Our parish : house of God and gate of heaven


By
k*r. XA.kEINHOLD

tb/f/i

Discussion Club

Outline



Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2016

https://archive.org/details/ourparishhouseofOOrein



OUR PARISH
House of God and Gate of Heaven

A Discussion Club Text

PREPARED FOR

The Confraternity of Christian Doctrine

Diocese of Rochester

by

REV. H. A. REINHOLD

THE PAULIST PRESS
401 West 59th Street

New York.



Nihil Obstat:

In Festo S. Petri Nolasco, 1943.

Benedict Ehmann,

Censor Deputatus.

Imprimatur:

Jacobus Eduardus,

Episcopus Roffensis.

Die 1 Februarii, 1943.

Copyright, 1943
,
by

The Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle
in the State of New York

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED IN THE U. S. A.

BY THE PAULIST PRESS, NEW YORK, N. Y.



INTRODUCTION

When the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine invited me
to compile this pamphlet for it, I gladly accepted, although

conscious of the great difficulty of combining in it the sublime

doctrine of our Holy Church with enough earthy realism to

make it interesting and instructive for both the learned and
the beginner. I took refuge, therefore, in the time-honored

device of starting with the visible neighborly things which con-

stitute in our minds the parish to which we all belong, pro-
ceeding from the obvious and almost banal things of our daily

lives to the sublime and supernatural truths which animate and

“inform” them, if I may be permitted to use this scholastic
term of St. Thomas for once. I trust that this method will
induce all members to take a personal and lively interest in
our topic and prevent them from being frightened by too much
theory from the beginning. Thus nothing is required for the
beginner but open eyes and ears to pick up the pieces out of
which the group will build the edifice of the parish. After

that is done, we will see “what makes it tick,” to use a popu-
lar expression.

I shall endeavor to hold up a sound and humble parochial

pride and loyalty as one of the natural ingredients of true par-

ish spirit. As we are proud to be Americans, inhabitants of
our home State and certainly of our town or city, thus we
should not only feel proud, with a humble pride, of course, to

be Catholics and members of the universal Church, but also

of our great diocese and certainly of our spiritual “home town”
—our own parish. It follows that we embrace the parish with
the same loyalty and loving attachment as we have, on the
natural and civic plane, for our town. I am not afraid that
we will become “parochial” in its narrow and evil sense, and
I don’t fear that we will lose sight of the greater things of the
universal Church and our diocese. Practical experience shows

that modern Catholics who move around a great deal are
rather stricken with a vagabond and cosmopolitan spirit, in

which the individual parish means as much to them as the new
neighborhood grocer, when they change their residence. How-
ever, no parish can keep its spiritual level without a nucleus

3



4 OUR PARISH

of people who are parish-conscious and save the pastor from
resorting to salesmen’s methods to keep the parish going.

All this is more or less on the natural plane. The real
purpose is, however, greater. It is to make the parish, its altar,
our spiritual home and to let us realize that our local church
is “Christ, here and now,” “going about and doing good and

healing all” now in His sacraments as He did once in Galilee
and Judea when He was physically dispensing salvation.

I hope this pamphlet will help to open our supernatural

eyes, the eyes of faith to see our parish in a new light and as
new. I purposely say that I hope it will help, because it is only

a map for your exploration of the real thing. No map can con-
vey the beauty and reality of what the senses perceive of the

far-flung plains, the lakes and mountains, the rivers and for-

ests, the wandering clouds and the raging waves of our oceans.

But as we may get lost in a beautiful country without a map,
so we might fail to find our way through the rich, supernatural
land of our parish without a guide, however modest and

sketchy it may be.
You will find a great amount of asking and going about

necessary to get a clear picture of your parish and its history,

but your own exploring will make you understand it, not only
its physical aspects but also its spiritual and social make-up.

It will come to life and grow into a live organism with a human
body and a divine Soul: “Christ here and now.”

H. A. R.



CHAPTERS

CHAPTER I page

Our Parish and Its Church 7

CHAPTER II

Our Parish Center: The Altar IS

CHAPTER III

Our Parish Shepherd 26

CHAPTER IV

Our Parish Flock 35

CHAPTER V

Our Parish Families 43

CHAPTER VI

Our Parish: The Gate of Heaven 50

CHAPTER VII

Our Parish in Action 59





CHAPTER I

OUR PARISH AND ITS CHURCH

I

The majority of our contemporaries
have become uprooted. They move from
town to town, from city to city, from State

to State, from farm to farm and, last but

not least, from parish to parish. All this is

done as if it were the most natural thing

on earth, and yet it makes our life nomadic,

restless, unattached and nervous. It seems

as if modern man can not stay a long while
with anything. Great upheavals such as depressions and wars

have accentuated this trend. But even before these crises hit
humanity, modern industrialism and its fast-changing scenery

were a great incentive for people to follow opportunity and

chance and to become detached from soil, town and parish.

It thus happens that, except for a small minority of more

sedentary and stable people, many parishioners know very lit-
tle, not only about the importance of a parish as such and its

supernatural meaning in their own spiritual lives, but even
about its physical aspects and its story. Something strange

has happened to us. A parish has become a commodity, like a
grocery store or a filling station, although, of course, on a

higher, spiritual level.

We will see later on that such an attitude is a misunder-
standing of our relations with our parish church and in contra-

diction to the spirit and the letter of Church law. But look
around and see: is there not a great deal of this spirit notice-

able, when you observe yourself and, for study’s sake, your
Catholic friends? They call St. John’s Church “Father

7



8 OUR PARISH

O’Reilly’s church,” as if it were one priest’s spiritual “busi-

ness.” They go to Mass where they please, unless they feel
that they have financial obligations to one pastor. That seems

the only thing which keeps them in their own parish unless
they like the priest who runs it or have other sentimental at-
tachments to this particular church. Maybe they like the devo-
tions and the services better than in other churches. Or, it is

a certain religious order which they prefer or friends who go
there, too. All these motives, although not bad in themselves,

are personal, human, subjective . They all start with our own
ego, our pleasure. And yet, to be a Catholic is to be a believer
in the things that are given by the Church, the things which

we may call objective
,
starting from facts, from God, from

Christ, from the Church, from the Law. When we put our
own ego into the center of all considerations, we are egocentric.
The egocentric attitude is radically opposed to the true Catho-
lic attitude. Thus we see that we would be better Catholics,
if we asked ourselves, not “What do I prefer?” but “What is
required of me as a believer and a member of the Church?”

What we do not know, we can not cherish. How can we
be interested in a parish, even if we happen to live in it, unless
we do know its physical outlay and its history?

Parish Boundaries

You know, of course, that when you move, this may involve
a change of parish, in some cases even if you move across the
street or a few houses down the block, because you may cross
the parish line. The parish has this in common with your own
town and State; and just as we are not free if we live in Wash-
ington, D. C., to say we prefer to pay our taxes in Virginia or
Maryland and to use their courts, so we can not decide for
ourselves that we would rather “trade” in the other parish.
One of our first tasks in getting acquainted with our spiritual
home is that we explore the territory of our parish and find
out about its borderlines. We should also know how it is



OUR PARISH 9

socially composed. It makes a great difference if our pastor

has to look after a parish in a strictly residential district, or

downtown, in a factory area, or in farming country, or in a

place of mixed population either on the outskirts of our town

or where a slum area meets a better residential area. We ought
to know if our co-parishioners all belong to about the same
social layer of society, or if most of them are either well-to-do

or dependent on welfare. What Catholic parishioner would be
unaffected in his mind by the fact that his parish has its spe-

cial problems through the fact that it contains racial or lan-

guage minorities? There is a difference if your parish consists

of people who have been educated in an American tradition
of supporting their church, of going to Catholic schools, of

joining organizations, or of people who come from countries
where such things are unknown and who therefore miss a
great many of their obligations and come to church only to be
baptized, married and buried! We will have to ask our priests
to give us a graphic picture of these conditions; and we may
go out ourselves and observe. Justice and charity require that

we know the problems of not only our pastor, but certainly of
our fellow man. “Do good to all men, but especially to those
who are of the household of Faith” (Gal. vi. 10).

Discussion Questions

What is the purpose of investigating the past
history, the physical outlay and the social con-
ditions of our parish? What are some reasons
for the loss of parish consciousness in our
times? What makes us a parishioner of a
specific parish? Can you indicate approxi-
mately the borderlines of our parish? Is our
parish a rural, a mixed, a poor, a residential,
a downtown or an industrial section parish?
Do we have strong contrasts in our parish pop-
ulation in race, color, income, education?



10 OUR PARISH

II

Our Parish Church

All the life of a parish radiates from our church. It is

often surprising how little parishioners know about their spir-
itual home. It will be interesting to find out about our parish

patron and how it ever happened that this particular patron
was chosen. This may reveal something about the history
of our church. “St. Patrick” may indicate that the original
parishioners or priests were Irish, but by now these may be
only a minority. Sometimes the title of the church indicates

a period: The Immaculate Conception became very popular as
a title after the middle of the nineteenth century, St. Therese

of Lisieux in the twenties of our century.

The best method to understand your parish church is to
make a conducted tour of it. You will find a great many things
you never noticed before, and many a statue or picture will
only become significant after you find out whom it represents,
why it was erected, and what made up the life of this saint,
and its significance for us. Did you ever see the inside of the

sacristy, or how the organ works? Do you know who gave the
vestments, what they mean, who designed the plans of the
church and in what style it was built? Have you an idea how
the people paid for it or how they are still doing it? In many
cases even the style will tell you a great deal of history of your

own parish, at least the period when it was built and, in many
cases, who built it. German and Irish immigrants often pre-
ferred Gothic and Romanesque churches, Italians liked Renais-
sance, and in some places you will even find a church in
Georgian or Colonial style, either because it was built before

the Revolution or shortly after it, or because its parishioners

belonged to a class eager to demonstrate their cultural ambi-

tions as Americans. Remember the courage it took to start a
parish. Think also of the patience with which generations

stood the sight of an unfinished plant, a humble or raw church
building, a poor school, an uncomfortable rectory, before they



OUR PARISH 11

started out to venture on something worthy of the representa-

tion of the greatest idea of the human mind: the material ex-
pression of our relation to our Creator

,
a church building.

Our Parish Activities

Apart from the work of the priests in their parish duties,

there is also a lay aspect which involves quite a number of

activities. There are immediately religious ones, like the sac-

raments, and the different kinds of devotions. There are also

others which are not directly religious, but more or less closely

related to the former. It should be of interest for any parish-

ioner to investigate and study for himself what devotions there

are in his parish. Everyone, of course, ought to have an inter-

est in finding out about the seven sacraments given in the par-

ish, although Holy Orders will be the one they will probably

never see administered, because it is reserved to the Bishop and

to his cathedral church, at least ordinarily. But have you ever

watched an infant or an adult Baptism, with an English trans-

lation in your hand? Were you ever present, when the last
rites were administered, again with a translation of these beau-

tiful and powerful prayers, so that you could follow the sacred

action? Have you watched closely the marriage rite or a
funeral?

