Still relevant 100 years later...
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[87] The Sacred Congregation of Consistory, addressing the Canadian Clergy, vindicates the right of the Ordinary to enforce the provincial enactments regarding the wearing of the clerical habit. The decision provides that the custom of a locality (diocese) in the matter of clerical dress is to be maintained. But the Ordinary, with the consent of his Chapter or the Diocesan Board of Consultors [sic], may alter the custom in conformity with the requirements of times and conditions. Clerics out of their own diocese may conform to the locality in which they dwell. But the dress is to be always ecclesiastical. What is considered ecclesiastical is laid down by the Council of Quebec.
The decree serves as a reminder that for the clergy of the United States a distinctive dress has also been prescribed by the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. A deviation from the law, sanctioning ordinary civilian's dress in black, has become the almost universal custom and has at least the silent toleration of the Bishops. What is to be deprecated, however, is the practice, occasionally adopted by clerics traveling outside their own diocese, of discarding all ecclesiastical indications in dress. Where that is a matter of convenience or necessity it is excusable. When it is intended as a disguise, it is abominable and as a rule a failure as well as a scandal.
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Source: "Clerical Dress," American Ecclesiastical Review 55 (July 1916): 87.
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Vignettes from Our Young People
I republish the following vignettes from the 1916 editions of Our Young People, a Catholic newspaper published for the deaf-mute students at St. John's School for the Deaf in St. Francis, Wisconsin. Although it closed in the 1980s, the school became infamous when the Milwaukee Archdiocese sex abuse scandal broke out. Fr. Lawrence Murphy, who had taught at the school from 1950-1974, reportedly molested up to 200 boys.
Aside from the awful associations with the school, I'm republishing the following because of how relevant the content of these articles are for our times, and some of them even are prophetic.
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[The following are from the April 1916 edition with page numbers indicated in brackets.]
[25] Don't "Hold the Floor."
"I don't wonder nobody cares to come to see me," sighed a young woman who had been temporarily crippled by a bad fall. "I don't know anything interesting to talk about. There is nothing attractive in this stupid old room. I can't be entertaining with my knee paining me all the time. I don't wonder people stay away."
No one else wondered either, though not for the reasons so categorically set forth. Ethel's friends came frequently at the beginning of her confinement to the house, full of sympathy for her accident, and evidently anxious to do all they could to make her period of enforced seclusion pleasant. But after the first three weeks, the numbers had fallen off appreciably, and everyone but Ethel knew why.
The friends who came had been prepared to be entertaining. They had saved up funny little stories for her amusement. They were prepared to be vivacious and sparkling. But none of these kindly intentions were carried out for the reason that Ethel gave none of them a chance. She held the floor herself. Each time it was the same story, of pain, and sleepless nights and deprivation.
Where there is sweet clover, there the bees will gather. Etehl's [sic] room migh [sic] have buzzed like a hive with friendly voices. But in a very short time her callers had learned what to expect. "Poor Ethel!" they said to one another. "We really must go to see her, only—well, let's not go today. It's so depressing."
The cheery invalid is not likely to be lonely. But it requires a heroic degree of self-forgetfulness to take an hour out of a bright afternoon to listen to complaints.
---
[31] Procrastination.
There's a boy at our house
And you'll sometimes find him in it,
Who, when asked a thing to do,
Says: "I will, but—wait a minute."
If his mother asks for wood
And is wanting him to bring it,
He is sure to answer her,
"Yes, I'll come, just wait a minute."
When he has a task to do,
And is wanted to begin it,
He is sure to answer first,
"Yes, I will, just wait a minute."
If an errand he's to run,
Or a race that he may win it,
He is ready with reply,
"Yes, I will, just wait a minute."
Should he reach the pearly gate
And the angel ask him in it,
Will his answer then be too:
"Yes, I'll come, just wait a minute!"?
---
[The following are from the October 1916 edition with page numbers indicated in brackets.]
[18] Answering the question, "How is it that there are so many bad persons in the Church?" the Rev. H. G. Graham writes as follows in "The Missionary Gazette:"
"The holiness of the Church is shown not in proper criterion of the Church's success in this its bad members, but in its good ones. The sphere is to look at the lives of those who faithfully obey her teaching, not those who violate it. A bad Catholic is a bad man because he is neglecting his religion; a good Catholic is a good man because he is practicing it. The one is a real product of Catholicity, the other is a product of his own sin. Take those who most scrupulously adhere to the doctrines and practices of the Church, and who act them out to the smallest details, and you have holy people, saints, whether canonized or not. These are the genuine fruits of the good tree of Catholicity; these the Church recognizes as her faithful children, her legitimate offspring; the others are rotten, decaying branches, for whose rottenness the Church takes no responsibility. Obviously, she cannot claim both as being equally faithful to her teaching. To make good his argument, then, the Protestant [my addition: or any secular person for that matter] would need to prove that bad Catholics are bad people because they are taught to be bad; that their badness is the logical result of the Church's instruction which they are faithfully following out; in short, that what we call bad Catholics are really good Catholics."
---
[19] Issue was taken with a statement of Dr. Charles W. Dabney, President of the University of Cincinnati, that secular education is the strong bond of union between citizens, by Archbishop Henry Moeller, Cincinnati, in the sermon at the silver jubilee of St. Joseph College, Collegeville, Ind., a short time ago.
"Dr. Dabney," said the prelate, "likened this bond to cement. His cement, however, had only two ingredients, as he stated, namely, cement and sand. But he omitted the important element in his mixture—water.
"A house whose walls are laid in dry cement and sand will not endure. And neither will a state bound together by physical and intellectual culture, but without the amalgamating, cohesive forces of religion."
The college President, he said, made the statement some time ago.
"The State," Archbishop Moeller declared, "usurps a right not given to it by the constitution when it monopolizes education, and tyrannically strives to compel her citizens to make use of a system of education against which they conscientiously protest.
"And when, in addition to the double burden, the children educated in Catholic schools are discriminated against, what else can you call it but persecution? There might be reason for such action in the pupils of your schools were not as proficient in knowledge as those educated by the state. This, however, is not the fact, as experience proves, wherever a fair test has been made."
---
[19] It is a long time since the law of England, made by bigots, decreed that not only must the sovereign be a Protestant, but he must also marry a Protestant. The Prince of Wales is nearly 22; there are not many European courts with marriageable daughters, more particularly as the Fatherland is now closed for alliances.
It is known that the prince visited Italy recently to see more than the Italian battle line, that he met Princess Iolande, daughter of the king, that the two young people were favorably impressed, and that Prince Arthur of Connaught [alternatively spelled Connacht] has since continued negotiations for the princess' hand.
The one great obstacle is religion. Naturally and very properly the Italian monarchs decline to let their daughter apostatize even for the throne of the British Empire. It is now whispered that Rome might grant a dispensation for the marriage to the Protestant prince, provided the bride's religion was safe-guarded.
And there comes the rub. To permit a Catholic queen of England would be the thin end of the wedge to all fire-eating Protestants; but there are enough sensible people in the nation to appreciate that the time has gone by for controlling the spiritual affairs of their ruler.
[This next part is prophetic:]
According to the London Daily Express, women are allowed to speak in Anglican churches, provided they do not speak from the pulpit, lectern or chancel steps. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Bishop of London have pronounced definitely in favor of this innovation, and other bishops are expected to give their sanction.
Protests have been made, the leader of the opposition being Athelstan Riley, a high church man, who urges that to allow women to speak in churches "is the first recognized step in an unorganized movement to claim the priesthood for women."—Ex.
[My comments: The age of Prince Arthur by the time of this publishing would have been 33. Princess Iolanda of Savoy would have been 15. If Prince Arthur was 22, then the princess would have been about 4. Fortunately, the story has a happy ending: Princess Iolanda was not married to Prince Arthur, who ended up marrying his cousin Princess Alexandra.]
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[20] Too Smart.
Catherine and Alice were shopping together at a "sale," and at last drew near a counter where some goods were displayed that they wanted.
"I will take two and a half yards," said Catherine to the salesgirl.
The latter was new at the work—taken into the department store to help out on that side. The crowd confused her; she hadn't become accustomed to handling her pad of sales slips. Two and a half yards at ninety-eight cents would be—she couldn't think in such a babel of voices; she figured on the back of her slip, and then said: "One dollar forty-five, please."
Catherine tilted her head a trifle, did a bit of mental arithmetic, and spoke pleasantly and quietly: "It must be two forty-five, I think."
The girl flushed painfully. "Of course," she murmured; "thank you ever so much."
"Now what in the world did you do that for?" complained Alice just as they left the counter. "You might just as well as not have had that extra dollar. You are quick as lightning at figures, I know; but when you had figured it out in your mind why didn't you keep still? There is such a thing as being too smart."
"I don't think you can accuse me of that," laughed Catherine; "but the amount really was two forty-five, and it would be a fraud for me not to pay it when I knew it. But saying nothing about that part of it, there was the girl. If she had sent in the slip for a dollar forty-five, the examiner would have discovered the mistake, and the extra dollar would have been deducted from the girl's wages—if they amounted to as much as that."
"Well, that is her lookout. Anyway, that's how I look at it. If the conductor thinks I'm reading my paper so earnestly that I must have paid my fare, I don't run to him and beseech him to take my nickel. Last week a restaurant cashier gave me back fifty cents too much change. I didn't call out the fire department; I walked away as steady as you please. If I am smart enough to copy your examination paper without letting Miss Spectacles see me, why, she's the one to blame, not I."
Now, there's a big question that goes with this little story: Which of these girls was really the one that was "too smart"? And will it be too late when she finds out?—Girl's World.
Aside from the awful associations with the school, I'm republishing the following because of how relevant the content of these articles are for our times, and some of them even are prophetic.
---
[The following are from the April 1916 edition with page numbers indicated in brackets.]
[25] Don't "Hold the Floor."
"I don't wonder nobody cares to come to see me," sighed a young woman who had been temporarily crippled by a bad fall. "I don't know anything interesting to talk about. There is nothing attractive in this stupid old room. I can't be entertaining with my knee paining me all the time. I don't wonder people stay away."
No one else wondered either, though not for the reasons so categorically set forth. Ethel's friends came frequently at the beginning of her confinement to the house, full of sympathy for her accident, and evidently anxious to do all they could to make her period of enforced seclusion pleasant. But after the first three weeks, the numbers had fallen off appreciably, and everyone but Ethel knew why.
