Vol 8 Issue 8 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
February 21, 2015 ~Lenten Feria

1. Baptism: Means of Salvation (7)
2. First Sunday in Lent
3. St. Peter’s Chair at Antioch
4. Marriage and Parenthood (8)
5. Articles and notices 

Dear Reader:

The ashes placed on the forehead to remind the Catholic that he or she has entered into the holy season of Lent may no longer be visible since Ash Wednesday, but the Fast and Abstinence remains. There is so much evil in the world that the words between Abraham and the Angel of the Lord spoke: What if ten should be found there? And he said: I will not destroy it for the sake of ten. Even during the week days I pray that at least ten will show for Mass, fearful that God will not find enough to satisfy His justice when so many have turned from Him and live as those in Sodom and Gomorra. And what of families? How many Catholic parents must weep as they see the evil one snatch their children? And the innocent children who come into this world with seemingly no hope of salvation? The little penance that Catholics perform during this season as they think upon the sufferings of Christ dissipate before the enormity of sin and lack of grace. May the work that has begun during this Lenten Season be completed in Catholics who have united themselves with Christ. (cf. Phillip. 1:6)

As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit. —The Editor

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Baptism

Means of Salvation

Lost of Original Innocence

The Original Sin

And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons. And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise. And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou? And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.

And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat? And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.

To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband’ s power, and he shall have dominion over thee.

And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work; with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.

And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all the living.

And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife, garments of skins, and clothed them. And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now, therefore, lest perhaps he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever. And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken. [24] And he cast out Adam; and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3:7-24)

Accepting, then, the account of Genesis in chapter 3 as a true event which caused sin and death to enter into the world (cf. Rom. 5:12), it comes to explaining the effects of the sin. The sin, itself, is called Original Sin because it comes from the origin of man in Adam and Eve. Naming the sin of Adam Original Sin has been common at least since the time of St. Augustine, though he says, in Contra Julianum, that the expression and belief was part of the faith explained by such saints and holy men who have given themselves to the work of divine eloquence such as the illustrious priests Irenaeus, Cyprian, Reticius, Olympius, Hilary, Ambrose, Gregory, Innocent, John, Basil, and includes Jerome. (cf. Contra Jul. II, x, 33) Certainly it was not formulated as a new belief at the time of the early Fathers of the Church, either, for even the Jews held the belief as witnessed in the above references of the fall of the first man as well as in IV Esdras, where the early first century Jewish writer wrote: O thou Adam, what hast thou done? for though it was thou that sinned, thou art not fallen alone, but we all that come of thee. (vii:48) This Fourth Book of Esdras was considered inspired by many Fathers of the Church in which it was frequently referenced and passages are still retained today in the Liturgy where normally only Scriptural passages are allowed, such as  the verse Requiem æternam to the Office and Mass of the Dead, the response Lux perpetua lucebit sanctis tuis of the Office of the Martyrs of Paschaltide, the introit Accipite jucunditatem for Pentecost Tuesday, the words Modo coronantur in the Office of the Apostles and the verse Crastine die for Christmas eve.

What is Original Sin? As pertains to the act of the first sin committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden, that account was provided above. But it is not absolutely what is understood by Original Sin. The Sin of Adam and Eve was the original sin committed, but the consequences of that original sin is what is now understood to be in a wider sense to be Original Sin. In this connotation, what is Original Sin? First, there must be an understanding of what was the consequences of the sin of the first man, Adam.

As stated in Scripture, as soon as Adam sinned, not Eve, the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons. (Gen. 3:7) The devil had told them that their eyes would be open to the knowledge of good and evil. (3:5) From the beginning they had only experienced good. The lie of the devil lays in the reality that God does not know evil. Evil is a deprivation, and God cannot experience a deprivation within His nature, a nature that is infinitely perfect, absolute Goodness, and pure Act.

Saint Thomas addresses the question with this response:

[I]n God there is no defect, but the highest perfection, as was shown above (Question 4, Article 1). Hence, the evil which consists in defect of action, or which is caused by defect of the agent, is not reduced to God as to its cause.

