////

tflis 15 p

4 (atltolic
(jiwck



Why the Knights of Colnmhus

Aivertm Catholic Faith

The reason is simple. We Catho-

lics want our non-Catholic friends

and neighbors to know us as we

really are and not as we are some

times mistakenly represented.

We are confident that when

our religious Faith is better un-

derstood by those who do not

share it, mutual understanding

will promote the good-will which

is so necessary in a predominant-

ly Christian country whose gov-

ernment is designed to serve all

the people—no matter how much

their religious convictions may

differ.

American Catholics are con-

vinced that as the teachings of

Christ widely and firmly take

hold of the hearts and conduct

of our people, we shall remain

free in the sense that Christ

promised (John VIII, 31-38),

and in the manner planned by

the Founding Fathers of this

republic.

Despite the plainly stated will

of the Good Shepherd that there

be ’’one fold and one shepherd,”

the differences in the understand-

ing of Christ’s teaching are

plainly evident. It has rightfully

been called "the scandal of a

divided Christianity.”

If there is anything which will

gather together the scattered

flock of Christ, it is the nation-

wide understanding of the

Savior, what He did and how He

intended mankind to benefit by

the Redemption.

To this end, we wish our

fellow-Americans to become ac-

quainted with the teachings of

Christ as the Catholic Church

has faithfully presented them,

since the day the apostles in-

vaded the nations of the world

in willing and courageous obedi-

ence to Christ’s command: ”Go,

therefore, and make disciples of

all nations . . .” (Matt. XXVIII,

19).

SUPREME COUNCIL

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
Religious Information Bureau

4422 LINDELL BLVD. ST. LOUIS 8, MO.

© 1955 Knights of Columbus



What Is The Catholic Church?

"What is the Catholic

Church?” may sound like

an unnecessary question, yet

it is asked every day of

priests, heads of information

centers and of ordinary

Catholic men and women.

For some people such a

question is necessary, and is

asked in all sincerity. They

want to know about this

thing which seems to mean so

much to Catholics, because they are

curious about what Catholics be-

lieve and what lies behind some

of the practices they have noted

in their Catholic neighbors. They

know that behind it all is this thing

called the Catholic Church. Hence

they ask, "What is the Catholic

Church?”

The question is easy to ask, but

not so easy to answer. What shall

we say to those who ask us this

question sincerely? What shall we

tell them, and how can we hope to

convey to them all that this Church

means to us? What troubles us is

not a lack of something to say—

rather, there is so much to say

that we do not know where to

begin. For how can we put into a

few words what amounts to a way

of life, a philosophy, a religion, an

outlook, a frame of mind, all

rolled into one? We cannot
do so, of course, but we shall

try to explain here the basic

components of which the

Church consists. We shall
first of all explain our "Con-

stitution,” as we call it,

which is the Creed. It is

this, officially and for the

record, that determines what

we are. Then we shall describe the

means by which Catholics enter

the Church, by which they con-

tinue their life in the Church, and

through which they pass into the

life of heaven. These are the Sac-

raments.

The laws of any society, such as

the Church is, are important to

understanding that society. The

laws of Christ’s Church we shall

sum up under the heading of the

Ten Commandments, by which

Catholics are expected to govern

their lives.

Vital to all Catholic life is the

Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The

Church’s year is rounded about the

Mass. It is in the Mass that we

perform what is our most impor-

tant single duty, the worship of

God.

It is important to understand the

1



organization of the Church. The

Church is a divine institution, but

existing among men and composed

of them. Inevitably, therefore, there

must be much in the government

of the Church which parallels hu-

man institutions. This aspect of the

Church is the one to which the non-

Catholic is most exposed, and of

which he is often most critical, es-

pecially by those who do not know

the Church in other ways and mis-

understand its real nature.

What the Church means to her

members is something that only a

Catholic can know by experience,

and none can describe. But we can,

in these pages, give the interested

non-Catholic a quick picture of the

Church that will be both interest-

ing and conducive to a deeper and

better understanding.

When the Catholic speaks of the Holy Catholic Church he is

not thinking of any society of men formed as a result of human

effort or human organization, but of that society formed by Christ

and the Holy Ghost. It is a visible society, because the Church exists

on earth, and its foundation and building up is the final achievement

of Christ’s work of salvation which began with the Incarnation. This

Church is the Body of Christ in a very real sense. Christ is the Head

of the Church and the divine Spirit is its soul or life-giving principle

in this sense, that, though the Church is composed of weak and

fallible human beings, yet in its essence it is exclusively formed and

determined by Christ and the Holy Ghost. Whatever in the Church

is the result of Christ’s work of construction and preservation can in

no way be corrupted by man. The Church is the Body in which, and

by means of which, Christ continues His work of salvation to the

end of time. By virtue of her nature she must be unique; one society

composed of believers, visible, sharply defined, clearly recognizable.

"THE CHRISTIAN DILEMMA”- Van De Pol

2



30ml. 03sl Shmd. . .

.

THE CATHOLIC CREED

The Creed is, in a manner

of speaking, the "Consti-

tution” of the Catholic

Church.

It is our statement of

fundamental beliefs, our

confession of principles.

One may object to some

things about the Catholic

Church, but one of those

is not vagueness. What the

Catholic Church teaches— her at-

titude toward God, toward man,

toward the world— is matter of

public record, inscribed in her

Creed.

There are some Christians who

shy away from creeds, which they

say, are the formulations of men

and not the work of God. The Bible

alone is their rule of faith, they say,

and they would have nothing else.

But this is just playing with

words. When a man says, "I be-

lieve,” he has formulated a creed.

The word "creed” is derived from

the Latin word "credo,” which

means "I believe.” No one can
escape having a creed, because no

one can escape believing things,

accepting things on faith. This is

as inevitable in human affairs as

it is in religion. We act on assump-
tions, principles and ideas which

we have accepted on faith-

assumptions and principles

that the earth is round, for

example, though few of us

could prove it if called upon

to do so. We commonly say
such things as "two plus

two equal four,” though we

have to take the mathema-

ticians’ word for it that two

plus two do not occasionally

equal five. Scientific facts that we

claim to "know”, we have simply

accepted on faith, not personal

experience.

This is also true in religion.

Whether we are dealing with re-

ligious truths taught by the Bible

or by tradition, we have facts which

in most cases we cannot prove. We
may be able to give a reasonable

justification for our belief, to show

that we are acting sensibly in be-

lieving, and to show that what we

believe is reasonable, but we can-

not do more. What we accept, we

accept as matters of faith, as truths

taught us by God Himself. He has

revealed these truths to us; we did

not reason them out for ourselves.

When a man accepts the Bible as

the word of God, therefore, or any

other particle of religious teaching,

that very acceptance is his creed.

3



It is, consequently, idle for anyone

to say that he has no creed. Every-

one has a creed; every religious

person especially. Some creeds are

complex. Perhaps none is more

complicated, and certainly not more

absolute, than the creed of the

agnostic, or, as he may call himself,

the "free-thinker.” This creed in-

cludes not only principles incapable

of proof, but usually some that con-

tradict human experience —"mir-

acles don’t happen,” for instance.

Man, indeed, is a creed-making

animal, as G. K. Chesterton once

said. And there is nothing extra-

ordinary in the fact that the Catholic

Church has a Creed. But there is

something extraordinary about the

Creed of the Catholic Church.

The first thing that sets the Creed

of the Catholic Church apart from

all others is that it is definite. By

this we mean it is honest. It is

honest because it is permanent. It

is a definite commitment, un-

equivocal, meaning the same for

one man as for another, and—what

is more important — the same for
one generation as for another.

They Disagree

The man who says, "I believe that

the Bible is the word of God,” has

uttered a creed, and a very impor-

tant one. But it is not definite. The

"word of God” meant one thing to

Martin Luther, but something quite

different to a modern religious

thinker like Albrecht Schweitzer.

One person thinks that the "word

of God” means the body of religi-

ous truth which the one God has

revealed in the Bible. Another be-

lieves that there are many "words

of God,” that God is found equally
in the Bible, in the Hindu Upanis-

hads, in other "holy books.” Hence

while two men may use the same

creed in the same words, they may

mean vastly different things.

Some people, of course, are con-

tent with this vague kind of creed.

The honest person stands up to be

counted. When a person hides his
religious convictions behind am-

biguous words, one of two things

must be true. Either he has no clear

belief, or he is unwilling to give

a clear testimony to his belief.

Neither position is possible in a

person of religious sincerity.

Positive Creed

Nor is such obscurity possible in

the Catholic Creed. It is true that

parts of the Catholic Creed are used

by other religions which have sepa-

rated from the Catholic Church, and

that in these other religions the

words of the Creed may have taken

on other significances or have ceased

to have any real meanings at all. But

as used by the Catholic Church

which formulated the Creed, every

word is clearly defined and in the

public record.

Catholics believe that truth is

one, absolute and unchanging. That

is merely to say that Catholics be-

lieve that things are what they are.

A thing is what it is, and it is
nothing else. A thing either is, or
it is not. There are no other alter-

natives. If a thing is true, it cannot

also be false. Truth, therefore, can-

not change. What God revealed as

truth through Jesus Christ must,

in consequence, be the same yester-

day, today, and forever. Our ac-

4



ceptance of these truths—which we

express in the Creed—must, there-

fore, be unchanging. Granted that

one or another of us may know a

truth better than his neighbor, or

one generation may have a deeper

knowledge than an earlier one, the

fact remains that the truth that is

accepted must in all essentials be

the same.

Things Change

Cardinal Newman has said that

the sign of life in this world is

change—that when we see a thing

that has ceased to change and is

motionless, we know that it is dead.

But the change is in us, who live

in this world, not in the unchang-

ing God. The change is in our ap-

preciation of truth, not in the truth

itself which is the revelation of

God’s unchanging intellect. The

Church, as a body of men, does

change with a changing world. It

finds new problems and advances

new solutions for them. It gathers

into itself new peoples, with dif-

ferent mentalities and different

approaches. It therefore enlists new

techniques in its service. All this

is as should be.

The Church grows in wisdom

with the ages. Better ways of saying

things are devised. What Christians

of the first century believed im-

plicitly, the Church in a later gener-

ation may find it necessary to state

explicitly, as the need arises. This is

only being honest and faithful to

the truth. It is in such occasions

that we have what is called a defini-

tion of doctrine — an explicit ex-
planation of the Creed — expressed
through general councils of the

whole Church or through its visible

head, the Pope.

Take the matter, for example, of

Mary as Mother of God. The first

Christians believed this, though

they never stated it in so many

words. They did state in so many

words that Mary was the true

Mother of Christ, and that Christ

was the true Son of God. It was

only a deduction, therefore, to call

Mary the Mother of God. In 431

at the Council of Ephesus the

Church found it necessary to state

this in so many words. It would no

longer have been honest or faithful

to the truth not to state this, for

by refraining from a statement the

Church would have seemed to have

agreed with those who were deny-

ing either that Mary was Christ’s

true Mother, or that Christ was

God’s true Son. The first Christians,

who had never doubted either of

these truths, had not been obliged

to come out and say that Mary was

the Mother of God—just as, for

example, I may never throughout

my life be obliged to state explicit-

ly that the woman whom I call

"mother” was my father’s wife. The

later Church was obliged to take

thought on the matter, and to af-

firm what it knew to be the truth.

Church Changes, Too

It is by this process of twenty

centuries of thought and medita-

tion on the divine truths revealed

through Christ that the Church has

acquired an understanding of them

that goes far beyond that possessed

by the earliest Christians. The teach-

ing of Christ, though given in part

in the New Testament, is not bound

5



to the New Testament. Christian
doctrine is a living thing, not to

be confined to the powers of ex-

pression of the few writers who

created this inspired document.

"Christianity,” wrote A. T. Robert-

son, "is not buried in a book. It

existed before the New Testament
was written. It made the New
Testament. It is just because Chris-

tianity is of the great democracy

that it is able to make universal

appeal to all ages and all lands and

all classes.”

Better Understanding

The process by which the teach-

ing of Christ has become better

appreciated, more explicit and de-

tailed, and expressed in the lan-

guage of all ages and all lands and

all classes, is what we call the

development of doctrine. Change

there certainly has been, but the

change has been in man and in his

understanding. Christ’s teaching has

not changed; it has just become

better known.

Nor has the Creed changed, for

the Creed is simply the expression

of the basic truths of Christianity.

But the Creed also has become

better understood and more explicit,

along with the doctrines it states.