The friends who came had been prepared to be entertaining. They had saved up funny little stories for her amusement. They were prepared to be vivacious and sparkling. But none of these kindly intentions were carried out for the reason that Ethel gave none of them a chance. She held the floor herself. Each time it was the same story, of pain, and sleepless nights and deprivation.
Where there is sweet clover, there the bees will gather. Etehl's [sic] room migh [sic] have buzzed like a hive with friendly voices. But in a very short time her callers had learned what to expect. "Poor Ethel!" they said to one another. "We really must go to see her, only—well, let's not go today. It's so depressing."
The cheery invalid is not likely to be lonely. But it requires a heroic degree of self-forgetfulness to take an hour out of a bright afternoon to listen to complaints.
---
[31] Procrastination.
There's a boy at our house
And you'll sometimes find him in it,
Who, when asked a thing to do,
Says: "I will, but—wait a minute."
If his mother asks for wood
And is wanting him to bring it,
He is sure to answer her,
"Yes, I'll come, just wait a minute."
When he has a task to do,
And is wanted to begin it,
He is sure to answer first,
"Yes, I will, just wait a minute."
If an errand he's to run,
Or a race that he may win it,
He is ready with reply,
"Yes, I will, just wait a minute."
Should he reach the pearly gate
And the angel ask him in it,
Will his answer then be too:
"Yes, I'll come, just wait a minute!"?
---
[The following are from the October 1916 edition with page numbers indicated in brackets.]
[18] Answering the question, "How is it that there are so many bad persons in the Church?" the Rev. H. G. Graham writes as follows in "The Missionary Gazette:"
"The holiness of the Church is shown not in proper criterion of the Church's success in this its bad members, but in its good ones. The sphere is to look at the lives of those who faithfully obey her teaching, not those who violate it. A bad Catholic is a bad man because he is neglecting his religion; a good Catholic is a good man because he is practicing it. The one is a real product of Catholicity, the other is a product of his own sin. Take those who most scrupulously adhere to the doctrines and practices of the Church, and who act them out to the smallest details, and you have holy people, saints, whether canonized or not. These are the genuine fruits of the good tree of Catholicity; these the Church recognizes as her faithful children, her legitimate offspring; the others are rotten, decaying branches, for whose rottenness the Church takes no responsibility. Obviously, she cannot claim both as being equally faithful to her teaching. To make good his argument, then, the Protestant [my addition: or any secular person for that matter] would need to prove that bad Catholics are bad people because they are taught to be bad; that their badness is the logical result of the Church's instruction which they are faithfully following out; in short, that what we call bad Catholics are really good Catholics."
---
[19] Issue was taken with a statement of Dr. Charles W. Dabney, President of the University of Cincinnati, that secular education is the strong bond of union between citizens, by Archbishop Henry Moeller, Cincinnati, in the sermon at the silver jubilee of St. Joseph College, Collegeville, Ind., a short time ago.
"Dr. Dabney," said the prelate, "likened this bond to cement. His cement, however, had only two ingredients, as he stated, namely, cement and sand. But he omitted the important element in his mixture—water.
"A house whose walls are laid in dry cement and sand will not endure. And neither will a state bound together by physical and intellectual culture, but without the amalgamating, cohesive forces of religion."
The college President, he said, made the statement some time ago.
"The State," Archbishop Moeller declared, "usurps a right not given to it by the constitution when it monopolizes education, and tyrannically strives to compel her citizens to make use of a system of education against which they conscientiously protest.
"And when, in addition to the double burden, the children educated in Catholic schools are discriminated against, what else can you call it but persecution? There might be reason for such action in the pupils of your schools were not as proficient in knowledge as those educated by the state. This, however, is not the fact, as experience proves, wherever a fair test has been made."
---
[19] It is a long time since the law of England, made by bigots, decreed that not only must the sovereign be a Protestant, but he must also marry a Protestant. The Prince of Wales is nearly 22; there are not many European courts with marriageable daughters, more particularly as the Fatherland is now closed for alliances.
It is known that the prince visited Italy recently to see more than the Italian battle line, that he met Princess Iolande, daughter of the king, that the two young people were favorably impressed, and that Prince Arthur of Connaught [alternatively spelled Connacht] has since continued negotiations for the princess' hand.
The one great obstacle is religion. Naturally and very properly the Italian monarchs decline to let their daughter apostatize even for the throne of the British Empire. It is now whispered that Rome might grant a dispensation for the marriage to the Protestant prince, provided the bride's religion was safe-guarded.
And there comes the rub. To permit a Catholic queen of England would be the thin end of the wedge to all fire-eating Protestants; but there are enough sensible people in the nation to appreciate that the time has gone by for controlling the spiritual affairs of their ruler.
[This next part is prophetic:]
According to the London Daily Express, women are allowed to speak in Anglican churches, provided they do not speak from the pulpit, lectern or chancel steps. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Bishop of London have pronounced definitely in favor of this innovation, and other bishops are expected to give their sanction.
Protests have been made, the leader of the opposition being Athelstan Riley, a high church man, who urges that to allow women to speak in churches "is the first recognized step in an unorganized movement to claim the priesthood for women."—Ex.
[My comments: The age of Prince Arthur by the time of this publishing would have been 33. Princess Iolanda of Savoy would have been 15. If Prince Arthur was 22, then the princess would have been about 4. Fortunately, the story has a happy ending: Princess Iolanda was not married to Prince Arthur, who ended up marrying his cousin Princess Alexandra.]
---
[20] Too Smart.
Catherine and Alice were shopping together at a "sale," and at last drew near a counter where some goods were displayed that they wanted.
"I will take two and a half yards," said Catherine to the salesgirl.
The latter was new at the work—taken into the department store to help out on that side. The crowd confused her; she hadn't become accustomed to handling her pad of sales slips. Two and a half yards at ninety-eight cents would be—she couldn't think in such a babel of voices; she figured on the back of her slip, and then said: "One dollar forty-five, please."
Catherine tilted her head a trifle, did a bit of mental arithmetic, and spoke pleasantly and quietly: "It must be two forty-five, I think."
The girl flushed painfully. "Of course," she murmured; "thank you ever so much."
"Now what in the world did you do that for?" complained Alice just as they left the counter. "You might just as well as not have had that extra dollar. You are quick as lightning at figures, I know; but when you had figured it out in your mind why didn't you keep still? There is such a thing as being too smart."
"I don't think you can accuse me of that," laughed Catherine; "but the amount really was two forty-five, and it would be a fraud for me not to pay it when I knew it. But saying nothing about that part of it, there was the girl. If she had sent in the slip for a dollar forty-five, the examiner would have discovered the mistake, and the extra dollar would have been deducted from the girl's wages—if they amounted to as much as that."
"Well, that is her lookout. Anyway, that's how I look at it. If the conductor thinks I'm reading my paper so earnestly that I must have paid my fare, I don't run to him and beseech him to take my nickel. Last week a restaurant cashier gave me back fifty cents too much change. I didn't call out the fire department; I walked away as steady as you please. If I am smart enough to copy your examination paper without letting Miss Spectacles see me, why, she's the one to blame, not I."
Now, there's a big question that goes with this little story: Which of these girls was really the one that was "too smart"? And will it be too late when she finds out?—Girl's World.
Repost: Concerning Certain Balls in the United States and in Canada
[20] The decree from the Sacred Congregation runs thus:
"In the last century in the United States the custom sprang up of gathering Catholic families to balls at which supper or other refreshment was served and the entertainment prolonged usually to a late hour of night. The reason given for this was that Catholics might get to know each other and become more intimately united in the bonds of love and charity, while at the same time funds could be secured for some charitable purpose. Those who used to promote and preside over these gatherings were generally the heads of some pious work, not rarely the rectors or the parish priests of churches.
"But the Ordinaries of dioceses, although they entertained no doubt of the upright purpose of those who promoted these balls; still looking at the perils and losses caused by the growing custom, considered it their duty to forbid them, and therefore in canon 290 of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore they laid down as follows: 'We order also that priests take care to remove entirely that abuse in virtue of which banquets with balls are given for the purpose of promoting pious projects.'
"But as often happens in human things, what was very wisely and justly ordered in the beginning gradually commenced to fall into oblivion and the custom of giving balls again begand [sic] to flourish and even spread into the neighboring Dominion of Canada.
"Knowing these things, the Most Eminent Fathers of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation having consulted several Ordinaries of dioceses and having subjected the matter to deep study, concluded that the decisions laid down by the Third Council of Baltimore must be obeyed, and with the approbation of our Holy Father, Benedict XV, Pope, they decreed that all priests, secular and regular, and other clerics are absolutely forbidden to promote or foster the said balls, even though in aid of and in support of pious works, or any other pious end; moreover, all clerics are forbidden to be present at these balls if they happen to be promoted by laymen.
"This degree the Sovereign Pontiff ordered to become a part of public law and to be religiously observed by all, everything to the contrary notwithstanding.
"Given at Rome from the Sacred Consistorial Congregation, March 31, 1916.
"CARDINAL DE LAI, Bishop of Sabina, Secretary.
"THOMAS BOGGIANI, Archbishop of Edessa, Assessor."
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Source: "Concerning Certain Balls in the United States of America and in Canada," Our Young People, October 1916, 20. https://books.google.com/books?id=HhXZAAAAMAAJ
"In the last century in the United States the custom sprang up of gathering Catholic families to balls at which supper or other refreshment was served and the entertainment prolonged usually to a late hour of night. The reason given for this was that Catholics might get to know each other and become more intimately united in the bonds of love and charity, while at the same time funds could be secured for some charitable purpose. Those who used to promote and preside over these gatherings were generally the heads of some pious work, not rarely the rectors or the parish priests of churches.
"But the Ordinaries of dioceses, although they entertained no doubt of the upright purpose of those who promoted these balls; still looking at the perils and losses caused by the growing custom, considered it their duty to forbid them, and therefore in canon 290 of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore they laid down as follows: 'We order also that priests take care to remove entirely that abuse in virtue of which banquets with balls are given for the purpose of promoting pious projects.'
"But as often happens in human things, what was very wisely and justly ordered in the beginning gradually commenced to fall into oblivion and the custom of giving balls again begand [sic] to flourish and even spread into the neighboring Dominion of Canada.
"Knowing these things, the Most Eminent Fathers of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation having consulted several Ordinaries of dioceses and having subjected the matter to deep study, concluded that the decisions laid down by the Third Council of Baltimore must be obeyed, and with the approbation of our Holy Father, Benedict XV, Pope, they decreed that all priests, secular and regular, and other clerics are absolutely forbidden to promote or foster the said balls, even though in aid of and in support of pious works, or any other pious end; moreover, all clerics are forbidden to be present at these balls if they happen to be promoted by laymen.
