1862--February 19th, 100 0 0
February 26th, 30 0 0
March 26th, 100 0 0
May 19th, 200 0 0
July 28th, 200 0 0
August 9th, 500 0 0
September 4th, 500 0 0
November 14th, 120 0 0
November 28th, 30 0 0
1863--March 9th, 150 0 0
May 13th, 150 0 0
May 29th, 50 0 0
July 15th, 700 0 0
July 29th, 500 0 0
November 26th, 300 0 0
1864--April 14th, 200 0 0
July 27th, 1000 0 0
November 8th, 350 0 0
------------
L5,460 0 0
POLAND.
His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin has honoured us by addressing to us
the following letter:--
_To the Editors of the Irish Ecclesiastical Record._
55 Eccles Street, 22nd December, 1864.
Rev. Gentlemen,
The sad condition to which Russian despotism has reduced our
Catholic brethren in Poland must be a source of grief and
affliction to every Christian heart. Tens of thousands of the
inhabitants of that generous country, so long the bulwark of
Christendom against the encroachments of pagan or Mahometan
hordes, have been condemned to pass their days in the deserts
of Siberia, and to suffer an exile worse than death: noble
families have been totally destroyed, and their children
dispersed: even young ladies of the highest rank have been
dragged from the convents where they were receiving a
Christian education, and sent to pass their days among the
Calmucks or the Tartars. The property of the Catholic
nobility and gentry has been confiscated; many churches and
colleges and almost all the convents and monasteries, have
been stripped of their possessions, or suppressed. The
scaffold has been purpled with the blood of innumerable
victims, lay and clerical, and some bishops and hundreds of
priests are now scattered over the continent of Europe,
undergoing the sufferings of exile. "Crudelis ubique luctus,
ubique pavor et plurima mortis imago". All these evils have
been afflicted on Poland in the presence of Europe, and all
the great powers have been silent, looking on with
indifference. The Holy Father alone, acting with the usual
spirit of the Apostolic See, has raised his voice in favour
of suffering humanity; but heresy and schism shut their ears
against the words of truth, and Sarmatia is left to her
unhappy fate.
The scenes now enacted in Poland cannot but remind us of the
calamities with which our own dear country was visited in the
days of Cromwell and the Puritans, when the streets of our
towns ran with the blood of massacred Catholics, and
multitudes of Catholic children were torn from their homes
and sent to drag out a miserable existence in the swamps of
Georgia or on the scorching sands of the Antilles.
Ireland having suffered in the same cause and in the same way
as Poland, must feel deep sympathy with her afflicted
sister--"Haud ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco". Hence,
I am confident that our charitable people, though severely
tried themselves, will do everything in their power to assist
the poor exiled Poles, who have been obliged to take refuge
in France and other countries of Europe, in order to avoid
the sword or the halter of the Russian despot.
The clergy of France, encouraged by the exhortations and
example of our Holy Father, who has not only raised his voice
in favour of the poor exiles, but has founded a college for
them in Rome--the clergy of France, always active and zealous
in the protection and propagation of the faith, have
instituted a society, with the view not only of providing for
the present wants of the Poles now scattered through Europe,
but also of taking steps to secure in times to come the
existence of our holy religion in that unhappy country, by
educating young students to fill the ranks of the priesthood.
A most distinguished prelate, Monseigneur Segur, well known
for his innumerable works of charity and religion, is at the
head of the society just mentioned, and the Very Rev. Abbe
Perraud, a learned priest of the Oratory, and author of an
admirable work on the state of Ireland, is its secretary. The
society is patronised by the bishops and nobles of France.
Wishing you, reverend gentlemen, every blessing and every
success, I remain, your obedient servant,
+ Paul Cullen.
The president and secretary have addressed to me the two
documents here annexed, which give a full and true account of
the unhappy state of the Polish exiles, and of the sufferings
of the clergy.