The basic Creed of the Catholic

Church, as most familiarly known,

is called the Apostles’ Creed. It has

received this title because of its

great antiquity; it dates from very

early times in the Church, a half

century or so from the last writ-

ings of the New Testament. The
Apostles’ Creed is as follows:

I believe in God, the Father Al-

mighty, Creator of heaven and

earth, and in Jesus Christ, His

only Son, our Lord: Who was
conceived of the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary, suf-

fered under Pontius Pilate, was

crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended into hell. The third

day He arose again from the dead:

He ascended into heaven and sits

at the right hand of God the

Father Almighty, whence He

shall come to judge the living

and the dead. I believe in the

Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic

Church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins, the resur-

rection of the body, and life ever-

lasting. Amen.

This Creed has been adequate to

the ordinary needs of the Church,

as is witnessed by its constant use

down to our time. Every infant

baptized into the Church has these

words repeated for him by his god-

parents. When a convert is received
into the Church as an adult, he is

still asked to express his allegiance

to Christ’s religion in the terms of

this Apostles’ Creed.

Beliefs Defined

As special needs arose however,

various articles in the Creed have

been expanded for greater clarifica-

tion. The most noteworthy of these

clarifications were made during the

general council of the Church at

Nicea in the year 325 A.D., and

in the council of Constantinople in

381. Each of these councils gave

unequivocal answers defining the

belief of true Christians against

heretical movements which threat-

ened the life of Christ’s teaching.

For example, the Council of Nicea

6



had to make clear the truth of the

eternity of Christ’s existence, as

taught in the gospel of John, 1:1,

against the Arian heresy which held

that there was a time before which

the Word was not. This clarifica-

tion was in the form of a longer

version of the Creed, which is

recited each day during the Catholic

Mass and at other times. It is

called the Niceno-Constantinopali-

tan Creed, or, more simply, the

Nicene Creed.

The Fundamentals

As one can easily see, the Creed

consists of two essential themes—

one is concerned with belief in the

Holy Trinity, and the other deals

with our profession of faith in

Christ. These are the two funda-

mental principles of Christianity,

upon which all the rest of our doc-

trines are based. For the sake of

convenience, we generally divide

the Creed into "articles.”

In the first article we say, "I

believe in God, the Father Al-

mighty, Creator of heaven and

earth.” We say what every reason-
ing man must say, if he is faithful

to his reason. "Since the creation of

the world God’s invisible attributes

are clearly seen—especially his ever-

lasting power and divinity, which

are understood through the things

that are made” (Romans 5:20). As

Paul rightly says, reason itself tells

us that there must be a Cause of

what we see about us in the world,

and that if we see goodness and

beauty in the world, then its Cause

must be Good and most supreme

Beauty.

But we believe much more about

God than mere reason tells us. Our

faith is founded on reason, but it

goes far beyond what reason unaided

can know. Our faith depends upon

God’s own revelation of Himself.

Faith, in a sense, means sharing God’s

own thoughts; for what God alone

can know of Himself He has made
known to us. We know His own
intimate nature—that He exists in
three divine Persons Who possess
the one divine nature: the fact that

we call the Trinity. There is no

possible way that we could know

this unless He had told us. We
have it from the lips of God’s own

Son that the relation that exists

between the divine Persons is mir-

rored in the relation which He

permits us to share with Him. If

we keep faith with Him, we share

somehow in His own life.

God’s Love

"You will come to understand

(says our Lord) that I am in the

Father, and you are in me, and I

in you. He who accepts my com-

mandments and treasures them—he

is the one that loves me. And he

that loves me will, in turn, be loved

by my Father; and I will love him,
and will manifest myself to him”

(John 14:20 f.). For how many

centuries did the greatest philoso-

phers and thinkers of the world

before Christ yearn for just this

knowledge, that there is a God who

cares for His creatures, Who wants
to love them and be loved by

them!

When we say, "I believe ... in

Jesus Christ, His only Son, our

Lord: Who was conceived of the
Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin

7



Mary,” we testify to our belief in

the greatest single event of the

world’s history, the Incarnation.

The Incarnation means, literally,

"the taking-on-of-flesh.” The eter-

nal Son of God, the only Son of

God to whom this word may be
properly applied, took on human

nature and became the man whom

history knows as Jesus. Without

ceasing to be God, this divine

Person became also one of us, like

us "in all things except sin” (He-

brews 4:15). Already bound to us

as Creator, He assumed a perfect

unity with mankind through the

Incarnation, and by His death was

able to free us from sin. In His

glorious existence in heaven He

gave us a share in His own life:

"He was delivered up for our sins,

and rose again for our sanctifica-

tion” (Romans 4:25).

Mother of God

As a divine Person, Jesus could

in no way be begotten by man. His

Virgin Mother Mary conceived

Him through the divine power.

Because He is divine, she is the

Mother of God—not the Mother of
God the Father, or of God the Holy

Spirit, but the Mother of God’s

eternal Son Who is also God. This
title, "Mother of God,” is Mary’s

chief glory, of which she may not

be deprived by any true Christian.

That is the meaning of the Creed.

The General council of Ephesus in

the year 431 put the Church on

record for all time, certifying this

fact, that Mary is rightly called

Theotokos, i. e. "God-bearer.” This

again illustrates how unequivocal

'is the Creed of the Church as held

by Catholics.

Jesus, we say, "suffered under

Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died,

and was buried. He descended into
hell. The third day He arose again
from the dead: He ascended into

heaven and sits at the right hand

of God the Father Almighty,

whence He shall come to judge the
living and the dead.” In this we

say that He redeemed us, that His
suffering and death have freed us

from sin. "There is but one God

and one Mediator between God and

men, Christ Jesus, himself man,

who gave himself a ransom for all”

( 1 Timothy 2:5). In Christ and in

Christ only do we have a certain

refuge of hope—apart from Him
there is none. He is our judge now

and in our final counting.

"I believe in the Holy Spirit”

professes our belief in the third

Person of the Trinity, the Spirit

of the Father and Son, Whom
Christ promised to send to watch

over His Church, to guide and

strengthen it, to keep it in the ways

of truth. "I will ask the Father and

he will grant you another Advocate

to be with you for all time to come,

the Spirit of Truth!” (John 14: 16).

The Holy Spirit

Therefore the article, "I believe

in . . . the Holy Catholic Church,” is

already half-explained. The Church

is holy because it exists for a holy

purpose, to make men holy. It is

holy because it is directed by the

Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. It

is the projection of Christ into all

time, which is why St. Paul so

frequently refers to it as Christ’s

8



Body. Christ, after His death and

resurrection, has returned to the

Father from Whom He came. But
Christ’s work goes on. The salva-

tion which He made possible to all

men must be brought into contact

with all human lives between

Christ’s going away and His glori-

ous return at the end of time. This

is the function of the Church. "To

as many as welcomed him (Christ),

he gave the right to become chil-

dren of God—those who believe in

his name,” wrote St. John (1:12).

The sanctifying work of the Church

we shall see more fully when we

speak of the Mass and the Sacra-

ments.

Only One "Catholic”

The Church is Catholic because

it is universal, independent of time

and of place. There is no American

Church, or English Church, or

French or Irish or African Church,

except insofar as we use those terms

to refer to the Catholic Church in

America or England, France, etc.

We belong to the Church not as
Americans or Englishmen, but as

Christians. Being a Catholic, of

course, does not erase one’s nation-

ality. Allegiance to the Church is

entirely different from the allegi-

ance we owe our country or our

people, an allegiance which does

not conflict with these but which

is superior to them. It is our allegi-

ance to God, which we share with

all other Catholics throughout the

world, and which binds us together

with them in the one Body of

Christ. The Church is the same

everywhere in the world today, and

is the same as it was in the days

of the Apostles.

There is even a larger unity that

we share in the Church. "I believe

in . . . the communion of saints”

states that we participate in the

union of the faithful on earth, the

blessed in heaven, and the souls in

purgatory—with all those who have

been redeemed by the blood of

Christ. We believe that we can help
one another, that the prayers of the

faithful on earth can assist the souls

in purgatory and that the prayers

of those in heaven can assist both

those in purgatory and us on earth.

Thus we pray to the saints in

heaven for their help, just as we

ask one another on earth for their

prayers and good works from which

we can all benefit. This is the true

"social” religion which we profess,

in which we know that we do not

stand alone, but that we are bound

up with our fellow men in Christ’s

love, "surrounded as we are by such

a throng of witnesses” (Hebrews

12 : 1 ).

Body and Soul

"The forgiveness of sin” we shall

see more fully in the consideration

of the Sacraments of the Church.

"The resurrection of the body, and

the life everlasting” are the two

final articles of the Creed. We pro-
fess, unchanged and unadulterated,

the biblical teachings of a physical

resurrection, at the end of time.

For all eternity, united as they were

on earth, the body and soul of each

person will rejoice in eternal life

with God or suffer in eternal punish-

ment in hell.

9



CHRIST Gave Us

The Seven Sacraments
j

In ancient Roman days, a

sacramentum was a solemn

oath which a man took ac-

cording to law. Literally, the

word meant "a sacred act,”

for an oath was considered

to be a sacred thing, as the

poet says, "Man’s word is

God in man.”

The early Christians

adopted this word to apply

to certain sacred acts of the Chris-

tian religion, acts which were ex-

ternal signs of some deep spiritual

significance, such as the taking of

an oath. The external acts to which

the word "sacrament” was applied

were those which Christ Himself

had instituted for the sacred pur-

pose of applying to men’s souls the

grace of His redemption.

The sacraments are seven—bap-

tism, confirmation, holy commun-

ion, penance or confession, matri-

mony, holy orders, and the final

anointing. All of them consist of

some material fact — water, oil,
bread, wine—and some external act

—pouring, anointing, laying on of

hands, uttering words, and all of

them by these means symbolize the

application of Christ’s redemptive

grace to men’s souls and actually

confer this grace.

Why did Christ institute
sacraments? Why, indeed,

did Christ redeem us by His

life, suffering, death and

resurrection, when a simple

act of the divine will could

have accomplished the same

result? Sufficient for us to

know that He did this—the

fullness of the reason for it

is hidden within the divine

mind.

Yet we can see, at least

partially, why the redemption was

effected as it was. It was fitting

that God should deal with His

creature according to the manner

in which He had created him. It

was fitting that He should show

His love for man by sending His

own Son to become man. It was

fitting that the human nature which

He created and called good should

have been sanctified by the pres-

ence of the divine Christ, that the

human flesh which He assumed

should have been redeemed from

within, so to speak, by this pres-

ence.

And similarly, we can see why

the redemption, once won through

Christ’s life and death would be

made available to men through the

sacraments of the Church.

Gifornation

PenanceM
Ijolyfuchafflt

Matrimony1ff

|f foyQrders

10



Such is God’s way of dealing

with the free human beings whom

He has created. He has permitted

man to share in all His works. He

does not create men individually

from nothing, but brings men into

existence through the cooperation

of others of their kind, through

human parents. He does not govern

His universe directly, but through

the agency of men. He has not

made salvation something auto-

matic, depriving man of his free-

dom. He has established a Church

in which the grace of salvation will

be distributed by man to man.

Water and Wine

By this means He has renewed

and blessed once more the creation

which "was made subject to vanity

not by its own choice but by the

will of him who made it subject”

(Romans 8:20). Through the sin

of man all creation was thrown into

disorder, pitted against itself. In

the sacramental order which Christ

established, even the inanimate

things of creation are "delivered

from slavery to corruption to enjoy

the freedom that comes with the

glory of the children of God”

(Romans 8:21). Water and wine,

oil and bread, become part of God’s

great plan of salvation, assisting in

their own way the glory of the

children of God.

This plan of salvation follows the

example set by our Lord. Christ

taught by signs—signs of fact and

signs of word. His most sublime

teachings were cloaked in parables:

signs in words. He worked cures

by means of signs. Remember, for

example, His cure of the man blind

from birth. He could have simply

willed that the man see. But instead,

"he spat on the ground, and by

means of the spittle made a lump

of clay, and then spread the clay

over his eyes, and said to him: 'Go,

and wash in the pool of Siloam’—

a word which in our language

means 'Ambassador.’ So he went,

and washed, and came back able to

see” (John 9:6 f.). Not only this,

but the very cure itself was a sign,

to illustrate what Jesus had said

of Himself immediately before:

"As long as I am in the world, I

am the light of the world” (John

9:5).

It is not surprising, therefore,

that Christ should have decided to

distribute salvation to man down

through the ages by means of the

signs which we call sacraments.