"This degree the Sovereign Pontiff ordered to become a part of public law and to be religiously observed by all, everything to the contrary notwithstanding.
"Given at Rome from the Sacred Consistorial Congregation, March 31, 1916.
"CARDINAL DE LAI, Bishop of Sabina, Secretary.
"THOMAS BOGGIANI, Archbishop of Edessa, Assessor."
---
Source: "Concerning Certain Balls in the United States of America and in Canada," Our Young People, October 1916, 20. https://books.google.com/books?id=HhXZAAAAMAAJ
Repost: The Morality of Round Dances
As an interesting aside, the author, a noted moral theologian in his time, explains the notion of exclusive positive prohibitions and gives the examples of secret societies and public school education, interesting because of its applicability to today's situation for traditional Catholics.
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[45] The subject of "Round Dances" presents itself periodically to the pastor of souls as one of the public evils against which it is his duty to devise efficient measures. [46] There is not uncommon impression that the church-laws forbid round [italics original] dances but allow others, as though the morality of the act were to be determined by its particular form. No doubt the diversion usually called by the name of "round dance" has its dangers, but it cannot be said that these are limited to one particular form of dancing, an exercise which to many presents to suggestion of sin whatever.
An act which is essentially an occasion of sin is always forbidden, because it is the first step in the commission of sin. There need be no law against such acts. When the Church legislates prohibiting certain practices, it is usually because of the danger, more or less direct, to which such practices lead, although in themselves they may be quite indifferent. Where a law is exclusive and permits no discretion of interpretation it is binding, independently of the reason which gave rise to the law and which makes it applicable only in certain cases. Thus, Catholics are forbidden to join any secret societies, although there are undoubtedly many secret societies whose aims and methods are without reproach; but since they are secret it is difficult to determine the particular character of any one, and hence, to avoid all danger, Catholics are warned by positive law against a league which may at any time become a menace to their faith and a hindrance to their liberty of conscience. The same may be said of our attitude towards the public schools. There are many individual schools to which a Catholic child might go without any danger to its religious education; yet if we were to admit the principle of public schools being sufficient for the education of our children, we would many times see ourselves forced to accept for our young the teaching of opinions opposed to us but against which we have no redress because our numbers are in the minority. Hence, the law of Bishops forbidding the children of Catholics to frequent the public schools where there are good parochial schools, is perfectly reasonable and binding, even if the Catholic school did not offer the same temporal or intellectual advantages as the other, so long as there is danger to the faith or moral life of the child frequenting the common school.
[47] As to the subject of dances, the late Plenary Council of Baltimore prohibits as an abuse charity balls (convivia cum choreis ad opera pia promovenda).[1] It does not, to our knowledge, forbid "round dances" as particularly objectionable, but indicates that the social amusement of balls, of which as a rule, the round dance is a prominent feature, is a dangerous diversion which the Church does not wish to have employed as a means of procuring funds for the maintenance of her pious work.
On this ground the pastor has in his parish the right and duty to prevent such diversion when it is introduced by members of his flock as part of a programme [sic] in aid of the Church or any work connected with the same, such as would come under the name of opera pia [i.e. pious works].
But may he interdict round dances or any other kind of dances on the general plea of immorality?
Or, may he refuse absolution to a penitent who practices round dances or who gives parties of which these dances form a special feature?
To give a direct answer to these questions we would say: No.
But in saying "no," all has not been said. There are dances which are in their very nature immoral. These are unquestionably sins. There are dances which are mere expressions of joy and which, though the possible occasion of sin, may be performed quite innocently, as any other merry exercise of body. There is no reason, on the part of the priest, for speaking of either in public. Those who indulge in the former know that it is wrong; those who practice the latter may be warned of the danger, if danger there be in their particular case, in the confessional.
In exceptional instances a pastor may be justified in branding in detail the corrupting usages of his locality, but as a rule it does more harm than good to dilate on a subject the foul excesses of which are known to few and of which a priest is supposed to know only what he has never seen.
As to the confessional, the same duty of correcting and [48] punishing the errant member of the flock, devolves upon the confessor as in other cases of sin or proximate occasion thereto. He justly and wisely refuses absolution to a person who commits sin by dancing, and yet is unwilling to give up the practice which involves danger to his or her eternal salvation.
But we have so far spoken of publicly interdicting the practice on the ground of its being immoral and of refusing absolution to those who take part in the diversion of round dances.
If the custom of dances cannot be called indiscriminately immoral, it may as a rule be called dangerous. And on this ground we may always warn our people, especially the younger portion, against it.
For the individual we can say but little. To some their inborn vivacity supplies in the dance sufficient excitement to drown every other feeling and make the dance a healthy exercise, never approaching to baser passion. We speak, of course, of dances in which both sexes join. With others their national habits supply them with similar motives from which a vicious tendency is altogether absent, despite apparent familiarity. Much the same may be said of those social diversions in higher society which are entirely open and participated in by men and women who are above reproach. The objects which commonly excite the passions are not the same with persons who live under the restraints imposed by refined society as with the vulgar, whose manner more quickly oversteps the barrier of propriety.
Nevertheless it may be safely asserted that with us in the United States the practice of dancing is full of danger, and a pastor cannot sufficiently warn his people, especially the young, against the habit or the occasions which may invite it. In this connection we will be permitted to quote at length from the pastoral instruction of a Bishop whose long and varied experience on the mission in this country had taught him the danger of a practice which he used all his zeal to abolish from his fold. He says:
[51] To some persons the practice of dancing would always be an occasion of sin, and their duty is plainly to accept the injunction of their confessors to avoid such amusement altogether. It is, perhaps, one of the most difficult things for a young girl to renounce this habit, once it has been cultivated. Like the disease called tarantismus [i.e. tarantism], it takes possession of persons, especially girls, and makes them sacrifice health and every other consideration to the indulgence of a pleasure which becomes a sort of nervous affection, roused into abnormal action by the mere sound of music or rythmic [sic] motion.
The mediaeval [sic] reformers of morals invented a manner of counteracting the feverish tendency fostered by the troubadours, who, returning from the East, brought with them the Oriental frivolities. Pictures and spectacles in which Death led the dance toward the grave were exhibited and explained to the people. From the thirteenth to the eighteenth century the Dance of Death, or the Dance of the Dead, as it was sometimes called, played an important part in religious art, and later in letters. It had its effect and gave a serious turn to the reckless tide that followed upon the introduction of a new civilization after the crusades. Clergy and people were to be found portrayed in the long procession of those whom the grim skeleton of Death was moving forward to invite to the hideous dance, and none could escape the dread fascination of those hollow eyes, beckoning one after another to waltz toward the brink of the grave. The constant though disguised warning might be repeated at all times, with similar good effect, by serious words about the serious truths of life.
P. Arminio.
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Footnotes:
1. Conc. Pl. III, n. 290.
2. Theol. Mor. Tr. V, C. iii, 191, 5.
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Source: P. Arminio [Herman Joseph Heuser], "The Morality of Round Dances," American Ecclesiastical Review 8 (January 1893): 45–51. https://books.google.com/books?id=sufNAAAAMAAJ.
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[45] The subject of "Round Dances" presents itself periodically to the pastor of souls as one of the public evils against which it is his duty to devise efficient measures. [46] There is not uncommon impression that the church-laws forbid round [italics original] dances but allow others, as though the morality of the act were to be determined by its particular form. No doubt the diversion usually called by the name of "round dance" has its dangers, but it cannot be said that these are limited to one particular form of dancing, an exercise which to many presents to suggestion of sin whatever.
An act which is essentially an occasion of sin is always forbidden, because it is the first step in the commission of sin. There need be no law against such acts. When the Church legislates prohibiting certain practices, it is usually because of the danger, more or less direct, to which such practices lead, although in themselves they may be quite indifferent. Where a law is exclusive and permits no discretion of interpretation it is binding, independently of the reason which gave rise to the law and which makes it applicable only in certain cases. Thus, Catholics are forbidden to join any secret societies, although there are undoubtedly many secret societies whose aims and methods are without reproach; but since they are secret it is difficult to determine the particular character of any one, and hence, to avoid all danger, Catholics are warned by positive law against a league which may at any time become a menace to their faith and a hindrance to their liberty of conscience. The same may be said of our attitude towards the public schools. There are many individual schools to which a Catholic child might go without any danger to its religious education; yet if we were to admit the principle of public schools being sufficient for the education of our children, we would many times see ourselves forced to accept for our young the teaching of opinions opposed to us but against which we have no redress because our numbers are in the minority. Hence, the law of Bishops forbidding the children of Catholics to frequent the public schools where there are good parochial schools, is perfectly reasonable and binding, even if the Catholic school did not offer the same temporal or intellectual advantages as the other, so long as there is danger to the faith or moral life of the child frequenting the common school.
[47] As to the subject of dances, the late Plenary Council of Baltimore prohibits as an abuse charity balls (convivia cum choreis ad opera pia promovenda).[1] It does not, to our knowledge, forbid "round dances" as particularly objectionable, but indicates that the social amusement of balls, of which as a rule, the round dance is a prominent feature, is a dangerous diversion which the Church does not wish to have employed as a means of procuring funds for the maintenance of her pious work.
On this ground the pastor has in his parish the right and duty to prevent such diversion when it is introduced by members of his flock as part of a programme [sic] in aid of the Church or any work connected with the same, such as would come under the name of opera pia [i.e. pious works].
But may he interdict round dances or any other kind of dances on the general plea of immorality?
Or, may he refuse absolution to a penitent who practices round dances or who gives parties of which these dances form a special feature?
To give a direct answer to these questions we would say: No.
But in saying "no," all has not been said. There are dances which are in their very nature immoral. These are unquestionably sins. There are dances which are mere expressions of joy and which, though the possible occasion of sin, may be performed quite innocently, as any other merry exercise of body. There is no reason, on the part of the priest, for speaking of either in public. Those who indulge in the former know that it is wrong; those who practice the latter may be warned of the danger, if danger there be in their particular case, in the confessional.
In exceptional instances a pastor may be justified in branding in detail the corrupting usages of his locality, but as a rule it does more harm than good to dilate on a subject the foul excesses of which are known to few and of which a priest is supposed to know only what he has never seen.
As to the confessional, the same duty of correcting and [48] punishing the errant member of the flock, devolves upon the confessor as in other cases of sin or proximate occasion thereto. He justly and wisely refuses absolution to a person who commits sin by dancing, and yet is unwilling to give up the practice which involves danger to his or her eternal salvation.
