"A Vincentian Father"

“ A. There is a marvellous happiness to be found in holiness of life, because the various degrees of holiness are so many steps towards God, the centre and source of all happiness. Therefore the happiness of the religious state is like that "treasure hidden in a field, which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." ”

“ We fear that the fault lies in great part with the many parents, who, instead of fostering the desire so natural to the youthful heart of dedicating itself to the service of God's sanctuary, but too often impart to their children their own worldly-mindedness, and seek to influence their choice of a state of life by unduly exaggerating the difficulties and dangers of the priestly calling, and painting in too glowing colours the advantages of secular life. ”

“ If a person thinks of embracing a secular life, he should ask and desire more evident signs that God calls him to a secular life than if there were question of embracing the evangelical counsels; for Our Lord Himself has evidently exhorted us to embrace His counsels, and, on the other hand, He has evidently laid before us the great dangers and difficulties of a secular life; so that, if we rightly conclude, revelations and extraordinary tokens of His will are more necessary for a man entering upon a life in the world than for one entering the religious state. ”

“ To know whether God will have a person become a religious it is not to be expected that God Himself should speak, or send an angel from heaven to signify His will. It is not necessary that ten or twelve confessors should examine whether the vocation is to be followed. But it is necessary to correspond with the first movement of the inspiration, and to cultivate it, and then not to grow weary if disgust or coldness should come on. If a person acts thus, God will not fail to make all succeed to His glory. ”

“ God loves to communicate Himself to those whose hearts are free from the defilements of sin: "Blessed are the clean of heart; for they shall see God." "The clean of heart" shall see God, not only in heaven, but even in this life; they shall see Him in His works and recognize His providence in all His designs: "To them that love God, all things work together unto good." ”

“ Gregory the Great wrote to him these remarkable words: "This law, forbidding soldiers to enter the religious state, is unjust, because it shuts heaven to many; for there are very many who cannot enter heaven unless they abandon all things." ”

“ The early lessons of faith and piety, and of the fear and love of god, easily become effaced by contact with the world. Religious vocations often share the fate of the seed that fell by the wayside and the seed that fell among thorns: "And the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts after other things entering in, choke the word, and it is made fruitless." ”

“ A. When there is a question of marriage with a rich or an influential person, many parents not only make no objection, but even urge the matter, whether such a marriage is the will of God or not; and yet when the children are evidently called by Almighty God to higher and holier states - to become spouses of Jesus Christ - these same parents object, and place obstacles in the path of their children. Many parents, having allowed their own faith to become deadened by contact with the world, lose sight of the snares and pitfalls before the feet of their children. ”

“ There is some hope for the life of a man hanging over a precipice and clinging even to a handful of grass, but there is no hope when his brains are dashed out on the rocks beneath. When persons have fully made up their minds to enter mixed marriage, they are so blinded by their passions and preferences that, if the Church should not tolerate their step, many of them would marry out of the Church, and thus commit mortal sin, and in most cases incur excommunication. The only difference, then, is this: There is at least a possible hope of salvation when mixed marriages are tolerated by the Church ”

“ As reasonably might you place enticing liquors before a man struggling against intemperance. When these youth are left to the mercy of so many enticing and dangerous influences, with their passions growing within them, and an enchanting world smiling upon them; when others around them are "marrying and giving in marriage;" when all are speaking of the world and thinking of the world, they will naturally be influenced by the moral atmosphere in which they live. ”

“ A. St Thomas, the angel of the schools, says: "Those who lead others into religion not only commit no sin, but even merit a great reward; for it is written: He who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins'; and, They that instruct many to justice shall shine as stars for all eternity.'" Yet coercion or forcing in this matter, is forbidden by the Fathers of the Council of Trent. ”

“ To know and to do God's will in the choice of a state of life is a grace which parents should earnestly invoke upon their children even from infancy; and it is important that the children themselves, especially from the time of their First Communion, should daily ask of God the grace to know their vocation. ”

“ The influence which St Bernard exercised by his letters and burning words was so effectual, so irresistible, that he was soon surrounded by a company of young men, who not only changed their way of life, but bound themselves to him to follow the holy path which God had traced out for him. ”

“ Q. Why should a vocation to the religious state be followed promptly? A. St John Chrysostom, as quoted by St Thomas, says: "When God gives such vocations, He wills that we should not defer even for a moment to follow them; for when the devil cannot bring a person to give up his resolution of consecrating himself to God, he at least seeks to make him defer the execution of it, and he esteems it a great gain if he can obtain the delay of one day, or even of one hour." ”

“ A. Some people, having their will inflamed with a love for the religious state, enter it with great pleasure, and without any questions about the matter; others enter it only when their understanding has become so enlightened as to discover the vanity and dangers of the world, and when they see clearly, the greater security of salvation in the religious state. ”

“ In the world this doctrine of vocation is not much considered by some persons. They think that it is all the same whether they live in the state to which God calls them, or in that which they choose of their own inclination; and therefore so many live bad lives and damn themselves. ”

