mmWm&^M 

IN T H E LIGHT OF CHRISTIAN 

PRINCIPLES AND THE TEACHING 

OF THE PAPAL ENCYCLICALS 

A DISCUSSION CLUB M A N U A L 
FOR Y O U N G PEOPLES GROUPS 

Brffev.7?UDOlPH G. B/TND/rf\ 
^̂  I I 1MMI——— • -

SERIES SIX 





/n>T sttrU 

M o d e r n Ques t ions 

In the Light of Christian Principles and the 

Teaching of the Papal Encyclicals 

A Discuss ion C l u b M a n u a l f o r 

Y o u n g People's a n d A d u l t Groups 

b y 

Rev. R u d o l p h G. Bandas 

SERIES V I 



Nihil Obstat 
Right Reverend H. Moynihan, S.T.D. 

Censor Librorum 
die 25a Aprilis, 1940 

Imprimatur 
•b JOANNES GREGORIUS MURRAY, 

Archiepiscopus Paulipolitanui 
die 26a Aprilis, 1940 

Fourth Edition, 20 ,000 

Published In U. S. A. 
September 4, 1956 

By 
OUR SUNDAY VISITOR PRESS 

Huntington, Indiana 

OeaeMSfed 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

I Vocation to the Priesthood 6 

II Vocation to Catholic Action 19 

III Vocation to the Sisterhood 30 

IV Vocation to the Married Life 41 

V Marriage, a Contract and a Sacrament 51 

VI Mixed Marriages ...¿.i.:. : 65 

VII The Family „.'.:..... 76 

VIII The Education of Children 87 



Introduction 
The chapters in this book are brief explanations 

of topics which have proved interesting to open 
forums and discussion clubs of young people as well 
as of adults. The chapters do not pretend to be ex-
haustive explanations of the subjects but serve 
rather as an introduction to the question. They con-
tain basic principles which are indispensable for the 
proper evaluation of any modern problem. 

We wish hereby to express our gratitude to 
Benziger Brothers for permission to quote from 
their copyrighted publication, "The Great Encycli-
cals of Leo XIII" edited by the Rev. John J. Wynne, 
S. J., and to the Paulist Press for permission to 
quote from the "Four Great Encyclicals." 



C h a p t e r I 

VOCATION 10 THE PRIESTHOOD 
Every object in the universe manifests in its 

own characteristic way the glory and perfections of 
God. Just as various planets and stars combine to 
render glory to God in the great "milky way," so in 
every part of the universe many and different ob-
jects are necessary to give full praise to God. Just 
as in a vast and complicated mechanism small as 
well as large parts contribute to the harmonious 
working of the whole, so also in the universe the 
tiny grain of sand, the little insect, and the majes-
tic planet are an integral part of the order of crea-
tion. Each one has a providential role to play, each 
one has a function to perform, each one is the ob-
ject of God's solicitude and care. 

If this is true of irrational creatures, how much 
more is it true of rational beings. "The very hairs 
of your head" says the God-man, "are all number-
ed" (1). Every human being in this world has a pur-
pose to work out, a mission to fulfill. The inclina-
tion towards this determined state in life is called a 
vocation. A vocation is an invitation and call from 
God to praise and serve Him in a state towards 
which our tastes and aptitudes incline us, and in 
which God will provide for us special aids to enable 
us to work out our salvation. 

A vocation, on which depends in a sense our 
temporal and eternal bliss, should be chosen with 
much deliberation and care. If we embrace a call-

Ascertaining Our Vocation 

a> Mtt. X, 30 



6 MODERN QUESTIONS 

ing in life blindly, if we choose a wrong vocation, 
we shall assume obligations for which we were not 
prepared by nature or grace, and at the same time 
deprive ourselves of the special divine aids which 
were in store for us if we had chosen the course 
marked out by Divine Providence. Moral and asceti-
cal theology lay down the following principles to be 
observed by those who are trying to ascertain their 
vocation and make a correct choice: 

1) Have recourse to God in earnest prayer 
that He may illuminate your mind and strengthen 
your will in the choice of the right state of life. Re-
peat frequently the words of St. Paul: "What 
wouldst thou have me to do, 0, Lord?" (2). If neces-
sary, withdraw for a few days from the tumult and 
distractions of the world, and ask God to manifest 
His will to you in the solitude of a retreat. Cultivate 
a readiness to do God's will and be ready to accept 
generously all sacrifices. 

2) If you have chosen a confessor to whom 
you have gone habitually, he has an intimate knowl-
edge of your spiritual life and of your spiritual 
growth. He is acquainted with your abilities and 
shortcomings, with your likes and dislikes, with your 
sins and virtues. Seek his guidance, open to him 
frankly and completely your mind and heart. He is 
for you God's authorized representative, a disinter-
ested and competent judge, who seeks only to know 
God's will and who is unaffected in his decision or 
advice by any personal interests. 

3) Your parents who are intimately acquaint-
ed with your physical, moral and spiritual develop-
ment, are also well qualified to evaluate your inclina-. 
tions and guide you in your choice. They love you, 

(2) Acts XXII, 10 



VOCATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD 7 

wish you well, are interested in your future, and 
you in filial obedience should seek their advice. But 
discuss with your confessor the attitude and advice 
of your parents so that you may satisfy yourself 
that no selfish or worldly maxims enter into their 
judgment and that only motives of faith prevail. 

4) Discuss the matter of your vocation with 
a trustworthy friend of mature years and experience 
who knows your conduct outside of your home and 
your community and who can frankly inform you 
whether the impression you are making upon others 
would favor a particular calling. 

5) Finally, institute with yourself the follow-
ing examination of conscience: 

a) What is drawing me to this vocation? Is 
it the honor and glory of God and the desire to save 
souls? Is it in this vocation that I can best serve 
God and man? Or, am I drawn by a spirit of sel-
fishness and vanity, by a desire to be publicized and 
to have a position of respect and renown? 

b) Is it in this vocation that I have the best 
chance to save my soul ? Is it this that I shall have 
wished to have done when I come to the moment of 
death? What advice would I give to a friend who 
finds himself in a position similar to mine? 

c) Have I the necessary ability and strength 
of character for this vocation? Is it in this calling 
that I can put to best use whatever physical, intellec-
tual and spiritual talents I may have? 

d) Do I find a greater attraction for some 
other state in which I think I would be more happy 
and contented than in the vocation I am considering? 
For, after all, God wants us to be His happy children 
on earth, and the Catholic religion is a religion of 
happiness and peace. Work done enthusiastically is 



8 MODERN QUESTIONS 

work well done; tasks performed as a drudgery are 
usually done poorly. 

The Priestly Vocation 
Sacred Scripture clearly affirms the necessity 

of a vocation from God to the priesthood and de-
nounces intrusion into the sanctuary as a usurpation 
and even as a sacrilege. Let us pass in review some 
of the important Biblical passages bearing on this 
point: In his Epistle to the Hebrews, in which St. 
Paul extolls the excellence of the Christian sacrifice 
and priesthood, we read the solemn warning: 
"Neither doth any man take the honor to himself, 
but he that is called by God, as Aaron was"'3 ' . St. 
Luke tells us explicitly that the apostles were not 
volunteers but men specially chosen by the God-man: 
"And it came to pass in those days, that he went out 
into the mountain to pray, and he passed the whole 
night in the prayer of God. And when day was 
come, he called unto him his disciples, and he chose 
twelve of them" (4 ). In His last discourse Christ 
recalls with tenderness to the minds of the Apostles 
their election to the apostolic mission: "You have 
not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and have ap-
pointed you, that you should go, and should bring 
forth fruit, and your fruit should remain"(B). When 
there was question of replacing Judas, the Apostles 
were intent above all to ascertain the will of God: 
"Show whether of these two thou hast chosen"(6). 
Nowhere do we read of Christ accepting some one 
who offered himself of his own accord. When the 
scribe said to Him: "Master, I will follow thee 
whithersoever thou shalt go," Our Lord answered: 

W Heb. V, 4 
(4) Lk. VI, 12 
(6) John XV, 16 
<«> Acts I, 24 



VOCATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD 9 

"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air 
nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his 
head."'7 ' . 

The reason why the priestly ministry demands 
a divine call becomes apparent when we reflect on 
the powers and obligations of a priest. The priestly 
tasks demand special and abundant graces without 
which the priest would suffer the loss of his own 
soul and bring about the damnation of others. If 
any one who is not called by God, or who has not 
sufficiently studied his vocation or has serious 
doubts about it, insinuates himself into the priest-
hood, he commits a grave sin. Such an intrusion 
into the priestly office is an injury to the preroga-
tives of Christ Who alone has the right to choose 
His ministers; it is an injury to the rights of 
Christ's people who have a right to be shepherded by 
good pastors. Such a priest leads an unhappy, guil-
ty existence; his ministry is fruitless; his conduct 
often scandalous. 

The divine voice calling a young man to the 
priesthood makes itself audible amid various cir-
cumstances. Sometimes the divine call is heard in 
connection with the reading of a book, listening to a 
sermon, participating in liturgical services, observ-
ing the saintly exemplary conduct of a priest, min-
istering as an altar boy, receiving First Communion, 
grieving over the death of a friend, escaping mir-
aculously from a great injury, etc. Or the divine 
invitation may assert itself through the desire to 
catechize, preach, heal the wounds and sufferings of 
mankind, and stem the tide of irreligion in the 
world. At any rate, God usually speaks quietly to 
the soul which He has chosen; He does not send an 

<7> Mtt. VIII, 19, 20 



10 MODERN QUESTIONS 

angel to it; He does not overpower it triumphantly 
as He did Saul on the way to Damascus. He endows 
the soul with the necessary gifts and arouses in it 
the necessary aspirations, and leaves the rest to a 
pious mother, teacher or priest who will develop the 
grace of God and gradually make the young man 
conscious of it18 ' . 

To reject a vocation to the priesthood or the 
religious state is probably not a mortal sin; but it 
makes the working out of one's salvation more diffi-
cult. It deprives the young man of the special graces 
and aids which were in store for him. Since he 
chose a different path than that in which God had 
provided a channel of special graces for the super-
natural growth of his soul, he is apt to become a 
mediocre and lukewarm Christian. His life will be 
marred with sadness, regrets, and dissatisfaction 
with self as well as with others. He misses a grand 
ideal—a life consecrated to the noble task of com-
municating divine life to others, while he intensifies 
it in his own soul. Because of his selfishness and 
love of the world—and the indifference of many 
others like him—the greater part of the world still 
languishes in paganism. 

Signs of a Priestly Vocation 

A "vocation" to the priesthood may be taken in 
two senses: first, it may denote the natural and 
supernatural qualities demanded of those who aspire 
to the priesthood. In another sense, it designates 
the invitation or call from God to enter the priest-

(8) Canon 1353: "The priests, especially the pastors, should 
give attention to boys who show signs of ecclesiastical 
vocation, and take pains to keep them from the contami-
nation of the world, instruct them in piety, give them the 
first lessons in the study of letters, and foster the seed 
of vocation in them." (Woywod's translation, p. 278) 



VOCATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD 11 

hood. The representative of God on earth, the vehi-
cle of His will and thought, is the Church. Hence 
a vocation in the strict sense is the call or judgment 
of the Church, which through the Bishop invites 
a candidate possessing the necessary qualifications 
and virtues to present himself for ordination. This 
definition, as is clear, includes both the first and 
second senses of the term "vocation." 

The Church law specifies that "the bishop 
should receive into the seminary only boys of legiti-
mate birth, and of such a character that there is 
good reason to believe they will persevere and work 
with success in the ecclesiastical ministry" (9). It 
ordains that "disorderly, incorrigible, seditious char-
acters and those who lack docility shall not be suf-
fered in the seminary, nor in general, those whose 
behaviour and talents do not make them desirable 
candidates for the clerical state. Students who ad-
vance but little in studies, so that there is not much 
hope that they will acquire sufficient learning, shall 
be dismissed"<10). The Church also demands of the 
aspirant to the priesthood the observance of "the 
requirements of hygiene, cleanliness of clothes and 
person, courtesy and moderation"(11). Theologians 
usually enumerate the following signs or require-
ments for a priestly vocation: 

1) Good Health. Since a valid administration 
of the sacraments, for example, demands an exact 
pronouncement of the words of the form, a priest 
must be free from impediments of speech. Since 
he says Mass and recites the breviary daily he must 
have good eyesight. Since he is often called upon 

<»> Canon 1363 (Woywod's translation, p. 281) 
(W Canon 1371 (ibid. p. 282) 
<"> Canon 1369 (ibid. p. 282) 



12 MODERN QUESTIONS 

to hear confessions, he must not have defective hear-
ing. He must also be free from such bodily deform-
ities and physical blemishes which would distract 
the people during divine worship—or repel them 
from a reception of the sacraments. Epilepsy and 
insanity are absolute impediments to ordination. 

2) Sufficient Knowledge. The priest is the 
teacher of the people, a defender of the truth against 
the Church's enemies, an exponent of the spiritual 
life, and a physician of souls. He must catechize 
and preach, he must instruct the faithful in the pul-
pit and in the tribunal of penance. All this pre-
supposes an extensive knowledge. For this reason 
the aspirant must spend six years in a preparatory 
seminary pursuing the study of the classics and 
sciences, and six years in a major seminary where 
he devotes two years to the study of philosophy, and 
four years to the study of theology. His office also 
demands an intelligence capable of acquiring and 
assimilating the knowledge required for the intellec-
tual and spiritual leadership that makes his minis-
try effective in his community. Intelligence is not 
to be identified with the ability to memorize. Intel-
lectual ability means the power to apply one's know-
ledge quickly and correctly to a particular moral 
case, modern problem or contemporary error. Again, 
since the Mass is said, the sacraments administered, 
and the breviary recited, in the Latin tongue, the 
priest must have a thorough and practical knowledge 
of this language. 

Coupled with sufficient knowledge must go good 
common sense, good judgment. A priest must have 
a sound estimate of men and of situations. He must 
have sufficient business ability to discharge the 
office of trustee of the property of God with a pro-



VOCATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD 13 

portionate appreciation of the financial condition 
of the people. He must know how and be disposed 
to conduct himself as a priest at all times and in all 
places. He must realize with St. Paul that while 
certain things are lawful for a priest they are not 
always expedient. An odd, queer, impulsive per-
son has no place in the priesthood. 

3) Moral Aptitude. Masters of the spiritual 
life and theologians demand in the priest not only a 
high development of all the supernatural virtues 
and a perfection compatible with the priestly state, 
but they point out that the indispensable basis of 
clerical sanctity—as well as of all sanctity—is the 
natural virtues. The aspirant to the priesthood 
must be well grounded in honesty, truthfulness, 
self-reliance, refinement of speech and manners, per-
sonal neatness, discretion, affability, self-respect, 
punctuality in keeping engagements, fidelity in keep-
ing promises. Without these the supernatural vir-
tues will be submerged in natural faults of character. 
The aspirant must be disposed to obey orders and 
submit to discipline. A man who constantly mur-
murs and criticizes, spreads discontent and is a det-
riment to the community. Lastly and above all, the 
aspirant must be pure in thought, in word and in 
his actions, for in the subdiaconate he will vow 
himself irrevocably to chastity. Laymen overlook 
many shortcomings of the priest but they will not 
readily pardon, any defect in this regard, nor even 
the appearance of such a defect. 

4) Right Intention. Besides possessing the 
necessary qualifications the aspirant must will to be 
a priest. He must have a clear idea of the nature 
and obligations which he is contracting and must 
consent to assume them. The will to become a 



14 MODERN QUESTIONS 

priest must be personal, must be his own and nor; 
that of his parents, friends or teachers. The wish 
to become a priest must be a persevering one, un-
deterred by objections, obstacles and difficulties. The 
duties of the priesthood must be assumed freely. On 
May 10, 1907, the Congregation of Bishops and 
Regulars ordained that in the Italian seminaries the 
courses in secular science be fundamentally the same 
as those in the establishments of Public Instruction, 
in order that the students may obtain a legal diploma 
and thus enjoy more freedom in the choice of their 
state. On December 27, 1930, the Congregation of 
Sacraments prescribed that each clerical candidate 
declare in writing before receiving each order his 
freedom of choice and his intention. 