But the evil which consists in the corruption of some things is reduced to God as the cause. And this appears as regards both natural things and voluntary things. For it was said (1) that some agent inasmuch as it produces by its power a form to which follows corruption and defect, causes by its power that corruption and defect. But it is manifest that the form which God chiefly intends in things created is the good of the order of the universe. Now, the order of the universe requires, as was said above (22, 2, ad 2; 48, 2), that there should be some things that can, and do sometimes, fail. And thus God, by causing in things the good of the order of the universe, consequently and as it were by accident, causes the corruptions of things, according to 1 Samuel 2:6: “The Lord killeth and maketh alive.” But when we read that “God hath not made death” (Wisdom 1:13), the sense is that God does not will death for its own sake. Nevertheless the order of justice belongs to the order of the universe; and this requires that penalty should be dealt out to sinners. And so God is the author of the evil which is penalty, but not of the evil which is fault, by reason of what is said above.

There is physical corruption that is within nature that is accidental, but necessary for the order within nature and is therefore good. There is also penalty, or consequences, for moral evil, that God imposes and is therefore good. But evil, the absence of good, cannot be willed by God nor part of the divine nature of God.

The Challoner Douay-Rheims provides this commentary for the opening of the eyes of Adam and Eve (based on Saint Augustine, Gen. ad litteram, XI, xxxi. 40):

And the eyes: Not that they were blind before, (for the woman saw that the tree was fair to the eyes, ver. 6.) nor yet that their eyes were opened to any more perfect knowledge of good; but only to the unhappy experience of having lost the good of original grace and innocence, and incurred the dreadful evil of sin. From whence followed a shame of their being naked; which they minded not before; because being now stripped of original grace, they quickly began to be subject to the shameful rebellions of the flesh.

Now Adam and Eve experienced evil, that is, the lack of good. They no longer saw each other as good, but as evil. They saw each other as evil because they were deprived of good. It would be difficult to conjecture what would have happened if only Eve had sinned and Adam had not since there is nothing written in Scripture, nor would it be of any benefit to speculate. Since Adam did sin, the nature of man immediately was deprived of the gifts God bestowed upon humanity. The Life God gave to Adam was ended. That Life was the Spirit of goodness, and justice, and truth. (cf. Eph. 5:9; 4:24). That of control of passions, of concupiscence, being the first manifested:they perceived themselves to be naked (Gen 3:7). They sensed the motions of their corporal being as now ruling their thoughts and behavior: But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, that is in my members. (Rom. 7:23; cf. 1 Peter 2:11). To overcome the movements of the flesh, and for the instruction of mankind, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons. (Gen. 7:8) No man or woman can say they are not moved at the sight of the uncovered body of the other sex. That the hedonist may claim the right to reveal the body or see the body does not mean there is no movement of desire. Our Lord’s condemnation is very clear: But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matt. 5:28). The business of pornography is the largest illicit industry as it portrays the revealed body knowing the weakness of human nature that cannot resist concupiscence without the grace of God.

Adam and Eve knew that they had turned away from God. Here was the sin. What is sin? Sin is a chaos, the rejection of good and truth; it is a contradiction of all order and reason itself; it is an abortion of the good God has created; it is not action, but inaction; it is therefore not a cause, but a causeless action (causa deficiens). Thus it is referred as darkness, and the more reason is enlightened, the darker becomes the sin, and why it is abhorred by a healthy mind. Sin is the deprivation of justice, a incongruity to the moral code God has established for order. Our relation with God is as a creature and child. As a creature, we offend the natural. As a child, we offend the supernatural order. Through the gift of grace in his soul, man is a child of God, and thereby is placed near God (image of God), much closer than the mere human nature. Thus established, he is obliged in gratitude and love to please his Father, and to offend would not be to offend as a servant his master, but a child his father. As a child of God, when man sins he opposes the dignity of being a child of God, he revolts against his Father, who is God, thrusting Him from the soul. When something is opposed to the natural order, than the sin is unnatural because it disturbs the natural order only.  The supernaturalness of sin is the rejection of divine light and the destruction of the supernatural order.  The sin of Adam must be viewed in relation to his being justified and gifted with holiness and integrity.  The law is written by God in man’s conscience, (cf. Rom. 2:15) when he sins, he opposes his conscience, his own nature. Charity, the source of the supernatural life, is terminated. Hope and faith remain if the sin was not opposed to one of these virtues.  Holiness cannot abide with evil. When we choose (will) evil, holiness must necessarily be thrust out.  Through grace and supernatural justice the soul possesses a supernatural splendor, a heavenly harmony with God, a divine beauty, which, compared to sin, is the difference between light and darkness. This splendor is annihilated through sin.

