King James III. writes, on October 23rd, 1704, to the King of Spain (Philip V.), recommending Father Ambrose O'Connor, Provincial of the Irish Dominicans, to his favourable consideration. Less than five years later, namely on June 16th, 1709, King James nominated Father O'Connor as Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, who was accordingly approved of at Rome, but died at London, on February 20th, 1711, before consecration.

On May 11th, 1705, Queen Mary wrote to Count Caprara to solicit (on the part of herself and her son) Pope Clement XI. to hasten the beatification of Father Vincent de Paul. 'who had sent missionaries to Ireland and Scotland in very dangerous times."1

The following extract of a letter from the queen to the Bishop of St. Omer, dated September 28th, 1705, is of more than passing interest, as it refers to an Irish nun of Ypres, who was a 'Jubilarian' of thirteen years standing at her death :

This letter will be delivered by Mr. Creagh, Canon of Strasburg, nephew of the late Archbishop of Dublin, whose niece, Miss Creagh, is one of the two Irish girls you charitably maintain in the convents of your diocese. As she has the vocation to become a nun in the Convent of the Irish Benedictines at Ypres, where her cousin provides her with a dowry, I ask you to let the Canon conduct her thither.

This nun, known in religion as Dame Mary Bridget Creagh, died on May 29th, 1768, aged 83.

James III. having attained his majority, on June 21st, 1706, wrote to Pope Clement XI. rendering him homage and filial obedience. On September 9th, he again wrote expressing his satisfaction at the Pope's confirmation of Cardinal Imperiali, as Protector of the Kingdom of Ireland.

From a long letter written by James III. to Cardinal Imperiali, on February 7th, 1707, we gather that there

For the fullest account of the Vincentian Order in Ireland see Father Boyle's admirable paper, Hibernia Vincentiana,' in the I. E. RECORD, for November, 1903.

This was Dr. Peter Creagh, who had been promoted from the united sees of Corkand Cloyne to the Archbishopric of Dublin, on March 9th, 1693, at the request of King James II., and who died as coadjutor to the Cardinal Archbishop of Strasburg, at Alsace, in 1705.

were only two bishops in Ireland, of whom but one is at liberty to exercise his functions, the other being in prison -on which account he urges the appointment of three bishops to the sees of Kilmacduagh, Ardfert and Aghadoe, and Killala, namely, Drs. Ambrose Madden, Denis Moriarty, and Thaddeus O'Rourke, O.S.F., respectively, whom he had named to these sees three years previously at the desire and request of his Holiness himself.' Two months later, James III. nominated Ambrose MacDermot, O.P., Penitentiary of St. Mary Major, to the vacant see of Elphin. It may be well to explain that the bishop who was in prison in 1707 was Dr. Patrick Donnelly of Dromore, and he it was who consecrated Father Thady O'Rourke, above named, as Bishop of Killala, in Newgate prison, Dublin, on August 24th, 1707.

Father Nugent, Superior of the Irish Capuchins, went to Rome in July, 1708, and was given high recommendations from Queen Mary to Cardinal Caprara, praising the great missionary zeal of the Irish Capuchin friars.

On June 16th, 1709, James III. nominated John Verdon, D.D., Vicar-General of the diocese of Armagh, as Bishop of Ferns, which appointment was confirmed by the Pope on September 14th, on which date the brief of his consecration was issued. On March 2nd following, King James nominated Christopher Butler, Doctor of the Sorbonne, to the see of Cashel, for whose appointment the clergy of the diocese had petitioned.' This nomination was duly confirmed by the Pope.

By Brief of May 5th, 1714, Pope Clement XI. formally acknowledged James's right to nominate bishops for Irish sees, and assured the exiled monarch that there would in future be no interruption of the power of nominating effectually to all the bishoprics of Ireland.' Accordingly we find that on May 24th, 1715, James nominated Dr. Hugh MacMahon, Bishop of Clogher, to the Archbishopric of Armagh-but it must be noted that the translation had been effected by decree of the Propaganda in August of the preceding year.

