external sign of the beginning of the Offertory.) ’x .5. Another rather common form of omission is leaving early. Regarding this case there has always been unanimity :among, moralists that to leave before the priest’s COmmunion. is a serious violation of. the. precept, although the omitted part" is .not lengthy, it is of great importance .15ecause of the special dignity of the~ Com-munidn. 297 GERALD KELL¥~ ~ ~" ~,. ~Re._oi~W’ for~Reti.~icus" 6. The gravity ’of omissions other"t-han "merely. ~oming’ la~te orilehvin_g :earlyds,fnot so~.easily.~8omputed. Hef~ are some.exampl’es of, notable,omission~ Cited,, by.-Fathei~,Noldin, an:~minent moraltheologian,~who_se works~are,w~deJy us~ff .as te:~,tb0oks-in s~minaries: e.qery.thiffg~ .precedings, the ~Go.s-pel together with everything, fololo~iffg:, the Commianion; from the Preface to,the Consecration+i from th~ Consecra- ~i6n to-.the Palier Noster; the,,’Consecration~arid Comfntin-ion, even though one is present at the intervening’ parts; and"e~;en, th~ Conse~c atibn alone...:~ ¯ ~ ,’,~ o- - ¯0- ~ Good;Catholics sometimes expressqmpatience over-this "fneasuring of parts," this’ drawinigof fine lines bet%~en mortal-and venial sin.; "It ~eems ridiculous," " they say, "that to miss a’ce~t,aiw.portion of the Mass is only a venial sin, bu~ to miss just a tiny bit more is°a mortal sin." Teach-ers of religion should be prepare_d to meet this objection if they ~are to explain the la.ws of the Church, as well as some laws of God, according to the mind of the Church. I’ think that the matter can be reasonably explained to most people bypointing to the analogy of human, friendship. All of, ’us" know’ that friends may,have big quarrels that break a friCnd~hip .and Small q, uarrels that strain it but do not b’reak it. - There’ must be a ~border oline,.that is, a point a( which a ~luhrrel ceases .to be small and~ becomes large enough~to disrupt the f~:ierii:lship - °~-.~: ~he sameAs true,of the friendship between th~soul-and Gc~d. From the ,te.aching" of, the ~hurcl’i we know: that there are small offenses ~venial,sins, we call’them~)~ tha~ do ,not -break~:t~his friendship?and~large~’offeris~s ~(.tfiortal sins)°,that do, break~it. Here I~oo!there must;beaborderqine;, a~ad in~ ¯ making their fine distin~’tions moralists, are "merely ,ma.king a~,re~sonable attempt to point" out this,b0rder line. They do,,this,with the~.b!essing .:of :the .Church, " And th0se~ who wish to do away with these border lines are not~ ~rea’Hy. 298’, HEARING MASS OF OBLiGATI6N .th~n’kmg cwath, the ~::’~fiUr~h, ~.4or. ~.th~i~posmon~r~logxcal,ly" " ~ ~ " fo~e~zthem~oo .n..e.~or ": t"h e~: o’t h"e .r. .o..~.. ~t.wo~.untenable e~.rem~ e~treme, r~gonsm ~wh~cB ma.~es.albs~ns~mortal or.~n lamsm ~htchrmakes~"all:~ns~svemal. Betweenqtge,~two - y~Cathoho ~moderatmn ~w.hl~h,,ma~es re.a..s..o..n..a.ble~ evaluatlon)of~~a -l l. .c..o..b..h..g.a~!ons ;.,~~h ~l~whh,d "e ~..c.o..n..-.. demmng,vema I~. s~n, ~.ls cereful~to~ dlstmgmshhv from ~m’;4 a andk ,whxch,:., encourages ~:evergone ~o t~a~,wholehea rted ,-service oFGOd:thh? ~ulti*ateswirtu~.a~d:~trivgt~o *~ " " [ have already pointed out- that p~}Eose ~-here~;is ;t%~determine~ the~degree~,of’~culpability;~. behe~e tha! theologmns~substanfial.ly ~agree,on~ the,foll6Nmg - If culpable distractions do noteegtire!~ imp~de~one~ ability to follow the Mass, ,t~ey are not .mortally, sinful even though they are prolonged during the entire Mass.~ On t~Oth~r~bahd,~if th~ fir6 dfi~fi~fisa ~n~tur~: they t~om-pl~ tely" r~e m...o..v..e" o -n"e s" - a..t.t.e.n..~ti o..n..s... .i.from "thermals, ~ th~y~are eqmvalent,, to~anexcus~blebomxss~ons’ and,are mortally’ sm-- f~l~if- th~.part ~hul, *o~itteff ii~.’~"fiot~bie’one: ~,~ ~h~e-n6)Ns’ apply, both to interior distracti6g~ :~nd:t6 digt)acting pations; buvm the latter ease there may.~easfly~be:some,addt-r tiofial~ Sire such as ¢~"~iOla/ioaof~Charit~2d F6Y ekample~ :if "one i6~xcu~aCblayrr "ies ’on’an’"ab ’s~6 r"b m~"g~ converSatmn dun~g a,,notable p~rt Of ~he.Mass, h(n6t"only sifts ~eriohsly a~iiast the precept of hearing Mas~ but.m~y filso b( t~ occa~ion’of his neighb6t’s sin ahd the soUrc~ of much disturbance disedifica.ti6h~to otfi~ts.., To return for:a moment to our first problem: Gilbert is ~hete sa~d to exchange o&asi0naI greetings ~ith p~s~ers- 299 Review for Religic’us "~ by, an~ dustomers.~ Since th~se~greeti’n’gs~ate oial~, oc,qasi6na.l, ,th~y~,~.do, not>.~substantially ,iri.t~rfete ~with ..the~, attention requ~red"~., for~ hearing~) Mass: .~’but-~ they :ar~, cert~inly.~ not entirely jus~tifiable.. ~he,~,very besi~ ~w.e gan, say for Gilbert is the.to _in unnecessa_ril;y, assisting ~:at"Mass. in~. this unusual mafin_er:,he is.,creating,~an, occasj0n for,," these ,dist.~actions. "~ Hence~ our final reply to. Gilb~Ws.~.case.~,o~ld be as .follows: he ~ust: discontinue, his. practice ~of,..unnecessarily h, earir~g ~M.as.s_ at the door of the i~e.-cream parlbr if he car~not _other~ wise avoid the distractions. This. obligation, however,~ would not be under pain of mortalsin unless the distrac-tions were of such a~ fia~ture"fis~to seri3usly impede his ability o to’follow th’~Mass. ¯ ’: "We~ might add.that .ther~ may-.be~ anbther’~fa~ctor to’b~ considei~d’in Gilbert’s ~ase: narriely,~ the. danger bf fgiving ’scandal,~tO others. But’ as ~he c’ase’is:given; n&hing is sa’id of the effect of his conduct on others; hence w,e. cannot pass judgmenton that aspect.- IrI. INCULPABLE D/~FECTS " In.many cases the ~faithful arelate for’Mass~.or01eave d9ring :the, cererhonies.or faiLcofiapl_etely in’ attention (for example; by ,falling into, a deep slgep),-througb no:fault ,of their own. T, he two. boys with nosebleeds~ Tom. and Dick, seem:to ,fall, into this .category..