Do soulmates exist?
I have found Him whom my soul loves (Song of Songs 3:4)
A soulmate is not a theological concept. It is certainly understandable why so many people want to do away with the notion that those called to marriage are predestined to a specific soul mate. After all, what if you marry someone who is not your soulmate and then end up meeting them five years after the wedding?
In reality, God didn't make you for anyone except Himself. Our ultimate relationship is with God, not with another human being, even our spouse. And yet, still, God is infinitely concerned with providing for our vocations.
There are many biblical examples, and examples from the lives of Saints, in which we see that some relationships are certainly ordained by God: Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel, Tobias and Sara, Boaz and Ruth, and most importantly Mary and Joseph.
In the book of Tobit, we read that the archangel Raphael declared to Tobias, regarding his future wife: "Do not be afraid, for she was destined for you from eternity. When Tobias heard these things, he fell in love with her and yearned deeply for her." (Tob 6:17)
We know that divine providence intervenes in our lives to an extent that we make room for it. Those who walk with God often marvel at how He seems to intervene in the most providential ways in the tiniest details of life. St. Francis de Sales routinely spoke of "divine appointments (he believed his friendship with St. Jane was certainly predestined)" and other occasions where we can see God's hand at work. Consider the meeting of Sts. Zélie and Louis Martin: In April 1858 they passed each other on a bridge over the Sarthe River. She noticed his dignified bearing and heard an interior voice say, "This is the one I have prepared for you".
God doesn't promise, nor does the Catholic Church promote, the idea that you'll find the person who makes you the happiest, but if you remain open to His will, you'll discover the person who will make you the holiest.Your soul will be sanctified through this mate, and in this sense, that will be your soulmate. There is a person who, according to God's holy will, would fit that role best. If your vocation is marriage, God wants you to be with a certain person more than the other; in fact, he knows exactly who would sanctify you. You may end up not being with that person, which does not mean you will not become a saint; but it will certainly be harder.
It is important to pray for guidance and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the ability and strength to recognise and follow God's will in everything.
"By matrimony, therefore, the souls of the contracting parties are joined and knit together more directly and more intimately than are their bodies, and that not by any passing affection of sense of spirit, but by a deliberate and firm act of the will; and from this union of souls by God's decree, a sacred and inviolable bond arises". ( Pope Pius XI, Casti Connubii)
credits to @laelizabeta
#vocation #marriage #friendship
I have found Him whom my soul loves (Song of Songs 3:4)
A soulmate is not a theological concept. It is certainly understandable why so many people want to do away with the notion that those called to marriage are predestined to a specific soul mate. After all, what if you marry someone who is not your soulmate and then end up meeting them five years after the wedding?
In reality, God didn't make you for anyone except Himself. Our ultimate relationship is with God, not with another human being, even our spouse. And yet, still, God is infinitely concerned with providing for our vocations.
There are many biblical examples, and examples from the lives of Saints, in which we see that some relationships are certainly ordained by God: Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel, Tobias and Sara, Boaz and Ruth, and most importantly Mary and Joseph.
In the book of Tobit, we read that the archangel Raphael declared to Tobias, regarding his future wife: "Do not be afraid, for she was destined for you from eternity. When Tobias heard these things, he fell in love with her and yearned deeply for her." (Tob 6:17)
We know that divine providence intervenes in our lives to an extent that we make room for it. Those who walk with God often marvel at how He seems to intervene in the most providential ways in the tiniest details of life. St. Francis de Sales routinely spoke of "divine appointments (he believed his friendship with St. Jane was certainly predestined)" and other occasions where we can see God's hand at work. Consider the meeting of Sts. Zélie and Louis Martin: In April 1858 they passed each other on a bridge over the Sarthe River. She noticed his dignified bearing and heard an interior voice say, "This is the one I have prepared for you".
God doesn't promise, nor does the Catholic Church promote, the idea that you'll find the person who makes you the happiest, but if you remain open to His will, you'll discover the person who will make you the holiest.Your soul will be sanctified through this mate, and in this sense, that will be your soulmate. There is a person who, according to God's holy will, would fit that role best. If your vocation is marriage, God wants you to be with a certain person more than the other; in fact, he knows exactly who would sanctify you. You may end up not being with that person, which does not mean you will not become a saint; but it will certainly be harder.
It is important to pray for guidance and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and the ability and strength to recognise and follow God's will in everything.
"By matrimony, therefore, the souls of the contracting parties are joined and knit together more directly and more intimately than are their bodies, and that not by any passing affection of sense of spirit, but by a deliberate and firm act of the will; and from this union of souls by God's decree, a sacred and inviolable bond arises". ( Pope Pius XI, Casti Connubii)
credits to @laelizabeta
#vocation #marriage #friendship
Some words Fr. Dolindo Rutuolo addressed particularly to priests and their mission
Everything changes and discards its former dress. Trees grow green in the spring, birds change their feathers, even snakes change their skins and take up a new one. So why does not the soul discard the dress of its miseries and weaknesses of character and habits? Even the world has a fashion which changes with the seasons and with the patterns. Does not the soul have a heavenly fashion and a pattern
worthy of its admiration in me and Mary? In the circumstances of your life and of your apostolate, change and dress yourself in me, dress yourself in Holy Mary your loving mother.
You are a lighted lamp on my candelabrum, in my Church, as a Priest, a lamp for the position you hold in your Community.
You must shine, so that others may draw light from your flame. A living book open to the people and to your dependants, so that they may be able to read, in your examples and words, the way they must follow to come to me.
Every one of your faults is like a draught that decreases the flame and turns the page to the void. Your dignity does not dwell in the cloth and in your ring, it dwells in your habit of holiness, and in your most intimate tie to me.