May I beg of you to publish them in the next number of the
_Record_, a periodical which I hope will do good service to
Irish ecclesiastical literature.
I will send L10 myself, to assist in relieving the persecuted
Poles. If any of your readers wish to confide their
contributions to me, I will be happy to remit them to that
good friend, both of Ireland and Poland, the Abbe Perraud.
_Letter addressed to their Lordships the Archbishops and
Bishops of England and Ireland by the President of the
Association._
The 30th of July, 1864, date of the circular of the Sovereign
Pontiff, Pius IX., addressed to the Archbishops and Bishops
of Poland, will ever be a memorable epoch for the martyred
nation. From that day she may look with confidence to the
future; Catholicism is saved in Poland, and with Catholicism
the past history of the Polish nation.
In obedience to the voice of the Holy Father, _who solemnly
warns us not to follow prescriptions contrary to the laws of
God and of His Church_, and "placing, according to his word,
everything else below religion and the Catholic doctrine",
some of his sons assembled on the 24th of September, 1864,
for the purpose of obtaining in behalf of Poland that which
the Emperor of Russia refuses her.
Borrowing the very expressions of the Pontifical letter, the
following are their engagements:
"The Czar wishes to extirpate Catholicism"; we will uphold
it.--"He would drag the whole of his people into this
wretched schism"; we will lend them our aid.--"He prohibits
writings that are propitious to Catholicism"; we will print
them.--"He impedes the communications with the Holy See"; we
will free them from difficulty.--"He forbids showing, either
by preaching or instructing, the difference that exists
between truth and schism"; we will receive and propagate
works that demonstrate this difference.
"Bishops are torn from their dioceses and sent into exile";
we should be proud to own them.--"The religious are expelled
from their communities, and their monasteries are turned into
barracks"; we are ready to offer them a refuge.--"Priests are
cruelly persecuted, deprived of all they possess, reduced to
poverty, exiled, thrown into prison or put to death"; we
undertake to receive them with honour, to alleviate their
sufferings, to create or to support houses of education, both
elementary and of a higher order, so that the source of
priesthood in Poland may not be dried up, and so as to
disseminate the benefits of Christian education.--"Numbers of
Catholics of every rank and age are removed to distant
countries"; we will open our doors to them.
In a word, the nucleus of an exclusively religious
association, under the denomination of "Work of Catholicism
in Poland", has been formed in Paris, with the view of
maintaining, "by all the means that charity can suggest",
this generous nation in her fidelity to the Church.
Mgr. de Segur, prelate of his Holiness' household and Canon
of St. Denis, has consented to honour this most important
work with his patronage.
The Rev. Father Petetot, superior-general of the Oratory,
and the Rev. M. Deguerry, parish priest of the church of La
Madeleine, at Paris, the Count Montalembert, and M. Cornudet,
councillor of state, have also kindly accepted the
vice-presidentship.
Our first duty is to receive with sympathy the representatives
of Polish heroism, men who have not hesitated between tortures
and apostacy. Many of them were in the enjoyment of affluence
at home; and after having proved in the last struggle the
vitality of their invincible nation, the spirit of faith and
of sacrifice is now the sole treasure which they possess.
Amongst the Poles now in Paris, there are representatives of
every profession; employment must be found for them, either
in the capital or the provinces. A neighbouring country of
two millions and a half of inhabitants, Switzerland, has
harboured about two thousand. There, not one of the exiles
but has found both assistance and means of gaining his
livelihood. An asylum even is being founded for the reception
of invalids; a residence is offered to them. Public opinion
in Switzerland is so favourable to the Poles, that in their
presence even religious differences are done away with. What
the Helvetian republic has effected, the whole of France will
not fail to accomplish. So much for the more immediate
necessities.
Whenever there is question of works of the apostleship in
foreign lands, we are always ready to assist the missionary.
