Stumbling-blocks made stepping-stones on the road to the Catholic faith...

Front matter

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

9-'

STUMBLING-BLOCKS

Contents

Page.

Preface, 7

The Sacrifice of the Mass and its Ceremonies, . 13 The Confessional, . ... . . . .58

Preface

FEW words with my kind readers may not, I hope, be deemed out of place. Instructed by an experience of fourteen years in a widely-extended mission — within the limits of which the members of the Catholic religion are in a marked minority — the writer of this little work has found, during his frequent and almost daily intercourse with those not of the household of faith, that most of the objections against the Church are grounded on mistaken notions concerning those salient points of her teaching which he here endeavors to elucidate.

8 Preface.

To many persons the "Mass" seems an unmeaning sort of pantomime, the " Confessional " a huge imposition, the " Intercession of Saints" an unwarranted innovation, " Devotion to the Blessed Virgin" despicable idolatry, " Purgatory" an impious fraud, and "Infallibility" absolute despotism. Therefore it is that he has selected these in preference to other doctrines, as they have been more assailed and more misunderstood.

The writer puts no faith in mere controversy. He believes in the necessity of clear, simple, earnest explanations of Catholic dogmas, with the absence of every expression that could possibly wound or offend. Controversies are seldom or never productive of good results. They only serve to stir up bad feeling, to excite still more bitterly the prejudices

Preface. 9

of both sides, and to render the disputants still more tenacious of their own ground.

Explanation enlightens and does not disturb, removes difficulties and does not wound, softens asperities and leaves no trace of bitterness behind.

Much as we may, and do, differ on points of faith, and fundamental ones too, it is no reason that we should bear illfeeling to one another. We should hate error, heresy, and every compromise of truth with falsehood, but we should by no means hate those in error or in heresy, but embrace them all in the charity of Christ, praying for their conversion and removing all obstacles from their path.

A great and glorious destiny not only in the material, but also in the spiritual, order is in store for this nation. This io Preface.

is the great country of the future, not only for liberty but also for religion. Here the great battle between faith and infidelity is to be waged.

The principles of the Catholic religion are in full harmony with those enunciated in the Declaration of Independence. There is no danger of incompatibility ; and if our priests and people be but fully alive to a sense of their great responsibilities, long before the next centennial of our national existence 'shall dawn this grand Republic will be the stronghold of the Church of God.

Animated with these views, and trusting in the goodness of that God who wishes all men to be saved and to arrive at the knowledge of truth, I calmly let loose this little venturesome craft on the dangerous ocean of the literary

Preface. 1 1

world, hoping that it may serve as a temporary help and support for some poor mariner tossed about on the sea of doubt and carried away by every wind of doctrine, until he may be able to give true signals and hail the precious life-boat of Peter and be wafted in safety to the everlasting shore.

J. J. M.

Chatham Village, N. Y., Feast of St. Martin of Tours, November n, 1879.

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS, AND ITS CEREMONIES.

HE Mass is the key to the entire Catholic worship — the sun or centre of the whole Catholic system. Understand it fully and clearly, and everything connected with the ceremonial of the Church becomes perfectly plain and full of divine meaning.

Be in ignorance with regard to its proper explanation, and everything in Catholic worship becomes unintelligible — a mere pantomime, a senseless jargon.

Comprehend it, as the Church understands it and wishes it to be understood,

and it is the grandest action that can be possibly performed in the universe. God himself, with all the unlimited capabilities of His omnipotence, could not bestow on man the power to perform a nobler, holier, or more important function.

There is not a single motion, a minute ceremony, an apparently insignificant vestment, not the slightest change of posture, not a movement nor a prayer, that has not its deep mystic meaning, that carries not with it its useful lesson, its cheering thought, its consoling promise, or its earnest exhortation.

How sublime, and even divine, is the Mass!

No matter how retired the locality, how miserably poor the surroundings, or howhumble the roof under which it is celebrated — there is an action performed which rivets the attention and claims the worship of even the highest of those blessed spirits who watch over this material world of ours.

Behold the priest vested for the Holy Sacrifice — the priest another Christ {Sacerdos, alter Christus), as he has been well termed. Hear him giving forth the moving forty-second psalm, "Judica"; see him bowed down in the profound humiliation of the " Confiteor " ; then, ascending the Holy of Holies, thrice begging pardon of each of the three Divine Persons of the adorable Trinity at the " Kyrie," intoning with joyous strain the glorious anthem of the angelic "Gloria," announcing the sublime doctrines of the " Gospel," proclaiming aloud the potent " Credo," offering up the precious elements at the " Offertory," raising his heart and those of his hearers at the " Sursum corda " of the Preface, and the exultant "Sanctus" ; witness the worshipful adoration at the " Consecration," the silent absorption of the " Memento," the prayer of the Incarnate God, the divine u Pater Noster," the humble centurions " Domine, non sum dignus," the soul-absorbing consuming of the Sacred Species at the Communion, and the last blessing, in the name of the omnipotent God, of the assembled prayerful multitude !

