Happy 2010, Heraldites! Do you like my new location swap? I thought I’d give the “8 Questions for Father” column time to shine in the right half of the page. This is the Year for Priests after all.
1. Damien
After a request by Bishop Larry Silva, the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments decreed on October 25, 2009, that May 10, the feast day of St. Damien, was raised from an optional memorial to an obligatory memorial in the Diocese of Honolulu. Which of the following statements is true?
a) An obligatory memorial is a local holy day of obligation.
b) An obligatory memorial must be celebrated by a priest, although Catholics aren’t required to attend Mass that day.
c) An optional memorial gives the bishop the option of instituting a holy day of obligation.
d) An obligatory memorial is only for churches named after the saint.
2. Liturgical Year
From Dec. 25 to Jan. 1 the Catholic Church celebrated the Christmas Octave, or eight days of extended celebration. The other octave celebrated every year is Easter. There used to be at least 15 octave celebrations until all but three were eliminated in 1955. In 1969, the Vatican ended the third Octave celebration, which was what?
a) Corpus Christi
b) Epiphany
c) Ascension
d) Pentecost
3. Current Events
On Jan. 13, Auxiliary Bishop Vincent Nguyen, 43, was ordained as what country’s youngest and first bishop of Asian descent?
a) Australia
b) U.S.
c) Canada
d) France
4. Clergy
And speaking of clerical records, according to Catholic News Service, what diocese has the largest number of living archbishops in the U.S. and perhaps the world? Hint: They are Archbishop Philip Hannan, 96, who served from 1965-1989; Archbishop Francis Schulte, 83, 1989-2002; Archbishop Alfred Hughes, 76, 2002-09; and Archbishop Gregory Aymond, 59.
a) New Orleans
b) Boston
c) Chicago
d) New York
5. Pope
In 1808 the official papal colors became what?
a) black and red
b) white and yellow
c) scarlet and gold
d) purple and scarlet
6. Devotions
The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary is also named what? Hint: The alternate name comes from a Marian shrine in Italy where what is believed to be Mary’s stone house was relocated from Nazareth by Crusaders in the 13th century.
a) Litany of the Virgin Queen
b) Litany of Loreto
c) Litany of the Holy Shrine of Mary
d) Litany of the Rock
Answers: 1) b 2) d, 3) c, 4) a, 5) b, 6) b