Have we not a short time ago signalized our zeal for the
Christians of Syria and Lebanon, and still more recently for
the Bulgarian nation, for whose return to unity we may safely
hope? What we require at present, and what is easier to
perform, and less uncertain, is to maintain in her attachment
to the Church a Catholic nation of 25 millions of men. To
accomplish this, we must provide for the religious education
of those whom the misfortunes of the times prevent from
entering into the seminaries of Poland. The Holy Father has
himself given the initiative, by opening a Polish seminary at
Rome. Why should we not follow his example? At the time of
the persecutions in Ireland, we counted in the north of
France alone, no less than four colleges for the use of young
Irishmen: Saint-Omer, where the great O'Connell was formed:
Douai, whence came in the time of Elizabeth, forty of
England's early martyrs: Lille, and Paris.
Until such time as the extension of the work shall enable us
to collect the necessary funds for the foundation and
maintenance of these establishments, we would humbly request
the bishops to admit into their large and small seminaries
the young Poles who show signs of an ecclesiastical vocation.
If, after preparatory studies, they could not all return to
their mother country, their aid would be valuable for the
conversion of different nations of the East.
As it is probable that this association of prayers and of
alms will not be of long duration, the annual subscription is
fixed at a minimum of 5 fr. Many of the faithful no doubt
will not be satisfied with so small a contribution. Others,
on the contrary, may group together to form it.
We would also request their Lordships the Bishops to be kind
enough to appoint in each of their dioceses a member of their
clergy who would have the charge of centralising the work and
making it known, and who would enjoy the spiritual favours of
the Sovereign Pontiff, who has ever been the protector and
father of Poland. To every Catholic, to whatever country he
may belong, this work is a question of honour, a protestation
of the civilised world against barbarity.
Out of France we firmly hope our work will meet with deep
sympathy, similar associations will be formed, and regular
communications established between them.
May the blessed Virgin, Patroness of Poland, bless and second
our efforts.
All communications and donations intended for the "Work of
Catholicism in Poland" to be addressed to the Rev. Father
Perraud, Priest of the Oratory, Director General of the Work,
44 Rue du Regard, Paris.
French and foreign newspapers favourable to Poland are
requested to publish this act of foundation of the "Work of
Catholicism in Poland".
_Letter to the Archbishop of Dublin from the Director-General
of the Association._
"Paris, 20th December, 1864,
"My Lord Archbishop,
"The work, the plan of which we lay before you to-day, is one
which recommends itself to your zeal and your love for the
Church.
"The touching words of the Sovereign Pontiff have stirred us
to lend assistance to martyred Poland. May the Church of
Ireland second the Church of France in this endeavour, which
is so noble, and, at this moment, so necessary.
"I venture to unite my humble voice with that of the pious
prelate and of the eminent men who are at the head of this
work, in the hope that the bishops and priests of Ireland
will listen with favour to an appeal on behalf of a persecuted
church and nation. Accept, my Lord, the expression of profound
respect and lively gratitude with which I am,
"Your most devoted humble Servant,
"ADOLPHE PERRAUD,
"Director-General of the Work".
LITURGICAL QUESTIONS.
One of the objects which the founders of the IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL RECORD
had proposed to themselves from the very beginning of their undertaking
was to offer to the Irish clergy in its pages an appropriate place for
the discussion of liturgical questions. They judged that they could not
better recommend this object to their readers than by laying before them
a sample of the actual working of the liturgical department of an
ecclesiastical periodical of long standing and renown. With this view it
was resolved to insert in our early numbers some of the questions which
from time to time had been asked by French clergymen in the _Revue des
Sciences Ecclesiastiques_ (edited by the learned Abbe Bouix), adding in
each case the answers given by those charged with that part of the
Review. No official character has ever been claimed for these answers by
their authors, who invariably give for what they are worth the arguments
on which their answers rest. In the same way the excellent _Archivio
dell'Ecclesiastico_ of Florence devotes every month a portion of its
pages to the liturgical questions which are continually addressed to the
Editor by the clergy of Northern Italy. We are happy to announce to-day
that several distinguished ecclesiastics who have devoted much time and
study to liturgical pursuits have undertaken to attend to any similar
questions that may be addressed to the RECORD by the clergy of Ireland.
