Part 6

Etsi sancta omnia sancte tractanda sint, propterea quod ad Deum pertineant qui essentialiter sanctus est, attamen augustissimum Eucharistiae sacramentum sicut sacris mysteriis omnibus absque ulla comparatione sanctitate praeeminet, ita maxima prae ceteris veneratione est pertractandum. Nil itaque mirum si tot Ecclesia diversis temporibus ediderit decreta, quibus Sanctissimae Eucharistiae delatio pro adjunctorum varietate vel denegaretur omnino, vel ea qua par esset reverentia admitteretur;[30] cum nihil antiquius fuerit Ecclesiae Dei quam ut animarum profectum atque aedificationem debito cum honore divinorum omnium divinissimi mysterii consociaret. Haec porro prae oculis habens Sacrum hoc Consilium Christiano Nomini Propagando, cum primum intellexit in quibusdam istius regionis Dioecesibus consuetudinem seu potius abusum invaluisse, ut Sacerdotes Sanctissimum Sacramentum a mane usque ad vesperam secum deferrent ea tantum de causa quod in aliquem forte aegrotum incidere possent, ad Metropolitanos censuit scribendum, tum ut consuetudinem illam ab Ecclesiae praxi omnino abhorrere declararet, tum etiam ut ejus extensionem accuratius deprehenderet. Responsa Archiepiscoporum brevi ad Sacram Congregationem pervenerunt, ex quibus innotuit, multis in locis de abusu illo gravem admirationem exortam esse, cum aliqua in Dioecesi ne credibilis quidem videretur. Verum non defuerunt Antistites qui illius existentiam ejusque causas ingenue confessi sunt. Quare Eminentissimis Patribus Sacri hujus Consilii in generalibus comitiis die 28 Septembris elapsi anni habitis omnia quae ad hanc rem referebantur exhibita sunt perpendenda, ut quid Sanctissimi Sacramenti debitus honor ac veneratio postularent in Domino decerneretur. Omnibus igitur maturo examini subjectis, statuerunt Eminentissimi Patres literas encyclicas ad Archiepiscopos atque Episcopos istius regionis dandas esse, quibus constans Ecclesiae rigor circa Eucharistiae delationem commemoraretur. Voluit insuper S. C. ut singuli Antistites excitarentur, quemadmodum praesentium tenore excitantur, ad communem Ecclesiae disciplinam hac in re custodiendam, quantum temporis ac locorum adjuncta nec non inductarum consuetudinum ratio patiantur, ita tamen ut sedulam navent operam ad veros abusus corrigendos atque eliminandos. Quam quidem in rem censuerunt Patres Eminentissimi apprime conferre frequentem celebrationem sacrificii missae, quo videlicet Sacerdotes facile necessitati occurrere possunt Sanctissimam Eucharistiam secum per multos dies retinendi. Quae cum ita sint hortor Amplitudinem Tuam ut in eum finem rurales aediculas multiplicandas cures, atque talia edas decreta ex quibus delatio Sanctissimi Sacramenti ad urgentes tantum causas, atque ad actuale ministerii sacerdotalis exercitium coarctetur, injuncta vero presbyteris stricta obligatione semper in hisce casibus Sanctam Hostiam super pectus deferendi. Denique decreverunt Eminentissimi Patres ut de negotio isto gravissimo in Provincialibus Conciliis agatur, quo nimirum Antistites eam in suis dioecesibus communem normam inducere satagant, quam augustissimum Eucharistiae mysterium decere existimaverint. Tandem Amplitudini Tuae significare non praetermitto omnia et singula quae superius decreta sunt Sanctissimo D. N. Pio PP. IX. per me relata fuisse in audientia diei 3 Octobris elapsi anni, eaque a Sanctitate Sua in omnibus adprobata fuisse atque apostolica auctoritate confirmata.

Datum Romae ex Aedibus S. Congregationis de Propaganda Fide die 25 Februarii 1859.

Amplitudinis Tuae Ad officia paratissimus AL. C. BARNABO, Praef. CAJET ARCHIEPISCOPUS THEBAR. Secretarius.

R. P. D. PAULO CULLEN, Archiepiscopo Dublinensi.

1. _Ex dubiis propositis pro christianis Sinensibus._ Ad propositum dubium "An sacerdotibus Sinensibus liceat in itineribus quae longissima sunt secum deferre Eucharistiam ne ea priventur?" Resp. Non licere. Qualificatores S. O. die 27 Martii 1665, et Eminentissimi approbarunt die 15 April. 1665.