Finally the candidate must have the right 
motive in entering the priesthood. The following 
motives, however laudable they may be in them-
selves, are not sufficient motives for entering the 
priesthood; to do penance for one's past sins and 
disorders; to save one's soul more easily in the 
priesthood; to embrace its fascinating ideal of per-
fection. The candidate must will to embrace the 
priesthood in itself and in its intrinsic character of 
a divine ministry. He must embrace it as a dignity 
which associates him with Christ in His divine 
mediation, the purpose of which is the glorification 
of God by the sanctification and salvation of souls. 

An apostolic and ardent zeal for the salvation 
of all men is the distinctive characteristic of a true 
priest. A true priest is interested, above all, in 
prayer, preaching and catechizing, in administering 
the sacraments, in converting sinners, propagating 
the faith, visiting the sick and the poor, sharing his 
time and his personal possessions with the destitute. 



VOCATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD 17 

Unfulfilled Aspirations 
1) A large number of boys in the intermedi-

ate and upper grades frequently express the inten-
tion of becoming priests. They dream of preaching 
and catechizing, of sacrificing themselves in a for-
eign mission, of leading a life of prayer and self-
denial. But as they grow older, another and a secu-
lar vocation gradually makes itself articulate. Why 
then has God shown them the summit but has re-
fused to have them ascend it? These aspirations 
were not without a providential purpose. These 
high ideals brought the young boy closer to God, 
they elevated, purified and refined him, they fortified 
him with grace against himself and against the 
world, so that he was a stronger and better man 
when he came to make his real choice in life. 

2) There are many virtuous and zealous young 
men and laymen in the world who from our view-
point have every qualification for the priesthood. 
Yet they remain in the world. The ultimate explan-
ation of this situation must be sought in the disposi-
tions of Divine Providence. The world has need of 
exceptional laymen, of saintly laymen who in the 
ordinary walks of life practice sometimes even hero-
ically the evangelical precepts and counsels. The 
vocation to the priesthood is something supernatural 
and consequently gratuitous. Barnabas, who was 
surnamed Just, was a man of many virtues, and yet 
the choice of membership in the apostolic college fell 
on Matthias(12). 

3) Frequently a young man cannot make up 
his mind. He wavers to and fro, now inclining to 
one calling, now to another. What is he to do? He 
should continue to pray, awaiting an event or a sign 

<12> Acta 1,28 



16 MODERN QUESTIONS 

which would trace for him the way. Finally, how-
ever, he should with proper direction make a choice 
of one of the alternative vocations. He has done 
his best to ascertain God's will, he is fulfilling it as 
fa r as he knows it, and God will by His grace sus-
tain him in his decision. If, however, his hesita-
tions were due to a lack of generosity towards God, 
he may finish by choosing a wrong vocation and will 
have to expiate in a painful manner his culpable 
indecision. 

4) Frequently a young man is morally certain 
of his vocation to the priesthood but is held back 
by his parents. What is he to do? Parents have 
the right to counsel and advise their child in regard 
to a life's vocation but they have not the right to 
choose a vocation for him or interfere with the one 
towards which he inclines. The choice of a life's 
work is the inviolable right of the individual; he, 
after all, must live his own life. If, however, his 
parents are in grave need, and if this need cannot 
be remedied except by their son's staying in the 
world and supporting them, then after consulting 
with his confessor to avoid self-deception he should 
remain as long as his parents need him. The law 
of nature demands this. Besides, there is no par-
ticular age at which one must enter on his life's 
calling. 

5) Some young men who are morally certain 
of their vocation, may—because of unforeseen rea-
sons or difficulties—be refused admission to the 
seminary when they apply, or may be dismissed 
from the seminary after a certain period of time. 
These men are not to lead a solitary, chagrined and 
depressed existence. They can still practice self-
denial and observe virginity. They will find a pro-



VOCATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD 17 

lific outlet for their zeal in the lay apostolate. Their 
frustrated desire can be spiritualized into an immo-
lation of self conducing to their own sanctification. 
They should choose a vocation in which they can 
best serve God and man, make an irrevocable decis-
ion, and resolutely face the future. 

D i s c u s s i o n A i d s 

1. Has every object a role and a function to per-
form in the universe? 

2. What is a vocation? 
3. Is it important to ascertain one's vocation? 

Why? 
4. What steps should be followed in ascertaining 

one's vocation? 
5. What questions should each one ask himself 

before deciding on his vocation? 
6. Show from Scripture that the priesthood de-

mands a call from God. 
7. Why does the priesthood demand a divine call? 
8. In what ways may a vocation to the priesthood 

become articulate in a young man's conscious-
ness? 

9. Is it a sin to reject a vocation to the priesthood? 
10. Define the priestly vocation. 
11. What are the four signs or requirements for 

the priesthood? 
12. What is the true motive for entering the priest-

hood? 
13. What is to be said of the unfulfilled aspirations 

to enter the priesthood? 



18 MODERN QUESTIONS 

Religious Practices 

1. Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do? 
2. I will accept generously whatever sacrifices my 

life's calling may involve. 
3. I will pray God to enlighten me in regard to 

the daily obligations of my life's calling. 



C h a p t e r 11 

VOCATION TO CATHOLIC ACTION 
Catholic Action has been defined by the late 

Holy Father as a "participation, in a certain manner, 
of the laity in the hierarchical apostolate"'11. I t is 
an apostolate which has the same purpose as the 
Church, is carried on under her direction and uses 
the means indicated by her (2 ). It is the layman's 
participation in the Church's threefold ministry of 
ruling, sanctifying and teaching. 

There is, of course, an essential difference be-
tween the bishops and priests, on the one hand, 
and the members of Catholic Action and laymen, on 
the other. The Council of Trent and the Vatican 
Council make it clear that the Church is not a society 
of equals. Hence the laity can participate in the 
work of the hierarchy only "in a certain manner," 
as Pius XI says, that is, in a restricted and not in a 
strict sense. Members of Catholic Action are the 
extended hand of the bishops; the hierarchy pro-
longs itself, as it were, in the laity to accomplish 
more easily its world-wide task of saving souls. 

What is the purpose of Catholic Action? To 
re-Christianize a de-Christianized world. Catholic 
Action "bends its efforts, even as does the apostolate 
of the hierarchy itself, to the winning or bringing 
back of souls. Always it is souls that it should have 
in view: it should spend itself, put forth its every 

(i) Letter to Cardinal Bertram, November 13, 1928. Cf. our 
pamphlet on "Catholic Action" (Paterson, N.J. 1935) 

<2> Cardinal G. Pizzardo, "Conferences on Catholic Action" 
(N. C. W. C., 1935) p. 7 



20 MODERN QUESTIONS 

effort in a quest for souls, that they may return to 
their father's house"'81. 

In our country the state and the public schools 
are utterly divorced from religion. Most of the 
Protestant Churches, which until recently have re-
tained at least some Christian principles, are rapid-
ly disintegrating. And what is the result? A spirit 
of paganism is beginning to permeate every depart-
ment of life and like a cancer to eat into the very 
heart of society. Economic, industrial, scientific, 
artistic, literary and recreational endeavors are car-
ried on without any reference to Christian doctrines 
and principles. 

Now, the task of Catholic Action is to eradi-
cate this fundamental evil of our time, namely, the 
non-conformity of society as such and of individuals 
with Christian and Catholic principles. It must 
transform and Christianize the naturalistic neo-
pagan environment in which men live, move and 
have their being. It must act on the masses and 
influence public opinion. 

"Select groups" of laymen must anticipate, aid 
and prolong the hierarchical apostolate in the midst 
of the world in order to bring men back to Christ. 
In close union with the priesthood and in complete 
dependence upon it, they must draw from the Heart 
of the Son of God that regenerating life of which 
decrepit pagan society stands in such great need. 

Catholic Action is as old as the Catholic Church. 
In a letter to Cardinal Segura, Pope Pius XI wrote: 
"Catholic Action is not something new; substanti-
ally it is as old as the Church herself, although in 
its actual form it has become more and more pre-

(3) G. Pizzardo, o. c. p. 11. 



VOCATION TO CATHOLIC ACTION 21 

cise in recent times" (4). In his discourse to the In-
ternational Congress of Youth in Rome(5), and again 
in his letter to Cardinal Bertram (6), Pius XI refers 
to a lay apostolate exercised as early as the time of 
St. Paul: "That of which we speak was not un-
known even in the times of the Apostles, since St. 
Paul makes mention of his 'fellow laborers'17 > and 
commends 'his co-laborers in the spread of the Gos-
pel'." In his Epistle to the Colossians St. Paul re-
calls the names of his many co-laborers and "help-
ers in the kingdom of God"<8), and in the Epistle to 
the Philippians mentions approvingly the services of 
two zealous women, Evodia and Syntyche "who have 
labored with me in the Gospel" (9>. St. Peter salutes 
Christian laymen as a "holy priesthood, to offer up 
spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus 
Christ"(10). He calls the Christians "a chosen gen-
eration, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a pur-
chased people"(11). 

Early Tradition supplies us with many an edi-
fying example of Catholic Action. "Christians, as 
far as in them lies," says Origen, "try to spread 
their doctrine even to the ends of the earth. Hence 
it is that many have assumed the task of making 
the rounds not only in the cities but also in the vil-
lages and the countrysides in order to bring others 
to practice the pious worship of God"(12). In com-
menting on Isaias XXI, 14, 15, St. Jerome writes: 
"You who are accomplished in perfection, and who 

W November 6,1929; 
(5) September 11, 1925. 
<«> November 13, 1928. 
<t> Phil. IV, 3. 
<8) Col. IV, 7-12. 
<») Phil. IV, 2-3. 
• I St. Peter II, 5. 
<"> I St. Peter II, 9 
<12' Migne, "Patrologia Graeca," XI, 951. 



22 MODERN QUESTIONS 

have in you the light of the knowledge of the Scrip-
tures, rush forth to the assistance of others; do not 
wait until they come to you, but imitate the father 
who in the parable of the Gospel goes forth to meet 
the prodigal son" ( 1". 

St. John Chrysostom urges the faithful to initi-
ate a holy crusade for the conquest of souls: 
"Emerge from within yourselves and hasten to 
carry salvation to the city. If you do not know 
where the souls that are sick are to be found, set 
out in search of them—Bring these souls to the feet 
of the priests, and then by God's grace they will 
submit, and you can affirm that it is you who made 
this conquest, since you have lead them as if by the 
hand—Watch over the salvation of your brothers 
and bring them back to us, despite their resistance, 
their cries and their lamentations. Their opposition 
and their negligence are signs that you have to do 
with infants. It is up to you to change their soul, 
however imperfect and miserable it may be. It is 
your duty to persuade them to become men"(14). 

The lay apostolate flows from the very heart of 
the Christian religion. Let us briefly indicate some 
of the motives which should impel and animate 
every participant in Catholic Action: 

1) Love of God and of Christ. We cannot 
truly and sincerely love another without wishing him 
to be loved by every one else. We cannot really love 
God without wanting Him to be better known and 
loved by others. Those who love God do not cease 
thinking of Him, speaking of Him to others, and 
striving to impress His name indelibly on the minds 
and hearts of men. 

<13> Migne, "Patrologia Latina," XXIV, 266. 
in) Migne, "Patrologia Graeca," LI, 116. 



VOCATION TO CATHOLIC ACTION 23 

As Christians we must imitate Christ, our 
Leader, Who came upon earth to transform a sinful 
pagan world, to inculcate a new conception of man's 
dignity, and to infuse a new life into an old and 
decrepit world. If Christ's tears and death for men 
leave us indifferent and untouched, if we do nothing 
to extend the benefits of Christ's Incarnation and 
Redemption to others, how can we still claim that 
we love Christ? 

2) Love of the Church. The Church is Christ's 
representative upon earth, divinely instituted to re-
new and perpetuate the graces of Christ's Redemp-
tion among men. If we wish to be genuine and 
loyal sons of the Church, if we wish to fill the heart 
of our common Mother with happiness and joy, we 
must gladly cooperate with her in her mission of 
saving souls. We must be deeply interested in her 
works of propagating the faith, in her foreign and 
home missions, in her preaching and catechising, 
etc. 

3) Love of neighbor. When God was about to 
create the universe He said "fiat," but when He 
wished to redeem man's soul He suffered and died. 
We often pretend to be ready to lay down our life 
to save another, we are willing to sacrifice our 
earthly existence for flag and country. Yet how 
often do we remain cold and indifferent when there 
is question of safeguarding the supernatural and 
eternally beatific life of our neighbor's soul? 

We believe that our own soul is spiritual and 
immortal, that it was redeemed by the precious blood 
of Christ, and that it is destined for the Beatific 
Vision of God. Yet* has not the soul of our neigh-
bor been bought with the same precious price and 
has it not the same noble destiny? 



24 MODERN QUESTIONS 

We avoid sin because it offends God's Infinite 
Majesty. But has not our neighbor's sin the same 
malice and should it not likewise be prevented at all 
costs? How can we assert that we love God and yet 
remain indifferent to the lot of our neighbor's soul 
which tomorrow may be in hell? 

4) Love of self. Charity covers a multitude of 
sins. The conversion of another may be the blotting 
out of all our sins. If the Saviour promised to re-
ward the donor of even a glass of cold water, how 
much more will He reward a sincere apostolate for 
the conversion of souls? If we spend our whole 
life doing good for others, need we fear the judg-
ment seat of God? If Christ warned the scandalizer 
that "it were better for him that a millstone should 
be hanged about his neck, and that he should be 
drowned in the depth of the sea"(1S) how highly will 
He reward, on the other hand, those who help others 
on their way to eternal salvation? 

5) The Sacraments. Baptism incorporates us 
into the Mystical Body of Christ. As each member 
is bound to cooperate for the well-being of a physical 
body, so the faithful must cooperate according to 
their ability in safeguarding the welfare of the 
members of Christ's mystical body: "The members 
should be mutually careful one for another. And if 
one member suffer anything, all the members suffer 
with it; or if one member glory, all the members 
rejoice with it"<18). 

Confirmation makes us defenders of the faith 
and soldiers in the service of Christ and of the 
Church. A soldier must labor and fight not only for 
himself but also and, above all, for others. 

<15> Matt. XVIII, 6. 
( 1 6 ) I Cor. XII, 25, 26. 



VOCATION TO CATHOLIC ACTION 25 

The Eucharist furnishes the soldiers with a 
celestial and supersubstantial bread and in that way 
sustains the strength and zeal of the lay apostles. 

The dignity of a participant in Catholic Action 
and the supernatural end which he strives to attain 
makes imperative the presence of certain qualities in 
the lay apostle. Let us briefly enumerate some of 
them. 

1) The lay apostle should cultivate an intense, 
vital spiritual life and a filial devotion towards the 
hierarchy and priesthood. When in 1929 Pius XI 
was pointing out that Catholic Action consisted not 
only in the pursuit of personal perfection but also 
in a true apostolate, he was careful to indicate that 
"personal perfection must ever remain for each of 
us the first, the supreme duty" (17). This supernat-
ural spirit must be acquired through spiritual read-
ing, meditation, days of recollection, retreats, litur-
gical prayer, study of our Lord's life, and frequent 
reception of the sacraments. 

Why must the lay apostolate be steeped in the 
supernatural? Because the transformation of con-
duct, the conversion of a heart, demands grace; 
without grace we can no more convert a soul than 
we can make marble weep. 