This loss of grace, that which clothed man in glory, was gone and they were not able to find it. They substituted fig leaves, but it was not enough. One must also understood when it comes to Adam and Eve perceiving themselves as naked. They were to stand before God, they were like the man at the wedding feast: And the king went in to see the guests: and he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And he saith to him: Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? But he was silent. (Matt. 22:11-12)

(To be continued)

———————-

Week of First Sunday in Lent

Benedict Baur, O.S.B.

EMBER WEDNESDAY IN LENT

To the mountain of God

1. “As He was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold His mother and His brethren stood without, seeking to speak to Him” (Gospel). With Mary, the mother of Jesus, who today gathers us about her in her sanctuary (the stational church for the Mass today is St. Mary Major in Rome), we come to Jesus as He speaks to the multitudes in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We must listen carefully to His words. He tells us of the high vocation to which we are called by baptism, and He warns us lest we should prove unworthy of this high calling.
2. “The men of Ninive [the pagans] shall rise in judgment with this generation [the chosen people of Israel] and shall condemn it; because they did penance at the preaching of Jonas; and behold a greater than Jonas here. The queen of the South [of Saba] shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it; because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold a greater than Solomon here” (Gospel). The chosen people would have nothing to do with their Savior when He came to them. They rejected Him, and therefore they themselves were rejected. We who are of the Gentiles have been chosen in their place. Mary and our Holy Mother the Church lead us to Him. In baptism we were made His brothers and sisters and were joined to Him in a union of prayer, in a union of life and spirit. From that moment we are bound to do the will of the Father.

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord” (Luke 1:28). Christ and His blessed mother had but one ambition, and that was to do the will of the Father. When Mary asked to see her Son, Jesus stretches forth His hand toward His disciples and says, “Behold My mother and My brethren; for whosoever shall do the will of My Father that is in heaven, He is My brother and sister and mother” (Gospel). To be a Christian is to be the brother of Christ, to have the same will, the same desires, the same burning zeal to accomplish the will of the Father. Have we really understood the implications of our baptism? Have we sought the will of the Father before all else?

The chosen people renounced their inheritance in spite of the abundant graces and the miraculous guidance they had received from God. In spite of the preaching of the prophets and the frequent warning of God, in spite of the revelations of the holy books and their possession of the true faith, they failed to recognize and accept the promised Messias. The long awaited Redeemer “came unto His own; but His own received Him not” (John 1:11). Israel repudiated its Savior and condemned Him to a most cruel death. How could such an action be possible? Yet it is possible and is a warning to us. Our having been called by baptism, our possession of faith and membership in the true Church, is no guarantee against infidelity or apostasy. “Your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). “And when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man [at the time of baptism or after a good confession], he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith: I will return into my house from whence I came out; and coming he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished [by grace and the beginning of virtue]. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man is made worse than the first. So shall it be also to this wicked generation” (Gospel).

We, too, can prove unfaithful to our vocation, lose our faith, and fall away. How many examples of apostasy do we not have in the history of the Church, in the annals of religious houses, and even among the clergy! For this reason the Church presses upon us the urgency of self-examination, penance, and meditation during the holy season of Lent, for “the men of Ninive did penance at the preaching of Jonas” and thus found favor with God.

3. Our hearts are filled with gratitude for the great grace that has been given to us in baptism. We should renew our desire and our resolution to accomplish the will of the Father. “I will meditate on Thy commandments which I have loved exceedingly; and I will lift up my hands to Thy commandments, which I have loved” (Offertory).

