On the First and Second Precepts of the Church

What are the precepts of the Church; what of tithes? There are indeed very many precepts of the Church which concern particular states of men. But the precepts of the Church which regard all states of men are commonly numbered as six. We will speak of the former in the treatise on Particular States; of the latter it will be necessary to speak here. Struggl init.

But here we omit the precept concerning tithes to be paid; since in very many places, by a convention entered into with the Church, or by legitimate prescription, they have been extinguished. Yet the obligation always remains, confirmed by natural law through positive divine law, that the faithful supply what is necessary for the sustenance of clerics exercising the care of souls. But in the aforesaid places provision has already been made otherwise for this necessity. But where neither the aforesaid convention nor legitimate prescription was present, they are still owed and are to be paid to the pastor. Praedial tithes, which are received from lands, are owed to the pastor in whose territory the estates are situated. Personal tithes, which are received from things which someone acquires by his own industry, are owed to the pastor from whom the sacraments are received. - Tithes are owed both from religion as a sign of the universal dominion of God, whence not to pay them is a graver sin of irreligion; and from justice, for those who serve the altar ought to live from the altar; hence under obligation of restitution "tithes are required from debt, and those who are unwilling to give them invade another's goods." St. Thomas, 2. 2, q. 87.; Quodl. 2, a. 8.; Quodl. 6, a. 10.; L. 1. 3, n. 42.; H. A. tr. 20, n. 85.; tit. de Decim.; Trid. s. 25, C. 12 de R.; Conc. Plen. Amer. Lat. n. 832, 833.; E. M. In the Catechism published by order of the Holy Father Pius X on 18 Oct. 1912 and edited in 1913, the precept of paying tithes is not had. But in its place the fourth precept is put: To assist the necessities of the Church by contributing according to the laws or customs. Here likewise we omit the prohibition of the solemnity of nuptials. For it is treated in the treatise on Matrimony. In the aforesaid Catechism of the Holy Father Pius X, the fifth precept of the Church is: "Not to celebrate weddings solemnly in prohibited times."

What is the first and second precept of the Church? The first is that the faithful honor feasts instituted by the authority of the Church, especially by abstaining from servile works, C. 1 seqq. de Consecr. D. 3.; tit. de Feriis. The other is that at least on Sundays and feasts the faithful be present at sacred worship, C. Missas de Consecr. D. I. Hence these two precepts are intimately connected with each other. Struggl l. c.; Gousset 1091. In the praised Catechism of Pius X five precepts of the Church are numbered, of which the first is: "To hear Mass on Sunday and the other commanded feasts."

What is the power of the Church to institute feast days? The Church enjoys the power of instituting feasts and of commanding their sanctification under grave obligation to all the faithful, as one which has received from Christ all power in order to the spiritual good of the faithful. The Pope alone can proclaim feasts for the universal Church, because he alone enjoys jurisdiction over the universal Church. Bishops also can institute feast days in their own diocese; for they have the faculty of making laws in their own diocese. Yet from C. Conquestus ult. de Fer. Bishops are forbidden to establish new feasts without consulting the clergy and faithful. But whether at present Bishops can still institute new feasts, the first opinion affirms, provided they are instituted in honor of Saints, not of Blesseds, with the counsel of some clerics employed; yet they are admonished that they should strive to abstain. Urban VIII, C. Universa, 13 Sept. 1642.; Bonac. tom. 2, d. 6, q. un., p. 1, n. 3 seqq. The second opinion denies it from the Response of the S. R. C. 23 June 1703, n. 2113. And a Bishop certainly could not institute new feasts in those places in which, with Governments or the Bishops themselves requesting, the Holy See willed, by determining the number of feasts, to establish a uniform manner for all of sanctifying feast days. Bouix de Iur. Liturg. p. 4, c. 4.; E. M. Cf. following number.

Which are the feast days to be observed? - Many feasts were formerly instituted, which in the course of times went into desuetude, or were abolished by ecclesiastical authority itself. Urban VIII, C. Universa, 13 Sept. 1642, suppressed many feasts and established a new list of feast days for the universal Church. To this catalogue must be added the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the B. V. M., Clem. XI, C. Commissi nobis, 6 Dec.

