Vol 11 Issue 48 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
December 1, 2018 ~ Our Lady on Saturday
1. What is the Sacrament of Confirmation
2. First Sunday in Advent
3. Saint Bibiana
4. Family and Marriage
5. Articles and notices
Dear Reader:
The feast of the Immaculate Conception brings us back to the creation and fall of man. God created this perfect paradise for man.
God bestowed the gifts of immortality, freedom from suffering and great knowledge. There was nothing more man could want and should have been grateful—and to simply show that gratitude, he should have listened to the warning God gave not to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Of course Eve gave heed to the serpent and took of the fruit, renouncing her dependence on God; and, then gave the fruit to Adam, who chose to please her rather than obey God. To reverse the curse upon mankind for the sin these our first parents committed God accepted a second Eve, one who would also enter this world free from sin, but who would not heed the serpent and would be grateful (Behold the handmaid of the Lord—My soul doth magnify the Lord) and would nurture and support the Second Adam Who would come to redeem the world. Her crushing the serpent’s head with her Divine Son would be the means of our salvation and would make her truly our mother in the place of Eve. In the providence of God, Mary has been allowed to give us the medal of the Immaculate Conception (Miraculous Medal) in 1834; and, after the Proclamation of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX in 1854, to tell the young girl, Bernadette that she is the Immaculate Conception—the one whom God chose to be the Woman, the New Eve. Under the title of the Immaculate Conception, Mary is the patron of the United States and so we as faithful Catholics observe the fast and abstinence (the vigil is a Friday anyway this year) to prepare our hearts and minds for her feast and then celebrating with Holy Mass (where possible) the honor bestowed on her while observing the day as a holy day. We will pray for our country on the feast of the Immaculate Conception that she watches over and protects it from the ancient Serpent who goes around seeking the ruination of souls. We will pray that Mary obtains the graces our young women need to follow her and not Eve; that they do not listen to the wiles of the devil but crush his head in submission to her divine Son and in the conquering of their vanity.
As we also begin Advent this Sunday, we will then prepare to celebrate her divine Maternity in the Birth of her divine Son on Christmas, when God becomes visible, dwelling amongst us.
As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit. —The Editor
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WHAT IS THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION?
by Rev. Courtney Edward Krier
The Rituale Romanum’s Section on Baptism
THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION
Instruction of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments Published on May 24, 1934
For the Administration of the Sacrament of Confirmation
By an Ordinary Priest
By Delegation of the Holy See
I
The necessity of a new instruction following the promulgation of the Code of Canon Law and after certain published replies regarding the minister of confirmation and the age of those to be confirmed.
Disciplinary matters pertaining to the sacrament of confirmation have been notably altered by the new Code of Canon Law (canons 780-800). And since the promulgation of the Code, this discipline has been more clearly explained in several places—from the responses issued in answer to difficulties submitted from time to time to the Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law, or to questions proposed to the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments, depending on which body’s sphere and competence was required. Since it will be advantageous to have for reference a complete and lucid guide for the discipline governing this sacrament, particularly when conferred by an ordinary priest deputed by the Holy See, it has seemed opportune to draw up and publish a new Instruction, one which will be as definitive as possible. Thus this new Instruction embraces everything necessary to be known and to be done, whether it applies to the minister, to the subject, or to the ceremony itself, so that this sacrament in which the fulness of the Holy Spirit is conferred, as a complement to baptism, may be administered correctly, decorously, and devoutly as befits its very sanctity
Thus far, in recent times, two Instructions have dealt with the aforesaid matter, one of which, published by order of the Supreme Holy RomanCatholic and Universal Inquisition in the year 1888, has largely become obsolete by the promulgation of the Code of Canon Law; the other, while more recent, inserted in the appendix of the Roman Ritual by authority of His Holiness, Pope Pius XI, although accommodated to the norm of the new Code, was itself found to require timely additions in the course of years.
