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PAGE 2 GEORGIA BULLETIN THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1964
RENEWAL CONTINUED
Sacraments Meant To Stress
Worship, Corporate Action
S T R A N C
Little-Know
GE BUT TRU
n Fact* (or Catholic
;E
By M. J. MURRAY
Oopyrtfht, 1M1. K.C W.C. N.w. Itrvlct
or OUR orrnf *o*r
A LARGE BALL AtID CUAiM MAKES A
CURIOUS AND STRIKING ADORNMENT
For a grave in an old village church
-Yard in Staffordshire, England.
die reigrunq fbntifif,
ftoPT ffeUL VI. WAS BAPTISED IN
THIS MODEST CHURCH NEAR
J ^BRESCIA, IN THE NORTH OF ITALY
HOME TUTORING
Laud Court Ruling
In Handicapped Aid
CHAIR OF UNITY OCTAVE
Desire For Unity
Among Faithful
The author of the following
article, the third of a series
on the sweeping liturgical re
form provided for by the ecu
menical council, serves as one
of the council's official advisers
on liturgical matters. A priest
of the Boston archdiocese and
a professor of canon law at the
Catholic University of America,
he is the immediate past presi
dent of the North American
Liturgical Conference.
BY FATHER
FREDERICK R. MCMANUS
(N. C. W. C. News Service)
The revolutionary constitut
ion on public worship enacted
by Vatican Council II not only
concentrates on reforms affect
ing the Mass, the principal
liturgy, but also provides for
renewal of all the sacraments.
Chapter HI of the council's
constitution is called 'The
Other Sacraments and the
Sacramentals." It deals with
the sacraments other than the
Eucharist (to which Chapter II
is devoted) and with the sacra
mentals or "lesser sacra
ments." It begins with a funda
mental explanation: 'The pur
pose of the sacraments is to
sanctify men, to build up the
body o f Christ, and, finally,
to give worship to God."
ALREADY THE spirit of
theological renewal is evident
in the words of the council.
The least instructed Catholic
sees in the sacraments sources
of God’s favor for himself ("to
sanctify men")—in fact, there
is always great danger of view
ing the sacraments exclusive
ly in this way, almost as
mechanical and routine sources
of infallible grace. The bi
shops of the council bring to the
fore two other notions: that
the sacraments, all the sacra
ments, have a social, corporate,
and public nature ("to build
up the body of Christ," which
is the Church); that the sacra
ments require dedication, com
mitment, faith, and devotion
from those who take part in
them ("to give worship to
God").
The idea of the sacraments
as channels of God’s grace is
not harmed or lessened by the
council’s teaching. It is impor
tant to Insist also on the ven
erable phrase, "sacraments of
faith," and to show how the sa
craments instruct. The sacra
ments (and the sacramentals
and indeed all liturgical rites
and deeds) are signs which
"the faithful should easily
understand." Anyone familiar
with the complex service of
Baptism will readily see how
much revision and simplific
ation is needed. In this and
other cases what should be the
most clearly expressed words
(the "form" of the sacrament),
with the greatest significance
and meaning to the people, have
been said up until now in a
language not understood by the
participants.
THUS THE Pope and the other
Fathers of the council decree a
reform and a revision, beginn
ing with the introduction of the
mother tongues—to the extent
decided upon by the bodies of
bishops In each country or re
gion. The purpose of the re
form is simply expressed:
"With the passage of time there
have crept into the rites of the
sacraments and sacramentals
certain features which have
rendered their nature and pur
pose far from clear to the people
of today; hence some changes
have become necessar’ to adapt
them to the needs of our own
times."
The first matter taken up by
the council, after the use of the
vernacular languages, is the
preparation of local or regional
rituals for the celebration of
sacraments and sacramentals.
The principle at stake is an im
portant one; to correct the error
that the Chruch’s unity requires
uniformity of practice, or,
stated positively, to show the
special excellence in diversity.
Prayers and rites are thus in
tended by the bishops to reflect
the genius, customs, or re
ligious traditions of different
nations and peoples.
in Chapter HI of the constitu
tion on the liturgy there are
eight articles or paragraphs on
Christian initation. They begin
with the plan to revive the
catechumenate, the period of
formation and preparation be
fore the Baptism of an adult.