2. Pro Gubernatoribus navium Lusitaniae qui singulis annis in Indias orientales navigant, petentibus licentiam deferendi sacramentum Eucharistiae, ne nautae et Rectores sine Viatico decedant. Lecto memoriali et auditis votis Sanctissimus supradictam petitionem omnino rejecit; ita quod nec in posterum ullo modo de ea tractetur. S. C. S. O. die 13 Julii 1660.

3. Bened. XIV. _Inter omnigenas_ "pro Incolis Regni Serviae et finitimarum Regionum". "At ubi (sicuti ibidem legitur) Turcarum vis praevalet et iniquitas, sacerdos stolam semper habeat coopertam vestibus; in sacculo seu bursa pixidem recondat quam per funiculos collo appensam in sinu reponat et nunquam solus procedat, sed uno saltem fideli, in defectu Clerici, associetur".

4. Honorius III. in cap. _Sane_ de celebratione Miss. expresse habet de delatione Eucharistiae quod si "in partibus infidelium ob necessitatem S. Viatici permittitur, tamen extra necessitatem permittenda non est, cum hodie Ecclesiastica lege absolute prohibitum sit ut occulte deferatur. Occulte deferre in itinere, nequit moraliter fieri absque irreverentia tanti sacramenti".

5. Verricelli de Apostolicis Missionibus Tit. 8. pag. 136. expendit, "An liceat in novo Orbe Missionariis S. Eucharistiam collo appensam secum in itinere occulte deferre etc. et quidquid sit de veteri disciplina concludit hodie universalis Ecclesiae consuetudine et plurimorum Conciliorum decretis prohibitum est deferre occulte S. Eucharistiam in itinere, nisi pro communicando infirmo, ubi esset timor et periculum infidelium, et dummodo ad infirmum non sit nimis longum iter sed modicum et unius diei".

6. Thomas a Jesu de procur. salut. omnium gentium lib. 7. "non auderem Evangelii ministros qui in illis regionibus aut aliis infidelium provinciis conversantes, si imminente mortis periculo secum Viaticum, occulte tamen, deferrent, condemnare".

III.

LETTER FROM THE CARD. PREFECT OF PROPAGANDA TO THE BISHOPS OF IRELAND ON THE _RESIDENCE_ PRESCRIBED BY THE CANONS.

ILLUSTRISSIME AC REVERENDISSIME DOMINE,

Quandoquidem divino praecepto animarum Rectoribus mandatum sit oves suas agnoscere, easque pascere verbo Dei, sacramentis, atque exemplo bonorum operum, idcirco ii ad personalem in suis Dioecesibus vel Ecclesiis residentiam obligantur; sine qua injunctum sibi officium defungi per se ipsos minime possent. Porro pastoralis residentiae debitum quovis tempore Ecclesia Dei asserere atque urgere non destitit; cujus sollicitudinis luculenta exhibent testimonia non modo veteres canones, sed et sacrosancta Tridentina Synodus Sess. VI. cap. 1. de Refor. et Sess. XXIII. de Ref. cap. 1. ac novissime Summus Pontifex Benedictus XIV. qui Constitutione _ad Universae Christianae Reipublicae statum_ edita die 3 Septembris 1746, residentiae obligationem et inculcavit sedulo et disertissime explicavit.

Quod si ubique locorum Pastores animarum pro officii sui ratione continenter in medio gregis vivere oportet, ad id potiori etiam titulo illi tenentur quibus animarum cura demandata est in locis Missionum. Cum enim fideles in Missionibus graviora passim subire cogantur pericula, dum minora ut plurimum iis praesto sunt adjumenta virtutum, peculiari ac praesentissima indigent vigilantia atque ope Pastorum. Haud igitur mirum si sacro Consilio Christiano Nomini Propagando nil fuerit antiquius quam datis etiam Decretis curare ut a se dependentes Episcopi Vicariique Apostolici in suis Missionibus, quoad fieri posset, absque ulla interruptione residerent. Quam quidem in rem eo usque pervenit Sancta Sedes, ut laudatis Praesulibus sub gravissimis poenis prohibuerit, ne Pontificalia munia in aliena Dioecesi vel Districtu etiam de consensu Ordinarii ullo modo peragerent.

