From:      Rhonda Steiner
To:           heb_roots_chr@mail.geocities.com
Subject:      Popes Letter - Why keep Sunday? (Part 6 of 6)


Shalom,

Thought you might find this Letter from Pope John Paul II on why
catholics should keep Sunday holy, intresting.  (I'll warn you though,
its rather lengthy

http://www.cin.org/jp2/diesdomi.html

Rhonda

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                                        (PART 6 of 6)

>From Eddie:
***************

     Is the Pope's teaching on Sunday being the Sabbath scriptural?
Here is the answer:  In II Timothy 2:15 it is written:

"STUDY to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, rightly dividing (interpreting) the word of truth"

    In Acts 17:11 it is written:

"These (the Bereans) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in
that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched
the scriptures daily, whether these things were so".

   May God bless you in your studies with the help of the Ruach
HaKodesh / Holy Spirit leading and guiding you into all truth (John
16:13)

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                                        (PART 6 of 6)


                                       APOSTOLIC LETTER

                                          DIES DOMINI

                               OF THE HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II

               TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY AND FAITHFUL OF THE CATHOLIC
               CHURCH

                               ON KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY HOLY


CONCLUSION

81. The spiritual and pastoral riches of Sunday, as it has been handed
on to us by tradition, are truly great. When its significance and
implications are understood in their entirety, Sunday in a way becomes
a synthesis of the Christian life and a condition for living it well.
It is clear therefore why the observance of the Lord's Day is so close
to the Church's heart, and why in the Church's discipline it remains a
real obligation. Yet more than as a precept, the observance should be
seen as a need rising from the depths of Christian life. It is
crucially important that all the faithful should be convinced that
they cannot live their faith or share fully in the life of the
Christian community unless they take part regularly in the Sunday
Eucharistic assembly. The Eucharist is the full realization of the
worship which humanity owes to God, and it cannot be compared to any
other religious experience. A particularly efficacious expression of
this is the Sunday gathering of the entire community, obedient to the
voice of the Risen Lord who calls the faithful together to give them
the light of his word and the nourishment of his Body as the perennial
sacramental wellspring of redemption. The grace flowing from this
wellspring renews mankind, life and history.

82. It is with this strong conviction of faith, and with awareness of
the heritage of human values which the observance of Sunday entails,
that Christians today must face the enticements of a culture which has
accepted the benefits of rest and free time, but which often uses them
frivolously and is at times attracted by morally questionable forms of
entertainment. Certainly, Christians are no different from other
people in enjoying the weekly day of rest; but at the same time they
are keenly aware of the uniqueness and originality of Sunday, the day
on which they are called to celebrate their salvation and the
salvation of all humanity. Sunday is the day of joy and the day of
rest precisely because it is "the Lord's Day", the day of the Risen
Lord.

83. Understood and lived in this fashion, Sunday in a way becomes the
soul of the other days, and in this sense we can recall the insight of
Origen that the perfect Christian "is always in the Lord's Day, and is
always celebrating Sunday". (131) Sunday is a true school, an enduring
programme of Church pedagogy - an irreplaceable pedagogy, especially
with social conditions now marked more and more by a fragmentation and
cultural pluralism which constantly test the faithfulness of
individual Christians to the practical demands of their faith. In many
parts of the world, we see a "diaspora" Christianity, which is put to
the test because the scattered disciples of Christ can no longer
easily maintain contact with one another, and lack the support of the
structures and traditions proper to Christian culture. In a situation
of such difficulty, the opportunity to come together on Sundays with
fellow believers, exchanging gifts of brother- hood, is an
indispensable help.

