The Internal Acts of Religion

The Internal Acts of Religion.—These internal acts are offerings made to God of the worship of the soul itself, and they may be reduced chiefly to two: (a) devotion, which is the offering of the will and the highest act of religion, since from the will the other acts arise; (b) prayer, which is the offering of the intellect; for in prayer the thoughts of the mind rise to God as an oblation made to Him.

The principal acts of religion are devotion, prayer, adoration, sacrifice, the use of the sacraments, a vow, an oath, adjuration, and the sanctification of certain days. Sacrifice and the sacraments will be discussed in the special treatise on the sacraments. The remaining acts must now be treated.

322. • Acts of the virtue of religion come under the general name of worship.

But worship is defined: the complex of those acts by which we bear witness to the infinite excellence of God, and show service to Him.

Division. - A. By reason of mode: 1) it is internal or external, insofar as it is shown either by internal powers of the soul or by external powers of the body. Writers of Speculative Theology show that both are owed to God.

2. External worship is either private or public, according as it is shown in the name and authority of the Church and in the form prescribed by her, or not. Therefore that worship will be private to which one of these conditions is lacking. Thus, for example, a layman reciting the Divine Office shows only private worship, because, although he observes the form prescribed by the Church, nevertheless he does not act in the name and authority of the Church; nor will it cease to be private, although all the laymen of some whole parish publicly in the church commonly recite prayers approved by the Church. On the contrary, it will be public, although a subdeacon recites the Divine Office privately; for the former do not act in the name of the Church, although they act publicly; but the latter acts both in the name of the Church and in the form prescribed by her, although he acts privately. - Public worship is also, and indeed properly, called liturgical.

323. • The form prescribed by the Church:

1. Comprehends two things, namely words (for example, of prayers) by which, and rite (for example, extension of the hands) by which worship is to be shown.

2. It has either a natural or a symbolic sense. Thus, for example, the corporal and pall, according to the Pontifical de Consec. corporal., symbolically signify the clean linen cloth concerning which in Matthew.

3. It must not be posited as merely external, or outside every connection with internal worship.

4. It is worthy of the highest veneration.²

5. It must be sought from the liturgical books and from the decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Rites.

324. • Liturgical words 1) are either from God, as the forms of the Sacraments, the most holy Name of Jesus, Lessons from Sacred Scripture in the Breviary and Mass, Psalms and Canticles; - or from the Church, as Collects, Hymns, the Doxology, Lessons of the Breviary, shorter Prayers.

2. They must not be pronounced in the vernacular tongue.¹

3. They must be pronounced and sung in the mode prescribed by the Church.²

A liturgical action or rite, like words, is either from Christ the Lord, as the essential rite of the Sacrifice of the Mass - which action must be called by excellence - and the proximate matter of the Sacraments; or from the Church, as the Sign of the Cross; the use of candles, incense, blessed water; various gestures, as genuflection, inclination of the head, etc.

325. • B. By reason of the object which is worshiped, worship is 1) of latria or of dulia; 2) direct or relative.

The worship of latria is the same as adoration strictly taken (worship), or honor shown to God because of His highest excellence and supreme dominion. The worship of dulia (veneration) is shown to Saints and Angels. This again is distinguished as twofold, namely hyperdulia, which is rendered to the Blessed Virgin Mary alone, and simple dulia, which is rendered to other Saints and Angels.

Note. - Among the Saints, Cornelius a Lapide³ contends not undeservedly that the worship of dulia, highest after the Blessed Virgin Mary, is owed to St. Joseph; and 150 of the Fathers of the Vatican Council requested from the Sacred Congregation of Rites that this be decreed for the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thus far, however, it has not been decreed.

Direct worship, which is also called absolute, is that which is shown to someone because of the gifts with which he is endowed; such is rendered not only to God, but also to the Saints. For these truly possess excellent gifts on account of which they are to be honored. Relative worship is rendered to certain things because of the relation which they have to God or to the Saints; thus the cross, the image of Christ, the images and relics of the Saints are worshiped.

326. • Concerning the worship of the Saints these things are to be held.