But we have so far spoken of publicly interdicting the practice on the ground of its being immoral and of refusing absolution to those who take part in the diversion of round dances.
If the custom of dances cannot be called indiscriminately immoral, it may as a rule be called dangerous. And on this ground we may always warn our people, especially the younger portion, against it.
For the individual we can say but little. To some their inborn vivacity supplies in the dance sufficient excitement to drown every other feeling and make the dance a healthy exercise, never approaching to baser passion. We speak, of course, of dances in which both sexes join. With others their national habits supply them with similar motives from which a vicious tendency is altogether absent, despite apparent familiarity. Much the same may be said of those social diversions in higher society which are entirely open and participated in by men and women who are above reproach. The objects which commonly excite the passions are not the same with persons who live under the restraints imposed by refined society as with the vulgar, whose manner more quickly oversteps the barrier of propriety.
Nevertheless it may be safely asserted that with us in the United States the practice of dancing is full of danger, and a pastor cannot sufficiently warn his people, especially the young, against the habit or the occasions which may invite it. In this connection we will be permitted to quote at length from the pastoral instruction of a Bishop whose long and varied experience on the mission in this country had taught him the danger of a practice which he used all his zeal to abolish from his fold. He says:
"In relation to balls and dances, we recommend watchfulness. The Holy Ghost warns against associating with those who frequent such. "Use not the company of her that is a dancer, lest thou [49] perish" (Ecclesiastic, ix, 4). St. Basil commenting on this subject says: "Young women who love to dance will lose the fear of God and set aside the torments of hell." ... "The dance," says St. Charles Borromeo, "is a skillful invention for corrupting morals; it is the source of evil thoughts, impure expressions, of adultery, of the most shameful acts of impurity, quarrels and murders; it turns many persons away from their religious duties, from prayer, devout reading, and makes them heedless of the instructions which they stand so much in need of." (Act. Eccl. Mediol.) It is objected by some that St. Francis of Sales tolerated and even favored balls and dancing on certain occasions. To this we answer, that St. Francis of Sales, like all other saints and divines, could only then tolerate and favor balls and dancing when such were the lesser of two evils, both of which could not well be avoided at the same time; or at least, when they were devoid of sinful surroundings. Now, under these circumstances we would allow them as well as St. Francis of Sales. But with the Saint we hold that they are seldom free from sinful circumstances, that they are extremely dangerous, and therefore not to be encouraged, yes, to be condemned. Listen to the words of St. Francis of Sales to which also we subscribe: "Although balls and dancing be recreations which of their own nature are indifferent, yet, on account of the manner in which they are generally conducted they preponderate very much on the side of evil, and are consequently extremely dangerous." Again speaking of balls and dances he says: "O Philothea, these idle recreations are ordinarily very dangerous; they extinguish the spirit of devotion and leave the soul in a languishing condition; they cool off the fervor of charity and excite a thousand evil affections in the soul." Compared with good works, he calls balls and dances "criminal fooleries." (Introduction to a Devout Life, P. iii, c. 33.)
In this we have been confirmed by facts, for we find that in the parts of our diocese where balls and dances are of frequent occurrence, whilst ignorance, vulgarity, spiritual sloth, religious indifference, infidelity, and other, to the eyes of the world, perhaps more degrading evils are on the increase, faith and morals are on the decline; Sundays and holidays are profaned, the churches forsaken, the religious education of the youth, the reception of the sacraments [sic] and prayer almost entirely neglected; Christianity is despised, its ministers are disrespected and their admonitions unheeded, so that, on account of the deplorable condition to which the people of these [50] missions have been reduced, we find it very difficult to induce worthy clergymen to remain amongst them for any length of time.
Nowhere are mixed marriages, and marriages performed by squires, and marriages invalidly contracted, more frequent than in such communities.
Hence we call upon you, pastors of souls, to bring your influence to bear against these and all other amusements which you know to be a cause of scandal and the occasions of ruin to the souls entrusted to your care. And lest these dances and balls, which on account of the circumstances almost invariably connected with them, seldom escape being the proximate occasion of scandal and sin, should appear to receive the sanction of the Church and the approval of her authorities by allowing them to appear on holy ground, we must, to be consistent, forbid, and do forbid balls and dances to be gotten up in our diocese by, or in the name of, or for the benefit of Catholic churches, schools, or school-houses, religious communities, confraternities, and societies. Further, we forbid the clergy of our diocese, under pain of suspension, to accept of the moneys, or any part of the moneys, made at or by the occasion of such balls and dances, either for themselves or for any religious, eleemosynary, educational, or other purposes whatsoever. For we firmly believe that moneys raised by such means will draw after them, not God's blessings, but His malediction. (Pastoral Instruction of the Bishop of Alton, April 12, 1875.)There is sound theology in this. There is no precept forbidding dances, or round dances in particular. The Fathers of the Council make, it is true, mention of these dances, and point out what a danger there lurks in the practice; but what they censure expressly is "choreas immodestas," [i.e. immodest dances] which are, of course, to be condemned, as all other sinful customs. Moralists in general inveigh against "masked balls," because they offer greater danger to innocence; but the rule which they lay down for correcting the evils resulting from the practice of dancing is the one we have proposed above, or, in the words of P. Sabetti [N.B.: a noted and sound Jesuit moral theologian of the late 19th and early 20th centuries]: Generatim loquendo non expedit publice in praedicatione choreas aliquas nominatim reprehendere, quia concionator nihil proficeret, imo forte aliquos ad eas alliceret. Expedit potius indirecte agere in choreas, et directe in peccata quae ex iis committi solent.[2]
[51] To some persons the practice of dancing would always be an occasion of sin, and their duty is plainly to accept the injunction of their confessors to avoid such amusement altogether. It is, perhaps, one of the most difficult things for a young girl to renounce this habit, once it has been cultivated. Like the disease called tarantismus [i.e. tarantism], it takes possession of persons, especially girls, and makes them sacrifice health and every other consideration to the indulgence of a pleasure which becomes a sort of nervous affection, roused into abnormal action by the mere sound of music or rythmic [sic] motion.
The mediaeval [sic] reformers of morals invented a manner of counteracting the feverish tendency fostered by the troubadours, who, returning from the East, brought with them the Oriental frivolities. Pictures and spectacles in which Death led the dance toward the grave were exhibited and explained to the people. From the thirteenth to the eighteenth century the Dance of Death, or the Dance of the Dead, as it was sometimes called, played an important part in religious art, and later in letters. It had its effect and gave a serious turn to the reckless tide that followed upon the introduction of a new civilization after the crusades. Clergy and people were to be found portrayed in the long procession of those whom the grim skeleton of Death was moving forward to invite to the hideous dance, and none could escape the dread fascination of those hollow eyes, beckoning one after another to waltz toward the brink of the grave. The constant though disguised warning might be repeated at all times, with similar good effect, by serious words about the serious truths of life.
P. Arminio.
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Footnotes:
1. Conc. Pl. III, n. 290.
2. Theol. Mor. Tr. V, C. iii, 191, 5.
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Source: P. Arminio [Herman Joseph Heuser], "The Morality of Round Dances," American Ecclesiastical Review 8 (January 1893): 45–51. https://books.google.com/books?id=sufNAAAAMAAJ.
Cardinal Mercier on Christian Mortification
The aim of Christian mortification is to counteract the evil influences which original sin continues to exert on our souls, even after Baptism has regenerated them.
Our regeneration in Christ, while completely wiping out sin in us, leaves us, none the less, very far indeed from original rectitude and peace. It was recognized by the Council of Trent that concupiscence, which is to say the triple covetousness of the flesh, the eyes and the pride of life, makes itself felt in us even after Baptism, in order to rouse us to the glorious struggles of the Christian life.[1] It is this triple covetousness which Scripture calls sometimes the old man, as opposed to the new man who is Jesus living in us and ourselves living in Jesus; and sometimes the flesh or fallen nature, as opposed to the spirit or to nature regenerated by supernatural grace. It is this old man or this flesh, that is to say the whole man with his twofold, moral and physical life, that one must, I do not say annihilate, because that is an impossibility so long as our present life continues, but mortify, which means to cause it to die, to reduce it almost to the powerless, inactive and barren state of a corpse; one must prevent it from yielding its fruit, which is sin, and nullify its action in all our moral life.
Christian mortification ought therefore to involve the whole man, to extend to every sphere of action in which our nature is able to operate.
Such is the purpose of the virtue of mortification; we shall explain its practice by running through, one after another, the many forms of activity in which it is manifested in our lives:
I. Organic activity or bodily life.
II. Sensible activity, which comes into play either under the form of sense-knowledge through the external senses or the imagination, or else under the form of sensible appetite or passion.
III. Rational and free activity, the principle of our thoughts and our judgements and of the decisions of the will.
IV. The exterior manifestation of the life of the soul or our exterior actions.
V. Our relations with our neighbor.[2]
Practice of Christian Mortification
I. Mortification of the body
III. Mortification of the mind and the will
IV. Mortifications to practice in our exterior actions
V. Mortifications to practise in our relations with our neighbour
Conclusion
In general, know how to refuse to nature what she asks of you unnecessarily.
Know how to make her give what she refuses you for no reason. Your progress in virtue, says the author of The Imitation of Christ, will be in proportion to the violence that you succeed in doing to yourself.
"It is necessary to die," said the saintly Bishop of Geneva, "it is necessary to die in order that God may live in us, for it is impossible to achieve the union of the soul with God by any means other than by mortification. These words 'it is necessary to die' are hard, but they will be followed by a great sweetness, because one dies to oneself for no other reason than to be united to God by that death."
Would to God we had the right to apply to ourselves these beautiful words of Saint Paul to the Corinthians: "In all things we suffer tribulation... Always bearing about in our body the death of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies." (II Cor 4:8-10)
Addendum: Words of Archbishop Lefebvre
"For we do not do penance for penance's sake: penance is required by God and by the Church to make us practice charity, to destroy in us every vestige of selfishness and pride, and of all the vices that constrict our hearts in some way..."
"We do not pursue the warfare against sin for the sake of the fight itself; we pursue it so as at last to attain true charity towards God and towards our neighbor. The goal is charity, union with God, union with Our Lord."
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Footnotes:
1. Manere autem in baptizatis concupiscentiam vel fomitem, haec sancta Synodus fatetur et sentit; quae cum ad agonem relicta sit, [...] Hanc concupiscentiam, quam aliquando Apostolus 'peccatum' (Cf. Rom 6:12 .et seq.; 7: 7; 14-20) appellat, [...] quia ex peccato est et ad peccatum inclinat. (Council of Trent, Fifth Session, Decree on Original Sin).
