The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-02-20

WoroS with the lips! s. viii any
circumstance justify Catholic acting
as bridemad at a Protestant wedding?
1. The fast days are not necessari-
ly days of abstinence. For instance,
all the days of Lent, except the Sun.
days, are fast days, that is to say,
days on which only one full meal is
allowed, but all are not days of alb
stinence, or days on which one must
abstain from eating meat. The use of
meat is allowed on many days during
Lent, although only one full meal can
be eaten on these days. Read the
Lenten Regulations in last weeks is
sue of The Catholic Bulletin and you
will have no difficulty in answering
these questions for yourself. 2.
There are two kinds of prayer, vocal
and mental. Vocal prayer is prayer
which expresses by word of mouth the
thoughts of the mind and the interior
movements of the heart. This is the
kind of prayer which every Christian
says morning and evening, before and
after meals, and at other times.
AhSAIe1A pay IhCC III NlAlSIA IAS
mind and the heart are applied tC
the things of God without the help
of spoken words. This form of prayer
is known as meditation when the
mind is applied to the affectionate
consideration of truth of faith; and
as contemplation when the mind is
applied to heavenly things without
reasoning and without conscious eff
fort. In these forms of mental prayer
the use of words is unnecessary. But
whether prayer be vocal or mental il
is Cfflcacious when said with the pro
per dispositions. 3. Every Catholic
of ordinary intelligence knows that he
or she is not permitted to take part
in Protestant services; and if actins
as bridesmaid at a Protestant MARI
age be regarded as participating in a
Protestant service, then one would
not be justified in being present in
that capacity. In some places, how
ever, it is considered merely as
courtesy or social attention paid tC
the parties concerned for family OF
other reasons and not as participating
in a form of worship. But even ir
such case a Catholic girl shoule
not act as bridesmaid if she is re
quired ito sign as necessary witness.
since this action constitutes a con
firmation of the union, which, being
necessarily a Sacrament of Christ
when contracted by a baptized Chris
tian, is unlawfully celebrated by. any
one not deputed by the true Church
Of Christ" This does not mean that
the marriage is invalid or void in the
sight of God; but that the minister
though doubtless unaware of the fact
is doing wrong by unsurping the func
tions of Catholic priest. Of course
Catholic bridesmaid would not be
permitted to take part in q mixed
marriage which the Catholic party al
lows to be celebrated in defiance OF
the laws of the church.
If a person commits a mortal sin be.
fore his penance is finished, is the
penance acceptable to God?
In order to be sure of obtaining
the sacramento effect by fulfilling
the penance enjoined by the confes-
sor, the penitent must be in the state
of grace when he fulfils it., for God
does not remit temporal punishment
due to past sins in favor of one who
is at enmity with Him. However, by
fulfilling the penance even in the state
of mortal sin, what had been enjoined
would have been executed, though il
would not then effect it's object of re
hitting temporal punishment due tc
sin confessed. 1t is a disputed point
among theologians whether fulfilment
of penance while in a state of sin
would produce it's effect when the sin
ner repented and again recovered the
state of grace. Many theologians
hold that it does SO, and that it re
wives in the same way as sacrament
revives which has been validity re.
ceived, but which does not produce
grace at the time of it's reception on
account of the presence of some OBJ
stacle in the soul. Although it is bet
ter and safer to execute the penance
while in the state of grace, and if it is
executed in a state of mortal sin it
does not at any rate at once obtain
its effect, yet it is not certain that
any fault is committed by doing ones
penance while in sin, any more than
it is sinful to assist at Mass while out
of the friendship of God. One who in
sin hears Mass on Sunday satisfies
the precept, though he does not obtain
the full fruit of the sacrifice; in the
same way one, who while in sin says
his penance, fulfils indeed his obliga-
ton, but does not thereby obtain at
the time the sacramento fruit of his
action.
I. Does the Catholic Church forbid
the reading of "Jim Jam Jems." If so,
for what reason? Is Sam n. Clark,
the editor, Catholic? 2. What has
happened to the Ark that was built
at the time of Moses, and where is it?
/. The Catholic Church has taken
no action in regard to Jim Jam
Jems." Her general law forbidding
the reading of bad books is sufficient
to take care of publications of this
nature. 1t is difficult to understand
what any persons of ordinary intelli-
gence finds of interest in such a pub
location. We understand that Mr..
Clark, the editor, belongs to a Catholic
family though, it is said, he does not