Vol 14 Issue 21 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward KrierMay 22, 2021 ~ Vigil of Pentecost
1. What is the Holy Eucharist
2. Pentecost
3. Saint Ivo
4. Family and Marriage
5. Articles and notices
Dear Reader:
Sunday is the Feast of Pentecost. Celebrated since the time of Moses, when, after he ascended into the clouds on Mount Horeb, he came down with the Law written in stone. Christ ascended into heaven: he was raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight. (Acts 1:9) But the Father and Christ sent down the Holy Ghost to write the Law of Charity in the hearts of Christians (Catholics). Charity is an oft misunderstood word synonymous with love. As a priest I am often countered with: But where is your charity, Father? Aren’t you supposed to have love? So the question is raised: Do I have love? Am I charitable? It is within the context of defining what is charity, what is love that one can then begin to answer whether I am charitable.
In one way, which the world applauds, I give everything I have to feed the poor. But is that charity? Saint Paul writes: And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. (1 Cor. 13:3). So I know this is not the measure of whether I have charity. But this is the measure the world uses: The expectation that one gives to them what they need or desire. This is why, after feeding the poor, there will be those who will say: Father, where is your charity? Why? Because I did not give them what they desired, be it money, be it tolerance for their immorality, be it acceptance of their aggressive behavior or injustice. Why? Because they believe charity is receiving in their behalf with no giving in return, a thanksgiving and why giving is in thanksgiving.
The story of the Good Samaritan is portrayed as placing the burden of taking care of everyone and anyone—and it has led to taking care of those who have no need to be taken care of, but who want to be taken care of without taking care of themselves. The Good Samaritan took care of one who needed to be taken care of for he fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him went away, leaving him half dead. (Luke 10:30). If the Jew robbed and beaten could take care of himself at that moment he would have needed no help and would have probably thanked the Samaritan but told him not to worry. We, today, hopefully would not leave a beaten and half-dead man in the streets but assist how we are able. But if a man asked to call an ambulance who was in perfect health and had a phone in his hand, I would tell him to call the ambulance himself because he does not need help and I would possibly be assisting in taking the medics away from someone who needed urgent care . Therefore, am I void of charity not to call? Saint John writes: He that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him: how doth the charity of God abide in him? (1 John 3:17) I saw no need but rather an abuse by my neighbor. Should I assist in abuse? And this is where one must ask oneself: Do I see a need or do I see an abuse? Saint Paul says: For also when we were with you, this we declared to you: that, if any man will not work, neither let him eat. (2 Thess. 3:10) Can one say Saint Paul had no charity, no love?
So what then is charity? It is giving to the other what one ought to give in the relation one has to the other. Saint Paul writes:
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and delivered himself up for it: That he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life: That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy, and without blemish. So also ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife, loveth himself. For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the church: Because we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh. (Eph. 5:25-31)
It may pertain to husband and wife, but it sets out what love is: giving to the other what one is obliged to give in a relationship, a relationship that sometimes demands not giving in another relationship (son to parents who want him to stay home), a relationship that means disciplining another (parents disciplining their children), a relationship that means providing for the common welfare of the community (government officials protecting the rights of citizens—not taking them away). It is in maintaining these relationships that saint Augustine can be correctly understood with those oft-quoted words, love and do as you will. (Sermon on 1 John 4:4-12) And this is the sign that says I have God’s love according to Christ: If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love; as I also have kept my Father’s commandments, and do abide in his love. (John 15:10) Therefore, if I break His commandments I do not abide in His Love, I have no charity even if, as quoted above, I give my life for someone—because, according to the order of God, there was no need for me to give to the other what the other wanted because the other had no need to receive what was detrimental to oneself or another relationship according to the order God established in His commandments.
Therefore, my reply is: I have charity, I have love because I gave what the other needed: correction, admonition, instruction—not a reward for one’s injustice.
As always, enjoy the readings provided for your benefit.—The Editor
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WHAT IS THE HOLY EUCHARIST
By Rev. Courtney Edward Krier
II
The Holy Eucharist is a True Sacrifice
An Explanation of Holy Mass
Part 2
The Mass of the Faithful
THE CANON OF THE MASS
The priest now again uplifts his extended hands in prayer and continues with the Unde et memores:
Wherefore, O Lord, we Thy servants, and likewise Thy holy people, calling to mind the blessed passion of the same Christ Thy Son, our Lord, together with His resurrection from the grave and also His glorious ascension into heaven, offer unto Thy excellent majesty, of Thy gifts and presents, a pure + victim, a holy + victim, an immaculate + victim: the holy + bread of eternal life and the chalice + of everlasting salvation.