1708. But from these some less solemn ones, such as feasts of the Apostles, were later diminished, namely by the prohibition of servile works being removed; and these thereafter in some places were entirely abrogated. But some also from the more solemn ones were in some places transferred to Sunday. But, both as regards those abrogated and those transferred, nothing at all was changed as regards the office and Mass, ecclesiastical functions and choir, all of which therefore must be observed as before the abrogation or transfer. S. R. C. 18 Oct. 1818, 23 May 1835. Understand a perpetual transfer: for if a transfer is sometimes made on account of some impediment, only the office, not the observance of the feast, is transferred. Likewise nothing was changed as regards the obligation imposed on pastors of celebrating Mass for the people, and therefore one must still stand by the catalogue of Urban VIII. Pius IX, C. Amantissimi, 3 May 1858. - L. 267. Pius VI, on account of the calamity of the times, condoned for the Roman faithful the obligation of celebrating certain feasts. But these following are: namely feasts of the Holy Apostles, besides the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul; the two weekdays which follow Easter and Pentecost; the Finding of the Holy Cross; the feasts of St. Anne, St. Lawrence, St. Stephen, the Holy Innocents, St. Sylvester, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the feasts of St. Michael and St. Joseph; yet the last three were afterward restored. In France, after the Indult of Cardinal Caprara, 9 Apr. 1802, from the concession of the Supreme Pontiff Pius VII, only four feasts besides Sundays remain of precept for the faithful, namely 1. the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord; 2. of his Ascension; 3. of the Assumption of the B. Virgin Mary; 4. the Feast of All Saints. From the same Indult the feasts of the Epiphany of the Lord, of the Most Holy Body of Christ, of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and of the Holy Patrons of each diocese and parish are to be transferred to the Sunday next occurring. The remaining feasts, formerly commanded, are now celebrated on the same days as before, but without any obligation for the faithful. In the United States of America, from the concession of Leo XIII, 25 Nov. 1885, only six feast days are to be observed: 1. of the Immaculate Conception of the B. V. M.; 2. of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ; 3. of the Circumcision of Our Lord Jesus Christ; 4. of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ; 5. of the Assumption of the B. V. M.; 6. of All Saints. The solemnity of the feast of the Most Holy Body of Christ and of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul is transferred to the Sunday next following.

For Spain, Pius IX conceded by Decree 2 May 1867: 1. that there be derogation from the precept of hearing Mass on feast days of the second order, commonly called Mass days; 2. that there be derogation from the same precept and moreover from the precept of abstaining from servile works on Monday after Easter and after Pentecost, on the day immediately following the feast of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and on the day of the Nativity of the B. Virgin Mary and of St. John the Baptist; 3. that in each diocese only one principal Patron be venerated, who must be designated by the Holy See. Wherefore besides Sundays the feasts still in force are those of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Circumcision, Epiphany; Immaculate Conception, Purification, Annunciation, Assumption of the B. Virgin Mary; Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ; Corpus Christi; Saints Peter and Paul, St. James the Greater; the feast of All Saints and of the Principal Patron of each diocese. But by Decree 12 Dec. 1867 the feast day of the Nativity of the B. Virgin Mary was restored. Finally, by Decree 28 Jan. 1890, in Spain and in regions subject to it, as also previously in several regions of Italy, the feast of St. Joseph is again to be observed as of precept. A. S. S. v. 24, p. 192.