It would be a good idea for us to find out what the other

non-sacramental devotions are about, and how they are related
to the principal act, the Holy Eucharist. Perhaps one in our
group can give us a history of some specific devotion and how
it became popular in our own parish, on what occasion it first
appeared among us. Is it an old devotion or a modern one;
has it a particular importance for our town or is it perhaps a
reminder that the clergy of our parish belong to a certain reli-

gious order, or the first parishioners to one of the nationalities

which pioneered here before we were born? What is the Forty
Hours’ Devotion and where did it come from and how long
has it been in our midst?



12 OUR PARISH

Discussion Questions

Who built our church? Our school? When
was our parish founded? Who is our patron?
What devotions have we in our church? Give
the answers to the questions contained in the

text of this second section.

Ill

Our Parish Organizations

Religious life branches out into our daily lives. In modern
times the Church needs organs that feed the content of our
sacramental lives into the profane world outside. The organs
have been built up purposely out of the members of the parish
into organizations. What are the organizations in your par-
ish, and how closely are they connected with the parish? The
Catholic Action pattern, as developed under Pope Pius XI, has

what are called “four columns”—young men and married men,
young girls and married women. These are the so-called
natural estates of the parish. Can you classify your parish or-
ganizations under these headings? Or are there other head-
ings under which to catalogue them: like charity, pastoral help,

social, fraternal, and so on? There are, of course, other or-

ganizations which are not purposely parochial, like the Knights

of Columbus or the Catholic Daughters, unless there is only

one parish in your town. It may be useful to discuss the im-
portance of these organizations for the parish life and their

function in it. There are organizations which are nation-wide

or diocesan, of which there may be a branch in your parish.
Some are auxiliaries for the whole Church, like the Propaga-
tion of the Faith; others are strictly parochial in purpose like

the Altar Society and the St. Vincent de Paul Conference. You
will be surprised to note that what seemed to be a haphazard

tangle of organizations is really animated by a purpose and
principle which avoids overlapping, and either brings the parish



OUR PARISH 13

closer to God, or God into the life of men,—some leading up
to the altar, others bringing the living graces of the Church

down into ordinary life.

The Scene of Action

Like an army ready for conquest we find our parish on the
scene of action which is the surrounding world, the souls of

men living with us as practical, or potential, or fallen-away
members of the Church. It is easy to imagine how we can
contact men and women who live under the same circumstances
as we do. We meet them socially, in our business or profes-
sional life, in our factories and in fraternal organizations, in

schools and educational clubs, during sport and recreation.

However, it is bad strategy to rush into the field without having

first surveyed carefully. You can not approach all problems
with one and the same method, and if you wish to preach to
the poor you have to select an approach which differs from the

one you would choose to win the wealthy. Our Lord spoke to
the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem differently from the way he was
wont to use with the country folk in Galilee.

There are problems of a special kind in every parish: the

slums, the prisons, an asylum, a county hospital, to mention the

defective side of life. Souls committed to these places are po-

tential Christians, or already members of the parish, although
economically or mentally or morally weak ones. A careful sur-
vey of your own parish will reveal these things to you and you
will ask: What are we doing about^ it? The sacramental, in-
tellectual and social life of a parish would be suspect if it ig-
nored these things. Our desire to be left alone and to avoid
unpleasantness, to appear respectable and to hide our short-

comings, if maintained at the expense of charity, tinges all the

good things we may do with the reproach of hypocrisy. If we
wish to maintain our sacramental community, the parish, as

something built on Christ, and bringing Christ to men, it is

necessary to find out for ourselves what is going on within its
boundaries.



14 OUR PARISH

Discussion Questions

What institutions are located in our parish,
religious and non-religious? Can you enumer-
ate and classify our parish organizations (reli-
gious, social, fraternal, charitable, diocesan,

universal)? Are our parish clergy secular or
religious? If they are the latter, what do you
know about the ideals and history of their
order? To what religious order do our parish
school teachers belong? or the Sisters in other
institutions within the parish? Do we know
anything about these orders? Explain how you
think the parish gets its support and relieves
its debt.



CHAPTER II

OUR PARISH CENTER: THE ALTAR

In the course of the Middle Ages altars

developed into large structures, and it was

only recently that American bishops began

to encourage a return to the simple altar

that shows at first sight what it really

means to be: a table or a block for the

Divine Sacrifice of the Mass. Special em-

phasis was given to this movement, when
St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York re-

ceived its beautiful new altar. We have examples of the altar,
in its pure significance, in the great Basilicas of Our Saviour,

St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Mary Major in the eternal city
of Rome. Whatever the altar in our own church may be
like, let us remember that it is not the superstructure behind

it, nor the painting, nor the sculptures and images around

and above, which make up the altar, but the sacred table
with its candles and its crucifix. Some of these altar super-
structures, both medieval and modern, are very good works

of art; wood carving, stone carving, plastering or painting.
Some of them have been acquired with great sacrifice by the
parish. Some of them are dear to parishioners because they
have been there for many years, or because they were given by
members of their own family. As long as we remember that
they are ornaments and backdrops of the real altar, and as
long as they are not such that they “crush” the principal part

of the altar, they will not prevent our understanding the sym-

bolism of our sacrificial table. It really does not make a great
difference if these backdrops are made of cloth, stone or wood,
so long as the principal idea is still clearly enough expressed to

be seen. If we put first things first, we can not err.



16 OUR PARISH

Meeting of Heaven and Earth

The altar of our parish church is the place where heaven
and earth meet in a symbolical way: this is the reason why the
altar is raised above the level of the sanctuary, which in turn

is again raised above the level of the nave of the church. Christ

was transfigured and crucified on a mountain, and ascended

into heaven from Mount Olivet. Moses received his law on
Mount Sinai and Abraham made his sacrifice on Moriah, a
mountain in Palestine. “And when Jesus had dismissed the
crowd, He went up the mountain to pray.” It is human sym-
bolism to raise a place of sacrifice. Its plain surface raises our

sacrifice into the sight of God—a grand and simple gesture of
obedience and surrender to the Giver of Life. On it rests the
Missal that contains the Word of God and those sacred texts
through which the Holy Sacrifice is prepared and consum-

mated. The crucifix in the center of the altar relates our sacra-
mental sacrifice to the historical sacrifice on Calvary for our

eyes and minds. It originates from the times when, as nowa-

days on Good Friday, the altar was decked out before every
Mass and was otherwise empty except for a container of the
Holy Eucharist and the Gospel book. At that time the candles

and the crucifix were carried in the introit procession at the

beginning of the Mass, and deposited at the altar upon the

arrival in the sanctuary.

Another beautiful symbolism is contained in the altar

candles. Originally they were needed to provide the necessary

light for the service, but nowadays they are more ornamental.

It is easy to draw the parallel between these candles and Christ,
calling Himself the Light of the World, and comparing us with

the light on the candlestick, and with the city on a mountain,

visible to all the world. They are the most adequate orna-
ment for our sacrifice; while they serve at it, they consume
themselves unto their own annihilation in sacrifice. We admire
the beautiful sobriety and moderation of Rome which pre-
scribes a certain limited number of candles, never more than
six—or seven for the bishop’s Mass—even at our greatest sol-



OUR PARISH 17

emnities. We will notice this spirit of majestic restraint and
grandeur wherever we come in contact with any laws given by
Rome, especially in the services given in our liturgical books,

the Missal and the Ritual (the latter containing those rites and

sacraments which are not connected with the Mass).

Discussion Questions

What is the spiritual center of our parish
church? What is the really important part of
the altar? Why is the altar raised above the
level of the sanctuary, and the sanctuary raised
above the level of the nave of the church?
What is the Missal? Why is a crucifix re-
quired for Mass? What is the meaning of the
candles at Mass? What does the melting of
their wax signify? How many candles are re-
quired for a Low Mass? for a High Mass? for
a Bishop’s High Mass?

II

The Tomb of the Martyrs

There is a great and impressive moment when the bishop
consecrates an altar: the transfer of the martyrs’ relics to their

new place of rest, the altar. It is like a funeral service with-
out sadness, but with the spirit of joy and triumph. Priests in

sacred vestments carry the relics in procession, surrounded with

lighted torches, in front of the bishop who wears his pontifical
robes and carries his crozier. When this procession enters the
church, the choir sings:

“How glorious is the Kingdom in which the saints rejoice
with Christ; clad in white garments they follow the Lamb,
whithersoever He goes. . . . Rise, ye Saints of God, out
of your resting places hasten to the places which are pre-



18 OUR PARISH

pared for you. . . . Come, let us rejoice to the Lord, let us
sing praise to God our Saviour (Ps. 94). . . . With glad-
ness you shall go out and with joy you will be led; moun-
tains and hills will leap expecting you with rejoicing, Alle-
luia. . . . Because theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven, who
despised the life of this world and attained the prize of the
Kingship and washed their garments in the Blood of the
Lamb.”—(From the Roman Pontifical.)
This new abode of the martyrs’ relics is then anointed with

Chrism by the pontiff and the stone slab that seals it is fastened

with blessed mortar. At this time the choir sings the words

from St. John’s Apocalypse:

“From below the altar I heard the voices of the slain
saying: why dost thou not vindicate our blood? And they
received the divine answer: Sustain yet a little while, until

the number of your brethren will be fulfilled.”

With prayer and the singing of antiphons, the bishop walks

around the altar with the censer in his hands. In its fullness

this rite is well worth reading and studying.

The great love with which the Church buries the relics of
her sainted martyrs in every altar, indicates what she wants

us to understand. No gold or silver or precious art work is
as fit as the grave of one who became like his Master to be a
place of celebration for the Holy Mystery. In and through

Christ’s Blood the blood of the martyr has received its value;

his martyrdom is a fruit of the eucharistic mystery; it flows

from the altar.

The Altar Is Christ

According to the law of the Church, the altar should be

clad in precious fabrics, linen covering its blade and sill, bro-

cade or damask clothing its front and rear. Repeatedly the
book used by the bishop at consecrations and ordinations,
which is called the “Pontifical,” says: “The altar is Christ.”
This brings us to the deepest meaning of it. Christ said to the



OUR PARISH 19

Samaritan woman at the well in Sichar: “God is spirit, and
they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth”
(John iv. 24). We must, therefore, always seek the things of
the Spirit behind visible signs. Our Holy Faith is truly spirit-

ual, and in itself such things as stone altars mean nothing.
They are matter. Only when we understand what all these
profound symbols mean in “spirit and truth,” do we do justice
to the supernatural character of our religion. The One on
Whom we lay all our sacrifices and prayers, the One Who
sanctifies whatever we offer to our Father in Heaven, is Christ
Himself, Who is our spiritual Altar in Heaven. Our visible
altars signify Him, and they remind us that our religion cen-
ters around sacrifice, that we are all sacrificers, and that every
single act of our daily lives receives its consecration and eternal

value, if we lay it down on this divine Altar.

Discussion Questions

What is in the center of the altar table?
Why are martyr’s relics placed there? With
what must the altar be clad? When the bishop
ordains a deacon for the service of the altar, he
says in the service: “The altar is Christ.” Ex-
plain in what sense the altar stands for Christ.

