LITURGY 'VARIA DUBIA' REV. DEAR SIR,-I shall feel very grateful if you answer the following questions in the I. E. RECORD at your earliest convenience ; 1. May four candles be lighted at all the Masses which are publicly celebrated in a church on Sundays? May four candles be lighted at each public Mass on feasts of the first class, when they are not holy days of obligation? 2. Is it true that during the October devotions the Litany of the Blessed Virgin may be recited in English, but that at any other time during the year it must be said in Latin when recited during the Benediction service? 3. Is it forbidden to place cushions on the altar steps whereon the ministers may kneel during the Benediction service? 4. If, on a special festival, during the Rosary and sermon, candles are lighted on a side altar dedicated to the saint whose feast is being celebrated, and presupposing that this side altar is within view of the high altar, must these candles be extinguished before the Benediction service commences? 5. When the monstrance is left on the mensa for exposition during the Benediction service, is it necessary to take away the crucifix? 6. When, in a seminary, for instance, Communion is brought to a sick room, and when a server who precedes the priest carries a lighted candle from the chapel to the room, must this candle contain 65 per cent. beeswax ? Thanking you in anticipation. CURIOSITAS. 1. (a) Yes-since the Masses are not private Masses in the strict sense. (b) Four candles may be lighted in this case also. The principle which applies is thus expressed by Appeltern': 'Praefata tamen prohibitio de... 4 candelis intelligitur ratione dignitatis personae ; etenim ratione solemnitatis, aut Missae quae habetur pro Parochiali, Conventuali, Communitatis, etc., licet sine cantu, tolerari possunt plus quam duo cerei.' ... 2. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin must not be sung in the vernacular at any time of the year during the Benediction service. We may quote the following answer of the Congregation of Rites : In aliis duabus paroeciis consuetudo etiam immemorialis viget, qua in Communione administranda extra Missam verba Domine, non sum dignus recitantur lingua vulgari; et coram SSño Sacramento exposito eadem vulgari lingua canuntur Litaniae Lauretanae; quaeritur, an, attenta vigente consuetudine, utrumque liceat? R. Negative, et serventur Rubricae et Decreta. 1 Sac. Liturg. Promptuarium, vol. i. n. 41. Apud Ephem. Liturg. 1904, pp. 455-6. This answer, although not included in the most recent collection, is in accordance with a former one,1 which allows singing in the vernacular in presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed, dummodo non agatur de hymnis Te Deum et aliis quibuscumque liturgicis precibus, quae nonnisi latina lingua decantari debent.' But, as far as we can see, the prohibition does not extend to the recitation of the Litany when the Rosary has been said in presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed. 3. We are not aware of any law forbidding the practice. 4. The candles need not be extinguished. But liturgical propriety would seem to demand that the side altar, in the circumstances, should not be so brilliantly lighted as to distract the attention of the Congregation from the function at the high altar. 5. This question was discussed in a rather recent issue of the I. E. RECORD. Briefly, we are of opinion that the crucifix need not be removed. 6. No. STOLE AND SURPLICE FOR COMMUNION OF A SICK PRIEST. SERVERS AT A PRIVATE MASS REV. DEAR SIR,-Would you kindly solve the following doubts in the next issue of the I. E. RECORD : When a priest is, through illness, confined to bed and wishes to receive Holy Communion (a) what is the colour of the stole he should wear; (b) is it becoming for him to wear a surplice in such a case? Would you also state if it is correct to have two servers for a priest's private Mass. ANXIUS. 1. Notant quidam auctores quod si infirmus sit clericus, si fieri potest, induatur superpelliceo, si sit Diaconus, aut Sacerdos, induatur superpelliceo et stola albi coloris.' When the priest is confined to bed we think the use of the surplice may well be dispensed with. There is little or no inconvenience in wearing the stole. 2. When the Mass is a strictly private one, the priest, no matter what his dignity may be, is allowed only one server. Two may be employed in the circumstances mentioned in the following answer of the Congregation of Rites : Q. Num tolerandum sit, ut mos non geratur Decretis Sacrae Congregationis duos ministros in Missa lecta prohibentibus, eo sub praetextu quod hi ministri non introducantur ratione dignitatis celebrantis, sed ratione celebritatis aut frequentioris assistentiae: ex. gr. si Missa sit Parochialis aut Communitatis? R. Servanda esse cuidem Decreta quoad Missas stricte privatis, sed quoad Missas Parochiales vel similes diebus solemnioribus, et quoad Missas quae celebrantur loco solemnis atque cantatae, occasione realis et usitatae solemnitatis, tolerari posse duos 1 Decr. Auth. n. 3537, ad III. 2 See I. E. RECORD, October, 1910, p. 404. 3 Ibid. January, 1918, pp. 66-7. 