The External Acts of Religion

131. Notion. Religion is defined: a moral virtue inclining the will to exhibiting to God the worship owed to Him as the supreme principle of all things.

a. Religion is said in a threefold sense: a. it signifies the whole relation of man to God, which embraces the truths declaring this relation and the duties which are derived from it; b. it signifies the special virtue by which we render to God the worship owed; c. it signifies the state of those who are perpetually deputed to divine worship through profession of the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Ethics and apologetics treat of religion taken in the first sense; dogmatic and moral theology treat of religion taken in the second sense; canon law treats of religion taken in the third sense.

b. Worship is to be distinguished from honor: honor is an external signification of the excellence of another; worship is an external signification of excellence with submission toward him who is worshiped. Hence worship cannot be exhibited except to a superior in some kind of excellence, but honor can be exhibited even to an equal and inferior. The excellence on account of which worship is owed to God is this: that He is the supreme principle of all things.

¹ St. Thomas, II-II, qq. 81-100; Suarez, De virtute religionis, tr. 1-6; Laymann, Theologia moralis, bk. 4, De virtute religionis; Castropalao, Operis moralis, pars II-III, De virtute religionis et ei annexis; Bouquillon, De virtute religionis, Bruges: Steyaert, 1880; J. B. Wirthmuller, Die moralische Tugend der Religion, Freiburg: Herder, 1881.

132. Object of religion. The material object of religion is the worship itself to be exhibited to God, or those actions by which God is worshiped and His excellence is signified, such as praises, prayers, inclinations, genuflections, sacrifices, etc. The formal object is not divine excellence, but the natural moral goodness which is found in divine worship: for to exhibit a sign of divine excellence and of our subjection is fitting to rational nature and owed to God. But the reason on account of which worship is morally good and owed to God is His infinite excellence. Therefore, although divine excellence is not the formal object of religion, nevertheless it is the reason why God is to be worshiped, and therefore the foundation of religion or its remote formal object.

133. Religion a moral virtue. Religion is a moral virtue, not a theological one; nevertheless among the moral virtues it is the most excellent. Therefore sins opposed to religion are the gravest after sins against the theological virtues.

a. Moral: For theological virtues immediately attain God Himself as their proper object, both material and formal; but the object of religion is not God. For religion is not immediately occupied with God, but with actions, whether internal or external, by which God is worshiped; and its formal object is the aspect of debt and fittingness which is derived from the relation of creature to Creator. Therefore the proximate and immediate object of religion is not God but the worship of God, just as the immediate object of justice is not the neighbor, but the thing owed to the neighbor; but the end and term of religion is God, just as the term of justice is the neighbor.¹

b. Most excellent: because it rightly disposes man toward God Himself, not toward himself or toward other men, and because therefore the term and object to which worship is exhibited is God Himself on account of His excellence. Hence it is not strange that Christ the Lord especially gave men the most excellent example of this virtue.²

¹ Cf. Lessius, De iustitia et iure, bk. 2, c. 36, n. 7 ff.

² Cf. Heb. 10:7; Luke 23:46; and very many testimonies in which He is read to have prayed to God the Father and to have given thanks to Him.

134. Acts of the virtue of religion. a. The proper acts of the virtue of religion suppose an act of the intellect by which the highest excellence of God and our entire subjection and dependence are known; and the same acts contain an act of the will by which it intends to exhibit to God the worship and honor owed, and therefore commands certain acts, whether internal or external, by which that worship is actually exhibited.

b. The act of religion immediately elicited is devotion, or the prompt will and intention of worshiping God: for devotion is defined as a prompt will of doing those things which pertain to the worship of God. The acts of religion mediately elicited and commanded by devotion are all those acts, whether internal or external, by which the worship owed to God is exhibited; but they are chiefly six: adoration, prayer, sacrifice, vow, oath, and the sanctification of certain days.

Of these acts, those by which religion is principally exercised (adoration, prayer, sacrifice) pertain to the first precept; those by which it is secondarily exercised (vow, oath) pertain to the second; finally that act by which public and common worship is exhibited to God (sanctification of days) pertains to the third precept. From these things it is clear that the first three precepts of the first table prescribe acts of the virtue of religion.

c. Besides elicited acts of religion, which properly and of themselves are referred to this virtue, other acts can pertain to religion accidentally, namely acts of other virtues which are commanded by religion, because they are exercised from the motive of religion or are directed to the worship and honor of God, for example fasting undertaken in honor of God or of some saint.

The External Acts of Religion.—We proceed now to those acts of religion which are performed in an outward manner. But it should be noted that just as devotion and prayer find external expression (as in vocal prayer), so the external acts of religion should proceed from internal devotion. The outward religious acts may be classified under three groups: (a) the acts in which one offers one’s body as a mark of veneration to God (adoration); (b) the acts in which one offers external goods, whether given (sacrifices, offerings, first-fruits, tithes) or promised (vows); (c) the acts in which one makes use of divine things to honor God (Sacraments, oaths, adjuration, praises).