Ill

The Offertory

The moment in which we gather up our small daily offer-
ings of work, endurance, joy and prayer is the Offertory of the

Mass, when we approach the altar (that is, Christ) to heap on
Him our personal offering. It is small, as the drop of water
which the priest drops into the precious sacrificial wine at the

Offertory, but it is the one thing which gives our life its accent

and its philosophy. What else makes life worth living? Its
chain of success and disappointment, of human happiness and



20 OUR PARISH

unhappiness, health and sickness, richness and poverty, is sus-

pended on birth and death—both are ends. There is not any
sense to anything we do unless we incorporate it into Christ’s
sacrifice, by laying it down beside the host and by dropping
it into the wine, which are to become Christ’s Body and Blood,
the pleasing sacrifice in the eyes of God. Thus we see that our
whole lives have to be conformed in intention to this spirit, in

order to live up to what we are witnessing in our attendance at
Mass.

In centuries past, this intention found its expression in the

solemn Offertory procession. Part of this procession is still left

with us and visible to our own eyes: when at Solemn Mass the
subdeacon carries the veiled chalice and paten to the altar;

when at Low Mass the altar boys bring up the water and wine.
The Offertory verse in our Missals, especially the one at
Requiem Masses, although very much shortened, is the pro-
cessional hymn which was sung when the faithful brought their
gifts, symbolizing themselves and their lives, to the gates of the

sanctuary to be deposited on and around the altar. Thus
Christ was laden with our gifts, which receive all their value

from becoming a part of His divine offering.

Bread and Wine

From the altar comes our life’s sustenance. Why did Christ
choose the symbols of food and drink? Why did He say, eat
and drink? Because the primary purpose of the sacrament of

the Holy Eucharist is our spiritual growth in Him and our con-
forming to Him. His Body is to fill us with strength to become
outwardly and inwardly more like Him, to enable us to imitate

Him. His sacred Blood is to fill us with His spirit of sacrifice

and obedience unto death. When we unite ourselves at Mass
with Him, this union does not only consist in a passing act of

our minds, a conformity of intention, but it ought to be con-

nected with our everyday life. We have to live in conformity
with God’s will as expressed in His commandments and the ex-

ample of His earthly life. In this fashion our life becomes a



OUR PARISH 21

unity. Even the most common daily chores are a part of the
eucharistic sacrifice and banquet. We offer them on the paten
in the Offertory so that they may become one with Christ’s sacri-
fice during the Consecration: we give ourselves not only in ex-
press prayers and words, in mere verbal acts of surrender, but

especially in the dedicated actions of our life. Then in the eu-
charistic banquet (the Communion) we receive the fruit of
Christ’s and our own obedience. More closely united to Jesus
and mysteriously grown in Him, we receive strength to make
our life more Christlike.

Our spiritual life is, therefore, closely bound up with the
altar in our parish. Before it, we are not alone, like hermits in
a desert cave. All these things happen likewise to our fellow

parishioners, whom we meet at the altar, in the Communion of
Saints. “For where two or three are gathered together for my
sake, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt, xviii. 20). This
oneness, in which Christ is, makes our strength. It is made
ever more perfect through Holy Communion at the altar in our
parish church.

As far back as the first century, in the Didache or “Teach-

ings of the Apostles,” Christians were conscious of this unify-

ing fact of the Blessed Sacrament: this document tells the

priests how to perform the Consecration and adds immediately
after it, “As this broken bread was once distributed over the
hills and gathered into one, so let your Church be gathered to-
gether into Thy kingdom from the ends of the earth (p. 4).”
Three hundred years later the great Bishop of Constantinople,

St. John Chrysostom, enlarged this beautiful eucharistic

thought in one of his great sermons. He quotes St. Paul’s fa-
mous saying in the first letter to the Corinthians (x. 17).

“Because the Bread is one we, though many, are one
Body, all of us who partake of the one Bread.”

and continues:

“What do those who receive Holy Communion become?



22 OUR PARISH

The Body of Christ, not many bodies, but one Body. For
as the bread, made of many grains, is united so that the
grains in no way appear any more, although they remain
themselves, and their difference is not evident because of
their union; so we become one with Christ and with one
another.”—(Quoted from Enchir. Patrist., Rouet de Jour-
nel 1194.)

According to St. Augustine (and St. Thomas Aquinas, also),
this is the very essence of the sacrament: “If the faithful want

to live off the Spirit of Christ, let them become His Body, as
only His own Body lives through His Spirit. O sacrament of
godliness, O manifestation of unity, 0 bond of love! If you
want to live, here you have where you may live, from which
you may live. Come, believe, let yourself be incorporated into
this Body that you may become alive” (184, ibid.).

Discussion Questions

At what part of the Mass are we called upon
to place the offering of ourselves upon the
altar? What was the meaning of the ancient
Offertory procession? What remnants of the
Offertory procession still exist in the Mass?
Why did Christ choose bread and wine for the
Sacrifice of the Mass? What does the conse-
cration do to our gifts of bread and wine?
What is the primary purpose of Holy Com-
munion, as taught by St. Paul, the Fathers of
the Church, and the prayers of the Missal?

IV

The Parish Mass

We would therefore be under a serious misconception if we
looked on our more or less frequent Communion as a purely
personal and private affair, on the same order as, for instance,



OUR PARISH 23

our private morning prayers, or a meditation with a good spir-

itual book. In the first place, Communion should never be
detached from Mass without a good reason, and never de-

tached from life; but our life should breathe this spirit of

sacrifice and sacrament. In the second place, since we have
St. Paul, the Fathers of the Church and the very texts of

the Missal driving the point home so strongly, our Commun-
ions should be, so to speak, a community affair, a parish

banquet. We should be conscious that right and left of us
there are fellow members, not to be shut out, but to be taken

into our charity and prayer. This is the reason why the
Church has developed the beautiful texts and songs of the

Mass. In them we have common prayer and community
singing. At every “Dominus Vobiscum” the celebrating priest

invites us to join with him in prayer. At the Preface he

expresses our individual prayer in the most majestic and sol-

emn fashion, in a collective hymn of praise and thanks: “It is
truly fit and just, right and salutary, always and in all places,

to give thanks unto Thee, O Holy Lord, Father Almighty,
Eternal God through Christ our Lord. . . . ” After the Con-
secration the priest prays over the holy gifts, not in his own
name, but saying with precision, “We, Thy servants, also Thy
holy people,” when he calls to mind the full content of this
sacred mystery of Christ’s redemption.

We should now understand that the parish Mass is not in
any way a disturbance of our private devotions, but in fact the
real and true preparation and thanksgiving for Communion,
especially the sung Mass. According to our Missal the sung

Mass is the normal way of celebrating Mass; Low Mass is a
concession made for urgent and practical reasons. Most of
the texts in the Missal reveal on careful examination that they

are hymns, and hymns are to be sung. A parish community
walking in the ancient processions at Mass, singing and prais-

ing God, would be the result of our obedience to the admoni-

tions of the Holy See (Pius X). Sunday Mass would be “cele-
bration” in its true sense, and its uplifting power would become



24 OUR PARISH

more apparent than if we had only theoretical knowledge of its
true meaning, and then concentrated only on our own individ-
ual world. Within a short time we would be free from the use
of books, and would listen, sing, pray and act in this great

mystery which is meant to be celebrated collectively. In its

wise and psychologically well-balanced plan, there is still ample

room left in Mass for private prayer, and even meditation.

Popular Devotions

Now that we know the center of our parish, it will be easy
to see how other devotions have been derived from its idea, and
how some are closer to, others more distant from, the center
of all worship, the Mass. Sacramental Benediction and the

Forty Hours’ Devotion make us realize the hidden meaning and
the basic teaching of this sacrament. A long line of thought
and theology have derived these devotions from the central

mystery. The fiercer the denial of heretics, the more did Cath-
olic people love to dwell on the Real Presence of Christ, and

to assert their faith outside Mass in processions, adorations
and devotions. From this it is easy to understand why the
Sacred Heart devotion was given us; to fill, with personal re-

lations of love and atonement, those Christians who live in a
world that is cold and looks on Christ merely as a historical

person of the past. The warmth of this devotion will keep
mankind from an attitude of mere formal ritualism, which is

one of the tendencies in modern man as it was in Christ’s con-
temporaries, the Pharisees.

Other devotions are more loosely connected. It will be in-

teresting for the discussion to see how closely they are related
to our sacramental worship. Some of them have come from
outside, like the Stations, which came from the Holy Land; the

Rosary, which takes the historical stages of Christ’s life for

mental prayer carried over a certain amount of time which

we keep with Hail Marys; and finally the devotions to saints
and their novenas, many of them stemming from pilgrimages
and famous shrines. Their degree of eucharistic intensity de-



OUR PARISH 25

creases toward the circumference, and in many cases they are
not actually “parochial,” but rather private devotions per-

formed with great profit in public.

Discussion Questions

Is Communion a private affair? Explain.
In the light of this truth, why is the High Mass
the normal way of celebrating Mass? Explain
how the High Mass fulfills in a religious way
man’s expression of sociability by eating and
singing together. Name some popular eucha-
ristic devotions. What purpose do they serve?
How would you relate the devotion of the Sta-
tions of the Cross, or of the Rosary, to the

Holy Eucharist?



CHAPTER III

OUR PARISH SHEPHERD

As far back as the first century of our
Christian era, before or around the year

100 a. d., Christians represented Christ as

the Good Shepherd with a lamb on His
shoulders. The image of Christ the Shep-
herd was apparently more popular than

any other representation of Christ. It re-

mained so till after the times of persecu-

tion, when it was superseded first by Christ
in His glory, and, simultaneously with increasing frequency,

by the crucified Lord, at first triumphantly clad in royal robes
and later stripped and in agony. Although the picture of the

Good Shepherd has lost its ancient popularity to a certain ex-
tent, its sight and the sound of the words still warm our hearts
and let us see Christ in His most tender and lovable aspect.

He is the friend of the poor sinner, Who helps him in need
when everybody has given up hope. He rules him with His
gentle law, and sees to it that His faithful will not want. He
has gone before in His Life, Death and Resurrection so that

no follower may fear. He shared the hardship of His flock
and defended it with His own Body against the foe. He nour-
ishes His sheep and they trust Him with a total and infinite
trust. He is the incarnation of God the Father’s paternal care
and love, the Word He spoke to mankind.

All these things are still with us in the office of Peter, the

shepherd of nations, our Pope. Equal in his sacramental power

to the Pope is the bishop, the pastor and shepherd of the flock

entrusted to him. He has the full power of shepherdship like the
apostles, and he is vested in the full priesthood of Christ.

2*



OUR PARISH 27

While his sacerdotal throne stands in his cathedral church, the

head and mother church of all churches in the diocese, when-

ever he comes to our parish he also uses a throne and the shep-
herd’s staff (crozier) and his Mass is surrounded with the full
ceremonial due to this great mystery. The Roman Pontifical
even prescribes that the lower ministers at the throne genuflect

before the bishop—or at least bow deeply—which cannot be
done unless a deep faith in the presence of Christ animates us.

