CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I. The Sacraments in General I. NatureoftheSacraments I 2. Number of the Sacraments 3 3. DivisionoftheSacraments 5 4.EffectsoftheSacraments 6 5. Administration and Reception of the Sacraments. 7 CHAPTER II. Baptism 12 Rite of Baptism. 2I CHAPTER III. Confirmation 26 Rite of Confirmation 32 CHAPTER IV. The Holy Eucharist Introduction. 35 A. THE REAL PRESENCE OF CHRIST IN THE EUCHARIST I. Proofs of the Real Presence 38 a) The Words of Promise 38 b) The Words of Institution...; 40 c) The Words of St. Paul 4I d) Teaching and Practice of the Church. 42 2. Transubstantiation. 44 3. Eucharistic Adoration 46 B. THE HOLY EUCHARIST AS A SACRIFICE I. Nature of Sacrifice 49 II. The Sacrifices of the Old Law 51 III. The Sacrifice of the New Law 53 a) The Sacrifice of the Cross 53 b) The Sacrifice of the Mass , 54 I. Nature of the Mass 54 2. Institution of the Mass 56 3. The Sacrifice of the Mass in the Teaching and Wor- ship of the Church 60 4. The Four Ends of the Mass 62 5. The Fruits of the rv[ass 62 6. The Celebration of Mass 66 7. Assisting at Mass 68 8. The Sacred Liturgy, or the Rite of the Mass. 69 9. The Language of the Mass 73 10. Some Notes on the Liturgy of the Mass 74 ix i , : x CONTENTS C. HOLY COMMUNION I. Nature and Necessity of Holy Communion 83 2. Dispositions for Receiving Holy Communion. 87 3. Effects of Holy Communion 89 CHAPTER V. Penance I. Nature and Necessity of the Sacrament of Penance 95 2. Contrition and Purpose of Amendment. 99 3. Confession a) NecessityofConfession 102 b) Qualities of a Good Confession 103 4. Satisfaction. 104 5. Indulgences. 105 CHAPTER VI. Extreme Unction 114 Riteof ExtremeUnction 117 CHAPTER Vll. Holy Orders. 121 CHAPTER VIII. Matrimony I. Marriage in Pre-Christian Times 129 2. Marriage in Christian Times 130 3. The Marriage Laws of the Church. Mixed Marriages. 133 Rite of Matrimony 137 CHAPTER IX. The Sacramentals of the Church. 139 APPENDIX. The "Ordinary of the Mass" in Latin and English with Rubrics and Explanatory Notes. 143 INDEX. 197 CHAPTER I The Sacraments in General I. THE NATURE OF THE SACRAMENTS I. Means of Grace.- Without grace we can do no good work of ourselves towards our salvation. Hence the all-important ques- tion is, how can we obtain God's grace ? The principal means of obtaining grace are Prayer and the re- ception of the Sacraments. Prayer will be treated under the Ten Commandments; for the present it will suffice to point out the dif- ference between prayer and the sacraments as means of grace : a) The sacraments produce grace in us; prayer obtains it for us. b) Through the sacraments we obtain those special graces for which they were instituted; through prayer we receive all kinds of graces, except those which are given only by the sacraments. The word sacrament comes from the Latin word sacramentum, which the Romans used for any holy or sacred thing, such as forfeit money deposited in a temple or the military oath of allegiance. In the early Church it was applied to any religious object, rite, or ceremony which was hidden from the knowle1ge of the heathen; it was synonymous with mystery. In the course of time it received its present restricted meaning. 2. A Sacrament is an outward or sensible sign instituted by Christ through which inward grace is imparted to the soul. Hence three things are necessary for a sacrament : a) An outward or sensible sign ; b) A corresponding inward or invisible grace ; c) Institution by Christ. a) The Outward Sign.-An outward or sensible sign is some- thing that can be perceived by one or other of the senses. Its purpose is to make something hidden known to us; thus a word, a movement of the hand, an inclination of the head makes known to us what is hidden in another's mind. The outward signs of the sacraments make knO'Z(In to us the inward grace that is being pro- duced in the soul. The outward sign of the sacraments is composed of two things, matter and form. The matter of the sacrament is the sensible thing I I ~ 2 THE MEANS OF GRACE or exterior act used in its administration, such as water, oil, bread and wine. The form consists in the words pronounced by the min- ister when he applies the matter, e.g., "I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." To constitute a sacrament, the form must be united to the mat- ter. "Take the word away," says St. Augustine, "and what else is baptismal water except ordinary water ? but add the words to the element and it becomes a sacrament" (In Joan. tract. 