The prayer continues the last words the priest has said: As often as you do these things, you shall do them in remembrance of Me. It is what Saint Paul mentions that certainly those assisting at Mass were accustomed to hear: For as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall shew the death of the Lord, until he come. (1 Cor. 11:26) Now that the Lamb of God is on the altar, the priest united with the faithful asks for salvation. Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new paste, as you are unleavened. For Christ our pasch is sacrificed (1 Cor. 5:7) This is seen not simply in the forgiveness of sin, but in the resurrection of the body and eternal life in heaven. Christ reconciled mankind by His death, but with His passion and death He, too, rose from the dead and He ascended into heaven as the firstborn: And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he may hold the primacy (Col. 1:18); as the new Adam: And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. (1 Cor. 15:22) When Adam sinned mankind not only lost original innocence, but suffered death and a closed entrance to heaven. The Gospel, the good tidings, (cf. Luke 2:10) is salvation found in a Saviour, and that everlasting salvation is life everlasting (cf. Ritual for Baptism).
The priest makes the sign of the cross five times over the oblations as the Lamb standing as it were slain (cf. Apoc. 5:6) on the altar of the cross to symbolize the five wounds Christ received. Having referenced the sacrifice of Christ fulfilled the prayer turns to the types of Christ and the sacrifice of Christ, to which these sacrifices are also united:
Upon which do Thou vouchsafe to look with favorable and gracious countenance, and accept them as Thou didst vouchsafe to accept the gifts of Thy just servant Abel and the sacrifice of our patriarch Abraham and that which Thy high priest, Melchisedech, offered unto Thee, a holy sacrifice, an unspotted victim.
The Sacrifice of Christ cannot but be pleasing to the eternal Father. But it is also the offering of the faithful, the Church, and therefore this participation in the Sacrifice is pleasing to God corresponding to the degree of holiness one possesses. Abel was pleasing to God, as was Abraham and Melchisedech and God accepted their sacrifice. One finds it hard to accept one’s own intentions are as pure, but one still humbly asks (as was done in the Offertory: In a spirit of humility and with a contrite heart . . . ; and again at the Orate, fratres: that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable . . . The writer of The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass gives this commentary on the Supra quae:
This beautiful prayer, as we see, recommends our offering to God by recalling the sacrifices of the Old Law which proved pleasing to Him. The names mentioned are especially significant at this time in the Mass. Abel comes to the altar with the lamb, the first fruits of his flock. Abraham brings his son Isaac. To refer to him as a “patriarch” emphasizes the fact that both he and his son were the ancestors of our Divine Lord. Melchisedech brings the bread and wine. Each reference has its parallel in the actuality of the Mass: Christ is the Lamb of the Everlasting Sacrifice; He is also the Son, both by the race of Abraham and by the eternal generation of the Divine Father; under the appearances of the bread and wine of Melchisedech this Lamb of the New Testament is offered.
