ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 49, 9 December 1925, Page 17

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS

Reader. —A neighboring priest who happens to have the book informs ns that Geraldine. was written by A. E. Agnew. If it i s still in print, Burns and Oates, Bator Nosier Row, London, would be able to find it for you. Critic. —Your remarks, and the style in which they are couched recall the schoolmaster who told his pupils that “a preposition was a bad thing to end a sentence with.” Hoxi Soit. The novel you are thinking of must be David Ha rum , best and kindliest of all American stories. As well as we can remember the saying was that “fleas are good for a dog because they prevent him from remembering that he is a dog.” It was an old negro who was reported as saying that the same delightful creatures reminded him of arithmetic, because “they added to his worries, subtracted from his comfort, divided his attention, and multiplied like —well!” E. I. M. The rule is that before receiving Communion we must be fasting from midnight. Fast here means abstinence from anything taken as food or drink. Do not be scrupulous about washing your teeth or rinsing your mouth. Take ordinary care, and then if it is unavoidable that minute drops of water be swallowed you must consider that they are not taken as food or drink but as part of the saliva. There is a danger of tepidity for persons who receive daily in a spirit of routine. This might even cause serious spiritual harm. But the difficulty is met with if left to the advice of a prudent director, who will forbid daily Communion unless proper dispositions are present. 1 duplexed. A public oratory is one to which the public have free access. A private oratory is a chapel in a private house in which Mass may be said by a Papal privilege. Semi-public oratories are chapels in convents, colleges, pious institutions, . hospitals, and prisons. One does not satisfy the precept of hearing Mass by attending a private oratory unless he be the master of the house, a relative dwelling there, or a guest or a domestic. (2) With regard to your second point, either physical or moral presence is required. It is sufficient that a person be so united with the congregation that he can, by hearing, or by seeing, or by following, the actions of others present, attend to the principal actions of the Mass. He may be a long way from the altar but there may not be a long distance between him and the other members of the congregation.

Bucceroni (3rd edition, vol. 1, page 263) says that a person who, although he does not see the priest nor hear his words, can distinguish the parts of the Mass from the sound of the hell, the singing of the Choir, or the movements of the congregation, with which he is morally united, hears Mass even though the crowd be so large that he is outside the Church. But, needless to say, the good Catholic will endeavor to be close to the altar and to follow the actions' of the priest devoutly; • (3) The answer to your third query is clear from the following words of the author quoted: “It is not lawful to sell things which are instituted or used for evil ends, unless in the particular case you know there can be no abuse. In the sale of the objects you mention the abuse is to be presumed. <X>