sinless. The wilful casting away of a Breviary, as an excuse for not
being able to read the Office, is gravely sinful; and unless the sinful
desire be retracted there may be question of many mortal sins of wilful
omission to fulfil the obligation, as the omissions are then wilful in
cause. Priests travelling are unable sometimes to recite the proper
Office of the day, as their Breviaries lack something (e.g., the
proper prayer or the lessons of the second nocturn). The Sacred
Congregation of Rites (December, 1854) decided "_Sacerdos peregre
profectus cui molesti difficiliorque esset officii recitatio cui et
pauca desunt in libro officii praesentis, nempe oratio et legenda,
valet de communi absque obligatione propria deinde ad supplementum
recitandi... atque ita servari mandavit_." The psalms as arranged
in the new psalter must always be said for a valid recitation of the
Office (_v. Divino Afflatu_).

What is a priest bound to do, who from a grave cause cannot find time to
recite the whole Office but only a part of it?

St. Alphonsus gives the rule, "If you can recite a part equivalent to a
small Hour, you are bound to do so under pain of mortal sin. But if you
cannot read or repeat a part equivalent to a small Hour, you are bound
to nothing, as a part so small--less than a small Hour--taken
separately, is considered inappreciable for the end the Church's law of
recitation has in view."




ARTICLE VIII.--THE DIRECTION OF THE SCRUPULOUS.