I want you to be holy
You have a great mission in your teaching, a great duty to perform: to orient the minds of the young people who are entrusted to you in the supernatural way through the natural way.
When you say the divine Office, be careful to do so with passionate attention, so that the harmony of your praise of God will blend with that of heaven and earth, praising and singing the glory of God.
If you do not pay attention during a scientific calculation, you go astray and spoil an experiment. If you do not pay attention during prayer and perform it poorly, even though it was inspired by the Holy
Ghost, you go astray in the noblest calculation of your life.
Have faith, great faith, and think that the light of faith is the greatest science of your life.
#vocation #religious
Everything changes and discards its former dress. Trees grow green in the spring, birds change their feathers, even snakes change their skins and take up a new one. So why does not the soul discard the dress of its miseries and weaknesses of character and habits? Even the world has a fashion which changes with the seasons and with the patterns. Does not the soul have a heavenly fashion and a pattern
worthy of its admiration in me and Mary? In the circumstances of your life and of your apostolate, change and dress yourself in me, dress yourself in Holy Mary your loving mother.
You are a lighted lamp on my candelabrum, in my Church, as a Priest, a lamp for the position you hold in your Community.
You must shine, so that others may draw light from your flame. A living book open to the people and to your dependants, so that they may be able to read, in your examples and words, the way they must follow to come to me.
Every one of your faults is like a draught that decreases the flame and turns the page to the void. Your dignity does not dwell in the cloth and in your ring, it dwells in your habit of holiness, and in your most intimate tie to me.
I want you to be holy
You have a great mission in your teaching, a great duty to perform: to orient the minds of the young people who are entrusted to you in the supernatural way through the natural way.
When you say the divine Office, be careful to do so with passionate attention, so that the harmony of your praise of God will blend with that of heaven and earth, praising and singing the glory of God.
If you do not pay attention during a scientific calculation, you go astray and spoil an experiment. If you do not pay attention during prayer and perform it poorly, even though it was inspired by the Holy
Ghost, you go astray in the noblest calculation of your life.
Have faith, great faith, and think that the light of faith is the greatest science of your life.
#vocation #religious
"Matrimony is Calvary."
Padre Pio's counsel to his very first spiritual daughter, Giovanna Rizzani.
Padre Pio said this to Giovanna because she was trying to figure out if she was called to religious life or marriage, and another priest had previously instructed her to enter a convent, which perplexed Giovanna, and so she sought out her father-in-spirit Pio who told her it was not God's will for her to become a nun: "My daughter, Christ does not want you on Mount Tabor, but on Calvary. Religious life is Tabor. Matrimony is Calvary." Pio shone more light on this gem of insight, "On Tabor one seeks, one finds, and one lives united with God in prayer and in contemplation. On Calvary one finds suffering in crucifixion with Jesus." When Giovanna knew she was destined to find a husband and be, "in crucifixion with Jesus," she was filled with great happiness. Her spiritual father, Pio, the stigmatist who bore the bloody wounds of Christ advised his daughter to enter the state of life that is to be "in crucifixion."
The text of this remarkable conversation is from the depositions and sworn testimony that Giovanna gave concerning her extraordinary relationship with Padre Pio. Pio called Giovanna "the first born of my heart," as she was entrusted to him on the very day she was born, January 18, 1905. At the time Pio was only 17 and had only been in the seminary two full years, when one bleak winter's night he was taken by bilocation to tippy-top of Italy, Udine, where he met Our Lady outside a grand mansion, who told him that his first spiritual daughter was being born that very night. Our Lady instructed Pio: "I entrust this creature to you, she is a precious stone still in a rough state: work on her, polish her, render her as brilliant as possible, because one day I wish to adorn myself with her."
As an aside, Giovanna's father had been a die-hard Mason who scorned the Faith, and died the day Giovanna was born. In his dying moments, he repented, and is verily the first Mason that Pio had a hand in converting.
#padrepio #vocation #marriage
Padre Pio's counsel to his very first spiritual daughter, Giovanna Rizzani.
Padre Pio said this to Giovanna because she was trying to figure out if she was called to religious life or marriage, and another priest had previously instructed her to enter a convent, which perplexed Giovanna, and so she sought out her father-in-spirit Pio who told her it was not God's will for her to become a nun: "My daughter, Christ does not want you on Mount Tabor, but on Calvary. Religious life is Tabor. Matrimony is Calvary." Pio shone more light on this gem of insight, "On Tabor one seeks, one finds, and one lives united with God in prayer and in contemplation. On Calvary one finds suffering in crucifixion with Jesus." When Giovanna knew she was destined to find a husband and be, "in crucifixion with Jesus," she was filled with great happiness. Her spiritual father, Pio, the stigmatist who bore the bloody wounds of Christ advised his daughter to enter the state of life that is to be "in crucifixion."
The text of this remarkable conversation is from the depositions and sworn testimony that Giovanna gave concerning her extraordinary relationship with Padre Pio. Pio called Giovanna "the first born of my heart," as she was entrusted to him on the very day she was born, January 18, 1905. At the time Pio was only 17 and had only been in the seminary two full years, when one bleak winter's night he was taken by bilocation to tippy-top of Italy, Udine, where he met Our Lady outside a grand mansion, who told him that his first spiritual daughter was being born that very night. Our Lady instructed Pio: "I entrust this creature to you, she is a precious stone still in a rough state: work on her, polish her, render her as brilliant as possible, because one day I wish to adorn myself with her."
As an aside, Giovanna's father had been a die-hard Mason who scorned the Faith, and died the day Giovanna was born. In his dying moments, he repented, and is verily the first Mason that Pio had a hand in converting.
