| OCR Text |
Show I non-gatftolic Queries, M C; (S'an Francisco Monitor.) p. v, , Why do you deny the cup to the laity? jsisnop m Why d(J yoJJ deprlve the people of half the Lord's Supper ? (Sj. Why don't Catholics frive the Communion as it was liflirii given in the nostolic times? charge of 31mv can Tour church change a divinely appointed 0f j, sacrament? u!iJ;i' ;n Does not Jesus command us, saying-, "Drink ye all fur tiio 'ii of 'Matt, xxvi, ;'7). xr i'tnl The Catholic church teaches that th? reception Hie cliuic J his is-ti: of communion under the oroi of vine is not neces- I will s;iy s or j jJas f,ver ix,cvc,j -tliat as much is lo ihe wr ' . tone." n contained under eilher species ns under both; tor u' Christ, Tvholc and entire, exists under the species stock iuve of bread, and under each (divided) particle of That j c:;.iimistic enecie: and whole under its (separated) parts" endeavor 1 - ' , . . . i 1h.1t all i (T'-ent, Sess. xii, c. t'i). The Kucha nst is the living jji.-hoi. M. Chrisl; and as a living body is not without its 1 n.iiiised S blood, or living blod without n Iwdy. so Christ is fciati'iii.-nt received whole and entire under either form of huildiiiK bread and wine. f-,1,,u tll;lt It is natural enouph that Protestants who deny the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, iei-ti'ns'it ' .niid believe that the Sacrament consists merely in mptedly. 1 ho oatiii bread and drinkinp wine in memory of ago after th,n Savior a partaking by faith should insist on iiame'rlhA receiving both breed tm! wine. Rut Catholic hav- oT the phi hip, the Christ body, blood soul and divinity be- t'i and 11 i:eath tiie appranim-es. regard it as a matter of without tl discipline which of them is to be received in Holy In future this same Communion. icr. ipt fo J he Scriptures snow us the Savior promising Matz hssu thp same reward to communion under one kind as eal ("iat( under both. To quote the Council of Trent: 'TIc 1 cash'fhat wh.- caid: 'Kxif-pt you cot the flesh of the Son of ti.ms that - ad drink his blood, you shall not have life in fufiieient you' (John vi, i). has likewise said: 'If man eat i tliat e 'of it lie may not die' (vi. Ml). And He who has I : "rinj fraid: -Jle that eateth My Heidi and dnnketh My I Haid Mood hath everlasting life (vi, ".), has also said: finitely b( The bread that I give is My flesh, for the'life of . nf t"p ".hi ihe world' (vi, r2). And lastlv. He who has said: rm fa'c 'I,c ,hflt fJ1eth Mr flcsh ail1 drinketu blood' Father' Cf flbidolh in Me and I in him' (vi. 59). has neverthe- ! half the a jess said: 'He who eateth this bread shall live for , wrong: ever (vi. 59) (Sess. xxi, ell. i.) . p 1J(.",U Frequently, too, the receiving of Communion in' full ' under ihe form of bread is mentioned in the Scrip- i dressed tc lures: "They were persevering in the doctrine of , ' a as fo t,e Apostles, and ibe communication of the break- Dearly (f lroa,I, im, j prayers"' (Acts ii, 42), "Who- I onP Thurs wvt-r shall eat this Wad or drink the chalice of ' n-ously a; 1 he Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and " merit be l toed of the Lord"' (I. Cor. xi, 27; Acts xx, 7; Luke' ! ant :,xir-:n)- eontHlmu " 1nis r,assifg ' King 'James' Protestant ver- subscript!- Hon the word "and" is substituted for ''or'' without eathedral :miv warrant save ihe need of controversy, although- ourse of ,lf ,.t.v;st.,-'i odiiion -orrects the text in accord- dono'i'eaV ""' vit1' oripinal Greek and Catholic English condition version. . we are in The words "drink ye all of it"' (Matt, xxvi, 27) we were t rTt.,.(, HMrrSSed. not to the faithful in geiieral,"but pn.pcrt to the Apostles who alone were present. "And they l. ranee, t : (the Apostles) all drank of ii'' (Mark xiv, 23). The the half 1 lu harist is not only a sacrament but a sacrifice This 'iro (" ,M' li nl0nlo,'at lon Ike corporati!' 1$), aul the saerifice requires that the victim, Je- so that i. sits Christ, le at least mystically immolated, and I. P",fi- His precious blood shod in a mystical way. That ' '''Ap'arV' 's ,Mf reason why the body and blood of the Savior, tnnate j;r although inseparably united, are produced at mass Whatovei. J,v ., twofold consecration, "This is Aly body," t'f.Kir. 1 "This is my blood." and under both forms. It was dial built also required to complete the sacrifice that the of the la Aposijcs and their successors, the priests of the Vid'sub Now Law. should partake of the sacrifice under' 'he name boih forms. When, however, priests do not cele- Jont. brate mass, as when receiving the Viaticum in ill ."J ness, thev receive iu1 as the laity, under the form tMllS. al riii personaii of bread alone. t'ini nvei More-over, any one versed in Church history ommitte knows that the practice of the Church has varied ;indlhro :"1 different periods, according to circumstances. Ipn.po.se t The Fatlier- of the Church tell us that the anchor- eominK y jus flf t,c ,l(m.rt. travelers going on long journeys, .Tlh,'!c people in their homes before their morning meal. which is. and others in danger of death, as well