[NB – In 1928, eighteen years after the Decree “Quam singulari” was issued, during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI, Cardinal Jorio wrote this commentary because he felt priests and parents were still requiring more of children than what Pius X commanded in the 1910 decree. This commentary has a letter of introduction byHis Eminence Card. Pietro Gasparri Secretary of State of His Holiness Pius XI. The work bears the imprimatur of Cardinal Lega, the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Discipline of the Sacraments who says: “Profoundly convinced that the beautiful Commentary on the Decree Quam Singulari and the most opportune Catechism preparatory to first Communion [which you have written] will be very useful to all the faithful and especially to children, we most willingly give it our imprimatur.” A month after it was published, Pius XI himself sent the author a letter through the same Secretary of State saying: “His Holiness nourishes the hope that this work so opportune shall make the prescriptions of the popes on this subject better understood, and that thus these prescriptions will be executed with an ever greater spirit of docility and a more striking zeal.”]
Excerpts:
7. - In fact, up until Pius X, the entire catechism was taught to children in preparation for First Communion; instead Pius X establishes First Communion at the beginning of the use of reason, and therefore demands that children possess that minimum of elementary instruction which we will discuss later on, thus making First Communion a preparation for the entire catechism, that is, for the intellectual and moral formation of Christian life.
8. – (…) No one can deny that in modern society the development of reason in children is much more precocious than in the past.Having said that, parents, headmasters of boarding schools and nursery schools must be convinced that religious education and today’s Christian pedagogy must make Communion its foundation. If Christian life isn’t developed in children as soon as possible by allowing them to take part in the divine grace of the Eucharistic Sacrament, we risk losing them completely. Therefore, it’s not a futile matter of one year more or one year less, but of the fate of the whole Christian education of future generations. At the age of eight, and worse at the age of ten and twelve, it is already too late to prevent the ruinous example of the family and social environment from destroying all religious and moral sentiments in youth. Now that there is so much care for the physical education of children, Bishops, pastors, parents and all those who care for the future of youth must look after their spiritual education with the same zeal.
14. –The decree «Quam singulari» gave the exact meaning of the expression «age of discretion – use of reason». In fact, it repeats the doctrine of the Lateran Council and the Council of Trent by interpreting it authentically and clearly in order to preclude any possibility of false and arbitrary interpretations. (…)
15. – The interpretation is authentic, but as mentioned earlier, it is not new, since it was given in the thirteenth century by St. Thomas Aquinas who writes: «When children begin to have some (aliqualem) use of reason so that they can conceive a devotion toward this Sacrament, then this Sacrament can be given to them» . What do the words ‘start to have some (aliqualem) use of reason’ mean, if not the dawning of the use of reason? (…)
17. – Cardinal Gennari writes : «Today the use of reason in little children is very precocious: everyone knows it. Little children of just three or four years old, maximum five, can reason very well, and they can distinguish normal bread from the Eucharistic Bread very well. It is said that reason is usually manifested at the age of seven. This may be true for some, but in many this takes place very earlier, and only on rare occasions after the age of seven. Therefore this is the age of discretion, suitable to receive the holy Eucharist».
18. – Those who have some experience with children, especially in the city, will totally agree with the learned Cardinal’s words, especially today, since it is easy to find little children who are able to distinguish persons and things, who ask why, that is, the reasons for things, who tell about what has happened to them, who express their desires quite well, who admit their mistakes and also ask forgiveness for them. What more is needed to admit that they have attained the use of reason and, therefore, acknowledge the obligation to fulfil, prior to the established instruction, the precept of Communion, which they not only have knowledge about, but which they also have a great desire for?
19. – And note the phrase used in the text: «The child begins to reason», it doesn’t say: reasons completely; the beginning of the use of reason is sufficient: as if we said: at dawn, at sunrise, in the morning, that is, at the beginning of the day, more or less, we must not intend «midday», that is, at high noon. (…)
27. – Here, therefore, is what the Church demands from children at the dawning of the use of reason in order to be admitted to their First Communion: the notion of God the creator, who rewards the good and punishes the wicked; the mystery of the unity and trinity of God; the mystery of the incarnation and death of our Saviour; the distinction between the Eucharistic Bread and material bread; and all that their intelligence allows them.