84. Sustaining Christian life as it does, Sunday has the additional
value of being a testimony and a proclamation. As a day of prayer,
communion and joy, Sunday resounds throughout society, emanating vital
energies and reasons for hope. Sunday is the proclamation that time,
in which he who is the Risen Lord of history makes his home, is not
the grave of our illusions but the cradle of an ever new future, an
opportunity given to us to turn the fleeting moments of this life into
seeds of eternity. Sunday is an invitation to look ahead; it is the
day on which the Christian community cries out to Christ, "Marana tha:
Come, O Lord!" (1 Cor 16:22). With this cry of hope and expectation,
the Church is the companion and support of human hope. From Sunday to
Sunday, enlightened by Christ, she goes forward towards the unending
Sunday of the heavenly Jerusalem, which "has no need of the sun or
moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light and its lamp
is the Lamb" (Rev 21:23).

85. As she strains towards her goal, the Church is sustained and
enlivened by the Spirit. It is he who awakens memory and makes present
for every generation of believers the event of the Resurrection. He is
the inward gift uniting us to the Risen Lord and to our brothers and
sisters in the intimacy of a single body, reviving our faith, filling
our hearts with charity and renewing our hope. The Spirit is
unfailingly present to every one of the Church's days, appearing
unpredictably and lavishly with the wealth of his gifts. But it is in
the Sunday gathering for the weekly celebration of Easter that the
Church listens to the Spirit in a special way and reaches out with him
to Christ in the ardent desire that he return in glory: "The Spirit
and the Bride say, 'Come!'" (Rev 22:17). Precisely in consideration of
the role of the Spirit, I have wished that this exhortation aimed at
rediscovering the meaning of Sunday should appear in this year which,
in the immediate preparation for the Jubilee, is dedicated to the Holy
Spirit.

86. I entrust this Apostolic Letter to the intercession of the Blessed
Virgin, that it may be received and put into practice by the Christian
community. Without in any way detracting from the centrality of Christ
and his Spirit, Mary is always present in the Church's Sunday. It is
the mystery of Christ itself which demands this: indeed, how could she
who is Mater Domini and Mater Ecclesiae fail to be uniquely present on
the day which is both dies Domini and dies Ecclesiae?

As they listen to the word proclaimed in the Sunday assembly, the
faithful look to the Virgin Mary, learning from her to keep it and
ponder it in their hearts (cf. Lk 2:19). With Mary, they learn to
stand at the foot of the Cross, offering to the Father the sacrifice
of Christ and joining to it the offering of their own lives. With
Mary, they experience the joy of the Resurrection, making their own
the words of the Magnificat which extol the inexhaustible gift of
divine mercy in the inexorable flow of time: "His mercy is from age to
age upon those who fear him" (Lk 1:50). From Sunday to Sunday, the
pilgrim people follow in the footsteps of Mary, and her maternal
intercession gives special power and fervour to the prayer which rises
from the Church to the Most Holy Trinity.

87. Dear Brothers and Sisters, the imminence of the Jubilee invites us
to a deeper spiritual and pastoral commitment. Indeed, this is its
true purpose. In the Jubilee year, much will be done to give it the
particular stamp demanded by the ending of the Second Millennium and
the beginning of the Third since the Incarnation of the Word of God.
But this year and this special time will pass, as we look to other
jubilees and other solemn events. As the weekly "solemnity", however,
Sunday will continue to shape the time of the Church's pilgrimage,
until that Sunday which will know no evening.

Therefore, dear Brother Bishops and Priests, I urge you to work
tirelessly with the faithful to ensure that the value of this sacred
day is understood and lived ever more deeply. This will bear rich
fruit in Christian communities, and will not fail to have a positive
influence on civil society as a whole.

In coming to know the Church, which every Sunday joyfully celebrates
the mystery from which she draws her life, may the men and women of
the Third Millennium come to know the Risen Christ. And constantly
renewed by the weekly commemoration of Easter, may Christ's disciples
be ever more credible in proclaiming the Gospel of salvation and ever
more effective in building the civilization of love.

My blessing to you all!

>From the Vatican, on 31 May, the Solemnity of Pentecost, in the year
1998, the twentieth of my Pontificate.

(1) Cf. Rev 1:10: "Kyriake heméra"; cf. also the Didaché 14, 1, Saint
Ignatius of Antioch, To the Magnesians 9, 1-2; SC 10, 88-89.

