them, and that in their teaching the masters were looking not to a setting but to a rising sun. This expert authority should be the best available, and to secure such a man a good salary should be paid. There are over 1000 Catholic parishes in Ireland and if each one contributed £1 per year this would secure a salary such as would command one of the best men to be found in the educational world. Surely no man that has a proper idea of the value of education and the importance of securing it in its best form would hesitate at this expenditure. What I should hope for would be that each province would have the undivided attention of an expert, and even though such were paid £500 or £800 a year the money would be well spent. We should break loose from an effete and stupid method of education; we should be put in touch with all that is best and most progressive in foreign lands; we should give proof of that vitality of our Church that makes her rise to and cope with every emergency; and above all, we should feel secure that as far as human efforts could avail we were laying well and truly the foundation for a great Ireland of the future. The points in this article are but briefly touched upon, but I place them before the readers of the I. E. RECORD rather as suggesting reflection and examination than anything else. I feel convinced, that once those entrusted with the sacred work of training the young generation find that at present they are leading them to broken fountains, and this can be easily verified by a brief survey of the present state of English methods, they will feel bound to seek for a new path, which will lead towards fresh and strengthening waters. I flatter myself, though my plan is only in brief outline, that in this direction lies a sure and straight road. P. J. DOWLING, C.M. [N AROUND THE EUCHARIST N the Roman Ritual' we read: SS. Eucharistiæ particulas frequenter renovabit. Hostiæ vero seu particulæ consecrandæ sint recentes ; et ubi eas consecraverit veteres primo distribuat vel sumat.' Two things are commanded : the first is that the particles are to be frequently renewed, and the second is that only recently made breads are to be consecrated. As to the renewal of the sacred particles, a strict law existed in the early ages of the Church. In later times there are many enactments on the point. The Sacred Congregation of the Council decreed: Renovatio SS. Sacramenti debet fieri qualibet Dominica non autem differri ad quindecim dies.' The Ceremoniale Episcoporum3 requires the particles to be renewed, saltem semel in hebdomada.' 4 Martene writes: Communis Ecclesiæ latinæ usus obtinuit, ut semel tantum singulis hebdomadis, aut ad summum singulis quibusque quindenis diebus Eucharistia innovaretur.' 6 The Congregation of Rites was asked, 12th September, 1884, if the custom in a certain diocese of renewing the Blessed Sacrament once or twice in the month' could be continued. The reply was: Servetur dispositio (Cer. Episc., L. I., c. vi., n. 2) Ceremonialis Episcoporum.' This, therefore, is not a mere counsel, but a decided and grave precept to be strictly and piously observed. Many provincial and diocesan Synods have similarly decreed. In 1850 our National Synod of Thurles enacted: Ne autem diutius. asservatæ corrumpantur particulæ, a parochis et aliis sacerdotibus ad quos spectat, renovandæ sunt octavo quolibet die.' In Ireland, then, all doubt is removed. Sacred particles kept in a Ciborium, or in a Pyxis, or the one in a 5 1 Tit. 4, C. I, n. 7. 25th April, 1573. 4 L. I., c. 5, iv. 9. 3 L. 1. c. 6, n. 2. 5 De Euch. n. 17. Benediction Lunette, must be renewed every eight days. Kane observes that the minute particles remaining in an exhausted Ciborium or Pyxis should be consumed every week. He also says: 'Speaking of the obligation generally, no one can have a doubt but that it binds sub gravi, since it is imposed by the Church in a matter that intimately concerns the honour and reverence due to our Lord in the Holy Sacrament.'" Again he observes that 'to defer the renewal of the particles for fifteen days would not exceed a venial sin, unless in case of great damp, or some other special cause accelerating the process of corruption.' The second point raised by the above quotation from the Roman Ritual is that it is only recently-made Particles or Hosts that can be lawfully consecrated. St. Charles Borromeo in his fourth Provincial Synod ruled, 'Ut octavo quoque die renovetur Eucharistia et quidem ex hostiis non ante viginti dies ad summum confectis.' Observe the word 'ad summum,' marking the utmost limit, even