St. Thomas, 2.2, q. 82; St. Alphonsus, H. Ap., App. 4; work On the Great Means of Prayer (ed. Walter, II, p. 633); St. Francis de Sales, Philothea; Polman, 2.2, n. 815; Herrmann, Inst. dogm., 942, 1226; Tanquerey, I, n. 862 seqq.; Vermeersch, Quaest. de Virt. Relig., n. 9 seqq.

542. To the first precept of the Decalogue pertain those acts of religion by which FIDELITY is furnished to God (n. 528), or by which we profess the supreme dominion of God over us and our every-kind dependence upon him, by subjecting to him the soul, body, and external goods. Now we subject the soul to God through DEVOTION and PRAYER, the body through ADORATION, the remaining goods through SACRIFICE, OFFERINGS, FIRST-FRUITS, and TITHES. Concerning sacrifice we shall speak elsewhere. Wherefore we shall treat: 1. of devotion; 2. of prayer; 3. of adoration and also of offerings, first-fruits, and tithes.

543. DEVOTION is taken in a twofold sense: 1. for the general condition of all acts of religion, and thus it is readiness of the will to draw itself to the service of God; 2. for a special act, and thus it is internal offering and handing over of oneself to the service of God. For to devote is the same as to consecrate or offer, and to make oneself over to another.

The obligation of the act of devotion sometimes urges of itself; but the frequency of the acts can be determined with great difficulty, since no time has been assigned for its obligation. - This obligation urges per accidens: 1. when there is grave danger of the opposed vice, namely sloth in spiritual things; 2. when we are bound to elicit other acts of virtues, for the eliciting of which devotion itself is necessary, as are acts of faith or adoration, hearing Mass, etc. (Salmant., tr. 21, c. 9, n. 7).

544. The source of devotion, on our part, is meditation: a) On the divine Goodness: for from this consideration love is excited, which is the proximate cause of readiness of the will. b) On our misery, which, if we consider it, we break forth into fervent and efficacious prayer, all the more because consideration of this kind excludes presumption.

545. The effect of devotion is twofold. The first is spiritual joy, from consideration of the divine Goodness and of his benefits; according to that saying (Ps. 76:4): I remembered God, and was delighted. The other effect is a certain salutary sadness according to God, from consideration of our misery (2.2, q. 82, a. 4).

Note. Substantial and intellectual joy (delight) is always present in every fervid act of devotion. But sensible and accidental joy is often lacking. "He would act badly," says St. Alphonsus (Prat. d'amar G. C., c. 17, § 2), "who would reject spiritual consolations (sensible joy); as certain pseudomystics taught that this was to be done." Cf. St. Francis de Sales, Philot., P. IV, c. 13.

546. DEFINITION. Prayer, taken broadly, insofar as it also comprehends meditation, praise, thanksgiving, etc., is the elevation of the mind to God (IV, 117; Polm., 2.2, n. 819).

Taken strictly, or PETITION, it is "a request for fitting things from God" (St. John Damascene, de Fide orth., l. 3, c. 21; Billuart, de Relig., d. 2, a. 2). Request, that is, the explanation of desire for obtaining something; of fitting things, that is, of things which are honorable, and which it befits God to bestow on us; from God, either immediately, or mediately, namely when our prayer is directed to the Saints. Therefore petition is commanded by hope, elicited by the virtue of religion.

DIVISION. Prayer is distinguished: 1. by reason of mode, into mental and vocal: the former is made by mind alone; the latter is performed by mind and words: for if it is made by words alone, it is not prayer; 2. by reason of the one praying, into public and private: public prayer is that which is made in the name of the Church, for the salvation of the people, by a minister deputed for this; private prayer is that which is made by each one separately, whether for himself or for another (cf. 531, 3).

547. PRINCIPLES. I. Prayer (as petition) is necessary for all adults by necessity of precept, indeed also by necessity of means. 1. BY NECESSITY OF PRECEPT. It is established from innumerable places of Sacred Scripture, for example (Mark 14:38): Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation; and (Luke 18:1): It is necessary always to pray and not to faint. Nature itself teaches us to pray when we are in necessity; and therefore he who never prays to God sins against natural law. 2. BY NECESSITY OF MEANS. For, without prayer, according to the ordering of divine Providence, salvation cannot be obtained. For, on the one hand, we can do nothing in the order toward salvation without the help of grace, the Lord saying (John 15:5): Without me you can do nothing; on the other hand, God bestows his graces only when asked, according to that saying (John 16:24): Ask, and you shall receive; and (James 4:2): You have not, because you ask not (Gran mezzo, c. 1 and 3, § 3).

Behold therefore the law and economy OF OUR SALVATION. The first graces (as are the grace of vocation to true faith, the grace of conversion, and the grace itself of praying) are often given without previous petition; but further graces, by which the more difficult precepts of God can be observed and grave temptations overcome, and especially those efficacious helps upon which our final perseverance depends, are conceded only to those praying, and indeed assiduously, perseveringly, and trustingly.

Therefore they err who, with the favorers of Americanism, place all confidence in the virtues which they call active, and despise the passive virtues (prayer, humility, patience, meekness). Cf. Nouv. Rev. Theol., 1899, p. 165.

