generica; it will not be difficult to induce a dying heretic to confess himself in general as sinner and to confidently ask God's forgiveness, but if this is done, then we have the confessio and contritio, requisite for the validity of absolution.

Nor does defectus fidei Catholicae offer a difficulty, for a haereticus materialis, one who is in good faith, may really be possessed of the fides supernaturalis, the faith necessary for justification. Should some one object, further, that the ordinatio actuum poenitentis is lacking, meaning the actus poenitentis (namely confessio, contritio) were not obtained in ordine ad accipiendam absolutionem, the reply is that an ordinatio implicita is present included in the will to do what God requires of us, and this ordinatio suffices.

Moreover, theologians teach, almost universally, that absolution sub conditione may be given to a dying haereticus materialis, bereft of consciousness. But why may it be given to such a one? Certainly not because it is presumed that God will instruct him by interior enlightenment of the necessity of the Sacrament of Penance, and that then this dying man, in ordine ad accipiendam absolutionem, will make the actus. Such supposition does not belong to the common order of things, but to the province of miracles. We can not argue, therefore, on any such presumption. The reason can, therefore, only be because theologians believe that the actus poenitentis may be presumed in the manner mentioned, i. e., in illa forma generica, quae absolute loquendo ad validitatum Sacramenti suffice.

Resp. ad. II. That Cajus acted rightly follows from the above. But as he appeared to have doubt also about the validity of the Baptism, he should have administered Baptism privately sub conditione. For this purpose it would have sufficed, for instance, to wet the patient's forehead with a cloth and pronounce the forma. It was also quite correct for the priest to keep secret the granting

of absolution and to allow the Protestant form of burial; he could not have prevented the latter.

We would like to state some principles that will apply in practical procedure.

I. In the case of a dying non-Catholic already unconscious, absolution may be given sub conditione. This will apply, at all events if the person is a haereticus materialis. But as it is impossible for us to say with certainty that a particular case is bona or mala fide, we may therefore give the absolutio conditionatim to all unconscious, dying heretics, excepting only those, de quorum indispositione constat. Theologically the granting of absolution is justified by the fact that one accepts the anxia respiratio, ictus oculorum

as

an outward sign of the inner disposition, and of the desiderium (implicitum) accipiendi absolutionem, or that one concludes that through the bona fides externe manifestata, there has shown itself outwardly the desiderium recipiendi necessaria salutis media; this desiderium is synonymous with the desiderium implicitum Sacramenti.

2. In the case of a dying non-Catholic, still conscious, if prudence forbids urging him to join the Church, we should above all incite in him acts of faith, hope and charity, and of perfect contrition; we should induce him to declare himself a sinner before God, and to consent that the priest help him, as far as possible, to attain salvation. Then he may be given absolution sub conditione.

Is there a doubt as to whether the sick man has been baptized validly, then, in every case, the absolutio conditionata must be preceded by baptismus conditionatus as well.

IGN. RIEDER, D.D.

LXX. ORDO SEPELIENDI PARVULOS-ADULTOS

In a certain parish there died recently, of a contagious disease, two boys belonging to a prominent family, one in his fifth, the other in his ninth year. One funeral was held for both, sub uno according to the ordo sepeliendi parvulos, in white. Later a debate arose over this, as it was maintained that the younger of the boys should have been interred according to the ordo sepeliendi parvulos, but the other according to the ordo sep. adultos. On the other hand, the pastor's action was defended on the following special reasons:

1. The older boy, though he attended school, had not yet received the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist. In that parish it was the universal custom to bury such children according to the ordo sep. parvulos.

2. If the pastor had caused the bodies to be buried separately, and to be taken separately to the cemetery, he would have unnecessarily increased the parents' grief.

To elucidate this case we will put the following questions:

1. When is, according to ecclesiastical precept, the ordo sep. parvulos to be applied, and when the ordo sep. adultos?

2. Is the fact that the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist have not been received, a reason for deviating from this precept? 3. What should the pastor have properly done in this case?

Ad. 1. The ordo sep. parvulos is only applicable to baptized children who die before attaining the use of reason; in the case of all others the ordo sep. adultos is to be followed. This is evident from the Rit. Rom. and also from the wording of these two funeral rites. The Rit. Rom. explains in the Rubrics on the ordo sep. parvulos how the word parvuli is to be understood. Cum igitur infans vel

puer baptizatus defunctus fuerit ante usum rationis, etc. Parvuli, therefore, are children who have not attained the use of reason, and adulti those who have attained the use of reason, whether they are grown up or not. In this sense these terms also occur in other ecclesiastical regulations, as, for instance, in the ordo baptismi parvulorum-adultorum. The ordo sep. parvulos refers to all those dying before the years of discretion, the ordo sep. adultos to all those dying after attaining them.

This is undoubtedly evident also from the character of the funeral rites. The ordo sep. parvulos is of a joyful character, as is manifest in the selection of the psalms (Laudate pueri; Domini est terra; Laudate Dominum de coelis); the wording of the orations, which pray, not for the child, but for the survivors, that the latter may one day participate in the same happiness; the white color: the color of rejoicing. This rite is evidently befitting only for those that have preserved the grace of Baptism pure and undefiled; those that were incapable of the least actual sin, and who, therefore, were immediately admitted to the vision of God. And that is positively the case only of those children who die before attaining the use of reason.

The ordo sep. adultos, on the contrary, expresses sorrow at human sinfulness, fear of divine justice, and turns to God for mercy and grace to the departed. Hence the black garb, the Psalms Miserere, and De Profundis, and the corresponding sense of the orations. This funeral rite is, therefore, to be used not only for adults, but also for children who have reached the years of discretion, who, therefore, are capable of actual sin, and of whom one can not be quite certain that at their death they have nothing to atone for.

Ex communiter contingentibus it is accepted that man at the completion of his seventh year attains the use of reason. Hence it must be the general rule that all who have passed their seventh year must

be buried according to the ordo sep. adultos. The custom of burying according to the ordo sep. parvulos children even after reaching the years of discretion, is in direct opposition to the ecclesiastical precepts, and to the purport of the prayers, and it does a great injustice to the children concerned, as it deprives them of the intercession which perhaps they greatly need. This custom therefore is an improper custom, and is to be abolished.

There must be no departure from this rule even if a child who has passed this age seems to have preserved his innocence; outward appearances are often deceiving, and the same argument might be urged for some grown persons (S. C. R., August 31, 1872). On the other hand there are younger children in whom wickedness exceeds their years. Such cases, in regard to the rite to be followed, are only to be considered if notorious. Perpetuo amentes over seven years of age are interred like children under seven years of age (DE HERDT, S. Lit. Praxis, I, III, n. 268).

Ad. 2. The choice of the burial rite depends, therefore, in first place and chiefly, upon the attainment or non-attainment of the use of reason. As in our case the older boy had reached the years of discretion, he should by all means have been buried according to the Ordo sep. adultos. The circumstance that outside of Baptism he had not received any Sacraments, is no excuse for the pastor's procedure, but might imply an accusation against him, if, namely, his negligence was the cause of the boy dying without receiving the Sacraments. Every person able to distinguish between right and wrong, and therefore capable of committing sin, can and should, in danger of death, receive the last Sacraments, even if otherwise First Confession and Holy Communion are sometimes postponed until the ninth or tenth year. This is evident from divine and ecclesiastical precepts concerning the reception of the Sacraments; it would be