Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

We conclude by recommending the Orphanage of St. Brigid to the charity, not only of Dublin, but of all Ireland. It is a national institution. In a few years it has rendered great services to the country at large and to religion by saving so large a number of children from error and perversion; it is conducted on principles of the strictest economy, so necessary in the depressed state to which our population is reduced; and it is especially recommended by the way it brings up the poor orphans, assimilating them to our healthy and vigorous country people, and inspiring them with the same love for God and fatherland which distinguishes the peasants of Ireland. St. Brigid, the Mary of Ireland, will not fail to protect all who assist her orphans.

THE MSS. REMAINS OF PROFESSOR O'CURRY IN THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY.

NO. III.

_The Rule of St. Carthach, ob. 636.--Part II._

OF THE CONDUCT OF A MONK.

67. If you be a monk under government,
Cast all evil from your hands;
Abide in the rights of the Church
Without laxity, without fault,

68. Without quarrel, without negligence,
Without dislike to any one,
Without theft, without falsehood, without excess,
Without seeking a better place,

69. Without railing, without insubordination,
Without seeking for great renown,
Without murmur, without reproach to any one,
Without envy, without pride,

70. Without contention, without self-willedness,
Without competition, without anger,
Without persecution, without particular malice,
Without vehemence, without words,

71. Without languor, without despair,
Without sin, without folly,
Without deceit, without temerity,
Without merriment, without precipitance,

72. Without gadding, without haste,
Without intemperance--which defiles all--
Without inebriety, without jollity,
Without silly, vulgar talk;

73. Without rushing, without loitering,
With leave for every act;
Without paying evil for evil,
In a decayed body of clay;

74. With humility, with weakness,
Towards uncommon, towards common;
With devotion, with humbleness,
With enslavement to every one.

75. In voluntary nocturns,
Without obduracy, without guile,
Waiting for your rewards
At the relics of the saints.

76. With modesty, with meekness,
With constancy in obedience;
With purity, with faultlessness
In all acts, however trivial.

77. With patience, with purity,
With gentleness to every one;
With groaning, with praying
Unto Christ at all hours;

78. With inculcation of every truth,
With denunciation of every wickedness,
With perfect, frequent confessions
Under direction of a holy abbot;

79. With preservation of feet, and hands,
And eyes, and ears,
And heart, for every deed
Which is due to the King above;

80. With remembrance of the day of death
Which is appointed to all men;
With terror of the eternal pain
In which [souls] shall be after the Judgment.

81. To welcome the diseases,
Patience in them at all times,
With protection to the people of heaven--
It is a holy custom.

82. To reverence the seniors,
And to obey their directions,
To instruct the young people
To their good in perfection.

83. To pray for our cotemporaries,
Greatly should we love it,
That they barter not their Creator
For the obdurate, condemned demon.

84. To forgive every one
Who has done us evil,
In voice, in word, in deed,
Is the command of the King of the Heavens.

85. To love those who hate us
In this Earthly world;
To do good for the persecutions,
Is the command of God.

FOR THE CELE DE (CULDU), OR THE REGULAR CLERIC.

86. If we be serving the priestly office,
It is a high calling;
We frequent the holy church
At [canonical] hours perpetually.

87. When we hear the bell--
The practice is indispensable--
We raise our hearts quickly up,
We cast our faces down;

88. We say a _Pater_ and a _Gloria_,
That we meet no curse;
We consecrate our breasts and our faces
With the sign of the Cross of Christ.

89. When we reach the church
We kneel three times;
We bend not the knee in [worldly] service
In the Sundays of the living God.

90. We celebrate, we instruct,
Without work, without sorrow;
Illustrious the man whom we address,
The Lord of the cloudy Heavens.

91. We keep vigils, we read prayers,
Every one according to his strength;
According to your time, you contemplate
The Glory until the third hour.

92. Let each order proceed as becomes it,
According as propriety shall dictate;
As to each it is appointed,
From the third hour to noon.

93. The men of holy orders at prayers,
To celebrate Mass with propriety;
The students to instruction,
Accordingly as their strength permits;

94. The youngsters to attendance,
Accordingly as their clothes will allow;
For a lawful prey to the devil is
Every body which does nothing.

95. Occupation to the illiterate persons,
As a worthy priest shall direct;
Works of wisdom in their mouths,
Works of ignorance in their hands.

96. The celebration of every [canonical] hour
With each order we perform;
Three genuflexions before celebration,
Three more after it.

97. Silence and fervour,
Tranquillity without grief,
Without murmur, without contention,
Is due of every one.

OF THE ORDER OF REFECTION, AND OF THE REFECTORY.

98. The Rule of the Refectory after this,
It is no injury to it to mention it;
It is for the abbot of proper orders
To judge each according to his rank.

99. The question of the refectory at all times,
Thus is it permitted:
An ample meal to the workmen,
In whatever place they be.

