The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-20
SAINTS CANONIZED TO-DAY.
JEAN BAPTIST DE IA SALE AND
RITA nj CiCCIi ADVANCED.

The Canonization Of the Blessed Jean Baptist
DE In sale and the Blessed Rita dl Caccia
in Rome to-day will mark the beginning OF Q
series Of important religious ceremonies In
that city. Following the canonizatlon ana N
celebration Of it there will he grand fetes on
May >, and an Illumination foi which prepare.
tions have been making for a month or more,
and on May 81 and June 3 the solemn care
monv ~ the beatification Of n nsnnber Of mars
tyr,d Missionaries TO China will h" held.
Bishops from all parts Of the world have
been summoned and will be in attendance.
and New York will be represented by Arch-
hi,hop ,orrigan and his secretary. Father
| Connolly. and by Brother Joseph Of the Chris
finn Brothrrs visitor of New York for that
order and Brother Gerardus, visitor Of ~.
Louis. Bishop Mcdonnell from Brooklyn
will also be present and the friends and laymen
who left here for IA pilgrimage To Rome on April
q last. John u. Crimmius ard supreme
Court Justices Barrett and O'Brien are among
| the list Of prominent laymen.
No rites connected with the Roman Catholic
Church are more beautiful than those which at
tend the canonization Of saints. -, Peters ia
hung With the papal tapestries and the hangings
| of those who make application that the blessed
be advanced to the rank Of saint In this
case the Christian Brothers make the request
for their founder. Jean Baptist De La sale
| and the Augustinians for Rita di Caccia. the
| most famous nun of their ORDER. A procession.
made up of the gorgeous Papal Guard and
the Cardinals and Bishops OF the Church clad
in full robes and closed by tie Pore
/ enters the great church. The Pope ascends
! his throne and Cardinals. Bishops. p~relates
and visitors do homage. The cardinal Procura-
tor and Consistoral advocate then unite in
asking that the beatitied ones, mentioning
their names. be sanctined The Poie responds
| by saving that the names cf the blessed ones
, are known aud that Divine aid must he sought
| and implorcd to guide them right IN This most
solemn moment.
The whole congregation then kneels and the
L.itany Of Saints i, SUM-. After this the con-
greyation rises and lighted candies are placed
in their hands. \ second request Is then made
Identical m form with the first. except That
for the word instantsr the word 'nsia,has
s used aSnl ar. tn reply ,GS P IES Nf inion Sr'"' ,Es
prayer Deus Oui Corda fldeIlum 4
third request. iastGnh sSiinC, Is made and. Then
the decree is grantee, 10y, the PYpe ana slshtii
by thir'y-eight Cardinals. Tn slmllOra or
! the saints are replaced on the altar and to each
II day is assigned.
The Te Deum chanted antlphonally by TIC
wonderful Si,tine Chapel choir and the people
follows and then comes the "0rate pro NODES
with the names Of the n~cwly.made saints IN:
troducnd, the Ut dlgnl" and the "tonii,eor-
! Chuntod by the Cardinal Deacon Then follows
the ah-ulu'iuu and benedictlon,
A. the Nigh Mass, which i. u part Of the cere-
mOny, a prayer, secret and pos~t-comnInlon are
( added, Their" ar" some curious features III NE
! o~IortOry. Wax candies, printed, glldod and sll-
vcred with the figures oI the saints and the Pope ,
arms on them. Two large loaTc> u' bread ana
two small barrels of wine, similarly Decorated,
and three, baskets are given 10y the tarulnHls.
One of the baskets contains IA pair OF turils
doves, another n pair OF pigeons and me ihird
Is filed with small birds. This offering has a
mystical meaning. The expenses Ol canOnlHa-
ton are born by those AT whose request i /?
! undertaken, and in on" case the sum reached
/ s6i,tpr.
The importance of tho CEREMONY may he
understood when il is stated that it is deemed
Ia be the public judgment OF The Apostolic
See respecting the holiness ana glory ol one
who II ther.upOn enrolled among the saints
IL is declared that the person thus honored
led u perfect lie and that God worked miracles
AT his lntercesslOlI. either during his NE or
after his death, and That "onNeqich,lE ne ~
worthy to br hunOred a. a saint, which implies
permission to exhibit his relics, Ia invoke him
and ocelebrat" mass and an Office IN his honor.
