initial commit of ebook 31688HEADmain

12 files changed, 9078 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/31688-8.txt b/31688-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8ba359
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31688-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2702 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of What Shall I Be?, by Rev. Francis Cassily
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: What Shall I Be?
+       A Chat With Young People
+
+Author: Rev. Francis Cassily
+
+Other: A. J. Burrows
+       Remegius Lafort
+       Cardinal John Murphy Farley
+
+Release Date: March 18, 2010 [EBook #31688]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHAT SHALL I BE? ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Michael Gray
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Christ and the rich young man]
+
+If thou wilt be perfect go sell what thou hast and give to the poor,
+and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven and come follow Me.
+                           --Matt. xix: 21.
+
+
+
+  WHAT SHALL I BE?
+  A CHAT WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
+
+  BY THE
+  REVEREND FRANCIS CASSILLY, S.J.
+
+
+  "And every one that hath left house, or brothers, or sisters, or
+  father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for My name, shall
+  receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting." (Matt.
+  xix: 29)
+
+
+
+  NEW YORK
+  THE AMERICA PRESS
+  1914
+
+
+
+  IMPRIMI POTEST
+           A. J. BURROWES, S.J.
+                   _Provincial Missouri Province_
+
+  NIHIL OBSTAT
+           REMEGIUS LAFORT
+                   _Censor_
+
+  IMPRIMATUR
+            JOHN CARDINAL FARLEY
+                   _Archbishop of New York_
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT 1914
+  BY
+  THE AMERICA PRESS
+
+
+
+LETTER TO THE AUTHOR
+FROM REVEREND A. VERMEERSCH, S.J.
+
+            Louvain, le 23 février, 1914.
+
+Mon Révérend Père: P. C.
+
+Votre petit livre me plaît extrêmement. Il expose une doctrine très
+solide avec une merveilleuse clarté. D' une lecture agréable, il
+intéressera la jeunesse des écoles, et l'encouragera à faire un choix
+généreux d' état de vie. J' estime que, traduit en flamand et en
+français, il ferait également du bien à nos collegiens de Belgique.
+
+                   Votre dévoué en N. S. et M. I.
+                           A. Vermeersch.
+
+TRANSLATION
+
+My Reverend Father:
+
+Your little book pleases me exceedingly. Its doctrine is very sound
+and set forth with wonderful clearness. It makes pleasant reading, and
+will interest the young of school age, and encourage them to make a
+generous choice of a state of life. In my opinion, a Flemish and
+French translation would also be profitable to our college students in
+Belgium.
+
+Devotedly yours in Our Lord and Mary Immaculate,
+                 A. Vermeersch.
+
+
+
+  TO THE THOUSANDS
+  OF TRUE-HEARTED BOYS AND GIRLS
+  HE HAS BEEN BLESSED TO KNOW
+  OF WHOM
+  SOME ARE GONE TO HEAVEN
+  AND MANY ARE BATTLING FOR THE RIGHT
+  IN THE SANCTUARY
+  THE CLOISTER OR THE WORLD
+  AND WITH ALL OF WHOM
+  HE HOPES ONE DAY TO BE REUNITED
+  FOREVERMORE
+  IN GOD'S OWN COURTS
+  THIS LITTLE BOOK
+  IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
+  BY THE AUTHOR
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+In this little book the writer has aimed to present, in brief and
+simple form, sound principles which may assist the young in deciding
+their future course of life. The subject of vocation, as it is called,
+has suffered much, during the last two or three centuries, at the
+hands of rigorist authors, who so hedged the approach to religious
+life with difficulties and restrictions, as to frighten or repel many
+aspiring hearts from it.
+
+Great stress was laid by these writers on the special interior
+attraction, by which God was supposed always to manifest His call, so
+that no one might legitimately enter the state of perfection, unless
+he felt this unmistakable impulse from within. And on the other hand,
+given this evidence of the Divine predilection, to disregard it was a
+sinful preferring of one's own will to God's, which, in all
+likelihood, would be attended with grave consequences for this world
+and the next.
+
+Spiritual writers of the last decade have been rereading the Fathers
+and great Theologians upon this subject, and as a result the cobwebs
+of misconception are being swept away. The Reverend A. Vermeersch,
+S.J., of Louvain, deserves the gratitude of all for his lucid and
+convincing treatment of religious vocation, in his "De Religiosis
+Institutis et Personis" (Vol. II, Supplement III; also Vol. I, P. 4,
+C. I), where he clearly shows from Scripture, the writings of the
+Fathers and leading theologians, the true nature of the invitation to
+the evangelical life. The reader is also referred to the article on
+"Vocation," by the same author, in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
+
+Another document throwing light on the subject, is the Decree of July
+15, 1912, framed by a special commission of Cardinals appointed to
+examine the work of Canon Joseph Lahitton on "La Vocation
+Sacerdotale." This Decree, approved by the Holy Father, contains the
+following passage: Vocation to the priesthood "by no means consists,
+at least necessarily and according to the ordinary law, in a certain
+interior inclination of the person, or promptings of the Holy Spirit,
+to enter the priesthood. But on the contrary, nothing more is required
+of the person to be ordained, in order that he may be called by the
+bishop, than that he have a right intention, and such fitness of
+nature and grace, as evidenced in integrity of life and sufficiency of
+learning, which will give a well-founded hope of his rightly
+discharging the office and obligations of the priesthood." This Decree
+does away, at once, with the special spiritual attraction, always and
+essentially required by so many for vocation to the priesthood.
+
+It may not be rash to conclude, in a similar way, of a religious
+vocation "that nothing more is required of the person who is a
+candidate for religious life, in order that he may be admitted to the
+novitiate by the lawful superior of an order, than that he have a
+right intention, and such fitness of nature and grace required by the
+order, as will give a well-founded hope of his rightly discharging the
+obligations of the religious life in that order."
+
+The present treatise aims at no more than putting in form suitable to
+the young the sound conclusions of such reliable authors as Father
+Vermeersch, Canon Lahitton and Rev. P. Bouvier, S.J.
+
+As to the advisability of priests, parents and teachers fostering and
+developing in the young the desire of a religious life, the words of
+St. Thomas are positive: "They who induce others to enter religion,
+not only commit no sin, but even merit a great reward." (Summa, 2a,
+2æ, Quæst. 189, art. 9.)
+
+And the Third Council of Baltimore, urging priests to develop
+vocations to the priesthood, says: "We exhort in the Lord and
+earnestly entreat pastors and other priests diligently to search after
+and find out, among the boys committed to their care, those who seem
+suited and called to the clerical state. If they find any boys of good
+disposition, of pious inclination, of devout and generous minds, and
+able to learn; who give promise of persevering in the sacred ministry,
+let them nourish the zeal of such, and sedulously foster these
+precious germs of vocation." (Paragraph 136.)
+
+Priests, teachers, confessors and others who have dealings with the
+young, will find it very practical to have at hand several copies of
+some reliable booklet on the priesthood and religious life, which they
+may give or lend, as occasion offers, to promising boys and girls.
+Such books will, at least, make their readers think, and God's grace
+frequently acts through the medium of the written or spoken word.
+
+_Creighton University, Omaha,
+     Easter Sunday, 1914._
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+  CHAPTER
+     I Getting a Start
+    II Aiming High
+   III The State of Perfection
+    IV Who Are Invited?
+     V Does Christ Want Me?
+    VI I Feel No Attraction
+   VII Suppose I Make a Mistake?
+  VIII The World Needs Me
+    IX Must I Accept the Invitation?
+     X I Am Too Young
+    XI The Priesthood
+   XII The Teacher's Aureole
+  XIII Showing the Way
+   XIV The Parents' Part
+    XV A Parting Word
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+GETTING A START
+
+Youth is the dream time of life. It views the world through the prism
+of fancy, tinting all with rainbow colors. It lives in a creation of
+its own, where it rules with magic wand, conjuring into its realm the
+beautiful, the heroic and the magnificent, and banishing only the
+prosaic and commonplace. To the youthful dreamer, every ruler is
+all-powerful, every soldier brave, every fire-fighter a hero, and every
+editor a wizard, at whose nod the news of the world flies to the huge
+cylinder presses, and then flutters away in white-winged sheets
+through town and country.
+
+But gradually, the stern realities of life forcing themselves on the
+maturing mind, it realizes that it must choose from the various
+activities that make up the sum of human existence. The thoughtful boy
+and girl then begin to ask the question, "What shall I be?" or "What
+shall I do?" The various walks of life spread out before them like a
+maze of tracks in a railway station, all leading away in dwindling
+perspective to the witching land of the unknown.
+
+An ambitious boy views with delight the various professions, and
+pictures to himself in turn the great deeds and triumphs of the
+soldier, the statesman, the lawyer, the physician, the architect, and
+finally perhaps the electrician, who plays with the lightning and
+harnesses it to the ever-extending service of mankind. All these are
+votaries of noble avocations, and he who excels in any one of them is
+a hero, and a benefactor of his kind. Every occupation which is useful
+to the human race, which contributes to the sum of man's comfort and
+happiness, is laudable and worthy an intelligent being. St. Paul was a
+tent-maker by trade, and he gloried in the fact that, even during the
+days of his apostleship, he was not a burden to others, but supported
+himself by the labor of his hands.
+
+Life pursuits rank in dignity and worth, according to the perfection
+or benefit they bestow upon the worker himself, and his fellow-man.
+Far above the artisan or husbandman, who occupies himself with the
+material needs of his neighbor, with providing him food, raiment and
+shelter, rise the teacher, writer and professional man, who minister
+to the needs of the mind. And highest, perhaps, of natural callings is
+the conduct of the government, which gives peace, order and happiness
+to entire nations.
+
+But not every pursuit is suited to all dispositions, nor can any one
+hope to excel in all trades and professions. The strength of body and
+skill of hand required of a mechanic may be lacking to a professional
+man, and the long years of study and experience demanded of a
+physician are possible to but few. Nature destines some for a life of
+action and adventure, for the command of armies or the conquering of
+the wilderness; others it dowers with literary tastes, or the power to
+thrill an audience or guide a State.
+
+No one is necessarily tied down to any special occupation of life.
+According to your disposition and character, your ability and
+inclination, education and training, you are free to select any sphere
+of action within your reach and opportunity. But this very freedom of
+choice sometimes leads to mistakes. One without the proper temperament
+or ability, lacking in patience and sympathy, and unable to make a
+diagnosis, aims to be a physician, and he becomes only a quack. Many a
+one, who aspires to direct the destinies of the State, achieves only
+the station of a political subordinate or spoilsman. And one whom
+nature destines for the free and independent life of a farmer, often
+sentences himself to life imprisonment behind the "cribbed and
+cabined" desk of a counting house.
+
+Perhaps the most frequent mistake of young people is to tear
+themselves away from school, where they have the opportunity to
+prepare themselves for the higher positions of life, and by so doing
+deliberately limit themselves to a life of mediocrity. They have an
+ambition, but a false one. Eager to enter, though unprepared, the
+arena of life and accomplish great deeds, they lack the student's
+patience and industry, which would crown them in after years with the
+laurel of success.
+
+Be ambitious then, my young friend, aim high in life; endeavor to
+achieve something great for yourself and for mankind. You will have
+only one life in this world, then make the most of it. Take advantage
+of your opportunities. Attend school as long as you can, because
+generally the greater your knowledge and learning, your training and
+preparation, the higher and wider the career that will open before
+you.
+
+All legitimate pursuits of life have been illustrated and adorned by
+numberless Christian heroes and heroines, who served God, sanctified
+themselves, and brought glory to the Christian name by their fidelity
+to duty. Would you be a soldier? Could there be more glorious names
+than those of St. Sebastian and St. Martin; the Crusader, Godfrey de
+Bouillon, and the Grand Knight of Malta, de la Valette?
+
+Do you long to ride the ocean waves, and brave the tempest? What more
+heroic predecessor would you have than the great "Admiral," the
+navigator and discoverer, Columbus? If your ambition be to sit in the
+councils of State, to steer your country safely through breakers and
+shoals, fix your gaze on Sir Thomas More, Daniel O'Connell, Windthorst
+or Garcia Moreno--Christian heroes all.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+AIMING HIGH
+
+In a garden are flowers varying in hue and form and size. The roses
+blow red and white and pink, scenting the air with their myriad
+petals, the lilies lift up their delicate calyxes to the wandering
+bee, the perfumed violets hide their modest heads in beds of green,
+and the fuchsias sway from their stems in languid beauty. But varied
+as are the flowers in charm, each is perfect of its kind. No artist
+could improve their tints nor trace truer curves; no carver chisel
+more delicate or finished forms.
+
+And God's Church is a spiritual garden, where bloom souls varying in
+every virtue, charm and grace, and all breathing forth the good odor
+of Christ. In it are school-boys, gentle maidens, devoted mothers and
+fathers of families, rich and poor of every nation and clime, of every
+station and calling. God made them all; He loves them all, and on each
+He has grafted the bud of faith, which will blossom forth into all
+supernatural virtues.
+
+God also wishes each one in His garden to be perfect of his kind.
+Jesus, sitting on the Mount of the Beatitudes, and teaching the
+multitudes that were ranged on the grass about Him, bade them "be
+perfect as also your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt. v: 48.) [1]
+This, then, is the perfection Christ expects us to aim at, the
+perfection of God Himself, in Whom there is nor spot nor wrinkle. He
+will not be satisfied with us, so long as low aims, imperfect motives,
+disfigure our souls and stain our conduct.
+
+As St. Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians, God chose us before
+the foundation of the world to be "holy and unspotted in His sight."
+(Eph. i: 4.) In fact, St. Paul, whenever he addresses the Christians,
+calls them "saints" because every Christian man, woman and child, is
+expected to be holy, holy in the grace of God, in conduct, in thought
+and act, at every time and place. Every Christian must be sacred, a
+shrine wherein dwells the Divinity, and whose doors must be closed to
+everything profane. "Know you not, that your members are the temple of
+the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God; and you are not
+your own?" (I Cor. vi: 19.) Your soul, then, my child, is holy,
+consecrate to God, and into it must enter nothing defiled, nothing
+savoring of the world, its maxims and principles. Keep your soul pure
+as the roseate dawn, clear as starlight and bright as the sun.
+
+"Every one of you," said Christ Himself, "who doth not renounce all
+that he possesseth, cannot be my disciple." (Luke xiv: 33.) This seems
+a hard doctrine, for who would be able to give up all he has, parents,
+home and possessions? There are occasions when the love of God and the
+love of creatures come into conflict; and when this occurs the true
+disciple of Christ will not hesitate. He will fearlessly sacrifice
+everything, even life itself, rather than forsake his Creator. The
+martyrs did this. St. Agnes gave up suitor, home and wealth, and laid
+down her innocent young life, to become the spouse of Christ. The boy
+Pancratius faced the panther in the arena, and the yells of a
+bloodthirsty mob, rather than abjure his faith; and so won a martyr's
+crown.
+
+Perfection then is our destiny. In heaven we shall attain to it, and
+in this life we should begin to practice it. If we would have God's
+love in its fulness, if we would always be worthy to nestle in His
+bosom, to feel the arms of His affection drawn close about us, we must
+never sully our conscience with the least taint of sin. For all the
+world we would not offend our parents, and God is to us in place of
+father and mother and all. He is the infinitely perfect; He is love
+and beauty and tenderness itself, and His absorbing desire is to
+reproduce similar qualities in us.
+
+But how are we to be perfect? By always doing His holy Will, as we see
+it and know it, to the best of our ability. Christ issues the clarion
+call to all Christians, to take up their cross daily and follow Him.
+He who always does his best, and, obeying the dictates of conscience,
+walks by faith and charity in all his actions before God, and conducts
+himself in all circumstances of life according to the principles of
+faith and reason, is living up to the Divine call, and striving after
+perfection.
+
+"But are there any such persons in the world?" some one may ask. "They
+say that there is nothing perfect under the sun, and this time-honored
+adage, no doubt, applies to persons as well as to things." It is true
+that very few are perfect in the sense that they sojourn in the world,
+unmoved, like the angels, by the least ruffling of passion. But there
+are many, very many, pure, holy souls, who aim constantly at
+perfection, and who attain to it substantially; for day by day, year
+in and year out, they keep themselves from the guilt of serious sin,
+and delighting to carry out God's will in all their actions,
+frequently draw nigh the Tabernacle to commune in heavenly raptures
+with their Love "behind the trellis."
+
+Nor is the number of these elect souls limited to any one calling or
+profession, for they are found in the seclusion of home, in the
+crowded mart, in the stress of business and professional life. When
+the week-day Mass is over in the parish church, and the little band of
+devout worshippers descend from the church steps, would one not say
+that there is a look of heavenly peace upon their countenances, a
+peace that overflows to their features from the deep well-springs of
+charity within? No legitimate walk of life, then, is alien to
+perfection. All Christians are urged to it; and many attain to it.
+They use the things of this world "as though they used them not,"
+their hearts are free from undue attachment to the possessions of
+earth, and they go through life as pilgrims to their final home; and
+should God be pleased to reward their constancy by sending them trials
+and sufferings, they will come forth from the ordeal like pure,
+refined gold.
+
+
+[1] While this text refers primarily to the perfection of forgiving
+enemies, it is applied also by commentators to perfection in general,
+for the reason that it is closely connected with the preceding and
+following exhortation of Our Lord to many and various virtues. And
+even if the text were limited expressly to one virtue, the fact that
+God's children are urged to the perfection of this virtue because it
+is found perfectly in their Heavenly Father, would seem to imply that
+He, so far as imitable by creatures, is the measure and standard of
+their perfection, and hence, as He is the All-Perfect, that they too
+should strive to be perfect in all virtue.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE STATE OF PERFECTION
+
+Speaking one day to the multitude, Our Lord likened the Kingdom of
+Heaven "to a merchant seeking good pearls, who, finding one pearl of
+great price, went away and sold everything he had and bought it."
+(Matt. xiii: 45-46.) What is this precious pearl that so charmed the
+merchant as to make him sacrifice all he had to gain possession of it?
+It is doubtless the true Church, or faith in Christ, but theologians
+apply the parable also to the highest union with God by charity, or
+Christian perfection. Perfection, then, may be called this lustrous
+pearl, more precious and radiant than any which gleams in royal
+diadem. You may buy it, but the price is the same to all. You must
+offer in exchange all that you have, keeping nothing back. Are you
+willing to make the bargain?
+
+There have been many Christians throughout the centuries who were
+enamored of this perfection. They sighed and longed for it, but, alas!
+the conditions in which they lived, the temptations that lay about
+them, the cares of raising a family and struggling for a livelihood,
+so engrossed their attention and seduced their affections, that they
+almost despaired of living entirely for God, and thus attaining
+perfection. A young man of high aspirations one day came to Jesus, and
+asked Him what he must do to gain eternal life. The Master replied,
+"Keep the commandments." But the young man was not satisfied with
+this; he wished to do something more for heaven, as we learn from his
+reply, "All these have I kept from my youth; what is still wanting to
+me?" Then Jesus spoke the memorable words that have echoed down the
+ages, "If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to
+the poor . . . and come, follow me." (Matt. xix: 21.)
+
+The questioner, so the Scripture records, went away sorrowful, for he
+had great wealth. He was willing, no doubt, to give alms and
+bountifully, but to sacrifice all his possessions and live in
+poverty--this was beyond his generosity. Christ's advice, however, has
+not fallen by the wayside. Theologians tell us that in His brief words
+Our Lord indicated the evangelical life, which He elsewhere explained
+more fully, bidding the youth become poor and then come and follow
+Him in perfect chastity and obedience (Suarez, "De Religione," lib.
+iii, c. 2).
+
+The teaching thus presented by Christ has never been fruitless in the
+Church. Myriads of chosen souls, more magnanimous than the young man,
+have heeded the Saviour's admonition and hastened to sacrifice all for
+His sake. The nature of the evangelical life--so called because taught
+in the "Evangelium," the Latin word for Gospel--consists in the
+practice of the three counsels, voluntary poverty, perfect chastity
+and obedience. And why is the exercise of these three counsels so
+excellent? Because by them a Christian parts with everything that is
+most pleasing to mere nature. By poverty he renounces his possessions
+and the right of ownership; by perfect chastity, the pleasures of the
+body; and by obedience, his free will. Could one do more than to give
+up everything he owns, and then complete the renunciation by
+dedicating his body, aye, his very soul, to Christ? Nothing is left
+that he may call his own. He is a stranger in the world, without home,
+parents or family, money or earthly ties; he is all to God, and God is
+all to him.
+
+While a person may be in the _way_ of perfection, by observing the
+counsels privately, with or without a vow, if he takes perpetual vows
+in a religious order or congregation approved by the Church, he is in
+what is called "the _state_ of perfection," or "the religious state."
+The vows give a final touch to the holocaust in either case, since by
+them he offers all he has and is and forever, so that it becomes
+unlawful for him to retract his offering. He who exemplifies all
+Christian virtues to a high degree of excellence, according to his
+condition of life, may be called perfect, and to this perfection all
+Christians are called. But, religious, that is, they who live in the
+religious state, bind themselves by _profession_ to aim at living a
+perfect life. They have heeded Christ's invitation, "If thou wilt be
+perfect," and engaged themselves, under the sanction of the Church, to
+the obligation of striving for perfection.
+
+No one could claim that all religious men and women are actually
+perfect; but they are in the state of perfection--that is, by virtue
+of their state and profession they are bound to the observance of
+their vows and rules, which observance, in the course of time, will be
+able to lead them to the attainment of such perfection as weak
+mortals, with God's grace, can hope to acquire in this life. In
+response to Christ's exhortations, we find throughout the world to-day
+a great army of religious men and women, white-robed Dominicans,
+brown-garbed Franciscans, followers of St. Benedict, St. Augustine,
+St. Alphonsus, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. De la Salle, the Blessed
+Madeleine Sophie Barat, Julie Billiart, Jean Eudes, and of numerous
+other saints, who, under the standards of their varied institutes,
+march steadily in the footprints of the lowly Nazarene, Who had not
+whereon to lay His head.
+
+The ambitious Christian boy and girl, then, will aim at doing their
+best, and must, if they desire close companionship with Christ, strive
+after perfection, for such is the Master's desire. But should a youth
+have further ambitions, and say to himself, "I desire to distinguish
+myself in God's service, to lead for Him a life of action and
+achievement, wherein my exertions will bring amplest returns for
+eternity," will he refuse to consider the life of the counsels? Will
+he not rather ask himself whether this manner of life is practicable,
+and possibly even meant and intended for him? Choose then, my young
+friend, your sphere of life but deliberately and carefully,
+remembering that on your decision will largely depend your greater
+happiness in this world and the next.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+WHO ARE INVITED?
+
+The boy or girl who is deliberating on a future career will naturally
+ask, "Who are invited to the higher life? Is the invitation extended
+to all, or limited to the chosen few?"
+
+Let us try to find out the answer to these questions. One day the
+disciples of Our Lord having asked Him (Matt. xix: 11-12) whether it
+were not better to abstain from marriage, He replied, "All men take
+not this word, but they to whom it is given. . . . He that can take
+it, let him take it." St. Paul also writes to the Corinthians (I Cor.
+vii: 7-8), "I wish you all to be as myself, . . . but I say to the
+unmarried . . . it is good for them, if they so continue, even as I."
+
+Now, let us examine these passages, according to the interpretations
+of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, so that there will be no
+danger of reading a wrong meaning into them. There is question in both
+texts of abstaining from marriage, of advising the unmarried not to
+marry, which, of course, is equivalent to advising them to practice
+perpetual chastity. St. Paul says clearly and forcibly that he would
+desire all to remain unmarried like himself. However, in the next
+verse he exempts from his advice those who do not control themselves.
+What does he mean by this? There are some who have strong passions, or
+who by self-indulgence have so strengthened their lower nature and
+weakened their will-power, that lifelong continence seems beyond them.
+Such persons, therefore, who know from experience that they will not
+overcome temptation and sin, or who find the struggle too hard to
+continue, he advises to marry.
+
+We may now inquire whom Our Lord meant by those "to whom it is given."
+Does He mean that the power of practicing virginal chastity is given
+only to the selected few or to the many? St. Chrysostom, interpreting
+His words, says that this gift of chastity "is given to those who
+choose it of their own accord," adding that the "necessary help from
+on high is prepared for all who wish to be victors in the struggle
+with nature" (M. P. G., t. 58, c. 600). [1] St. Jerome tells us that
+this gift "is given to those who ask it, who wish it and labor to
+obtain it" (M. P. L., t. 26, c. 135). St. Basil explains that "to
+embrace the evangelical mode of life is the privilege of every one."
+(M. P. G., t. 32, c. 647.) To the sophistical objection that if all
+persons practiced virginity marriage would cease, and so the human
+race would perish, St. Thomas (Summa, 2a 2æ, Quæst. 189, art. 7)
+gives the reply of St. Jerome, "This virtue is uncommon and desired by
+comparatively few"; and then adds, "This fear is just as foolish as
+that of one who hesitates to take a drink of water, for fear of drying
+up the river."
+
+Can it be said, then, that every boy and girl, with the exception
+noted by St. Paul, is advised and exhorted to preserve virginal
+chastity throughout life? To understand aright the answer to this
+question, we must remember that there are two general courses of life,
+the married and the unmarried, open to all; every person necessarily
+being found in the one or the other. And each individual of the race
+is privileged to make a free and voluntary choice of either condition;
+no one having the right to interfere with this personal liberty, by
+forbidding or prescribing wedlock to any properly qualified person.
+
+Both these states have been created by God, and both are His gifts to
+man. The nuptial tie, elevated to the dignity of a sacrament, is
+likened by St. Paul to the union existing between Christ and the
+Church. "A prudent wife," says the Book of Proverbs (xix: 14), "is
+properly from the Lord." Whoever marries "in the Lord" performs a
+virtuous act, and the Church, to show her appreciation and approbation
+of it, invests the wedding contract with a rich and hallowed
+ceremonial. They, then, who wed do something pleasing to God; but they
+who, for virtue's sake, forego their natural right of marrying, make
+an offering still more grateful to Him.
+
+This is the doctrine in the abstract. But in its application to
+individual cases we find some so situated, so hampered by their own
+temperament and disposition, or by actual conditions about them, that
+a life of perfect continence seems impracticable for them. One, for
+instance, who yearns for the safety and seclusion of the cloister, and
+yet sees its doors closed against him for some reason, feels himself
+constrained to take refuge from the storm and stress of the world in
+the sanctuary of marriage. On such persons the Creator does not impose
+a burden above their strength. Wishing us to be happy and content even
+in this life, as well as the next, He asks of us here only a
+"reasonable service."
+
+Guided by these principles, the great majority of the faithful in all
+ages have deemed it prudent and expedient for them to marry. And the
+wisdom and prudence of their choice God approves and commends. For His
+Providence manifests itself to us in all the events and circumstances
+of life, dwelling alike in the fall of the leaf and the roll of the
+wave, and speaking to our hearts by the voice of all creatures. While,
+then, external or internal impediments may prevent some from
+hearkening to Christ's call, and their own will may deter others, His
+invitation of _itself_ does not exclude any; it is general, ever
+waiting for those able and willing to accept it.
+
+But does not a person have to feel a special call before binding
+himself to perpetual chastity? To answer this let us suppose that one
+is considering the advisability of daily attendance at Mass or of
+total abstinence from intoxicating liquor. In themselves these are
+good works and under proper advice a person might engage himself to
+their performance. Grace would be required for them, as for every
+other act of supernatural virtue, but no one would say that to assume
+such obligations a special call from heaven is prerequisite. Now,
+chastity is governed by the same laws as other virtues, by the same
+laws as mortification, alms-deeds and works of charity. Every virtuous
+act requires two things, the grace and the will to cooperate with the
+grace; and these two are also the only requisites for the exercise of
+continence; a special inspiration being no more necessary for it than
+for perpetual abstinence from meat or spirituous liquors.
+
+Lifelong virginity is, of course, a higher, nobler and more
+far-reaching virtue than the others mentioned, but it involves no
+special personal call. If this were required, in addition to the
+general invitation of Scripture, the doctrine of the Fathers that all
+are invited could scarcely be true. If all are invited, then he who
+wishes must have the power to accept the invitation. If two calls
+are necessary, one general and the other particular, he who has only
+the first may be said to have only half an invitation, which seems
+very absurd, and certainly is contrary to the practically unanimous
+teaching of the Fathers.
+
+St. Thomas tells us: "We should accept the words of Christ which are
+given in Scripture as if we heard them from the mouth of Christ. . . .
+The counsel (to perfection) is to be followed by each one not less
+than if it came from the Lord's mouth to each one personally. (Opusc.
+17, c. 9.) And even granted that the devil urges one to enter
+religious life, it is a good work, and there is no danger in yielding
+to his impulse." (Opusc. 17, c. 10.)
+
+Taking these words of the Angelic Doctor for our guidance, we realize
+that the invitation and exhortation of St. Paul is general, that it
+embraces all unmarried persons who feel the well-grounded hope within
+them that with God's grace they can live up to it.
+
+We may go further and say that, as St. Paul was speaking not his own
+doctrine, but the doctrine of Christ, which is unchangeable, it
+applies equally to-day. So one who is convinced that no obstacle,
+except his own will, prevents his acceptance of the Apostle's advice,
+can readily imagine Christ standing before him and saying, "My child,
+you should be more pleasing to Me were you to remain unmarried for My
+sake." If Jesus Christ really stood before you, dear reader, and thus
+addressed you, what would be your reply? There can be no doubt that it
+would be prompt and in accordance with His wish. You would say, "If
+God so loves me as to make a suggestion to me, as to sue for my
+undivided heart, I shall be only too glad to give Him all I have, to
+make any sacrifice for His sake." But God does speak thus, through the
+mouth of the Apostle, to all who are "zealous for the better gifts."
+
+Now, what says your heart? Will it reject the special love Christ
+offers? He says, "I give you the choice of two gifts, matrimony or
+virginity; virginity is by far the more precious--but take which you
+wish." Will you be so irresponsive as to reply, "Give me the lesser
+gift; Thy best treasures and best love bestow on my companions"?
+
+Speak thus if you are so minded. God will love you still; but can you
+be surprised if He cherish other generous souls more? Take or reject
+virginity as you like. It is yours for the taking, but if you reject
+it do not say, "I have no call, no invitation to the higher life." You
+have the invitation now, in common with other Christians; and the
+great-souled ones are they who accept it, for "many are called, but
+few are chosen."
+
+It may now be asked whether what has been said about the observance of
+chastity applies also to poverty and obedience. Spiritual writers tell
+us that the full and entire evangelical life includes all these three
+counsels, and that the principles on which one rests are common to
+all. Christ in His call invites those who are not hindered by
+insuperable obstacles, to follow Him in the practice of all the
+counsels, the reason for all being the same, namely, to sacrifice
+everything for His sake. It is evident, however, that there may be
+more hindrances to the observance of all three counsels than to the
+keeping of only one. Some religious orders, for example, on account of
+their special work, may demand from applicants health, or youth, or
+talent, or learning, or other qualifications, which every person does
+not possess. For community life, too, a peaceable temper and agreeable
+manners are usually necessary. Moreover, one may be so bound by
+obligations of justice and charity to his parents or others, that he
+cannot leave them. [2] The general principle, however, is fixed and
+sure, that the clarion call to the practice of the counsels is in
+itself general, and applicable to all who are not hindered by
+circumstances or impediments from accepting it. No further special
+invitation is necessary. You who are free have the invitation--take it
+if you wish.
+
+
+[1] This and similar references are to the Migne edition of the Greek
+and Latin Fathers.
+
+[2] It may still be possible, however, for a person who is prevented
+from entering community life, to practice the counsels while living in
+the world.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+DOES CHRIST WANT ME?
+
+Said a boy one day, "How in the world does a person ever know he is to
+be a priest?" This little lad was a budding philosopher: he wanted to
+know the reason of things. But many an older person has been puzzled
+by the same question. Some boys and girls, having a distorted notion
+of the nature of a vocation, imagine that Almighty God picks out
+certain persons, without consulting them, and destines them for the
+priesthood or religious life, whereas all other persons he excludes
+from this privilege. In other words, they think God does it all.
+
+Of course, we know there is an overruling Providence, Who watches over
+all His creatures, and particularly over His elect, distributing His
+graces and favors as He wills, and bringing all things to their
+appointed ends. If, for instance, a boy is blind, and for this reason
+no religious congregation will accept him, it is apparent that God
+does not design him for the religious life, though even for him the
+private practice of the counsels might still be open.
+
+But we must not imagine that God settles everything in this world
+independently of our free will. He wishes us not to steal, but we may,
+if we choose, become thieves. Two boys of the same qualifications, let
+us say, have the general invitation of the Scripture to a life of
+perfection; they both have the same grace, which one accepts and the
+other rejects. What makes the vocation in the one case? The action of
+the boy himself in choosing to follow the invitation. And why has not
+the other boy a vocation? Because he declines to correspond with the
+grace. God does His part; He issues the call to all who are free from
+impediment and hindrance. Any one who wishes can accept the call and
+thus, in a sense, make his own vocation, for God's necessary help is
+ever ready to hand for those who will use it.
+
+We may here remark that, while the practice of all virtue comes from
+man's free will, it also springs in a higher and greater degree from
+God, the author of grace. Without Him we can do nothing. "Who
+distinguisheth thee? Or what hast thou that thou hast not received?"
+asks St. Paul (I Cor. iv: 7). God's grace must necessarily precede and
+accompany every supernatural action. In a very true sense, while a
+religious may say: "I am such voluntarily of my own free choice," he
+must also admit, "I am a religious by the grace of God, Who prepared
+me, aided me by external and internal helps, enlightened my mind and
+strengthened my will to embrace the life He designs for me."
+
+In much the same way, a daily communicant may say: "It is of my own
+accord and wish that I receive daily, but it is God's predilection
+that has prompted me to this design, given me the opportunity and
+strength of purpose to carry it out, and keeps me faithful to it, so
+that it is by His grace and Providence that I am a daily communicant."
+Countless others could adopt the same practice, were they not too
+sluggish or indifferent to ask for or correspond with the grace of
+doing so.
+
+Most ordinary vocations have several stages of development. Very many
+persons, with all the qualities required for the evangelical life, and
+unimpeded by any obstacle, begin to consider, under the influence of
+grace, the advisability of embracing that kind of life. This may be
+called the remote stage of a vocation. One who finds himself in this
+condition of mind, if he prays for light and guidance, is faithful to
+duty and generous in the service of God, may be enabled by a further
+enlightenment of grace to perceive that this life is best for him, and
+consequently that it will be more pleasing to God for him to adopt it,
+and finally he may decide to do so. Such a one has a proximate
+vocation, the only further step required being to carry out his
+purpose. This decision, be it observed, is the result of the action of
+his free will, aided by efficacious grace, which is a mark of God's
+special love.
+
+A little illustration may assist us to get a clearer idea of the
+matter. Suppose Christ were to walk into your class-room, how would He
+act? Would He pick out four or five pupils and say, "I wish you to be
+religious, the others I do not want, and I forbid them such
+aspirations?" Do you think our loving, gentle Redeemer would speak in
+this harsh way? And yet some good, but ill-informed Christians think
+this a faithful representation of God's method of action in this
+important matter.
+
+How, then, would Christ really address the class? He would say, "My
+dear children, I want as many of you as possible to follow closely in
+My footsteps, to become perfect. I should be glad to have all of you,
+who are not prevented by some insuperable obstacle, such as
+ill-health, lack of talent, home difficulties, or extreme giddiness
+of character. I hope to have a large number of volunteers." How many
+children in that class-room, do you think, would joyfully hold up
+their hands, and beg Him to take them?
+
+Now, this is truly the way God acts with the individual soul. He comes
+to it perhaps not once only but repeatedly, and makes the general
+offer, using for this purpose the living voice of His minister, or the
+written page, or a prompting impulse from within. And when God's
+desire is so manifested, all that the soul needs is to cooperate with
+grace, if it will.
+
+That this interpretation of the general call of Scripture to a higher
+life is in accord with sound doctrine, we can perceive from St.
+Thomas, who says that the resolution of entering the religious state,
+whether it comes from the general invitation of Scripture or an
+internal impulse, is to be approved. And in his "Catena Aurea,"
+commenting on St. Matt. xix, he quotes St. Chrysostom, who holds that
+"the reason all do not take Christ's advice is because they do not
+wish to do so." The words "to whom it is given," according to this
+Greek father, show that "unless we received the help of grace, the
+exhortation would profit us nothing. But this help of grace is not
+denied to those who wish it."
+
+This is also the teaching of St. Ignatius in his "Spiritual
+Exercises," where he designates three occasions in which to elect a
+state of life: the first, when God appeals to the soul in some
+extraordinary way; the second, when grace moves the heart by
+consolation and desolation, and the third, when the soul without any
+special motion of grace, "that is, when not agitated by diverse
+spirits, makes use of its natural powers" to elect the state of life
+which seems best suited to the praise of God and the salvation of
+one's soul. Evidently a vocation decided in the last-mentioned time,
+implies no special call beyond the general scriptural invitation and
+the determination to accept it.
+
+Some one may ask how it is then that so many virtuous boys and girls,
+endowed with all needful qualifications, prompt and ready to respond
+to the suggestions of grace, yet have no efficacious desire of the
+higher life. It is not for us to search into the secrets of hearts,
+nor to penetrate into the mystery of grace and free-will. The Spirit
+breatheth where He wills, and God distributes to each man his own
+proper gift. But, at least, one thing seems certain, that many fail to
+recognize God's will, because they expect it to be manifested in some
+extraordinary or palpable manner. Perhaps, too, they have
+prepossessions against it, they have already marked out their own
+career, they never think about the counsels, or pray for guidance. If
+all our young people only realized that Christ's invitation is general
+and meant for them, provided no impediment exist, and they wish to
+embrace it; if at the same time they kept their hearts free from
+worldly amusements, and applied themselves to prayer and self-control,
+volunteers in greater number would rally to Christ's standard.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+"I FEEL NO ATTRACTION"
+
+Some boys and girls, with hearts of gold, have often said: "I feel no
+attraction for the higher life. I appreciate it, admire it, and yet I
+fear it is not for me, as I have no inclination to it. If God wanted
+me, He would so perceptibly draw me to Him that there could be no
+mistaking His designs."
+
+Almighty God is wonderful in His ways, and He "draws all things to
+Himself," but by methods varying as the temperaments and
+characteristics of the human soul. Sometimes He speaks to His chosen
+ones in thunder tones, as when He struck down St. Paul from his horse,
+on the road to Damascus, saying from heaven, "Saul, Saul, why
+persecutest thou me? . . . It is hard for thee to kick against the
+goad." (Acts ix: 4.) Again He speaks in gentle accents, as to St.
+Matthew, the publican, when he sat at his door taking customs, saying
+to him, "Follow me!" At other times He seems silent and indifferent,
+standing quietly by, letting reason and conscience argue within us,
+and point out our line of action.
+
+There is what is called vocation by attraction, and also such a thing
+as vocation by conviction. Some of the great saints from earliest
+childhood felt a strong, irresistible charm in the higher life; they
+were drawn by the golden chain of love to the cloister. "I have never
+in my life," said a boy, "thought of being anything but a religious."
+Some young people have no difficulty in making up their minds to
+follow Christ, their whole bent of thought and character being for the
+nobler life. Like Stanislaus, they ever say, "I was born for higher
+things." It was such a precocious disposition of heart that led St.
+Teresa to foreshadow her saintly career when, as a little girl, she
+ran away from home to become a hermit.
+
+But feeling is not always a trustworthy guide, either in temporal or
+spiritual matters; reason, slow but sure, is generally much safer. You
+feel the fascination of worldly things, of company and society, fine
+clothes, luxuries and comforts, the dazzling stage of life with its
+applause of men. Is that a sign God destines you for worldly vanities?
+Quite the contrary, for all Christians are warned against the
+seductions of the world and the flesh; and the life of the counsels is
+essentially a constant struggle with nature and its allurements. "The
+kingdom of heaven," we are told, "suffers violence, and the violent
+bear it away."
+
+If the following of Christ were easy and agreeable to the senses,
+where would be the merit and reward of it? Just in proportion as it
+involves effort and the overcoming of natural repugnance, does it
+become high and sublime. "Do not think," says Our Lord (Matt. x: 34),
+"that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but
+the sword. For I came to set a man at variance with his father, and
+the daughter with her mother. . . . He that loveth father or mother
+more than me, is not worthy of me."
+
+Natural antipathy then to the higher life, far from indicating that
+God does not want us, merely shows that the inferior powers of the
+soul are striving against the superior. In fact, when this aversion
+becomes pronounced, it is sometimes evidence of a keen strife going on
+within us between nature and grace, which could scarcely happen unless
+grace were endeavoring to gain the mastery by winning us to Christ.
+
+"But," it may be objected, "if nature rebels, does not God always give
+a counter supernatural attraction to those whom He calls, so as to
+smooth the way before them?" Certainly God gives the necessary grace
+to perform good actions, but grace is not always accompanied by
+sensible consolation. Suppose a boy is chided by his parents for a
+fault and he is tempted to deny it; but overcoming the suggestion he
+admits his wrong-doing and expresses sorrow for it. In this he acts
+bravely and with no sense of accompanying satisfaction, since the pain
+of his parents' displeasure is so keen as to overcome for the moment
+any other feeling. His action is prompted simply by the conviction of
+duty.