100. Tenderness to the seniors
Who cannot come to their meals,
Whatever be their condition,
That they come not to neglect.

101. Different is the condition of every one;
Different is the nature of every wickedness;
Different the law in which is found
The adding to a meal.

102. Sunday requires to be honoured,
Because of the King who freed it;
The feast of an apostle, noble martyr,
And the feasts of the saints,

103. Be without vigil, with increased meals.
A tranquil, easy life
From the night of great Christmas
Till after the Christmas of the Star.[2]

104. The festivals of the King of truth,
In whatever season they happen,
To honour them is proper,
To glorify them is right.

105. The fast of Lent was fasted by Christ
In the desert within;
The same as if it were your last day, you eat not
The meal of every day in it.

106. To fast upon Sunday I order not,
Because of the benignant Lord;
In the enumeration of the _tenth_,[3]
Nor of the year, it is not.

107. Joy, glory, reverence,
In great and glorious Easter,
The same as Easter every day,
Until Pentecost, is proper,

108. Without fasting, without heavy labour,
Without great vigils;
In figure of the glorious salvation
Which we shall receive _yonder_.

109. The feast of an apostle and martyr
In the time of the great Lent;
In figure of the righteousness
Which we shall receive _yonder_.

110. The two fast days of the week
Are to be observed by a proper fast,
Accordingly as the time occurs,
By him who has the strength.

111. Summer Lent or Winter _Lent_,[4]
Which are bitter of practice,
It is the laity that are bound to keep these,
Who do not do so perpetually.

112. For as regards the ecclesiastics,
Who abide in propriety,
It is certain that of Lent and fasting
All seasons are to them.[5]

113. The meritorious fast is,
And the abstinence so bright,
From noon to noon--no false assertion;
From remote times so it has been done.

114. A tredan [three days' total fast] every quarter to those
Who fast not every month,
Is required in the great territories
In which is the Faith of Christ.

115. From the festival of the birth of John
Till Easter, happy the combat,
It is from vesper time to vesper time
It is proper to go to table.

116. From Easter again to John's feast,
It is from noon to noon;
It is at evening of alternate days
That comfort is allowed them.

117. When the little bell is rung,
Of the refectory, which is not mean,
The brethren who hear it
Come all of them at its call;

118. Without running, without stopping,
Without passing proper bounds;
Every man separately--it is no sad assertion
Receives the punishment [of the board?]

119. Then they go into the house,
And shed tears with fervour;
They repeat a _Pater_ for rest in God;
They stoop down three times.

120. They then sit at the table,
They bless the meal,
Allelujah is sung, the bell is rung,
Benediction is pronounced.

121. A senior responds in the house,
He says: God bless you;
They eat food, and drink,
They return thanks after that.

122. If there be anything more choice
Which one should thirst for,
Let it be given in private
To a senior by himself.

123. Let relief be given, if requisite,
To those [penitents] who have devoutly fasted;
Let them be deprived, if not requisite,
Until they have done penance--the men.

124. After this, each man to his chamber,
Without murmur, without anger,
To reading, to prayers,
To sighing unto his King;

125. To go afterwards to vespers,
To celebrate them gracefully;
To retire afterwards to rest
In the place which he occupies;

126. To bless the house
Entirely upon all sides;
To attend the _canonical hours_,[6]
Without delay, without fail;

127. To pray God for every one
Who serves the Church of God,
And for every Christian
Who has come upon the earthly world.

OF THE DUTIES OF A KING.

128. If you be a king, be a just king,
You shall ordain no injustice;
Illustrious is the Man who has appointed you--
The Lord of holy Heaven!

129. You shall not be rash,
You shall not be prosperous and fierce;
You shall be watchful of the All Powerful,
Who has given thee the rank.

130. The wealth which you have obtained,
If you do not be obedient to HIM,
Shall be taken from you in a short time;
They shall leave you in pain.

131. For it has been the full reduction
To every king who has been,
When you have bartered--hapless power!--
Your righteousness for unrighteousness.

132. For it is through the unrighteousness of kings
That all peace is disrupted
Between the Church and the laity--
All truth is broken.

133. For it is through their contention
Comes every plague, it is known;
It is through their excesses that there comes not
Corn, or milk, or fruit;

134. It is through them come all mortalities,
Which defy every power;
It is through them that battle-triumph attends
Every enemy over their countries;

135. It is through them come the tempests
Of the angry, cold skies,
The insects--the many distempers
Which cut off all the people.

[There were a few stanzas more, but they are illegible.]