The Pastor

A bishopric or diocese is too vast a territory nowadays to
be looked after by a bishop alone, and has therefore been di-
vided into parishes, with priests who have been given as much
sacramental power as they need for their flock. While the full

priesthood is reserved to the bishop, all that a parish ordinar-

ily needs is given to its pastor. His rights and duties are

clearly defined. In many dioceses there is the custom of a
solemn installation of pastors. This custom provides that either

the bishop or the dean leads the new pastor to the sanctuary,
and introduces him to his parishioners. The keys of the par-
ish are given him and certain prayers are recited. Then the
new pastor mounts the pulpit to read the Gospel of the Good
Shepherd and to preach his inaugural sermon on it, indicating

that his parishioners shall above all see him from now on in
this supernatural light of faith. This beautiful rite binds par-

ish and pastor together with the common vision of Christ: “I
know mine and mine know me . . . and I lay down my life for
my sheep” (in daily labors for the parish).

The Law

This sacred office is protected by Canon Law. Normally a
pastor is irremovable, which means he cannot be transferred

unless he agrees or his transfer is made necessary by certain
legal conditions. This is extremely important. It shows the

spirit of the Church, which does not rfgard parishes as so

many rungs in a ladder for a brilliant eccl esiastical career, but



28 OUR PARISH

as a lasting relation comparable with the bonds of matrimony.

That is, by the way, why your bishop wears the bridal ring:
his diocese is his beloved spouse.

The Canon Law also provides that a parish cannot have
more than one pastor, nor a pastor more than one parish. The

pastor has to say Mass for the intentions of his parish, even

when absent on vacation, on every Sunday, and a great num-

ber of feasts. This is called applying “pro populo,” “for the

people.” He has by law the right to minister to all his par-
ishioners and is held by the same law to know them: “I know
mine. . . .

”

Discussion Questions

What was the favorite representation of
Christ in the early Church? Through whom
does Christ still exercise His function of Good
Shepherd? Why has the Church been divided
into dioceses? Why have the dioceses been
divided into parishes? What is the custom in
some dioceses for the installation of a pastor?
What is an irremovable pastor? Why cannot
a parish have more than one pastor? What is
the Mass “pro populo”? How often must it be
offered?

II

Pastoral Care

Like a good shepherd the law bids him to watch that noth-
ing against faith and morals creeps in. It is therefore his

lawful task to warn and rebuke in a fatherly way. It is his

duty to see that works of charity be carried out in his parish

and that organizations to promote faith are active and well

supported. He has the right to use a parish seal, to keep an
archive, to record the history of his parish and to provide all

the documents, records and books. His is the duty to preach

the Gospel, either himself or through other preachers. The



OUR PARISH 29

trust of his flock is protected by a special law: all he hears and

sees as a pastor is his professional secret, and he cannot be

forced to testify against any of his parishioners so long as he

receives their confidence as a pastor, even outside the con-

fessional.

To the pastor’s loving care Canon Law gives the poor, the
miserable, the orphans, the widowed and the sick; he is their

father. A special Canon makes it clear that all the non-Cath-
olics living in his territory, who are all potential members of
the Church, are the object of his care. He is required to con-
vert them or to do what is humanly possible and reasonable to
win them for Christ.

Canon Law does not encourage parishes built on language
and nationality except in very definite circumstances. It is

the territory that makes a parish. And in this territory all
Catholics are trusted to one pastor, who has the following
rights: to baptize them solemnly; to bring them Holy Com-
munion when they are sick; to administer the last rites when
they die; to publish their marriage banns and to assist at their

weddings; to perform their funerals in his parish church and

the parish cemetery; to bless their houses; to preside over the

Holy Saturday liturgy and over all processions and devotions;

to perform all ceremonies and sacraments for his parishioners

in his parish church.

Canon Law also provides that every parish have its dowry,
and makes it the pastor’s obligation to work for this purpose.
If it is the custom of a country which is still building up its

ecclesiastical organization to have its church subsist on collec-

tions of the faithful, this is by no means rejected by the provi-
sion that all parishes should be endowed. As a matter of fact,

such an ideal state will be finally achieved, when the generous
support of the parishioners will have wiped out all debts and

the parishes will be able to build up a dowry.

The parishes which are too large for one pastor are supplied
by the bishop with assistants to carry out the functions of the
shepherd. What applies to the pastor does to a different degree



30 OUR PARISH

also apply to the other priests who help him to administer the
sacraments, to teach, and to be the father of the afflicted and

the shepherd of souls. This activity trains them to be pastors
themselves one day. The bishop moves them, however, more
or less frequently in order that they may gather varied experi-
ence.

The Pastor's Priesthood

You have noticed that your priest’s way of life differs from
your own: he lives in a rectory near the church; he wears a

distinctive garb, vestments and a cassock; he is unmarried; he

reads his breviary every day. Thus he is “taken from among
men,” as St. Paul says; he is segregated for the sacred service

of the divine mysteries, his greatest task.

His Roman collar has something of the timelessness of
eternal priesthood, as it is not affected by the whims of chang-
ing fashions. His long cassock secludes him and raises him

above the differences of sex and age. His vestments submerge

the peculiarities of his human personality in the glory and
beauty of the eternal and royal Priest whom he represents. So
he also lives in a house entirely given to the service of his office

with very little privacy and only frugal comfort, required nowa-

days by the nervous speed of life in large and noisy cities.

He belongs to the people even more than a public servant, yet
more to God. Therefore he is unmarried and not attached to a

family. His bride is the Church. His children are the faith-

ful (read the Preface from the blessing of the baptismal font

on Holy Saturday, in your Missal).

The Pastor and His Breviary

He joins the whole Church daily in her praise of God in
psalms and hymns, in lessons and prayers, while he reads his

Office as a mouthpiece of his parish which praises God through
him. His Office is contained in the prayer book of the Church

which we call nowadays a breviary. It contains one night-



OUR PARISH 31

service (Matins) and seven day-services divided over the day

from sunrise (Lauds) to sundown (Vespers), from the dedica-

tion of the daily task (Prime) to the priestly night prayer

(Compline) and the short hour services at 9:00 a. m. (Terce),

noon (Sext) and in mid-afternoon (None). Thus your pastor’s
day is constantly re-consecrated to God, and so is your own
day through him as he stands before the face of the Almighty
with Christ, praising, at least mentally, for you. You probably
have noticed that he “recited” this prayer orally, with moving

lips—a last reminder that it was once sung by all the faithful
together with their shepherd gathered in the sanctuary. If we
see our pastor in this way, we shall learn again to see him with
the eyes of faith, while around us the “denominations” often

tie up their religion with personalities and the advertisement

of human individuals, and thus manifest that they have become
dependent on men and their mere natural talents. The priest
is, supernaturally speaking, nothing as a man; Christ is all,
and Him he represents in his detached life as a sacrificer, a
teacher, a father and a representative of his flock in prayer.

Discussion Questions

What are the pastor’s duties: concerning
faith and morals? concerning the needy and
the helpless? concerning non-Catholics? Name
some of the pastor’s rights. Why are there
more than one priest in many parishes? Why
are they frequently transferred? What are
some details of a priest’s life that set him apart
from the world? How do these things help him
to belong even more to his people than he could
otherwise? What is the breviary? For what
special reason is the priest obliged to say his
Office every day? Even though for the most
part the priest says his Office privately, what
detail in the manner of saying it shows that it
is the public prayer of the Church?



32 OUR PARISH

III

The Shepherd's Auxiliaries

Man’s inventive genius has all through history developed

tools. God gave him hands, and gradually these hands grew
into simple things like spades, chisels, millstones and plows.

His feet were aided by animals and wheels. But now we have
such complex and precise “prolongations” of our hands and

feet as planes, cars, printing presses, textile mills and a thou-

sand other things which we hardly recognize as aids of the in-
struments God gave us through nature—our own limbs. Techni-
cal progress has sometimes outrun mental, moral and spiritual

advancement. But on the whole it is a sign of a greater under-

standing of man’s task to submit matter to spirit, to participate

in God’s creative power, and to dominate nature: “And God
blessed them and God said unto them: Be fruitful and multiply
and replenish the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over

the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air and over every

living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Man is created in
God’s image and likeness.

What is true in the sphere of mere nature is also a law of
development in supernatural organisms, like the Church. St.

Peter had no great administrative apparatus, like Pius XII with
his Cardinals, Sacred Congregations and Apostolic Delegates.

But growth requires diversification, development. Just com-

pare the government offices George Washington had to assist

him, with the Capitol of 1943. The more intensified and ex-
tended an organism becomes, the more tools and auxiliaries are

developed.

Catholic Action

So does our modern parish. At first sight, all these organi-

zations seem like arbitrary and incoherent things. However,

the great Pius XI, our present Pope’s predecessor, gave us

something to understand our parish auxiliaries in a new light



OUR PARISH 33

when he set up the program of “Catholic Action.” It gives us

a yardstick to see which organizations are real auxiliaries in

the hands of our pastors and thus really participate in his sacred

ministry, and which are more on the outer fringe of parochial

life.

Pius XI told us that “Catholic Action” was the participa-
tion of laymen and women, young and old, in the Apostolate

of the bishops and, in parishes, of the pastors and under their

direction. He insisted, as has been pointed out, on the four
natural estates or columns of the parish in which “Catholic

Action” was to be organized: men, women, young men and
young women. He insisted on their thorough personal train-
ing and personal holiness. He insisted on an aggressive spirit
and apostolic initiative which goes out to win the world for

Christ. He insisted on discipline and obedience. Have you
any organization in your parish which lines up these columns

of the army of Christ, or is at least imbued with such a spirit?
Then you have “Catholic Action” in the bud, and you can
figure out for yourselves which organization is just a left-over

of tradition, and which one is a real auxiliary and shock-troop

of your pastor. The value of your organization for the spread-
ing and deepening of the true spirit of Christ is the yardstick

with which you can measure the importance of it. Some people
nowadays seem to think that it is “Catholic Action” when they
send their children to church and school, contribute to collec-

tions, sponsor the bazaar, belong to some fraternal organization
and march in the Holy Name or sodality parade. That is cer-
tainly only a pale shadow of what Pius XI had and your pastor
still has in mind

!

Even study and discussion groups are not “Catholic Ac-
tion”; they may (or may not) lead to it. Nor is monthly Com-
munion; it has in most places not yet led to Catholic parish

Action as defined by its originator, Pius XI. Nor is the pro-
test against a bad show or magazine stands “Catholic Ac-
tion,” as little as shooting on a rifle range is war. The pastor
needs a well-trained, well-organized and well-disciplined army.



34 OUR PARISH

Solidarity or Exclusiveness

This is all very good. But there is one danger: the narrow-

ing of our love and interest within the horizon of our parish

in a fashion that would lead to antagonism against other

parishes or organizations of diocesan, city-wide or church-wide

character. We need solidarity against a narrow exclusiveness
leading to hypocrisy, dishonesty and the “covering-up” method.

This narrow mind loses its understanding for the greater tasks
of our Church in our city, our state, our nation and the world.