~ If there, is~ no other Mass, s.ucl£ omissions~.pr~sent no mo.ra.1 problem:; but, if there is.a ~la.t~et Mass, those W~h6 hax;e no.t yet c~omp!e.tely ful~tille.d,,t.he,precept. must d~cide whether they :a, re obliged ~to make up the defect. ’The generalprin-ciple for~solving° such’cases may, be stated "thus: ,omitted pa.rts must be supplied’at a subsequent Mass unless circum.. stances are. such that one can reasonably judge .that the Church does not wish to urge the .obligation. Just .what circumstances offer.a-reasonable foundation / 300 -" September; 1947 HEARING MASS OF OBLIGATION" forthe jfli:Igment that one is excused from supplying the omitted° part?, ~ Certainl~ one cirdumstance to b~ considered is tbeisize-’of the omission: that is, whether it is slight or notable., Many theologians believe that it isnever, stridtly obligator7 to make Up a.,sligh~ omission./In other Words, they think that in these cases the Church is always willing to waive,her right to insist on the complete, fulfilling of the precept. This opinion appears to be safe in practice, and in,view of it we.may say that the supplying of a small part may be looked upon~-rather as a c03~nsel than a strict com-mand. But we cannot so easily dispense with the necessity of supplying a notable part; only a relatively serious incon-venience can excuse one from this.obligation. I say a "’relat.ioel~t serious~.reason," for cas_e differs from-case, and many factors must be evaluated: for instance, the reason for the omission, the duration of the part. omitted, the position of this p,art with reference’to the other ceremonies, and. so forth. Tom’s case is referred to by most theologians and may be used as an illustration. Because of his nosebleed he was absent from a ~notable. part, the Consecration. Yet in ac.t, ual fact, this excusable absence was only momentary, whereas the supplying 9f, the defect,would require assistance at both the .Consecration and Communion of another Mass (for both these parts must be in the same Mass).. To do this he would either have to hear-another complete Mass or at least come to the Mass before, the Consecration and remain till after the Communion. Theologians reasonably judge that the Church would not wish to insist on either of these alternatives to make up for a’°momentary and neces-sary absence. Dick’s omission is more lengthy for he missed from the Communion ro the end. But in his case to~ the absence is 301 HEARING MASS OF OBLIGATION Review for Religious e~icusable; ~and he would:enc6unter the same’ difficulty a~ Tom:in trying to supply.the omission, I believe that under the~circumstances .we could say that:the Church ~wo’uld not ordinarily"!nsi~t .on this.’ My ~conclusion, therefore, with regard to,both T0m andDick that the hearing of another Mass Would be praiseworthy but that~:~further attdffdance, even at part of a subsequent Masg,~ @ould.seldom, if ever, be, of st’rict obligation. ~ ’~: "’ . ° Harry s ca els quitedifferent~. Hi~ ~yersleeping’m~i~r:be~ and very likely i~, Blameles~ but ih~;arrivi’ng after the Con~ secration he has missed practically the entire Mass.’ ould~ :be- excused’ from attending,:a ,subsequent Mas£ ~ bnly foe about the.sam~reasons othat Would, ~kcuse 6£e: 4ntirel~ from ~as~istance at ~Mass~ ~ This ~roblem (namely, of legiti~ ~ate excuSe frbm ~ndih~ ~MaS~)? is a. S~’~j~t in itself hnd will,be treated’in a’~eparat~ article:~ "~ ~ ~ *~ " ~ ,~. f (’~n~t~s section [~ave dealt only ~th ~nculpable omm-si’o~ ff. ~I~fia~e~ khia~fid~Hi~"of,t~~ ;hfid~si~ ~of for culpable omissions because this aspect of the p}oblem is seldom:practical... Those ’-whb eilpably~omit p~rts S’~ the Mass: are not ~,usually interested in ..thelr~ further obligations. I ~ight add, however, thff~ the:mete::fa~t’that thdy sin~in neglecting their duty ~does not exduS~"them [iomthese fur-ther obligations. -Theoretically they a~e obliged to make ¯ up their defe&:,unless a .valid excuse intervenes~ arid the judgment of their excuse can hardly be as lenient as in the case of those~who have ~lready made a sincere effort to comply with;~thei~ duty.) ~ ~ ~ CONCLUSION In th~ .fqreg9jng.:page.si I.~ .have,tried to outline and explain most of the points usually treated by moral theo,: l~gi~.~s~ inLt~heiL di~scussio~s~of~ t.he~ann~e~r: of :f~lfilling the p~ey~Rt~.gf ~r~g ~.~sA~~e~rr~¢SJ:y th~s~ate.tial can be 3~0=2 Septe.mbero 1947 "INCLINE UNTO MY AID~’ of great benefit to all who’teach religion,,or help in the’guid. anc¢.~ of others. ,.And it: wil.l be used. correctl.y~ if the.se teach-ers ~an~ ..gu.ide~ .have wha.~t~ ~I ~have referred to previouslyo,,as an.,attitude of "Catholic moderation." :With this, attitude, they .will explain obligations dea.r.l.y, witho~ut rig0r[sm or la.xis .m,~.and w.il! a~ the,same time inspire many with such a lqv~e~of the Mass that °obligations Will seem unnecessary: "lncline Un o Aid; .! . Richard L’.’ Rooney;S,J. N THE PRAYERS a~t .the fo.gt~ qf the. alta.r we state quite simply but with a firm confidence born of faith, ,’.’Our . .~ ¯ ~ . ~ ,. ~ . ~" . . help is in the name. [in the p~wer] of God who made l~eaven and earth." At the beginning o~ the Office, which is but a ~rolonga-tion of the Mass, we rely on that stated fact and pray, "’Deus in adjutorum raeura intende; Doraine, ad,. adjuoan-dum me festina/" (Incline unto my a_~d, O God; O Lord, make haste to help me.) ~ ~ O God--What infinite riches lie within that one word awaiting to be p~rayerrmined by each of us! A ~single three-letter word,~its mer~’~epetition alone can be the content of ’countless soul-vitaliz.jng meditations. It is the tiny limited word that stands for the boundless Him, whom We are destined to contemplate exhaustlessly for all eternity. 