29 – It would certainly be useful for the child to commit to memory the answers to individual questions [of the small catechism]; but it is not necessary and must not be required if the child’s memory would be too overburdened or if it would cause a long delay of First Communion.
44. – Many parents, especially mothers, who the fathers usually leave such care to, are convinced that postponing the First Communion of their child even by a year, besides the serious non-observance of the law, involves a great danger, that is, that their child, given the very sad times in which we live, the incitement to evil, and the precocious development of the intellect, as we have said before, may lose the greatest gift of God, namely innocence, and that Satan may enter into his heart before Jesus Christ. We must meditate on St. John Chrysostom’s opinion: «Once children are conquered by malice, almost reduced to slavery, they go wherever the devil wants them to».
45. – It’s sad to say, but if children who receive their First Communion at the age of ten, nine and eight don’t confess their sins to a discerning, experienced and wise confessor, they will receive Communion sacrilegiously because they don’t mention all their sins because they are ashamed, which is explainable at this weak and timid age!
46. – But my child doesn’t understand, the mother tells us. This is our answer to her: It’s no wonder the child doesn’t understand the mysteries of the Unity and Trinity of God, of the Incarnation and of the Eucharist, because you do not understand them, we do not understand them and the Pope does not understand them! The mysteries are supernatural truths, and are to be believed on the infallible word of God, who revealed them to us, and if we could understand them, they wouldn’t be mysteries anymore. But if you wait a year or two, will your child understand? Never again! Faith and innocence suffice! And let that mother keep in mind that, by her obstinacy in not allowing First Communion to her child, if an unswerving ignorance doesn’t pardon her, no confessor can absolve her.
47. – In these matters, for heaven’s sake, we don’t have to be, as the saying goes, more Catholic than the Pope, although in our times there are some people who think they are greater than the Pope! The Church wants to give children the Eucharist when they attain the use of reason: what is wrong with that?
48. – But my son is naughty! (…) The Eucharist is not only food that makes us grow, restores us, delights us and repairs our faults, but it is also the antidote which frees us from daily sins and preserves us from mortal sins, as the Council of Trent teaches. Is your son naughty? Let him confess his sins well, make his First Communion well and then continue to receive Communion well, at least on Sundays and on feast days of obligation, as it is the responsibility of parents and teachers, and you will see that he will become good, obedient, respectful and devoted. There is no remedy more effective and more infallible than Holy Communion to fight against the so-called precocious delinquency of youth. This is the perceptible and irrefutable evidence of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
49. – Children are inconstant! «Yes, replies Msgr. De Segur, but they are good and affectionate and we must give them the true food in exchange for their need for love. We must make them love Jesus Christ, and thus we must create in them an intimate relationship with Him. Their defects, as much as they are real, don’t have much foundation, and piety will prevent them from becoming bad habits». Let certain mothers ponder these words well, especially when it comes to little girls, and try hard to give them Jesus Christ, the true food of their hearts, in time, instead of fostering vanity in them with immodest fashions and amusements in which their innocence is at risk! (…)
53. – For the sake of brevity we will leave out other futile objections; we only point out that the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments, at the numerous objections that arose regarding this Decree, always responded by not taking them into account, that is: Ponatur in archivio, and the reason lies in the evidence of the decree’s precepts, which doesn’t allow objections. (…)
79. – Lastly His Holiness [Pius XI] deigned to make a brilliant commentary on the Decree, by giving, on July 19 of this year 1928 with his holy and august Hands, in the Vatican Basilica, in the presence of the ten thousand participants at the congress of U.F.C.I., three six-year-old girls their First and unforgettable Communion! A magnificent commentary and a solemn and authoritative warning to the shepherds of souls, to parents and to those who are responsible for First Communions!
