Fasting Days. All days in Lent, except Sundays. The Eve of Whitsuntide. The Quarter-Tenses, or Ember days, that occur in the four seasons of the year. The Vigil of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of All Saints. Every Friday in Advent, and Christmas Eve. Days of Abstinence from Flesh Meat. Every day in Lent, except when the use of meat is allowed by the Archbishop or Bishop of the diocess. All Fridays in the year. All Ember days and Vigils as above.. If a fasting day fall on a Sunday, the fast is kept on the Saturday before. If Christmas Day fall upon a Friday, neither fast nor abstinence is observed. N. B.--The Catholic Church commands all her children to be present at the great Eucharistic Sacrifice which we call the Mass, and to rest from servile works on Sundays and holidays. Secondly, To abstain from flesh on all the days of fasting and abstinence. Thirdly, To confess their sins at least once a year Fourthly, To receive the blessed sacrament at east ɔnce a year, during the Easter time. The time for satisfying the Easter precept in the United States, is, in virtue of a late concession, from the first Sunday of Lent to Trinity Sunday, beth inclusiveίν. AN ABRIDGMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. The Ten Commandments of God.-Exodus xx. 1. I am the Lord thy God, who' brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of fathers upon their children unto the third and fourth generation of those that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of those that love me, and keep my commandments. 2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain. 3. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works; but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work on it, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it. 4. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be long-lived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee. 5. Thou shalt not kill. 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 7 Thou shalt not steal. 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Leighbour. 9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, nor his servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his. The six Precepts of the Church. 1. To hear Mass on Sundays, and all holidays of obligation. 2. To fast and abstain on the days commanded. 3. To confess our sins at least once a year. 4. To receive the blessed Eucharist at Easter, or within the time appointed. 5. To contribute to the support of our pastors. 6. Not to solemnize marriage at the forbidden times; nor to marry persons within the forbidden degrees of kindred, or otherwise prohibited by the church; nor clandestinely. The four Cardina. Virtues Pruder ce-Justice-Fortitude-and Temperance. The seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost.—Isa. xi. 2, 3. Fortitude, Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, The fear of the Lord. Counsel, Piety, and The twelve Fruits of the Holy Ghost. Charity, Patience, Benignity, Modesty, Joy, Longanimity, Mildness, Continency, and The spiritual Works of Mercy. To give counsel to the doubtful.-To instruct the ignorant. To admonish sinners.-To comfort the afflicted. To forgive offences. To bear patiently the troublesome. To pray for the living and the dead. The corporal Works of Mercy. To feed the hungry.-To give drink to the thirsty. -To clothe the naked.-To harbour the harbourless. -To visit the sick.-To visit the imprisoned ;-aud, to bury the dead. The eight Beatitudes.-Matt. v. 1. Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 2. Blessed are the meek; for they shall possess the land. 3. Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted. 4. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice; for they shall be filled. 5. Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy. 6. Blessed are the clean of heart; for they shall see God. |