I. By divine law only acts of dulia are to be shown to them.

II. By ecclesiastical law these acts are to be shown according to the laws of the Church, the principal of which are the following.

A. Let public worship not be shown to them before it is established by the judgment of the Church that such worship can be shown to them, or before they have been beatified or canonized by her. That this would thereafter be done by the Supreme Pontiff alone was established by Alexander III in the twelfth century; but Urban VIII prescribed the rules according to which it ought to be done today. The sum of these rules is this. Men who depart from this life with a reputation of sanctity are called Servants of God, and without any permission of ecclesiastical power they can be called so. Private worship can be shown to these. The Ordinaries of those dioceses in which the Servant of God dwelt longer, or did greater things for God, inquire into the reputation of sanctity. When this inquiry, which comes under the name of the Ordinary Process, has been duly performed, the cause is referred to the Holy See; if it is admitted by the latter, the Apostolic Process is said to be introduced, and from then the title Venerable Servant of God is assigned to the Servant of God. The principal end of the Apostolic Process is to inquire whether it is established concerning the theological and cardinal virtues, and the virtues annexed to them, of the Venerable Servant of God N. N. in a heroic degree, and concerning two miracles; if these are established, Beatification follows through the Supreme Pontiff himself. Public worship can be shown to those beatified, yet restricted, both as to the kingdoms, provinces, dioceses, or Orders in which, and as to the mode in which, it is permitted by decrees, whether general - especially those of Alexander VII, dated 27 Sept. 1659 - or special. Beatification, after two other miracles have been approved, if nothing stands in the way, is followed by Canonization, by which the restrictions placed upon the public worship of those Beatified are removed. The Process described thus far is called formal; but equivalent is that by which the worship shown to some Servant of God from immemorial time is confirmed by the Holy See.

327. • B. Concerning the public worship of Relics these things especially are to be noted.

1. By Relics of Saints and Blessed are understood: a) in the stricter sense, their bodies and even the smallest parts of the body, likewise oil or another liquid sometimes flowing from them; b) in the broader sense, all things which the Saints used in life, as garments, books, etc.; likewise instruments of punishments and mortifications; c) in the broadest sense, all things which have touched either the body, or the sepulcher, or other Relics of a Saint; likewise oil from a lamp hung before the sepulcher, and dust from the place where they are preserved.

2. From the Relics of Saints the Relics of the Lord must be carefully distinguished, that is, drops of the Blood of Christ; instruments of His passion, as thorns from the Crown, nails, lance, etc. To these, as to Relics of the Most Holy Cross, at least more distinguished worship must be shown. As specifically regards a particle from the wood of the Most Holy Cross, these things are to be observed: a) The practice of separating it from Relics of Saints is right.¹ b) If it has been exposed in the principal place above the altar, those passing before it ought to bend one knee before it, and Mass before it is to be celebrated as before the enclosed Sacrament; but if it is enclosed in a case, those passing before it incline the head.² c) Where immemorial usage carries this, it can be carried processionally under a baldachin, with two thurifers incensing, and with head uncovered; and d) after the procession or exposition, before it is placed away, the Officiant standing incenses it with three swings; then, having assumed the humeral veil and made a genuflection of one knee, he blesses the people with it, saying nothing.³

3. Distinguished Relics of Saints are the whole body of a Saint or a great part of the same, namely the head, arm, or leg, but these whole, that is, consisting of the two principal bones (not, however, the bones of the thigh),⁴ or that part of the body in which a Martyr suffered, provided it is whole and not small.⁵

4. Relics of Saints are to be venerated not only with religious worship, or worship commanded by the virtue of religion - as are the bodies of those dying in communion with the Church - but also with sacred worship;⁶ yet not public worship, unless their authenticity has been approved by the Ordinary of the place where they are to be worshiped,⁷ and this although they have already been recognized at Rome or by another Bishop; for it belongs to the Ordinary to see that no fraud creeps in and to inspect whether they have truly been approved at Rome.⁸

5. Relics must be preserved: a) any Relics whatever outside the tabernacle; b) distinguished Relics near the high altar or in another conspicuous place of the church, but not in private houses or among laymen, unless there is question of great princes or principal prelates of the Church.