It is unnecessary for us to dwell at any great length on the importance of this venerable document. It not only illustrates in an extraordinary manner many points of Catholic dogma, but also shows that several of the disciplinary observances now in force in the Church were faithfully observed by our fathers in the seventh century. For instance, the respectful and loving homage due to the Blessed Mother of God is insinuated in the fifth strophe; in the ninth and following strophes we are taught the authority with which bishops are invested in the Church--authority which extends over every class no matter how exalted: "Check the noble kings: be thou the vigilant pastor". In the eighteenth and following we are instructed in the duty of honouring superiors as we honour Christ Himself. From the thirty-eighth to the sixty-sixth we are taught the great and most important offices of a priest, especially with regard to offering the Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord, the practice of daily Mass, the celebration of Requiem Masses for the dead, the administration of the Holy Communion in life and death, and the necessity of receiving the confessions of the faithful, both before Communion and at the last moment.

The disciplinary observances which we chiefly remark in the _Rule_ are the raising up of the hands, the striking the breasts, and the genuflexions prescribed at the time of prayers and of the Holy Sacrifice; the perpetual psalmody: "To sing the three times fifty (Psalms) is an indispensable practice"; the purity of life required in the priest: "There shall be no permanent love in thy heart, but the love of God alone; for pure is the Body which thou receivest: purely must thou go to receive it" (strophe 65). The use of the sign of the Cross is mentioned at strophe eighty-eight; and at eighty-six we find mention of the canonical hours, and at eighty-nine of the ancient custom, still preserved in many parts of the Liturgy, of praying erect, of not kneeling on Sundays, and of genuflecting on entering the church or place where God's glory dwells. The practice of fasting, and of other corporal austerities, is also inculcated; and while in the 102nd and 106th strophes, Sundays and festivals are exempted from the law of fasting, the fast of Lent (strophes 105, 109, and following), of Advent (strophe 111), of two fasting days in each week, (strophe 110), and of the Quarter Tense (strophe 114), are specially mentioned. We also find an enumeration of the festivals as they are celebrated by the Church even at our day; the Sundays, festivals of the apostles, of noble martyrs, and of all the saints; the "night of great Christmas", the Epiphany, when the star led the wise men to Bethlehem; Easter; "the festivals of the King of Truth"; Pentecost; and even the festival of the birth of St. John the Baptist.

On reading over this remarkable document we are struck with the truth of the remark of the eloquent Ozanam in the chapter of his work _Etudes Germaniques_, he has devoted to the "preaching of the Irish". He says: "We must not here repeat that accusation so often brought against the Church of Ireland, viz., that being instructed in sacred learning from Asia, she rejected the authority of the Popes; and that in union with the Culdees of Brittany, her monks preserved their religious independence in the midst of the universal spiritual bondage of the middle ages. If the founders of Irish monasteries, in the provisions and very terms of their rules, often recall to mind the institutions of the east, it was at Lerins and in the writings of Cassian they learned them. It was from Rome that Patrick received his mission; from Rome he received the language of his liturgy, the dogmas he taught, and the religious observances he propagated. Run over all that remains of these first centuries (of the Irish Church), the decrees of national synods, the penitentials, the legends: you will find in them everything which the enemies of Rome have rejected; the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the invocation of saints, prayers for the dead, the practice of confession, of fasting, and of abstinence. The differences between her and the Churches of the continent are reducible to three points: the form of the tonsure, some of the minor ceremonies of baptism, and the time of keeping Easter, and these slight differences disappeared when the Fathers of the Council of Lene (A.D. 630), 'having had recourse', as they tell us, 'to the chief of Christian cities, _as children to their mother_', adopted the customs of the rest of Christendom. The religious communities of Ireland were not, then, the jealous guardians of some unheard-of heterodox Christianity. They were the colonies and (as it were) the out-posts of Latin civilization. They maintained learning as well as faith, and their schools imitated the Roman schools in Gaul, whence had come forth the bright luminaries of the Church, Honoratus, Cassian, Salvian, and Sulpicius Severus".

How beautiful is the description of one of these monastic rules, that of Benchor, found in the ancient Antiphonary of that monastery, published by Muratori, and quoted by the same distinguished writer:--

"Benchiur bona regula.
Recta atque divina.
Navis nunquam turbata,
Quamvis fluctibus tonsa,
Necnon vinca vera,
Ex AEgypti transducto,
Christo regina apta,
Solis luce amicta.
Simplex simul atque docta.
Undecumque invicta
Benchiur bona regula".

After giving this glowing picture of the monasteries of Ireland we are not surprised to find this same learned writer exclaiming, "That the monastic race of the ages of barbarism, the missionary race destined to bear aloft the light of faith and learning amidst the increasing darkness of the west, was the Irish people, whose misfortunes are better known than the great services they rendered to European civilization, and whose wonderful vocation has never been studied as it deserves".

In a future number we hope to enter again upon this most interesting subject, when reviewing a valuable contribution just given to our national literature by the learned Dr. Reeves on the _Culdees of the British Isles_.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] Epiphany.

[3] Tithe.

[4] Advent.

[5] It is certain that all seasons are seasons of Lent and fasting to them.

[6] Matins (?).