In the Greek Church there must be az least 900
witnesses, Ia subscribe To the AUTHENTICITY OF
the miracles.
OF saints by Papal decree the number is COM
paratively small. lp to the tim" Of Plus IN.
there We're only ll5 Papal organizations, and
under the present pOntltlCate thPr" have been
only ten. 4 condition precedent 10 crnOniza-
ton is beatitiCatlOu. This consists OF fourteen
distinct steps. The candidate must hr one VINO
Is alleged To have p%raCtis"d IN HE IN a heroic
degree faith. hope and charity, The lIr-t step
is the Bishops inquiry, which Is made n tN-
haustive as possible Ia ascertain whether the
person VIII, eminent in the exercise Of those
virtues. Then GENES an inquiry NJ To whether
there has ever been any CuifuS. The NEXT step
is "A report on these points To In" Secretary Of the
CONGREGATION Of Rites at Rome. The fourth step
is the opening of this report and the nresenta-
ton nf a formal request that the person be called
blessed, Next after this, a Promoter Fid,t also
called AdrOcdtUs DidbOhD is appointed by tho
Pope. II is the duty OF this officer 10 urge all
the objections that he can find against the can
dldate for the honor. The sixth step is a minute
examination Of all the writings of the one for
whom Identification is sought. and then tho
Congregation OF Rites proceeds Ia an invcstl-
CATION OF the miracl les said to have been per-
between this and III" n"Nt stage Of the pro-
ccdure. the appointment ot throeBlshops Or
high functionarieS Ia reVieW the work Of The
examiners into the miraculous deeds.
Their report Is the seNt move and this ~
followed hv the arguments of the secretary
to the congregation and AdroCdtus D'Ghoh. Then
general assemblies Of the congregation AZ
the last assembly the Pope himself il present
and renders his decision, Then there l.. a
general congregation, held AZ the Vatican, the
briefs are read, ia" Ge Dcum chai.ted, the i'm.
ngcs or pictures on the altar are unveiled and
inCensed and the new collect l. read,
Before the beatiiied can be canoni2ed at
least two miracles must have been performed.
The name of the beatiftcd one is then pre-
Sentod again to three congregation N the last
Of which the final ceremonies take plac" These
various stages sometimes extend over crn-
turtles. Jean Baptist DE La Sale, for instance,
was borni in 1851 aud kim di Caocia In 1877 Jean
Baptists birth place was Rheims Ia France.
and his birthday was April 80 He was the
eldest of seven children and AZ an early axe he
gave evidence Of unusual pirty. he was "a
stu6eat IN the university of his native town
and in 1919, Father Dozef, Chancellor Of the
nlvcrsltv, resigned his Canou,hip IN favor ot
the brilliant and d"vout boy. lie studied
theology IN the Seminary of 81 Sulg'cs
n Paris and received the degree Of Doctor ~
Divinity from his alma mater IN Rheim| lie
was ordained priest on Easter SUNDAY, 1873, and
celebrated his first mass the following da,.
Shortly after he entered orders Canon Rnlan
Sisters Of the Holy child Jesus, who educated
poor girls In 1850 IOui, NV. granted letters
of patent TO them at DE La Sales Request.
From this time on the young priests life work
wa devoted TO educational matter. In 1879 hs
found a benefaCtOr IN the person Of Nine ds
Mallofer and opened "A free school for boys in
Rheims, \ second and II third school Of tho
same character followed. on June Is, 1881, he
gathered together all the teachers into his own
house and bade them live there. \ year later
he determined to devote his whole life 10 the
founding Of schools and NJ the Feast Of the As
C"nslOn, 1894, he gave up all his worldly pos
dissemination Of knowledge. lie opened a
school IN Paris. and M thartres, 1roye~, AviH-
non, Dion, Rouen, Darnetal, Marseille~, Gren-
obl", Mende, BollOgnc, Versailles and IN many
other places. He resigned a. superior General
Of the Brotherhood and mad his successor APP
pointed TO avoid possible disputes after his
death He died on. Good Friday, April :. 1912.