(2) Pseudo-Eusebius of Alexandria, Sermon 16: PG 86, 416.

(3) In Die Dominica Paschae II, 52: CCL 78, 550.

(4) Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution on the Sacred
Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 106.

(5) Ibid.

(6) Cf. Motu Proprio Mysterii Paschalis (14 February 1969): AAS 61
(1969), 222-226.

(7) Cf. Pastoral Note of the Italian Episcopal Conference "Il giorno
del Signore" (15 July 1984), 5: Enchiridion CEI 3, 1398.

(8) Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 106.

(9) Homily for the Solemn Inauguration of the Pontificate (22 October
1978), 5: AAS 70 (1978), 947.

(10) No. 25: AAS 73 (1981), 639.

(11) Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium
et Spes, 34.

(12) For our Jewish brothers and sisters, a "nuptial" spirituality
characterizes the Sabbath, as appears, for example, in texts of
Genesis Rabbah such as X, 9 and XI, 8 (cf. J. Neusner, Genesis Rabbah,
vol. I, Atlanta 1985, p. 107 and p. 117). The song Leka Dôdi is also
nuptial in tone: "Your God will delight in you, as the Bridegroom
delights in the Bride ... In the midst of the faithful of your beloved
people, come O Bride, O Shabbat Queen" (cf. Preghiera serale del
sabato, issued by A. Toaff, Rome, 1968-69, p. 3).

(13) Cf. A. J. Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man (22nd
ed., 1995), pp. 3-24.

(14) "Verum autem sabbatum ipsum redemptorem nostrum Iesum Christum
Dominum habemus": Epist. 13, 1: CCL 140A, 992.

(15) Ep. ad Decentium XXV, 4, 7: PL 20, 555.

(16) Homiliae in Hexaemeron II, 8: SC 26, 184.

(17) Cf. In Io. Ev. Tractatus XX, 20, 2: CCL 36, 203; Epist. 55, 2:
CSEL 34, 170-171.

(18) The reference to the Resurrection is especially clear in Russian,
which calls Sunday simply "Resurrection" (Voskresenie).

(19) Epist. 10, 96, 7.

(20) Cf. ibid. In reference to Pliny's letter, Tertullian also recalls
the coetus antelucani in Apologeticum 2, 6: CCL 1, 88; De Corona 3, 3:
CCL 2, 1043.

(21) To the Magnesians 9, 1-2: SC 10, 88-89.

(22) Sermon 8 in the Octave of Easter 4: PL 46, 841. This sense of
Sunday as "the first day" is clear in the Latin liturgical calendar,
where Monday is called feria secunda, Tuesday feria tertia and so on.
In Portuguese, the days are named in the same way.

(23) Saint Gregory of Nyssa, De Castigatione: PG 46, 309. The Maronite
Liturgy also stresses the link between the Sabbath and Sunday,
beginning with the "mystery of Holy Saturday" (cf. M. Hayek, Maronite
[Eglise], Dictionnaire de spiritualité, X [1980], 632-644).]

(24) Rite of Baptism of Children, No. 9; cf. Rite of Christian
Initiation of Adults, No. 59.

(25) Cf. Roman Missal, Rite of Blessing and Sprinkling of Holy Water.

(26) Cf. Saint Basil, On the Holy Spirit, 27, 66: SC 17, 484-485. Cf.
also Letter of Barnabas 15, 8-9: SC 172, 186-189; Saint Justin,
Dialogue with Trypho 24; 138: PG 6, 528, 793; Origen, Commentary on
the Psalms, Psalm 118(119), 1: PG 12, 1588.

(27) "Domine, praestitisti nobis pacem quietis, pacem sabbati, pacem
sine vespera": Confess., 13, 50: CCL 27, 272.

(28) Cf. Saint Augustine, Epist. 55, 17: CSEL 34, 188: "Ita ergo erit
octavus, qui primus, ut prima vita sed aeterna reddatur".

(29) Thus in English "Sunday" and in German "Sonntag".

