The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-01-15

Yes, all the Fridays Of the year
whether they are fast days or only
days of abstinence; Ash Wednesday,
which, in 1916, falls on March s; the
Wednesday of Holy Week, April 10;
Holy Saturday, April %; and the
vigil of Christmas, AS this falls on
Sunday this year, the fast will be
observed on December %.
Is it not true that there have been
bad and wicked Popes?
Yes; and it is also true that one
out of twelve apostles proved a
traitor, yet no one on that account
denies the divinity of Christ, or re-
jects the claims of Christianity. The
fact that five or six Popes out of a
long list of 260 have proved unworthy
can not be adduced as valid argu-
ment against the claims of the papacy,
Christ never promised that every
priest, bishop and Pope would be a
saint of heroic virtue. He selected
His ministers from among men, not
angels; He even predicted that scan
dals would come, and He tolerated a
traitor among His chosen disciples.
No logical mind can trace the inf
deity of an individual to the doctrine
or practice of the Church. Ii a pa
tient dies because he rejects the
medicine and disregards the injunc-
tions of his doctor, we do not lay the
blame at the door of the physician
we hold the patient himself respon-
show of sane logic cast aspersions on
the See of st. Peter because five or
six of it's occupants forgot their high
office and followed the ways of sin
AS matter Of fact, these exceptions
have been most rare. Of 260 Popes,
more than 80 have been martyred for
the faith of Christ and have sealed
with their life's blood their love and
devotion to their Master; nearly one
third of the Popes are recognized as
men of exceptional and heroic virtue
and are honored as canonized saints;
almost one-ffth of the whole line have
suffered exile or Imprisonment for the
sake of truth and liberty. The Popes
purified a corrupt pagan society, they
converted and civilized the wild bar
barian hordes, they saved Christian
Europe from the unholy yoke of the
Turk, they defended the peasant
against the unjust eXactions of
tyrants, they fostered the arts and the
sciences. The fact that four or
five of their number in 1900 years
have been found wanting by contrast
enhances the glory of that long line
of 260 Popes who reach from st, Peter
to Benedict XIV.
When an usher is busy in church
during several parts of the Mass, is
he obliged to attend another Mass?
No; he has fulfilled the Sunday
obligation by attending the Mass at
which he acted as usher. He has been
physically present at the Mass and
his work as usher did not prevent
him from having the attention neces-
sary to hear the Mass. In fact his
work is a religious work, and as such
will receive its reward.
Is it true that the Bible did not get
into the hands of the people until
after the Reformation?
1t has been taken for granted by
some that the Holy Scripture was al
most sealed book to the English
clergy and the laity until it was print
cd in English by Tyndale and Cover
dale, and that the only knowledge re-
speeding it before then was the trans
lation made by Wycliff. The facts are
that the clergy and monks daily read
the Bible, and had its contents in their
memory from constant reading of it;
that they made very free use of the
Scripture in preaching, so that even
modern Bible reader is astonished
at the number of quotations and refer
ences contained in medieval sermons;
that countless copies of the Bible were
written out by the industry of the
clustered scribes; that many CLOS
saries and commentaries were written
which are still seen to be full of pious
and wise thoughts; and that all lay
men who could read were, as a rule,
provided with their Gospels, Psalter,
or other portions of the Bible. The
few among the laity who could read
had abundant opportunity to read the
Bible either in Latin or English up to
the so-called Reformation. 1t is an
historical fact that long before the
time of Luther the Bible had been
translated into the languages of al
most every country in Europe. In most
nations there were, in fact, many YER
sions, as we have pointed out often in
these columns.
What is meant by "The Revision of
the Latin Version of the BihIe,u about
which one hears so much in connec-
ton with the name of Cardinal Gas
quet?
Briefly, 1t means that for number
of years, in fact since the time of the
Council of Trent, revision has been
in contemplation st. Jerome's Latin
Bible is the official text of the Church.
which she uses in her liturgy-all
translations are made from this. st.
Jerome's original work long ago per-
ished in the many barbaric invasions
of Europe SO that the manuscript
extant today dates much later than
his time.
The examination and comparison of
these later papers, in order to say
just what was the text Of st. jerome,
is the work that our present Holy