What possibly could be grander or more soul-inspiring than this tremendous mystery — tremendum mysterium, as it is called by the Council of Trent?

Before entering on an explanation of what the Mass is, on what foundations it rests, the meaning of its sacred ceremonies, and the vestments used in its celebration, a few words on the nature and history of

SACRIFICES

in general will not, I trust, be out of place.

A sacrifice is an offering, by a legitimate minister, of something which falls under the senses and which undergoes destruction or change, in acknowledgment of the supreme dominion of God over all creatures.

From the very beginning of the world sacrifices were offered to the Almighty, and can certainly be traced back to the immediate sons of Adam, Abel and Cain — the former offering to God the firstlings of his flock, and the latter the firstfruits of the earth. Noe offered his sacrifice after coming out of the ark ; Abraham, his beloved son Isaac, the type of Christ ; Melchisedech, bread and wine

— the figure of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, or the Mass. Melchisedech, " the king of justice and of peace/' was a true type of Christ. He was called " Priest of the Most High," and to him Abraham paid tithes of all the spoils gained by his victory over the kings. Sacred Scripture gives no genealogy of Melchisedech, who rejoiced in the priestly office, inherited from no one and not succeeded to by others.

In all times and countries, even when and where the worship of the true God was abandoned, sacrifices were offered by all tribes and peoples to their divinities. Being no doubt a part of the primitive revelation made to mankind, it seems to have been a natural instinct of the human heart to offer up some sacrifice — such as the blood of animals or the firstfruits of the earth — in acknowledgment of the supreme dominion of God over life and death.

Amongst the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, and even amongst the most barbarous and uncivilized people in our own times, this custom prevailed and still prevails. By all it was looked upon as an essential act of worship, as a necessary act consequent upon mans dependence on God, and also as the most efficacious means of appeasing an angry Deity.

Such has been the constant and invariable belief even of those left to their own natural light and not gifted with that superior light of divine faith illumining from on high.

All the sacrifices under the Law of Moses were more or less symbolical of the great Sacrifice of the New Law. All were commanded by God Himself, who prescribed the various ceremonies to be performed during the holy functions.

THE SACRIFICE OF THE NEW LAW,

which was once offered up in a bloody manner on Calvary's Mount by Jesus Christ Himself, who was both High- Priest and Victim, is ever since continued and renewed, though offered up in an unbloody manner, on all our altars, and shall so continue unto the end of time.

The Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacrifice on Calvary are not two different sacrifices, therefore, but one and the same, having the same High- Priest and the same adorable Victim. In the Sacrifice of Calvary Our Blessed Saviour suffered a real death ; in that of the

Mass, a mystical death, represented by the separate consecration of the sacred species, the bread and the wine. This sacrifice has, consequently, the same effect as that of Calvary, and the figurative death of our Lord, together with the participation of His Sacred Flesh and Blood, is as wonderfully productive of grace and power as the real, true death once consummated on the ignominious gibbet of the Cross. His sacrifice was not to be transitory or of short duration, but intended to continue during all time, in every age and country, as may be clearly seen from the prophecies of the Old Testament and His own unmistakable declarations in the New Testament.

The x^Vlmighty, expressing Himself displeased with the sacrifices of the Jews, foretold, through

THE PROPHET MALACHIAS,

the new oblation which would be offered among the Gentiles, and which would render glory to His Name. He announces this new and great Sacrifice — one entirely worthy of Him — which would not be offered in one particular place, but amongst all nations " from the rising to the setting of the sun." " I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts, and I will not receive a gift of your hand. For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, My Name is great among the Gentiles ; and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My Name a clean oblation : for My Name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of Hosts " (Malachias i. 10, 1 1).

The same oblation was prefigured in the old law, as we learn from the Book of Genesis, xiv. 18: " Melchisedech, the king of Salem, bringing forth bread and wine, for he was the priest of the Most High God."

The Psalmist testifies to the same (Psalm cix. 4) : " The Lord hath sworn, and He will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech."

