‘STAND FAST IN THE FAITH ’

New Zealand Tablet, 31 July 1913, Page 3

‘STAND FAST IN THE FAITH ’

(A Weekly Instruction specially written for the N.Z, Tablet by ‘Ghimel’.)

FREQUENT AND DAILY COMMUNION.—!. In his first Encyclical Pius X. declared that the chief aim of his Pontificate would be ‘ to restore all things in Christ.’ As part of this plan of restoration the Pope soon made known to the Catholic world his burning desire that the apostolic practice of receiving Holy Communion at every Mass should be revived among the faithful. He said that Holy Communion is the very soul of religion, the source of all grace, and the support of virtue, and guided by the assistance of the Holy Ghost, always granted to the head of the Church, ho provided new machinery for making frequent, nay daily, Communion practicable and easier. His wishes and directions are embodied in the decree Scincta Tridentina Synodus, published through the Sacred Congregation of the Council on December 20, 1905. Our object is to set forth and explain this decree of such far-reaching importance. The historical position briefly is this. In accordance with the wish, if not the express command of our Lord, Christians during Apostolic days received Holy Communion as often as they assisted at ‘ the breaking of bread,’ and that, as we learn from the Acts of the Apostles, took place daily. From that time down to about the end of the sixth century frequent and even daily Communion was highly recommended by almost every great spiritual writer and bishop, and frequent, if not daily, Communion was common among the faithful, especially at times of persecution and of special fervor. During the early Middle Agesroughly from the seventh to the eleventh century— teaching of authority was on the same lines as before, but it cannot be said that the old custom was much observed. A great improvement, however, took place in the following centuries. Unfortunately the heretical Jansenists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries infected large numbers of the faithful with a wrong spirit of piety, especially in this matter of Communion. The result was that, despite. repeated condemnations of these errors, daily Communion on the part of lay people ceased and frequent Communion became less common. This state of affairs continued down to our own days, though it should be noted that many great spiritual directors at different periods but especially ' in more recent times favored daily Communion. On the one hand, then, ‘ even theologians of good repute were of opinion that only in rare cases and with many precautions could daily Communion be allowed ’; while on the other hand ‘ there were not wanting men of learning and piety who, relying on the teaching of the Fathers, maintained that there was no precept requiring more perfect dispositions for daily Communion than were required for monthly or weekly Communion; while on the other hand the good resulting from daily Communion is far greater than in the case, of monthly or weekly Communion.’ Pius X. determined to settle this long-standing controversy. as to the necessary dispositions for frequent and daily Communion, and after the whole matter had been fully examined by the theologians and Cardinals of the Sacred Congregation of the Council he issued the decree to which reference has been made. The first part of the decree lays down the doctrinal premisses which go to show the eminent desirableness of daily Communion. It runs as follows:, ‘ The Council of Trent, having in view tho unspeakable treasures of grace which are offered to the faithful who receive the Most Holy Eucharist, makes the following declaration; “The Holy Synod would desire that at every Mass the faithful who present should communicate not only spiritually, by way of internal affection, but sacramentally by the actual reception of the Eucharist” (Sess. 22, ch. 6), which words declare plainly enough the wish of the Church, that all Christians should be daily nourished by this

heavenly banquet, and should derive therefrom abundant fruit for their sanctification. ‘ And this wish of the Council is in entire agreement with that desire wherewith Christ our Lord was inflamed, when He instituted this divine Sacrament. For He Himself more than once, and in no ambiguous terms, pointed out the necessity of eating His Flesh, and drinking His Blood, especially in these words: This is the bread that cometh down - from heaven; not as your fathers did eat manna and. are dead; he that eateth this bread shall live for ever’’ (John vi., 59). Now, from this comparison of the food of angels with bread and with the manna, it was easily to be understood by His disciples that, as the body is daily nourished with bread, and as the Hebrews were daily nourished with manna in the desert, so the Christian soul might daily partake of this heavenly bread and be refreshed thereby. ... Moreover, the desire of Jesus Christ and of the Church that all the faithful should daily approach the sacred banquet is directed chiefly to this end, that the faithful, being united to God by means of the Sacrament, may thence derive strength to resist their sensual passions, to cleanse themselves from the stains of daily faults, and to avoid those graver sins to which human frailty is liable ; so that its primary purpose is not that the honor and reverence due to our Lord may be safeguarded, or that the Sacrament may serve as a reward of virtue bestowed on the recipients. Hence the holy Council of Trent calls the Eucharist, "the antidote whereby we are delivered from daily faults and preserved from deadly sins” (Sess. 13, ch. 2)..’