to above, did not withdraw this power; and we have been unable to find any trace of its withdrawal otherwise. Consequently we think that it still continues. Though the primary purpose of the concession was to meet the needs of the laity, still the word, Christifideles, is wide enough. to embrace the clergy also; and, where there is question of a privilege, as at present, it should be so interpreted. Our impression, therefore, is that at least some of the English Bishops can still permit both the clergy and laity to retain and read forbidden books, except those which deal professedly with obscene subjects.

We sympathize very much with our correspondent. There is no need, however, to have recourse to the desperate remedy suggested. If his Bishop still retains faculties to permit the reading and retention of prohibited books, he can obtain from him the necessary dispensation.

In any case the Holy See can be approached; and this is a matter in which the Roman authorities are always very accommodating, where priests are concerned. In the meantime, whilst a dispensation is being sought, epikeia will permit him to retain, and to read also, when necessary, the forbidden books already in his possession.

J. KINANE.

LITURGY

NUMBER AND ORDER OF PRAYERS IN A VOTIVE MASS

REV. DEAR SIR,-Kindly explain how many prayers are to be said in a Votive Mass when (as happens in this diocese) an 'oratio imperata' is prescribed. Take, for example, Thursday, October 30, of this year; how many prayers may or should be said in a Votive Mass on that day? The solution will be useful frequently throughout the year as I find it difficult to get satisfactory information.

PASTOR.

Our esteemed correspondent does not definitely say whether his difficulties centre around a Private Votive Mass or a Solemn or Privileged one, but as he states that the solution will be useful frequently throughout the year,' we take it that he is chiefly concerned with the former. Solemn and Privileged Votive Masses are not very frequent, and are regulated by special rubrics, varying somewhat according to the character of the Mass and the nature and extent of the privilege. In replying to the query, therefore, we confine ourselves to what is commonly known as a Private Votive Mass.

Though a Private Votive Mass may be said on a semi-double as well as on a Feria and a simple feast, it is always of simple rite, and follows, as regards the number of prayers the rubrics regulating a ferial or simple

feast Mass. There is a general rule1 that in Masses on days of less than double rite three prayers at least must be said. More may have to be added by reason of occurring commemorations, but there should not be less. In the case of semi-doubles the celebrant has no option regarding the order and number of the prayers. If only three prayers are prescribed by the rubrics, three only may be said. But in Masses of simple rite the privilege is granted of adding other prayers ad arbitrium celebrantis' to those prescribed by the rubrics, provided always that the total number of prayers read in the Mass is odd and does not exceed seven. In this privilege the Private Votive Mass participates. For example, if in a Votive Mass on a particular day only two commemorations are required by the rubrics, the celebrant may add for his private devotion two or four other prayers, making a total of five or seven.

Now, as to the order of the prayers. The first prayer is that of the Votive Mass read, the second is that of the Office of the day, the third that which would have been the first special commemoration (if such there be) in the Mass of the day, the fourth that which would have been the second, etc. If no special commemorations are prescribed in the Mass of the day, the third prayer of the Votive Mass is the common commemoration proper to the season or to the Votive Mass selected. With regard to those prayers prescribed by the rubrics the celebrant has no option, but he is then at liberty to add others of his own choice in conformity with the rule laid down for Masses of simple rite. The fact that an oratio imperata' is prescribed does not make any appreciable difference in the order or number of the prayers. It does not take the place of one of the three prayers required by the rubrics; nor when it alone is added to the prayers prescribed, does it entail the obligation of seeing that the total number is odd. It is said immediately after the prayers prescribed by the rubrics, and is taken into consideration in computing the total number of prayers only when some are added at the option of the celebrant. It is omitted altogether if it is identical with one of the prayers already said in the Mass, or if more than three are otherwise prescribed.4

The Office, according to the Irish Ordo, on October 30 is 'de ea,' and the Mass is, therefore, from the preceding Sunday. If a Votive Mass is read the prayers accordingly should be: first, of the Votive Mass itself; second, of the preceding Sunday; third, the prayer 'A cunctis'; fourth, the oratio imperata.' To these may be added, 'ad arbitrium celebrantis,' one or three other prayers, making a total of five or seven. In this connexion the only point likely to cause difficulty is the

1 There are some exceptions to this rule, e.g., (a) Ferial Masses in Lent in which a 'double' is commemorated; (b) Ferial Masses of Passiontide ; (c) Sunday Masses within an octave or when a double is commemorated; (d) days within the octaves or Easter and Pentecost.