[N.B. – At the same time the Decree «Quam Singolari» was issued, 1910, Pope Pius X appointed Cardinal Casimiro Gennari, a member of the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments, to write the Commentary on the Decree itself («On the age of children’s First Communion», Brief Commentary on the Decree «Quam singulari Christus amore» by Card. Casimiro Gennari, a member of the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments, Rome, At the Head Office of the Ecclesiastical Monitor, 1910). Cardinal Gennari had worked very closely with St. Pius X on the making of the decree and knew very well the meaning of it.]
Excerpts:
Damage caused by the non-observance of early Holy Communion.
...But this practice [of delaying First Communion] became the source of serious sins, for when the child opens his mind to reason, if he has the fortune of uniting himself with Jesus in the Eucharist, begins to live His life, and continuing to approach the Holy Table finds in it the powerful antidote to free himself from daily faults and preserve himself from mortal sins, as the Council of Trent teaches. As he grows, this sacramental grace won’t fail him, and thus he will be able to preserve his innocence which is the most precious value of a Christian soul; and advance admirably on the road to virtue.
But if he delays approaching the altar; if he allows the seeds of bad habits to begin bearing evil fruits; if, having lost his innocence, he is guilty of serious sins, he finds himself on the road to ruin! He will confess his sins, it’s true; but how can he atone for the innocence he has lost? How can he uproot his evil habits? How can he restore health to the perversion of his mind and heart for which Holy Communion was an effective remedy?
Objections and responses
The reasons that usually accompany the criticism of the practice of delaying First Communion to a more mature age have no foundation.
It is said that when children approach the altar at a more mature age, they receive the Most Holy Eucharist with a greater veneration and greater fruits. But we must consider that this most divine Sacrament wasn’t instituted as a reward for virtue, but as medicine for our souls, thus the teaching of the Council of Trent(Sess. 12, c. 2) is correct when it said: «Antidotum quo liberemur a culpis quotidianis et a peccatis mortalibus praeservemur». (…)
Therefore, to approach the Holy Table, do we not want to mainly attend to the veneration due to this great Sacrament; since who could receive it worthily? But we must rather consider our need for it to strengthen our weakness and to protect us from temptations. Now who needs this life-giving food more than children who, opening their mind to the use of reason, are the weakest and most inexperienced in the battle against the enemy?
Supposing that veneration to the divine Sacrament cannot be complete in small children, it is well compensated by their innocence; in fact, innocence makes up for greater instruction: «Ignorantiam in pueris compensate innocentia» as Paludano says (ap. Gury-Ballerini T.II, no. 320, qu.5 note a). (…)
Moreover, it is said that children, before approaching the altar, must be well-educated about religious matters. The fact that all Christians are obliged to learn catechism well is beyond doubt; but that they are obliged to learn it perfectly before receiving their first Holy Communion is false. The instruction needed to receive the first sacraments consists of knowing the main mysteries of the faith and the things that concern the sacraments that are to be received. For the Eucharist it is sufficient to be able to distinguish the Eucharistic Bread from ordinary, material bread.(…)
Some people insist that if the child does not learn religious matters well before receiving his first Communion, he won’t be able to complete his instruction afterwards, given the widespread practice that after first Communion children no longer attend catechism. But this practice is a serious abuse that should be eliminated. It originates precisely from postponing first Communion to a more mature age. At this age, after the great feast of his first Communion, the child is left to his own devices without any further care: this makes his first Communion almost useless. When the young child becomes corrupted, straying from the Holy Table and from any other religious instruction, the things he once learnt soon disappear from his mind and from his heart. But if, from a young age, he approaches the altar; if he continues to receive Communion and to instruct himself; if he approaches general Communions for children with the previous preparation in the subsequent years, until he has perfectly completed his religious instruction, the above-mentioned abuse would not be deplored. He would get used to these holy exercises, and wouldn’t give them up in the following years, and his success would be assured. And this is the mind of the Sacred Congregation in the Decree we are examining, as we will see in the operative part. (…) We deny, however, that the precepts consist only of the immediate preparation for First Communion and, above all, of the innocence of life. Everyone knows that the fewer obstacles are put in the way of receiving the Most Holy Eucharist, the more fruits it will produce. Now those who receive the Eucharist at the first use of reason usually bear a pure innocence which is the most beautiful and most appropriate spirit and the dearest to Jesus Christ; unlike those who, having lived in the world, have acquired bad habits and have perhaps even committed mortal sins (V. Mon. Eccl. Vol. XXI, p. 124). (…) Therefore there is no reason that can justify the practice of postponing the first Communion of children, a practice which has become the source of great abuses.