+
+Accordingly, if a young man knows and clearly sees that he has every
+qualification for the religious life, and has even been told so by a
+competent adviser; if he has sufficient talent and learning, a steady
+disposition and virtuous habits, and the persuasion that the duties of
+this state are not above his strength; in short, if he is convinced
+that there is no obstacle, save his own will, between him and the
+higher life, can he truly say, "I feel no inclination to such a
+career, and therefore, I have no vocation"? Such a person, of course,
+is free to say, "I will not enter religion," because there is no
+obligation incumbent upon him to this state, but he cannot justly say
+that God withholds from him the opportunity or invitation to do so. He
+has already what is called a remote vocation, as was explained in the
+fifth chapter, and what he needs is a clearer vision and alacrity of
+will, which he may have good hope of obtaining by earnest prayer and a
+generous and insistent offering of self to the disposal of the Divine
+good pleasure. For Our Lord Himself tells us: "All things whatsoever
+you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive, and they shall
+come unto you." (Mark xi: 24.)
+
+Remove then, my dear young friend, from your mind that false and
+pernicious notion, which has been destructive of so many incipient
+vocations, that because you feel no supernatural inclination or
+sensible attraction, you are not called of God.
+
+In general, it is sufficient that the aspirant to religious life be
+free from impediments, and be desirous of entering it. For eligibility
+to a particular religious congregation the applicant must be fit, that
+is, he must have the gifts or endowments of mind, heart and body which
+that institute demands; his desire to enter must be based on good and
+solid motives drawn from reason and faith, and he must have the firm
+resolve to persevere in the observance of the rule. When to this
+subjective capacity is added the acceptance of the candidate by a
+lawful superior, his vocation becomes complete.
+
+The requisites, then, are three, two on the part of the applicant,
+namely, fitness and an upright intention, and one on the part of the
+superior, the acceptance or call. Nothing more, nothing less is
+required. If any one of these three essentials is wanting, there is no
+vocation to that particular institute.
+
+It is worthy of observation, however, that these qualifications of the
+applicant need be fully evident only towards the end of the novitiate,
+when the time comes for taking the vows and assuming the obligations.
+To enter the noviceship, as a rule, much less is required, though even
+for this preparatory step a person must have the serious intention of
+trying the life and discovering whether it is suitable to him, and
+there should be a reasonable prospect of his developing the needful
+qualifications.
+
+For spiritual directors, then, to regard a vocation as something
+exceeding rare and intricate, to subject the candidate and his
+conscience to searching and critical analysis, to harassing
+cross-examination and prolonged tests, as though he were a criminal
+entertaining a fell project, to endeavor to probe into the secret
+workings of grace within him, is only to cloud in fatal obscurity an
+otherwise very simple subject.
+
+A high-souled youth or maiden may still be deterred by the thought, "I
+now see that I have all the necessary qualifications for the higher
+life, and hence may embrace it if I choose, but I fear it will be too
+difficult for me to carry the yoke without sensible devotion or
+consolation." In answer to this, we must remember that a hundredfold
+in this world and life everlasting in the next are promised to those
+who leave all to follow Christ. In this hundredfold are included many
+privileges and favors bestowed by God upon His chosen spouses. Make
+the effort, overcome nature, decide to embrace God's offer, and you
+will find yourself overwhelmed by a deluge of spiritual consolations,
+which God has been withholding from you to try your generosity and
+courage; you will experience the truth of Christ's words, "My yoke is
+sweet, and my burden light." Sensible consolations, in fact, nearly
+always follow the performance of a virtuous act, but seldom do they
+precede it. A hungry person, before sitting down to table, may feel
+cross and out of humor, but as soon as he begins to partake of the
+generous viands a feeling of genial content and satisfaction with all
+the world steals over him.
+
+It would, of course, be an error for any one to think that of his own
+natural powers he could observe the counsels; since this, being a
+supernatural work, demands strength above nature. But he who feels
+helpless of himself, should place his entire trust and confidence in
+God's grace and assistance, saying, with the Apostle, "I can do all
+things in him who strengthened me" (Ph. iv: 13).
+
+Come, then, to the banquet prepared for you by the great King. Regale
+yourself with the spiritual viands set before you, and not only will
+you be strengthened to do God's will, but transported beyond measure
+with spiritual delights.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+"SUPPOSE I MAKE A MISTAKE?"
+
+A young man once exclaimed to a friend, "Suppose I make a mistake! I
+could not bear the disgrace of leaving a religious order after
+entering it." Having wrestled with this thought for some time, he
+finally determined to try the religious life, with the result that
+after taking the habit, he was too happy to dream of ever laying it
+aside.
+
+However, it is not wrong, but highly prudent, for any one to consider
+whether he has the courage and constancy to persevere. Religious life
+is not a pathway of roses. It is meant only for true men and valiant
+women, not for soft, languid characters, nor for fickle minds, which
+change as a weather vane. Marriage also is a serious step, for it
+brings much "tribulation of the flesh," and so he who would enter on
+it must earnestly consider whether he can live up to the obligations
+it entails. But because marriage has many cares and responsibilities,
+is that a prohibitive reason against embracing it? A soldier's life,
+too, is hard, and a farmer's; in fact, all pursuits and vocations in
+this world have their sombre side. But he who would win success in any
+career must be ready "with a heart for any fate" to meet and overcome
+all the trials and hardships that await him.
+
+On one occasion Our Lord made use of the following parable (Luke xiv:
+28): "Which of you having a mind to build a tower, doth not first sit
+down and reckon the charges that are necessary, whether he have
+wherewithal to finish it: lest after he hath laid the foundation, and
+is not able to finish it, all that see it begin to mock him, saying,
+'This man began to build and was not able to finish'?" This parable
+Our Lord seems to apply to those who have the call to the Faith, and
+He concludes with the words, "So likewise every one of you that doth
+not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be my disciple."
+
+But His advice is also applicable to one who contemplates a closer
+following of Christ by the pathway of the counsels. Certainly, by all
+means, deliberate before taking any step of importance in this world.
+Never act on inconsiderate impulse in any matter of moment, but weigh
+carefully the obligations you are to assume, and consider whether you
+have sufficient strength of character to persevere in any good work
+you are undertaking.
+
+Still, when all is said and done, it remains true that timidity is not
+prudence, nor cowardice caution. Nothing great was ever accomplished
+in this world without courage. Prudence and caution may be overdone,
+and easily degenerate into sloth and inactivity. In a battle he who
+hesitates is lost, and life is the sharpest of conflicts. Had Columbus
+wavered, he would not have discovered America. Close followers of
+Christ must be brave and noble souls, willing to risk all, to
+sacrifice all in the service of their leader. If you are excessively
+timid and fearful of making a misstep in your every action, it is a
+fault of character, and unless you overcome it you will never do great
+things for yourself or others.
+
+When reason and conscience point the way, plunge boldly forward,
+trusting to the Lord for all the necessary helps you may need to carry
+out your designs. He will never desert you when once you enlist under
+His flag. When it comes to "supposing," there is no end to the
+dreadful things that _might_ happen, but never _will_. Little children
+have a game called "supposing," each one making his supposition in
+turn, but even they do not anticipate that their creations of fancy
+will ever prove true. A man once said: "I have lived forty years, and
+have had many troubles, but most of them never happened," meaning that
+he had often anticipated and dreaded evils which never came to pass.
+
+Let us, however, grant that occasionally a novice leaves his order: is
+that such a disgrace? By no means; he, at least, deserves credit for
+attempting the higher life. He is far more courageous than many
+Christians who are too timorous even to try. After all, what is a
+novitiate for, if not to discover whether the candidate has the
+requisite qualities? And judicious superiors will be the first to
+advise a young man or woman to leave, if he or she has wandered into
+the wrong place.
+
+There is, moreover, a danger on the opposite side that wavering souls
+often fail to take into account. What if they make a mistake by not
+entering religious life? Is it better to err on the side of generosity
+to God, or on the side of pusillanimity? If one make a mistake by
+entering religion he can easily retrace his steps before it is too
+late, but once he commits himself to worldly obligations, he can
+seldom break their fetters; and many a man, when overwhelmed with the
+cares and anxieties of life, has regretted, when all too late, that he
+had not hearkened to the voice of grace that invited him to the calm
+and peace of the cloister.
+
+St. Ignatius thus forcibly expresses the same thought: "More certain
+signs are required to decide that God wills one to remain in the
+secular state, than that He wishes him to enter on the way of the
+counsels, for the Lord so openly urged the counsels, while He insisted
+on the great dangers of the other state." (Directory, c. 23.)
+
+The devil, who employs every ruse to wreck a vocation, has one
+favorite stratagem, which unfortunately succeeds only too often. When
+he cannot induce a person to give up entirely the idea of following
+Christ closely, he frequently induces him, under a variety of
+pretexts, to postpone its execution. If he can get the person to wait,
+to delay, he feels he has scored a victory, for thus he will have
+ample opportunity to lure his victim to a love of the world, to
+present the vanities of life in such enticing colors, as finally to
+withdraw him altogether from his first purpose. This disaster,
+unfortunately, is only too common, and many a one finds out, to his
+cost, that unseasonable delay has destroyed in him the spiritual
+savor, and made shipwreck of his vocation.
+
+If, then, you see clearly it is best for you to tread the pathway of
+the counsels, go boldly on without delay or hesitation, and if
+difficulties loom big before you, they will fade away at your
+approach, like the fog before the sun; or, if they remain, you will be
+surprised at the ease with which you will vanquish them, for when the
+Lord is with you, who will be against you? You will be guarded against
+possible rashness in choosing the higher life by consulting a prudent
+director or confessor, at least, so far as to get his approval of the
+step you propose to take. For the knowledge such a one has of the
+secrets of your conscience gives him a specially favorable opportunity
+to judge whether you have the virtue and determination of character to
+persevere in the pathway of the counsels.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+"THE WORLD NEEDS ME"
+
+Some young people endeavor to persuade themselves that as the world
+needs good men, they can better serve Church and State by remaining in
+the secular life. The world, of course, does need good men and women,
+and it has them, too; but even if there were a dearth of good
+Christian laymen, is that any reason for you to refuse God's
+invitation and sacrifice your own spiritual advancement and happiness
+in order to help others? Our first duty is to ourselves. Are we to be
+so enamored of benefiting others as to forego God's special love, and
+to rest satisfied with a lower place in heaven? God invites you to
+Him, and you turn away to devote yourselves to others, who perhaps
+care little for you, and will profit less by your example.
+
+And, moreover, once absorbed in the business and cares of life, you
+may find yourself, like most others, so preoccupied in your own
+personal advancement, in providing for yourself and those dependent on
+you, that scarce a thought remains for the interests of your neighbor.
+And thus your initial high resolve may soon sink to the low level of
+beneficent effort you see in others. Selfishness, to a large extent,
+rules in the world, and how can you promise yourself that you will
+escape its grasp? He certainly is rash who thinks he can,
+single-handed, contend against the world and its spirit.
+
+No doubt many men and women of the world are devout Christians, and in
+a thousand ways spread about them the good odor of Christ. Countless
+brave Christian soldiers, upright statesmen, kings and peasants,
+matrons and maids, are the pride of Christianity for what they have
+done and dared in behalf of their neighbor. All honor to the virtuous
+laity throughout the world to-day, who by their edifying lives, their
+sacrifices for the faith, their unwearying industry, and fidelity to
+Mother Church, are sanctifying their own souls, and assisting others
+by example, counsel and charitable deed.
+
+But for every layman that has distinguished himself by heroic devotion
+to the welfare of his neighbor, many religious could be mentioned who
+have done the same. We have all heard of Father Damien, who banished
+himself to the isle of Molokai, where the outcast lepers of the
+Sandwich Islands had been herded to rot and die; and there taking up
+his abode, soon changed the lepers, who were living like wild beasts,
+without law or morality, into gentle and fervent Christians. Having no
+priest as a companion, he on one occasion rowed out to a passing
+steamer, which was not allowed to land, to make his confession to a
+bishop aboard. And while he sat in his row boat, because forbidden to
+climb into the vessel, and shouted his sins to the bishop on the deck
+above, the passengers looking curiously on, he certainly must have
+been a spectacle to men and angels. And his sacrifice became complete
+when he contracted the leprosy from his people, and thus gave up his
+life for his flock.
+
+Nor is this a solitary instance of such magnanimity. A short time ago,
+when a Canadian bishop entered a convent and called for volunteers to
+start a leper hospital, every nun stood up to offer her services. You
+have heard of the great Apostle of the Indies, St. Francis Xavier, who
+is said to have baptized more than a million pagans. St. Teresa, the
+mystic, was not prevented by her cloister and her ecstacies from
+helping her neighbor, for she founded a large number of convents, both
+for men and women. Blessed Margaret Mary was only a simple nun in the
+Visitation Convent of Paray-le-Monial, yet God chose her to make known
+and spread the great devotion of the Sacred Heart, a devotion which
+has brought more comfort and consolation to sorrowing humanity than
+the combined philanthropic efforts of a century. God took a gay
+cavalier, whose only ambition was to wear foppish clothes and thrum a
+guitar, made him into a friar, and bade him found the great Franciscan
+Order, whose glorious works for mankind cannot be enumerated.
+
+And if we ponder the nature of religious life, the marvels
+accomplished by simple religious cease to astonish us. One who devotes
+the major portion of his time and attention to a definite object will
+certainly attain great results. Now, most religious seek their own
+sanctification in concentrating their energies on the welfare of their
+neighbor, in ever studying, working, planning for his betterment. The
+love of God, as shown in charity to others, is the absorbing purpose
+of their life. On the other hand, the man of the world must generally
+care first and foremost for himself and family, and only the time he
+has left, incidentally as it were, can he bestow upon others.
+
+This point is thus forcibly expressed by St. Paul (I Cor. vii: 32-34):
+"He who is unmarried is solicitous for the things of the Lord, how he
+may please God. But he who is married is solicitous for the things of
+the world, how he may please his wife; and he is divided. And the
+woman, unmarried and a virgin, thinketh on the things of the Lord,
+that she may be holy in body and soul. But she who is married,
+thinketh on the things of the world, how she may please her husband."
+
+The works of the religious orders are varied and numerous. Some care
+for the outcasts of society, some for the sick or the old, the orphan
+and the homeless; others, leaving the comforts and conveniences of
+modern life, cheerfully face the danger and hardships of remotest
+lands to bring the light of the Gospel to pagan nations. More than a
+million Chinese to-day are fervent Christians, and to whom do they owe
+their faith under God? To religious missionaries. The Benedictines of
+old spent their lives in the pursuit of learning, and in teaching
+barbarous tribes the art of husbandry. The glorious Knights Templar
+were a militant order; and the members of the Order of the Blessed
+Trinity for the redemption of captives, the first to wear our national
+colors of freedom, the red, white and blue, sold themselves into
+slavery for the release of others. Scarcely a want or need of the
+human race has not been provided for by some religious body.
+
+But probably the most common pursuit of religious bodies in our day is
+teaching. Hundreds of thousands of religious men and women, in all
+lands whence they are not banished, spend their lives in the
+class-room. And the reason for this preference is the extraordinary
+demand for schools in every direction. The young must be taught, and
+Holy Mother Church knows only too well that religious training must
+be woven into the fibre of secular learning if we would not have a
+conscienceless and irreligious generation. So she issues her stirring
+appeal for volunteer teachers, and a vast multitude of religious have
+responded in solid phalanx. Some one has said that if all the
+sisterhoods were taken out of our schools in the United States, we
+should soon have to close half our churches.
+
+Religious, then, are carrying on vast and important works for the
+benefit of the Church and society. Many other services which they
+render might be mentioned, such as preaching and hearing confessions,
+the publication of books and periodicals, the cultivation of the arts,
+science, literature and theology. But enough has been said to show
+that they are leading a strenuous life, and that boy or maid, who is
+emulous of heart-stirring deeds, could scarcely find a more propitious
+field of action than in the religious state.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+MUST I ACCEPT THE INVITATION?
+
+It is not the purpose of the writer to exaggerate, to frighten or
+coerce persons into religious life, by holding out threats of God's
+displeasure to those who refuse, or by citing examples of those whose
+careers were blighted through failure to heed the Divine call. It is
+His desire rather to imitate Christ's manner of action, portraying the
+beauty and excellence of virtue, and then leaving it to the promptings
+of aspiring hearts to follow the leadings of grace.
+
+Christ, all mildness and meekness as He was, uttered terrible
+denunciations against sin and the false leaders of the people; but
+nowhere do we read that He denounced or threatened those who failed to
+accept His tender and loving call to the life of perfection. To draw
+men's hearts He used not compulsion, but the lure of kindness and
+affection.
+
+Our Lord sometimes commanded and sometimes counselled and between
+these there is a difference. When a command is given by lawful
+superiors it must be obeyed, and that under penalty. God gave the
+commandments amidst thunder and lightning on Mount Sinai, and those
+commandments, as precepts of the natural law, or because corroborated
+in the New Testament, persist in the main to-day, and any one who
+violates them, refuses to keep them, is guilty of disobedience to God,
+commits a sin. But when Christ proclaimed the counsels, He was merely
+giving advice or exhortation, and hence no one was obliged to follow
+them under pain of His displeasure. Suppose a mother has two sons, who
+both obey exactly her every command, and one also takes her advice in
+a certain matter, while the other does not; she will love the second
+not less, but the first more. So of two boys, who are both favorites
+of God, if one accept and the other decline a proffered vocation, He
+will love the latter as before, but the former how much more tenderly!
+
+Moreover, God loves the cheerful giver. By doing, out of an abundance
+of charity and fervor, what you are not obliged to do, you gain ampler
+merit for yourself, since you perform more than your duty, and at the
+same time you give greater glory to God, showing that He has willing
+children, who bound their service to Him by no bargaining
+considerations of weight and measure. But if, through fear of threat
+or punishment, you make an offering to God, your gift loses, to an
+extent, the worth and spontaneity of a heart-token.
+
+Some think that not to accept the invitation to the counsels, is to
+show disregard and contempt for God's grace and favor, and hence
+sinful. But how does a young person act when he declines this
+proffered gift? He equivalently says, with tears in his eyes, "My
+Saviour, I appreciate deeply Thy invitation to the higher life; I envy
+my companions who are so courageous as to follow Thy counsel; but,
+please be not offended with me if I have not the courage to imitate
+their example. I beg Thee to let me serve Thee in some other way." Is
+there anything of contempt in such a reply? No more than if a child
+would tearfully pray its mother not to send it into a dark room to
+fetch something; and as such a mother, instead of insisting on her
+request, would only kiss away her child's tears, so will God treat one
+who weeps because he cannot muster courage to tread closely in His
+blood-stained footsteps.
+
+The young have little relish for argumentative quotations and texts,
+but it may interest them to know that Saints Basil, Chrysostom,
+Gregory Nazianzen, Cyprian, Augustine and other Fathers all speak in a
+similar strain, holding that, as a vocation is a free gift or counsel,
+it may be declined without sin. [1] The great Theologians, St. Thomas,
+Suarez, Bellarmine and Cornelius a Lapide also agree on this point.
+
+But putting aside the question of sin, we must admit that one who
+clearly realizes that the religious life is best for him and
+consequently more pleasing to God, would, by neglecting to avail
+himself of this grace, betray a certain ungenerosity of soul and a
+lack of appreciation of spiritual things, in depriving himself of a
+gift which would be the source of so many graces and spiritual
+advantages.
+
+Do not, then, dear reader, embrace the higher life merely from motives
+of fear--which were unworthy an ingenuous child of God--but rather to
+please the Divine Majesty. You are dear to Him, dearer than the
+treasures of all the world. He loves you so much that He died for you,
+and now He asks you in return to nestle close to His heart, where He
+may ever enfold His arms about you, and lavish his blandishments upon
+your soul. Will you come to Him, your fresh young heart still sweet
+with the dew of innocence, and become His own forevermore? Will you
+say farewell to creatures, and rest upon that Bosom whose love and
+tenderness for you is high as the stars, wide as the universe, and
+deep as the sea? Come to the tender embraces of your heavenly spouse,
+and heaven will have begun for you on earth.
+
+
+[1] The hypothetical case, sometimes mentioned by casuists, of one who
+is convinced that for him salvation outside of religion is impossible,
+can here safely be passed over as unpractical for young readers.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+I AM TOO YOUNG
+
+Many a young person, when confronted with the thought of his vocation,
+puts it out of mind, with the off-hand remark, "Oh, there is plenty of
+time to consider that; I am too young, and have had no experience of
+the world." This method of procedure is summary, if not judicious, and
+it meets with the favor of some parents, who fear, as they think, to
+lose their children. It was also evidently highly acceptable to
+Luther, who is quoted by Bellarmine as teaching that no one should
+enter religious life until he is seventy or eighty years of age.
+
+In deciding a question of this nature, however, we should not allow
+our prepossessions to bias our judgment, nor take without allowance
+the opinion of those steeped in worldly wisdom, but lacking in
+spiritual insight. Father William Humphrey, S.J., in his edition of
+Suarez's "Religious Life" (page 49), says: "Looking merely to _natural
+law_, it is lawful at any age freely to offer oneself to the perpetual
+service of God. There is no natural principle by which should be fixed
+any certain age for such an act."
+
+Christ did not prescribe any age for those who wished to enter His
+special service, and He rebuked the apostles for keeping children from
+Him, saying, "Let the little ones come unto Me." And St. Thomas
+(Summa, 2a 2æ, Quæst. 189, art. 5), quotes approvingly the comment
+of Origen on this text, viz.: "We should be careful lest in our
+superior wisdom we despise the little ones of the Church and prevent
+them from coming to Jesus." And speaking in the same article of St.
+Gregory's statement that the Roman nobility offered their sons to St.
+Benedict to be brought up in the service of God, the Angelic Doctor
+approves this practice on the principle that "it is good for a man to
+bear the yoke from his youth," and adds that it is in accord with the
+usual "custom of setting boys to the duties and occupations in which
+they are to spend their life."
+
+The remark concerning St. Benedict recalls to mind the interesting
+fact that in olden times, not only boys of twelve and fourteen became
+little monks, but that children of three, four or five years of age
+were brought in their parents' arms and dedicated to the monasteries.
+According to the "Benedictine Centuries," "the reception of a child in
+those days was almost as solemn as a profession in our own. His
+parents carried him to the church. Whilst they wrapped his hand, which
+held the petition, in the sacred linen of the altar, they promised, in
+the presence of God and His saints, stability in his name." These
+children remained during infancy and childhood within the monastery
+enclosure, and on reaching the age of fourteen, they were given the
+choice of returning home, if they preferred, or of remaining for life.
+[1]
+
+The discipline of the Church, which as a wise Mother, she modifies to
+suit the exigencies of time and place, is somewhat different in our
+day. The ordinary law now prohibits religious profession before the
+age of sixteen; and the earliest age at which subjects are commonly
+admitted is fifteen. Orders which accept younger candidates, in order
+to train and prepare them for reception, cannot, as a rule, clothe
+them with the habit. A very recent decree also requires clerical
+students to have completed four years' study of Latin before admission
+as novices into any order.
+
+Persons who object to early entrance into religion seem to forget that
+the young have equal rights with their elders to personal
+sanctification, and to the use of the means afforded for this purpose
+by the Church. It is now passed into history, how some misguided
+individuals forbade frequent Communion to the faithful at large, and
+altogether excluded from the Holy Table children under twelve or
+fourteen, and this notwithstanding the plain teaching of the Council
+of Trent to the contrary. To correct the error, the Holy See was
+obliged to issue decrees on the subject, which may be styled the
+charter of Eucharistic freedom for all the faithful, and especially
+for children. As the Eucharist is not intended solely for the mature
+or aged, so neither is religious life meant only for the decrepit, or
+those who have squandered youth and innocence. Its portals are open to
+all the qualified, and particularly to the young, who wish to bring
+not a part of their life only, but the _whole_ of it, along with
+youthful enthusiasm and generosity, to God's service.
+
+How many young religious have attained heroic sanctity which would
+never have been theirs had religion been closed against them by an
+arbitrary or unreasonable age restriction! A too rigid attitude on
+this point would have barred those patrons of youth, Aloysius,
+Stanislaus Kostka and Berchmans, from religion and perhaps even from
+the honors of the altar. St. Thomas, the great theological luminary of
+the Church, was offered to the Benedictines when five years old, and
+he joined the Dominicans at fifteen or sixteen; and St. Rose of Lima
+made a vow of chastity at five. The Lily of Quito, Blessed Mary Ann,
+made the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience before her
+tenth birthday, and the Little Flower was a Carmelite at fifteen. And
+uncounted others, who lived and died in the odor of sanctity,
+dedicated themselves by vow to the perpetual service of God, while
+still in the fragrance and bloom of childhood or youth.
+
+"What a pity!" some exclaim, when a youth or maid enters religion.
+"How much better for young people to wait a few years and see
+something of the world, so they will know what they are giving up."
+This is ever the comment of the worldly spirit, which aims to crush
+out entirely spiritual aspirations, and failing in that, to delay
+their fulfilment indefinitely. And yet the wise do not reason
+similarly in other matters. One who proposes to cultivate a marked
+musical talent is never advised to try his hand first at carpentering
+or tailoring, that he may make an intelligent choice between them. Nor
+is a promising law student counselled to spend several years in the
+study of engineering and dentistry, to avoid making a possible
+mistake. Why then wish a youth, of evident religious inclination, to
+mingle in the frivolity and gayeties of the world, with the certain
+risk of imbibing its spirit and losing his spiritual relish? "He who
+loves the danger," says the Scripture, "will perish in it."
+
+"Yet a vocation should first be tried, and if it cannot resist
+temptation, it will never prove constant," is the worn but
+oft-repeated reply. As if a parent would expose his boy to contagion to
+discover whether his constitution be strong enough to resist it; or
+place him in the companionship of the depraved to try his virtue and
+see if it be proof against temptation. No, the tender sprout must be
+carefully tended, and shielded from wind and storm, until it grows
+into maturity. In like manner, a young person who desires to serve
+God, should be placed in an atmosphere favorable to the development of
+his design, and guarded from sinister influence, until he has acquired
+stability of purpose and strength of virtue.
+
+There was once in Rome an attractive Cardinal's page of fourteen who
+possessed a sunny and lively disposition. On a solemn occasion his
+hasty temper led him to resent the action of another page, and
+straightway there was a fight. Immediately, the decorous retinue was
+thrown into confusion, and the Cardinal felt himself disgraced. Peter
+Ribadeneira, for this was the page's name, did not wait for
+developments, he foresaw what was coming and fled. Not knowing where
+to go, he bethought himself of one who was everybody's friend,
+Ignatius of Loyola, and with soiled face, torn lace and drooping
+plume, he presented himself before him. Ignatius received him with
+open arms, and placed him among the novices. Poor Peter had a hard
+time in the novitiate, as his caprices and boisterousness were always
+bringing him into trouble. But when grave Fathers frowned, and the
+novices were scandalized, Peter was ever sure of sympathy and
+forgiveness from Ignatius, who, in the end, was gratified to see the
+boy develop into an able, learned and holy religious. Peter's vocation
+was occasioned by his fight, certainly an unpropitious beginning, but
+he must have ever been grateful that, when he applied to Ignatius, he
+was not turned away until he had become older and more sedate.
+
+Parents or spiritual directors, who, under the pretext of trying a
+vocation, put off for two or three years an aspirant who seems dowered
+with all necessary qualities, can scarcely justify themselves in the
+eyes of God, such a method being calculated to destroy, not prove, a
+vocation. To detain for a few months, however, one who conceives a
+sudden notion to enter religion, for the purpose of discovering
+whether his intention is serious, and not merely a passing whim, is
+only in accordance with the ordinary rules of prudence. In connection
+with this point, the words of bluff and hearty St. Jerome, who never
+seemed to grow old or lose the buoyancy of youth, are often quoted.
+Giving advice to one whom he wished to quit the world, he wrote, "Wait
+not even to untie the rope that holds your boat at anchor--cut it."
+(M. P. L., t. 26, c. 549.) And Christ's reply to the young man, whom
+He had invited to follow Him, and who asked leave to go first and bury
+his father, was equally terse: "Let the dead bury their own dead."
+(Luke ix: 60.)
+
+In a booklet entitled "Questions on Vocations," published in 1913, by
+a Priest of the Congregation of the Mission, the question is asked,
+"Do not a larger percentage persevere when subjects enter the
+religious state late in life?" And the answer is given: "No; the
+records of five of the largest communities of Sisters in the United
+States show that a much larger percentage of subjects persevere among
+those who enter between the ages of sixteen and twenty, than among
+those who enter when they are older. When persons are twenty years of
+age, or older, their characters are more set; their minds are less
+pliable; it is harder to unbend and remould them. The young are more
+readily formed to religious discipline."
+
+In concluding this chapter on the appropriate age for entrance into
+religious life, it may be said that, after reaching the prescribed age
+of fifteen, the sooner an otherwise properly qualified person enters
+the nearer he seems to approach the ideals and traditionary practice
+of the Church, and the better he will provide for his own spiritual
+welfare.
+
+
+[1] It would seem that for the space of two centuries, this freedom of
+choice was not offered them.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE PRIESTHOOD
+
+The High Priest of the New Law, St. Paul tells the Hebrews, is Christ.
+And the Christian priesthood, which He instituted, is a participation
+and extension of His office and ministry. The commemoration of the
+same sacrifice which was once offered upon the cross for the sins of
+the world is daily renewed on our altars from the rising to the
+setting of the sun. The Christian priest, in the language of spiritual
+writers, is "another Christ," taking His place amongst men,
+perpetually renewing, as it were, the Incarnation in the Sacrifice of
+the Mass, preaching the word, and applying the fruits of Redemption
+through the channels of the sacraments.
+
+In common estimation, the dignity of a man is reckoned by the
+character of the office he fills or the duties entrusted to him.
+Judged by this standard, no worldly dignity can compare with that of
+the priesthood, whose authority comes from God, and whose powers,
+transcending earth, reach back to heaven. "Speak not of the royal
+purple," says St. Chrysostom, "of diadems, of golden vestures--these
+are but shadows, frailer than the flowers of spring, compared to the
+power and privileges of the priesthood."
+
+And whence arises, we may ask, this incomparable dignity of the
+priest? First of all, from his power to roll back the heavens, and
+bring down upon the altar the Majesty of the Deity, attended by an
+angelic train. "The Blessed Virgin," St. Vincent Ferrer informs us,
+"opened heaven only once, the priest does so at every Mass." Exalted
+is the sovereignty of kings who rule a nation, but more sublime the
+power which commands the King of kings, and is obeyed. Who could
+conceive, did not Faith teach it, that mortal man were capable of
+elevation to such a pitch of glory? No wonder St. Chrysostom was
+betrayed by this thought into the rhapsody: "When you behold the Lord
+immolated and lying on the altar, and the priest standing over the
+sacrifice and praying and all the people empurpled by that precious
+blood, do you imagine that you are still on earth amongst men and not
+rather rapt up to heaven?"
+
+The second great prerogative of the priest is to forgive sins. Christ
+having one day said to a paralytic, "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee"
+(Luke v: 20), some of the bystanders marvelled, thinking within
+themselves, "Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" Yea, truly is this
+a Divine power, but these critics failed to comprehend the Divinity of
+Christ, and that all power was given to Him in heaven and on earth.
+And His power to remit sins has descended to the priest, in the
+imposition of hands. At Christ's will lepers were cleansed, and once
+more felt the pulsation of health tingling through their veins; but
+more wondrous still the word of the priest which causes the scales of
+the leprosy of sin to fall from the stricken soul, and restores to it
+the pristine vigor and beauty of sanctifying grace. As keeper of the
+keys, the priest stands warder of heaven, locking or unlocking its
+doors to the dust-begrimed pilgrims of earth.
+
+Sublime, then, is the priestly dignity, even beyond human
+comprehension. But one thing we realize, and the saints with clearer
+vision perceive, that high virtue is demanded of him whose life is
+spent in the antechamber of heaven. St. Catharine of Sienna, in a
+letter to one newly ordained, tells him, "The ministers whom the
+Sovereign Goodness has chosen to be His Christs ought to be angels,
+not men . . . they in truth discharge the office of angels." "What
+purity," says a Father of the Church, "what piety shall we require of
+a priest? Think what those hands ought to be which perform such a
+ministry; what that tongue which pronounces those words." No sanctity
+or purity of soul, then, is beyond the aspirations of one whose
+heaven-born privilege it is to enter the Holy of Holies, to dispense
+the mysteries of faith, and exercise the "ministry of reconciliation."
+
+A most important function of the ministry is the care of souls.
+Christ's mission was to save; He was the Good Shepherd, who traveled
+about preaching to the people, who were like "sheep without a
+shepherd." And to His Apostles and their successors He gave the solemn
+charge "to feed His lambs." And this injunction of the Divine Master
+has been held sacred by the Church throughout its existence. Wherever
+in the world to-day dwell true believers, there are to be found
+priests to care for them.
+
+The priest is truly the father of the people committed to him. He must
+become all things to all men, rejoicing with the joyful, and weeping
+with the sorrowful. The infants he must receive into the Church,
+generating in them the life of grace, guarding them as they grow up,
+and instructing them in doctrine and discipline. To him the bridal
+couple come for the nuptial benediction; and when sickness and trouble
+and want invade the household it is to their father in Christ the
+faithful look for support and encouragement. He is the consoler of
+all, and he bears the burdens of all. And when the angel of death
+hovers over his charge, the priest repairs to the bedside of the
+departing one, to strengthen him for the last journey; and, finally,
+when the soul has departed, he commits the body to hallowed ground,
+there to await the resurrection.
+
+The priest, then, must be of heroic mould to satisfy the demands made
+upon him; he must be ready to endure hunger and cold and weariness,
+contradictions from within and without, labors by night and day. But
+the Lord is his inheritance, and for His sake he is willing to endure
+all the crosses and trials that bear upon him. How splendidly the
+clergy of our country have responded to their responsibilities is
+attested by the flourishing state of religion, by the magnificent
+churches, the well-developed Catholic school system, and the numerous
+other Church activities about us. Every thoroughly organized parish or
+mission means the life of at least one priest sacrificed in its
+formation--the commingling of his sweat and labors with the cement
+that binds together its material and spiritual stones. But could a
+life be better spent? What more fitting monument could be left to
+posterity than a spiritual structure built on Christ and enduring as
+the foundation on which it rests?
+
+Who, then, may aspire to the glorious career of the priesthood? Is it
+open to all, or must one await the striking manifestation of the
+Divine Will inviting him to it? Should he not say, "The priesthood is
+too exalted for my weakness and unworthiness"? While humility is
+laudable, it should not bar any one who has the requisite virtue and
+talent, together with an upright intention, from entering this high
+estate. Everything depends on one's qualifications and motives. Others
+will pass judgment on the qualifications, but each one must scrutinize
+his own motives. If a youth desires the priesthood for natural
+reasons, to lead an easy life or one honorable in the eyes of men, to
+attain fame or station, his motives are wrong, or at least, too
+imperfect to carry him far on the rugged road before him. But if he be
+swayed by supernatural desires, such as the service of God, his own
+sanctification or the help of his neighbor, his ambition is
+praiseworthy. One who is conscious, then, of rectitude of purpose and
+hopeful with the divine assistance of living up to its obligations,
+may aspire, without scruple, to the priesthood, the highest of
+dignities and the greatest of careers open to man.
+
+One day our Lord, instructing His disciples before sending them to
+preach His coming, said: "The harvest, indeed, is great, but the
+laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he
+send laborers into his harvest" (Luke x: 2). And this has been the cry
+through all the ages--"Send laborers into the harvest!" The Church has
+always needed good spiritual laborers, men and women, who would be
+willing to work for God and their neighbor, to extend the Kingdom of
+God, and this is true to-day of our own beloved country. A host of
+spiritual laborers is scattered over our land, but the cry is ever
+repeated, "We need more, the work is too great for our efforts, and
+all the harvest is not being garnered."
+
+Will you, dear reader, make one more worker in God's field, one more
+reaper of His harvest that is ripe and falling to the ground because
+there are none to gather it?
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE TEACHER'S AUREOLE
+
+As the acquaintance of young people with religious is frequently
+limited to their teachers, they are sometimes inclined to identify in
+their minds the profession of teaching with religious life. And since
+some feel a diffidence or repugnance in committing themselves to a
+teaching career, they extend this aversion to the religious state
+itself. We have shown, however, in a previous chapter that there is
+great variety and diversity of occupation in religious orders, so that
+all tastes and inclinations can find congenial exercise in them.
+
+Still, it is probably true, that the great majority of religious men
+and women are found in the class-room, and this for the good and
+sufficient reason that Christian education is the paramount need of
+the day, and the work on which the future of the Church chiefly
+depends. The young who, perhaps, are tempted to look upon teaching as
+an obscure employment and a monotonous grind, will do well to reflect
+that in our time it is considered so honorable a profession that
+hundreds of thousands, even of those outside the Church, deliberately
+choose it as the best and most favorable career for the play of their
+talents.
+
+The professors of our noted universities command the respect and
+deference of the community, and to them the public look for the
+solution of the constantly arising civic and social problems. They are
+regarded as the natural leaders of thought, and are expected to guide
+and direct popular movements affecting the well-being of society. And
+this public esteem, is extended in due proportion to all who are
+engaged in education, for it is universally realized that the standard
+of morality and intelligence, which is to obtain in the commonwealth,
+will depend largely on the training given to the young. The teacher is
+directly employed in the making of good citizens, which is a more
+important business than the extension of manufactures or commerce. He
+is setting the ideals according to which the Republic must stand or
+fall.
+
+And, for persons of refined or intellectual tastes, the instruction of
+youth must be a pleasurable employment. It is inviting to deal with
+the young and innocent, who are eager to learn, ambitious to excel,
+and who in return for their instructor's solicitude, give him
+unstinted affection and gratitude, and render him loyal obedience and
+respect. In the teacher's hands is the moulding and shaping of
+character, the direction of talents which may illumine society. And
+can any sphere of action be more elevated, more grateful than this?
+
+And then, too, the educator is constantly engaged in the things of the
+mind, in study, and the discovery of new truths or new applications of
+old ones, and in imparting his knowledge to fresh, bright
+intelligences. Nothing is so fascinating to a person of intellectual
+bent as the pursuit and attainment of truth, and this is the steady
+occupation of the teacher. Is not the outlook of such a life
+infinitely wider and more refreshing than the dull routine of
+business, the noisy rumble of a factory or the sordid dealings of
+commerce?
+
+But it is principally from the spiritual point of view that education
+is considered by the Church and religious congregations. The mandate
+of Christ, "Go ye forth and teach all nations," laid the charge of
+teaching upon His Church; and on the pastors it devolves to see that
+the faithful are instructed in Christian doctrines and obligations. To
+rightfully carry out its mission, the Church has always felt obliged
+to insist that the education of its children be permeated with
+religion, and in fulfilment of this duty it has established parochial
+schools throughout our country, where the young, while acquiring
+secular science, can at the same time be grounded in the faith and
+trained to virtuous lives.
+
+It can be said, then, that the religious who conduct these schools
+share in the apostolic mission of the Church. Every catechetical
+instruction, every word of exhortation or encouragement to right
+living and doing which is given in the class-room, is a participation
+by the teacher in the pastorate of souls, in the announcing and
+preaching of the Gospel, in the spreading of the Kingdom of God.
+Without the aid of the school, the pastor ordinarily could not
+properly teach the young their prayers and catechism, prepare them for
+the sacraments, and equip them for the manifold exigencies of life.
+
+"Religious education is our most distinctive work," says Archbishop
+Spalding, of Peoria. "It gives us a place apart in the life of the
+country. It is indispensable to the welfare and progress of the Church
+in the United States, and will be recognized in the end as the most
+vital contribution to American civilization. Fortunate are they, who
+by words or deeds confirm our faith in the need of Catholic schools;
+and yet more fortunate are they who, while they inspire our teachers
+with new courage and zeal, awaken in the young, to whom God has given
+a heart and a mind, an efficacious desire to devote themselves to the
+little ones whom Christ loves. What better work, in the present time,
+can any of us do than foster vocations to our Brotherhoods and
+Sisterhoods, whose special mission is teaching?"
+
+And Brother Azarias assures us that "There is not in this world among
+human callings a more sacred one than that of moulding souls to higher
+and better things."
+
+Bishop Byrne, of Nashville, has well said: "The office of teaching has
+an advantage in some respects over the priesthood. The teachers are
+constantly with their pupils, shaping their souls, coloring them,
+informing them, making them instinct with life and motives, and giving
+them high ideals and worthy aspirations. In all this their work is
+akin to that of the confessor."