The great Apostle St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, thus gives his testimony : " It is impossible that with the blood of oxen and goats sins should be taken away. Therefore, coming into the world he saith : Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldst not ; but a body thou hast fitted to me ; holocausts for sin did not please thee. Then said I : Behold,

24 The Sac7'ifice of the Mass,

I come ; in the head of the book it is written of me, that I should do Thy will, O God. . . . He taketh away the first, that he may establish that which followed!" (x. 4-9).

Then we have the Evangelists testimony, than which nothing can be more clear: " And taking bread He gave thanks, and brake : and gave to them, saying: This is My Body which is given for you. Do this for a commemoration of Me. In like manner the chalice also, after He had supped, saying : This is the chalice of the new testament in My Blood, which shall be shed for you" (St. Luke xxii. 19-22).

It is evident from this last text that our Blessed Saviour commanded the apostles, and in them their successors in office, to continue to offer up this saving

Victim until the end of time. His sacrifice was to be offered but once in that terribly painful and bloody manner, as it was on Calvary's mount for the sins of all mankind; but it is His intention that the same great sacrifice should be continued as long as His Church should last — that is, unto the consummation of ages — and be offered up, in an unbloody manner, in order that the merits of redemption should be applied to our souls. In other words, the grand offering for the sins of the human race was made in the sacrifice of Calvary, but the application of the same infinite merits is effected through the Sacrifice of the Mass.

St. Paul says (Heb. xiii. 10) : " We have an altar, whereof they have no power to eat who serve the tabernacle."

What use would there be for an altar without a priest? And what utility to be derived from both priest and altar, if there were no sacrifice to be offered ?

The same great apostolic teacher warns the Christians to beware of participating in the sacrifice offered to idols, as they would then be unworthy of participating in the Christian sacrifice.

" I would not that you should be made partakers with devils. You cannot drink the chalice of the Lord, and the chalice of devils : you cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord, and of the table of devils" (i Corinthians x. 20, 21). " The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?" (Ibid. 16). Also in the eleventh chapter of the same beautiful epistle: "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the night in which He was betrayed, took bread, and giving thanks, broke and said: Take ye and eat : this is My Body which shall be delivered for you ; do this for the commemoration of Me. In like manner also the chalice, after He had supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in My blood ; this do ye, as often as ye shall drink, for the commemoration of Me. For as often as ye shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, ye shall show the death of the Lord, until He come. Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself: and so let him eat of that bread and drink of the chalice. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord." (All these texts are substantially- the same in the Protestant version of the Scriptures.)

The Sacrifice of the Mass derives all its merit, power, and efficacy from the Sacrifice of the Cross, the latter being the source of grace, and the former the channel through which it comes to us. On the Cross the infinite merits of Jesus Christ became our property, but in the Mass this inexhaustible wealth is distributed throughout the world. On the Cross He died for all men in general ; in the Mass, special application is made to individual souls.

The Mass, being a supreme act of worship, can only be offered to

GOD ALONE.

" Deus, cui offertur ; Deus, qui offertur ; Deus, a quo offertur." As St. Augustine says : " God, to whom it is offered ; God, who is offered ; God, by whom it is offered."

It cannot be offered to any created being, not to the highest saint or the brightest angel; no, not even to the Blessed Virgin. Mass may be, and often is, offered to the Almighty in honor of the Blessed Virgin, the angels, or the saints, in order to thank Him for the great graces and glory bestowed upon them and to beg their intercession, that we may follow in their footsteps and cultivate those virtues which they possessed in so high a degree; but the Mass is never offered to any saint, howsoever elevated, for this would be an act of idolatry — the giving to a creature the worship due only to the Creator.

" Idolatry," says Dr. Jeremy Taylor, the great divine of the Church of England (in his book entitled Liberty of Prophesying, section 20, m. 26), "is a forsaking the true God and giving divine worship to a creature, or to an idol — that is, to an imaginary god. Now, it is evident that the object of their [the Catholics'] devotion in the Blessed Sacrament is the only true and Eternal God, hypostatically joined with His holy humanity, which humanity they believe actually present under the veil of the sacramental signs. And if they thought Him not present, they are so far from worshipping the bread in this case, they themselves profess it idolatry to do so. Which is a demonstration that their soul has nothing in it which is idolatrical ; the will has nothing in it but what is a great enemy to idolatry ; and nothing burns in hell but proper will."