ASSOCIATION OF ST. PETER'S PENCE, DUBLIN.

This association was founded in the end of the year 1861, by the pious Catholics of Dublin, for the purpose of aiding the Pope in the distress and difficulties to which he has been reduced by the perfidy and violence of the Sardinian Government and other enemies of the Church of God.

Since its foundation, three years ago, this association has forwarded to Rome the sums of which we publish the annexed account. In a preceding collection, made on the first Sunday of Lent, 1861, about eighteen thousand pounds were contributed in Dublin, to which we do not refer on the present occasion.

All we shall now say is, that the generosity of the faithful of Dublin, and their anxiety to assist the Pope, supply the best proofs of the vitality and strength of their faith.

The Pope is the common father of all, the Chief Pastor of the Church of God, the Vicegerent of Christ, the inheritor of the dignity and office of St. Peter. He is the servant of the servants of God, obliged to toil incessantly for the welfare of the Church and the salvation of souls. Were the benign influence of the Popes destroyed, the Church would split into factions, and unity and Catholicity would cease to distinguish it.

Whilst the successor of St. Peter has the claims of a father and of a pastor, and so many other claims on his children and spiritual subjects, those who look with indifference on his afflictions or who rejoice when he is plundered by his enemies, are liable to the charge of want of filial affection, of gratitude, and indeed of a proper spirit of religion.

It is a consolation to know that the Catholics of almost every country and every diocese of the world have proved themselves worthy of their calling, and made great exertions to relieve the Pope. France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Ireland, and even the oppressed and persecuted Catholics of Sardinia, have done their duty most nobly. The consequence is, that by the aid of the alms of the faithful, the Pope is able to meet his engagements, and continue uninterruptedly the administration of the affairs of the Universal Church. And he is powerful in his weakness. At the same time, the excommunicated King of Sardinia and his ministers, notwithstanding the robberies they have committed, find their hands and their treasury quite empty, and must soon terminate in a state of public bankruptcy.

It is evident that our Divine Redeemer watches over the Holy See, and defeats all the assaults of the powers of darkness that are directed against it. It is Heaven that inspires the Catholics of the world to institute associations for the relief of the Vicar of Christ on earth, and to aid in bringing about the triumph of truth over error, and of light over darkness. Ireland, we trust, will always be ready to assist the good cause even from the depths of her poverty. The few who sneer at the sufferings of their father, and refuse him sympathy and relief, are unworthy of the name of Irish Catholics; they are degenerate children of forefathers who died rather than renounce their attachment to the See of Peter.

1861--December 26th, L180 0 0
1862--February 19th, 100 0 0
February 26th, 30 0 0
March 26th, 100 0 0
May 19th, 200 0 0
July 28th, 200 0 0
August 9th, 500 0 0
September 4th, 500 0 0
November 14th, 120 0 0
November 28th, 30 0 0
1863--March 9th, 150 0 0
May 13th, 150 0 0
May 29th, 50 0 0
July 15th, 700 0 0
July 29th, 500 0 0
November 26th, 300 0 0
1864--April 14th, 200 0 0
July 27th, 1000 0 0
November 8th, 350 0 0
------------
L5,460 0 0

POLAND.

His Grace the Archbishop of Dublin has honoured us by addressing to us the following letter:--

_To the Editors of the Irish Ecclesiastical Record._

55 Eccles Street, 22nd December, 1864.

Rev. Gentlemen,

The sad condition to which Russian despotism has reduced our
Catholic brethren in Poland must be a source of grief and
affliction to every Christian heart. Tens of thousands of the
inhabitants of that generous country, so long the bulwark of
Christendom against the encroachments of pagan or Mahometan
hordes, have been condemned to pass their days in the deserts
of Siberia, and to suffer an exile worse than death: noble
families have been totally destroyed, and their children
dispersed: even young ladies of the highest rank have been
dragged from the convents where they were receiving a
Christian education, and sent to pass their days among the
Calmucks or the Tartars. The property of the Catholic
nobility and gentry has been confiscated; many churches and
colleges and almost all the convents and monasteries, have
been stripped of their possessions, or suppressed. The
scaffold has been purpled with the blood of innumerable
victims, lay and clerical, and some bishops and hundreds of
priests are now scattered over the continent of Europe,
undergoing the sufferings of exile. "Crudelis ubique luctus,
ubique pavor et plurima mortis imago". All these evils have
been afflicted on Poland in the presence of Europe, and all
the great powers have been silent, looking on with
indifference. The Holy Father alone, acting with the usual
spirit of the Apostolic See, has raised his voice in favour
of suffering humanity; but heresy and schism shut their ears
against the words of truth, and Sarmatia is left to her
unhappy fate.

The scenes now enacted in Poland cannot but remind us of the
calamities with which our own dear country was visited in the
days of Cromwell and the Puritans, when the streets of our
towns ran with the blood of massacred Catholics, and
multitudes of Catholic children were torn from their homes
and sent to drag out a miserable existence in the swamps of
Georgia or on the scorching sands of the Antilles.

