Fourth Synod Compiled Acts, Declarations and Statutes

PART IV. THE OFFICE OF SANCTIFYING IN THE CHURCH

CHAPTER 1

THE SACRAMENTS

A RTICLE 1. S ACRAMENTS IN G ENERAL

79. “The art of celebrating the liturgy properly and adoring the Lord in the Eucharist devoutly ( ars celebrandi et adorandi ) is the key to fostering the active participation of the People of God in divine worship.” 48 The clergy of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois “must consider the celebration of the liturgy as their principal duty.” 49 80. The Sacraments of Christian Initiation shall be offered in the proper sequence (Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist) for children as well as for adults. To promote discipleship and stewardship as a way of life from an early age, those who are baptized as infants are to receive the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist at about the age of reason, which in this Diocese will normally be in their third grade of elementary school, after they have been properly prepared and have made sacramental confession. 50 81. Sacraments are to be administered without charge. Offerings (stole fees) given on the occasion of administering Baptism and Matrimony and celebrating funerals, sacramentals and other parochial functions are determined by the Bishops of the Province and belong to the parish where they are celebrated, unless in the case of voluntary offerings the contrary intention of the donor is certain. 51 The intentions of the donors regarding Mass stipends and stole fees shall be diligently honored.

82. Ordinarily the sacred oils are to be kept in a special, secure place in the church, either in the sanctuary or near the baptismal font. The oil stock with the oil of the

48 First Pastoral Letter of Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, Ars Celebrandi et Adorandi , June 22, 2014, n. 1.

49 Pope Benedict XVI, Post-Synodal Exhortation, Sacramentum Caritatis , March 13, 2007, n. 39.

50 Cf. cc. 891 and 914 and the complementary norm of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

51 Cf. cc. 531 and 1264, §2.

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