The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-05-30

bidden by the Church? II so, are its 1
Catholic members allowed to receive
the Sacraments and are Catholics all
lowed to attend meetings held by the
same? 2. In the Rosary of the Bless
ed Sacrament what is meant by re-
peatlng, Jesus in the Blessed Sacra-
ment have mercy on US, "eVery time
the clock strikes"
/. The knights of Pythias is one of
the secret societies which the Church
forbids Catholics to join. The others
are the Odd Fellows, the Sons of Tenn
perance, and, of course, the Freema-
sons. No Catholic can be knight of
Pythias and at the same time receive
the Sacraments of the Church unless
he fulfils the conditions laid down for
those who belonged to this organiza-
ton before the condemnation and have
what is known as vested rights in it.
These conditions are, that he must not
publicly identify himself with the so
ciety by attending it's meetings or hold
ing any official position, but merely
pay his dues, and that he secure from
his Archbishop permission to remain
in the order on these conditions 2.
The beads of the Blessed Sacrament
which are composed of medal and
thirty-three grains, in honor of the
thirty-three years of our Lords life,
are recited by saying "Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament have mercy on us"
on the medal and on each of the beads.
There is no necessity of saying this
ejaculation every time the clock
strikes" in order to gain the indul-
gence. OF course, one is free to do it
if one wishes and it is pious practice
to do so, but it is not required in or
der to comply with the conditions for
gaining the indulgence for reciting the
beads of the Blessed Sacrament. This
indulgence was increased from one
hundred days for each repetition
of the invocation to three hundred
days by His Holiness Pope Plus X on
May 81, 1911.
What proof is there: /. That we
ought to pray to the Blessed Virgin
Mary? 2. That the Virgin Mary was
born without sin? 8. That st. Peter
had no wife? 4. That priests should
not marry? 5. That st. Peter was
Bishop of Rome? 6. That the Pope is
the Vicar of Christ, or the successor
of ST. Peter2
1. Because of her dignity as Mother
of God the Blessed Virgin holds first
place among the saints and, nat
urally, has the greatest influence
with her divine Son. The Bible
teaches that the saints have pow
er to hear and help us and,
therefore, we ought to pray to them
Since this is true in regard to the
saints in general how much more SO
is it in regard to the Blessed Virgin
Mary. Consult the following refer.
ences in the Old and New Testament
in regard to the microscopy power OF
the saints: Genesis XVIII; Exodus
XVII; Job XIII; Tobias XII, II;
Zacharias /, IL; Romans XIV, 80; Ep-
hesians VI, 10; Thessolanians V, 25;
James V, 16. Apart from the Scrip
tural foundation for having recourse
to the Blessed Virgin Mary as an in
tercessor, reason and common sense
proclaim the utility of praying to the
Mother of God if we would obtain spe
cial favors from her divine Son, for as
He honored her upon earth, as His
mother, so also He honors her il
heaven and will not turn deaf cal
to her petitions in behalf of those
whom He has redeemed by His deatl
on the cross. 2. Reason tells us tha
it was eminently fitting that the won
an chosen to be the mother of the
Saviour should be free from ever.
stain of sin. Our Christian instinc
makes any other supposition abhor
rent to us. The traditional teaching
of the Church regards the statemen
of Genesis III, 15), Il will put en-
mites between thee and the woman
and thy seed and her seed; she shall
crush thy head and thou shall lie II
wait for her heel" as applicable to tn,
Blessed Virgin Mary, the second Eve
between whom and Satan there was t
be an absolute and perpetual enmity
such as could exist only on the sup
position that the Blessed Virgin wa
free from every stain of sin, not mere
ly from the time of her birth, bu
from the very first moment of he
conception This lis implied also ii
the salutation of the Archangel Ga
briel who announced to her that sh
had been chosen to be the mother o
God. His Hail, full of grace" connote
the possession of grace in its fulles
and absolute sense and this can onl.
be true if the Blessed Virgin Mary wa
conceived without sin. 8. Hol.
Scripture furnishes no proof that ST
Peter had no wife" On the contrary
in the passages where reference il
made to the illness of his mother-in
law, it implies that he was married
st. Peter was, undoubtedly, married
but tradition declares that he did no
live with his wife after he receive,
the divine call to follow the Savior
and preach the Gospel. A. Holy Scrip
ture nowhere states that priest mus
be an unmarried man. The law o
celibacy is a disciplinary regulation
imposed by the Church upon all VIII
take upon themselves the duties ant
responsibilities Of the priesthood.
is not difficult matter to see hoy
appropriate it is that a priest shoult
be an unmarried man, and this obliga
ton to lead life Of celibacy imposes
- ,,rrooc0nol,1o Y<e4v;o %;~,, YYyou fh.