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r i 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 . PEST CONTROL^ « SERVICE ants • rats • mice! sikerfish iff 'J 3 f 1 For All Purposes SEE W.P. STEPHENS LUMBER COMPANY Four Convenient Locations Marietta, Austell, Roswell, Smyrna Medical Insurance Planned For Nuns Newman Club Gives Religious Art Aid