It has a false pride which destroys its helpfulness. It is a

danger which besets families, schools, organizations and na-

tions. On a nation-wide scale we call it nationalism. Here it
is parochialism. Study, charity, obedience and constant contact

with our neighbors are its remedies. In our times, when there
is almost no realization of the importance of our own parish, this
danger may be less than in those times when the parish was the
true spiritual home of the average Christian. Let not the
allegiance to one church and one pastor hamper our sense of

solidarity with all churches and all Catholic Christians.

Discussion Questions

If someone said, “But the early Church did
not have all these departments and organiza-
tions,” what would you say? What is “Cath-
olic Action”? What are the four columns of
“Catholic Action”? Name some parish activ-
ities which do not come under the head of
“Catholic Action.” What is one danger of
parochial organizations? What is the best
remedy against this danger?



CHAPTER IV

OUR PARISH FLOCK

“Nos servi tui et plebs tua sancta”

—

“We Thy servants and Thy holy people.”
These are words the pastor says during

Mass after Consecration. He is the servant
of God, and standing before the altar are

his holy people, the parishioners. St. Peter

calls them “a royal priesthood, a chosen
race, a holy nation, a purchased people.”

St. Paul speaks of his parishioners in the

city of Ephesus as the “new man, who has been created ac-
cording to God in justice and in holiness of truth.” “The old
things are gone ... all has been made new” is the exclamation
of St. Paul when he looks at his parish in Corinth. St. John
in his Revelations hears the voice of Him Who sits on the
throne: “Behold, I have made all things new.”

How did this come about?

Children of God

It came through Baptism. Baptism is a re-birth, as our
Lord told Nicodemus on his nocturnal visit: “Unless a man
be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into

the kingdom of God.” This is a mystery, as Jesus tells Nico-

demus, which only spiritual man understands with the mind of
faith. It is like a second birth and it is also a resurrection. St.

Peter writes: “Baptism now saves you also—through the resur-
rection of Jesus Christ, Who is at the right hand of God, swal-
lowing up death that we might be made heirs of eternal life”
(1 Peter iii. 21 f).

35



36 OUR PARISH

The great apostle St. Paul gives us a very definite explana-
tion of Baptism in the sixth chapter of his long letter to the

Romans:

“Do you not know that all we who have been baptized
into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” (St.

Paul refers here to the ancient rite of Baptism by immer-
sion). “For we were buried with Him by means of Baptism
into death, in order that, just as Christ has risen from the
dead through the glory of the Father, so we also may walk
in the newness of life ... we have died with Christ, we be-
lieve that we shall also live with Christ. . . . The death that
He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He
lives, He lives unto God” (Rom. vi. 3-11).

Effects of Baptism

From these quotations we can easily draw a few very im-
portant conclusions:

1. We share in Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection through
Baptism. This happens in the way of a “mystery,” a holy,
symbolical action instituted by Christ through direct command
(“Go ye and teach . . . and baptize”), and His own explanatory
words (to Nicodemus), and His example (St. John’s Baptism of

Jesus). This fundamental mystery, or sacrament, raises us

from supernatural death to a new life, commonly now called
sanctifying grace. How this happens is a supernatural mystery,
like the Consecration of Mass.

2. Therefore our life is “new”; it is “unto God,” like

Christ’s. His imitation is our program. We are now one with
Him or, as St. Peter says: “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a purchased people.” Not only does Baptism wash
off our sins, bestow on us the white garment of innocence, but

it does more: it gives us divine life in such a fashion that Christ

compared us to grapes on the Vine (Christ), and St. Paul said

we are members (cells) of a Body whose Head is Christ. The
tsap of the vine flows through the stem as well as through the

grapes, and the life-blood of the body pulses alike in head and



OUR PARISH 37

members; sanctifying grace is the life-sap and life-blood of our

soul and makes us one with Christ.

3. From this we draw, with eyes re-opened by faith, two
conclusions:

a. We are brethren, one family in our parish.
b. We have a life program (unto God) : to live like Christ.

Discussion Questions

What sacrament incorporates us into the par-
ish family? How does Baptism relate us to
Christ’s death and resurrection? Describe how
the divine life given to us by Baptism is the
greatest bond of union in the parish.

II

The Adult New Man (Confirmation)

In Baptism we became children of God. All the seeds of
supernatural life were sown in us and all its capabilities were

given us. But with growth to adulthood come responsibility,

obligation, leadership. Thus Baptism has to be developed and
confirmed. We have to be sealed anew with the character of
Christ, so that we may grow into His fullness as adult Chris-
tians. This second great mystery is the sacrament of Confirma-

tion. It follows Baptism as Pentecost follows Easter, as summer
follows spring. The fire of the Holy Spirit invisibly descends
into the baptized Christian to do to him what He did to Peter
and the other Apostles: to fill him with the seeds of enthusiasm,

of apostolic fervor.

The warming, gentle and healing symbol is the anointing on
our foreheads. We then walk upright with Christ’s seal on our
brows. This seal is Chrism, bestowed on us, not by our parish
priests, but by the high priest, our bishop himself. What did
he sing in his Cathedral on Holy Thursday, when he conse-
crated Chrism during Mass, surrounded by priests, deacons and



38 OUR PARISH

subdeacons? He called this Chrism an ointment to make
priests, kings, prophets and martyrs out of us. The seal of
Christ which was imprinted on our soul, never to be blotted out,
and which gave us the “character” of Christ to act through our
lifetime, is thus deepened as befits those who grow up in Christ.

Priests and Kings

We become “priests,” ready to share in His mystical offering
of Himself on the altar, yet also ready to live this offering

through every minute of our everyday life—unto God. Our
whole life, awake and asleep, working or resting, suffering or en-
joying, if lived in this intention, is a sacrifice “that may rise
up in the sight of Thy divine majesty, as a savor of sweetness
for our salvation and for that of the whole world.” Like clouds

of incense rising from the altar, so our intentions of a “priestly”

life rise from the offering of our daily lives.

We become “kings” in Confirmation, rulers over our own
lower nature. That is another responsibility or obligation given
in this adult sacrament. Man received dominion over the earth,
but this dominion was injured by Adam’s sin. For his full
restoration in dominion a sacrament is necessary: “In creating

human nature God marvelously ennobled it. Still more mar-
velously He has renewed it” (Offertory of the Mass).

Prophets and Martyrs

We become “prophets” through this sacrament; the spirit
of the prophets is sown in us. Their task was to be witness to

God in a surrounding world of corruption, to stand like a lone
beacon in the darkness of sin and decay. Some of this fortitude
is needed by every adult Christian. The Holy Spirit, pure and
strong, imprints this steadfastness into our soul in the sacra-

ment of Confirmation.

This great sacrament also makes us “martyrs.” That is, if

we ever have the strength to carry this “witnessing unto God”
to the degree of suffering, physical or spiritual, in an unbloody



OUR PARISH 39

or bloody martyrdom, we can do so only in the strength of this
sacrament. Christ predicted that the world would hate His
true followers as it hated Him, would throw them out socially
and deliver them up to the authorities. He gives them strength
to suffer, out of His strength on the cross, in the anointing

Chrism which bestows His spirit on us.

Discussion Questions

What does Confirmation bring to the soul?
How is it related to Baptism? How does it
affect “Catholic Action” in the parish? When
the bishop consecrates the Chrism of Con-
firmation on Holy Thursday, one of the prayers
says that Chrism makes us “kings, priests,
prophets and martyrs”: repeat the paragraphs
above which describe each of t,bes#v

III

Penance: Sacrament of Restoration

But all these glorious things are bound up with our weak

human nature. They are not things of magic which work with-
out our doing anything about it. That would be an insult to

our dignity as free persons. Our freedom of decision is so

precious in the eyes of God that He would rather have us take
the risk of failure and damnation than to make us puppets
moved about by invisible strings. He gives us capital—one,
three or five talents—but it is we who have to double it or
lose out.

The balance is very delicately set, and we are weak, being
children of Adam and Eve. In His mercy Christ, knowing
how tired we may get in this endless struggle, gave us a second
means of restoring ourselves, if we do not live up to our Bap-
tism and Confirmation, and if the New Man of grace is over-
come by the old Adam. This is thp sacrament of Penance. St.



40 OUR PARISH

Jerome called it the second plank after shipwreck, Baptism be-

ing the first saving plank. True, we should not suffer shipwreck
at all, gifted as we are with a new divine life which is con-
stantly being nourished from the altars. But we would not
understand human nature as it is now, if we said that Penance
ought to be unnecessary. The priest, seated as a judge in
Christ’s name in the confessional, raises his right hand and
makes the sign of the cross over our bowed head: it is a judg-
ment of mercy which allows the accused to be his own prosecu-
tor and always ends in acquittal or, at least, probation. The
fine—temporal punishment—is only another chance of convert-
ing it into merit and of increasing our standing as Christians.

Confession and the Parish

Baptism and Confirmation are the foundation of our life in

Christ, the divine gift helping us to grow up to the stature of
Christ. Penance is twofold: the virtue, which we always ought
to have, shining forth in works of self-denial, and the sacrament,

which is the extraordinary means of restoring us to the fold of
Christ, or of wiping out minor transgressions. In order to indi-

ate that this penance is bound up with our entire life in the
parish, there was a law in past times to receive this sacrament

from one’s parish priests. But experience showed that human
shame often recommended that a sinner go to a place where he
was unknown, so as to speak more freely and honestly, or to

have a guide of personal choice for his soul, because this is a

matter of confidence. Besides the strictly sacramental parts,

confession and absolution, there is also the element of advice

and continued guidance. Therefore the Church had to take

account of a more human element and relax its ideal rule.

The Two Focal Points of Our Parish Church

“God Who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has
shone in our hearts. . . . But we carry this treasure in vessels of
clay, to show that the abundance of the power is God’s and not
ours” (2 Cor. iv. 6f.), says St. Paul of our status. Therefor*



OUR PARISH 41

our parish church, whose center is the altar of sacrifice and

banquet, has near its gate another focal point: the baptistery,

and, adjoining it, the confessionals. In Rome, in Florence,
Pisa and many another old Christian town, this was even more
visible inasmuch as these baptisteries were large and ornate

separate buildings, gorgeously adorned with precious stones and

pictures. In them (in the so-called “consignatorium”) Baptism

and Confirmation were given in the “Great Night” of Resurrec-

tion. We still see its rich celebration in the prayers, lessons,
hymns and benedictions of our Missal assigned to Holy Satur-
day. No Holy Saturday should go by without a renewal of
our baptismal vows. That is why the Church prescribes Easter
confession for sinners: all things are new on Easter, even our
baptismal spirit.

We are accustomed to salute our Lord on the altar. Do we
ever stop to think, to remember the two great sacraments that
constitute us Christians, when we see the baptistery and the con-
fessionals in our parish church? It should be easy, because

what else are the holy water fountains, and the Asperges at

Sunday High Mass, but a reminder of our birth out of “water
and spirit,” an appeal to cleanse ourselves through contrition

when we enter the church? Every Mass starts with Confiteor
and absolution. With clean hearts and hands we participate
in Christ’s sacrificial mystery on the altar.