#padrepio #vocation #marriage
Prayers for discerning vocation/ state in life
O Lord, I beseech Thee to grant me Thy divine light, that I may know the designs of Thy providence concerning me, and that, filled with a sincere desire for my soul’s salvation, I may say, with the young man in the Gospel: What must I do to be saved? All states of life are before me; but still undecided what to do, I await Thy commands. I offer myself to Thee with restriction, without reserve, with a most perfect submission.
Far be it from me O Lord, to oppose the order of Thy wisdom, and, unfaithful to the inspiration of Thy grace, to strive to subject the will of the Creator to the caprice of the creature. It is not for the servant to choose the way in which he will serve his master: do Thou lay upon me what commands Thou pleasest. My lot is in Thy hands. I make no exception, lest perchance what I except be that which Thou willest, and because I am too short-sighted to discover in the future the different obstacles I shall meet with, if without Thy guidance, I make myself the arbiter of my own conduct. Speak, Lord, to my soul; speak to me as Thou didst to the youthful Samuel: Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth. I cast myself at Thy feet, and I am ready, if it be Thy will, to sacrifice myself as a victim to Thee for the remainder of my days, in such ways as Thou shall deem most worthy of Thy greatness.
This second prayer pleads more directly for discernment:
God of wisdom and of counsel, You see in my heart a sincere desire to please You alone and to conform myself entirely to Your holy Will in the choice of my state in life. Grant me, I humbly implore You, by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, my Mother and my holy Patrons, the grace to know what state in life I should choose and to embrace it when known, in order that thus I may seek Your glory and increase it, work out my own salvation, and deserve the heavenly reward which You have promised to those who do Your holy Will. Amen.
Finally, a prayer written by Cardinal Newman, who suffered some of the trials by fire listed in the prayer below in the 19th Century when he converted from Anglicanism, a move that hurt his relationships with friends and colleagues.
An influential figure in Catholicism, whose writings have inspired the faithful for generations.
God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am. I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.
This prayer reminds us of a fundamentally important truth in our faith: namely, that however cloudy or foggy our horizons may be, particularly in these troubling times.
And while we may feel lost and anxious about our place in this world, remember that not one of us is useless to our Lord.
We have to trust that God will help us to discern and fulfill His mission for each of us if we ask Him for His guidance with humility and sincerity. We may feel perplexed or anxious as to what our state in life should be. Yet we need not despair. God desires each of us to do His will in a particular way, which may or may not seem important to others. Furthermore, as St. Paul put it, as members of Christ’s mystical body we all have God-given abilities, “different gifts, according to the grace that is given us” (Rom 12:6).
#prayer #vocation
O Lord, I beseech Thee to grant me Thy divine light, that I may know the designs of Thy providence concerning me, and that, filled with a sincere desire for my soul’s salvation, I may say, with the young man in the Gospel: What must I do to be saved? All states of life are before me; but still undecided what to do, I await Thy commands. I offer myself to Thee with restriction, without reserve, with a most perfect submission.
Far be it from me O Lord, to oppose the order of Thy wisdom, and, unfaithful to the inspiration of Thy grace, to strive to subject the will of the Creator to the caprice of the creature. It is not for the servant to choose the way in which he will serve his master: do Thou lay upon me what commands Thou pleasest. My lot is in Thy hands. I make no exception, lest perchance what I except be that which Thou willest, and because I am too short-sighted to discover in the future the different obstacles I shall meet with, if without Thy guidance, I make myself the arbiter of my own conduct. Speak, Lord, to my soul; speak to me as Thou didst to the youthful Samuel: Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth. I cast myself at Thy feet, and I am ready, if it be Thy will, to sacrifice myself as a victim to Thee for the remainder of my days, in such ways as Thou shall deem most worthy of Thy greatness.
This second prayer pleads more directly for discernment:
God of wisdom and of counsel, You see in my heart a sincere desire to please You alone and to conform myself entirely to Your holy Will in the choice of my state in life. Grant me, I humbly implore You, by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, my Mother and my holy Patrons, the grace to know what state in life I should choose and to embrace it when known, in order that thus I may seek Your glory and increase it, work out my own salvation, and deserve the heavenly reward which You have promised to those who do Your holy Will. Amen.
Finally, a prayer written by Cardinal Newman, who suffered some of the trials by fire listed in the prayer below in the 19th Century when he converted from Anglicanism, a move that hurt his relationships with friends and colleagues.
An influential figure in Catholicism, whose writings have inspired the faithful for generations.
God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am. I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.
This prayer reminds us of a fundamentally important truth in our faith: namely, that however cloudy or foggy our horizons may be, particularly in these troubling times.
And while we may feel lost and anxious about our place in this world, remember that not one of us is useless to our Lord.
We have to trust that God will help us to discern and fulfill His mission for each of us if we ask Him for His guidance with humility and sincerity. We may feel perplexed or anxious as to what our state in life should be. Yet we need not despair. God desires each of us to do His will in a particular way, which may or may not seem important to others. Furthermore, as St. Paul put it, as members of Christ’s mystical body we all have God-given abilities, “different gifts, according to the grace that is given us” (Rom 12:6).
#prayer #vocation
Married Saints – Why so few?
Why are there so few married saints? And especially, why are there so few who were canonized precisely as married persons? Most married persons who have been canonized have not been canonized precisely as married persons, but as martyrs, or as religious or widows in the case of those who devoted themselves to the religious state or the state of widowhood after their spouse's death (or in some cases, by the mutual agreement of the spouses). And to my knowledge, in the modern formal process of canonization there have been no married couples canonized as such, though two couples have been beatified together, and may in the future be canonized: Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi and Maria Corsini, and Louis Martin and Marie Celine Guerin (the parents of St. Therese).
