The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-01-06
SINS AGAINST RELIGION.

There are two ways of SHINING
against the virtue of religion: by de-
feet and by excess. A sin by defect
would be, to neglect to render to God
a sufficient worship or to be wanting
in respect for Him. A sin by excess
would be, to render God false or
unbecoming worship, opposed to the
principles of faith and reason. The
excess lies in wrong practices: either
we worship an object not worthy of it
or else worship in a wrong way
through false methods
The principal sin by defect is sacri-
lege. In this sin, some sacred person.
place or thing is violated or profaned;
irreverence is thus offered to God
through irreverent treatment of what
is set aside for His particular service
Sacrilege may be of three kinds, ac-
cording as the outrage is committed
against sacred Cd persons, (2) places,
or CD things.
The PROCLAMATION of sacred persons
consists in doing violence to persons
specially consecrated to religion; all
ecclesiastical persons, whether priests
or mere tonsured clerics and all those
consecrated to God by the vows of
religious life. Hence it is a sacrilege
to strike or to inf1ict serious indigni-
ties upon such sacred persons.
A local sacrilege or proclamation of
sacred place occurs by the commits
sion of any act which is especially re-
pugnant to the purity of holiness of
that place or by using it for purposes
not BETTING it's sanctity. Sins of this
character would be the shedding of
blood, violent disputes, holding of
sales, secular meetings accomplished
by great clamor and disturbance in
places made sacred by special bless
ing. In certain grave cases of prof
anation, the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass cannot be offered until the con-
secration of the Church has been re-
established by the Bishop. Chapels,
oratories and cemeteries are also
numbered among the sacred places
which are profaned by such unbecom-
ing acts.
The first in order of sacred things
come the seven Sacraments. To re-
ceive any Sacrament unworthily or
invalidly, and knowingly, would be
grievous sacrilege, e. g., bad Confess
sion or Communion. Next in order
come the sacred vessels and vest
ments, dedicated to the use of the altar
or to use in the sacramento rites. 1t
wni,1H 10 a ORC conrilnon 10
these sacred things with great indig
nifty or mockery or to turn them to
purely secular uses unless they have
first been deprived of their, sacred
form. Finally, property or money set
aside for ecclesiastical purposes is not,
indeed, sacred in itself, but the right
of the Church to it is sacred. Hence
sacrilege as well as theft is commit
ted when such property or money is
misappropriated or stolen. The prof
anation of sacred things varies in the
grievOusness of the offense, according
to the nature of the thing profaned.
The greatest of sins against relig-
ion by excess, is idolatry. 1t consists
in giving to creatures worship which
is due to the Creator, to God alone.
Thus the pagans adored the sun, the
moon and certain animals. Even the
Jews, the chosen people," set up a
golden calf and worshipped it. With
many people of today, idoltary is
present though under different form;
j. e., devotion of ones entire life to
the world, it's interests and pleasures.
Riches, intemperance and voluptuous-
ness receive the same honor and serv-
ice, at present as was rendered of
man makes a god of money; the
drunkard, of liquor, the impure man,
of the object of his passions. To the
worship of these odious deities, men
sacrifice both their souls and eternity.
st. Thomas of Aquin declares the wor-
ships of idols to be the greatest of all
sins, while st. Paul expressly states
that idolators shall not possess the
Kingdom of God
Superstition.
Another great sin against religion,
by excess, is superstition with it's
various practices. This sin consists
in ascribing to created things powers
which they do not possess by nature
or striving to obtain revelations be-
yond human knowledge. 1t is of pagan
origin and there exist today many
popular and local customs that are
but relics of pagan times.
The first class of superstitious prac-
tees is called vain observances.
Many educated people, even Catholics,
cling to superstitious beliefs such as
the thirteen at table" folly, the cult
of the lucky" horseshoe, or the
avoidance of Journeys on Fridays, the
day when the best fortune that this
world has ever known befell it. Gen
orally speaking, vain observances are
nothing more serious than their name
implies, mere triies. They are venial-
ly sinful, except for simplicity or
ignorance.
Another child of superstition is
divination: the invoking of the devil,
either expressly or tacitly, in order to
ascertain hidden or secret things or
knowledge. To this form is allied the
consultation of soothsayers. Such
compact made with the devil in eX-