Strength for Living

To become a Christian is a full life’s laborious task, like
gathering a fortune, developing a farm, building a professional

reputation. We can never relax in these fields. Our profes-
sion of being a Christian, which embraces our secular vocation,

is labor and sweat, watchfulness and social interaction with

fellow Christians. Our workshop, our farm, our office for this
job is the parish. From the two focal points of this parish, the
altar and the baptistery (or the confessional), we are being
“strengthened with power through His spirit unto the progress

of the inner man” (Eph. iii. 16).



42 OUR PARISH

Discussion Questions

What sacrament restores the soul from sin
committed after Baptism? Can you describe
the parallel between what takes place in the
confessional and what takes place in a legal
trial? Though the sacrament of Penance is
received in private, what relation does it have
with the life of the parish? Name the pivots
of the parish’s life.



CHAPTER V

OUR PARISH FAMILIES

I

When the Church prays she says: Let
us pray; we pray thee. . . . We are not

|
alone; we are members of Christ’s Body

* with fellow members at our elbows. “If
one member suffers anything, all the mem-
bers suffer with it, or if one member
glories, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are the Body of Christ, member
for member” (1 Cor. xii. 26 f). We work

our salvation in common with others, not as single, lone and
disconnected beings. Christ’s command to love our neighbor
as ourselves suggests this. But our Lord is more specific in

St. Matthew’s Gospel, when He tells us that charity gives prayer
irresistible power, nay, brings Him down among us: “If two of
you shall agree on earth about anything at all for which they

ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in heaven. For
where two or three are gathered together for My sake, there
am I in the midst of them” (Matt, xviii. 19 f).

This does not mean that we have to be physically in the
same place when we pray privately for the same cause. Our
being together in mind brings Christ into our midst. But there
is no doubt that Christ wanted also worship in common for the
celebration of His mysteries, when He had His apostles with
Him at the Last Supper. Communion creates a deeper com-
munity.

The Great Mystery

The closest human community is matrimony, in which two
lives become one. When St. Paul endeavors to illustrate the
closeness of life between the Church and Christ, he compares
this relation with marriage. The Church has followed St. Paul
here closely, especially in the prayers connected with solemn



44 OUR PARISH

Baptism on Holy Saturday. Matrimony is the “great” mystery
—through its relation to Christ and Church. Not only are there
two gathered together and Christ in their midst, but He is
present in a special way. It is a sacramental “together-ness.”

When bride and bridegroom become one for life before the altar
and in connection with Mass, the inner grace which follows

this outward sign of mutual surrender is the supernatural com-

panionship and love that sanctify and perfect both partners.

Thenceforth they are united as one through the new sacra-
mental life, as Christ and His Church are one. Their purpose

is one: to wander the narrow path to heaven not only together,

but helping each other, sanctifying one another, perfecting one

another. This is aided by the natural love of affection which
made them to find each other out of hundreds of acquaintances
or passing and lasting friendships. The first intensity of hu-
man passion which they “suffered” like an elementary power in
married life gradually develops into a deep and loyal com-

munity, which is constantly being nourished through the other

sacraments at their parish altar and in the confessional.

Discussion Questions

Why does St. Paul call marriage a “great
sacrament (or mystery)”? Prove from his need
of family life that man is a social being. Does
this mean that man’s religion is intended by
God to be social as well as personal? Is that
why Christ raised marriage to the dignity of a
sacrament? In the sacrament of Matrimony,
what is the inward grace that follows the out-
ward sign of the spouses’ mutual consent? Can
wedded love harmonize with the life of grace?

II

Wedded Love
The new natural life which arises out of this oneness, their

child, is the strongest bond in which they realize and see this



OUR PARISH 45

oneness. Their love, so to speak, has become flesh and now
they see before themselves the wonderful task of modeling

Christ’s spiritual features in a new life whose components are a
product of their own characters and physical heritage. Only
what defiles or breaks up the nature of this unity is sinful, while

everything that expresses it, makes it more stable, elevates it to

a more sublime meaning, is good. “Husbands, love your wives

even as Christ also loved the Church and delivered Himself up

for her, that He might sanctify her. . . . Even thus ought hus-
bands also to love their wives as their own bodies. . . . And let
the wife respect her husband (Nuptial Mass, Epistle). . . . Let

the yoke of love and of peace be upon the wife. True and

chaste, let her wed in Christ and let her ever follow the pat-
tern of holy women” (Rachel, Rebecca, Sara). “Let her
fortify her weakness by strong discipline. Let her be grave in
demeanor and honored for her modesty. Let her be well

taught in heavenly lore. Let her be fruitful in offspring” (Nup-

tial Blessing after Pater Noster of Wedding Mass). This clear-
ly shows that both men and women are responsible in their
way for the spiritual success of their married life. It is the
wife’s task to protect the nobility of this sacrament by her ever
watchful discipline, reverence and modesty. One glance at the
texts of the missal and at our great mystical writers, from St.

Augustine to the great St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the

Cross, shows us that all the deep symbolism of a superior

spiritual life is taken from the ideal of marriage: Christ the

bridegroom, and the Church and the soul the Bride.

The Family— i"A Little Church"

The family has been rightfully called a “little church,” an
ecclesiola (from the Greek ecclesia—church). It is a com-
munity of grace, of which, as Pope Pius XI said, the “father is
the head and the mother the heart.” The physical fatherhood
of the husband is not all that is expected of him, nor is it only

the material support, nor the discipline. He takes the place
of Christ, therefore his duties include also that he guide and



46 OUR PARISH

teach. Our modern conditions have in most cases led to a sort
of wage-slavery for the husband who comes home to be fed,
to relax and to sleep. The culture and intellect comes with the
more leisurely life of the woman— unless she, too, goes out
and leaves the education to public institutions like schools,

radio, libraries, theaters and clubs. In such a life man and
woman, to stay with Pius XI’s image, are hardly head and
heart, but rather the nutrimental organs. Second things are

thus made to be first. A deeper understanding of the sacra-
mental role of parents in the parish shows that the natural

agents for the spiritual formation and the intellectual and moral

education are father and mother. The school is only an
auxiliary to help the parents beyond the point of their own
mutual abilities.

Discussion Questions

Why could St. Augustine call the Christian
family “a little church’’? Whom does the fa-
ther represent in the family? What are his
most important spiritual duties to his family?
How has modern industrial life been allowed to
interfere with these duties? Explain the truth
of Pope Pius’s saying that “the father is the
head, and the mother is the heart” of the fam-
ily? Does this belittle the status of the wife
and mother? How does the school fit into the
pattern of family life? Why is it not right for
parents to leave all responsibility for their chil-

dren’s development to the school?

Ill

Family Rituals

The book of the Church which regulates the services and
blessings in our parishes is called the Ritual. Parishes are

made up of families. It is natural that every family has a
certain ritual—customs which are observed by it. The way



OUR PARISH 47

in which birthdays, Christmas holidays and family events are

celebrated is a sort of family tradition which we love to keep,
just as a parish does. Many of our present-day family rites,
however, come from outside, are purely social or often the
result of a merely natural development, not inspired by faith,

but rather by social ambition.

We light candles for formal dinner and we dress for it;
but do we say our prayers with equal dignity, or is it just a
routine mumble? Does the father say the blessing, or just a
little child? A sentimentalized attitude toward children and
the natural shyness of men to appear solemn often make them
forget that they are missing a chance of true fatherhood, and

a duty to impress their children that it is not “child stuff” but

a man’s privilege to pray and bless.

Family Communion

What about “family Communion,” instead of making it a
“private affair” of individual members of the family? Should
not the mother prepare her children for Confession and Com-
munion and lead them to the altar? The piety of the clergy
and religious in the parish, the priests and sisters, will lift

up the adults, but for immature minds it is “Dad and Mom”
who set the example. Otherwise the idea will always persist,
that frequent Communion and common prayer are not the
way of people in the world, but only of school children and
their professional educators.

Family Celebrations

Do we ever invite the godfathers and godmothers to see
their spiritual charges, have dinner with them and show their

solemn and pledged responsibility—at least on the anniversary
of Baptism, at First Communion, Confirmation, graduation

and wedding day? Thus the otherwise apparently dead
formalities can become very live, fruitful relationships. If we
do not “coordinate” these things into life, if the family does



48 OUR PARISH

not show the unity of natural and supernatural life, how can
we expect our young to avoid that fatal bi-secting of life
which is the ruin of modern, secularized religion: live like

everybody else and have religion just as a gilt edge on your

book of life! Yet our faith should be a leaven, penetrating

the whole lump of life.
The Ritual requires also that our families reflect the holy

seasons of the Church Year: Advent, Lent, Paschaltide and

the Ember Days, not to speak of the celebration of the great
feasts through a “grand meal” after the festal Mass, a picnic,

a social, and games. Remember that Christ attended a wedding
feast; and the Apostles presided at what were known as
“charity-feasts” after the celebration of the Eucharist. Is there

a crucifix, a picture of our Lady, blessed candles, a sick-call set

in the home? Have your houses been blessed by your pastor?
Do you ask the priests to bless your children, your sick, with all
those strong, special blessings of the Ritual?

Family Prayer

When you pray in common with your family, it is not so
much to tire your children’s interest and to spoil their immedi-
ateness by long, formulated prayers, but to make them more
articulate by helping them to speak to God and the Saints
with their own words. It is not multiplication, not quantity,
but quality that is desirable. “But in praying, do not multi-
ply words, as the Gentiles do; for they think that by saying a
great deal they will be heard. So do not be like them, for

your Father knows what you need before you ask Him”
(Matt. vi. 7, 8). Christ condemns the Pharisees “who devour
the houses of the widows (by their abuse of hospitality), mak-

ing pretense of long prayers” (Mark xii. 40).

Family Sharing of Sorrow and Joy

The spirit of a Catholic family is that of Christianity.
There is always Good Friday linked with Resurrection, the
Cross with joy, the sacrifice with victory. The parents who go



OUR PARISH 49

to church on Sunday to take part in the sacrifice of Christ and
make it their own, will bring home the wisdom of the Cross:
in their own lives they will teach their children that triumph
and victory, gladness and contentment are unavailable to

those who shirk the element of suffering and self-denial, the
Cross.

Discussion Questions

Why ought the father to lead the family
prayers? What is the special merit of going
to Communion in family groups? Why should
that be more pleasing to God than any other
way? Discuss some of the old family religious
customs for Advent; for Christmas; for Lent;
for Easter; for October and May. Do such
customs bring too much religion into the
home? What religious objects ought to be in
every Catholic home? What ought to be set
on every sick-call table? What is objection-
able about long-drawn-out family prayers?
What is the spirit of a true Catholic family in
its sorrows and joys?