The different explanations made for this fact can be grouped into three categories:
(1) There simply aren't many married saints, because of the practical concerns of married life that make it hard to focus entirely on God and his will.
(2) While there are plenty of married persons who are truly saintly, the exemplar of holiness can be seen more evidently in martyrs or religious than in married persons, and therefore it is mostly these who are canonized.
(3) Married saints are not so frequently recognized for what they are.
But is the scarcity of canonized married persons due principally to the fact that marriage isn't as suitable a means as religious life for attaining holiness, or is it also due to the fact that marriage wasn't properly appreciated as a means for attaining holiness? Because the married state was not seen as a particularly helpful state for growing in divine love and holiness, those who intended to devote themselves most earnestly to this spiritual growth tended to refrain from marriage if possible, with the consequence that there were relatively few exemplary holy persons in marriage.
St. Augustine points out: "[There are some marriages in which the spouses are not divided in heart, but completely devoted to God.] But they are very rare: who denies this? And being rare, nearly all the persons who are such, were not joined together in order to be such, but being already joined together became such (On the Good of Marriage, n. 14). That is, where there are few examples of holy marriages, people will more rarely enter marriage seeking or expecting to become holy through marriage."
The article:
https://www.pathsoflove.com/blog/2009/07/married-saints-why-so-few/
#marriage #vocation
Why are there so few married saints? And especially, why are there so few who were canonized precisely as married persons? Most married persons who have been canonized have not been canonized precisely as married persons, but as martyrs, or as religious or widows in the case of those who devoted themselves to the religious state or the state of widowhood after their spouse's death (or in some cases, by the mutual agreement of the spouses). And to my knowledge, in the modern formal process of canonization there have been no married couples canonized as such, though two couples have been beatified together, and may in the future be canonized: Luigi Beltrame Quattrocchi and Maria Corsini, and Louis Martin and Marie Celine Guerin (the parents of St. Therese).
The different explanations made for this fact can be grouped into three categories:
(1) There simply aren't many married saints, because of the practical concerns of married life that make it hard to focus entirely on God and his will.
(2) While there are plenty of married persons who are truly saintly, the exemplar of holiness can be seen more evidently in martyrs or religious than in married persons, and therefore it is mostly these who are canonized.
(3) Married saints are not so frequently recognized for what they are.
But is the scarcity of canonized married persons due principally to the fact that marriage isn't as suitable a means as religious life for attaining holiness, or is it also due to the fact that marriage wasn't properly appreciated as a means for attaining holiness? Because the married state was not seen as a particularly helpful state for growing in divine love and holiness, those who intended to devote themselves most earnestly to this spiritual growth tended to refrain from marriage if possible, with the consequence that there were relatively few exemplary holy persons in marriage.
St. Augustine points out: "[There are some marriages in which the spouses are not divided in heart, but completely devoted to God.] But they are very rare: who denies this? And being rare, nearly all the persons who are such, were not joined together in order to be such, but being already joined together became such (On the Good of Marriage, n. 14). That is, where there are few examples of holy marriages, people will more rarely enter marriage seeking or expecting to become holy through marriage."
The article:
https://www.pathsoflove.com/blog/2009/07/married-saints-why-so-few/
#marriage #vocation
Is Marriage for the Weak?
The Vocation of Marriage
Is marriage only for the weak? Are only those called to marriage who don't have a strong enough will to give themselves totally to Christ and his Church in virginity or celibacy? It could certainly seem so from St. Paul: "If his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry — it is no sin…. he who refrains from marriage will do better" (1 Cor 7:37-38).
Following a classic procedure, I will first give arguments in favor of this position, then my response to the question.
The saints on marriage and celibacy
In the first place, it seems that the authority of the saints indicates that marriage is only for those who are too weak to persevere in continence for the kingdom of heaven, while virginity or celibacy is for all those who have the strength of will to take it.
Marriage is attributed to weakness
Those of us who have wives we advise, with all our power, that they dare not judge of those holy fathers after their own weakness (St. Augustine, On the Good of Marriage, n. 34)
Has the apostle, think you, both shown sufficiently to the strong what is highest, and permitted to the weaker what is next best? Not to touch a woman he shows is highest when he says, "I would that all men were even as I myself." But next to this highest is conjugal chastity, that man may not be the prey of fornication. (St. Augustine, On the Morals of the Catholic Church, ch. 35)
In order to avoid an unbalanced impression of St. John's Chrysostom view of marriage, I also quote another text of his describing a holy marriage:
Some wise man in the list of blessings sets many things, and also sets this in the list of blessing: "And a wife," he says, "in harmony with her husband." And again elsewhere he puts this among the blessings, "the wife being in agreement with her husband." And from the beginning God appears to have made providence for this union, and has spoken of the two as one… There is no relationship between men as great as that of a wife to her husband, if they are coupled as they ought to be… Indeed the household is a little Church. Thus by becoming good husbands and wives, it is possible to surpass all others. (St. John Chrysostom, Homily 20 on Ephesians, PG 62, 135 & 143)Furnish your house neatly and soberly… Remove from your lives shameful, immodest, and Satanic music, and don't associate with people who enjoy such profligate entertainment… Pray together at home and go to Church… Remind one another that nothing in life is to be feared, except offending God. If your marriage is like this, your perfection will rival the holiest of monks. (Ibid.)
Virginity or celibacy is for those of strong will
Many texts of the Fathers and saints also seem to show that virginity or celibacy is for those who have the strength of will to take it, which seems to imply, conversely, that marriage is for those who are weak-willed.