Conferred By Signs

Each of the sacraments has some

visible sign. This is what is called

the matter—that is, a thing, such
as water in baptism and oil in the

last anointing; and in the form,

that is, certain words. In baptism,

as is well known, the words are:

"I baptize you in the name of the

Father, and of the Son, and of the

Holy Spirit.”

In each case, therefore, the mat-

ter and form signify the spiritual

good that is being worked in the

soul of the recipient—that is why

they are called signs. Water sug-

gests washing, oil suggests healing,

and the words of the minister of

the sacrament determine what kind

of washing and healing is being

done.

11



If the sacraments were merely

of human origin, they could be

nothing more than signs of our

hope or our prayers. We could not
assure ourselves that we were really

washing a soul clean of sin in bap-

tism, for example, as only the divine

power can do this. But because the

sacraments have been instituted by

Christ for the express purpose of

doing what they symbolize, we

know that they are more than mere

signs. What they signify, they ac-

tually accomplish. Baptism does

cleanse a soul from sin. Confirma-

tion does strengthen the life of the

spirit and bring it to spiritual adult-

hood. Communion is not merely a

sign of Christ’s body and blood, it

is these things.

Means To Grace

This does not mean, of course,

that the sacraments are magical or

automatic. They must be adminis-

tered by someone qualified by

Christ to do so who is really in-

tending to administer one of

Christ’s sacraments. The recipient

must be prepared and capable of

receiving the sacrament. If the

sacrament is to him only an idle

gesture, it will do him no good.

God does not require us to receive

the Sacraments; to each is given the

free will to choose, but in rejecting

the Sacraments, we reject the means

to grace which God freely offers us.

The sacraments were meant to be

administered by Christians to Chris-

tians in the Church. They are the

chief title which the Church has

to her claim to be "holy.” The

Christian living the life of Christ

in the Church has these means con-

stantly at his disposal to preserve,

to restore, to increase the kind of

life which Christ has made it pos-

sible for him to live. They are, as

it were, so many arteries by which

the life blood is brought to the

members of Christ’s Body. Accord-

ingly as the sacraments are worthily

and prayerfully received, the mem-

bers grow up to the likeness of

Christ.

"Absolute Authority”

Before His ascension into heav-

en, our Lord gave His Apostles the

great commission to baptize. This

is, in a sense, the Church’s charter

of sanctification. "Absolute author-

ity in heaven and on earth has been

conferred upon me,” He said. "Go,

therefore, and initiate all nations in

discipleship: baptize them in the

name of the Father and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit, and teach

them to observe all the command-

ments I have given you” (Matthew

28:18 f.).

Baptism, the sign of membership

in Christ’s Church, is more than a

sign; it is an absolute necessity.

"Unless a man is born of water and

the Spirit, he cannot enter the

kingdom of God,” were Christ’s

words to Nicodemus (John 3:5).

The importance of baptism was

stressed above all by our Lord’s

first priests and bishops, the leaders

of the Church, the Apostles. "Get

up and have yourself baptized and

your sins washed away,” were al-

most the first words that Paul the

Apostle was to hear in his new-

found Christian faith (Acts 22:16).

And it is Paul who has best of all

expressed the traditional Christian

12



faith in the power of this sacrament

of Christ:

"Do you not know that all of us

who have been baptized into union

with Christ Jesus have been bap-

tized into union with his death?

Yes, we were buried in death with

him by means of baptism, in order

that, just as Christ was raised from

the dead by the glorious power of

the Father, so we also may conduct

ourselves by a new principle of

life. Now since we have grown to
be one with him through a death

like his, we shall also be one with

him by a resurrection like his. We
know that our old self has been

crucified with him, in order that

the body enslaved to sin may be

reduced to impotence, and we may

no longer be slaves to sin; for he

who is dead is once for all quit of

sin. But if we have died with Christ,

we believe that we shall also live

with him, since we know that

Christ, having risen from the dead,

will die no more; death shall no

longer have dominion over him.

The death that he died was a death

to sin once for all, but the life that

he lives is a life for God. Thus you

too must consider yourselves dead

to sin, but alive to God in Christ

Jesus” (Romans 6:3-11).

Baptism Saves

Baptism puts us in union with

Christ, causes us to share His life,

to the extent that His death is our

own and His resurrection ours. We
are dead to sin, alive to the life

of God. We are new persons. It is
no wonder that St. Peter says sim-

ply, "Baptism . . . saves you” (

1

Peter 3:21).

This does not mean, of course,

that baptism is an automatic guar-

antee of salvation. God saves man

without destroying man’s freedom.

There is no such thing as an ab-

solute, infallible certainty of salva-

tion during this life, because at any

time man has it in his power to

turn his back on God and reject

Him. So is it with baptism. Baptism

has the power, given it by Christ,

to perform the marvelous thing that

Paul has described above. But it is

a power that can be resisted. It

is a sad, but true fact, that in some

cases a baptized person may be

undistinguished from one unbap-

tized, simply because he has not

chosen to live as one who has been

put in union with Christ. When-

ever we commit a serious sin, in

fact, we are to that extent departing

from our union with Christ and

returning to the slavery from which

He has set us free.

Way of All Flesh

Christ knew that the members

of His Church would sin, and there-

by break the bond that had united

them to Him in baptism. Such was

the divine mercy that God would

not permit this bond to be broken

forever, and to assure this, He pro-

vided another channel of grace.

When a person has committed sin,
he has a sure way to return to the

salvation of Christ, through the

sacrament of penance.

The matter of this sacrament is

the sins of the penitent, duly con-

fessed to Christ’s minister. The form

is the words of absolution, uttered

by the priest of the Church in the

name of Christ. This sacramental

13



sign of confession and forgiveness

is more than a symbol; it is the true

absolution given the sinner by

Christ Himself.

Why is confession to a mere hu-
man being necessary? Why cannot
the sinner simply go to God direct-

ly and obtain forgiveness? Because

God has determined that it is

through confession to His priest

and absolution given by the same

priest that He will forgive our sins.

We do not decide for ourselves how
we shall obtain forgiveness, any-

more than we decide for ourselves

how we shall obtain Christ’s salva-

tion in the first place. If the priest

can act for God in the matter of

baptism, which cleanses us of sin,

why should we doubt his commis-

sion from God to transmit forgive-

ness of sin through the equally-

valid Christ-instituted Sacrament

of Penance?

"Receive Ye . .

For God did certainly give the

power to forgive sins to His Apos-

tles. Listen to the solemn way in

which He conferred this power—

again using signs in a way that was

most sacramental — when He ap-
peared to them after His resurrec-

tion: "Then Jesus said to them

again: 'Peace be to you! As the

Father has made me his ambassa-

dor, so I am making you my am-

bassadors.’ With this, he breathed

on them and said: 'Receive the

Holy Spirit. Whenever you remit

anyone’s sins, they are remitted;

when you retain anyone’s sins, they

are retained’” (John 20:21 ff.).

This power, be it noted, He gave

to them just as He gave the great

commission of baptism—to be with

the Church for all time. It is a

power He gave them as His am-

bassadors, as those who are to rep-

resent Him among men until He
returns. It is a power given the

Church in the person of its leaders,

His priesthood. It is the power

which He had previously given the

chief of His Apostles, St. Peter, at

the time He promised him head-

ship over His Church: "Whatever

you bind on earth shall be bound

in heaven, and whatever you loose

on earth shall be loosed in heaven”

(Matthew 16:19).

God’s Way

By what right then shall anyone

despise this power which Christ

has given His Church? Who will
presume to say that this power does

not exist, or that it is not necessary

to have recourse to it? Whoever

says that he prefers to go to God

directly to have his sins forgiven

is not doing what God wants, but

what he chooses. He is saying, in

effect, "Forgive me, God—but not

in the way You have determined

that I should be forgiven. Forgive

me in the way I want to be for-

given.”

The Apostles were given the

power not merely to forgive sin,

but also to retain it. In other words,

they were given the power to judge

which sins should be forgiven and

which should not. This judgment

could not be exercised unless there

is confession of sin. "Confess your

sins to one another,” said St. James,

"and pray for one another that you

may be healed” (James 5:16).

From time immemorial God has

14



provided a means of forgiveness

only through confession of sins

(see Leviticus 5:5, etc.). Without

confession, how is the minister of

Christ to judge the state of the

sinner’s soul, and to determine if

forgiveness is justified?

Penance is no more an auto-

matic proposition than is baptism.

If a sinner were to ask forgiveness

without a true and sincere sorrow

for his sins, and without a firm

purpose of amendment, then he

could not receive forgiveness. He

might be able to deceive the priest

to whom he confesses, but he would

not deceive God. The priest’s abso-

lution is effective only to the extent

that the penitent places no obstacles

in its way, just as the rite of bap-

tism would be meaningless if there

were no true intention of accepting

Christ’s salvation.

Sins Forgiven

But when confession is rightly

made, with true sorrow and a

change of heart, then the judgment

of the priest expressed in absolu-

tion has behind it the guarantee of

Christ’s words: "Whenever you re-

mit anyone’s sins, they are remit-

ted.” That is a great consolation

which we have as Catholics, to

know that sure and certain forgive-

ness is always available. This is the

guarantee of Christ. The voice of

the priest in the confessional is the

voice of God, for as our Lord told

His emissaries: "He who listens to

you listens to me, and he who

despises you despises me; but who-

ever despises me despises him

whose ambassador I am” (Luke

10 : 16 ).

For reasons that should now be

evident, the sacraments of baptism

and penance are called "sacraments

of the dead.” They are the sacra-

ments to which we have recourse

in spiritual death, to free us from

the death of sin and restore us to

the life of God. The other sacra-

ments are called "sacraments of the

living,” that is, sacraments whose

function is to increase and strength-

en the spiritual life which we share

as members of Christ’s Body, the

Church.

Stronger Faith

First among these is confirma-

tion. As the name indicates, the

purpose of this sacrament is to

confirm or strengthen the Christian

in his Christian calling. It is there-

fore sometimes called the sacrament

of spiritual adulthood— though the

Christian may receive the sacrament

as a small child. Maturity of soul is

quite different from maturity of

the body. A little child may give
an example of spiritual growth that

will shame his elders, and some

people attain a venerable age with-

out ever departing from the infancy

of the spirit. In confirmation the

Holy Spirit is given anew to the

baptized person, that he may be

strengthened to carry his faith

about with him in the world, that

he may labor well for his own sal-

vation and that of others.

Just when our Lord established

this sacrament, we do not know.

That he did establish it, however,

and instruct His Apostles and their

successors to administer it, we see

from the apostolic practice in the

New Testament.

15



"Now when the apostles in Jeru-
salem heard that Samaria had ac-

cepted the word of God, they sent

Peter and John to them. On their

arrival they prayed for the Samari-

tans, that they might receive the

Holy Spirit. As yet he had not come

on any of them, because they had

only been baptized in the name of

the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John

laid their hands on them, and they

received the Holy Spirit” (Acts

8:14 ff.).

"Paul, after passing through the

upper districts came to Ephesus

and found certain disciples. 'Did

you,’ he asked them, 'receive the

Holy Spirit when you became be-

lievers?’ They replied, 'We have not

even heard that there is a Holy

Spirit.’ 'What kind of baptism then

did you receive?’ asked Paul. They

replied, 'John’s’. 'John baptized the

people,’ Paul answered, 'with a bap-

tism of repentance, telling them to

believe in him who was to come

after him, that is, in Jesus.’ On hear-

ing this they were baptized in the

name of the Lord Jesus, and when

Paul laid his hands on them, the

Holy Spirit came on them, and they

began to speak in tongues and to

prophesy” (Acts 19:1-6).

Symbols Used

Confirmation is still given by the

laying on of hands, just as the

Apostles gave it. The Church has

surrounded the rite with additional

symbols. Oil is used, for just as

athletes in ancient times were thor-

oughly anointed before entering

the contests of the arena, the Chris-

tian is supposed by this sacrament

to be prepared for the struggles of

life touching on his faith. To sym-

bolize the same thing the Bishop

who confirms strikes the confirmed

person lightly on the cheek.

In the part of the Catholic

Church which uses Latin in its

ceremonies, the administration of

the sacrament of confirmation has

been traditionally reserved to the

Bishops, although under certain

conditions ordinary priests are per-

mitted to confirm. In the Eastern

part of the Church, however, the

part which uses Greek and other

oriental languages in its rites,

priests regularly confirm through a

special concession granted by the

Pope.

The Eucharist

The most familiar of all the

sacraments of the living is doubt-

less holy communion, and in a

certain sense it is uniquely impor-

tant because of its continual neces-

sity for all true Christians.

