asonableness of Catholic Ceremonies and Practices

"Let the children of Israel make the Phase in due time . . . according
to all the ceremonies thereof" (_Num._ ix 2, 3).

Reasonableness of Catholic Ceremonies and Practices

"The priest shall be vested with the tunic" (_Lev._ vi. 10).

"And he made, of violet and purple, scarlet and fine linen, the
vestments for Aaron to wear when he ministered in the holy places, as
the Lord commanded Moses" (_Ex._ xxxix. 1).

"In every place there is sacrifice and there is offered to My name a
clean offering" (_Malach._ i. 11).

"And another Angel came and stood before the altar, having a golden
censer: and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of
the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the
throne of God" (_Apoc._ viii. 3).

The Ceremonies of the Catholic Church

THE Catholic Church in the celebration of Mass and in the administration
of the sacraments employs certain forms and rites. These are called
ceremonies. By these ceremonies the Church wishes to appeal to the heart
as well as to the intellect, and to impress the faithful with sentiments
of faith and piety.

What is more capable of raising the heart and mind of man to God than a
priest celebrating Mass? What more inspiring than some of our sacred
music?

How beneficial and how lasting the impression formed by the ceremonies
of the Church, the following incident will show:

One of our missionaries once went to visit a tribe of Indians who had
been deprived of a priest for nearly half a century. After traveling
through the forest for some days he came near their village.

'Twas Sunday morning. Suddenly the silence was broken by a number of
voices singing in unison. He stopped to listen. To his great
astonishment he distinguished the music of a Mass, and of Catholic hymns
well known to him.

What could be more touching than this simple, savage people endeavoring
to celebrate the Lord's Day as they had been taught by the priest fifty
years before? What more elevating than those sacred songs--the _Stabat
Mater_, the _O Salutaris_, or the _Te Deum_--uttered by pious lips and
resounding through the forest primeval? What better evidence could we
have of the beneficial effects of our ceremonies in raising the heart to
God?

And yet few things connected with our holy religion have been more
frequently subjected to ridicule than her ceremonies. People scoff at
them,