2 S.R.C., 19 Jan., 1906.

3 The order of those prayers should be that of the Missal.

4 New Rubrics, tit. xi. It is assumed that the imperata is not 'pro re gravi.

selection of the third prayer. We have given the prayer 'A cunctis'— the common commemoration proper to the season-but in the selection of the prayer it is necessary also to advert to the Votive Mass read. The rules guiding the selection of the prayer are substantially those for ferial and simple and semi-double feast Masses throughout the year, and may be found at the beginning of the Ordo. The following points, however, should be noted:

1. In Votive Masses de Beata Maria Virg. the prayer 'de Spiritu Sancto' is always taken as the common commemoration.

2. If the Votive Mass is of St. Joseph, whose name occurs in the prayer 'A cunctis,' the name is omitted in the recitation of the prayer.1 If the Votive Mass is of the Titular of the Church or (in defect of a Titular) of the Patron of the place, wherein the Mass is said, either the name is omitted in the prayer 'A cunctis,' or the prayer 'Concede quaesumus' is substituted for it.

3. If the Votive Mass is of St. Peter, the second prayer is of St. Paul, and vice versa, while the third prayer corresponds to the office of the day.

4. If the oratio imperata' is 'Pro Papa' and the common commemoration prescribed is given as 'Ecclesiae vel Pro Papa,' the prayer 'Ecclesiae' becomes obligatory. 2

5. According to the New Rubrics the Votive Masses per annum inserted in the Missal by Leo XIII are abolished, and Private Votive Masses are prohibited during Lent, Quarter Tense, on Rogation Monday, on Vigils, and on Ferials to which a Sunday Mass has been transferred.

THE NUMBER OF CLERICS REQUIRED FOR THE FUNCTIONS OF THE 'MEMORIALE RITUUM.' THE PRECEDENCE OF NUNS IN THE RECEPTION OF THE Sacred asHES. SHOULD THE PASCHAL CANDLE BE LIGHTED DURING BENEDICTION? REV. DEAR SIR,-The Memoriale Rituum is very rigidly observed in the churches of this parish. 1. Is it correct to permit a young altarboy to carry the chalice to and from the credence table? 2. My idea is that at least one of the servers should be a cleric in the strict sense of the word? 3. Does the rule, 'The celebrant . . . imposes the ashes first on the men, then on the women,' mean that Nuns should wait until all the men in the congregation have received the blessed ashes? 4. Is it correct to light the Paschal candle during Benediction?

PERPLEXED.

If the queries submitted by our correspondent are an indication of the practices prevailing in his parish, we can hardly agree with him that the Memoriale Rituum is very rigidly observed.

1. In our opinion it is not correct to allow a young altar-boy to carry the chalice in the manner described. According to the new Code (Canon

1 Decree 3612.

2 Decree, 24 May, 1901.

1306, § 1) only clerics (i.e., saltem prima tonsura initiati) or those who have the custody of the sacred vessels are allowed even to touch the chalice, and no exception is made, as far as we know, for the exercise of the functions of the Memoriale Rituum. On the contrary, in outlining the ceremonies of the several functions in the circumstances described by our correspondent, liturgists are careful to state that the duty of bringing the chalice to and from the credence table devolves. upon the celebrant. The Ceremoniale Parochorum1 (published through the Ephemerides Liturgicae), in a general introduction to the different ceremonies of the Memoriale, says: 'Si clericus tonsuratus non adsit celebrans postquam planetam assumpserit, calicem de credentia secum deferat et in medio altaris more solito collocat.' And a similar instruction is given in each case where there is question of the removal of the chalice. There is also a decree of the Congregation of Rites which may reasonably be taken to confirm this view. Among the replies to a number of queries regarding the assistant or minister at a Bishop's Mass the following occurs :—