Wherefore, when this new Instruction was to be drawn up and promulgated, in other words, when certain additions to or deletions from the two mentioned Instructions were to be made and the two were to be combined into one, the matter was given mature consideration in the full assembly of the Eminent Fathers of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments, held on December 21, 1928, in the Vatican, after the Eminent Fathers of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office had given an unanimous vote—both on the necessity of re-editing this Instruction, and on the competence of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments in expediting a matter of this kind. The changes to be made regarding the minister of the sacrament and the age of the subject were determined by the same Eminent Fathers, then ratified and confirmed by His Holiness on December 31, 1928, and they are set forth in the present Instruction and treated individually.
2. First, in regard to the minister of the sacrament of confirmation, the Code of Canon Law (canon 782), restating the dogmatic definition of the Council of ‘Trent, says that the ordinary minister of this sacrament is a bishop only, but the extraordinary minister is a priest to whom this power has been granted either by common law or by a special indult of the Holy See. In addition to the cardinals of Holy Church (canon 239, § 1, no. 23), the following by reason of their position enjoy this faculty: Abbots or Prelates Nullius, Vicars and Prefects Apostolic, even though they are not bishops. But these, so long as they are not endowed with the episcopal dignity, cannot validly use this power save within their own territory and only during their tenure of office (canon 782, §§ 1, 2, 3).
But apart from the aforesaid prelates who enjoy such privilege by common law, it happens more than once in some regions of Latin America, owing to very extraordinary circumstances of time and place, that there is not a sufficient number of ordinary ministers or bishops. And so with this grave and urgent cause existing, the Holy See is in a certain sense compelled to depute an ordinary priest to act as extraordinary minister of the sacrament of confirmation, in order that he by apostolic indult can administer the sacrament to the faithful. Nevertheless, even in these cases, unusual enough, it has always been the mind of the Church and her zealous care, that the substitute for the ordinary minister of confirmation be constituted, so far as possible, in some ecclesiastical dignity and that he belong to the diocese, so that for example, he could enjoy the use of the pontifical vestments and appurtenances, as also the other honors and privileges and distinctions which customarily belong to Protonotary Apostolics. The reason for this prescription is the Church’s maternal concern that the reverence due the sacrament will in no wise be lacking, that the devout hopes of the Christian people will suffer no disappointment over the absence of a bishop, and that confirmation, in as much as it allows a substitute of ministrant, will be conferred with outstanding splendor and distinguished solemnity.
This faculty is in full agreement with the method of procedure of the Holy See, mentioned under No. 3 in the Apostolic Letters of Pope Pius XI, April 30, 1929, which grant to the Ordinaries, priests, and faithful of the dioceses and regions of Latin America privileges and faculties for ten years, as expressed in these words: “For the administration of the sacrament of confirmation, Ordinaries can depute priests who, so far as possible, shall be already constituted in some ecclesiastical dignity, or functioning in the capacity of Vicar Forane; but never ordinary priests who already reside in the places where the sacrament of confirmation is to be administered who are minus such dignities. And they must follow the new Instruction of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments regarding an ordinary priest who administers the sacrament of confirmation by delegation of the Holy See.”
This goes back to the practice already followed by this Sacred Congregation in the indults granting to ordinary priests the power to confer confirmation in certain unusual instances. For this same Congregation has always seen to it, according as circumstances permitted, that these priests would either already be honored with the distinction of Protonotary Apostolic, or that they be elevated to such, so as to carry out their function with greater dignity.
The Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments until now has employed every care for safeguarding this practice, both with regard to the necessary dignity of the extraordinary minister, and with regard to the aforesaid places of Latin America to which the Apostolic Indult in this matter was exclusively granted. Nonetheless, some years ago, several Most Reverend Ordinaries inquired whether it would be considered opportune to modify the aforesaid practice, by extending the same privilege to some parts of Europe as granted to Latin America under similar circumstances. And this same Sacred Congregation, in considering the question (submitted by the bishop of Namur, Belgium, together with some neighboring bishops), on January 25, 1924, proposed it to the full assembly of Eminent Fathers for solution:
“Whether the practice of deputing for the administration of the sacrament of confirmation priests who have not the episcopal character is to be confined in future to the limits so far established, or is it to be extended for grave and urgent reasons to other countries also, even to Europe in particular cases.” The reply issued was: “Yes to the first part; no to the second part—in accord with the Church’s mind.” The Eminent Fathers were of the mind “that no change is to be made in the discipline of the Church which this Sacred Congregation has up to now preserved and forbidden to be altered, some exceptions having been made for certain countries in Latin America where, owing to extraordinary circumstances, the common law cannot be observed. An ordinary priest is indeed the extraordinary minister of the sacrament of confirmation by deputation of the Holy See. But when petitions of this kind are presented from other countries, the Sacred Congregation would urge the petitioning bishops to apply to the Holy See for an auxiliary bishop or a coadjutor, or ask help from the bishops of the neighboring dioceses for administering a sacrament of this kind.” And this reply was confirmed by His Holiness in an audience held on January 26, 1924.