At quoniam, hisce non obstantibus, haud raro contingit ut Praelati Missionum inconsulta Sede Apostolica et absque vera necessitate aut causa canonica perlonga suscipiant itinera, ex quo non mediocria commissae illis Missiones pati possunt detrimenta, propterea Eminentissimi ac Reverendissimi Patres Sacrae hujus Congregationis in generalibus comitiis habitis die 21 Januarii hujus anni expedire censuerunt, ut in memoriam revocarentur praedictorum Praesulum canonicae sanctiones circa Pastorum residentiam, nec non Decreta quae circa ejusdem obligationem edita sunt pro locis Missionum, ne quis videlicet in posterum Dioecesim aut Districtum cui praeest vel ad tempus relinquat absque praevia licentia ejusdem S. Congregationis. Quod quidem dum Amplitudini Tuae significo ex mente Eminentissimorum Patrum, Decreta, de quibus supra, addere non praetermitto (Num. 1).

Praeterea Eminentissimi ac Reverendissimi Patres in iisdem generalibus comitiis statuerunt, utuniversis Episcopis, Vicariis, ac Praefectis Apostolicis Missionum _Quaestiones_ transmittantur pro relatione exhibenda Sacrae Congregationi de statu Dioecesium vel Missionum queis praesunt. Cum enim ii omnes qui Missionibus praeficiuntur praedictam relationem statis temporibus subjicere S. Sedi teneantur, voluit Sacrum Consilium ut eam in posterum exigendam curent ad normam 55 Quaestionum quae in adjecto folio continentur (Num. 2), utque in iis praesertim accuratiores se praebeant, quae ad vitam, honestatem ac scientiam sacerdotum referuntur.

Datum Romae ex Aedibus S. Congregationis de Propaganda Fide die 24 Aprilis 1861.

Amplitudinis Tuae AL. C. BARNABO, Praef.

R. P. D. Archiepiscopo Dublinensi.

Num. 1.

_Decreta et Declarationes S. Congregationis de Propaganda fide super Residentia praesulum in locis missionum._

I.

_In Congregatione Generali coram Sanctissimo habita die_ 28 _Martii Anno_ 1651.

"Sanctitas Sua decrevit quod Episcopi S. Congregationi de Propaganda Fide subordinati non possint exercere Pontificalia in aliis praeterquam in propriis Ecclesiis, etiamsi esset de consensu Ordinariorum sub poena suspensionis ipso facto incurrendae, ac eidem Pontifici reservatae, dummodo a praefata S. Congregatione non sint in certo loco destinati Vicarii Apostolici, seu Administratores alicajus Ecclesiae deputati".

_Similia Decreta prodierunt ab eadem S. Congregatione die 26 Julii 1662 et 17 Julii 1715._

II.

_In Congregatione particulari de Propaganda Fide habita die 7 Maii 1669._

Cum iteratis per S. C. decretis exercitium Pontificalium extra Dioeceses Episcopis ejusdem S. C. assignatas prohiberetur, quaesivit Episcopus Heliopolitanus.

"An dicta decreta intelligenda essent vim suam habere _intra_ fines Europae tantum, an vero extenderentur etiam ad alia loca, per quae transeundum esset, cum ad suas Ecclesias proficisceretur".

"S. Congregatio respondit Decreta prohibentia dictum exercitium Pontificalium extendi ad omnia loca, etiam extra fines Europae".[31]

III.

_In Congregatione Generali habita die 10 Julii 1668._

Eminentissimi ac Reverendissimi Patres S. Consilii Christiano Nom. Propag. attentis expositis contra Episcopos ab eodem S. Consilio dependentes qui cum detrimento suarum Dioecesium eas deserebant ut Romam vel alia loca peterent, statuendum censuerunt.

"Inhibeatur Episcopis S. Congregationi subjectis ne Romam sub quovis praetextu veniant, absque licentia Sacrae Congregationis. Decretum editum Anno 1626 renovarunt".

IV.

DECREE OF THE S. CONG. OF PROPAGANDA _QUOAD USUM PONTIFICALIUM EXTRA DIOCESIUM_.

_Decree of the S. Congregation of Propaganda permitting the English Bishops to exercise Pontificalia within the Three Kingdoms._

Ex negligentia Antistitum circa onus residentiae si ubique mala gravissima obvenirent, potissimum id valet quoad regiones, in quibus ob admixtionem infidelium vel haereticorum gravioribus periculis fideles objiciuntur; proinde Episcopis et Vicariis Apostolicis regionum ad quos S. Congregationis de Propaganda Fide sollicitudo extenditur, indictum haud semel fuit, ne extra propriam Dioecesim vel Vicariatum Pontificalia etiam de consensu Ordinariorum exerceant.