80,3). The matter of a sacrament is remote or proxi11wte, according as we consider it in itself or in its actual application. Water in itself is the remote, the pouring of the water the proximate mat- : ter of the sacrament of Baptism. b) The Inward Grace.-The outward signs of the sacraments do not merely signify grace, but actually impart the graces which they signify, unless we on our part put some obstacle in the way (Council of Trent, Session VII, Canon 6). When a priest pours water on the forehead of a child and pronounces the words, at that very moment the child is really cleansed from original sin and made holy and pleasing to God.. c) Institution by Jesus Christ.-No sensible things or out- ward signs have of themselves the power to produce inward super- natural grace, nor can any created being give such power to ~ sensible things. If they have this power, it must have been given I to them by God. He who merited grace for us, the God-Man Jesus Christ, attached to certain outward signs the power of imparting inward grace and sanctification to our souls. These signs have thus become the sacred channels through which flow to us the graces which Jesus Christ merited for us by His Passion and Death. 3. But why, it may be asked, should God bestow His super- natural favors upon us by means of outward signs and material symbols ? The reason is because He adapts His methods to our nature. We are not pure spirits, but beings composed of body as well as of soul; so that even in our most spiritual operations we constantly make use of material and physical elements. Thus, when we wish to convey an intellectual idea to others we have to clothe it in language written or oral. In the same way God makes use of visible things as the vehicles of His invisible graces and blessings. We thus have visible Pledges of the invisible graces. There is another reason why God should convey His graces by visible signs, namely, to unite us all more closely together. "Since THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL 3 the sacraments are conferred under visible forms, we cannot re- ceive them without giving public testimony of our faith, and of our fellowship with the millions of other Catholics spread through- out the world. We thereby prove ourselves to b~ members of the same Church, and sharers in the same benefits, and sheep of the same divine Shepherd." 4. Sacramental Ceremonies.-Christ gave His Church tht /' power to administer the sacraments. Hence the Church also has the power to prescribe certain cere1nonies and prayers, to be used before and after their administration. Their purpose is a) To direct our attention to the graces received in the sacra- ments; b) To prepare us for those graces ; c) To represent to us the dignity of the sacrament ; d) To increase our devotion and reverence. Some of these ceremonies have Christ Himself as their author ; others were instituted by the Apostles; others, again, by the Church at different times. As the ceremonies do not belong to the matter and form of the sacraments, they can be omitted or abbreviated in case of necessity. 2. NUMBER OF THE SACRAMENTS 1. The Council of Trent declared that there are seven, and only seven, sacraments instituted by Christ.-Baptism, Con- firmatiC/n, Holy Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Holy Or- ders, and Matrimony. In the case of four of the sacraments-Baptism, Holy Eucha- rist, Penance, Holy Orders-we know when Christ instituted them ; Confirmation and Extreme Unction were administered by the Apostles; the sacramental character of Matrimony is clearly indi- cated in Holy Scripture. The Greek Church, \vhich separated from the Catholic Church in the ninth century, also recognizes seven, and only seven, sacra- ments. The Coptic, Armenian and Syrian Monophysites, who sep- arated in the fifth century, have seven, and only seven, sacraments -a proof that the doctrine of seven sacraments was universally recognized in the Church at the time of their separation. Lutherans admit only two sacraments, Baptism and the Eucharist. Luther at first also counted Penance among the sacraments, but later rejected it. When the Protestants of Germany sent a copy of their articles of faith