2. N.B.: All the practices of mortification which we have collected here are derived from the examples of the Saints, especially Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Teresa, Saint Francis de Sales, Saint John Berchmans; or they are recommended by acknowledged masters of the spiritual life, such as the Venerable Louis de Blois, Rodriguez, Scaramelli, Mgr Gay, Abbé Allemand, Abbé Hamon, Abbe Dubois, etc...
3. Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622), who is so frequently quoted in this essay, was Bishop of Geneva.
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Source: Cardinal Désiré Mercier, "Christian Mortification," https://www.ecatholic2000.com/cts/untitled-604.shtml.
Our regeneration in Christ, while completely wiping out sin in us, leaves us, none the less, very far indeed from original rectitude and peace. It was recognized by the Council of Trent that concupiscence, which is to say the triple covetousness of the flesh, the eyes and the pride of life, makes itself felt in us even after Baptism, in order to rouse us to the glorious struggles of the Christian life.[1] It is this triple covetousness which Scripture calls sometimes the old man, as opposed to the new man who is Jesus living in us and ourselves living in Jesus; and sometimes the flesh or fallen nature, as opposed to the spirit or to nature regenerated by supernatural grace. It is this old man or this flesh, that is to say the whole man with his twofold, moral and physical life, that one must, I do not say annihilate, because that is an impossibility so long as our present life continues, but mortify, which means to cause it to die, to reduce it almost to the powerless, inactive and barren state of a corpse; one must prevent it from yielding its fruit, which is sin, and nullify its action in all our moral life.
Christian mortification ought therefore to involve the whole man, to extend to every sphere of action in which our nature is able to operate.
Such is the purpose of the virtue of mortification; we shall explain its practice by running through, one after another, the many forms of activity in which it is manifested in our lives:
I. Organic activity or bodily life.
II. Sensible activity, which comes into play either under the form of sense-knowledge through the external senses or the imagination, or else under the form of sensible appetite or passion.
III. Rational and free activity, the principle of our thoughts and our judgements and of the decisions of the will.
IV. The exterior manifestation of the life of the soul or our exterior actions.
V. Our relations with our neighbor.[2]
Practice of Christian Mortification
I. Mortification of the body
- In the matter of food, restrict yourself as far as possible to simple necessity. Consider these words which Saint Augustine addressed to God: "O my God, Thou hast taught me to take food only as a remedy. Ah! Lord, who is there among us who does not sometimes exceed the limit here? If there is such a one, I say that man is great, and must give great glory to Thy name." (Confessions, book X, ch. 31)
- Pray to God often, pray to God daily to help you by His grace so that you do not overstep the limits of necessity and do not permit yourself to give way to pleasure.
- Take nothing between meals, unless out of necessity or for the sake of convenience.
- Practice fasting and abstinence, but practice them only under obedience and with discretion.
- It is not forbidden for you to enjoy some bodily satisfaction, but do so with a pure intention, giving thanks to God.
- Regulate your sleep, avoiding in this all faint-heartedness, all softness, especially in the morning. Set an hour, if you can, for going to bed and getting up, and keep strictly to it.
- In general, take your rest only in so far as it is necessary; give yourself generously to work, not sparing your labour. Take care not to exhaust your body, but guard against indulging it; as soon as you feel it even a little disposed to play the master, treat it at once as a slave.
- If you suffer some slight indisposition, avoid being a nuisance to others through your bad mood; leave to your companions the task of complaining for you; for yourself, be patient and silent as the Divine Lamb who has truly borne all our weaknesses.
- Guard against making the slightest illness a reason for dispensation or exemption from your daily schedule. "One must detest like the plague every exception when it comes to rules," wrote Saint John Berchmans.
- Accept with docility, endure humbly, patiently and with perseverance, the tiresome mortification called illness.
- Close your eyes always and above all to every dangerous sight, and even have the courage to do it to every frivolous and useless sight. See without looking; do not gaze at anybody to judge of their beauty or ugliness.
- Keep your ears closed to flattering remarks, to praise, to persuasion, to bad advice, to slander, to uncharitable mocking, to indiscretions, to ill-disposed criticism, to suspicions voiced, to every word capable of causing the very smallest coolness between two souls
- If the sense of smell has something to suffer due to your neighbor's infirmity or illness, far be it from you ever to complain of it; draw from it a holy joy.
- In what concerns the quality of food, have great respect for Our Lord's counsel: "Eat such things as are set before you." "Eat what is good without delighting in it, what is bad without expressing aversion to it, and show yourself equally indifferent to the one as to the other. There," says Saint Francis de Sales, "is real mortification."
- Offer your meals to God; at table impose on yourself a tiny penance: for example, refuse a sprinkling of salt, a glass of wine, a sweet, etc.; your companions will not notice it, but God will keep account of it.
- If what you are given appeals to you very much, think of the gall and the vinegar given to Our Lord on the cross: that cannot keep you from tasting, but will serve as a counterbalance to the pleasure.
- You must avoid all sensual contact, every caress in which you set some passion, by which you look for passion, from which you take a joy which is principally of the senses.
- Refrain from going to warm yourself, unless this is necessary to save you from being unwell.
- Bear with everything which naturally grieves the flesh, especially the cold of winter, the heat of summer, a hard bed and every inconvenience of that kind. Whatever the weather, put on a good face; smile at all temperatures. Say with the prophet "Cold, heat, rain, bless ye the Lord." It will be a happy day for us when we are able to say with a good heart these words which were familiar to Saint Francis de Sales: "I am never better than when I am not well."
- Mortify your imagination when it beguiles you with the lure of a brilliant position, when it saddens you with the prospect of a dreary future, when it irritates you with the memory of a word or deed which offended you.
- If you feel within you the need to daydream, mortify it without mercy.
- Mortify yourself with the greatest care in the matter of impatience, of irritation or of anger.
- Examine your desires thoroughly; submit them to the control of reason and of faith: do you never desire a long life rather than a holy life, wish for pleasure and well-being without trouble or sadness, victory without battle, success without setbacks, praise without criticism, a comfortable, peaceful life without a cross of any sort, that is to say a life quite opposite to that of Our Divine Lord?
- Take care not to acquire certain habits which, without being positively bad, can become injurious, such as habits of frivolous reading, of playing at games of chance, etc.
- Seek to discover your predominant failing and, as soon as you have recognized it, pursue it all the way to its last retreat. To that purpose, submit with good will to whatever could be monotonous or boring in the practice of the examination of conscience.
- You are not forbidden to have a heart and to show it, but be on your guard against the danger of exceeding due measure. Resist attachments which are too natural, particular friendships and all softness of the heart.
III. Mortification of the mind and the will
- Mortify your mind by denying it all fruitless imaginings, all ineffectual or wandering thoughts which waste time, dissipate the soul, and render work and serious things distasteful.
- Every gloomy and anxious thought should be banished from your mind. Concern about all that could happen to you later on should not worry you at all. As for the bad thoughts which bother you in spite of yourself, you should, in dismissing them, make of them a subject for patience. Being involuntary, they will simply be for you an occasion of merit.
- Avoid obstinacy in your ideas, stubbornness in your sentiments. You should willingly let the judgements of others prevail, unless there is a question of matters on which you have a duty to give your opinion and speak out.
- Mortify the natural organ of your mind, which is to say the tongue. Practice silence gladly, whether your rule prescribes it for you or whether you impose it on yourself of your own accord.
- Prefer to listen to others rather than to speak yourself; and yet speak appropriately, avoiding as extremes both speaking too much, which prevents others from telling their thoughts, and speaking too little, which suggests a hurtful lack of interest in what they say.
- Never interrupt somebody who is speaking and do not forestall, by answering too swiftly, a question he would put to you.
- Always have a moderate tone of voice, never abrupt or sharp. Avoid very, extremely, horribly; all exaggeration.
- Love simplicity and straightforwardness. The pretenses, evasions, deliberate equivocations which certain pious people indulge in without scruple greatly discredit piety.
- Carefully refrain from using any coarse, vulgar or even idle word, because Our Lord warns us that He will ask an account of them from us on the day of judgement.
- Above all, mortify your will; that is the decisive point. Bend it constantly to what you know is God's good pleasure and the rule of Providence, without taking any account either of your likes or your dislikes. Be submissive, even to your inferiors, in matters which do not concern the glory of God and the duties of your position.
- Look on the smallest disobedience to the orders or even the desires of your superiors as if it were addressed to God.
- Remember that you will practice the greatest of all mortifications when you love to be humiliated and when you have the most perfect obedience towards those to whom God wishes you to be subject.
- Love to be forgotten and counted as nothing; it is the advice of Saint John of the Cross, it is the counsel of The Imitation of Christ: speak seldom either well or ill of yourself, but seek by silence to make yourself forgotten.
- Faced with a humiliation, a reproach, you are tempted to grumble, to feel sorry for yourself. Say with David: "So much the better! It is good that I should be humbled."
- Entertain no frivolous desires: "I desire few things," said Saint Francis de Sales, "and the little that I desire, I desire very little."
- Accept with the most perfect resignation the mortifications decreed by Providence, the crosses and the labors belonging to the state of life in which Providence has placed you. "There, where there is less of our choice," said Saint Francis, "there is more of the good pleasure of God." We would like to choose our crosses, to have a cross other than our own, to carry a heavy cross which would at least have some fame, rather than a light cross which tires us by being unceasingly there: an illusion! it is our cross we must carry, not another, and its merit is not in what sort of cross it is, but in the perfection with which we carry it.
- Do not let yourself be troubled by temptations, scruples, spiritual dryness: "What we do in time of dryness has more merit in the sight of God than what we do in time of consolation," says the saintly Bishop of Geneva.[3]
- Do not fret too much about your imperfections but humble yourself because of them. To humble oneself is a good thing, which few people understand; to be troubled and vexed at oneself is something that everybody knows, and which is bad, because in that kind of distress and vexation self-love always plays the greater part.
- Let us beware alike of the timidity and despondency which sap our courage, and of the presumption which is only pride in action. Let us work as if everything depended on our efforts, but let us remain humble as if our work were useless.
IV. Mortifications to practice in our exterior actions
- You ought to show the greatest exactitude in observing all the points of your rule of life, obeying them without delay, remembering Saint John Berchmans, who said: "Penance for me is to lead the common life"; "To have the highest regard for the smallest things, such is my motto"; "Rather die than break a single rule."