Almost everyone is familiar with

the gospel story of the Last Supper

and knows about the institution of

this sacrament (in Matthew 26:26

ff, Mark 14:22 ff, and Luke 22:19

f.). Besides these passages, there is

an entirely independent account of

the institution given by St. Paul

(1 Corinthians 11:23-29), which

agrees with the gospels throughout.

It is not from the account of the

institution, however, that we have

our best information about what

Christ intended this sacrament to

be, and the importance He attached

to it. This we find in St. John’s

gospel, when the evangelist relates

Christ’s promise of the sacrament,

16



given a full year before its actual

institution.

"I am the bread of life,” Jesus

told His followers at that time.

"Your fathers ate the manna in

the desert, and they died. The bread

which I speak of, which comes

down from heaven, is such that no

one who eats of it will ever die.

I am the living bread that has come

down from heaven. If one eats of

this bread, he will live forever; and

furthermore, the bread which I

shall give is my flesh given for the

life of the world” (John 6:48-51).

Christ clearly told us, therefore,

that what He was going to give

mankind was His own flesh and

blood, His own body "given for the

life of the world,” and that this

gift would be an instrument of

eternal life. This was perhaps the

most extraordinary promise that He

ever made, and it was greeted with

the same kind of reaction that the

same teaching frequently receives

today.

Couldn’t Believe

"The Jews then had a violent

discussion among themselves.' How,’

they argued, 'can this man give us

his flesh to eat?’ (John 6:52). A
fair question, surely, and one that

Catholics are often asked today:

"How can you believe that in holy

communion you actually receive

the flesh of Christ?”

Now there are many Christians
who claim that Christ never meant

His words to be taken literally.

They insist that the bread and wine

of the sacrament are symbols, noth-

ing more. But this would mean that

there would not even be a real

sacrament. A sacrament is not
merely an empty sign, but a sign

that symbolizes a spiritual reality.

The bread and wine symbolize

Christ’s body and blood, it is true,

but the body and blood which they

symbolize are also actually truly

present.

And what did Christ say on the

occasion of this promise? Did He

hasten to assure His listeners that

He meant nothing more than that

He would give a symbol of His

body and blood? On the contrary:

listen to what He went on to say:

Christ Made Clear

"Resuming, therefore, Jesus said

to them: 'What I tell you is the

plain truth: unless you eat the flesh

of the Son of Man and drink his

blood, you have no life in you. He

who eats my flesh and drinks my

blood is in possession of eternal

life; and I will raise him up from

the dead on the last day; for my

flesh is real food, and my blood is

real drink. He who eats my flesh

and drinks my blood is united with

me, and I am united with him. As

the living Father has appointed me

his ambassador, and I live because

of the Father, so, too, he who eats

me will have life because of me.

This is the bread that has come

down from heaven. It is not what

your fathers ate; they ate and died.

He who eats this bread will live

forever’” (John 6:53-58).

"My flesh is real food . . . my

blood is real drink ... he who eats

me . . There is surely no softening

of Christ’s statements in these

words. Christ lost many disciples

on this occasion, because they said:

17



"Such language is hard to bear; who

can listen to it!” (John 6:60). And

He did nothing to stop them. That

the words are hard, no one can

deny. But they must be accepted

by any true Christian. In this pas-

sage our Lord has clearly told us

that this gift of his body and blood

is a necessity to us, that the eating

of it brings eternal life. It is, there-

fore, a most important sacrament,

one which should truly be the daily

bread of Christians. Many Catholics

do, in fact, receive holy communion

every day.

Bread and/or Wine

Again there is a difference in

the customs that are followed by

the Western or Latin Church and

the Eastern Church. For a long time

it has been the practice in the West

to give communion under the sin-

gle form of bread, while the Eastern

Church has preserved the older

custom of using both bread and

wine. This difference does not

touch in any way on the essential

of the sacrament, it is just a ques-

tion of practicality. Since we know

that the sacrament actually contains

Christ’s body and blood, and since

Christ has a living, not a dead body,

we know that wherever His body

is, there is His blood also. Com-

munion may thus be received,

whole and entire, under either the

form of bread or the form of wine.

Paul said as much in his account

of the institution of the sacrament:

"Whoever eats this bread or

drinks the chalice of the Lord un-

worthily will be held responsible

for a sin against the body and blood

of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 11:

27 )
.
(Note, this is the correct trans-

lation of this passage, as it appears

in the Revised Standard Version

and other modern Protestant as well

as Catholic translations of the New
Testament.)

There are two sacraments of the

living which are intended each for

only a part of the Body of Christ

which is the Church. In the Church,

Paul says, "There is a distribution

of gifts, but the same Spirit dis-

tributes them. There is a distribu-

tion of ministrations, but it is the

same Lord to whom we minister.

There is a distribution of activities,

but it is the same God who activates

them all in everyone” ( 1 Corinthi-

ans 12:4-6). The two fundamental

divisions of the faithful for which

the Holy Spirit provides grace

through the sacramental order are

the clergy (Holy Orders) and the

laity, (Matrimony.)

The clerical state began to exist

when Christ selected the Apostles

to be His successors and the con-

tinuers of His work. To them He

committed responsibilities and

powers which He did not give to

the rest of His disciples—the power

and responsibility to continue the

sacrament of the Last Supper (Luke

22 : 19f- ) , to forgive or retain sins

(John 20:21 ff.), and the like; in

short, to administer the sacraments

of His Church and to govern it in

His name.

Holy Orders

This responsibility requires the

abundant grace of God, and to

provide that grace Christ instituted

the sacrament of Holy Orders. It was

in reference to this sacrament that

18



Paul wrote to his disciple Timothy

whom he has set over the Church

at Ephesus: "Do not neglect the

grace of office you have, which was

granted to you by inspired designa-

tion with the imposition of the

presbyter’s hands” ( 1 Timothy

4:14).

Laying on of hands was the cus-

tomary way of imparting this sac-

rament in the apostolic Church, as

we see in this passage from 1 Tim-

othy, as also from Paul’s further

word to his disciple, "Do not

hastily impose hands on anyone”

(1 Timothy 5:22), "I remind you

to stir up God’s grace of office

which you have through the laying

on of my hands” (2 Timothy 1:6),

and from the Acts of the Apostles

in the appointment of the seven

men who were to assist the Apos-

tles in their functions (Acts 6:5

f.).

The Early Church

In the early Church there was a

distinction in the various offices

inherent in the sacrament of holy

orders, and specific names were

used for the different functions.

The word presbyter was used ( Acts

20:17, for example) and also the

word episcopos (translated "bishop”

in Acts 20:28). Evidently there was

no sharp distinction made between

the two titles in the beginning, but

gradually the word episcopos came

to be used for one who had received

the fullness of orders, a successor

of the Apostles in the fullest sense,

whereas the presbyter was consid-

ered to be one who had the ordinary

powers of Holy Orders. The word

episcopos became biscop in Old

English, and finally "bishop,” and

presbyter, first shortened to prester,

resulted in "priest.” Thus we have

our "modern” names, clearly de-

rived from New Testament origins.
Similarly the lesser ministers of the

Church, the deacons. In 1 Timothy

3:8 ff., for example, Paul advises

Timothy concerning the qualifica-

tions that should be possessed by

those who have the office of

diaconos, an order clearly distinct

from that of the episcopos or pres-

byter.

Priests of Christ

The fact that our traditional

English names have developed from

the New Testament terms estab-

lishes a continuity between the

offices as we find them in the

Apostolic Church and as they are

found in the traditional Christian

Church throughout history. The

word presbyter, it is true, in Greek

means "elder,” and episcopos means

"overseer,” just as diaconos means

"servant.” Paul and the other Apos-

tles deliberately refrained from

using for Christian ministers the

customary words for "priest” and

the like which were applied to

pagan or Jewish priests. They in-

vented a new set of titles. But the

presbyters about which Paul speaks

possessed the office which yet re-

mains in the Catholic Church, to

which we still give the same title,

in the English form "priests.”

The other large class of the mem-

bers of the Church is the laity. For

these is the Sacrament of Matri-

mony. Not every layman receives

the sacrament, it is true, yet it is

the sacrament of "office” which is

19



most characteristic of the laity as a

whole.

Not every marriage is a sacra-

ment, but only the marriages of

Christians. The Catholic Church

teaches that the marriage of two

baptized Protestants, however, is

just as much a sacrament as that of

two Catholics.

Every marriage is a contract

entered into in the presence of God

and, as a contract, it is indissoluble.

This is equally true of the Marriage

of two pagans, two atheists, or two

infidels. As long as the parties in-

tend to contract true marriage, they

contract an unbreakable contract.

Marriage A Sacrament

But Christian marriage is in ad-

dition a sacrament. Baptized per-

sons find in their wedded state a

source of grace, a grace "of office,”

to give them the necessary helps in

fulfilling their responsibilities. The

most beautiful description given of

the significance of Christian mar-

riage is that of Paul (Ephesians

5 : 25 -33 ):

"Husbands, love your wives, just

as Christ loved the Church, and de-

livered himself for her, that he

might sanctify her by cleansing her

in the bath of water with the

accompanying word, in order to

present to himself the Church in

all her glory, devoid of blemish or

wrinkle or anything of the kind,

but that she may be holy and flaw-

less. Even so ought husbands to love

their wives as their own bodies. He

who loves his wife, loves himself.

Now no one ever hates his own
flesh; on the contrary, he nourishes

and cherishes it, as Christ does the

Church, because we are members of

his Body. 'For this cause a man shall

leave his father and mother, and

cling to his wife; and the two shall

become one flesh.’ This is a great

mystery—I mean in regard to Christ

and the Church. Meanwhile, let

each of you love his wife just as

he loves himself, and let the wife

reverence her husband.”

The fact that Paul could compare

the union of man and woman in
Christian marriage with the union

of Christ and His Church shows

the esteem he attached to it. Sim-

ilarly, from apostolic times the

Catholic Church has insisted that

in Christian marriage there is grace

given by the Holy Spirit just as

the grace of the Spirit unites the

Christian to Christ.

Paul clearly distinguished this

Christian, sacramental marriage,

from other marriages. He wrote, for

example, with regard to the mar-

riage of a Christian with a non-

Christian:

God Gives Grace

"If any brother has an unbeliev-

ing wife, and she consents to live

with him, he must not divorce her.

And if any woman has an unbeliev-

ing husband and he consents to

live with her, she must not divorce

him. Why? Because the unbeliev-

ing husband is consecrated by the

believing wife, and the unbelieving

wife is consecrated by the believing

husband. If it were not so, your

children would be defiled, but, as

it is, they are holy. But if the un-

believer is minded to depart, let

him go. A brother or sister is under
no obligation in such cases. God has

20



called us to live in peace. As a

matter of fact, how do you, the

wife, know that you will save your

husband? Or how do you, the hus-

band, know that you will save your

wife?” (1 Corinthians 7:12-16).

Such a marriage, Paul says, is

valid and true. It cannot be broken

by divorce. The unbelieving partner

should be accepted— it is, as it were,

a union in which the unbelieving

partner is made acceptable, "con-

secrated,” because of the believing

partner. For the sake of the peace

of the Christian family that results,

the marriage should be continued.

The children of such unions are

"holy,” that is, they pertain to the

Christian community.

Priest Is Witness

The sacrament of matrimony is

administered by the two partners

in marriage one to the other. That

is why both parties must be bap-

tized Christians for there to be a

sacramental marriage. If one of

them is incapable of receiving a

sacrament, then there can obviously

be no sacrament, for there is but

the one marriage between them.

When the two actually consent to

one another and exchange their

vows, the sacrament is conferred.

The priest who must assist at

Catholic marriages by the law of

the Church is, actually, the Church’s

official witness to the marriage. He

does not administer the sacrament,

he simply sees that it is adminis-

tered.

What of the marriage of a bap-

tized Christian with an unbaptized

person? This cannot be a sacra-

mental marriage, though it may be

a perfectly valid and holy union

for all that. If, however, such a

marriage later changes its character,

that is, if the unbaptized person is

later baptized and becomes a Chris-

tian, it is a logical conclusion that

the marriage which began as non-

sacramental now becomes a sacra-

ment. It is now a marriage between

two Christians, with all the marvel-

ous qualities which Paul attributes

to such a union.

The Last Anointing

The last sacrament that we shall

consider is that called extreme unc-

tion, or, the last anointing. It is

called the "last” anointing because

the ordinary Christian has received

other anointings during his life-

time—at baptism, confirmation, etc.