+
+The need of more teaching Brothers and Sisters is particularly urgent
+and pressing, as the number of pupils is increasing proportionately
+faster than the number of religious subjects, and the dearth of
+teachers prevents the opening of new schools in many places where they
+are demanded, and also hinders the development of the existing
+schools. This is the opinion of Bishop Alerding, who wrote: "The
+Church is being hampered in her work of educating her youth because
+the number of teachers, Brothers and Sisters, is inadequate." And
+Bishop McQuaid did not hesitate to say that, "the most pressing want
+of the Church in America at the present time is that of Brothers to
+assist in teaching our boys."
+
+In this connection we may observe that some virtuous and self-effacing
+souls, after the example of St. Francis of Assisi, have a dread of
+assuming the responsibilities of the priesthood, and there are many
+others who are debarred from aspiring to that dignity by insufficiency
+of education. Young men of either of these classes have a splendid
+opportunity before them to serve God by joining a teaching
+congregation of Brothers.
+
+Finally, as an encouragement to Christian teachers in their glorious
+apostolate, let them remember the great reward awaiting their
+unselfish labors. The Book of Daniel (xii: 3), tells us that "They who
+instruct many to justice shall shine as stars for all eternity." The
+inspired writer compares teachers to the stars of heaven, for as the
+latter illumine the darkness of night, so they who instruct others
+dispel the darkness of ignorance by shedding the rays of wisdom and
+knowledge into the minds of their disciples. But there is a deeper
+meaning in this text, for according to the interpretation of
+theologians, it contains the assurance to those who teach others their
+duty, of a special reward or golden crown in heaven, called the
+Doctor's or Teacher's Aureole. The exact nature of this privilege,
+whether it is a special gift of loving God or a distinctive garb of
+glory, we do not know, but as the martyrs and virgins have their
+special aureole, so will teachers have theirs.
+
+Father Croiset exclaims: "Oh! the beautiful and rich crowns which God
+prepares for a religious who inspires little children with a horror of
+vice and a love of virtue! . . . What sweet consolation will be
+experienced at the moment of death by the religious when he beholds
+coming to his aid those souls whom he has helped to save." And we may
+faintly conceive the transport of one who enters heaven accompanied by
+the resplendent retinue of those whom he has brought with him from
+earth.
+
+This chapter would not be complete without a word of encouragement to
+those young men and women whose education is so deficient that they
+feel incompetent to teach, and so turn away in sadness from the
+portals of religion, thinking there is no room for them within. Such
+persons should know that any one who is skilled in a trade, such as
+that of carpentering, painting, tailoring, or sewing, can be of the
+greatest utility and acceptability to a community. And there are many
+offices of a domestic nature, such as that of porter, sacristan,
+refectorian and steward, which require little preparatory training and
+can be filled by any one of intelligence and good will.
+
+Nor should persons engaged in such duties entertain the notion that
+they will not share in the full spiritual privileges of the Order; for
+by the assistance they give to the other members they are contributing
+to the end and aim of the Institute and communicate in all the good
+works performed by it. An edifying incident, illustrative of this
+point, is told of a famous preacher who moved hearts in a wondrous
+fashion, and when he was tempted to self-complacency in his success,
+it was revealed to him that the results of his preaching were due, not
+to his own eloquence or zeal, but to the prayers of the unobserved
+lay-brother, who always sat at the foot of the pulpit, telling his
+beads for the efficacy of the sermon.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+SHOWING THE WAY
+
+When young people read or hear of persons entering religious life,
+they are apt to say, "Oh, it is easy for them, because they are holy;
+but it is impossible for me who have so little virtue!" But, as a
+matter of fact, these religious have the same passions and temptations
+to overcome, the same flesh and blood, as ourselves, and it was only
+by conquering themselves, and struggling with their lower
+inclinations, that they obtained the victory.
+
+A boy was standing one day at a country railway station in the United
+States, when he met an older boy with whom he engaged in conversation.
+His casual acquaintance confided to him that he was going off to
+college to prepare for entrance into a certain religious Order; and he
+urged the younger lad to accompany him for the same purpose. But the
+latter replied, "Oh! they wouldn't have me, for I am poor, uneducated
+and every way unfit." The other insisted, however, and finally
+prevailed on him to board with him the incoming train. They repaired
+to the superior of the religious Order, who received them kindly, and
+sent them both to a boarding school. After a short time the senior
+student was caught stealing, and dismissed from the college. His
+whilom companion, however, persevered in his good design, achieved
+honors in his studies, and finally becoming a religious and a priest,
+he is today doing effective work in the vineyard of the Lord.
+
+A story is told of a religious who gave a letter to a young man, in
+which he recommended him as a suitable candidate for his Order,
+bidding him present the letter to the superior, who lived at a
+distance. The young man, desirous of joining the Order, started on his
+journey with a companion named Mathias, who had no notion of becoming
+a religious. On the way, the would-be religious changed his mind, and
+abandoning his project, gave the letter to Mathias, who was ignorant
+of its contents, requesting him to bring it to the superior. The
+superior read the letter, and thinking the recommendation referred to
+Mathias, said to him, "Very well, you may go to the novitiate, and put
+on the habit." Mathias wondered, but obeyed, entered the novitiate,
+and became a holy religious.
+
+St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, and the foremost man of his age, was
+so handsome and attractive in youth, that the evil-minded laid snares
+against his chastity. To escape their wiles he determined to enter the
+Cistercian monastery of Citeaux. His father and brothers endeavored to
+dissuade him from his purpose, but instead, by his fervid
+exhortations, he induced four of his brothers and others, to the
+number of thirty, to enter with him. As the party was leaving home,
+little Nivard, the sole remaining boy of the family, was at play with
+some companions. Guido, the eldest of the brothers, embraced him and
+said, "My dear Nivard, we are going, and this castle and lands will
+all be yours." The child, "with wisdom beyond his years," the
+chronicler tells us, "replied, 'what, are you taking heaven for
+yourselves, and leaving earth to me? The division is not fair.'" And
+from that day nothing could pacify the boy, until he was permitted to
+join his brothers.
+
+St. Alphonsus Liguori, who is said to have always preserved his
+baptismal innocence, was so brilliant a student that at the age of
+sixteen he had obtained two degrees in the University of Naples.
+Entering on the practice of the law, he one day in a trial before the
+court, by an oversight, misstated the evidence. His attention being
+called to his error, he was so overwhelmed with shame and confusion at
+his apparent lack of truthfulness, that on returning home he
+exclaimed, "World, I know you now, Courts, you shall never see me
+more." And for three days he refused food. He then determined to
+become a priest, and in the ministry he attained great sanctity. He
+founded the well-known Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer,
+commonly called the Redemptorists; and for his voluminous doctrinal
+writings, Pius IX declared him a Doctor of the universal Church.
+
+The story of the entrance of St. Stanislaus Kostka into religion reads
+like a romance. His father, a Polish nobleman, had placed him and his
+older brother, Paul, at the Jesuit College in Vienna. When Stanislaus
+was fifteen years of age he applied for admission into the Jesuit
+Order, but as he had not the consent of his father, the superior
+feared to take him. An illness supervened, and the Blessed Virgin came
+to cure him, and giving the child Jesus into his arms, said to him,
+"You must end your days in the Society that bears my Son's name; you
+must become a Jesuit."
+
+Notwithstanding the vision, poor Stanislaus was again refused by the
+Jesuit superior. Not knowing what other step to take, he thought that
+by traveling four hundred miles to Augsburg, in Germany, the Jesuit
+Provincial of that province, who at the time was Blessed Peter
+Canisius, might receive him, for his jurisdiction seemed beyond the
+influence of Senator Kostka. If again rejected in Augsburg, he was
+determined to walk eight hundred miles farther to Rome, where he felt
+sure of securing his heart's desire. Accordingly, one August morning
+he rose early and telling his servant that he was going out, bade him
+at the same time inform his brother Paul not to expect him for dinner.
+With light and joyous heart he started on his journey, and at the
+first opportunity exchanged his fine clothes for the disguise of a
+pilgrim's staff and tunic.
+
+When Paul awoke and learned that Stanislaus was gone for the day, he
+was surprised, but attributed it to some new pious freak. But as the
+day wore on, and the shades of evening gathered, with no tidings of
+his brother, consternation seized Paul, for he realized that his
+irascible and powerful father would hold him responsible for the
+safety of the younger boy, whom he loved with a passionate and
+unbounded affection. Accordingly servants were dispatched in every
+direction to seek for the truant, but no tidings could be obtained.
+The conclusion gradually forced itself upon all that Stanislaus had
+fled, and Paul determined to pursue him and bring him back. For some
+reason, suspicion was aroused that the runaway had taken the road to
+Augsburg, and a carriage with two stout horses was ordered for early
+dawn on the morrow.
+
+Along the highway to Augsburg flew the equipage containing Paul and
+three companions. Meanwhile, little Stanislaus was trudging bravely
+along, putting all his confidence in God, when he suddenly heard the
+rapid beat of horses' hoofs behind him. Suspecting what it meant, he
+quickly entered a by-lane, and the occupants of the carriage rushed by
+without seeing, or at least, recognizing, him in his disguise.
+
+Stanislaus continued his pilgrimage in peace, begging his way, for he
+had no money, and after two weeks, he saw, with inexpressible joy, the
+roofs and spires of Augsburg gleaming in the setting sun. At last he
+had reached the haven of rest, and with a bounding heart, the weary
+boy knocked at the door of the Jesuit college. But alas, for all his
+hopes! the provincial had gone to Dillingen. The Fathers urged him to
+stay and rest with them until the provincial's return, but Stanislaus
+would brook no delay. At once he wended his way toward Dillingen,
+which he soon reached, and when he knelt at the feet of Blessed
+Canisius, two saints were face to face. The superior pressed the boy
+to his heart, and kept him in the college for a few weeks. But as both
+the elder and younger saint thought Germany still too near the
+influence of his father for safety, Stanislaus, in company with two
+religious, set out on a further exhausting walk of eight hundred miles
+to Rome, where he was received as a Jesuit novice by the General of
+the Order, St. Francis Borgia.
+
+The angelic boy had at last finished his long pilgrimages, he had
+entered the earthly paradise for which he had yearned, and for which
+he had forsaken home, rank and country. But the happiness of religion
+he soon exchanged for the joys of heaven, for before completing his
+eighteenth year, and while still a novice, he closed his eyes on this
+world to open them in company with Mary and the angels on the Beatific
+Vision.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE PARENTS' PART
+
+The home is the nursery of vocations. Most religious can trace the
+beginnings of their resolve to leave all to the influence of saintly
+parents and a Christian home. If the parents cultivate faith, charity
+and industry the fragrance of these virtues will cling round the walls
+of their dwelling, and perfume the lives of their children.
+
+Every Christian home should be a convent in miniature, filled with the
+same spirit, productive of the same virtues. It should be a cloister,
+forbidding entrance to the world and its vanities, and harboring
+within gentle peace and happiness. Poverty should dwell there, not in
+the narrower meaning of distress and want, but in the wider
+acceptation of simplicity, frugality and temperance as opposed to
+extravagance, display and ostentation. Purity, too, should reign as
+queen of the hearth, regulating the glance of the eye, the
+conversation, and even the thoughts of the occupants. And union and
+harmony of wills, without which the idea of home is inconceivable, can
+come only through obedience which binds the children to parents, wife
+to husband, and all to God.
+
+But, unfortunately, this is not always the case. From many domiciles
+peace and tranquillity have fled, giving place to frivolity, vanity
+and worldliness and all their attendant train of vices. How many
+parents, deceived by the wisdom of the flesh, seek their own
+gratification in all things, and denying their children nothing that
+luxury or extravagance craves, pamper and spoil them by indulging
+their every whim. To train up the young to the steady and
+uncompromising fulfilment of duty is the only means to produce a hardy
+and sturdy generation of men and women, whose fidelity can be relied
+on in the trials and emergencies of after-life.
+
+But some fathers and mothers, when their children call for bread,
+reverse the parable by giving them a stone, and when they ask for an
+egg, give them a scorpion. We can imagine with what righteous
+indignation Our Lord would have denounced such a mode of action.
+Foolish parents even of limited means dress their girls in expensive
+and gaudy apparel, which not only offends against taste and economy,
+but sometimes transgresses the laws of modesty and decency.
+Familiarity between the sexes is permitted and encouraged by doting
+and foolish mothers, who introduce their sons and daughters to
+juvenile society functions, receptions, parties and unbecoming dances;
+so that children who should be at their lessons or playing healthful
+games with suitable companions, are taught to affect society manners
+after the most approved fashion of their silly elders. Persons of this
+stamp may prepare for a rude awakening, for the day of reckoning for
+themselves and children will be sure and terrible.
+
+Many parents, while indeed quite solicitous according to their lights,
+for the temporal good of their offspring, training them to a trade or
+profession, or settling them in marriage, devote but little thought to
+their spiritual welfare. They dread a vocation in their family as a
+catastrophe. It would be well, indeed, for persons of this character
+to ponder the words of the Pastoral Letter of the Second Council of
+Baltimore: "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."
+
+How much better it were for parents to propose to the young the
+promise of Our Lord, "And every one that hath left house, or brothers
+or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my
+name, shall receive a hundredfold, and possess life everlasting."
+(Matt. xix: 29.) Many a one, whose wayward child has brought dishonor
+and shame to the family, realizes when all too late the happiness that
+might have been his had such a child only elected the religious state.
+
+Instead of throwing obstacles in the way of a vocation, those who are
+appreciative of spiritual things feel honored that God has chosen one
+of their family circle for His special service. Persons whose sons
+obtain high position in the army, court or government employ, take a
+just pride in the distinction thus attained, but such temporal honors
+cannot be compared with the singular privilege of serving in God's own
+courts, and dwelling within His sanctuary. Bishop Schrembs, of Toledo,
+aptly advises pastors "to teach young parents that the service of God
+is even more glorious than that of country, for as St. Jerome says,
+'Such a service establishes ties of relationship between the family
+and Jesus Christ Himself.'"
+
+Nor do parents, as they sometimes fear, lose a son or daughter who
+enters religion. One who marries is in a certain sense lost to the
+parent, for the responsibilities of his new state of life so absorb
+his energies as to leave him but little opportunity to concern himself
+about his old home. And frequently distance entirely severs his
+connection with it. But one who enters God's house does not contract
+new family alliances, his heart remains free, and though separated
+from parents, his affection is always true to them, he thinks of them
+as in his childhood days, and he never ceases to importune the
+blessings of heaven upon them.
+
+In fact, we may say that a vocation is not strictly an individual, but
+rather a family possession. A call to God implies sacrifice on the
+part of the family, as well as of the individual, for while he gives
+up parents, brothers and sisters, they, too, must part with him. And
+as they share in the renunciation, they participate also in its merit
+and reward. In God's household the religious represents his family, he
+works and prays by proxy for them, and they share in his graces and
+good deeds. Is it not a matter of daily experience that the family of
+a religious, particularly the parents, receive abundant graces, that
+God leads them in various ways to greater fidelity in His service, to
+a love of prayer and higher perfection? Parents of religious
+frequently become religious themselves at heart, and though not
+clothed with the habit, they share in the "hundredfold" promised to
+the child.
+
+"It is the glory of a large and happy Catholic family to produce a
+vocation," says Rev. Joseph Rickaby, S.J. "A sound Catholic is glad to
+have brother or sister, uncle or aunt, or cousin or child, 'who has
+pleased God and is found no more' in the ordinary walks of life,
+because God hath taken and translated him to something higher and
+better."
+
+Parents and teachers, then, who do not hesitate to incline the minds
+of children to a professional career, should have no fear also to
+direct their thoughts to higher things. To praise in the family circle
+the priestly or religious life, to express the hope and desire that
+one or more of the children may have the great happiness of such a
+profession, to offer them daily in prayer to God, to train them to
+piety and devotion, these are all praiseworthy in a father or mother,
+and if faithfully practiced in all families would doubtless greatly
+increase the number of God's chosen servants.
+
+Anything approaching coercion or excessive urging should, of course,
+be avoided, because moral violence should not be done to the child's
+will. But the remark sometimes made by well-meaning mothers, "O, I
+would not say a word to influence my child towards religion, for fear
+of interfering with God's work," shows a lamentable ignorance of the
+nature of a vocation. One might almost as well say, "O, I am careful
+not to contribute to the building of a church, because if God wants it
+built, He will not need any help." If all persons thought thus, such a
+church would be long in building.
+
+Most of God's works require our cooperation. He designs them and we
+must carry them out. Many a great project has depended on a timely
+word, or on the exertions of some man who rose to the occasion. Andrew
+and John were sent to Our Lord by St. John the Baptist, and they
+became apostles; and if Andrew had not "found his brother Simon and
+brought him to Jesus," who knows whether Christ would not have found
+it necessary to appoint another head of the Church in place of Simon
+Peter?
+
+To parents, then, belongs the singular privilege of training their
+children to tender piety, of directing their thoughts to spiritual
+things; and fidelity to this trust will give us a glorious generation
+of men and women ready to risk all, to sacrifice all in the service of
+their Creator.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+A PARTING WORD
+
+Now, dear reader, that you and the writer have kept company thus far,
+he is reluctant to part from you. But if you perceive within you the
+germ of a vocation, he begs you not to crush it. If in your heart
+there is a spark of that celestial fire, which may be fanned to a
+consuming flame of divine love, keep it burning.
+
+Preserve your soul, oh! so perfectly from the slightest touch of evil,
+remembering that the least deliberate venial sin stains it more than
+we can comprehend. Above all, cherish holy purity, that exquisite
+ornament of youth, which, like a polished gem, may so easily lose its
+lustre. Guard the avenues of your soul, your sight and hearing and the
+other senses, through which contamination from without is always
+seeking to enter and defile the beauty of God's handiwork. About us is
+an atmosphere of worldliness, which we imperceptibly breathe in from
+the words of companions, from the printed page, and the example of the
+careless. Shun companionship with the frivolous, vanity of dress, and
+that indiscriminate reading which only feeds an idle curiosity. The
+theatres of our day are especially dangerous to virtue, and he who
+stays away from them entirely, will consult his own advantage, as well
+as please God.
+
+In this soft and luxurious age the popular trend is to
+self-gratification in all its forms. But the true Christian must ever
+strive against corrupt nature, if he would not be carried away by the
+stream of voluptuousness. Self-denial is the watchword of
+Christianity. All are called to the practice of penance in some shape
+or form, the best usually being the exact performance of duty. The
+young of school age will find a strong shelter from temptation in the
+scrupulous and enthusiastic performance of their daily tasks and
+lessons. That small boy had caught the true spirit, who used to rise
+early, to prepare himself, as he said, for the "missionary" life, to
+which he aspired.
+
+A material help for boys to prepare for future life, is to serve at
+the altar. He who sacrifices his morning sleep, overcoming sloth, to
+minister to the priest at Mass, is already, by a privilege, fulfilling
+the functions of one of the minor orders, that of the acolyte. The
+devout server at Mass shares in its graces next to the celebrant, and
+more than the ordinary faithful who assist at it; and many an
+altar-boy, as he glided about the sanctuary, mingling with the
+invisible angels who hovered around the Victim of sacrifice, has felt
+the seeds of vocation sprouting in his soul.
+
+Devotion to the Mother of God should also be a characteristic of
+youth. She sympathizes with us, as only a mother can, in all our
+difficulties and trials. She fully appreciates what we have to contend
+with, she sees our weakness, the strength of our passions, the
+temptations we encounter, and she is eager to throw about us the
+mantle of her protection, if we will only ask her. Never a day should
+pass without our commending ourselves earnestly to her motherly heart,
+for she is even more interested in our welfare than we ourselves. She
+is powerful to aid us, since all good things come to us through her;
+and she will choose for her devout clients the career in which they
+may best serve God.
+
+By a strange perversion of mind, we often seek to unravel the
+perplexities of life, without recourse to prayer. When involved in
+business anxieties, men spend days of worry in wrestling with them,
+without perhaps asking the Father of Lights for guidance. And the
+young also, who must settle for themselves their future career,
+frequently strive to do so, without the help of heaven. They perhaps
+consult human advisers, but fail to consult God, the best of
+counsellors, Who alone can see behind the veil of the future, and
+infallibly tell what is best for us.
+
+In coming to any important decision, light and strength are needed,
+light to know the pathway of duty, and strength to follow it. On
+account of the obscurities and half-lights of our intellect, we
+perceive but dimly, and often fail to discern the true from the false.
+The illumination of the white light of Truth is needed to flood the
+dark recesses of the mind. And even when the truth stands clearly
+revealed, we are often too indolent or enervated to embrace it; we
+need the tonic of resolution and courage, which can be infused into us
+only from on high.
+
+The trustful child of God should, day by day, commend his future into
+the hands of his heavenly Father, praying Him to shape his life and
+career. Each one has his own talents, one or many, but he cannot hope
+to trade or barter with them in a fruitful way unless the Giver of
+them bless his efforts. Our constant prayer, then, should be for the
+fulfilment of God's will in our regard, with the lively faith that
+whatever we ask will be granted.
+
+And of all prayers and devotions, can any be more efficacious or
+salutary than the frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist? Our Holy
+Father, Pius X, desires the boys and girls of the whole world to be
+nourished daily, from the tenderest years, with the Bread of Life,
+that they may wax strong in the spiritual life, and grow up virile
+Christians. One Holy Communion, received fervently, should be
+sufficient to sanctify a soul and awake in it the desire of closest
+union with Christ, of self-immolation on the altar of Divine Love.
+
+Then what of the soul which is daily nourished with the "Wheat of the
+Elect and the Wine that springeth forth Virgins?" (Zach. ix: 17.) Holy
+Communion has been styled the "Marriage Supper of the Lamb," wherein
+Christ caresses the soul, communicates to it sweetest secrets, and
+touching it with the ardent flames of His own Heart, purifies it from
+attachment to creatures, and sets it aglow with the white heat of
+charity. The frequent communicant, then, is surest of knowing and
+doing God's will.
+
+In conclusion, the writer may be allowed to indulge the hope that more
+than one reader may be impelled to aspire to the virgin's aureole, the
+special privilege of joining the one hundred and forty-four thousand,
+whom St. John, in the vision of the Apocalypse, saw following the
+Lamb, whithersoever He went, and singing a canticle that none else
+could sing, "because they were virgins."
+
+---
+
+Go now, little book, fly away to some perplexed soul who is anxious to
+discover the secrets of the Divine Will; and whisper it a message of
+peace and consolation, telling it that, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear
+heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath
+prepared for them that love Him." (I Cor. ii: 9.)
+
+
+
+PRAYER FOR THE RIGHT CHOICE OF A STATE OF LIFE.
+
+O Thou, the God of wisdom and counsel, Who dost perceive in my heart a
+sincere desire of pleasing Thee alone, and of conforming myself
+entirely to Thy most holy will in the choice of my state of life,
+grant me, I beseech Thee, through the intercession of the Blessed
+Virgin, my mother, and of my patron saints, especially St. Joseph and
+St. Aloysius, the grace to know what state of life I should choose,
+and when known to embrace it, so that I may seek and spread therein
+Thy glory, work out my salvation, and merit that reward in heaven
+which Thou hast promised to those who fulfill Thy divine will. Amen.
+
+----
+
+An indulgence of three hundred days, once a day, for the above prayer,
+granted by Pope Pius X, May 2, 1905.
+
+
+
+THE FRANK MEANY CO., PRINTERS, INC., NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's What Shall I Be?, by Rev. Francis Cassily
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHAT SHALL I BE? ***
+
+***** This file should be named 31688-8.txt or 31688-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/6/8/31688/
+
+Produced by Michael Gray
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/31688-8.zip b/31688-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..80a87a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31688-8.zip
diff --git a/31688-h.zip b/31688-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8860e9d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31688-h.zip
diff --git a/31688-h/31688-h.htm b/31688-h/31688-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60affde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31688-h/31688-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,3658 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
+<html>
+    <head>
+        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content=
+        "text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
+        <title>
+            The Project Gutenberg eBook of What Shall I Be?, by
+ Reverend Francis Cassily, S.J.
+        </title>
+        <style type="text/css">
+        body { margin-left:5%; margin-right:5%}
+        h1 { text-align:center }
+        h2  { text-align:center }
+        h3  { text-align:center }
+
+       .indent { margin-left:10%}
+       .indentb { margin-left:15%}
+       .indentc { margin-left:5%}
+        </style>
+    </head>
+    <body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of What Shall I Be?, by Rev. Francis Cassily
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: What Shall I Be?
+       A Chat With Young People
+
+Author: Rev. Francis Cassily
+
+Other: A. J. Burrows
+       Remegius Lafort
+       Cardinal John Murphy Farley
+
+Release Date: March 18, 2010 [EBook #31688]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHAT SHALL I BE? ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Michael Gray
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+        <h1>
+            <a href="images/frontispiece_large.jpg"><img src=
+            "images/frontispiece.jpg" alt=
+            "Christ and the rich young man"></a>
+        </h1>
+        <p>
+            If thou wilt be perfect go sell what thou hast and give
+            to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven and
+            come follow Me.
+        </p>
+        <p align="right">
+            &mdash;Matt. xix: 21.
+        </p><br>
+        <br>
+        <h1>
+            WHAT SHALL I BE?
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            A CHAT WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
+        </h2><br>
+        <p align="center">
+            BY THE<br>
+            REVEREND FRANCIS CASSILLY, S.J.
+        </p><br>
+        <br>
+        <p>
+            "And every one that hath left house, or brothers, or
+            sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or
+            lands for My name, shall receive a hundredfold, and
+            shall possess life everlasting." (Matt. xix: 29)
+        </p><br>
+        <br>
+        <br>
+        <p align="center">
+            NEW YORK<br>
+            THE AMERICA PRESS<br>
+            1914
+        </p><br>
+        <br>
+        <br>
+        <p align="left">
+            IMPRIMI POTEST
+        </p>
+        <p align="center">
+            A. J. BURROWES, S.J.
+        </p>
+        <p align="right">
+            <i>Provincial Missouri Province</i>
+        </p>
+        <p align="left">
+            NIHIL OBSTAT
+        </p>
+        <p align="center">
+            REMEGIUS LAFORT
+        </p>
+        <p align="right">
+            <i>Censor</i>
+        </p>
+        <p align="left">
+            IMPRIMATUR
+        </p>
+        <p align="center">
+            <img src="images/cross.jpg" alt="cross">JOHN CARDINAL
+            FARLEY
+        </p>
+        <p align="right">
+            <i>Archbishop of New York</i>
+        </p><br>
+        <br>
+        <p align="center">
+            COPYRIGHT 1914<br>
+            BY<br>
+            THE AMERICA PRESS
+        </p><br>
+        <br>
+        <br>
+        <p align="center">
+            <b>LETTER TO THE AUTHOR<br>
+            FROM REVEREND A. VERMEERSCH, S.J.</b>
+        </p>
+        <p align="right">
+            Louvain, le 23 f&eacute;vrier, 1914.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Mon R&eacute;v&eacute;rend P&egrave;re: P. C.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Votre petit livre me pla&icirc;t extr&ecirc;mement. Il
+            expose une doctrine tr&egrave;s solide avec une
+            merveilleuse clart&eacute;. D' une lecture
+            agr&eacute;able, il int&eacute;ressera la jeunesse des
+            &eacute;coles, et l'encouragera &agrave; faire un choix
+            g&eacute;n&eacute;reux d' &eacute;tat de vie. J' estime
+            que, traduit en flamand et en fran&ccedil;ais, il
+            ferait &eacute;galement du bien &agrave; nos collegiens
+            de Belgique.
+        </p>
+        <p align="right">
+            Votre d&eacute;vou&eacute; en N. S. et M. I.<br>
+            A. Vermeersch.
+        </p>
+        <p align="center">
+            TRANSLATION
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            My Reverend Father:
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Your little book pleases me exceedingly. Its doctrine
+            is very sound and set forth with wonderful clearness.
+            It makes pleasant reading, and will interest the young
+            of school age, and encourage them to make a generous
+            choice of a state of life. In my opinion, a Flemish and
+            French translation would also be profitable to our
+            college students in Belgium.
+        </p>
+        <p align="right">
+            Devotedly yours in Our Lord and Mary Immaculate,<br>
+            A. Vermeersch.
+        </p>
+        <p align="center">
+            <b>TO THE THOUSANDS<br>
+            OF TRUE-HEARTED BOYS AND GIRLS<br>
+            HE HAS BEEN BLESSED TO KNOW<br>
+            OF WHOM<br>
+            SOME ARE GONE TO HEAVEN<br>
+            AND MANY ARE BATTLING FOR THE RIGHT<br>
+            IN THE SANCTUARY<br>
+            THE CLOISTER OR THE WORLD<br>
+            AND WITH ALL OF WHOM<br>
+            HE HOPES ONE DAY TO BE REUNITED<br>
+            FOREVERMORE<br>
+            IN GOD'S OWN COURTS<br>
+            THIS LITTLE BOOK<br>
+            IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED<br>
+            BY THE AUTHOR</b>
+        </p><br>
+        <br>
+        <p align="center">
+            PREFACE
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            In this little book the writer has aimed to present, in
+            brief and simple form, sound principles which may
+            assist the young in deciding their future course of
+            life. The subject of vocation, as it is called, has
+            suffered much, during the last two or three centuries,
+            at the hands of rigorist authors, who so hedged the
+            approach to religious life with difficulties and
+            restrictions, as to frighten or repel many aspiring
+            hearts from it.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Great stress was laid by these writers on the special
+            interior attraction, by which God was supposed always
+            to manifest His call, so that no one might legitimately
+            enter the state of perfection, unless he felt this
+            unmistakable impulse from within. And on the other
+            hand, given this evidence of the Divine predilection,
+            to disregard it was a sinful preferring of one's own
+            will to God's, which, in all likelihood, would be
+            attended with grave consequences for this world and the
+            next.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Spiritual writers of the last decade have been
+            rereading the Fathers and great Theologians upon this
+            subject, and as a result the cobwebs of misconception
+            are being swept away. The Reverend A. Vermeersch, S.J.,
+            of Louvain, deserves the gratitude of all for his lucid
+            and convincing treatment of religious vocation, in his
+            "De Religiosis Institutis et Personis" (Vol. II,
+            Supplement III; also Vol. I, P. 4, C. I), where he
+            clearly shows from Scripture, the writings of the
+            Fathers and leading theologians, the true nature of the
+            invitation to the evangelical life. The reader is also
+            referred to the article on "Vocation," by the same
+            author, in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Another document throwing light on the subject, is the
+            Decree of July 15, 1912, framed by a special commission
+            of Cardinals appointed to examine the work of Canon
+            Joseph Lahitton on "La Vocation Sacerdotale." This
+            Decree, approved by the Holy Father, contains the
+            following passage: Vocation to the priesthood "by no
+            means consists, at least necessarily and according to
+            the ordinary law, in a certain interior inclination of
+            the person, or promptings of the Holy Spirit, to enter
+            the priesthood. But on the contrary, nothing more is
+            required of the person to be ordained, in order that he
+            may be called by the bishop, than that he have a right
+            intention, and such fitness of nature and grace, as
+            evidenced in integrity of life and sufficiency of
+            learning, which will give a well-founded hope of his
+            rightly discharging the office and obligations of the
+            priesthood." This Decree does away, at once, with the
+            special spiritual attraction, always and essentially
+            required by so many for vocation to the priesthood.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            It may not be rash to conclude, in a similar way, of a
+            religious vocation "that nothing more is required of
+            the person who is a candidate for religious life, in
+            order that he may be admitted to the novitiate by the
+            lawful superior of an order, than that he have a right
+            intention, and such fitness of nature and grace
+            required by the order, as will give a well-founded hope
+            of his rightly discharging the obligations of the
+            religious life in that order."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The present treatise aims at no more than putting in
+            form suitable to the young the sound conclusions of
+            such reliable authors as Father Vermeersch, Canon
+            Lahitton and Rev. P. Bouvier, S.J.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            As to the advisability of priests, parents and teachers
+            fostering and developing in the young the desire of a
+            religious life, the words of St. Thomas are positive:
+            "They who induce others to enter religion, not only
+            commit no sin, but even merit a great reward." (Summa,
+            2a, 2&aelig;, Qu&aelig;st. 189, art. 9.)
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            And the Third Council of Baltimore, urging priests to
+            develop vocations to the priesthood, says: "We exhort
+            in the Lord and earnestly entreat pastors and other
+            priests diligently to search after and find out, among
+            the boys committed to their care, those who seem suited
+            and called to the clerical state. If they find any boys
+            of good disposition, of pious inclination, of devout
+            and generous minds, and able to learn; who give promise
+            of persevering in the sacred ministry, let them nourish
+            the zeal of such, and sedulously foster these precious
+            germs of vocation." (Paragraph 136.)
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Priests, teachers, confessors and others who have
+            dealings with the young, will find it very practical to
+            have at hand several copies of some reliable booklet on
+            the priesthood and religious life, which they may give
+            or lend, as occasion offers, to promising boys and
+            girls. Such books will, at least, make their readers
+            think, and God's grace frequently acts through the
+            medium of the written or spoken word.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            <i>Creighton University, Omaha,<br>
+            <span class="indent">Easter Sunday, 1914.</span></i>
+        </p><br>
+        <br>
+        <br>
+        <h2>
+            CONTENTS.
+        </h2>
+        <table border="0">
+            <tr>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        CHAPTER
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        &nbsp;
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        I.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#1">Getting a Start</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        II.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#2">Aiming High</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        III.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#3">The State of Perfection</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        IV.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#4">Who Are Invited?</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        V.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#5">Does Christ Want Me?</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        VI.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#6">I Feel No Attraction</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        VII.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#7">Suppose I Make a Mistake?</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        VIII.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#8">The World Needs Me</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        IX.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#9">Must I Accept the
+                        Invitation?</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        X.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#10">I Am Too Young</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        XI.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#11">The Priesthood</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        XII.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#12">The Teacher's Aureole</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        XIII.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#13">Showing the Way</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        XIV.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#14">The Parents' Part</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+            <tr>
+                <td align="right">
+                    <p>
+                        XV.
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+                <td>
+                    <p>
+                        <a href="#15">A Parting Word</a>
+                    </p>
+                </td>
+            </tr>
+        </table><br>
+        <br>
+        <br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="1">CHAPTER I</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            GETTING A START
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            Youth is the dream time of life. It views the world
+            through the prism of fancy, tinting all with rainbow
+            colors. It lives in a creation of its own, where it
+            rules with magic wand, conjuring into its realm the
+            beautiful, the heroic and the magnificent, and
+            banishing only the prosaic and commonplace. To the
+            youthful dreamer, every ruler is all-powerful, every
+            soldier brave, every fire-fighter a hero, and every
+            editor a wizard, at whose nod the news of the world
+            flies to the huge cylinder presses, and then flutters
+            away in white-winged sheets through town and country.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            But gradually, the stern realities of life forcing
+            themselves on the maturing mind, it realizes that it
+            must choose from the various activities that make up
+            the sum of human existence. The thoughtful boy and girl
+            then begin to ask the question, "What shall I be?" or
+            "What shall I do?" The various walks of life spread out
+            before them like a maze of tracks in a railway station,
+            all leading away in dwindling perspective to the
+            witching land of the unknown.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            An ambitious boy views with delight the various
+            professions, and pictures to himself in turn the great
+            deeds and triumphs of the soldier, the statesman, the
+            lawyer, the physician, the architect, and finally
+            perhaps the electrician, who plays with the lightning
+            and harnesses it to the ever-extending service of
+            mankind. All these are votaries of noble avocations,
+            and he who excels in any one of them is a hero, and a
+            benefactor of his kind. Every occupation which is
+            useful to the human race, which contributes to the sum
+            of man's comfort and happiness, is laudable and worthy
+            an intelligent being. St. Paul was a tent-maker by
+            trade, and he gloried in the fact that, even during the
+            days of his apostleship, he was not a burden to others,
+            but supported himself by the labor of his hands.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Life pursuits rank in dignity and worth, according to
+            the perfection or benefit they bestow upon the worker
+            himself, and his fellow-man. Far above the artisan or
+            husbandman, who occupies himself with the material
+            needs of his neighbor, with providing him food, raiment
+            and shelter, rise the teacher, writer and professional
+            man, who minister to the needs of the mind. And
+            highest, perhaps, of natural callings is the conduct of
+            the government, which gives peace, order and happiness
+            to entire nations.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            But not every pursuit is suited to all dispositions,
+            nor can any one hope to excel in all trades and
+            professions. The strength of body and skill of hand
+            required of a mechanic may be lacking to a professional
+            man, and the long years of study and experience
+            demanded of a physician are possible to but few. Nature
+            destines some for a life of action and adventure, for
+            the command of armies or the conquering of the
+            wilderness; others it dowers with literary tastes, or
+            the power to thrill an audience or guide a State.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            No one is necessarily tied down to any special
+            occupation of life. According to your disposition and
+            character, your ability and inclination, education and
+            training, you are free to select any sphere of action
+            within your reach and opportunity. But this very
+            freedom of choice sometimes leads to mistakes. One
+            without the proper temperament or ability, lacking in
+            patience and sympathy, and unable to make a diagnosis,
+            aims to be a physician, and he becomes only a quack.
+            Many a one, who aspires to direct the destinies of the
+            State, achieves only the station of a political
+            subordinate or spoilsman. And one whom nature destines
+            for the free and independent life of a farmer, often
+            sentences himself to life imprisonment behind the
+            "cribbed and cabined" desk of a counting house.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Perhaps the most frequent mistake of young people is to
+            tear themselves away from school, where they have the
+            opportunity to prepare themselves for the higher
+            positions of life, and by so doing deliberately limit
+            themselves to a life of mediocrity. They have an
+            ambition, but a false one. Eager to enter, though
+            unprepared, the arena of life and accomplish great
+            deeds, they lack the student's patience and industry,
+            which would crown them in after years with the laurel
+            of success.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Be ambitious then, my young friend, aim high in life;
+            endeavor to achieve something great for yourself and
+            for mankind. You will have only one life in this world,
+            then make the most of it. Take advantage of your
+            opportunities. Attend school as long as you can,
+            because generally the greater your knowledge and
+            learning, your training and preparation, the higher and
+            wider the career that will open before you.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            All legitimate pursuits of life have been illustrated
+            and adorned by numberless Christian heroes and
+            heroines, who served God, sanctified themselves, and
+            brought glory to the Christian name by their fidelity
+            to duty. Would you be a soldier? Could there be more
+            glorious names than those of St. Sebastian and St.
+            Martin; the Crusader, Godfrey de Bouillon, and the
+            Grand Knight of Malta, de la Valette?
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Do you long to ride the ocean waves, and brave the
+            tempest? What more heroic predecessor would you have
+            than the great "Admiral," the navigator and discoverer,
+            Columbus? If your ambition be to sit in the councils of
+            State, to steer your country safely through breakers
+            and shoals, fix your gaze on Sir Thomas More, Daniel
+            O'Connell, Windthorst or Garcia Moreno&mdash;Christian
+            heroes all.
+        </p><br>
+        <br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="2">CHAPTER II</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            AIMING HIGH
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            In a garden are flowers varying in hue and form and
+            size. The roses blow red and white and pink, scenting
+            the air with their myriad petals, the lilies lift up
+            their delicate calyxes to the wandering bee, the
+            perfumed violets hide their modest heads in beds of
+            green, and the fuchsias sway from their stems in
+            languid beauty. But varied as are the flowers in charm,
+            each is perfect of its kind. No artist could improve
+            their tints nor trace truer curves; no carver chisel
+            more delicate or finished forms.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            And God's Church is a spiritual garden, where bloom
+            souls varying in every virtue, charm and grace, and all
+            breathing forth the good odor of Christ. In it are
+            school-boys, gentle maidens, devoted mothers and
+            fathers of families, rich and poor of every nation and
+            clime, of every station and calling. God made them all;
+            He loves them all, and on each He has grafted the bud
+            of faith, which will blossom forth into all
+            supernatural virtues.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            God also wishes each one in His garden to be perfect of
+            his kind. Jesus, sitting on the Mount of the
+            Beatitudes, and teaching the multitudes that were
+            ranged on the grass about Him, bade them "be perfect as
+            also your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt. v: 48.)
+            <a href="#2-1">[1]</a> This, then, is the perfection
+            Christ expects us to aim at, the perfection of God
+            Himself, in Whom there is nor spot nor wrinkle. He will
+            not be satisfied with us, so long as low aims,
+            imperfect motives, disfigure our souls and stain our
+            conduct.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            As St. Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians, God
+            chose us before the foundation of the world to be "holy
+            and unspotted in His sight." (Eph. i: 4.) In fact, St.
+            Paul, whenever he addresses the Christians, calls them
+            "saints" because every Christian man, woman and child,
+            is expected to be holy, holy in the grace of God, in
+            conduct, in thought and act, at every time and place.
+            Every Christian must be sacred, a shrine wherein dwells
+            the Divinity, and whose doors must be closed to
+            everything profane. "Know you not, that your members
+            are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom
+            you have from God; and you are not your own?" (I Cor.
