The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-02-03


No. The Sisters who teach in a
parochial school are paid by the people
of the parish in which it is located.
What are we to understand by the
Feast of the Immaculate Conception of
Our Blessed Lady?
The Feast of the Immaculate Con-
ception commentaries the great pre-
rogative of freedom from the stain of
original sin which was conferred on
the Blessed Virgin Mary by God Him
self. This is called her Immaculate
Conception, and it signifies that the
Blessed Mother was preserved from
every stain of original sin from the
time of her conception, that is from
the very first moment when she began
to exist as human being in the
womb of her mother. This freedom
from original sin was given to her
not through any special merit of her
own, but through the merits of the
redemption which was to be wrought
through her divine Son. Many people,
even among Catholics, have an errone-
Gus idea of this doctrine They con-
found it with the virgin birth of our
Blessed Lord for which it was
preparation. They say, too, that it
means the freedom of our Blessed
Lady from original sin at the time of
her birth. 1t means more than that,
however, for it carries us back to the
moment of her conception and as
sures us that the Blessed Virgin was
never for an instant stained with the
guilt of the sin of our first parents.
I. Is it sin to make paper flowers
on Sunday, but not to sell? And to
bake cake? 2. If a couple are en-
gagged must they go to have it signed
by two witnesses before a priest, or
can they get married without that in
the church?
These occupations do not come
within the meaning of the servile work
forbidden on Sunday. 2. A couple
may be engaged without having the
engagement ratified by witnesses,
and the fact that it is not so ratified
does not prevent their marriage TAX
ing place in church.
If person is hired to do business
for another and, through a mistake,
loses money belonging to that person
Is he bound to pay him out of his own
pocket when he was not a gamer by
the mistake?
No, so long as the mistake was I'M
Intentional, and so long as there is no
contract requiring the person to make
good such losses.
Is there a Catholic Academy in Ken
mare, N. D.? If so, what Order is it
under and what is the name of the
Academy?
There is no Catholic Academy in
Kenmare, N. D. There is a parochial
school under the patronage of St.
Agnes which was opened few months
ago and, we understand, is under the
direction of the Presentation Sisters
from the Sacred Heart Academy,
Fargo, N. D.
should like to have you explain to
me the following apparent contradic-
tions. In Chapter four of "FabioIa,"
written by Cardinal Wiseman, Pan
cratius, one of the chief Christian
characters, is quoted as follows: at
is surely a dreadful heresy to limit
the mercy and forgiveness of Him
Who came to call not the just but
sinners to repentance. The Catholic
Church has always held that a sinner,
however dark the dye, however huge
the mass of his crimes, on truly re-
pentlng, may receive forgiveness
through the penitentiaI remedy left in
her hands," In St. Mark 1927 we
read: "He that shall bIaspheme
against the Holy Ghost, shall never
have forgiveness, but shall be guilty
of an everlasting SIM" Also St. Luke
(12-10): And whatsoever speaketh a
word against the Son of Man, 1t shall
be forgiven him, but to him that shall
bIaspheme against the Holy Ghost, it
shall not be forgiven"
The foregoing should not prove a
difficulty to the instructed Catholic.
1t is, as the writer correctly states,
only an apparent contradiction. Both
quotations state the teaching of the
Church. The difficulty, if any, arises
from the misconception of what is
meant by the blasphemy, or sin against
the Holy Ghost. This has already
been fully explained on more than one
occasion in this department. The sin
against the Holy Ghost means final
impenitence, or the wilful resisting of
the grace of God until death. Who
ever perseveres until death in his op-
position to the action of the Holy
Ghost upon his soul cannot be saved
because he has wilfully thrown away
the opportunities granted to him for
that purpose during life. These op-
portunities for salvation cease at the
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