The mention of these three sacrifices has other implications of importance. The blood of the just Abel was shed by his brother Cain—and this reminds us of the wickedness of the Jews in shedding the blood of the innocent Christ, Who in His human nature was their kinsman. Abel prefigures our Lord in offering the firstlings of his flock, for Christ, as Saint Paul states, was “the Firstborn among many brethren.” Abraham brought his only son Isaac to the hill, there to offer him to God. In this he prefigured the Eternal Father offering His only Son for the sake of mankind. Isaac carrying the wood upon which he was to be immolated, suggests our Saviour carrying His cross to the hill of Calvary. Abraham’s sacrifice did not go as far as the shedding of Isaac’s blood, but it was accepted by God. This is a perfect figure of the Sacrifice of the Mass, because the Victim is not physically slain – the Risen Christ cannot suffer and die again. The mysterious figure of Melchisedech is mentioned in Sacred Scripture as a priest of the Most High; and as Saint Paul points out (Hebrews 7: 3), nowhere is there record of his father or mother or genealogy, the beginning or end of his days Thus. Melchisedech presents an arresting figure of our Divine Lord, the Eternal Son of God, Who is immolated in the Mass. For of Christ it is asked: “Who shall declare His generation?” (Acts 8:33) Finally, Melchisedech was both king and priest: Jesus is King and Priest also. Melchisedech’s sacrifice was one of thanksgiving: the Mass is the Supreme Act of thanksgiving. (CCD, 206-207)
If God accepted the Sacrifice of Abel, Abraham and Melchisedech, surely He will accept the Sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, of which the former have no value without the latter. The priest, therefore continues:
We humbly beseech Thee, almighty God, command these things to be carried by the hands of Thy holy angel to Thine altar on high, in the presence of Thy divine Majesty, that as many of us as shall, by partaking at this altar, receive the most sacred body + and blood + of Thy Son, may be filled with every heavenly blessing and grace. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Angels are pure, pleasing to God, and they take one’s prayers and petitions to God. So one prays the holy angel to carry this Sacrifice to the heavenly altar. This is brought out in the Apocalypse:
And another angel came, and stood before the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God. And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God from the hand of the angel. (Apoc. 8:3-4)
As John has the vision of the heavenly altar, so also Isaias had a vision:
I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated: and his train filled the temple. Upon it stood the seraphims: the one had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew. And they cried one to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory. And the lintels of the doors were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: Woe is me, because I have held my peace; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that hath unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King the Lord of hosts. And one of the seraphims flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar. (Isa. 6:1-6)
What is done on earth is brought before God’s presence, the deeds, prayers, sacrifices. The Angels are the one’s ministering before the throne of God and are assigned as messengers between God and man. The prayer acknowledges this belief and therefore the angel presenting this sacrifice now being offered before the throne of God. The request is reflected in the words of Saint Paul:
Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. (I Cor. 11:26-28)
The offering completed, the priest remembers to include the deceased faithful. While Christ was dying on the Cross, the thief on the right said, after repenting: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom. (Luke 23:42) This request was met with the consoling words of Jesus: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. (ibid. 43) In the Book of Machabees, one reads:
But the most valiant Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin, forasmuch as they saw before their eyes what had happened, because of the sins of those that were slain. And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection, (For if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to pray for the dead,) And because he considered that they who had fallen asleep with godliness, had great grace laid up for them. It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins. (12:42-46)
The Church, therefore, remembers the dead in the prayer that follows: Remember also, O Lord, Thy servants and handmaids, N. and N., who have gone before us with the sign of faith, and sleep the sleep of peace.
He inserts the names he particularly desires to remember in the places given for a name to be said. After the prayer he pauses, folds his hands and bows his head while silently continuing to add the names of others of the deceased—but only those who have gone before . . . with the sign of faith as the Church expresses it. He may not mention the names of those who died without that sign. If Mass is requested for a deceased who was not of the known faithful the Mass is then offered for God’s mercy toward that soul formulated before the Mass. Priest and people lovingly cite their dear departed. and with them all Poor Souls, before the Cross, pleading with the Saviour that His Precious Blood may quench for them the cleansing fires of Purgatory. (Linneweber, 12) Outstretching his hands again, he continues to pray: To these, O Lord, and to all who rest in Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and peace. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(To be continued)
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The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers
M. F. Toal
THE GOSPEL OF THE SUNDAY
John xiv. 23-31
AT THAT TIME: Jesus said to his disciples: If anyone love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him. He who does not love me, does not keep my words. And the word that you have heard is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me. These things I have spoken to you while yet dwelling with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your mind whatever I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, or be afraid. You have heard me say to you, ‘I go away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would indeed rejoice that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it has come to pass you may believe. I will no longer speak much with you, for the prince of the world is coming, and in me he has nothing. But he comes that the world may know that I love the Father, and that I do as the Father has commanded me.