Si vero clericus sacra non sit tonsura initiatus potest quidem ab Episcopo aut a Prelato in missa lecta ut minister assumi sed in eo casu calix velatus ante missam ad altare deferatur et more solito in medio mensae super corporale statuatur. . . Calix autem ab ipso celebrante suo tempore abstersus et velatus ac in medio mensae allccatus, absoluta Missa,

in Sacristiam deferatur. 2

2. For the due performance of those functions the Memoriale clearly presupposes that the celebrant has the assistance of three or four clerics or ministers, and he is expressly warned to see that they are properly instructed in the duties they are to discharge. The propriety of having clerics in the strict sense to discharge those duties is admitted by all, and if they are available it would be in keeping with the spirit and the letter of the Memoriale that they should assist. But they are not always available, and in their absence it is generally held that ordinary clerks or altar-boys, carefully instructed beforehand in the duties appertaining to the different functions, may be requisitioned for the purpose. Provided that none of them is required to discharge the duties proper to clerics in the strict sense, e.g., removal of the chalice, the necessity of even one of them being a tonsuratus is not insisted upon. 3

3. The direction of the Memoriale regarding the imposition of the ashes-primo viris, deinde feminis '-should, of course, be carried out as far as the custom and circumstances of the place permit, but it is rather significant that no such direction occurs in the rubrics of the Missal. Where men and women are allocated to distinct divisions of the church, it may not be difficult to fulfil it, but where, as in this country, the faithful take their places in the church indiscriminately, we do not think it either customary or feasible to insist on the rigidity of

3 Vide Ephem. Liturg., Dec., 1910, p. 735; Van der Stappen, tom. v. p. 366.

the rule. At all events the rule does not avail as against Nuns, for they by the new Code enjoy a right of precedence. It is stated in Canon 491, § 1: 'Religiosi praecedunt laicis'; and the term 'religiosi' is explained in the Canon immediately preceding as applying equally to men and women who have joined the religious life.

6

6

4. In replying to this query we think there are two decrees of the Congregation of Rites that must be taken into consideration. The first is in reply to the question: 'Quando debeat accendi Cereus paschalis, quibus diebus, quibus horis, num tantum Dominicis an etiam aliis diebus festis, et in missis et in Vesperis, an etiam in matutinis solemniter celebratis?' The reply, after specifying the days on which the Paschal candle may be lighted at Mass and Solemn Vespers, adds: et in aliis diebus et solemnitatibus etiam solemniter celebratis non accenditur, nisi adsit consuetudo, quod durante tempore Paschali accendatur, quae servanda esset.' Now the question arises: Assuming that Benediction. is included among the solemnities' here referred to, and that the custom specified in the decree of lighting the candle during this solemnity prevails in a particular place, is there any reason why it should be discontinued? On the assumption we have made and we think it justifiable the decree supplies the answer to the question, viz., 'consuetudo ... servanda esset.' But liturgical writers generally hold that Benediction is not among the solemnities at which the Paschal candle may be lighted, and they rely upon the explicit character of the following decree 2: 'Num quoties detur Benedictio SSmi Sacramenti cum ostensorio, tempore paschali cereum paschalem toties accendere liceat?' The reply was, Negative.' It might be reasonably argued from the use of the terms 'toties' 'quoties,' that the reply is not inconsistent with the exception we have made, but, apart from that exception, it is clear that the Paschal candle may not be lighted during Benediction. If, however, the Benediction follows immediately after Mass or Solemn Vespers for which the candle had been lighted in accordance with the rubrics, we do not think it need be extinguished until the entire function is over. Morally speaking, the two functions in the case unite to form one complete liturgical act.

THE CORRECT FORM OF ADMINISTERING THE 'VIATICUM' WHEN REPEATED IN THE SAME ILLNESS

REV. DEAR SIR,-Will you kindly answer the following query in your next issue of the I. E. RECORD. Which is the correct form of administering Viaticum when it is administered many times in accordance with Canon 864, § 3, of new Code? I am assuming, of course, that there is danger of death, and I also assume that the person has been anointed and has already received the Viaticum in the same illness.

FINIS.

If Communion is given per modum viatici' the form prescribed

1 Decree 235.

2 Decree 3479.