Quam singulari

Quam singulari
Quam singulari
1910 decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments on the age at which children are to be admitted to first Communion

Catholic Encyclopedia. . 2006.

Quam Singulari
    Quam singulari
     Catholic_Encyclopedia Quam singulari
    A decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Sacraments, 8 August, 1910, on the age at which children are to be admitted to first Communion, officially promulgated 15 August, 1910 (Acta Apost. Sedis, 15 August, 1910). The historical facts narrated in the "Quam singulari" prove that:
    ♦ it is not a decree inaugurating a new discipline, but one restoring the ancient and universal law of the Church, wherever it has not been observed (Pius X to Card. Abp. of Cologne, 31 December, 1910);
    ♦ the custom of giving Holy Communion to infants immediately after baptism, and frequently before the beginning of their rational life, has been modified but never condemned; it is even approved to-day among the Greeks and Orientals;
    ♦ the decree of the Fourth 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 xxi) has never been revoked or modified, and in virtue of it all are obliged, as soon as they arrive at the years of discretion, to receive both the Sacraments of Penance and Holy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;
    ♦ the "testimony of the greatest authority, St. Thomas Aquinas", interpreting the Council, states that the Lateran decree obliges "children when they begin to have some use of reason" (also Ledesma, Vasquez, St. Antoninus);
    ♦ the Council of Trent confirmed the Lateran decree pronouncing anathema against all who deny "that the faithful of both sexes who have attained the use of reason are obliged to receive Holy Communion every year, at least at Easter time" (Sess. XIII, de Euch., c. viii, can. ix). Errors condemned by the "Quam singulari"
    ♦ A greater discretion is required for first Communion than for first Confession.
    ♦ To receive Holy Communion a more, complete knowledge of the articles of Faith is required. This erroneous opinion, demanding with Jansenism
    (1) extraordinary preparation, thereby deferring Communion "for the riper age" of twelve, fourteen, or even older ("absolutely forbidden"), makes
    (2) "the Holy Eucharist a reward and not a remedy for human frailty", which is contrary to 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". The error assumes
    (3) what may be false — that riper years and more complete instruction give better dispositions than the innocence and candour of more tender years. As first Communion is not essentially different from any other Communion the extraordinary preparation heretofore demanded is
    (4) contrary to the "Sacra Tridentina", which for daily communicants, including children, requires only the state of grace and a good intention. Abuses following from errors
    ♦ Depriving the child from the beginning of its rational life of the right of living in Christ through Holy Communion, a right given by baptism;
    ♦ Causing the loss of angelic first innocence in many by those years of deprivation of Christ and of graces, years for many the seed-time for snares and vices, all of which might have been avoided;
    ♦ causing, by the custom of some places, children to live in the state of sin by not allowing them to go to confession until the age determined for first Communion, or of denying them absolution when they confessed ("absolutely condemned" and "to be done away with by ordinaries as the law permits");
    ♦ denying the Viaticum to dying children who had not received their first Communion, and burying these as infants, thereby depriving them of the suffrages of the Church, to which they were entitled ("utterly detestable", "ordinaries to proceed severely against these"). Conditions for first Confession and first Communion
    ♦ The age of discretion, which applies equally to both sacraments. This may be judged
    (1) by the first indication of the child using its reasoning powers;
    (2) by the child knowing what is right from wrong. No determined age is placed as a condition; the age of seven is mentioned because the majority of children arrive at the years of discretion, that is, begin to reason, about this period, some sooner, some later.
    ♦ A knowledge such as a child just beginning to reason can have about one God, Who rewards the good and punishes the wicked, and about the mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation. It is not necessary that the child should commit to memory accurate theological definitions, which may convey no idea to the little mind just beginning to unfold.
    ♦ A child must be able to distinguish the Eucharistic from the common bread; that is, to know that what looks like bread is not bread, but contains the real, living Body and Blood of Christ.
    ♦ Children should be taught to receive Holy Communion devoutly.
    ♦ Children should be instructed on the necessity of being in the state of grace and of having a good intention, also
    ♦ of fasting from midnight before Communion. Obligation of admitting children to first Communion
    When children begin to reason, the obligation of receiving Holy Communion is Divine as well as ecclesiastical. The subject-matter of the decree:
    ♦ is therefore a grave one obliging under serious sin,
    (1) children themselves if they know of and maliciously neglect their obligation;
    (2) those responsible for the children: father, mother, instructors, rectors of colleges, principals of schools, superiors of communities and children's asylums, all who have parental responsibility, confessors, and pastors.
    ♦ A grave obligation devolving on all above mentioned is to encourage children after first Communion to approach the altar frequently, even daily, if possible.
    ♦ Those responsible for children should regard as "their most important duty" that the incomplete instruction given before first Communion be continued afterwards by sending the children to the public catechetical instructions, or by supplying their religious instruction in some other way. The formal admission of the child to first Communion rests with the father, or the one taking his place, and with the confessor. The decree supposes these to act together, and when they agree on the admission no one may interfere. Where the parents are negligent or indifferent or opposed to their children's first Communion, the confessor can assume the entire responsibility. Should the confessors oppose the admission of children whose parents know they have begun to reason, the prudent course in practice is to present the children to another confessor, for every confessor has a right to admit a child to private first Communion. General Communion
    A public ceremony devolving not on the confessor but on the parish priest, who is required to have yearly one or several of these general Communions, which may be simple or solemn. The simple:
    ♦ will admit the
    (1) little children making their first Communion, also
    (2) those who have previously approached the Holy Table. The decree requires some days of instruction and preparation for both classes of children when they receive in a body. This can be given as conditions and circumstances permit, attention being paid to the spirit and substance of this provision.
    ♦ Every pastor can arrange a solemn ceremony in which those would participate who had completed a course in Christian Doctrine. Every year during the time the faithful can satisfy their Easter duty, the "Quam singulari" must be read to the people in the vernacular. Every five years in their ad limina, ordinaries will be obliged to report the observance of the decree to the Holy See. GENNARI in Il Mon. Ecc. (Aug., Sept., 1910); VERMEERSCH, De Prima Puerorum Communione; BESSON in Nouvelle Revue Th ologique (Nov., Dec., 1910); FERRERES in Raz n y Fe (Dec., 1910); CANB in The Sentinel (March, 1911-); Ecclesiastical Review (Oct., 1910); ZULUETA, Early First Communion; The Child Prepared for First Communion (New York, 1911); LUCAS, The Decree "Quam singulari" and the Age for First Communion; MALONEY in The Catholic World (Feb., 1911); NERI, La Prima Cumunione dei fancuilli; LINTELO, Il Decreto sull' Eta della Prima Comunione; MACCONO, La Prima Comunione; P dagogische Bedeutung des Dekrets ber Erst-Kommunion (Hildesheim, 1911); Die Kommunion der Kinder (Mainz, 1911); See also current Catholic, especially foreign, reviews, Sept, to Dec., 1910; also many pastoral letters of bishops of United States and Europe.
    JOHN T. MCNICHOLAS
    Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