Following the custom of the periodicals just mentioned, all information
shall be withheld concerning the sources whence the questions have come,
except where publicity is expressly desired. Every question with which
we may be honoured, shall be carefully attended to. We hope that every
priest will assist us in this effort to make the IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL
RECORD a work of practical benefit to the clergy of Ireland.
We give to-day a collection of the decrees of the S. Congregation of
Rites on various points of the Rubrics of the Missal. We extract them
from the first Ratisbon edition of the _Manuale Ordinandorum_, March
1842. In order that the words of each decree of the S. Congregation
may be distinguished from those of the editors, the former are printed
in Italics.
EX DECRETIS S. RITUUM CONGREGATIONIS.
Ad Sec. II. _De ingressu sacerdotis ad altare._
1. Acolythus aut alius accendens cereos ante Missam, aut ante aliam
sacram functionem, incipere debet a cereis qui sunt _a cornu
evangelii, quippe nobiliori parte_. 12 Aug. 1253 (Anal. II. p. 2201).
2. _Non licet_ sacerdotibus deferre manutergium supra calicem tam
eundo quam redeundo ab altari. 1 Sept. 1703 in u. Pisaur.
3. Sacerdos pergens ad celebrandum et calicem manu sinistra portans,
ad ianuam sacristiae _signet se, si commode fieri potest_, aqua
benedicta; _sin minus, se abstineat_. 27 Mart. 1779 in u. Ord. Min. ad
14.
4. Si sacristia est post altare, _a sacristia_ ad illud _e sinistra
egrediendum, a dextera ad illam accedendum_. 12 Aug. 1854 in u. Brioc.
ad 17.
5. Sacerdos Missam celebraturus transiens ante altare, ubi fit populi
Communio, _non_ debet permanere genuflexus, quousque terminetur
Communio. 5 Jul. 1698 in u. Collen. ad 17.--In quaestione: quomodo se
gerere debeat sacerdos celebraturus, dum _transit_ ante altare, in quo
sit _publice expositum_ Ss. Sacramentum? An post factam genuflexionem
detecto capite, _surgens_ debeat _caput tegere_, donec ad altare
pervenerit? an vero _detecto_ capite _iter prosequi_ ob reverentiam
tanti Sacramenti sic publice expositi, cum rubrica Missalis Romani non
videatur loqui de hac praecisa adoratione in casu de quo agitur?
_servandae sunt rubricae Missalis Romani, quae videntur innuere, quod
post factam adorationem genibus flexis, detecto capite, surgens caput
operiat._ 24 Jul. 1638 in u. Urb.
6. Tam _in ingressu Sacerdotis ad altare, quam ante principium Missae,
reverentia Sacerdotis debet esse profunda capitis et corporis_, non
capitis tantum, _inclinatio_, juxta rubricam 8. April. 1808. in u.
Compostell. ad 5.--_In accessu_ ad altare, in quo habetur Ss.
Sacramentum, sive expositum, sive in tabernaculo reconditum _et in
recessu, in plano est genuflectendum; in infimo autem gradu altaris,
quoties_ (alias ante altare) _genuflectere occurrat_ (e. g. in
principio Missae). 12. Nov. 1831 in u Mars. ad 51.--Inter Missam
privatam a ministro _in transitu tantum ante medium altaris
genuflectendum_, (si Ss. Sacramentum inclusum est in tabernaculo),
_vel inclinandum_. 12. Aug. 1854 ad 70 et 71 (Anal. II. 2200).