as the dr;il wil martyrs in the prisons, received under the. form r'"in?. l of bread alone, whilst infants received under the block in tho wrecj form 01 wine alone. denakc. - In the fifth century Pope C.clasius (A. D. 402) rm 1 commanded that the laity lvc- ive under boh f.rms, "' Thi'.r 1" ,u1'r fi'oni ( ommunion the Manicheans, who bear'in 1 herctically Considered wine evil in itself. The law rialiy h co!.i:nai:Iing the laity to receive under the form of wPMri t broad, dates from the Council of Constance (A. T). nl tiiai. a:vl was directed against the heretical Huss- chunh. ( il-. v() (cchved the use of the cup absolutely th"jnw I'. ccssary. Ciisiom, 3r)vever. had long before this cathedra d. r.o ;iway with Communion under the form of 10 its a vine, for, .the reasons set forth in the catechism of, "t tie '.n;iHi of Trent (Part ii, eh. 14, n. G4), Thjp J viz., !ie scarcity of pure wine in certain -fdaees, as to a the danger of spilling the consecrated species, the ("allanan repugnance of ome. etc. (Milner. "The Knd of ',,i.s,"l(1 IJelivh.us. Ordroversv." Loiter xxix.; Faith of i Since Ih Catholic," vol. ii.) 1 thT ';il Vhiit would h.apnen :i the sacrament if your i able mr: church Mas destroyer! by fire? Is it not blasphemy j p i to asseri. that Christ's sacred body is digested by one ' :"' of His ftalowers? ! the .pitic . . 1 tei io a; Catholics believe that Christ's body i.; now' a i 13islic glorified body, and therefore incapable of suffering j ( ' a change. Christ remains under the appearance of 1 ii("lf..tn u brea-i and wine no longer than these material ap- i 1 outiced pearanees remain, once they cease because of di- ""ii )" ! , cstion, or from anv other cause, the presence of j attviitioi M , - .,1 ' 1 ( iirist -eascs also. Social if prinie 01 Why do Catholics place one knee on the floor before f lectin entering: the pew? ivo . t ii-i 1 ha pd. Catholics genunect on entering and leaving the Tiie sr church as a mark of love and adoration to Jesus s'Ht dr Christ, the Son of Ciod, who is really present upou j dayCcvV ,ne Catholic altar. ividesprt Wliv do Catholic": fast before receiving Communion? "Socia of a goi Out of lienor and respect to Jesus Christ, whom 1 tion .f l1PV .,ro p-oinir'to receive. This was the practice the ir-'h 01" ,nc primitive Christians, as we learn from Ter- eiix .-rjed tullian in the second century (Ad. Uxorem, ii, 5). etisnge What is maant by Benediction of the Blessed Sac- of Pbrr rainent? the free ' I?eneliction is the blessing by Jesus Christ, ' rcf n really present in the Blessed Sacrament. n,',',,1 After the candles arc lighted upon the altar, piny, an the priest takes the host consecrated at massout of "."lane ihe tabernacle, and places it in a stand of gold or breath ' silver called the monstrance or ostensorium, which march t' remains upon the altar, or upon au elevated throne tiie daw; where it may be seen by all the pople. who kneel i!'zlti"r' and adore the Savior. , itedfr"- Prwst 1pn l)uts iucene into the thurible, sociaiisi 1d waves it three times in the direction of 1ne t'ady t Blessed Sacrament, as a symbol of the people's Htainrd. prayer. "Let my prayer be directed as incense in . Thy sight" (Ps. cxi, 2). The choir of the people time it Pnig special hymns in honor of Jesus Christ, usu- ireme:. 'ally "O Salutaris Hostita" ("O Saving Host"), and i;.7n:. the "Tantuh Ergo" ("Down in Adoration Falling), which ', 1 Then placing over his shoulders a long silk siiihiiit; carf, called the humeral veil, the priest takes up I'iiity a he monstrance, and with it makes the sign of the ln rosJs over tue people; and thus the Eucharistio enmmoi Christ blesses the piople. the tw. There is no more beautiful or impressive cere- S.LTinK! mony in the Catliolic church, as many non-Cath- j beauty' cs un0 liaye witnessed it have testified. . After I'leasi'n; the Benediction the consecrated host is again j ' morals placed in the tabernacle, whilst the choir sings : Koran j neigh be the un Psalm cxvi: "O Praise the Lord.-All -Ye Nations" or the hymn "Holy God, Yc Praise. Thy Name.'. Were not the recalcitrant nuns walled up alive in the Middle Ages? ... '; -: "To any one who honestly looks into iho'nlat' ter it will be clear that no statutes' of any religious order have yet been broughtforward which prescribe pre-scribe such punishment, but 110 contemporary recr I ords speak of its infliction, that n attempt is made to give details of person or time, that the few tra- j ditions that speak of the discovery of walled-up remains crumble away the moment they are examined, exam-ined, that the growth of the tradition itself can be abundantly accounted for, that the few historians histor-ians or antiquaries of repute, whether Catholic or Protestant, who have looked into the matter, either avowedly disbelieve die -calumny or studiously refrain re-frain from repeating it" (Bev. H. Thurston, S. J., "The Myth of the "TTalTe'd-up Nun."' Catliolic Truth society publications Cf. "Tho Immuriug of' I Nuns," by same author.) Are women detained hi nunneries against their J will? Why arc not