2) The lay apostle must remember that he is 
only an instrument in God's hands. "Apollo water-
ed," says St. Paul, "but God gave the increase"(18). 
He must not expect to accomplish with a few words 
what it took the passion and death of Christ to ac-
complish. The devil takes a long time, if necessary, 
to undermine a soul; so also it sometimes takes a 
long time to convert a soul. If men reject the lay 

(17) Quoted in G. Pizzardo, o. c. p. 12. 
<18> I Cor. Ill, 6. 



26 MODERN QUESTIONS 

apostle together with his message, let him be con-
soled by the thought that they rejected His Master 
also. Let him say a prayer and try again. 

3) To spread light one must possess light. To 
defend and explain your religion you must be well 
acquainted with its fundamental principles. This 
knowledge of Catholic doctrine must be obtained 
through personal study, discussion clubs, open for-
ums, and weeks of study. 

4) The lay apostle must possess a habitual 
Catholic spirit and outlook which will enable him 
to evaluate every situation and problem according 
to the mind of the Church. 

5) A transformation of the environment in 
which we live will demand appropriate social re-
forms. Hence the lay apostle must be prepared to 
expound the social doctrine of the Church and to 
instil a truly Christian social spirit. 

6) Above all, let the lay apostle be constant and 
persevering. If at times he is inclined to think that 
the apostolate should be the exclusive prerogative 
of the priest, let him remember that Christ's army 
needs both officers and soldiers. If he feels that 
there is so much to be done that it is almost useless 
to start, let him understand that he is not to dissi-
pate his energies in every direction by trying to con-
vert the whole world, but let him concentrate on 
one activity or on one person. 

If he hesitates because he is young, let him re-
call that God has often chosen the weak things of 
this world to confound the wise. Did not God choose 
twelve simple fishermen as His instruments for con-
verting the world? Youth is a defect which will 
soon be corrected. Youth has energy and ardor and 
an enthusiasm to do things expeditiously. Old age 



VOCATION TO CATHOLIC ACTION 27 

with its sicknesses and frailties does not lend itself 
so readily to an apostolate. At any rate, the lay 
apostle must be as zealous in the spread of truth as 
the evil spirit is in the spread of error. 

Catholics should always be ready to participate 
in Catholic Action by carrying out the activities en-
joined upon them by the bishop through their pastor. 
In conclusion, we shall briefly indicate some aposto-
lates in which all can profitably participate. 

1) Apostolate of family peace. Try all in 
your power to prevent those misunderstandings, dis-
sensions, and quarrels which often blight a home. 
Do not yourself try to have the last word in every-
thing and, if it is not a question of principle, learn 
to give in. Try to introduce into your home the 
spirit of the Holy Family of Nazareth. 

2) Apostolate of prayer. If someone in your 
household has abandoned the practice of religion, 
try to convert him by your prayers, good example, 
discretion, tact, goodness and meekness. He will 
admire you and finally seek and come to the source 
of your goodness and spiritual strength. 

3) Apostolate of consolation. Cooperate close-
ly with your diocesan office of Catholic Charities. 
Visit the sick, especially those who seem to be 
abandoned by others. Bring them a little joy and 
sunshine, speak to them the language of faith with-
out preaching it, be with them in their last agony, 
do not leave them until their salvation is assured. 

4) Apostolate of mercy. Do not neglect the 
poor. Remember that the poor man is a king since 
Christ promised the kingdom of God to the poor. 
Recall that he is another Christ and that any service 
rendered to him is done to Christ. Gladly offer to 



30 MODERN QUESTIONS 

God in the person of the poor a portion of your 
earthly goods; the only thing that you will carry 
from this world into eternity at the moment of death 
is alms given to the poor. 

5) Apostolate of truth. Become a member of 
the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, of the 
Propagation of the Faith, or of the Mission Crusade. 
Offer to assist your pastor in the instruction of 
Catholic children who attend the public schools. 
Make systematic visits in the parish to seek out 
children who absent themselves from religious in-
structions. Arrange for the transportation of teach-
ers and pupils. Establish and conduct, or at least 
attend religious discussion clubs. Help in the for-
mation of groups of parents to discuss the religious 
and moral training of the children in the home. 

Strive to introduce a Catholic periodical into 
every Catholic home. Correct misrepresentations in 
the secular press. Oppose the sale of obscene and 
salacious literature. Remail Catholic periodicals to 
needy Catholics and non-Catholic families. Help to 
maintain a pamphlet rack in your Church or hall, 
and assist in the distribution of pamphlets to non-
Catholics. Strive to introduce the Narbeth plan into 
your local secular newspaper. Sponsor a Catholic 
radio program or at least encourage the public to 
listen in on Catholic radio programs. Oppose per-
nicious programs in the theatre and demoralizing 
forms of recreation. Supply or help to gather and 
prepare clothing, medical supplies and Mass kits 
for the missions. Assist in all works of the propa-
gation of the faith in both the foreign and home 
missions. 



VOCATION TO CATHOLIC ACTION 29 

D i s c u s s i o n A i d s 

1. Define Catholic Action. 
2. In what sense do the laity participate in the 

hierarchical apostolate? 
3. What is the purpose of Catholic Action? 
4. What evidence of Catholic Action have we in 

the New Testament? 
5. Give examples of Catholic Action from Tradi-

tion. 
6. On what religious motives is the lay apostolate 

based? 
7. How does Catholic Action flow from the various 

sacraments? 
8. What qualities are required in the participant 

of Catholic Action? 
9. In what ways may one participate in Catholic 

action? 
10. Mention ten activities which belong to the do-

main of Catholic Action. 

Religious Practices 

1. I shall cultivate within myself and in others a 
filial devotion to the Pope and the bishops. 

2. I shall receive with a reverent obedience their 
decrees and regulations. 

3. I shall to the best of my ability take an active 
part in the various apostolates enjoined by the 
Pope and the bishops. 



C h a p t e r 111 

VOCATION TO THE SISTERHOOD 
The religious state is defined in Canon Law as 

a "permanent community life, in which the faithful 
besides observing the common precepts, oblige them-
selves to the observance of the evangelical counsels 
by the vows of obedience, chastity and poverty"'11. 
A religious order or institute which observes the 
duties of the religious life is described as a "society, 
approved by legitimate, ecclesiastical authority, 
whose members strive after evangelical perfection 
by living according to the special rules governing 
the society and by taking the public vows of poverty, 
chastity and obedience"(2). All religious—superiors 
as well as subjects—"must not only faithfully keep 
the vows which they have taken, but also live accord-
ing to the Rules and Constitutions proper to their 
order or congregation, and in this manner strive 
after the perfection of their state" (3). In every 
religious house the community life shall be strictly 
followed by all, even in matters pertaining to food, 
clothing and furniture (4 ) . 

These canons bring into relief the essential 
notes of the religious life. The religious life is a 
more complete development of the Christian life, 
and those who practice it constitute a circle of God's 
specially devoted and generous friends. If a voca-
tion is necessary for each particular work on earth, 
it is all the more necessary for the religious life 

W Canon 487. 
<2> Canon 488, 1. 

Canon 593. 
M> Canon 694. 



VOCATION TO THE P R I E S T H O O D 31 

which is a life of self-denial, of daily crosses, of a 
constant aspiration after higher perfection. This 
vocation to the religious life is a special actual 
grace, enlightening the mind as to the nature of the 
religious life and at the same time inspiring the 
will to embrace it. It enters into the life of the 
prospective religious in a variety of ways. Some-
times it is a dream from childhood, a suave attrac-
tion replete with spiritual delights, which gently 
draws the candidate from a Christian home into 
the novitiate. Sometimes it is the ardent desire to 
lead a life of prayer, purity and holiness. At other 
times the vocation is a cold aifair of the will, a 
matter of duty, in which temperament and senti-
ment play little part. Sometimes it is a sudden un-
expected inspiration of God's grace changing the 
whole course of a young person's life. Sometimes 
the beginnings are clear and certain; then comes a 
period of anxiety and doubt due to a lack of courage 
or proper direction; finally, after this test of the 
soul has passed, the candidate takes the final step. 

The law of the Church sums up in one canon 
the signs of a vocation to the religious life: "Ad-
mission to the religious life is open to any Catholic 
who is not under any legal impediment, who has 
the right intention, and is capable to fulfil the duties 
of the religious life"'5 ' . This canon lays down the 
following four requirements for the religious life: 
1) The candidate must be a member of the Catholic 
Church: non-baptized persons, apostates, heretics, 
schismatics, and excommunicated persons are ex-
cluded. 2) The candidate must be free from the 
impediments which would make entrance into the 
religious life invalid or illicit, 3) The candidate 

<«> Canon 5OQ 



34 
MODERN QUESTIONS 

must have the intention to live up to the aim and 
purpose of the religious life, namely, Christian per-
fection through the observance of the vows, rules 
and constitutions. The religious life is an attempt 
to attain full conformity with Christ who was born 
and lived in absolute poverty, Who was absolute 
sinlessness, Who was obedient even unto the death 
of the Cross, Who fasted and prayed in the desert, 
led a life of unique hiddenness, and lived a commun-
ity life with His apostles and disciples. A candidate 
would not have the "right intention" if she entered 
the convent in order to be provided for during the 
remainder of her life, to enjoy the respect paid to 
religious, etc. The convent is often erroneously con-
sidered as a refuge of sinners and of those whose 
conscience is surcharged with remorse, of those who 
are disappointed, discouraged, or whose heart has 
been broken by a frustrated romance, etc. Such 
religious may exist in stories but not in reality. 
4) Finally, the candidate must have the necessary 
qualifications to fulfil the duties of the religious life. 
She must have a spirit of prayer, docility, mortifica-
tion, forbearance with others. She must have a 
love of humility, recollection and silence. She must 
have the necessary physical and intellectual talents 
which will enable her to carry out the special work 
of the religious institute to which she belongs. Some 
religious must teach, others must take care of the 
sick, of the aged, of the poor, of orphans, others 
must work in foreign missions, etc. For all these 
tasks special abilities are required. 

Suppose a young woman is morally sure of her 
vocation, but is held back by her parents. What is 
she to do? If her parents are in grave want and 
depend upon her for support, so that no other pro-



VOCATION TO THE P R I E S T H O O D 33 

vision can be made for them, the natural law forbids 
her to abandon them for the religious state. Par-
ents have the right to oppose her plan if she is too 
young, or if her health is poor, or if she is acting too 
impulsively. Again they may ask her to reflect 
before she takes the step. But if she has the neces-
sary qualifications and if the parents oppose her 
vocation for worldly and selfish reasons, she has a 
right and duty to leave for the convent. Such par-
ents oppose the will of God Who has reserved this 
soul for Himself. They deprive the child of many 
graces, expose her to the danger of committing sins 
which otherwise she would have avoided, they arrest 
rather than promote her spiritual growth. Such 
parents should remember the words of the Master: 
"He who loves father and mother more than me, is 
not worthy of me." The daughter may delay her 
entrance into the convent a few months in order to 
prepare the parents for the sacrifice and in order to 
show by her serious and virtuous life that she is 
firmly determined in her vocation. During this time 
she should strive to make her parents understand 
the following truths: that we have no right to dis-
obey God; that we belong first to God and next to 
our parents; that if she is free to choose a husband 
she should also be free to choose God; that those who 
enter the religious life love their parents more dear-
ly than the married children; that if the parents 
love her truly they will sincerely desire her happi-
ness ; that a vocation is a pledge of blessing for the 
family and for the whole community. If none of 
these considerations prevail, the young woman 
should leave. We must serve God rather than man. 
The choice of one's life's calling is man's inviolable 
right. 



36 
MODERN QUESTIONS 

Just as a young man must pass a certain time 
in training and receive several lower orders before 
being ordained to the priesthood, so also a candidate 
to the Sisterhood must pass through several steps 
before making her perpetual profession. A brief 
description of these stages will also bring out the 
requirements for this exalted state. 

1) Postulancyi6). This stage is a period of 
preparation and probation in a religious house be-
fore admission to the novitiate. Postulancy gives 
the candidate a taste of the religious life, tests her 
in her vocation, and affords the Superior an oppor-
tunity to ascertain whether she is a fit subject for 
the novitiate. Postulancy usually lasts six months, 
although it may be shortened by a few days or pro-
longed as much as an additional six months. The 
postulant devotes a certain amount of time to study 
and also to manual labor, and wears a plain dress 
different from that of the novices. Prior to her 
admission to the novitiate the postulant makes a 
retreat of at least eight full days and is examined 
by the local bishop as to her intentions and freedom 
of her actions. 

2) Novitia,te{1). The novitiate is a period of 
preparation and probation before admission to re-
ligious profession. During this time the novice be-
comes acquainted with the duties of the religious 
life, is tested in her vocation and qualifications for 
the religious state, and wears the habit prescribed 
by the constitutions. The novitiate must last for an 
entire and uninterrupted year. The constitutions 
of some communities prescribe a period longer than 

<«> Canons 539-541. 
Canons 542-571. 



VOCATION TO THE P R I E S T H O O D 35 

one year. Canon 542 states that the following can-
not be validly admitted to the .novitiate: 

a) Apostates from the Catholic Church, even 
though they later repented and returned to the 
Church. The rule does not apply to converts who 
were never active members of the Church. 

b) Those who have not the required age, 
namely, 15 years. 

c) Those who were compelled to enter by 
grave fear, or by deceit, or by force, or where the 
superior was thus constrained to receive the in-
dividual. 

d) Those who are married, for the duration 
of the marriage. 

e) Those who are or have been professed 
members of any religious community. 

f ) Those who are subject to a penalty for 
grave crime of which they have been, or may be, 
accused. 

The regulations concerning the postulancy and 
the conditions imposed by the constitution of each 
respective religious community must also be ob-
served. 

The same Canon 542 states that the following 
are admitted validly but not lawfully: a) Those who 
have debts to pay and cannot settle the obligation. 
b) Those who are responsible for positions of trust 
(guardians, trustees) or who are implicated in any 
other secular business, by reason of which law suits 
and other annoyances may come to the religious. 
c) Those whose father, or mother, grandfather or 
grandmother are in great want or in need of their 
help, and parents whose help is needed for the sup-
port and education of their children. 



36 MODERN QUESTIONS 

When a candidate applies for admission into a 
religious community §he usually entrusts to the con-
vent a certain amount of money or goods which is 
known as a dowry( 81. The bringing of a dowry is a 
measure of prudence, for should the postulant, or 
novice, or professed religious leave the convent, she 
will have available funds to take eare of her immedi-
ate needs. The amount constituting a dowry is 
usually determined by the constitutions. The con-
stitutions of some communities authorize the super-
ior to dispense from the dowry in case of poor appli-
cants. The dowry must be kept in trust by the com-
munity till after the death of the sister. It becomes 
the permanent property of the convent at the death 
of the religious, even though she has not yet taken 
perpetual vows. If the candidate dies before the 
end of the novitiate, the dowry reverts to the legal 
heirs. ^ M I i ' ! j g | 

3) Religious Profession. Religious profession 
is entrance into the religious state by taking publicly 
—that is, in the presence of a lawful ecclesiastical su-
perior accepting the profession in the name of the 
Church—the three vows of poverty, chastity and 
obedience in a religious community approved by the 
Church. The taking of the vows implies the per-
son's surrender to and acceptance by the religious 
community. By profession the person becomes a 
religious, assumes the obligations of a religious, be-
gins to enjoy the indulgences, privileges and spiritu-
al favors granted to religious, and acquires a right 
to sustenance and care from the community. 

When vows are taken for only a certain length 
of time they are temporary. When taken for the 
rest of the person's life, the profession is perpetual. 

<8> Canons 547-551. 