+            vi: 19.) Your soul, then, my child, is holy, consecrate
+            to God, and into it must enter nothing defiled, nothing
+            savoring of the world, its maxims and principles. Keep
+            your soul pure as the roseate dawn, clear as starlight
+            and bright as the sun.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            "Every one of you," said Christ Himself, "who doth not
+            renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be my
+            disciple." (Luke xiv: 33.) This seems a hard doctrine,
+            for who would be able to give up all he has, parents,
+            home and possessions? There are occasions when the love
+            of God and the love of creatures come into conflict;
+            and when this occurs the true disciple of Christ will
+            not hesitate. He will fearlessly sacrifice everything,
+            even life itself, rather than forsake his Creator. The
+            martyrs did this. St. Agnes gave up suitor, home and
+            wealth, and laid down her innocent young life, to
+            become the spouse of Christ. The boy Pancratius faced
+            the panther in the arena, and the yells of a
+            bloodthirsty mob, rather than abjure his faith; and so
+            won a martyr's crown.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Perfection then is our destiny. In heaven we shall
+            attain to it, and in this life we should begin to
+            practice it. If we would have God's love in its
+            fulness, if we would always be worthy to nestle in His
+            bosom, to feel the arms of His affection drawn close
+            about us, we must never sully our conscience with the
+            least taint of sin. For all the world we would not
+            offend our parents, and God is to us in place of father
+            and mother and all. He is the infinitely perfect; He is
+            love and beauty and tenderness itself, and His
+            absorbing desire is to reproduce similar qualities in
+            us.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            But how are we to be perfect? By always doing His holy
+            Will, as we see it and know it, to the best of our
+            ability. Christ issues the clarion call to all
+            Christians, to take up their cross daily and follow
+            Him. He who always does his best, and, obeying the
+            dictates of conscience, walks by faith and charity in
+            all his actions before God, and conducts himself in all
+            circumstances of life according to the principles of
+            faith and reason, is living up to the Divine call, and
+            striving after perfection.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            "But are there any such persons in the world?" some one
+            may ask. "They say that there is nothing perfect under
+            the sun, and this time-honored adage, no doubt, applies
+            to persons as well as to things." It is true that very
+            few are perfect in the sense that they sojourn in the
+            world, unmoved, like the angels, by the least ruffling
+            of passion. But there are many, very many, pure, holy
+            souls, who aim constantly at perfection, and who attain
+            to it substantially; for day by day, year in and year
+            out, they keep themselves from the guilt of serious
+            sin, and delighting to carry out God's will in all
+            their actions, frequently draw nigh the Tabernacle to
+            commune in heavenly raptures with their Love "behind
+            the trellis."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Nor is the number of these elect souls limited to any
+            one calling or profession, for they are found in the
+            seclusion of home, in the crowded mart, in the stress
+            of business and professional life. When the week-day
+            Mass is over in the parish church, and the little band
+            of devout worshippers descend from the church steps,
+            would one not say that there is a look of heavenly
+            peace upon their countenances, a peace that overflows
+            to their features from the deep well-springs of charity
+            within? No legitimate walk of life, then, is alien to
+            perfection. All Christians are urged to it; and many
+            attain to it. They use the things of this world "as
+            though they used them not," their hearts are free from
+            undue attachment to the possessions of earth, and they
+            go through life as pilgrims to their final home; and
+            should God be pleased to reward their constancy by
+            sending them trials and sufferings, they will come
+            forth from the ordeal like pure, refined gold.
+        </p><br>
+        <p>
+            <a name="2-1">[1]</a> While this text refers primarily
+            to the perfection of forgiving enemies, it is applied
+            also by commentators to perfection in general, for the
+            reason that it is closely connected with the preceding
+            and following exhortation of Our Lord to many and
+            various virtues. And even if the text were limited
+            expressly to one virtue, the fact that God's children
+            are urged to the perfection of this virtue because it
+            is found perfectly in their Heavenly Father, would seem
+            to imply that He, so far as imitable by creatures, is
+            the measure and standard of their perfection, and
+            hence, as He is the All-Perfect, that they too should
+            strive to be perfect in all virtue.
+        </p><br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="3">CHAPTER III</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            THE STATE OF PERFECTION
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            Speaking one day to the multitude, Our Lord likened the
+            Kingdom of Heaven "to a merchant seeking good pearls,
+            who, finding one pearl of great price, went away and
+            sold everything he had and bought it." (Matt. xiii:
+            45-46.) What is this precious pearl that so charmed the
+            merchant as to make him sacrifice all he had to gain
+            possession of it? It is doubtless the true Church, or
+            faith in Christ, but theologians apply the parable also
+            to the highest union with God by charity, or Christian
+            perfection. Perfection, then, may be called this
+            lustrous pearl, more precious and radiant than any
+            which gleams in royal diadem. You may buy it, but the
+            price is the same to all. You must offer in exchange
+            all that you have, keeping nothing back. Are you
+            willing to make the bargain?
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            There have been many Christians throughout the
+            centuries who were enamored of this perfection. They
+            sighed and longed for it, but, alas! the conditions in
+            which they lived, the temptations that lay about them,
+            the cares of raising a family and struggling for a
+            livelihood, so engrossed their attention and seduced
+            their affections, that they almost despaired of living
+            entirely for God, and thus attaining perfection. A
+            young man of high aspirations one day came to Jesus,
+            and asked Him what he must do to gain eternal life. The
+            Master replied, "Keep the commandments." But the young
+            man was not satisfied with this; he wished to do
+            something more for heaven, as we learn from his reply,
+            "All these have I kept from my youth; what is still
+            wanting to me?" Then Jesus spoke the memorable words
+            that have echoed down the ages, "If thou wilt be
+            perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor .
+            . . and come, follow me." (Matt. xix: 21.)
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The questioner, so the Scripture records, went away
+            sorrowful, for he had great wealth. He was willing, no
+            doubt, to give alms and bountifully, but to sacrifice
+            all his possessions and live in poverty&mdash;this was
+            beyond his generosity. Christ's advice, however, has
+            not fallen by the wayside. Theologians tell us that in
+            His brief words Our Lord indicated the evangelical
+            life, which He elsewhere explained more fully, bidding
+            the youth become poor and then come and follow Him in
+            perfect chastity and obedience (Suarez, "De Religione,"
+            lib. iii, c. 2).
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The teaching thus presented by Christ has never been
+            fruitless in the Church. Myriads of chosen souls, more
+            magnanimous than the young man, have heeded the
+            Saviour's admonition and hastened to sacrifice all for
+            His sake. The nature of the evangelical life&mdash;so
+            called because taught in the "Evangelium," the Latin
+            word for Gospel&mdash;consists in the practice of the
+            three counsels, voluntary poverty, perfect chastity and
+            obedience. And why is the exercise of these three
+            counsels so excellent? Because by them a Christian
+            parts with everything that is most pleasing to mere
+            nature. By poverty he renounces his possessions and the
+            right of ownership; by perfect chastity, the pleasures
+            of the body; and by obedience, his free will. Could one
+            do more than to give up everything he owns, and then
+            complete the renunciation by dedicating his body, aye,
+            his very soul, to Christ? Nothing is left that he may
+            call his own. He is a stranger in the world, without
+            home, parents or family, money or earthly ties; he is
+            all to God, and God is all to him.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            While a person may be in the <i>way</i> of perfection,
+            by observing the counsels privately, with or without a
+            vow, if he takes perpetual vows in a religious order or
+            congregation approved by the Church, he is in what is
+            called "the <i>state</i> of perfection," or "the
+            religious state." The vows give a final touch to the
+            holocaust in either case, since by them he offers all
+            he has and is and forever, so that it becomes unlawful
+            for him to retract his offering. He who exemplifies all
+            Christian virtues to a high degree of excellence,
+            according to his condition of life, may be called
+            perfect, and to this perfection all Christians are
+            called. But, religious, that is, they who live in the
+            religious state, bind themselves by <i>profession</i>
+            to aim at living a perfect life. They have heeded
+            Christ's invitation, "If thou wilt be perfect," and
+            engaged themselves, under the sanction of the Church,
+            to the obligation of striving for perfection.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            No one could claim that all religious men and women are
+            actually perfect; but they are in the state of
+            perfection&mdash;that is, by virtue of their state and
+            profession they are bound to the observance of their
+            vows and rules, which observance, in the course of
+            time, will be able to lead them to the attainment of
+            such perfection as weak mortals, with God's grace, can
+            hope to acquire in this life. In response to Christ's
+            exhortations, we find throughout the world to-day a
+            great army of religious men and women, white-robed
+            Dominicans, brown-garbed Franciscans, followers of St.
+            Benedict, St. Augustine, St. Alphonsus, St. Vincent de
+            Paul, and St. De la Salle, the Blessed Madeleine Sophie
+            Barat, Julie Billiart, Jean Eudes, and of numerous
+            other saints, who, under the standards of their varied
+            institutes, march steadily in the footprints of the
+            lowly Nazarene, Who had not whereon to lay His head.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The ambitious Christian boy and girl, then, will aim at
+            doing their best, and must, if they desire close
+            companionship with Christ, strive after perfection, for
+            such is the Master's desire. But should a youth have
+            further ambitions, and say to himself, "I desire to
+            distinguish myself in God's service, to lead for Him a
+            life of action and achievement, wherein my exertions
+            will bring amplest returns for eternity," will he
+            refuse to consider the life of the counsels? Will he
+            not rather ask himself whether this manner of life is
+            practicable, and possibly even meant and intended for
+            him? Choose then, my young friend, your sphere of life
+            but deliberately and carefully, remembering that on
+            your decision will largely depend your greater
+            happiness in this world and the next.
+        </p><br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="4">CHAPTER IV</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            WHO ARE INVITED?
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            The boy or girl who is deliberating on a future career
+            will naturally ask, "Who are invited to the higher
+            life? Is the invitation extended to all, or limited to
+            the chosen few?"
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Let us try to find out the answer to these questions.
+            One day the disciples of Our Lord having asked Him
+            (Matt. xix: 11-12) whether it were not better to
+            abstain from marriage, He replied, "All men take not
+            this word, but they to whom it is given. . . . He that
+            can take it, let him take it." St. Paul also writes to
+            the Corinthians (I Cor. vii: 7-8), "I wish you all to
+            be as myself, . . . but I say to the unmarried . . . it
+            is good for them, if they so continue, even as I."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Now, let us examine these passages, according to the
+            interpretations of the Fathers and Doctors of the
+            Church, so that there will be no danger of reading a
+            wrong meaning into them. There is question in both
+            texts of abstaining from marriage, of advising the
+            unmarried not to marry, which, of course, is equivalent
+            to advising them to practice perpetual chastity. St.
+            Paul says clearly and forcibly that he would desire all
+            to remain unmarried like himself. However, in the next
+            verse he exempts from his advice those who do not
+            control themselves. What does he mean by this? There
+            are some who have strong passions, or who by
+            self-indulgence have so strengthened their lower nature
+            and weakened their will-power, that lifelong continence
+            seems beyond them. Such persons, therefore, who know
+            from experience that they will not overcome temptation
+            and sin, or who find the struggle too hard to continue,
+            he advises to marry.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            We may now inquire whom Our Lord meant by those "to
+            whom it is given." Does He mean that the power of
+            practicing virginal chastity is given only to the
+            selected few or to the many? St. Chrysostom,
+            interpreting His words, says that this gift of chastity
+            "is given to those who choose it of their own accord,"
+            adding that the "necessary help from on high is
+            prepared for all who wish to be victors in the struggle
+            with nature" (M. P. G., t. 58, c. 600). <a name=
+            "#4-1">[1]</a> St. Jerome tells us that this gift "is
+            given to those who ask it, who wish it and labor to
+            obtain it" (M. P. L., t. 26, c. 135). St. Basil
+            explains that "to embrace the evangelical mode of life
+            is the privilege of every one." (M. P. G., t. 32, c.
+            647.) To the sophistical objection that if all persons
+            practiced virginity marriage would cease, and so the
+            human race would perish, St. Thomas (Summa, 2a
+            2&aelig;, Qu&aelig;st. 189, art. 7) gives the reply of
+            St. Jerome, "This virtue is uncommon and desired by
+            comparatively few"; and then adds, "This fear is just
+            as foolish as that of one who hesitates to take a drink
+            of water, for fear of drying up the river."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Can it be said, then, that every boy and girl, with the
+            exception noted by St. Paul, is advised and exhorted to
+            preserve virginal chastity throughout life? To
+            understand aright the answer to this question, we must
+            remember that there are two general courses of life,
+            the married and the unmarried, open to all; every
+            person necessarily being found in the one or the other.
+            And each individual of the race is privileged to make a
+            free and voluntary choice of either condition; no one
+            having the right to interfere with this personal
+            liberty, by forbidding or prescribing wedlock to any
+            properly qualified person.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Both these states have been created by God, and both
+            are His gifts to man. The nuptial tie, elevated to the
+            dignity of a sacrament, is likened by St. Paul to the
+            union existing between Christ and the Church. "A
+            prudent wife," says the Book of Proverbs (xix: 14), "is
+            properly from the Lord." Whoever marries "in the Lord"
+            performs a virtuous act, and the Church, to show her
+            appreciation and approbation of it, invests the wedding
+            contract with a rich and hallowed ceremonial. They,
+            then, who wed do something pleasing to God; but they
+            who, for virtue's sake, forego their natural right of
+            marrying, make an offering still more grateful to Him.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            This is the doctrine in the abstract. But in its
+            application to individual cases we find some so
+            situated, so hampered by their own temperament and
+            disposition, or by actual conditions about them, that a
+            life of perfect continence seems impracticable for
+            them. One, for instance, who yearns for the safety and
+            seclusion of the cloister, and yet sees its doors
+            closed against him for some reason, feels himself
+            constrained to take refuge from the storm and stress of
+            the world in the sanctuary of marriage. On such persons
+            the Creator does not impose a burden above their
+            strength. Wishing us to be happy and content even in
+            this life, as well as the next, He asks of us here only
+            a "reasonable service."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Guided by these principles, the great majority of the
+            faithful in all ages have deemed it prudent and
+            expedient for them to marry. And the wisdom and
+            prudence of their choice God approves and commends. For
+            His Providence manifests itself to us in all the events
+            and circumstances of life, dwelling alike in the fall
+            of the leaf and the roll of the wave, and speaking to
+            our hearts by the voice of all creatures. While, then,
+            external or internal impediments may prevent some from
+            hearkening to Christ's call, and their own will may
+            deter others, His invitation of <i>itself</i> does not
+            exclude any; it is general, ever waiting for those able
+            and willing to accept it.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            But does not a person have to feel a special call
+            before binding himself to perpetual chastity? To answer
+            this let us suppose that one is considering the
+            advisability of daily attendance at Mass or of total
+            abstinence from intoxicating liquor. In themselves
+            these are good works and under proper advice a person
+            might engage himself to their performance. Grace would
+            be required for them, as for every other act of
+            supernatural virtue, but no one would say that to
+            assume such obligations a special call from heaven is
+            prerequisite. Now, chastity is governed by the same
+            laws as other virtues, by the same laws as
+            mortification, alms-deeds and works of charity. Every
+            virtuous act requires two things, the grace and the
+            will to cooperate with the grace; and these two are
+            also the only requisites for the exercise of
+            continence; a special inspiration being no more
+            necessary for it than for perpetual abstinence from
+            meat or spirituous liquors.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Lifelong virginity is, of course, a higher, nobler and
+            more far-reaching virtue than the others mentioned, but
+            it involves no special personal call. If this were
+            required, in addition to the general invitation of
+            Scripture, the doctrine of the Fathers that all are
+            invited could scarcely be true. If all are invited,
+            then he who wishes must have the power to accept the
+            invitation. If two calls are necessary, one general and
+            the other particular, he who has only the first may be
+            said to have only half an invitation, which seems very
+            absurd, and certainly is contrary to the practically
+            unanimous teaching of the Fathers.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            St. Thomas tells us: "We should accept the words of
+            Christ which are given in Scripture as if we heard them
+            from the mouth of Christ. . . . The counsel (to
+            perfection) is to be followed by each one not less than
+            if it came from the Lord's mouth to each one
+            personally. (Opusc. 17, c. 9.) And even granted that
+            the devil urges one to enter religious life, it is a
+            good work, and there is no danger in yielding to his
+            impulse." (Opusc. 17, c. 10.)
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Taking these words of the Angelic Doctor for our
+            guidance, we realize that the invitation and
+            exhortation of St. Paul is general, that it embraces
+            all unmarried persons who feel the well-grounded hope
+            within them that with God's grace they can live up to
+            it.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            We may go further and say that, as St. Paul was
+            speaking not his own doctrine, but the doctrine of
+            Christ, which is unchangeable, it applies equally
+            to-day. So one who is convinced that no obstacle,
+            except his own will, prevents his acceptance of the
+            Apostle's advice, can readily imagine Christ standing
+            before him and saying, "My child, you should be more
+            pleasing to Me were you to remain unmarried for My
+            sake." If Jesus Christ really stood before you, dear
+            reader, and thus addressed you, what would be your
+            reply? There can be no doubt that it would be prompt
+            and in accordance with His wish. You would say, "If God
+            so loves me as to make a suggestion to me, as to sue
+            for my undivided heart, I shall be only too glad to
+            give Him all I have, to make any sacrifice for His
+            sake." But God does speak thus, through the mouth of
+            the Apostle, to all who are "zealous for the better
+            gifts."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Now, what says your heart? Will it reject the special
+            love Christ offers? He says, "I give you the choice of
+            two gifts, matrimony or virginity; virginity is by far
+            the more precious&mdash;but take which you wish." Will
+            you be so irresponsive as to reply, "Give me the lesser
+            gift; Thy best treasures and best love bestow on my
+            companions"?
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Speak thus if you are so minded. God will love you
+            still; but can you be surprised if He cherish other
+            generous souls more? Take or reject virginity as you
+            like. It is yours for the taking, but if you reject it
+            do not say, "I have no call, no invitation to the
+            higher life." You have the invitation now, in common
+            with other Christians; and the great-souled ones are
+            they who accept it, for "many are called, but few are
+            chosen."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            It may now be asked whether what has been said about
+            the observance of chastity applies also to poverty and
+            obedience. Spiritual writers tell us that the full and
+            entire evangelical life includes all these three
+            counsels, and that the principles on which one rests
+            are common to all. Christ in His call invites those who
+            are not hindered by insuperable obstacles, to follow
+            Him in the practice of all the counsels, the reason for
+            all being the same, namely, to sacrifice everything for
+            His sake. It is evident, however, that there may be
+            more hindrances to the observance of all three counsels
+            than to the keeping of only one. Some religious orders,
+            for example, on account of their special work, may
+            demand from applicants health, or youth, or talent, or
+            learning, or other qualifications, which every person
+            does not possess. For community life, too, a peaceable
+            temper and agreeable manners are usually necessary.
+            Moreover, one may be so bound by obligations of justice
+            and charity to his parents or others, that he cannot
+            leave them. <a name="#4-2">[2]</a> The general
+            principle, however, is fixed and sure, that the clarion
+            call to the practice of the counsels is in itself
+            general, and applicable to all who are not hindered by
+            circumstances or impediments from accepting it. No
+            further special invitation is necessary. You who are
+            free have the invitation&mdash;take it if you wish.
+        </p><br>
+        <p>
+            <a name="4-1">[1]</a> This and similar references are
+            to the Migne edition of the Greek and Latin Fathers.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            <a name="4-2">[2]</a> It may still be possible,
+            however, for a person who is prevented from entering
+            community life, to practice the counsels while living
+            in the world.
+        </p><br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="5">CHAPTER V</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            DOES CHRIST WANT ME?
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            Said a boy one day, "How in the world does a person
+            ever know he is to be a priest?" This little lad was a
+            budding philosopher: he wanted to know the reason of
+            things. But many an older person has been puzzled by
+            the same question. Some boys and girls, having a
+            distorted notion of the nature of a vocation, imagine
+            that Almighty God picks out certain persons, without
+            consulting them, and destines them for the priesthood
+            or religious life, whereas all other persons he
+            excludes from this privilege. In other words, they
+            think God does it all.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Of course, we know there is an overruling Providence,
+            Who watches over all His creatures, and particularly
+            over His elect, distributing His graces and favors as
+            He wills, and bringing all things to their appointed
+            ends. If, for instance, a boy is blind, and for this
+            reason no religious congregation will accept him, it is
+            apparent that God does not design him for the religious
+            life, though even for him the private practice of the
+            counsels might still be open.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            But we must not imagine that God settles everything in
+            this world independently of our free will. He wishes us
+            not to steal, but we may, if we choose, become thieves.
+            Two boys of the same qualifications, let us say, have
+            the general invitation of the Scripture to a life of
+            perfection; they both have the same grace, which one
+            accepts and the other rejects. What makes the vocation
+            in the one case? The action of the boy himself in
+            choosing to follow the invitation. And why has not the
+            other boy a vocation? Because he declines to correspond
+            with the grace. God does His part; He issues the call
+            to all who are free from impediment and hindrance. Any
+            one who wishes can accept the call and thus, in a
+            sense, make his own vocation, for God's necessary help
+            is ever ready to hand for those who will use it.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            We may here remark that, while the practice of all
+            virtue comes from man's free will, it also springs in a
+            higher and greater degree from God, the author of
+            grace. Without Him we can do nothing. "Who
+            distinguisheth thee? Or what hast thou that thou hast
+            not received?" asks St. Paul (I Cor. iv: 7). God's
+            grace must necessarily precede and accompany every
+            supernatural action. In a very true sense, while a
+            religious may say: "I am such voluntarily of my own
+            free choice," he must also admit, "I am a religious by
+            the grace of God, Who prepared me, aided me by external
+            and internal helps, enlightened my mind and
+            strengthened my will to embrace the life He designs for
+            me."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            In much the same way, a daily communicant may say: "It
+            is of my own accord and wish that I receive daily, but
+            it is God's predilection that has prompted me to this
+            design, given me the opportunity and strength of
+            purpose to carry it out, and keeps me faithful to it,
+            so that it is by His grace and Providence that I am a
+            daily communicant." Countless others could adopt the
+            same practice, were they not too sluggish or
+            indifferent to ask for or correspond with the grace of
+            doing so.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Most ordinary vocations have several stages of
+            development. Very many persons, with all the qualities
+            required for the evangelical life, and unimpeded by any
+            obstacle, begin to consider, under the influence of
+            grace, the advisability of embracing that kind of life.
+            This may be called the remote stage of a vocation. One
+            who finds himself in this condition of mind, if he
+            prays for light and guidance, is faithful to duty and
+            generous in the service of God, may be enabled by a
+            further enlightenment of grace to perceive that this
+            life is best for him, and consequently that it will be
+            more pleasing to God for him to adopt it, and finally
+            he may decide to do so. Such a one has a proximate
+            vocation, the only further step required being to carry
+            out his purpose. This decision, be it observed, is the
+            result of the action of his free will, aided by
+            efficacious grace, which is a mark of God's special
+            love.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            A little illustration may assist us to get a clearer
+            idea of the matter. Suppose Christ were to walk into
+            your class-room, how would He act? Would He pick out
+            four or five pupils and say, "I wish you to be
+            religious, the others I do not want, and I forbid them
+            such aspirations?" Do you think our loving, gentle
+            Redeemer would speak in this harsh way? And yet some
+            good, but ill-informed Christians think this a faithful
+            representation of God's method of action in this
+            important matter.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            How, then, would Christ really address the class? He
+            would say, "My dear children, I want as many of you as
+            possible to follow closely in My footsteps, to become
+            perfect. I should be glad to have all of you, who are
+            not prevented by some insuperable obstacle, such as
+            ill-health, lack of talent, home difficulties, or
+            extreme giddiness of character. I hope to have a large
+            number of volunteers." How many children in that
+            class-room, do you think, would joyfully hold up their
+            hands, and beg Him to take them?
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Now, this is truly the way God acts with the individual
+            soul. He comes to it perhaps not once only but
+            repeatedly, and makes the general offer, using for this
+            purpose the living voice of His minister, or the
+            written page, or a prompting impulse from within. And
+            when God's desire is so manifested, all that the soul
+            needs is to cooperate with grace, if it will.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            That this interpretation of the general call of
+            Scripture to a higher life is in accord with sound
+            doctrine, we can perceive from St. Thomas, who says
+            that the resolution of entering the religious state,
+            whether it comes from the general invitation of
+            Scripture or an internal impulse, is to be approved.
+            And in his "Catena Aurea," commenting on St. Matt. xix,
+            he quotes St. Chrysostom, who holds that "the reason
+            all do not take Christ's advice is because they do not
+            wish to do so." The words "to whom it is given,"
+            according to this Greek father, show that "unless we
+            received the help of grace, the exhortation would
+            profit us nothing. But this help of grace is not denied
+            to those who wish it."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            This is also the teaching of St. Ignatius in his
+            "Spiritual Exercises," where he designates three
+            occasions in which to elect a state of life: the first,
+            when God appeals to the soul in some extraordinary way;
+            the second, when grace moves the heart by consolation
+            and desolation, and the third, when the soul without
+            any special motion of grace, "that is, when not
+            agitated by diverse spirits, makes use of its natural
+            powers" to elect the state of life which seems best
+            suited to the praise of God and the salvation of one's
+            soul. Evidently a vocation decided in the
+            last-mentioned time, implies no special call beyond the
+            general scriptural invitation and the determination to
+            accept it.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Some one may ask how it is then that so many virtuous
+            boys and girls, endowed with all needful
+            qualifications, prompt and ready to respond to the
+            suggestions of grace, yet have no efficacious desire of
+            the higher life. It is not for us to search into the
+            secrets of hearts, nor to penetrate into the mystery of
+            grace and free-will. The Spirit breatheth where He
+            wills, and God distributes to each man his own proper
+            gift. But, at least, one thing seems certain, that many
+            fail to recognize God's will, because they expect it to
+            be manifested in some extraordinary or palpable manner.
+            Perhaps, too, they have prepossessions against it, they
+            have already marked out their own career, they never
+            think about the counsels, or pray for guidance. If all
+            our young people only realized that Christ's invitation
+            is general and meant for them, provided no impediment
+            exist, and they wish to embrace it; if at the same time
+            they kept their hearts free from worldly amusements,
+            and applied themselves to prayer and self-control,
+            volunteers in greater number would rally to Christ's
+            standard.
+        </p><br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="6">CHAPTER VI</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            "I FEEL NO ATTRACTION"
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            Some boys and girls, with hearts of gold, have often
+            said: "I feel no attraction for the higher life. I
+            appreciate it, admire it, and yet I fear it is not for
+            me, as I have no inclination to it. If God wanted me,
+            He would so perceptibly draw me to Him that there could
+            be no mistaking His designs."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Almighty God is wonderful in His ways, and He "draws
+            all things to Himself," but by methods varying as the
+            temperaments and characteristics of the human soul.
+            Sometimes He speaks to His chosen ones in thunder
+            tones, as when He struck down St. Paul from his horse,
+            on the road to Damascus, saying from heaven, "Saul,
+            Saul, why persecutest thou me? . . . It is hard for
+            thee to kick against the goad." (Acts ix: 4.) Again He
+            speaks in gentle accents, as to St. Matthew, the
+            publican, when he sat at his door taking customs,
+            saying to him, "Follow me!" At other times He seems
+            silent and indifferent, standing quietly by, letting
+            reason and conscience argue within us, and point out
+            our line of action.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            There is what is called vocation by attraction, and
+            also such a thing as vocation by conviction. Some of
+            the great saints from earliest childhood felt a strong,
+            irresistible charm in the higher life; they were drawn
+            by the golden chain of love to the cloister. "I have
+            never in my life," said a boy, "thought of being
+            anything but a religious." Some young people have no
+            difficulty in making up their minds to follow Christ,
+            their whole bent of thought and character being for the
+            nobler life. Like Stanislaus, they ever say, "I was
+            born for higher things." It was such a precocious
+            disposition of heart that led St. Teresa to foreshadow
+            her saintly career when, as a little girl, she ran away
+            from home to become a hermit.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            But feeling is not always a trustworthy guide, either
+            in temporal or spiritual matters; reason, slow but
+            sure, is generally much safer. You feel the fascination
+            of worldly things, of company and society, fine
+            clothes, luxuries and comforts, the dazzling stage of
+            life with its applause of men. Is that a sign God
+            destines you for worldly vanities? Quite the contrary,
+            for all Christians are warned against the seductions of
+            the world and the flesh; and the life of the counsels
+            is essentially a constant struggle with nature and its
+            allurements. "The kingdom of heaven," we are told,
+            "suffers violence, and the violent bear it away."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            If the following of Christ were easy and agreeable to
+            the senses, where would be the merit and reward of it?
+            Just in proportion as it involves effort and the
+            overcoming of natural repugnance, does it become high
+            and sublime. "Do not think," says Our Lord (Matt. x:
+            34), "that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not
+            to send peace, but the sword. For I came to set a man
+            at variance with his father, and the daughter with her
+            mother. . . . He that loveth father or mother more than
+            me, is not worthy of me."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Natural antipathy then to the higher life, far from
+            indicating that God does not want us, merely shows that
+            the inferior powers of the soul are striving against
+            the superior. In fact, when this aversion becomes
+            pronounced, it is sometimes evidence of a keen strife
+            going on within us between nature and grace, which
+            could scarcely happen unless grace were endeavoring to
+            gain the mastery by winning us to Christ.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            "But," it may be objected, "if nature rebels, does not
+            God always give a counter supernatural attraction to
+            those whom He calls, so as to smooth the way before
+            them?" Certainly God gives the necessary grace to
+            perform good actions, but grace is not always
+            accompanied by sensible consolation. Suppose a boy is
+            chided by his parents for a fault and he is tempted to
+            deny it; but overcoming the suggestion he admits his
+            wrong-doing and expresses sorrow for it. In this he
+            acts bravely and with no sense of accompanying
+            satisfaction, since the pain of his parents'
+            displeasure is so keen as to overcome for the moment
+            any other feeling. His action is prompted simply by the
+            conviction of duty.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Accordingly, if a young man knows and clearly sees that
+            he has every qualification for the religious life, and
+            has even been told so by a competent adviser; if he has
+            sufficient talent and learning, a steady disposition
+            and virtuous habits, and the persuasion that the duties
+            of this state are not above his strength; in short, if
+            he is convinced that there is no obstacle, save his own
+            will, between him and the higher life, can he truly
+            say, "I feel no inclination to such a career, and
+            therefore, I have no vocation"? Such a person, of
+            course, is free to say, "I will not enter religion,"
+            because there is no obligation incumbent upon him to
+            this state, but he cannot justly say that God withholds
+            from him the opportunity or invitation to do so. He has
+            already what is called a remote vocation, as was
+            explained in the fifth chapter, and what he needs is a
+            clearer vision and alacrity of will, which he may have
+            good hope of obtaining by earnest prayer and a generous
+            and insistent offering of self to the disposal of the
+            Divine good pleasure. For Our Lord Himself tells us:
+            "All things whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe
+            that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you."
+            (Mark xi: 24.)
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Remove then, my dear young friend, from your mind that
+            false and pernicious notion, which has been destructive
+            of so many incipient vocations, that because you feel
+            no supernatural inclination or sensible attraction, you
+            are not called of God.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            In general, it is sufficient that the aspirant to
+            religious life be free from impediments, and be
+            desirous of entering it. For eligibility to a
+            particular religious congregation the applicant must be
+            fit, that is, he must have the gifts or endowments of
+            mind, heart and body which that institute demands; his
+            desire to enter must be based on good and solid motives
+            drawn from reason and faith, and he must have the firm
+            resolve to persevere in the observance of the rule.
+            When to this subjective capacity is added the
+            acceptance of the candidate by a lawful superior, his
+            vocation becomes complete.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The requisites, then, are three, two on the part of the
+            applicant, namely, fitness and an upright intention,
+            and one on the part of the superior, the acceptance or
+            call. Nothing more, nothing less is required. If any
+            one of these three essentials is wanting, there is no
+            vocation to that particular institute.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            It is worthy of observation, however, that these
+            qualifications of the applicant need be fully evident
+            only towards the end of the novitiate, when the time
+            comes for taking the vows and assuming the obligations.
+            To enter the noviceship, as a rule, much less is
+            required, though even for this preparatory step a
+            person must have the serious intention of trying the
+            life and discovering whether it is suitable to him, and
+            there should be a reasonable prospect of his developing
+            the needful qualifications.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            For spiritual directors, then, to regard a vocation as
+            something exceeding rare and intricate, to subject the
+            candidate and his conscience to searching and critical
+            analysis, to harassing cross-examination and prolonged
+            tests, as though he were a criminal entertaining a fell
+            project, to endeavor to probe into the secret workings
+            of grace within him, is only to cloud in fatal
+            obscurity an otherwise very simple subject.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            A high-souled youth or maiden may still be deterred by
+            the thought, "I now see that I have all the necessary
+            qualifications for the higher life, and hence may
+            embrace it if I choose, but I fear it will be too
+            difficult for me to carry the yoke without sensible
+            devotion or consolation." In answer to this, we must
+            remember that a hundredfold in this world and life
+            everlasting in the next are promised to those who leave
+            all to follow Christ. In this hundredfold are included
+            many privileges and favors bestowed by God upon His
+            chosen spouses. Make the effort, overcome nature,
+            decide to embrace God's offer, and you will find
+            yourself overwhelmed by a deluge of spiritual
+            consolations, which God has been withholding from you
+            to try your generosity and courage; you will experience
+            the truth of Christ's words, "My yoke is sweet, and my
+            burden light." Sensible consolations, in fact, nearly
+            always follow the performance of a virtuous act, but
+            seldom do they precede it. A hungry person, before
+            sitting down to table, may feel cross and out of humor,
+            but as soon as he begins to partake of the generous
+            viands a feeling of genial content and satisfaction
+            with all the world steals over him.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            It would, of course, be an error for any one to think
+            that of his own natural powers he could observe the
+            counsels; since this, being a supernatural work,
+            demands strength above nature. But he who feels
+            helpless of himself, should place his entire trust and
+            confidence in God's grace and assistance, saying, with
+            the Apostle, "I can do all things in him who
+            strengthened me" (Ph. iv: 13).
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Come, then, to the banquet prepared for you by the
+            great King. Regale yourself with the spiritual viands
+            set before you, and not only will you be strengthened
+            to do God's will, but transported beyond measure with
+            spiritual delights.
+        </p><br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="7">CHAPTER VII</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            "SUPPOSE I MAKE A MISTAKE?"
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            A young man once exclaimed to a friend, "Suppose I make
+            a mistake! I could not bear the disgrace of leaving a
+            religious order after entering it." Having wrestled
+            with this thought for some time, he finally determined
+            to try the religious life, with the result that after
+            taking the habit, he was too happy to dream of ever
+            laying it aside.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            However, it is not wrong, but highly prudent, for any
+            one to consider whether he has the courage and
+            constancy to persevere. Religious life is not a pathway
+            of roses. It is meant only for true men and valiant
+            women, not for soft, languid characters, nor for fickle
+            minds, which change as a weather vane. Marriage also is
+            a serious step, for it brings much "tribulation of the
+            flesh," and so he who would enter on it must earnestly
+            consider whether he can live up to the obligations it
+            entails. But because marriage has many cares and
+            responsibilities, is that a prohibitive reason against
+            embracing it? A soldier's life, too, is hard, and a
+            farmer's; in fact, all pursuits and vocations in this
+            world have their sombre side. But he who would win
+            success in any career must be ready "with a heart for
+            any fate" to meet and overcome all the trials and
+            hardships that await him.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            On one occasion Our Lord made use of the following
+            parable (Luke xiv: 28): "Which of you having a mind to
+            build a tower, doth not first sit down and reckon the
+            charges that are necessary, whether he have wherewithal
+            to finish it: lest after he hath laid the foundation,
+            and is not able to finish it, all that see it begin to
+            mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not
+            able to finish'?" This parable Our Lord seems to apply
+            to those who have the call to the Faith, and He
+            concludes with the words, "So likewise every one of you
+            that doth not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot
+            be my disciple."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            But His advice is also applicable to one who
+            contemplates a closer following of Christ by the
+            pathway of the counsels. Certainly, by all means,
+            deliberate before taking any step of importance in this
+            world. Never act on inconsiderate impulse in any matter
+            of moment, but weigh carefully the obligations you are
+            to assume, and consider whether you have sufficient
+            strength of character to persevere in any good work you
+            are undertaking.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Still, when all is said and done, it remains true that
+            timidity is not prudence, nor cowardice caution.
+            Nothing great was ever accomplished in this world
+            without courage. Prudence and caution may be overdone,
+            and easily degenerate into sloth and inactivity. In a
+            battle he who hesitates is lost, and life is the
+            sharpest of conflicts. Had Columbus wavered, he would
+            not have discovered America. Close followers of Christ
+            must be brave and noble souls, willing to risk all, to
+            sacrifice all in the service of their leader. If you
+            are excessively timid and fearful of making a misstep
+            in your every action, it is a fault of character, and
+            unless you overcome it you will never do great things
+            for yourself or others.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            When reason and conscience point the way, plunge boldly
+            forward, trusting to the Lord for all the necessary
+            helps you may need to carry out your designs. He will
+            never desert you when once you enlist under His flag.
+            When it comes to "supposing," there is no end to the
+            dreadful things that <i>might</i> happen, but never
+            <i>will</i>. Little children have a game called
+            "supposing," each one making his supposition in turn,
+            but even they do not anticipate that their creations of
+            fancy will ever prove true. A man once said: "I have
+            lived forty years, and have had many troubles, but most
+            of them never happened," meaning that he had often
+            anticipated and dreaded evils which never came to pass.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Let us, however, grant that occasionally a novice
+            leaves his order: is that such a disgrace? By no means;
+            he, at least, deserves credit for attempting the higher
+            life. He is far more courageous than many Christians
+            who are too timorous even to try. After all, what is a
+            novitiate for, if not to discover whether the candidate
+            has the requisite qualities? And judicious superiors
+            will be the first to advise a young man or woman to
+            leave, if he or she has wandered into the wrong place.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            There is, moreover, a danger on the opposite side that
+            wavering souls often fail to take into account. What if
+            they make a mistake by not entering religious life? Is
+            it better to err on the side of generosity to God, or
+            on the side of pusillanimity? If one make a mistake by
+            entering religion he can easily retrace his steps
+            before it is too late, but once he commits himself to
+            worldly obligations, he can seldom break their fetters;
+            and many a man, when overwhelmed with the cares and
+            anxieties of life, has regretted, when all too late,
+            that he had not hearkened to the voice of grace that
+            invited him to the calm and peace of the cloister.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            St. Ignatius thus forcibly expresses the same thought:
+            "More certain signs are required to decide that God
+            wills one to remain in the secular state, than that He
+            wishes him to enter on the way of the counsels, for the
+            Lord so openly urged the counsels, while He insisted on
+            the great dangers of the other state." (Directory, c.
+            23.)
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The devil, who employs every ruse to wreck a vocation,
+            has one favorite stratagem, which unfortunately
+            succeeds only too often. When he cannot induce a person
+            to give up entirely the idea of following Christ
+            closely, he frequently induces him, under a variety of
+            pretexts, to postpone its execution. If he can get the
+            person to wait, to delay, he feels he has scored a
+            victory, for thus he will have ample opportunity to
+            lure his victim to a love of the world, to present the
+            vanities of life in such enticing colors, as finally to
+            withdraw him altogether from his first purpose. This
+            disaster, unfortunately, is only too common, and many a
+            one finds out, to his cost, that unseasonable delay has
+            destroyed in him the spiritual savor, and made
+            shipwreck of his vocation.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            If, then, you see clearly it is best for you to tread
+            the pathway of the counsels, go boldly on without delay
+            or hesitation, and if difficulties loom big before you,
+            they will fade away at your approach, like the fog
+            before the sun; or, if they remain, you will be
+            surprised at the ease with which you will vanquish
+            them, for when the Lord is with you, who will be
+            against you? You will be guarded against possible
+            rashness in choosing the higher life by consulting a
+            prudent director or confessor, at least, so far as to
+            get his approval of the step you propose to take. For
+            the knowledge such a one has of the secrets of your
+            conscience gives him a specially favorable opportunity
+            to judge whether you have the virtue and determination
+            of character to persevere in the pathway of the
+            counsels.