Ireland having suffered in the same cause and in the same way
as Poland, must feel deep sympathy with her afflicted
sister--"Haud ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco". Hence,
I am confident that our charitable people, though severely
tried themselves, will do everything in their power to assist
the poor exiled Poles, who have been obliged to take refuge
in France and other countries of Europe, in order to avoid
the sword or the halter of the Russian despot.

The clergy of France, encouraged by the exhortations and
example of our Holy Father, who has not only raised his voice
in favour of the poor exiles, but has founded a college for
them in Rome--the clergy of France, always active and zealous
in the protection and propagation of the faith, have
instituted a society, with the view not only of providing for
the present wants of the Poles now scattered through Europe,
but also of taking steps to secure in times to come the
existence of our holy religion in that unhappy country, by
educating young students to fill the ranks of the priesthood.

A most distinguished prelate, Monseigneur Segur, well known
for his innumerable works of charity and religion, is at the
head of the society just mentioned, and the Very Rev. Abbe
Perraud, a learned priest of the Oratory, and author of an
admirable work on the state of Ireland, is its secretary. The
society is patronised by the bishops and nobles of France.

Wishing you, reverend gentlemen, every blessing and every
success, I remain, your obedient servant,

+ Paul Cullen.

The president and secretary have addressed to me the two
documents here annexed, which give a full and true account of
the unhappy state of the Polish exiles, and of the sufferings
of the clergy.

May I beg of you to publish them in the next number of the
_Record_, a periodical which I hope will do good service to
Irish ecclesiastical literature.

I will send L10 myself, to assist in relieving the persecuted
Poles. If any of your readers wish to confide their
contributions to me, I will be happy to remit them to that
good friend, both of Ireland and Poland, the Abbe Perraud.

_Letter addressed to their Lordships the Archbishops and
Bishops of England and Ireland by the President of the
Association._

The 30th of July, 1864, date of the circular of the Sovereign
Pontiff, Pius IX., addressed to the Archbishops and Bishops
of Poland, will ever be a memorable epoch for the martyred
nation. From that day she may look with confidence to the
future; Catholicism is saved in Poland, and with Catholicism
the past history of the Polish nation.

In obedience to the voice of the Holy Father, _who solemnly
warns us not to follow prescriptions contrary to the laws of
God and of His Church_, and "placing, according to his word,
everything else below religion and the Catholic doctrine",
some of his sons assembled on the 24th of September, 1864,
for the purpose of obtaining in behalf of Poland that which
the Emperor of Russia refuses her.

Borrowing the very expressions of the Pontifical letter, the
following are their engagements:

"The Czar wishes to extirpate Catholicism"; we will uphold
it.--"He would drag the whole of his people into this
wretched schism"; we will lend them our aid.--"He prohibits
writings that are propitious to Catholicism"; we will print
them.--"He impedes the communications with the Holy See"; we
will free them from difficulty.--"He forbids showing, either
by preaching or instructing, the difference that exists
between truth and schism"; we will receive and propagate
works that demonstrate this difference.

"Bishops are torn from their dioceses and sent into exile";
we should be proud to own them.--"The religious are expelled
from their communities, and their monasteries are turned into
barracks"; we are ready to offer them a refuge.--"Priests are
cruelly persecuted, deprived of all they possess, reduced to
poverty, exiled, thrown into prison or put to death"; we
undertake to receive them with honour, to alleviate their
sufferings, to create or to support houses of education, both
elementary and of a higher order, so that the source of
priesthood in Poland may not be dried up, and so as to
disseminate the benefits of Christian education.--"Numbers of
Catholics of every rank and age are removed to distant
countries"; we will open our doors to them.

In a word, the nucleus of an exclusively religious
association, under the denomination of "Work of Catholicism
in Poland", has been formed in Paris, with the view of
maintaining, "by all the means that charity can suggest",
this generous nation in her fidelity to the Church.

Mgr. de Segur, prelate of his Holiness' household and Canon
of St. Denis, has consented to honour this most important
work with his patronage.

The Rev. Father Petetot, superior-general of the Oratory,
and the Rev. M. Deguerry, parish priest of the church of La
Madeleine, at Paris, the Count Montalembert, and M. Cornudet,
councillor of state, have also kindly accepted the
vice-presidentship.

Our first duty is to receive with sympathy the representatives
of Polish heroism, men who have not hesitated between tortures
and apostacy. Many of them were in the enjoyment of affluence
at home; and after having proved in the last struggle the
vitality of their invincible nation, the spirit of faith and
of sacrifice is now the sole treasure which they possess.