(30) Apologia I, 67: PG 6, 430.

(31) Cf. Saint Maximus of Turin, Sermo 44, 1: CCL 23, 178; Sermo 53,
2: CCL 23, 219; Eusebius of Caesarea, Comm. in Ps. 91: PG 23,
1169-1173.

(32) See, for example, the Hymn of the Office of Readings: "Dies
aetasque ceteris octava splendet sanctior in te quam, Iesu, consecras
primitiae surgentium (Week I); and also: "Salve dies, dierum gloria,
dies felix Christi victoria, dies digna iugi laetitia dies prima. Lux
divina caecis irradiat, in qua Christus infernum spoliat, mortem
vincit et reconciliat summis ima" (Week II). Similar expressions are
found in hymns included in the Liturgy of the Hours in various modern
languages.

(33) Cf. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, VI, 138, 1-2: PG 9, 364.

(34) Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Dominum et Vivificantem (18
May 1986), 22-26: AAS 78 (1986), 829-837.

(35) Cf. Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, Sunday Letters 1, 10: PG 26,
1366.

(36) Cf. Bardesanes, Dialogue on Destiny, 46: PS 2, 606-607.

(37) Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium,
Appendix: Declaration on the Reform of the Calendar.

(38) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
the Church Lumen Gentium, 9.

(39) Cf. John Paul II, Letter Dominicae Cenae (24 February 1980), 4:
AAS 72 (1980), 120; Encyclical Letter Dominum et Vivificantem (18 May
1986), 62-64: AAS 78 (1986), 889-894.

(40) Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Vicesimus Quintus Annus (4
December 1988), 9: AAS 81 (1989), 905-906.

(41) No. 2177.

(42) Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Vicesimus Quintus Annus (4
December 1988), 9: AAS 81 (1989), 905-906.

(43) Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution on the Sacred
Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 41; cf. Decree on the Pastoral Office
of Bishops in the Church Christus Dominus, 15.

(44) These are the words of the Embolism, formulated in this or
similar ways in some of the Eucharistic Prayers of the different
languages. They stress powerfully the "Paschal" character of Sunday.

(45) Cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the
Bishops of the Catholic Church on Certain Aspects of the Church as
Communion Communionis Notio (28 May 1992), 11-14: AAS 85 (1993),
844-847.

(46) Speech to the Third Group of the Bishops of the United States of
America (17 March 1998), 4: L'Osservatore Romano, 18 March 1998, 4.

(47) Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 42.

(48) Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction on the Worship of the
Eucharistic Mystery Eucharisticum Mysterium (25 May 1967), 26: AAS 59
(1967), 555.

(49) Cf. Saint Cyprian, De Orat. Dom. 23: PL 4, 553; De Cath. Eccl.
Unitate, 7: CSEL 31, 215; Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic
Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 4; Constitution on the
Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 26.

(50) Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (22
November 1981), 57; 61: AAS 74 (1982), 151; 154.

(51) Cf. Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, Directory for Masses
with Children (1 November 1973): AAS 66 (1974), 30-46.

(52) Cf. Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction on the Worship of
the Eucharistic Mystery Eucharisticum Mysterium (25 May 1967), 26: AAS
59 (1967), 555-556; Sacred Congregation for Bishops, Directory for the
Pastoral Ministry of Bishops Ecclesiae Imago (22 February 1973), 86c:
Enchiridion Vaticanum 4, 2071.

(53) Cf. John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Christifideles Laici (30 December 1988), 30: AAS 81 (1989), 446-447.

(54) Cf. Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, Instruction Masses
for Particular Groups (15 May 1969), 10: AAS 61 (1969), 810.

(55) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
the Church Lumen Gentium, 48-51.

(56) "Haec est vita nostra, ut desiderando exerceamur": Saint
Augustine, In Prima Ioan. Tract. 4, 6: SC 75, 232.

(57) Roman Missal, Embolism after the Lord's Prayer.

(58) Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the
Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 1.

(59) Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 1; cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Dominum
et Vivificantem (18 May 1986), 61-64: AAS 78 (1986), 888-894.