VOCATION TO THE P R I E S T H O O D 37 

Vows are said to be solemn when they are so desig-
nated by the Church; otherwise they are sim-ple. 
Those who desire to make religious profession must 
be fully sixteen years of age if there is question of 
temporary vows, and twenty one years if there is 
question of perpetual vows either solemn or simple 
(9). In every congregation which has perpetual vows 
the novice must take temporary vows for three 
years, or for a longer period if she will not yet be 
twenty one years of age after three years of tem-
porary vows'10 '. At the expiration of the tempor-
ary vows the religious may return to the world, or 
make perpetual profession, or, if she is not judged 
worthy to continue, be dismissed. 

The religious state is properly constituted by 
the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. 
By the vow of obedience the religious binds herself 
to obey all personal as well as all general orders of 
her lawful superior and live according to the rule 
and constitutions of the community. The vow of 
chastity forbids all voluntary carnal pleasure, Wheth-
er in thought, word, or act; it excludes matrimony 
and hence also the licit sexual pleasures of those 
legitimately married. The vow of poverty varies in 
its range in different communities. A Sister With 
simple vows renounces the independent use—that is, 
use without the permission of the competent super-
ior—of her property, of its revenue and administra-
tion, but retains the actual ownership of the proper-
ty. The Church permits this ownership because if 
the Sister for any reason were to be dispensed from 
her vows, she would again need her goods. Sisters 
with solemn vows renounce not only the independent 

<9> Canon 573. 
<10> Canon 574. 



38 MODERN QUESTIONS 

use of the property but they renounce the property 
itself. Finally, a Sister may join a community which 
itself renounces the right to own any property 
(Poor Clares). 

In conclusion, let us point out again that the 
call to the religious life, to a more perfect spiritual 
life, is a grace which God vouchsafes to His chosen 
few. This divine favor must elicit the love of the 
privileged soul; the Divine Lover on the Cross 
must become the object of a profound love of the 
religious. This same favor will also imply self-
immolation : the vows of poverty, chastity and 
obedience, the renunciation of the goods of the earth 
and the affections and joys of family life, this death 
to all that is worldly and human, will constitute a 
daily immolation of the will. And the results? 
Divine Omniscience alone can count the riches of 
the consecrated soul and the social blessings which 
the world owes to those Sisters who voluntarily and 
out of the purest love become the educators of chil-
dren, the mothers of orphans, the benefactors of the 
old, poor and afflicted, the expiators of the sins of 
men. 

Virginity in the world. Circumstances fre-
quently oblige a young woman to remain unmarried 
and practice virginity in the world. The World 
Wars will increase the number of unmarried women 
by the thousands if not by the millioins. Such 
women should not remain forever in an undecided 
state, always expecting something while nothing is 
forthcoming. Above all they should not be egoistic, 
disagreeable in manners, trying in speech, narrow 
minded, critical of every one, embittered by their 
lot, green with envy and jealousy, reserving their 
affection for a cat or a dog, and spending a good 



VOCATION TO THE P R I E S T H O O D 39 

deal of their time talking to a parrot. Rather, let 
them cultivate virginity as a privilege in common 
with the holy women of the Church and choose a 
useful occupation, be occupied intelligently at it, 
and resolutely face the future. In this way they 
will make their lot a happier one. Let them avoid 
worldly amusement which will only create dissatis-
faction with their state and even become a stumbling 
block to them. Let them be the support of a father 
and a mother, a Big Sister to their younger sisters 
and brothers, angels of mercy to the poor and sick, 
mothers to orphans. These works of lay Apostolate 
will make their cross easier to bear and fill them 
with peace and contentment. 

D i s c u s s i o n A i d s 

1. What is meant by the religious state? 
2. What is the nature of a vocation to the relig-

ious state? 
3. In what ways may this vocation enter into the 

consciousness of a young woman? 
4. What are the four signs of a vocation to the 

religious life? 
5. What attitude should an aspirant to the relig-

ious life adopt towards parents who are oppos-
ing her entrance into a convent? 

6. If the parents are in grave want, should she 
abandon them for the religious state? Why? 

7. What is meant by the postulancy? 
8. What is the novitiate? 
9. What are the requirements for a valid noviti-

ate? For a licit novitiate? 
10. What is a dowry? When does it become the 

property of the convent? 



40 MODERN QUESTIONS 

11. What is a religious profession? What are its 
effects? 

12. What is the difference between temporary and 
perpetual vows? Between simple and solemn 
vows? 

13. Explain briefly the three vows of poverty, 
chastity, and obedience. 

14. What advice would you give to one who is to 
practice virginity in the world? 

Religious Practices 

1. "If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, 
and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treas-
ures in heaven, and come, follow Me" (Mtt. 
XIX, 21). 

2. "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall 
see God" (Mtt. V, 8). 

3. "Obedience is better than sacrifice." 



C h a p t e r I V 

VOCATION TO THE MARRIED LIFE 
Those who are convinced that they are destined 

for the married state should always keep in mind 
that they are being called to a very serious and holy 
state. They should see in marriage the particular 
road along which they are to journey to the eternal 
mountain—a state in which they will form a hearth 
and home where the human race will be renovated 
and perpetuated, and whence will issue beings made 
in God's image, true worshippers of the Lord, mem-
bers of. Christ's Church, heirs of heavenly glory. 
They should reflect that they are approaching a 
state whose author is God, for it was the Creator 
Who formed the first two spouses one for the other, 
and Who inspired, witnessed and presided at their 
union. Jesus Christ added a new grandeur and 
consecration to this state when he raised it to the 
dignity of a sacrament, making it at the same time 
a symbol of the union between the Church and Him-
self. To the recipients of this Sacrament He assur-
ed special graces which would sanctify their love 
as well as their power of love, sanctify the spouses 
one through the other, strengthen their union of 
minds and hearts, and sweeten their daily crosses 
and trials. The matrimonial state is so holy that 
no human agency can pronounce the dissolution of 
its contract or impede the exercise of its rights and 
duties. 

The two young persons should realize that the 
married life is a state full of heavy responsibilities. 
Romance is a providential veil, as it were, which 



42 MODERN QUESTIONS 

screens off the trials awaiting them—the rose con-
cealing many a thorn. The novelty of courtship 
will gradually wear off, the burning flames will fall 
low, love grown accustomed to the possession of its 
object always the same will lose much of its original 
impulsive ardor. The daily common life will bring 
out the true habits, temperament, and character of 
each, for henceforth there is no need of hiding any-
thing. The medal of which they had hitherto seen 
only the bright side, will begin to reveal disenchant-
ingly its reverse side. In addition there will be 
sicknesses which may make an invalid of either one, 
changing him from a joy and support into a charge 
and a burden, and provoking impatience and irri-
tability. There may also come unemployment and 
reverses of fortune, resulting in great mental and 
moral depression, and ushering in a series of dark 
and melancholy days. The monotonous and hard 
realities of life will dissipate the dreams and air-
castles of earlier days. Only a Christian life, sup-
ported abundantly by the special graces of the sac-
rament of Matrimony, will bear all these problems 
not only patiently but even joyfully. 

For these reasons the two parties should pre-
pare for marriage with prayerful reflection and 
from the outset determine to shun a marriage de-
void of all religious and supernatural motivation. 
A type of marriage to be avoided is the so-called 
"dowry marriage" where one marries another solely 
because of his wealth or social prestige. Parents 
frequently scheme and push through marriages such 
as these. They calculate that the marriage will 
strengthen the two families socially, financially and 
politically. Money, however, is of its very nature 
a source of dissension, the dowry is often quickly 



VOCATION TO THE MARRIED LIFE 43 

spent, politics is a very changeable and unstable 
thing. Marriages based on such grounds are usu-
ally lacking in mutual love and devotion, and end 
in mutual distrust, hatred and divorce. Then there 
is the "steam-roller" marriage, which is contracted 
rapidly and without the necessary reflection and 
preparation which the holy state of matrimony de-
mands. It is usually concluded by young people who 
are giddy and superficial in thought, and who want 
to be liberated from their environment and from the 
surveillance of their parents. Finally, there is the 
marriage of passion motivated by the physical at-
traction of one party for another. It is based on 
the person's good looks, smoothness in externals, 
ability to dress and dance well, ease in speech, ath-
letic prowess, etc. Passion is a blind faculty; it 
does not reason or deliberate. A courtship in which 
the mind does not at all times maintain an absolute 
primacy will not be an adequate preparation for 
marriage. 

Marriage has been described as a meeting of 
two souls who had been seeking one another across 
space and time. God has endowed the young heart 
with a gentle attraction towards the opposite sex. 
This attraction is at first general but gradually be-
comes more selective until it narrows down to a few 
and finally to one person. Courtship is a provident-
ial arrangement in which two parties try to ascertain 
if one was really destined for the other. Courtship 
is frequently the occasion of gossip, of contemptuous 
remarks, of unfounded criticism. Yet it is the ar-
ticulation of a tendency which God Himself has im-
pressed upon the human heart. 

Courtship should be a novitiate. A young 
Woman aspiring to the Sisterhood spends six months 



44 MODERN QUESTIONS 

in the postulancy, one to two years in the novitiate, 
and three years in temporary vows, before taking 
the final step and making perpetual vows. During 
all this time she may, if she wishes, leave the convent 
and return to the world. A young man spends six 
years in a preparatory seminary and six years in a 
major seminary before making an irrevocable decis-
ion to be ordained a priest. During all this time he 
prays for divine light and guidance, reflects upon 
the obligations of the state to which he is aspiring, 
and examines himself in regard to his qualifications 
for such an exalted state. By ordination he in a 
sense gives up his freedom, he begins to serve God, 
his supreme Lord, Whose yoke is sweet and Whose 
burden is light, from Whom he need not fear anger 
or condemnation, unless he first commences to quar-
rel with Him. But marriage binds a person until 
death to one who may differ from him in disposition, 
temperament, inclination and mood. The step may 
mean hell in this life and hell probably in the next 
life. How then can anyone take this all-important 
and all serious step without first becoming thorough-
ly acquainted through a prayerful courtship with 
the person who is to be his life's partner? 

Just as a machine will use up a good deal of 
energy and accomplish little work if its parts are 
not evenly correlated, so a husband and wife will 
not use God's graces effectively and fruitfully if 
they are not well matched. The one party must 
complement the abilities and compensate the weak-
nesses of the other. The following are some of the 
qualities in a prospective life's partner which should 
form the subject of a serious inquiry: Is the party 
a practical Catholic, a nominal Catholic, a fallen-
away Catholic, a non-Catholic or a non-believer? 



VOCATION TO THE MARRIED LIFE 45 

Has he a virtuous past and has he a sound moral 
character? What kind of health has he? Has there 
been feeble-mindedness, insanity, tuberculosis, a 
tendency to alcoholism, in his family? Is he infected 
with venereal diseases? Is he willing to undergo a 
physical examination and furnish a health certifi-
cate? Has he sufficient means to start a secure 
household, and what is his actual and prospective 
income? Is he willing to plan economically, and is 
he ready to make sacrifices, if necessary? What 
kind of an education has he? To what race and 
nationality does he belong? Is he able to meet peo-
ple, to make and keep friends? How does he bear 
up under illness, suffering, disappointment, success? 
Has he an appreciation of the use of money? What 
is his attitude towards amusements and spending? 
Has he a sense of humor, or is he over-sensitive? Is 
the woman able to cook and keep house? Is she a 
home-loving and family-loving person? Finally, 
both parties should obtain, preferably from a trust-
worthy physician, sufficient knowledge about the 
physical side of marriage—the marital act, preg-
nancy, child-birth, rearing of children—and in that 
way avoid unnecessary grief and even serious mis-
takes. 

It is advisable that Catholic young people be-
come acquainted with the canonical impediments to 
marriage. A clear knowledge of this often ignored 
legislation of the Church will prevent many a young 
person from launching on a course where he will 
meet serious if not unsurmountable barriers. These 
impediments are motivated by the solicitude of the 
Church for the well-being of the spouses themselves 
and of the future family. In setting up these im-
pediments the Church, the representative of Christ 



46 MODERN QUESTIONS 

on earth, is not bent upon arbitrarily restricting the 
liberty of her children but rather upon closing to 
them avenues which might lead to temporal misery 
and eternal damnation. Impediments are of two 
kinds: prohibitive and diriment. A prohibitive 
(hindering) impediment makes a marriage unlaw-
ful but not invalid; a person marrying despite a 
prohibitive impediment commits a sin but is really 
married. A diriment (destroying) impediment 
makes a marriage both unlawful and invalid; a per-
son marrying despite a diriment impediment com-
mits a grave sin, is not married in the eyes of God, 
and has no right to act as a married person. Let 
us say a word about these two groups of impedi-
ments. 

The following marriages are valid but unlaw-
ful: A marriage without the preliminary publica-
tion of the three banns; marriage with a validly bap-
tized non-Catholic; marriage within the forbidden 
times: from the first Sunday in Advent to Christmas 
inclusive, and from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sun-
day inclusive; marriage with some one who by a 
solemn and written contract, countersigned by the 
pastor or two witnesses, promised marriage to an-
other (impediment of previous bethrothal); a mar-
riage considered unlawful by the civil law of the 
country because of legal relationship resulting from 
adoption. When the bishop considers there is a 
serious reason to excuse the parties from the law he 
may dispense from these impediments, and the mar-
riage will be both valid and lawful. 

The following are some of the diriment impedi-
ments : 

1) Substantial error, for example, if a twin-



VOCATION TO THE MARRIED LIFE 49 

sister were deceitfully substituted for the woman 
whom the man thinks he is marrying. 

2) A previous valid marriage prevents either 
party of that union, even though civil divorce has 
been granted, to marry as long as the other party 
is living. 3) Difference of worship which exists 
where one party is Catholic, baptized in the Catholic 
Church and the other party is uDbaptized. The 
Church may dispense from this impediment but only 
for serious reasons. 

4) Defects of age. Canon law demands that 
for a valid marriage the boy must be at least six-
teen years of age and the girl at least fourteen. 
5) Grave fear and violence render a marriage in-
valid. 6) Physical impotency or the inability to 
perform the marital act. If this impotency exists 
before marriage and is absolutely incurable, it ren-
ders a marriage invalid. The inability to bear chil-
dren or sterility is not an impediment. 

7) Consanguinity or blood relationship. Thus a 
man cannot marry a woman from whom he des-
cends or who descends from him. Again a brother 
cannot marry a sister (first degree). In all these 
cases the Church grants no dispensation. For 
weighty reasons she may grant a dispensation for 
a marriage between first cousins (second degree) 
and second cousins (third degree). 

8) Spiritual relationship. A sponsor at bap-
tism may not marry the god-child, and a person ad-
ministering private baptism may not marry the 
person baptized. For serious reasons the Church 
dispenses from this impediment. 9) Affinity or 
blood relationship of a previous wife or husband. 
A man may not marry his step-daughter or mother-
in-law or any ancestor or descendant of his deceased 



48 MODERN QUESTIONS 

wife. For such cases no dispensation is granted. 
If there are strong reasons he may obtain a dispen-
sation and marry her sister, first cousin, aunt or 
niece. In conclusion, it might be added that a dis-
pensation—in those cases where the Church grants 
it—cannot be granted except for the most serious 
reasons. For while a dispensation removes the op-
position of the Church it does not remove the diffi-
culties which motivated the Church to establish the 
impediment. Laws are made to be observed and 
not to be dispensed from, and even the bishop cannot 
set aside the application of the law without a reason 
that justifies him in conscience according to the 
rules under which he is governed. 

