to the external circumstances of its recital. To say the Office with reverence we should recollect ourselves a moment before we begin. This is of very great importance; it is almost a necessity. To concentrate our thoughts each time, even for a moment, on one of the general views of the Office, such as we have considered, is almost an infallible means of saying it well. To do this is to act like the archer who takes aim before he shoots his arrow. On the other hand, experience shows that it is difficult to say the Office well if we run through the Aperi Domine while looking up the pages in our book. When we say the Office out of choir let us see that our posture is reverent. It is a praiseworthy habit to say each day some part of the Office on our knees. We read in the Gospel how our Blessed Lord prayed on bended knees, positis genibus orabat (Luke xxii. 41). We read the same of St. Peter and St. Paul in the Acts of the Apostles (ix. 40, xx. 36). Let us take a reasonable length of time to acquit ourselves of the serious duty of the Office, and let us not defer until evening the portions prescribed for the morning. By care in these details we are really trying to say the Office with reverence.

The Office should be said with Attention.-We are bound to say the Office with attention-attente. This refers to the mind. We are bound, first of all, to what is called external attention, that is, we must not recite the Office by heart while we are engaged in some occupation which practically absorbs our mind. Unless this external attention be given, the substantial obligation of the Office is not fulfilled. We are also bound to internal attention. According to St. Thomas (II, II, 83) this internal attention may be one of three kinds :

(1) We may pay attention to the words that we pronounce them well.

(2) We may pay attention to the sense of the words. It is a great spiritual loss to us if we do not do this, at least to a certain extent. The psalms of the Office are a perfect treasury of devotion. They are suitable for all times of life and for all circumstances of life. To help us to this kind of attention it would be very useful to make some study of the psalms and then to take them as the subject of our mental prayer, according to the second method of St. Ignatius. By this means even those who do not understand Latin will soon be able to recall the general character of each psalm as they recite it, and even to renew

the sentiments suggested by the more remarkable verses. It is also an excellent practice to say each day one psalm, rather slowly, taking the psalms in turn according to the order of the Office.

(3) No matter how much we study there will always remain many obscurities in the psalms, and hence we all must recite at least part of our Office with the third kind of attention-attention to God, or attention to one of the truths of our holy religion, just as the faithful recite the Rosary. Here again the advantage of a general view of the Office is manifest. The Church has been frequently criticized for obliging the nuns who do not know Latin to say the Office. A right understanding of this third kind of attention is an answer to the difficulty. But, indeed, it requires little reflection to see that in this the Church is acting according to the reasonable tendencies of our human nature. The following incident illustrates the point. A few years ago London was en fête to do honour to a foreign potentate who had come to visit the Sovereign. Among the festivities was a magnificent concert, which included choral-singing by a choir of one thousand voices. To those who were present it seemed, at first, strange to hear this choir singing in a foreign language, a language that was not understood by the vast majority of the singers. But, when it came to be known that the words sung were actually the composition of the distinguished stranger, everyone felt that a most delicate compliment had been paid to the guest of the nation. The application of this example to the Office is evident. The psalms have been composed by God Himself, Who is the Author of the Scripture, and they are recited in the language of His Church.

The Office should be said with Devotion.-The Church, as we have seen, bids us ask God for the grace we need to say the Office with devotion--devote. The word devotion, as here used, has two meanings. It means, in the first place, the promptitude of the will in the praise of God. This kind of devotion, which is the real essential devotion, can be more or less attained by everyone, with the help of God's grace. In the second place, devotion means the feeling of devotion, or as it is called, sensible devotion. This is not within our power; we cannot command our feelings. Although it is not essential, it is a great help, and should be the object of our prayers. God can give it to us, but, according to the order which is usual in the

distribution of His favours, it is given habitually only to those who persevere in taking all pains to say the Office well.

The following practices are recommended as a help towards the recital of the Office with devotion. We may form the habit of lifting our heart to God in a very definite manner each time we recite the Gloria Patri. Many sections of the Office consist of three psalms: we could recite them in honour of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. We might say the various hours of the Office in union with the sufferings of Our Lord, which took place at the corresponding hours of Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Thus we could divide the Office as follows:

Matins. The Agony in the Garden; the midnight trial. Lauds. The insults in the courts of Annas and Caiphas. Prime. The morning trials before Pilate and Herod. Terce. The Scourging and the Crowning with Thorns. Sext.-The Way of the Cross.

---

None. The Death of our Saviour.

Vespers and Compline.-Our Lady at the foot of the Cross, the Burial.1

Conclusion.-We are bound to the Office. The Office requires effort. It is a burden, the burden of the dayonus diei. It is a burden that will weigh us down or lift us up. The Office said without due care will weigh us down physically and spiritually. The Office said with reverence, attention, and devotion will lift us up to God. As the wings of a bird are a burden to it, and at the same time the means of lifting it above the earth, so the Divine Office should be to us the means of lifting us above this world, even to the throne of God. Let us fervently ask the Blessed Mother of Jesus that the Divine Office may be for us, like her own Magnificat, the outpouring of a heart that is entirely united to its God, and full of gratitude for all His blessings.