It is not always "last” in the sense

that it is intended only for those

about to die. That is a common

misunderstanding. The last anoint-

ing, it is true, may be given only

when the person is in danger of

death. It is primarily intended to

ready him for death, if this be

God’s will. But it is also intended

to restore the sick person to health,

if God so will. Any priest who has

consistently administered this sacra-

ment in a parish or hospital can tell

you of numerous restorations to

health which can be attributed to

this final anointing.

When the sacrament was insti-

tuted by our Lord, or on what

occasion, we do not know. We do
know that He sent His disciples

about making use of anointing for

symbolic purposes (see Mark 6:12

f
.
) . This practice was certainly con-

tinued in the apostolic Church. For

21



this, we have the testimony of

St. James:

"Is anyone of you sick? He

should call in the presbyters of the

Church, and have them pray over

him, while they anoint him with

oil in the name of the Lord. That

prayer, said with faith, will save

the sick person, and the Lord will

restore him to health. If he has

committed sins, they will be for-

given him” (James 5:14 f.).

The universal tradition of the

Catholic Church always has main-

tained the divine institution of this

sacrament of the last anointing. Its

matter and form are the consecrated

oil and the prayers of the adminis-

tering priest. Its purpose is to in-

crease the Christians union with

God, to comfort and strengthen him

against temptation, and to prepare

him for heaven by removing the

results of sin from his soul.

Such is the function of the

Church that Christ established, the

sanctifying Church which is to con-

tinue His redemptive work through

all time, to be with the members

of His Body from their first wak-

ing moments, in the sacrament of

baptism, through their lifetime

down to the last anointing which

prepares them for the true home

of Christians for all eternity.

Christ continues His work through grace working in the sacra-

ments whereby the believer is in the Church, united to Christ, and

remains so. It is not the faithful who determine the nature and

essence of the Church, but rather it is the Church which determines

the faith and the supernatural life of grace of the believer, in so far

as he places no obstacle to the working of grace, but receives it and

co-operates with it. Such co-operation does not signify that man

wishes to have something of which he may himself boast, for the

believer owes everything absolutely to God and to God’s work of

salvation in him. God does not force man; He places a choice before

him, and any human being admitted into the Church by Baptism

and living in a union of grace with Christ through the Holy Ghost

is still capable of neglecting the unmerited grace he has received and

of losing it through his own fault. It is precisely because of human

weakness that the genuine Catholic believer lays such a strong

emphasis on life in, and with, the Church, and on the frequent and

worthy reception of the means of grace, for Christ has laid down

that it is thus that we, in and through the Church, should find union

with Him and continue in that union.

"THE CHRISTIAN DILEMMA”- Van De Pol

22



••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••a

MASS . . . The Eternal Sacrifice

In the fifth century before

Christ, the prophet Malachy

was condemning the un-

worthy sacrifices that were

being offered to God by the

Jerusalem priesthood. Speak-

ing in the name of God, he

said:

"I have no pleasure in

you,” says the Lord of hosts,

"and I will not receive a

gift from your hand. For from the

rising of the sun even to its setting,

my name is great among the Gen-

tiles, and in every place there is a

sacrifice, and there is offered to

my name a clean oblation: for my

name is great among the Gentiles,”

says the Lord of hosts (1:10-11).

Christian tradition has seen in

Malachy’s words a foreshadowing

of the sacrifice of the New Law,
which we call in English, the Mass.

And in truth the Mass is a sacrifice

offered "in every place,” from the

West to the East. It is the sacrifice

of Christ Himself, continued down

through the ages in His Church.

Sacrifice is of the very essence

of religion. "Religion” is derived

from a Latin word meaning "to

bind back,” that is, to bind the

creature back, to unite him with

sacrifice that this union with

the Creator can be perfectly

acquired. It was through

sacrifice that Christ Himself

was able to achieve this for

man. It is only through the

perpetuation of that sacrifice

that this union may be

maintained.

Sacrifice is an offering to

God to acknowledge His

supreme power to put the wor-

shiper in union with Him. In its

simplest form, a sacrifice might be

considered a "gift” to God, although

man cannot really give anything to

the Giver of all. It is better de-

scribed, perhaps, as a gesture indi-

cating the spirit of goodwill and

self-denial on the part of the one

who makes the sacrifice. Even the

most primitive peoples, whose re-

ligion may be very crude and over-

laden with superstition generally

are actuated by a spirit of sacrifice

and the intention of pleasing God.

The Jews had many such sacri-

fices. In some respects, the Jewish

sacrifices were materially the same

kind as those of the Gentiles. But

the Jews, because of their under-

standing of God through God’s own

revelation, could offer sacrifices

the Creator. And it is only through with assurance that they were pleas-

23



ing to God, and they knew from

their Law how these sacrifices were

to be offered.

The Jews had various kinds of sac-

rifices, each offered for specific

purposes. One was called the "holo-

caust,” or "whole burnt-offering.”

In this sacrifice, an animal victim

was entirely destroyed, or, in the

case of the poor who could not offer

such costly sacrifices, cakes or in-

cense were burnt as a sign of the

wish of the sacrificer to honor God’s

majesty.

Peace Offerings

Other sacrifices were called "sin-

offerings” or "guilt-offerings,” and

were especially intended to remove

sin. A final type of sacrifice was
called by the Jews the "peace-offer-

ing.” In Hebrew the word "peace”

means much more than it ordinarily

does in our languages. It signifies

"completeness,” "harmony.” Peace

with God meant union with God,

and that is especially what this

sacrifice was intended to symbol-

ize. Therefore an important part of

this rite lay in the sacrificial meal

which followed the sacrifice.

The choice parts of the victim

having been burnt in God’s honor,

the remainder of the sacrifice, now

considered sacred because it had

been dedicated to God, was eaten

by the one who made the sacrifice

and his friends. This type of sacri-

fice was an occasion in which a

wealthy person would have oppor-

tunity to share his possessions with

the poor by inviting them to par-

take of the sacrifice with him. The

eating of the sacrificial victim was

a dim foreshadowing of the Holy

Eucharist of the Mass.

In the peace-offering there was

communion — communion of God
with man, communion among men

under God. In the Mass there is this

same Communion, in a far more

exalted way. What makes the Mass

the most exalted of all sacrifices is

the nature of the Victim, Christ

Himself. For the Mass is the con-

tinuation of Christ’s sacrifice which

He offered through His life and

death.

Christ’s work upon earth, and

especially His suffering and death,

were a sacrifice by which we have

been united with God through

Christ our Mediator. The Epistle

to the Hebrews says of Christ:

"Since then we have a great high

priest, who has penetrated the

heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let

us hold fast to the faith we profess

. . . Let us, therefore, confidently

draw near to God’s throne, the

source of grace, that we may obtain

mercy and find grace to aid us

when we need it” (5:14,16).

Christ The Priest

Jesus, then, is the priest, the

offerer of the sacrifice. This was

by divine appointment, the epistle

goes on to say:

"Christ did not seek for himself

the glory of becoming the High

Priest, but God said to Him: 'You

are my Son; today have I become

your Father.’ So too he says in an-

other place, 'You are a priest for-

ever after the manner of Melchise-

dech’” (5:5 f.).

But Christ was not only the

priest of this sacrifice, He was also

24



the Victim, the very object itself

of the sacrifice:

"Jesus, when he had a mortal

body, offered prayers and supplica-

tions with piercing cries and tears

to him who was able to save him

from death, and he was heard be-

cause of his reverent piety. Son

though he was, he learned obedi-

ence through what he suffered, and

after he had been raised to the

heights of perfection, he became

to all who obey him the cause of

eternal salvation, since God had

proclaimed him a high priest after

the manner of Melchisedech” (5:

7-10).

The epistle goes on to say that

this sacrifice of Christ’s is everlast-

ing:

"In the case of Jesus there inter-

vened the oath of him who said

to him, 'The Lord has sworn and

will not change his mind, "You are

a priest forever.” \ . . He, because he

continues forever, has an imperish-

able priesthood. Consequently he is

able at all times to save those that

come to God through him, living

always, as he does, to make inter-

cession on their behalf” (7:21 f.,

24 f.).

Same Sacrifice

It is not that Christ offers any

more sacrifices, but that He con-

tinues the same sacrifice. "He has

no need of offering sacrifice day by

day, as do the other high priests,

first for their own and then for the

people’s sins. He did this once for

all, when he offered himself” (7:

26 f.).

This sacrifice Christ continues to

offer in heaven. "He has taken his

seat at the right hand of the divine

Majesty’s throne in heaven. There

in the sanctuary and the true taber-

nacle, which the Lord, and not man,

has erected, he carries on priestly

functions. To this every high priest

is appointed—to offer gift and sac-

rifices” (8:1 ff.).

The Mediator

This eternal sacrifice which

Christ continually offers in heaven

to the Father, is our salvation. "It

was not the blood of goats and

calves but his own blood that was

the means of his entering the Holy

Place and securing eternal redemp-

tion” (9:12). "This is why he is

the mediator of a new covenant

and died for redemption from the

transgressions committed under the

former covenant, in order that those

who have been called may receive

the eternal inheritance which had

been promised” (9:15).

You may agree with the New
Testament testimony concerning

Christ’s sacrifice for our salvation,

but still want to ask—"But where

does the Mass fit into the picture?”

The gospels provide a clear an-

swer. We read there that on the
night in which He was betrayed,

in which His suffering was to be-

gin, "Before supper was over, Jesus

took bread into his hands and, after

saying grace, broke it into portions,

which he gave to the disciples with

the words: 'Take! Eat! This is my

body.’ He also took a cup and, after

saying grace, passed it on to them

with the words: 'Drink of it, every

one of you, for this is my covenant-

blood, which is about to be shed for

the sake of many, with a view to

25



forgiveness of sins’” (Matthew 26:

26 ff.). The other two gospels

which record this great event do not

differ greatly; see Mark 14:22 ff.,

Luke 22:19 f.

An independent account which
Paul had from tradition is found

in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:

The New Covenant

"The fact is that I have received

as coming from the Lord, and have

passed on to you, how the Lord

Jesus on the night of his betrayal

took bread in his hands and after

he had given thanks broke it and

said, 'This is my body which is
given up for you; do this in re-

membrance of me.’ In the same

way, after he had finished supper,

he took the chalice in his hands and

said, 'This chalice is the new cove-

nant sealed with my blood. Do this,

as often as you drink it, in remem-

brance of me.’ In reality, every

time you eat this bread and drink

the chalice of the Lord, you pro-

claim the Lord’s death until he

comes.”

From these texts we learn, first

of all, that Christ has identified

the sacrament of the Holy Euchar-

ist or Holy Communion, His body

and blood, with the fact of His

sacrifice — "This is my covenant-
blood, which is about to be shed for

the sake of many, with a view to

forgiveness of sins”. . ."This is my

body which is given up for you.”

Further, Christ commanded that

this act should continue, the same

act which He performed at the last

supper: "Do this as my memorial”

(Luke 22:19). "Do this... in re-

membrance of me . . . Every time

you eat this bread and drink the

chalice of the Lord, you proclaim

the Lord’s death until he comes” (

1

Corinthians 11:25 f.).

The rite whereby the body and

blood of Christ are made available

to men, therefore, is a memorial of

the sacrifice of Christ. Those who

offer this memorial rite are the

priests of the Church, the successors

of the Apostles to whom Christ
gave the command "Do this.” Be-

cause of the union of this rite with

Christ’s sacrifice, the rite itself is a

sacrifice—not through the efficacy

of human offering, but in virtue of

the sacrifice which it memorializes.

Christ is the principal priest who

offers this sacrifice, the human

priest is His minister.

The Mass is thus the same as the

sacrifice of the cross. No matter
how many times it is offered, nor

in how many places at one time,

it is the same sacrifice of Christ.

Christ is forever offering Himself

in the Mass.

Salvation For All

What Christ effected through His

sacrifice on the cross, He effected

for all time. He suffers no more.

The sacrifice continues, of course,

only in its effects. That is what the

Epistle of the Hebrews means in

speaking of Christ’s eternal sacrifice

in heaven. And this is precisely

what the Mass is for—to continue

the effects of Christ’s redemptive

sacrifice. The souls of men yet un-

born, together with those now liv-

ing and those who have come into

existence since Christ’s sacrifice, all

have need of the salvation which

Christ has won for us. It is through

26



the Mass as well as through the

sacraments that the effects of

Christ’s salvation are applied to the

souls of such men. In this sense, the

redemption is still going on, and

will go on as long as a single soul

remains to be saved. In this sense

the sacrifice of Christ is still being

enacted and will continue to be

enacted.