Care should be taken lest a romance, instead of 
blossoming into a generous and genuine love degen-
erate into a selfish and sinful passion. Courtships 
and engagements give no right to sexual liberties 
and pleasures. In this connection it is well to re-
member that a man's sex constitution differs con-
siderably from that of the woman. A man's sex 
urge and impulses are aroused with less effort and 
controlled with greater difficulty than the compara-
tively more dormant sex tendencies of a woman. 
Familiarities which leave the woman cold and un-
touched may arouse a strong passion in the man. 
Physical contacts such as petting, pawing, kissing, 
embracing, dancing of certain types, often act like 
an electrical current and forthwith kindle a passion 
in man's entire sensitive nature. At any rate, the 
two young persons should remember that true love 
is respectful. When it degenerates into something 
sinful the parties may well suspect that something 
essential to their courtship is lacking. Certainly 
they should not wish a cortege of sins to follow them 



VOCATION TO THE MARRIED LIFE 49 

to the altar on their wedding day; this would hardly 
be a pledge of heavenly blessings. Then, too, fam-
iliarities breed contempt. Parties who have des-
cended to sinful intimacies during their courtship 
may expect mutual contempt and infidelity in the 
married state. The courtship should last long 
enough to enable the parties to get to know one 
another, but not so long that it degenerates into lust. 

Marriage is God's institution for the propaga-
tion of the human race. As author of this state He 
will hold out His graces abundantly to those who 
aspire to that state and who are humble of heart. 
God will enlighten the mind of a young person that 
he may find the life's partner providentially destined 
for him. Hence, it is necessary to pray daily, receive 
the sacraments frequently, and, if necessary, seek a 
clearer manifestation of God's will in the solitude 
of a retreat. Information about marriage is not to 
be sought in movies, for Hollywood is a stranger to 
the Church's conception of the sanctity and indis-
solubility of marriage. The prospective bridegroom 
must prayerfully reflect—in the same way as novices 
and seminarians do—on the sanctity of this calling, 
on its obligations, and on his ability to meet these 
responsibilities. He should consult his confessor, 
whose experience with men will be of immense value 
to him and who will advise him dispassionately. 
Finally, he should consult his parents who are inter-
ested in his future and intent on procuring his wel-
fare. But above all—he should pray. 

D i s c u s s i o n A i d s 

1. Why is married life a holy and serious state? 
2. What are some of the difficulties and problems 

which may arise in the married life? 



50 MODERN QUESTIONS 

3. What kind of marriages should be considered 
as devoid of all supernatural motivation? 
Why? 

4. Is the attraction of a person towards the op-
posite sex a natural tendency? Why? 

5. What do we mean by saying that "courtship 
should be a novitiate"? 

6. What are some of the qualities of a prospective 
life's partner concerning which inquiry should 
be made? 

7. What is an "impediment" to marriage? 
8. What are the "prohibitive" impediments to 

marriage? 
9. What are the "diriment" impediments to mar-

riage? 
10. From which of the diriment impediments may 

the Church dispense? 
11. How long should a courtship last? Why? 
12. In what sense is it true that a girl can keep a 

boy straight and clean? 
13. How should a young person prepare for the 

married state? 

Religious Practices 

1. During my courtship I will frequently seek 
light from God through earnest prayer. 

2. During my courtship I will try, with God's 
grace, to preserve the primacy of mind over 
emotion and passion. 

3. In choosing a life's partner I will esteem relig-
ion and Christian character above earthly ad-
vantages and pleasures. 



C h a p t e r V 

MARRIAGE, A CONTRACT AND 
A SACRAMENT 

"Each individual marriage, inasmuch as it is 
a conjugal union of a particular man and woman, 
arises only from the free consent of each of the 
spouses.—But the nature of matrimony is entirely 
independent of the free will of man, so that if one 
has once contracted matrimony, he is thereby sub-
ject to its divinely made laws and its essential prop-
erties"(1). 

Marriage, A Stable Contract 
According to the dictates of both the natural 

and the divine law, marriage is a stable union—not 
a free and revocable partnership—suited for con-
stituting a family. The stability, permanence, and 
indissolubility of marriage are demanded by both 
the natural and divine laws, and by both the primary 
and secondary ends of marriage. 

A. The Voice of Reason, a) The primary pur-
pose of marriage is the procreation and education of 
children. The birth of children is the ultimate end 
for which nature has set up a diversity of sexes. 
The existence of the sexes, their union and relations 
—in fact nature's whole arrangement in all that per-
tains to the sexes—are intended to lead to the birth 
of a child. Furthermore, nature intends that the 
sexes should exhaust all the potentialities of the 
powers with which she endowed them—in other 
words, she aims at the birth not of one but of sev-

fM Pius XI, Encyclical on "Christian Marriage" in "Four 
Great Encyclicals" (Paulist Press), p. 73. 



52 MODERN QUESTIONS 

eral children. Hence the marriage union must con-
tinue for life so that not only during the full period 
of fecundity but also for the additional years re-
quired for the full development of the family as an 
integral social unit the children from the eldest to 
the youngest may be brought to the maturity of 
cultural as well as physical and moral life. Even 
then the natural relation of parent and children does 
not end. This is evident from the following con-
siderations : 1) Should the child meet with any mis-
fortune, care of him falls upon the parents, for it 
is they who brought him into existence and are con-
sequently responsible for him at every age. 2) The 
contracting of a new marriage by the parents in old 
age would mean a dissipation of the fortune which 
they amassed during their lifetime and to which 
the children as natural heirs of the parents have a 
natural claim. 3) The wife, who has given to her 
husband the best years of her life, needs the love 
and support of her husband especially in old age 
and in her declining years. 

Promiscuity and free love, which in our day is 
receiving the blessing of the Soviets and of many 
modern sociologists, has no foundation in historical 
practice or in the nature of man. 1) The further 
back we go in history, the stronger we find becomes 
man's passion of jealousy. When we come to the 
primitive stage, we find that almost all communica-
tion between the wife and other men is forbidden. 
The severest provisions are made for the chastity of 
women: special quarters in the home are assigned 
to them, their faces are frequently veiled or disfig-
ured. The code of Hammurabbi, which goes back 
to about the year 2000 B. C., presupposes monogamy 
and establishes severe penalties for adultery, incest, » 



MARRIAGE, A CONTRACT AND A SACRAMENT 53 

and rape. The matriarchate, which prevailed in 
some tribes, was not due to promiscuity but was 
necessitated by the conditions of the times; since 
the father was frequently absent because of hunting, 
fighting, and wars, the children were more easily 
identified by bearing the name of the mother. 2) 
Physiologically, promiscuity leads to infecundity and 
would have meant the extinction of belligerent 
tribes whose survival was frequently due to condi-
tions favoring the increase of the race. 3) Ethically, 
if promiscuity is nature's arrangement, how did 
these free sexual relations develop into the restraints 
and self-discipline which we find prevailing later on? 
4) Psychically, the instinct of mine and thine is not 
only inbred in man but is very strong in birds and 
animals where we often find a great jealousy of the 
female on the part of the male. 

b) The procreation of the child might indeed 
be brought about by a brief association of the sexes. 
But the rearing of the child requires a stable and 
abiding union of the sexes, and not a mere momen-
tary and shortlived union dictated by mere fancy 
and emotion. Nature, in fact, as St. Thomas tells 
us (2), aims not at the mere existence of children but 
at their continued existence and development, and 
for this the child requires the support and care of 
both parents. Unlike the birds and animals, the 
child cannot shift for itself soon after birth, but de-
pends upon others—not only in its infancy but also 
after it has reached the use of reason—for its phy-
sical, mental, and moral growth. And upon whom 
does this obligation of caring for the child devolve 
by the natural law? Upon the parents. It is they 
who brought him into existence, it is they who are 
(2 ) "Summa Theologica," III a, q. 41, a. jgjj 



54 MODERN QUESTIONS 

responsible for his training and development. This 
duty devolves on both parents. Since it was as one 
joint principle that they gave the child existence, 
so as one joint principle they are bound to care for 
the child. Parental care and direction are especially 
necessary at the age when boys pass into manhood 
and girls into womanhood. From all this it is clear, 
then, that marriage must be a stable and permanent 
contract. 

At this point the Communist would interpose 
the following claim: The State is a better guardian 
and educator of the child than the parents. This 
contention, however, is fallacious. Nature has desig-
nated the parents—and not the state—as the proper 
and exclusive educator of the child. To the mother 
—and not to the state—nature has given milk nat-
urally destined for the nourishment of her child. 
To the parent—and not to the state—nature has giv-
en instincts of affection and care which no other 
relationship can satisfy or replace. Note how these 
instincts come into play when the child is ill or in 
danger. 

c) The secondary aim of matrimony is mutual 
aid and a remedy of concupiscence. The one sex 
by a natural instinct seeks the company of the other. 
The two sexes complement one another. Though 
both man and woman are complete human beings, 
yet when the dispositions of the two blend together, 
they complete each other spiritually, temperament-
ally, and physically, and the result is two fully de-
veloped personalities. But this mutual aid cannot 
be given unless the two parties are united by a 
stable contract. Secondly, only a stable union can 
restrain concupiscence and keep it within proper 
limits. Promiscuity, by its changing relations and 



MARRIAGE, A CONTRACT AND A SACRAMENT 57 

new pleasures, only inflames concupiscence and in-
creases its force. 

B. The Voice of Revelation. Scripture and 
Tradition not only uphold the stability and perman-
ence of the marriage contract as demanded by the 
natural law, but clearly vindicate the unity and in-
dissolubility of marriage—the truths, namely, that 
marriage is a conjugal union of only one man and 
one woman, and that the matrimonial bond is dis-
soluble only by the death of one of the parties. The 
Biblical passages which we shall now quote fre-
quently contain at once both doctrines: 

a) At the beginning of creation God created 
one woman for one man. The very close and inti-
mate union which should exist between husband and 
wife is evident from the fact that Eve was formed 
out of Adam's side. "And Adam said: this now is 
bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall 
be called woman because she was taken out of man. 
Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and 
shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one 
flesh"<S). It is to be noted in this connection that 
this primitive institution of monogamy was after 
the deluge succeeded by polygamy. God permitted 
an exception to His law so that the Jewish patri-
archs might have many wives and that thus the off-
spring to be educated in the worship of the one true 
God might be multiplied. 

b) In the beginning, marriage was by God's 
ordinance indissoluble, but in the time of Moses it 
was made dissoluble by a bill of divorce: "And 
there came to him the Pharisees tempting him, say-
ing: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife 
for every cause? Who answering said to them: 

<»> Genesis II, 21-24. 



56 MODERN QUESTIONS 

Have ye not read, that he who made man from the 
beginning, made them male and female? And he 
said: For this cause shall a man leave father and 
mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two 
shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not 
two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined 
together, let no man put asunder. They say to him: 
Why then did Moses command to give a bill of di-
vorce, and to put away? He saith to them: Be-
cause Moses by reason of the hardness of your heart 
permitted you to put away your wives; but from 
the beginning it was not so"(4>. 

c) Christ cancelled unreservedly the permiss-
ion granted through Moses and since His time mar-
riage is again absolutely indissoluble. On this point 
the Evangelists and St. Paul are absolutely clear. 

St. Matthew: "I say to you, that whosoever 
shall put away his wife, excepting because of for-
nication, maketh her to commit adultery; and he 
that shall marry her that is put away, committeth 
adultery"(5>. (The putting away for fornication re-
fers to separation, not to absolute divorce). 

St. Mark: "What therefore God hath joined 
together, let no man put asunder. And in the house 
again, his disciples asked him concerning the same 
thing. And he saith to them: Whosoever shall put 
away his wife and marry another committeth adul-
tery against her. And if the wife shall put away her 
husband, and be married to another, she committeth 
adultery"«6'. 

St. Duke: "Everyone that putteth away his 
wife and marrieth another, committeth adultery; 

W Mtt. XIX, 3-8. 
<s> V, 32. 
<«> X, »-12. 



MARRIAGE, A CONTRACT AND A SACRAMENT 57 

and he that marrieth her that is put away from her 
husband committeth adultery" K 

St. Paul: "Therefore whilst her husband liveth, 
she shall be called an adulteress if she be with an-
other man; but if her husband is dead, she is loosed 
from the law of her husband"(8). 

"Let every man have his own wife, and let 
every woman have her own husband"(9). 

"But to them that are married, not I but the 
Lord commandeth that the wife depart not from her 
husband. And if she depart, that she remain un-
married, or be reconciled to her husband. And let 
not the husband put away his wife"'10 ' . 

Polyandry (the conjugal union of one wife sim-
ultaneously with many husbands) and polygamy 
(the conjugal union of one husband simultaneously 
with many wives) do not render wholly impossible 
but make very difficult the procreation and educa-
tion of children. In polyandry the woman's fecun-
dity is lessened by relations with different men, the 
education of the offspring becomes difficult because 
of the uncertainty of the father, and the wife finds 
it difficult to serve several masters at once. Poly-
gamy makes extremely difficult the maintenance of 
peace and harmony in the family, and is an unsatis-
factory remedy for concupiscence. 

Divorce places a premium on man's incon-
stancy and converts marriage into concubinage. It 
makes a mere tool of the wife who is kept by the 
husband as long as her beauty, strength and effic-
iency endure, and then dismissed. It makes imposs-
ible that mutual, constant, and enduring love which 

<T) XVI, 18. 
(8) Rom. VII, 3. 
<»> I Cor. VII, 2. 
do» I Cor. VH, 10. 



58 MODERN QUESTIONS 

constitute the happiness of the spouses and their 
consolation in trials. Rather, it is the occasion of 
conjugal discords which serve as a prelude to the 
breaking of the existing union and to the formation 
of new ones. Above all, divorce renders difficult 
the attainment of the primary purpose of marriage, 
namely, the education of children. The child needs 
its parents not only at the moment of its birth but 
during the whole process of its development. It 
needs its own parents and not other educators, since 
paternal love and instincts cannot be delegated. "It 
is hardly possible," says Leo XIII, "to describe how 
great are the evils that flow from divorce. Matri-
monial contracts are by it made variable; mutual 
kindness is weakened; deplorable inducements to 
unfaithfulness are supplied; harm is done to the 
education and training of children; occasion is af-
forded for the breaking up of homes; the seeds of 
dissension are sown among families; the dignity of 
womanhood is lessened and brought low, and women 
run the risk of being deserted after having minis-
tered to the pleasures of men. Since, then, nothing 
has such power to lay waste families and destroy 
the mainstay of kingdoms as the corruption of 
morals, it is easily seen that divorces are in the high-
est degree hostile to the prosperity of family and 
states" '"f. 

Marriage A Sacrament 

The essence of the matrimonial contract is the 
free consent of the two spouses. In order to found 
a contract, this consent must be internal, that is, 
elicited by the will with the intention of living as 
husband and wife; it must be free; it must be mut-
(11> Encyclical on "Christian Marriage" in "The Great En-

cyclical Letters of Leo XIII" (Benziger, 1903), pp. 74-75. 



MARRIAGE, A CONTRACT AND A SACRAMENT 59 

ual, that is given and accepted by each party, and 
it must be externally manifested by some sign which 
makes other contracts valid and which would make 
the matrimonial contract recognizable and valid 
among men. The moment that the matrimonial con-
tract is formed, it assumes all the attributes which 
God wished it to possess. Now Christ has taken 
this contract and elevated it to a sacrament. The 
Scriptures do not specify the moment of the insti-
tution of this sacrament. It may have been on the 
day when Christ went to the wedding feast of Cana 
or at the time when He restored the original holi-
ness and indissolubility of marriage. Whenever 
Christians enter upon a valid contract to live as 
husband and wife, that contract is a sacrament and 
causes grace. Among Christians every marriage 
contract is a sacrament; the two cannot be sep-
arated. The Church alone has the right to pro-
claim the existence of the sacraments. But her 
teaching is also supported by reason. Let us briefly 
state the arguments for the sacramental character 
of matrimony. 

a) Whenever God confers upon man a certain 
office, He also gives him the necessary graces to 
fulfil that office. For whoever wishes the end must 
also wish the means. Now Christ endowed marriage 
with the attributes of unity and indissolubility: 
"They two shall be in one flesh"'12'; "What there-
fore God hath joined, let no man put asunder" <13). 
The disciples of Christ were themselves amazed at 
the severity of the Master's doctrine: "If the case 
of a man with his wife be so, it is not expedient to 
marry" (14 ) . For divorce was quite common at the 

d2) Mtt. XIX, 5. 
(is) Mtt. XIX, 6. 
("> Mtt. XIX, 10. 



