chaste, pious, modest, industrious, and economical. Both should possess the requisite virtue, intelligence, and learning in religious matters, in order to be able to give their children a Christian education.

12. Are people bound to keep their promise or engagement to marry each other ?

Yes, under pain of grievous sin; unless both parties voluntarily retract it, or either of them, for particular reasons, has a right to retract, which is to be decided by their spiritual Superiors.

13. What sin do they commit who receive the Sacrament of Matrimony with an unholy intention, or in the state of mortal sin?

They render themselves guilty of sacrilege, and, therefore, unworthy of all the Divine graces and blessings.

14. How many kinds of Impediments are there? There are two kinds:

1. Such as render marriage unlawful; as, for instance, the forbidden times, the simple vow of chastity, a promise of marriage to another person, etc.;

2. Such as render it also null; for instance, consanguinity and affinity to the fourth degree inclusively; spiritual relationship; a solemn vow of chastity; one of the parties not being a Christian likewise (in those places where the special canons of the Council of Trent on clandestine marriages have been received and published) the marriage not being contracted in the presence of the Pastor, or of a Priest commissioned by him, and of two witnesses at least; and others.

In order to discover whether there are any Impediments of marriage, it is very advisable for the parties to make a sincere General Confession some time before they enter into the contract. For this same reason the Banns are published in the Church; and any one who knows of an Impediment is in conscience bound to declare it to the Pastor.

15. What is understood by the forbidden times?

1. The time which begins with the first Sunday of Advent and ends with the Epiphany of our Lord; and 2. That which begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with Low Sunday, within which times the Church forbids the solemnizing of marriage, because they have been particularly set apart for penance and prayer.

In many dioceses it has been decreed that within these times no marriage is to be contracted without a special dispensation from the Bishop. But even in case this is granted, the married parties, conformably to a general command of the Church, are forbidden to celebrate their wedding with pageantry, entertainments, and rejoicings; nor is the Priest allowed to say the Mass appointed in the Missal for the bridegroom and the bride, or to give them the solemn nuptial Benediction independently of this Mass.

16. Can the Impediments of Marriage never be dispensed with?

The Church can dispense with some when there are sufficient reasons, but not with all; on this subject the parties must confer with their Pastor.

Only the Church, in whose power it is to grant or to refuse the dispensation (and not those who ask for it, and are too easily deceived by a blind passion), is competent to decide whether the reasons be sufficient. That these reasons must, at all events, be weighty, is evident from the decree of the Council of Trent (Sess. 24, Ch. v.), which says that 'Impediments of marriage are either never, or but rarely, to be dispensed with.' A dispensation got by fraud, though valid before men, is, nevertheless, invalid before God.

17. What should we think of mixed marriagesi.e., of marriages which are contracted between Catholics and non-Catholics, especially Protestants?

That the Church has, at all times, disapproved of such marriages, and never permits them, except on certain conditions.

18. Why does the Church disapprove of such marriages?

1. Because the Catholic party is exposed to great

danger of either losing the faith or of becoming indifferent;

2. Because the Catholic education of the children is generally deficient, and not seldom impossible;

3. Because the non-Catholic party does not acknowledge Matrimony either as a Sacrament or as indissoluble, and can, therefore, according to his or her principles, separate, and marry again, which the Catholic consort is not permitted to do; and

4. Because for that very reason such a marriage never is a true emblem of the most intimate, indissoluble union of Christ with His Church, which, however, every Christian marriage ought to be; in fine,

5. Because the happiness of conjugal union depends, above all, on unity of faith.

19. On what conditions does the Church consent to a mixed marriage?

On these: 1. That the Catholic party be allowed the free exercise of religion; 2. That he or she earnestly endeavor to gain by persuasion the non-Catholic consort to the true Church; and 3. That all the children be brought up in the Catholic religion (Briefs of Pius VIII. and Gregory XVI.)

20. Is the Church obliged to require such conditions? Yes; otherwise she would either be indifferent to the eternal perdition of her children, or deny that she alone is the true saving Church.

21. Can, then, a person never be permitted to contract a mixed marriage, unless the Catholic education of the children be previously secured?

No; for such a marriage would be a grievous sin against the Catholic Church and the spiritual welfare of the children that may be born; wherefore the Church can in no case give her consent to it.

Parents who consent to such a marriage of their child render themselves guilty of the same sin as the child, and incur a severe responsibility before God.

Application. In the choice of a state of life consult, above all things, God and the salvation of your soul. Should you, after a mature deliberation, think yourself to be called to the married state, prepare yourself for it by prayer, good works, and especially by a good General Confession, and be careful not to follow those who, by sin and vice, draw the curse of God upon their heads.

ON SACRAMENTALS.

1. What do we usually understand by Sacramentals ?

By Sacramentals we understand,

1. All those things which the Church blesses or consecrates for the Divine Service, or for our own pious use as Holy Water, Oil, Salt, Bread, Wine, Palms, Altars, Chalices, etc.;

2. Also the Exorcisms, Blessings, and Consecrations used by the Church.

2. Why are such things called Sacramentals?

They are called Sacramentals because they resemble the Sacraments, though they are essentially different from them.

3. What is the difference between the Sacramentals and the Sacraments ?

1. The Sacraments were instituted by God, and operate by the efficacy which God gave them; the Sacramentals, on the contrary, were instituted by the Church, and produce their effects by the prayers and blessings of the Church;

2. The Sacraments have an infallible effect, unless we put an obstacle in their way; but the effect of the Sacramentals depends principally on the pious intention of the person who makes use of them;

3. The Sacraments effect immediately inward sanctification, whereas the Sacramentals, by imparting subordinate graces, only contribute towards it, and protect us also from temporal evils;

4. The Sacraments are in general necessary, and commanded by God; but the Sacramentals are only recommended by the Church as useful and wholesome.

4. Why does the Church consecrate or bless the things belonging to the Divine Service?

The Church consecrates or blesses all those things that belong to the Divine Service, as Churches, Altars, Bells, Vestments, etc., 1. In order to sanctify them, and dedicate them peculiarly to the Divine Service; and 2. To render them more venerable and salutary to us. (Anniversary of the Dedication of a Church.)

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Every creature is sanctified by the word of God and prayer' (1 Tim. iv. 5). Thus, even in the Old Law, the altar and all the vessels thereof were sprinkled and anointed, as the Lord had commanded (Levit. viii. 11).

5. Why does the Church bless also Bread, Wine, the Fruits of the field, and such like things?

The Church blesses these things,

1. After the example of Jesus Christ, who also blessed loaves and fishes (Luke ix. 16);

2. That to them that love God, all things [may] work together unto good' (Rom. viii. 28); and

3. That as by the sin of Adam the curse of God extended to all the creatures of the earth (Gen. iii. 17; Rom. viii. 20-22), so also His blessings may be poured out over all.

From our birth to our death the Church incessantly shows her love and solicitude for us: she prays for us, consoles us, helps us, blesses us; even over our last place of rest-the cemetery and grave-she pronounces her blessing.

6. Why should we especially make a devout use of the Sacramentals?

Because we participate through them in the prayer and blessing of the whole Church, in the name of which the Priest consecrates and blesses.

If in the Old Law the blessing of the patriarchs was so highly esteemed, how much more should we esteem the blessing of the