6. Relics are not to be exposed: a) above the tabernacle in which the most august Sacrament is preserved, in such a way that the tabernacle serves as a base for them;¹ b) before the little door of the same tabernacle, or in another manner by which simple persons can be induced to adore Relics for the Blessed Sacrament; c) outside a case, unless, beyond the lamp, two lights continually burn on the altar;² d) unless the one exposing them (and replacing them) is vested with surplice and also stole,³ and, if he blesses the people with the relics, also with the humeral veil. But the blessing must be done without chant, saying nothing, after the Relics have been incensed with a double swing, with incense not blessed; e) with the Blessed Sacrament on the same altar.

7. In processions the relics of canonized Saints can be carried, but a) not under a baldachin; b) with head uncovered (yet the Bishop with miter); c) not in the procession of the Blessed Sacrament, unless by force of an Indult or custom.

8. Of a Saint whose distinguished Relic is had, the Office can be made and Mass celebrated, provided he is found in the Roman Martyrology.

328. • C. Concerning the worship of images hold these things.

1. Among images representing the same object, some can be worshiped more specially: a) those blessed; b) those which at the same time are Relics, as the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary which is said to have been painted by St. Luke; c) those illustrious by miracles,⁴ and copies of them, as is clear from the practice of the Church.

2. It is not licit to expose in churches images: a) of Servants of God not yet canonized or beatified, especially with rays or signs of sanctity.⁵ But Beatified persons are to be painted with rays only; canonized persons, however, with a diadem around the head; b) furnishing occasion of false dogma and of error dangerous to the uneducated, of which sort, nevertheless, the images of the Most Holy Trinity generally are not;¹ c) unusual ones, unless they have been approved by the Bishop; d) painted or adorned with provocative beauty, or in which something profane or immodest appears; e) unless every superstition, base gain, and whatever is disordered or accommodated perversely and tumultuously is avoided.²

3. Images are worshiped in the same way as Relics, except that a blessing is not given with them, nor is an Office made or Mass celebrated of them, unless they have been specially conceded. They are not carried in a procession with the Blessed Sacrament, outside the case of an Indult or custom.

329. On veneration owed to places and things, whether sacred or religious.

Principles. - I. Places and things become sacred either by consecration, or by a blessing not simply invocative, but constitutive or consecrative, concerning which n. 1247, I. What places and things are to be consecrated or blessed, and by what reason they are polluted or execrated, see ibid., V, and n. 1329, q. 4°, q. 5°.

II. They ought to be 1) agreeable to liturgical prescriptions; 2) if it can be done, precious; or 3) at least decent and clean.

III. They are to be treated reverently, in a sense both negative and positive. 1) Negatively, so that they serve neither for superstitious, nor for indecent, nor, if there is question of things sacred by blessing, as above, for profane uses.³

a) Hence it is not licit in churches, after they have been consecrated or even only blessed, to conduct secular judgments, secular⁴ or political⁵ meetings, or, among us, for laymen⁶ to speak to the people without permission of the Ordinary; to have rooms above their lateral chapels, in which daily celebration occurs, for living or sleeping; indeed private oratories also ought to be free from all domestic uses.

b) Those things which can no longer serve the use for which they are destined must be withdrawn from it in a decent manner. Thus 1° the place of a ruined church which can in no way be repaired can be converted to profane, indeed, but not sordid uses; yet with a cross erected there,¹ which erection of a cross, if it cannot be done without danger of sacrilege, almost to be feared among non-Catholics among us, is to be omitted; 2° each year the Sacred Oils are to be burned (and the ashes thrown into the sacrarium); likewise vestments after they have been worn out, unless nevertheless they are used for making or repairing other things;² 3° baptismal water on Holy Saturday and on the Vigil of Pentecost, after new water has been blessed, is to be poured into the sacrarium; 4° chalice and paten can be newly gilded and repaired by laymen without permission of the Bishop.³

2. Positively, or holy things in a holy manner; concerning which in their places.

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.

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.