548. II. Prayer, endowed with the due conditions, has infallible efficacy, from the promise of God. The words of the Lord are clear: Ask, and you shall receive (John 16:24). And similar things occur everywhere. Nor does it matter whether the one praying is just or a sinner: For every one that asketh, receiveth (Luke 11:10). Therefore when sinners are not heard, this happens because they pray badly, that is, with the due conditions passed over. Whence St. James (4:3): You ask, and receive not: because you ask amiss.

But the CONDITIONS required on the part of the one praying are four:¹

1. That he ask for himself; for the Lord says: he will give to you; and the reason is that one praying for himself, by that very fact that he prays well, is already disposed to receiving grace. This cannot always be said concerning neighbor, for whom someone prays. Thus St. Thomas (2.2, q. 83, a. 7, ad 2). Yet many Doctors judge that prayer, even by force of the divine promise, is infallibly efficacious, even if made for sinners, provided they are not so obstinate that they intend to live in sin until death.

2. That he ask things conducive to salvation. For the Lord says: If you shall ask the Father anything in my name... (John 16:23). Moreover, according to St. Augustine (tr. 102 on John, beginning): "Whatever is asked contrary to the account of salvation is not asked in the name of the Savior." It is indeed licit to ask for and desire temporal goods, but conditionally, namely on the supposition that they are salutary for us.²

3. That he ask piously, that is, with humility and confidence. For it is written (James 4:6): God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. And (Ecclus. 2:11): No one hath hoped in the Lord, and been confounded. Whence St. Thomas says: Prayer has the force of meriting from charity, but the efficacy of obtaining from faith and confidence (l. c., a. 15, ad 2).

4. That he ask perseveringly; according to that saying (Luke 18:1): It is necessary always to pray and not to faint. And in c. 11:9 we are taught that one must not only ask, but also seek and knock until it is opened. Whence St. Thomas says: "The effect of prayer can be impeded if someone does not persevere in asking" (ibid., ad 2). - Significantly, for obtaining FINAL PERSEVERANCE, perseverance in praying is necessary; because to the chain of graces by which God wills us to become saved, there must respond on our part a chain of petitions.

Two things are to be noted: a) Although fervent prayer is required for obtaining efficacious grace, nevertheless by tepid prayer we obtain the spirit of more fervent prayer (Verita della fede, P. II, c. 17, n. 19). b) A special efficacy is promised to public prayer; for it is said (Matt. 18:20): Where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

549. IT IS ASKED. When does the precept of praying oblige?

Resp. Prayer can be considered as an act of a virtue excellent in itself. Yet more often it is considered as an act of a virtue which, in relation to the goods of salvation, is a means constituted by God. Whence we say: 1. It obliges OF ITSELF: a) at the beginning of the use of reason; b) in the article of death; c) more often in the year, indeed frequently; whence St. Alphonsus with Suarez and Lessius estimates that it is a sin grave of itself if someone for a notable time, that is, for one month, or certainly for two months, omits to commend himself to God (Inst. cat., P. I, c. 1, n. 32; Gran mezzo, P. I, c. 3, § 3).

2. It obliges PER ACCIDENS: a) in the state of mortal sin, for obtaining the grace of repenting as one ought; b) when grave temptation rises up, which cannot otherwise be conquered; or if some precept urges, for fulfilling which prayer is necessary; c) in a great calamity of neighbor or of the people (III, in princ.).

Hence it is clear that the omission of morning and evening prayers constitutes no sin of itself, although from the very beginning of the Church this most holy custom of praying has become widespread. Yet pastors of souls ought to confer great diligence upon this, that the Christian faithful be most tenacious of this custom. For unless it is holily retained, it will shortly happen that the soul, destitute of the special help of God, enters the way of perdition. Indeed it would not be free from fault if someone should determine by set purpose to pray neither morning nor evening. For when will such a man pray? Cf. Lehmkuhl, I, 484.

Let the following be noted: 1. The words of the Lord: IT IS NECESSARY ALWAYS TO PRAY, signify that one must pray frequently, at a suitable time, and never cease from dejection of soul; or also, that our actions generally are to be directed to God (cf. n. 307).

2. One voluntarily distracted in prayer sins of himself venially, unless perhaps a just cause excuses. For he conducts himself irreverently toward God (Elbel, de Orat., n. 419). But "there is no sin if someone does not so much intend to pray as to occupy himself in a pious exercise by reciting the words of prayers; because he prays not formally, but only materially: for example, when someone working with his hands recites or sings psalms or other prayers, not with the soul of praying, but of avoiding vain thoughts, or of recreating himself" (V, 84). Nevertheless, since prayer thus made is also a certain exercise of religion, it is clear that it is not destitute of all merit.

3. Besides God, we can pray to the Saints, and very probably privately invoke the souls which are expiated in the flames of Purgatory; for it can piously be believed that our prayers are manifested to them. And likewise baptized infants can be invoked, who, before the use of reason, migrated to the blessed Fatherland (Gran mezzo, P. I, c. 1; work on Trent, Sess. 25, n. 32).