Porro cum dubitari haud valeat de studio Episcoporum Angliae in hujusmodi residentiae lege servanda, iidemque postulaverint, ut tenor regulae hujusmodi in suum favorem relaxetur; S. Congregatio de Propaganda Fide in generali conventu habito die 5 Aprilis 1852 attento quod haud raro necessarium vel opportunum admodum existat, ut iidem admitti possint ad Pontificalia exercenda in aliis Angliae ipsius dioecesibus, aliquando etiam in proximis regionibus Hiberniae et Scotiae, censuit supplicandum Sanctissimo pro relaxatione memoratae inhibitionis in favorem Episcoporum Angliae quoad tria regna unita, in quibus proinde de consensu Ordinariorum Pontificalia iidem exercere valeant.

Hanc vero S. Congregationis sententiam Sanctissimo D. N. Pio PP. IX. ab infrascripto Secretario relatam in Aud. diei 6 ejusdem mensis et anni Sanctitas Sua benigne probavit, et juxta propositum tenorem facultates concessit, contrariis quibuscumque haud obstantibus.

In epistola data die 6 Feb. 1862. Eminentissimus Dominus Cardinalis S. Cong. de Prop. Fide Prefectus ad Archiepiscopum Dublinensem scribens declarat facultatem supra memoratam omnibus Hiberniae praesulibus eodem mode ac Angliae episcopis fuisse a Sanctissimo Domino N. Pio IX. concessam.

[iron cross symbol] PAULUS CULLEN.

FOOTNOTES:

[27] "Praise be to Jesus and Mary".

[28] "Praise be to Jesus and Mary".

[29] "Now and for evermore".

[30] Vid. quae in rem proferuntur in subjecta pagina.

[31] _Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide cum comperisset generalem inhibitionem quae continetur in superioribus Decretis non mediocri quandoque incommodo esse, praesertim quum Antistites ob adversam valetudinem ad ea peragenda quae Episcopalis sunt potestatis vicinum aliquem Praesulem accersere coguntur, in gen. conventu habito die 2 Augusti 1819, censuit supplicandum Sanctissimo pro eorumdem Decretorum moderatione, ita ut_ quando rationabili causa vel urgente necessitate Episcopi seu Vicarii Apostolici ad alienas Dioeceses vel Vicariatus se conferunt, possint sibi invicem communicare facultatem Pontificalia exercendi, dummodo tamen semper accedat Episcopi seu Vicarii loci consensus, inviolatumque de cetero maneat residentiae praeceptum. _Id autem Summus Pontifex Pius PP. VII. in Aud. diei 8 Augusti ejusdem anni ratum habuit ac probavit._

NOTICES OF BOOKS.

I.

_Imagini Scelte della B. Vergine Maria, tratte dalle Catacombe Romane._

[_Select pictures of the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the Roman Catacombs, with explanatory text by Cav. G. B. de Rossi._ Rome, Salviucci, 1863.]

The esteem in which the learned on both sides of the Alps and the sea have long held Cav. de Rossi, dispenses us from the duty which we would otherwise gladly discharge, of expressing in his regard our humble tribute of respect and admiration. But as great reputations can afford to do without small praise, we shall rather establish his claim to our readers' gratitude by availing ourselves of his remarks in the work under notice, to the end that we may show how unmistakably early Christian art bears witness to the veneration paid by the primitive Church to the ever glorious Mother of God. Living as we are in the midst of those who revile us for our devotion to our Blessed Lady, it will be most useful to have at hand, conducted with scientific accuracy, a proof of the antiquity of the sacred tradition we follow in this most cherished practice of our religion. Nor is it only among the vulgar herd of Protestants, or in the ranks of bigoted controversialists, that we meet assailants on this point. Even refined and graceful hands play at times, perhaps unconsciously, with weapons which are not the less dangerous because they come upon us by surprise, and wound us while we think but of taking our pleasure in the fair fields of art. Many causes which we will not here recite, have contributed of late years to diffuse among educated Catholics a knowledge of Christian art; but, among these causes, the late Mrs. Jameson's works have had a very wide range. From what table were her books absent? what library was considered complete without them? Who would think of visiting the Continental galleries without first making a preparatory course with the aid of Mrs. Jameson's pages? And upon the whole, all this is a great gain; but it has its disadvantages as well. We do not now speak of Mrs. Jameson as a critic, or of her judgments on points of art, or of the accuracy of her information on purely technical matters, or of some minor mistakes caused by her ignorance of Catholic usages, as when speaking of the Pax of Maso Finiguerra, so well known in the history of engraving, she takes the Pax to mean the Pix, or vessel for containing the Blessed Sacrament. But in the two subjoined passages there are errors of a more serious character, and in the latter especially there is much which needs the correction contained in De Rossi's observations.

