I Have a Question - Fr. Hugh Barbour, O.Praem.

Which "10 Commandments"?
How should we pray the rosary? And other questions from our readers.

Q Why do Catholics not list the commandment not to make or adore graven images as one of the 10 commandments? A Protestant friend of mine says it is because Catholics venerate images, and so they leave this commandment out. I am confused, because it does seem to me that our use of images is forbidden by this commandment.

A The Catholic listing of the 10 commandments in fact includes the Protestant second commandment in the first, just as the Protestant listing combines our ninth and tenth commandments. If you examine the full text of the first commandment given in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2083, you will see that the commandment regarding the worship of idols is there.

Logically, there is just one commandment enjoining us to worship God alone, and to reject the worship of false Gods. The making of the commandment about idols into a separate commandment was a Protestant innovation to oppose the use of sacred images, which had been vindicated by the Second Council of Nicea in A.D. 787.

Even so, Luther, in his catechism, did not use the now common Protestant division, but the ancient one used by the Fathers of the Church. In fact, if Protestants were to apply this commandment rigorously as meaning an absolute prohibition of images, then the practices of most of their churches would be as unacceptable to them as those of the Catholic Church. Many Protestant churches have crosses, stained-glass windows and nativity scenes, and in Lutheran churches in Europe, the crucifix is as common as in Catholic churches. The Second Council of Nicea taught, "The honor of the image passes to the original, and he who shows reverence to the image, shows reverence to the substance of Him depicted in it."

Even in the Old Testament, in the same book of Exodus that gives us the 10 commandments, we read that God ordered beaten gold images of two cherubim be made to adorn the sides of the ark of the covenant (cf. Exodus 25). In Numbers 21, God ordered Moses to make a bronze serpent and fix it as a sign, so that all who looked at it would be healed from the serpents' bites. Our Lord taught that this image was a representation of Himself on the Cross, a prophecy of the true Crucified One to foreshadow the spiritual healing brought by Christ, Who overcame the ancient serpent. Our Lord said, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life" (John 3:14-15). In Acts 5, we read that the sick were carried out into the street so that they might be healed by even the shadow of St. Peter, surely the most basic of "images"!

The problem with idols is not that they are images, but that they are images of gods who do not exist; there are no actual beings to whom the reverence offered them can be referred. They are false gods. They are only statues, nothing more. The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 115 (Psalm 113 in older Catholic bibles), "Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes but do not see." An image of Christ the Lord, though, is an image of the true God; He really does exist, so the reverence shown His image is really directed to Him. An image of the Blessed Mother is an image of one who really is in heaven and who really does pray for us, one of whom it was truly said, "All generations will call me blessed" (Luke 1:48).

So go ahead. Look at, venerate, kneel before sacred images. Kiss the crucifix in your room at home, or on your rosary beads. Touch your statue of Our Lady with devotion. You are honoring holy beings who really exist. If giving your wife or mother a kiss isn't idolatry, then kissing her picture after she has left this world isn't, either. The same goes for Our Lord and the saints. After all, we love and honor them don't we? Let's not allow a kind of religious prudery to keep us from showing our affection and honor to those whom God has honored far more than we ever could. The Second Council of Nicea states, "For the more frequently they are seen through the forms of images, so the much more quickly are those who contemplate them raised to the memory and desire of the originals, to kiss and render honorable veneration to them . . . let an oblation of incense and lights be made to them as was the pious custom of the ancients."

It's great to be Catholic, to be free to make use of all the possibilities of our human nature, physical and spiritual, in expressing our faith, hope and love. By taking on visible human flesh, Our Savior freed us from the bondage of the law and made us able to say in our own degree with the Beloved Disciple, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched . . . we proclaim" (1 John 1:1-3).

Q My only daughter is 21 and wants to enter an order of sisters. She went on a vocational retreat and was really swept away by it all. My husband and I wonder if she should take such a drastic step so early in life. We think she should experience a little more of the world first, working, dating, etc. After all, she ought to know what she's giving up! She would make a good wife and mother, but seems to think that being a sister is a "higher way" than marriage. We told her marriage is just as good as being a nun, and that she does not have our support if she goes off into the convent. We're practicing Catholics, and we're not against sisters or anything like that, but we think she ought to wait. She'll probably do what we advise, but I'm a little worried we might not be acting according to the Church's teaching. What do you think?

A There are two main issues in your question. First, let's consider the relation of marriage and celibacy. Then we can take a look at the question of your attitude toward your daughter's vocation.

St. Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 7, "The unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband . . . He who marries his betrothed does well, but he who refrains from marriage will do better."

In Matthew 19, Our Lord talks about those who practice perfect chastity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, saying, "He who is able to receive this, let him receive it." The Church, by Her solemn Magisterium, defined the sense of these scriptural teachings at the Council of Trent. That council defined as a dogma the preeminence of consecrated celibacy over marriage in these words, "If anyone says that the married state is to be placed before that of virginity or celibacy, and that it is not more blessed and better to remain in virginity and celibacy, than to be joined in marriage, let him be anathema" (session 24, canon 10). The superiority of virginity over marriage as a state of life is a matter then, of Catholic Faith. This superiority of the state of celibacy does not necessarily mean the individual moral superiority of virgins over married people. Holiness is a matter of the degree of our love of God and neighbor. The virginal state allows greater freedom in the service of God and neighbor, and so is a more secure path to perfect charity. Yet, this does not mean that married people cannot have a charity and holiness as great or greater than those dedicated to God in celibacy. Rather, it merely asserts that those who live in the world in marriage have a way of life in which the primacy of the spiritual life is not as clearly shown. This is precisely the meaning of St. Paul's words just quoted.