CHAPTER VI

OUR PARISH: THE GATE OF HEAVEN

I

When the patriarch Jacob wakened
from his dream in which he had seen the
ladder reaching up into heaven and had re-
ceived God’s promise of a Savior, he said:

“Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew
it not . . . how dreadful is this place! This
is none other but the house of God and this
is the Gate of Heaven” (Gen. xxviii. 16 f).
The Church uses this expression frequently

for the sacred songs at the solemn consecration of a church

Many churches have this inscription over their gates or their
sanctuaries: “Domus Dei et Porta Caeli”—“House of God and
Gate of Heaven.” It is the second of these terms which we are
to consider in this chapter: our parish church a gate opening

up on eternal life. This is true in a twofold sense. In the first

place, the celebration of the mysteries of our Lord itself gives

us a foretaste of heaven, especially such feasts as All Saints,

Epiphany, Purification, Ascension and Assumption. As a mat-

ter of fact, every Mass summons us to leave earth at the time
of the Preface and to join the heavenly choirs to sing the

“Holy, Holy, Holy” with them. The sanctuary becomes the
throne-hall of God which St. John saw so vividly in the
Apocalypse. “Let us who mystically represent the Cherubim
and who sing to the life-giving Trinity the thrice-holy hymn,
now lay aside all earthly cares, that we may receive the King
of all things who comes escorted by unseen hosts of angels.”
These are the words of the Eastern Cherubic hymn opening the
sacrificial part of the Mass.

50



OUR PARISH 51

Heaven on Earth

This becomes more obvious on the above named feasts, es-
pecially on All Saints. The words of the two Masses of this
feast throw open those gates and give us a glimpse of heaven.

On the vigil day which was originally celebrated during the
night preceding the feast, with Mass at sunrise, we read: “Be-
hold, I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living

creatures and in the midst of the ancient, a Lamb, as it were
slain. . . . Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God in
Thy blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation
and hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests” (Epistle;
compare the Introit, Gradual, Offertory, Secret, Communion
verse). The epistle of the feast day Mass again gathers the
congregation into this vision of heaven: “I saw a great multi-

tude which no man can number . . . standing before the throne
. . . and all the angels stood round about the throne.” They
fall on their faces and adore the Lamb and God. And then, in
the Gospel, we hear the voice of the Lamb: “Blessed are the
poor in spirit, blessed are the meek, blessed are they that

mourn. ...” What a realism of faith! It is the same Lamb
that stood on the hill in Galilee, speaking the same eternal
words. Once it was among the poor, downtrodden peasants,
artisans, publicans and fishermen; now among the heavenly
choirs and saints and the Church, our own parish church.
“Surely the Lord is in this place and I knew it not.” If we
celebrate with the priest and the congregation the feasts of the

Church, our humble parish church assumes a new and sublime
meaning. Traces of this spirit are in all Masses of our Missal,

from the great feasts down to the requiems.

Discussion Questions

Our churches are called “Gates of Heaven”;
how is this true? At what part of the Mass
does the priest call out loud to the people to
raise their hearts to heaven? Why then par-
ticularly? On what feast particularly is there



52 OUR PARISH

a strong emphasis on the closeness of heaven
to earth in the Church? Repeat some of the
texts the Church then uses.

II

The Gate of Glory

what is a reality in faith and a foretaste for our souls, be-
comes a physical reality when we die. Our parish church be-
comes a real gate of heaven, in this second aspect. Here the

parish will sing over the lifeless body: “May the Angels lead
thee into paradise,” while our friends and relatives leave the

church in the solemn funeral procession. It is our last at-

tendance at Mass, while all our friends, the pastor above all,

join in the Eucharistic sacrifice and in the peaceful prayers and

lessons of the requiem, to render us their last action of friend-

ship. From our church will also have come Christ in His last
visit at our sickbed. He will be the only one to reach us and
to stay with us in the agony of death.

Our Divine Physician

The pastor’s book of sacraments and blessings, the Roman
Ritual, has a large treasure of spiritual medicines. When we
are sick we may consecrate our suffering by the sacrament of
Penance. Never in life has this word more significance in itself
than when we suffer. Because we cannot go to church, the
Church comes to us. After the sacred banquet of the Mass,

our pastor brings us a particle of the divine meal to let us par-

ticipate in it. In modern cities it will be impossible to do this
with solemnity. Yet we should not forget that the ideal laid
down in the Ritual by the Church is a solemn sacramental pro-
cession by the pastor to the sick room, accompanied by minis-
ters bearing lighted candles, the Ritual book, a bell and a

canopy, singing psalms and hymns. When it may be done, the
priest ought to wear not only surplice and stole, but even a



OUR PARISH S3

white cape. We can easily see that this would not be possible
in modern cities or in busy parishes, but the memory of these
fine customs will help us to realize the full importance of the

Communion of the Sick. When Communion is brought to the
dying, the priest uses a more solemn form when he gives the
sacrament: “Brother (sister), receive your traveling fare,1 the

Body of our Lord Jesus Christ; may He shield you from the
malignant foe and bring you to life everlasting.”

The two concluding prayers (Domine Sancte and Deus qui)
point out the healing force of the Holy Eucharist for body
and soul and relate Communion to Christ’s passion, Whose fruit
we beg to become more and more felt in our own lives as re-
demption.

Further Sickroom Rites

Before we turn to the glorious mystery of Christian death,
let us mention that the pastor’s book contains still more prayers

for the sickroom: the seven psalms of penance with the litany

of All Saints and its prayers, and a specially arranged service

of the sickroom (Rit. Rom. v. 4).
It opens, like all functions, with the greeting: Peace to this

house and to all that dwell therein; the pastor comes in Christ’s

stead. There follows the renewal of the baptismal spirit (as

before High Mass) in the sprinkling of holy water and five
different psalms and gospels, all of them strong and beautiful,

followed by a prayer. The gospels are carefully chosen: the
healing of the servant of the Roman captain; the order to bap-
tize the whole world; the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law; the

great miracle at the pool of Bethsaida; and finally the begin-

ning of St. John’s Gospel. The pastor lays his right hand on
the sick and says: “They will lay hands upon the sick and they
shall be well. May Jesus, the Son of Mary, salvation of the
world, and Lord, through the merits and prayers of His

Apostles Peter and Paul and of all saints, be to you clement and

kind. Amen.”

1 This is what “viaticum” means.



54 OUR PARISH

Discussion Questions

What is the second way in which our parish
church is a “Gate of Heaven”? When is the
last time we attend Mass? In what way, when
we are ill, does our parish church come to us?
What is the Church’s ideal way of carrying
Communion to the sick? Why does she not use
it now? What inspiration can we gain from
remembering this ideal way? What is viati-
cum? What does the word mean? What spe-
cial prayer does the priest say, administering

viaticum? What other rites does the Church
provide to bless and comfort the sick?

Ill

Extreme Unction

We modern men of the twentieth century are fast-living,
superficial, nervous, and lacking a great deal of supernatural

vision. The things of the spirit seem to be unreal to us,
while the material things impress us. That is certainly one

reason why our generation has so little understanding of a
great sacrament, the sacrament which St. Thomas Aquinas
called “unction for glory,” ordinarily called “Extreme Unc-

tion.” As it is a true sacrament, not a sacramental or a bless-

ing, it towers high above the other rites in the hour of death,

like the last blessing and its plenary indulgence. As a sacra-

ment its effect is certain and powerful, because it applies

Christ’s salvation directly. It is applied through the anointing

of eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, feet and—originally, but no
more — also the loins. At each anointing, the priest says:
“Through this holy unction and His most tender mercy,

may the Lord forgive thee whatever sin thou hast committed
by the sense of sight (hearing, touch, or the power of motion,”

etc.) The priest has laid his hand on the patient, has pro-



OUR PARISH 55

nounced an exorcism over the sick person with a threefold

sign of the cross, invoking Father, Son, Holy Spirit and all the
saints, before the unctions are performed. Afterwards he quotes

St. James’ exhortation to the faithful about this sacrament and

proceeds: “Cure the ailments of this Thy servant, heal his
wounds, forgive his sins, relieve him of all miseries of body and
mind, and graciously bless him with perfect health within and

without. ...”

Healing of Soul

Sacraments do not implore, as blessings and sacramentals

do, but they effect, as they depend not on our will, as long as

we are disposed, but on Christ’s almighty and saving power.
They effect, bring about what they signify through their words,
their actions and their matter. One of the effects indicated for
Extreme Unction is healing. In some cases this means bodily

health, but certainly only in a few. It also means alleviating

the sufferings of death, but certainly this too only at times, as

our experience shows us.

None of these effects is reached in many cases, especially
when it is administered when the patient is already in a coma,
which is a regrettable practice, but humanly understandable in
an age when even Christians are as afraid of death as the poor
heathen next door. What then is the certain effect? Spiritual
health, full restoration of spiritual integrity, healing of the

wounds which life has inflicted. This great sacrament corre-
sponds to Baptism and Confirmation. The first two are in-
scribed over the gate of our pilgrimage on earth. Extreme

Unction is our Saviour’s final mercy, as gratuitous and un-

merited, as free a gift of grace, as our infant Baptism. The
exorcisms preceding Baptism are once more repeated in the

hour of death. The gentle and healing oil, an old and popular
medicine here raised to sacramental dignity, is applied to those

senses of our body which sinned. It effects a re-consecration of

the “temple of the Holy Spirit” and a total cleansing of our

soul. We were brought to church as infants on the arms of our



<6 OUR PARISH

sponsor to be re-born in Baptism. Now Christ, our Shepherd,
comes to us in the person of our pastor to restore us fully to our

initial integrity as His member, to make us sound again. Life
has made us veterans who may have failed our Lord all too
often, who are covered with the scars of life’s battles. To inno-
cence is added maturity in the many anointings with signs of
the Cross. The gate of Heaven is wide open to receive us. All
through our life Christ has not regarded our sins, but has been

good and generous to us. He called us before we could think
and act. This mystery of mercy accompanies us out of life

again, perhaps after a wasted life.

In a last act of faith we pronounce the saving name of Jesus
and receive a plenary indulgence in the Apostolic blessing.

Discussion Questions

What is Extreme Unction? What special
value does it have? Recite the prayer by which
the priest administers it. What material is
used in Extreme Unction? Why this material,
and not another? In what two senses is Ex-
treme Unction a sacrament of healing? Which
is the more important? How does Extreme
Unction perfect the work begun in Baptism?
Describe how Extreme Unction may be called,
in a special way, the “sacrament of the Good
Shepherd.” What name does the Church ask
the sick person to invoke? Why?

IV

The Departure

From then on a confident peace prevails. The Ritual con-
tains a magnificent rite of commending a departing soul. A
candle is lighted, in many cases the same candle which the
sponsors gave for baptism and which was given to the infant



OUR PARISH 57

with these words: “Receive this lighted lamp and keep your

baptism without blame. Obey the commandments of God, so
that when our Lord shall come to His wedding feast, you may
enter with Him and all His saints into the heavenly hall and
there live forever and ever.”

The pastor and the family then recite a shortened and very
ancient form of the litany of All Saints, and continue: “Go
forth from this world, O Christian soul, in the name of God
the Father Almighty. ... 0 merciful God, O gracious God, O
God . . . Who blottest out the sins . . . renew whatever has
been corrupted. . . . Have pity on his tears . . . admit him to
the mystery of Thy reconciliation.” The whole heavenly court
of angels, apostles, martyrs, confessors and virgins is called

upon to meet the departing soul: “May the face of Jesus Christ
appear to you mild and joyful. . . . May Satan tremble at your
approach in the company of the angels.” This is followed by
a majestic, imploring hymn to God in the forceful language
of the psalms and prophets.