+        </p><br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="8">CHAPTER VIII</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            "THE WORLD NEEDS ME"
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            Some young people endeavor to persuade themselves that
+            as the world needs good men, they can better serve
+            Church and State by remaining in the secular life. The
+            world, of course, does need good men and women, and it
+            has them, too; but even if there were a dearth of good
+            Christian laymen, is that any reason for you to refuse
+            God's invitation and sacrifice your own spiritual
+            advancement and happiness in order to help others? Our
+            first duty is to ourselves. Are we to be so enamored of
+            benefiting others as to forego God's special love, and
+            to rest satisfied with a lower place in heaven? God
+            invites you to Him, and you turn away to devote
+            yourselves to others, who perhaps care little for you,
+            and will profit less by your example.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            And, moreover, once absorbed in the business and cares
+            of life, you may find yourself, like most others, so
+            preoccupied in your own personal advancement, in
+            providing for yourself and those dependent on you, that
+            scarce a thought remains for the interests of your
+            neighbor. And thus your initial high resolve may soon
+            sink to the low level of beneficent effort you see in
+            others. Selfishness, to a large extent, rules in the
+            world, and how can you promise yourself that you will
+            escape its grasp? He certainly is rash who thinks he
+            can, single-handed, contend against the world and its
+            spirit.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            No doubt many men and women of the world are devout
+            Christians, and in a thousand ways spread about them
+            the good odor of Christ. Countless brave Christian
+            soldiers, upright statesmen, kings and peasants,
+            matrons and maids, are the pride of Christianity for
+            what they have done and dared in behalf of their
+            neighbor. All honor to the virtuous laity throughout
+            the world to-day, who by their edifying lives, their
+            sacrifices for the faith, their unwearying industry,
+            and fidelity to Mother Church, are sanctifying their
+            own souls, and assisting others by example, counsel and
+            charitable deed.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            But for every layman that has distinguished himself by
+            heroic devotion to the welfare of his neighbor, many
+            religious could be mentioned who have done the same. We
+            have all heard of Father Damien, who banished himself
+            to the isle of Molokai, where the outcast lepers of the
+            Sandwich Islands had been herded to rot and die; and
+            there taking up his abode, soon changed the lepers, who
+            were living like wild beasts, without law or morality,
+            into gentle and fervent Christians. Having no priest as
+            a companion, he on one occasion rowed out to a passing
+            steamer, which was not allowed to land, to make his
+            confession to a bishop aboard. And while he sat in his
+            row boat, because forbidden to climb into the vessel,
+            and shouted his sins to the bishop on the deck above,
+            the passengers looking curiously on, he certainly must
+            have been a spectacle to men and angels. And his
+            sacrifice became complete when he contracted the
+            leprosy from his people, and thus gave up his life for
+            his flock.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Nor is this a solitary instance of such magnanimity. A
+            short time ago, when a Canadian bishop entered a
+            convent and called for volunteers to start a leper
+            hospital, every nun stood up to offer her services. You
+            have heard of the great Apostle of the Indies, St.
+            Francis Xavier, who is said to have baptized more than
+            a million pagans. St. Teresa, the mystic, was not
+            prevented by her cloister and her ecstacies from
+            helping her neighbor, for she founded a large number of
+            convents, both for men and women. Blessed Margaret Mary
+            was only a simple nun in the Visitation Convent of
+            Paray-le-Monial, yet God chose her to make known and
+            spread the great devotion of the Sacred Heart, a
+            devotion which has brought more comfort and consolation
+            to sorrowing humanity than the combined philanthropic
+            efforts of a century. God took a gay cavalier, whose
+            only ambition was to wear foppish clothes and thrum a
+            guitar, made him into a friar, and bade him found the
+            great Franciscan Order, whose glorious works for
+            mankind cannot be enumerated.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            And if we ponder the nature of religious life, the
+            marvels accomplished by simple religious cease to
+            astonish us. One who devotes the major portion of his
+            time and attention to a definite object will certainly
+            attain great results. Now, most religious seek their
+            own sanctification in concentrating their energies on
+            the welfare of their neighbor, in ever studying,
+            working, planning for his betterment. The love of God,
+            as shown in charity to others, is the absorbing purpose
+            of their life. On the other hand, the man of the world
+            must generally care first and foremost for himself and
+            family, and only the time he has left, incidentally as
+            it were, can he bestow upon others.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            This point is thus forcibly expressed by St. Paul (I
+            Cor. vii: 32-34): "He who is unmarried is solicitous
+            for the things of the Lord, how he may please God. But
+            he who is married is solicitous for the things of the
+            world, how he may please his wife; and he is divided.
+            And the woman, unmarried and a virgin, thinketh on the
+            things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and
+            soul. But she who is married, thinketh on the things of
+            the world, how she may please her husband."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The works of the religious orders are varied and
+            numerous. Some care for the outcasts of society, some
+            for the sick or the old, the orphan and the homeless;
+            others, leaving the comforts and conveniences of modern
+            life, cheerfully face the danger and hardships of
+            remotest lands to bring the light of the Gospel to
+            pagan nations. More than a million Chinese to-day are
+            fervent Christians, and to whom do they owe their faith
+            under God? To religious missionaries. The Benedictines
+            of old spent their lives in the pursuit of learning,
+            and in teaching barbarous tribes the art of husbandry.
+            The glorious Knights Templar were a militant order; and
+            the members of the Order of the Blessed Trinity for the
+            redemption of captives, the first to wear our national
+            colors of freedom, the red, white and blue, sold
+            themselves into slavery for the release of others.
+            Scarcely a want or need of the human race has not been
+            provided for by some religious body.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            But probably the most common pursuit of religious
+            bodies in our day is teaching. Hundreds of thousands of
+            religious men and women, in all lands whence they are
+            not banished, spend their lives in the class-room. And
+            the reason for this preference is the extraordinary
+            demand for schools in every direction. The young must
+            be taught, and Holy Mother Church knows only too well
+            that religious training must be woven into the fibre of
+            secular learning if we would not have a conscienceless
+            and irreligious generation. So she issues her stirring
+            appeal for volunteer teachers, and a vast multitude of
+            religious have responded in solid phalanx. Some one has
+            said that if all the sisterhoods were taken out of our
+            schools in the United States, we should soon have to
+            close half our churches.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Religious, then, are carrying on vast and important
+            works for the benefit of the Church and society. Many
+            other services which they render might be mentioned,
+            such as preaching and hearing confessions, the
+            publication of books and periodicals, the cultivation
+            of the arts, science, literature and theology. But
+            enough has been said to show that they are leading a
+            strenuous life, and that boy or maid, who is emulous of
+            heart-stirring deeds, could scarcely find a more
+            propitious field of action than in the religious state.
+        </p><br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="9">CHAPTER IX</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            MUST I ACCEPT THE INVITATION?
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            It is not the purpose of the writer to exaggerate, to
+            frighten or coerce persons into religious life, by
+            holding out threats of God's displeasure to those who
+            refuse, or by citing examples of those whose careers
+            were blighted through failure to heed the Divine call.
+            It is His desire rather to imitate Christ's manner of
+            action, portraying the beauty and excellence of virtue,
+            and then leaving it to the promptings of aspiring
+            hearts to follow the leadings of grace.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Christ, all mildness and meekness as He was, uttered
+            terrible denunciations against sin and the false
+            leaders of the people; but nowhere do we read that He
+            denounced or threatened those who failed to accept His
+            tender and loving call to the life of perfection. To
+            draw men's hearts He used not compulsion, but the lure
+            of kindness and affection.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Our Lord sometimes commanded and sometimes counselled
+            and between these there is a difference. When a command
+            is given by lawful superiors it must be obeyed, and
+            that under penalty. God gave the commandments amidst
+            thunder and lightning on Mount Sinai, and those
+            commandments, as precepts of the natural law, or
+            because corroborated in the New Testament, persist in
+            the main to-day, and any one who violates them, refuses
+            to keep them, is guilty of disobedience to God, commits
+            a sin. But when Christ proclaimed the counsels, He was
+            merely giving advice or exhortation, and hence no one
+            was obliged to follow them under pain of His
+            displeasure. Suppose a mother has two sons, who both
+            obey exactly her every command, and one also takes her
+            advice in a certain matter, while the other does not;
+            she will love the second not less, but the first more.
+            So of two boys, who are both favorites of God, if one
+            accept and the other decline a proffered vocation, He
+            will love the latter as before, but the former how much
+            more tenderly!
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Moreover, God loves the cheerful giver. By doing, out
+            of an abundance of charity and fervor, what you are not
+            obliged to do, you gain ampler merit for yourself,
+            since you perform more than your duty, and at the same
+            time you give greater glory to God, showing that He has
+            willing children, who bound their service to Him by no
+            bargaining considerations of weight and measure. But
+            if, through fear of threat or punishment, you make an
+            offering to God, your gift loses, to an extent, the
+            worth and spontaneity of a heart-token.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Some think that not to accept the invitation to the
+            counsels, is to show disregard and contempt for God's
+            grace and favor, and hence sinful. But how does a young
+            person act when he declines this proffered gift? He
+            equivalently says, with tears in his eyes, "My Saviour,
+            I appreciate deeply Thy invitation to the higher life;
+            I envy my companions who are so courageous as to follow
+            Thy counsel; but, please be not offended with me if I
+            have not the courage to imitate their example. I beg
+            Thee to let me serve Thee in some other way." Is there
+            anything of contempt in such a reply? No more than if a
+            child would tearfully pray its mother not to send it
+            into a dark room to fetch something; and as such a
+            mother, instead of insisting on her request, would only
+            kiss away her child's tears, so will God treat one who
+            weeps because he cannot muster courage to tread closely
+            in His blood-stained footsteps.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The young have little relish for argumentative
+            quotations and texts, but it may interest them to know
+            that Saints Basil, Chrysostom, Gregory Nazianzen,
+            Cyprian, Augustine and other Fathers all speak in a
+            similar strain, holding that, as a vocation is a free
+            gift or counsel, it may be declined without sin.
+            <a name="#9-1">[1]</a> The great Theologians, St.
+            Thomas, Suarez, Bellarmine and Cornelius a Lapide also
+            agree on this point.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            But putting aside the question of sin, we must admit
+            that one who clearly realizes that the religious life
+            is best for him and consequently more pleasing to God,
+            would, by neglecting to avail himself of this grace,
+            betray a certain ungenerosity of soul and a lack of
+            appreciation of spiritual things, in depriving himself
+            of a gift which would be the source of so many graces
+            and spiritual advantages.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Do not, then, dear reader, embrace the higher life
+            merely from motives of fear&mdash;which were unworthy
+            an ingenuous child of God&mdash;but rather to please
+            the Divine Majesty. You are dear to Him, dearer than
+            the treasures of all the world. He loves you so much
+            that He died for you, and now He asks you in return to
+            nestle close to His heart, where He may ever enfold His
+            arms about you, and lavish his blandishments upon your
+            soul. Will you come to Him, your fresh young heart
+            still sweet with the dew of innocence, and become His
+            own forevermore? Will you say farewell to creatures,
+            and rest upon that Bosom whose love and tenderness for
+            you is high as the stars, wide as the universe, and
+            deep as the sea? Come to the tender embraces of your
+            heavenly spouse, and heaven will have begun for you on
+            earth.
+        </p><br>
+        <p>
+            <a name="9-1">[1]</a> The hypothetical case, sometimes
+            mentioned by casuists, of one who is convinced that for
+            him salvation outside of religion is impossible, can
+            here safely be passed over as unpractical for young
+            readers.
+        </p><br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="10">CHAPTER X</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            I AM TOO YOUNG
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            Many a young person, when confronted with the thought
+            of his vocation, puts it out of mind, with the off-hand
+            remark, "Oh, there is plenty of time to consider that;
+            I am too young, and have had no experience of the
+            world." This method of procedure is summary, if not
+            judicious, and it meets with the favor of some parents,
+            who fear, as they think, to lose their children. It was
+            also evidently highly acceptable to Luther, who is
+            quoted by Bellarmine as teaching that no one should
+            enter religious life until he is seventy or eighty
+            years of age.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            In deciding a question of this nature, however, we
+            should not allow our prepossessions to bias our
+            judgment, nor take without allowance the opinion of
+            those steeped in worldly wisdom, but lacking in
+            spiritual insight. Father William Humphrey, S.J., in
+            his edition of Suarez's "Religious Life" (page 49),
+            says: "Looking merely to <i>natural law</i>, it is
+            lawful at any age freely to offer oneself to the
+            perpetual service of God. There is no natural principle
+            by which should be fixed any certain age for such an
+            act."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Christ did not prescribe any age for those who wished
+            to enter His special service, and He rebuked the
+            apostles for keeping children from Him, saying, "Let
+            the little ones come unto Me." And St. Thomas (Summa,
+            2a 2&aelig;, Qu&aelig;st. 189, art. 5), quotes
+            approvingly the comment of Origen on this text, viz.:
+            "We should be careful lest in our superior wisdom we
+            despise the little ones of the Church and prevent them
+            from coming to Jesus." And speaking in the same article
+            of St. Gregory's statement that the Roman nobility
+            offered their sons to St. Benedict to be brought up in
+            the service of God, the Angelic Doctor approves this
+            practice on the principle that "it is good for a man to
+            bear the yoke from his youth," and adds that it is in
+            accord with the usual "custom of setting boys to the
+            duties and occupations in which they are to spend their
+            life."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The remark concerning St. Benedict recalls to mind the
+            interesting fact that in olden times, not only boys of
+            twelve and fourteen became little monks, but that
+            children of three, four or five years of age were
+            brought in their parents' arms and dedicated to the
+            monasteries. According to the "Benedictine Centuries,"
+            "the reception of a child in those days was almost as
+            solemn as a profession in our own. His parents carried
+            him to the church. Whilst they wrapped his hand, which
+            held the petition, in the sacred linen of the altar,
+            they promised, in the presence of God and His saints,
+            stability in his name." These children remained during
+            infancy and childhood within the monastery enclosure,
+            and on reaching the age of fourteen, they were given
+            the choice of returning home, if they preferred, or of
+            remaining for life. <a href="#10-1">[1]</a>
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The discipline of the Church, which as a wise Mother,
+            she modifies to suit the exigencies of time and place,
+            is somewhat different in our day. The ordinary law now
+            prohibits religious profession before the age of
+            sixteen; and the earliest age at which subjects are
+            commonly admitted is fifteen. Orders which accept
+            younger candidates, in order to train and prepare them
+            for reception, cannot, as a rule, clothe them with the
+            habit. A very recent decree also requires clerical
+            students to have completed four years' study of Latin
+            before admission as novices into any order.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Persons who object to early entrance into religion seem
+            to forget that the young have equal rights with their
+            elders to personal sanctification, and to the use of
+            the means afforded for this purpose by the Church. It
+            is now passed into history, how some misguided
+            individuals forbade frequent Communion to the faithful
+            at large, and altogether excluded from the Holy Table
+            children under twelve or fourteen, and this
+            notwithstanding the plain teaching of the Council of
+            Trent to the contrary. To correct the error, the Holy
+            See was obliged to issue decrees on the subject, which
+            may be styled the charter of Eucharistic freedom for
+            all the faithful, and especially for children. As the
+            Eucharist is not intended solely for the mature or
+            aged, so neither is religious life meant only for the
+            decrepit, or those who have squandered youth and
+            innocence. Its portals are open to all the qualified,
+            and particularly to the young, who wish to bring not a
+            part of their life only, but the <i>whole</i> of it,
+            along with youthful enthusiasm and generosity, to God's
+            service.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            How many young religious have attained heroic sanctity
+            which would never have been theirs had religion been
+            closed against them by an arbitrary or unreasonable age
+            restriction! A too rigid attitude on this point would
+            have barred those patrons of youth, Aloysius,
+            Stanislaus Kostka and Berchmans, from religion and
+            perhaps even from the honors of the altar. St. Thomas,
+            the great theological luminary of the Church, was
+            offered to the Benedictines when five years old, and he
+            joined the Dominicans at fifteen or sixteen; and St.
+            Rose of Lima made a vow of chastity at five. The Lily
+            of Quito, Blessed Mary Ann, made the three vows of
+            poverty, chastity and obedience before her tenth
+            birthday, and the Little Flower was a Carmelite at
+            fifteen. And uncounted others, who lived and died in
+            the odor of sanctity, dedicated themselves by vow to
+            the perpetual service of God, while still in the
+            fragrance and bloom of childhood or youth.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            "What a pity!" some exclaim, when a youth or maid
+            enters religion. "How much better for young people to
+            wait a few years and see something of the world, so
+            they will know what they are giving up." This is ever
+            the comment of the worldly spirit, which aims to crush
+            out entirely spiritual aspirations, and failing in
+            that, to delay their fulfilment indefinitely. And yet
+            the wise do not reason similarly in other matters. One
+            who proposes to cultivate a marked musical talent is
+            never advised to try his hand first at carpentering or
+            tailoring, that he may make an intelligent choice
+            between them. Nor is a promising law student counselled
+            to spend several years in the study of engineering and
+            dentistry, to avoid making a possible mistake. Why then
+            wish a youth, of evident religious inclination, to
+            mingle in the frivolity and gayeties of the world, with
+            the certain risk of imbibing its spirit and losing his
+            spiritual relish? "He who loves the danger," says the
+            Scripture, "will perish in it."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            "Yet a vocation should first be tried, and if it cannot
+            resist temptation, it will never prove constant," is
+            the worn but oft-repeated reply. As if a parent would
+            expose his boy to contagion to discover whether his
+            constitution be strong enough to resist it; or place
+            him in the companionship of the depraved to try his
+            virtue and see if it be proof against temptation. No,
+            the tender sprout must be carefully tended, and
+            shielded from wind and storm, until it grows into
+            maturity. In like manner, a young person who desires to
+            serve God, should be placed in an atmosphere favorable
+            to the development of his design, and guarded from
+            sinister influence, until he has acquired stability of
+            purpose and strength of virtue.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            There was once in Rome an attractive Cardinal's page of
+            fourteen who possessed a sunny and lively disposition.
+            On a solemn occasion his hasty temper led him to resent
+            the action of another page, and straightway there was a
+            fight. Immediately, the decorous retinue was thrown
+            into confusion, and the Cardinal felt himself
+            disgraced. Peter Ribadeneira, for this was the page's
+            name, did not wait for developments, he foresaw what
+            was coming and fled. Not knowing where to go, he
+            bethought himself of one who was everybody's friend,
+            Ignatius of Loyola, and with soiled face, torn lace and
+            drooping plume, he presented himself before him.
+            Ignatius received him with open arms, and placed him
+            among the novices. Poor Peter had a hard time in the
+            novitiate, as his caprices and boisterousness were
+            always bringing him into trouble. But when grave
+            Fathers frowned, and the novices were scandalized,
+            Peter was ever sure of sympathy and forgiveness from
+            Ignatius, who, in the end, was gratified to see the boy
+            develop into an able, learned and holy religious.
+            Peter's vocation was occasioned by his fight, certainly
+            an unpropitious beginning, but he must have ever been
+            grateful that, when he applied to Ignatius, he was not
+            turned away until he had become older and more sedate.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Parents or spiritual directors, who, under the pretext
+            of trying a vocation, put off for two or three years an
+            aspirant who seems dowered with all necessary
+            qualities, can scarcely justify themselves in the eyes
+            of God, such a method being calculated to destroy, not
+            prove, a vocation. To detain for a few months, however,
+            one who conceives a sudden notion to enter religion,
+            for the purpose of discovering whether his intention is
+            serious, and not merely a passing whim, is only in
+            accordance with the ordinary rules of prudence. In
+            connection with this point, the words of bluff and
+            hearty St. Jerome, who never seemed to grow old or lose
+            the buoyancy of youth, are often quoted. Giving advice
+            to one whom he wished to quit the world, he wrote,
+            "Wait not even to untie the rope that holds your boat
+            at anchor&mdash;cut it." (M. P. L., t. 26, c. 549.) And
+            Christ's reply to the young man, whom He had invited to
+            follow Him, and who asked leave to go first and bury
+            his father, was equally terse: "Let the dead bury their
+            own dead." (Luke ix: 60.)
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            In a booklet entitled "Questions on Vocations,"
+            published in 1913, by a Priest of the Congregation of
+            the Mission, the question is asked, "Do not a larger
+            percentage persevere when subjects enter the religious
+            state late in life?" And the answer is given: "No; the
+            records of five of the largest communities of Sisters
+            in the United States show that a much larger percentage
+            of subjects persevere among those who enter between the
+            ages of sixteen and twenty, than among those who enter
+            when they are older. When persons are twenty years of
+            age, or older, their characters are more set; their
+            minds are less pliable; it is harder to unbend and
+            remould them. The young are more readily formed to
+            religious discipline."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            In concluding this chapter on the appropriate age for
+            entrance into religious life, it may be said that,
+            after reaching the prescribed age of fifteen, the
+            sooner an otherwise properly qualified person enters
+            the nearer he seems to approach the ideals and
+            traditionary practice of the Church, and the better he
+            will provide for his own spiritual welfare.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            <a name="10-1">[1]</a> It would seem that for the space
+            of two centuries, this freedom of choice was not
+            offered them.
+        </p><br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="11">CHAPTER XI</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            THE PRIESTHOOD
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            The High Priest of the New Law, St. Paul tells the
+            Hebrews, is Christ. And the Christian priesthood, which
+            He instituted, is a participation and extension of His
+            office and ministry. The commemoration of the same
+            sacrifice which was once offered upon the cross for the
+            sins of the world is daily renewed on our altars from
+            the rising to the setting of the sun. The Christian
+            priest, in the language of spiritual writers, is
+            "another Christ," taking His place amongst men,
+            perpetually renewing, as it were, the Incarnation in
+            the Sacrifice of the Mass, preaching the word, and
+            applying the fruits of Redemption through the channels
+            of the sacraments.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            In common estimation, the dignity of a man is reckoned
+            by the character of the office he fills or the duties
+            entrusted to him. Judged by this standard, no worldly
+            dignity can compare with that of the priesthood, whose
+            authority comes from God, and whose powers,
+            transcending earth, reach back to heaven. "Speak not of
+            the royal purple," says St. Chrysostom, "of diadems, of
+            golden vestures&mdash;these are but shadows, frailer
+            than the flowers of spring, compared to the power and
+            privileges of the priesthood."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            And whence arises, we may ask, this incomparable
+            dignity of the priest? First of all, from his power to
+            roll back the heavens, and bring down upon the altar
+            the Majesty of the Deity, attended by an angelic train.
+            "The Blessed Virgin," St. Vincent Ferrer informs us,
+            "opened heaven only once, the priest does so at every
+            Mass." Exalted is the sovereignty of kings who rule a
+            nation, but more sublime the power which commands the
+            King of kings, and is obeyed. Who could conceive, did
+            not Faith teach it, that mortal man were capable of
+            elevation to such a pitch of glory? No wonder St.
+            Chrysostom was betrayed by this thought into the
+            rhapsody: "When you behold the Lord immolated and lying
+            on the altar, and the priest standing over the
+            sacrifice and praying and all the people empurpled by
+            that precious blood, do you imagine that you are still
+            on earth amongst men and not rather rapt up to heaven?"
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The second great prerogative of the priest is to
+            forgive sins. Christ having one day said to a
+            paralytic, "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee" (Luke v:
+            20), some of the bystanders marvelled, thinking within
+            themselves, "Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" Yea,
+            truly is this a Divine power, but these critics failed
+            to comprehend the Divinity of Christ, and that all
+            power was given to Him in heaven and on earth. And His
+            power to remit sins has descended to the priest, in the
+            imposition of hands. At Christ's will lepers were
+            cleansed, and once more felt the pulsation of health
+            tingling through their veins; but more wondrous still
+            the word of the priest which causes the scales of the
+            leprosy of sin to fall from the stricken soul, and
+            restores to it the pristine vigor and beauty of
+            sanctifying grace. As keeper of the keys, the priest
+            stands warder of heaven, locking or unlocking its doors
+            to the dust-begrimed pilgrims of earth.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Sublime, then, is the priestly dignity, even beyond
+            human comprehension. But one thing we realize, and the
+            saints with clearer vision perceive, that high virtue
+            is demanded of him whose life is spent in the
+            antechamber of heaven. St. Catharine of Sienna, in a
+            letter to one newly ordained, tells him, "The ministers
+            whom the Sovereign Goodness has chosen to be His
+            Christs ought to be angels, not men . . . they in truth
+            discharge the office of angels." "What purity," says a
+            Father of the Church, "what piety shall we require of a
+            priest? Think what those hands ought to be which
+            perform such a ministry; what that tongue which
+            pronounces those words." No sanctity or purity of soul,
+            then, is beyond the aspirations of one whose
+            heaven-born privilege it is to enter the Holy of
+            Holies, to dispense the mysteries of faith, and
+            exercise the "ministry of reconciliation."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            A most important function of the ministry is the care
+            of souls. Christ's mission was to save; He was the Good
+            Shepherd, who traveled about preaching to the people,
+            who were like "sheep without a shepherd." And to His
+            Apostles and their successors He gave the solemn charge
+            "to feed His lambs." And this injunction of the Divine
+            Master has been held sacred by the Church throughout
+            its existence. Wherever in the world to-day dwell true
+            believers, there are to be found priests to care for
+            them.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The priest is truly the father of the people committed
+            to him. He must become all things to all men, rejoicing
+            with the joyful, and weeping with the sorrowful. The
+            infants he must receive into the Church, generating in
+            them the life of grace, guarding them as they grow up,
+            and instructing them in doctrine and discipline. To him
+            the bridal couple come for the nuptial benediction; and
+            when sickness and trouble and want invade the household
+            it is to their father in Christ the faithful look for
+            support and encouragement. He is the consoler of all,
+            and he bears the burdens of all. And when the angel of
+            death hovers over his charge, the priest repairs to the
+            bedside of the departing one, to strengthen him for the
+            last journey; and, finally, when the soul has departed,
+            he commits the body to hallowed ground, there to await
+            the resurrection.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The priest, then, must be of heroic mould to satisfy
+            the demands made upon him; he must be ready to endure
+            hunger and cold and weariness, contradictions from
+            within and without, labors by night and day. But the
+            Lord is his inheritance, and for His sake he is willing
+            to endure all the crosses and trials that bear upon
+            him. How splendidly the clergy of our country have
+            responded to their responsibilities is attested by the
+            flourishing state of religion, by the magnificent
+            churches, the well-developed Catholic school system,
+            and the numerous other Church activities about us.
+            Every thoroughly organized parish or mission means the
+            life of at least one priest sacrificed in its
+            formation&mdash;the commingling of his sweat and labors
+            with the cement that binds together its material and
+            spiritual stones. But could a life be better spent?
+            What more fitting monument could be left to posterity
+            than a spiritual structure built on Christ and enduring
+            as the foundation on which it rests?
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Who, then, may aspire to the glorious career of the
+            priesthood? Is it open to all, or must one await the
+            striking manifestation of the Divine Will inviting him
+            to it? Should he not say, "The priesthood is too
+            exalted for my weakness and unworthiness"? While
+            humility is laudable, it should not bar any one who has
+            the requisite virtue and talent, together with an
+            upright intention, from entering this high estate.
+            Everything depends on one's qualifications and motives.
+            Others will pass judgment on the qualifications, but
+            each one must scrutinize his own motives. If a youth
+            desires the priesthood for natural reasons, to lead an
+            easy life or one honorable in the eyes of men, to
+            attain fame or station, his motives are wrong, or at
+            least, too imperfect to carry him far on the rugged
+            road before him. But if he be swayed by supernatural
+            desires, such as the service of God, his own
+            sanctification or the help of his neighbor, his
+            ambition is praiseworthy. One who is conscious, then,
+            of rectitude of purpose and hopeful with the divine
+            assistance of living up to its obligations, may aspire,
+            without scruple, to the priesthood, the highest of
+            dignities and the greatest of careers open to man.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            One day our Lord, instructing His disciples before
+            sending them to preach His coming, said: "The harvest,
+            indeed, is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye
+            therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send
+            laborers into his harvest" (Luke x: 2). And this has
+            been the cry through all the ages&mdash;"Send laborers
+            into the harvest!" The Church has always needed good
+            spiritual laborers, men and women, who would be willing
+            to work for God and their neighbor, to extend the
+            Kingdom of God, and this is true to-day of our own
+            beloved country. A host of spiritual laborers is
+            scattered over our land, but the cry is ever repeated,
+            "We need more, the work is too great for our efforts,
+            and all the harvest is not being garnered."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Will you, dear reader, make one more worker in God's
+            field, one more reaper of His harvest that is ripe and
+            falling to the ground because there are none to gather
+            it?
+        </p><br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="12">CHAPTER XII</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            THE TEACHER'S AUREOLE
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            As the acquaintance of young people with religious is
+            frequently limited to their teachers, they are
+            sometimes inclined to identify in their minds the
+            profession of teaching with religious life. And since
+            some feel a diffidence or repugnance in committing
+            themselves to a teaching career, they extend this
+            aversion to the religious state itself. We have shown,
+            however, in a previous chapter that there is great
+            variety and diversity of occupation in religious
+            orders, so that all tastes and inclinations can find
+            congenial exercise in them.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Still, it is probably true, that the great majority of
+            religious men and women are found in the class-room,
+            and this for the good and sufficient reason that
+            Christian education is the paramount need of the day,
+            and the work on which the future of the Church chiefly
+            depends. The young who, perhaps, are tempted to look
+            upon teaching as an obscure employment and a monotonous
+            grind, will do well to reflect that in our time it is
+            considered so honorable a profession that hundreds of
+            thousands, even of those outside the Church,
+            deliberately choose it as the best and most favorable
+            career for the play of their talents.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The professors of our noted universities command the
+            respect and deference of the community, and to them the
+            public look for the solution of the constantly arising
+            civic and social problems. They are regarded as the
+            natural leaders of thought, and are expected to guide
+            and direct popular movements affecting the well-being
+            of society. And this public esteem, is extended in due
+            proportion to all who are engaged in education, for it
+            is universally realized that the standard of morality
+            and intelligence, which is to obtain in the
+            commonwealth, will depend largely on the training given
+            to the young. The teacher is directly employed in the
+            making of good citizens, which is a more important
+            business than the extension of manufactures or
+            commerce. He is setting the ideals according to which
+            the Republic must stand or fall.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            And, for persons of refined or intellectual tastes, the
+            instruction of youth must be a pleasurable employment.
+            It is inviting to deal with the young and innocent, who
+            are eager to learn, ambitious to excel, and who in
+            return for their instructor's solicitude, give him
+            unstinted affection and gratitude, and render him loyal
+            obedience and respect. In the teacher's hands is the
+            moulding and shaping of character, the direction of
+            talents which may illumine society. And can any sphere
+            of action be more elevated, more grateful than this?
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            And then, too, the educator is constantly engaged in
+            the things of the mind, in study, and the discovery of
+            new truths or new applications of old ones, and in
+            imparting his knowledge to fresh, bright intelligences.
+            Nothing is so fascinating to a person of intellectual
+            bent as the pursuit and attainment of truth, and this
+            is the steady occupation of the teacher. Is not the
+            outlook of such a life infinitely wider and more
+            refreshing than the dull routine of business, the noisy
+            rumble of a factory or the sordid dealings of commerce?
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            But it is principally from the spiritual point of view
+            that education is considered by the Church and
+            religious congregations. The mandate of Christ, "Go ye
+            forth and teach all nations," laid the charge of
+            teaching upon His Church; and on the pastors it
+            devolves to see that the faithful are instructed in
+            Christian doctrines and obligations. To rightfully
+            carry out its mission, the Church has always felt
+            obliged to insist that the education of its children be
+            permeated with religion, and in fulfilment of this duty
+            it has established parochial schools throughout our
+            country, where the young, while acquiring secular
+            science, can at the same time be grounded in the faith
+            and trained to virtuous lives.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            It can be said, then, that the religious who conduct
+            these schools share in the apostolic mission of the
+            Church. Every catechetical instruction, every word of
+            exhortation or encouragement to right living and doing
+            which is given in the class-room, is a participation by
+            the teacher in the pastorate of souls, in the
+            announcing and preaching of the Gospel, in the
+            spreading of the Kingdom of God. Without the aid of the
+            school, the pastor ordinarily could not properly teach
+            the young their prayers and catechism, prepare them for
+            the sacraments, and equip them for the manifold
+            exigencies of life.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            "Religious education is our most distinctive work,"
+            says Archbishop Spalding, of Peoria. "It gives us a
+            place apart in the life of the country. It is
+            indispensable to the welfare and progress of the Church
+            in the United States, and will be recognized in the end
+            as the most vital contribution to American
+            civilization. Fortunate are they, who by words or deeds
+            confirm our faith in the need of Catholic schools; and
+            yet more fortunate are they who, while they inspire our
+            teachers with new courage and zeal, awaken in the
+            young, to whom God has given a heart and a mind, an
+            efficacious desire to devote themselves to the little
+            ones whom Christ loves. What better work, in the
+            present time, can any of us do than foster vocations to
+            our Brotherhoods and Sisterhoods, whose special mission
+            is teaching?"
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            And Brother Azarias assures us that "There is not in
+            this world among human callings a more sacred one than
+            that of moulding souls to higher and better things."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Bishop Byrne, of Nashville, has well said: "The office
+            of teaching has an advantage in some respects over the
+            priesthood. The teachers are constantly with their
+            pupils, shaping their souls, coloring them, informing
+            them, making them instinct with life and motives, and
+            giving them high ideals and worthy aspirations. In all
+            this their work is akin to that of the confessor."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The need of more teaching Brothers and Sisters is
+            particularly urgent and pressing, as the number of
+            pupils is increasing proportionately faster than the
+            number of religious subjects, and the dearth of
+            teachers prevents the opening of new schools in many
+            places where they are demanded, and also hinders the
+            development of the existing schools. This is the
+            opinion of Bishop Alerding, who wrote: "The Church is
+            being hampered in her work of educating her youth
+            because the number of teachers, Brothers and Sisters,
+            is inadequate." And Bishop McQuaid did not hesitate to
+            say that, "the most pressing want of the Church in
+            America at the present time is that of Brothers to
+            assist in teaching our boys."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            In this connection we may observe that some virtuous
+            and self-effacing souls, after the example of St.
+            Francis of Assisi, have a dread of assuming the
+            responsibilities of the priesthood, and there are many
+            others who are debarred from aspiring to that dignity
+            by insufficiency of education. Young men of either of
+            these classes have a splendid opportunity before them
+            to serve God by joining a teaching congregation of
+            Brothers.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Finally, as an encouragement to Christian teachers in
+            their glorious apostolate, let them remember the great
+            reward awaiting their unselfish labors. The Book of
+            Daniel (xii: 3), tells us that "They who instruct many
+            to justice shall shine as stars for all eternity." The
+            inspired writer compares teachers to the stars of
+            heaven, for as the latter illumine the darkness of
+            night, so they who instruct others dispel the darkness
+            of ignorance by shedding the rays of wisdom and
+            knowledge into the minds of their disciples. But there
+            is a deeper meaning in this text, for according to the
+            interpretation of theologians, it contains the
+            assurance to those who teach others their duty, of a
+            special reward or golden crown in heaven, called the
+            Doctor's or Teacher's Aureole. The exact nature of this
+            privilege, whether it is a special gift of loving God
+            or a distinctive garb of glory, we do not know, but as
+            the martyrs and virgins have their special aureole, so
+            will teachers have theirs.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Father Croiset exclaims: "Oh! the beautiful and rich
+            crowns which God prepares for a religious who inspires
+            little children with a horror of vice and a love of
+            virtue! . . . What sweet consolation will be
+            experienced at the moment of death by the religious
+            when he beholds coming to his aid those souls whom he
+            has helped to save." And we may faintly conceive the
+            transport of one who enters heaven accompanied by the
+            resplendent retinue of those whom he has brought with
+            him from earth.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            This chapter would not be complete without a word of
+            encouragement to those young men and women whose
+            education is so deficient that they feel incompetent to
+            teach, and so turn away in sadness from the portals of
+            religion, thinking there is no room for them within.
+            Such persons should know that any one who is skilled in
+            a trade, such as that of carpentering, painting,
+            tailoring, or sewing, can be of the greatest utility
+            and acceptability to a community. And there are many
+            offices of a domestic nature, such as that of porter,
+            sacristan, refectorian and steward, which require
+            little preparatory training and can be filled by any
+            one of intelligence and good will.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Nor should persons engaged in such duties entertain the
+            notion that they will not share in the full spiritual
+            privileges of the Order; for by the assistance they
+            give to the other members they are contributing to the
+            end and aim of the Institute and communicate in all the
+            good works performed by it. An edifying incident,
+            illustrative of this point, is told of a famous
+            preacher who moved hearts in a wondrous fashion, and
+            when he was tempted to self-complacency in his success,
+            it was revealed to him that the results of his
+            preaching were due, not to his own eloquence or zeal,
+            but to the prayers of the unobserved lay-brother, who
+            always sat at the foot of the pulpit, telling his beads
+            for the efficacy of the sermon.
+        </p><br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="13">CHAPTER XIII</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            SHOWING THE WAY
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            When young people read or hear of persons entering
+            religious life, they are apt to say, "Oh, it is easy
+            for them, because they are holy; but it is impossible
+            for me who have so little virtue!" But, as a matter of
+            fact, these religious have the same passions and
+            temptations to overcome, the same flesh and blood, as
+            ourselves, and it was only by conquering themselves,
+            and struggling with their lower inclinations, that they
+            obtained the victory.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            A boy was standing one day at a country railway station
+            in the United States, when he met an older boy with
+            whom he engaged in conversation. His casual
+            acquaintance confided to him that he was going off to
+            college to prepare for entrance into a certain
+            religious Order; and he urged the younger lad to
+            accompany him for the same purpose. But the latter
+            replied, "Oh! they wouldn't have me, for I am poor,
+            uneducated and every way unfit." The other insisted,
+            however, and finally prevailed on him to board with him
+            the incoming train. They repaired to the superior of
+            the religious Order, who received them kindly, and sent
+            them both to a boarding school. After a short time the
+            senior student was caught stealing, and dismissed from
+            the college. His whilom companion, however, persevered
+            in his good design, achieved honors in his studies, and
+            finally becoming a religious and a priest, he is today
+            doing effective work in the vineyard of the Lord.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            A story is told of a religious who gave a letter to a
+            young man, in which he recommended him as a suitable
+            candidate for his Order, bidding him present the letter
+            to the superior, who lived at a distance. The young
+            man, desirous of joining the Order, started on his
+            journey with a companion named Mathias, who had no
+            notion of becoming a religious. On the way, the
+            would-be religious changed his mind, and abandoning his
+            project, gave the letter to Mathias, who was ignorant
+            of its contents, requesting him to bring it to the
+            superior. The superior read the letter, and thinking
+            the recommendation referred to Mathias, said to him,
+            "Very well, you may go to the novitiate, and put on the
+            habit." Mathias wondered, but obeyed, entered the
+            novitiate, and became a holy religious.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, and the foremost man
+            of his age, was so handsome and attractive in youth,
+            that the evil-minded laid snares against his chastity.
+            To escape their wiles he determined to enter the
+            Cistercian monastery of Citeaux. His father and
+            brothers endeavored to dissuade him from his purpose,
+            but instead, by his fervid exhortations, he induced
+            four of his brothers and others, to the number of
+            thirty, to enter with him. As the party was leaving
+            home, little Nivard, the sole remaining boy of the
+            family, was at play with some companions. Guido, the
+            eldest of the brothers, embraced him and said, "My dear
+            Nivard, we are going, and this castle and lands will
+            all be yours." The child, "with wisdom beyond his
+            years," the chronicler tells us, "replied, 'what, are
+            you taking heaven for yourselves, and leaving earth to
+            me? The division is not fair.'" And from that day
+            nothing could pacify the boy, until he was permitted to
+            join his brothers.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            St. Alphonsus Liguori, who is said to have always
+            preserved his baptismal innocence, was so brilliant a
+            student that at the age of sixteen he had obtained two
+            degrees in the University of Naples. Entering on the
+            practice of the law, he one day in a trial before the
+            court, by an oversight, misstated the evidence. His
+            attention being called to his error, he was so
+            overwhelmed with shame and confusion at his apparent
+            lack of truthfulness, that on returning home he
+            exclaimed, "World, I know you now, Courts, you shall
+            never see me more." And for three days he refused food.
+            He then determined to become a priest, and in the
+            ministry he attained great sanctity. He founded the
+            well-known Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer,
+            commonly called the Redemptorists; and for his
+            voluminous doctrinal writings, Pius IX declared him a
+            Doctor of the universal Church.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The story of the entrance of St. Stanislaus Kostka into
+            religion reads like a romance. His father, a Polish
+            nobleman, had placed him and his older brother, Paul,
+            at the Jesuit College in Vienna. When Stanislaus was
+            fifteen years of age he applied for admission into the
+            Jesuit Order, but as he had not the consent of his
+            father, the superior feared to take him. An illness
+            supervened, and the Blessed Virgin came to cure him,
+            and giving the child Jesus into his arms, said to him,
+            "You must end your days in the Society that bears my
+            Son's name; you must become a Jesuit."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Notwithstanding the vision, poor Stanislaus was again
+            refused by the Jesuit superior. Not knowing what other
+            step to take, he thought that by traveling four hundred
+            miles to Augsburg, in Germany, the Jesuit Provincial of
+            that province, who at the time was Blessed Peter
+            Canisius, might receive him, for his jurisdiction
+            seemed beyond the influence of Senator Kostka. If again
+            rejected in Augsburg, he was determined to walk eight
+            hundred miles farther to Rome, where he felt sure of
+            securing his heart's desire. Accordingly, one August
+            morning he rose early and telling his servant that he
+            was going out, bade him at the same time inform his
+            brother Paul not to expect him for dinner. With light
+            and joyous heart he started on his journey, and at the
+            first opportunity exchanged his fine clothes for the
+            disguise of a pilgrim's staff and tunic.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            When Paul awoke and learned that Stanislaus was gone
+            for the day, he was surprised, but attributed it to
+            some new pious freak. But as the day wore on, and the
+            shades of evening gathered, with no tidings of his
+            brother, consternation seized Paul, for he realized
+            that his irascible and powerful father would hold him
+            responsible for the safety of the younger boy, whom he
+            loved with a passionate and unbounded affection.