ST BASIL THE GREAT, BISHOP AND DOCTOR
On the Holy Spirit
Let us here consider what are common expressions for the Holy Spirit, both those we have gathered from Sacred Scripture concerning Him, and those we have received from the unwritten tradition of the Fathers. First we ask, who is not uplifted in his soul, raising his mind to that Nature on high, when he hears the titles of the Holy Spirit? For He is called The Spirit of God, and The Spirit of Truth, Who proceeds from the Father (Ju. xv. 26), the Spirit of virtue, a Commanding Spirit (Ps. I. 12, 14). His true and proper name however is The Holy Spirit; a name which above all others declares that He is wholly incorporeal, free of matter, indivisible. For this reason the Lord, teaching the woman who believed God must be adored in a given place, that the mind cannot know the incorporeal, said, God is a spirit (Jn. iv. 24). When we hear of the Spirit the mind may not imagine to itself an image of some limited circumscribed nature, liable to change, or alteration, or at all like a created thing, but must go on in its conception to the very highest notions, and form to itself an idea of an intelligent Being, infinite in power, of greatness without measure, bounded neither by time nor by ages, bountiful of its own goodness, to whom all turn who need sanctification, to whom all aspire who live in holiness, as though watered and assisted by Its breath to arrive at their due perfection. A Being who perfects others, Itself needing nothing; existing as not needing to be renewed, yet giving life abundantly; enlarging through no addition, but at once complete; at rest within itself, yet in all places; the source of holiness, the light of the mind, and providing light from Itself to every faculty of the soul that searches for truth; by nature inaccessible, yet yielding to goodness; filling every need by Its power, but given only to those who are worthy of It, to whom It is not given in the same measure, but in the measure of each man’s faith (Rom. xii. 6).
Simple in nature, manifold in powers, wholly present in each single one, and whole and entire in all places. Impassively divided, yet wholly bestowed, like the rays of the sun whose favour each enjoys as though it shone for him alone; yet it shines on land and sea and fills the air. So the Spirit, to each one who receives It, as though given to him alone, pours forth sufficient and perfect grace to each one, is enjoyed by each one, not in the measure of Its power, but of their capacity.
Now the Spirit is not united to the soul by drawing near to it in place (for how may what is corporeal draw near to what is incorporeal?), but through the withdrawal of the passions; which, drawing close to the soul, through its affection for the flesh, have drawn it away from its friendship with God. When a man becomes clean of the stain he received through sin, and has returned to his natural beauty, restoring to its former resemblance the royal image within him, only then may he draw near to the Paraclete. And He, like the sun, will shew thee, thy eye now made pure, the Image of the Invisible in Himself. And in the blessed contemplation of this Image thou shalt see the unspeakable beauty of the Archetype.
Through His aid hearts are lifted up, the weak led by the hand, those going forward are perfected. Shining upon those who have been purified of every stain, He makes them spiritual in heart, through union with Himself. For just as when the sunlight falls on clear transparent bodies, they too become resplendent, and begin to shine from another light within themselves, so the souls that contain the Spirit within them, become themselves spiritual, and their brightness shines forth on others.
From this comes knowledge of the future, the understanding of mysteries, the seeing of things hidden, the apportioning of gifts, heavenly association with the angelic choirs, joy without end, abiding with God, being made like to God, and, highest of all, that you are made God (partaker of the divine nature, II Pet. i. 4). These then are some of the notions we possess regarding the Holy Spirit, to speak of but a few; and which we have been taught concerning His greatness, His dignity, and His operations, from the very words of the Spirit Himself. Now we must reply to those who deny them; refute the objections brought forward in the name of so-called science.
It is not right, they say, to make the Holy Spirit one with the Father and the Son, because He is of a different nature, and lesser in dignity. It is fitting that we answer this in the words of the Apostles: We ought to obey God, rather than men (Acts v. 29). For if the Lord in bequeathing to us the baptism of salvation, clearly laid it upon His Disciples, that they were to baptize all nations, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Mt. xxviii. 19 ), not declining fellowship with Him, while these, on the contrary, assert that the Holy Spirit must not be associated with the Father and the Son, how can they be other than in open conflict with God’s command? And if they say that association of this kind does not imply Communion, or Oneness of any kind, let them say why we must hold this belief, and to what kind of intimate union do they pretend? And if the Lord did not unite the Holy Spirit with Himself and with the Father in baptism, let them not blame us for the conjunction: for we neither put forward nor believe anything different. If He is there joined to the Father and there is no one so impudent as to say anything else, let no one blame us for following the Scriptures.
But all the sources of war are prepared against us, every kind of belief is imputed to us; and the tongues of blasphemers hit us more violently than the stones that once were flung at Stephen by the killers of Christ. And do not allow them to hide the fact that attacking us is but a ruse of war; for their real aim is higher up. They pretend that it is against us they prepare their artifices and their snares, and urge each other on, that each one may try his strength or skill against us. But it is against the Faith they make war.
The common aim of all our adversaries, and of all who are contrary to sound doctrine (I Tim. i. 10), is to overthrow the foundations of the Faith of Christ, by levelling the Apostolic traditions to the earth, and wholly destroying them. So like debtors, good debtors of course, they demand proof, written proof, from the Sacred Writings, and dismiss, as wholly unworthy of belief, the unwritten witness of the Fathers.