0 LordIn this word is contained the majesty, the supremacy, the fathomless wonder and power of God and 303 RICHARD L: ROONEY Review [or Religious our glorious need of and subjection to Him. O God, 0 Lord How easily. ! could spend° hours~ of fruitful meditation merely repeating these wo~ds over.and over again: Yet.I must recall the warning of.the eighth lesson for. the sex/enth Sunday after Pentecost: "What merit ist’nere, ..... ’asks- Saint Hilary, "iri saying"Lord’ to~theolSbrd? Will God Cease to b’~ if He is not named by us? Wha~t ~value of holiness is there in being busy with God’s name, when obedience to the will of God rather than wordy repetitions is the way to the kingdom of heaven?" 0 God, 0 LordWith what different accents is God our Lord invoked at different times, in different states of soul..We call:on His name in awe, fear, hope; in anxiety and trust and joy; in sorrow and anguish; with terrible insistency and contrition; in gladsome wonder and joyous love. " "ln¢lina nn~o my n~d~malta has~o ~o holp too" How much I need their aid! How far down God must lean to give it to me! How utterly helpless I am without it; how helpless to even cry, "Abba, Father." What real need there is, too, of that haste! If I do not get that aid and quickly, I shall fall away fast and far. I need God’s aid and help, the’aid and help of light for my darkling, world-blinded ini~ellect to see and Know and understand what is really there wherever I look. I need His aid and the help of His strength foe m~r poor, weak wavering will ~---tb hope, to curb its self-Seeking; to keep it fixed on Him always. I need° His aid and help to see ~hat life is for and to bring every conscious deed of mine "into line with that divine purpose. I need His helpful aid in my morning’s rising, in every action of every moment, in my struggling meditation, in 304 September. "! 9 4 7 "INCLINE UNTO MY the words and gestures and action of the Mass, in-my about- " to-be prayed Office:.-~Io~am.geedy ~.~tHim ~n~m.y~ mea!"-ta, k.mg,. in my dealing~ width rfiy fellow rdigious, in the fulfillrii~nt of my duties, in my goings~ a.nd comings, in accepting the qrders and prohibitions,of superiors, in accepting the dispo-sitions of Providence, in th~ moment of temptation,’ in my successes ’and" tr!umphs, in my sfiffe~ings and failu’r~s’ arid iins, in my simple joys find bitter sorrows; in the night’~ darkness, in the slumber that creeps over me like death, "in the restle.~s wakefulness that allows me, nay that forc’ds me to watch yet another hour "with Hire. In them all, above all in my prayer -and sacrificing, I need Gqd’s aid, God’s help. I need it speedily, imtar~ter, with the speed of mihute by minute giving. "ln~:line unto my a;d~ 0 God, 0 Lord, mate haste to ’help me’~ This prayer is p~rticularly .apposite for the beginriing of the Qffice. It should not be left there alone, however. It is a prayer\thatcan and should al,icays be on oui lips,. welling up from our hearts daily~ hourly; momentarily. It i~ a strong Cry for help foLall times, for. all circumstances: It ds the cry of a helpless weakling son to his omnipotent, .all-loving Father--God. From the Office it should spread to daily life¯ Used in daily life it resounds with new, vitality and meaning in the Office. . ’ MASTERPIECE ON GRACE--II Readerstwho enjoyed the first part of Father ~Matfhias Schee-ben’s The Glories o~ Divine Grace will welcome the second part, Union with God. In languige which at times rises to’poetic heights yet never departs from sober theological truth’the author describes the intimate union with God that results from sanctifying grace. The attractive 154-page booklet may be obtained from The Grail, St. Meinrad; Indiana. It sells for 30 cents. " 305 Ques Jons and Answers If a local superior knows th’at one of his subjects ;s publicly giving scandal before the school children, is he obliged to take any means to cor-rect this himsblf or is it sufficient if he simply makes.the mailer known to a higher superior? And if a ~rellglous who is giving such sca,ndalols~per-miffed" to remain in the school, is not some superior guilty of mortal sin? Brief answers to th~ questions proposed here might easily,engen: tier misunderstanding; hence it seem~ advisable to preface our responses with a survey "o-f ~some perti~ient definitiofis and distinc’tions used b~ mbral.’theolOgians in ~heit treatises.or~ th~ sin~of s~candaE Mg_ralist~speak bf adtive and passive’scandal: -I~ is said to be active with reference to the person who gives scandal, passive .with regaid to the dne who receives or ~akes scandal. ’ Scandhl, in, the active ~sens~, ma’y~b~ ~fii~ed ~s any ~ofiduct which p’~dvid’e-s one s,ne, ghbor ,w~th dn bccasion of, Sin 6r of some equivalent spiritual ha~rfi.:. Fr~om.this defiriition we can. readily infer" that" pas-siye~ scandal is sin or some, equivalent "spiritual harm which is occa-sionedO. b’g~, . .the~ conduct,~, , o~ One’s,n, eighbor.