The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-12-11
When is a person Iate for Mass2

When is a person late for Mass?
One is late for Mass when one is
not in the Church when the priest
enters the Sanctuary to begin the
Mass. The Church obliges us to hear
Mass on certain days that is, Sundays
and holydays of obligation. The Mass
begins when the priest comes to the
foot of the Altar and says the opening
prayers. If one is not in the Church
at this time, evidently, one is late
for Mass. Such one is guilty of the
same offence as he who leaves the
Church before the end of the Mass,
that is before the priest leaves the
Sanctuary after the Mass has been
said. 1t is a sin to be late for Mass,
but it is a greater sin to miss Mass,
and one can be in the Church during
a part of the Mass and yet have
missed Mass and thereby be guilty OF
a grave violation Of the law. There
are three parts of the Mass at which
it is necessary to be present under
pain of mortal sin. These are the
Offertory, the Conservation and the
Communion. If a person is not pres
ent for these parts he is not only late
for Mass, but he has missed Mass;
he is guilty not only of some sin but
of mortal sin, presuming, of course,
that he is responsible for not being
in the Church at the proper time. In
confessing the fact that one had come
into the Church after the Offertory .of
the Mass, by telling the priest that he
was late" for Mass, person would
be making a bad confession. He
should say that he had missed Mass.
This sin is evidently of different
character altogether from that of be-
ing late for Mass, though each is a
sin.
What fasting does the Church re-
quire of us before we receive Holy
Communion?
The fasting that the Church requires
Of us before Holy Communion, forbids
us to. take anything as food or drink
between midnight and the receiving
of the Body and Blood of Christ. The
quantity necessary to break the last
must be sufficient to enter the
stomach as food or drink. 1t is pos
sible that a drop or two of water be
swallowed and the fast not broken;
because, such small quantity will
be so mingled with the saliva that it
will have lost it's identify before it
ILL In,yo roocho6 tho oh If
fragments of solid food, eaten before
midnight, adhere to the teeth for
time and later are swallowed, the
Church does not consider the fast
to have been broken. She does not
require us to go through the inconven-
fence of splitting out these fragments
in order to preserve the past. When
these are swallowed the Church does
not consider them to have been taken
as food or drink. Every Catholic
knows, of course, that one in danger
of death is not bound by this law OF
fasting. Indeed, if one is able to be
about, to engage in work, but so deli
cate in health that one cannot leave
ones home without drinking at least
some hot water, such Il one is exempt
from the obligation, so far as to take
some water, tea or coffee. In max
ing use of such Interpretation of the
law, however, prudent confessor
should be our guide.
May gclatine be eaten as abstinence
food2
Gelatine is obtained from animal
tissue and from the marrow of bones
From it's nature it seems quite clear
that it cannot licitly be Classed as
abstinence food 1t is true that by
reason of a special privilege, granted
by the Pope at the request of the
bishops of the United States to the
Catholics of the country, lard or drip
pings, which are made from the fat
of animals, may be used in the prep
aration of vegetables for food. Be-
tween this privilege and the direct
use of gelatine as food there are two
points worthy of distinction. One is
that the lard or dripping may be used
in the preparation of food and thus
is eaten indirectly and consequently
not in so great a quantity; while the
gelatine ordinarily is eaten directly
as in the form of soup, or such like
The other difference is based on the
composition of the two substances
One, the lard is rendered from the
fat of animals, the other is obtained
from the animal tissue, and from the
skin and bones of animals. This diff.
ference in their composition prevents
we believe, the gelatine from being
classed as the same substance as lard
and consequently it cannot be in
Guided, according to our Judgment, in
the privilege which mentions specifi.
cally the articles that may be used
namely, lard or dripping, in the prepa-
ration of food.
May a prayer-book be used before
it is blessed?
A prayer-book is used to help us to
pray. The prayer that God hears
is in the heart, not in the book We
may have the book blessed as every
article that we use may be blessed
The blessing adds nothing to the eff
cacy of the prayers.
Does the Catholic Church forbid
Catholics to sing at non-catholie
services?
4 IL