'

'breaking of bread”

"We have an altar,” says the

Epistle to the Hebrews, "from

which those in the service of the

tabernacle (the unconverted Jews)

have no right to eat” (13:10). The

sacrificial character of the Mass was

recognized from the very beginning

of the infant Church.

The Mass is referred to continu-

ously in the Acts of the Apostles

as "the breaking of bread” (2:42,

etc.). Paul calls it "the Lord’s sup-

per” (1 Corinthians 11:20). In the

early Church it received the name

"Eucharist,” which means "thanks-

giving,” perhaps as a result of Paul’s

referring to it as "the chalice of

blessings which we bless” (1 Cor-

inthians 10:16). St. Justin Martyr

(who died between 163 and 167

A.D.) is one of the first we know

to have called it the Eucharist (Dia-

logue with Trypho, 41). But even

before Justin, St. Ignatius of Anti-

och, who was martyred in 107, used

this term (in his Epistle to the

Smyrnans, 7 ) . And one of the most

ancient of all Christian documents,

older even than part of the New
Testament, thus describes the Mass:

"On the Lord’s day gather to-

gether, break bread and give thanks

(the word used in Greek is the

same as Eucharist), having con-

fessed your sins in order that your

sacrifice may be pure. Everyone

who has an enmity with his neigh-

bor should not meet with you, until

they are reconciled, lest your sacri-

fice should be profaned. For this is

the saying from the Lord: 'In every

place’ and time 'let them offer to

me a pure sacrifice; for I am a

great King,’ says the Lord, 'and my

name is glorified among the na-

tions!

This quotation, which identifies

the Mass with sacrifice and which

even associates it with the prophecy

of Malachy with which we began

this article, is from the work called

in Greek the Didache, that is, The

Teaching of the Twelve Apostles

(chapter 14), which dates from

around the year 90 or so after

Christ. It is quite probable that the

name Eucharist for the memorial

Sacrifice comes from the Apostles

themselves.

Called "Mass” Later

The Eucharistic sacrifice came to

be known later as the Mass, as a

result of the rite itself. The conclud-

ing words, still used in the Mass,

are Ite, missa est, meaning, "Go

(the Eucharist) is dismissed.” The

single word missa came to be ap-

plied to the whole ceremony, and

eventually became Mass in English.

From what has been said, it

should be easy to see why the Mass

holds such an important place in

the Church’s life, why we build

churches and why, when we have

no church building, we are anxious

to get some place available for the

celebration of Mass. It explains the

27



importance we attach to the priest-

hood, the extraordinary emphasis

which we place on Mass as a Sun-

day observance, why Catholics are

obliged to assist at the sacrifice of

the Mass each Lord’s day.

The Mass is something more to

us than a Sunday service. It is not

something that we can take or leave

alone, something that could be re-

moved from our lives and still leave

us the same. The Mass is the very

essence of the Church. Within it

the Church’s life, and the Church’s

very existence, is centered. If there

were no Mass, there could be no

Catholic Church.

Worthy Worship

The Mass is our act of worship,

an act which we know to be wor-

ship really worthy of God, because

it is the sacrifice of God’s own Son.

It is not just the feeble offering of

our hands, but an act which we

know does God supreme honor.

What the sacrifices of the Old

Law were unable to accomplish—

what no other form of human wor-

ship can accomplish—the Mass per-

forms. God is adored adequately,

God is thanked adequately. God is

petitioned irresistibly for those

things which His children need.

Perfect atonement is made for sin.

All these effects follow from the

fact that Christ’s sacrifice was per-

fect.

Non-Catholics are often confused

when we speak of "low” Masses and

"high” Masses, "solemn” Masses

and "requiem” Masses. What do

we mean by these terms?

A low Mass is the ordinary Mass
celebrated daily in which the priest

himself prays all the parts of the

Mass, and there is no choir or ad-

ditional ministers. When the priest
is assisted by a choir and sings

certain parts of the Mass, we have

what is officially called a sung

Mass, but popularly a high Mass.

When there are additional minis-

ters to sing certain of the parts of

the Mass and to perform certain

functions, the Mass is called solemn.

This Mass includes some additional

ceremonies that are not in the low

or sung Mass. The Mass that is

celebrated by a bishop, with the

assistance of other ministers and

with the addition of various other

ceremonies, is called a pontifical

Mass.

Any of these Masses can be a

requiem Mass. "Requiem” is taken

from the first word uttered in the

Mass, meaning "rest”—the prayer in

full is "Eternal rest grant unto

them, O Lord.” The requiem Mass
is the Mass offered for the dead,

in which the priest and officiating

ministers wear black vestments.

One Sacrifice

There is no essential difference

between any of these Masses—they

are all the continuation of the one

sacrifice of Christ. The essence of

the Mass remains what it has al-

ways been: the consecration of the

body and blood of Christ as a me-

morial of His sacrifice in obedience

to His command "Do this in re-

membrance of me.” The ceremony,

the vestments, the song, all these

things are simply reflections of the

loving care with which the Church

has surrounded the great sacrifice

with solemnity through the ages.

28



The LAW of CHRIST As Expressed

In The Ten Commandments

Every institution composed

of men, must be governed

by law. It is law that estab-

lishes the standards which

men must obey if they would

respect their obligations and

not transgress their privi-

leges. Man is obliged to

other men and he is obliged

to God. Law determines the

extent and limits of his ob-

ligation and tells him what he

must do.

Law is simply the determination

of individual obligation as laid

down by a legitimate authority.

Most people are humble enough to

recognize that the good of society

at large must be preferred to the

individual good. If this were not

recognized, we should have an-

archy, in which individual rights

would be destroyed. Similarly, most

people recognize that God has

claims upon man. The recognition

of those claims we call God’s laws.

Even St. Paul, who was insistent

that Christians were not obliged by

the old law of Moses does not

hesitate to use the word "law” in

referring to the Christian’s obliga-

tion: "Bear one another’s burdens,”

he says, "and so you will fulfill the

law of Christ
J>

(Galatians 6:2),

which is a law of love.

Law, which reason tells us

is necessary in the affairs of

men, thus has a solid New

Testament foundation as

well in signifying man’s

duties towards God.

The simplest summary of

man’s duties toward God is

in the decalogue, the "ten

commandments” of the Old

Testament (Exodus 20:2-17, Deut-

eronomy 5 : 6-2 1 ) . It is consequently

under the form of the ten com-

mandments that Catholics custom-

arily group the obligations which

they recognize as the law of their

faith.

The question may be asked: How

is it that Catholics recognize the ten

commandments as God’s divine

law if Christians are not obliged

by the Old Testament Law of

Moses? Does not Paul say "You

are not under the Law” (Galatians

5:18), and is not this doctrine

common in the New Testament?

We are not under the Law of
Moses, that is true. Neither do we

observe the ten commandments as

part of that Law. But the ten com-

mandments as outlined in the Old

Testament provide a summary

which we can most conveniently

29



use for the various Christian laws

that we do observe.

The ten commandments are pre-

cepts which are of obligation on

the part of all men, because they

are laws dictated by man’s very

reason. Paul has told us this: "The

Gentiles who have no law follow

the dictates of reason and do what

the Law prescribes.” And by so do-

ing, "these, though they have no

law, are a law to themselves”

(Romans 2:14).

With the coming of Christ’s new

law, all obligation to the old law

ceased with the Mosaic Law itself.

We observe now, besides the pre-
scriptions of the law of nature,

those regulations which Christ, di-

rectly or indirectly, has seen fit to

impose upon us.

Duties To God

First of all, the law of reason.

Most of the ten commandments

fall under this heading in addition

to having been revealed by God.

Nobody will argue against the

proposition that wilful murder is

wrong, that it is evil to bear false

witness against the neighbors, that

adultery is a crime of injustice. The

law of nature alone will not take

us too far, but it does cover the

basic essentials of what is called

morality.

Secondly, we recognize the laws

of Christ which we find in the

New Testament or in sacred tradi-
tion. In many cases, these laws

repeat the natural law or reconfirm

moral precepts of the Mosaic Law.

In many cases they go beyond these

laws. Only under Christ do we have

the universal law of love, for ex-

ample, an obligation which extends

to enemies as well as to friends,

and to every single person in the

world. From Christ we have the

obligation of belonging to His

Church, of receiving His sacra-

ments.

Civil Duty

Thirdly, we recognize the laws

that are made by legitimate author-

ity, whether ecclesiastical or civil.

Both the Church and the State are

perfect societies of men, each in

its own field with a particular

function to serve for mankind. Such

societies must make laws for the

correct governing of their subjects

that all may obtain the purpose for

which they exist. We recognize that
such laws are binding in our

conscience as the will of God,

exercised through God’s represent-

atives.

"Be submissive to every human

authority for the Lord’s sake,” wrote

St. Peter. "Whether to the king

since he is supreme, or to governors

since they are delegated by him to

punish those who do evil and to

praise those who do good. The will

of God is precisely that your virtu-

ous lives should silence foolish men

who do not know true worth. Live

as free men, yet not as those who

make freedom a cloak for malice.

No! Live as servants of God. Honor

all men; love all the brothers; rever-

ence God; honor the king” ( 1 Peter

2:13-17).

The New Testament clearly con-
siders the Church to be a governing

organization with the power to

make laws. We have already noted,
for example, in considering the

30



sacrament of penance or confession,

the power which Christ gave the

leaders of the Church to judge in

the matter of remitting or retaining

sin. Our Lord’s commission to Peter

is well known, expressed in the

words of promise when He resolved

to appoint him the first head of

His Church: "You are Peter, and

upon this rock I will build my

Church ... I will give you the keys

of the kingdom of heaven, and

whatever you bind on earth shall

be bound in heaven, and whatever

you loose on earth shall be loosed

in heaven” (Matthew 16: 18 f.).

This confers supreme authority.

The Apostle Paul, on the oc-

casion of his last return to Jerusa-

lem, called together at Miletus the

presbyters of the Church at Ephesus

(Acts 20:17), and admonished

them, "Take heed to yourselves and

to the whole flock in which the

Holy Spirit has placed you as

bishops to rule the Church of God,

which he has purchased with his

own blood” (20:28). And Christ

Himself said to His Apostles:

The Proper Way

"When your brother does you

wrong, go and, between you and

him alone, convict him of his fault.

If he listens to you, you have won

your brother over; but should he

not listen to you, then take one or

two along with you, so that 'every

case may be decided on the testi-

mony of two or three witnesses.’

If he pays no attention to them,

then notify the Church; and if he

pays no attention to the Church,

then treat him as a heathen and a

publican” (Matthew 18:15 ff.)-

And immediately after this qualifi-

cation of the Church’s authority, He

repeats the divine commission to

the Church’s leaders:

"I tell you with assurance: what-

ever you bind on earth shall be

bound in heaven; whatever you

loose on earth shall be loosed in

heaven (18:18).

The Commandments

Our laws, then, which come from

our reason, our moral conscience,

from the revealed will of God, and

from the lawful authority of the

Church and the State, we find it

convenient to sum up under one or

another of the ten commandments

of the Old Testament.

This brings up a point which

often confuses non-Catholics. The

enumeration of the ten command-

ments as found in the Catholic

catechism is different from that

used by most Protestants. "Who has

changed the order of the command-

ments?” they ask. "Is it the Catholic

Church, or have we?”

The answer is that nobody has

changed the order or the number-

ing. There are simply different ways,

of numbering the commandments.

Actually, there are three traditional

enumerations followed by various

religious groups, not merely two.

There is something to be said for

each of the enumerations, and none

of them can be simply called wrong.

If you look at the text of Exodus

20:2-17 or Deuteronomy 5:6-21,

where the ten commandments are

found in the Bible, you will dis-

cover that in neither place is there

any enumeration. Nowhere is it

even stated that there are ten com-

31



mandments or that they should be

numbered as ten. The numbering

has been the work of men of a

later time. The three traditional

enumerations all add up to ten, but

reach ten by a different route.

Obviously, the enumeration is of

far less importance than an under-

standing of God’s law and the

resolve to keep it. Because this

matter frequently causes puzzle-

ment, however, it is well to under-

stand how the differences in num-

bering the commandments came

about.

Under the first commandment,

Catholics recognize their obligations

regarding the worship of God and

the exclusion of the worship of

anyone or anything else. This com-

mandment forbids any kind of

superstition or idolatry, the substi-

tution of anything in God’s place.