~ In these definitions ~one ¯ should carefully note the words sin" and "shine equivalent -spiritual harm:’ f~r many people wrongly think"of scandal ":asrefernng’ "’ " to _ surprise, or¯in popialar parlance--"shockY For examplef the novice master"tfiight indeed be’,surprised to come~suddenly upon the 15ride of tb~e novitiate sliding down the bannistdr,, but he will hardly iuffer any spiritual harm from" observing this burst of hilarity. However, we might add that in some cases :’shock" is very closely associated with spiritual harm, as, for instance, when the misconduct of priests and religious is not only shocking to the laity but also diminishes their esteem for the prie~thbo~l dr ~h-e ~el[giohsstate. or causes them to lose confidencein~priests and religious. Active scandal may be either direct oh indirect. ,it is, direct when the One who gives scandal intends the spiritual harm td his neighbor. For example, on.e who tries to lead another’into sin, or who~ attempts to ~¢eaken his. faith; draw, him,away from the sacrament~, undermit~e his lo’~e of virtue, and so ~forth is giving direct scandal, Scandal is said to be ind.jire~t if the harm to the neighbor is sincerely riot.intended but is a merely tolerated effect of on~e’s conduct. The su~bsequent ,306 QU~Sy~0NS AND ANSWERS paragraphs will indicat~ numerous ~xamples of indirect scandal. , Ond of the most ~comm6n.forms of scandal is bad example. With regard to thispartic’ular type of Scandal ’ there is a sayingto thd ~i~ffect that great saints and great sinia’ers are rarely scandalized; the sairit,will ’be good and tl-Je hardenedsinner will, generally be bad, rega~rdless of the example. ~iven them. ¯ In other wbrds, scandal,by bad,example su’pposes that the misconduct will probably influence others" to imitate the evil deed. Usually, it seems, bad example is ~ form of ind!rect scandal, but of course itds direct if the one.who~gives the bad exiample intends to lead others astray.’ .... ~ It is’ often said that a g6od religious is not easily "scandalized. .Appareritly this :is biat .a concrete application of’the general dictum ~oncerning "s~iints’.’ just referred to; but in the case ofieligious this~ saying Should not be,pushed too far. ~’ The intimate relationships -that exist within communities make iit rather" easy for religious to infl~uence ond another by their ~exam131e, good and bad." And’certainly th~’ example, of priests and religious has great influence on the laity, And their ..public misdo’nduct can .hardly fail .to be detrimental to others, not only by leading them to similar miscoridUct but also by decreasing thelr,rsspec’t "for and" confidence in those who are supposed to~ inpsi rteh em. " ° : ° ,’~ ~ . Since direct scanda,’l includes the will to do spiritual harm to one’s neighbor, it is never permissible, But when the harm to:the neighbor is merely indirect (that is, unintentional), conduct which Occasions such harm is sometimes justifiable: ~ The~principle ,underlying this statement is.that evil may be tolerated for a p~oportionate reasbfi. ’In estimating this reason many factors must be.considered, especiM!y the conduct tliat-occasions the spiritual .harm; the relative amdtint of good and evil tha’t is foreseen, and the persons who will.probably suffer harm." If the c’onduct is itself eyil (as is the case with bad ¯ example):; it is,’of course~ unjustifiable. ,On the other, hand; if the conduct is not in itself bad, the’ other factors, mentioned must be ~are~ fully cbnsidered. In this connection it~inay be.~ell tO point out’and. explain a special division of passive scandal that is usually given bg moralists: namely, ordinary scandal, s~andal" of the; toei~k~and pharisaical’scandal. :’, The differences between these three may, be illus-trated by a _sirhple example. " ~. ~ Suppose a priest must give a group of.boys a talk on chastity." Ir~ preparing his talk, he ouglSt to visuaiize his audience; aiad as he visua~ lizes thdSe boys he. may note that they can roughly be .divi~led,into 307 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Retffeu2/or Relig(ous three°classed~" There are perhaps a few "wiseacres" lads who are perpetually looking for evil and who would find ?it even in a talk on the Annunciation, or o’n motherhood, and so forth. Then there may be a few who certainiy have no ill will but who are0extraordinarly susceptible~ to temptation. Finally, there are the ordinhry ~boys-- boys who have n6 ill will and who are not especially weak,but who do, ne~rertheless,, havewhat"might be called normal susceptibility to. temptation, . ~ If the, priest should make his talk so blunt that it would be the source of temptation even to this third class of boys, he would give what may be~ termed ordinary scandal; in other words, his lecture would be the occasion of spiritual harm even to.normal’ individual~. If be couches his talk in ’such delicate terms that it will have no evil" effedt~on the ordinary boys but is still likely’ to 15e a source: of tempta-tion .to,the, bo~rs of the second class, h~ gives~scandal .of tb~ .weak: namely, the spiritual harm occasioned by the lecture is due largely or’ perhaps entirely to the ul~rasensitive~dispositions.of these particular ~ boys~ .Finally, :if the conference is phrased so .delicately aS~to safeguard even this second~’class of boys’but still,affords the first class an occasion for.e~,i!~ thoughfs and rema’rks, the scani:lal inthis,case would be called ¯ pharisaical scandal; for the resultant spiritual harm is due.-~almost entirely to the~iill will of the pe}sons scand~llzed., Pharisees’ are ’ looking for a chance to be scandalized; hence, it is almost impossible to avoid sca~ndalizing them. F6r this reason many authors refuse to use the, expression "gi~iing scandal" with reference to pharisaic~al scandal, but prefer to say that in such cases s.candai is, "taken" but not rd~lly given.. ’ ~ Life is, made up of ’these three classes of persons; and life in reli-gion is no exc.eption to this statement. Even in religionl we have..our Pharisees:" for example, those who make the innocent merriment 6f their fellow-religious-the bccasion for harsh judgments and sharp remarks, and those whb (often through jealousy) make perfectly legitimate man~estations of piety the occasions for bitter thoughts and remarks and for rude conduct. These are simply imitating the Pharisees, who did just° such things with regard to Our .Lord., .