Chapter X — On the obligation of Canons to frequent choir, that they may earn the daily distributions; and on the causes excusing them from the frequenting of choir

I. Question I. Does a Canon, or Prebendary, sin deadly who, legitimate cause being absent, is absent from choir? Answer. The Theologians commonly affirm it, and gather this from the Council of Trent, session 24, chapter 12. For these are bound to choir by a stricter tie than Regulars. Wherefore Tamburini does not excuse Canons from choir even if there were only two, as he excuses Regulars. Canons are also guilty of sin who are absent from choir with the intention of forgoing the distributions owed for the time during which they are absent, because prebendaries are bound to frequent choir not only for the distributions, as though hired for a wage, but chiefly on account of the primary institution of the benefice. And this opinion the graver Theologians defend — Suárez, Vasquez, the Salmanticenses, and Leander. But whether a Canon sins mortally who, beyond the time of his vacation, is absent from choir once or twice, or for a single day, without just cause, I do not dare to define: because questions of mortal sin are not to be decided without evident reason.

II. Question II. Are Canons bound to chant the psalms and sing in choir, in such a way that they do not satisfy by mere presence, or by reciting privately in a subdued voice? Answer. Canons are not bound to sing the chant called figured, but are bound to chant the psalms and sing according to the customary rite of their own Church.

III. The Salmanticenses teach that, by a custom introduced especially in Spain, Canons or Beneficiaries are not bound of themselves to sing or chant in choir; but it suffices for fulfilling their duty and earning the distributions...

to attend, the burden of singing being left to the Ministers and Chaplains. They also allege Suárez, but falsely.

IV. This opinion is false to me, and disapproved not only by the graver Theologians, but also by several Councils. St. Charles Borromeo, part 2, title 38; the Council of Bordeaux in the year 1582; the Council of Tours in the same year; the fourth Council of Milan, part 2, chapter 13; the Council of Basel, session 21; the provincial Council of Florence in the year 1573 — all command that Canons and Prebendaries chant the psalms in choir according to the rite prescribed by the Church. Canons, then, do not satisfy by mere presence, but by vocal psalmody and chant. "They sing," you will say, "through the Mansionaries and Chaplains." But the burden of frequenting choir and of paying the divine office touches and affects Canons first. Just as their residence and presence cannot be supplied by others, so neither can the debt of reciting the office in choir together, in a clear and raised voice.

V. Our opinion is confirmed by the supreme Pontiff Benedict XIV, who in his constitution Cum semper, which stands in the Bullarium, Tome 1, number 103, page 366, prescribes these things, § 24: "Indeed I know that in some metropolitan and cathedral Churches this opinion has prevailed among the Canons, that they contend they sufficiently fulfill their duty while they are present in choir — even if they impose silence upon themselves, and do not join in the chant with the Beneficiaries or Mansionaries who are chanting the psalms. In confirmation of this opinion, inveterate customs, peculiar statutes, or even alleged privileges of their Churches are commonly adduced by these same men. But since the Tridentine Synod, session 24, chapter 12, speaking of the Dignitaries and Canons who must be present in choir, says that one of their offices is, in the choir instituted for chanting the psalms, to praise the name of God reverently, distinctly, and devoutly with hymns and canticles; and since there are altogether few Chapters in which the Canons attend choir in that manner, and therefore it is recognized that those few dissent from the discipline received in the universal Church; and since, moreover, that opinion, having never been proposed for interpretation to the Congregation of the Council of Trent, has been examined only to be at once exploded and disapproved — although it was upheld by presumed customs and other foundations and reasons, with the Canons even of the patriarchal Churches of this our city pressing the point; and since, finally, the same judgment is found to have been pronounced by several provincial Councils, approved and confirmed even by this apostolic See — nothing now seems to remain but that the fewer conform themselves to the law of all. Indeed it is by no means clear to us by what peculiar title supported the Canons of this or that Church have persuaded themselves that they satisfy their office by simple presence in choir without singing the divine psalmody. But unless there stands ready for them an apostolic privilege or indult — not presumed or abrogated, but legitimate and in force — it is rightly and deservedly to be feared that these men, while so conducting themselves, do not at all make their own the fruits of the prebends and distributions, and consequently that they are bound to their restitution. Wherefore it will be yours, venerable Brothers, to lay all these things open to them, that it be a fraud neither upon us nor upon you before the divine Judge, if in a matter of such great moment — since it regards proximately the very worship of God — we are found to have fostered and confirmed by our dissimulation and silence the abuses and corruptions which we ought to have uprooted by arguing and rebuking, etc." Given at Rome, at St. Mary Major, on the 19th day of August, 1744, the fifth year of our Pontificate.