4. Invocation of the Saints is of precept with respect to the community (or the Church), since it is commanded in the public Office and in the Mass. But by no positive law is it prescribed to individual faithful. Yet it is not improbable that it is prescribed by natural or divine law: "because by natural law we are bound to observe that order which God has instituted; but God has constituted that inferiors reach salvation by imploring the help of superiors" (Gran mezzo, l. c.).

5. Invocation of the Blessed Virgin MARY in particular is necessary for each person, not indeed absolutely, but morally, for salvation; because such is the will of God, "who willed that we have all things through Mary" (cf. Glorie di Maria, c. V). St. Alphonsus teaches besides that "it is morally impossible that a soul should progress much in perfection without some particular and tender devotion toward the most holy Mother of God" (H. Ap., App. I, at the end).

6. One must pray, of itself from charity, for all who can be helped by prayer, and whom we are commanded to love (cf. n. 476). Therefore we ought to pray also for the souls which are expiated in the fire of Purgatory. - This obligation is satisfied by praying privately. - As regards public prayer, see the things to be said n. 1600 seqq.

550. I. ADORATION, taken generically, sounds almost the same as WORSHIP itself, and is divided as above, n. 531. In the stricter sense (as often in catechisms), it is used for the worship of latria alone. In the proper sense, it is a special act of religion, whether internal or external, by which the worship of latria is exhibited to God (2.2, q. 84, a. 2).

We offer to God a twofold adoration, namely spiritual, which consists in the interior devotion of the mind, and corporal, which consists in the exterior humiliation of the body.

External signs of adoration are not of such a kind that they necessarily signify the worship of latria; wherefore, from the intention of the one adoring, they must be determined to the worship of latria, or hyperdulia, or dulia. Moreover, such an intention together with the external act, for example genuflection, can be prescribed. Yet one thing, namely sacrifice, is a sign which is proper to the adoration of latria.

551. II. OFFERINGS, in the broad sense, are everything which is offered to the Church; in which sense first-fruits and tithes are also comprehended. - Taken strictly, they are things which the faithful, in view of religion, immediately offer to God, so that they may yield to the use of the Church or of the ministers of the Church.

a) These offerings are voluntary by their nature, according to that saying of Exodus 25:2: Of every man that offereth of his own accord, you shall receive them. b) They can become obligatory: either from promise or vow; or from the indigence of the ministers of the Church; or from legitimate custom; or from prescription, as if a parish priest for a long time (suppose ten years) in good faith demanded offerings of this kind as owed to himself, the parishioners not protesting. c) A Bishop can under grave obligation drive parish priests to collecting, whether by themselves or by others, the offerings of the faithful, indeed punish the disobedient and remove them from the parish. S. C. Cons., Apr. 22, 1911 (A. A. S., III, p. 277). Cf. Ami du Clerge, 1911, p. 690; 1913, p. 166; Nouv. Rev. Theol., 1912, p. 36. See other things below, n. 1642, 20.

Note. In order to know to whom offerings belong, one must attend to the usage of places, and especially to the intention of those offering.

552. III. FIRST-FRUITS are the first fruits, coming from lands newly cultivated, to be offered only once to God as giver of all goods and to the ministers of his Church.

Formerly they were to be paid from the precept of ecclesiastical law, as is established from canon Praeter, dist. 32; but today they have grown obsolete almost everywhere.

553. IV. TITHES are the tenth or another quota part of fruits and revenues justly acquired, owed to God in testimony of his supreme dominion, and to be paid to the ministers of the Church.

1. In the new law, tithes, regarded as to substance, that is, insofar as they are the necessary stipend of the ministers of the Church, are owed by natural and divine right, according to that saying (Luke 10:7): For the laborer is worthy of his hire; but regarded as to the determination of quantity, they are only of ecclesiastical right (St. Alph., de Privil., n. 87-84).

2. Payment of tithes, insofar as it is made on account of the worship of God and as a sign of his supreme dominion, is an act of religion. But insofar as it is regarded as owed to the ministers of the Church, who furnish spiritual things to us, it is an act of justice (Council of Trent, Sess. 25, c. 12, de Ref.). - Hence those who defraud tithes (or pensions assigned by governments in place of tithes) sin both against religion and against justice, even if they are not sacrilegious (III, 31, q. 4).

3. The obligation of tithes can cease: a) By privilege of the Pontiff exempting some persons. b) By legitimate custom; provided that otherwise a congruent portion is given, which is owed by the right of nature. c) By remission made by him to whom they are owed, provided he is able to renounce. d) By transaction, or pontifical composition, for future tithes.

4. In most regions, the obligation of paying predial tithes has in fact CEASED, either by custom or by composition, whether with private persons or with governments, for example through concordats, with the burden of suitably sustaining the clergy imposed. In Italy, the support which the government furnishes is tolerated as retribution for personal labor, but not as compensation for usurpation already carried out.

5. In place of personal tithes, which long ago became obsolete, there now prevail STOLE FEES, for example the funeral fourth (cf. n. 2279).