Virginity is something supernaturally great, wonderful, and glorious… Chastity with men is a very rare thing, and difficult of attainment, and in proportion to its supreme excellence and magnificence is thre greatness of its dangers.
For this reason, it requires strong and generous natures, such as, vaulting over the stream of pleasure, direct the chariot of the soul upwards from the earth, not turning aside from their aim, until having, by swiftness of thought, lightly bounded above the world, and taken their stand truly upon the vault of heaven, they purely contemplate immortality itself as it springs forth from the undefiled bosom of the Almighty. (Methodius, The Banquet of the Ten Virgins, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, discourse 1, p. 310)
The article:
http://www.pathsoflove.com/blog/2009/02/is-marriage-for-the-weak/
#marriage #vocation #chastity
The Vocation of Marriage
Is marriage only for the weak? Are only those called to marriage who don't have a strong enough will to give themselves totally to Christ and his Church in virginity or celibacy? It could certainly seem so from St. Paul: "If his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry — it is no sin…. he who refrains from marriage will do better" (1 Cor 7:37-38).
Following a classic procedure, I will first give arguments in favor of this position, then my response to the question.
The saints on marriage and celibacy
In the first place, it seems that the authority of the saints indicates that marriage is only for those who are too weak to persevere in continence for the kingdom of heaven, while virginity or celibacy is for all those who have the strength of will to take it.
Marriage is attributed to weakness
Those of us who have wives we advise, with all our power, that they dare not judge of those holy fathers after their own weakness (St. Augustine, On the Good of Marriage, n. 34)
Has the apostle, think you, both shown sufficiently to the strong what is highest, and permitted to the weaker what is next best? Not to touch a woman he shows is highest when he says, "I would that all men were even as I myself." But next to this highest is conjugal chastity, that man may not be the prey of fornication. (St. Augustine, On the Morals of the Catholic Church, ch. 35)
In order to avoid an unbalanced impression of St. John's Chrysostom view of marriage, I also quote another text of his describing a holy marriage:
Some wise man in the list of blessings sets many things, and also sets this in the list of blessing: "And a wife," he says, "in harmony with her husband." And again elsewhere he puts this among the blessings, "the wife being in agreement with her husband." And from the beginning God appears to have made providence for this union, and has spoken of the two as one… There is no relationship between men as great as that of a wife to her husband, if they are coupled as they ought to be… Indeed the household is a little Church. Thus by becoming good husbands and wives, it is possible to surpass all others. (St. John Chrysostom, Homily 20 on Ephesians, PG 62, 135 & 143)Furnish your house neatly and soberly… Remove from your lives shameful, immodest, and Satanic music, and don't associate with people who enjoy such profligate entertainment… Pray together at home and go to Church… Remind one another that nothing in life is to be feared, except offending God. If your marriage is like this, your perfection will rival the holiest of monks. (Ibid.)
Virginity or celibacy is for those of strong will
Many texts of the Fathers and saints also seem to show that virginity or celibacy is for those who have the strength of will to take it, which seems to imply, conversely, that marriage is for those who are weak-willed.
Virginity is something supernaturally great, wonderful, and glorious… Chastity with men is a very rare thing, and difficult of attainment, and in proportion to its supreme excellence and magnificence is thre greatness of its dangers.
For this reason, it requires strong and generous natures, such as, vaulting over the stream of pleasure, direct the chariot of the soul upwards from the earth, not turning aside from their aim, until having, by swiftness of thought, lightly bounded above the world, and taken their stand truly upon the vault of heaven, they purely contemplate immortality itself as it springs forth from the undefiled bosom of the Almighty. (Methodius, The Banquet of the Ten Virgins, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, discourse 1, p. 310)
The article:
http://www.pathsoflove.com/blog/2009/02/is-marriage-for-the-weak/
#marriage #vocation #chastity
The Vocation of Love
"Love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being" (Familiaris Consortio, n. 11; also cited in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1604). The vocation to a particular way of life is a determination of this common vocation to love. "The word 'vocation' indicates that there exists for every person a proper direction of his development through commitment of his entire life in the service of certain values… And therefore a vocation always means some principal direction of love that a particular person has" (Karol Wojtyla, Love and Responsibility).
Young people, entering into themselves and at the same time entering into conversation with Christ in prayer, desire as it were to read the eternal thought which God the Creator and Father has in their regard. They then become convinced that the task assigned to them by God is left completely to their own freedom, and at the same time is determined by various circumstances of an interior and exterior nature. Examining these circumstances, the young person, boy or girl, constructs his or her plan of life and at the same time recognizes this plan as the vocation to which God is calling him or her. (Dilecti Amici, n. 9)
According to the consistent teaching and practice of the Church, virginity realized as a deliberately chosen life-vocation, based on a vow of chastity, and in combination with the two other vows of poverty and obedience, creates particularly favorable conditions for attaining evangelical perfection. The combination of conditions that results from applying the evangelical counsels in the lives of particular men, and especially in communal life, is called the state of perfection. The "state of perfection," however, is not the same as perfection itself, which is realized by every man through striving in the manner proper to his vocation to fulfill the commandment to love God and one’s neighbor. It may happen that a man who is outside the "state of perfection," is, by observing this greatest commandment, effectively more perfect than someone who chose that state. In the light of the Gospel, every man solves the problem of his vocation in practice above all by adopting a conscious personal attitude towards the supreme demand contained in the commandment of love. This attitude is above all a function of a person, the state (marriage, celibacy, even virginity understood only as the "state" or an element of the state) plays in it a secondary role. (Love and Responsibility).