Nowadays this period Is often
considered merely as a time of
Instruction, for acquiring in
formation. The council wishes
it to recover the character of
a period of spiritual formation
conversion of soul, prayer by
the whole community for the
candidate.
ALL THE rites related to
Baptism, the first of the sacra
ments, are to be reexamined:
for Infants, for adults, for the
reception of converts, for the
first welcome of a child into
the parish church after he has
been received into the Church by
Baptism administered in an
emergency, etc. More impor
tant than these revisions Is the
attempt to unite the three sa
craments of Christian Initia
tion: Baptism, Confirmation,
the Eucharist.
Confirmation is rarely tho
ught of as completing Baptism
and leading to the celebration of
the Eucharist. The bishops now
propose that this meaning
should be brought out by the
renewal of baptismal promises
Just before the rite of Confir
mation and by celebrating Con
firmation itself where pos
sible, during Mass.
In the United States most of
the candidates for Confirmation
have already received Com
munion for the first time, per
haps several years earlier.
Nevertheless even in these cir
cumstances it is still desirable
that the newly confirmed should
take part in Mass immediately
and receive Communion. At
least on that single occasion,
the fuHness of Christian initia
tion would be evident: Baptism
completed by Confirmation,
Confirmation leading to the
eucharlstic celebration.
ALL SACRAMENTS (and sa
cramental s, for that matter) are
dependent on the Eucharist and
flow from it. The instinct of the
Church has always been to show
this relation—this is the reason
why the sacrament of Holy Or
ders is conferred during Mass.
Now the council wishes to allow
for, and encourage the cele
bration of Baptism, Confir
mation, Matrimony, religious
profession, etc., as a part of
Mass.
In the case of the Marriage
service, which is brief and
simple in Itself, the council’s
directive is clear: It will take
place during Mass after the
reading of the Epistle and Gos
pel and the preaching of the
sermon or homily; it will be
foUowed by appropriate prayers
of the people and by the re
mainder of Mass, in which the
bride and groom take part,
HEALTHY LIVES
NEW ORLEANS, La. (RNS)
— Most nuns in the U. S. do
not have medical insurance be
cause they can’t afford it, ac
cording to Dr. Con J. Fecher,
professor of econimics at Day-
ton University,
Dr. Fecher said here that the
envisions a medical insurance
plan designed for nuns and bas
ed on the fact that they have a
longer life expectancy and bet
ter health than the average per
son.
TO BUY CONVENTIONAL
medical Insurance, he said, Sis
ters are required to pay pre
miums based on the life expec
tancy and health of all other
Americans. He hol.i a plan de
signed for Sisters should have
lower rates because of their
better health and longer lives.
Such a plan, he added, could
be run by and for the nuns or
set up for them by a commer
cial firm.
The economics professor and
statistician was here to confer
with Dr. James T. Nix, a New
Orleans surgeon. The two are
spearheading an extensive study
Into the health of nuns in this
country.
DR. FECHER FIRST begun a
Still on the subject of the
Marriage rite, the constlturlon
directs that, even when Mar
riage Is celebrated apart from
Mass, the Epistle and Gospel
of the nuptial Mass should be
read beforehand and the nap-
tlal blessing given. This bless
ing wUl be revised to Include
mention of the groom as well
as the bride, so that the equal
fidelity will be expressed and
taught.
Such changes require a future
correctoln of ritual texts. This
Is not the case, however, with
the council’s strong teaching on
the sacrament of Anotintirtg. In
theory, the faithful are already
instructed to summon the priest
at the beginning of a serious
iUness and not to delay. But
many things have conspired
against a proper understanding
of the sacrament of healing: the
expression "last rites,"theof
ficial name "Extreme Unct
ion," the practice (of many cen
turies) of administering anoint
ing after Viaticum. Even
priests sometimes demand
proof of the seriousness of the
illness or of the Imminence of
death before feeling free to ad
minister this sacrament.