3. Two other questions, proposed after the promulgation of the Code, regard the age of those to be confirmed, and both were recently answered through the competent agencies of the Holy See. These are the things canon 788 prescribes in the matter under discussion: “Although the administration of the sacrament of confirmation in the Latin Church is fittingly deferred until about the seventh year of age, nevertheless, it may be conferred before that, if the child is in danger of death or if the minister thinks it advisable for good and weighty reasons.” Hence the Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the Canons of the Code was asked whether the said canon constituted a directive norm only, or rather a mandatory one. And the Eminent Fathers of the same Pontifical Commission in full assembly on June 7, 1931, to the proposed question: “Whether canon 788 is to be understood thus, that the sacrament of confirmation in the Latin Church cannot be conferred before the seventh year of age approximately, except in the cases cited in that canon,” answered in the affirmative.
But since in Spain and elsewhere, especially in Latin America, the custom exists of administering the sacrament of confirmation to children before they attain the use of reason, even immediately after the administration of baptism, the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments was asked, after the above-mentioned response had been published, whether that custom could still be continued.
And so in the full assembly of the Eminent Fathers of this Sacred Congregation held on February 27, 1932, the matter having been thoroughly discussed—to the following proposed question: “Whether the very ancient custom existing in Spain and elsewhere of administering the sacrament of confirmation to children before they reach the use of reason could be retained,” the Eminent Fathers answered affirmatively, in accord with the Church’s mind. “It is the mind of the Church that where confirmation can be deferred to about the seventh year of age, unless the grave and just reasons of canon 788 induce a contrary custom, the faithful should be carefully taught that according to the common law of the Latin Church catechetical instruction should precede confirmation. Experience shows that this helps so much in cultivating the minds of children and in strengthening them in Catholic doctrine.”
(To be continued)
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The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers
M. F. Toal
FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT
LUKE xxi. 25-33
At that time, Jesus said to His Disciples: There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves; men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world. For the powers of heaven shall be moved; and then they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with great power and majesty. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand. And He spoke to them a similitude. See the fig tree, and all the trees: when they now shoot forth their fruit, you know that summer is nigh; so you also, when you shall see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand. Amen, I say to you, this generation shall not pass away, till all things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
There will be signs in the sun, and in the moon . . . . BEDE, in Luke Ch. 88: Our Lord here foretells, and in their order, those things that will come to pass when the days of the nations shall have been fulfilled, saying: there will be signs . . .
AMBROSE, 10 Luke on the Second Coming: Which signs are more clearly described in the gospel of Matthew. There, he relates that, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.
Eusebius, from Catena of Greek Fathers: For now is the end of all perishable life, and, according to the Apostle, the outward appearances of this world will pass away and a new world will follow, in which, in place of the visible luminaries, Christ Himself will shine as the Sun and King of a new creation; and so great will be the power and splendour of this new Sun, that the sun which now shines, and the moon and the other stars, will grow dim before the face of this greater Light. CHRYSOSTOM. Excerpta in secund. Advent. C.A.; As swiftly as the moon and stars fade before the rising sun, so before the glorious appearance of Christ, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from heaven; stripped of their former splendour, that they may be clothed with the garment of a greater light.