The Mass, then, is an offering made to the Almighty of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, or an action in which bread is consecrated into the Body and wine into the Blood of Christ by the sacred ministry of the priest, using the very words of our Saviour, and gifted with His authority, in commemoration of the sacrifice of Calvary, " to show the death of the Lord until He come,"

From all that has been said the conv)

elusion is evident that the value of the Mass is infinite. St. Alphonsus Liguori declares that " all the honor which angels by their adoration, men by their good works, austerities, and even martyrdom, have ever rendered or ever shall render to God, never could and never will give him so much glory as one single Mass ; for while the honor of all creatures is only finite, that which accrues to God from the Holy Sacrifice of the altar is infinite, insomuch as the Victim which is offered is of infinite value. The Mass, therefore, offers to God the greatest honor that can be given Him ; subd.ues most triumphantly the powers of hell ; affords the greatest relief to the souls in purgatory ; appeases most efficaciously the wrath of God against sinners, and brings down the greatest blessings on mankind. "

" This is truly the corn of the elect, and the wine springing forth virgins " (Zach. ix. 1 7).

St. Bonaventure calls the Mass " the compendium of all God's benefits " — compendium quoddam beneficiorum suorum. St. John Chrysostom says that the Mass has as much value as the death of Christ on the cross: Tantum valet celebratio Missce quantum valet mors Christi in cruce.

* Oh ! how greatly to be revered the dignity of priests," says the great St. Augustine in his commentary on the twenty-seventh psalm, " in whose hands, as in the womb of the Virgin, the Son of God takes unto Himself flesh " — O veneranda sacerdotum dignitas Y in quorum manibus velut in utero Virginis Filius Dei incarnatur

CEREMONIES OF THE MASS.

In all ' public worship ceremonies have always been considered necessary for the proper performance of sacred functions, and for the maintenance of greater decency and propriety. Some form of ceremonial law has ever been in use from patriarchal times, and still more so under the law of Moses; the various vestments and ceremonies having been ordained by God Himself. Nor did our Blessed Saviour disdain the use of ceremonies, as we perceive from those He employed when He cured the man born blind (John xv. 6) and the deaf and dumb (Mark vii. 33). They are calculated, first, to preserve uniformity, so desirable in divine worship ; secondly, to demonstrate, by exterior action, the interior dispositions of the soul, owing, as we do, the worship of both body and soul to the Almighty; moreover, in the third place, these outward ceremonies bring to mind, and more deeply impress, the truth of Christian mysteries, the dispositions required for the proper reception of the sacraments, and the corresponding obligations which they impose.

Many of the ceremonies were ihstituted by the Apostles and their immediate successors, "for the edification of the body of Christ" (Eph. iv). " Let all things be done decently and according to order," says St. Paul (1 Cor. xiv. 40). " The rest I will set in order when I come" (1 Cor. xi. 34). These words show that the apostle no doubt established regulations for the proper maintenance of divine worship.

Now let us come to an explanation of the vestments of the priest and the ceremonies of the Mass.

THE PRIEST

is dressed in vestments every one of which is symbolical, having reference chiefly to the Passion of Christ, whose representative he is, more especially during the Holy Sacrifice.

The first article which he puts on is a small, white, oblong linen cloth, which he first places on the back of his head and allows to fall on his shoulders close to the neck. This is the amid, and represents the rags with which the Jews muffled our Saviours face. The alh (the long white garment extending to the feet and covering the cassock or soutane, the priests ordinary ecclesiastical dress) is emblematic of the white garment put in derision on our Lord by Herod. The cincture, or girdle, signifies the cords and bands by which He was bound. The maniple (from the Latin word manus, the hand) is worn on the left arm in memory of the cords with which His hands were tied to the pillar during the scourging. The stole, worn round the neck with the extremities crossed over the priests breast, signifies the heavy yoke of the cross to which He submitted for our sakes. The chasuble, the full outer vestment, the purple garment with which our Saviour was clothed in mockery in the court of Pontius Pilate. On the chasuble is always a large embroidered cross, to remind both priest and people that the efficacy of the Sacrifice of the altar is derived from that of the Cross on Calvary. The berretta, or square black cap of the priest, is symbolical of the crown of thorns.

The altar represents Mount Calvary; the chalice, the sepulchre; the altar linens, the winding-sheets ; the paten or silver plate, the stone rolled against the entrance of the sepulchre; and the candles, the light of faith, " without which it is impossible to please God."

The vestments have also a mystic meaning in reference to the priest himself. The amict denotes divine hope, " the helmet of salvation " ; the alb, innocence of life; the cincture, holy purity; the maniple, patience in suffering; the stole, the yoke of Christ — "My yoke is sweet indeed and my burden light " ; and the chasuble, covering all the rest, the great mantle of charity.