Note. Comparable to tithes is the tax of worship which today in France is imposed upon the faithful. Cf. A. S. S., vol. 41, p. 39; Ami du Clerge, 1909, p. 254, 631, 1150.

In the United States of North America it is prohibited to receive money at the doors of the church from those entering, in the manner of a tax (Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, n. 397; Nouv. Rev. Theol., 1912, p. 36).

The principal acts of Religion are adoration, prayer, sacrifice, vow, oath, and the sanctification of certain days.... Of the last three there will be discussion under the second and third precepts. Of sacrifice, in the Treatise on the Eucharist. Of adoration, there was discussion in the article immediately preceding, I. Therefore here there is treatment only:

330. Definition. - Prayer, taken more broadly, is the elevation of the mind to God, or any pious affection of the soul toward God and supernatural things. But in the stricter sense it is the petition of becoming things from God. - St. Thom.⁴

Division. It is 1° mental or vocal, according as it is performed by the mind alone, or the concepts of the mind are also expressed by the mouth; - 2° private or public, according as it is made by a private person and in a private name, or in community or by the authority and name of the Church. Yet that which is made in community is not by this very fact and in this sense public, so that it can be called liturgical (n. 322).

Principles. - I. Prayer is necessary for all adults by necessity of precept, indeed also by necessity of means. - 1° This is evinced from innumerable places of Sacred Scripture, for example, "Watch ye and pray."¹ - "It is necessary always to pray and not to faint."² - 2° Because prayer is the ordinary means established by God for obtaining necessary graces: "Ask, and you shall receive."³ - St. Alph.⁴

II. The precept of praying obliges frequently, as is clear from the cited texts, yet not without interruption, which is impossible to human weakness. - Therefore the words, "It is necessary always to pray," according to the common interpretation of Doctors, signify that one must pray frequently at an opportune time, and never cease from weariness, torpor, or dejection of soul; or also that our actions are generally to be directed to God.

III. Prayer which someone performs for himself, or, according to many,⁵ for others not placing an obstacle, endowed with the due conditions, has infallible efficacy from the promise of Christ. "Every one that asketh receiveth,"⁶ etc. - "If you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it you."⁷

But the necessary conditions are that it be made: 1° piously, devoutly, and attentively; - 2° with perseverance; - 3° with humility and confidence; - 4° about things necessary or useful.

Temporal things ought not to be asked except with a condition, at least implicit, namely insofar as they can contribute to the salvation of the soul.

331. Questions. - Quaer. 1° When does the necessity of prayer urge?

Resp. 1° It urges of itself frequently, so that it cannot be omitted for a notable time without grave sin; the time of one or certainly of two months is reputed notable. - Suarez, Lessius, etc. 2° At the instant of the use of reason. 3° At the article of death. Besides, the confessor, as Doctors hold, ought to be more solicitous in inculcating the necessity of praying frequently than in determining the grave fault of omitted prayer.

Resp. 2° It urges by accident: 1° in grave temptation which cannot easily be repelled in another way; 2° in public calamities; 3° as often as another precept is to be fulfilled for which prayer is necessary, for example if Sacraments are to be received; 4° as often as some special divine help seems necessary to us.

332. • Quaer. 2° Does he sin who omits morning or evening prayers?

Resp. Negatively, precisely of itself, if they are omitted only sometimes. The reason is that there is no law which prescribes determined prayers on individual days and at certain hours. Yet some observe that rarely is some fault of negligence and sloth absent.

Besides, in practice those who rather often omit those prayers cannot be excused altogether from some fault, both because perhaps they in no way pray at another time or in another mode, and thus they will sometimes be lacking to the precept of prayer; and because, on account of the dangers which occur daily, when prayer is neglected, they fall into many sins.

Quaer. 3° In what way does one distracted voluntarily in prayer sin?

Resp. Of itself he sins venially as often as he is voluntarily distracted without a just reason, and this holds even if the prayer is made without obligation; because he inflicts some irreverence on God. - Elbel.¹

333. • Quaer. 4° For whom must one pray?

Resp. 1° For ourselves; 2° for all men, wayfarers, even infidels; 3° for souls detained in purgatory. This is derived 1° from the general law of Charity; 2° from the words of St. Paul:² "I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings," etc.; ... nor are enemies to be excepted, as is clear from the words of Christ:³ "Pray for them that persecute and calumniate you."

Quaer. 5° Whom besides God can we pray to?

Resp. The Blessed Virgin Mary, as our mediatrix; the Angels, as guardians of men; all the Saints and friends of God, as our intercessors before Him. Privately, baptized infants and those dead before the use of reason can also be invoked; and the same must more probably be said of souls detained in purgatory.

But the invocation of Saints is of counsel, not of precept, since Trent¹ only says that it is good and useful to invoke them. Yet he will seem very careless of his salvation who never invokes the Blessed Virgin Mary, since by a peculiar and wonderful providence she has been constituted our mediatrix.