~. Also in religion we have those who must be designated as "weak"--those~, namely, who are unduly conscious of evil, or extraordinarily sensitive to temlSta~ion ........ With regar~l to the duty ,of ~voiding the scandal of,.ordina.ry. people..!moralists all agree that only a ves.y serious reason Would jus- 3’08 . "x September, 19 4 7 ~ QUESTIONS AND A~SW£iRS tify conduct tb~t creates real.danger of ~erious spiritual harm (e.g.. ¯ mortar sin) for such people: for example,.the need of training men for.the mddical profession justifies teaching them things which, for a time at, least, may occasion great danger of sin: Less~reason is required to justify conduct which would be dangerous only to the hyper-sensitive: nevertheless, even these must be protected, if that can be don without gre’at inconvenience..A’s for the Pharisees, mor~iists ~ive" the general rule that such scandal may be ignored. This is a good generalrule, bu~" it has some exceptions: For mortal sin, even when committed by Pharisees, is a great evil: and if in certain definite cases one can ~onveniently prevent it, one should do so. " ,.~s a final preliminary observation we wish to call attention to the fact that scandal, when sinful, admits of the distinction between subjective and, objective sin" which was explained in a recent article in this REVIEW. (Cf. Gerald Ke, lly; ’.’Subjective Sin," ’ March, 1947, pp. 114-120.) In other Words, it is quite possible that the person who is giving objectively unjustifiable scandal is unconscious of this fact or tl~at he’becomes conscious of it,"only after he has unintention-" ally and accidentally scandalized someone. I6 sucl~ cases the defini-tiori of scandal may be objectively veriiied, but the subjective~guilt of the sin is not incurred because of the ignorance Or inadv_ertence of the agent. These lengthy preliminaries may seem unnecessary to some, yet’ we considered them hecessary, in brd~r to avoid all misunde~,standin’g. We can now proceed directly to the questions. In the first of the questions it is stated that a religious is publicl~ giving scandal to the school children. If this ~efers to real scandal~ that is, to spiritual~ harm then there can hardly be question of some form of’justifiable conduct, and it ought to be corrected. The obli-gation of correcting it rests.first on the religious himself. It is he who "should ponder seriously Our Lord’s words about those who scan-dalize His little ones. However, if he does not reform, the local ~uperior’ should take some means of preventing the evil. A local .superior, has the responsibility before God for his community~and, if he is the head of a school, also for the school children. He cer-tainly does nbt "fulfill these responsibilties merely by referring matters " to a higher superior.’ .Of course, if the !evil can be remedied only by transferrihg the reli’gious to another place, the intervention of a higher superior is required unless t’he flatter is very urgent. As for the question, "Is not some superior guilty of mortal sin 309 .QUESTIONS A~D ~ANSWERS for pe~rmitt.ing the reli’gious who -school?"--this cannot be answered with a.mere yes or no. THis~ina3~ simpiy be a: case of conflicting views: the superior may judge thati the religious is not really giving scaffdal, whereas another merhber of the community may thinl~ that real scandal is involved. Or again) it may °be that the. superior realizes that real scandal is being given, but thinks that the removal of the subjLct is not the proper’remedy. In this case tl~e superior may or may not.b~ making an,error in judgi "meht, but he dannot be said to be guilty.of sin, either mortal or venial, -since he is following his own sincere conscience in the matter. In fine, the superior is subject!~ely guilty of serious s!n only if he realizes that the subject is doi.ng serious harm and consciously neglects to take ¯ th~ necessary means of pr~eventing this. If we may paraphrase an expression frequently used by the Church, .we might,say: "May God protect us,fr6~ such a catastrophe! Review for R~ligious ~s giving scandal to remain.in the ¯ 2S If a .Sister dies. suddenly, rhu~t ~ doctor be called f~ pronounce ~her dead? What if her death has been.preceded b~ a chronic illn~ess in ~ m~herhouse infirma~,?. ~. ...~ ,W~ do not:profess to be experts in the matter of civil law: but as ¯ we understand thd matter a burial permit will not be issued unless the -re~tuest is accompanied by a testimonial ,of, death, signed by~ a ~physi-c, an. Sometimes the coroner must be notifie~l, but, at least in pracz rice, this.is not always necessary. The doctor who is ~sked~ to te.stify conce~rning the death will know if the intervention of the coroner is necessary." Perhaps the best rule we can give in ans@er to these ques-tions isthis: find out what is prescribed,by civil law in your locality and abide by that. Is the local superior pe~miffed ~o reveal to ¢onsultors or to ~’h6 pro-vincial matters which subjects have discussed with him for the purpose 9f relieving their burdens? Will you kindly explaln tile attitude, of the Church concerning such confidential communications, ~The confidential communications made by ¯a subject to a religi~ous superior are a species of what is called the entrusted secret:" This is the strictest of all non-confessional secrets. It may be’ revealed only - with the permission of the one who makes the .confidence or wben-the reve~lation of the secret is a necessary means of. warding off’some 310 September, ! 