 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2022) |
Quam singulari was a decree released by Pope Pius X in 1910, concerning the admittance of children to the Eucharist. This followed a decree by the Sacred Congregation of the Council, five years before on frequent Communion. [1]
There was a concern in the church about the practice of operating with different ages for admitting first Communion and first Confession. Certain doctrinal and ascetical errors had developed at the beginning of the century, at least in some parts of the world. These, like other errors, were rooted in Jansenism. [1] Some argued that, while reaching the age of reason was enough to receive first Confession, "a full knowledge of matters of faith" was needed to receive the first Communion.
This, according to the Quam singulari, was in error. In evidence of this, the decree referred to historical authorities such as the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Antoninus, the practices of the early church and Christ's own sayings on children. It was therefore stressed that this decree did not institute a new doctrine, but simply clarified ancient ones. [2]
Cardinal Domenico Ferrata, former prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, played an important part in the preparation of Quam singulari. [3]
The decree begins by noting Jesus' love for children:
"The pages of the Gospel show clearly how special was that love for children which Christ showed while He was on earth. It was His delight to be in their midst; He was wont to lay His hands on them; He embraced them; and He blessed them. At the same time He was not pleased when they would be driven away by the disciples, whom He rebuked gravely with these words: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for of such is the kingdom of God.” [4]
Pius noted that the custom of giving Holy Communion to infants immediately after baptism, and frequently before the beginning of their rational life was practiced up until the thirteenth century, and while modified, never condemned; it is even approved among the Eastern rites. [2]
Another error was the pretense that "the Holy Eucharist is a reward (for virtue), not a remedy for human frailty," a concept that contradicts the teaching of the Council of Trent that Holy Communion is "an antidote by which we are freed from our daily faults and preserved from mortal sins". [1] Pius X believed that children should be able to receive absolution and holy communion to strengthen and protect against the dangers and challenges of the modern world. [5]
The decree of the Lateran Council (1215, can. xxi) has never been revoked or modified, and in virtue of it all are obliged, as soon as they arrive at the years of discretion, to receive both the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion at Easter time [2]
It was decreed that:
At the regular meeting of the bishops of England and Wales in November 1910, the bishops decided that the decree should be publicly read each Easter. The following year, they developed a course for the gradual instruction for first communion to be incorporated in subsequent diocesan syllabuses for religious education. [6]
In May 1973, the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments and the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, issued a joint declaration, Sanctus Pontifex, discussing first reconciliation prior to first eucharist. After the Second Vatican Council a short period of experimentation allowed for a later age for First Confession. The declaration clarified that after conferring with bishops, such experiments should cease and that the accepted norm was First Confession before First Communion. [7]
The decree Quam singulari is memorialized in a stained-glass window of Pope St. Pius X at St. Pius Church in Redwood City, California. [5]
Mass is the main Eucharistic liturgical service in many forms of Western Christianity. The term Mass is commonly used in the Catholic Church, Western Rite Orthodoxy, Old Catholicism, and Independent Catholicism. The term is also used in some Lutheran churches, as well as in some Anglican churches, and on rare occasion by other Protestant churches.
Pope Pius X was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, and for promoting liturgical reforms and scholastic theology. He initiated the preparation of the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive and systemic work of its kind. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. The Society of Saint Pius X, a traditionalist Catholic fraternity, is named after him.
Closed communion is the practice of restricting the serving of the elements of Holy Communion to those who are members in good standing of a particular church, denomination, sect, or congregation. Though the meaning of the term varies slightly in different Christian theological traditions, it generally means that a church or denomination limits participation either to members of their own church, members of their own denomination, or members of some specific class. This restriction is based on various parameters, one of which is baptism. See also intercommunion.
Domenico Ferrata JUD was an Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal who spent most of his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See and in the Roman Curia.
First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communion. In churches that celebrate a rite of First Communion separate from baptism or confirmation, it typically occurs between the ages of seven and thirteen, often acting as a rite of passage. In other denominations first communion ordinarily follows the reception of confirmation, which occurs at some point in adolescence or adulthood, while Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christians first receive the sacrament of Holy Communion in infancy, along with Holy Baptism and Chrismation.
The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Church as distinct from the Eastern Catholic Churches and also some technical matters relating to the sacraments.
A tabernacle or a sacrament house is a fixed, locked box in which the Eucharist is stored as part of the "reserved sacrament" rite. A container for the same purpose, which is set directly into a wall, is called an aumbry.
Infant communion refers to the practice of giving the Eucharist, often in the form of consecrated wine mingled with consecrated bread, to young children. This practice is standard throughout Eastern Christianity, where communion is given at the Divine Liturgy to all baptized and chrismated church members regardless of age. Infant communion is less common in most of Western Christianity.
Eucharistic discipline is the term applied to the regulations and practices associated with an individual preparing for the reception of the Eucharist. Different Christian traditions require varying degrees of preparation, which may include a period of fasting, prayer, repentance, and confession.
During the Mass of the Faithful, the second part of the Mass, the elements of bread and wine are considered to have been changed into the veritable Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The manner in which this occurs is referred to by the term transubstantiation, a theory of St. Thomas Aquinas, in the Roman Catholic Church. Members of the Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran communions also believe that Jesus Christ is really and truly present in the bread and wine, but they believe that the way in which this occurs must forever remain a sacred mystery. In many Christian churches some portion of the consecrated elements is set aside and reserved after the reception of Communion and referred to as the reserved sacrament. The reserved sacrament is usually stored in a tabernacle, a locked cabinet made of precious materials and usually located on, above, or near the high altar. In Western Christianity usually only the Host, from Latin: hostia, meaning "victim", is reserved, except where wine might be kept for the sick who cannot consume a host.
The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross, is present and offered in an unbloody manner". The Church describes the Mass as the "source and summit of the Christian life", and teaches that the Mass is a sacrifice, in which the sacramental bread and wine, through consecration by an ordained priest, become the sacrificial body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ as the sacrifice on Calvary made truly present once again on the altar. The Catholic Church permits only baptised members in the state of grace to receive Christ in the Eucharist.
Frequent Communion is the Roman Catholic practice of receiving the Eucharist frequently, as opposed to the usual medieval practice of receiving it once or a few times a year, by going to mass on Sundays.
Filippo Giustini was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments from 1914 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1914.
The liturgical reforms of Pope Pius XII took place mostly between 1947 and 1958.
The Roman Catholic tradition includes a number of devotions to Jesus Christ. Like all Catholic devotions, these prayer forms are not part of the official public liturgy of the Church but are based on the popular spiritual practices of Roman Catholics. Many are officially approved by the Holy See as suitable for spiritual growth but not necessary for salvation.
Canon 915, one of the canons in the 1983 Code of Canon Law of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, forbids the administration of Holy Communion to those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, or who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin:
Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.
The canonical situation of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a group founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, is unresolved.
Mirae caritatis is an encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on the Holy Eucharist given on 28 May 1902. Its theme is mainly the marvelous effects of devotion to the Holy Eucharist in the moral and spiritual life of the faithful.
Ellen Organ, known as Little Nellie of Holy God, was an Irish child, venerated by some in the Roman Catholic Church for her precocious spiritual awareness and alleged mystical life. Particularly dedicated to the Eucharist, the story of her life inspired Pope Pius X to admit young children to Holy Communion. In 1910, Pope Pius X issued the decree Quam singulari, which lowered the age of Holy Communion for children from 12 years to around 7.
There are seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, which according to Catholic theology were instituted by Jesus Christ and entrusted to the Church. Sacraments are visible rites seen as signs and efficacious channels of the grace of God to all those who receive them with the proper disposition.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Quam singulari". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.