"The early Christians had confounded in their horror of heathen idolatry all imitative art and all artists; they regarded with decided hostility all images, and those who wrought them as bound to the service of Satan and heathenism; and we find all visible representations of sacred personages and actions confined to mystic emblems. Thus, the cross signified Redemption; the fish, Baptism; the ship represented the Church; the serpent, sin or the spirit of evil. When, in the fourth century, the struggle between paganism and Christianity ended in the triumph and recognition of the latter, and art revived, it was, if not in a new form, in a new spirit, by which the old forms were to be gradually moulded and modified. The Christians found the shell of ancient art remaining; the traditionary handicraft still existed: certain models of figure and drapery, etc., handed down from antiquity, though degenerated and distorted, remained in use, and were applied to illustrate, by direct or symbolical representations, the tenets of a purer faith".[32]

"The most ancient representations of the Virgin Mary now remaining are the sculptures on the ancient Christian Sarcophagi, about the third and fourth centuries, and a mosaic in the chapel of San Venanzio at Rome, referred by antiquarians to the seventh century. Here she is represented as a colossal figure majestically draped, standing with arms outspread (the ancient attitude of prayer), and her eyes raised to heaven. Then after the seventh century succeeded her image in her maternal character, seated on a throne with the Infant Saviour in her arms. We must bear in mind, once for all, that from the earliest ages of Christianity the Virgin Mother of our Lord has been selected as the allegorical type of RELIGION in the abstract sense, and to this, her symbolical character, must be referred those representations of later times in which she appears as trampling on the dragon, as folding her votaries within the skirts of her ample robes, as interceding for sinners, as crowned between Heaven and Earth by the Father and the Son".[33]

That these statements are very far from the truth, we now proceed to show.

That our Blessed Lady has been from the earliest ages selected as the type of the Church (not of _Religion in the abstract_, whatever that may mean), is quite true. The most learned antiquarians recognize her in this character in the female figure in prayer, which in the very oldest portion of the catacombs is frequently a pendant to the group of the Good Shepherd. But this fact, which, though incidentally, yet clearly reveals the depth of the feelings of veneration towards Mary which suggested her as a fit type of the Spouse of Christ, is far from establishing her place in art to be purely symbolical, or her character as intercessor, etc., to belong to her only as inasmuch as she is a type of Religion in the abstract. A single glance at the chromolithographs to which De Rossi's text serves as a commentary, will convince every one that Mrs. Jameson's statements cannot be for a moment maintained. The subjects of these exquisite plates are representations of our Blessed Lady, six in number, selected from the many found in the Roman catacombs, and selected in such wise as that they constitute a series from the apostolic era down to the fourth century. The selection has been confined to works of one class. The Blessed Virgin is represented in ancient monuments, chiefly in two ways,--seated and with her Divine Son in her arms, or standing with outstretched hands in the attitude of prayer or intercession. Of the person represented in works of the first class there can be no doubt, especially when the other figures of the group show that it is Mary; the works of the second class are more obscure, although at times the name of Mary is written over the figure. Hence it would require a lengthened examination before we could safely say that a given specimen of this class undoubtedly represents the Blessed Virgin, and this consideration has recommended the selection of types of the first class only. In these monuments, Mary is represented with Jesus in her arms. The subject of the composition is determined by the Magi, who are generally present, though not in every case. When the Magi are absent, there are other marks to show that we look on the Mother of God with the Incarnate Word. Even when other signs are wanting, the very arrangement of the figures, identical with that employed in undoubted paintings of the Blessed Virgin, affords argument enough. The Magi appear standing before her in sculptures on sarcophagi, not only in Rome, but also in other cities of Italy and of France; in diptychs, and other ivories; in bronzes of the fourth and fifth centuries; in the mosaic placed at St. Mary Major's by Sixtus III. in 432. This composition came down from the earliest ages, and is first found in the paintings of the catacombs. From among these De Rossi has selected four specimens of various types, but all anterior to the days of Constantine. Our space will not allow us to describe more than one of these (tav. I.), but that one shall be the oldest, and under every respect the most interesting of them all.