MIXED MARRIAGES.
Q. Are mixed marriages vocations?
A. Not from God. Mixed marriages are suggested by "the world, the
flesh, and the devil," the three great enemies of man's salvation.
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. How, then, can they be
excepted from the class of persons of whom the Holy Ghost says: "Over
them the devil hath power"?
The Church speaks very plainly on this subject, and teaches that mixed
marriages are forbidden; and Christ said of the Church: "He that
heareth you heareth Me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth Me."
Q. Why, then, does the Church grant dispensations in this matter?
A. For the same reason that a prudent mother would prefer to see a
wayward daughter do a bad thing than a worse thing. What parent would
not prefer to see a child sick than dead? 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;
whereas, if these persons should die in their rebellion against the
Church, their damnation would be certain.
The Church, like a prudent mother, would prefer the less of these two
evils.
Q. Are not conversions often brought about by mixed marriages?
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.
Q. What do the Sacred Scriptures say of mixed marriages?
A. "Bear not the yoke with unbelievers. 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; for she will
turn away thy son from following Me; and the wrath of the Lord will be
kindled, and will quickly destroy thee."
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."
Q. What is the best remedy for these evils?
A. To remove their cause. 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. [*]
[*] See "Mollie's Mistake, or Mixed Marriages," by Rev. J. W. Book,
Cannelton. Ind. We highly recommend it as a very readable and
instructive book.