VI. Of a cast-away and desperate conscience would those Canons be who, blind in so great a light, and stopping their ears to such luminous documents, should persist in a depraved corruption. The supreme Pontiff explodes the mask of the opposite custom by the authority alleged of the Council of Trent. He adds that the sacred Congregation of the Council, erected at Rome, has disapproved this putrid custom as often as it was proposed to it. Whither now will Canons and Prebendaries betake themselves?

VII. The Pontiff, they say, does not define the matter. For he concludes: It is rightly and deservedly to be feared that these men, while so conducting themselves, do not at all make their own the fruits of the prebends and distributions. "To be feared," says the Pontiff, not "to be defined." Must what the Pontiff declares has been so often defined by several Councils be defined anew? Does the Pontiff not declare that the Congregation of the Council, and several Provincial Councils confirmed by the holy See, have disapproved the lax opinion and the depraved corruption? Do the Vatican thunderbolts alone bend down the necks of the obstinate? Unless these darts seek the throat, certain men by no means acquiesce in reasons, however most luminous — men who cavil at words, and do not seriously and with a docile mind meditate the spirit of the apostolic constitutions.

VIII. Let them hear again, then, Benedict XIV, who in another of his diplomas, given to the Patriarch Daniele Delfino of Aquileia, whose beginning is Dilecte Fili... Preclara decora, confirms what he said in the aforesaid constitution, and closes every crevice for escape. "Furthermore, we do not wish it to be numbered among so many and so great privileges granted to that same Chapter and Canons, that which — as is known equally to you as to us — introduced by ancient tradition against the sanctions of the sacred canons, and especially against our constitution whose beginning is Cum super oblatas, is not only contended for but even observed by the Canons themselves: namely, that of being present in choir only, and assisting with the other Mansionaries, Chaplains, Acolytes, and Clerics who chant and sing the psalms, but never of chanting or singing the psalms with them — although we have learned that some of these, holding a different opinion, are agitated by anguishes of conscience from this, that they judge they have not for that reason made the fruits their own. We therefore ask and urgently require of you, beloved Son, that you not only strive utterly to uproot and eradicate this abuse and corruption, discordant with ecclesiastical discipline and contrary to the canonical ordinations and also to our own constitution, but that you also sweetly and firmly admonish and exhort them that henceforth they attend and assist in choir with that reverence which is fitting and which they are bound to, and with equal piety, attention, and vigilance strive and contend to sing or chant the psalms with the rest. Then you shall proclaim to them, and make known, that we — as we declare and enjoin to you by these our letters in the form of a Brief — decree and ordain, as we have intimated in the same our constitution, that they and their successor Canons, being present and assisting in choir but not chanting or singing the psalms, do not in any way make the fruits their own from the prebends and distributions, and are and will be subject to restitution. But, mercifully indulging those who, agitated by the stings of conscience over this matter, take refuge with you, we grant and impart to you the faculty that, either through yourself or through others to be deputed by you, each and every Canon who perceives that he has failed in singing or chanting the psalms in choir with the others (provided he promise that he will henceforth take entire care to be present and assist in choir, and to sing or chant with the others) may be able and empowered to obtain absolution from the fault, and a dispensation from all the fruits unduly received. Furthermore, we will and command that no indults or privileges of this kind — which we grant and bestow, by these same present letters, upon each present and future Canon, in regard of your merits — shall avail those Canons who, although present and assisting in choir, nevertheless do not sing or chant the psalms at all. Furthermore we ask you, our beloved Son, and exhort you in the Lord, that with the same zeal with which we, inclined by your supplications..."

by your supplications, have increased these same Canons with new privileges of apostolic benignity and authority, take care to satisfy our own reasoning and yours as Pastors, to be rendered to Jesus Christ the eternal Judge, the Prince of Pastors; and, this abuse and corruption being utterly removed, that you strive to promote and increase divine worship through the chant of divine psalmody, so that not less the Canons themselves than we ourselves may in turn deserve to obtain an eternal reward from God, the bestower of all good things. Meanwhile we desire the apostolic blessing to be the auspice of heavenly protection, and the pledge of our zealous will to gratify you, which we most lovingly impart to you, our beloved Son, and to these same Canons. Given at Rome, at St. Mary Major, under the Fisherman's ring, on the 19th day of January, 1747, the eighth year of our Pontificate."