Note. - On 16 June 1880 "the Sacred Congregation of Rites considered it of its office to warn the Most Reverend Ordinaries of places that they not allow other Litanies to be recited publicly except" those of the Most Holy Name, those of the Blessed Virgin Mary called the Lauretane, and those of the Saints, "or others, if any have been recognized and approved by the Sacred Roman and Universal Inquisition; and at the same time they should beware" (be cautious) "of subjoining their approbation for printing to those books in which Litanies are found lacking apostolic sanction." - According to the periodical of Innsbruck "fur kath. Theol." for 1881, p. 573, the Sacred Congregation responded to some Bishops of Germany inquiring about the sense of this Monitum, that it had wished to keep Litanies not approved by the Holy See away only from Liturgical offices, not, however, to prohibit their approbation by Bishops, nor the custom of some places of reciting publicly (that is, commonly indeed in church, yet outside Liturgical offices) Litanies approved by the Ordinaries.

655. Matter to be treated. Among the elicited acts of religion: 1. some are principally interior, by which we exhibit our will or mind to God: devotion and prayer; 2. others are principally exterior, by which either a) the body itself is exhibited for honoring God, as happens by adoration and the observance of feasts; or b) something external is offered to God, whether it is given, as in sacrifice and oblations, or promised to be offered, as in a vow; or c) something divine is assumed, which is either a sacrament, as happens by the use of the sacraments, or the divine name, as happens by oath, adjuration, and divine praises.

III. Question II. How many are the acts of Religion? Answer. There are two kinds of the acts of Religion: one of interior acts, such as devotion and prayer; the other of exterior acts, which are divided into three classes. Some subject the very body to God, as adoration; others immolate exterior things to God, as sacrifices, oblations, tithes, first-fruits, and the rest of that kind, which are commonly comprehended under the one name of oblation; the last are those by which something is applied in protestation of the divine honor, such as oaths, by which the name of God is invoked, and vows, by which something is promised to God. Of all these there must be discourse.

I ASSERT first that all the acts of the virtues can be commanded by Religion.

IT IS PROVED: because they are all directed to the honor and worship of God, as the Apostle exhorts, 1 Corinthians 10, as Suarez notes, chapter 8, with D. Bonaventure, 2 dist. 41, q. 3, ad 1.

I ASSERT secondly that Religion elicits those acts through which some estimation of the majesty of God arises, and consequently worship and glory. It is proved from the object of Religion.

HOW far Acts of this kind extend, Valentina explains, point 2, and Suarez, chapter 8: Since the office of the virtue of Religion is to protest subjection toward God, inasmuch as He is the first Principle and Lord of all, according to the diversity of the things subjected to God by man through Religion, diverse are the acts of Religion.

TRIPLE indeed is the good pertaining to man, which is subjected to God through Religion. One is the spiritual good of the mind, and this is subjected to God especially by the act of devotion and prayer, which are therefore the most powerful acts; and also by the act of vowing, inasmuch as it protests that one wishes firmly to serve God, as a servant his Lord. Likewise by the act of swearing, inasmuch as man swears by God, as by a greater than himself, as the Apostle says, Hebrews 6. Likewise by the use of the sacraments, inasmuch as we protest that God is the Author of grace, by which He touches our minds so as to subject them to Himself more and more.

The second is the external good of the body, which we subject to God by external adoration, by genuflections, etc.

The third is any external good pertaining to man's dominion, and this can be subjected in three ways. First, by offering such external goods immediately through sacrifices. Secondly, mediately in the ministers of God through oblations, etc., which are acts of Religion, inasmuch as we render to God in His ministers those things which we have received from the hand of God, paying Him honor and glory. Thirdly, still more mediately through Tithes, not regarding immediately the glory of God, but also the obligation of feeding the ministers of God; which pertains to the virtue of Religion elicitively, inasmuch as it regards the glory of God; but inasmuch as the duty alleged, it pertains to Commutative Justice and to gratitude, but imperatively in a special way to Religion, whose office it is to procure divine worship, and consequently those acts of the virtues by which fitting worship is rendered to God. This many moderns have drawn out from D. Bonaventure, 3 part. Centil. sect. 44.

DUe hosts of enemies, most hostile to Temples, do I find: One of those who overthrew and burned them out of hatred for the faithful people. These were Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus, Pompey, Cassius, and Titus, who either burned or profaned the Temple of Solomon. See 4. Reg. ult. Primo Machab. 10. Josephus lib. 14. antiquit. et lib. 7. de bello Iudaico. Cornelius Tacitus lib. 21. Augustine lib. 18. de civit. cap. 45.

DIOCLETIAN ordered the churches of the Christians to be leveled to the ground, as Eusebius relates lib. 8. hist. cap. 2. That Julian wished the same, Jerome writes epist. ad Riparium.

OTHERS, however, attacked the Temples with a crowded host, in order to turn every worship away from them. Such are the Manichaeans in St. Augustine lib. 20. contra Faustum, cap. 3. et 4. the Messalians in Damascus de 100. haeresibus, Eustathius, as testifies Socrates, lib. 2. histor. cap. 33. the Petrobrusians, Albigenses, Wycliffites, Taborites, Anabaptists, Transylvanians, and other monsters most like these, in Bellarmine Tom. 2. lib. 3. de militante Ecclesia, and Bouerus Exam. 2. cens. 18. err. 4.