+            Accordingly servants were dispatched in every direction
+            to seek for the truant, but no tidings could be
+            obtained. The conclusion gradually forced itself upon
+            all that Stanislaus had fled, and Paul determined to
+            pursue him and bring him back. For some reason,
+            suspicion was aroused that the runaway had taken the
+            road to Augsburg, and a carriage with two stout horses
+            was ordered for early dawn on the morrow.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Along the highway to Augsburg flew the equipage
+            containing Paul and three companions. Meanwhile, little
+            Stanislaus was trudging bravely along, putting all his
+            confidence in God, when he suddenly heard the rapid
+            beat of horses' hoofs behind him. Suspecting what it
+            meant, he quickly entered a by-lane, and the occupants
+            of the carriage rushed by without seeing, or at least,
+            recognizing, him in his disguise.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Stanislaus continued his pilgrimage in peace, begging
+            his way, for he had no money, and after two weeks, he
+            saw, with inexpressible joy, the roofs and spires of
+            Augsburg gleaming in the setting sun. At last he had
+            reached the haven of rest, and with a bounding heart,
+            the weary boy knocked at the door of the Jesuit
+            college. But alas, for all his hopes! the provincial
+            had gone to Dillingen. The Fathers urged him to stay
+            and rest with them until the provincial's return, but
+            Stanislaus would brook no delay. At once he wended his
+            way toward Dillingen, which he soon reached, and when
+            he knelt at the feet of Blessed Canisius, two saints
+            were face to face. The superior pressed the boy to his
+            heart, and kept him in the college for a few weeks. But
+            as both the elder and younger saint thought Germany
+            still too near the influence of his father for safety,
+            Stanislaus, in company with two religious, set out on a
+            further exhausting walk of eight hundred miles to Rome,
+            where he was received as a Jesuit novice by the General
+            of the Order, St. Francis Borgia.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The angelic boy had at last finished his long
+            pilgrimages, he had entered the earthly paradise for
+            which he had yearned, and for which he had forsaken
+            home, rank and country. But the happiness of religion
+            he soon exchanged for the joys of heaven, for before
+            completing his eighteenth year, and while still a
+            novice, he closed his eyes on this world to open them
+            in company with Mary and the angels on the Beatific
+            Vision.
+        </p><br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="14">CHAPTER XIV</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            THE PARENTS' PART
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            The home is the nursery of vocations. Most religious
+            can trace the beginnings of their resolve to leave all
+            to the influence of saintly parents and a Christian
+            home. If the parents cultivate faith, charity and
+            industry the fragrance of these virtues will cling
+            round the walls of their dwelling, and perfume the
+            lives of their children.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Every Christian home should be a convent in miniature,
+            filled with the same spirit, productive of the same
+            virtues. It should be a cloister, forbidding entrance
+            to the world and its vanities, and harboring within
+            gentle peace and happiness. Poverty should dwell there,
+            not in the narrower meaning of distress and want, but
+            in the wider acceptation of simplicity, frugality and
+            temperance as opposed to extravagance, display and
+            ostentation. Purity, too, should reign as queen of the
+            hearth, regulating the glance of the eye, the
+            conversation, and even the thoughts of the occupants.
+            And union and harmony of wills, without which the idea
+            of home is inconceivable, can come only through
+            obedience which binds the children to parents, wife to
+            husband, and all to God.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            But, unfortunately, this is not always the case. From
+            many domiciles peace and tranquillity have fled, giving
+            place to frivolity, vanity and worldliness and all
+            their attendant train of vices. How many parents,
+            deceived by the wisdom of the flesh, seek their own
+            gratification in all things, and denying their children
+            nothing that luxury or extravagance craves, pamper and
+            spoil them by indulging their every whim. To train up
+            the young to the steady and uncompromising fulfilment
+            of duty is the only means to produce a hardy and sturdy
+            generation of men and women, whose fidelity can be
+            relied on in the trials and emergencies of after-life.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            But some fathers and mothers, when their children call
+            for bread, reverse the parable by giving them a stone,
+            and when they ask for an egg, give them a scorpion. We
+            can imagine with what righteous indignation Our Lord
+            would have denounced such a mode of action. Foolish
+            parents even of limited means dress their girls in
+            expensive and gaudy apparel, which not only offends
+            against taste and economy, but sometimes transgresses
+            the laws of modesty and decency. Familiarity between
+            the sexes is permitted and encouraged by doting and
+            foolish mothers, who introduce their sons and daughters
+            to juvenile society functions, receptions, parties and
+            unbecoming dances; so that children who should be at
+            their lessons or playing healthful games with suitable
+            companions, are taught to affect society manners after
+            the most approved fashion of their silly elders.
+            Persons of this stamp may prepare for a rude awakening,
+            for the day of reckoning for themselves and children
+            will be sure and terrible.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Many parents, while indeed quite solicitous according
+            to their lights, for the temporal good of their
+            offspring, training them to a trade or profession, or
+            settling them in marriage, devote but little thought to
+            their spiritual welfare. They dread a vocation in their
+            family as a catastrophe. It would be well, indeed, for
+            persons of this character to ponder the words of the
+            Pastoral Letter of the Second Council of Baltimore: "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."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            How much better it were for parents to propose to the
+            young the promise of Our Lord, "And every one that hath
+            left house, or brothers or sisters or father or mother
+            or wife or children or lands for my name, shall receive
+            a hundredfold, and possess life everlasting." (Matt.
+            xix: 29.) Many a one, whose wayward child has brought
+            dishonor and shame to the family, realizes when all too
+            late the happiness that might have been his had such a
+            child only elected the religious state.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Instead of throwing obstacles in the way of a vocation,
+            those who are appreciative of spiritual things feel
+            honored that God has chosen one of their family circle
+            for His special service. Persons whose sons obtain high
+            position in the army, court or government employ, take
+            a just pride in the distinction thus attained, but such
+            temporal honors cannot be compared with the singular
+            privilege of serving in God's own courts, and dwelling
+            within His sanctuary. Bishop Schrembs, of Toledo, aptly
+            advises pastors "to teach young parents that the
+            service of God is even more glorious than that of
+            country, for as St. Jerome says, 'Such a service
+            establishes ties of relationship between the family and
+            Jesus Christ Himself.'"
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Nor do parents, as they sometimes fear, lose a son or
+            daughter who enters religion. One who marries is in a
+            certain sense lost to the parent, for the
+            responsibilities of his new state of life so absorb his
+            energies as to leave him but little opportunity to
+            concern himself about his old home. And frequently
+            distance entirely severs his connection with it. But
+            one who enters God's house does not contract new family
+            alliances, his heart remains free, and though separated
+            from parents, his affection is always true to them, he
+            thinks of them as in his childhood days, and he never
+            ceases to importune the blessings of heaven upon them.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            In fact, we may say that a vocation is not strictly an
+            individual, but rather a family possession. A call to
+            God implies sacrifice on the part of the family, as
+            well as of the individual, for while he gives up
+            parents, brothers and sisters, they, too, must part
+            with him. And as they share in the renunciation, they
+            participate also in its merit and reward. In God's
+            household the religious represents his family, he works
+            and prays by proxy for them, and they share in his
+            graces and good deeds. Is it not a matter of daily
+            experience that the family of a religious, particularly
+            the parents, receive abundant graces, that God leads
+            them in various ways to greater fidelity in His
+            service, to a love of prayer and higher perfection?
+            Parents of religious frequently become religious
+            themselves at heart, and though not clothed with the
+            habit, they share in the "hundredfold" promised to the
+            child.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            "It is the glory of a large and happy Catholic family
+            to produce a vocation," says Rev. Joseph Rickaby, S.J.
+            "A sound Catholic is glad to have brother or sister,
+            uncle or aunt, or cousin or child, 'who has pleased God
+            and is found no more' in the ordinary walks of life,
+            because God hath taken and translated him to something
+            higher and better."
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Parents and teachers, then, who do not hesitate to
+            incline the minds of children to a professional career,
+            should have no fear also to direct their thoughts to
+            higher things. To praise in the family circle the
+            priestly or religious life, to express the hope and
+            desire that one or more of the children may have the
+            great happiness of such a profession, to offer them
+            daily in prayer to God, to train them to piety and
+            devotion, these are all praiseworthy in a father or
+            mother, and if faithfully practiced in all families
+            would doubtless greatly increase the number of God's
+            chosen servants.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Anything approaching coercion or excessive urging
+            should, of course, be avoided, because moral violence
+            should not be done to the child's will. But the remark
+            sometimes made by well-meaning mothers, "O, I would not
+            say a word to influence my child towards religion, for
+            fear of interfering with God's work," shows a
+            lamentable ignorance of the nature of a vocation. One
+            might almost as well say, "O, I am careful not to
+            contribute to the building of a church, because if God
+            wants it built, He will not need any help." If all
+            persons thought thus, such a church would be long in
+            building.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Most of God's works require our cooperation. He designs
+            them and we must carry them out. Many a great project
+            has depended on a timely word, or on the exertions of
+            some man who rose to the occasion. Andrew and John were
+            sent to Our Lord by St. John the Baptist, and they
+            became apostles; and if Andrew had not "found his
+            brother Simon and brought him to Jesus," who knows
+            whether Christ would not have found it necessary to
+            appoint another head of the Church in place of Simon
+            Peter?
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            To parents, then, belongs the singular privilege of
+            training their children to tender piety, of directing
+            their thoughts to spiritual things; and fidelity to
+            this trust will give us a glorious generation of men
+            and women ready to risk all, to sacrifice all in the
+            service of their Creator.
+        </p><br>
+        <h1>
+            <a name="15">CHAPTER XV</a>
+        </h1>
+        <h2>
+            A PARTING WORD
+        </h2>
+        <p>
+            Now, dear reader, that you and the writer have kept
+            company thus far, he is reluctant to part from you. But
+            if you perceive within you the germ of a vocation, he
+            begs you not to crush it. If in your heart there is a
+            spark of that celestial fire, which may be fanned to a
+            consuming flame of divine love, keep it burning.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Preserve your soul, oh! so perfectly from the slightest
+            touch of evil, remembering that the least deliberate
+            venial sin stains it more than we can comprehend. Above
+            all, cherish holy purity, that exquisite ornament of
+            youth, which, like a polished gem, may so easily lose
+            its lustre. Guard the avenues of your soul, your sight
+            and hearing and the other senses, through which
+            contamination from without is always seeking to enter
+            and defile the beauty of God's handiwork. About us is
+            an atmosphere of worldliness, which we imperceptibly
+            breathe in from the words of companions, from the
+            printed page, and the example of the careless. Shun
+            companionship with the frivolous, vanity of dress, and
+            that indiscriminate reading which only feeds an idle
+            curiosity. The theatres of our day are especially
+            dangerous to virtue, and he who stays away from them
+            entirely, will consult his own advantage, as well as
+            please God.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            In this soft and luxurious age the popular trend is to
+            self-gratification in all its forms. But the true
+            Christian must ever strive against corrupt nature, if
+            he would not be carried away by the stream of
+            voluptuousness. Self-denial is the watchword of
+            Christianity. All are called to the practice of penance
+            in some shape or form, the best usually being the exact
+            performance of duty. The young of school age will find
+            a strong shelter from temptation in the scrupulous and
+            enthusiastic performance of their daily tasks and
+            lessons. That small boy had caught the true spirit, who
+            used to rise early, to prepare himself, as he said, for
+            the "missionary" life, to which he aspired.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            A material help for boys to prepare for future life, is
+            to serve at the altar. He who sacrifices his morning
+            sleep, overcoming sloth, to minister to the priest at
+            Mass, is already, by a privilege, fulfilling the
+            functions of one of the minor orders, that of the
+            acolyte. The devout server at Mass shares in its graces
+            next to the celebrant, and more than the ordinary
+            faithful who assist at it; and many an altar-boy, as he
+            glided about the sanctuary, mingling with the invisible
+            angels who hovered around the Victim of sacrifice, has
+            felt the seeds of vocation sprouting in his soul.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Devotion to the Mother of God should also be a
+            characteristic of youth. She sympathizes with us, as
+            only a mother can, in all our difficulties and trials.
+            She fully appreciates what we have to contend with, she
+            sees our weakness, the strength of our passions, the
+            temptations we encounter, and she is eager to throw
+            about us the mantle of her protection, if we will only
+            ask her. Never a day should pass without our commending
+            ourselves earnestly to her motherly heart, for she is
+            even more interested in our welfare than we ourselves.
+            She is powerful to aid us, since all good things come
+            to us through her; and she will choose for her devout
+            clients the career in which they may best serve God.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            By a strange perversion of mind, we often seek to
+            unravel the perplexities of life, without recourse to
+            prayer. When involved in business anxieties, men spend
+            days of worry in wrestling with them, without perhaps
+            asking the Father of Lights for guidance. And the young
+            also, who must settle for themselves their future
+            career, frequently strive to do so, without the help of
+            heaven. They perhaps consult human advisers, but fail
+            to consult God, the best of counsellors, Who alone can
+            see behind the veil of the future, and infallibly tell
+            what is best for us.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            In coming to any important decision, light and strength
+            are needed, light to know the pathway of duty, and
+            strength to follow it. On account of the obscurities
+            and half-lights of our intellect, we perceive but
+            dimly, and often fail to discern the true from the
+            false. The illumination of the white light of Truth is
+            needed to flood the dark recesses of the mind. And even
+            when the truth stands clearly revealed, we are often
+            too indolent or enervated to embrace it; we need the
+            tonic of resolution and courage, which can be infused
+            into us only from on high.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            The trustful child of God should, day by day, commend
+            his future into the hands of his heavenly Father,
+            praying Him to shape his life and career. Each one has
+            his own talents, one or many, but he cannot hope to
+            trade or barter with them in a fruitful way unless the
+            Giver of them bless his efforts. Our constant prayer,
+            then, should be for the fulfilment of God's will in our
+            regard, with the lively faith that whatever we ask will
+            be granted.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            And of all prayers and devotions, can any be more
+            efficacious or salutary than the frequent reception of
+            the Holy Eucharist? Our Holy Father, Pius X, desires
+            the boys and girls of the whole world to be nourished
+            daily, from the tenderest years, with the Bread of
+            Life, that they may wax strong in the spiritual life,
+            and grow up virile Christians. One Holy Communion,
+            received fervently, should be sufficient to sanctify a
+            soul and awake in it the desire of closest union with
+            Christ, of self-immolation on the altar of Divine Love.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            Then what of the soul which is daily nourished with the
+            "Wheat of the Elect and the Wine that springeth forth
+            Virgins?" (Zach. ix: 17.) Holy Communion has been
+            styled the "Marriage Supper of the Lamb," wherein
+            Christ caresses the soul, communicates to it sweetest
+            secrets, and touching it with the ardent flames of His
+            own Heart, purifies it from attachment to creatures,
+            and sets it aglow with the white heat of charity. The
+            frequent communicant, then, is surest of knowing and
+            doing God's will.
+        </p>
+        <p>
+            In conclusion, the writer may be allowed to indulge the
+            hope that more than one reader may be impelled to
+            aspire to the virgin's aureole, the special privilege
+            of joining the one hundred and forty-four thousand,
+            whom St. John, in the vision of the Apocalypse, saw
+            following the Lamb, whithersoever He went, and singing
+            a canticle that none else could sing, "because they
+            were virgins."
+        </p>
+        <hr width="15%">
+        <p>
+            Go now, little book, fly away to some perplexed soul
+            who is anxious to discover the secrets of the Divine
+            Will; and whisper it a message of peace and
+            consolation, telling it that, "Eye hath not seen, nor
+            ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man,
+            what things God hath prepared for them that love Him."
+            (I Cor. ii: 9.)
+        </p><br>
+        <br>
+        <br>
+        <h1>
+            PRAYER FOR THE RIGHT CHOICE OF A STATE OF LIFE.
+        </h1>
+        <p>
+            O Thou, the God of wisdom and counsel, Who dost
+            perceive in my heart a sincere desire of pleasing Thee
+            alone, and of conforming myself entirely to Thy most
+            holy will in the choice of my state of life, grant me,
+            I beseech Thee, through the intercession of the Blessed
+            Virgin, my mother, and of my patron saints, especially
+            St. Joseph and St. Aloysius, the grace to know what
+            state of life I should choose, and when known to
+            embrace it, so that I may seek and spread therein Thy
+            glory, work out my salvation, and merit that reward in
+            heaven which Thou hast promised to those who fulfill
+            Thy divine will. Amen.
+        </p>
+        <hr width="15%">
+        <p>
+            An indulgence of three hundred days, once a day, for
+            the above prayer, granted by Pope Pius X, May 2, 1905.
+        </p><br>
+        <br>
+        <br>
+        <p>
+            THE FRANK MEANY CO., PRINTERS, INC., NEW YORK
+        </p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's What Shall I Be?, by Rev. Francis Cassily
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHAT SHALL I BE? ***
+
+***** This file should be named 31688-h.htm or 31688-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/6/8/31688/
+
+Produced by Michael Gray
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+    </body>
+</html>
diff --git a/31688-h/images/cross.jpg b/31688-h/images/cross.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..47625d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31688-h/images/cross.jpg
diff --git a/31688-h/images/frontispiece.jpg b/31688-h/images/frontispiece.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..46ce443
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31688-h/images/frontispiece.jpg
diff --git a/31688-h/images/frontispiece_large.jpg b/31688-h/images/frontispiece_large.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b5deb0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31688-h/images/frontispiece_large.jpg
diff --git a/31688.txt b/31688.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0514b7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31688.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2702 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of What Shall I Be?, by Rev. Francis Cassily
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: What Shall I Be?
+       A Chat With Young People
+
+Author: Rev. Francis Cassily
+
+Other: A. J. Burrows
+       Remegius Lafort
+       Cardinal John Murphy Farley
+
+Release Date: March 18, 2010 [EBook #31688]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHAT SHALL I BE? ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Michael Gray
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Christ and the rich young man]
+
+If thou wilt be perfect go sell what thou hast and give to the poor,
+and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven and come follow Me.
+                           --Matt. xix: 21.
+
+
+
+  WHAT SHALL I BE?
+  A CHAT WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
+
+  BY THE
+  REVEREND FRANCIS CASSILLY, S.J.
+
+
+  "And every one that hath left house, or brothers, or sisters, or
+  father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for My name, shall
+  receive a hundredfold, and shall possess life everlasting." (Matt.
+  xix: 29)
+
+
+
+  NEW YORK
+  THE AMERICA PRESS
+  1914
+
+
+
+  IMPRIMI POTEST
+           A. J. BURROWES, S.J.
+                   _Provincial Missouri Province_
+
+  NIHIL OBSTAT
+           REMEGIUS LAFORT
+                   _Censor_
+
+  IMPRIMATUR
+            JOHN CARDINAL FARLEY
+                   _Archbishop of New York_
+
+
+
+  COPYRIGHT 1914
+  BY
+  THE AMERICA PRESS
+
+
+
+LETTER TO THE AUTHOR
+FROM REVEREND A. VERMEERSCH, S.J.
+
+            Louvain, le 23 fevrier, 1914.
+
+Mon Reverend Pere: P. C.
+
+Votre petit livre me plait extremement. Il expose une doctrine tres
+solide avec une merveilleuse clarte. D' une lecture agreable, il
+interessera la jeunesse des ecoles, et l'encouragera a faire un choix
+genereux d' etat de vie. J' estime que, traduit en flamand et en
+francais, il ferait egalement du bien a nos collegiens de Belgique.
+
+                   Votre devoue en N. S. et M. I.
+                           A. Vermeersch.
+
+TRANSLATION
+
+My Reverend Father:
+
+Your little book pleases me exceedingly. Its doctrine is very sound
+and set forth with wonderful clearness. It makes pleasant reading, and
+will interest the young of school age, and encourage them to make a
+generous choice of a state of life. In my opinion, a Flemish and
+French translation would also be profitable to our college students in
+Belgium.
+
+Devotedly yours in Our Lord and Mary Immaculate,
+                 A. Vermeersch.
+
+
+
+  TO THE THOUSANDS
+  OF TRUE-HEARTED BOYS AND GIRLS
+  HE HAS BEEN BLESSED TO KNOW
+  OF WHOM
+  SOME ARE GONE TO HEAVEN
+  AND MANY ARE BATTLING FOR THE RIGHT
+  IN THE SANCTUARY
+  THE CLOISTER OR THE WORLD
+  AND WITH ALL OF WHOM
+  HE HOPES ONE DAY TO BE REUNITED
+  FOREVERMORE
+  IN GOD'S OWN COURTS
+  THIS LITTLE BOOK
+  IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
+  BY THE AUTHOR
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+In this little book the writer has aimed to present, in brief and
+simple form, sound principles which may assist the young in deciding
+their future course of life. The subject of vocation, as it is called,
+has suffered much, during the last two or three centuries, at the
+hands of rigorist authors, who so hedged the approach to religious
+life with difficulties and restrictions, as to frighten or repel many
+aspiring hearts from it.
+
+Great stress was laid by these writers on the special interior
+attraction, by which God was supposed always to manifest His call, so
+that no one might legitimately enter the state of perfection, unless
+he felt this unmistakable impulse from within. And on the other hand,
+given this evidence of the Divine predilection, to disregard it was a
+sinful preferring of one's own will to God's, which, in all
+likelihood, would be attended with grave consequences for this world
+and the next.
+
+Spiritual writers of the last decade have been rereading the Fathers
+and great Theologians upon this subject, and as a result the cobwebs
+of misconception are being swept away. The Reverend A. Vermeersch,
+S.J., of Louvain, deserves the gratitude of all for his lucid and
+convincing treatment of religious vocation, in his "De Religiosis
+Institutis et Personis" (Vol. II, Supplement III; also Vol. I, P. 4,
+C. I), where he clearly shows from Scripture, the writings of the
+Fathers and leading theologians, the true nature of the invitation to
+the evangelical life. The reader is also referred to the article on
+"Vocation," by the same author, in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
+
+Another document throwing light on the subject, is the Decree of July
+15, 1912, framed by a special commission of Cardinals appointed to
+examine the work of Canon Joseph Lahitton on "La Vocation
+Sacerdotale." This Decree, approved by the Holy Father, contains the
+following passage: Vocation to the priesthood "by no means consists,
+at least necessarily and according to the ordinary law, in a certain
+interior inclination of the person, or promptings of the Holy Spirit,
+to enter the priesthood. But on the contrary, nothing more is required
+of the person to be ordained, in order that he may be called by the
+bishop, than that he have a right intention, and such fitness of
+nature and grace, as evidenced in integrity of life and sufficiency of
+learning, which will give a well-founded hope of his rightly
+discharging the office and obligations of the priesthood." This Decree
+does away, at once, with the special spiritual attraction, always and
+essentially required by so many for vocation to the priesthood.
+
+It may not be rash to conclude, in a similar way, of a religious
+vocation "that nothing more is required of the person who is a
+candidate for religious life, in order that he may be admitted to the
+novitiate by the lawful superior of an order, than that he have a
+right intention, and such fitness of nature and grace required by the
+order, as will give a well-founded hope of his rightly discharging the
+obligations of the religious life in that order."
+
+The present treatise aims at no more than putting in form suitable to
+the young the sound conclusions of such reliable authors as Father
+Vermeersch, Canon Lahitton and Rev. P. Bouvier, S.J.
+
+As to the advisability of priests, parents and teachers fostering and
+developing in the young the desire of a religious life, the words of
+St. Thomas are positive: "They who induce others to enter religion,
+not only commit no sin, but even merit a great reward." (Summa, 2a,
+2ae, Quaest. 189, art. 9.)
+
+And the Third Council of Baltimore, urging priests to develop
+vocations to the priesthood, says: "We exhort in the Lord and
+earnestly entreat pastors and other priests diligently to search after
+and find out, among the boys committed to their care, those who seem
+suited and called to the clerical state. If they find any boys of good
+disposition, of pious inclination, of devout and generous minds, and
+able to learn; who give promise of persevering in the sacred ministry,
+let them nourish the zeal of such, and sedulously foster these
+precious germs of vocation." (Paragraph 136.)
+
+Priests, teachers, confessors and others who have dealings with the
+young, will find it very practical to have at hand several copies of
+some reliable booklet on the priesthood and religious life, which they
+may give or lend, as occasion offers, to promising boys and girls.
+Such books will, at least, make their readers think, and God's grace
+frequently acts through the medium of the written or spoken word.
+
+_Creighton University, Omaha,
+     Easter Sunday, 1914._
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+  CHAPTER
+     I Getting a Start
+    II Aiming High
+   III The State of Perfection
+    IV Who Are Invited?
+     V Does Christ Want Me?
+    VI I Feel No Attraction
+   VII Suppose I Make a Mistake?
+  VIII The World Needs Me
+    IX Must I Accept the Invitation?
+     X I Am Too Young
+    XI The Priesthood
+   XII The Teacher's Aureole
+  XIII Showing the Way
+   XIV The Parents' Part
+    XV A Parting Word
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+GETTING A START
+
+Youth is the dream time of life. It views the world through the prism
+of fancy, tinting all with rainbow colors. It lives in a creation of
+its own, where it rules with magic wand, conjuring into its realm the
+beautiful, the heroic and the magnificent, and banishing only the
+prosaic and commonplace. To the youthful dreamer, every ruler is
+all-powerful, every soldier brave, every fire-fighter a hero, and every
+editor a wizard, at whose nod the news of the world flies to the huge
+cylinder presses, and then flutters away in white-winged sheets
+through town and country.
+
+But gradually, the stern realities of life forcing themselves on the
+maturing mind, it realizes that it must choose from the various
+activities that make up the sum of human existence. The thoughtful boy
+and girl then begin to ask the question, "What shall I be?" or "What
+shall I do?" The various walks of life spread out before them like a
+maze of tracks in a railway station, all leading away in dwindling
+perspective to the witching land of the unknown.
+
+An ambitious boy views with delight the various professions, and
+pictures to himself in turn the great deeds and triumphs of the
+soldier, the statesman, the lawyer, the physician, the architect, and
+finally perhaps the electrician, who plays with the lightning and
+harnesses it to the ever-extending service of mankind. All these are
+votaries of noble avocations, and he who excels in any one of them is
+a hero, and a benefactor of his kind. Every occupation which is useful
+to the human race, which contributes to the sum of man's comfort and
+happiness, is laudable and worthy an intelligent being. St. Paul was a
+tent-maker by trade, and he gloried in the fact that, even during the
+days of his apostleship, he was not a burden to others, but supported
+himself by the labor of his hands.
+
+Life pursuits rank in dignity and worth, according to the perfection
+or benefit they bestow upon the worker himself, and his fellow-man.
+Far above the artisan or husbandman, who occupies himself with the
+material needs of his neighbor, with providing him food, raiment and
+shelter, rise the teacher, writer and professional man, who minister
+to the needs of the mind. And highest, perhaps, of natural callings is
+the conduct of the government, which gives peace, order and happiness
+to entire nations.
+
+But not every pursuit is suited to all dispositions, nor can any one
+hope to excel in all trades and professions. The strength of body and
+skill of hand required of a mechanic may be lacking to a professional
+man, and the long years of study and experience demanded of a
+physician are possible to but few. Nature destines some for a life of
+action and adventure, for the command of armies or the conquering of
+the wilderness; others it dowers with literary tastes, or the power to
+thrill an audience or guide a State.
+
+No one is necessarily tied down to any special occupation of life.
+According to your disposition and character, your ability and
+inclination, education and training, you are free to select any sphere
+of action within your reach and opportunity. But this very freedom of
+choice sometimes leads to mistakes. One without the proper temperament
+or ability, lacking in patience and sympathy, and unable to make a
+diagnosis, aims to be a physician, and he becomes only a quack. Many a
+one, who aspires to direct the destinies of the State, achieves only
+the station of a political subordinate or spoilsman. And one whom
+nature destines for the free and independent life of a farmer, often
+sentences himself to life imprisonment behind the "cribbed and
+cabined" desk of a counting house.
+
+Perhaps the most frequent mistake of young people is to tear
+themselves away from school, where they have the opportunity to
+prepare themselves for the higher positions of life, and by so doing
+deliberately limit themselves to a life of mediocrity. They have an
+ambition, but a false one. Eager to enter, though unprepared, the
+arena of life and accomplish great deeds, they lack the student's
+patience and industry, which would crown them in after years with the
+laurel of success.
+
+Be ambitious then, my young friend, aim high in life; endeavor to
+achieve something great for yourself and for mankind. You will have
+only one life in this world, then make the most of it. Take advantage
+of your opportunities. Attend school as long as you can, because
+generally the greater your knowledge and learning, your training and
+preparation, the higher and wider the career that will open before
+you.
+
+All legitimate pursuits of life have been illustrated and adorned by
+numberless Christian heroes and heroines, who served God, sanctified
+themselves, and brought glory to the Christian name by their fidelity
+to duty. Would you be a soldier? Could there be more glorious names
+than those of St. Sebastian and St. Martin; the Crusader, Godfrey de
+Bouillon, and the Grand Knight of Malta, de la Valette?
+
+Do you long to ride the ocean waves, and brave the tempest? What more
+heroic predecessor would you have than the great "Admiral," the
+navigator and discoverer, Columbus? If your ambition be to sit in the
+councils of State, to steer your country safely through breakers and
+shoals, fix your gaze on Sir Thomas More, Daniel O'Connell, Windthorst
+or Garcia Moreno--Christian heroes all.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+AIMING HIGH
+
+In a garden are flowers varying in hue and form and size. The roses
+blow red and white and pink, scenting the air with their myriad
+petals, the lilies lift up their delicate calyxes to the wandering
+bee, the perfumed violets hide their modest heads in beds of green,
+and the fuchsias sway from their stems in languid beauty. But varied
+as are the flowers in charm, each is perfect of its kind. No artist
+could improve their tints nor trace truer curves; no carver chisel
+more delicate or finished forms.
+
+And God's Church is a spiritual garden, where bloom souls varying in
+every virtue, charm and grace, and all breathing forth the good odor
+of Christ. In it are school-boys, gentle maidens, devoted mothers and
+fathers of families, rich and poor of every nation and clime, of every
+station and calling. God made them all; He loves them all, and on each
+He has grafted the bud of faith, which will blossom forth into all
+supernatural virtues.
+
+God also wishes each one in His garden to be perfect of his kind.
+Jesus, sitting on the Mount of the Beatitudes, and teaching the
+multitudes that were ranged on the grass about Him, bade them "be
+perfect as also your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt. v: 48.) [1]
+This, then, is the perfection Christ expects us to aim at, the
+perfection of God Himself, in Whom there is nor spot nor wrinkle. He
+will not be satisfied with us, so long as low aims, imperfect motives,
+disfigure our souls and stain our conduct.
+
+As St. Paul says in his letter to the Ephesians, God chose us before
+the foundation of the world to be "holy and unspotted in His sight."
+(Eph. i: 4.) In fact, St. Paul, whenever he addresses the Christians,
+calls them "saints" because every Christian man, woman and child, is
+expected to be holy, holy in the grace of God, in conduct, in thought
+and act, at every time and place. Every Christian must be sacred, a
+shrine wherein dwells the Divinity, and whose doors must be closed to
+everything profane. "Know you not, that your members are the temple of
+the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God; and you are not
+your own?" (I Cor. vi: 19.) Your soul, then, my child, is holy,
+consecrate to God, and into it must enter nothing defiled, nothing
+savoring of the world, its maxims and principles. Keep your soul pure
+as the roseate dawn, clear as starlight and bright as the sun.
+
+"Every one of you," said Christ Himself, "who doth not renounce all
+that he possesseth, cannot be my disciple." (Luke xiv: 33.) This seems
+a hard doctrine, for who would be able to give up all he has, parents,
+home and possessions? There are occasions when the love of God and the
+love of creatures come into conflict; and when this occurs the true
+disciple of Christ will not hesitate. He will fearlessly sacrifice
+everything, even life itself, rather than forsake his Creator. The
+martyrs did this. St. Agnes gave up suitor, home and wealth, and laid
+down her innocent young life, to become the spouse of Christ. The boy
+Pancratius faced the panther in the arena, and the yells of a
+bloodthirsty mob, rather than abjure his faith; and so won a martyr's
+crown.
+
+Perfection then is our destiny. In heaven we shall attain to it, and
+in this life we should begin to practice it. If we would have God's
+love in its fulness, if we would always be worthy to nestle in His
+bosom, to feel the arms of His affection drawn close about us, we must
+never sully our conscience with the least taint of sin. For all the
+world we would not offend our parents, and God is to us in place of
+father and mother and all. He is the infinitely perfect; He is love
+and beauty and tenderness itself, and His absorbing desire is to
+reproduce similar qualities in us.
+
+But how are we to be perfect? By always doing His holy Will, as we see
+it and know it, to the best of our ability. Christ issues the clarion
+call to all Christians, to take up their cross daily and follow Him.
+He who always does his best, and, obeying the dictates of conscience,
+walks by faith and charity in all his actions before God, and conducts
+himself in all circumstances of life according to the principles of
+faith and reason, is living up to the Divine call, and striving after
+perfection.
+
+"But are there any such persons in the world?" some one may ask. "They
+say that there is nothing perfect under the sun, and this time-honored
+adage, no doubt, applies to persons as well as to things." It is true
+that very few are perfect in the sense that they sojourn in the world,
+unmoved, like the angels, by the least ruffling of passion. But there
+are many, very many, pure, holy souls, who aim constantly at
+perfection, and who attain to it substantially; for day by day, year
+in and year out, they keep themselves from the guilt of serious sin,
+and delighting to carry out God's will in all their actions,
+frequently draw nigh the Tabernacle to commune in heavenly raptures
+with their Love "behind the trellis."
+
+Nor is the number of these elect souls limited to any one calling or
+profession, for they are found in the seclusion of home, in the
+crowded mart, in the stress of business and professional life. When
+the week-day Mass is over in the parish church, and the little band of
+devout worshippers descend from the church steps, would one not say
+that there is a look of heavenly peace upon their countenances, a
+peace that overflows to their features from the deep well-springs of
+charity within? No legitimate walk of life, then, is alien to
+perfection. All Christians are urged to it; and many attain to it.
+They use the things of this world "as though they used them not,"
+their hearts are free from undue attachment to the possessions of
+earth, and they go through life as pilgrims to their final home; and
+should God be pleased to reward their constancy by sending them trials
+and sufferings, they will come forth from the ordeal like pure,
+refined gold.
+
+
+[1] While this text refers primarily to the perfection of forgiving
+enemies, it is applied also by commentators to perfection in general,
+for the reason that it is closely connected with the preceding and
+following exhortation of Our Lord to many and various virtues. And
+even if the text were limited expressly to one virtue, the fact that
+God's children are urged to the perfection of this virtue because it
+is found perfectly in their Heavenly Father, would seem to imply that
+He, so far as imitable by creatures, is the measure and standard of
+their perfection, and hence, as He is the All-Perfect, that they too
+should strive to be perfect in all virtue.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE STATE OF PERFECTION
+
+Speaking one day to the multitude, Our Lord likened the Kingdom of
+Heaven "to a merchant seeking good pearls, who, finding one pearl of
+great price, went away and sold everything he had and bought it."
+(Matt. xiii: 45-46.) What is this precious pearl that so charmed the
+merchant as to make him sacrifice all he had to gain possession of it?
+It is doubtless the true Church, or faith in Christ, but theologians
+apply the parable also to the highest union with God by charity, or
+Christian perfection. Perfection, then, may be called this lustrous
+pearl, more precious and radiant than any which gleams in royal
+diadem. You may buy it, but the price is the same to all. You must
+offer in exchange all that you have, keeping nothing back. Are you
+willing to make the bargain?
+
+There have been many Christians throughout the centuries who were
+enamored of this perfection. They sighed and longed for it, but, alas!
+the conditions in which they lived, the temptations that lay about
+them, the cares of raising a family and struggling for a livelihood,
+so engrossed their attention and seduced their affections, that they
+almost despaired of living entirely for God, and thus attaining
+perfection. A young man of high aspirations one day came to Jesus, and
+asked Him what he must do to gain eternal life. The Master replied,
+"Keep the commandments." But the young man was not satisfied with
+this; he wished to do something more for heaven, as we learn from his
+reply, "All these have I kept from my youth; what is still wanting to
+me?" Then Jesus spoke the memorable words that have echoed down the
+ages, "If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to
+the poor . . . and come, follow me." (Matt. xix: 21.)
+
+The questioner, so the Scripture records, went away sorrowful, for he
+had great wealth. He was willing, no doubt, to give alms and
+bountifully, but to sacrifice all his possessions and live in
+poverty--this was beyond his generosity. Christ's advice, however, has
+not fallen by the wayside. Theologians tell us that in His brief words
+Our Lord indicated the evangelical life, which He elsewhere explained
+more fully, bidding the youth become poor and then come and follow
+Him in perfect chastity and obedience (Suarez, "De Religione," lib.
+iii, c. 2).
+
+The teaching thus presented by Christ has never been fruitless in the
+Church. Myriads of chosen souls, more magnanimous than the young man,
+have heeded the Saviour's admonition and hastened to sacrifice all for
+His sake. The nature of the evangelical life--so called because taught
+in the "Evangelium," the Latin word for Gospel--consists in the
+practice of the three counsels, voluntary poverty, perfect chastity
+and obedience. And why is the exercise of these three counsels so
+excellent? Because by them a Christian parts with everything that is
+most pleasing to mere nature. By poverty he renounces his possessions
+and the right of ownership; by perfect chastity, the pleasures of the
+body; and by obedience, his free will. Could one do more than to give
+up everything he owns, and then complete the renunciation by
+dedicating his body, aye, his very soul, to Christ? Nothing is left
+that he may call his own. He is a stranger in the world, without home,
+parents or family, money or earthly ties; he is all to God, and God is
+all to him.
+
+While a person may be in the _way_ of perfection, by observing the
+counsels privately, with or without a vow, if he takes perpetual vows
+in a religious order or congregation approved by the Church, he is in
+what is called "the _state_ of perfection," or "the religious state."
+The vows give a final touch to the holocaust in either case, since by
+them he offers all he has and is and forever, so that it becomes
+unlawful for him to retract his offering. He who exemplifies all
+Christian virtues to a high degree of excellence, according to his
+condition of life, may be called perfect, and to this perfection all
+Christians are called. But, religious, that is, they who live in the
+religious state, bind themselves by _profession_ to aim at living a
+perfect life. They have heeded Christ's invitation, "If thou wilt be
+perfect," and engaged themselves, under the sanction of the Church, to
+the obligation of striving for perfection.
+
+No one could claim that all religious men and women are actually
+perfect; but they are in the state of perfection--that is, by virtue
+of their state and profession they are bound to the observance of
+their vows and rules, which observance, in the course of time, will be
+able to lead them to the attainment of such perfection as weak
+mortals, with God's grace, can hope to acquire in this life. In
+response to Christ's exhortations, we find throughout the world to-day
+a great army of religious men and women, white-robed Dominicans,
+brown-garbed Franciscans, followers of St. Benedict, St. Augustine,
+St. Alphonsus, St. Vincent de Paul, and St. De la Salle, the Blessed
+Madeleine Sophie Barat, Julie Billiart, Jean Eudes, and of numerous
+other saints, who, under the standards of their varied institutes,
+march steadily in the footprints of the lowly Nazarene, Who had not
+whereon to lay His head.
+
+The ambitious Christian boy and girl, then, will aim at doing their
+best, and must, if they desire close companionship with Christ, strive
+after perfection, for such is the Master's desire. But should a youth
+have further ambitions, and say to himself, "I desire to distinguish
+myself in God's service, to lead for Him a life of action and
+achievement, wherein my exertions will bring amplest returns for
+eternity," will he refuse to consider the life of the counsels? Will
+he not rather ask himself whether this manner of life is practicable,
+and possibly even meant and intended for him? Choose then, my young
+friend, your sphere of life but deliberately and carefully,
+remembering that on your decision will largely depend your greater
+happiness in this world and the next.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+WHO ARE INVITED?
+
+The boy or girl who is deliberating on a future career will naturally
+ask, "Who are invited to the higher life? Is the invitation extended
+to all, or limited to the chosen few?"
+
+Let us try to find out the answer to these questions. One day the
+disciples of Our Lord having asked Him (Matt. xix: 11-12) whether it
+were not better to abstain from marriage, He replied, "All men take
+not this word, but they to whom it is given. . . . He that can take
+it, let him take it." St. Paul also writes to the Corinthians (I Cor.
+vii: 7-8), "I wish you all to be as myself, . . . but I say to the
+unmarried . . . it is good for them, if they so continue, even as I."
+
+Now, let us examine these passages, according to the interpretations
+of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, so that there will be no
+danger of reading a wrong meaning into them. There is question in both
+texts of abstaining from marriage, of advising the unmarried not to
+marry, which, of course, is equivalent to advising them to practice
+perpetual chastity. St. Paul says clearly and forcibly that he would
+desire all to remain unmarried like himself. However, in the next
+verse he exempts from his advice those who do not control themselves.