To the feasts which the Church celebrates it was moreover licit to add the feast of the Patron, not Titular, or of one of the principal Patrons: 1. of a kingdom or diocese; and 2. of a place, where they happened to be had or venerated. Urban VIII, C. Universa; Pius VI, B. Ex quo divina, 7 June 1780. And where each feast has been introduced, each must be observed. S. R. C. 22 Mar. 1817. But it is not licit to choose Patrons except with the consent of the people and clergy and Bishop, and these Saints, not Blesseds, with the cause of the election known and approved by the S. R. C. Thus the same S. R. C. 23 Mar. 1630. - Ferrar. v. Festa n. 2 seqq.; L. 266.; E. M. But to the feasts which the Church celebrates it is no longer licit to add the feast of the Patron. At present, from the Motu Proprio of Pius X, Supremi disciplinae, 2 July 1911, concerning feast days, the feast days of Patrons are not subject to the ecclesiastical precept of hearing Mass and abstaining from servile works. Local Ordinaries can transfer the external solemnity to the Sunday next following. From S. C. C. 3 Apr. 1909, feast days recently suppressed are: In the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem there have been suppressed the feasts of the Holy Apostles Philip and James, St. John the Evangelist, and the Finding of the Holy Cross outside the city of Jerusalem, and also the second weekdays after Easter of the Resurrection and the second weekdays after Pentecost. - In the Apostolic Vicariate of Egypt the obligation of hearing Mass on the feast of St. Mark the Evangelist, 25 Apr., has been suppressed. In the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising the feast of St. Benno, 16 June, has been suppressed, transferred perpetually to the Sunday next following, with the obligation also of applying Mass for the people removed. In the Archdiocese of Bologna there have been suppressed the second weekday after Easter and Pentecost, the day immediately following the Nativity of the Lord, and the feasts of St. Anne, 26 July, St. Sylvester, 31 Dec. By common law now, from the Motu Proprio of Pius X, Supremi Disciplinae, 2 July 1911, the feast days besides Sundays are eight: the Nativity, Circumcision, Epiphany, and Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Immaculate Conception and Assumption of the B. V. M., the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, All Saints. If any feast from those enumerated has legitimately been abolished or transferred, let nothing be changed without consulting the Apostolic See. But if Bishops judge that some feast from those abrogated should be preserved, let them refer the matter to the Holy See. If on any of these feasts a day of abstinence or fast falls, dispensation is given from each; and the same dispensation from abstinence and fast exists on feasts of Patrons, if those fall on these feasts, and they are celebrated with a great concourse of people.

Feast days to be observed in Missions must thereafter be observed in places separated from the former Mission. On feasts suppressed by the very recent Motu Proprio Supremi disciplinae, of the Most Holy Body of Christ, - of the Purification, Annunciation, and Nativity of the B. V. M., - of St. Joseph, spouse of the B. V. M., of St. John the Baptist, and of the Patron of each place or diocese, the obligation of making the Sacred Offering for the people remains. S. C. C. 8 Aug. 1911. In cathedral and collegiate churches, as regards the solemnity of Masses and Vespers in the choral office, the same things are to be observed as before the suppression. S. C. C. 8 Aug. 1911. By force of the very recent law, feasts from vow or statute, sanctioned even by ecclesiastical authority, are declared to be excluded from the number of feasts to which the obligation of hearing Mass adheres. S. C. C. 8 Aug. 1911. The law concerning feast days to be observed has been declared to be immediately in force. Namely, once it has been promulgated, the obligation concerning the observance of feasts on suppressed feast days now ceases altogether. S. C. C. 8 Aug. 1911. Faculty is granted to the Ruthenians, in the Canadian region and in the United States of North America, of observing feast days and fasts according to the custom of the places in which they live. Yet on Sundays and feasts falling in each rite on the same day, the Ruthenians are held to be present at the sacred liturgy in the church of their own rite, if it exists in the place. S. C. de P. F. 8 Aug. 1913, art. 33.; Pius X, XVIII Kal. Jul. 1907, art. 26. Whenever the feast of the Annunciation of the B. V. M. is impeded either on Friday in Parasceve or on Holy Saturday, as often as this occurs it is to be celebrated on Monday after Low Sunday with solemnity and cessation from work. S. R. C. 23 Apr. 1895, n. 3850. If on Friday in Parasceve another feast of precept falls, e.g., of the Patron, the precept of hearing Mass is not had, while the precept of abstaining from servile works remains. S. R. C. 20 Mar. 1706, n. 2164.; 10 Dec. 1773, n. 2305. If another feast falls on Holy Saturday, the transfer of the office and the obligation of hearing Mass to another unimpeded day is remitted to the judgment of the Bishop, S. R. C. 7 Aug. 1694, n. 1911.; or the obligation of hearing Mass ceases, while the obligation of abstaining from servile works remains, S. R. C. 2 Sept. 1903.