Why is this? To understand the reason, we have to look at the nature of our spiritual life as principally a union with Christ. In explaining the value of Christian celibacy, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "Christ is the center of all Christian life. The bond with Him takes precedence over all other bonds, familial or social . . . Virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is an unfolding of the baptismal grace, a powerful sign of the supremacy of the bond with Christ and of the ardent expectation of His return, a sign which also recalls that marriage is a reality of this present age which is passing away" (1618-1619). In our day, it isn't popular or easily understood to speak of one way of life as being superior to another, and so the current Magisterium tends to describe celibacy as showing the supremacy of union with the Lord, or of being a closer follower of Christ (cf. CCC 916). Under this aspect, what applies to virginity applies also to religious and consecrated life in general. The exaltation of virginal and religious life, far from lowering the value of marriage, only points out how great a good it is, and how significant is the sacrifice of giving up so good a thing for the sake of the kingdom.

While marriage is indeed a very good thing, a vowed espousal to Christ in celibacy shows more fully the hope of the life of heaven and the resurrection beyond this world, as the Catechism points out. There, Christ Himself will be the Bridegroom of the whole race of the redeemed, and of each one in particular. Our Lord teaches us in Luke 20 that the saints in glory "neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to the angels and are the sons of God, being sons of the resurrection." The earliest tradition of the Church, especially in the East, calls the celibate and religious life "the angelic life" for just this reason: It points, even in this life, to the future kingdom.

All of this urges you to adopt a different, more faith-filled and Catholic attitude toward your daughter's vocation. Catholic parents, in fact, according to all the tradition of moral teaching in the Church, have an obligation to foster religious vocations in their children who show an inclination and suitability for such a holy way of life. The Second Vatican Council teaches of parents, "They should encourage them in the vocation which is proper to each child, fostering with special care any religious vocation" (Lumen Gentium, 11). In fact, it is a grievous sin to block a religious vocation without a serious reason. If your daughter is well-suited and desires religious life, you have no right to discourage her, unless only temporarily because you absolutely depend on her financial or physical care to live. Otherwise, to discourage her would go against the very purpose of your own married life, which is to bring forth children in love for the glory of God. Parents who foster religious vocations in their children show they understand what marriage is all about.

Of course, children should not be forced or "programmed" to become religious, and not every individual is suited to religious life. It remains true, though, that a girl who would make a good, holy mother would probably make a good, holy sister. The same virtues of "charity, of hospitality, and of sacrifice" (CCC 1654) which characterize Christian marriage are also the virtues of religious life. A good priest, brother or sister worth his or her salt would make a good husband, wife, father or mother. Take it as a blessing, and a sign that you have done well as parents that your daughter wants to be a spouse of Christ!

Q Our parish priest told me that when I pray the rosary, I don't have to meditate just on the mysteries which are traditionally listed, but that I can meditate on other events in Our Lord and Our Lady's life as well. Is this so? Doesn't this go against Our Lady's request at Fatima that we pray the rosary daily? It seems like she was asking for the traditional rosary. Is there any place where the Church officially defines what the rosary is?

A The Church's Handbook of Indulgences gives the only official definition of the rosary available. There we read, "Now the rosary is a certain formula of prayer, which is made up of 15 decades of Hail Marys with an Our Father before each decade, and in which the recitation of each decade is accompanied by pious meditation on a particular mystery of our redemption . . . in public recitation the mysteries must be announced in the manner customary in the place; for private recitation, however, it suffices if the vocal recitation is accompanied by meditation on the mysteries" (Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, 48).

In his letter on Marian devotion, Marialis Cultus, Pope Paul VI pointed out that mysteries other than the customary ones could be meditated upon by the faithful in their praying of the rosary. What the norm given seems to say is that when the mysteries are publicly announced, one should announce the traditional ones, but that the individual is free to meditate on any of the mysteries of salvation. Note also that the Apostles' Creed and the opening and closing prayers, as well as the Glory Be and the O My Jesus are not strictly required either, just the Our Fathers and Hail Marys. Customs vary slightly from place to place, and so the Church allows a certain freedom here. However, I'm not encouraging anyone, especially in group recitation, to leave these prayers out. It's just good to know what is the case, since someone, especially when praying alone, may want to simplify the prayers so as to meditate more easily.

St. Louis de Montfort, the greatest preacher of the rosary ever, gives five methods of praying the rosary. In his fourth method, he gives a brief thought for each Hail Mary. In this way, he covers many of the mysteries of the life of Our Lord and Our Lady, and indeed, of the whole work of our salvation. For example, de Montfort presents the fall of Adam, the longing of the prophets, the marriage of Mary and Joseph, Our Lord's baptism by St. John, His miracles, His Transfiguration, the Last Supper, His descent among the dead, the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit, Christ's Second Coming, Our Lady's Immaculate Conception, Her motherly mediation of grace and so on.

We must remember that the rosary is a prayer, and so we may speak to God about any of the wonders He has done for us; we are free to consider any of the mysteries of our Faith. We are still praying the rosary, and can still gain the rich indulgences attached to its recitation. In her various apparitions, Our Lady never restricts the meditation to the 15 customary ones. Indeed, why should she? In these things, we should use the "freedom of the sons of God," and enjoy the depths of our Faith.