Article First. On Adoration

135. Notion. Adoration taken in a broader sense is an act by which we attest the excellence of another and our subjection toward him. In this broader sense adoration is the same as worship, and in this sense in Sacred Scripture even angels and men, for example kings, are said to be adored.² Adoration strictly taken is an external act of religion by which we attest the supreme excellence and dominion of God and our perfect dependence on and subjection to Him. This adoration belongs and is owed to God alone.³

a. Adoration comprehends a twofold act: one internal, both of the intellect and of the will, namely acknowledgment of another's excellence and of one's own subjection, and the intention of manifesting veneration and submission outwardly by some sign; and another external, namely an act of humiliation and subjection by which the internal act is outwardly signified.

b. The external acts by which adoration can be exhibited are: a. sacrifice; b. prostration on the ground; c. inclination of head and breast; d. genuflection; e. a kiss impressed upon him who is adored, or upon his garment; f. uncovering of the head, etc.

c. All these external acts of adoration (sacrifice alone excepted) are indifferent and can be exhibited both to God and to creatures; therefore in these acts the species of worship which is rendered to someone depends and is discerned not from the external act, but only from the internal act. For he who by an external act, for example of prostration, intends to submit himself to someone as to God, exhibits an act of latria; he who intends to submit himself as to a friend of God exhibits an act of dulia; he who intends to submit himself as to a powerful man exhibits an act of civil worship.

¹ On sacrifice cf. vol. III, De sacramentis, n. 162 ff.

² Cf. Gen. 18:2; 3 Kings 1:16; Acts 10:25.

³ Matt. 2:11.

136. Division of worship. a. Worship is one kind civil or political, another sacred or religious, according as it is exhibited on account of natural or supernatural excellence.

b. Religious worship is twofold: one which is owed to God on account of His supereminent excellence and supreme dominion; the other which is owed to the saints on account of divine excellence communicated to them by a certain participation. The former is called the worship of latria, which is adoration strictly taken and owed to God alone; the latter is the worship of dulia. This again is twofold: one is the worship of hyperdulia, by which we attest the supereminent supernatural excellence of the Blessed Virgin Mary and our subjection toward her; the other is the worship of dulia, by which we attest the supernatural excellence of the saints and our subjection toward them.

c. Some worship is absolute, by which someone is worshiped on account of excellence inherent in him; other worship is relative, by which something is worshiped on account of excellence external to it, or because of relation to a person holy in himself, excellent in himself.

With absolute worship of latria, God, the Most Holy Trinity, Jesus Christ, and the sacrament of the Eucharist are adored; with absolute worship of hyperdulia, the Blessed Virgin Mary is honored; with absolute worship of dulia, angels and saints are honored. With relative worship of latria, the most holy name of Jesus, an image of the crucified one, the holy cross, the instruments of Christ's Passion - the crown of thorns, nails, lance, etc. - are honored; with relative worship of hyperdulia, images of the Blessed Virgin Mary are honored; with relative worship of dulia, relics and images of saints are honored.

d. Some worship is public, which has been instituted by the Church and is exhibited in the name of the Church; other worship is private, which either has not been instituted by the Church, or is not done in the name of the Church.

Two things are required for public worship: that it be instituted by the Church, and that it be performed in the name of the Church by a person deputed for this. Hence the divine office recited by a layman is private worship; likewise prayers recited commonly by men of the whole parish in church are private worship. On the contrary, the divine office recited outside choir by a cleric constituted in sacred orders is public worship.

137. On the precept of adoration. 1. By precept both natural and positive we are obliged to adore God with internal and external worship of latria, and Him alone. This precept is natural: for since God, the principle and end of all things, is of highest and most perfect excellence, He must be adored with the most perfect worship.¹ At the same time the precept is positive: The Lord your God shall you adore, and Him alone shall you serve.²

2. From the virtue of religion we are without doubt bound sometimes to worship God as the first principle and lord of all things; but the time and manner in which this precept must be satisfied have not been determined by God. But it has been established by the Church that God should be worshiped by the whole Christian people on Sundays and feast days through hearing Mass and religious cessation from labor. Therefore he who observes the precept of the Church at the same time satisfies the divine precept. But he who cannot observe the precept of the Church, in order to satisfy the divine law, ought at least several times in the year (on any days whatever) to assist at the sacrifice of the Mass.

¹ That by the law of nature worship, both internal and external, both individual and social, is owed to God, moral philosophers and apologists show at length. Cf. C. Gutberlet, Lehrbuch der Apologetik, 2nd ed., Munster: Theissing, 1895, I, p. 25 ff.; G. Wilmers, De religione revelata, Ratisbon: Pustet, 1897, p. 16 ff.; Th. Meyer, Institutiones iuris naturae, Freiburg: Herder, 1900, II, p. 24.

² Matt. 4:10.