Feast of a Titular in relation to the Reformed Rubrics of the Hospital Ward, Liceity of Mass in a Hour for Celebration of Mass, The Linen and Lace Albs, The Use of . Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, The Invocation ‘Regina Pacis' Name of the Ordinary in the Canon of the Mass, The Reconciliation of a Convert, The Use of the Stole in the Repainting of the Crosses in a consecrated Church Should the Anticipated Sunday Mass have the 'Credo'? Sub-Deacons at a High Mass, Professed Religious and the Privilege Votive Mass of the Sacred Heart, The . Abba Ghebre Michael, Priest of the Congregation of the Mission of St. Vincent de Paul, Decree for the Beatification and Declaration of Martyrdom of the Servant of God African Missions, Letter from the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith prescribing a Collection on behalf of the Apostolic Letter to Cardinal La Fontaine, Patriarch of Venice to Rev. Octavis Marchetti, S.J., of the School of Ascetico- Mystical Theology in the Gregorian University to the Illustrious D. Herbert Hoover, appraising the Work initiated by him on behalf of the starving Children of Bishops, Doubts regarding certain Privileges, Insignia, and Functions of, solved by the Congregation of Rites the Solemn Canonization of Mary Alacoque, Decree regarding the Solemn Canonization of Boundaries of certain Parishes, Decision of the Holy Roman Rota Cardinal Mercier is nominated President of the ‘Pia Unio Cleri' for all Belgium . Choral Service in the Case of certain Members of the Cathedral Chapter, 424 . 509 Christmas Day and All Souls' Day, Doubts regarding the Masses to be Celebrated on, in certain contingencies . stances, Doubts regarding the Obligation of the Basilica, The Fortunatus Redolfi, Priest of the Congregation of Regular Clerics of St. Paul, Decree concerning the Beatification and Canonization Institute of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul and of the Ursuline Order, Decree for the Beatification and Declaration of Martyrdom of many Servants of God, Members of the . Inter Reliquas' (June 15, 1919), Doubt regarding the Interpretation of the Decree, in the case of certain Congregations and Religious Institutes Ireland, Letter of His Eminence Cardinal Logue to the Archbishops Irish Hierarchy, Pronouncement of the, at a General Meeting held at Japan, An Apostolic Delegation is established in, and to it is also committed the care of Corea and the Island of Formosa . Joachima de Vedruna de Mas, Foundress of the Institute of the Carmelite Sisters of Charity, Decree for the Beatification and Canonization Latin America and the Philippines, Indult regarding Fast and Abstinence • Les faits de Loublande, The Holy Office decides that the work entitled, cannot be approved Indulgences of certain Methods of Chanting the in a case connected with the Nomination of an Apostolic Vicar for the Heart, receives the Title of a Minor Basilica and is granted Privileges Code, replies to a number of proposed Difficulties with the Administration of Rome, A New Parish under the title of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Good Another Parish under the Title of All Saints is erected near the Appian Way, outside St. John's Gate Sermon of the Holy Father to the Parish Priests and Lenten Schismatical Union of certain Bohemian Priests is condemned, A Trent, The Diocese of, is separated from the Ecclesiastical Province PAGE 434 Uganda, Decree for the Beatification or Declaration of Martyrdom of the Venerable Servants of God, Charles Lwanga, Mathias Morumba, and their Associates of . nominate & defining the Law for the Secular Clergy in regard to the 427 341 REVIEWS AND NOTES Catholic Soldiers,' 168 ; Christian Social Crusade, A,' 170 ; • Conferences for Men,' 176 ; ' Dona Christi,' 263 ; ‘English 6 HAPPINESS CONSIDERED AS A MOTIVE BY THE BISHOP OF SEBASTOPOLIS ALMIGHTY God has not only commanded us to obey His Law, and to be perfect, as also our Heavenly Father is perfect' (Matthew v. 48), but He has greatly assisted us in the fulfilment of this task, and made it comparatively easy, by threatening the most appalling punishments upon those who neglect their duty, and by promising inconceivably great rewards to those who love and obey Him faithfully. These two motives are, no doubt, of immense power in themselves, but the help which we actually derive from them will, of course, depend upon the amount of attention which we bestow upon them, and on the greater or less vividness with which we are able to keep them before our minds. The thought of the dreadful punishment of sin, and of the eternity of atrocious agony awaiting the impenitent breakers of God's Law, does, most certainly, exercise a very strong and a very wide influence, and restrains millions and millions from evil, but the question, which we wish to ask, is : Does the ordinary and average Christian make sufficient use of the other motive, which, after all, is a much higher and a much worthier one ? Does he bear in mind and ponder over as he should the marvellously generous manner, in which God rewards His ' good and faithful servants'? So far as our observation extends, we should say that this most powerful motive is very much neglected, and that its influence on men's lives and conduct is nothing like what it might be, and ought to be. Anyone, even with but a slight acquaintance with the world, will realize that nothing so attracts a man as pleasure and the prospect of happiness. In fact, man is made for happiness, and what is more, he seeks it unintermittently and most assiduously to the very end of his life ; although it must be admitted he generally seeks it where it is by no means to be found. For the sake of a little worldly pleasure or FIFTH SERIES, VOL. XV- JANUARY, 1920 6 satisfaction man will exert himself to the utmost. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that this indiscriminate thirst for pleasure and self-gratification is the source of the greatest number and of the most deadly sins and crimes that are committed in the world. To take a single instance. It is the deliberate opinion of both Saints and theologians, that sensuality, or sins of the flesh, are the most prevalent of all deadly sins; in fact, some (as St. Alphonsus, for example) are fully persuaded that more souls are lost through sins of impurity-not merely than through any other class of sins, but than through all other classes of sins united. And this, of course, means that vast numbers of reasonable men (or at all events, men endowed with reason) are so strongly attracted by even these low and unclean pleasures that, in order to gratify their lusts, they are ready to face not only disgrace, remorse, and the anger of God, but even hell itself. It is the same, in a lesser degree, of other earthly pleasures. Consider, for instance, what power the mere prospect of pleasure exercises over men, when it presents itself in the form of wealth, honours, dignities, position, influence, and the rest. How it attracts, allures, fascinates and seduces, and takes possession of their whole being ; how it influences and sways and controls them, and sets their very hearts on fire. Now, let us ask, if the weak, sordid and wholly inadequate pleasures that this world contains can wield such influence and exercise such a thraldom, and arouse such fierce passions, what an immeasurably greater influence would be produced by the infallible promise of those infinitely superior delights which God has in store for those who do His will, if only men would consider them and call them to mind. If there be infidels who do not believe in any future life, and who imagine that all ends with this, well, we are not addressing such. No; we are thinking of Catholics, who most firmly believe and openly confess their unwavering faith in the truths of revelation, and who therefore should be extremely sensitive to their influence. If man is prepared to do and to suffer so much for purely earthly happiness, what should he not be ready to do and to suffer for a happiness which is incomparably greater ? There are three considerations, in particular, which seem to prove to us how extraordinarily and exceptionately great this happiness must be. The first consideration is that God, whose very nature |
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