ne service fails so far as to labor an hour.
The question therefore is, how long must one work on Sunday to be
guilty of a mortal sin.

The answer to this question is: a notable time; but that does not throw
a very great abundance of light on the subject. But surely a fourth of
the whole is a notable part. Now, considering that a day's work is, not
twenty-four hours, but ten hours, very rarely twelve, frequently only
eight, it will be seen to follow that two hours' work would be
considered a notable breach of the law of rest. And this is the
decision of competent authority. Not but that less might make us
grievously guilty, but we may take it as certain that he who works
during two full hours, at a labor considered servile, without
sufficient reason, commits a mortal sin.

CHAPTER LIV.
COMMON WORKS.

THERE is a third sort of works to be considered in relation to Sunday
observance, which, being of their nature neither liberal nor servile,
go by the specific name of common works. This class embraces works of
two kinds, viz., those which enter into the common, daily, inevitable
necessities of life, and those in which the mind and body are exerted
in an equal measure.

The former are not considered servile because they are necessary, not
in certain circumstances, but at all times, for all persons, in all
conditions of life. Activity of this kind, so universally and
imperiously demanded, does not require dispensation from the law, as in
the case of necessary servile works properly so-called; but it stands
outside all legislation and is a law unto itself.

These works are usually domestic occupations, as cooking and the
preparation of victuals, the keeping of the house in becoming tidiness,
the proper care of children, of beasts of burden and domestic animals.
People must eat, the body must be fed, life requires attention on
Sunday as well as on the other six days; and in no circumstances can
this labor be dispensed with. Sometimes eatables for Sunday consumption
may be prepared on the previous day; if this is not done, whether
through forgetfulness, neglect or indifference, it is lawful on Sunday
to prepare a good table, even one more sumptuous than on ordinary days.
For Sunday is a day of festival, and without enthusing over the fact,
we must concede that the words feast and festival are synonymous in
human language, that the ordinary and favorite place for human
rejoicing is the table, and in this man differs no