60 MODERN QUESTIONS 

time and was permitted by Moses. Yet Christ de-
manded absolute fidelity from all. Now if God 
makes this demand of human nature, He also sup-
plies the necessary graces for the accomplishment 
of what man's natural powers cannot do. Hence 
matrimony confers graces upon the spouses for the 
fulfilment of their duties, that is, it is a sacrament— 
"an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace." 

b) In his Epistle to the Ephesians, V, 22-32, 
St. Paul draws a detailed comparison between the 
union of husband and wife, on the one hand, and 
the union of Christ the Head with His Church, on 
the other. The first is a sign and symbol of the 
second. Just as man leaves mother and father, ad-
heres to his wife, and becomes one with her, so 
Christ left His heavenly Father, adhered to His 
Church, and became one with His mystic members; 
just as the wife is subject to the husband, so the 
Church is subject to Christ; just as the husband is 
the head of the wife, so Christ is the Head of the 
Church; just as Eve is of the bones and flesh of 
Adam, so we are members of Christ's body, of His 
flesh, and of His bones. Let us quote the passage 
in full: "Let women be subject to their husbands, 
as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of 
the wife as Christ is the head of the Church. He is 
the saviour of his body. Therefore as the Church 
is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their 
husbands in all things. Husbands, love your wives, 
as Christ also loved the Church, and delivered him-
self up for it, that he might sanctify it, cleansing it 
by the laver of water in the word of life, that he 
might present it to himself a glorious Church, not 
having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that 
it should be holy, and without blemish. So also 



MARRIAGE, A CONTRACT AND A SACRAMENT 61 

ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. 
He that loveth his wife, loveth himself. For no 
man ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and 
cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the Church, because 
we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his 
bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father 
and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they 
shall be two in one flesh. This is a great sacrament; 
but I speak in Christ and in the Church." From these 
great dogmatic passages flow several important con-
clusions: first, the matrimonial union is a sign of 
something very sacred—the union of Christ with 
His Church; second, it is a sign of grace, for the 
cementing bond between Christ and His members 
is grace, both actual and habitual; third, the mutual 
duties of the spouses are to be as supernatural as 
the reciprocal relations between Christ and His 
Church; but human nature is of itself inconstant and 
moves on a purely natural plane; to elicit supernat-
ural acts the spouses need divine grace; hence mar-
riage must be endowed with a grace-bestowing 
power. 

c) Christ's message is only partly contained in 
the New Testament. The greater part of his teach-
ing was transmitted orally until it was finally in-
corporated into the writings of the Fathers and into 
the liturgy, prayers, inscriptions, art, and architec-
ture of the Church. The sacramental character of 
matrimony was taught from the earliest times by 
both Catholics and schismatics, in both the Orient 
and in the West. In commenting, for example, on 
the marriage feast at Cana, the Fathers speak of 
marriage as a holy thing, carrying with it a special 
blessing from God, and to be contracted religiously 
before the Church. Now it would be difficult, if not 



62 MODERN QUESTIONS 

impossible, to explain this unanimity of belief with-
out admitting that the doctrine in question goes 
back to the Apostles and to Christ Himself. 

Modern Attacks on Marriage 
In conclusion, we shall list tne modern attacks 

on marriage as they are enumerated and evaluated 
in Pius XI's Encyclical on Christian Marriage. 
These attacks are made in our contemporary erotic 
literature, theatrical productions, romantic fiction, 
amorous and frivolous novels, motion pictures, 
radio, etc. Marriage is undermined by the follow-
ing false views and evil practices: 

1) Marriage a mere invention of man. Mar-
riage is said to be neither a contract instituted by 
the Author of nature nor a sacrament established 
by Christ. It is merely a means of producing life 
and of satisfying sexual impulses. Since man him-
self made marriage laws, he can modify them, 
change them, or abrogate them. The generative 
faculty may be exercised in or outside of marriage. 

2) Companionate marriage or the indulgence 
in matrimonial rights without an indissoluble bond 
and without offspring. 

3) Birth control, the exercise of the marriage 
act in such a way as deliberately to frustrate its 
natural purpose and power to generate life. 

4) Abortion or the taking of the life of the off-
spring hidden in the mother's womb—the direct 
murder of the innocent. 

5) Sterilization, or depriving a person of the 
faculty to procreate. 

6) A false view of the weakness of human na-
ture which contends that the inborn sexual tendency 



MARRIAGE, A CONTRACT AND A SACRAMENT 63 

cannot be satisfied within the narrow limits of 
monogamous marriage 

7) The emancipation of women, the full liberty 
of woman to free herself at pleasure from the duties 
of a spouse, wife and mother, to devote herself to 
business and public affairs, and to conduct and ad-
minister her own affairs. 

8) The substitution of a certain vague com-
patibility for a constant union of spirit, solid love, 
and mutual conjugal chastity. . 

9) The degrading of marriage to a mere civil 
ceremony; mixed marriages; divorce. 

D i s c u s s i o n A i d s 

1. Give three arguments from reason based on 
the ends of marriage to show that marriage 
should be a stable contract. 

2. Has free love any basis in historical practice 
or in man's nature? 

3. Is the state a better educator than the parents? 
Why? 

4. Give arguments from Scripture for the unity 
and indissolubility of marriage. 

5. Show how polyandry and polygamy make very 
difficult the procreation and education of chil-
dren. 

6. Point out the evils of divorce. 
7. Give three proofs of the sacramental character 

of matrimony. 
8. Is the contract and sacrament separable in 

marriage? 
9. What are some of the evils which today are 



64 MODERN QUESTIONS 

undermining marriage? How are these evils 
to be counteracted? 

10. How would you answer these two objections: 
a) The indissolubility of marriage is opposed 

to man's liberty? 
b) Life in some homes is so intolerable that 

divorce should be permitted? 

Religious Practices 

1. Prepare for a chaste wedlock by a constant 
practice of mortification and self-denial, espec-
ially during courtship. 

2. Look upon courtship as a means of choosing— 
with the help of God's illuminating grace—a 
suitable companion for life. 

3. Prepare yourself: for marriage by frequent 
prayer, by meditation on the duties of the mar-
ried state, and by a frequent reception of the 
sacraments. 



C h a p t e r V I 

MIXED MARRIAGES 
"Care also must be taken that they (Catholics) 

do not easily enter into marriage with those who 
are not Catholics; for when minds do not agree as 
to the observance of religion, it is scarcely possible 
to hope for agreement in other things. Other rea-
sons also proving that persons should turn with 
dread from such marriages are chiefly these: that 
they give occasion to forbidden association and com-
munion in religious matters; endanger the faith of 
the Catholic partner; are a hindrance to the proper 
education of children; and often lead to a mixing 
up of truth and falsehood, and to the belief that all 
religions are equally good"'11. 

"In these mixed marriages it becomes much 
more difficult to imitate by a lively conformity of 
spirit the mystery of which we have spoken, namely 
the close union between Christ and His Church"(2). 

It is important to distinguish at the outset be-
tween the impediment of mixed religion and the im-
pediment of disparity of cult. The first exists be-
tween two baptized persons, of whom the one is a 
Catholic and the other a non-Catholic, whether a 
heretic or a schismatic. It is only an impedient im-
pediment, that is, it renders the matrimonial con-
tract merely illicit. Disparity of cult exists between 
two persons of whom the one is baptized and the 
other is not. It is a diriment impediment, that is, 

8 Leo XIII, Encyclical on Christian Marriage in "The Great 
Encyclicals of Leo XIII" (Benziger, 1903), p. 81. 

12) Pius XI, Encyclical on Christian Marriage in "Four Great 
Encyclicals" (Paulist Press), p. 102, 



66 MODERN QUESTIONS 

it renders the matrimonial contract null and void. 
Disparity of cult, then, is not based on the difference 
of religious affiliation but on the fact that one party 
received the sacrament of baptism and the other did 
not. A catechumen, professing the Catholic faith, 
could not be validly married to a Catholic as long 
as he is unbaptized. 

The bishop must in the case of both impedi-
ments give a dispensation before a priest can per-
form the marriage. A mixed marriage performed 
by a priest without a dispensation is valid but not 
licit. Where there is not dispensation from dispar-
ity of cult, the marrage is neither lawful nor valid. 

In a mixed marriage the non-Catholic as well 
as the Catholic receives the sacrament of matri-
mony. An unbaptized person makes a valid matri-
monial contract but does not receive the sacrament; 
the Catholic party to the contract probably does not 
receive the sacrament 

It may be laid down as a general principle that 
whenever one of the parties to a marriage is a Cath-
olic, the marriage is not valid unless witnessed by a 
Catholic priest and two other witnesses. 

1) A marriage between a Catholic and a non-
Catholic before a Protestant minister is invalid; 
besides, the Catholic party incurs excommunication. 
This penalty means exclusion from the sacraments 
(not Mass), Christian burial, and the prayers of the 
Church. An excommunicated person may be absolv-
ed only by a priest who has applied to the bishop 
for special faculties and obtained them to absolve 
the censured person. 

May such a marriage be rectified? Yes. The 
parties go before a priest (privately) who has ob-
tained the necessary dispensations, and exchange the 



MIXED MARRIAGES 67 

vows in the presence of the priest and two witness-
es. Since the civil license has already been obtained, 
the parties have no new or further civil obligations. 

If the marriage is not rectified, the parties may 
remarry after obtaining a civil divorce and present-
ing their case to ecclesiastical authority. Since the 
previous union was not a valid marriage, the Cath-
olic may be married to a Catholic before a priest 
after freedom to do so is declared by ecclesiastical 
authority. 

2) A marriage between a Catholic and non-
Catholic before a justice of the peace is invalid. But 
the Catholic party does not incur excommunication 
since the civil judge does not act as a minister of a 
Protestant sect. The marriage may be rectified in 
the same way as in the previous case. 

3) A marriage between two Catholics before 
a civil judge is invalid. It is also invalid if per-
formed by a Protestant minister; in addition, both 
Catholics incur excommunication. 

4) A marriage of two Protestants before a 
justice of the peace or before a Protestant minister 
is valid and indissoluble in the eyes of the Church 
if there was no impediment to the marriage. 

5) Children born of an invalid marriage are 
illegitimate in the eyes of the Church. They become 
legitimate when the marriage is validated. Church 
laws bar illegitimate children from the priesthood. 

If, however, a marriage is putatively valid, the 
children are legitimate. Now, what is a putative 
marriage? Let us give an example. Suppose two 
Catholics marry before a Catholic priest. Later on 
it is discovered that one of the parties was never 
baptized. The marriage was in reality invalid be-
cause of the impediment of disparity of cult; but in 



68 MODERN QUESTIONS 

the estimation of men ("putatively") the two part-
ies were validly married. 

6) In a mixed marriage the two parties are 
never allowed to go through a second ceremony be-
fore a Protestant minister. If they do, the Catholic 
incurs excommunication. If the priest knows of 
their plans for a second, Protestant ceremony, he 
will not assist at the mixed marriage. It may hap-
pen, however, that the parties are all the while 
planning secretly to go through another—a Pro-
testant ceremony. In such a case the marriage is 
not invalid but both parties are guilty of sin. 

7) A Catholic may not serve as best man, maid 
of honor, usher, or bridesmaid at a Protestant wed-
ding, since this is equivalent to taking part in Pro-
testant religious ceremonies. 

A Protestant may not serve as best man or 
maid of honor (witness) at a Catholic wedding. 
Witnesses play an important part in a marriage 
ceremony since without their presence the marriage 
would not be valid. To admit Protestants indis-
criminately to this office would give no control to 
the Church to exact testimony from the witness. 
Sometimes for weighty reasons a Protestant in the 
absence of any other available witness may act as 
witness. 

Protestants may serve as ushers at a Catholic 
wedding provided there is no scandal. 

The Promises 
Before the bishop grants the dispensation for 

the performance of a mixed marriage, the two part-
ies must present in writing certain guarantees or 
make the so-called promises. 

According to the formula used in the matri-
monial forms of the St. Paul Archdiocese, the Cath-



MIXED MARRIAGES 69 

olic party promises "to observe all the rules of the 
Catholic Church and abide by whatever decision 
may be made in the consideration of my applica-
tion for a dispensation, and I furthermore promise 
that, if the dispensation is granted, only the cere-
mony of the Catholic Church will be performed in 
our matrimonial union, that I will have all the chil-
dren born of my marriage or adopted during our 
marriage or received into our home under our auth-
ority, baptized and reared in the Catholic Church, 
that I will never have recourse to the civil courts or 
consent to such recourse to have said children reared 
in any religion other than the Catholic faith, that I 
will practice my religion faithfully and that I will 
do all that I can prudently do, especially by prayer, 
good example and the frequentation of the sacra-
ments to bring about the conversion of my consort." 

The non-Catholic party promises: "I will 
never interfere in any way with the Catholic faith 
and practice of the said Catholic party nor with the 
education of said children in said Catholic faith nor 
with the free exercise of the duties of the Catholic 
religion by said Catholic party to this contract and 
by said children, and I furthermore promise that I 
shall fulfil all the aforesaid promises concerning 
said children even though the Catholic party be tak-
en away by death or otherwise separated from this 
matrimonial union." 

Both parties agree or promise in writing that 
1) all the natural and adopted children in the mar-
riage and all children living in the household and 
subject to their authority shall be baptized, educat-
ed, and brought up solely in the Catholic religion; 
that 2) no recourse will be made to the civil courts 
for the annulment of these promises; and 3) the 



70 MODERN QUESTIONS 

promises shall be binding on the respective heirs, 
next of kin, administrators, executors, or future 
guardians and their successors; that 4) the marri-
age contracted will be indissoluble except by death 
and that no ceremony other than that by the priest 
will be performed. 

There must be a moral certainty on the part of 
the one who dispenses that these promises or guar-
antees will be kept. This is a requisite condition for 
the valid granting of a dispensation. 

If the one who dispenses (the bishop in normal 
circumstances, or a priest in case of danger of 
death), is not morally certain of the fulfilment of 
the promises, he may not dispense; if he does, the 
dispensation is both invalid and illicit. In the case 
of the impediment of mixed marriage—which is only 
a prohibitive impediment—the invalidity of the dis-
pensation would not affect the validity of the mar-
riage. But in the case of the impediment of dispar-
ity of cult, the invalidity of the dispensation would 
also render the marriage invalid, because disparity 
of cult is a diriment impediment. 

The Church permits the celebration of mixed 
marriages only for very serious reasons. The fol-
lowing are some of the canonical reasons for grant-
ing mixed marriage dispensations: a well-founded 
hope of the conversion of the non-Catholic party; to 
prevent the apostasy of the Catholic party if the 
dispensation were denied; danger of a civil marri-
age or a marriage before a non-Catholic minister; 
to validate a marriage attempted before a civil 
judge or a non-Catholic minister; to protect the 
reputation of a woman who is pregnant; to legiti-
matize children; to bring up in true religion children 
born of another mixed marriage; a probable hope 



MIXED MARRIAGES 71 

that a non-Catholic family will be brought into the 
Church by means of the mixed marriage; the prob-
ability of great advantage accruing to the Catholic 
Church from the mixed marriage, for example, a 
royal marriage. 

Catholics should strive by all means within 
their power to avoid and prevent mixed marriage. 
They should prize their faith above all earthly con-
nections and advantages; they should ask God 
through earnest prayer to direct their mind in the 
choice of a life's companion; they should establish 
clubs and societies which would give young Catholic 
people an opportunity to become acquainted with 
one another. 

