for it is as common as truth in a court of justice. The confessor, in such cases, has to write to the bishop for absolution, and tell his penitent to return to him. In London four cases are reserved: immoral advances by a priest to a woman in the confessional, frequentation of theatres by a priest, murder, and connection with a secret society. Two cases which are always reserved to the Pope will be treated in the next chapter.
For a long period after his ordination the priest’s activity is confined to saying Mass every morning. He is not indeed bound to say Mass every morning:[1] he is bound to hear Mass every Sunday, but there is no definite obligation to exercise his power of consecration. The young priest says it daily during the few years of his primitive fervour, and many priests continue the practice faithfully throughout life. Monastic priests are usually bound to say daily mass by their constitutions, though there is no doubt that it would be much more conducive to true religion if they were allowed liberty of choice. Priests soon contract the habit of hurrying through their Mass at a speed which ill harmonises with their belief in its most solemn character. In fact, the Church has been forced to legislate on the point and forbid the saying of Mass in less than twenty minutes—or fifteen
- ↑ M. Zola is again wrong in imputing it as a fault that the priests at Lourdes omitted to say Mass.