THE COUNCIL has tried to
change all this, by the better
name for the sacrament; 'The
Anointing of the Sick," by mak
ing clear that the Eucharist it
self, Communion as Viaticum,
is the "last" sacrament, and
by explaining: Anointing "is not
ANNUAL SHOW
CLEVELAND, Ohio (RNS)—
The ninth annual Newman Re
ligious Art Show here, Feb.
24-March 2, will have as its
theme, ‘The Old and New
Testaments,” to emphasize
the growing ecumenical move
ment.
Under this Judeo-Christlan
motif, artists are being encour-
Colony Catholics
HONG KONG (NC)—The 2,812
young people and adults baptized
here on Christmas Eve give this
British Colony an official
Catholic population of 208,603
slightly more than 6% of Hong
Kong's total inhabitants.
There has been a sixhold In
crease in Catholics here dur
ing the past 15 years, rising
from 33,848 in June, 1948, to
205,791 in June of 1963.
study i>l the health of nuns In
1925 as a graduate student at
the Catholic University of Ame
rica. He resumed his studies
in 1955 while teaching at the
University of Dayton which pro
vided a grant toasslsthls work.
Dr. Nix joined the study seve
ral years ago and is currently
doing research into the health of
nuns under an American Cancer
Society grant,
THE RESEARCHERS feel in-,
since nuns live what they call a
"controUed" life, studies into
their health conditions will be of
benefit to all mankind. They
have found that some ailments
common to American women
occur In nuns as much as 10
years later In life. And the Sis
ters can expect to live three
years longer than the average
American woman.
The early studies of Dr. Fec
her and Dr. Nix have been on
the mortality, or cause of death,
in nuns. Dr. Fecher is now prob
ing morbidity statistics for a
study of illnesses among Sis
ters.
HE HAS DESIGNED a medi
cal record card for nuns.
a sacrament for those only who
are at the point of death. Hence,
as soon as any one of the faith
ful begins to be in danger of
death from sickness or old age,
the fitting time for him to re
ceive this sacrament has cer
tainly already arrived."
Finally, the revision of the
sacramentals, blessings, pro
cessions, etc., should be ment
ioned. This must, in the words
of the council, "take Into ac
count the primary principle of
enabling the faithful to partici
pate intelligently, actively, and
easily; the circumstances of
our own time must also be con
sidered."
Of special interest is the de
cision of the council to provide
sacramentals which may be ad
ministered by lay people, for
example, the blessing of child
ren or of the home by a father
or mother; blessings to be given
by catechists in the absence of
a priest; specific blessings
which may be prepared for lay
religious superiors or for those
lncharge of schools.
The changes In the sacra
mental rites which the council
has decreed are important.The
council’s teaching of doctrine
is more important: The liturgy
of sacraments and sacramen
tals gives the faithful access
to the power of Christ’s Easter
passage from death to life,
"access to the stream to divine
grace which flows from the pas
chal mystery of the passion,
death, and resurrection of
Christ."
aged by sponsoring groups to
submit paintings, sculptures,
drawings, prints, and other
works expressing religious
concepts In American culture.
THE SHOW'S ecumenical
theme is carried out in posters,
stationery and program books
which carry the Christian cross
and the Star of David.
Sponsored jointly by the
Cleveland Newman Student and
Alumni Associations, Roman
Catholic organizations, the ex-
hibiton will be held In the Art
Gallery of the Higbee Company’
in downtown Cleveland. There
will be first, second and third
prizes of $200, $100 and $50
respectively.
THE SHOW WILL be open to
post-high school art students
and professional artists in
northeastern Ohio. Honorary
chairman i s Joseph P. Jan
kowski, an instructor at the
Cleveland Institute of Art.
Designed to promote Catho
lic knowledge at secular uni
versities, the first exhibit was
held in 1956 at Newman Hall of
Western Reserve University
here sponsored by Newman Club
students and alumni, and direct
ed by Archbishop Paul J. Halli-
nan of Atlanta, Ga., then a
priest in Cleveland.
Jesuit ‘Man
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (RNS) —The
St. Louis Globe-Democrat has
named the Very Rev. Paul C.
Reinert, S.J., president of St.
Louis University as its "Man
of the Year."
