ENCOURAGING OTHERS TO ENTER 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.
Q. We know that St. John Chrysostom, as well as St. Thomas, eloquently
defended the religious state; what does this holy and learned doctor
say on this point?
A. St. Chrysostom says: "If we knew that a place was unhealthy and
subject to pestilence, would we not withdraw our children from it,
without being stopped by the riches that they might heap up in it, or
by the fact that their health had not as yet suffered? . . . Among
seculars shipwrecks are more frequent and sudden, because the
difficulties of navigation are greater; but with anchorites storms are
less violent, the calm is almost undisturbed. This is why we seek to
draw _as many as we can_ to the religious life."
Q. St. Jerome read every known author of his time, and summed up in
himself the doctrine of all; what does he teach about exhorting others
to embrace the religious state?
A. St. Jerome writes thus to Heliodorus: "I invite you: make haste.
You have made light of my entreaties; perhaps you will listen to my
reproaches. Effeminate soldier! What are you doing under the paternal
roof? Though your mother tear her hair and rend her garments, though
your father stand on the threshold and forbid your departure, you must
be deaf to the voice of nature, and hasten with unmoistened eye to
enlist under the banner of Christ; love for God and fear of hell
easily break all chains."
Q. Does St. Augustine teach the same doctrine?
A. Yes; St. Augustine says: "I have been passionately fond of the
perfection of the evangelical counsels; with God's grace I have
embraced them. With all the power I have I exhort others to do the
same; and I have companions whom I have succeeded in persuading."
Q. What does St. Bernard teach about this question?
A. Enumerating the advantages of religious above persons living in the
world, St. Bernard says: "They live more purely, they fall more
rarely, they rise more speedily, they are aided more powerfully, they
live more peacefully, they die more securely, and they are rewarded
more abundantly."
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.
His biographers tell us that the doctrine and eloquence of St. Bernard
concerning the religious state were so powerful and convincing that,
when he preached, mothers concealed their sons, and wives hid their
husbands, and companions kept one another out of Bernard's way,
because he persuaded so many to renounce the world and to embrace the
religious state. [*]
[*] See larger catechism with examples: "Questions on Vocations."
Q. Is entrance into the religious state more important for some than
for others?
A. Yes; entrance into religion is a moral obligation for some, whilst
it is a privilege for others.
The two following pages will make this point clear.
[_This page explains the _Obligation.__]
Some are so evidently called to the religious state that they are
_morally obliged_ to obey the call.
Proofs of this doctrine:
1. The principle itself of special vocations. "Who separated me from
my mother's womb, and _called_ me by _His grace._"--GAL. i. 15.
"The manifestation of the Spirit is given to _every man unto profit_ .
. . dividing to _every one_ according as _He will._"--1. COR. xii. 7,
11.
2. "There are _very many_ who _cannot enter heaven_ unless they
abandon all things."--ST. GREGORY THE GREAT.
3. "If we wish to _secure our eternal salvation,_ we _must embrace_
that state of life to which God _calls_ us."--ST. LIGUORI.
4. "The choice of a state of life decides whether our conduct shall be
good or bad."--ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN.
5. "It is very difficult to save one's self in a state of life in
which God does not wish one to be."--ST. VINCENT DE PAUL.
6. "You run well, but out of the way; he who does little, but in the
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."--ST. AUGUSTINE.
7. "O hard-hearted father; O cruel mother; you wish rather that we
perish with you (by remaining in the world) than be saved without
you."--ST. BERNARD.
[_This page explains the _Privilege.__]
There are yet many more persons who have the _privilege_ of entering
the religious state without a _moral obligation_ of doing so.
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.
Proofs of this doctrine:
1. 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.
3. The invitation to the counsels is _general;_ it may be accepted by
anyone who is not prevented by some particular impediment, as
marriage, sickness, or home obligations.
"The three counsels--of poverty, chastity, and obedience--constitute
the substance, of the religious state."--SUAREZ.
4. "I say to the unmarried, and to the widows: it is good for them if
they so continue, even as I. . . . 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."--ST. PAUL.
5. "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, that all embraced the virtue of continence."--CATECHISM OF COUN.
TRENT.
6. "A life of continence to be desired by all."--Marginal resume of
the above paragraph, CATECHISM OF COUN. TRENT, page 225.
7. "In the world there is a vast number of women who damn their souls;
the number of those who lose their souls in convents is very small."--
ST. LIGUORI.