“ Q. What is the exact teaching of theology with regard to parents preventing their children from entering the religious state? A. St Liguori gives the following, not only as his doctrine, but as the teaching of theologians in general: "Parents who, without a just and certain cause, prevent their children from entering the religious state cannot be excused from mortal sin ; and not only parents, but any one who prevents another from following a religious vocation, sins mortally. ”

“ Q. If matrimony is a vocation from God, why are many married people unhappy? A. Because many of these people do not correspond with the graces of this state; some enter it without the proper motives, others embrace it without being called to it by Almighty God.
Q. Is a special vocation necessary in order to secure salvation in the marriage state? A. Most certainly, because the state itself is from God, and a person;'s consort should be the choice of God: "Houses and riches are from parents: but a prudent wife is properly from the Lord." ”

“ These latter persons may even be somewhat dull in their affection for this state and not so inclined, humanly, to follow that which reason and faith point out to them; in their lower, animal feelings the may even experience a kind of repugnance to do what their higher reasoning powers dictate to them. This second kind of vocation is better than the first, and more generally approved by those who are experienced in such matters; for, being grounded on reason and faith, it is less subject to error, and more likely to attain the crown of perseverance. ”

“ Mixed marriages are the fruitful source of numberless evils: the loss of faith to countless generations, immorality, attachment to the things of earth, and godless lives; and "as a man lives, so shall he die." ”

“ By the various teaching communities of religious priests, brothers, and sisters, thousands are saved; for in youth their pupils acquire a love and a practical knowledge of faith; they are nurtured in purity and piety, and they are enlightened and encouraged in habits of industry and sobriety. The good that religious teachers accomplish is not confined to one class or to a life's work ”

“ Many parents have by fervent, humble, and persevering prayer obtained for their sons the grace of being called to the sublime dignity of the priesthood.
Q. When a young man ascertains that he is called to the priesthood, is his vocation fully decided? A. No; because the secular priesthood and the religious priesthood are distinct states of life, each having its advantages and its responsibilities, and therefore a special vocation and special graces are necessary for each of these states. ”

“ A. Misplaced affections often make candidates for marriage think so, but this is not their chief reason for insisting on such marriages. Temptation, passion, and personal preference have more to do with them than the will of God. Conversions from the faith are more frequent in mixed marriages than conversions to the faith. God's will is not their foundation, and yet, "unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." God and the Church desire and teach Catholics to take no such risks. ”

“ Persons having thus lost their vocations usually live worse lives than other Christians on account of the abuse of grace.
Q. What is to be done when subjects cannot enter religion at an early age? A. In given instances, when children are unable to pursue a religious vocation at an early age, the greatest precaution should be taken, both by themselves and by their parents and confessors, to keep alive those higher and holier inspirations which the Holy Ghost diffuses more liberally at the age of First Communion, and for about two or three years afterwards. ”

“ A. No; the superiors of several of the largest and best organised communities testify that a larger percentage persevere of those who enter young. The young are more easily formed to religious discipline. When persons are twenty years of age, or older, their minds and characters are less pliable; it is harder to unbend and remold them: "A young man, according to his way, even when he is old, he will not depart from it." ”

“ Q. What if one should exhort people in general to choose matrimony as a state preferable to perpetual chastity? A. Such a one would be speaking against faith, as we have seen in the chapter on "Virginity." The "Catechism of the Council of Trent" says: "As it is the duty of the pastor to propose to himself the holiness and perfection of the faithful, his earnest desires must be in full accordance with those of the Apostle when, writing to the Corinthians, he says: I would that all men were even as myself;' that is, " continue the Fathers of Trent, "that all embraced the virtue of continence." ”

“ St Jerome gives this advice to those who are called to quit the world: "make haste, I beseech you, and rather cut than loosen the rope by which your bark is bound fast to the land;" that is, break at once all ties that bind you to the world. ”

“ To such parents we would most earnestly appeal, imploring them not to interfere with the designs of God on their children when they perceive to them a growing disposition to attach themselves to the service of the altar.
"If God rewards the youthful piety of your sons by calling them to minister in His sanctuary, the highest privilege He confers on man, do not endeavour to give their thoughts another direction. ”

“ If children are driven from Christ, who will deserve to go near Him? Now it is evident that we get near Jesus Christ mainly by the practice of the counsels. Children, therefore, should not be kept from Christ by hindering them from practicing these counsels. ”

“ The unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the things of the world, how she may please her husband. ”

“ It is enough that the will remains firm in not abandoning the divine call, and also that some affection remains for this call, even though a person should feel a coldness and repugnance which sometimes cause him to waver and to fear that all is lost. ”

“ A. If they are ignorant of the matter without any fault on their part, God will not hold them responsible for such ignorance. By providential circumstances many are, without adverting to it, in the state of life in which God wants them to be. ”

“ A. On this subject St Francis de Sales says: "To have a sign of a true vocation it is not necessary that our constancy be sensible; it suffices if our good intention remains in the superior part of our soul. And therefore we must not judge that a vocation is not a true one if a person does not feel sensible movements."
Q. What if this divine call should change to coldness and repugnance? ”