(60) Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution on the Sacred
Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 7; cf. 33.

(61) Ibid., 56; cf. Ordo Lectionum Missae, Praenotanda, No. 10.

(62) Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 51.

(63) Cf. ibid., 52; Code of Canon Law, Canon 767, 2; Code of Canons of
the Eastern Churches, Canon 614.

(64) Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum (3 April 1969): AAS 61
(1969), 220.

(65) The Council's Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium speaks of
"suavis et vivus Sacrae Scripturae affectus" (No. 24).

(66) John Paul II, Letter Dominicae Cenae (24 February 1980), 10: AAS
72 (1980), 135.

(67) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
Divine Revelation Dei Verbum, 25.

(68) Cf. Ordo Lectionum Missae, Praenotanda, Chap. III.

(69) Cf. Ordo Lectionum Missae, Praenotanda, Chap. I, No. 6.

(70) Ecumenical Council of Trent, Session XXII, Doctrine and Canons on
the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, II: DS 1743; cf. Catechism of the
Catholic Church, 1366.

(71) Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1368.

(72) Sacred Congregation of Rites, Instruction on the Worship of the
Eucharistic Mystery Eucharisticum Mysterium (25 May 1967), 3b: AAS 59
(1967), 541; cf. Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Mediator Dei (20 November
1947), II: AAS 39 (1947), 564-566.

(73) Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1385; cf. also Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic
Church concerning the Reception of Eucharistic Communion by Divorced
and Remarried Faithful (14 September 1994): AAS 86 (1994), 974-979.

(74) Cf. Innocent I, Epist. 25, 1 to Decentius of Gubbio: PL 20, 553.

(75) II, 59, 2-3: ed. F. X. Funk, 1905, pp. 170-171.

(76) Cf. Apologia I, 67, 3-5: PG 6, 430.

(77) Acta SS. Saturnini, Dativi et aliorum plurimorum Martyrum in
Africa, 7, 9, 10: PL 8, 707, 709-710.

(78) Cf. Canon 21, Mansi, Conc. II, 9.

(79) Cf. Canon 47, Mansi, Conc. VIII, 332.

(80) Cf. the contrary proposition, condemned by Innocent XI in 1679,
concerning the moral obligation to keep the feast-day holy: DS 2152.

(81) Canon 1248: "Festis de praecepto diebus Missa audienda est":
Canon 1247, 1: "Dies festi sub praecepto in universa Ecclesia
sunt...omnes et singuli dies dominici".

(82) Code of Canon Law, Canon 1247; the Code of Canons of the Eastern
Churches, Canon 881, 1, prescribes that "the Christian faithful are
bound by the obligation to participate on Sundays and feast days in
the Divine Liturgy or, according to the prescriptions or legitimate
customs of their own Church sui iuris, in the celebration of the
divine praises".

(83) No. 2181: "Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit
a grave sin".

(84) Sacred Congregation for Bishops, Directory for the Pastoral
Ministry of Bishops Ecclesiae Imago (22 February 1973), 86a:
Enchiridion Vaticanum 4, 2069.

(85) Cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 905, 2.

(86) Cf. Pius XII, Apostolic Constitution Christus Dominus (6 January
1953): AAS 45 (1953), 15-24; Motu Proprio Sacram Communionem (19 March
1957): AAS 49 (1957), 177-178. Congregation of the Holy Office,
Instruction on the Discipline concerning the Eucharist Fast (6 January
1953): AAS 45 (1953), 47-51.

(87) Cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 1248, 1; Code of Canons of the
Eastern Churches, Canon 881, 2.

(88) Cf. Missale Romanum, Normae Universales de Anno Liturgico et de
Calendario, 3.

(89) Cf. Sacred Congregation of Bishops, Directory for the Pastoral
Ministry of Bishops Ecclesiae Imago (22 February 1973), 86:
Enchiridion Vaticanum 4, 2069-2073.

