The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-06-20

Question and Answer, care The CathS
Where may Lourdes water be Sc
cured in the United States?
Apply to the Reverend Marist Fa-
theirs, SOC Cedar Street, st. Paul,
MINI.
Are there any countries in which
priests may marry7 If so, are they
permitted to live with their wives after
ordination?
There are no countries in which
Catholic priests are permitted to mar
ry. Priests who belong to the Greek
Catholic Church are permitted to mar
ry before they are ordained deacons
and are allowed to live with their
wives after ordination; but if the mar
riage ceremony does not take place be-
fore they are ordained deacons it can
not take place afterwards and if their
wives die they are not allowed to
marry again. All the clergymen of
higher rank in the Greek Catholic
Church, such as Bishops, Archbishops,
etc., are taken from among the unmar-
ried clergy. The privilege of marrying
before ordination is allowed to priests
of the Greek Catholic Church, no mat
ter in what country they are located,
although efforts are being made in
this country and in other lands where
Greek priests are engaged in parochial
work to procure unmarried clergymen
to minister to congregations of Greek
Catholics. The law of celibacy is not
of divine origin. If it we're, there
would be no married clergymen in the
Catholic Church in any part of the
world 1t is law of the Church-a
disciplinary measure which is subject
to change and which is not, as already
stated, enforced universally. The ten
dency at the present day, however, is
to make it as general as possible and
to apply it as far as possible to the
clergy of the Greek Church, as well as
to those of the Latin Church.
I. Did Christ or His Apostles rec
ommend the use of images? 2. Is
IICIS SOSH q PiGNS dS SdbOIy
What proof is there that there are
more mediators than one? a. Why
should we pray for the dead?
1. This question is prompted, no
doubt, by the prohibition contained in
the First Commandment of God
against the making of images 1t is
true the First Commandment does for
bid the making of images if these i'm
ages are to be adored and worshipped
as gods. 1t was necessary to insist on
this at the time the commandment
was given, for if the people we're al
lowed to make images they would
adore them as is proved by the story
of the Golden Calf at the very time
the commandments were promulgated
by Moses to the people. This COM
mandment, however, was not under
stood in it's absolute sense by the
chosen people for, throughout the Old
Testament, we have many instances
of images and representations of liv-
ing things being made to be used law
fully and not worshipped. In fact,
the law of God required the making
of images as ornaments for the
temple and the tabernacle. Read
Numbers XXI, 8; VIII, 4; III Kings,
vi, 10; vi, SO; Xxx, 1920; VII, 1929.
Other passages bearing on this point
are Ezechiel, 1, 5; Xxx, 20; XIV, 49,
%; Judges VIII, 81; XVII, 5; and so
on. The early Christians had no pref
udice against images, statues, etc.
There was no danger that these rep
reservations would be adored by con-
verts from Judaism. From the begin
ming the Christians adorned the Cata-
combs with the images of Christ and
of His Saints, represented in paintings
or carvings on the walls. There are
few statues in the Catacombs as these
were more difficult to make than
paintings or drawings and were more
costly. But as soon as the Church
came out of the Catacombs, Christians
began to make statues of our Lord
and of the Saints and to adorn their
churches with them, custom which
has been in vogue ever since. AS
long as statues and images were made
merely to recall the personages whom
they represented and not for the pur-
pose of offering homage to them as
gods there was no prohibition of the
practice, but as soon as these images
were worshipped the manufacture of
them for this purpose fell under the
ban of the First Commandment. q.
The word "Purgatory'' is not found in
the Bible, but what it signifies is very
plainly indicated there in numerous
texts. But one does not have to go
to the Bible for proof of the existence
of Purgatory. Reason and common
sense postulate such place in the
world to come, where those who are
not pure enough to enter heaven and
not wicked enough to be condemned
to hell for all eternity, may be
cleansed from every stain of venial
sin before being admitted to the pres
ence of God. Those who deny the ex-
istence of Purgatory must divide all
mankind into two classes-those who,
at the moment of death, are pure
enough to enter heaven and those who
are not pure enough. The latter they
condemn to hell. Catholics believe in
giving all who do not die at enmity
with God because of unrepented NOR
tai sins, an opportunity to satisfy His
justice for the temporal punishment
due their sins and then admit them
into the Joys of heaven. Reference