IX. If the Pontiff in the earlier constitution said it is to be feared, in this latest diploma he pronounces that they do not make the fruits their own in any way, and declares the Canons subject to restitution. This petty opposite opinion runs contrary not only to reasons, to Councils, and to pontifical authority, but to common sense itself. Pious Faithful, Christian Princes, have given goods and rich revenues to Churches, that Ecclesiastics, set apart from worldly cares, established as intercessors and advocates between God and the people, might celebrate the divine praises, and render God propitious to the people. What then? Have the Faithful enriched Churches with revenues, and indeed most abundant ones, so that lord Prebendaries and Canons might exhibit themselves in choir as statues, trunks, and stocks? These things, say the cited authors, savor not of unseemliness, but display comeliness and splendor: since the Canons and Dignitaries adorn and grace the Church by their own presence and mute lips, especially in the more celebrated Basilicas; while the Chaplains and Mansionaries chant and sing. Is it unbecoming for the lord Canons to address, praise, and celebrate the praises of God with their own lips? Through their ministers, the Chaplains and Mansionaries, they dare to address God. Come now. If you had appointed an Advocate, a price paid, to plead your cause before the Prince, and to render him favorable to you, would he be discharging his office if, no word having been made to the Prince on your behalf, he presented himself to the Prince as a statue? What if he addressed the Prince only through his servants? You would cry out: I hired you, I paid you, that you should plead my cause. Hurl the same against Canons and Prebendaries mute in choir. Why did Christians and Princes enrich you with annual revenues? Why did they bind you to frequent choir? What is the purpose of choir? The psalmody by which God is praised, and made propitious to the faithful people. For this reason, then, you ought to be present in choir: that by psalms and hymns you may avert the divine vengeance from the people. Therefore, if you do not chant the psalms, the presence of your body is a mockery and a laughing-stock. You sin, if you are absent in body; therefore you sin, if you are silent in mouth, and your spirit wanders elsewhere. These things are so luminous that they could illumine even the blind themselves.

X. Question III. Do those absent from choir for a legitimate cause acquire not only the distributions owed for their own presence, but also those that accrue from others who are absent without cause? Answer. Some affirm it; but the more probable and true opinion denies it. It suffices that they acquire what is owed for their own presence. If in some place the opposite custom prevails, that custom must be kept.

XI. Question IV. Can Prebendaries who are present rightly give to those absent without cause the distributions? Answer. This gift, and mutual collusion, the Council of Trent, session 24, chapter 12, forbids. The Theologians dispute whether the Tridentine so forbids these things that they are invalid, and not merely illicit. Some deny it; but the affirming opinion is true: since the Council forbids all collusion, remission, and donation, so that all hope be cut off from the absent of obtaining, in whatever way, the distributions lost on account of unjust absence. Can each not give his own goods? True enough. A Prebendary can give the distributions he has received to whomever he wishes; but before receiving and possessing them, since he has only a right to them, he would be remitting, not giving. But remission is forbidden by the Council. Moreover, donation is forbidden if a tacit collusion intervenes. Canons absent and present could enter into a mutual collusion, and under the mask of a gift mutually remit the distributions to one another. Let them give to one another, if they wish, their own goods, outside this case of the distributions.

XII. Question V. What are the causes excusing Canons from the frequenting of choir? Answer. Three are assigned: infirmity of body, a just and reasonable necessity, and the evident utility of the Church. As to the first, only a grave, not a light, infirmity excuses. What infirmity is grave, and what light, cannot be absolutely defined, but must be left to the judgment of a prudent man. If a Canon dwells outside the place of his residence without just cause, and there falls ill, he does not enjoy the privilege granted to the sick, because he is reputed absent through his own fault, and so does not make the distributions his own. Those laboring under gout, which impedes going out of the house and access to choir, acquire the distributions. The same must be said of old men who cannot leave the house without probable danger of a grave infirmity. It is a lax and false opinion of those who assert that men of seventy are exempt from choir, on the ground that their very advanced age is itself a disease. In some it is a disease which can excuse; not so in others. Therefore the proposition, stated absolutely, is false: for the septuagenarian, as above, if he has strength, is bound to recite.

XIII. A reasonable necessity is reckoned when the frequenting of choir would bring about some grave harm to honor, life, or fortune. He who by a Physician's counsel stays at home to take medicine, or to be bled, does not lose the distributions; nor does he who is captured by enemies, who is detained by force, or who does not leave his house from a just fear of an enemy. Those absent from the place of residence out of fear of a plague can receive the fruits of the benefice, but not the distributions: since, if they do not wish to be subject to the common danger, neither ought they to receive the advantage. He who has the care of souls can in no way be absent. One unjustly detained in prison acquires the distributions, but not one justly detained. Similarly, one justly excommunicated loses the distributions, but not one subject to unjust excommunication, provided he takes care to be absolved from the excommunication. One justly excommunicated, though present in choir, does not acquire the distributions, nor the fruits of the benefice. Garcia asserts that the contrary custom prevails in Spain. One justly suspended loses the fruits of the benefice and the distributions, although he attends choir; not so one unjustly suspended, who acquires the distributions even absent from choir. Similarly, when a Church is under interdict, if the Canons did not give cause for the Interdict, they acquire the distributions. But in the time of cessation from divine offices, during which the Canons cannot celebrate the divine praises, they lose the distributions, because Gregory X so declared, chapter Si Canonici. Nor is the reasoning the same for an Interdict and for a cessation: because with respect to the latter there is a prohibition, but not with respect to the former. When a Church is polluted, the Canons acquire the distributions, because it is not through their fault that it is polluted. An irregular person acquires the distributions, because irregularity does not impede attending the divine offices.