Moses spent forty days and nights in fasting and in a mysterious association with God on Mount Sinai, and received the two stone tables of the law (First lesson). Elias, after being exhausted by his severe life in the desert, received a hearth cake and a vessel of water; on the strength of this bread and without any other nourishment he walked for forty days and forty nights till he came to the mountain of God, Mount Horeb (Second lesson). Like Moses, we shall spend forty days in the daily celebration of Holy Mass, and in converse with God; fed with the bread of Holy Communion, we shall, like Elias, walk through the Lent of our earthly life till we come to the Mountain of God, Mount Horeb, that is, the eternal possession of God in heaven.

PRAYER

Mercifully hear our prayers, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and stretch forth the right hand of Thy majesty against all things that work against us.

Enlighten our minds, we beseech Thee, O Lord, with the light of Thy brightness, that we may be able to see what we ought to do and have the strength to do what is right. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

THURSDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT

Do penance!

1. Today we are urged to do penance. The Church leads us to the place where the blessed martyr St. Lawrence suffered, the Church of St. Lawrence in Panisperna. On this spot St. Lawrence suffered his passion on the glowing coals and attained the crown of glory. During Lent we can share his struggles and his martyrdom by our self-denial, and thus atone for our past sins and negligences.
2. “The soul that sinneth, the same shall die” (Epistle). The sinner must not place the blame for his sins on others. He may not say that, because the father hath eaten sour grapes, the teeth of the children are set on edge. “As I live, saith the Lord, … behold all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father so also the soul of the son is Mine. The soul that sinneth, the same shall die.” Such a one can live only if he does penance for his sin and if the sin be forgiven. “And if a man be just and do judgment and justice, . . . and hath not wronged any man, but hath restored the pledge to the debtor; . . . hath given his bread to the hungry and hath covered the naked with a garment; hath not lent upon usury, nor taken any increase; . . . hath walked in My commandments and kept My judgments, to do truth: he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord Almighty” (Epistle). The soul that would be saved must practice justice, forgiveness, charity, and fidelity to the commandments of God.

“At that time Jesus went forth and retired into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold a woman of Canaan [a heathen woman] who came out of these coasts, crying out, said to Him: Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil. Who answered her not a word. . . . But she came and adored Him, saying: Lord, help me. Who answering, said: It is not good to take the bread of the children [the chosen people of Israel] and to cast it to the dogs [the heathens]. But she said: Yea, Lord, for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their master. Then Jesus answering said to her: O woman, great is thy faith; be it done to thee as thou wilt. And her daughter was cured from that hour” (Gospel). This is a picture of the Church in action. She is the woman of Canaan who moves the Lord by her urgent entreaties. “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil.” The Church beseeches the Lord for pardon and grace for her sinful children, who until the feast of Easter stand at the church door with the penitents. They have been separated from the altar, excluded from offering their gifts and from receiving Holy Communion; they are the “whelps” who may not share the bread at the table with the children, but who are fed from the crumbs that fall from the table. “It is not good to take the bread of the children and to cast it to the dogs.” Poor abandoned sinners. They have, through their sins, excluded themselves from the family of the Church and may no longer receive the bread of the children of the Church, Holy Communion. Even though the Church must exclude them and urge them to do severe penance, nevertheless, she suffers with them and prays the more fervently for them that they may obtain forgiveness and be readmitted to the table of God to share the bread of God’s children. The Church continues to pray for sinners even though the Lord may pretend to ignore her. She will move Him with her importunity. “Woman, great is thy faith; be it done to thee as thou wilt.”

3. “The soul that sinneth, the same shall die.” But it has still a means of salvation. Its mother, the Church, still prays for it: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David.” The Church makes the concerns of her sinful children her own concern. She has committed her official prayer, the Divine Office, to her priests and religious, who as a body raise their hands together to ask the Lord for grace and mercy for those who live in sin. We should have full confidence in the intercession of the Church. What a consolation for us to remember that we never pray alone, that we are not alone in our anxiety for the conversion of those dear to us! Holy Mother the Church is also aware of their needs and is solicitous for them. And the Church will surely be heard.