Provisions of the Decree
I. – Age of discretion.
Notice the phrase: «begins to reason»; since it is not required that the child reasons perfectly; but, as Angelico teaches, that the child begins to have some use of reason: «quando iam pueri incipient aliqualem usum rationis habere». When therefore the mind opens itself to the first dawning of reason; and when the child can distinguish things, can recognize his parents, can express his desires, can remember the things he has done, etc.; we can say that he has reached the age of discretion.
At what age can he have such discretion? In past centuries reason was developed rather late: usually after the age of seven.
In St. Thomas’ time, a ten or eleven-year-old child could hardly begin to reason; (…) In our times this would be a paradox; since oh! how many children can now do the above things before the age of seven! Today the use of reason in little children is very precocious: everyone knows it. Little children of just three or four years old, maximum five, can reason very well, and they can distinguish normal bread from the Eucharistic Bread very well. It is said that reason is usually manifested at the age of seven. This may be true for some, but in many this takes place very earlier, and only on rare occasions after the age of seven. Therefore this is the age of discretion suitable to receive the Holy Eucharist.
However, is there an obligation to receive it at this age? The Decree clearly states it. And in fact this obligation is divine as well as ecclesiastical. «Divine», since Jesus Christ made it an obligation to receive this Eucharistic Bread (Jn. 6:54, 56): (…) However it is still «ecclesiastical» law. The precept of the IV Lateran Council is urgently needed, as we have seen before. The Decree of the Council of Trent is also urgently needed, which confirms the precept and declares anathema those who dare to deny it.
Therefore there is a serious obligation to administer the Eucharist to children as soon as they attain the use of reason.
II. – Unnecessary instruction.
The main reason of those who want to postpone the First Communion of children is that they must first learn the entire catechism, and then approach the altar. And here is our Decree to disappoint them. It declares that a full and perfect knowledge of Christian doctrine is not necessary either for First Confession or for First Communion; children only need to know the most necessary things.
And this is rightly affirmed. Since the divine and ecclesiastical precept of bringing the child before the altar when he begins to reason is urgently needed, this would be impossible if the child had to know all the Christian catechism perfectly, because it takes several years to learn it. Therefore, in order to be able to fulfil this obligation, the instruction must be limited enough for a young child. (…)
III. – Necessary instruction.
Here is what necessary instruction for first Communion consists of. The child must understand, according to his capacity, the main mysteries of faith, and be able to distinguish between the Bread of the Eucharist and ordinary bread.
The main mysteries of the faith, as everyone knows, are the mysteries of the unity and trinity of God, the incarnation, the passion and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ; and that God, as a fair judge, eternally rewards the good with heaven and eternally punishes the wicked with hell.