In the last agony the prayers quicken their rhythm: examples

of distress from the Old Testament are evoked. Christ’s pas-

sion is displayed in several prayers to comfort the dying; Ps.

117 on God’s mercy and goodness is recited; Christ’s own dying
words on the Cross are put into the mouth of the dying person
and then the first prayer for the departed soul is said: “Come
to his assistance, ye Saints of God, come forth to meet him, ye
angels of the Lord, receive and offer his soul in the sight of the

Most High.”

Into Paradise

No wonder that after such a death there is no room for
clamorous wailing and “unavailing grief.” Psalms full of hope,
lessons of consolation, prayers full of confidence and trust, the
Eucharistic sacrifice, candle light and confident Gregorian melo-

dies greet the venerable body of a dead Christian in his parish
church during the final requiem. At Communion time he
is for the first time greeted in the company of the saints: “Lux



OUR PARISHbb

aeterna luceat eis”
—

“Eternal light shine upon them, O Lord,
with Thy saints forever, because Thou art merciful.”

When the body is lowered into the grave, to return from
where its elements have been taken, the triumph of faith bursts

forth in a twofold way; the pastor intones the words: “I am
the resurrection and the life; he that believes in Me, although
he be dead, shall live, and everyone that lives and believes in

Me, shall not die forever.” The choir then takes up the morn-
ing hymn of the Church which was first sung by Zachary a"
the cradle of St. John the Baptist, Christ’s forerunner, a song

which now greets every young day at sunrise in our abbey
churches as the monks and nuns sing Lauds: “Blessed be the
Lord God of Israel: because He hath visited and wrought the
redemption of His people ... to direct our feet in the way of
peace.” While the consecrated ground of the parish cemetery

( cemetery is a Greek word derived from “Koimeterion”; i.e.,

the sleeping place, the dormitory) receives the remains of a

parishioner, the survivors sing a song of resurrection and vic-

tory. The death of one member serves to fortify the faith of
the whole parish.

Discussion Questions

Describe the Church’s rites during the de-
parture of the soul. Why is it appropriate that
the same candle be lighted which was used at
Baptism? Why should there be no room for
wailing grief in a true Christian at the dying
of a loved one? Does this mean that all mourn-
ing is un-Christian? What saying of Christ
confirms the answer to this last question?
What last farewell does the parish church give
to its dead member? What song of hope is said
or sung at the grave? What does the word
“cemetery” mean? How does this name ex-
press the Christian view of death?



CHAPTER VII

OUR PARISH IN ACTION

1

As in natural life, things grow out of

one another, hang together, sprout and

blossom. Our Lord Himself always de-

scribed our spiritual life as such a natural

process of growing and gradual unfolding.

We should remember here the parables of
the mustard seed and the leaven. One
shows a process of growth; the other, a

chemical yet organic process. Both are

simple and coherent. Another comparison He used was that
of the branches and the vine. He is the Vine on which we grow
like branches. Or St. Paul’s vision of the Church — and of
course, the parish—as a body, the head being Christ, the mem-
bers (or cells) being we, the baptized faithful.

Parish Brotherhood

The parish is such an organic thing, growing, healing itself,
with a soul (the Holy Spirit), with continuity. We have to
learn anew to grow into this world. For many a parishioner
in our age this organic vision has been lost; for him it is only

a sort of “spiritual filling and service station” attended to by
priests. “You can try this or that one, what’s the difference,”
is their attitude. They are homeless, un-“organized” consumers.
They are starved in their hard shells of individualism, and the
parish has become as brittle as an engine to their minds. This

attitude is a fundamental violation of the true spirit of “Holy
Communion,” brotherhood in Christ. It is one of the reasons
why our modern society is a chaos, a jungle of interests that
prey on one another, and why nations are packs of wolves gang-
ing up on one another to grab and exploit.

Before Christians have re-learned and re-lived the idea of

“brotherhood” in their parishes, around their altars, there is

59



60 OUR PARISH

no hope that they will ever grasp the idea of solidarity in the

spheres of national and international lives. Nothing can grow

without coming either from roots or out of seeds. A new hu-
manity is built on a “new man.” This “new man” grows in
our parish churches, planted in the baptistery, pruned in the

confessional, and nourished from the altar.

Strong Spiritual Life

The organic and coherent character of this piety is the best
remedy for the excited, fitful and nervous way in which so
many practicing Catholics try to be religious. It brings the
quiet and strong rhythm of the Church year, as lived in the

parish, into their lives. It raises them out of that kind of re-

ligion which centers around their own ego, their own worries,
true and imaginary; it widens their souls and airs them out.

Not their momentary moods, not fads and fashions, not a dozen
disconnected practices of this and that—but the strong and sane
piety of the Church as we have it in our approved books, like
the Missal, will lead them on. When singing the Mass with
their fellow-parishioners and their pastor, when listening to the
Apostles and Christ, when walking in procession to the altar
with a poor or a rich man, a child or an old woman, or orderly
in groups of families, their cramped individualism and selfish-

ness will be relaxed and “the multitude of the believers” will be

of one heart and one soul . . . “nor was there anyone among
them in want” (Acts iv. 32, 34).

Discussion Questions

What does it mean that our parish is an or-
ganism? Name some parables of our Lord that
show this. Show how Christ’s words: “I am
the Vine, you are the branches,” are fulfilled in
the parish. How can living parishes be the
hope for a peaceful world? How can genuine
parish living cure the selfishness and intense
egotism of modern life?



OUR PARISH 61

II

Essential Things

Scholastic philosophy distinguishes between the “essence”

of a thing and its “accidents.” It is essential to man to have
a body and an immortal soul, to be a “rational animal.” It is

accidental if he is colored or white, man or woman, primitive
or civilized. In a true vision of our parish as an organism of

sacraments, as an immediate presence of Christ, as the Savior,

here and now, among us, we shall learn too which are the essen-
tial things in our lives, and which are the accidental things.

Our spiritual lives become more “essential,” more Christian, the

closer they are conformed to Christ in His mysteries or sacra-

ments. When we make these first things first again, assigning
places of less importance to less important things, when our
parish is re-awakened in our souls, a profounder Christian

spirit will result in ourselves. “Christians are not different from

other men by country or language or social institutions. ... In
simple words: what the soul is to the body, Christians are to

the world” (Ep. Diog. 5.1; 6.1). The world will recognize
them as Christ living on earth, and treat them like Christ, if

our parishes become again a sacramental unit of men and if we
make less of conventional and accidental things. The right
vision precedes right actions; we have to know a thing first be-
fore we warm up to it.

Sacramentals

At the hour of “prime,” which is a prayer the priests recite

in their breviary as an opening of their daily labors, thus conse-

crating their work to God, they also read or may read the calen-
dar of the Church of this specific day. It is called the book of

martyrs, the martyrology. On Christmas Eve this lesson gives
the chronology of Christ’s birth and mentions the purpose of

His coming in the flesh: “Through His most merciful presence
He wants to consecrate the world.”

He consecrated humanity through His incarnation, by be-



62 OUR PARISH

coming a member of the human race. He consecrated the ele-
ments (water, e. g., using it for Baptism; bread, wine and

oil in other sacraments). The Church in its blessings carries
this consecration to God into all possible walks of life. These
sacramentals are extensions of the sacraments into the life of

Christians. They are a visible overflow from Christ’s incarna-
tion through sacraments into our daily lives.

For the individual Christian as well as for our parish, they

are a challenge. They challenge us to extend ourselves to our
neighbors and to creation in our immediate neighborhood with

that charity which is the greatest consecrating power. It

brought Christ down on earth; it made Him do His Father’s
will unto death; it made Him abide with us in the Church: “As
the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My
love . . . this is My commandment, that you love one another
as I have loved you” (John xv. 9, 12).

“By this, will all men know that you are My disciples, if
you have love for one another” (John xiii. 35)—this is what the
world looks for, as the sign of the true faith. This is the fruit

of “consecration” in us and our parish to win the outsider.

Our parish, like every individual parishioner in his sphere
of life, is what Jesus called a “city on the mountain” and “a
candle on a candlestick” visible from afar and shining in the

darkness, like our Master.

Discussion Questions

How do our spiritual lives become “essen-
tial”? Name some spiritual practices that are
“unessential.” Granted that these practices are
not wrong, what is to be said about them? What
is the purpose of the many blessings which the
Church uses? From your own experience, how
many of these blessings can you remember?
What did our Lord mean, calling His Christians
“a city seated on a hill,” “a candle on a candle-
stick”?



OUR PARISH 63

III

Charity

Only if our consecration to God becomes visible to the world
in charity, will the world believe. The responsibility to convert
the world is on all Christians, since they are confirmed. Not

all of them can teach and preach as priests and religious. But

all can preach a greater sermon by their deeds. Is there charity

and community at the altar, finding its visible expression in our

way of participation in Mass through praying and singing to-
gether? Do we have such modern activities as systematic and
thorough care for the poor and the sick in our neighborhood,

and are these services better than those run by public authori-

ties and sectarian organizations?—better, not bigger or
wealthier, but more full of charity, personal respect and indi-

vidual care?

Is this charity really the hallmark of our sacramental

Christianity in our provisions to raise our weaker members,

not only by alms, but by establishing them in better responsi-
bility in such activities as credit unions, maternity guilds and

consumer-co-operatives? Is our charity enough to bridge the

chasm between employer and employee, not only through the

fact that they are physically in the same pew and at the same
altar rail, but that they meet and understand each other, co-

operate with one another to bring social peace from their com-

mon parish altar? In their labor unions or their employer or-
ganizations, their chambers of commerce, their professional as-

sociations, are our parishioners the element of peace, integrity,

liberty and honesty? Do our fellow-citizens call on our parish
to assure a clean city government, decent morals and volunteers

for welfare work, because they know that our parish is the focus
of divine and heroic charity? Our city is looking at us with
expectation, not for solemn resolutions and pressure votes, but
for live Christianity. Without it our sacraments seem to them
like empty rites of superstitious or quaint theatrical people.



64 OUR PARISH

"Man, Become Essential"

The seventeenth century poet, Angelus Silesius, coined the
phrase “Man, become essential.” It means, live up to the
eternal truths; cast aside the little, unessential things, the em-

broideries of life. An “essential” parishioner is the one who
puts the sacramental, communal life of the parish first, and his
personal likes and devotional tastes second.

The “essential” parishioner is objective. This means that
the truths and facts given by God, the things faith holds up

to us to accept, are his yardstick for thought and action; not

his own interpretation, or his subjective, self-loving thinking.
The “essential” parishioner lives in the center, not on the

circumference of the Church. The center is Christ, present in
the Church through the sacraments, through the charity of its

members and through our faith. When we begin to see our
parish, its altar and its pastor, once again as the sources of our

religious life, we begin to become central, essential.

Discussion Questions

How do parishioners show themselves as
“one” in the Mass? Name some ways in which
this “oneness” radiates into outside action.
How do credit-unions fulfill Christian charity?
Maternity guilds? Should such things as these
have place in every healthy parish? What com-
munity unit should be the strongest factor for
civic virtue? Why?

si