But we shall not falter in our defence of the truth; nor forsake its defence through cowardice. For the Lord has left us as a necessary and saving truth the conjunction of the Holy Spirit with the Father. For them it shall not be so; and they seek to separate and humiliate the Holy Spirit, and lower Him to the degree of one who serves. Is it not then true to say, that with them their own blasphemy has more authority than the Law laid down by our Lord? Let us put aside all contention and see what we have in hand.
Whence is it that we are Christians? Through faith, all will answer. How are we saved? By being born again in the grace of baptism. For how else could we be? Then, knowing that this salvation is confirmed by the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, shall we cast aside this form of doctrine (Rom. vi. 17) handed down to us? Would this not be the cause of the greatest grief if we now found we were further off from salvation than when we first believed (Rom. xiii. 11); that we must now deny what before we believed? For it is the same loss for anyone to depart this life unbaptized, as to receive that baptism from which one thing of what has been handed down has been omitted. And whoever does not observe the profession we made on our first entering in, when, delivered from idols, we approached the living God, and does not hold fast to it throughout his life as his surest protection, makes himself a stranger from the promises of God (I Thess. i. 9); dishonoring the pledge (handwriting) he himself gave at his profession of faith.
For if for me my baptism was the beginning of my life, and that day of my rebirth the first of all days, then, plainly, the word I spoke on the day of my adoption is the one most of all to be honored. Can I then, misled by the deceptions of such teachers as these, deny that tradition which brought me to the Light, guided me to the knowledge of my God, and made me a son of God who before was His enemy through sin? For myself I pray that I may depart to the Lord holding fast to this profession; and I exhort them also, to preserve the faith inviolate till the Day of Christ, to maintain the Spirit undivided from the Father, and from the Son, and observe the faith of their baptism, both in their profession of faith, and in giving praise to God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to Whom be praise and glory, world without end. Amen.
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May 23rd—ST IVO, BISHOP OF CHARTRES (A.D. 1116)
To the order of Canons Regular of St Augustine the Church in the eleventh century was indebted for one of the most venerated of her episcopal rulers. Ivo, bishop of Chartres, was born in the territory of Beauvais and studied theology under the celebrated Lanfranc in the abbey of Bee. After occupying a canonry at Nesles in Picardy, he took the habit at the monastery of Saint-Quentin, a house of regular canons, where he was appointed to lecture on theology, canon law and the Holy Scriptures. Afterwards Ivo ruled as superior for fourteen years, during the course of which he raised the house to a high pitch of discipline and learning, so that he was constantly being called upon by bishops and princes to send his canons to other places either to reform ancient chapters or to found new ones. The observances of Saint-Quentin were adopted by St Botulf’s at Colchester, the first Augustinian house in England.
When, in the year 1091, Geoffrey, bishop of Chartres, was deposed for simony and other misdemeanours, the clergy and people demanded Ivo for their bishop. He was very unwilling to emerge from his retirement, but Bd Urban II confirmed his election and Ivo set out for Capua, where he was consecrated by the pope, who subsequently checked the endeavours of Richerius, archbishop of Sens, to reinstate Geoffrey. Scarcely was St Ivo firmly established in his see than he found himself faced with the necessity of opposing the will of his sovereign. King Philip I had become so greatly enamoured of Bertrada, the third wife of Fulk, Count of Anjou, that he had determined to marry her and to divorce his queen Bertha, in spite of the fact that she had borne him two children. Ivo did his utmost to dissuade the king from proceeding further, but when he found his remonstrances unavailing he declared openly that he would prefer to be cast into the sea with a mill-stone round his neck rather than countenance such a scandal; and he absented himself from the wedding ceremony at which the bishop of Senlis connived. Philip in revenge had him put in prison, seized his revenues and sent officers to plunder his lands. Strong representations, however, were made by the pope, by other influential personages and by the citizens of Chartres, and he was released. Philip indeed could scarcely fail to realize that the bishop was amongst his most loyal subjects, for St Ivo, while actually in custody, nipped in the bud a conspiracy of nobles against their sovereign; and, when the affair had dragged on for years, he exerted himself to reconcile Philip to the Holy See and at the Council of Beaugency in 1104 recommended the absolution of the king, whose real wife had in the meantime died. Though he was devoted to the Holy See, St Ivo maintained a sufficiently independent attitude to enable him to act as mediator in the dispute over investitures and to protest openly against the greed of certain Roman legates and the simony of members of the papal court.