Today in the spirit of the liturgy it behooves all of us to assume the attitude of penitents. With the Canaanite woman we should pray fervently and perseveringly: “Have mercy on me, O Lord; . . . my daughter [my soul] is grievously troubled by a devil.” Bowed down and full of remorse we pray at the foot of the altar: Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Turning from our own unworthiness we approach the heavenly mother, Mary, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, blessed John the Baptist, and all the saints in heaven, and implore them to ask God to forgive us our sins. Then we turn to the celebrating priest and through him to the whole Catholic Church that they also may include us in their prayers to God. And the Church answers through her priests, “May the almighty God have mercy on you and forgive you your sins.” “Show us O Lord Thy mercy, and grant us [in this holy season of Lent] Thy salvation.” Kyrie eleison; Christe eleison; Kyrie eleison. The Church’s prayer for mercy is heard.

The Church offers the Holy Sacrifice to the blessed Trinity as an act of propitiation for our sins and the sins of other men. After the Consecration she offers the blood of the Redeemer to the Father, begging Him to forgive us our sins.

PRAYER

Behold with kindness, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the devotion of Thy people, that they who are now mortified in the flesh by abstinence, may be refreshed in mind by the fruit of their good works.

Grant to all Christian peoples, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to understand what they profess and to love the heavenly gifts to which they have recourse. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

__________________________________________________

FEBRUARY 22

Chair of St. Peter at Antioch

1. Following an ancient Roman tradition that persevered until the sixteenth century, the Church formerly celebrated on this day the feast of the Chair of Peter in Rome. Before St. Peter came to Rome he had lived in Antioch as its bishop (cf. Gal. 2:11). Consequently, from the sixth century, there were two separate feasts honoring St. Peter’s Chair. The theme of these feasts, however, does not concern the two places, but, rather, the primacy of Peter and his successors over the entire Church.
2. “Thou art Peter, and it is upon this rock that I will build my church. . . . And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Gospel). It was to Peter that our Lord promised supreme authority over all the members of the Church, over bishops and priests as well as over the laity. The Church is built on St. Peter. Without him, without the pope, there is no Church of Christ. History demonstrates clearly that a living Church, a society of the faithful believers, whose light has never failed through the centuries, whose wellspring has never dried up, whose structure has never rotted and fallen—that such a Church can be found only where there is direct contact with the rock of Peter. The Churches of Asia and Africa flourished in the early centuries of Christianity until they lost contact with Rome. After they forsook their center, Rome, the Chair of Peter, they lost their vitality and sank into decay. Antioch itself, where Peter ruled as bishop, once numbered fifteen ecclesiastical provinces with about 220 bishops. It figured very greatly in communion with Rome; in 637, it fell into the hands of the Arabians and of Islamism. Without Peter, without the pope, without Rome, there can be no Church such as Christ willed and actually founded. For that reason, let us always and in all circumstances maintain allegiance to Peter, to the Chair of Peter, to the pope, to Rome.

“The gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Gospel). The history of 2000 years shows how the forces of hell have always had a single goal in view: to oppress and, as far as possible, to annihilate the Church of Christ—from without, by means of men and organizations inimical to the Church and to Christ; by means of attacks on her dogmas, her moral laws, her priesthood, her honor, her holiness, her history; from within, by means of heresies and schisms and by the sins and scandalous lives of her children. Everywhere, the powers of hell are at work; but we believe the promise of our Lord: “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it,”

3. The “Apostolic See” is the light of the world, the heart, from which flow grace and truth to give life to the mystical body of Christ, the Church. Only the key of Peter can unlock the spiritual treasure-house. Only Peter’s staff is a safe guide to rich pastures; only from Peter’s mouth comes the infallible word of truth; only Peter’s blessing consecrates altar and priest, and channels the saving stream of doctrine and sacramental grace into the whole world, “I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Gospel).

We should always show our gratitude to God for having given us, in Peter, the true Church. Our holy Faith assures us that Christ, who built His Church on Peter, is unceasingly guiding it, giving it a participation in His supernatural life, pervading its whole body with His divine power, nourishing and preserving its individual members in the same manner in which, in nature, the vine feeds and fructifies the branches joined to it (cf. Encyclical on the Mystical Body). In the Church founded on Peter, we have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth and grace, who effects a continual growth and who permeates all the members of the Church and gives them life and unity. We believe: we give thanks.