4 Van der Stappen, vol. iv. q. 206. Decr. Auth. n. 3059, ad VII. ministros Missae inservientes, servatis ordinationibus Sacrae Congregationis in una Tuden. diei 7 Septembris 1816 ad dubia V et VI. The answers referred to state that the server is not to open the Missal for the beginning of Mass, or, if in Holy Orders, prepare the chalice or wipe it after the ablutions. TWO MASSES IN The same CHURCH ON THE SAME DAY REV. DEAR SIR,-I should be very much pleased if you would discuss in your valuable I. E. RECORD the rubrical questions enclosed. In spite of all that has been written on this matter, it is a fact that there is a very great diversity of practice in carrying out the rubrics in this case. 1. At the first Mass should the priest say 'Quod ore' and the 'Corpus tuum' before he washes his fingers in the little water vase; or should he say the last prayer during the action? 2. Should he cover the chalice with the purificator, paten, pall and veil, and leave it on the corporal? 3. Should he, especially if there is to be an interval before the second Mass, consume, before he leaves the altar, the drops of the Precious. Blood that may have collected at the bottom of the chalice? If so, should this be done after the last Gospel, or after the three' Hail Marys.' etc., have been saia? 4. At the end of the second Mass should he consume the ablution in the little water vase before or with the first ablution? 5. If he use wine for the purification of the ciborium, shall he also use water? 6. In case he has to purify two or three large ciboria, after he has poured the wine used in their purification into the chalice, should he take this first, and then pour more wine into the chalice for the first ablution; or may he omit the first, and proceed at once to the second ablution? | 6 7. Should he purify the ciborium and the little water vase before or after the purification of the chalice? 1 DUBIUS. 1. According to Van der Stappen 1 the priest should first say the Quod ore sumpsimus,' and then, while washing and drying his fingers, the prayer 'Corpus tuum.' 2. 'Purificatorium plicatum calici superimponet, patenam et pallam ; atque velo omnibus coopertis, bursam suo loco, et corporale sub calice extensum relinquens, missam more solito prosequetur.' 2 The chalice, covered with the purificator, paten and pall, may also be placed in the tabernacle; or, covered with the veil also, on a corporal on the credence table.3 3. This is generally recommended. It may be done after the last Gospel. 1 Vol. iii. q. 336, 2. De Amicis would have him purify his fingers before saying the Quod ore. 2 De Amicis, Caerem. Paroch., vol. i. p.313. 3 Ibid. p. 314. 4. He may consume it with the second ablution, or throw it into the sacrarium. Our correspondent must not suppose that there are strict rules for every detail. 5. No; water is not necessary. 6. Nothing is strictly defined in this matter. If sufficient wine has been used for the purification of the ciboria it may serve as the first ablution; or the priest may take additional wine into the chalice. 7. The ciborium is purified before the purification of the chalice. The contents of the water vase may be taken, as already stated, with the second ablution, or aftewards thrown into the sacrarium. T. O'DOHERTY. 1 Van der Stappen, loc. cit.; S.C.R., Decr. Auth., n. 3764, ad XV. DOCUMENTS IMPORTANT DECREE PRESCRIBING THE RULES ΤΟ BE OBSERVED IN THE CASE OF PRIESTS EMIGRATING TO (December 30, 1918) SACRA CONGREGATIO CONSISTORIALIS DECRETUM DE CLERICIS IN CERTAS QUASDAM REGIONES DEMIGRANTIBUS Magni semper negotii fuit clericorum receptio ex dissitis vel transmarinis locis provenientium: talibus in adiunctis deceptiones et fraudes facile occurrunt, easque detegere in tanta locorum distantia ac sermonum diversitate diutini laboris est ac difficile. Unde Alexander III in consultatione ad Episcopum Cenomanensem, statuta Patrum veterum 1 renovans, de clericis in remotis regionibus ordinatis, itemque de transmarinis statuit ut ad minus quinque Episcoporum super ordinatione sua testimonio muniantur.' Quae lex, relata in Decretalibus, tit. 22, lib. I, ius commune per plura saecula constituit. Nostra autem aetate, itineribus trans Oceanum communioribus et frequentioribus factis, novae leges pro clericorum ex Europa ad ea loca migrantium latae sunt, et ultima vice per decretum Ethnographica studia, quibus plura iuxta temporis adiuncta fuerunt disposita ; quae ubi accurate observata fuere, valde in animarum bonum profuisse exploratum est. Attamen, interea temporis, experientia docuit aliquid in hac re ulterius addi oportere aliaque temperari, ut salutarium priorum decretorum finis plenius ac facilius attingi queat. Accessit publicatio Codicis canonici iuris, cui, quantum fas erat, coordinari oportebat peculiaris haec lex de clericis trans Oceanum migrantibus. Habita idcirco ratione votorum plurium Americae Antistitum, perpensisque quae a Nuntiis et Apostolicis Delegatis relata fuerunt, Emi S. huius Congregationis Patres, postquam de mandato SSñi D. N. Benedicti XV omnia diligenti examini subiecere, haec statuenda censuerunt. CAPUT I. Integra lege Sacrarum Congregationum de Propaganda Fide et pro negotiis Orientalis Ritus circa sacerdotum huius ritus migrationem, quoad alios haec in posterum observanda erunt : 1 Concilliorum scilicet Carthaginensis I, Chalcedonensis et Antiocheni, nec non et S. Augustini (cfr. Decr. Gratiani, dist. I, cap. V). |