St Ivo died on December 23, 1116, after having governed his see for twenty-three years. He was a voluminous writer and many of his works have survived. His most famous literary undertaking was a collection of decrees drawn from papal and conciliar letters and canons accepted by the fathers. This is preserved to us in two, if not three, independent compilations. We have also 24 sermons and 288 letters which shed an interesting light on contemporary history and ecclesiastical discipline.
(Butler’s Lives of the Saints)
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PLAIN TALKS ON MARRIAGE
FULGENCE MEYER , O.F.M.
(1954)
CHAPTER VII.
The Education of Children
“Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark, 10, 14).
Reliable Sponsors
The sponsors at baptism should be chosen not merely for reasons of relationship, friendship, money or social standing, but mainly with an eye to their good practical Catholic faith. They are to be the spiritual parents of the children, obligating themselves to attend to the Catholic education of their spiritual children in case of need, according to their circumstances. Your children may at an early date become orphans, even as other children in the same condition as yours have become orphans: they will then be fortunate if their sponsors take their sacred obligation seriously and perform it conscientiously.
In choosing names for your children always favor nice Christian names in preference to names that are merely odd or fanciful or cute, but contain no inspiration for the bearers of them. The names of Mary and Joseph, of the apostles, martyrs and other saints, will of themselves give the children a cue of what their parents desired them to become in the way of virtue and goodness; at the same time the very choice of such names bespeaks faith and piety in the parents.
It is the proper thing for a father to attend the baptism of his child, and thus to witness its solemn adoption as a child of God Himself. Of this high distinction and invaluable privilege bestowed upon his own offspring a Catholic man is justly proud, and he is glad to be present at the ceremony of the bestowal. It is proper, too, for the mother, at her first exit from home, to bring her child to Church, to thank God for the gift of it, and to offer it to Him in return; and on her part to be “churched”, or particularly blessed by the Church. While this is not obligatory, it is highly advisable.
The Important Educational Era
Good authorities on child psychology and pedagogy have made the statement, that the main part of a child’s education is achieved from its birth unto its sixth year. In this period the child’s mind is most observant, plastic, receptive, formative and imitative. For this reason it is so important in the child’s presence to avoid everything that might exercise a harmful influence upon it, such as cursing, swearing, abusive and immodest language, violent anger, quarreling, fighting, drunkenness and the like; and on the other hand to provide it with the best elements of discipline and training by word and especially by example. The child learns its religion and morality in the best, quickest and most lasting way by sightseeing, namely by receiving practical demonstrations of them from its parents, early and continuously. The first things it learns by heart should be the names of God, of Jesus, and Mary, the sign of the Cross, the Our Father and Hail Mary.
Beware of the Millstone
Little children are more observant than they are sometimes thought to be. Judicious parents, therefore, carefully guard against giving scandal to their children, say of three or four years even, in the performance of the nuptial rites. Whilst the little ones may not know what it is all about at the time, the picture may linger in their minds somehow to work serious disedification in them later on when they reflect upon it. When the children get to be five or six years old, the parents must not have the boys and girls to sleep together in the same bed. This may beget in them habits of immorality that may vitiate their whole life. One of His most emphatic warnings Jesus gave in these words: “He that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt., 18, 6).
The Catholic School
As soon as they arrive at the age of discretion, children should be given the advantage of a good Catholic education, in a parochial or other Catholic school, if possible; and they should continue to attend the Catholic school throughout their primary, secondary and higher education as long as circumstances allow it. After all, the faith and a thorough grounding in it are the best heritage Christian parents can leave their children: and they should leave them this precious inheritance at any cost. Our Catholic schools are as a rule, even in the secular branches, just as good as, and often superior to, the secular schools; hence from the viewpoint of efficiency Catholics seldom have solid grounds for refusing to send their children to the Catholic schools; and the boon of a good religious training is well worth the endurance of certain hardships, or the forfeiture of negligible and frequently questionable social advantages.
