The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-04-05

if one gives his beads to person in
Church who forgets his own Rosary?
If so, must it be re-bIessed?
A rosary loses its indulgence for the
owner if he gives it to another person
for the purpose of enabling him to
gain the indulgence. If he lends it to
him merely as an accommodation to
enable him to count the beads while
he prays and not to gain the indul-
gence In the first case, the person
who borrowed the beads does not
gain the indulgence and they cease to
be indulgenced for the person who
loaned them. They must be re-
blessed for the owner before he can
gain the indulgence attached to them.
1. If a person lives ten miles or
more from Church and the roads are
bad and one is not strong and has a
number of children, would that be an
excuse for postponing the Easter duty
until settled weather in the Spring?
2. | would like to know if there is
any reason why such ones must fast
from midnight until after twelve
O'Clock next day." while those who
live in town may go to early Mass and
suffer practically no inconvenience?
! am not finding fault, but would just
like to be informed on the subject.
1. If it is possible for you, even at
the risk of some inconvenience, to
make your Easter duty during the
paschal season you are obliged by the
law of the Church to do so. OF course,
order to fulfil it, one is put to great
inconvenience. You must remember
that the paschal season extends from
the first Sunday of Lent to Trinity
Sunday, a period of about three
months, and it is scarcely probable
that the conditions you set forth in
the foregoing question will prevail
during the whole of that time. There
are many people who live ten miles
from a Church who seldom or never
miss Mass on Sunday even though the
roads are rather poor at times. Per-
even under the circumstances which
you outline, there is scarcely any justi-
fication for postponing your Easter
duty beyond the time assigned by the
Church for the performance of it. q.
The law of the Church states that
people who receive Holy Communion
must be fasting from midnight from
anything in the shape of food or drink.
This law suffers no exception for
those who are not i'll. Consequently,
it binds those in the country and far
from a Church in the same way as
those who live in the city. No one
will deny that those who live far from
Church and who cannot receive Holy
Communion except at late Mass suf-
fer more inconvenience from the fast
than those who can attend an early
Mass, but there is no help for it. They
may rest assured that the merit they
acquire will be in proportion to what
they have to endure in order that they
may receive Holy Communion.
What is your opinion of the Boy
Scouts? Do you think it advisable for
a Catholic boy to join them7
The Boy Scout movement is Protes-
tant in it's inception and is usually
conducted under Protestant auspices.
However, in a few places Catholic Boy
Scouts have been organized and there
is no reason why Catholic boys should
not join under such conditions. I'm.
der ordinary circumstances it is not
advisable for them to join the Boy
Scouts because of its Protestant tone
and affiliations. Consult your pastor
and be guided by his advice. He is
familiar with local conditions.
Why do we "adore" the cross on
Good Friday?
The Rev. E. J. Hull, S. j., of the
Bombay Examiner writes as follows on
this point:
The word Alteration" here used is
a survival of an archaic word now OBJ.
solete in this sense. "Adoratio" in
Latin means literally putting the hand
to the mouth as sign of respect or
salutation, just as the people in this
country (India) do when they make
salaam. When other forms of saluta
ton came into vogue, the word was re
tanned, but came to mean any form OF
outward reverence, no matter whether
to God or man. In this sense the Latin
term "adoratio crucis" is used, and the
expression has been taken over bodily
into the English. Unfortunately, how
ever, in English the word adore has
come to mean solely religious worship
and, moreover, religious worship di
rected to God alone Hence the term
alteration of the Cross" on Good Fri
day has become an anachronism, and
as 1t is constantly misunderstood and
taken advantage of by ignorant ad
versaries, it would really be a good
thing to have it abolished and to use
generation of the Cross" instead. We
venerate the Cross, not because of it
self, but because of its association
with Christ our Saviour, and our rever
ence towards it is a symbolic act OF
worship paid to Christ Himself. In
just the same way the members Of
Parliament bow to the kings throne
even when there is no king in it. They
do not care halfpenny for the chair
but their act is a symbolic expression
of their reverence for the person Of