The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1911-02-18

HCNGT HIdNC tltS lITSk COMMUNION
it at the age of thirty?
First Communion may be received
whenever the recipient is prepared for
it, no matter what his age may be.
Will you tell me what is meant by
being born of water and the Holy
Ghost?
1t means that by baptism one en-
tiers a new spiritual life through the
fundamentally of the Holy Ghost,
the third person of the Blessed Trim
ity.
Can a non-CathoIic get dispense
ton to marry Catholic if he has
never been baptized, in any church?
Would it help any if he thought seri-
ousIy of becoming a Catholic after
marriage?
A non-Catholic does not need dis
pensation to marry Catholic; but
Catholic needs one to marry non
Catholic. The baptism or non-bap-
tism of the latter makes difference
in the kind of dispensation required.
If the non-Catholic is baptized
Christian a dispensation from the
ecclesiastical law forbidding mixed
marriages must be obtained. This i'm
pediment is only a prohibitory one,
that is, it does not make the marriage
null and void if the persons marry in
spite of the prohibition. When, as in
the case contemplated, the non-Cath-
Ollie is not baptized Christian the
impeachment of disparity of worship, or
difference of religion, exists between
them, and a dispensation therefrom
must be obtained in order to render
the marriage lawful and valid. If the
persons marry without having secur-
ed this dispensation the marriage is
null and void from the standpoint of
the Church. The fact that the non
Catholic thinks seriously of becoming
a Catholic does not change the charac-
ter of the required dispensation. but it
renders it easier for him to make the
necessary promises. The better way
would be for him to take instruction
and become a Catholic before mar
riage, not for the purpose of getting a
wife, but through conviction of the
truth of the Church's doctrines.
Why can not a priest say Mass after
twelve o'clock?
According to the discipline of the
Church Mass may be said at any
time between daybreak and midday;
and this law will be observed if Mass
is not finished before daybreak or be-
gun after midday This does not ap-
ply to midnight Mass whenever it is
permitted.
In the United States the Bishops
have faculties enabling them to dis
pense from the law if there be suff1-
cient reason for so doing. They can
permit the celebration of Mass one
hour before daybreak and one hour
after midday. This means that a
priest may begin Mass one hour be-
fore the time at which he could be-
gin, according to the general law of
the Church, and one hour later than
would otherwise be permitted. The
hour at which daybreak begins varies
in different places and in the same
locality at different seasons of the
year
Members of religious orders have
privileges by which they may, for
just cause, begin Mass much earlier or
much later than the legal time.
Is woman allowed to serve Mass?
No woman is permitted to serve
Mass as altar-boys do. But when
there is no boy or man to be had for
this purpose, the priest must move
the book and use the cruets, and wash
his fingers himself. A woman who is
able to recite the Latin responses can
answer from her pew or seat, but
must keep out of the sanctuary or
remote from the altar. In converts
it is customary for a Sister to answer
the Mass from a place outside the
Sanctuary rail.
Why do we pray: LEAD us not into
temptation" when we know that God
does not lead us into temptation?
The first thing to do is to get a
right notion about temptation. What
does it mean? 1t means trial or a
proving. Now trial can be made
for good purpose or for an evil pur-
pose. To permit ones child to have
a little freedom in order that it may
learn to use it's liberty and not to
abuse it is sort of experiment or
trial. But to give a child money or
presents for the purpose of corrupting
it is a sort of wicked trial. The end
one has in view is what determines the
morality of the temptation We read
in the Holy Scriptures that God
tempts no man" and again God
tempts His friends" The explanation
of this paradox is that God tempts no
man with intent to do him injury
for God is not the tempter of evil .
But God permits His friends to be
tempted in order to test them, as He
permitted the temptation of Job. When