On August 16th, 1715, James III. wrote from Bar-le

Duc to Pope Clement XI., nominating Edward Murphy, Vicar-General of the Diocese of Dublin, to the Bishopric of Kildare. This nomination was duly confirmed by Pope Clement XI., and, on October 18th, James wrote from Commercy thanking the Sovereign Pontiff for appointing Dr. Murphy, also requesting that the administration of the diocese of Leighlin would also be entrusted to said prelate.

In a letter from James to the Abbé Innes, dated St. Malo, November 11th, 1715, we get a curious confirmation of the identity of the Highland Scotch language with the Irish. He thus writes :

I shall not wait for Farquarson, for besides that Mr. O'Flanagan speaks very good Irish, we have found a very honest man here called Drummond, who is a physician, speaks the language, and knows the country.

With this extract I end for the present, but the value of the documents from 1715 to 1745 is even greater, as the letters and memoranda number about fifty thousand of an uninterrupted series.

WILLIAM H. GRATTAN FLOOD.

Notes and Queries

LITURGY

THE USE OF LIGHTS BEFORE STATUES OF SAINTS

REV. DEAR SIR,-May I trouble you for an opinion on the following matters? Is it lawful to place lights before statues ? And, if the practice is generally lawful, may I further ask if an oil lamp, or lighted candle, may lawfully be placed before a statue which happens to be in a church or oratory where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved? The point is one of some importance, and an answer in an early issue of the I. E. RECORD would greatly oblige-Yours, etc.,

SUBSCRIBER.

We shall state a few well-authenticated principles in reference to the custom of using lights before statues that will probably cover any case that is likely to arise in this connection.

I. The practice is quite lawful. It is authorised by the Ceremoniale Episcoporum,1 and is also referred to with approval by the Congregation of Rites, not to mention other authorities of lesser import. What applies to the statues, is true with even greater force of the Relics of Saints. The use of lights in these circumstances is indicative of the respect, honour and devotion that we desire to pay to the saints, as well as representative of some symbolical meaning. As the Ceremoniale, already quoted, expresses it: Lampades adhibeantur . . . tum ad cultum et ornatum, tum ad mysticum sensum.'

2. It is unnecessary to mention that, as it is only canonized saints who are entitled to a public and universal cultus, so it is only before the statues or relics of these that lights may be publicly placed without special authorization. The

1 Lib. i., cap. xii., 17.

2 Decr., edition March, 1821.

veneration and honour due, for instance, to the Blessed are limited, and may not be publicly exhibited except in those districts for which permission is had. Hence it follows that in the case of the former class of saints-those, namely, that are canonized-when the fact of canonization is ascertained no further permission is required to warrant the use of lights before their statues.

3. May lights be used before statues in churches where the Blessed Sacrament is preserved? The Ceremoniale Episcoporum makes no distinction between churches where the Blessed Sacrament is present and those where it is not. Hence it allows them indiscriminately. So, too, the Congregation of Rites. But, of course, the altar of the Blessed Sacrament should be easily distinguishable from the others either by a greater display of lights, or by a more elaborate illumination. In fact the Roman Ritual insinuates that there ought to be at least two lights before the Blessed Sacrament: Lampades coram eo plures, vel saltem una, die noctuque perpetuo colluceat.' Images and relics may be arranged on an altar where the Blessed Sacrament reposes, provided they do not rest on the tabernacle, or directly in front of it. They may be put between the candlesticks. Here, however, it would not be proper to use lights before them on account of the possible danger of confounding the cultus of the images with that due to the Most Holy Sacrament.

4. When the Blessed Sacrament is solemnly exposed for the adoration of the faithful, all statues and relics are to be removed from the altar of exposition; or, if this is inconvenient, they should be covered. It is not forbidden, at the same time, to use lights before statues which may be in some other part of the church.

5. It is fitting and congruous that a statue, or picture of a saint, should hold a prominent position on an altar dedicated to him, that the faithful may be reminded of him, and of the duty of having recourse to his intercession. 6. We shall conclude our observations by giving some

De Sac. Euch. VOL. XVI.

2 S.R.C. Decr., nn, 2067, 2906.

R