A large, engraved silver bowl
was presented to Father Reln-
ert by the paper’s publisher,
Richard H. Amberg, at the uni
versity’s Pius XII Memorial
Libra i.' ; The award praised the
priest-educator for "his ser
vices to the community, state-
and nation which were above
and beyond the call of duty."
In announcing the award, the
Official Dies
NUTLEY, N.J. (NC)—A Re
quiem Mass was offered at St.
Mary’s Church here (Dec. 31)
for Dr. William A. Kelly, a past
president of the National Catho
lic Psychological Association
and director of graduate studies
at Fordham University. Dr.
Kelly died (Dec. 27) at St. Fran
cis Hospital, The Bronx.
NEW YORK (NC)—A Catho
lic school superintendent and
the national president of Citi
zens for Educational Freedom
have hailed a New York State
Supreme Court ruling that pub
lic school officials are obliged
to provide home tutoring for
physically handicapped child
ren enroUed in parochial
schools.
Justice Manuel W. Levine’s
decision reversed a policy es
tablished in 1952 by John P.
Jehu, legal counsel to the State
Education Department. Jehu
said such tutoring violated the
State Constitution’s ban on "di
rect and indirect" aid to
church-related schools.
JUDGE LEVINE said there
Is a distinction between aid to
the schools and aid to the pupil,
’The benefits of home teach
ing will insure solely to the pu
pil, petitioner's daughter, and
it appears that these benefits
may be physical as well as men
tal," he said. "It Is difficult
to conceive how the parochial
school will obtain any real ad
vantage from it."
HE ORDERED the Board of
Education of Malverne, L.I. to
provide home teaching for Kath
leen Scales, a sixth grader in
Our Lady of Lourdes School
there. She Is confined to bed
for treatment of a heart condi
tion.
Msgr. Edgar P. McCarren,
superintendent of schools of the
Rockville Centre diocese, which
Includes Malverne, Issued a
statement praising the decision
as "a breath of fresh air,
...Jurisprudence and common
sense at its best.”
Abbey Destroyed
CILLY, Belgium (NC)—The
12th-century abbey of Soleimont
near here was totally destroyed
by fire on Christmas night.
Of The Year’
Globe-Democrat devoted its 16-
page weekend rotogravure
magazine to Father Reinert.
The supplement, with Father
Reinert’s picture on the cov
er, traced his background, his
15 years as president of the
university, and the school’s
expansion plans,
Paul VI Profile
To Be Televised
WASHINGTON (NC)—Martin
H. Work, executive director of
th e National Council of Catho
lic Men, said here that the TV
program "Profile of Pope Paul
VI," will be shown on NC
CM’s Catholic Hour program on
a Sunday In February over the
NBC-TV network.
Work said that the Catholic
Hour staff worked in conjunc
tion with Father Agnellus An
drew, O.F.M., advisor of Brit
ish Broadcasting Corporation,
in Rome in the preparation of
the film.
"JUDGE LEVINE is to be
congratulated," the Monsignor
said. "For the future it is hop
ed it will be clear that any child
entitled to a full 12 years of
public school education at tax
payers’ expense may be given a
part of that schooling under pub
lic school auspices.”
Mark Murphy of Flushing,
national president of Citizens
for Educational Freedom, stat
ed that in some cases pupils
were forced to transfer to pub
lic schools to obtain home
teaching and their parents re
quired to provide affidavits at
testing that there would never
be a retransfer to an indepen
dent school.
IN OTHER WORDS, Murphy
said, "Mr. Jehu was telling
parents, and getting away with
It for 11 years, that to get the
benefits the state has voted
them they must surrender a
constitutional right asserted
constitutional right asserted
unanimously by the U. S. Su
preme Court."
Civil Marriage
BY FR. TITUS CRANNY, S.A.
This is the second in a series
of three articles on the Chair of
Unity Octave, January 18-25.
The author is director of the
Unity Apostolate, Graymoor,
Garrison, N. Y.
During January 18-25 Catho
lics the world over pray for re
ligious unity. It Is the time of
the Chair of Unity Octave:, in
spired by the prayer of Christ
on Holy Thursday ' *that all may
be one" the faithful seek to Im
plement the divine desire for
reunion.