7. _Si multae sunt particulae consecrandae, satius est eas ponere in
pixide;[7] si paucae poni possunt in alia patena; nunquam vero in alio
Corporali complicato._ 12. Aug. 1854 ad 19 (Anal. II. p. 2192)
8. In Missis privatis _non_ potest permitti ministro aperire Missale
et invenire Missam; _et serventur rubricae_. 7. Sept. 1816 in u.
Tuden. ad 11; _neque_ potest permitti ministro, si fuerit sacerdos vel
diaconus sive subdiaconus, ut praeparet calicem, et ipsum extergat in
fine post ablutiones. Ibid. ad 12.
Ad Sec. III. _De principio Missae et Confessione facienda._
_In Missa dicendum est_ Confiteor _pure et simpliciter, prout habetur
in Missali Romano, absque additione alicujus Sancti etiam Patroni_,
nisi adsit speciale indultum Apostolicae Sedis. 13. Febr. 1666 in u.
Ord. Min. ad 5; Jul. 1704 in u. Valent.
Ad Sec. IV. _De Introitu, Kyrie, et Gloria._
In quaestione: an post signum crucis, quod fit in fine "Gloria in
excelsis", "Credo" et "Sanctus" manus sint jungendae, etiamsi nihil
hujusmodi praescribat rubrica? _serventur rubricae_, 12. Nov. 1831 in
u. Mars. ad 30.
Ad Sec. V. _De Oratione._
_Congruit, ut fert praxis universalis, praesertim Urbis_, quod fiat
inclinatio capitis, cum pronunciatur nomen Ss. Trinitatis, sicut fit,
cum profertur nomen Jesus. 7. Sept. 1816 in u. Tuden. ad 40.
Ad Sec. VI. _De Epistola usque ad Offertorium._
1. _Juxta rubricas in elevatione oculorum crux est aspicienda._ 22.
Jul. 1848 in u. Adiacen. ad. 3.
2. Manus sinistra poni debet super missale ad Evangelium, cum dextera
fit signum crucis super ipsum. 7. Sept. 1816 in u. Tuden. ad 25.
3. In Missis privatis ad verba "Et incarnatus est", Celebrans
genuflectere debet _unico genu_. 22. Aug. 1818 in u. Hispal. ad 10.
Ad Sec. VII. _De Offertorio usque ad Canonem._
1. In dubio: an in Missa privata, quando minister non est
superpelliceo indutus, debeat eum, lecto Offertorio a Celebrante, ad
altare ascendere, accipere et plicare velum calicis, vel hic ritus
reservari debeat ministris superpelliceo indutis vel etiam Celebrans
ipse debeat plicare velum et super altare ponere? _servanda est
consuetudo._ 12. Aug. 1854 ad 69 (Anal. II. p. 2200).
2. In quaestione: utrum parvi cochlearis pro aqua in calicem
infundenda usus sit omnibus licitus? _servanda est rubrica._ 7. Sept.
1850 in u. Rupel. ad 13.
3. _Praxis extergendi calicem cum purificatorio_ ad abstergendas
guttas vini adhaerentes lateribus interioribus cuppae calicis, quae
aliquando resiliunt, dum praeparatur ipsemet calix, _magis congruit et
summopere laudabilis est_. 7. Sept. 1816 in u. Tuden. ad
28.--_Relinqui_ vero _potest Sacerdotis arbitrio_ utrum purificatorium
ponere velit super pedem calicis dum praeparatur (vinum ad offertorium
infunditur), vel potius super patenam. Ibid. ad 29.
4. Oratio "Deus qui humanae" incipienda est a sacerdote eodem momento,
quo benedicit aquam; _non_ vero prius aqua benedicatur nihil dicendo,
atque tunc demum, facto signo crucis, illa oratio incipiatur. 12. Aug.
1854 ad d. 25. (Anal. Jur. Pontif. II. p. 2193).
5. Cruces quae fiunt super oblata a sacerdote, non debent fieri manu
transversa sed _manu recta_. 4. Aug. 1663 in u. Dalmat. ad 4.--_In
benedictionibus congruentior juxta rubricas et ritum videtur modus
benedicendi manu recta, et digitis simul unitis et extensis._ 24. Jun.