Amongst the Poles now in Paris, there are representatives of
every profession; employment must be found for them, either
in the capital or the provinces. A neighbouring country of
two millions and a half of inhabitants, Switzerland, has
harboured about two thousand. There, not one of the exiles
but has found both assistance and means of gaining his
livelihood. An asylum even is being founded for the reception
of invalids; a residence is offered to them. Public opinion
in Switzerland is so favourable to the Poles, that in their
presence even religious differences are done away with. What
the Helvetian republic has effected, the whole of France will
not fail to accomplish. So much for the more immediate
necessities.

Whenever there is question of works of the apostleship in
foreign lands, we are always ready to assist the missionary.
Have we not a short time ago signalized our zeal for the
Christians of Syria and Lebanon, and still more recently for
the Bulgarian nation, for whose return to unity we may safely
hope? What we require at present, and what is easier to
perform, and less uncertain, is to maintain in her attachment
to the Church a Catholic nation of 25 millions of men. To
accomplish this, we must provide for the religious education
of those whom the misfortunes of the times prevent from
entering into the seminaries of Poland. The Holy Father has
himself given the initiative, by opening a Polish seminary at
Rome. Why should we not follow his example? At the time of
the persecutions in Ireland, we counted in the north of
France alone, no less than four colleges for the use of young
Irishmen: Saint-Omer, where the great O'Connell was formed:
Douai, whence came in the time of Elizabeth, forty of
England's early martyrs: Lille, and Paris.

Until such time as the extension of the work shall enable us
to collect the necessary funds for the foundation and
maintenance of these establishments, we would humbly request
the bishops to admit into their large and small seminaries
the young Poles who show signs of an ecclesiastical vocation.
If, after preparatory studies, they could not all return to
their mother country, their aid would be valuable for the
conversion of different nations of the East.

As it is probable that this association of prayers and of
alms will not be of long duration, the annual subscription is
fixed at a minimum of 5 fr. Many of the faithful no doubt
will not be satisfied with so small a contribution. Others,
on the contrary, may group together to form it.

We would also request their Lordships the Bishops to be kind
enough to appoint in each of their dioceses a member of their
clergy who would have the charge of centralising the work and
making it known, and who would enjoy the spiritual favours of
the Sovereign Pontiff, who has ever been the protector and
father of Poland. To every Catholic, to whatever country he
may belong, this work is a question of honour, a protestation
of the civilised world against barbarity.

Out of France we firmly hope our work will meet with deep
sympathy, similar associations will be formed, and regular
communications established between them.

May the blessed Virgin, Patroness of Poland, bless and second
our efforts.

All communications and donations intended for the "Work of
Catholicism in Poland" to be addressed to the Rev. Father
Perraud, Priest of the Oratory, Director General of the Work,
44 Rue du Regard, Paris.

French and foreign newspapers favourable to Poland are
requested to publish this act of foundation of the "Work of
Catholicism in Poland".

_Letter to the Archbishop of Dublin from the Director-General
of the Association._

"Paris, 20th December, 1864,

"My Lord Archbishop,

"The work, the plan of which we lay before you to-day, is one
which recommends itself to your zeal and your love for the
Church.

"The touching words of the Sovereign Pontiff have stirred us
to lend assistance to martyred Poland. May the Church of
Ireland second the Church of France in this endeavour, which
is so noble, and, at this moment, so necessary.

"I venture to unite my humble voice with that of the pious
prelate and of the eminent men who are at the head of this
work, in the hope that the bishops and priests of Ireland
will listen with favour to an appeal on behalf of a persecuted
church and nation. Accept, my Lord, the expression of profound
respect and lively gratitude with which I am,

"Your most devoted humble Servant,
"ADOLPHE PERRAUD,
"Director-General of the Work".

LITURGICAL QUESTIONS.

One of the objects which the founders of the IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL RECORD had proposed to themselves from the very beginning of their undertaking was to offer to the Irish clergy in its pages an appropriate place for the discussion of liturgical questions. They judged that they could not better recommend this object to their readers than by laying before them a sample of the actual working of the liturgical department of an ecclesiastical periodical of long standing and renown. With this view it was resolved to insert in our early numbers some of the questions which from time to time had been asked by French clergymen in the _Revue des Sciences Ecclesiastiques_ (edited by the learned Abbe Bouix), adding in each case the answers given by those charged with that part of the Review. No official character has ever been claimed for these answers by their authors, who invariably give for what they are worth the arguments on which their answers rest. In the same way the excellent _Archivio dell'Ecclesiastico_ of Florence devotes every month a portion of its pages to the liturgical questions which are continually addressed to the Editor by the clergy of Northern Italy. We are happy to announce to-day that several distinguished ecclesiastics who have devoted much time and study to liturgical pursuits have undertaken to attend to any similar questions that may be addressed to the RECORD by the clergy of Ireland. Following the custom of the periodicals just mentioned, all information shall be withheld concerning the sources whence the questions have come, except where publicity is expressly desired. Every question with which we may be honoured, shall be carefully attended to. We hope that every priest will assist us in this effort to make the IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL RECORD a work of practical benefit to the clergy of Ireland.