Pope John Paul II
#vocation #love
"Love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being" (Familiaris Consortio, n. 11; also cited in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1604). The vocation to a particular way of life is a determination of this common vocation to love. "The word 'vocation' indicates that there exists for every person a proper direction of his development through commitment of his entire life in the service of certain values… And therefore a vocation always means some principal direction of love that a particular person has" (Karol Wojtyla, Love and Responsibility).
Young people, entering into themselves and at the same time entering into conversation with Christ in prayer, desire as it were to read the eternal thought which God the Creator and Father has in their regard. They then become convinced that the task assigned to them by God is left completely to their own freedom, and at the same time is determined by various circumstances of an interior and exterior nature. Examining these circumstances, the young person, boy or girl, constructs his or her plan of life and at the same time recognizes this plan as the vocation to which God is calling him or her. (Dilecti Amici, n. 9)
According to the consistent teaching and practice of the Church, virginity realized as a deliberately chosen life-vocation, based on a vow of chastity, and in combination with the two other vows of poverty and obedience, creates particularly favorable conditions for attaining evangelical perfection. The combination of conditions that results from applying the evangelical counsels in the lives of particular men, and especially in communal life, is called the state of perfection. The "state of perfection," however, is not the same as perfection itself, which is realized by every man through striving in the manner proper to his vocation to fulfill the commandment to love God and one’s neighbor. It may happen that a man who is outside the "state of perfection," is, by observing this greatest commandment, effectively more perfect than someone who chose that state. In the light of the Gospel, every man solves the problem of his vocation in practice above all by adopting a conscious personal attitude towards the supreme demand contained in the commandment of love. This attitude is above all a function of a person, the state (marriage, celibacy, even virginity understood only as the "state" or an element of the state) plays in it a secondary role. (Love and Responsibility).
Pope John Paul II
#vocation #love
A Vincentian Father - Vocations Explained.pdf
156.1 KB
A Vincentian Father
Vocations Explained
We are obliged to follow the vocation which God gives us. If we should wilfully neglect to follow our vocation we would be in danger of losing our souls because God attaches to our vocation special graces to help us to resist temptations and to discharge our duties properly. Hence, if we neglect God's call, we lose also His special graces; we then easily fall into temptation, and thus we are more liable to lose our souls. St. Alphonsus Liguori says: "In the choice of a state of life, if we wish to secure our eternal salvation, we must embrace that state to which God calls us, in which only God prepares for us the efficacious means necessary to salvation." St. Cyprian says: "The grace of the Holy Ghost is given according to the order of God, and not according to our own will."
St. Vincent de Paul says: "It is very difficult, not to say impossible, to save one's self in a state of life in which God does not wish one to be."
#vocation
Vocations Explained
We are obliged to follow the vocation which God gives us. If we should wilfully neglect to follow our vocation we would be in danger of losing our souls because God attaches to our vocation special graces to help us to resist temptations and to discharge our duties properly. Hence, if we neglect God's call, we lose also His special graces; we then easily fall into temptation, and thus we are more liable to lose our souls. St. Alphonsus Liguori says: "In the choice of a state of life, if we wish to secure our eternal salvation, we must embrace that state to which God calls us, in which only God prepares for us the efficacious means necessary to salvation." St. Cyprian says: "The grace of the Holy Ghost is given according to the order of God, and not according to our own will."
St. Vincent de Paul says: "It is very difficult, not to say impossible, to save one's self in a state of life in which God does not wish one to be."
#vocation
A Vincentian Father - Vocations Explained (1).pdf
156.1 KB
A Vincentian Father - Vocations Explained
If we should wilfully neglect to follow our vocation we would be in danger of losing our souls, because God attaches to our vocation special graces to help us to resist temptations and to discharge our duties properly. Hence, if we neglect God's call, we lose also His special graces; we then easily fall into temptation, and thus we are more liable to lose our souls. St. Alphonsus Liguori says: "In the choice of a state of life, if we wish to secure our eternal salvation, we must embrace that state to which God calls us, in which only God prepares for us the efficacious means necessary to salvation." St. Cyprian says: "The grace of the Holy Ghost is given according to the order of God, and not according to our own will."St. Vincent de Paul says: "It is very difficult, not to say impossible, to save one's self in a state of life in which God does not wish one to be.
#vocation
If we should wilfully neglect to follow our vocation we would be in danger of losing our souls, because God attaches to our vocation special graces to help us to resist temptations and to discharge our duties properly. Hence, if we neglect God's call, we lose also His special graces; we then easily fall into temptation, and thus we are more liable to lose our souls. St. Alphonsus Liguori says: "In the choice of a state of life, if we wish to secure our eternal salvation, we must embrace that state to which God calls us, in which only God prepares for us the efficacious means necessary to salvation." St. Cyprian says: "The grace of the Holy Ghost is given according to the order of God, and not according to our own will."St. Vincent de Paul says: "It is very difficult, not to say impossible, to save one's self in a state of life in which God does not wish one to be.
#vocation
A Catholic girl's guide to vocations
A series of posts dedicated to all who need some guidance in the matter of one's own vocation.
https://www.instagram.com/fleurofcarmel/guide/a-catholic-girls-guide-to-vocations/17928566690234373/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
#vocation
A series of posts dedicated to all who need some guidance in the matter of one's own vocation.
https://www.instagram.com/fleurofcarmel/guide/a-catholic-girls-guide-to-vocations/17928566690234373/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
#vocation
Instagram
𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐬 † on Instagram: “A Catholic Girl’s Guide to Vocations”
A guide dedicated to the different states in life for women: married life, religious life, and unmarried life in the world.
Prayer for Discerning a Vocation
by Thomas Merton
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me
Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think I am following your will
Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
Does in fact please you.