Both faith and gratitude impel us to pray for the multitudes who do not recognize the true Church of Christ; for the many who think they can find salvation and Christ elsewhere than in the Church built on Peter. Our fervent petition: O God, gather our scattered and separated brethren and lead them home to the true Church, to communion with Peter.

Collect: God, who didst bestow the keys of the heavenly kingdom upon Thy apostle, blessed Peter, conferring on him pontifical authority to bind and loose, grant that by the help of his intercession we may be released from the fetters of our sins. Amen.

MARRIAGE AND PARENTHOOD

The Catholic Ideal

By the Rev. Thomas J. Gerrard

(1911)

CHAPTER IV

CHOICE OF A MATE

THAT was a naive answer given by the little Irish girl. Asked by the priest what was the way of preparing for the Sacrament of matrimony, she replied: “A little courting, your reverence.” The truth thereby unconsciously spoken needs to be well spread abroad in these days. Courting time is a preparation for a great Sacrament.

In speaking of this, even as of all other phases of Christian life, there is need of much common sense. On the one hand the young people who have arrived at this interesting stage may be expected to take it seriously, but on the other hand they must not be expected to deport themselves as if they were preparing for a funeral. Company keeping is one of the happiest times of life, and if it is not attended with joy and brightness there is something wrong somewhere. At the outset, then, let it be known to all parents that there is nothing sinful in their grown-up children looking for partners. Let it be known to all nuns that there is nothing wrong in big children of Mary speaking to the young men of the congregation. Let it be known to all young men and all young maidens that the affair of courtship is not something to be ashamed of. Of its nature it involves a certain amount of modesty and shyness. Still, from its earliest signs and movements it is something which ought to be perfectly aboveboard, known to father and mother, acknowledged in the presence of the family. It is a preparation for a great Sacrament, and its verve and joy and delight can suffer no loss through being regulated by the claims of religion.

Now, although falling in love is something which ought to be controlled by reason, it is not entirely an affair of the reason. It is primarily an affair of the heart. If only such marriages took place as were the result of clear reasoning and mere reasoning from beginning to end, this would become a very dull and uninteresting world, and we might indeed have grave fears for the survival of our race.

But in addition to reason, God has given man and woman affection and love. The affection and the love have reason to guide them, but their action depends largely on their object. The light of intellect in the man cannot make a woman’s face look more beautiful. The light of intellect in a woman cannot make a man’s form look more handsome. A case of real love between a man and woman is beyond adequate explanation. A man may love a woman for her good looks, for her domestic virtues, for her intellectual endowments; but the kind of love she likes best is that when he is obliged to say: “I do not know why I like you, I only know that I do.”

So the problem to be solved by all young Catholics is this: How are the claims of this mysterious and inexplicable love and affection to be reconciled with the claims of stern reason and sublime religion? Let it not be supposed that these rival claims are incompatible with each other. They all come from one and the same Author, and so it is only a question of adjustment. In order to make this adjustment, then, both parents and children should know what are the rules of the Church and what are the rules of right reason. With this double guiding light the young people may then frequent such places and cultivate such company as shall be likely to afford a fitting environment for the passion of love when it makes its appearance.

The rules of the Church come first. Marriage is a great Sacrament, and the Church, having the guardianship of all the Sacraments, claims the right to say what is the best preparation for marriage and what are the conditions ‘under which it may be contracted. She has a right to say what conditions affect the validity, and what conditions affect the lawfulness, of the contract. The contract is the Sacrament, and, therefore, only the Church can say what impediments render the contract unlawful, and what impediments render the contract null and void. They will all be found to be eminently practical and possessed of a special aptitude to foster that pure and passionate love which the young people value so highly.