Catholic encyclopedia.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Quam singulari — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Quam singulari, Decreto de la Sagrada Congregación de los Sacramentos (8 de agosto de 1910) sobre la edad en que los niños pueden tomar la primera comunión, oficialmente promulgado el 15 de agosto de 1910 (Acta Apost …   Wikipedia Español

  • Quam singulari — (De: mit welch einer besonderen (Liebe)) ist ein Dekret der Hl. Sakramentenkongregation (heute: Kongregation für den Gottesdienst und die Sakramentenordnung) über die eucharistische Kommunion von Kindern. Das Dekret wurde am 8. August 1910 durch… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Quam singulari — was a decree released by Pope Pius X in 1910, concerning the admittance of Communion to children.There was a concern in the church about the practice of operating with different ages for admitting first Communion and first Confession. Some argued …   Wikipedia

  • ЕВХАРИСТИЯ. ЧАСТЬ II — Е. в православной Церкви II тысячелетия Е. в Византии в XI в. К XI в. визант. богослужение приобрело почти тот вид, какой оно сохраняло в правосл. Церкви все последующее тысячелетие; в его основе лежала древняя к польская традиция, значительно… …   Православная энциклопедия

  • ORATIONES Principum — dicuntur in Iure, quae ab ipsis Principibus in Senatu habentur; Cum ipsi scilicet explicatis rei totius circumstantiis, quod iustum, utile ac honestum Reip. sit, ostendunt, Senatumque rogant, an sic constituere placeat. Talis exstat Oratio vel… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • First Communion — The First Communion (First Holy Communion) is a Roman Catholic ceremony. It is the colloquial name for a person s first reception of the sacrament of the Eucharist. Roman Catholics believe this event to be very important, as the Eucharist is one… …   Wikipedia

  • Infant communion — Part of the series on Communion also known as The Eucharist , The Lord s Supper Divine Liturgy or Sacrament Theology Real Presence Transubstantiation Transignification Sacramental Union Memorialism Consubstantiation Impanation Consecrat …   Wikipedia

  • 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.[1] Pope Pius X pushed for the practice of frequent communion,[2] relaxing restrictions on… …   Wikipedia

  • Erstkommunion — Kommunionkind im weißen Kleid mit Kranz, 1950 Erstkommunion oder Erste heilige Kommunion (auch Kinderkommunion; oft verkürzt „Kommunion“ genannt) heißt in der katholischen Kirche der meist festlich begangene erste Kommunionempfang der Kinder. An… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Frère André — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Frère André (homonymie). André Bessette André Bessette dit Frère André …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”