And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead me by the right road
Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though,
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. * I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
And you will never leave me to face my struggles alone.
I ask for the courage to live a holy life,
that your hand guide my decisions
and that your mercy be extended
when I seek my own glory instead of yours.
I ask for the wisdom to know your will for me,
and like our Blessed Mother,
I ask for the strength to say yes.
Amen.
#prayer #vocation
by Thomas Merton
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me
Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think I am following your will
Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
Does in fact please you.
And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead me by the right road
Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though,
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. * I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
And you will never leave me to face my struggles alone.
I ask for the courage to live a holy life,
that your hand guide my decisions
and that your mercy be extended
when I seek my own glory instead of yours.
I ask for the wisdom to know your will for me,
and like our Blessed Mother,
I ask for the strength to say yes.
Amen.
#prayer #vocation
"My Vocation is Love", St. Therese of Lisieux
by Jean Lafrance
"At last I have found my vocation. In the heart of the Church, I will be Love!"
Has St. Thérèse simply discovered the common vocation of all of us, or has she found her own particular vocation? Or are both true at the same time? Is it both her special vocation and the universal vocation common to all of us? This essay argues that it is both: the special calling of St. Thérèse consists precisely in her giving herself completely to that which is the fundamental vocation of us all- to live in love. Most of us all not called to live the vocation of love in the same way as she did- as a Carmelite devoted to contemplation and the intense expression of love in little things- but her vocation has something to show every one of us about our own unique vocation.
Her desire to live all vocations
To be your Spouse, O Jesus, to be a Carmelite, by my union with you to be the mother of souls, should content me. yet it does not. Without doubt, these three priviliges are indeed my vocation: Carmelite, spouse, and mother. And yet I feel in myself other vocations—I feel myself called to be a soldier, priest, apostle, doctor of the church, martyr. Finally, I feel the need, the desire to perform all the most heroic deeds for you, Jesus.I feel in my soul the courage of a crusader, of a soldier for the Church, and I wish to die on the field of battle in defense of the Church.
I feel in me the vocation of a priest! With what love, O Jesus, would I bear you in my hands, when at the sound of my words you came down from heaven! With what love would I give you to souls! But alas, just as much as I desire to be a priest, I admire and envy the humility of St. Francis of Assisi, and feel the call to imitate him in refusing the sublime dignity of the Priesthood.
Dreaming of the tortures in which Christians are to share at the time of the Antichrist, I feel my heart thrill, and I would like these tortures to be kept for me. Jesus, Jesus, if I wanted to write all my desires, I would have to take your Book of Life, where the deeds of your saints are recorded: all these deeds I would like to accomplish for you.
Each person has their own gift
At prayer these desires made me suffer a true martydom. I opened the Epistles of St. Paul to seek some relief. The 12th and 13th chapters of the First Epistle to the Corinthians fell before my eyes. I read, in the first, that not all can be apostles, prophets, and doctors, etc., that the Church is composed of different members, and that the eye cannot also be at the same time the hand.
Therese finds her vocation in charity
The answer was clear, but it did not satisfy my desires, it did not give me peace. Without being discouraged I continued my reading, and this phrase comforted me: “Earnestly desire the more perfect gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way” (1 Cor 12:31). And the Apostle explains how all gifts, even the most perfect, are nothing without Love... that charity is the excellent way that leads surely to God. At last I had found rest.... Considering the mystical Body of the Church, I had not recognized myself in any of the members described by St. Paul, or rather, I wanted to recognize myself in all... Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that if the Church has a body composed of different members, the noblest and most necessary of all the members would not be lacking to her. I understood that the Church has a heart, and that this heart burns with Love. I understood that Love alone makes its members act, that if this Love were to be extinguished, the Apostles would no longer preach the Gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood... I understood that Love embraces all vocations, that Love is all things, that it embraces all times and all places... in a word, that it is eternal!
Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: “O Jesus, my Love, at last I have found my vocation, my vocation is Love!
#vocation #sttherese
by Jean Lafrance
"At last I have found my vocation. In the heart of the Church, I will be Love!"
Has St. Thérèse simply discovered the common vocation of all of us, or has she found her own particular vocation? Or are both true at the same time? Is it both her special vocation and the universal vocation common to all of us? This essay argues that it is both: the special calling of St. Thérèse consists precisely in her giving herself completely to that which is the fundamental vocation of us all- to live in love. Most of us all not called to live the vocation of love in the same way as she did- as a Carmelite devoted to contemplation and the intense expression of love in little things- but her vocation has something to show every one of us about our own unique vocation.
Her desire to live all vocations
To be your Spouse, O Jesus, to be a Carmelite, by my union with you to be the mother of souls, should content me. yet it does not. Without doubt, these three priviliges are indeed my vocation: Carmelite, spouse, and mother. And yet I feel in myself other vocations—I feel myself called to be a soldier, priest, apostle, doctor of the church, martyr. Finally, I feel the need, the desire to perform all the most heroic deeds for you, Jesus.I feel in my soul the courage of a crusader, of a soldier for the Church, and I wish to die on the field of battle in defense of the Church.
I feel in me the vocation of a priest! With what love, O Jesus, would I bear you in my hands, when at the sound of my words you came down from heaven! With what love would I give you to souls! But alas, just as much as I desire to be a priest, I admire and envy the humility of St. Francis of Assisi, and feel the call to imitate him in refusing the sublime dignity of the Priesthood.
Dreaming of the tortures in which Christians are to share at the time of the Antichrist, I feel my heart thrill, and I would like these tortures to be kept for me. Jesus, Jesus, if I wanted to write all my desires, I would have to take your Book of Life, where the deeds of your saints are recorded: all these deeds I would like to accomplish for you.