JOHN KEARNEY, C.S.SP.

1 Cf. Lehmkuhl, Th. Mor., ii. 636.

NOTES AND QUERIES

THEOLOGY

HOSPITAL PATIENTS.

STUDENTS IN SEMINARIES

I

REV. DEAR SIR,-You state in the I. E. RECORD that 'a patient does not as a rule acquire a quasi-domicile in a hospital.' Am I right in saying that a patient never acquires a quasi-domicile in a hospital? If my memory is not at fault, I heard from the lips of my revered professor in Maynooth that a decree of the Sacred Congregation 'decided this point.

If six months' residence in a hospital is sufficient for a quasi-domicile, many patients acquire it, as any chaplain to an asylum or work house hospital will testify.

II

D.

REV. DEAR SIR,-A student died in a diocesan seminary recently, and was buried in his native parish. Had the clergy of the latter parish any claim to the funeral offerings? If not, it seems strange.

SACERDOS.

I

The general statement of the revered professor was correct. But general, as distinct from universal, statements admit of exceptions. Under the old law, patients seldom had a quasi-domicile, because they seldom had the required intention. But allowances must be made for peculiar tastes: a man might wish to remain for a long time in a hospital, or even to make it his home for life. The circumstances, too, might be such that he would foresee a protracted stay and resign himself to the inevitable. Then he would have a quasi-domicile, or in extreme cases even a domicile. Owing to the changes introduced by the Code, the case will be more frequent for the future (92, § 2).

So the statement quoted by 'D' stands in no need of an apology. The judges in one of the most recent Roman cases said the same: 'communiter aegroti recepti in hospitali non ... quasi-domicilium contrahunt.' 1

1 See I. T. Quarterly, April, 1915, p. 248. For further remarks on the subject, cf. ibid., July, 1917, pp. 240-2.

II

We take it for granted that the case occurred in the Northern Province, and that the student had a quasi-domicile in the Seminary parish. If so, we think the clergy of the native parish had no claim in law-on principles already stated,1 'Strange,' yes; but that would really seem to be the law.

If the general law is allowed to operate, we wonder what will the President of the Seminary say after reading Canons 1222 and 1368.

VALIDATION OF MARRIAGE

REV. DEAR SIR,-Will you please state your view on the following points :

1°. Can. 1045, § 2. Matrimonii jam contracti.'-Is this term sufficiently extensive to cover attempted marriages (whether Catholic or mixed marriages) in a registry office or Protestant church?

NOTE-Presumably matrimonium contractum' means only such invalid marriage as has 'species, forma, figura matrimonii' (so Putzer, § 16). And, of course, it is possible to argue that, since the Ne Temere decree, a marriage' in a registry office or Protestant church (when at least one of the parties is directly subject to the decree) has not the species, forma, figura, matrimonii,' but is merely the preliminary to concubinage. Thus De Smet, § 360.

Wernz, however, § 29, n. 11 (quoted by De Smet, § 92), and Gasparri, I, § 46 (1904 edition) directly assert matrimonium a parte infideli vel haeretica cum parte baptizata sive catholica sive acatholica, etsi nullum ob defectum formae tridentinae, dicitur habere figuram vel formam matrimonii, si juxta mores regionum matrimonium legitimum reputatur.' And Marc (1917 edition) asserts: Si una pars in bona fide est quoad validitatem matrimonii, hujus consensus sanari potest, renovato alterius partis consensu. Hinc concluditur matrimonium civile posse in radice sanari dummodo vere matrimonialis consensus praestitus fuerit. Hoc tamen pro catholicis, qui probe noverunt per matrimonium civile solos civiles effectus ordinari, non est de facili admittendum. Quoad eos vero qui omnem religionem abjecerunt, quandoque primus consensus praestitus est consensus praestitus est matrimonialis, quandoque simpliciter fornicarius' (II. § 2086, 2°). And again : civile cum tamen matrimonii speciem prae se ferat, potest sanari in radice' (II. § 2091).

Matrimonium

2°. Can. 1045, § 2. Convalidatio matrimonii.'-Is the term convalidatio' sufficiently extensive to include a 'sanatio in radice'? In favour of this extensive meaning it might be urged :

1. Convalidatio' is a general term including both 'convalidatio simplex' and 'sanatio in radice.' Thus the Codex in Cap. XI, just before Can. 1133, De matrimonii convalidatione.'

2°. Surely Canon 1043 will provide for cases where, in the hour of death, a' sanatio in radice' is the only chance of salvation.' Especially as Canon 1043 gives power to dispense even in the 'forma in matrimonii celebratione servanda.'

If it be true that the Bishop can give a sanatio in radice' by this canon, can he go further and, in case there is an impediment of mixed 1 See I. E. RECORD, March, 1919, pp. 232-7.