We give to-day a collection of the decrees of the S. Congregation of Rites on various points of the Rubrics of the Missal. We extract them from the first Ratisbon edition of the _Manuale Ordinandorum_, March 1842. In order that the words of each decree of the S. Congregation may be distinguished from those of the editors, the former are printed in Italics.

EX DECRETIS S. RITUUM CONGREGATIONIS.

Ad Sec. II. _De ingressu sacerdotis ad altare._

1. Acolythus aut alius accendens cereos ante Missam, aut ante aliam sacram functionem, incipere debet a cereis qui sunt _a cornu evangelii, quippe nobiliori parte_. 12 Aug. 1253 (Anal. II. p. 2201).

2. _Non licet_ sacerdotibus deferre manutergium supra calicem tam eundo quam redeundo ab altari. 1 Sept. 1703 in u. Pisaur.

3. Sacerdos pergens ad celebrandum et calicem manu sinistra portans, ad ianuam sacristiae _signet se, si commode fieri potest_, aqua benedicta; _sin minus, se abstineat_. 27 Mart. 1779 in u. Ord. Min. ad 14.

4. Si sacristia est post altare, _a sacristia_ ad illud _e sinistra egrediendum, a dextera ad illam accedendum_. 12 Aug. 1854 in u. Brioc. ad 17.

5. Sacerdos Missam celebraturus transiens ante altare, ubi fit populi Communio, _non_ debet permanere genuflexus, quousque terminetur Communio. 5 Jul. 1698 in u. Collen. ad 17.--In quaestione: quomodo se gerere debeat sacerdos celebraturus, dum _transit_ ante altare, in quo sit _publice expositum_ Ss. Sacramentum? An post factam genuflexionem detecto capite, _surgens_ debeat _caput tegere_, donec ad altare pervenerit? an vero _detecto_ capite _iter prosequi_ ob reverentiam tanti Sacramenti sic publice expositi, cum rubrica Missalis Romani non videatur loqui de hac praecisa adoratione in casu de quo agitur? _servandae sunt rubricae Missalis Romani, quae videntur innuere, quod post factam adorationem genibus flexis, detecto capite, surgens caput operiat._ 24 Jul. 1638 in u. Urb.

6. Tam _in ingressu Sacerdotis ad altare, quam ante principium Missae, reverentia Sacerdotis debet esse profunda capitis et corporis_, non capitis tantum, _inclinatio_, juxta rubricam 8. April. 1808. in u. Compostell. ad 5.--_In accessu_ ad altare, in quo habetur Ss. Sacramentum, sive expositum, sive in tabernaculo reconditum _et in recessu, in plano est genuflectendum; in infimo autem gradu altaris, quoties_ (alias ante altare) _genuflectere occurrat_ (e. g. in principio Missae). 12. Nov. 1831 in u Mars. ad 51.--Inter Missam privatam a ministro _in transitu tantum ante medium altaris genuflectendum_, (si Ss. Sacramentum inclusum est in tabernaculo), _vel inclinandum_. 12. Aug. 1854 ad 70 et 71 (Anal. II. 2200).

7. _Si multae sunt particulae consecrandae, satius est eas ponere in pixide;[7] si paucae poni possunt in alia patena; nunquam vero in alio Corporali complicato._ 12. Aug. 1854 ad 19 (Anal. II. p. 2192)

8. In Missis privatis _non_ potest permitti ministro aperire Missale et invenire Missam; _et serventur rubricae_. 7. Sept. 1816 in u. Tuden. ad 11; _neque_ potest permitti ministro, si fuerit sacerdos vel diaconus sive subdiaconus, ut praeparet calicem, et ipsum extergat in fine post ablutiones. Ibid. ad 12.

Ad Sec. III. _De principio Missae et Confessione facienda._

_In Missa dicendum est_ Confiteor _pure et simpliciter, prout habetur in Missali Romano, absque additione alicujus Sancti etiam Patroni_, nisi adsit speciale indultum Apostolicae Sedis. 13. Febr. 1666 in u. Ord. Min. ad 5; Jul. 1704 in u. Valent.

Ad Sec. IV. _De Introitu, Kyrie, et Gloria._

In quaestione: an post signum crucis, quod fit in fine "Gloria in excelsis", "Credo" et "Sanctus" manus sint jungendae, etiamsi nihil hujusmodi praescribat rubrica? _serventur rubricae_, 12. Nov. 1831 in u. Mars. ad 30.

Ad Sec. V. _De Oratione._

_Congruit, ut fert praxis universalis, praesertim Urbis_, quod fiat inclinatio capitis, cum pronunciatur nomen Ss. Trinitatis, sicut fit, cum profertur nomen Jesus. 7. Sept. 1816 in u. Tuden. ad 40.