(90) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution on the Sacred
Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14; 26; John Paul II, Apostolic Letter
Vicesimus Quintus Annus (4 December 1988), 4; 6; 12: AAS 81 (1989),
900-901; 902; 909-910.

(91) Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on
the Church Lumen Gentium, 10.

(92) Cf. Interdicasterial Instruction on Certain Questions concerning
the Collaboration of Lay Faithful in the Ministry of Priests Ecclesiae
de Mysterio (15 August 1997), 6; 8: AAS 89 (1997), 869; 870-872.

(93) Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church Lumen Gentium, 10: "in oblationem Eucharistiae concurrunt".

(94) Ibid., 11.

(95) Cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 1248, 2.

(96) Cf. Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, Directory for Sunday
Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest Christi Ecclesia (2 June
1988): Enchiridion Vaticanum 11, 442-468; Interdicasterial Instruction
on Certain Questions concerning the Collaboration of Lay Faithful in
the Ministry of Priests Ecclesiae de Mysterio (15 August 1997): AAS 89
(1997), 852-877.

(97) Cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 1248, 2; Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, Letter Sacerdotium Ministeriale (6 August
1983), III: AAS 75 (1983), 1007.

(98) Cf. Pontifical Commission for Social Communications, Instruction
Communio et Progressio (23 May 1971), 150-152; 157: AAS 63 (1971),
645-646; 647.

(99) This is the Deacon's proclamation in honour of the Lord's Day:
cf. the Syriac text in the Missal of the Church of Antioch of the
Maronites (edition in Syriac and Arabic), Jounieh (Lebanon) 1959, p.
38.

(100) V, 20, 11: ed. F. X. Funk, 1905, p. 298; cf. Didache 14, 1: ed.
F. X. Funk, 1901, p. 32; Tertullian, Apologeticum 16, 11: CCL 1, 116.
See in particular the Epistle of Barnabas, 15, 9: SC 172, 188-189:
"This is why we celebrate as a joyous feast the eighth day on which
Jesus was raised from the dead and, after having appeared, ascended
into heaven".

(101) Tertullian for example tells us that on Sunday it was forbidden
to kneel, since kneeling, which was then seen as an essentially
penitential gesture, seemed unsuited to the day of joy. Cf. De Corona
3, 4: CCL 2, 1043.

(102) Ep. 55, 28: CSEL 342, 202.

(103) Cf. Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, Derniers
entretiens, 5-6 July 1897, in: Oeuvres complètes, Cerf - Desclée de
Brouwer, Paris, 1992, pp. 1024-1025.

(104) Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete in Domino (9 May 1975), II: AAS
67 (1975), 295.

(105) Ibid. VII, l.c., 322.

(106) Hex. 6, 10, 76: CSEL 321, 261.

(107) Cf. The Edict of Constantine, 3 July 321: Codex Theodosianus II,
tit. 8, 1, ed. T. Mommsen, 12, p. 87; Codex Iustiniani, 3, 12, 2, ed.
P. Krueger, p. 248.

(108) Cf. Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine, 4, 18: PG 20,
1165.

(109) The most ancient text of this kind is can. 29 of the Council of
Laodicea (second half of the fourth century): Mansi, II, 569-570. From
the sixth to the ninth century, many Councils prohibited "opera
ruralia". The legislation on prohibited activities, supported by civil
laws, became increasingly detailed.

(110) Cf. Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum (15 May 1891): Acta Leonis
XIII 11 (1891), 127-128.

(111) Hex. 2, 1, 1: CSEL 321, 41.

(112) Cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 1247; Code of Canons of the Eastern
Churches, Canon 881, 1; 4.

(113) Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution on the Sacred
Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 9.

(114) Cf. also Saint Justin, Apologia I, 67, 6: "Each of those who
have an abundance and who wish to make an offering gives freely
whatever he chooses, and what is collected is given to him who
presides and he assists the orphans, the widows, the sick, the poor,
the prisoners, the foreign visitors - in a word, he helps all those
who are in need": PG 6, 430.

(115) De Nabuthae, 10, 45: "Audis, dives, quid Dominus Deus dicat? Et