- In the exercise of your duties of state, try to be well-pleased with whatever happens to be most unpleasant or boring for you, recalling again here the words of Saint Francis: "I am never better than when I am not well."
- Never give one moment over to sloth: from morning until night keep busy without respite.
- If your life is, at least partly, spent in study, apply to yourself this advice from Saint Thomas Aquinas to his pupils: "Do not be content to take in superficially what you read and hear, but endeavor to go into it deeply and to fathom the whole sense of it. Never remain in doubt about what you could know with certainty. Work with a holy eagerness to enrich your mind; arrange and classify in your memory all the knowledge you are able to acquire. On the other hand, do not seek to penetrate mysteries which are beyond your intelligence."
- Devote yourself solely to your present occupation, without looking back on what went before or anticipating in thought what will follow. Say with Saint Francis: "While I am doing this I am not obliged to do anything else"; "let us make haste very calmly; all in good time."
- Be modest in your bearing. Nothing was so perfect as Saint Francis's deportment; he always kept his head straight, avoiding alike the inconstancy which turns it in all directions, the negligence which lets it droop forward and the proud and haughty disposition which throws it back. His countenance was always peaceful, free from all annoyance, always cheerful, serene and open; without however any merriment or indiscreet humor, without loud, immoderate or too frequent laughter.
- He was as composed when alone as in a large gathering. He did not cross his legs, never supported his head on his elbow. When he prayed he was motionless as a statue. When nature suggested to him he should relax, he did not listen.
- Regard cleanliness and order as a virtue, uncleanness and untidiness as a vice; do not have dirty, stained or torn clothes. On the other hand, regard luxury and worldliness as a greater vice still. Make sure that, on seeing your way of dressing, nobody calls it "slovenly" or "elegant," but that everybody is bound to think it "decent."
V. Mortifications to practise in our relations with our neighbour
- Bear with your neighbor's defects; defects of education, of mind, of character. Bear with everything about him which irritates you: his gait, his posture, tone of voice, accent, or whatever.
- Bear with everything in everybody and endure it to the end and in a Christian spirit. Never with that proud patience which makes one say: "What have I to do with so and so? How does what he says affect me? What need have I for the affection, the kindness or even the politeness of any creature at all and of that person in particular?" Nothing accords less with the will of God than this haughty unconcern, this scornful indifference; it is worse, indeed, than impatience.
- Are you tempted to be angry? For the love of Jesus, be meek. To avenge yourself? Return good for evil; it is said the great secret of touching Saint Teresa's heart was to do her a bad turn. To look sourly at someone? Smile at him with good nature. To avoid meeting him? Seek him out willingly. To talk badly of him? Talk well of him. To speak harshly to him? Speak very gently, warmly, to him.
- Love to give praise to your companions, especially those you are naturally most inclined to envy.
- Do not be witty at the expense of charity.
- If somebody in your presence should take the liberty of making remarks which are rather improper, or if someone should hold conversations likely to injure his neighbor's reputation, you may sometimes rebuke the speaker gently, but more often it will be better to divert the conversation skillfully or indicate by a gesture of sorrow or of deliberate inattention that what is said displeases
- It costs you an effort to render a small service: offer to do it. You will have twice the merit
- Avoid with horror posing as a victim in your own eyes or those of others. Far be it from you to exaggerate your burdens; strive to find them light; they are , in reality, much more often than it seems; they would be so always if you were more virtuous.
Conclusion
In general, know how to refuse to nature what she asks of you unnecessarily.
Know how to make her give what she refuses you for no reason. Your progress in virtue, says the author of The Imitation of Christ, will be in proportion to the violence that you succeed in doing to yourself.
"It is necessary to die," said the saintly Bishop of Geneva, "it is necessary to die in order that God may live in us, for it is impossible to achieve the union of the soul with God by any means other than by mortification. These words 'it is necessary to die' are hard, but they will be followed by a great sweetness, because one dies to oneself for no other reason than to be united to God by that death."
Would to God we had the right to apply to ourselves these beautiful words of Saint Paul to the Corinthians: "In all things we suffer tribulation... Always bearing about in our body the death of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies." (II Cor 4:8-10)
Addendum: Words of Archbishop Lefebvre
"For we do not do penance for penance's sake: penance is required by God and by the Church to make us practice charity, to destroy in us every vestige of selfishness and pride, and of all the vices that constrict our hearts in some way..."
"We do not pursue the warfare against sin for the sake of the fight itself; we pursue it so as at last to attain true charity towards God and towards our neighbor. The goal is charity, union with God, union with Our Lord."
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Footnotes:
1. Manere autem in baptizatis concupiscentiam vel fomitem, haec sancta Synodus fatetur et sentit; quae cum ad agonem relicta sit, [...] Hanc concupiscentiam, quam aliquando Apostolus 'peccatum' (Cf. Rom 6:12 .et seq.; 7: 7; 14-20) appellat, [...] quia ex peccato est et ad peccatum inclinat. (Council of Trent, Fifth Session, Decree on Original Sin).
2. N.B.: All the practices of mortification which we have collected here are derived from the examples of the Saints, especially Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Teresa, Saint Francis de Sales, Saint John Berchmans; or they are recommended by acknowledged masters of the spiritual life, such as the Venerable Louis de Blois, Rodriguez, Scaramelli, Mgr Gay, Abbé Allemand, Abbé Hamon, Abbe Dubois, etc...
3. Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622), who is so frequently quoted in this essay, was Bishop of Geneva.
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Source: Cardinal Désiré Mercier, "Christian Mortification," https://www.ecatholic2000.com/cts/untitled-604.shtml.
Repost: St. Alphonsus Liguori's Advice to Parents
ADVICE TO PARENTS
by Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
Saint Alphonsus, founder of the Redemptorist Order, Bishop and Doctor of the Church expounds on the privilege and responsibilities of parenthood as a special vocation from God. The wisdom of this holy man has guided and fortified Catholics for over two hundred years.
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The gospel tells us, that a good plant cannot produce bad fruit, and that a bad one cannot produce good fruit. We learn from this, that a good father brings up good children. But, if the parents are wicked, how can the children be virtuous? Our Lord says, in the same gospel, Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? (Matt. 7:16). So, it is impossible, or rather very difficult, to find children virtuous, who are brought up by immoral parents. Fathers and mothers, be attentive to this sermon, which is of great importance to the eternal salvation of yourselves and of your children. Be attentive, young men and young women, who have not as yet chosen a state in life. If you wish to marry, learn the obligations which you contract with regard to the education of your children, and learn also, that if you do not fulfill them, you shall bring yourselves and all your children to damnation. I shall divide this into two points. In the first, I shall show how important it is to bring up children in habits of virtue; and, in the second, I shall show with what care and diligence a parent ought to labor to bring them up well.
A father owes two obligations to his children; he is bound to provide for their corporal wants, and to educate them in the habits of virtue. It is not necessary to say anything else about the first obligation, than, there are some fathers more cruel than the most ferocious of wild beasts, for these squander away in eating, drinking, and pleasure, all their property, or all the fruits of their industry, and allow their children to die of hunger. Let us discuss education, which is the subject of this article.
It is certain that a child's future good or bad conduct depends on his being brought up well or poorly. Nature itself teaches every parent to attend to the education of his offspring. God gives children to parents, not that they may assist the family, but that they may be brought up in the fear of God, and be directed in the way of eternal salvation. "We have," says Saint John Chrysostom, "a great deposit in children, let us attend to them with great care." Children have not been given to parents as a present, which they may dispose of as they please, but as a trust, for which, if lost through their negligence; they must render an account to God.
One of the great Fathers says that on the day of judgment, parents will have to render an account for all the sins of their children. So, he who teaches his son to live well, shall die a happy and tranquil death. He that teaches his son...when he died, he was not sorrowful, neither was he confounded before his enemies (Eccl. 30: 3,5). And he will save his soul by means of his children, that is, by the virtuous education which he has given them. She shall be saved through childbearing (I Tim. 2:15).
But, on the other hand, a very uneasy and unhappy death will be the lot of those who have labored only to increase the possessions, or to multiply the honors of their family, or who have sought only to lead a life of ease and pleasure, but have not watched over the morals of their children. Saint Paul says that such parents are worse than infidels. But if any man have not care of his own, and especially of those of his house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel (I Tim. 5:8).
Were fathers or mothers to lead a life of piety and continual prayer, and to communicate every day, they should be damned if they neglected the care of their children.
If all fathers fulfilled their duty of watching over the education of their children, we should have but few crimes. By the bad education which parents give to their offspring, they cause their children, says Saint John Chrysostom, to rush into many grievous vices; and thus they deliver them up to the hands of the executioner. So it was, in one town, a parent, who was the cause of all the irregularities of his children, was justly punished for his crimes with greater severity than the children themselves. Great indeed is the misfortune of the child that has vicious parents, who are incapable of bringing up their children in the fear of God, and who, when they see their children engage in dangerous friendships and in quarrels, instead of correcting and chastising them, they take compassion on them, and say, "What can I do? They are young; hopefully they will grow out of it." What wicked words, what a cruel education! Do you hope that when your children grow up, they will become saints? Listen to what Solomon says, "A young man, according to his way, even when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). A young man who has contracted a habit of sin, will not abandon it even in his old age. His bones, says holy Job, will be filled with the vices of his youth, and they will sleep with him in the dust (Job 20:11). When a young person has lived in evil habits, his bones will be filled with the vices of his youth, so that he will carry them to the grave, and the impurities, blasphemies, and hatred to which he was accustomed in his youth, will accompany him to the grave, and will sleep with him after his bones are reduced to dust and ashes. It is very easy, when they are small, to train children to habits of virtue, but, when they have come to manhood, it is equally difficult to correct them, if they have learned habits of vice.
Let us come to the second point, that is, to the means of bringing up children in the practice of virtue. I beg you, fathers and mothers, to remember what I now say to you, from on it depends the eternal salvation of your own souls, and of the souls of your children.
Saint Paul teaches sufficiently, in a few words, in what the proper education of children consists. He says that it consists in discipline and correction. And you, fathers, provoke not your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and correction of the Lord (Ephes. 5:4). Discipline, which is the same as the religious regulation of the morals of children, implies an obligation of educating them in habits of virtue by word and example. First, by words: a good father should often assemble his children, and instill into them the holy fear of God. It was in this manner that Tobias brought up his little son. The father taught him from his childhood to fear the Lord and to fly from sin. And from infancy he taught him to fear God and abstain from sin (Tobias 1:10). The wise man says, that a well educated son is the support and consolation of his father. Instruct your son, and he will refresh you, and will give delight to your soul (Prov. 29:17). But, as a well instructed son is the delight of his father's soul, so an ignorant child is a source of sorrow to a father's heart, for the ignorance of his obligations as a Christian is always accompanied with a bad life.