God’s servants, the Saints and His

Blessed Mother, may be accorded

honor and veneration, but never

the worship that belongs to God

only. Images of the divine Son of

God and the Saints are not for-

bidden, anymore than images of

the cherubim were forbidden to the

Jews, but the images are simply to

represent to us those whom we

would honor.

Sacred Obligations

Despair or presumption against

the providence of God are sins

against this first commandment,

which sums up for us all our obli-

gations of faith, hope and charity

toward God. Sacrilege, the profana-

tion of a sacred person or thing,

as for example a church dedicated

to God, would be a sin against

this commandment.

The second commandment for-

bids the misuse and abuse of the

name of God. Positively, we recog-

nize under this heading our obliga-

tion to revere God’s name. Here too,

we include the obligation to respect

an oath imposed by legitimate civil

authority. In an oath we call upon

God to witness to the truth of what

we say. Perjury, therefore, in addi-

tion to its character as a civil crime,

is a sin against the second com-

mandment.

Blasphemy

Cursing and blasphemy are sins

against this commandment. These,

of course, must be distinguished

from ordinary profanity, which may

show a person to be vulgar but not

necessarily a sinner. Cursing is

wishing harm to someone in God’s

name, obviously an irreverence to

God, and blasphemy is actual abuse

of God Himself.

The third commandment in Ex-

odus is "Remember to keep holy

the Sabbath day.” This was not part

of the natural law, but a directly

revealed command of God whereby

the Jews set apart the seventh day

of the week, Saturday, to be con-

secrated to God. This consecration

consisted simply in no work of any

kind being done. It was not a spe-

cial day of worship. The worship of

God in the temple was the same

every day, for the sacrifices were

daily. The essence of the Sabbath

law was no work, thus even the

irrational animals were obliged to

"keep” this law (Ex. 20:10).

This Sabbath law passed away

with the liberation of Christians

32



from the Mosaic Law. The Acts of

the Apostles (15:1-2, 5-29) and

Paul’s epistles show clearly that the

Mosaic dispensation was entirely

removed from the shoulders of

Christians. Those who tried to

suggest that Christians should be

obliged by any aspect of the Law

were branded by Paul as heretics,

and he admonished his disciples to

"let no one, then, call you to ac-

count for what you eat or drink

or for the observance of a festival

or a new moon or a Sabbath”

(Colossians 2:16), that is, the Jew-

ish dietary laws or their feasts, new

moons, and Sabbaths found in the

Law of Moses.

But we have similar regulations

as Christians, and it is these that

we group under this commandment.

Thus the first day of the week,

Sunday, is for us a special day of

worship of God, in honor of the

day on which our Lord rose from

the dead. The Church has instituted

this law and has forbidden unneces-

sary work, in imitation of the old

Law of Moses. It is, however, an

entirely different commandment.

The emphasis is on worship of God,

and therefore, Catholics are obliged

to assist at Mass on this day.

Various Meanings

The fourth commandment for

the Jews obliged children to honor

their parents. We recognize such an
obligation, of course, from the very

law of nature. But we also list

under this commandment other

obligations of like kind. The fourth

commandment obliges us, for ex-

ample, to respect lawful superiors,

both ecclesiastical and civil, and it

imposes duties of responsibility on

superiors and parents toward those

under their charge. Here too we

place the obligations of citizenship

and patriotism.

Besides wilful murder, the fifth

commandment forbids the taking

of one’s own life. Likewise all those

things intimately connected with

the taking of life are prohibited,

that is, all those acts and desires

which could lead to murder. Among

these are fighting, anger, hatred,

revenge. Against our own person

we can sin by drunkenness, glut-

tony, the abuse of drugs—unlawful

practices that needlessly shorten our

lives.

Kills The Soul

Worse than physical murder is

the murder of the soul. Bad ex-

ample, scandal, inducements to sin,

fall within this category and are

consequently forbidden by the fifth

commandment.

The fifth commandment requires

us to take prudent care of the spirit-

ual and bodily well being of our

own person and those of our neigh-

bors. We can as easily offend the
law by the neglect of what we

should do as by the commission of

what we should not do.

The sixth commandment origin-

ally obliged the Jews to refrain

from adultery. The emphasis of the

Law was on this one sin because

of the importance attached by the

Old Testament to the purity of

family descent. We know, however,
that there are additional ways of

offending against the virtue of

chastity, and all of these we know

to be excluded by the sixth com-

33



mandment.

Adultery, fornication, sins na-

tural and unnatural which abuse the

sexual faculties, artificial birth pre-

vention, all fall under the ban of

the sixth commandment. The virtue

of chastity must be preserved

through modesty and decorum.

There are standards to which the

married as well as the unmarried

must conform.

Theft and robbery are forbidden

by the seventh commandment, but

so are cheating, defrauding a labor-

er of his just wages, taking undue

advantage of another’s need to ex-

ploit him, accepting bribes and

"graft” in public office — in short,
everything that is a violation of

justice. This includes depriving an-

other of his reputation through

calumny and slander. No one can

call himself a just person simply

because he has never held a gun

at another’s back and relieved him

of his wallet. Some of the most

pernicious violations of the seventh

commandment may have been done

over the back fence, at the bridge

table, or in the offices of seemingly

respectable businessmen or public

officials.

False Witness

The eighth commandment is

concerned with the virtue of truth.

In primitive times the Jews con-

sidered only that kind of lying to

be bad which harmed another. That

is the way the law read: "You shall

not bear false witness against your

neighbor.” Some people still see

little if anything wrong in what

they call "white lies.” Yet a lie of

any kind is an unworthy act of man.

It is not true to say that there are

lies that harm no one. They harm

the one guilty of them, and they

harm society by destroying the basis

of trust and mutual confidence on

which society must rest if it is to

survive.

Therefore, lies, the rash and un-

founded condemnation of others,

detraction from a neighbor’s repu-

tation and good name—even if what

we say is true—and revealing his

secrets, are all forbidden by this

commandment.

Sinful Thoughts

The ninth and tenth command-

ments forbid in thought, desire or

intention the same things that are

forbidden in act by the sixth and

seventh commandments. Some peo-

ple think that sin and crime are the

same thing—that there is no sin

unless there is an open act that

can be verified and punished. Those

who recognize the law of God will

not fall into such an error. Sin con-

sists essentially in the will to sin,

not in the act. A man who commits
murder in his heart is guilty of

murder. A man who commits adul-
tery in his heart is guilty of adul-

tery. If there is anything sure from

the law of Christ, it is this fact,

and it is precisely these sins that

our Lord has singled out in detail-

ing the true nature of sin as against

the easy-going morality of those

who are content simply to be

"respectable”:

"You have heard that it was

said to the men of old: 'Do not

murder’ and 'He who commits

murder is answerable to the court.’

I, on the contrary, declare to you:

34



anyone who is angry with his

brother is answerable to the court

... You have heard it said: 'Do not

commit adultery.’ I, on the contrary,

declare to you: anyone who glances

at a woman with a lustful intention

has already committed adultery with

her in his heart” (Matthew 5:21 f.,

27 f.).

It is in these commandments

above all that we arise to a recogni-

tion of the full enormity of sin, and

what it is that God expects of us.

Sin is our turning away from God’s

law, our violation of a sacred vir-

tue, our failure against what is right

and decent.

God deals with us as free men,

but we must accept the responsi-

bility of our freedom. Just as He

will not blame us for what we un-

knowingly do wrong, neither will

He excuse us if we will what is

wrong, yet through cowardice or

some practical deterrent do not ac-

tually carry out our evil will. He

does not stand over us to exact ex-

terior obedience. He is not like men,

who can only judge from external

actions and cannot read the secrets of

our hearts. Only by a recognition of

one’s obligations under the ninth

and tenth commandments can there

be a worthy understanding of what

human freedom is and the holiness

of God whose law we follow.

"Love the Lord your God with

your whole heart, and with your

whole soul, and with your whole

mind,” said our Lord, "This is the

great and first commandment. But

a second commandment is like it:

'Love your neighbor as yourself’
”

(Matthew 22:37 f.). These com-

mandments He took from the Old

Testament. The way they are to be

observed He has shown us in His

life and teachings. If we truly love

God and our neighbor because of

God, then the many specific and

individual obligations that we ac-

knowledge will be actually observed

by us.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the sacrifice of the New

Covenant. The central fact in the work of salvation is the Sacrifice

of the Cross, and the central act of the Church’s liturgy bears, for

this reason, a sacrificial character. The Sacrifice of the Mass is "a

true and proper sacrifice,” but not a new and independent sacrifice

detracting from the historical sacrifice offered once for all on Calvary.

Because the central act of the Holy Eucharist has this sacrificial

character, the Lord’s Table is the Altar of the New Covenant, and

Christ’s ministers are not only ministers of the word in the sense of

being preachers, but ministers of the Incarnate Word who sacrificed

Himself, and therefore priests in the real sense of the word, since

Christ is the eternal High Priest.

"THE CHRISTIAN DILEMMA”- Van De Pol

35



#, #„#,#, »,«#%«,* »t« 4

The Structure uf The Church

#, #,
r# > >> >

Because it is, an organiza-

tion of men, the Church

must have laws and a gov-

ernment.

The government of the

Church is, of course, inher-

ent in its very foundation.

In its practical application

it has been shaped by the

experiences of nearly two

thousand years. In this time

the Church has learned by trial and

error some of the best ways of

exercising the authority of govern-

ment divinely given it by its

Founder. Still, to all practical pur-

poses, it has not changed in its

major divisions since apostolic

times; the changes have been most-

ly of a minute nature.

The lowest level of the govern-

ment of the Church is the parish.

The parish usually contains the

parish church, a school, and per-

haps a cemetery, a parish co-

operative or a library. In charge

of the parish is a priest who is

called the pastor, the "shepherd.”

Depending on the size of the

parish, he may have one or more

assistant priests. But the pastor has

the ultimate responsibility. He is

responsible not only for all the

Catholics in his parish, but for all

K*>>M #• 4
4

4

><4 # #>#«#4 «4«

the non-Catholics as well. It

is true, his first care is for

his own people. Neverthe-

less, non-Catholics can right-

ly feel that they, too, have

a certain claim on the Cath-

olic pastor.

The pastor has jurisdic-

tion over the members of

his parish as their religious

superior, just as there are

civil rulers in the town or borough.

It is his obligation to enforce the

laws of the Church, administer the

sacraments, preach the word of

God, and, in short, carry out the

Church’s work within his parish.

The faithful of the Church, as

distinguished from the clergy, are

called the laity. The pastor of the

parish is in charge not only of the

laity but also of his assistant priests,

if he has any. The parish may also

include a convent of sisters to care

for the church or the school, but

the sisters do not participate in the

government of the Church.

The next division of the Church’s

government is the diocese, consist-

ing of a number of parishes under

the jurisdiction of a bishop. Dio-

ceses are also territorial, and the

size of the territory will depend

on the density of the Catholic

36



population. In the United States,

for example, it may embrace an

entire state, or a single city such

as New York, may make up a com-
plete diocese. The bishop stands in

relation to the diocese much as the

pastor to the parish, although his

jurisdiction is more important, his

powers broader, and his responsi-

bility far greater.

Church Organization

The capital city of the diocese—

the word "diocese” originally meant

"the managing of a house”—is called

the see-city, where the see or throne

of the bishop is located. Here is

the head church of the diocese,

called the cathedral. Here, too, the

bishop maintains the various offices

and departments of this large ec-

clesiastical unit. He has what is

called the chancery office with vari-

ous assistants to maintain the acts

of administration necessary in the

diocese. There is a court to try cases

of ecclesiastical law, a school board,

and bureaus for various other pur-

poses.

There are also some priests who

are not subject immediately to the

bishop of the diocese in which they

live. These are the priests of the

religious orders. The orders exist

chiefly for some special function,

such as education, or foreign mis-

sions. These orders have, instead of

bishops, provincial superiors who

are in charge of a certain territory

called the province. The religious

orders are independent of diocesan

government so they may be moved

from house to house and from

diocese to diocese, wherever they

are needed.

Certain of the more important

dioceses are called archdioceses.

Ordinarily there is no difference,

practically speaking, between an

archdiocese and a diocese, but the

bishop of an archdiocese is also

known as an archibishop. To each

archdiocese some of the surround-

ing dioceses are attached. The dio-

ceses are then called suffragan sees,

"subsidiary sees,” while the arch-

diocese is the metropolitan see, the

"capital see.” In practice, this does

not affect the government of each

individual bishop, who is wholly in

charge of his own diocese. It means

simply that certain administrative

details are carried out between the

metropolitan and the suffragan

sees.