XIV. The third cause excusing from the frequenting of choir is the evident utility of the Church, which must be grave and manifest, and of one's own Church, not another's. A doubtful utility does not confer this privilege. The utility of the universal Church produces both fruits and distributions, provided it be manifest. Now there is grave and manifest utility when, by the consent of the Chapter or the Ordinary, it is so judged; and then the absent person acquires the distributions and fruits, even if he be outside the place of the benefice. A Canon sent by his own Bishop to visit the thresholds of the Apostles acquires the distributions, because he then does the business of the Church. The same must be said of a Canon accompanying his Bishop to the same thresholds. A Bishop can send only one...

but he can take two with him to the aforesaid thresholds. But a Canon who accompanied another Church's name, or another Bishop, to the aforesaid thresholds, would not acquire the distributions. If a Parish priest were sent by the Bishop to visit the thresholds of the Apostles, he could receive the distributions only for a period of two months, because beyond this interval the Bishop cannot occupy the curate of souls in other business if the pastoral ministry is thereby impeded. A Canon sent by the Bishop to a general or provincial Council as Theologian, Canonist, or Procurator would acquire the distributions. But if the Canon be a Bishop, and go as Bishop, not as Canon, then he would not acquire the distributions, unless he transacted the business of his own Church. Similarly a Canon occupied by the Chapter in computing the Church's revenues, of the common fund or of the fabric, acquires the distributions. A Canon elected Vicar by the Chapter, or provisor, when the See is vacant, acquires the distributions while absent from choir on account of the evident utility of the Church; not so if he were elected Vicar of the Bishop, because then he would serve the Bishop, not the Church. An Archdeacon too, visiting the Church or the Church's estates, acquires the distributions. He who at the time of the divine office confesses his own sins does not acquire the distributions. The Cathedral Penitentiary, who at the time of the divine office hears confessions, does not lose the distributions; nor do other Prebendaries who, by mandate of a Superior, on account of a great concourse, are occupied in such a ministry; but other Prebendaries who spontaneously hear confessions would lose the distributions. A Prebendary to whom the cure of souls is annexed acquires the distributions while he devotes himself to administering the sacraments, just as one who is occupied in defending the rights of the benefice acquires them.

XV. A Canon Theologian absent from choir to give lectures or to preach acquires the distributions on the days on which he exercises these duties; not so on the days on which he prepares himself for these same ministries. The reasonable customs of localities must nevertheless be regarded. Prebendaries lecturing on Theology in some University, or in a General House of Studies, acquire the fruits of the prebend, but not the distributions. For only the Prebendary who lectures in his own Church acquires the distributions. Parish priests publicly lecturing on Theology do not enjoy this privilege if they are absent from their own parishes for the sake of lecturing. Prebendaries devoted to study in some University acquire the fruits of the benefice, but not the distributions — provided they apply themselves to Canon Law, to Theology, to sacred Scripture; if they study Civil Law, they do not enjoy this privilege. Such studying Prebendaries must, however, obtain license from the Ordinary, that they may be able to receive the fruits. If these Prebendaries are Parish priests, they cannot be absent from their own parishes even by license of the Bishop, as the Tridentine prescribes. Those who are absent from choir for the sake of study acquire the fruits of the benefice for five years, even if the benefice consists solely of distributions: because in this case the distributions take the place of the fruits, and put on their nature. Non-curate Canons who are absent for three months each year gain the fruits, but not the distributions. To enjoy this privilege, it is required that they reside for the whole year and frequent choir. Hence a Canon who takes possession in the middle of the year does not enjoy the privilege of three months, but only half of that same privilege. This privilege can be used either before or after a residence of nine months. Those who are absent from choir for a notable part of the year are unworthy of this privilege. A Canon who holds a double benefice, such as a Canonry and a Deanery, acquires simple, not double, distributions, which are given on account of attendance, which, since it is single, one distribution alone ought to correspond to it. And let this suffice concerning the Canonical Hours. For of the various customs of Churches nothing occurs to be said, since almost every Church has its own usages and customs.