MOREOVER, so that there should never be wanting anything to the abomination of desolation, the sectaries admit the temples for sermons, but execrate them for praying or sacrificing, detest their consecrations, plunder their ornaments, depriving them of all sanctity. Thus the Magdeburgenses cent. 4. cap. 6. et initio centur. 6. Calvin in the Praefat. Instit. et lib. 1. cap. 11. §. 13. sed lib. 5. cap. 20. §. 30. He admits Temples for common prayers, but drives away from them every sacred rite, or holy ceremony.

I ASSERT first, that the building of churches was instituted by God.

IT IS PROVED first by St. Bonaventure in four sermons de Ecclesiae dedicatione. In the first sermon he proves it first ex 3. Reg. 9. where God speaks: *I have sanc- tified this house, which you have built, that I may put my name there for ever.

THEN because Christ Ioan. 2. calls the house of his Father a Temple, and with great zeal drives the merchants from it.

PSALM. 5. of David. I will adore toward your holy Temple.

EXODUS 40. and Numer. 7. it is said that Moses, at God's command, sanctified the Temple.

ISAIAH 56. I will make them joyful in my house of prayer: their holocausts shall please me upon my altar. And Matthew 21. My house shall be called a house of prayer.

AND 3. Reg. 8. et 2. Paral. 7. the Lord appeared, bestowing many privileges on the Temple of Solomon, declaring: *I have chosen, and sanctified this place, that my name may be there for ever.

HE THEN gathers many other Scriptures, in which God complains that the sanctity of Temples is violated. Matth. 21. But you have made it a den of thieves, Jerem. 7. Is this house, in which my name has been invoked, made a den of thieves? Jeremiah: What is this, that my beloved has wrought many wicked deeds in my house? Zechariah 9. I will compass my house about with those who fight for me, and the exactor shall pass over them no more. First Corinthians 14. It is a shame for a woman to speak in the Church, and cap. 11. she ought to veil her head because of the Angels, 1. Corinth. 10. For sanctity befits the house of God, Psalm. 92. When you come together into the Church, and Ezech. 28. In the multitude of your iniquities, and in the iniquity of your traffic, you have polluted my sanctuary. Psalm. 78. O God, the nations have come, they have polluted your holy temple, as is related 1. Machab. 4. To these is added 1 Cor. 3. Whoever shall violate the Temple of God, him shall God destroy.

IT IS PROVED secondly by the Holy Doctor on cap. 4. Ioan. in these words: the Father seeks such adorers, from the most ancient usage of the Church of Christ, which always had Temples and Altars.

FIRST Corinthians 10. Have you not houses to eat and to drink in, or do you despise the Church of God? Heb. 13. We have an altar, etc. Nor is there any of the ancient Fathers who does not mention the altars of the Church, as is seen in Canon 3. Apost., as Dionysius also has it cap. 3. Eccl. Hierar. Irenaeus lib. 4. cap. 33. Athanasius in the life of Blessed Antony, and in the Apol. pro fuga sua, Tertullian lib. poenit. Optatus lib. 6. contra Parmen. Jerome in epitaph. Nepot. Augustine epist. 50. and all the others, wherever they have spoken of Churches.

THE Fathers also used the name of TEMPLE, by which the place of sacrifice is indicated; so the Greeks, everywhere, and Eusebius lib. 3. de vita Constantini, Basil in Psalm. 114. Nazianzen in the oration on Gorgonia his sister, Nyssen in the oration on Theodoretus, Chrysost. homil. 51. in Matth. and others.

AMONG the Latins, Lactantius in the carmine de passione Domini, Salvian lib. 4. de providentia, Ambrose lib. 2. de offic. cap. 21. et 28. Hieron. in cap. 7. Hierem. Augustine lib. 8. de CIV. cap. ult. et lib. 2. cont. Cresconium, cap. 40. et epist. 66. et 137. et lib. 22. de civit. cap. 8. St. Paulinus in the carm. de S. Foelice, Ambr. lib. 1. epistolarum, epist. 5. et lib. 10. epist. 85. et lib. 2. de offi. cap. 28. et the Council of Gangra cap. 5. et the Vth council of Carthage cap. 6. See Valens tom. 3. cap. 144. Valentia disp. 6. quaest. 3. puncto 3. Bellarm. loco cit.

THE Apostle, however, uses the name CHURCH to signify Temples 1. Cor. 10. Clem. lib. 10. recognitionum, Justin Apol. 1. ad finem, Tertullian calls it a shrine, Cyprian in the serm. de eleem. and Gregory of Neo-Caesarea by a famous miracle transferred a mountain, to make a place for himself for building a Church, as Bede relates on that place of Mark: Have the faith of God, etc.

I ASSERT secondly, that the rite of consecrating a church is sacred.

IT IS PROVED by St. Bonaventure first in serm. 3. de Ecclesiae dedicatione, for the people of God of old assembled with immense solemnity for the consecrations of Temples, and there God often bestowed graces Num. 7. on Moses 2. Paral. 2. on Solomon, then the best of kings, to whom also God appeared, showing that feast most pleasing to him. Then it was dedicated by Esdras lib. 1. cap. 6. Thirdly by the Machabees lib. 1. cap. 4.

