The few questions which were answered in the last number of the Record have given occasion to other questions of a practical nature in connection with the Office and Mass for the Dead. There is a variety of practice in some points—for instance, 1st, at the end of the absolution, if the office and mass be celebrated for one person, should requiescat in pace, or requiescant, be said?
2nd, Should the Anima ejus et animae omnium, etc., be said, and is there any definite rule about it?
3rd, When is the De profundis to be said, and when is it to be omitted?
With regard to the first question we beg to quote the following decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, which settles the question.
"Dec. 2709. An dicendum sit in fine absolutionis mortuorum requiescat vel requiescant?
"Resp. Quando absolutio est pro uno defuncto, in singulari; pro pluribus, in plurali. In missa vero semper requiescant. Die 22 Januarii, 1678".
In reply to the second question, it appears to us that the Rubrics of the Ritual will lead us to a safe conclusion. The Ritual clearly lays down that, if the remains for any reason are not carried to the cemetery immediately after the office, the Benedictus, and the prayer, etc., having been said, the Anima ejus et animae, etc., is also to be said. In such a case there is no doubt, inasmuch as the Ritual lays down the entire order of the ceremony, and ends with the words Anima ejus, etc., in full without any comment. If the remains are brought to the cemetery the same practice is to be observed, for at the sepulchre the same prayers are prescribed by the Rubrics, and there is no change mentioned. Hence, we consider we are correct in stating that the Anima ejus, etc., is to be said at the end of the prayers for burial, praesente corpore, whether these are recited in the church or in the cemetery. But is the verse Anima ejus to be said at the end, after the Requiescant in pace, if the remains are not present? There is no mention of this in the Ritual nor in the Missal, and it is certain that on All Souls' Day, when the remains, as a rule, are not supposed to be present, the Anima ejus is not to be said. There is a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites referring to this subject.
"Dec. 2924. An post absolutionem quae fit super cadaver in die obitus, vel supra tumulum in die anniversario aut super lecticam seu castrum doloris in die commemorationis omnium fidelium defunctorum, dicto versiculo requiescant in pace, subjungi debeat Anima ejus et animae omnium, etc.
"Resp. Servetur Rituale: et in commemoratione omnium fidelium defunctorum nihil superaddendum. Die 2 Decembris, 1684".
We do not mean to say that this decree decides the point clearly in our favour, but the Ritual certainly does not prescribe it. We have before us an excellent ceremonial published in Bologna by a missionary priest of St. Vincent, and he is clearly of opinion that the Anima ejus absente cadavere ought not to be said, and adduces the decree above quoted referring to the office on All Souls' Day.