The vestments are of different colors. White, emblematic of purity, is used on the joyous feasts of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin, the confessors and virgins. Red, significative of fortitude, on the feasts of the Holy Cross, the instruments of the Passion, during the octave of Pentecost, and on the feasts of the martyrs. Purple is used in Lent and other penitential seasons. Green (expressive of hope) is used on ordinary Sundays from octave of Epiphany to Septuagesima and from octave of Pentecost to Advent, when there is no special feast. Black is used in Masses for the dead and on Good Friday.

THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE MASS.

The Mass, as well as every office of religion, begins with the sign of the cross : In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. — " In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Amen. The Unity and Trinity of God, the Incarnation, Passion, and Death of our Saviour are all expressed by this one saving sign. No wonder, then, that it has been in such constant use from the time of Christ and His Apostles.

Tertullian, who wrote in the second century of our era, thus speaks of it : " At every moving from place to place, at every coming in and going out; in dressing, at the baths, at table; on lighting candles, going to rest, sitting down; in whatever action we are engaged, we sign ourselves on the forehead with the cross " (De Corona Mil.)

The priest then recites the forty-second psalm, "Judica" (the forty-third in the Protestant version), expressing the joy and desires of a soul approaching the altar of God. Bowing down, he says the " Confiteor," or general confession, in humble acknowledgment of his sinfulness before God, and the clerk or acolyte does the same on behalf of the people- — showing the necessity of true repentance in order to derive the fruits of the Great Sacrifice.

Ascending the altar steps, he begs of God to take away our iniquities, that we may be fit to enter His sanctuary.

He then begins the Mass of the day at the "Introit" (an anthem from some part of the Scriptures, with verse of psalm and Gloria Patri), after which he returns to the middle of the altar, where he " says " Kyrie eleison " (the Greek for " Lord, have mercy ") thrice to God the Father, " Christe eleison " thrice to God the Son, and "Kyrie eleison" thrice to God the Holy Ghost.

He then (except in penitential times, votive Masses, and Masses for the dead) intones the "Gloria in excelsis" — u Glory be to God on high." This hymn of praise being concluded, he turns to the people and says : " Dominus vobiscum " — " The Lord be with you." This salutation is made seven times during the Mass, and is the same as was addressed to Gedeon by the angel (Judges vi. 12), to the reapers by Boaz (Ruth ii. 4), and to Asa by Azarias (2 Paral. xv. 2).

After one or more prayers at the lefthand side of the altar, he then reads the " Epistle," which is selected from some one of the various epistles of the New or from some book of the Old Testament, which being concluded, the acolyte says: "Deo gratias," or " Thanks to God," for these salutary instructions.

The missal or mass-book is then changed to the gospel side of the altar, denoting the change from the Old to the New Dispensation, and the people always stand while the Gospel is being read, to show their firm belief in the word of God and their readiness to obey it.

Before the reading of the Gospel both priest and people make the sign of the cross on their foreheads to testify their open profession of the faith, on their lips to show that they are willing to give testimony to the same by their words, and on their breasts that they wish to cultivate it with their heart's best affections. At the conclusion of the Gospel the acolyte says, or the choir chants, " Laus tibi, Christe," " Praise to Thee, O Christ," for vouchsafing to teach us such heavenly doctrines.

Then (on Sundays and special feasts) the " Creed" is intoned, that creed which has been recited in the Church since the time of the Councils of Nice and Constantinople, and when the celebrant says the words "et incarnatus est," he and all present bend the knee in honor of the Incarnation of the Divine Word.

At the " Offertory" of the bread and wine the priest begs of the Almighty to accept the sacrifice, which he is about to offer, for the remission of his own sins and those of the people, and for the refreshment of all those souls who departed this life in the peace and friendship of God. He blesses the bread and wine, and beseeches the Holy Spirit to sanctify them unto His Holy Name.

Proceeding to the epistle side, he washes the tips of those fingers which are to hold the Sacred Host, at the same time reciting the " Lavabo " (the twentyfifth psalm), denoting the purity of body and soul with which we should assist at so holy an action.

Returning to the middle of the altar, he there bows down, begging of the ever-blessed Trinity to receive this offering in honor of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, making remembrance also of the Blessed Virgin and all the saints, that they may intercede in heaven for us who strive to honor their memory here on earth.

Turning towards the people, he recommends them to pray that his sacrifice and theirs may be acceptable in the sight of the Almighty; after which he intones the " Preface " or introduction to the Canon of the Mass, calling upon those present to raise their hearts — " Sursum corda" — and join their praises of God with those of the nine choirs of angels, concluding with the " Sanctus " (Holy, Holy, Holy) in honor of the Blessed Trinity.