Produced by Michael Gray
VOCATIONS EXPLAINED
MATRIMONY, VIRGINITY,
THE RELIGIOUS STATE, AND THE
PRIESTHOOD.
BY A
VINCENTIAN FATHER.
AN ABRIDGMENT OF
"QUESTIONS ON VOCATIONS"
APPROVED BY
CARDINAL GIBBONS AND CARDINAL SATOLLI.
_Published with the permission of the Superior General of the
Congregation of the Mission._
NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO:
BENZINGER BROTHERS,
_Printers to the Holy Apostolic See._
"Vocations Explained"
is a compendium of "Questions on Vocations," a catechism approved by
His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons; His Eminence Cardinal Satolli; by five
Archbishops and twenty-two Bishops; also by numerous priests and
religious Brothers and Sisters.
Nihil Obatat
THOS. L. KINKEAD,
_Censor Librorum._
Imprimatur
MICHAEL AUGUSTINE,
_Archbishop of New York._
NEW YORK, March 2, 1897.
COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY BENZIGER BROTHERS.
CONTENTS.
I. DEFINITION.--EVERY PERSON HAS SOME SPECIAL VOCATION
II. NECESSITY OF FOLLOWING A VOCATION
III. MATRIMONY--IS IT A VOCATION?
IV. MIXED MARRIAGES
V. VIRGINITY
VI. THE THREE EVANGELICAL COUNSELS
1. Poverty
2. Perpetual Chastity
3. Obedience
VII. THE RELIGIOUS STATE
VIII. MARKS OF A VOCATION TO THE RELIGIOUS STATE
IX. DOUBTS ABOUT A VOCATION TO THE RELIGIOUS STATE
X. ENCOURAGING OTHERS TO ENTER THE RELIGIOUS STATE
XI. MEANS OF PRESERVING A VOCATION TO THE RELIGIOUS STATE.--SOME
OBSTACLES
XII. CHILDREN AND THE RELIGIOUS STATE
XIII. DUTY OF PARENTS REGARDING THE RELIGIOUS VOCATION OF THEIR
CHILDREN
XIV. VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD
XV. DO VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD COME DIRECTLY FROM GOD
XVI. FOSTERING VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD
XVII. PREVENTING VOCATIONS TO THE PRIESTHOOD
XVIII. MEANS OF KNOWING OUR VOCATION
1. Prayer
2. Freedom from Sin
3. Humility
4. Retreat
5. Counsel
Prayer of St. Bernard
VOCATIONS EXPLAINED.
CHAPTER I.
DEFINITION.----EVERY PERSON HAS SOME SPECIAL VOCATION.
Q. What is a vocation?
A. A call from God to some state of life.
Q. Which are the principal states of life?
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?
A. Not at all; for even the birds of the air are objects of the
providence of God: "Yea, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear not, therefore; you are of _more value_ than _many sparrows._"
Q. What do Father Faber and St. Alphonsus say on this subject?
A. Father Faber says: "Every man has a distinct vocation." St.
Alphonsus says: "We must embrace that state to which _God calls us_."
Q. What does St. Augustine teach concerning special vocations?
A. St. Augustine says: "He who does little, but in a state to which
_God calls him,_ does more than he who labors much, but in a state
which he has thoughtlessly chosen: a cripple limping in the right way
is better than a racer out of it."