Sixteen Farms
Years ago, when I was preaching a mission in a rural district in the West, an aged and wealthy farmer was telling me of having given a farm to each of his seven children who had married. When I asked him how many children he had, he told me, that he had sixteen living and two dead, all of one marriage. He obviously intended to give each of his sixteen children a farm. You will likely not be able to give each of your children a farm. But you are able to bequeath to everyone of your children the Catholic faith inherited from your fathers: and this is inestimably a more precious and valuable patrimony for your children than possessions of money or land, however vast. One of the best ways to transmit the true faith to your children is by giving them the privilege of a good training in a Catholic school.
Nature’s Sexual Mysteries
At the age of puberty, when the girls are about thirteen and the boys about fourteen years old, certain physical developments take place in the human organism, with the nature and purposes of which it is wholesome for the children to become acquainted gradually and circumspectly. It is the part of the father to instruct his sons, and the duty of the mother to instruct her daughters regarding the origin, the meaning and the reproduction of life. It is far better that the children obtain this valuable and necessary information from wise parents in a decent and sacred manner, than that they get it in a vicious and objectionable way from tainted and corrupt companions. This instruction properly given will serve the children as a safeguard and protection in the dangerous years of adolescence. When the angel informed our Blessed Mother that she was to be the Mother of God, she replied: “How shall this be done, because I know not man?” (Luke, l, 34). Evidently, though she was but about sixteen years old at the time, she had a knowledge of the sacred process of human generation; and yet she was the purest of the pure, and more innocent than any angel of God.
Little Crosses: Big Crosses
Little children are said to be little crosses, while big children are said to be big crosses. Formerly it used to be said, that little children step on the mother’s dress, while big children step on their mother’s heart. Woman’s dress today renders this proverb out of date, but the nature of children is the same as ever. Whatever those sayings may mean and be backed up by, parents make a big mistake in believing that their growing or adolescent children need their attention and correction less than before. They often need them more, although perhaps in a different way. To achieve the best results in educating their children in the fear of the Lord, it is above all necessary that father and mother work harmoniously and mutually supplementarily. In other words they work together hand in hand, upholding and endorsing one another, and the one supplies what the other lacks. The mother will usually abound in grace, tenderness, sympathy, gentleness and kindness: the father will represent dignity, power, firmness, authority and discipline. As marriage in general, the burden of education will be carried like a yoke. If both go into the same direction, aim at the same goal, and keep about the same tempo, the burden becomes easy, light and agreeable: whereas if one insists on going one way, and the other is stubborn about going into the opposite direction, there will be nothing but confusion, failure, disappointment and ruin. For the sake of harmony, then, in this very important department of family life, wise concessions from both parties are much in order, and worth all they cost.
The Deadly Lake Ride
A story is told anent the evil consequences of division or disharmony of parents in the upbringing of their children. A girl had asked permission of her father to take a ride in a launch on the lake. It was Sunday afternoon. The father refused permission. He would not accede to the request, no matter how much his daughter pleaded. When he left the house for a walk, the girl entreated her mother to allow her to take the ride. The mother yielded, but cautioned the child not to let her father suspect that she granted her the permission. Several hours later a storm suddenly swept over the lake and surrounding territory. The father, who had returned home, was just telling his wife how much he was congratulating himself for not allowing his daughter to go on the lake, when a messenger knocked at the door to bring the sad news that the launch containing the girl and her companions was upset in the storm, and that all its passengers were drowned. He added, that the corpse of the girl had been recovered, and was ready to be brought in by the men who were waiting outside. Imagine the consternation of the father, and the guilty and crushed feeling of the mother. Such a catastrophe may not happen often in the physical order, but morally it is, alas, but too frequent.
The Shipwreck of the Soul
Many Catholic children suffer moral and religious shipwreck due to a lack of union and cooperation of father and mother in their education. And what has been said regarding the parents in their relation to one another in this matter, ought to comprise the teachers and pastors of their children also, in the sense that parents should cooperate all they can with them, too, in promoting the welfare of their children. They will consequently defend and support the authority of pastors and teachers in all things, and never permit the children to make faultfinding or otherwise derogatory remarks about them; much less will they ever openly take a child’s part against the teacher or pastor. No one is faultless. Teachers and pastors make mistakes as do other human agents. But it damages rather than benefits the children, if their parents tolerate, or even endorse a critical, carping, disparaging and rebellious attitude on their part towards teachers and priests.
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Father Krier will be in Eureka, Nevada (Saint Joseph) on May 27. He will be in Pahrump (Our Lady of the Snows) on June 10. On June 15 he will be in Albuquerque, New Mexico (Saint Joseph Cupertino).
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