The child must know these mysteries as best as he can. Thus not perfectly, like theologians do, but he must be able to grasp their essence. Therefore he only needs to know that he was created by God; that this God, creator and master of everything, is one; but in Him there are three equal persons who are called Father, Son and Holy Spirit; that the second of these Persons, that is, the Son, was made man, like us, in order to save us, and for this reason suffered and died with immense pain on the cross; that those who do good deeds and observe God’s law, with the grace and merits of Jesus Christ, will be rewarded by God with heaven after death, where they will see his infinite beauty, enjoying every happiness; on the contrary, those who do evil deeds and disobey the above law and die in a state of serious sin, will be punished by God with hell, where, deprived of the sight of God, they will suffer eternal fire and every kind of evil. These are the main mysteries. (…)
IV. – Obligation and rights regarding First Communion.
We have seen before that the child has a serious obligation to go to confession and receive Communion as soon as he begins to open his mind to the use of reason. But this obligation cannot be fulfilled by the child himself without him knowing it and being assisted in fulfilling it. Therefore the Decree states that this duty belongs to those who are responsible for the child. – Who are these people? They are first of all the parents (…); secondly this duty belongs to his teachers (…); thirdly his confessors have this duty (…); fourthly it’s the pastors and priests’ duty to ensure that all their faithful carry out the precept of Confession and Communion from the established age (…)
VI. – Frequency in receiving Communion and Catechism.
This article is of great importance. (…) After the child receives First Communion when he begins to reason, he must continue to eat this Bread of eternal life. Oh! If only he were brought to the altar daily to receive the sacred Host! How much strength, light and effective grace would enrich his soul! How, as he advanced in reason and began to know the world, he would be sound and steadfast in spirit, and he would progress admirably on the road to virtue!(…)
This regards the continuation of Communion. However, the article of the Decree also speaks about the continuation of religious instruction. After First Communion, which can be prepared for with a basic instruction, those who are responsible for the child have a serious obligation to give the child a full and perfect religious instruction, gradually, according to his ability. (…)
Cardinal Gasparri, Secretary of State of Pius XI: “Nor is it necessary that a child should know the answers to the questions by heart; it is enough if he understands the meaning of the words”
“The teacher should take pains to see that the children pronounce distinctly and devoutly the words of the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Sign of the Cross; also that they make the Sign of the Cross correctly. Teachers should also briefly explain to the children the meaning of the words of the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary and should tell them who they were who first said them...Children should therefore be taught to love her [Mary] with a childlike love, and to say often, especially at their morning and evening prayers, the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary, and to make the Sign of the Cross. It is not necessary that a child should, previous to his First Communion, learn by heart the Apostles’ Creed and the Act of Contrition. But he must study them and understand them. Then after his First Communion he must continue to study them and learn them thoroughly, so as to be able to prepare himself properly for subsequent Confessions and Communions.”
(See p. xiii and p. 3 of Cardinal Gasparri’s First Communion Catechism, taken from that of Cardinal Jorio, part of his larger work, Catholic Catechism)
Cardinal Jorio’s First Communion Catechism: “One should explain to children briefly and in a very simple way the origin, importance and significance of the Apostles’ Creed in itself and in each of its articles. If it is sometimes too difficult for the child to learn the Creed by heart, we could be content with explaining it to him, making him repeat after us each part of it as a profession of faith.” (See p. 66 of his Commentary).
Pius XII: “The Church, today more than ever, is a Church which fights and struggles. Where must the fighters come from? Where must they be formed if not at the altar, with the strength of the Holy Eucharist? Everything else will not resist, but life with, in and from Christ will resist.”
Fr. Lintelo, SJ and Fr. Zulueta, SJ (Fr. Zulueta was a noted authority on the subject of Holy Communion and education. This quote is from 1912, two years after Pius X’s decree on First Communion, but makes reference to his earlier decree on frequent Communion): “Thus giddiness, changeableness of disposition, lack of fixed attention during preparation and thanksgiving (such as, perhaps, even their elders cannot command) afford no justification for defrauding the little ones of the Heavenly Bread. It is the right of every soul in the state of grace, and these children receive it, in their simple, and perhaps imperfect way, in order that Jesus may help them ‘to be good,’ or better still, moved by an innocent love of Him. If defects and shortcomings justify a parent, or other guide of childhood, in deciding offhand that once a month, or once a week, ‘is quite enough,’ what becomes of the earlier Decree, in which we are taught that the Eucharist is the ‘divine remedy’ for our failings? This being so, it is plain that faults are reasons for and not against the use of this Remedy, and that the more numerous and persistent the faults are, the more numerous and urgent are the reasons for taking It. The absence of visible improvement forms no reasonable ground for limiting the child.” (The Divine Educator, p. 97).