94 7~ oo ~" QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS great evil." Circumstances °which justify the revelation 0of s~cb a secret without permission are e~c~remely rare; and before any profes.- siohal consultant (doctor. laborer, spiritual directbr, student’couh-s~ lor, religious superior,, and s6 f.orth) reveals-confidential informa-tion hi should ponder well~ th~e°fact that~eve~n greater harm might result from a loss 6f confidence ~iri" his office. With the exception 6f ~these very rare cases, local superiors Who receive confidential com-munications from their subjects~should carefully observe the. fol-lowing points: (1) The information may be revealed to no one, not even ~to a higher superior or to consult0rs, eXc~t-°.with i~he ~.expli~it~,,per~issi~’n 6f the subject. 2) The permission of the stibject is also required for’any use of the secret knowledge which might create a dahger of rev.elation-or wl~ich might bring other harm to the su.bject. 3) Use of the confidential reformat,on, without revelation or .da.nger o~,,revelation, which is for the good of the subject, is pefmis-iible, unless the subject explicitly states that he does not wish this. Hence, unless the sub jeer forbids itl the superior may use his confi-dential information to adviie and’encourage the subject, to assign him to.a more agree~able~ and l~dlpful forth of Work, and so forth~. A ~s~b-ject who Would forbid or resent such use doe~ not seem to be acting ratidnally; 9evertheless, .to’preserv.e confidence in his office, the supe-rior should ordinarily respect his wishes. ~ ~ We stated above tl~at on,certain: rare occasions an~entrusted non-confessional secret ma_y be revealed, even without permission, in order to ward off some grea~ evil. Ex’arfiples bf such cases ~might. be i a case *in whic~ the conduct of a religious is doing great harm to a religious institute or to the Church and this harm can be prevented onl~r by revealing or usin~ the secret information; a case in which the s,ubject who unburdens l~is soul ’is in danger of great spiritual or tempgral, harm, yet un~easonably refuses to allow the informatiofi~to be used for his own good. It is very difficult to decide such cases: but, unless the superior can prude.ntly judge that,the revelation or use of. the confidential information would not result in a loss of c6nfidence in his office of trust, it seems better for him to preserve the secret invio-lable and to leave it to Divine Providence-to prevent the threatened evil. -. In conclusion, we might mention again what ,g’e have already ~311 COMMUNICATIONS "Reuieto for Religious obser~,ed in p,~evious art, icles and responses: namely, that many situa-~ tions s~imilar to that referred.to in this question/are created more. by misunderstandings .than by~ bad. will..We~ have given this answer with the hope_that it will be of some help in establishing a better understanding.bet.ween superiors and subjects by clearly indicating the main points of moral theology pertinent to such cases~ , Vacations for Religious? In the last issue of REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS .it was sugg~*sted that anyone who had ideas about spending vacations submit these ideas. May I therefore submit mine? In reading the lives of the saints I have failed to find any~vhere thatany of them has e~ver taken a vacation. We do not read that Our Divine Lord or His Immaculate Mother ever took a vacation. We do in~dded redid that the Blessed Virgin visited" with her cousin for three months, but that was not for tile p~rp~se bf a vaca~tion.~ She went to assist her, to nurse her, ~in~l to do the household work.’ "We do’not read that St. ,loseph ever took a vacation; we see him toilin~ ,, day in and day out. The only time we hear of him taking off, is the time he went to Bethlehem to be e~rolled~, o~ the time he had to fly ino the mid~le~f the night into Egypt. If’there is any record Of anger. saint event taking a vacation, we should like to hear about it. Our present day rdligious are imbibing the spirit o’f the" world " bit by bit: it is probably only a matter of a short time until we shall hear of them demanding a forty-bout’week. They will plead that’it is necessary for their health, for their nerves; that they cannot be expected to perfoim their spiritual exercises day. in and day out with- 6ut some time off, s~me form of relaxation; the humahsystem calls for such. We forget that we entered religion-to take up our ~ross daily and to follow our crucified Spouse: that we were to be nailed to tl"ie cross with Christ; tfiat we, the chosen ones of Christ, were iia a special manner tobear the heat and the burden of the day. Have we become softies? Are w~ drawing out the nails that nailed us to the cross the tday we vowed our undying love’to our Spouse? "We vowed for’life;:-. 312 S.ept~mber, 1947 \ COMMUNICATIONS there,was no question then.of a two-weeks vacation each year. There was no such thing then known jn our community. As we look back on thbse gr.an~l.religious who have gone before us, we can bow our heads in shame. They. labored lateoand early; they never had a day off. They left the~word "vacation" behind them~for the worldling theirs was to labor and be spent’ for Christ, ,to be worn.out in the service ~f their King. Our religious today are not asking, "How milch can I do for Christ?" ° No,,~they are asking, ’.’When can I’ have my vacation? How long may I ~be off?" .They are~not Asking, "How can I make a better med~tatmn. 