Pauline Privilege 
If two pagans or two unbaptized persons marry 

and later on one is baptized and becomes a Catholic, 
and if the unbaptized party refuses to live with the 
Catholic party, the two may separate, and the Cath-
olic party is free to be married to a Catholic by a 
Catholic priest after proper investigation of all the 
facts is made and the bishop authorizes the marri-
age. This is known as the Pauline Privilege. (3). 
The Privilege holds only when both parties were un-
baptized at the time of marriage. It does not hold 
if the parties were doubtfully baptized, or if one 
party was doubtfully baptized, or if one party was 
baptized. Since many Protestant sects no longer 
baptize, the Pauline Privilege will be of frequent 
occurrence in the future. 

If two unbaptized parties marry and if later, 
they both become Catholics, the matrimonial con-
tract very likely becomes also a sacrament at the 
moment of baptism. 

(«) First Epistle to the Corinthians, VII, 12 sqq. 



72 MODERN QUESTIONS 

Additional Principles 
1) Mixed marriages are performed in the rec-

tory or in the sacristy. Bishops have faculties to 
permit the celebration of mixed marriage inside a 
church in a side-chapel or in front of the altar rail-
ing. The priest does not wear a surplice or a stole. 
All sacred rites are forbidden. If subsequently the 
non-Catholic party is converted, both parties may 
be admitted to the nuptial blessing. 

2) Any marriage may be contracted at any 
time of the year but without solemnity or nuptial 
blessing in Advent and Lent. If the bishop permits 
it, marriage may be celebrated, and the nuptial 
blessing may be given, even during the forbidden 
times, but the parties must avoid all pomp. 

Marriage in private houses may be permitted 
by the bishop only in an extraordinary case and only 
for very serious reasons. 

3) Where there was a real marriage, the 
Church never grants a divorce. When the Church 
"annuls" a marriage, she merely declares that there 
never existed a real marriage. The Church may, 
however, for very serious reasons permit the parties 
to separate. They may separate temporarily if one 
party, for example, is inflicting harm upon the body, 
soul, and good name of the other party. They may 
separate perpetually if one party has committed 
adultery, and it is not condoned by the other. With 
the bishop's permission, the innocent party may sue 
for a civil divorce. 

4) The prolonged absence of a married part-
ner is not sufficient reason for contracting a new 
marriage. The Church requires an authentic death 
notice or death certificate from the office of vital 



MIXED MARRIAGES 73 

statistics, or from the parish register, or from a 
hospital, or army, or insurance company, etc. 

5) Impotency is the inability to perform the 
marital act. If impotency existed before the mar-
riage, and if it is perpetual, that is, if it cannot be 
removed by medical treatment or by an operation, 
it makes the marriage invalid from the beginning. 

Mere sterility, since it permits the marriage 
act, does not invalidate the marriage. 

6) Occasionally a pastor will decline to per-
form a marriage of his own parishioners within his 
own parish. In that case he may give them author-
ization by letter to be married by another pastor 
(sometimes even in another state); or he may send 
them to the bishop who will give them authorization 
to be married by some other priest. A pastor who 
without authorization would marry strangers out-
side of his parish would not marry them either val-
idly or licitly. Nor can a pastor validly marry his 
own parishioners outside of his parish. These regu-
lations are based not so much on the nature of the 
marriage ceremony as upon the necessity of orderly 
procedure in the administration of the Church. 

Discuss ion A i d s 

X. What is the difference between the impediment 
of mixed marriage and disparity of cult? 

2. Are the following marriages valid or invalid? 
Why? 
a) The marriage of a Catholic and non-Cath-

olic, before 
a Protestant minister 
a Justice of the peace 
a Priest 



74 MODERN QUESTIONS 

b) The marriage of two Catholics before 
a Protestant minister 
a Justice of the peace 
a Priest 

c) The marriage of two Protestants or two 
pagans before 

a Protestant minister 
a Justice of the peace 
a Priest 

3. In which of these cases would a Catholic incur 
excommunication ? 

4. What about Catholics assisting at a Protestant 
wedding, and vice versa? 

5. What are the so-called "promises" ? What does 
each party agree to do? 

6. What are some of the reasons for permitting 
mixed marriages? Why is the Church opposed 
to these marriages? 

7. What is the Pauline Privilege? 
8. Where and how is a mixed marriage perform-

ed? 
9. Does the Church ever grant divorce? Does 

she permit separation? 
10. What is the difference between impotency and 

sterility? 

Religious Practices 

1. I will prize my faith above any earthly advan-r 
tage that might come to me through a mixed 
marriage. 

2. I will ask God daily to direct, me by His illum-
inating grace in the choice of my life's com-
panion. 



MIXED MARRIAGES 75 

In courtship, I will always follow the reasoned 
judgment of the mind and not be blinded by 
emotion and passion. 



C h a p t e r V I I 

THE FAMILY 
"On the sixth day of creation, having made 

man from the slime of the earth, and having 
breathed into his face the breath of life, God gave 
him a companion, whom He miraculously took from 
the side of Adam when he was locked in sleep. God, 
thus, in His most far-reaching foresight, decreed 
that this husband and wife should be the natural 
beginning of the human race, from whom it might 
be propagated and preserved by an unfailing fruit-
fulness throughout all futurity of time. And this 
union of man and woman, that it might answer more 
fittingly to the infinitely wise counsels of God, even 
from that beginning manifested chiefly two most 
excellent properties—deeply seated, as it were, and 
signed upon it—namely, unity and perpetuity. From 
the Gospel, we see clearly that this doctrine was de-
clared and openly confirmed by the divine authority 
of Jesus Christ. He bore witness to the Jews and to 
His apostles that marriage, from its institution, 
should exist between two only, that is, between one 
man and one woman; that of two they are made, so 
to say, one flesh; and that the marriage bond is by 
the will of God so closely and strongly made fast 
that no man may dissolve it or render it asunder" 
(i) 

Marriage is the enduring union of man and wo-
man for the purpose of procreating and educating 
children and of enjoying mutual comfort in this 

d) Leo XIII, "Arcanum divinae" in the "Great Encyclical 
Letters of Pope Leo XIII" (Benziger, 1903), p. 60. 



THE FAMILY 77 

common conjugal life. It was established by God in 
Paradise and ratified in many utterances of Our 
Lord. It is the foundation of the family and of the 
home. In ancient times, married life was under-
mined in a threefold manner: 

1) Attacks on the dignity of the woman: 
History clearly shows how deplorable was woman's 
Condition among the Babylonians and Phoenicians, 
among the ancient Gauls and Germans, and even 
among the more civilized peoples. Among most of 
these peoples, woman was considered as a mere ob-
ject or thing and not as a person—not as a being 
having her own responsibility and inalienable rights. 
It was man alone who had a personal destiny; 
woman had no destiny, was not considered as a hu-
man being save on account of and through man. It 
was man who existed; woman merely coexisted. 
Says Leo XIII in his Encyclical on marriage: "Noth-
ing could be more piteous than the wife, sunk so low 
as to be all but reckoned as a means for the gratifica-
tion of passion, or for the production of offspring. 
Without any feeling of shame, marriageable girls 
were bought and sold, just like so much merchand-
ise; and power was sometimes given to the father 
and to the husband to inflict capital punishment on 
the wife" (2>. 

2) Attacks on the dignity of the child: The 
child fared no better in ancient times than did wo-
man. It was considered as having no inalienable 
rights or personal destiny. Poets, philosophers, and 
historians unanimously testify to the cruel and in-
human treatment of the child in ancient times. The 
child was frequently sold, exposed, or even killed, 
in Babylon his head was dashed against the rock; 

(2) Ibid, p. 62. 



78 MODERN QUESTIONS 

in Palestine he was cast into a red hot furnace to be 
offered as a holocaust to the pagan god Moloch. 

3) Attacks on the marriage bond itself: The 
fall introduced a disorder into man's being. His 
lower faculties were no longer subject to the higher 
but tended inordinately to the possession of their 
own object. Man's intellect could no longer perceive 
the truth with that promptness and clearness as he 
did before. He gradually fell into idolatry and na-
ture worship. This darkening of the mind was fol-
lowed by a hardening of the heart. Man changed 
and corrupted the idea of marriage. The marriage 
bond was relaxed. The union of one man and one 
woman was followed by a plurality of husbands and 
wives. The way to divorce was open among both 
Gentiles and Jews (3). 

All these perverse tendencies had a destructive 
influence not only on the marriage bond, itself, but 
also on the primary purpose of marriage, namely, 
the procreation and education of children. In such 
circumstances, home and family life in the true 
sense of the word was quite impossible. By estab-
lishing the dignity of the woman and of the child 
and by restoring marriage to its primitive form, 
Christ laid firm and permanent the foundations of 
family and home life. 

1. Christ and Womanhood: Christ could 
have come upon earth as a full grown man like 
Adam, or He could have assumed the form of an 
angel. But no, He chose to be born of one who, 
though immaculately conceived, was a member of 
the hitherto despised sex. The Incarnation confer-
red a unique grandeur on woman, and placed an ob-
ligation of reverence towards womanhood upon all 

(3) Mtt. XIX, 8. 



THE FAMILY 79 

those who believe in a God-Man born of a Virgin. 
The sex which was so humiliated in Eve was ex-
alted beyond expression in her who is "blessed 
among women." 

The enemies of women were stunned by the In-
carnation. They seemed unable to shake off the 
stupor of their secular prejudices. Hence it was not 
long before the impious heretic, Nestorius, came 
forth and pretended that the God-Man did not take 
His flesh and blood from Mary, that He was not 
really her son, that He had no more relation to her 
than He has to the ciborium in which He rests as 
the Eucharistic Host. Woman faced once more her 
supreme peril. Was that very mystery, which was 
understood to raise woman to such sublime heights, 
only to emphasize her inferiority? It was then that 
the Catholic Church, the pillar and foundation of 
truth, came to her rescue. Gathering her bishops 
quickly at Ephesus, she proclaimed that Mary is 
verily the Mother of God. And as the bishops were 
leaving that memorable assembly, they were met by 
the rejoicing women of the city who prostrated 
themselves before the prelates and kissed their feet, 
and then with lighted candles and sweet-burning in-
cense, conducted the bishops to their dwellings. 
They knew that Mary's triumph was their triumph, 
and that by this momentous decision of the Church 
in Mary's favor, the grandeur and dignity of Chris-
tian woman was definitely assured. 

What the Church did at Ephesus, she has con-
tinued to do ever since. When the so-called Reform-
ers began to propound doctrines on original sin 
which were inimical to woman's dignity, when they 
affirmed, for example, that man is hopelessly cor-
rupt, that his free will is extinguished, that concu-



80 MODERN QUESTIONS 

piscence is irresistible, it was again the Church, as-
sembled at the Council of Trent, which by her ana-
themas confounded the blasphemies of heretics and 
saved woman from another major peril. And when 
Henry VIII of England wished to put away his law-
ful wife, Catherine of Aragon, in order to marry 
Anne Boleyn, the Pope was immovable. Rather ex-
pose himself to the fury of the irritated monarch, 
rather see Catholicism driven from England and the 
country become schismatic, than allow this attack 
on the dignity of woman and on the sanctity of the 
family and of the home. Indeed the passions of men 
have always been halted when they reached the 
chair of Peter ; they have been dispersed like waves 
when they struck the rock on which the Church is 
built. 

If the Incarnation safeguarded woman's dig-
nity, the Redemption consecrated her equality with 
man. The humiliating bondage to which she was 
subject met its deadly opponent in the spirit of lib-
erty and peace which Christ's Redemption brought 
into the world. Christ freed us from the true bond-
age which is the bondage of sin; and by shedding 
His precious Blood for us, made all equally children 
of God and brothers and sisters in His Blood. Hence-
forth "there is neither Jew nor Greek; there is 
neither bond nor free; there is neither male nor fe-
male. For you are all one in Christ Jesus" (4). 

Christianity showed from the very beginning a 
great respect for woman. Far from being despised 
or belittled, woman is addressed by such beautiful 
titles as "sister" and "beloved co-worker in the 
Lord." No longer was woman to be considered as a 
mere slave whom the man could use or put away 

«> Gal. n i , 88. 



THE FAMILY 81 

according to his pleasure, no longer was she to be 
regarded as a mere piece of property which could be 
sold or brutally destroyed. 

2) Christ and the Child: Christ knew that 
the dignity of the family would not be secure if He 
did not safeguard the rights of the child. For while 
the angels were proclaiming the praises of God on 
high and bidding the shepherds to seek the Divine 
Child, the air was still tense with the shrieks of 
Babylonian mothers whose children were being 
dashed against the stone, and of Palestinian mothers 
whose children were cast into a red hot furnace as 
holocausts to the pagan god Moloch. This prejudice 
was deeply rooted in paganism and continued to hold 
obstinate sway. The Apostles themselves were not 
wholly free from it, for on one occasion they tried to 
impede children from approaching Our Lord. It was 
then that Christ uttered those words which renewed 
the face of the earth and filled the hearts of parents 
with hope and joy: "Suffer the little children to 
come unto Me, and forbid them not. For of such is 
the kingdom of God" (B). These few words—so 
simple and yet so beautiful—proclaim the eternal 
truths that the child is made in the image and like-
ness of God, that he has an immortal soul capable of 
participating in sanctifying grace, and that he is de-
stined for the Beatific Vision. It is Christ Himself— 
full of grace and charm and made a "child" for us— 
Whom we receive when we receive children: "Who-
soever shall receive one such child as this in my 
name receiveth me" <6). Mothers, who instinctively 
felt the warmth of Christ's love for children, 
brought their children in full confidence to Him, 

(5) Mk. X, 14. 
1«) Mk. IX, 35. 



82 MODERN QUESTIONS 

graciously besought Him to touch them, to bless 
them, to lay His hands on them, and to pray for 
them. 

3) Christ and Marriage: The dignity of the 
child and of the mother is dependent on the stability 
and holiness of the married life. By restoring mar-
riage to its primitive unity and indissolubility, 
Christ laid a firm foundation for the family. Christ 
declared that the marriage bond cannot be dissolved 
by any human agency: "For this cause shall a man 
leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, 
and the two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now 
they are not two, but one flesh. What, therefore, God 
hath joined together, let no man put asunder" (7). 
Having set aside the difficulties adduced from the 
practice of the Jews in the time of Moses, Christ as 
supreme lawgiver declared: "I say to you, that 
whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for 
fornication, and shall marry another, committeth 
adultery; and he that shall marry her that is put 
away, committeth adultery" (8). In order that the 
two parties might not be left to their passions and 
weaknesses, in order that the married parties might 
accomplish faithfully their duties, Christ raised 
marriage to the dignity of a sacrament. Because 
marriage is a sacrament, it confers on the contract-
ing parties not only sanctifying grace but also other 
special graces, whereby their natural love will al-
ways be ennobled and elevated, the burden of their 
obligations lightened, and their daily trials and trib-
ulations changed into happiness and joy. 

This Christian ideal of marriage prevailed 
throughout the primitive and mediaeval ages of 

<7> Mtt. XIX, 5, 6. 
<8> Mtt. XIX, 9. 