Eusbius, as above: What will happen to the world upon the darkening of its lights, from which will arise such dread anxiety amongst men, He then goes on to tell; saying: and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves. Here He seems to teach that the starting point of the changing of the whole earth will be the drying up of its substantial moisture. For this first being consumed, or frozen, no longer will men hear the sound of the sea, nor will its waves again flood upon the seashore. And because of this universal dryness, the remaining parts of the world, not receiving their accustomed moisture from the falling rain, begin to suffer change. And since the coming of the Saviour must impose silence on these dread portents, wherein the work of God is undone, these events will precede His Coming, and the beginning of this roaring will be from this drying up, so that the voice of the storm, or the murmur of the sea, will never again be heard. Then will follow the distress of those who are left alive. Hence follows: men withering away from fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world. What shall come upon the whole world He then declares: for the powers of heaven shall be moved.
THEOPHYLACTUS: Or, again: When the upper orb of creation will be changed, the lesser elements will also rightly suffer change. Hence follows: and upon the earth distress of nations. . . , as if He said: the sea will rage fearfully, and the sea coasts will be battered by the storm, so that terror will come upon all the people of the earth, that is, a common dread and anxiety, and they will be silent in fear and expectation of the evils now rushing upon the world. Hence men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the world.
AUGUSTINE, Ep. ad Hesych.1 But, you say, the miseries that afflict us compel you to say that the end is at hand, since there is now being fulfilled that which was foretold. For it is certain, you say, that there is no nation in these days that is not being assailed, or in actual torment. If then these miseries that now afflict mankind are true signs that the Lord is now about to appear, what does that mean which the Apostle says: When they shall say: peace and security; then shall sudden destruction come upon them? (I Thess. v. 3).
Let us see if perhaps it be not better to understand that the events which were foretold by these words shall not be fulfilled in this manner, but rather that they will come to pass when tribulations shall be so spread through the whole world that it will affect the Church, which will be persecuted in every place, and not those who will persecute her; for it is they who will say: peace and security.
Now as to those evils, which you believe to be the last and most dreadful, we note that they are common to both kingdoms, namely, to that of Christ and that of the devil; since the just and the wicked are equally afflicted by them: and also that in the midst of such great evils luxurious feasts and pleasure of every kind are being indulged in. Is this not rather a burning up with concupiscence, than a withering away from fear?
GREGORY, Hom. I in Evang.: Whom does He call the Powers of heaven unless the Angels, Dominations, Principalities and Powers, who at the coming of the dread Judge will then be visible to our eyes, as they sternly exact that which He, the Invisible Creator, now patiently requires of us.
THEOPHYLACTUS: Not alone shall men tremble when the world is being dissolved, but even the angels will be fearful in the presence of such terrifying destruction of the universe. Hence there follows: For the powers of heaven shall be moved.
Eusebius: When the Son of God is about to appear in glory, to cast down the now ended tyranny of the son of sin, the gates of heaven, closed from all ages, will now by the hands of ministering angels be thrown wide open, so that the heavens shall stand revealed.
CHRYSOSTOM, Ad Olympiam Ep. 2: Whence in Job is it said (Job xxvi. II): The pillars of heaven tremble and dread at his bec. What shall the little columns do when the pillars of the firmament tremble? What shall the reed in the desert endure when the cedar of paradise is stricken? Eusebius: Or, again; the Powers of the heavens are they who rule over the visible parts of the universe, who shall now be changed that they may go on to a more perfect state. For in the new creation they will be freed from the tasks in which they now serve God in things which follow the course of change and decay.
AUGUSTINE, Ad Hesych. as above, par 39 (in which letter Bishop Hesychius wrote Augustine concerning the prophecies foretelling the end of the world and the signs preceding. Ed.): I consider that these things should be better understood in the Church, lest the Lord Jesus may appear to be foretelling, as extraordinary events which shall foretell His Coming, things which have happened in this world even before His First Coming, so that we may not be laughed at by those who have read of even more extraordinary events in the story of mankind. For the Church is the sun and the moon and the stars, to whom it was said: Fair as the moon, bright as the sun (Cant. vi. 9), and she then shall not be seen, as her persecutors rage against her without measure.