13ut, "When may I visit my relatives. .They forget "hga_in, that on the.day they made ~tl~ir vows they promised to’ die to their~relatives." Did they really die? What we need is ndt vacations; we need a return’.to the good old ~eligious’life, shcl6 as thos~ led ~who are gone before us :and who now are enjdyingthe- reward ~promised to those~who have left "all things" to follow.Cbrist--A SISTER:- Mental Prayer Re~,erend Fathers: H~i, ing spent t~hirty-eight yea’rs in the enclosed contemplative iife, and some years as mistress’of novices, I must say that very seldom are" the beginnings, aside from the first fervor, or even the later .years of the.religious life free .from mortification and struggle in the practice of interior prayer. I have .yet to find a religious of my own or another order who will not say when speaking confidentially, "I can-. not meditate." When my novices would tell me this I~ would answer the~, "Of course yoh’can’t, neithei can I." But I would always add~ "You can pray, and so can I and so can every religious, because we love our Divine Bridegroom.", As soon as it is called,interior prayer, it seems some of the difficulty is overcome. However, even after years of conscientious interior prayer, the ~mgrtification of keeping our strayin, g thoughts collected, fighting off fatigue and drow~ines.~, especially in what is called the "morning~ meditation" is still w._ith us. Whdn earnest ybung’souls complain of their difficulties in int~erior piayer, I,have found that~ advising them to take up the practice of "forced acts" in any form, be it aspirations, ejaculations, or any short form of pray.er that may appeal to them, will help them over the hard p!aces and launch .them out into the kind of prayer .which is suitable for tfiem ....St. Francis of.Ass~sh whocould spend an 313 CoMMUNIcATIONS ’- ’ ~, Re~iet~ lot Rdi¢iou’s ¯ entire nig.hre,~ tp -e a"tl n g ’ t h e~ w o r d s , L"Moryd ~ind my God! Who art Thou and who am I.V’ yet never answering his own qu.estion but by a fresh Outburst of love, practiced the’prayer 6f si~nplicity of which w~’are all Capable, arid yet, was it not the prayer of seraphic-con-templation?~ And when our often .unresponsive spirit reaches wearily out to Him whose love is "ill" to us, is the mute ache in our souls,_ reaching out yet never seeming to grasp and hold Him, not prayer in its fullest sense? Perhaps, too much is said of the" difficulties of’interior prayer, ,and while they should not be brushed aside when eager young souls con-scious of their helplessness are discouraged and a’ie looking for helpful, guidance in the trials and difficulties’of interioLprayer, they should bTtold too of the interior joy which these tri~Is lead to. This in-terior joy~ is too little mentioned, but it is~seldom an exuberant joy for any-~lCngth of time/ The: joy that comes with union With God is the,kind that for us religious:gives the strength to bear the cross cheerfully or at leait resignedly and perhaps with abandonment to.the Divine Will. ~ ° The end ~f all prayer is this’ interior union with God in our s6uls~a .i~nion.that does not end with our prayers but is carried’over into.our daily, tasks. A resolution is not the end of Our mental prayer as is’oftefi-cla’imed~ Who can make a practical resolution every day, or’even repeat the same resolution over.a long period without,getting discouraged? If all the purpose of our prayer is union With ,God, then witlJ".this unibn growing, should it not be carried,~,over into our daily’duties? ~If our prayer is barren, is it nora sign that our work~ isitoo separated from our prayer? ~ And if our work, is wholly a distraction, can our prayer b~ otherwise? Why make tw~o’geparate departments of them? Keep them as.one, our work being worth just as much~ as our prayer and our prayer as~ much as-our work, and I think interior prayer will not be quite .such an impossible achieve.- ment as we at times hear it is.--A P00R,(~LARE. ,-Reverend Fathers: Is it _necessary that in every meditation period bne make detailed resolutions? :It seems to me that if.one coi~Id convince himself’, befgre God, of the truth of some principl~ (for example, God wants me to keep the rules), the meditation ’would ’be profitable. Conscience is a practical ju’dgme’ht, appl)ing a moral principle to a concrete situa-tion. Once the prin.c!ple !s firmly established in a man’s, mind; he can 3~14 ._ , ~epternbe~, 194~7 " COMMUNICATIONS work on the resolutions necessary to put itointo !pract!ce. But if-the principle is only vaguely grasped, one will lack the courage of his gonviction i because he is. not r~eally convinced. ~’Hence, when diffi-culties arise, he begins, topwonder if ;he understood the rule ar_ight, or w~ether in this case, it w.ouldn’~ be better to make aT exceptio.n,, and so forth. A clear grasp of the supernatu.ral moral principles is a grace ~worth praying for. It seems that it would also be a good meditation ¯ that resulted in such k~owledge.. Applications could wait for the next.hour; or one could find occasion fo,r applications of the~principle to various situations as they occur during the day. A JESUIT I~issIONARY: Reverend Fathers: r~ ~ I believe thht ~many of our warped or one-sided idei~s of Our L~rd and His teachin~ can~be traced in part at least to our negle~t~of the Scrip(ures. Perhaps also our frequent lackI of enthusiasm "and joy ir~ our Christian life comes from not being.steeped in the knowl-edge of, Christ which the early Christians had and which ~an be gained nowhere as from the Gospels and the Epistles. Of course, it is understood that nuns who have not had the opportunity for scriptural studies need helps or explanations df some kind if they ar,.e to get the greatest good from Bible rea~ng. R~adin~ carefully (and even repeatedJy)_one or several~ of the standard lives of Christ is most profitable. Such readinff, even two or three times a "week with, the