Dennis J. Downing

“ Who ever heard of a person entering mixed marriage because his conscience told him that God gave him a vocation to that state, or because he was convinced that God chose for him that state in order that he might sanctify himself therein and avoid damnation?
Read again the story of Tobias, and the seven husbands of Sara, who were strangled to death by the devil because of the unworthiness of their motives. Those who enter mixed marriages evidently "shut out God from themselves and from their mind;" they do not follow a vocation from God; they exclude the will of God. ”

“ 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." ”

“ We fear that the fault lies in great part with 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 colors the advantages of a secular life. ”

“ Why, then, should a rule so well observed in other spheres be neglected in the case of a religious life? I say even more: when a state of life is attended with many difficulties, the greater is the need to habituate one's self from youth to overcome them. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ Q. Is it allowable to encourage those who give signs of a vocation to enter the religious state?
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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ The MIND of Church. The Church sacredly guards for all her children the privilege of entering the religious state, even after promise of marriage: "Be zealous for the better gifts. And I shew unto you yet a more excellent way."
2. It is of faith that virginity is preferable to matrimony: "If any one saith that the marriage state is to be preferred before the state of virginity, let him be anathema."—COUNCIL OF TRENT.
The religious state is a more usual and a safer way of preserving virginity than a life in the outer world. ”

“ A. If children themselves incur imminent danger of losing their souls by neglecting a divine vocation, parents that prevent a vocation to the religious state incur the danger of damning both themselves and their children. Such parents will have to answer also for the eternal loss of all those souls that their children would have saved in the religious state. ”

“ 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 they 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. ”

“ 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 inclinations; and therefore so many live bad lives and damn themselves. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Young people without experience, and having yet to choose a state of life, have great need of this wisdom. "All things whatsoever you shall in prayer, believing, you shall receive."
Prayer is the divinely appointed means of obtaining grace. ”

“ Thomas says: "This teaching is clearly the outcome of what occurs every day among men. For do we not see children put early to those avocations, arts, or trades which they are to follow in after life? Candidates for the sanctuary begin in youth to acquire the knowledge which will help them later; those destined for a military career are trained to arms from their early years; and the future tradesman is apprenticed when only a boy. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Even though persons should have vocations to the marriage state in the sense that God would not require anything higher of them, yet they are privileged to enter the religious state if no impediment exists. ”

“ Facts confirm this doctrine; for if, through their own fault, or through the fault of their parents, those having vocations to the religious state remain in the outer world until the end of their "teens" a large percentage of them lose their vocations and stay in the world.
Persons having thus lost their vocations usually live worse lives than other Christians, on account of the abuse of grace. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A. Matrimony, virginity, the religious state, and the priesthood.
Q. Has every person a vocation?
A. Yes; God gives a special vocation to each person.
Q. How is this doctrine proved?
A. St. Paul says: "Every one hath his proper gift from God; one after this manner, and another after that. . . . As the Lord hath distributed to every one, as God hath called every one, so let him walk." [*]
[*] The references are given in the larger catechism entitled "Questions on Vocations."
Q. Is it not beneath God's notice to give a particular vocation to each person? ”

“ By meditating on the life, passion, and death of Jesus Christ St. Francis of Assisi was filled with such a burning zeal for God and his neighbor that he renounced his great wealth, and his right to an honorable inheritance, and spent his life in inflaming others with zeal for the salvation of souls. ”

“ A. No; the superiors of several of the largest and best organized 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 remould them: "A young man, according to his way, even when he is old, lie will not depart from it." ”

“ To such parents we would most earnestly appeal, imploring them not to interfere with the designs of God on their children when they perceive in 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 endeavor to give their thoughts another direction. ”

“ 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. If such special graces have not already been abused, the Holy Ghost may offer them at any time; but later in life this divine seed does not usually find such well-prepared soil in the heart. The early lessons of faith and piety, and of the fear and love of God, easily become effaced by contact with the world. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Parents, young folks, and even advanced school-children should be taught the evil of mixed marriages before their minds become warped by company-keeping, passion, and bad example.
Many pastors obtain excellent results by frequently instructing the children concerning mixed marriages, and by teaching them the doctrine of the Church on this subject. ”

“ 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. The practice of this counsel uproots a most dangerous passion: "For they that will become rich fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many unprofitable and hurtful desires, which drown men into destruction and perdition."
Q. Is there any special blessing promised to those who follow this counsel?
A. Yes: "Every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting." ”

“ Q. Is this counsel of chastity recommended to all?
A. This counsel, as well as the other two evangelical counsels, is recommended to all. The Fathers say that these words, "He that can take, let him take it," mean, He that is willing to take this counsel let him take it. And St. Paul says: "I would that all men were even as myself." ”

“ He makes the conduct of children the standard for all who would be saved: "Unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Again Our Lord says: "Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not ”

“ For what fellowship hath light with darkness, or what part hath the faithful with the unbeliever?" "Neither shalt thou make marriages with them. Thou shalt not give thy daughter to his son, nor take his daughter for thy son ”