334. The laws enacted by the Church, in order to guide her members to eternal salvation, are many and various. They are contained in her collections of Canon Law. Most of them regard particular classes of her members, especially the clergy; others regard the management of ecclesiastical property, etc. We are here concerned with those of her laws only which regulate the conduct of Catholics generally. These laws are in this country usually reduced to six, and are distinctively called "the Commandments of the Church." We shall explain them singly.
335. The first commandment of the Church is, "To hear Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation". It appoints the days that we are commanded to observe for public worship, and the manner in which we are to observe them. We have seen (n. 314) that God in the Old Law had appointed the last day of the week, the Sabbath, to be specially consecrated to His honor. No power but God's could have dispensed with this obligation. We do not read that Christ did so; on the contrary, we know that He observed it Himself. And yet we also know that the Church abolished the obligation of keeping that day, and in its stead instituted the observance of the Lord's Day, the first day of the week. This fact by itself shows that the Church from the beginning claimed the fulness of power to have been committed to her, to legislate in God's name for the followers of Christ.
That Christ had given this fulness of power to His Church, is directly stated by Him to His Apostles; for He said to them: "As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you" (Jo. XX, 21); and He explained with what power His Father had sent Him, when He said; "All power is given Me in Heaven and in earth" (Matt. XXVIII, 18). Therefore we find the Council of Jerusalem explicitly exercising that power, A. D. 52, by abolishing the obligation of all the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament except a few, and commanding these few to be kept by all the faithful. The decree begins with the words: "It has seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay no further burden upon you than these necessary things, etc." (Acts XV, 25). Even some of these burdens have since been removed by the Church. The same power that abolished the Sabbath has appointed other days to he devoted to worship. The observance of the Lord's Day, of Sunday, dates back to the first years of the Church; other feast-days were added in the course of time, their number and the manner of their celebration being wisely adapted to the changing circumstances of times and places, as is ever the case with matters of discipline.
In 1885, uniformity was established with regard to the feast-days that the faithful are to sanctify in this country in the same manner as they sanctify the Lord's day. These feasts are six: Christmas, the Circumcision, or New Year's Day, the Ascension of Christ, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, All Saints, and the Immaculate Conception; which last is the patron feast of the Church in the United States. Such other festivals as were formerly of obligation are still to be solemnized in the churches; but they lay no precept on the faithful.
336. The manner in which the Church commands the Lord's Day and the feasts of obligation to be sanctified, is by rest from servile labor and by attendance at the holy Sacrifice of the Mass; the command binds us to each of these duties under grievous sin.
1. Servile labor is that which is done chiefly for the body and by the body, usually by servants or wage-earners. Local customs, not disapproved by ecclesiastical authority, determine what other secular occupations should be avoided; and these customs are opposed, in this country, to all legal transactions and to traffic generally. Such bodily labor however is allowed as is needed for works of piety, of charity, and of special necessity, such also as is necessary to supply the bodily wants of the current day. Liberal works, those namely which regard the mind more than the body, are not prohibited on days of worship.
The Fathers of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore insist that the Lord's Day is the poor man's day of rest, the home day, and above all God's day, to be devoted to his worship. They caution the faithful against such practices on that day as lead to dissipation and intemperance; and they add: "We implore all Catholics never to take part in such Sunday traffic, nor to patronize or countenance it" (page XCIII).
337. 2. Assistance at Mass on Sundays and holydays of obligation is prescribed for all faithful that are come to the age of reason, unless they be prevented by special circumstances entailing considerable inconvenience. This assistance at Mass supposes: a) Bodily presence among the worshippers during the whole time of the Mass; wilfully missing a small portion would be a venial sin, it would be a mortal sin thus to miss the elevation and communion or to arrive after the offertory. b) It also supposes the intention to join in the act of worship. c) Such attention of mind is required as is needed to notice, at least confusedly, the principal parts of the Mass. d) All that is incompatible with worship must be avoided during Mass, such as conversation or study of profane matters; else the precept of the Church is violated. Reverence for so august a Rite (n. 251-254), and desire of spiritual profit should prompt all to spend the whole time of Mass in fervent prayer, the manner of which is left to each one's choice.
Various methods of hearing Mass may be recommended; such as: a) Meditating on the sacred Passion and Death of Christ, of which the Mass is the divinely appointed commemoration; b) Following the ceremonies of the Mass, which are explained in approved prayerbooks; c) Reciting vocal prayers adapted to the several portions of the sacred Rite; d) Meditating on the four ends for which the holy Sacrifice is offered (n. 254).