Lesson 36
ON THE THIRD, FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHURCH

397 Q. What is meant by the command of confessing at least once a year?
A. By the command of confessing at least once a year is meant that we
are obliged, under pain of mortal sin, to go to confession within the
year.

"Within the year"--that is, the time between your confessions must never
be longer than a year, or, at least not longer than the period between
the beginning of one Eastertime and the end of the next. All persons who
have attained the age of reason are bound to comply with this precept,
and parents should remind their children of it.

*398 Q. Should we confess only once a year?
A. We should confess frequently, if we wish to lead a good life.

Some seem to think that they need not go to confession if they have not
committed sin since their last confession. Two graces are given in
penance, as you already know: one, to take away the sins confessed, and
the other, to strengthen us against temptation and enable us to keep our
good resolutions. Now, as we are always tempted, we should go frequently
to confession to get the grace to resist. The saints used to go to
confession very frequently, sometimes every day. They used to go when
tempted, to obtain the grace to resist and to expose their temptations
to their confessor and ask his advice. Again the Holy Scripture tells us
that the just man falls seven times; and "just man" in Holy Scripture
means a very good man, that is, one doing for God, his neighbor, and
himself what he ought to do. St. Joseph is called in the Scripture a
"just man," and he was the foster-father of Our Lord. Now, if the good
man falls seven times, he must arise after each fall; for if he did not
get up after the first fall, he could not fall the second time. This
teaches us that we all commit some kind of sin, at least, and have
always something to confess if we only examine our conscience closely.
It teaches us also that when we have the misfortune to fall into sin, we
should rise as quickly as possible.

*399 Q. Should children go to confession?
A. Children should go to confession when they are old enough to commit
sin, which is commonly about the age of seven years.

"To commit sin"--that is, when they know the difference between good and
evil.

400 Q. What sin does he commit who neglects to receive Communion during
the Easter time?
A. He who neglects to receive Communion during the Easter time commits a
mortal sin.

401 Q. What is the Easter time?
A. The Easter time is, in this country, the time between the first
Sunday of Lent and Trinity Sunday, inclusive.

Trinity Sunday is the eighth Sunday after Easter. Therefore the whole
Easter-time is from the first Sunday of Lent--that is, seven weeks
before Easter--to Trinity Sunday, eight weeks after it, or fifteen weeks
in all; and anyone who does not go to Holy Communion sometime during
these fifteen weeks commits mortal sin.

402 Q. Are we obliged to contribute to the support of our pastors?
A. We are obliged to contribute to the support of our pastors, and to
bear our share in the expenses of the Church and school.

And any charitable institution connected with the Church. The Holy Land
was divided among the tribes of Israel, who were the descendants of the
twelve sons of Jacob. Now, one of these twelve tribes was made up
entirely of priests and persons who served in the temple of God, called
Levites. They received none of the land, but were to be supported by the
other eleven tribes. All the people were obliged by the law to give what
they called first-fruits, and tithes--that is, one tenth of their income
in goods or money each year to the temple for its support and the
support of those who served it. In the New Law no definite amount is
assigned, but every Christian is left free to give what he can to God's
Church according to his generosity. But if God left you free, should you
therefore be stingy with Him? Moreover, all that we have comes from God,
and should we return Him the least and the worst? For every alms you
give for God's sake He can send you a hundred blessings; and what you
refuse to give to His Church or poor He can take from you in a thousand
ways, by sending misfortunes. We read in the Bible (Gen. 4) that Adam's
sons, Cain and Abel, both offered sacrifice to God. Abel's sacrifice was
pleasing, but Cain's was not. Why? Because, as we are told, Cain did not
offer to God the best he had, but likely the worst; or at least, he
offered his sacrifice with a bad disposition. Then when he saw that his
brother's sacrifice was pleasing to God, being filled with jealousy, he
killed him; and in punishment God marked him and condemned him to be a
wanderer on the face of the earth. We are told he was always afraid of
being killed by everyone he saw. See, then, what comes of being
unwilling to be generous with God. What we give Him He does not need,
but by giving, we worship and thank Him. Do not people in the world
often give presents to those who have done them a favor, that they may
thus show their gratitude? Now, God is always doing us favors, and why
should we not show our gratitude to Him by giving generously in His
honor? When we give to the orphans, etc., we give to Him; for He says:
"Whatsoever you give to these little ones you give to Me." Again, when
Our Lord tells what will happen on the Day of Judgment (Matt. 25:31,
etc.), He says, the Judge will divide all the people of the world into
two bodies; the good He will place on His right hand and the wicked on
His left. Then He will praise the good for what they did and welcome
them to Heaven; but to the wicked He will say, "Depart from Me, because
when I was hungry you gave Me not to eat; when I was thirsty you gave Me
not to drink; you clothed Me not," etc. And then the wicked shall ask,
when did we see You in want and not relieve You? He will tell them that
He considered the poor just the same as Himself; and as they did nothing
for His poor, they did nothing for Him.

*403 Q. What is the meaning of the commandment not to marry within the
third degree of kindred?
A. The meaning of the commandment not to marry within the third degree
of kindred is that no one is allowed to marry another within the third
degree of blood relationship.