parallel passages from the Gospels for spiritual reading, can be easily done t.ogether with whatever ~ spiritual reading., one desires’on otherldays. -The books of Abbott Marmion, Bishop Gay. Dr. Karl Adam, and Father Edward Leen are the greatest helps I have had to understand (’to some degree) and to love the Epistles as well a~ the G~spels. What about the Old Testament? Some.may say they have to’ read tbo much before finding something "meaty." That may: be true 6f the historical Books. But what if you do? The general bene-fit repays one a hundredfold; moreover, the Old, as well as the New, ~estament gives "tes’timony to Christ"; if you "search, you will find" Him all through the sacred books. As already mentioned, explanations are desirable, but until you have the bpportunity to get them, you .will experience the grea.test profit from searching the l~ages~ of Scripture with faith and reverence. Here a word, there a passage, 315 BOOK REVIEWS Review for Reli~to,’s will be a revelation..to you of the great p~wer’hidden in the’ word of God. Of course. Bible reading in itself is no cure-all, no more than spiritual reading’is in itself. While hurried and thoughtless reading is the death of prayer, slow and prayerful reading of the Scriptures, with the help of a life of Christ and the other books mentioned above, is an excellent and indispensable foundation for true mental prayer and for the life of recollection. Those who draw nourishment regu-larly from the fountains of the Bible and the liturgy suffer from "aridity very seldom, as a rule: they feel assured by the soundness and solidity of the doctrine and life.imparted to them (a very special help ~for sbuls who have begun to grow a bit lax), and, moreover, they experience that they have come a little closer to the full and Christian Life:_that "Christianity is joy: Christianity is constant tbanks-gi~ ving," Ch.ristianity is not only a battle with sin, but much more, a life 6f "galla’nt love for Christ" (cf. Adam. Christ Our Brot’her) : and their prayer consequently overflows as that of the martyrs of old with praise as well as petition, with glad confidence as well as con-trition, with strong faith in Christ as well as humility; for He is our Redeemer and our Head! and we CAN DO ALL THINGS in Him who strengthens us! dubilate Deo omdis terra!" - A FI~ANCISCAN SISTER: Book TItlE SACRED HEART OF JESUS. By St. John Eudes. "The Selected Writings of St. John Eudes" Series, .Volume II. "Translated by Dom Richard Flower, O.S.B. Pp. xxx -f- 183. P.d. Kenedy and Sons, New ’York, 1946. \. [EDITORS’ NOTE: In our July number (VI, p. 255) we called attention to the publication in English of the prilacipal writings of St. JohnEudes. and we reprinted from Theoloqical Studies a review, of,the first volume of this series. In the same number of Theological Studie§, (VII, p. 472), Father E. J. Fortman. S.J., reviewed the second volume of the series. Since his review contains many points of great interest and importance to our readers, we have obtained permission to reprint ~t in full. ] Thei~ can be litt-le doubt about the important and providential part played by St. 3ohn Eudes in the development, of th’~ devotion to ~316 Jepiember, 1947 BOOK REVIEWS the Sa’cred Heart. P~re ke Dore; Sul~rior~Gene~ral "of the~ Congrega-tion of Jesus and’Maiy, .and a most ardent d~efender of his Fou.n.der’s ¯ contribu’tions to the devotion to the Sacred’Heart.of Jesus, ~leclared that "Blessed Margaret Mary is pre-eminently the Apostle 6f the Sacred’Heart oi: Jesus. It is to be the apostle of the holy heart of Mary that Father Eudes has been especially chosen. But it v$ould be.. unjust ,to refuse to the ardent missi0na¯ry the glory of having served as a powerful auxiliary and a Worthy precursor of St. Margaret Mary." ~ What a powerful auxiliary he was, history and his Writings amply testify. He helped greatly to.give the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jes’us a’firm theological foundation; he ably expounded°and defended, it and labored "~ealously, t6 spread it. And he first gave it liturgical expression in a special Mass’and Office. It is not surprisin~g, then, that Pope Leo XlII declared him "the institi~tor of the litur-gical ~worship oLthe Sacred Hearts" and that Plus X and Piils XI .ISronounced him "the Father, the Doctor and the Apostle" of the devotion to the Sacred Hearts. ~ ’ St. John’s outstanding work is entitled The Admirable Heart,o~ the Mother of God. It was completed.in 1680, the year in which ~ St. John died, 13ut it did not appear until 1681. It comprises twelve books, of which elevim "discuss the theory,-history and practice of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary," while the twelfth deals with the devotion ro the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This last book. called by St. John "Of the. Divine Heart of Jesus," contains twenty’ "chapters, seventeen meditations nine for the Feast of the Sacred Heart 6f Jesus on October 20th; and eight others on the Sacred Hiart bf Jesus--and a litany of the Adorable Heart of Jesus. The Sacred Heart of Jesus contains all but the first of these twenty chapters, all of the meditations, and the Litany.. In addition, it includes the Mass and Office of the Sacred Heart of J~sus which ’St. John completed in 1670. The order of some of the-chapters, howeveL has been ~hanged from that of the original. The devotion to the Sacred .Heart that we find in this book is substantially t City of Saint Louis (Mo.), http://www.geonames.org/4407084 http://cdm17321.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/rfr/id/180

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