Course 4, Chapter 6: Christianity visible. — Of Festivals, their object and their beauty

1. What is time?

Since the commission of original sin, time is the delay granted by divine justice to guilty man to do penance. For this reason the Council of Trent says that a truly Christian life is a continual penance.

2. How is the year divided?

The time of the year is divided by the church into three parts: the first comprises Advent, and recalls to mind the four thousand years during which the Messiah was expected; the second extends from Christ mas to the Ascension, and comprises all the mortal life of our Lord. The third begins at Pentecost and ends at All Saints; it comprises the life of the church.

3. What are festivals?

The word festival signifies a rejoicing, a religious assembly. Festivals have existed from the beginning

348 CATECHISM OF PERSEVERANCE.

of the world. They existed under the patriarchs and under the law of Moses, as well as under the gospel.

4. What is the first object of festivals?

The first object of festivals is to remind us of the principal events of religion, such as the actions of our Lord, the descent of the Holy Ghost, the life of the Blessed Virgin and the saints.

5. What is the second?

The second object of these festivals is to establish the truth of all these events, and excite our gratitude to God for his benefits.

6. What are the advantages of festivals?

The advantages of festivals are: 1st, to inspire us with gratitude to God, and a desire to imitate the saints; 2d, to incite us to the practice of the different virtues which we are obliged to cultivate in a more special manner, during the different seasons of the year; 3d, to give us rest from our labors and render them salutary by teaching us to sanctify them.

7. How must we sanctify the festivals?

To sanctify the festivals we must understand well the intention of the church in instituting them, and endeavor to excite in our hearts the sentiments which these festivals ought to produce. A very good means of sanctifying the festivals is to prepare for them by a novena, and to receive with fervor the sacra ments of penance and the holy eucharist.