Above the diocese and the bishop

is simply the pope. However, it is

obvious that the pope cannot be

expected to govern the entire

Church single-handed, and conse-

quently he carries out the supreme

government of the Church through

many delegates.

Pope’s Deputy

Generally in each country there

is what is called an apostolic dele-

gate, who is the popes official

representative. The apostolic dele-

gate for the United States lives in

Washington, D. C. In most coun-

tries which maintain diplomatic

representation with the Vatican,

the apostolic delegate is also the

pope’s representative with the civil

power, in which case he is called

a nuncio, "ambassador.”

The apostolic delegate, however,

does not have charge of the bishops

of the country. They are independ-

37



ent in their own dioceses. He sim-

ply serves as the intermediary

between them and the pope in

matters of administration.

The pope himself is the chief

bishop of the Church. As is well

known, the central headquarters of

the Church are in the ancient city

of Rome, in a section now known

as Vatican City, which is independ-

ent of the Italian government and

of every other government in the

world. Within this city are the ad-

ministrative offices of the universal

Church.

This administration is carried

out through various offices which

are known as congregations. There

is a congregation for seminaries

and universities, another for religi-

ous orders, another for the sacra-

ments, and so on. These congrega-

tions are made up of priests and

other officials who serve as the

actual central government of the

Church as delegates of the pope.

Matters referring to their various

departments are forwarded to them

from the bishops of the world,

usually through the apostolic dele-

gates, and the heads of the different

congregations have periodic confer-

ences with the pope.

They Go To Rome

That the pope may have a more

particular knowledge of the state

of the Church throughout the

world, every five years the bishop

of each diocese must make a report

to him in Rome.

Thus the government of the

Church is simultaneously both sim-

ple and complex. The relation of

people to pastor to bishop to pope

is simple enough, but in an organ-

ization of 400 million souls and

well over a thousand dioceses

throughout the world, the details

of administration are bound to be

quite complicated.

Titles of Clergy

Non-Catholics are often puzzled

by certain titles and offices in the

Church, such as the Monsignori.

The title Monsignor, which means

"my lord,” is simply an honor be-

stowed upon a diocesan priest

(members of religious orders do

not become Monsignori) because

of some outstanding service, or a

number of years of devoted labor.

The title does not give him any

special jurisdiction or power, and

therefore does not affect the gov-

ernment of the Church.

Then there are the Cardinals,

another position of honor. It is

usually given to the bishops of the

chief dioceses in the world, though

there are some cardinals who are

not bishops of any diocese. In an-

cient times the cardinals were the

chief clergy of Rome—the word is

derived from the Latin word cardo,

"hinge,” and thus referred to those

who were the pivotal members of

the clergy. Even today every cardi-

nal has one of the ancient churches

of Rome as his special church. The

cardinals are the heads of the dif-

ferent congregations which govern

the Church in the name of the

pope. Most cardinals now, however,

live outside the city of Rome itself,

as heads of dioceses.

For several centuries the cardi-

nals have had the privilege of

electing the pope. Theoretically any

38



Catholic man could be made pope,

though if he were a layman he

would have to be consecrated bish-

op immediately. Usually, however,

the pope is chosen from among the

cardinals.

Originally, in the first days of

the Church, the pope was elected

by the people of Rome, and he still

officially is the Bishop of Rome.

Later, elections of bishops were con-

fined to the clergy, and the pope

was elected by the Roman clergy.

The present legislation is, in a sense,

more democratic, though democracy

is not a consideration. The cardinals

come from all parts of the world

and thus represent the Church

more universally. Since the days of

the Renaissance the pope has been

an Italian, but it is not necessary

that he should be. Almost every

nation at one time or another has

been represented in the papacy.

The Congregations

The cardinals in turn, are created

by the pope personally. Just as each

bishop of an individual diocese has

a council of experienced priests to

assist him, the cardinals serve the

pope. About half the cardinals do

this actually, residing in Rome and

heading the various congregations.

The others reside in the dioceses

of which they are bishops, though

they may be called to Rome for

some extraordinary purpose.

The congregations headed by

cardinals, and numbering eleven,

are in charge of the Holy Office,

the Consistory, the Sacraments, the

Council, Religious Orders, Propa-

ganda, Rites, Ceremonies, Extra-

ordinary Affairs, Seminaries and

Universities, and the Oriental

Church.

The congregation of the Holy

Office handles affairs pertaining to

faith and morals and that concern

the universal Church. The congre-

gation of the Consistory determines

the limits of dioceses, erecting new

ones, and electing bishops. The

congregation of Sacraments handles

all legislation pertaining to the

dispensing of the sacraments—but

not doctrinal matters of the sacra-

ments, which pertain to the Holy

Office, nor the ritual, which per-

tains to the congregation of Rites.

The congregation of the Council

has been likened to a secretariat of

the Interior. It is a kind of clearing

house to which are submitted prob-

lems and disputes concerning the

proper running of the Church. The

congregation of Religious Orders

is the agency through which the

pope regulates the affairs of priests

and others who belong to the vari-

ous orders, who are not directly

subject to the local bishops. The

full name of the congregation of

Propaganda is De Propaganda

Fide, "the propagation of the

Faith.” This congregation is in di-

rect charge of missionary countries,

which have not yet a Catholic

population large enough to justify

the regular diocesan arrangement.

Propaganda usually takes the place

of all the other congregations in

regulating Church affairs in these

countries. Thus, the Congregation

of Propaganda has nothing to do

with public relations, which its

title suggests. The congregation of

|

Rites governs the ritual of the'

39



Church as distinct from the con-

gregation of Ceremonies, which is

in charge of the functions observed

in the papal household. The con-

gregation of Extraordinary Affairs

is an extension of the papal secre-

tariat of State: it is concerned

mostly with the relation of the

Church to the government of any

country where there are special

problems. The congregation of

Seminaries and Universities han-

dles the matters pertaining to edu-

cation. The congregation of the

Oriental Church takes over all the

functions of the other congregations

(except the Holy Office) in any

matter pertaining to the Oriental

parts of the Church, that is, the

ancient parts of the Church which

use other languages than Latin in

their liturgy, and which are gov-

erned by different laws and customs

than are common in the Western

Church.

There are also courts, offices of

various kinds, and permanent com-

missions for specified duties. They

seem to make up a quite compli-

cated system, yet actually they are

simple in structure for the admin-

istration of a society vaster in

numbers than any civil government

in the world.

Also acclaimed as a model of

simplicity is the lawcode of the

Church. Within the pages of a

single book, expressed in 2414 dis-

tinct laws, called "canons,” is the

Catholic Code of Canon Law. Here

we have a synthesis of the law of

nearly two thousand years, organ-

ized into a single unit. The laws of

even the tiniest country are, in

comparison, extremely complex and

complicated.

The congregations are the means

through which the pope usually

deals with the bishops of the world,

and they in turn regulate their

normal affairs according to the

provisions of the Church’s canon

law. The bishops, as has been

mentioned, have their own councils

to assist them in governing their

dioceses.

The Church has undergone much

development in these externals of

its government since the days in

Galilee when Christ led about a

little group of followers, or since

the time in Jerusalem when "Peter

stood up and addressed the meet-

ing” (Acts 15:7) which was the

parent of all subsequent church

councils. But essentially, and in

principle, the government and the

law of Christ’s Church are the same

today as they were in the begin-

ning.

"I beseech that in harmony with

God you strive to do all things

under the jurisdiction of the bishop,

who holds the place of God, and

the priests, who are like the council

of the apostles,” wrote Ignatius of

Antioch to the Magnesians some-

time around the year 107 A.D. In

compliance with this principle, the

Church has consistently gone about

its work of governing, accommodat-

ing itself to the changing world

and living up to the greatness it has

achieved. The Church is, as St.

Augustine called it, the City of

God. What we have briefly con-

sidered is the government of this

great City.

40



KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS - RELIGIOUS INFORMATION BUREAU

4422 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis 8, Missouri

List of pamphlets available at the above address. One title may be requested at a time free

of charge. Several titles, complete sets, and quantities of individual pamphlets may be ordered

at 7<t for each pamphlet, plus postage.

3. The Bible is a Catholic Book

5. Christ’s Seven Sacraments

6. The Holy Sacrifice — the Catholic
Mass

7. Why the Catholic Church says "Inves-
tigate” — Masons, Inquisition, Nuns

8. Speaking of Tolerance — Controver-
sial periods in history

9. These Men They Call "Knights”

10. Why Catholics Believe As They Do
— Existence of God, Immortality

11. A Short Story of the Popes

12. Let’s Stick to Moses — Ten Com-
mandments explained

13. But Can It Be Found in the Bible? —

Bible not sole rule of faith

14. What Happens After Death?

15. Yes ... I Condemned The Catholic

Church

16. What Do You Mean "Only One True
Church”?

17. But How Can Educated People Be
Catholics?

18. No . . . Belief in God is not Enough!

19. The Real Secret of Successful Mar-

riage

20. The Way to Everlasting Life . . . The
Catholic Church

21. Is the Catholic Church a Menace to

Democracy?

22. But Do You Really Understand the
Bible? — Rules for understanding

23. A Letter to Our Non-Catholic Neigh-
bors — Aspects of Catholic faith

24. Yes, the Mother of God Will Help
You!

25. What Makes a Woman Choose Such
a Life? — Life of a Catholic Nun

26. I’ll Tell You Why I Am a Catholic
27. Why So Many Decide to Become

Catholics — Convert stories

28. Let Us Judge Catholics by the Bible
— Prayer to Saints, unmarried priests

29. But Would Christ Call You A Chris-
tian?

30. But Do You Understand What God
Told Us? — Apostles’ Creed

31. Should Children Learn About God-
in School?

32. The Bible Is Not Our Sole Guide

33. This Was the Faith of Our Fathers
34. These Are Our Seven Deadly Enemies

— Seven capital sins explained
35. Let’s Test Catholic Loyalty — A Good

Catholic is a good citizen

36. Remember the Sabbath . . . Keep It

Holy — The "Sabbath Question”
37. I Am a Catholic Priest
38. But Why the Candles, Holy Water

and Beads ? — Sacramentals
39. The Reformation. Was It Reform or

Revolt?

40. Why I Had to Embrace the Catholic
Faith — Convert stories

41. Yes, Miracles Happened at Fatima

42. Does the Bible Contradict Itself? —

Peter the Rock, Faith and/or Works

43. I Was Warned About the Catholic
Church! — Religious Liberty

44. Why a Woman Needs the Catholic
Faith!

45. The Early Years of the Catholic

Church — First three centuries
46. Yes ... A Priest Can Forgive Your

Sins — Sacrament of Penance
47. But Why Don’t You Pray to the

Saints? — Communion of Saints
48. God’s Story of Creation — Genesis
49. Is the Catholic Church Out of Place

Here? — Catholicism and Loyalty
50. This Is the Catholic Church — Creed,

Sacraments, Mass, Commandments

51. Revelation ... A Divine Message of
Hope — Revelations or Apocalypse

52. Does It Pay to be a Catholic? — How
to be a Catholic

53. Think About Death and Start to Live

— Catholic attitude toward death
54. What Do You Find Wrong With

the Catholic Church?

55. His Name Shall Be Called God With
Us — Divinity of Christ

56. The Infallible Church, Truth or Trick-

ery? — Church of the Scriptures
57. Tell Us About God . . . Who Is He?

Existence and nature of God

58. The Word Was Made Flesh-
Humanity of Christ

59- Let Us Pray—Prayer

60. Gift of the Holy Spirit—Confirmation

61. The Church Says — Precepts of The
Church

62. "Upon this Rock .

.



Learn All About

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

By Mail ... At No Cost!

You can easily investigate Catholic faith and worship

in the privacy of your home.

Just send us your name and address and advise that

you desire to learn about the Church by mail.

We will send you an interesting course of instruc-
tion which is short, yet complete.

The book explaining Catholic faith and worship is

written in an easy-to-understand form, and there are

six tests sheets to be checked. There is no writing to

do, and nobody will call on you unless you request it.

You merely mail your marked test sheets to us. We
correct them and return them to you. This enables

you to determine how well you understand the book

and on what points further explanation by mail may

help you.

There is no cost to you, no obligation.

Write today to:

Supreme Council

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
Religious Information Bureau

4422 LINDELL BLVD.

ST. LOUIS 8, MO.

Imprimatur:

JOSEPH E. RITTER

Archbishop of St. Louis

St. Louis, July 27, 1955

Published in United States of America

11th Reprinting, November, 1961