Ad Sec. VI. _De Epistola usque ad Offertorium._

1. _Juxta rubricas in elevatione oculorum crux est aspicienda._ 22. Jul. 1848 in u. Adiacen. ad. 3.

2. Manus sinistra poni debet super missale ad Evangelium, cum dextera fit signum crucis super ipsum. 7. Sept. 1816 in u. Tuden. ad 25.

3. In Missis privatis ad verba "Et incarnatus est", Celebrans genuflectere debet _unico genu_. 22. Aug. 1818 in u. Hispal. ad 10.

Ad Sec. VII. _De Offertorio usque ad Canonem._

1. In dubio: an in Missa privata, quando minister non est superpelliceo indutus, debeat eum, lecto Offertorio a Celebrante, ad altare ascendere, accipere et plicare velum calicis, vel hic ritus reservari debeat ministris superpelliceo indutis vel etiam Celebrans ipse debeat plicare velum et super altare ponere? _servanda est consuetudo._ 12. Aug. 1854 ad 69 (Anal. II. p. 2200).

2. In quaestione: utrum parvi cochlearis pro aqua in calicem infundenda usus sit omnibus licitus? _servanda est rubrica._ 7. Sept. 1850 in u. Rupel. ad 13.

3. _Praxis extergendi calicem cum purificatorio_ ad abstergendas guttas vini adhaerentes lateribus interioribus cuppae calicis, quae aliquando resiliunt, dum praeparatur ipsemet calix, _magis congruit et summopere laudabilis est_. 7. Sept. 1816 in u. Tuden. ad 28.--_Relinqui_ vero _potest Sacerdotis arbitrio_ utrum purificatorium ponere velit super pedem calicis dum praeparatur (vinum ad offertorium infunditur), vel potius super patenam. Ibid. ad 29.

4. Oratio "Deus qui humanae" incipienda est a sacerdote eodem momento, quo benedicit aquam; _non_ vero prius aqua benedicatur nihil dicendo, atque tunc demum, facto signo crucis, illa oratio incipiatur. 12. Aug. 1854 ad d. 25. (Anal. Jur. Pontif. II. p. 2193).

5. Cruces quae fiunt super oblata a sacerdote, non debent fieri manu transversa sed _manu recta_. 4. Aug. 1663 in u. Dalmat. ad 4.--_In benedictionibus congruentior juxta rubricas et ritum videtur modus benedicendi manu recta, et digitis simul unitis et extensis._ 24. Jun. 1683 in u. Abling. ad 6.

6. _Congruit, ut fert praxis universalis, praesertim Urbis_, quod fiat inclinatio capitis in fine Psalmi "Lavabo" (ad "Gloria Patri"), qui dicitur in Missa, sicut praescribitur in principio Missae. 7. Sept. 1816 in u. Tuden. ad 37.

Ad Sec. VIII. _De Canone usque ad Consecrationem._

1. Ad quaestionem: an Sacerdos dicere debeat "Te igitur" in principio Canonis, dum elevat manus et oculos; vel incipere debeat, dum est jam in profundo inclinatus? _servanda est rubrica de ritu servando in celebratione Missae tit. 8, num. 1, et altera Canoni praefixa._ 7. Sept. 1816 in u. Tuden. ad 33.

2. Omnes sacerdotes celebrantes, dum in Canone Missae Papam nominant, debent _juxta rubricam_ caput inclinare. 23. Mai 1846 in u. Tuden. ad 6.

3. _In Canone nomine Antistitis non sunt nominandi superiores Regularium_ 13. Febr. 1666 in decret. ad Missal. ad 11.--_Ii Religiosi, qui, Antistitis nomine tacito, ejus loco in precibus sive in Canone suae Religionis Superiorem nominant, contra caritatem faciunt._ 12. Nov. 1605 in u. Ulixbon.--_In Canone et in Collectis omnino, facienda est mentio de Episcopo etiam ab exemptis_ 25. Sept. 1649 in u. Tornac. ad 6.

4. Debet Sacerdos pronuncians in Canone Missae nomen alicujus Sancti, de quo factum est Officium, vel saltem Commemoratio, facere inclinationem capitis. 7. Sep. 1816 in u. Tuden. ad 34--Nomen S. Joseph Sponsi B. M. V. _non_ potest addi _in Canone_. _Permittitur_ vero _hujus nominis additio in Collecta "A cunctis"_. 17. Sep. 1815 in u. Urbis et Orbis.

5. A "Hanc igitur oblationem" manus sacerdotis ita debent extendi, ut palmae sint apertae, pollice dextero super sinistrum in modum crucis _supra manus_ posito. 4. Aug. 1663 in u. Dalmat. ad 5.

FOOTNOTE:

[7] Ex quo patet, "vas mundum benedictum", de quo rubrica esse _pixidem_.

[THE REMAINDER IN OUR NEXT.]

DOCUMENTS.