convents open to public inspection? inspec-tion? Because they are private dwellings. Would you want your hmc open to every stranger, good or bad? They can always" be visited by the bishop of. the diocese, or any one who takes the proper means to be introduced there. The objection seems based on that false notion which is so prevalent among non-Catholics, that only weak-minded women under un-der stress of some strong emotion, as disappointed love, fanaticism, great sorrow, and the like, take the vows that bind them willy-nilly in a bondage worse than death. Much of the evil that has been suggested originates from apostate priests, or abandoned aban-doned women who have been under the care of the good Sisters for a time, and reay their benefactors by calumniating them for money. How different the facts to one who investigates at first hand. Many of the noblest women in the world have freely free-ly given up all that the world holds dear friends, ambition, wealth, social position to serve God in poverty, chastity and obedience in the silence of the cloister, or to minister to the wants of the sick, the aged and the poor. Is not the fear of a hell a low, unworldly motive on which to base our moral life? We are willing to grant that it is not. the highest high-est motive, which is sorrow for sin and service for God out of pure love for Himself alone. But all men arc not saints, nor arc all striving after perfection. per-fection. This pretended contempt for the motive of fear is without basis in reason of the Word of God. "The fear of the Lord." sajs Holy Writ, "is the beginning of" wisdom" (Prow ix, 10). Those that do not fear God will never love Him. So in the Old Law God continually appeals to this motive (Ps. xxxiii, 10; Ixv. 16; cxiii, 11; Eccl. v, 0; Dan. vi. 20), and Jesus Christ is equally explicit : "Rather fear- Him that can destroy both soul and body in Hell" (Matt. x. 28; Cf. Matt, iii, 7). In this life men value the motive of fear, as is evident from the punishments of every law code in the world. The same men who deny it as a motive in the moral order will often tremble before be-fore the bar of public opinion when voiced in the denunciation of the public press, or will, again, at Ihe hour of death, dread the prospect of facing the Ciod they strove vainly in life to deny. Is it just that the entire pagan world more than two-thirds of the race should be damned to eternal hell-fire? The Reformers held such a teaching as the logical logi-cal consequence of their false notion of original sin, but the Catholic church never did. With Luther. Lu-ther. Calvin and others, the virtues of the heathen were vices deserving of damnation (Mohler's Symbolism, Sym-bolism, Book I. eh. ii. sec, vii), nd consequently there was no possibility of their salvation. The Catholic church condemns strongly these false and cruel teachings, and holds most firmly that no one. pagan or Christian, will ever .be eternally punished hereafter who has not with full knowledge and deliberate de-liberate consent turned his back upon God, and died in mortal sin. ' Is not every man punished enough in this life? I believe that the sinner has his hell here. j "It is not true that. the culprit ex-j ex-j pvrierices already in this life chastisement enough I for his faults. Gnawing remorse indeed torments j him; the infirmities rodueed by his irregularities i grow on him, and the disastrous consequences of his perverse conduct weigh him down; but neither J is he wanting in means io blunt the sharp sting j of his conscience: neither is he devoid of artifices j to neutralize the evil effects of his revels, nor short j of resources to come clear out of the false posi-j posi-j tions in which his excesses have involved him" (J. i Balmes, "Letters'to a Sceptic," iii.) j Our Lord plainly taught that the sinner may j be fairly well content in this life. "Woe to you (wicked) that are rich; for you have your consola-j consola-j tion" (Luke vi, 24) ; and in the parableof Dives and j Lazarus (Luke xvi, 19-30), "Son, remember that j thou didst receive good things in thy lifetime, and ; Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and j thou art tormented." It is unreasonable to suppose that a' punishment punish-ment hereafter would answer just as well. " Taking men as hcy arc, we know that only the threat of an eternity of punishment would be a sufficient curb to their evil passions and desires in this life, and therefore a means of their repentance. A sinner sin-ner could brave God with impunity; he could set at naught the whole moral law when it went counter coun-ter to his present, sensible enjoyment, if he knew that after a certain term of punishment be it ten, one hundred or one thousand years he were to' enjoy an eternity of happiness. Hell would cease instantly to be the sanction of the moral order; it would become a Purgatory, inspiring little or 'no terror to the heart of the average man. Every man knows that there is no probation in tli3 life to come, and that he is responsible to God for the life he has lived on earth. 4 v j |
