Fourth Synod Compiled Acts, Declarations and Statutes

(which is obligatory for clerics 89 and is encouraged for the Christian faithful to pray communally in their parishes in groups established under their pastors 90 ), and venerating saints, sacred images and relics. 91

130. a) Pastors should at all times be ready to impart to their people the blessings of the Church.

b) In every parish the pastor should bless the homes and vehicles of his parishioners when requested to do so. In rural parishes it is the mind of the Church that the fields and the flocks also be blessed.

CHAPTER III

SACRED PLACES AND TIMES

A RTICLE 1. C HURCHES

131. Admission to the church for sacred functions must be absolutely free of charge; no money may be taken at the entrance of the church.

132. The chapel of an institution is not a parish church. The chaplain and the religious superior shall periodically advise the faithful, apart from the residents, their family members and the employees of the institution, that they normally are to attend Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation in the parish churches. 133. a) All churches in which the Blessed Sacrament is reserved should be kept open throughout the day and early evening as far as possible to encourage the Eucharistic devotion of the faithful.

b) The priests are reminded that the church should be locked at night; this is an obligation in conscience for the pastor.

c) In church the pious custom for women and girls to wear some covering on the head may be observed. The faithful are reminded that their clothing in church is to be modest as becoming the sanctity of the place and their own Christian dignity.

89 c. 276, §1, 3°.

90 Congregation for Divine Worship, General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours (Vatican City, 1971), n. 21.

91 Cf. Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy: Principles and Guidelines , Vatican City, 2001.

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