the words and syllables are to be repeated fully without mutilation or
abbreviation. Hence, if mutilation of the words occur to such an extent
that the sense or meaning of the words is notably changed, mortal sin
may be committed. But if the mutilation be small in quantity there is
only a venial sin committed, and often no sin at all may be committed,
as the mutilation of words or syllables may be quite involuntary, or may
be done inadvertently, or may arise from an inveterate habit very
difficult to correct, and in the attempt to cure it time and patience
may have been spent (St. Alph., 164-165). This bad habit, if it extend
over a large portion of the recitation and destroy notably the sense of
the words, may bind _sub gravi_ to repetition, as this fault or habit
affects the very substance of recitation. Priests seldom are bound to
such a repetition, as the mutilation is not destructive to the sense of
a notable part of the office and hence does not affect the substance of
the obligation to vocal recital. St. Alphonsus holds (n. 165), that the
obligation is fulfilled as long as the meaning is not destroyed, _quando
servatur aliqua significatio verborum_.

Pronunciation should be _continuous_. That is, the recitation of each
hour should be continuous, non-interrupted, and every notable stoppage
or break in the recitation of a canonical hour is a venial sin, if there
be no excusing cause for such an interruption. Any reasonable cause for
interruption (e.g., to obey a bell call, to see a parishioner who
calls, to hear a confession) excuses from all fault (St. Alph., n. 168).

If the recital of the office for any canonical hour be interrupted,
should the whole hour be repeated? Some theologians say that it should
be repeated. But the more probable opinion denies that there is any such
obligation; it holds that the union of the prayers prescribed by the
Church is not broken, as each psalm, each lesson, each prayer, has a