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Indies. Father Mastrilli then made a vow before his'
provinical that he would p;o to the Indies if God
spared his Hfe, and in anotlicr aiiparition (3 Jan., 1634)
St. Francis Xavier exacted of liim a renewal of this
promise, foretold his martyrdom, and restored him to
health so completely that on that same night Father
Mastrilli w;is in a condition to write an ai rount of his
cure, and the next morning to celebrate Mass at the
altar of the saint and to resume his community life. •
He soon set out for the Japanese missions where he
was martyred, 17 October, 1037. The renown of the
miracle quickly spread through Italy, and inspired
with confidence in the power and goodness of St.
Francis Xavier, the faithful implored his assistance
in a novena with such success that it came to be called
the "novena of grace". This novena is now made
publicly in many countries from 4 to 12 March, the
latter being the date of the canonization of St. Francis
Xavier together with St. Ignatius. The conditions
include a visit to a Jesuit church or chapel. The in-
dulgence may be gained on any day of the novena,
and those who are prevented by illness or another le-
gitimate cause from communicating during the no-
vena may gain the indulgence by doing so as soon as
possible. All of these novenas without exception
are to be made, in private or in public, with pious
exercises and the reception of the Sacraments, and
for these usually a daily jiartial Indulgence can be
gained and a plenary Indulgence at the end of the
novena. The Indulgences and the conditions for
gaining them are accurately given in detail in the
authentic "Raccolta" and in the works on Indul-
gences by Beringer and Hilgers, which have appeared
in various languages. The indulgenced novenas, to
a certain extent official, have but contributed to in-
crease the confidence of the faithful in novenas.
Hence, even the private novena of prayer flourishes
in our day. Through the novena to Our Lady of
Lourdes, through that to St. Anthony of Padua or
some other saint, the faithful seek and find help and
relief. The history of novenas is not yet written, but
it is doubtless a good part of the history of childlike
veneration of Our Lady and all the saints, of lively
confidence in God , and especially of the spirit of prayer
in the Catholic Church.
Joseph Hilgers
Novice. — I. Definition and Requirements. — The word novice, which among the Romans meant a newly acquired slave, and which is now used to denote an inexperienced person, is the canonical Latin name of those who, having been regularly admitted into a religious order and ordinarily already confirmed in their higher vocation by a certain period of probation as postulants, are prepared by a series of exercises and tests for the religious profession. In Greek, the novice was called apxipw, a beginner. The religious life, recommended by Jesus Christ is encouraged by the Church and any person is allowed to become a novice who is not prevented by some positive legal impedi- ment. No minimum or maximum age is fixed by canon law for admission into the novitiate. Those, however, who have not arrived at puberty cannot enter without the consent of their parents or guardians; and canon law ("Si quis", I; "De regularibus", III, 31) grants to parents one year to compel the return of a child who has entered without their consent. As the Council of Trent fixes at sixteen years the earliest age for the profession which follows the novitiate, we may conclude that the novice must have completed his fif- teenth year if the religious order requires one year of novitiate; or, his fourteenth, if the two years be re- quired, and this opinion is confirmed in respect to Regulars, properly so-called, by the decree of the Sa- cred Congregation of Religious dated 16 May, 1675, and for nuns by that of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars dated 28 May, 1689. Accord-
ing to the rules of procedure, published by the latter
congregation, 28 June, 1901, no person may be ad-
mitted into a new congregation under the age of fif-
teen years without special iirrniission of the Holy See.
The constitution of Cleuicnt \'II1, "Cum ad Regu-
larem", of 19 March, 1603, requires the age of nine-
teen full years for the reception of lay-brothers, but
this constitution has not been everywhere carried into
effect. Canon law dislinctly gives to clerics the right
to enter religion (ef. Clcrici. unic., e. XIX, i; Alienum,
I eodem, q. 2; Benedict Xl\ , C. "Kx (|Uo dilectus",
14 January, 1747; the reply of the Sacred Congrega-
tion of Bishops and Regulars of 20 December, 1859;
Nilles, "De libertate clcricorum religionem ingre-
diendi"). Even those who have obtaineil a burse for
study, or who have been maintained at the exjjense of
the seminary retain this right, although it is admitted
that the founder of a burse, or the donor of money for
educational purposes may impose certain reasonable
conditions for the use of his gifts, and may stipulate
for instance that the cleric shall undertake to serve
the diocese for a certain number of ye.ars, or not to
enter into religion without the consent of the Holy See.
Although the consent of the bishop is not canonically
required, the cleric is recommended to inform him of
his intention to enter a religious order, and a similar
notification is required of any cleric or priest occupy-
ing any office or benefice. The bishop in fact must be
in a position to fill the vacancy. For the entry into
religion of a diocesan bishop nominated or confirmed
by the Holy See, the consent of the pope is required.
This does not apply to a bishop who has lawfully re-
signed his see, but some authors consider that it does
apply to titular bishops.
However general may be the freedom to enter a re- ligious order, no person is allowed to do this to the detriment of another's right. Thus a married man, at least after the consummation of marriage, cannot en- ter into religion, unless his wife has by her misconduct given him the right to refuse cohabitation forever, or unless she consents to his entrance, and agrees to make a vow of chastity or to enter into religion her- self, in conformity with canonical rules. The liberty of a married woman is similarly limited ("Pra?terea , 1; "Cum sis", 4; "Ad Apostolicam", 13; "Significa- vit", 18; "De conversione conjugatorum". III, 32). Parents may not enter into religion without making suitable provision for the education and future of their children; nor children who are under the obligation of maintaining their parents, if their religious profession would prevent them from aiding their parents in any grave necessity. Debtors also are forbidden, at least those who may be expected to be able to pay their debts within a reasonable time (this is a disputed point but we give the most commonly accepted opin- ion, which is that of St. Alphonsus, "Moral Theol- ogy", bk. IV, 5, n. 71). Moreover, a positive order of Sixtus V (Cum de omnibus. 1587), modified to a cer- tain extent by Clement VIII (In Suprema, 1602), for- bids the profession of persons involved in debts by their own fault. Canon law also excludes persons branded with infamy and those connected with any criminal proceeding, also those under an obligation to render accounts of a complicated nature. (C. Clement VIII, "In Suprema", 1602.) An illegitimate child is not necessarily excluded, but he cannot be received into any order in which his father is professed (C. Gregory XIV, "Circum.specta", 15 March, 1591).
The canonical regulations spoken of above, concern those religious orders in which solemn vows are taken. Rehgious congregations are governed generally by the natural law and their own approved constitutions. According to the "Norma>" (Regulations) of 1901, the Holy See imposes the following disabilities, and re- serves to itself the right of dispensation: illegitimacy, not removed by legitimation; age, below fifteen and above thirty years; vows binding a person to another