But such prayer for unity is
not only the task and privilege
of Catholics but of all religious
groups. All who believe In
Christ should pray for unity,
and the Jewish people too. The
climate of the world is ecumeni
cal - there Is a compelling
awareness of the need for unity
as never before. All men of good
will should pray for this cause
during the Octave
THE UNITY OCTAVE is a
prayer of faith, because Chris
tian Unity Is a goal that cannot
be attained by human forces
alone. But "grace can where
nature cannot” as Cardinal
Newman would say, for grace is
necessary and it Is won by
prayer. Jesus Himself has said
that there will be one fold and
shepherd. His followers must
believe that His prophecy will
be fulfilled.
Then the Octave is a prayer
of hope for men must desire
unity, long for It, and trust u
3o:”s power to give it to a di
vided Christendom. Praysv
uiwSt be filled with faith and it
must be offered with complete
confidence in God’s ability and
desire to give it to men.
THIRDLY, THE OCTAVE Isa
prayer of live for It seeks to
bring the blessing of spiritual
unity upon all men. It is moti
vated by love for God and a de
sire to do His will, arif by a
love for one’s fellowman and the
desire to bring about the great
est blessing to the world. Ca
tholics should have an active
concern fo<* all men - since
Jesus died for all and founded
His Churcn for their salva
tion and sanctification. No one
can be spiritually Indifferent
or isolated in regard to the spi
ritual welfare of his brother
men the sad fact of disunity
should move us to renewed fer
vor and sincerity. We speak of
the "anguish of separation" or
the * 'agony of separation” and
indeed we should do so. We
should have an anxiety, a long
ing for the spiritual welfare of
all of our brethren.
THESE WORDS ARE not Just
a pious phrase. It is sadden
ing and sorrowful that there Is
so much disunity in the world.
It Is deplorable that the fol
lowers of Christ are divided.
It is shameful that such diver
gencies mark those who call
themselves followers of the
Master.
Pope John used to say that we
have the obligation to pray and
work for Christian Unity. In
his Christmas message of last
year he stated: 'That they
may be one. This Is the design
of Divine Providence that we
must put Into effect, and it
places a serious obligation up
on each one’s conscience. On
the Day of Judgement, particu
lar and general, each one will
be asked not whether he achiev
ed unity, but whether he prayed
and worked and suffered for it,
whether he was responsive to
the impulses of charity."
SO THIS IDEA of praying and
working for unity gives high
purpose to our lives. We share
in the desire of the Good Shep
herd for all His sheep, we take
part in His plan of bringing
souls to salvation, we pray,
work and suffer for the cause
for which He gave His Life upon
the Cross: the union of men In
the love of His Sacred Heart.
Finally, the prayer of the
Chair of Unity Octave should
be offered in'Imitation of the
Mother of God. Mary is the
Mother of Unity who seeks to
unite her children, who have
been so long separated. It Is
her function, her role, to recon
cile her children, whatever be
the cause or degree of separa
tion. We must live, pray and
love in such a manner as to re
lieve the anguish of separation
and disunity which she feels so
keenly. If we keep the Octave
faithfully, we can aid in the tre
mendous challenge of Christian
Unity and help to bring men,
even a little closer, to that unity
for which they are seeking and
which the Savior seeks to give to
all.
ANAPOLIS, Md. (RNS)—With
the new year Maryland became
the last of the 50 states to au
thorize civil marriages by cir
cuit court clerks.
Legislation passed last year
by the state legislature re
placed a Colonial law which
held that only clergymen could
perform marriages in Mary
land.
Catholics should be profound
ly moved at the division of so
many Christians. The Orthodox
number about 180,030,000 peo
ple, the Protestants have about
275,000,000 members, and Ca-
thol? :*■ number almost 600,-
000,000 souls. But what are
thesi! numbers compared to the
billion of non-Christians In the
1? Christian fol vvers are
thus divided. And while we pray
for full religious uni 7 for all
MONTHLY .
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Four Convenient Locations
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Medical Insurance
Planned For Nuns
Newman Club Gives
Religious Art Aid