NOR do they answer wisely, saying that we rather judaize; for these consecrations were not figures to be fulfilled in some action or passion of Christ, like the Lamb, the Azymes, etc.

IT IS PROVED secondly by the Holy Doctor here on 4. Ioan. with the text cited, from the most ancient practice of the Church, and the tradition of the holy Fathers and of the ancient writers; thus Eusebius relates lib. 9. hist. cap. 10. et lib. 4. de vita Constantini, Athanasius Apol. ad Constantinum, where he brings the example of Esdras from the old testament.

BASIL in Psalm. 114. Chrysostom serm. in encaeniis, Sozomen lib. 4. cap. 13. Ambrose lib. 1. epistola 5. et Nazianzen in novam Dominicam ad sororem, which is found in serm. 92. St. Gaudentius, most illustrious Bishop of Brescia, by the testimony of Bellarm. and Valentia, on the Dedication, St. Augustine in five sermons, which, among the sermons de tempore, are 251. 252. 253. 254. 255. and 256. Pope Gelasius epist. ad Episcopos Lucaniae, Foelix IV. in his decretal epistle, Prosper part. 3. cap. 38. Gregory lib. 3. Dial. cap. 30. Bernard in six sermons, Rupert in cap. 28. Genes. Hugh lib. 2. de sacr. part. 5. cap. 2. et 3. Isidore lib. 1. de offic. cap. 35. Rabanus lib. 2. cap. 45. Amalarius. lib. de ord. B. Ivo lib. de consecr. templi, Walafrid lib. de rebus Eccl. cap. 9. These, and others whom the Holy Doctor indicates, speak of the Dedication of the temple as most ancient. See their testimonies in Bellarmine.

I ASSERT thirdly, that very many sacred ceremonies are rightly employed in the dedication of the temple.

IT IS PROVED again by the Holy Doctor in the places adduced, from Numer. 7. et Exodi 40. where the unctions, and other things done in the dedication of the temple, are recounted. Indeed also Genes. 28. in the law of nature Jacob anointed the stone with sacred oil, that he might sacrifice there, and he called it BETHEL, that is, the house of God.

IN the law of Grace also the Apostle prima Cor. 11. forbids feasting in the Church, whereby it is indicated that it is a consecrated place, and St. Dionysius lib. de Eccl. Hierar. cap. 6. testifies that in his time of the Apostles sacred oil was employed for dedicating altars.

THE Council also of Carthage cap. 14. 29. Bracar. II. can. 6. Gelasius, and Foelix IV. cited above. Ioannes I. Epist. ad Episcopos Italiae. Other decrees too are related by Gratian dist. 1. where also there is adduced a Canon of the Council of Nicaea, and another Canon of the Council of Hippo, which was assembled from all Africa, as St. Augustine relates lib. 1. Retract. cap. 17. It is confirmed from the Fathers adduced for the second assertion, for the greater part of them also mention the dedication of Temples.

THE Holy Doctor serm. 3. De dedicatione recounts the Mysteries of the sacred ceremonies of the Temple; the end, moreover, of the ceremonies adduced is, that it may be made known to all that that place is destined for sacred functions. Since therefore the Temple is dedicated to Christ, therefore his sign is painted there, namely the CROSS. Moreover, twelve crosses are painted, so distinguished among themselves that they occupy the whole temple, and before them lamps, signifying the twelve Apostles, who, carrying that holy banner throughout the world, enlightened the nations.

BUT it is anointed with sacred oil, that it may be known that that Temple is being consecrated; for oil is of great virtue and excellence, a liquor floating above the rest, healing, strengthening, and applied to illustrious things.

And because it is consecrated to holy works, above all to that most pure oblation; therefore blessed water is employed, and incense and candles are lighted.

And because it is consecrated to instructing in the Faith of Christ, therefore the Alphabet is written on the pavement, in Greek and Latin letters, because the Faith was preached chiefly in those languages, and the Church at that time used them for teaching the Faith; whereby into all the earth went forth the sound of the Apostles.

And because in that holy place true sanctity is to be obtained, therefore there are set together, mixed, salt, ashes, water, and wine, that it may be acknowledged in what true perfection is placed and established: In the ashes, mortification; in the salt, discretion; in the water, compunction; in the wine, exultation.

Of the first it is said: the ashes of the heifer, sprinkled, sanctify the unclean, Heb. 9. to the cleansing of the flesh, which happens when the flesh is mortified by the memory of past delight. For the heifer is a lascivious animal, and ash remains after the fire has died.

Of the second: as you have exhibited your members to serve uncleanness, and iniquity unto iniquity; so now exhibit, etc. Rom. 6. the flesh is indeed to be mortified, but so that it may be subject, not however that it be destroyed; and as in the making of a Church, salt, and ashes are mixed together; so in penance, mortification, and discretion, Rom. 12. I beseech you by the mercy of God, that you exhibit your bodies a holy host, pleasing to God, your reasonable service.