Jean-Baptiste Berthier

“ Therefore, whenever we have to advise souls that wish to enter religion for a good purpose, we should strengthen them in their holy desire. To thwart or destroy it would be a crime, as St. Liguori teaches. Here are the words which he addresses to directors of consciences : "If the intention of him who wishes to enter the religious life is right, and if he is under no impediment, neither his confessor nor any one else can, without grievous sin, prevent or divert the penitent from following his vocation." ”

“ Were any one in the belief that, by remaining in the world, he would lose his soul, either because he has already had sad experience of his own weakness amid the dangers of the world, or because he has not those aids which the religious life supplies, he could not be excused from grave sin if he remained in the world, since he thereby would expose himself to imminent danger of being eternally lost. ”

“ When a person has all these conditions, he can go on safely. "It is clear," says Lessius, "that, if the motive which prompts you to enter religion is simply your own spiritual advantage, thus, for instance, if you become a religious to shun the world's dangers, to imitate the life of Christ, to follow his counsels, to give yourself to God, to serve him more faithfully, to take care of your salvation, and to bring others to do the same, your vocation evidently comes from God." ”