Motes and Queries THEOLOGY JUBILEE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION RECENT DECISIONS We have received several letters from correspondents with reference to the decisions on the Jubilee which appeared in I. E. RECORD, September, pages 260-263. A few words in reply by way of a brief explanation of these decisions will not, we hope, be unwelcome to our readers. I. Fast-It has been decided that the fast of the Jubilee is a 'black fast.' The Bishops of countries in which it is difficult to find good fasting fare have received power to allow lacticinia' to the faithful who make the Jubilee fast. We regret that this privilege was not published in the Acta S. Sedis in time for us to mention it in our Jubilee Notes of April and May. It has also been decided that those who observe the strict fast can do so on days of Quarter Tense and on vigils, in places where, by an indult, the black fast is not obligatory. In Ireland there is no black fast on days of Quarter Tense and on vigils, so the strict Jubilee fast can be performed on these days in this country. II. Visits :-The S. Poen. has decided that the Jubilee visits can be made on the same or on different days according to the wish of the faithful. In Cathedral cities the Cathedral is the church to be visited by the faithful belonging to the city and suburbs immediately adjoining the city. In country parishes in which there is a parochial church, with auxiliary chapels in hamlets somewhat distant from the place where the parochial church is situate, the faithful of these remote districts can make their Jubilee visits to the auxiliary chapels. It has not been decided how remote these districts must be from the parochial church in order that the faithful living in them may have this privilege. In the I. E. RECORD, May, we suggested that in this connection 'locus' may be taken in its canonical sense, so that if hamlets be an Italian mile apart from one another they can be considered different places in the sense of the Encyclical. We see no reason to change that view. A decision given in the I. E. RECORD, September, confirms, to some extent, our opinion. With special reference to the diocese of Toulouse, it was decided that the visits can be made to the auxiliary chapels of hamlets somewhat remote from one another (viculis satis inter se dissitis). Considering the usual size of parishes in France this decision would be rendered almost nugatory unless our suggestion be adopted. It has been decided also that in places where there is no Cathedral church, but where there are several parochial churches, the Bishop has no power to select one parochial church to the exclusion of the others. The faithful in that case are to visit their own parochial churches (visitandam esse ecclesiam parochialem propriam uniuscujusque fidelis). This form of expression does not, we think, imply that peregrini cannot make their Jubilee visits to the parochial church of the place where they happen to be. For them, as well as for vagi, the ecclesia parochialis propria, as far as the Jubilee is concerned, is the church to which the inhabitants of the place make their Jubilee visits. A more definite decision would be required to set aside the many formal declarations of the Sacr. Cong. that peregrini can make their Jubilee visits to the churches to which the faithful of the place where they happen to be make their Jubilee visits. III. Selection of Confessor by Nuns :-It has now been decided that the restriction, according to which nuns must select as their Jubilee confessor one approved for some nuns, applies to those nuns who live in community, and for whom the Ordinary has designated a special confessor, who alone can hear their confessions: Restrictionem eligendi confessarium tantummodo inter approbatos monialibus, afficere eas quae nedum in communitate vivunt, sed habent praeterea confessarium ab Ordinario designatum qui ad eas accedit, ut earum confessiones unus excipiat.' In the case of the last Jubilee, it was decided that the restriction did not apply to nuns with only simple vows. In Ireland, generally, special confessors are appointed for nuns though they have only simple vows. Hence, according to the recent decision, these nuns are restricted to confessors approved for nuns. IV. Use of Special Faculties by Confessors :-It has been decided that a confessor or confessors can use several times the faculties of the Jubilee in favour of the same penitent who has not yet performed all the works of the Jubilee. HONORARIUM FOR ASSISTING AT BAPTISM REV. DEAR SIR,-Having been invited by a family in a neighbouring parish to baptize a child, I accepted the invitation, and, with permission of the local pastor, duly performed the ceremony. On account of my long-standing friendship for the family I received an honorarium much in excess of the ordinary. To whom does this honorarium belong? The pastor of the place claims it. Must I give it over to him ?—Yours, etc., J. B. At least the ordinary honorarium must be given to the pastor of the place. Moreover, in two cases the whole honorarium must be given to the pastor of the place(a) in those places where the Bishop has made a law ordering the whole honorarium to be given to the pastor, (b) wherever the person giving the honorarium in any way indicates that it is all to go to the pastor of the place. Outside these cases the priest who performs the sacred rite can, in justice, keep the excess over the ordinary honorarium. When an extraordinary honorarium is given through friendship, the presumption is that the donor wishes the excess to belong to the officiant. The latter is justified in acting on this presumption. A similar case, with regard to honoraria for Masses, is solved by theologians in this way.1 We speak merely of an obligation of justice. It is 1 Lehm. ii., n. 204, 3. outside our province to discuss the rules of courtesy which may be supposed to guide priests in matters of this kind. J. M. HARTY. LITURGY INVOCATIONS AT BEGINNING OF LITANY OF THE HOLY NAME REV. DEAR SIR,-In some churches I find that the beginning of the Litany is recited as follows: Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. This seems not to be correct, for S. Rituum Congregatio (6 Martii, 1894)' declaravit quod illae tantum Litaniae publice recitari possunt in Ecclesiis vel oratoriis publicis, quae habentur in Breviario, aut in recentioribus Ritualis Romani ab Apostolica Sede approbatis.' Now in' Breviario aut recentioribus editionibus Ritualis Romani' the Litany begins thus: Lord have mercy upon us. but no SECOND Christ have mercy upon us. Hence I am in doubt SACERDOS. Our correspondent is quite justified in his suspicions regarding the correctness of the form of the Litany of the Holy Name, as he has heard it recited in some churches. The initial invocations should be as he gives them in the second place. Two reasons make this clear. In the first place, if we want to know the proper form of any prayer used in the public service of the Church, we ought to refer to the Liturgical Books which have the immediate sanction and approval of the Holy See. Now the Breviary and the Roman Ritual are recognized liturgical books. Hence, they may be supposed to have the prayers in their proper form. And, as is correctly stated, the Litany of the Holy Name is given in both of these, in the second form above mentioned. Again, the triple invocation at the beginning of the Litanies is inserted in honour of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity, and constituting, as it does, an explicit profession of faith in one of the primary Mysteries of Religion, is a suitable preamble to these invocatory prayers. It is our own experience that, when publicly reciting the Litany, the faithful insist on making a response to the second Kyrie Eleison, unless they are cautioned against doing so. It is this habit that has been, we presume, responsible for what our correspondent noticed. Then, too, we are not quite sure that the Litanies are always correctly given in the Prayer Books in common use among the people, especially when they are given in the vernacular English. PICTURES AND STATUES OF SAINTS HOLDING THE DIVINE INFANT REV. DEAR SIR,-A priest would be obliged by the Editor's kind answer to the following: 1. Are Pictures or Statues of Saints holding the Divine Infant authorised for veneration in a church, or is it only the Pictures or Statues of the Blessed Virgin that have this privilege ? The Council of Trent ordains nemini licere ullo in loco vel Ecclesia, etiam quomodolibet exempta, ullam insolitam ponere, vel ponendam, curare imaginem, nisi ab Episcopo fuerit approbata.'1 Generally speaking, Pictures or Statues of Saints represented with the Divine Infant in the arms are uncommon in the church, and, therefore, ought not to be introduced and publicly exposed for veneration without the sanction of the Bishop of the place. There are a few exceptions where saints are commonly |