It was related that, in the year 1248, an ignorant priest was commanded, in a certain synod, to make a discourse. He was greatly agitated by the command and the Devil appearing to him, instructed him to say, "The rectors of infernal darkness salute the rectors of parishes, and thank them for their negligence in instructing the people; because from ignorance proceeds the misconduct and the damnation of many."
The same is true of negligent parents. In the first place, a parent ought to instruct his children in the truths of the Faith, and particularly in the four principle mysteries. First, that there is but One God, the Creator and Lord of all things; secondly, that this God is a remunerator, Who, in the next life, will reward the good with the eternal glory of Paradise, and will punish the wicked with the everlasting torments of Hell; thirdly, the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, that is, that in God there are Three Persons, Who are only One God, because They have but One Essence; fourthly, the mystery of the Incarnation of the Divine Word, the Son of God, and True God, Who became man in the womb of Mary, and suffered and died for our salvation.
Should a father or mother say, "I myself do not know these mysteries," can such an excuse be admitted? Can one sin excuse another? If you are ignorant of these mysteries, you are obliged to learn them, and afterwards to teach them to your children. At least, send your children to a worthy catechist. What a miserable thing to see so many fathers and mothers, who are unable to instruct their children in the most necessary truths of the Faith, and who, instead of sending their sons and daughters to Christian doctrine, employ them in occupations of little account, and when they are grown up, they do not know what is meant by mortal sin, by Hell, or eternity. They do not even know the Creed, the Our Father, or the Hail Mary, which every Christian is bound to learn under pain of mortal sin.
Religious parents not only instruct their children in these things, which are the most important, but they also teach them the acts which ought to be made every morning after rising. They teach them first, to thank God for having preserved their life during the night, secondly to offer to God all their good actions which they will perform, and all the pains which they will suffer during the day, thirdly, to implore of Jesus Christ and Our Most Holy Mother Mary to preserve them from all sin during the day. They teach them to make, every evening, an examination of conscience and an act of contrition. They also teach them to make every day, the acts of Faith, Hope and Charity, to recite the Rosary, and to visit the Blessed Sacrament. Some good fathers of families are careful to get a book of meditations to read, and to have mental prayer in common for half an hour every day. This is what the Holy Ghost exhorts you to practice. Do you have children? Instruct them and bow down their neck from their childhood (Eccl. 7:25). Endeavor to train them from their infancy to these religious habits, and when they grow up, they will persevere in them. Accustom them also to go to confession and communion every week.
It is also very useful to infuse good maxims into the infant minds of children. What ruin is brought upon children by their father who teaches them worldly maxims! "You must," some parents say to their children, "seek the esteem and applause of the world. God is merciful; He takes compassion on certain sins." How miserable the young man is who sins in obedience to such maxims. Good parents teach very different maxims to their children. Queen Blanche, the mother of Saint Louis, King of France, used to say to him, "My son, I would rather see you dead in my arms, than in the state of sin." So then, let it be your practice also to infuse into your children certain maxims of salvation, such as, What will it profit us to gain the whole world, if we lose our own souls? Everything on this earth has an end, but eternity never ends. Let all be lost, provided God is not lost. One of these maxims well impressed on the mind of a young person, will preserve him always in the grace of God.
But parents are obliged to instruct their children in the practice of virtue, not only by words, but still more by example. If you give your children bad example, how can you expect that they will lead good lives? When a dissolute young man is corrected for a fault, he answers, "Why do you censure me, when my father does worse?" The children will complain of an ungodly father, because for his sake they are in reproach (Eccl. 41:10). How is it possible for a son to be moral and religious, when he has had the example of a father who uttered blasphemies and obscenities, who spent the entire day in the tavern, in games and drunkenness, who was in the habit of frequenting houses of bad fame, and of defrauding his neighbor? Do you expect your son to go frequently to confession, when you yourself approach the confessional scarcely once a year?
It is related in a fable, that a crab one day rebuked its young for walking crookedly. They replied, "Father, let us see you walk." The father walked before them more crookedly than they did. This is what happens to the parent who gives bad example. Hence, he has not even courage to correct his children for the sins which he himself commits.
According to Saint Thomas, scandalous parents compel, in a certain manner, their children to lead a bad life. "They are not," says Saint Bernard, "fathers, but murderers, they kill, not the bodies, but the souls of their children." It is useless for parents to say: "My children have been born with bad dispositions." This is not true, for, Seneca says, "You err, if you think that vices are born with us; they have been engrafted." Vices are not born with your children, but have been communicated to them by the bad example of the parents. If you had given good example to your sons, they would not be so vicious as they are. So parents, frequent the Sacraments, learn from the sermons, recite the Rosary every day, abstain from all obscene language, from detraction, and from quarrels, and you will see that your children follow your example. It is particularly necessary to train children to virtue in their infancy, Bow down their neck from their childhood, for when they have grown up, and contracted bad habits, it will be very difficult for you to produce, by words, any amendment in their lives.
To bring up children in the discipline of the Lord, it is also necessary to take away from them the occasion of doing evil. A father must forbid his children to go out at night, or to go to a house in which their virtue might be exposed to danger, or to keep bad company. Cast out, said Sarah to Abraham, this bondswoman and her son (Gen. 21:10). She wished to have Ismael, the son of Agar the bondswoman, banished from her house, that her son Isaac might not learn his vicious habits. Bad companions are the ruin of young persons. A father should not only remove the evil which he witnesses, but he is also bound to inquire after the conduct of his children, and to seek information from family and from outsiders regarding the places which his children frequent when they leave home, regarding their occupations and companions. A father ought to forbid his children ever to bring into his house stolen goods. When Tobias heard the bleating of a goat in his house, he said, Take care, perhaps it is stolen, go, restore it to its owners (Tobias 2:21).
Parents should prohibit their children from all games, which bring destruction on their families and on their own souls, and also dances, suggestive entertainment, and certain dangerous conversations and parties of pleasures. A father should remove from his house books of romances, which pervert young persons, and all bad books which contain pernicious maxims, tales of obscenity, or of profane love. He should not permit his daughters to be alone with men, whether young or old. But some will say, "But this man tutors my daughter; he is a saint." The saints are in Heaven, but the saints that are on earth are flesh, and by proximate occasions, they may become devils.
Another obligation of parents is to correct the faults of the family. "Bring them up in the discipline and correction of the Lord." There are fathers and mothers who witness faults in the family and remain silent. Through fear of displeasing their children, some fathers neglect to correct them, but if you saw your child falling into a pool of water, and in danger of being drowned, would it not be savage cruelty not to catch him by the hair, and save his life? He that spares the rod hates his son (Prov. 13:24). If you love your children, correct them, and while they are growing up, chastise them, even with the rod, as often as it may be necessary.
I say, with the rod, but not with a stick; for you must correct them like a father, and not like a prison guard. You must be careful not to beat them when you are in a passion, for you will then be in danger of beating them with too much severity, and the correction will be without fruit, for then they believe that the chastisement is the effect of anger, and not of a desire on your part to see them amend their lives. I have also said, that you should correct them while they are growing up , for when they arrive at manhood, your correction will be of little use. You must then abstain from correcting them with the hand; otherwise, they will become more perverse, and will lose their respect for you. What use is it to correct children with injurious words and with imprecations? Deprive them of some part of their meals, of certain articles of dress, or shut them up in their room. I have said enough. Draw from this discourse the conclusion, that he who has brought up his children badly, will be severely punished, and that he who has trained them in the habits of virtue, will receive a great reward.
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Source: St. Alphonsus Liguori, "Advice to Parents," https://www.olrl.org/snt_docs/advice.shtml.
by Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
Saint Alphonsus, founder of the Redemptorist Order, Bishop and Doctor of the Church expounds on the privilege and responsibilities of parenthood as a special vocation from God. The wisdom of this holy man has guided and fortified Catholics for over two hundred years.
---
The gospel tells us, that a good plant cannot produce bad fruit, and that a bad one cannot produce good fruit. We learn from this, that a good father brings up good children. But, if the parents are wicked, how can the children be virtuous? Our Lord says, in the same gospel, Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? (Matt. 7:16). So, it is impossible, or rather very difficult, to find children virtuous, who are brought up by immoral parents. Fathers and mothers, be attentive to this sermon, which is of great importance to the eternal salvation of yourselves and of your children. Be attentive, young men and young women, who have not as yet chosen a state in life. If you wish to marry, learn the obligations which you contract with regard to the education of your children, and learn also, that if you do not fulfill them, you shall bring yourselves and all your children to damnation. I shall divide this into two points. In the first, I shall show how important it is to bring up children in habits of virtue; and, in the second, I shall show with what care and diligence a parent ought to labor to bring them up well.
A father owes two obligations to his children; he is bound to provide for their corporal wants, and to educate them in the habits of virtue. It is not necessary to say anything else about the first obligation, than, there are some fathers more cruel than the most ferocious of wild beasts, for these squander away in eating, drinking, and pleasure, all their property, or all the fruits of their industry, and allow their children to die of hunger. Let us discuss education, which is the subject of this article.
It is certain that a child's future good or bad conduct depends on his being brought up well or poorly. Nature itself teaches every parent to attend to the education of his offspring. God gives children to parents, not that they may assist the family, but that they may be brought up in the fear of God, and be directed in the way of eternal salvation. "We have," says Saint John Chrysostom, "a great deposit in children, let us attend to them with great care." Children have not been given to parents as a present, which they may dispose of as they please, but as a trust, for which, if lost through their negligence; they must render an account to God.
One of the great Fathers says that on the day of judgment, parents will have to render an account for all the sins of their children. So, he who teaches his son to live well, shall die a happy and tranquil death. He that teaches his son...when he died, he was not sorrowful, neither was he confounded before his enemies (Eccl. 30: 3,5). And he will save his soul by means of his children, that is, by the virtuous education which he has given them. She shall be saved through childbearing (I Tim. 2:15).
But, on the other hand, a very uneasy and unhappy death will be the lot of those who have labored only to increase the possessions, or to multiply the honors of their family, or who have sought only to lead a life of ease and pleasure, but have not watched over the morals of their children. Saint Paul says that such parents are worse than infidels. But if any man have not care of his own, and especially of those of his house, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel (I Tim. 5:8).
