The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-01-03


on the subject of novel reading and
novel writing? Is it not permissible
and even recommended for Catholics
to read good novels? Is there ever
any objection to fiction Of moral
character?
The Church does not object to nov
els that are not dangerous to faith
and morals. Since she has encOur-
aged learning ever since her emer-
gence from the catacombs, and since
educators are agreed that reading
good novels leads to culture, we might
even say that Churchmen approve of
reading good novels, Innocent amuse-
ment is not forbidden, but to be en-
cOuraged. for men invariably will
seek amusement OF some kind and it
is we'll fer them if they seek it in
good novels. What has been said of
reading novels is also true of writing
them.
There cannot be objection to fiction
of moral character. \ goCd Cath
Ole, however must be extremely
wary today. \ large portion of mod
ern literature is positively immoral,
and when book is impure it is sin
full to read it, whether it has been
formally placed on the Index or not.
Does the Catholic Church approve
the Boy Scout movement?
Several wears ago the Boy Scout
movement was taken up by a number
OF parishes in the East, with consfd-
erabIC success. The promoters Of the
work have asked tie Catholic authori-
ties to enter this field, and to form
Catholic Boy Scout troops. The Ma
tional Catholic War Council speaking
in the name Of the Bishops Of this
country, issued a strong appeal in
favor Of the proposition. In fact, the
Council is taking an active part in
organizing the various troops. Most
Reverend Archbishop Bowling of st.
Paul wrote strong letter favoring
and urging the formation Of these
troops throughout the archdiocese of
st. Paul. The Holy Father himself
also wrote very enCOura gingly of the
work when placed under Catholic aus
pieces. The letter Of the Holy Father
was printed in The Catholic Bulletin
OF November %, this year, and that
of Archbishop Bowling in the recent
issue of December 6. There are at
present more than five hundred Cath
Olic parishes in this country with
troops of Catholic Boy Scouts.
Kindly publish the different times
when the people should stand and
knee and sit at High Mass and at a
Low Mass.
1t has already been stated and re-
peated that there is no fixed way of
assisting at Mass: whether one should
read a prayerbook, or say the beads,
or mediate on the passion Of Christ
This is also true of the various ac-
tiOns Of the people during Mass. The
following method has been suggested
for Low Mass: The people stand as
the priest comes to the altar to be
Gin Mass; they kneel as he says the
prayers at the foot Of the altar and
remaining kneeling until the Gospel,
when they stand; they remain
standing until after the Credo, when
they sit; at the beginning Of the
Preface, they kneel and remain kneel-
ing until after the Communion; they
sit until the priest begins the prayers
preceding the blessing; they kneel for
the blessing and stand for the last
Gospel; they kneel for the prayers
after Mass and they stand at their
places in the pews until the priest has
left the altar and disappeared into the
sacristy. For the High Mass, the pro
Cedure is somewhat the same for the
greater part of the Mass with these
deyiations: the people stand when
the celebrant sings and they sit when
he sits during the singing of the
Gloria and the Credo by the choir
The best general rule is this: When
the celebrant reads, the congregation
sits Except for the Canon Of the
Mass); when he sings, they stand,
when he sits, they sit. This will not
hold for all the parts of the Mass
but it will serve as a general rule.
is it wrong for a Catholic to own 4
Ouija board? Is it possessed by the
devil?
This subject was touched upon in
a recent issue.
The Catholic Mind for November %
1917, explains this in full as follows
instances are recorded where the
Ouija- board and the planchette have
been the means of working untold
harm DR.. l.. S. Forbes WinsloW ii
'Spiritualistic Madness as far back as
1877 wrote: Ten thousand unfortu
nate people are at the present time
confined in lunatic asylums on account
of having tempered with the supernat
ural And there is a famous case
on record in this country of a won
an, who became SO affected by tn,
Use of the Ouija-board that she is nov
compelled to spend her days in an in
stitution for the insane.
From the standpoint of moralit,
and ethics, such occult practices, pei
formed deliberately and sincerely, fal
under the head of divination and arr
mortal sins. i. Such practices ar
declared specifically in Holy Scripture
to be hateful to God; for we read il
the eighteenth chapter of Deuteron
omy, verses ten to twelve: 'Neithe
IL