ARRAS, MARTYRS OF, Blessed. — This is the name given to the four “Daughters of Charity” of the religious house at A.: Marie-Madeleine Fontaine, superior, Marie-Françoise Lanel, Marie-Thérèse Fontenou and Jeanne Gérard, who were guillotined by the Commune at Cambrai on 29 June 1794 for their religious profession. Witnesses to the heroic attachment of the clergy of A. to the faith and to the Roman Church, they too, in 1791, refused to take the oath of “liberty-equality,” but, protected by the sympathy of the people, they were able to continue their works of charity until the beginning of 1794. When, however, the people’s commissar G. Lebon arrived in A., they were denounced and arrested.
As regards the matter and form of sacred furnishings, canon 1296 § 3 merely makes a general reference to liturgical prescriptions, ecclesiastical tradition and the laws of sacred art. Greater importance is attached, however, to their custody and preservation (canons 1296 § 1 and 1302); to better ensure this, canon 1296 § 2 requires that a regular inventory be made.
Cardinals resident in Rome, even if they are suburbicarian bishops or abbots *nullius*, may dispose by gift or by will of their sacred furnishings in favour of a church (preferably one that has held them in title, administration or commendation), a place of worship or a religious house; but if they die without having made such provision, all their sacred furnishings, with the exception of the ring and the pectoral cross, pass to the Apostolic Sacristy (canon 1298). Likewise, the sacred furnishings of residential bishops, even if they hold cardinalatial dignity, become, at their death, the property of the cathedral church, except for the ring, the pectoral cross and any objects that can be shown to have been acquired by the deceased from goods not belonging to the church itself (canon 1299 § 1). In the case in which a bishop has successively governed two or more dioceses or has simultaneously been at the head of two or more united dioceses, canon 1299 § 2 provides for the modalities of attribution of the sacred furnishings to the individual cathedral churches. What is said for bishops also applies to clerics who have obtained a secular or religious benefice in some church (canon 1300). Cardinals, residential bishops and other clerics in possession of a benefice are therefore bound to ensure, by means of a will or other valid act, that the aforesaid canonical provisions may be fully executed, even with civil effect; and they must also promptly designate a person of unblemished reputation who, after their death, will hand over to the proper authorities not only the sacred furnishings but also the books, documents and other church property that may be found in their residence (canon 1301).
The use of sacred furnishings and, in general, of everything necessary for the celebration of Mass and for pontifical functions, must be granted free of charge by the cathedral church to the bishop (canon 1303 § 1). As for other priests, it is within the power of the ordinary to allow a modest fee to be charged for the use of sacred furnishings if the church in which they celebrate Mass for their own convenience is in a state of particular indigence (canon 1303 § 2-4).
The blessing of sacred furnishings, when required by liturgical norms, may be imparted: a) by cardinals and bishops, without exception; b) by local ordinaries who are not bishops, for churches and oratories within their territory; c) by parish priests, for churches and oratories situated within the parish; d) by rectors of churches, limited to the churches themselves; e) by priests delegated by the ordinary, within the limits of the delegation and the jurisdiction of the delegator; f) by religious superiors and priests of the same religious institute delegated for this purpose, for their own churches and oratories, as well as for the churches of nuns subject to them (canon 1304).
Sacred furnishings that have been blessed or consecrated lose their blessing or consecration: 1) if they undergo such damage or alteration as to lose their original form and can no longer be considered suitable for the use proper to them; 2) if they have been put to unbecoming uses or publicly offered for sale (canon 1305 § 1). It should be noted, however, that the chalice and the paten do not lose their consecration merely by reason of the consumption or renewal of their gilding (canon 1305 § 2).
Special provisions are finally directed to safeguarding certain sacred furnishings, and in particular the chalice, the paten, the purificators, the corporals and the palls, from sacrilegious or impure contacts (canon 1306 § 1-2). See Plates III-IV.