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BENZIGER BROTHERS
BENZIGER BROTHERS
PRINTERS TO THE HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE PUBLISHERS OF BENZINGER'S MAGAZINE Imprimi Permittitur FR. CHRYSOSTOMUS THEOBALD, O.F.M., Minister Provincialis. Cincinnati, Ohio, die 30, Martii, 1908. Nihil Obstat REMY LAPORT, S.T.L., Censor Librorum. Imprimatur JOHN M. FARLEY, Archbishop of New York. NEW YORK, March 4, 1909. COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY BENZIGER BROTHERS....
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"The priest shall be vested with the tunic" (Lev. vi. 10). "And he made, of violet and purple, scarlet and fine linen, the vestments for Aaron to wear when he ministered in the holy places, as the Lord commanded Moses" (Ex. xxxix. 1). "In every place there is sacrifice and there is offered to My name a clean offering" (Malach. i. 11). "And another Angel came and stood before the altar, having a golden censer: and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God" (Apoc. viii. 3).
"The priest shall be vested with the tunic" (Lev. vi. 10). "And he made, of violet and purple, scarlet and fine linen, the vestments for Aaron to wear when he ministered in the holy places, as the Lord commanded Moses" (Ex. xxxix. 1). "In every place there is sacrifice and there is offered to My name a clean offering" (Malach. i. 11). "And another Angel came and stood before the altar, having a golden censer: and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God" (Apoc. viii. 3).
T HE Catholic Church in the celebration of Mass and in the administration of the sacraments employs certain forms and rites. These are called ceremonies. By these ceremonies the Church wishes to appeal to the heart as well as to the intellect, and to impress the faithful with sentiments of faith and piety. What is more capable of raising the heart and mind of man to God than a priest celebrating Mass? What more inspiring than some of our sacred music? How beneficial and how lasting the impressio
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I. Ceremonies Necessary to Divine Worship
I. Ceremonies Necessary to Divine Worship
T HE angels are pure spirits. They have no body. Consequently the worship they render God is spiritual, interior. The heavenly bodies are not spiritual, but entirely material substances. They render God a sort of external worship according to the words of the prophet Daniel, "Sun and moon bless the Lord, . . . stars of heaven bless the Lord. Praise and exalt Him forever." Man has a soul, a spiritual substance similar to the heavenly bodies. He should, therefore, honor God by the twofold form of
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II. Vestments Used by the Priest at Mass
II. Vestments Used by the Priest at Mass
B EFORE entering upon an explanation of the ceremonies of the Mass, which is our principal act of public worship, let us examine the meaning of the vestments worn by the priest during the celebration of that august sacrifice. First, it is well to remember that these vestments come down to us from the time of the apostles, and have the weight of antiquity hanging upon them. Hence, if they did not demand our respect as memorials of Christ, they are at least deserving of attention on account of the
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III. Ceremonies of the Mass
III. Ceremonies of the Mass
T HE Mass is the great sacrifice of the New Law. It was foreshadowed by all the sacrifices ordained by God in the Old Law. They were shadows; it is the substance. We learn from Genesis of the fall of man. Universal tradition, as well as Scripture, informs us that the creature formerly became guilty in the eyes of the Creator. All nations, all peoples, endeavored to appease the anger of Heaven and believed that a victim was necessary for this purpose. Hence sacrifices have been offered from the b
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I. Vespers and Benediction
I. Vespers and Benediction
"Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day" ( Ex . xx. 8). T HIS commandment teaches us that God wills the whole Sunday to be spent in His honor. We should sanctify it by good works, and by assisting at divine service. On that day servile works and improper amusements are forbidden. A salutary rest and moderate recreation are allowed, but never at the expense of duties of obligation. After hearing Mass on Sunday morning, which is obligatory on all Catholics, there is no better way of sanctify
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II. Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament
II. Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament
"And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke, and gave to His disciples, and said: take ye and eat. This is My body" ( Matt . xxvi. 26). P ERHAPS no mystery of revelation has been so universally attacked as the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. By the Real Presence is meant that Jesus Christ is really and truly, body and blood, soul and divinity, present in the Blessed Sacrament, under the form and appearance of bread and wine. This
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III. Holy Communion
III. Holy Communion
"He that eateth this bread shall live forever" ( John vi. 59) H OLY communion is receiving the body and blood of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. The clergy when saying Mass, except on Good Friday, receive under both forms. When not celebrating Mass, they receive only the one kind, the consecrated bread. In the early ages of the Church communion was given to the people under both forms. The faithful, however, could, if they wished, dispense with one form and receive under the form of bread. This
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IV. Confirmation
IV. Confirmation
"Then they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost" ( Acts viii. 17). B EFORE the coming of the Holy Ghost on Pentecost, the apostles were weak and vacillating. One of them betrayed his Master for thirty pieces of silver; another—the Prince of the Apostles, he whom Christ afterward made head of His Church—thrice denied his Lord and his God. After the descent of the Holy Ghost, what a change! What a wonderful transformation! They who before had been as timid as the lamb, as c
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V. Honoring the Blessed Virgin
V. Honoring the Blessed Virgin
"The angel Gabriel was sent from God . . . to a Virgin . . . and the Virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in said to her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women" ( Luke i. 26, 28). "From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" ( Luke i. 48). T HESE words from St. Luke show that the Catholic practice of honoring Mary is scriptural. We alone fulfil the prophecy, "From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed." If Mary was so pure that
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VI. Confession of Sin
VI. Confession of Sin