THE FAMILY 83 

Christendom. During all this time, too, the family 
was an industrial union, and recreation and play 
centered largely in the home. But with the Protes-
tant Reformation and Industrial Revolution, a great 
change took place, and new forces destructive of 
family and home life began to make their appear-
ance. These influences prejudicial to the integrity 
of family life are the following: 

a) The principle of private judgment in re-
ligion led to man's adopting a moral code which was 
adapted to his weaknesses and self-indulgences, and 
which disregarded the sanctity, unity and indissolu-
bility of marriage. Personal pleasure prevails over 
religious doctrines and principles. 

b) Birth control, which is destructive of the 
primary purpose of marriage and which opens the 
way to selfishness and self-indulgence, is gradually 
dissolving the stability of the family and leading to 
the self-destruction of the human race. 

c) With the Industrial Revolution members 
of the family began to seek employment outside of 
the home—in mills, shops, and factories. The fam-
ily no longer formed a compact unit and parental in-
fluence can no longer be effectively exercised. 

d) The great shift of the population in recent 
times from rural sections to urban centers, has 
placed many a family in great instability and in-
security. 

e) Unemployment, poverty, and insufficient 
wages are a constant threat to the stability and nor-
mal expansion of family life. 

f ) The employment of children and mothers 
prevents the home from being the character-train-



84 MODERN QUESTIONS 

ing agency which it was providentially destined to 
be. The employment of unmarried women frequent-
ly results in their deferring unduly the natural ob-
ligations of the married state. The employment of 
married women frequently leads to a practice of 
birth control, to poor housekeeping, to a low stand-
ard of living, and to inadequate nurture of children. 

g) Crowded living conditions in the cities 
oblige the children to seek recreation in the streets, 
in theatres, in dance halls, etc. In this way, they are 
at once withdrawn from the salutary influence of 
the home and exposed to various demoralizing in-
fluences. 

h) The stability of the home depends upon the 
union of hearts and minds of the two spouses. But 
how can there be this union if the two parties differ 
on the most important question of life, namely re-
ligion? Mixed marriages are doing much to disin-
tegrate the family and home. 

i) Homes in the United States are being con-
stantly shattered, children are being deprived of 
home training at a time when they need it most, the 
very stability of the social order is being under-
mined by divorce. The readiness and frequency 
with which divorce is granted in our country is fast 
becoming a national scandal. "By divorce, condemn-
ed by Christ, the unity of the family is broken, yes, 
and that of human life; hearts are separated, affec-
tions misdirected; ruinous incentives to infidelity 
suggested; seeds of discord spread among families; 
the dignity of woman is diminished, and cheapened; 
the good moral education of children becomes impos-
sible, as they see the authors of their life first 
divided, then joined in other unions, legalized by 



THE FAMILY 85 

civil law, but which no moral principle can jus-
tify" l9>. 

(®) Archbishop Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, quoted in St. 
Paul "Catholic Bulletin," March 25, 1939, p. 4. The 
various forces undermining the family are discussed ex-
tensively and thoroughly in the excellent work of the 
Rev. Dr. Edgar Schmiedeler, entitled "An Introductory 
Study of the Family" (Century Company, New York, 
1930). 

Discuss ion A i d s 

1.' In what three ways was the married life under-
mined in ancient times? 

2. Show how Christ restored the dignity of 
a) womanhood 
b) of the child 
c) of marriage 

3. Explain how each one of the following factors 
is undermining the family. 

a) principle of private judgment in re-
ligion 

b) birth control 

c) the Industrial Revolution 
d) the drift of the rural population to the 

cities 

e) unemployment 

f ) female labor 

g) crowded living conditions in the city 
h) mixed marriages 

i) divorce 

Religious Practices 

1. I will always be very grateful to the Catholic 
Church which by her doctrines and her pre-



86 MODERN QUESTIONS 

cepts has safeguarded the dignity of the child 
and of women. 

2. I will not sponsor nor participate in any enter-
tainment which features a mock marriage. 

3. I will prepare myself for marriage by prayer, 
frequent meditation on the dignity of the fam-
ily, and by a frequent reception of the sacra» 
ments. 



C h a p t e r V I I I 

EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 
"Unjust and unlawful is any monopoly, educa-

tional or scholastic, which, physically or morally, 
forces families to make use of government schools, 
contrary to the dictates of their Christian consci-
ence, or contrary even to their legitimate prefer-
ences"(1). 

"There are three necessary societies distinct 
from one another and yet harmoniously combined 
by God, into which man is born: two, namely the 
family and civil society, belong to the natural order; 
the third, the Church, to the supernatural order.— 
Consequently, education which is concerned with 
man as a whole, individually and socially, in the 
order of nature and in the order of grace, necessar-
ily belongs to all these three societies, in due pro-
portion, corresponding according to the disposition 
of Divine Providence, to the coordination of their 
respective ends" 

The Family 

The duty and right to educate children belongs, 
in the first place, to parents. Many arguments can 
be adduced in support of this doctrine which in 
practice is being rejected by the Communists of 
Russia, the Nazis of Germany, and the revolution-
aries of Mexico. 

a) Diversity of sexes: The procreation and 
education of children is the primary purpose of 

Pius XI, Encycl. "The Christian Education of Youth" in 
"Four Great Encyclicals" (Paulist Press), p. 51. 

<2> Ibid. pp. 39-40. 



88 MODERN QUESTIONS 

marriage: "God created man to His own image, to 
the image of God He created him, male and female 
he created them. And God blessed them, saying: 
Increase and multiply"'8». In God's Providence the 
two sexes were created different, not only that they 
might complement one another but that their rela-
tions with one another might culminate in the birth 
of an offspring. Secondly, nature aims not at the 
mere momentary existence of the child but at his 
continued existence and development: "Nature," 
says St. Thomas, "intends not merely the generation 
of the offspring, but also its development and ad-
vance to the perfection of man considered as man, 
that is, to the state of virtue" (4). But all this im-
plies rearing and education—that is, training of the 
child in both body and mind. The erroneous opin-
ion prevails in some quarters that the care of the 
body is the duty of parents, while the development 
of the mind is the duty of the state. But this is a 
wholly erroneous idea. For fathers and mothers 
are parents of the whole child and must train him 
in both soul and body. 

b) The child is an extension and continuation 
of the parents: "A child is by nature of its father: 
thus, at first, it is not distinct from its parents as 
to the body, so long as it enfolded within its moth-
er's womb; and later on after birth, and before it 
has the use of its free will, it is enfolded in the care 
of its parents, which is like a spiritual womb"'5». 
The child is not only an image of his parents but 
flesh of their flesh, and, in a sense, identical with 
themselves. Hence the parents must naturally cher-

<3> Gen. I, 27-28. 
<4> "Summa Theologica" III, q. 41, Art I, quoted in Pius XI 

Encycl. "Christian Education of Youth," o.c., p. 46. 
<5> "Summa Theologica," II, II, q. X, Art. 12. 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 89 

ish, maintain, protect, and rear those whom they 
begot of their own substance and who are, as it 
were, an extension of themselves. This parental 
love lies deeply embedded in human nature. Even 
birds and animals instinctively protect their off-
spring, frequently at the risk of their own existence. 

c) Child's helplessness. While birds and ani-
mals can shift for themselves soon after birth, this 
is not true of the child. He is helpless for many 
years, and depends on others for aid. Hence the 
duty of caring for the child devolves upon the par-
ents. The birth of the child is the result of the 
free act of the parents who, consequently, must pro-
vide for him, maintain, protect and educate him. 
They must care for his existence and for the devel-
opment of both his body and mind. Both parents 
are bound to care for the child for it is as one joint 
principle that they gave existence to the child. 

d) The right of parents to educate their chil-
dren was recognized by the United States Supreme 
Court in connection with the Oregon School Case, 
June 1, 1925: "The fundamental theory of liberty 
upon which all governments in this Union repose 
excludes any general power of the State to standard-
ize its children by forcing them to accept instruc-
tion from public teachers only. The child is not the 
mere creature of the State; those who nurture him 
and direct his destiny have the right coupled with 
the high duty, to recognize, and prepare him for 
additional duties." 

e) The Catholic Church has always been the 
exponent and defender of the parent's right to edu-
cate their children. "So jealous," says Pius XI, "is 
she (the Church) of the family's inviolable natural 
right to educate the children, that she never con-



90 MODERN QUESTIONS 

sents, save under peculiar circumstances and with 
special cautions, to baptize the children of infidels, 
or provide for their education against the will of the 
parents, until such time as the children can choose 
for themselves and freely embrace the faith" (6>. 

f ) The right of the parents to educate their 
children is not "absolute and despotic" m . The par-
ents may not teach the child anything against the 
natural or divine law or against the truths revealed 
by God. In imparting to the child a religious and 
supernatural training, they must follow the plan 
which God's Incarnate Son established in this world 
for the salvation of mankind. 

The State 

The Russian Communists and the Nazis claim 
that the children belong to the state, and that the 
state, consequently, should train and educate them. 
This view is wholly erroneous and untenable. In the 
first place the family precedes the State both in nat-
ure and in time. Historically, the state arose out 
of a combination of families and tribes. Hence the 
family has rights and duties which it possessed be-
fore the state arose, which it did not receive from 
the state, and which it retains independently of the 
state. If the end of the family is the procreation 
and education of children, in the family, too, re-
sides the immediate right to rear and educate chil-
dren. 

If the parents hand over the child to be taught 
by another, the latter acts only as a deputy of the 
parents. He participates in the office and rights of 
the parents who alone are finally responsible to na-

<6> Encyel. on the "Christian Education of Youth," o.c., p. 48. 
'T> Ibid. p. 47. 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 91 

ture and to the Author of nature for the rearing of 
the children. 

Secondly, nature itself has designated the par-
ents as the proper educators of the child. Nature 
has not endowed the state with any qualities of a 
nurse or teacher. To the mother of the child—and 
not to the state—nature has given breasts, fountains 
of nourishing milk for her offspring. To the par-
ent—and not to the state—nature has given a tender 
love for their children in virtue of which they will-
ingly sacrifice their means and even themselves for 
the well-being of their child. Into their hearts na^ 
ture has infused an inborn solicitude and affection 
for the child, a great patience with his weaknesses, 
and an attitude of watchfulness over his growth and 
development. Parents instinctively penetrate the 
child's thoughts, desires and volitions, and guide 
him at every stage—the mother by her suavity, the 
father by his virility and firmness—until full man-
hood and womanhood has been reached. On the 
other hand, into the hearts of children God has in-
fused a special love, reverence and confidence and 
docility towards parents. In a word, both parents 
and children are supplied with instincts of affection 
—one for another—which neither the state nor any 
other relationship can satisfy or replace. 

Thirdly, the exponents of the state's absolute 
rights over education maintain that man is born a 
citizen of the state and that consequently he belongs 
primarily to the state. They forget, however, that 
before being a citizen man must exist, and that ex-
istence does not come from the state but from the 
parents, as Leo XIII writes: "The child belongs to 
the father, and is, as it were, the continuation of 
the father's personality; and, to speak with strict-



92 MODERN QUESTIONS 

ness, the child takes its place in civil authority not 
in its own right, but in its quality as a member of 
the family in which it is begotten"(8). 

What rights, then, does the state enjoy in re-
gard to education? Pius XI lays down the follow-
ing principles: 

a) Starting from the principle that the state 
exists for the individual, and not vice versa, the 
Pope declares that "it is the right, or to speak more 
correctly, it is the duty of the State to protect in 
its legislation, the prior rights of the family as re-
gards the Christian education of its offspring, and 
consequently also to respect the supernatural rights 
of the Church in this same realm of Christian edu-
cation"(9). The state should encourage and assist 
the activity of the Church and of the family and 
when necessary supplement their work. But the 
state may not wrest the child from the parents, or 
force on the children an educational system to which 
the parents would conscientiously object. The state, 
of course, is not obliged to consult parents on pure-
ly technical or scientific matters, or on questions 
dealing with examinations and the supervision of 
the school; after all, the state must see to it that 
the public funds are properly spent. 

b) The State has the right to "protect the 
rights of the child itself when the parents are found 
wanting either physically or morally in this respect, 
whether by default, incapacity, or misconduct"(10). 

c) The state "can exact, and take measures to 
secure that all its citizens have the necessary know-

<8> Encycl. "The Condition of Labor" in "Four Great ED 
cyclicals" (Paulist Press) p. 8. 

<9> Encycl. "Christian Education of Youth," o.c. p. 49. 
<10> Ibid. p. 49-50. 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 93 

ledge of their civic and political duties, and a certain 
degree of physical, intellectual and moral culture, 
which, considering the conditions of our times, is 
really necessary for the common good"(11). 

d) In a nation of different religious beliefs, 
the state should leave the families free to set up the 
school demanded by the dictates of conscience. It 
should give financial assistance—"as justice de-
mands"—from public funds to the schools demanded 
by the parents'12 ' . This aid should be extended to 
all groups of parents—regardless of religion, color, 
or origin—because before the state all needy par-
ents are equal. 

The Church 
The work of education belongs preeminently to 

the Church because of the following titles: 
a) The mission and authority to teach was 

entrusted to the Church by the Divine Founder Him-
self: "All power is given to Me in heaven and in 
earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations, bap-
tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe 
all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and 
behold I am with you all days, even to the consum-
mation of the world"<13). The Church's educational 
mission extends to "all nations" without exception. 
It embraces the faithful as well as those who are 
outside of the fold and who also are called to inherit 
Christ's kingdom. Hence we find the Church estab-
lishing schools not only at home but in missionary 
lands and in the most remote parts of the earth. 

b) In virtue of her supernatural motherhood 

<"> Ibid. p. 50. 
<12> Ibid. p. 64. 
<181 Mtt. XXVIII, 18-20. 



94 MODERN QUESTIONS 

the Church begets and trains souls "in the divine life 
of grace, with her Sacraments and her doctrine"(14). 

c) God as Creator and Conserver is intimately 
present in the whole universe. If God is insepar-
able from the universe as a whole, He is likewise in-
separable from its various parts and component ele-
ments which, for the sake of convenience, we study 
in the so-called secular branches. The secular 
branches, then, cannot be taught without some ref-
erence to God and to His law. In addition, natural 
truths cannot contradict supernatural and revealed 
truths—the two are, as it were, two rays from the 
same Sun. Now, it belongs to the Church, the in-
fallible custodian and interpreter of faith and mor-
als, to determine when a secular branch is properly 
orientated and when it contradicts divine truth. 
For the same reason these various secular courses 
can and should be taught under the direct super-
vision and sponsorship of the Church herself. 

"It is the inalienable right as well as the indis-
pensable duty of the Church," says Pius XI, "to 
watch over the entire education of her children, in 
all institutions, public or private, not merely in re-
gard to the religious instruction there given, but in 
regard to every other branch of learning and every 
regulation in so far as religion and morality are 
concerned"<16). Secondly, in order that the educa-
tion given in a Catholic institution fulfil the Papal 
ideal, "it is necessary that all the teaching and the 
whole organization of the school, and its teachers, 
syllabus and textbooks in every branch, be regulated 
by the Christian spirit, under the direction and 
maternal supervision of the Church; so that religion 
<14) Pius XI, Encycl. "The Christian Education of Youth," 

in o.c. p. 41. 
<16> Ibid. p. 43. 



EDUCATION OF CHILDREN 
97 

may be in very truth the foundation and crown of 
the youth's entire training; and this in every grade 
of school, not only the elementary but the intermedi-
ate and the higher institutions of learning as well" 
(16) 

<16> Ibid. pp. 63-64. 

Discuss ion A i d s 

1. State three reasons to show that the right to 
educate children belongs to parents. 

2. Give three arguments to show that this right 
does not belong to the state. 

3. What rights has the state in regard to educa-
tion? 

4. Give three arguments to show that the right to 
educate belongs preeminently to the Church. 

5. Has the Church the right to supervise all edu-
cation? Why? 

6. What is necessary in order that Catholic 
schools fulfil the Papal ideal? 

7. Suppose a law was proposed in the State legis-
lature for the suppression of parochial schools; 
suppose you were called upon to present the 
Church's position; how would you proceed? 

8. What precisely was the Oregon case? What 
was the question at issue? 

9. What is the difference between a Catholic 
school and a public school? 

10. May parents or schools teach the pupils birth 
control, euthanasia, divorce, free love, etc.? 



96 MODERN QUESTIONS 

Religious Practices 

1. "Thou shalt honor thy father and mother." 
2. I will strive to promote Catholic education, 

whenever the opportunity presents itself, and 
contribute to the support of Catholic schools. 

3. "What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole 
world (by means of his profane knowledge) 
and suffer the loss of his soul (by neglecting 
religious knowledge) ?"