Were fathers or mothers to lead a life of piety and continual prayer, and to communicate every day, they should be damned if they neglected the care of their children.
If all fathers fulfilled their duty of watching over the education of their children, we should have but few crimes. By the bad education which parents give to their offspring, they cause their children, says Saint John Chrysostom, to rush into many grievous vices; and thus they deliver them up to the hands of the executioner. So it was, in one town, a parent, who was the cause of all the irregularities of his children, was justly punished for his crimes with greater severity than the children themselves. Great indeed is the misfortune of the child that has vicious parents, who are incapable of bringing up their children in the fear of God, and who, when they see their children engage in dangerous friendships and in quarrels, instead of correcting and chastising them, they take compassion on them, and say, "What can I do? They are young; hopefully they will grow out of it." What wicked words, what a cruel education! Do you hope that when your children grow up, they will become saints? Listen to what Solomon says, "A young man, according to his way, even when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). A young man who has contracted a habit of sin, will not abandon it even in his old age. His bones, says holy Job, will be filled with the vices of his youth, and they will sleep with him in the dust (Job 20:11). When a young person has lived in evil habits, his bones will be filled with the vices of his youth, so that he will carry them to the grave, and the impurities, blasphemies, and hatred to which he was accustomed in his youth, will accompany him to the grave, and will sleep with him after his bones are reduced to dust and ashes. It is very easy, when they are small, to train children to habits of virtue, but, when they have come to manhood, it is equally difficult to correct them, if they have learned habits of vice.
Let us come to the second point, that is, to the means of bringing up children in the practice of virtue. I beg you, fathers and mothers, to remember what I now say to you, from on it depends the eternal salvation of your own souls, and of the souls of your children.
Saint Paul teaches sufficiently, in a few words, in what the proper education of children consists. He says that it consists in discipline and correction. And you, fathers, provoke not your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and correction of the Lord (Ephes. 5:4). Discipline, which is the same as the religious regulation of the morals of children, implies an obligation of educating them in habits of virtue by word and example. First, by words: a good father should often assemble his children, and instill into them the holy fear of God. It was in this manner that Tobias brought up his little son. The father taught him from his childhood to fear the Lord and to fly from sin. And from infancy he taught him to fear God and abstain from sin (Tobias 1:10). The wise man says, that a well educated son is the support and consolation of his father. Instruct your son, and he will refresh you, and will give delight to your soul (Prov. 29:17). But, as a well instructed son is the delight of his father's soul, so an ignorant child is a source of sorrow to a father's heart, for the ignorance of his obligations as a Christian is always accompanied with a bad life.
It was related that, in the year 1248, an ignorant priest was commanded, in a certain synod, to make a discourse. He was greatly agitated by the command and the Devil appearing to him, instructed him to say, "The rectors of infernal darkness salute the rectors of parishes, and thank them for their negligence in instructing the people; because from ignorance proceeds the misconduct and the damnation of many."
The same is true of negligent parents. In the first place, a parent ought to instruct his children in the truths of the Faith, and particularly in the four principle mysteries. First, that there is but One God, the Creator and Lord of all things; secondly, that this God is a remunerator, Who, in the next life, will reward the good with the eternal glory of Paradise, and will punish the wicked with the everlasting torments of Hell; thirdly, the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, that is, that in God there are Three Persons, Who are only One God, because They have but One Essence; fourthly, the mystery of the Incarnation of the Divine Word, the Son of God, and True God, Who became man in the womb of Mary, and suffered and died for our salvation.
Should a father or mother say, "I myself do not know these mysteries," can such an excuse be admitted? Can one sin excuse another? If you are ignorant of these mysteries, you are obliged to learn them, and afterwards to teach them to your children. At least, send your children to a worthy catechist. What a miserable thing to see so many fathers and mothers, who are unable to instruct their children in the most necessary truths of the Faith, and who, instead of sending their sons and daughters to Christian doctrine, employ them in occupations of little account, and when they are grown up, they do not know what is meant by mortal sin, by Hell, or eternity. They do not even know the Creed, the Our Father, or the Hail Mary, which every Christian is bound to learn under pain of mortal sin.
Religious parents not only instruct their children in these things, which are the most important, but they also teach them the acts which ought to be made every morning after rising. They teach them first, to thank God for having preserved their life during the night, secondly to offer to God all their good actions which they will perform, and all the pains which they will suffer during the day, thirdly, to implore of Jesus Christ and Our Most Holy Mother Mary to preserve them from all sin during the day. They teach them to make, every evening, an examination of conscience and an act of contrition. They also teach them to make every day, the acts of Faith, Hope and Charity, to recite the Rosary, and to visit the Blessed Sacrament. Some good fathers of families are careful to get a book of meditations to read, and to have mental prayer in common for half an hour every day. This is what the Holy Ghost exhorts you to practice. Do you have children? Instruct them and bow down their neck from their childhood (Eccl. 7:25). Endeavor to train them from their infancy to these religious habits, and when they grow up, they will persevere in them. Accustom them also to go to confession and communion every week.
It is also very useful to infuse good maxims into the infant minds of children. What ruin is brought upon children by their father who teaches them worldly maxims! "You must," some parents say to their children, "seek the esteem and applause of the world. God is merciful; He takes compassion on certain sins." How miserable the young man is who sins in obedience to such maxims. Good parents teach very different maxims to their children. Queen Blanche, the mother of Saint Louis, King of France, used to say to him, "My son, I would rather see you dead in my arms, than in the state of sin." So then, let it be your practice also to infuse into your children certain maxims of salvation, such as, What will it profit us to gain the whole world, if we lose our own souls? Everything on this earth has an end, but eternity never ends. Let all be lost, provided God is not lost. One of these maxims well impressed on the mind of a young person, will preserve him always in the grace of God.
But parents are obliged to instruct their children in the practice of virtue, not only by words, but still more by example. If you give your children bad example, how can you expect that they will lead good lives? When a dissolute young man is corrected for a fault, he answers, "Why do you censure me, when my father does worse?" The children will complain of an ungodly father, because for his sake they are in reproach (Eccl. 41:10). How is it possible for a son to be moral and religious, when he has had the example of a father who uttered blasphemies and obscenities, who spent the entire day in the tavern, in games and drunkenness, who was in the habit of frequenting houses of bad fame, and of defrauding his neighbor? Do you expect your son to go frequently to confession, when you yourself approach the confessional scarcely once a year?
It is related in a fable, that a crab one day rebuked its young for walking crookedly. They replied, "Father, let us see you walk." The father walked before them more crookedly than they did. This is what happens to the parent who gives bad example. Hence, he has not even courage to correct his children for the sins which he himself commits.
According to Saint Thomas, scandalous parents compel, in a certain manner, their children to lead a bad life. "They are not," says Saint Bernard, "fathers, but murderers, they kill, not the bodies, but the souls of their children." It is useless for parents to say: "My children have been born with bad dispositions." This is not true, for, Seneca says, "You err, if you think that vices are born with us; they have been engrafted." Vices are not born with your children, but have been communicated to them by the bad example of the parents. If you had given good example to your sons, they would not be so vicious as they are. So parents, frequent the Sacraments, learn from the sermons, recite the Rosary every day, abstain from all obscene language, from detraction, and from quarrels, and you will see that your children follow your example. It is particularly necessary to train children to virtue in their infancy, Bow down their neck from their childhood, for when they have grown up, and contracted bad habits, it will be very difficult for you to produce, by words, any amendment in their lives.
To bring up children in the discipline of the Lord, it is also necessary to take away from them the occasion of doing evil. A father must forbid his children to go out at night, or to go to a house in which their virtue might be exposed to danger, or to keep bad company. Cast out, said Sarah to Abraham, this bondswoman and her son (Gen. 21:10). She wished to have Ismael, the son of Agar the bondswoman, banished from her house, that her son Isaac might not learn his vicious habits. Bad companions are the ruin of young persons. A father should not only remove the evil which he witnesses, but he is also bound to inquire after the conduct of his children, and to seek information from family and from outsiders regarding the places which his children frequent when they leave home, regarding their occupations and companions. A father ought to forbid his children ever to bring into his house stolen goods. When Tobias heard the bleating of a goat in his house, he said, Take care, perhaps it is stolen, go, restore it to its owners (Tobias 2:21).
Parents should prohibit their children from all games, which bring destruction on their families and on their own souls, and also dances, suggestive entertainment, and certain dangerous conversations and parties of pleasures. A father should remove from his house books of romances, which pervert young persons, and all bad books which contain pernicious maxims, tales of obscenity, or of profane love. He should not permit his daughters to be alone with men, whether young or old. But some will say, "But this man tutors my daughter; he is a saint." The saints are in Heaven, but the saints that are on earth are flesh, and by proximate occasions, they may become devils.
Another obligation of parents is to correct the faults of the family. "Bring them up in the discipline and correction of the Lord." There are fathers and mothers who witness faults in the family and remain silent. Through fear of displeasing their children, some fathers neglect to correct them, but if you saw your child falling into a pool of water, and in danger of being drowned, would it not be savage cruelty not to catch him by the hair, and save his life? He that spares the rod hates his son (Prov. 13:24). If you love your children, correct them, and while they are growing up, chastise them, even with the rod, as often as it may be necessary.
I say, with the rod, but not with a stick; for you must correct them like a father, and not like a prison guard. You must be careful not to beat them when you are in a passion, for you will then be in danger of beating them with too much severity, and the correction will be without fruit, for then they believe that the chastisement is the effect of anger, and not of a desire on your part to see them amend their lives. I have also said, that you should correct them while they are growing up , for when they arrive at manhood, your correction will be of little use. You must then abstain from correcting them with the hand; otherwise, they will become more perverse, and will lose their respect for you. What use is it to correct children with injurious words and with imprecations? Deprive them of some part of their meals, of certain articles of dress, or shut them up in their room. I have said enough. Draw from this discourse the conclusion, that he who has brought up his children badly, will be severely punished, and that he who has trained them in the habits of virtue, will receive a great reward.
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Source: St. Alphonsus Liguori, "Advice to Parents," https://www.olrl.org/snt_docs/advice.shtml.
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Elder Ephraim on Procrastination
Compel yourselves; say the Prayer; stop idle talk; close your mouths to criticism; place doors and locks against unnecessary words; time passes and does not come back; and woe to us if time goes by without spiritual profit.
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Source: Fr. Alexios, "The Problem of Procrastination," Ancient Christian Wisdom, accessed July 4, 2017, http://ancientchristianwisdom.com/the-problem-of-procrastination.
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