Part 4

How beautiful is the description of one of these monastic rules, that of Benchor, found in the ancient Antiphonary of that monastery, published by Muratori, and quoted by the same distinguished writer:--

"Benchiur bona regula. Recta atque divina. Navis nunquam turbata, Quamvis fluctibus tonsa, Necnon vinca vera, Ex AEgypti transducto, Christo regina apta, Solis luce amicta. Simplex simul atque docta. Undecumque invicta Benchiur bona regula".

After giving this glowing picture of the monasteries of Ireland we are not surprised to find this same learned writer exclaiming, "That the monastic race of the ages of barbarism, the missionary race destined to bear aloft the light of faith and learning amidst the increasing darkness of the west, was the Irish people, whose misfortunes are better known than the great services they rendered to European civilization, and whose wonderful vocation has never been studied as it deserves".

In a future number we hope to enter again upon this most interesting subject, when reviewing a valuable contribution just given to our national literature by the learned Dr. Reeves on the _Culdees of the British Isles_.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] Epiphany.

[3] Tithe.

[4] Advent.

[5] It is certain that all seasons are seasons of Lent and fasting to them.

[6] Matins (?).

ASSOCIATION OF ST. PETER'S PENCE, DUBLIN.

This association was founded in the end of the year 1861, by the pious Catholics of Dublin, for the purpose of aiding the Pope in the distress and difficulties to which he has been reduced by the perfidy and violence of the Sardinian Government and other enemies of the Church of God.

Since its foundation, three years ago, this association has forwarded to Rome the sums of which we publish the annexed account. In a preceding collection, made on the first Sunday of Lent, 1861, about eighteen thousand pounds were contributed in Dublin, to which we do not refer on the present occasion.

All we shall now say is, that the generosity of the faithful of Dublin, and their anxiety to assist the Pope, supply the best proofs of the vitality and strength of their faith.

The Pope is the common father of all, the Chief Pastor of the Church of God, the Vicegerent of Christ, the inheritor of the dignity and office of St. Peter. He is the servant of the servants of God, obliged to toil incessantly for the welfare of the Church and the salvation of souls. Were the benign influence of the Popes destroyed, the Church would split into factions, and unity and Catholicity would cease to distinguish it.

Whilst the successor of St. Peter has the claims of a father and of a pastor, and so many other claims on his children and spiritual subjects, those who look with indifference on his afflictions or who rejoice when he is plundered by his enemies, are liable to the charge of want of filial affection, of gratitude, and indeed of a proper spirit of religion.

It is a consolation to know that the Catholics of almost every country and every diocese of the world have proved themselves worthy of their calling, and made great exertions to relieve the Pope. France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, and even the oppressed and persecuted Catholics of Sardinia, have done their duty most nobly. The consequence is, that by the aid of the alms of the faithful, the Pope is able to meet his engagements, and continue uninterruptedly the administration of the affairs of the Universal Church. And he is powerful in his weakness. At the same time, the excommunicated King of Sardinia and his ministers, notwithstanding the robberies they have committed, find their hands and their treasury quite empty, and must soon terminate in a state of public bankruptcy.

It is evident that our Divine Redeemer watches over the Holy See, and defeats all the assaults of the powers of darkness that are directed against it. It is Heaven that inspires the Catholics of the world to institute associations for the relief of the Vicar of Christ on earth, and to aid in bringing about the triumph of truth over error, and of light over darkness. Ireland, we trust, will always be ready to assist the good cause even from the depths of her poverty. The few who sneer at the sufferings of their father, and refuse him sympathy and relief, are unworthy of the name of Irish Catholics; they are degenerate children of forefathers who died rather than renounce their attachment to the See of Peter.

1861--December 26th, L180 0 0 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._