The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-01-20

with his hands the sacred vessels, have
been ordained to any Of the major or
minor orders Of the priesthood? z.
What are the duties of a Master of
Ceremonies at Mass? How should he
be vested? Need he be, theoretically,
ordained to any of the orders? 8. Ex-
plain somewhat fully the difference
between PontificaI and Solemn Yes
pers and 5enediction and the ordinary
kind? a. In a Solemn Pontifical Mass
what part in the ceremony is taken
by the assistant priest after the
Bishop has returned to the altar, from
the offertory on? Where should he
stand? Should the deacons of honor
then be on each side Of the Bishop?
S. What are the requirements In order
that an altar may be consecrated?
l. Where the sacristan is regularly
appointed to look after the sacred
vessels and everything that appertains
to the altar and sanctuary, it is Gus
tomary to allow him to handle the
sacred vessels. He need not neces-
sarily be in sacred orders. 2. A
indicates, is one who directs the
movements of all those who take part
in any sacred function, such as Mass,
Vespers or Benediction. His duty is
to see that the ceremonies are proper
ly carried out. He makes all the
arrangements for the function, and
all who take part in it are under his
control. In a word, he is responsible
for the. orderly and becoming per-
Torrance of all the ceremonies pre-
scribed for such occasions. He is
vested in cassock and surplice. It is
not necessary that he be in orders.
All that is required of him is suf
ficient knowledge of the ceremonies
proper to the occasion. 8. At the ordi
nary vesper services the celebrant is
assisted by the altar boys. At Solemn
Vespers he is accompanied by cope
bearers, two or four, depending upon
the solemnity of the feast, who act
as chanters and attendants. Ponti-
fical Vespers is always solemn. The
officiating prelate is assisted by
deacon and subdeacon, and attended
by chanters and other ministers.
Solemn Benediction differs from the
ordinary Benediction in this that the
celebrant is assisted by deacon and
subdeacon. AS far as the ceremony
is concerned, Pontifcal Benediction is
practically the same as Solemn Bene.
diction, the place of the celebrant
being taken by Bishop who enters
the sanctuary vested, wearing his
mitre and, If in his own Diocese, bear
ing his crozier 4. Just before the
Bishop goes to the altar for the Offer
tory the assistant priest places the
Missal and stand on the Gospel side.
From that time until the end of Mass
his place is near the Missal. He kneels
at the Conservation and is the first
to receive the Pax from the celebrant,
after which he gives it to the clergy.
After the ablution he carries the
Missal to the Epistle side of the altar,
takes off the Bishops ring at the
washing of the hands, presents the
towel and puts on the ring again. He
remains near the book until the end
of Mass, when he returns to the throne
with the celebrant. The deacons of
honor do not stand beside the Bishop
during the celebration of Mass. Their
place is below the steps of the altar,
where they stand from the Offertory to
the end of the Mass. They kneel with
the other ministers at the Consecra-
ton and receive the Pax from the
Bishop at the proper time. 5. An altar
to be SO consecrated must be fixed
and permanent structure, consisting
be built on a solid foundation. The
table must be a single slab of stone or
marble, firmly joined by cement to
the support so that together they
make one piece. The support may be
either a solid mass or it may consist OF
a number of stone columns firmly
joined to the table, the substructure to
be built on solid foundation so as to
make the altar permanent.
Why do priests prevent their Cath.
oIic boys from joining the Boy Scouts
Many reasons have been assigned
for the disfavor with which the Boy
Scout movement is regarded by
priests. In this coutry, at least, ii
has been largely affiliated with the Y
M. G. A. In many places its leaders
are connected with this Protestant
organization and, naturally, priests dc
not care to have their boys under such
control even indirectly and remotely
There is, however, nothing to prevent
a priest from organizing the boys Of
his parish as Boy Scouts and keeping
them under his immediate direction
The principles that underlie the move
ment as outlined in the official hand
book of the organization, while con
ducing to the physical welfare of the
boy, are not so favorable from the
spiritual point of view. In fact they
would eliminate religion entirely
They teach false philosophy in re
gard to the origin of man and, con
sequently, place no value on the super