"Third Degree." What relatives are in the third degree? Brother and
sister are in the first degree; first cousins are in the second degree;
second cousins are in the third degree. Therefore all who are second
cousins or in nearer relationship cannot be married without a
dispensation from the Church allowing them to do so. A dispensation
granted by the Church is a permission to do something which its law
forbids. Since it made the law, it can also dispense from the observance
of it. The Church could not give permission to do anything that God's
law forbids. It could not, for example, give permission to a brother and
sister to marry, because it is not alone the law of the Church but God's
law also that forbids that. But God's law does not forbid first or
second cousins to get married; but the Church's law forbids it, and thus
it can in special cases dispense from such laws. God's law is called
also the natural law. You must be very careful not to confound the
marriage laws that the Church makes with the marriage laws that the
State makes. When the State makes laws contrary to the laws of God or of
the Church, you cannot obey such laws without committing grievous sin.
For instance, the State allows divorce; it allows persons to marry again
if the husband or wife has been sentenced to imprisonment for life; it
does not recognize all the impediments to marriage laid down by the
Church. Such laws as these Catholics cannot comply with; but when the
State makes laws which regard only the civil effects of marriage, such
as refer to the property of the husband or wife, the inheritance of the
children, etc., laws, in a word, which are not opposed either to the
laws of God or of His Church, then you may and must obey them; for the
authorities of the government are our lawful superiors, and must be
obeyed in all that is not sin. What we have said with regard to the
marriage laws is true for all the rest. Thus the civil court might, on
account of some technicality, free you legally from the payment of a
debt; but that would not free you in conscience from paying what you
justly owe. Again, the court might legally decide in your favor in an
unjust suit; but that would not give you the right in conscience to keep
what you have thus fraudulently or unjustly obtained.

*404 Q. What is the meaning of the command not to marry privately?
A. The command not to marry privately means that none should marry
without the blessing of God's priests or without witnesses.

If persons wishing to be married suspect that there is any impediment
existing between them, they should express their doubts and the reasons
for them to the priest.

Here it is well for you to know that if any Catholic goes to be married
before a Protestant minister, he is, by the laws of the Church in the
United States, excommunicated. [In 1966 the penalty of excommunication
for this offense was lifted by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith. Yet it remains a mortal sin for a Catholic to attempt to
marry outside the Catholic Church, and such a "marriage" will be
invalid.] You must know excommunication means cut off from the communion
of the Church and the body of the faithful; cut off from the Sacraments
and from a share in all the holy Masses and public prayers offered by
the Church throughout the world. It is a punishment the Church inflicts
upon its disobedient children who will not repent but persist in
wrongdoing. If they die willfully excommunicated, they die in mortal
sin, and no Mass or funeral prayers can be publicly offered for them;
nor can they be buried in consecrated ground. Besides the
excommunicated, there are others who cannot be buried in consecrated
ground: namely, infants or others who have not been baptized; those who
deliberately committed suicide; those who have publicly lived sinful
lives and evidently died in that public sin; and all persons who are not
Catholics. If a Catholic who is not publicly a sinner dies suddenly, we
cannot judge that he is in mortal sin; and hence such a one may be
buried in consecrated ground.

It is the desire of the Church that all its faithful children should be
buried in the ground which it has blessed for their remains; and
wherever it is possible Catholics must have their own burying ground.

*405 Q. What is the meaning of the precept not to solemnize marriage at
forbidden times?
A. The meaning of the precept not to solemnize marriage at forbidden
times is that during Lent and Advent the marriage ceremony should not be
performed with pomp or a nuptial Mass.

Persons may be married at these times quietly, wherever it is not
positively forbidden by the laws of the diocese.

*406 Q. What is the nuptial Mass?
A. The nuptial Mass is a Mass appointed by the Church to invoke a
special blessing upon the married couple.

It is a Mass especially for them and cannot be said for anyone else. At
the most solemn parts of the Mass the priest turns to them and prays
that God may bless their union.

*407 Q. Should Catholics be married at a nuptial Mass?
A. Catholics should be married at a nuptial Mass, because they thereby
show greater reverence for the holy Sacrament and bring richer blessings
upon their wedded life.

The Church wishes to give to the marriage of its children observing its
laws all the solemnity possible, and to impress its dignity and sanctity
so deeply upon their minds that they may never forget the solemn promise
made at the altar of God. The thought of that day will keep them from
sin. On the other hand, the Church shows its great displeasure when
Catholics do not keep its laws, but marry persons not of their own
religion. At a mixed marriage the couple cannot be married in the
church, nor even in the sacristy; the priest cannot wear a surplice or
stole or any of the sacred vestments of the Church; he cannot use holy
water, or the Sign of the Cross; he cannot bless the ring or even use
the Church's language--Latin. Everything is done in the coldest manner,
to remind Catholics that they are doing what is displeasing to their
mother the Church.

Again the Church wishes its children to prepare for the Sacrament of
Matrimony just as they would prepare for any other Sacrament--Penance,
Holy Eucharist, Holy Orders, etc. Imagine a boy going up for First
Communion laughing, talking, or gazing about him, without any thought of
the great Sacrament he is about to receive; thinking only of how he
appears in his new clothing, of those who are present, etc., and
spending all his time of preparation not in purifying his soul, but in
adorning his body! Think of him returning from Holy Communion and
immediately forgetting Our Lord! Now, Matrimony is deserving of all the
respect due to a Sacrament, and hence the Church wishes all its children
to be married at Mass; or at least in the morning. It does not like them
to marry in the evening, and go to the reception of the Sacrament as
they would to a place of vain amusement. For on such occasions they
cannot show the proper respect in the church, and possibly turn the
ceremony into an occasion of sin for all who attend; for they often seem
to forget the holiness of the place and the respect due to the presence
of Our Lord upon the altar. Indeed it should be remembered, at whatever
time the marriage takes place, that conduct, dress, and all else must be
in keeping with the dignity of the place and the holiness of the
Sacrament, and the women should not come into the Church with uncovered
heads.