+What does he mean by this? There are some who have strong passions, or
+who by self-indulgence have so strengthened their lower nature and
+weakened their will-power, that lifelong continence seems beyond them.
+Such persons, therefore, who know from experience that they will not
+overcome temptation and sin, or who find the struggle too hard to
+continue, he advises to marry.
+
+We may now inquire whom Our Lord meant by those "to whom it is given."
+Does He mean that the power of practicing virginal chastity is given
+only to the selected few or to the many? St. Chrysostom, interpreting
+His words, says that this gift of chastity "is given to those who
+choose it of their own accord," adding that the "necessary help from
+on high is prepared for all who wish to be victors in the struggle
+with nature" (M. P. G., t. 58, c. 600). [1] St. Jerome tells us that
+this gift "is given to those who ask it, who wish it and labor to
+obtain it" (M. P. L., t. 26, c. 135). St. Basil explains that "to
+embrace the evangelical mode of life is the privilege of every one."
+(M. P. G., t. 32, c. 647.) To the sophistical objection that if all
+persons practiced virginity marriage would cease, and so the human
+race would perish, St. Thomas (Summa, 2a 2ae, Quaest. 189, art. 7)
+gives the reply of St. Jerome, "This virtue is uncommon and desired by
+comparatively few"; and then adds, "This fear is just as foolish as
+that of one who hesitates to take a drink of water, for fear of drying
+up the river."
+
+Can it be said, then, that every boy and girl, with the exception
+noted by St. Paul, is advised and exhorted to preserve virginal
+chastity throughout life? To understand aright the answer to this
+question, we must remember that there are two general courses of life,
+the married and the unmarried, open to all; every person necessarily
+being found in the one or the other. And each individual of the race
+is privileged to make a free and voluntary choice of either condition;
+no one having the right to interfere with this personal liberty, by
+forbidding or prescribing wedlock to any properly qualified person.
+
+Both these states have been created by God, and both are His gifts to
+man. The nuptial tie, elevated to the dignity of a sacrament, is
+likened by St. Paul to the union existing between Christ and the
+Church. "A prudent wife," says the Book of Proverbs (xix: 14), "is
+properly from the Lord." Whoever marries "in the Lord" performs a
+virtuous act, and the Church, to show her appreciation and approbation
+of it, invests the wedding contract with a rich and hallowed
+ceremonial. They, then, who wed do something pleasing to God; but they
+who, for virtue's sake, forego their natural right of marrying, make
+an offering still more grateful to Him.
+
+This is the doctrine in the abstract. But in its application to
+individual cases we find some so situated, so hampered by their own
+temperament and disposition, or by actual conditions about them, that
+a life of perfect continence seems impracticable for them. One, for
+instance, who yearns for the safety and seclusion of the cloister, and
+yet sees its doors closed against him for some reason, feels himself
+constrained to take refuge from the storm and stress of the world in
+the sanctuary of marriage. On such persons the Creator does not impose
+a burden above their strength. Wishing us to be happy and content even
+in this life, as well as the next, He asks of us here only a
+"reasonable service."
+
+Guided by these principles, the great majority of the faithful in all
+ages have deemed it prudent and expedient for them to marry. And the
+wisdom and prudence of their choice God approves and commends. For His
+Providence manifests itself to us in all the events and circumstances
+of life, dwelling alike in the fall of the leaf and the roll of the
+wave, and speaking to our hearts by the voice of all creatures. While,
+then, external or internal impediments may prevent some from
+hearkening to Christ's call, and their own will may deter others, His
+invitation of _itself_ does not exclude any; it is general, ever
+waiting for those able and willing to accept it.
+
+But does not a person have to feel a special call before binding
+himself to perpetual chastity? To answer this let us suppose that one
+is considering the advisability of daily attendance at Mass or of
+total abstinence from intoxicating liquor. In themselves these are
+good works and under proper advice a person might engage himself to
+their performance. Grace would be required for them, as for every
+other act of supernatural virtue, but no one would say that to assume
+such obligations a special call from heaven is prerequisite. Now,
+chastity is governed by the same laws as other virtues, by the same
+laws as mortification, alms-deeds and works of charity. Every virtuous
+act requires two things, the grace and the will to cooperate with the
+grace; and these two are also the only requisites for the exercise of
+continence; a special inspiration being no more necessary for it than
+for perpetual abstinence from meat or spirituous liquors.
+
+Lifelong virginity is, of course, a higher, nobler and more
+far-reaching virtue than the others mentioned, but it involves no
+special personal call. If this were required, in addition to the
+general invitation of Scripture, the doctrine of the Fathers that all
+are invited could scarcely be true. If all are invited, then he who
+wishes must have the power to accept the invitation. If two calls
+are necessary, one general and the other particular, he who has only
+the first may be said to have only half an invitation, which seems
+very absurd, and certainly is contrary to the practically unanimous
+teaching of the Fathers.
+
+St. Thomas tells us: "We should accept the words of Christ which are
+given in Scripture as if we heard them from the mouth of Christ. . . .
+The counsel (to perfection) is to be followed by each one not less
+than if it came from the Lord's mouth to each one personally. (Opusc.
+17, c. 9.) And even granted that the devil urges one to enter
+religious life, it is a good work, and there is no danger in yielding
+to his impulse." (Opusc. 17, c. 10.)
+
+Taking these words of the Angelic Doctor for our guidance, we realize
+that the invitation and exhortation of St. Paul is general, that it
+embraces all unmarried persons who feel the well-grounded hope within
+them that with God's grace they can live up to it.
+
+We may go further and say that, as St. Paul was speaking not his own
+doctrine, but the doctrine of Christ, which is unchangeable, it
+applies equally to-day. So one who is convinced that no obstacle,
+except his own will, prevents his acceptance of the Apostle's advice,
+can readily imagine Christ standing before him and saying, "My child,
+you should be more pleasing to Me were you to remain unmarried for My
+sake." If Jesus Christ really stood before you, dear reader, and thus
+addressed you, what would be your reply? There can be no doubt that it
+would be prompt and in accordance with His wish. You would say, "If
+God so loves me as to make a suggestion to me, as to sue for my
+undivided heart, I shall be only too glad to give Him all I have, to
+make any sacrifice for His sake." But God does speak thus, through the
+mouth of the Apostle, to all who are "zealous for the better gifts."
+
+Now, what says your heart? Will it reject the special love Christ
+offers? He says, "I give you the choice of two gifts, matrimony or
+virginity; virginity is by far the more precious--but take which you
+wish." Will you be so irresponsive as to reply, "Give me the lesser
+gift; Thy best treasures and best love bestow on my companions"?
+
+Speak thus if you are so minded. God will love you still; but can you
+be surprised if He cherish other generous souls more? Take or reject
+virginity as you like. It is yours for the taking, but if you reject
+it do not say, "I have no call, no invitation to the higher life." You
+have the invitation now, in common with other Christians; and the
+great-souled ones are they who accept it, for "many are called, but
+few are chosen."
+
+It may now be asked whether what has been said about the observance of
+chastity applies also to poverty and obedience. Spiritual writers tell
+us that the full and entire evangelical life includes all these three
+counsels, and that the principles on which one rests are common to
+all. Christ in His call invites those who are not hindered by
+insuperable obstacles, to follow Him in the practice of all the
+counsels, the reason for all being the same, namely, to sacrifice
+everything for His sake. It is evident, however, that there may be
+more hindrances to the observance of all three counsels than to the
+keeping of only one. Some religious orders, for example, on account of
+their special work, may demand from applicants health, or youth, or
+talent, or learning, or other qualifications, which every person does
+not possess. For community life, too, a peaceable temper and agreeable
+manners are usually necessary. Moreover, one may be so bound by
+obligations of justice and charity to his parents or others, that he
+cannot leave them. [2] The general principle, however, is fixed and
+sure, that the clarion call to the practice of the counsels is in
+itself general, and applicable to all who are not hindered by
+circumstances or impediments from accepting it. No further special
+invitation is necessary. You who are free have the invitation--take it
+if you wish.
+
+
+[1] This and similar references are to the Migne edition of the Greek
+and Latin Fathers.
+
+[2] It may still be possible, however, for a person who is prevented
+from entering community life, to practice the counsels while living in
+the world.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+DOES CHRIST WANT ME?
+
+Said a boy one day, "How in the world does a person ever know he is to
+be a priest?" This little lad was a budding philosopher: he wanted to
+know the reason of things. But many an older person has been puzzled
+by the same question. Some boys and girls, having a distorted notion
+of the nature of a vocation, imagine that Almighty God picks out
+certain persons, without consulting them, and destines them for the
+priesthood or religious life, whereas all other persons he excludes
+from this privilege. In other words, they think God does it all.
+
+Of course, we know there is an overruling Providence, Who watches over
+all His creatures, and particularly over His elect, distributing His
+graces and favors as He wills, and bringing all things to their
+appointed ends. If, for instance, a boy is blind, and for this reason
+no religious congregation will accept him, it is apparent that God
+does not design him for the religious life, though even for him the
+private practice of the counsels might still be open.
+
+But we must not imagine that God settles everything in this world
+independently of our free will. He wishes us not to steal, but we may,
+if we choose, become thieves. Two boys of the same qualifications, let
+us say, have the general invitation of the Scripture to a life of
+perfection; they both have the same grace, which one accepts and the
+other rejects. What makes the vocation in the one case? The action of
+the boy himself in choosing to follow the invitation. And why has not
+the other boy a vocation? Because he declines to correspond with the
+grace. God does His part; He issues the call to all who are free from
+impediment and hindrance. Any one who wishes can accept the call and
+thus, in a sense, make his own vocation, for God's necessary help is
+ever ready to hand for those who will use it.
+
+We may here remark that, while the practice of all virtue comes from
+man's free will, it also springs in a higher and greater degree from
+God, the author of grace. Without Him we can do nothing. "Who
+distinguisheth thee? Or what hast thou that thou hast not received?"
+asks St. Paul (I Cor. iv: 7). God's grace must necessarily precede and
+accompany every supernatural action. In a very true sense, while a
+religious may say: "I am such voluntarily of my own free choice," he
+must also admit, "I am a religious by the grace of God, Who prepared
+me, aided me by external and internal helps, enlightened my mind and
+strengthened my will to embrace the life He designs for me."
+
+In much the same way, a daily communicant may say: "It is of my own
+accord and wish that I receive daily, but it is God's predilection
+that has prompted me to this design, given me the opportunity and
+strength of purpose to carry it out, and keeps me faithful to it, so
+that it is by His grace and Providence that I am a daily communicant."
+Countless others could adopt the same practice, were they not too
+sluggish or indifferent to ask for or correspond with the grace of
+doing so.
+
+Most ordinary vocations have several stages of development. Very many
+persons, with all the qualities required for the evangelical life, and
+unimpeded by any obstacle, begin to consider, under the influence of
+grace, the advisability of embracing that kind of life. This may be
+called the remote stage of a vocation. One who finds himself in this
+condition of mind, if he prays for light and guidance, is faithful to
+duty and generous in the service of God, may be enabled by a further
+enlightenment of grace to perceive that this life is best for him, and
+consequently that it will be more pleasing to God for him to adopt it,
+and finally he may decide to do so. Such a one has a proximate
+vocation, the only further step required being to carry out his
+purpose. This decision, be it observed, is the result of the action of
+his free will, aided by efficacious grace, which is a mark of God's
+special love.
+
+A little illustration may assist us to get a clearer idea of the
+matter. Suppose Christ were to walk into your class-room, how would He
+act? Would He pick out four or five pupils and say, "I wish you to be
+religious, the others I do not want, and I forbid them such
+aspirations?" Do you think our loving, gentle Redeemer would speak in
+this harsh way? And yet some good, but ill-informed Christians think
+this a faithful representation of God's method of action in this
+important matter.
+
+How, then, would Christ really address the class? He would say, "My
+dear children, I want as many of you as possible to follow closely in
+My footsteps, to become perfect. I should be glad to have all of you,
+who are not prevented by some insuperable obstacle, such as
+ill-health, lack of talent, home difficulties, or extreme giddiness
+of character. I hope to have a large number of volunteers." How many
+children in that class-room, do you think, would joyfully hold up
+their hands, and beg Him to take them?
+
+Now, this is truly the way God acts with the individual soul. He comes
+to it perhaps not once only but repeatedly, and makes the general
+offer, using for this purpose the living voice of His minister, or the
+written page, or a prompting impulse from within. And when God's
+desire is so manifested, all that the soul needs is to cooperate with
+grace, if it will.
+
+That this interpretation of the general call of Scripture to a higher
+life is in accord with sound doctrine, we can perceive from St.
+Thomas, who says that the resolution of entering the religious state,
+whether it comes from the general invitation of Scripture or an
+internal impulse, is to be approved. And in his "Catena Aurea,"
+commenting on St. Matt. xix, he quotes St. Chrysostom, who holds that
+"the reason all do not take Christ's advice is because they do not
+wish to do so." The words "to whom it is given," according to this
+Greek father, show that "unless we received the help of grace, the
+exhortation would profit us nothing. But this help of grace is not
+denied to those who wish it."
+
+This is also the teaching of St. Ignatius in his "Spiritual
+Exercises," where he designates three occasions in which to elect a
+state of life: the first, when God appeals to the soul in some
+extraordinary way; the second, when grace moves the heart by
+consolation and desolation, and the third, when the soul without any
+special motion of grace, "that is, when not agitated by diverse
+spirits, makes use of its natural powers" to elect the state of life
+which seems best suited to the praise of God and the salvation of
+one's soul. Evidently a vocation decided in the last-mentioned time,
+implies no special call beyond the general scriptural invitation and
+the determination to accept it.
+
+Some one may ask how it is then that so many virtuous boys and girls,
+endowed with all needful qualifications, prompt and ready to respond
+to the suggestions of grace, yet have no efficacious desire of the
+higher life. It is not for us to search into the secrets of hearts,
+nor to penetrate into the mystery of grace and free-will. The Spirit
+breatheth where He wills, and God distributes to each man his own
+proper gift. But, at least, one thing seems certain, that many fail to
+recognize God's will, because they expect it to be manifested in some
+extraordinary or palpable manner. Perhaps, too, they have
+prepossessions against it, they have already marked out their own
+career, they never think about the counsels, or pray for guidance. If
+all our young people only realized that Christ's invitation is general
+and meant for them, provided no impediment exist, and they wish to
+embrace it; if at the same time they kept their hearts free from
+worldly amusements, and applied themselves to prayer and self-control,
+volunteers in greater number would rally to Christ's standard.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+"I FEEL NO ATTRACTION"
+
+Some boys and girls, with hearts of gold, have often said: "I feel no
+attraction for the higher life. I appreciate it, admire it, and yet I
+fear it is not for me, as I have no inclination to it. If God wanted
+me, He would so perceptibly draw me to Him that there could be no
+mistaking His designs."
+
+Almighty God is wonderful in His ways, and He "draws all things to
+Himself," but by methods varying as the temperaments and
+characteristics of the human soul. Sometimes He speaks to His chosen
+ones in thunder tones, as when He struck down St. Paul from his horse,
+on the road to Damascus, saying from heaven, "Saul, Saul, why
+persecutest thou me? . . . It is hard for thee to kick against the
+goad." (Acts ix: 4.) Again He speaks in gentle accents, as to St.
+Matthew, the publican, when he sat at his door taking customs, saying
+to him, "Follow me!" At other times He seems silent and indifferent,
+standing quietly by, letting reason and conscience argue within us,
+and point out our line of action.
+
+There is what is called vocation by attraction, and also such a thing
+as vocation by conviction. Some of the great saints from earliest
+childhood felt a strong, irresistible charm in the higher life; they
+were drawn by the golden chain of love to the cloister. "I have never
+in my life," said a boy, "thought of being anything but a religious."
+Some young people have no difficulty in making up their minds to
+follow Christ, their whole bent of thought and character being for the
+nobler life. Like Stanislaus, they ever say, "I was born for higher
+things." It was such a precocious disposition of heart that led St.
+Teresa to foreshadow her saintly career when, as a little girl, she
+ran away from home to become a hermit.
+
+But feeling is not always a trustworthy guide, either in temporal or
+spiritual matters; reason, slow but sure, is generally much safer. You
+feel the fascination of worldly things, of company and society, fine
+clothes, luxuries and comforts, the dazzling stage of life with its
+applause of men. Is that a sign God destines you for worldly vanities?
+Quite the contrary, for all Christians are warned against the
+seductions of the world and the flesh; and the life of the counsels is
+essentially a constant struggle with nature and its allurements. "The
+kingdom of heaven," we are told, "suffers violence, and the violent
+bear it away."
+
+If the following of Christ were easy and agreeable to the senses,
+where would be the merit and reward of it? Just in proportion as it
+involves effort and the overcoming of natural repugnance, does it
+become high and sublime. "Do not think," says Our Lord (Matt. x: 34),
+"that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but
+the sword. For I came to set a man at variance with his father, and
+the daughter with her mother. . . . He that loveth father or mother
+more than me, is not worthy of me."
+
+Natural antipathy then to the higher life, far from indicating that
+God does not want us, merely shows that the inferior powers of the
+soul are striving against the superior. In fact, when this aversion
+becomes pronounced, it is sometimes evidence of a keen strife going on
+within us between nature and grace, which could scarcely happen unless
+grace were endeavoring to gain the mastery by winning us to Christ.
+
+"But," it may be objected, "if nature rebels, does not God always give
+a counter supernatural attraction to those whom He calls, so as to
+smooth the way before them?" Certainly God gives the necessary grace
+to perform good actions, but grace is not always accompanied by
+sensible consolation. Suppose a boy is chided by his parents for a
+fault and he is tempted to deny it; but overcoming the suggestion he
+admits his wrong-doing and expresses sorrow for it. In this he acts
+bravely and with no sense of accompanying satisfaction, since the pain
+of his parents' displeasure is so keen as to overcome for the moment
+any other feeling. His action is prompted simply by the conviction of
+duty.
+
+Accordingly, if a young man knows and clearly sees that he has every
+qualification for the religious life, and has even been told so by a
+competent adviser; if he has sufficient talent and learning, a steady
+disposition and virtuous habits, and the persuasion that the duties of
+this state are not above his strength; in short, if he is convinced
+that there is no obstacle, save his own will, between him and the
+higher life, can he truly say, "I feel no inclination to such a
+career, and therefore, I have no vocation"? Such a person, of course,
+is free to say, "I will not enter religion," because there is no
+obligation incumbent upon him to this state, but he cannot justly say
+that God withholds from him the opportunity or invitation to do so. He
+has already what is called a remote vocation, as was explained in the
+fifth chapter, and what he needs is a clearer vision and alacrity of
+will, which he may have good hope of obtaining by earnest prayer and a
+generous and insistent offering of self to the disposal of the Divine
+good pleasure. For Our Lord Himself tells us: "All things whatsoever
+you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive, and they shall
+come unto you." (Mark xi: 24.)
+
+Remove then, my dear young friend, from your mind that false and
+pernicious notion, which has been destructive of so many incipient
+vocations, that because you feel no supernatural inclination or
+sensible attraction, you are not called of God.
+
+In general, it is sufficient that the aspirant to religious life be
+free from impediments, and be desirous of entering it. For eligibility
+to a particular religious congregation the applicant must be fit, that
+is, he must have the gifts or endowments of mind, heart and body which
+that institute demands; his desire to enter must be based on good and
+solid motives drawn from reason and faith, and he must have the firm
+resolve to persevere in the observance of the rule. When to this
+subjective capacity is added the acceptance of the candidate by a
+lawful superior, his vocation becomes complete.
+
+The requisites, then, are three, two on the part of the applicant,
+namely, fitness and an upright intention, and one on the part of the
+superior, the acceptance or call. Nothing more, nothing less is
+required. If any one of these three essentials is wanting, there is no
+vocation to that particular institute.
+
+It is worthy of observation, however, that these qualifications of the
+applicant need be fully evident only towards the end of the novitiate,
+when the time comes for taking the vows and assuming the obligations.
+To enter the noviceship, as a rule, much less is required, though even
+for this preparatory step a person must have the serious intention of
+trying the life and discovering whether it is suitable to him, and
+there should be a reasonable prospect of his developing the needful
+qualifications.
+
+For spiritual directors, then, to regard a vocation as something
+exceeding rare and intricate, to subject the candidate and his
+conscience to searching and critical analysis, to harassing
+cross-examination and prolonged tests, as though he were a criminal
+entertaining a fell project, to endeavor to probe into the secret
+workings of grace within him, is only to cloud in fatal obscurity an
+otherwise very simple subject.
+
+A high-souled youth or maiden may still be deterred by the thought, "I
+now see that I have all the necessary qualifications for the higher
+life, and hence may embrace it if I choose, but I fear it will be too
+difficult for me to carry the yoke without sensible devotion or
+consolation." In answer to this, we must remember that a hundredfold
+in this world and life everlasting in the next are promised to those
+who leave all to follow Christ. In this hundredfold are included many
+privileges and favors bestowed by God upon His chosen spouses. Make
+the effort, overcome nature, decide to embrace God's offer, and you
+will find yourself overwhelmed by a deluge of spiritual consolations,
+which God has been withholding from you to try your generosity and
+courage; you will experience the truth of Christ's words, "My yoke is
+sweet, and my burden light." Sensible consolations, in fact, nearly
+always follow the performance of a virtuous act, but seldom do they
+precede it. A hungry person, before sitting down to table, may feel
+cross and out of humor, but as soon as he begins to partake of the
+generous viands a feeling of genial content and satisfaction with all
+the world steals over him.
+
+It would, of course, be an error for any one to think that of his own
+natural powers he could observe the counsels; since this, being a
+supernatural work, demands strength above nature. But he who feels
+helpless of himself, should place his entire trust and confidence in
+God's grace and assistance, saying, with the Apostle, "I can do all
+things in him who strengthened me" (Ph. iv: 13).
+
+Come, then, to the banquet prepared for you by the great King. Regale
+yourself with the spiritual viands set before you, and not only will
+you be strengthened to do God's will, but transported beyond measure
+with spiritual delights.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+"SUPPOSE I MAKE A MISTAKE?"
+
+A young man once exclaimed to a friend, "Suppose I make a mistake! I
+could not bear the disgrace of leaving a religious order after
+entering it." Having wrestled with this thought for some time, he
+finally determined to try the religious life, with the result that
+after taking the habit, he was too happy to dream of ever laying it
+aside.
+
+However, it is not wrong, but highly prudent, for any one to consider
+whether he has the courage and constancy to persevere. Religious life
+is not a pathway of roses. It is meant only for true men and valiant
+women, not for soft, languid characters, nor for fickle minds, which
+change as a weather vane. Marriage also is a serious step, for it
+brings much "tribulation of the flesh," and so he who would enter on
+it must earnestly consider whether he can live up to the obligations
+it entails. But because marriage has many cares and responsibilities,
+is that a prohibitive reason against embracing it? A soldier's life,
+too, is hard, and a farmer's; in fact, all pursuits and vocations in
+this world have their sombre side. But he who would win success in any
+career must be ready "with a heart for any fate" to meet and overcome
+all the trials and hardships that await him.
+
+On one occasion Our Lord made use of the following parable (Luke xiv:
+28): "Which of you having a mind to build a tower, doth not first sit
+down and reckon the charges that are necessary, whether he have
+wherewithal to finish it: lest after he hath laid the foundation, and
+is not able to finish it, all that see it begin to mock him, saying,
+'This man began to build and was not able to finish'?" This parable
+Our Lord seems to apply to those who have the call to the Faith, and
+He concludes with the words, "So likewise every one of you that doth
+not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be my disciple."
+
+But His advice is also applicable to one who contemplates a closer
+following of Christ by the pathway of the counsels. Certainly, by all
+means, deliberate before taking any step of importance in this world.
+Never act on inconsiderate impulse in any matter of moment, but weigh
+carefully the obligations you are to assume, and consider whether you
+have sufficient strength of character to persevere in any good work
+you are undertaking.
+
+Still, when all is said and done, it remains true that timidity is not
+prudence, nor cowardice caution. Nothing great was ever accomplished
+in this world without courage. Prudence and caution may be overdone,
+and easily degenerate into sloth and inactivity. In a battle he who
+hesitates is lost, and life is the sharpest of conflicts. Had Columbus
+wavered, he would not have discovered America. Close followers of
+Christ must be brave and noble souls, willing to risk all, to
+sacrifice all in the service of their leader. If you are excessively
+timid and fearful of making a misstep in your every action, it is a
+fault of character, and unless you overcome it you will never do great
+things for yourself or others.
+
+When reason and conscience point the way, plunge boldly forward,
+trusting to the Lord for all the necessary helps you may need to carry
+out your designs. He will never desert you when once you enlist under
+His flag. When it comes to "supposing," there is no end to the
+dreadful things that _might_ happen, but never _will_. Little children
+have a game called "supposing," each one making his supposition in
+turn, but even they do not anticipate that their creations of fancy
+will ever prove true. A man once said: "I have lived forty years, and
+have had many troubles, but most of them never happened," meaning that
+he had often anticipated and dreaded evils which never came to pass.
+
+Let us, however, grant that occasionally a novice leaves his order: is
+that such a disgrace? By no means; he, at least, deserves credit for
+attempting the higher life. He is far more courageous than many
+Christians who are too timorous even to try. After all, what is a
+novitiate for, if not to discover whether the candidate has the
+requisite qualities? And judicious superiors will be the first to
+advise a young man or woman to leave, if he or she has wandered into
+the wrong place.
+
+There is, moreover, a danger on the opposite side that wavering souls
+often fail to take into account. What if they make a mistake by not
+entering religious life? Is it better to err on the side of generosity
+to God, or on the side of pusillanimity? If one make a mistake by
+entering religion he can easily retrace his steps before it is too
+late, but once he commits himself to worldly obligations, he can
+seldom break their fetters; and many a man, when overwhelmed with the
+cares and anxieties of life, has regretted, when all too late, that he
+had not hearkened to the voice of grace that invited him to the calm
+and peace of the cloister.
+
+St. Ignatius thus forcibly expresses the same thought: "More certain
+signs are required to decide that God wills one to remain in the
+secular state, than that He wishes him to enter on the way of the
+counsels, for the Lord so openly urged the counsels, while He insisted
+on the great dangers of the other state." (Directory, c. 23.)
+
+The devil, who employs every ruse to wreck a vocation, has one
+favorite stratagem, which unfortunately succeeds only too often. When
+he cannot induce a person to give up entirely the idea of following
+Christ closely, he frequently induces him, under a variety of
+pretexts, to postpone its execution. If he can get the person to wait,
+to delay, he feels he has scored a victory, for thus he will have
+ample opportunity to lure his victim to a love of the world, to
+present the vanities of life in such enticing colors, as finally to
+withdraw him altogether from his first purpose. This disaster,
+unfortunately, is only too common, and many a one finds out, to his
+cost, that unseasonable delay has destroyed in him the spiritual
+savor, and made shipwreck of his vocation.
+
+If, then, you see clearly it is best for you to tread the pathway of
+the counsels, go boldly on without delay or hesitation, and if
+difficulties loom big before you, they will fade away at your
+approach, like the fog before the sun; or, if they remain, you will be
+surprised at the ease with which you will vanquish them, for when the
+Lord is with you, who will be against you? You will be guarded against
+possible rashness in choosing the higher life by consulting a prudent
+director or confessor, at least, so far as to get his approval of the
+step you propose to take. For the knowledge such a one has of the
+secrets of your conscience gives him a specially favorable opportunity
+to judge whether you have the virtue and determination of character to
+persevere in the pathway of the counsels.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+"THE WORLD NEEDS ME"
+
+Some young people endeavor to persuade themselves that as the world
+needs good men, they can better serve Church and State by remaining in
+the secular life. The world, of course, does need good men and women,
+and it has them, too; but even if there were a dearth of good
+Christian laymen, is that any reason for you to refuse God's
+invitation and sacrifice your own spiritual advancement and happiness
+in order to help others? Our first duty is to ourselves. Are we to be
+so enamored of benefiting others as to forego God's special love, and
+to rest satisfied with a lower place in heaven? God invites you to
+Him, and you turn away to devote yourselves to others, who perhaps
+care little for you, and will profit less by your example.
+
+And, moreover, once absorbed in the business and cares of life, you
+may find yourself, like most others, so preoccupied in your own
+personal advancement, in providing for yourself and those dependent on
+you, that scarce a thought remains for the interests of your neighbor.
+And thus your initial high resolve may soon sink to the low level of
+beneficent effort you see in others. Selfishness, to a large extent,
+rules in the world, and how can you promise yourself that you will
+escape its grasp? He certainly is rash who thinks he can,
+single-handed, contend against the world and its spirit.
+
+No doubt many men and women of the world are devout Christians, and in
+a thousand ways spread about them the good odor of Christ. Countless
+brave Christian soldiers, upright statesmen, kings and peasants,
+matrons and maids, are the pride of Christianity for what they have
+done and dared in behalf of their neighbor. All honor to the virtuous
+laity throughout the world to-day, who by their edifying lives, their
+sacrifices for the faith, their unwearying industry, and fidelity to
+Mother Church, are sanctifying their own souls, and assisting others
+by example, counsel and charitable deed.
+
+But for every layman that has distinguished himself by heroic devotion
+to the welfare of his neighbor, many religious could be mentioned who
+have done the same. We have all heard of Father Damien, who banished
+himself to the isle of Molokai, where the outcast lepers of the
+Sandwich Islands had been herded to rot and die; and there taking up
+his abode, soon changed the lepers, who were living like wild beasts,
+without law or morality, into gentle and fervent Christians. Having no
+priest as a companion, he on one occasion rowed out to a passing
+steamer, which was not allowed to land, to make his confession to a
+bishop aboard. And while he sat in his row boat, because forbidden to
+climb into the vessel, and shouted his sins to the bishop on the deck
+above, the passengers looking curiously on, he certainly must have
+been a spectacle to men and angels. And his sacrifice became complete
+when he contracted the leprosy from his people, and thus gave up his
+life for his flock.
+
+Nor is this a solitary instance of such magnanimity. A short time ago,
+when a Canadian bishop entered a convent and called for volunteers to
+start a leper hospital, every nun stood up to offer her services. You
+have heard of the great Apostle of the Indies, St. Francis Xavier, who
+is said to have baptized more than a million pagans. St. Teresa, the
+mystic, was not prevented by her cloister and her ecstacies from
+helping her neighbor, for she founded a large number of convents, both
+for men and women. Blessed Margaret Mary was only a simple nun in the
+Visitation Convent of Paray-le-Monial, yet God chose her to make known
+and spread the great devotion of the Sacred Heart, a devotion which
+has brought more comfort and consolation to sorrowing humanity than
+the combined philanthropic efforts of a century. God took a gay
+cavalier, whose only ambition was to wear foppish clothes and thrum a
+guitar, made him into a friar, and bade him found the great Franciscan
+Order, whose glorious works for mankind cannot be enumerated.
+
+And if we ponder the nature of religious life, the marvels
+accomplished by simple religious cease to astonish us. One who devotes
+the major portion of his time and attention to a definite object will
+certainly attain great results. Now, most religious seek their own
+sanctification in concentrating their energies on the welfare of their
+neighbor, in ever studying, working, planning for his betterment. The
+love of God, as shown in charity to others, is the absorbing purpose
+of their life. On the other hand, the man of the world must generally
+care first and foremost for himself and family, and only the time he
+has left, incidentally as it were, can he bestow upon others.
+
+This point is thus forcibly expressed by St. Paul (I Cor. vii: 32-34):
+"He who is unmarried is solicitous for the things of the Lord, how he
+may please God. But he who is married is solicitous for the things of
+the world, how he may please his wife; and he is divided. And the
+woman, unmarried and a virgin, thinketh on the things of the Lord,
+that she may be holy in body and soul. But she who is married,
+thinketh on the things of the world, how she may please her husband."
+
+The works of the religious orders are varied and numerous. Some care
+for the outcasts of society, some for the sick or the old, the orphan
+and the homeless; others, leaving the comforts and conveniences of
+modern life, cheerfully face the danger and hardships of remotest
+lands to bring the light of the Gospel to pagan nations. More than a
+million Chinese to-day are fervent Christians, and to whom do they owe
+their faith under God? To religious missionaries. The Benedictines of
+old spent their lives in the pursuit of learning, and in teaching
+barbarous tribes the art of husbandry. The glorious Knights Templar
+were a militant order; and the members of the Order of the Blessed
+Trinity for the redemption of captives, the first to wear our national
+colors of freedom, the red, white and blue, sold themselves into
+slavery for the release of others. Scarcely a want or need of the
+human race has not been provided for by some religious body.
+
+But probably the most common pursuit of religious bodies in our day is
+teaching. Hundreds of thousands of religious men and women, in all
+lands whence they are not banished, spend their lives in the
+class-room. And the reason for this preference is the extraordinary
+demand for schools in every direction. The young must be taught, and
+Holy Mother Church knows only too well that religious training must
+be woven into the fibre of secular learning if we would not have a
+conscienceless and irreligious generation. So she issues her stirring
+appeal for volunteer teachers, and a vast multitude of religious have
+responded in solid phalanx. Some one has said that if all the
+sisterhoods were taken out of our schools in the United States, we
+should soon have to close half our churches.
+
+Religious, then, are carrying on vast and important works for the
+benefit of the Church and society. Many other services which they
+render might be mentioned, such as preaching and hearing confessions,
+the publication of books and periodicals, the cultivation of the arts,
+science, literature and theology. But enough has been said to show
+that they are leading a strenuous life, and that boy or maid, who is
+emulous of heart-stirring deeds, could scarcely find a more propitious
+field of action than in the religious state.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+MUST I ACCEPT THE INVITATION?
+
+It is not the purpose of the writer to exaggerate, to frighten or
+coerce persons into religious life, by holding out threats of God's
+displeasure to those who refuse, or by citing examples of those whose
+careers were blighted through failure to heed the Divine call. It is
+His desire rather to imitate Christ's manner of action, portraying the
+beauty and excellence of virtue, and then leaving it to the promptings
+of aspiring hearts to follow the leadings of grace.
+
+Christ, all mildness and meekness as He was, uttered terrible
+denunciations against sin and the false leaders of the people; but
+nowhere do we read that He denounced or threatened those who failed to
+accept His tender and loving call to the life of perfection. To draw
+men's hearts He used not compulsion, but the lure of kindness and
+affection.
+
+Our Lord sometimes commanded and sometimes counselled and between
+these there is a difference. When a command is given by lawful
+superiors it must be obeyed, and that under penalty. God gave the
+commandments amidst thunder and lightning on Mount Sinai, and those
+commandments, as precepts of the natural law, or because corroborated
+in the New Testament, persist in the main to-day, and any one who
+violates them, refuses to keep them, is guilty of disobedience to God,
+commits a sin. But when Christ proclaimed the counsels, He was merely
+giving advice or exhortation, and hence no one was obliged to follow
+them under pain of His displeasure. Suppose a mother has two sons, who
+both obey exactly her every command, and one also takes her advice in
+a certain matter, while the other does not; she will love the second
+not less, but the first more. So of two boys, who are both favorites
+of God, if one accept and the other decline a proffered vocation, He
+will love the latter as before, but the former how much more tenderly!
+
+Moreover, God loves the cheerful giver. By doing, out of an abundance
+of charity and fervor, what you are not obliged to do, you gain ampler
+merit for yourself, since you perform more than your duty, and at the
+same time you give greater glory to God, showing that He has willing
+children, who bound their service to Him by no bargaining
+considerations of weight and measure. But if, through fear of threat
+or punishment, you make an offering to God, your gift loses, to an
+extent, the worth and spontaneity of a heart-token.
+
+Some think that not to accept the invitation to the counsels, is to
+show disregard and contempt for God's grace and favor, and hence
+sinful. But how does a young person act when he declines this
+proffered gift? He equivalently says, with tears in his eyes, "My
+Saviour, I appreciate deeply Thy invitation to the higher life; I envy
+my companions who are so courageous as to follow Thy counsel; but,
+please be not offended with me if I have not the courage to imitate
+their example. I beg Thee to let me serve Thee in some other way." Is
+there anything of contempt in such a reply? No more than if a child
+would tearfully pray its mother not to send it into a dark room to
+fetch something; and as such a mother, instead of insisting on her
+request, would only kiss away her child's tears, so will God treat one
+who weeps because he cannot muster courage to tread closely in His
+blood-stained footsteps.
+
+The young have little relish for argumentative quotations and texts,
+but it may interest them to know that Saints Basil, Chrysostom,
+Gregory Nazianzen, Cyprian, Augustine and other Fathers all speak in a
+similar strain, holding that, as a vocation is a free gift or counsel,
+it may be declined without sin. [1] The great Theologians, St. Thomas,
+Suarez, Bellarmine and Cornelius a Lapide also agree on this point.
+
+But putting aside the question of sin, we must admit that one who
+clearly realizes that the religious life is best for him and
+consequently more pleasing to God, would, by neglecting to avail
+himself of this grace, betray a certain ungenerosity of soul and a
+lack of appreciation of spiritual things, in depriving himself of a
+gift which would be the source of so many graces and spiritual
+advantages.
+
+Do not, then, dear reader, embrace the higher life merely from motives
+of fear--which were unworthy an ingenuous child of God--but rather to
+please the Divine Majesty. You are dear to Him, dearer than the
+treasures of all the world. He loves you so much that He died for you,
+and now He asks you in return to nestle close to His heart, where He
+may ever enfold His arms about you, and lavish his blandishments upon
+your soul. Will you come to Him, your fresh young heart still sweet
+with the dew of innocence, and become His own forevermore? Will you
+say farewell to creatures, and rest upon that Bosom whose love and
+tenderness for you is high as the stars, wide as the universe, and
+deep as the sea? Come to the tender embraces of your heavenly spouse,
+and heaven will have begun for you on earth.
+
+
+[1] The hypothetical case, sometimes mentioned by casuists, of one who
+is convinced that for him salvation outside of religion is impossible,
+can here safely be passed over as unpractical for young readers.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+I AM TOO YOUNG
+
+Many a young person, when confronted with the thought of his vocation,
+puts it out of mind, with the off-hand remark, "Oh, there is plenty of
+time to consider that; I am too young, and have had no experience of
+the world." This method of procedure is summary, if not judicious, and
+it meets with the favor of some parents, who fear, as they think, to
+lose their children. It was also evidently highly acceptable to
+Luther, who is quoted by Bellarmine as teaching that no one should
+enter religious life until he is seventy or eighty years of age.
+
+In deciding a question of this nature, however, we should not allow
+our prepossessions to bias our judgment, nor take without allowance
+the opinion of those steeped in worldly wisdom, but lacking in
+spiritual insight. Father William Humphrey, S.J., in his edition of
+Suarez's "Religious Life" (page 49), says: "Looking merely to _natural
+law_, it is lawful at any age freely to offer oneself to the perpetual
+service of God. There is no natural principle by which should be fixed
+any certain age for such an act."
+
+Christ did not prescribe any age for those who wished to enter His
+special service, and He rebuked the apostles for keeping children from
+Him, saying, "Let the little ones come unto Me." And St. Thomas
+(Summa, 2a 2ae, Quaest. 189, art. 5), quotes approvingly the comment
+of Origen on this text, viz.: "We should be careful lest in our
+superior wisdom we despise the little ones of the Church and prevent
+them from coming to Jesus." And speaking in the same article of St.
+Gregory's statement that the Roman nobility offered their sons to St.
+Benedict to be brought up in the service of God, the Angelic Doctor
+approves this practice on the principle that "it is good for a man to
+bear the yoke from his youth," and adds that it is in accord with the
+usual "custom of setting boys to the duties and occupations in which
+they are to spend their life."
+
+The remark concerning St. Benedict recalls to mind the interesting
+fact that in olden times, not only boys of twelve and fourteen became
+little monks, but that children of three, four or five years of age
+were brought in their parents' arms and dedicated to the monasteries.
+According to the "Benedictine Centuries," "the reception of a child in
+those days was almost as solemn as a profession in our own. His
+parents carried him to the church. Whilst they wrapped his hand, which
+held the petition, in the sacred linen of the altar, they promised, in
+the presence of God and His saints, stability in his name." These
+children remained during infancy and childhood within the monastery
+enclosure, and on reaching the age of fourteen, they were given the
+choice of returning home, if they preferred, or of remaining for life.
+[1]
+
+The discipline of the Church, which as a wise Mother, she modifies to
+suit the exigencies of time and place, is somewhat different in our
+day. The ordinary law now prohibits religious profession before the
+age of sixteen; and the earliest age at which subjects are commonly
+admitted is fifteen. Orders which accept younger candidates, in order
+to train and prepare them for reception, cannot, as a rule, clothe
+them with the habit. A very recent decree also requires clerical
+students to have completed four years' study of Latin before admission
+as novices into any order.