The first qualification that a Catholic would look for in a partner for life would be that the partner should also be a Catholic. Mere acquaintances feel that they have a common and lasting bond between them if they are both Catholics. This feeling must be indefinitely intensified between two who are to live together in the intimate life of holy matrimony. Indeed, the advantages of such a condition, together with the evil consequences following upon the neglect of it, need a separate treatment. It will be sufficient here to say that the Church regards the matter as of the most vital importance. The impediment is classified, with two others, under the title of “Prohibition of the Church.” These two also will recommend themselves as obviously conducive to the safe-guarding of the Sacrament. The one is the proclamation of the banns, by which each party is protected against possible fraud or mistake. The other is that which requires the consent of parents. It is part of the solemn duty of parents to watch over the children in an affair of great consequence. And indeed parents, especially the mother, do watch their children most anxiously. The law of nature compels it, the law of the Church sanctions it. With reason, then, does the Church oblige children to consult their parents in the matter. Of course, cases may and do arise in which the consent of the parents is unjustly held back. Some parents out of mere selfish love dislike to lose their children, and act all regardless of the divine ordinance that for the sake of matrimony a man shall leave his father and mother. In case of dispute, however, the children will not go against the wishes of their parents without first consulting their confessor.

Again, since the Church regards marriage as a great Sacrament, she encourages her children to celebrate it with great pomp and festive joy. It happens as a rule only once in a lifetime and, therefore, is most fittingly accompanied with banquet and merry-making. All these things, however, would manifestly be out of place during times set about for the more solemn religious exercises. The Church ordains, therefore, that marriages shall be discouraged during the seasons of Advent and Lent; in Advent until the feast of the Epiphany, in Lent until Low Sunday inclusive. A marriage may, however, be permitted during these times, but it must be celebrated without any of that external display which would otherwise be so fitting on such an occasion.

A third condition for a lawful marriage is that neither party shall be engaged to anyone else. There are three points of view from which a previous engagement must be regarded. It has a personal aspect, a legal aspect, and an ecclesiastical aspect.

No man of honor will enter into a new engagement until he has been formally released from any previous engagement in which he may have become involved. It would, perhaps, be needless to say that he ought not to make serious overtures to another partner until he has been released by the first; for, oftener than otherwise, it is the appearance of a new face which is the cause of dissatisfaction with the old one. A man in such a predicament owes it both to himself, to his previous partner, and to his prospective partner to arrange an honorable settlement as soon as possible. The claims of society demand that neither girl should be kept in a false position. The previous partner, too, may have legal rights to compensation for breach of promise.

Then again there is the ecclesiastical aspect of the matter. The law has recently been changed, and henceforth only those engagements hold good in ecclesiastical law which have been made in writing, signed by both parties and signed by the parish priest or ordinary, or at least two witnesses. Of course, couples may marry lawfully without such an agreement in writing, but without such-an agreement the engagement will not be binding in conscience or produce any canonical effect. It would produce a legal effect and a social effect; it would hold good in the eyes of the law of the country and in the eyes of all respectable society. Nay, more, although there would be no obligation to marry, although the espousals were invalid, through want of proper formality, still those invalid espousals would render a person liable to all due restitution or damages just as if they were valid. Thus the Church protects the weaker party in two ways. First, she gives the warning and protects young people against imprudent engagements,—engagements entered into without deliberation, and under circumstances when innocence and ignorance hinder the due consideration of the dignity of the Sacrament. Secondly, she obliges the guilty party to make fitting restitution for all the material loss which the innocent party may have suffered in consequence.

(To be continued)

For those who purchase through Amazon, please help support the work here at Saint Joseph’s by going through this link:

http://smile.amazon.com/ch/94-2855162

———————–

Father Courtney Edward will be in Los Angeles March 3 and San Diego March 4. He will be in Phoenix, AZ, on March 12 for the celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Fr. Ephrem Cordova’s priestly ordination. On March 31, he will be in Eureka, Nevada.

_________________________

The topics of Faith and Morals will correspond to the Roman Catholic Faith in Tradition and the Magisterium. The News will be of interest. The commentaries are for the reader to ponder and consider. The e-mail address will be for you to provide thought for consideration. The donations will be to support the continuation of this undertaking.

While the Newsletter is free of charge it is not free of cost. Please consider supporting St Joseph’s Catholic Church with a tax – deductible donation by clicking the secure link below

Click Here to Donate

Or if you prefer send a check to

Catholic Tradition Newsletter

c/o St Joseph’s Catholic Church

131 N. 9^th St

Las Vegas, NV 89101

Visit us on the Worldwide Web: http://stjosephlv.org

e-mail news and comments to: tcatholicn@yahoo.com

To unsubscribe, please type, “unsubscribe”‚ in subject line.