Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/869

 REQUIEM

779

REQUIEM

solemn, that is of a more or less exalted class. The other offices, and the other masses of Requiem, ac- cording to what has been said above, will be of the Semi-Double Rite. As, on the other hand, masses of Requiem are more or less privileged, according as they are missoe cantatw or high Masses or are low Masses, and as some of them among the high and some among the low (see M.\s.s, Liturgv of the: V. The Present Roman Mass) are more privileged than others of their respective kinds, we will divide them into solemn and low, and then subdivide them ac- cording to their privileges.

VI. ExEQDiAL, High Masses. — An exequial Mass is one that is celebrated on the occasion of the ob- sequies (exequiw) of a person, before the burial. It is clearly exjjressed in the Ritual (VII, i, 4); "Quod antiquissimi est instituti illud, quantum fieri potest, retineatur, ut Missa presente corpore defuncti, pro eo celebretur, antequam sepulturae tradatur" (As much as possible, let the ancient or- dinance be retained, of celebrating the Mass with the body of the deceased present, before it is given burial). In fact, it was the inv-ariable custom, from the earliest ages of the Church, to celebrate the SjTiaxis for the dead before the burial (cf. TertuUian, "De Monog.", X, and St. Augustine, "Confess.", IX, 12). And it is worthy of notice that, from those ancient times, it was licit to celebrate the exequial Mass on Sundays, as Paulinus testifies (Vita S. Ambrosii, XLVII): "Lueescente die Dominico, cum corpus ipsius [S. Ambrosii] peractis Sacramentis divinis, de Ecclesia levaretur portandum ad basilicam ambrosianam . . ." (At dawn of the Lord's Day, when, after the Divine Mysteries had been celebrated, his [St. Ambrose's] body was taken from the church to be carried to the Ambrosian Basilica). In this connexion, Martenc cites from the " Consuetudines Cluniacenses " ("Ant. Monarch, rit.", Venice, 1783, V, X, 16; p. 2.57): "Omni tempore sepeliendus est frater post majorem Missam. Si in ipsa Resurrec- tionis Dominica! vel ipsius diei crepusculo obierit, quo scilicet oporteat eum ipso die sepelire, matutinalis Missa pro eo cantabitur" (At any time a brother must be buried after the high Mass. If he has died on the Day of the Resurrection itself or in the early hours of that day, and it is necessary to bury him that same day, the morning Mass shall be sung for him). And those edifying Benedictine "consue- tudines" give the reason: "Nam tantaest auctoritas prsesentise ipsius defuncti, ut etiam in tanta solem- nitate hujusmodi Missa non potest negligentia in- termitti" (For the presence of the corpse constitutes such a serious reason that, even on a festival as great as this is, a Mass of this kind must not be neglected).

\Miile holding to the principle that ceremonies of mourning .should not interfere with the joyousness of liturgical feasts (for which reason the solemn commemoration of all the faithful departed is trans- ferred to the following day whenever the 2nd of November falls on a Sunday), the Church, as a good mother, desirous of hastening the relief of a deceased child, wishes the exequial Mass to be celebrated, even on a feast day, although she places some conditions, as the Ritual shows (VII, i, .5): "Si quis die festo sit sepeliendus, Missa propria pro defuncto prssente corpore, celebrare poterit, dum tamen Conventualis Missa et officia divina non impediantur, magnaque diei celebritas non obstet" (If anyone is to be buried on a feast day, the Mass proper for the deceased may be celebrated in the presence of the corpse, so long as the conventual Mass and Office are not in- terfered with, and the great solemnity of the day does not oppose it). Four conditions, then, are here es- tabli.shed: (a) that the corpse of the deceased be presj'nt; (b) that the conventual McOss be not prevented; (c) that the Divine Offices be not pre-

vented, and (d) that the great solemnity of the day do not oppose it.

(a) The presence of the corpse in the church is required, according to ancient custom, as the Ritual shows. Formerly, the actual phvsical presence was prescribed, but, httle by little, the Church has modi- fied this law, and according to the new liturgical legislation, that is since the decree of the Congregation of Rites of 13 February, 1892 (n. 3767 ad 26), the Rubric of the Missal (V, 2) h;is been rltered. Since, in niqdern times, whether through the prohibition of civil laws, or because of death by contagious dis- eases, corpses may not always be taken to the church, the ecclesiastical law has been so broadened that the body of the deceased is considered present ficHone juris, as long as it is not buried, and even if it has been buried for not more than two days. These are the words of the Decree in question: "Cadaver absens ob civile vetitum, vel morbum contagiosum, non solum insepultum, sed et humatum, dummodo non ultra biduum ab obitu, censeri potest ac si foret physice pra>sens, ita ut Missa exequialis cantari licite valeat, quoties pra>sente cadavere permittitur. " (b) The second condition is that the exequial Mass do not prevent the celebration of the conventual, or of the parochial. Mass; but to this we have al- ready referred above, under IV. (c) The exequial Mass should not interfere with the Divine Office on feasts, i. e. with the sacred functions which a parish priest should perform in behalf of his people. These days are (i) Ash Wednesday; (ii) the vigil of Pentecost, if the parish priest is to bless the font, and (iii) the days of the Major and of the Minor Litanies; so that, if there be on these days only one Mass in the parish church, it may not be of Requiem, but must be the one which the Rubrics prescribe for the day (S. C. R., deer. 3776 and 4005).

(d) The fourth condition of the Ritual for the celebration of the exequial Mass on a feast day is that the great solemnity of the day does not oppose it. Now the great solemnity of the day, in this connexion, is declared by the Church through the more solemn rite with which some feasts throughout the year are celebrated, namelv, primarv davs of the Rite of the First Class (S. C. R., deer. 3755), which are (i) Christmas and the Epiphany; (ii) Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturdaj-; (iii) Easter Sunday, the feasts of the Ascension, Pentecost, and Cori)us Clu-isti; (iv) the Immaculate Conception, Annunciation, and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; (v) the feasts of St. John the Baptist, of St. Joseph, of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and of All Saints; (vi) the local feasts of the principal patron of the place, of the dedication, and of the titular of the church. It should be observed that, although the two days following Easter and Pente- cost are of the First Class, the Church, to hasten the relief of the deceased, does not except them, and the solemn exequial Mass may be celebrated on these feasts, as on all other feasts of the First Class that are not named in the decree cited above. It may be said, therefore, that this Mass in die Depositionis is of the Double Rite of the First Class, since it is allowed on feasts of that rite.

VII. Mass of AllSouls' Day. — The Commemora- tion of All Souls has been a very solemn day in the Church ever since the time of its establishment; and as its observance was propagated throughout the Christian world, it came to be celebrated with more and more devotion by the people, on 2 November. Nevertheless, when it occurs on a Sunday, or on a feast of the Double Rite of the First Class, as has been said, it is celebrated on the following day, In this case, there being no question of hastening the relief of one who has passed away, the Church does not wish that the festivity of the Lord's Day or the solemnity of any other feast of the First Cla.ss should be