Fr. Zulueta: “Parents and others in charge are also to see that these subsequent Communions be made by the children with ‘such devotion as their age allows.’ Fathers, mothers and teachers who are anxious to do their best, should note this qualifying phrase. Such ‘devotion’ should by all means be fostered. But exaggerated notions as to its proper quantity and intensity should be carefully avoided.” “As saintly writers put it:
‘The best preparation for receiving Holy Communion to-morrow is to have been to Communion to-day.’ Our Lord, by His repeated entry into the soul, adorns and purifies His own human tabernacle far more perfectly and rapidly than we can.”(p. 61) (Zulueta, Early First Communion: a Commentary on Quam singulari, 1911)
Fr. Aloysius Heeg, S.J., Famous catechist, Director of the Junior Sodality in the USA in the 1940’s and 50’s. Author of an excellent series on how to teach catechism and of a First Communion Catechism held in high regard:
Commenting on the 1910 Decree’s statement that the only knowledge required for First Communion is to know the truths which must be known ‘necessitate medii’ for salvation: “Theologians may argue as to just how many mysteries of faith are necessary ‘necessitate medii.’ Most theologians hold that there are less than four. Be that as it may, let us for practical purposes suppose there are these four: the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Redemption, and the Judgment. If a teacher wishes to find out if a child knows these four mysteries, she may ask these simple questions: 1. Is there only one God? 2. What did God the Son become for you? 3. Why did He die on the Cross? 4. What will happen if you are good when you die? The teacher may rest satisfied as regards these four points, if the child shows that he knows the following answers: 1. There is only one God, but in the one God there are Three Persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. 2. God the Son became man for us. 3. He died on the Cross for our sins. 4. If we are good when we die God will take us to heaven; if we are bad we send ourselves to hell” (Heeg, Practical Helps for the Religion Teacher, Part II, pp. 147-148. St. Louis: Queen’s Work, 1940).
Canon Boyer, Director of catechisms in France, staunch opponent of liberal catechism ideas being promoted in the 1940’s: “The knowledge, of which the child is capable at the age of discretion is not a knowledge of theologically complete formulas, which indeed have no great meaning for him. For example: It is not necessary that to our question upon the Eucharist the child answer without hesitation: ‘The Eucharist is the sacrament which contains really and truly the Body, the Blood, the Soul and the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine,’ but it suffices that to the question: ‘What is upon the altar, before the consecration?’ he respond: ‘Bread.’ To the question: ‘Who is in the host at the moment of Communion?’ He responds: ‘Jesus,’ thus distinguishing, as the Decree demands, between the Eucharistic Bread and ordinary bread.
“It is not indispensable that he respond to our question: ‘Who is God?,’ ‘God is a pure spirit, infinitely perfect, the Creator and sovereign Lord of all things.’ It is necessary and sufficient that he respond to our questions: ‘Who made the world?’—‘God.’ ‘Can we see God?’—‘No.’ ‘Who is the Master of the world and of man?’—‘God.’
“The devotion required of a child is that which is suited to his age. Let us not, therefore, exact from a little tot of 7 years that he no longer disobey, that he no longer fidget when he is in church, that he follow the Mass with a book like an older person...in other words to exhibit all the signs of a quasi-heroism. Rather, we should make sure that he produces acts in conformity with that which he knows and believes. We can judge that the preparation is sufficient when the acts which we have suggested (prayers, sacrifices) begin to come spontaneously, when, according to the expression of the Code of Canon Law, he has not only the knowledge but the desire ‘cognitionem et gustum.’” (Boyer, La Premiere Communion des Petits Enfants, pp. 14-15. Paris: Lethielleux, 1943).