Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/871

 REQUIEM

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REQUIEM

to the Office for the Dead in which the antiphons are doubled; and therefore, whenever, at the request of the faithful, a solemn Office is celebrated for one or more deceased persons, especially if there is a con- course of the people, the corresponding Mass must be celebrated with the Double Rite, as the Rubric of the Missal expressly prescribes (V, 3): "Unica tantum oratio dicenda est in missis omnibus . . . quan- documque pro defunctis missa solemniter celeb ratur" (In any Mass solemnly celebrated for the dead, only one prayer is to be said). This Mass, however, may be celebrated only on days of the Semi-Double or the Simple Rite, exclusive of those days named above on which it is forbidden to celebrate the anniversary Requiem Mass. This Mass, like that of the anniver- sary late sumptum, is of the Lesser Double Rite; while the Mass of the third, seventh, and thirtieth days, as also that of the anniversary stride sumptum, is of the Greater Double Rite, since it may be celebrated on the doubles that are not of the first or of the second class.

X. Miss.B Cantata. — These (sung, but not high, Masses) are the Masses that are called quotidianw in the Missal. They are of the Semi-Double Rite, be- cause they have three prayers, and correspond to the office that is recited without duplication of the anti- phons. It is forbidden to celebrate these Masses on any of the days mentioned above, upon which the anniversary Masses may not be celebrated, or on the days upon which there is a feast of the Double Rite, even the Lesser, and therefore they are allowed only on semi-double, non-privileged days. To this class of Requiem missm cantatce belongs the one which the Rubrics of the Missal (V, 1) provide shall be cele- brated in the cathedrals and collegiate churches de prcecepto (S. C. R., deer. 2928): " Prima die cujusque mensis (extra Adventum, Quadragesimam et Tempus Paschale) non impedita officio duplici vel semi- du])Iici". This Mass is truly conventual, should be celeljrated after Prime, as the Rubrics of the Missal l)rescribe (XV, 3), and should be a sung Mass (decrees 19 and 2424). The first 'of the month is understood to mean the first day of the month that is free of any double or semi-double, even transferred, Office (decree 2380); and if there be no such free day in the whole month, the obligation ceases; which frequently hap- pens, especially now, when the votive Offices have been admitted. In this Mass of Requiem, as in all other sung Masses hitherto mentioned, the Sequence should never be admitted, as the reformed Rubric of the Missal and the general decree of 30 June, 1896 (No. 3920), provide. The three Prayers of the fourth formulary should be used (decree 2928), for they are adapted to the end which the Church has in view in prescribing the monthly celebration of this Mass, which is "generaliter pro defunctis sacerdotibus, benefactoribus et aliis", as the above-cited rubric shows.

XI. Low Masses. — According to the ancient canon law, a low Requiem Mass could be celebrated only on days of semi-double, non-festive and non-privileged rite; so that, even prasente cadavere, if the rite of the day were double, although it were lesser, the Mass of the day had to be celebrated. The liturgical law, however, has been very much changed in relation to low Masses; anfl, as there are among them some that are more privileged than others, we will divide them according to the privileges that they enjoy.

A. Low Execpdcd Mass said in place of the High Mass. — As has been seen above, the Church desires that no one of its children be laid in the grave without a mass prcesenle corpore. And as, on the other hand, poverty often prevents the relatives of the deceased from having the obsequies celebrated with solemnity, the Church, alway.s a loving and indulgent inothiu-, permits the high Mass to be replaced by a low one. At first, some limitations were placed to this opportune

concession (cf. Decree of 22 May, 1843, in Mechlinen., ad 6) ; now, however, by the general Decree of 9 May, 1899 (No. 4024), this exequial low Mass, which takes the place of a high Mass, is celebrated with all the privileges of the latter. In our opinion, the low exequial Mass said in the place of the high Mass enjoys the privileges of the latter, when, through special circumstances, the high Mass may not be celebrated, even in the case of the wealthy; as, for example, if the persons invited to the funeral could not remain long at the church, and the relatives of the deceased should on that account ask that the Mass be a low one. This is actually the practice in some places, and we believe that it may not be condemned, seeing that it is in accordance with the spirit of the Church, which, in recent times, has considerably modified its regulations in this connexion.

B. Low Mass on the Day of Obsequies and in the Same Church. — According to the ancient liturgical law, formulated in the Rubrics of the Missal of St. Pius V, low Requiem Mass, although the body were present, could not be celebrated on days of the Double — even Lesser Double — Rite. This law was justified by the great reverence in which the Double Rite was held and by the fact that, at the time of St. Pius V, there were very few feasts of this rite in the universal calendar. But as the number of these feasts had been greatly augmented, especially in the calendars of some of the religious orders and in those of some dioceses, there was no longer any reason for the rule: first, because the Double Rite, having come to be so abundantly granted, was no longer held in the high esteem that it had formerly enjoyed; secondly, because the great number of new doubles made it impossible to celebrate the low Requiem Mass on the day of the burial. These considerations were submitted to the Congregation of Rites in February, 1896. On 19 May following, there was published the general Decree No. 3903, which begins: "Aucto postremis hisce tcmporibus, maxime in calendariis partcularibus, Officiorum du- plicium numero, quum pauci supersint per annum dies, qui Missas privatas de Requie fieri permittant. . . ." Thanks to this opportune decree, the low Mass, as well as the solemn one, may be celebrated at the obsequies of one deceased, even on a double. There are, however, certain conditions for the celebration of these low Masses. (1) They are allowed only on the day of the ob.sequies and in the church where the obsequies are celebrated, with or without presence of the corpse, as has been said under V (S. C. R., deer. 3944, ad 3) ; (2) they must be offered for the deceased whose obsequies are being celebrated, and for no other intention (ibid., ad 4); (3) they may not be celebrated on a Sunday, or other holy day of obliga- tion, even though the latter may have been sup- pressed; (4) they may not be celebrated on a Double of the First Class, even secondary, or on a day of which the rite prevents these Doubles of the First Glass — that is, on Ash Wednesday and during Holy Week, the vigils of Christmas and of Pentecost, during the octaves of Easter and Pentecost, and on the octave day of the Epiphany (ibid., ad 5). Such were hitherto the rules for low Masses on the day of obsequies and in the same church, but by a recent Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites these low Masses are now forbidden also on all Doubles of the Second Class. These Masses, of course, are of the Double Rite; they have but one prayer, and the Sequence is as in the solemn high Mass.

C. Lm) Mass in the Private Chapel, before the Burial. — This Mass of Requiem, also, is a recent con- cession of the Holy See in behalf of the deceased. By this concession, all the Masses allowed by the Brief by which the privilege of a private oratory was granted, may be celebrated :i8 Requiems, on all the days on which the body remains in the house, on condition that they are offered only for the deceased