in a dry country such as Northern Italy. Reverence to the Blessed Sacrament would suggest for security sake the renewing of the sacred Particles every week, and the using for Mass Hosts recently made, that is not farther back then within the previous week. In Decretis Synodi Placentini on this matter, we find the following: Verum, ut in hoc gravi argumento aliquid præcise diceremus, plures viros chymicæ ac physicæ peritissimos consulere voluimus; intra quod temporis spatium in hostiis ordinarie corruptio incipiat. Peractis ad rem experimentis, in fine unius integri mensis, corruptionis principium ex microscopio circiter inspici responderunt, etsi incepta corruptio ex sensu visus minimè perspiciatur. 8 The Rubric of the Missal enacts:-'Si (panis) coeperit corrumpi, sed non sit corruptus. Conficitur (Sacramentum) sed conficiens graviter peccat.' Hence, if the bread were entirely corrupted, there would be no sacrifice, no Sacrament; but if it be doubtful that corruption had * C. xi., § 8, n. 620. 71899, p. 116. • De defectibus, III. 3. proceeded so far, the consecration is doubtful, and therefore illicit, as all hold with St. Alphonsus. Grave obligations here arise for those in charge of churches, and alarming consequences if, by their negligence, the Hosts should become corrupted. It behoves them, or those acting for them, to bear distinctly in mind that unleaven bread is subject to corruption, specially if shut up in musty presses or drawers, although that incipient corruption cannot be easily discovered by the naked eye. Care should be taken that the breads should be made each week and with great care and attention to cleanliness, but not in greater quantity than may be required for consecration to the end of the following week. It may be added that no less diligence is to be observed by those responsible in securing the proper matter for the Sacrifice of the Mass, viz.: wheaten flour and pure wine. In these days, when adulteration is so easy and so general, extraordinary precautions must be taken to satisfy one's conscience that unadulterated wheaten flour is always used in the manufacturing of the Altar Breads and that the wine used at Mass is undoubtedly the real juice of the grape. Van der Stappen10 testifies that in his time there were only two bakers of Altar Breads allowed in Rome for four hundred churches, and that these two had to bind themselves by oath, in presence of the Cardinal Vicar, that they would never sell Hosts baked more than fifteen days. At present in Rome there is liberty for each one to make Altar Breads, so that there and throughout the Church the obligation falls on the rectors of churches to see that the conditions for wine and bread are observed. As so much. is at stake, evidently too much pains cannot be taken. It is also to be remembered that old Particles are not to be mixed with new ones. M. O'CALLAGHAN, C.M. 9 L. 6, n. 207. 10 Q. 166. 2 L VOL. XIV. Notes and Queries THEOLOGY ORDINATION TO PRIESTHOOD-DIMISSORIAL AND REV. DEAR SIR,-A bishop, in failing health, gives to one of his subjects licence to be ordained priest by the bishop of a neighbouring diocese. For some cause the candidate for orders was unable to present himself for ordination at the place and time appointed. Meantime the bishop who granted the dimissorial letters died. What of the validity of the dimissorial letters? Can the candidate for orders use these letters? Or must he see that the successor of the late bishop consents to his ordination and reissues his dimissorial letters ? ORDINANDUS. I. If the licence to be ordained were granted, as sometimes happens, for a limited time, manifestly it cannot be used once the specified time has elapsed. Similarly, if, in any case, the licence were granted exclusively for a definite ordaining prelate. 2. If, however, the licence were granted, in the first instance, without these conditions, it remains valid until it is revoked by the Bishop who granted it, or by his successor. The successor may validly revoke the dimissorial letters. But, neither his knowledge nor his consent is necessary to the validity of the letters granted by his predecessor. In this connection, it is well to note that testimonial letters-as distinct from dimissorial letters-lose their efficacy by mere lapse of time, and the reason is obvious. They contain a testimony of character, and a testimony of character is worthless for the purpose in view unless it comes up to date. It is usually held that testimonial letters for ordination are not valid for more than six months after the date on which they are issued. |