+
+Persons who object to early entrance into religion seem to forget that
+the young have equal rights with their elders to personal
+sanctification, and to the use of the means afforded for this purpose
+by the Church. It is now passed into history, how some misguided
+individuals forbade frequent Communion to the faithful at large, and
+altogether excluded from the Holy Table children under twelve or
+fourteen, and this notwithstanding the plain teaching of the Council
+of Trent to the contrary. To correct the error, the Holy See was
+obliged to issue decrees on the subject, which may be styled the
+charter of Eucharistic freedom for all the faithful, and especially
+for children. As the Eucharist is not intended solely for the mature
+or aged, so neither is religious life meant only for the decrepit, or
+those who have squandered youth and innocence. Its portals are open to
+all the qualified, and particularly to the young, who wish to bring
+not a part of their life only, but the _whole_ of it, along with
+youthful enthusiasm and generosity, to God's service.
+
+How many young religious have attained heroic sanctity which would
+never have been theirs had religion been closed against them by an
+arbitrary or unreasonable age restriction! A too rigid attitude on
+this point would have barred those patrons of youth, Aloysius,
+Stanislaus Kostka and Berchmans, from religion and perhaps even from
+the honors of the altar. St. Thomas, the great theological luminary of
+the Church, was offered to the Benedictines when five years old, and
+he joined the Dominicans at fifteen or sixteen; and St. Rose of Lima
+made a vow of chastity at five. The Lily of Quito, Blessed Mary Ann,
+made the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience before her
+tenth birthday, and the Little Flower was a Carmelite at fifteen. And
+uncounted others, who lived and died in the odor of sanctity,
+dedicated themselves by vow to the perpetual service of God, while
+still in the fragrance and bloom of childhood or youth.
+
+"What a pity!" some exclaim, when a youth or maid enters religion.
+"How much better for young people to wait a few years and see
+something of the world, so they will know what they are giving up."
+This is ever the comment of the worldly spirit, which aims to crush
+out entirely spiritual aspirations, and failing in that, to delay
+their fulfilment indefinitely. And yet the wise do not reason
+similarly in other matters. One who proposes to cultivate a marked
+musical talent is never advised to try his hand first at carpentering
+or tailoring, that he may make an intelligent choice between them. Nor
+is a promising law student counselled to spend several years in the
+study of engineering and dentistry, to avoid making a possible
+mistake. Why then wish a youth, of evident religious inclination, to
+mingle in the frivolity and gayeties of the world, with the certain
+risk of imbibing its spirit and losing his spiritual relish? "He who
+loves the danger," says the Scripture, "will perish in it."
+
+"Yet a vocation should first be tried, and if it cannot resist
+temptation, it will never prove constant," is the worn but
+oft-repeated reply. As if a parent would expose his boy to contagion to
+discover whether his constitution be strong enough to resist it; or
+place him in the companionship of the depraved to try his virtue and
+see if it be proof against temptation. No, the tender sprout must be
+carefully tended, and shielded from wind and storm, until it grows
+into maturity. In like manner, a young person who desires to serve
+God, should be placed in an atmosphere favorable to the development of
+his design, and guarded from sinister influence, until he has acquired
+stability of purpose and strength of virtue.
+
+There was once in Rome an attractive Cardinal's page of fourteen who
+possessed a sunny and lively disposition. On a solemn occasion his
+hasty temper led him to resent the action of another page, and
+straightway there was a fight. Immediately, the decorous retinue was
+thrown into confusion, and the Cardinal felt himself disgraced. Peter
+Ribadeneira, for this was the page's name, did not wait for
+developments, he foresaw what was coming and fled. Not knowing where
+to go, he bethought himself of one who was everybody's friend,
+Ignatius of Loyola, and with soiled face, torn lace and drooping
+plume, he presented himself before him. Ignatius received him with
+open arms, and placed him among the novices. Poor Peter had a hard
+time in the novitiate, as his caprices and boisterousness were always
+bringing him into trouble. But when grave Fathers frowned, and the
+novices were scandalized, Peter was ever sure of sympathy and
+forgiveness from Ignatius, who, in the end, was gratified to see the
+boy develop into an able, learned and holy religious. Peter's vocation
+was occasioned by his fight, certainly an unpropitious beginning, but
+he must have ever been grateful that, when he applied to Ignatius, he
+was not turned away until he had become older and more sedate.
+
+Parents or spiritual directors, who, under the pretext of trying a
+vocation, put off for two or three years an aspirant who seems dowered
+with all necessary qualities, can scarcely justify themselves in the
+eyes of God, such a method being calculated to destroy, not prove, a
+vocation. To detain for a few months, however, one who conceives a
+sudden notion to enter religion, for the purpose of discovering
+whether his intention is serious, and not merely a passing whim, is
+only in accordance with the ordinary rules of prudence. In connection
+with this point, the words of bluff and hearty St. Jerome, who never
+seemed to grow old or lose the buoyancy of youth, are often quoted.
+Giving advice to one whom he wished to quit the world, he wrote, "Wait
+not even to untie the rope that holds your boat at anchor--cut it."
+(M. P. L., t. 26, c. 549.) And Christ's reply to the young man, whom
+He had invited to follow Him, and who asked leave to go first and bury
+his father, was equally terse: "Let the dead bury their own dead."
+(Luke ix: 60.)
+
+In a booklet entitled "Questions on Vocations," published in 1913, by
+a Priest of the Congregation of the Mission, the question is asked,
+"Do not a larger percentage persevere when subjects enter the
+religious state late in life?" And the answer is given: "No; the
+records of five of the largest communities of Sisters in the United
+States show that a much larger percentage of subjects persevere among
+those who enter between the ages of sixteen and twenty, than among
+those who enter when they are older. When persons are twenty years of
+age, or older, their characters are more set; their minds are less
+pliable; it is harder to unbend and remould them. The young are more
+readily formed to religious discipline."
+
+In concluding this chapter on the appropriate age for entrance into
+religious life, it may be said that, after reaching the prescribed age
+of fifteen, the sooner an otherwise properly qualified person enters
+the nearer he seems to approach the ideals and traditionary practice
+of the Church, and the better he will provide for his own spiritual
+welfare.
+
+
+[1] It would seem that for the space of two centuries, this freedom of
+choice was not offered them.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE PRIESTHOOD
+
+The High Priest of the New Law, St. Paul tells the Hebrews, is Christ.
+And the Christian priesthood, which He instituted, is a participation
+and extension of His office and ministry. The commemoration of the
+same sacrifice which was once offered upon the cross for the sins of
+the world is daily renewed on our altars from the rising to the
+setting of the sun. The Christian priest, in the language of spiritual
+writers, is "another Christ," taking His place amongst men,
+perpetually renewing, as it were, the Incarnation in the Sacrifice of
+the Mass, preaching the word, and applying the fruits of Redemption
+through the channels of the sacraments.
+
+In common estimation, the dignity of a man is reckoned by the
+character of the office he fills or the duties entrusted to him.
+Judged by this standard, no worldly dignity can compare with that of
+the priesthood, whose authority comes from God, and whose powers,
+transcending earth, reach back to heaven. "Speak not of the royal
+purple," says St. Chrysostom, "of diadems, of golden vestures--these
+are but shadows, frailer than the flowers of spring, compared to the
+power and privileges of the priesthood."
+
+And whence arises, we may ask, this incomparable dignity of the
+priest? First of all, from his power to roll back the heavens, and
+bring down upon the altar the Majesty of the Deity, attended by an
+angelic train. "The Blessed Virgin," St. Vincent Ferrer informs us,
+"opened heaven only once, the priest does so at every Mass." Exalted
+is the sovereignty of kings who rule a nation, but more sublime the
+power which commands the King of kings, and is obeyed. Who could
+conceive, did not Faith teach it, that mortal man were capable of
+elevation to such a pitch of glory? No wonder St. Chrysostom was
+betrayed by this thought into the rhapsody: "When you behold the Lord
+immolated and lying on the altar, and the priest standing over the
+sacrifice and praying and all the people empurpled by that precious
+blood, do you imagine that you are still on earth amongst men and not
+rather rapt up to heaven?"
+
+The second great prerogative of the priest is to forgive sins. Christ
+having one day said to a paralytic, "Man, thy sins are forgiven thee"
+(Luke v: 20), some of the bystanders marvelled, thinking within
+themselves, "Who can forgive sins, but God alone?" Yea, truly is this
+a Divine power, but these critics failed to comprehend the Divinity of
+Christ, and that all power was given to Him in heaven and on earth.
+And His power to remit sins has descended to the priest, in the
+imposition of hands. At Christ's will lepers were cleansed, and once
+more felt the pulsation of health tingling through their veins; but
+more wondrous still the word of the priest which causes the scales of
+the leprosy of sin to fall from the stricken soul, and restores to it
+the pristine vigor and beauty of sanctifying grace. As keeper of the
+keys, the priest stands warder of heaven, locking or unlocking its
+doors to the dust-begrimed pilgrims of earth.
+
+Sublime, then, is the priestly dignity, even beyond human
+comprehension. But one thing we realize, and the saints with clearer
+vision perceive, that high virtue is demanded of him whose life is
+spent in the antechamber of heaven. St. Catharine of Sienna, in a
+letter to one newly ordained, tells him, "The ministers whom the
+Sovereign Goodness has chosen to be His Christs ought to be angels,
+not men . . . they in truth discharge the office of angels." "What
+purity," says a Father of the Church, "what piety shall we require of
+a priest? Think what those hands ought to be which perform such a
+ministry; what that tongue which pronounces those words." No sanctity
+or purity of soul, then, is beyond the aspirations of one whose
+heaven-born privilege it is to enter the Holy of Holies, to dispense
+the mysteries of faith, and exercise the "ministry of reconciliation."
+
+A most important function of the ministry is the care of souls.
+Christ's mission was to save; He was the Good Shepherd, who traveled
+about preaching to the people, who were like "sheep without a
+shepherd." And to His Apostles and their successors He gave the solemn
+charge "to feed His lambs." And this injunction of the Divine Master
+has been held sacred by the Church throughout its existence. Wherever
+in the world to-day dwell true believers, there are to be found
+priests to care for them.
+
+The priest is truly the father of the people committed to him. He must
+become all things to all men, rejoicing with the joyful, and weeping
+with the sorrowful. The infants he must receive into the Church,
+generating in them the life of grace, guarding them as they grow up,
+and instructing them in doctrine and discipline. To him the bridal
+couple come for the nuptial benediction; and when sickness and trouble
+and want invade the household it is to their father in Christ the
+faithful look for support and encouragement. He is the consoler of
+all, and he bears the burdens of all. And when the angel of death
+hovers over his charge, the priest repairs to the bedside of the
+departing one, to strengthen him for the last journey; and, finally,
+when the soul has departed, he commits the body to hallowed ground,
+there to await the resurrection.
+
+The priest, then, must be of heroic mould to satisfy the demands made
+upon him; he must be ready to endure hunger and cold and weariness,
+contradictions from within and without, labors by night and day. But
+the Lord is his inheritance, and for His sake he is willing to endure
+all the crosses and trials that bear upon him. How splendidly the
+clergy of our country have responded to their responsibilities is
+attested by the flourishing state of religion, by the magnificent
+churches, the well-developed Catholic school system, and the numerous
+other Church activities about us. Every thoroughly organized parish or
+mission means the life of at least one priest sacrificed in its
+formation--the commingling of his sweat and labors with the cement
+that binds together its material and spiritual stones. But could a
+life be better spent? What more fitting monument could be left to
+posterity than a spiritual structure built on Christ and enduring as
+the foundation on which it rests?
+
+Who, then, may aspire to the glorious career of the priesthood? Is it
+open to all, or must one await the striking manifestation of the
+Divine Will inviting him to it? Should he not say, "The priesthood is
+too exalted for my weakness and unworthiness"? While humility is
+laudable, it should not bar any one who has the requisite virtue and
+talent, together with an upright intention, from entering this high
+estate. Everything depends on one's qualifications and motives. Others
+will pass judgment on the qualifications, but each one must scrutinize
+his own motives. If a youth desires the priesthood for natural
+reasons, to lead an easy life or one honorable in the eyes of men, to
+attain fame or station, his motives are wrong, or at least, too
+imperfect to carry him far on the rugged road before him. But if he be
+swayed by supernatural desires, such as the service of God, his own
+sanctification or the help of his neighbor, his ambition is
+praiseworthy. One who is conscious, then, of rectitude of purpose and
+hopeful with the divine assistance of living up to its obligations,
+may aspire, without scruple, to the priesthood, the highest of
+dignities and the greatest of careers open to man.
+
+One day our Lord, instructing His disciples before sending them to
+preach His coming, said: "The harvest, indeed, is great, but the
+laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he
+send laborers into his harvest" (Luke x: 2). And this has been the cry
+through all the ages--"Send laborers into the harvest!" The Church has
+always needed good spiritual laborers, men and women, who would be
+willing to work for God and their neighbor, to extend the Kingdom of
+God, and this is true to-day of our own beloved country. A host of
+spiritual laborers is scattered over our land, but the cry is ever
+repeated, "We need more, the work is too great for our efforts, and
+all the harvest is not being garnered."
+
+Will you, dear reader, make one more worker in God's field, one more
+reaper of His harvest that is ripe and falling to the ground because
+there are none to gather it?
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE TEACHER'S AUREOLE
+
+As the acquaintance of young people with religious is frequently
+limited to their teachers, they are sometimes inclined to identify in
+their minds the profession of teaching with religious life. And since
+some feel a diffidence or repugnance in committing themselves to a
+teaching career, they extend this aversion to the religious state
+itself. We have shown, however, in a previous chapter that there is
+great variety and diversity of occupation in religious orders, so that
+all tastes and inclinations can find congenial exercise in them.
+
+Still, it is probably true, that the great majority of religious men
+and women are found in the class-room, and this for the good and
+sufficient reason that Christian education is the paramount need of
+the day, and the work on which the future of the Church chiefly
+depends. The young who, perhaps, are tempted to look upon teaching as
+an obscure employment and a monotonous grind, will do well to reflect
+that in our time it is considered so honorable a profession that
+hundreds of thousands, even of those outside the Church, deliberately
+choose it as the best and most favorable career for the play of their
+talents.
+
+The professors of our noted universities command the respect and
+deference of the community, and to them the public look for the
+solution of the constantly arising civic and social problems. They are
+regarded as the natural leaders of thought, and are expected to guide
+and direct popular movements affecting the well-being of society. And
+this public esteem, is extended in due proportion to all who are
+engaged in education, for it is universally realized that the standard
+of morality and intelligence, which is to obtain in the commonwealth,
+will depend largely on the training given to the young. The teacher is
+directly employed in the making of good citizens, which is a more
+important business than the extension of manufactures or commerce. He
+is setting the ideals according to which the Republic must stand or
+fall.
+
+And, for persons of refined or intellectual tastes, the instruction of
+youth must be a pleasurable employment. It is inviting to deal with
+the young and innocent, who are eager to learn, ambitious to excel,
+and who in return for their instructor's solicitude, give him
+unstinted affection and gratitude, and render him loyal obedience and
+respect. In the teacher's hands is the moulding and shaping of
+character, the direction of talents which may illumine society. And
+can any sphere of action be more elevated, more grateful than this?
+
+And then, too, the educator is constantly engaged in the things of the
+mind, in study, and the discovery of new truths or new applications of
+old ones, and in imparting his knowledge to fresh, bright
+intelligences. Nothing is so fascinating to a person of intellectual
+bent as the pursuit and attainment of truth, and this is the steady
+occupation of the teacher. Is not the outlook of such a life
+infinitely wider and more refreshing than the dull routine of
+business, the noisy rumble of a factory or the sordid dealings of
+commerce?
+
+But it is principally from the spiritual point of view that education
+is considered by the Church and religious congregations. The mandate
+of Christ, "Go ye forth and teach all nations," laid the charge of
+teaching upon His Church; and on the pastors it devolves to see that
+the faithful are instructed in Christian doctrines and obligations. To
+rightfully carry out its mission, the Church has always felt obliged
+to insist that the education of its children be permeated with
+religion, and in fulfilment of this duty it has established parochial
+schools throughout our country, where the young, while acquiring
+secular science, can at the same time be grounded in the faith and
+trained to virtuous lives.
+
+It can be said, then, that the religious who conduct these schools
+share in the apostolic mission of the Church. Every catechetical
+instruction, every word of exhortation or encouragement to right
+living and doing which is given in the class-room, is a participation
+by the teacher in the pastorate of souls, in the announcing and
+preaching of the Gospel, in the spreading of the Kingdom of God.
+Without the aid of the school, the pastor ordinarily could not
+properly teach the young their prayers and catechism, prepare them for
+the sacraments, and equip them for the manifold exigencies of life.
+
+"Religious education is our most distinctive work," says Archbishop
+Spalding, of Peoria. "It gives us a place apart in the life of the
+country. It is indispensable to the welfare and progress of the Church
+in the United States, and will be recognized in the end as the most
+vital contribution to American civilization. Fortunate are they, who
+by words or deeds confirm our faith in the need of Catholic schools;
+and yet more fortunate are they who, while they inspire our teachers
+with new courage and zeal, awaken in the young, to whom God has given
+a heart and a mind, an efficacious desire to devote themselves to the
+little ones whom Christ loves. What better work, in the present time,
+can any of us do than foster vocations to our Brotherhoods and
+Sisterhoods, whose special mission is teaching?"
+
+And Brother Azarias assures us that "There is not in this world among
+human callings a more sacred one than that of moulding souls to higher
+and better things."
+
+Bishop Byrne, of Nashville, has well said: "The office of teaching has
+an advantage in some respects over the priesthood. The teachers are
+constantly with their pupils, shaping their souls, coloring them,
+informing them, making them instinct with life and motives, and giving
+them high ideals and worthy aspirations. In all this their work is
+akin to that of the confessor."
+
+The need of more teaching Brothers and Sisters is particularly urgent
+and pressing, as the number of pupils is increasing proportionately
+faster than the number of religious subjects, and the dearth of
+teachers prevents the opening of new schools in many places where they
+are demanded, and also hinders the development of the existing
+schools. This is the opinion of Bishop Alerding, who wrote: "The
+Church is being hampered in her work of educating her youth because
+the number of teachers, Brothers and Sisters, is inadequate." And
+Bishop McQuaid did not hesitate to say that, "the most pressing want
+of the Church in America at the present time is that of Brothers to
+assist in teaching our boys."
+
+In this connection we may observe that some virtuous and self-effacing
+souls, after the example of St. Francis of Assisi, have a dread of
+assuming the responsibilities of the priesthood, and there are many
+others who are debarred from aspiring to that dignity by insufficiency
+of education. Young men of either of these classes have a splendid
+opportunity before them to serve God by joining a teaching
+congregation of Brothers.
+
+Finally, as an encouragement to Christian teachers in their glorious
+apostolate, let them remember the great reward awaiting their
+unselfish labors. The Book of Daniel (xii: 3), tells us that "They who
+instruct many to justice shall shine as stars for all eternity." The
+inspired writer compares teachers to the stars of heaven, for as the
+latter illumine the darkness of night, so they who instruct others
+dispel the darkness of ignorance by shedding the rays of wisdom and
+knowledge into the minds of their disciples. But there is a deeper
+meaning in this text, for according to the interpretation of
+theologians, it contains the assurance to those who teach others their
+duty, of a special reward or golden crown in heaven, called the
+Doctor's or Teacher's Aureole. The exact nature of this privilege,
+whether it is a special gift of loving God or a distinctive garb of
+glory, we do not know, but as the martyrs and virgins have their
+special aureole, so will teachers have theirs.
+
+Father Croiset exclaims: "Oh! the beautiful and rich crowns which God
+prepares for a religious who inspires little children with a horror of
+vice and a love of virtue! . . . What sweet consolation will be
+experienced at the moment of death by the religious when he beholds
+coming to his aid those souls whom he has helped to save." And we may
+faintly conceive the transport of one who enters heaven accompanied by
+the resplendent retinue of those whom he has brought with him from
+earth.
+
+This chapter would not be complete without a word of encouragement to
+those young men and women whose education is so deficient that they
+feel incompetent to teach, and so turn away in sadness from the
+portals of religion, thinking there is no room for them within. Such
+persons should know that any one who is skilled in a trade, such as
+that of carpentering, painting, tailoring, or sewing, can be of the
+greatest utility and acceptability to a community. And there are many
+offices of a domestic nature, such as that of porter, sacristan,
+refectorian and steward, which require little preparatory training and
+can be filled by any one of intelligence and good will.
+
+Nor should persons engaged in such duties entertain the notion that
+they will not share in the full spiritual privileges of the Order; for
+by the assistance they give to the other members they are contributing
+to the end and aim of the Institute and communicate in all the good
+works performed by it. An edifying incident, illustrative of this
+point, is told of a famous preacher who moved hearts in a wondrous
+fashion, and when he was tempted to self-complacency in his success,
+it was revealed to him that the results of his preaching were due, not
+to his own eloquence or zeal, but to the prayers of the unobserved
+lay-brother, who always sat at the foot of the pulpit, telling his
+beads for the efficacy of the sermon.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+SHOWING THE WAY
+
+When young people read or hear of persons entering religious life,
+they are apt to say, "Oh, it is easy for them, because they are holy;
+but it is impossible for me who have so little virtue!" But, as a
+matter of fact, these religious have the same passions and temptations
+to overcome, the same flesh and blood, as ourselves, and it was only
+by conquering themselves, and struggling with their lower
+inclinations, that they obtained the victory.
+
+A boy was standing one day at a country railway station in the United
+States, when he met an older boy with whom he engaged in conversation.
+His casual acquaintance confided to him that he was going off to
+college to prepare for entrance into a certain religious Order; and he
+urged the younger lad to accompany him for the same purpose. But the
+latter replied, "Oh! they wouldn't have me, for I am poor, uneducated
+and every way unfit." The other insisted, however, and finally
+prevailed on him to board with him the incoming train. They repaired
+to the superior of the religious Order, who received them kindly, and
+sent them both to a boarding school. After a short time the senior
+student was caught stealing, and dismissed from the college. His
+whilom companion, however, persevered in his good design, achieved
+honors in his studies, and finally becoming a religious and a priest,
+he is today doing effective work in the vineyard of the Lord.
+
+A story is told of a religious who gave a letter to a young man, in
+which he recommended him as a suitable candidate for his Order,
+bidding him present the letter to the superior, who lived at a
+distance. The young man, desirous of joining the Order, started on his
+journey with a companion named Mathias, who had no notion of becoming
+a religious. On the way, the would-be religious changed his mind, and
+abandoning his project, gave the letter to Mathias, who was ignorant
+of its contents, requesting him to bring it to the superior. The
+superior read the letter, and thinking the recommendation referred to
+Mathias, said to him, "Very well, you may go to the novitiate, and put
+on the habit." Mathias wondered, but obeyed, entered the novitiate,
+and became a holy religious.
+
+St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, and the foremost man of his age, was
+so handsome and attractive in youth, that the evil-minded laid snares
+against his chastity. To escape their wiles he determined to enter the
+Cistercian monastery of Citeaux. His father and brothers endeavored to
+dissuade him from his purpose, but instead, by his fervid
+exhortations, he induced four of his brothers and others, to the
+number of thirty, to enter with him. As the party was leaving home,
+little Nivard, the sole remaining boy of the family, was at play with
+some companions. Guido, the eldest of the brothers, embraced him and
+said, "My dear Nivard, we are going, and this castle and lands will
+all be yours." The child, "with wisdom beyond his years," the
+chronicler tells us, "replied, 'what, are you taking heaven for
+yourselves, and leaving earth to me? The division is not fair.'" And
+from that day nothing could pacify the boy, until he was permitted to
+join his brothers.
+
+St. Alphonsus Liguori, who is said to have always preserved his
+baptismal innocence, was so brilliant a student that at the age of
+sixteen he had obtained two degrees in the University of Naples.
+Entering on the practice of the law, he one day in a trial before the
+court, by an oversight, misstated the evidence. His attention being
+called to his error, he was so overwhelmed with shame and confusion at
+his apparent lack of truthfulness, that on returning home he
+exclaimed, "World, I know you now, Courts, you shall never see me
+more." And for three days he refused food. He then determined to
+become a priest, and in the ministry he attained great sanctity. He
+founded the well-known Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer,
+commonly called the Redemptorists; and for his voluminous doctrinal
+writings, Pius IX declared him a Doctor of the universal Church.
+
+The story of the entrance of St. Stanislaus Kostka into religion reads
+like a romance. His father, a Polish nobleman, had placed him and his
+older brother, Paul, at the Jesuit College in Vienna. When Stanislaus
+was fifteen years of age he applied for admission into the Jesuit
+Order, but as he had not the consent of his father, the superior
+feared to take him. An illness supervened, and the Blessed Virgin came
+to cure him, and giving the child Jesus into his arms, said to him,
+"You must end your days in the Society that bears my Son's name; you
+must become a Jesuit."
+
+Notwithstanding the vision, poor Stanislaus was again refused by the
+Jesuit superior. Not knowing what other step to take, he thought that
+by traveling four hundred miles to Augsburg, in Germany, the Jesuit
+Provincial of that province, who at the time was Blessed Peter
+Canisius, might receive him, for his jurisdiction seemed beyond the
+influence of Senator Kostka. If again rejected in Augsburg, he was
+determined to walk eight hundred miles farther to Rome, where he felt
+sure of securing his heart's desire. Accordingly, one August morning
+he rose early and telling his servant that he was going out, bade him
+at the same time inform his brother Paul not to expect him for dinner.
+With light and joyous heart he started on his journey, and at the
+first opportunity exchanged his fine clothes for the disguise of a
+pilgrim's staff and tunic.
+
+When Paul awoke and learned that Stanislaus was gone for the day, he
+was surprised, but attributed it to some new pious freak. But as the
+day wore on, and the shades of evening gathered, with no tidings of
+his brother, consternation seized Paul, for he realized that his
+irascible and powerful father would hold him responsible for the
+safety of the younger boy, whom he loved with a passionate and
+unbounded affection. Accordingly servants were dispatched in every
+direction to seek for the truant, but no tidings could be obtained.
+The conclusion gradually forced itself upon all that Stanislaus had
+fled, and Paul determined to pursue him and bring him back. For some
+reason, suspicion was aroused that the runaway had taken the road to
+Augsburg, and a carriage with two stout horses was ordered for early
+dawn on the morrow.
+
+Along the highway to Augsburg flew the equipage containing Paul and
+three companions. Meanwhile, little Stanislaus was trudging bravely
+along, putting all his confidence in God, when he suddenly heard the
+rapid beat of horses' hoofs behind him. Suspecting what it meant, he
+quickly entered a by-lane, and the occupants of the carriage rushed by
+without seeing, or at least, recognizing, him in his disguise.
+
+Stanislaus continued his pilgrimage in peace, begging his way, for he
+had no money, and after two weeks, he saw, with inexpressible joy, the
+roofs and spires of Augsburg gleaming in the setting sun. At last he
+had reached the haven of rest, and with a bounding heart, the weary
+boy knocked at the door of the Jesuit college. But alas, for all his
+hopes! the provincial had gone to Dillingen. The Fathers urged him to
+stay and rest with them until the provincial's return, but Stanislaus
+would brook no delay. At once he wended his way toward Dillingen,
+which he soon reached, and when he knelt at the feet of Blessed
+Canisius, two saints were face to face. The superior pressed the boy
+to his heart, and kept him in the college for a few weeks. But as both
+the elder and younger saint thought Germany still too near the
+influence of his father for safety, Stanislaus, in company with two
+religious, set out on a further exhausting walk of eight hundred miles
+to Rome, where he was received as a Jesuit novice by the General of
+the Order, St. Francis Borgia.
+
+The angelic boy had at last finished his long pilgrimages, he had
+entered the earthly paradise for which he had yearned, and for which
+he had forsaken home, rank and country. But the happiness of religion
+he soon exchanged for the joys of heaven, for before completing his
+eighteenth year, and while still a novice, he closed his eyes on this
+world to open them in company with Mary and the angels on the Beatific
+Vision.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE PARENTS' PART
+
+The home is the nursery of vocations. Most religious can trace the
+beginnings of their resolve to leave all to the influence of saintly
+parents and a Christian home. If the parents cultivate faith, charity
+and industry the fragrance of these virtues will cling round the walls
+of their dwelling, and perfume the lives of their children.
+
+Every Christian home should be a convent in miniature, filled with the
+same spirit, productive of the same virtues. It should be a cloister,
+forbidding entrance to the world and its vanities, and harboring
+within gentle peace and happiness. Poverty should dwell there, not in
+the narrower meaning of distress and want, but in the wider
+acceptation of simplicity, frugality and temperance as opposed to
+extravagance, display and ostentation. Purity, too, should reign as
+queen of the hearth, regulating the glance of the eye, the
+conversation, and even the thoughts of the occupants. And union and
+harmony of wills, without which the idea of home is inconceivable, can
+come only through obedience which binds the children to parents, wife
+to husband, and all to God.
+
+But, unfortunately, this is not always the case. From many domiciles
+peace and tranquillity have fled, giving place to frivolity, vanity
+and worldliness and all their attendant train of vices. How many
+parents, deceived by the wisdom of the flesh, seek their own
+gratification in all things, and denying their children nothing that
+luxury or extravagance craves, pamper and spoil them by indulging
+their every whim. To train up the young to the steady and
+uncompromising fulfilment of duty is the only means to produce a hardy
+and sturdy generation of men and women, whose fidelity can be relied
+on in the trials and emergencies of after-life.
+
+But some fathers and mothers, when their children call for bread,
+reverse the parable by giving them a stone, and when they ask for an
+egg, give them a scorpion. We can imagine with what righteous
+indignation Our Lord would have denounced such a mode of action.
+Foolish parents even of limited means dress their girls in expensive
+and gaudy apparel, which not only offends against taste and economy,
+but sometimes transgresses the laws of modesty and decency.
+Familiarity between the sexes is permitted and encouraged by doting
+and foolish mothers, who introduce their sons and daughters to
+juvenile society functions, receptions, parties and unbecoming dances;
+so that children who should be at their lessons or playing healthful
+games with suitable companions, are taught to affect society manners
+after the most approved fashion of their silly elders. Persons of this
+stamp may prepare for a rude awakening, for the day of reckoning for
+themselves and children will be sure and terrible.
+
+Many parents, while indeed quite solicitous according to their lights,
+for the temporal good of their offspring, training them to a trade or
+profession, or settling them in marriage, devote but little thought to
+their spiritual welfare. They dread a vocation in their family as a
+catastrophe. It would be well, indeed, for persons of this character
+to ponder the words of the Pastoral Letter of the Second Council of
+Baltimore: "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."
+
+How much better it were for parents to propose to the young the
+promise of Our Lord, "And every one that hath left house, or brothers
+or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my
+name, shall receive a hundredfold, and possess life everlasting."
+(Matt. xix: 29.) Many a one, whose wayward child has brought dishonor
+and shame to the family, realizes when all too late the happiness that
+might have been his had such a child only elected the religious state.
+
+Instead of throwing obstacles in the way of a vocation, those who are
+appreciative of spiritual things feel honored that God has chosen one
+of their family circle for His special service. Persons whose sons
+obtain high position in the army, court or government employ, take a
+just pride in the distinction thus attained, but such temporal honors
+cannot be compared with the singular privilege of serving in God's own
+courts, and dwelling within His sanctuary. Bishop Schrembs, of Toledo,
+aptly advises pastors "to teach young parents that the service of God
+is even more glorious than that of country, for as St. Jerome says,
+'Such a service establishes ties of relationship between the family
+and Jesus Christ Himself.'"
+
+Nor do parents, as they sometimes fear, lose a son or daughter who
+enters religion. One who marries is in a certain sense lost to the
+parent, for the responsibilities of his new state of life so absorb
+his energies as to leave him but little opportunity to concern himself
+about his old home. And frequently distance entirely severs his
+connection with it. But one who enters God's house does not contract
+new family alliances, his heart remains free, and though separated
+from parents, his affection is always true to them, he thinks of them
+as in his childhood days, and he never ceases to importune the
+blessings of heaven upon them.
+
+In fact, we may say that a vocation is not strictly an individual, but
+rather a family possession. A call to God implies sacrifice on the
+part of the family, as well as of the individual, for while he gives
+up parents, brothers and sisters, they, too, must part with him. And
+as they share in the renunciation, they participate also in its merit
+and reward. In God's household the religious represents his family, he
+works and prays by proxy for them, and they share in his graces and
+good deeds. Is it not a matter of daily experience that the family of
+a religious, particularly the parents, receive abundant graces, that
+God leads them in various ways to greater fidelity in His service, to
+a love of prayer and higher perfection? Parents of religious
+frequently become religious themselves at heart, and though not
+clothed with the habit, they share in the "hundredfold" promised to
+the child.
+
+"It is the glory of a large and happy Catholic family to produce a
+vocation," says Rev. Joseph Rickaby, S.J. "A sound Catholic is glad to
+have brother or sister, uncle or aunt, or cousin or child, 'who has
+pleased God and is found no more' in the ordinary walks of life,
+because God hath taken and translated him to something higher and
+better."
+
+Parents and teachers, then, who do not hesitate to incline the minds
+of children to a professional career, should have no fear also to
+direct their thoughts to higher things. To praise in the family circle
+the priestly or religious life, to express the hope and desire that
+one or more of the children may have the great happiness of such a
+profession, to offer them daily in prayer to God, to train them to
+piety and devotion, these are all praiseworthy in a father or mother,
+and if faithfully practiced in all families would doubtless greatly
+increase the number of God's chosen servants.
+
+Anything approaching coercion or excessive urging should, of course,
+be avoided, because moral violence should not be done to the child's
+will. But the remark sometimes made by well-meaning mothers, "O, I
+would not say a word to influence my child towards religion, for fear
+of interfering with God's work," shows a lamentable ignorance of the
+nature of a vocation. One might almost as well say, "O, I am careful
+not to contribute to the building of a church, because if God wants it
+built, He will not need any help." If all persons thought thus, such a
+church would be long in building.
+
+Most of God's works require our cooperation. He designs them and we
+must carry them out. Many a great project has depended on a timely
+word, or on the exertions of some man who rose to the occasion. Andrew
+and John were sent to Our Lord by St. John the Baptist, and they
+became apostles; and if Andrew had not "found his brother Simon and
+brought him to Jesus," who knows whether Christ would not have found
+it necessary to appoint another head of the Church in place of Simon
+Peter?
+
+To parents, then, belongs the singular privilege of training their
+children to tender piety, of directing their thoughts to spiritual
+things; and fidelity to this trust will give us a glorious generation
+of men and women ready to risk all, to sacrifice all in the service of
+their Creator.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+A PARTING WORD
+
+Now, dear reader, that you and the writer have kept company thus far,
+he is reluctant to part from you. But if you perceive within you the
+germ of a vocation, he begs you not to crush it. If in your heart
+there is a spark of that celestial fire, which may be fanned to a
+consuming flame of divine love, keep it burning.
+
+Preserve your soul, oh! so perfectly from the slightest touch of evil,
+remembering that the least deliberate venial sin stains it more than
+we can comprehend. Above all, cherish holy purity, that exquisite
+ornament of youth, which, like a polished gem, may so easily lose its
+lustre. Guard the avenues of your soul, your sight and hearing and the
+other senses, through which contamination from without is always
+seeking to enter and defile the beauty of God's handiwork. About us is
+an atmosphere of worldliness, which we imperceptibly breathe in from
+the words of companions, from the printed page, and the example of the
+careless. Shun companionship with the frivolous, vanity of dress, and
+that indiscriminate reading which only feeds an idle curiosity. The
+theatres of our day are especially dangerous to virtue, and he who
+stays away from them entirely, will consult his own advantage, as well
+as please God.
+
+In this soft and luxurious age the popular trend is to
+self-gratification in all its forms. But the true Christian must ever
+strive against corrupt nature, if he would not be carried away by the
+stream of voluptuousness. Self-denial is the watchword of
+Christianity. All are called to the practice of penance in some shape
+or form, the best usually being the exact performance of duty. The
+young of school age will find a strong shelter from temptation in the
+scrupulous and enthusiastic performance of their daily tasks and
+lessons. That small boy had caught the true spirit, who used to rise
+early, to prepare himself, as he said, for the "missionary" life, to
+which he aspired.
+
+A material help for boys to prepare for future life, is to serve at
+the altar. He who sacrifices his morning sleep, overcoming sloth, to
+minister to the priest at Mass, is already, by a privilege, fulfilling
+the functions of one of the minor orders, that of the acolyte. The
+devout server at Mass shares in its graces next to the celebrant, and
+more than the ordinary faithful who assist at it; and many an
+altar-boy, as he glided about the sanctuary, mingling with the
+invisible angels who hovered around the Victim of sacrifice, has felt
+the seeds of vocation sprouting in his soul.
+
+Devotion to the Mother of God should also be a characteristic of
+youth. She sympathizes with us, as only a mother can, in all our
+difficulties and trials. She fully appreciates what we have to contend
+with, she sees our weakness, the strength of our passions, the
+temptations we encounter, and she is eager to throw about us the
+mantle of her protection, if we will only ask her. Never a day should
+pass without our commending ourselves earnestly to her motherly heart,
+for she is even more interested in our welfare than we ourselves. She
+is powerful to aid us, since all good things come to us through her;
+and she will choose for her devout clients the career in which they
+may best serve God.
+
+By a strange perversion of mind, we often seek to unravel the
+perplexities of life, without recourse to prayer. When involved in
+business anxieties, men spend days of worry in wrestling with them,
+without perhaps asking the Father of Lights for guidance. And the
+young also, who must settle for themselves their future career,
+frequently strive to do so, without the help of heaven. They perhaps
+consult human advisers, but fail to consult God, the best of
+counsellors, Who alone can see behind the veil of the future, and
+infallibly tell what is best for us.
+
+In coming to any important decision, light and strength are needed,
+light to know the pathway of duty, and strength to follow it. On
+account of the obscurities and half-lights of our intellect, we
+perceive but dimly, and often fail to discern the true from the false.
+The illumination of the white light of Truth is needed to flood the
+dark recesses of the mind. And even when the truth stands clearly
+revealed, we are often too indolent or enervated to embrace it; we
+need the tonic of resolution and courage, which can be infused into us
+only from on high.
+
+The trustful child of God should, day by day, commend his future into
+the hands of his heavenly Father, praying Him to shape his life and
+career. Each one has his own talents, one or many, but he cannot hope
+to trade or barter with them in a fruitful way unless the Giver of
+them bless his efforts. Our constant prayer, then, should be for the
+fulfilment of God's will in our regard, with the lively faith that
+whatever we ask will be granted.
+
+And of all prayers and devotions, can any be more efficacious or
+salutary than the frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist? Our Holy
+Father, Pius X, desires the boys and girls of the whole world to be
+nourished daily, from the tenderest years, with the Bread of Life,
+that they may wax strong in the spiritual life, and grow up virile
+Christians. One Holy Communion, received fervently, should be
+sufficient to sanctify a soul and awake in it the desire of closest
+union with Christ, of self-immolation on the altar of Divine Love.
+
+Then what of the soul which is daily nourished with the "Wheat of the
+Elect and the Wine that springeth forth Virgins?" (Zach. ix: 17.) Holy
+Communion has been styled the "Marriage Supper of the Lamb," wherein
+Christ caresses the soul, communicates to it sweetest secrets, and
+touching it with the ardent flames of His own Heart, purifies it from
+attachment to creatures, and sets it aglow with the white heat of
+charity. The frequent communicant, then, is surest of knowing and
+doing God's will.
+
+In conclusion, the writer may be allowed to indulge the hope that more
+than one reader may be impelled to aspire to the virgin's aureole, the
+special privilege of joining the one hundred and forty-four thousand,
+whom St. John, in the vision of the Apocalypse, saw following the
+Lamb, whithersoever He went, and singing a canticle that none else
+could sing, "because they were virgins."
+
+---
+
+Go now, little book, fly away to some perplexed soul who is anxious to
+discover the secrets of the Divine Will; and whisper it a message of
+peace and consolation, telling it that, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear
+heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath
+prepared for them that love Him." (I Cor. ii: 9.)
+
+
+
+PRAYER FOR THE RIGHT CHOICE OF A STATE OF LIFE.
+
+O Thou, the God of wisdom and counsel, Who dost perceive in my heart a
+sincere desire of pleasing Thee alone, and of conforming myself
+entirely to Thy most holy will in the choice of my state of life,
+grant me, I beseech Thee, through the intercession of the Blessed
+Virgin, my mother, and of my patron saints, especially St. Joseph and
+St. Aloysius, the grace to know what state of life I should choose,
+and when known to embrace it, so that I may seek and spread therein
+Thy glory, work out my salvation, and merit that reward in heaven
+which Thou hast promised to those who fulfill Thy divine will. Amen.
+
+----
+
+An indulgence of three hundred days, once a day, for the above prayer,
+granted by Pope Pius X, May 2, 1905.
+
+
+
+THE FRANK MEANY CO., PRINTERS, INC., NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's What Shall I Be?, by Rev. Francis Cassily
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHAT SHALL I BE? ***
+
+***** This file should be named 31688.txt or 31688.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/6/8/31688/
+
+Produced by Michael Gray
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/31688.zip b/31688.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ea2bc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/31688.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4de095f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #31688 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31688)