AMBROSE, 10 in Luke: Many apostatizing from Christianity, the brightness of the faith will be dimmed by this cloud of apostasy: since the heavenly Sun grows dim or shines in splendour according to my faith. And as in its monthly eclipse the moon, by reason of the earth coming between it and the sun, disappears from view, so likewise the holy Church, when the vices of the flesh stand in the way of the celestial light, can no longer borrow the splendour of His divine light from the Sun of Christ. And in the persecutions it was invariably the love of this life that stood in the path of the Divine Sun. Also the stars, that is, men surrounded by the praise of their fellow Christians, shall fall, as the bitterness of persecution mounts up; which must however come to pass, until the number of the faithful is made up; for so the good are proved and the weak made known.
AUGUSTINE, as above, par. 40: What is here said, and upon the earth distress of nations, is not to be understood as meaning the seed of Abraham, in whom all peoples shall be blessed (Gen. xxii. 18), but those who will stand upon the left hand side when all men are gathered together before the Judge of the living and the dead.
AMBROSE: So oppressive therefore will be the unrest of souls, that, unhappily conscious of the multitude of our offences, and fearful of the judgment to come, the very dew of baptism shall dry upon our brow. For the powers of heaven shall be moved; and then they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud.
Again, His coming is also longed for, so that His Presence may work in the whole universe of angels as of men that which is wrought in single souls when with fitting dispositions we receive Christ. So the Powers of heaven at the Coming of the Lord of salvation will attain to an increase of grace, for He is the Lord of the Powers also, and they will tremble at this close manifestation of the fulness of His Divinity. Then too the powers who proclaim the glory of God (Ps. xviii) shall also be moved by this full revelation of the glory of Christ. AUGUSTINE, as above: Or, the powers of heaven shall be moved since, because of the persecutions of the godless, some even of the most steadfast among the faithful shall be filled with fear.
THEOPHYLACTUS: And then they shall see the Son of man coming, that is, faithful and unbelieving alike shall see Him. For both Cross and Redeemer shall shine more splendidly than the sun; hence they will be seen by all. AUGUSTINE, as above, par. 41: The saying: coming in a cloud, may be understood in either of two ways: either as coming in the Church, as in a cloud, as even now He ceases not to come, but then it will be in great power and majesty, because more of His power and majesty will appear to the saints, to whom He will give strength, so that they shall not be overcome by such great tribulation; or, He will come in His own Body, in which He sits at the Right Hand of the Father. So, rightly must we believe that He will come, and not alone in His own Body, but also in a cloud, since as He departed from us so shall He come again; for He was raised up: and a cloud received Him out of their sight (Acts i. 9). And this because of what was then said by the angel: He shall so come as you have seen Him going into heaven.
CHRYSOSTOM, in Catena G.F.: For God always appears in a cloud, as according to Psalm 92, verse 2: Clouds and darkness are round about him. Hence also the Son of man will come in the clouds as both God and Lord, not humbly, but in the glory befitting the Godhead; accordingly he adds: With great power and majesty. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA, in Catena G.F.: Great events are to be understood in relation to each other. Just as His First Coming was in lowliness and humility, so His Second shall be in fitting majesty. GREGORY, Hom. I in Evang.: In power and majesty shall they behold Him, to whom when He came in lowliness they turned a deaf ear; so the more sharply will they now feel His power, the more they refused to humble their hard hearts to His clemency.
GREGORY, Hom. I in Evang.: Since that which He had just said had been directed against the reprobate, He turns now to speak words of comfort to the Elect. For He adds: When these things come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; as if to say: when the miseries of the world abound, lift up your heads, that is, rejoice in your hearts; for while the world to which you have not given your hearts is ending, the redemption you have eagerly sought is now at hand. In Sacred Scripture the head is often used to signify the mind, because as the members of the body are governed by the head, so are our thoughts governed by the mind. Therefore, to lift up the head is to raise the mind to the joys of the heavenly fatherland.
Eusebius: Or, alternatively: Corporal things having passed away, there remain now only the intellectual and the heavenly, namely: the kingdom of a world that will never pass away, and the promised rewards that shall be given to the just. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand. Since we have received the promises of God, in which we place all our hope, we who before were bowed down shall now raise our heads, for the redemption we have longed for will then be at hand, that namely for which every creature is waiting.
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2: ST BIBIANA, OR VIVIANA…
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