"Whom when He saw He said: Go, show yourselves to the priests" ( Luke xvii. 14). "Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins ye shall retain, they are retained" ( John xx. 23). T HE whole of the life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may be summed up in these words of the Acts: "He went about doing good." He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and raised the dead to life. The healing of the body, however, was to Hi
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VII. Granting Indulgences
VII. Granting Indulgences
"Whatsoever you shall bind upon earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven" (Matt xviii. 18). O F THE many practices of the Church, few have been the cause of more controversy than that of granting indulgences. Though not the cause, the granting of an indulgence furnished a pretext for Luther's apostasy. Leo X, who was Pope at that time, desiring to complete St. Peter's at Rome, appealed to all Catholics for financial aid. There was c
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VIII. The Last Sacraments
VIII. The Last Sacraments
"Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he be in sins they shall be forgiven him" ( James v. 14, 15). B Y THESE words St. James admonishes Christians when sick to do that which Our Saviour had previously directed to be done. This you will learn from the 6th chapter of St. Mark: "And [the apostles] anoi
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IX. Praying for the Dead
IX. Praying for the Dead
"It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins" ( 2 Mach . xii. 46). N O ONE will deny that the practice of praying for the dead is reasonable, if the dead are benefited by our prayers. That our prayers are beneficial to the departed we will endeavor to show. We are taught by revelation that besides heaven and hell, a state of everlasting pleasure and a state of eternal pain, there also exists a middle state of punishment for those who
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X. Praying to the Saints
X. Praying to the Saints
"And may the angel that delivereth me from all evils bless these boys" ( Gen . xlviii. 16). "So I say to you there shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance" ( Luke xv. 10). "For in the resurrection they [the saints] shall be as the angels of God in heaven" ( Matt . xxii. 10). T HE saints are friends of God. They are like the angels in heaven. We honor them, not as we honor God, but on account of the relation they bear to God. They are creatures of God, the work of His
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XI. Crucifixes, Relics, and Images
XI. Crucifixes, Relics, and Images
"Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them nor serve them" ( Ex . xx. 4, 5). T HIS first commandment teaches us to adore God alone. It does not forbid the making of images, but it forbids the adoring of them, worshiping them as gods. This would be idolatry. If the making of images were forbidden, it would be improper to have
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XII. Some Sacramentals
XII. Some Sacramentals
"Pray without ceasing" ( 2 Thess . v. 17). "Every creature is sanctified by the word of God and prayer" ( 1 Tim . 4, 5). B Y SACRAMENTALS we mean the various prayers, blessings, ceremonies and pious practices of the Church. Here mention will be made of some of the most common of the sacramentals that have not already been treated. Sacramentals, like sacraments, have an outward sign; the latter, however, were instituted by Christ, the former by the Church, and while the latter always give grace i
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XIII. The Celebration of Feasts
XIII. The Celebration of Feasts
"Seven days shalt thou celebrate feasts to the Lord thy God, in the place which the Lord shalt choose" ( Deut . xvi. 15). "If he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and the publican" ( Matt. xviii. 17). F ROM these texts we learn that besides the Sunday God wishes certain other days to be observed religiously, and that the Church has the power of designating these days. As the State sets aside certain national holidays in commemoration of its founder or of the Declaration
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XIV. Infant Baptism
XIV. Infant Baptism
"Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he can not enter into the kingdom of God" ( John iii 5). W HILE most Christians admit the necessity of Baptism for adults, the Catholic Church is alone in insisting upon the practice of infant Baptism. This practice is in accordance with the teaching of St. John, quoted above. It is also in accordance with apostolic teaching and practice. We read in the 16th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles that St. Paul bapti
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XV. The Marriage Tie—One and Indissoluble
XV. The Marriage Tie—One and Indissoluble
"But I say to you that whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting for the cause of fornication, maketh her to commit adultery; and he that shall marry her that is put away committeth adultery" ( Matt . v. 33). "What, therefore, God hath joined together, let no man put asunder" ( Matt . xix. 5, 6). F EW practices of the Church have been productive of more good to society than that concerning Christian marriage. The Christian family is the foundation of Christian society, and Christian marriage
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XVI. Respect Shown to Ecclesiastical Superiors
XVI. Respect Shown to Ecclesiastical Superiors
"We are ambassadors for Christ; God, as it were, exhorting by us" ( 2 Cor . v. 20). "As the Father sent me, I also send you" ( John xx. 21). "Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature" ( Mark xvi. 15). T HE respect Catholics have for the bishops and priests of the Church is often a matter of surprise to those not of the Faith. They do not understand, as Catholics do, that the priests are "ambassadors for Christ" sent to "preach the Gospel to every creature." For Christ i
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XVII. Celibacy
XVII. Celibacy
"He who is unmarried careth about the things of the Lord, how he may please God" ( i Cor . vii. 32). T HE Catholic Church recognizes matrimony as a holy state. She recommends celibacy to those desiring greater perfection, and enjoins it on her priests because, as St. Paul says, "He who is unmarried careth about the things of the Lord." It is said that the life of the priest is a hard, lonely one, and that it is unscriptural. Let us see. That his life is one of hardships is certain. His path is b
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XVIII. Conclusion
XVIII. Conclusion
"If thou wilt enter into life keep the commandments" ( Matt . xix. 17). W HEN Jesus Christ died on the cross for us, He did so in order to lead us into life, to open heaven for all mankind. How important our salvation must be, then, for which Christ shed His precious blood. If it is important, He must have taught us how to attain it. This, too, He did by the words, "keep the commandments." To assist us in keeping the commandments He left a representative on earth. His Church, whose ministers wer
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