1683 in u. Abling. ad 6.
6. _Congruit, ut fert praxis universalis, praesertim Urbis_, quod fiat
inclinatio capitis in fine Psalmi "Lavabo" (ad "Gloria Patri"), qui
dicitur in Missa, sicut praescribitur in principio Missae. 7. Sept.
1816 in u. Tuden. ad 37.
Ad Sec. VIII. _De Canone usque ad Consecrationem._
1. Ad quaestionem: an Sacerdos dicere debeat "Te igitur" in principio
Canonis, dum elevat manus et oculos; vel incipere debeat, dum est jam
in profundo inclinatus? _servanda est rubrica de ritu servando in
celebratione Missae tit. 8, num. 1, et altera Canoni praefixa._ 7.
Sept. 1816 in u. Tuden. ad 33.
2. Omnes sacerdotes celebrantes, dum in Canone Missae Papam nominant,
debent _juxta rubricam_ caput inclinare. 23. Mai 1846 in u. Tuden. ad
6.
3. _In Canone nomine Antistitis non sunt nominandi superiores
Regularium_ 13. Febr. 1666 in decret. ad Missal. ad 11.--_Ii
Religiosi, qui, Antistitis nomine tacito, ejus loco in precibus sive
in Canone suae Religionis Superiorem nominant, contra caritatem
faciunt._ 12. Nov. 1605 in u. Ulixbon.--_In Canone et in Collectis
omnino, facienda est mentio de Episcopo etiam ab exemptis_ 25. Sept.
1649 in u. Tornac. ad 6.
4. Debet Sacerdos pronuncians in Canone Missae nomen alicujus Sancti,
de quo factum est Officium, vel saltem Commemoratio, facere
inclinationem capitis. 7. Sep. 1816 in u. Tuden. ad 34--Nomen S.
Joseph Sponsi B. M. V. _non_ potest addi _in Canone_. _Permittitur_
vero _hujus nominis additio in Collecta "A cunctis"_. 17. Sep. 1815 in
u. Urbis et Orbis.
5. A "Hanc igitur oblationem" manus sacerdotis ita debent extendi, ut
palmae sint apertae, pollice dextero super sinistrum in modum crucis
_supra manus_ posito. 4. Aug. 1663 in u. Dalmat. ad 5.
FOOTNOTE:
[7] Ex quo patet, "vas mundum benedictum", de quo rubrica esse
_pixidem_.
[THE REMAINDER IN OUR NEXT.]
DOCUMENTS.
I.
PLENARY INDULGENCE IN ARTICULO MORTIS.
_Rescript of Clement XIV. by which powers to grant the said
Indulgence are given to Bishops in countries where Catholics
live mixed with other religious denominations. Indulgence to
be gained by invoking the sacred name._
The experience of Catholics proves that nothing tends more effectually
to promote practices of piety and to enkindle a religious spirit, than
the doctrine of the Catholic Church regarding indulgences. Take, for
example, the case of a plenary indulgence. How many penitential and
meritorious works are required to secure a participation in so
precious a treasure? The person wishing to gain an indulgence of this
kind must diligently examine his conscience, excite himself to
contrition for his sins, make an humble confession, and perform some
penitential work in reparation for the past. Besides, the holy
Sacrament of the altar must be worthily received, prayers recited for
a pious purpose, and some work of charity or religion performed.
Considering the good thus done, the Church grants plenary indulgences
to the faithful on many festivals; but she is never so liberal in
dispensing her treasures, as when there is question of persons in
immediate danger of death. When that dreadful moment arrives, as on it
depends our fate for all eternity, reserved cases are no longer
maintained, and all priests are allowed to absolve from every censure.
For the consolation also of the dying, and to promote their spiritual
welfare, every facility is granted for the obtaining of plenary
indulgences.