permit for the just punishment of those who rejected the Christian truth and the Divine miracles.
30. What is to be thought of consulting spiritistic mediums, engaging in spiritistic meetings, evoking the spirits of the dead, and other such practices?
Such practices are forbidden by the First Commandment, and are highly sinful and dangerous (Deut. xviii.).
31. What is sacrilege?
Sacrilege is a profanation of holy things, holy persons, or holy places; for instance, the unworthy receiving of a Sacrament, the ill-treatment of an ecclesiastic, the desecration of a church or of sacred vessels, etc.
Examples: Punishment of King Baltassar (Dan. v.), of Heliodorus (2 Mac. iii.). How Christ cast the sellers out of the Temple, see John ii. 15.
32. When does a person commit simony?
When he buys or sells spiritual things, preferments, and the like, for money or money's worth; as Simon, the Magician, intended to do (Acts viii.). This sin has been forbidden by the Church under the most severe penalties, even under pain of excommunication.
Application. Make every day Acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and never neglect to say your Morning and Evening Prayers. At church behave with reverence, and pray with attention, on your knees, and with your hands joined. Never use forbidden or suspicious means, in order to cure diseases or to discover hidden things. Are you in doubt whether the use of certain things is permitted or not, ask the Priest or your Confessor.
§ 2. The Veneration and Invocation of the Saints.
33. What does the Catholic Church teach respecting the veneration and invocation of the Saints?