Each person has their own gift
At prayer these desires made me suffer a true martydom. I opened the Epistles of St. Paul to seek some relief. The 12th and 13th chapters of the First Epistle to the Corinthians fell before my eyes. I read, in the first, that not all can be apostles, prophets, and doctors, etc., that the Church is composed of different members, and that the eye cannot also be at the same time the hand.
Therese finds her vocation in charity
The answer was clear, but it did not satisfy my desires, it did not give me peace. Without being discouraged I continued my reading, and this phrase comforted me: “Earnestly desire the more perfect gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way” (1 Cor 12:31). And the Apostle explains how all gifts, even the most perfect, are nothing without Love... that charity is the excellent way that leads surely to God. At last I had found rest.... Considering the mystical Body of the Church, I had not recognized myself in any of the members described by St. Paul, or rather, I wanted to recognize myself in all... Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that if the Church has a body composed of different members, the noblest and most necessary of all the members would not be lacking to her. I understood that the Church has a heart, and that this heart burns with Love. I understood that Love alone makes its members act, that if this Love were to be extinguished, the Apostles would no longer preach the Gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood... I understood that Love embraces all vocations, that Love is all things, that it embraces all times and all places... in a word, that it is eternal!
Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: “O Jesus, my Love, at last I have found my vocation, my vocation is Love!
#vocation #sttherese
Ecce Verbum
"My Vocation is Love", St. Therese of Lisieux by Jean Lafrance "At last I have found my vocation. In the heart of the Church, I will be Love!" Has St. Thérèse simply discovered the common vocation of all of us, or has she found her own particular vocation?…
Commentary on the Vocation of St. Therese
These words of St. Thérèse are often cited as explaining the common vocation of all persons. Every person is called to love, and finds his fulfillment in love. And yet St. Thérèse seems to consider that she has found her specific vocation in love. Some persons are called to be eyes for the Church, others to be hands, others to be feet... her place is in the Church's heart. Some are called to be teachers, some healers, some helpers... she is called to be a lover.
Is there a contradiction between these two ways of understanding? Do we have to choose, and say either that love is the common vocation of us all, or that it is the special vocation of St. Thérèse, and perhaps some other Carmelites? Is her little way of love really possible and meaningful for those who cannot devote themselves to her way of life, for those who have a family, and cannot be a “spouse of Christ” etc.?
These two ways of understanding the “vocation to love” are not contradictory. Indeed, they are complementary: the vocation to love as a specific vocation presupposes, builds, and expresses the vocation to love as a common vocation. Thérèse's specific vocation consists precisely in devoting her life in an exemplary manner to that which is common to every vocation, to that which is the root and the heart of every vocation... to love. She makes love her profession, as it were.
By devotely herself absolutely to love alone, she shows forth more clearly that this love is the essential point for all Christians, and ought to be the center and wellspring of all Christian life. The fundamental meaning of every vocation is a love story that unfolds between God and the person whom he calls. Thus, St. Thérèse, by demonstrating with her own life the central place of love for all men and women, performs a specific function for Christ and for the Church. The universal vocation to love is the foundation for St. Thérèse's special vocation to be a living model and teacher of such love. Her little way is both her own unique vocation, and is a way that can be followed by anyone, whatever his or her vocation his.
#vocation #sttherese
These words of St. Thérèse are often cited as explaining the common vocation of all persons. Every person is called to love, and finds his fulfillment in love. And yet St. Thérèse seems to consider that she has found her specific vocation in love. Some persons are called to be eyes for the Church, others to be hands, others to be feet... her place is in the Church's heart. Some are called to be teachers, some healers, some helpers... she is called to be a lover.
Is there a contradiction between these two ways of understanding? Do we have to choose, and say either that love is the common vocation of us all, or that it is the special vocation of St. Thérèse, and perhaps some other Carmelites? Is her little way of love really possible and meaningful for those who cannot devote themselves to her way of life, for those who have a family, and cannot be a “spouse of Christ” etc.?
These two ways of understanding the “vocation to love” are not contradictory. Indeed, they are complementary: the vocation to love as a specific vocation presupposes, builds, and expresses the vocation to love as a common vocation. Thérèse's specific vocation consists precisely in devoting her life in an exemplary manner to that which is common to every vocation, to that which is the root and the heart of every vocation... to love. She makes love her profession, as it were.
By devotely herself absolutely to love alone, she shows forth more clearly that this love is the essential point for all Christians, and ought to be the center and wellspring of all Christian life. The fundamental meaning of every vocation is a love story that unfolds between God and the person whom he calls. Thus, St. Thérèse, by demonstrating with her own life the central place of love for all men and women, performs a specific function for Christ and for the Church. The universal vocation to love is the foundation for St. Thérèse's special vocation to be a living model and teacher of such love. Her little way is both her own unique vocation, and is a way that can be followed by anyone, whatever his or her vocation his.
#vocation #sttherese
Vocations-Doyle (1).pdf
280.4 KB
Vocations by Rev. William Doyle, S.J.
This work, first published in the beginning of the twentieth century, is still popular today.
"How do I know whether I have a vocation or not?” How often this question has risen to the lips of many a young boy or girl, who has come to realize that life has a purpose, only to be brushed aside with an uneasy “I am sure I have not,” or a secret prayer that they might be saved from such a fate! How little they know the happiness they are throwing away in turning from God’s invitation, for such a question, and such a feeling, is often the sign of a genuine vocation."
Doyle was born in Ireland in
1873. He entered the Jesuit Novitiate at the age of 18. Soon after his ordination in 1907, his superiors appointed him on the mission staff for five years. His fame as preacher, confessor and spiritual director spread wide and far, and he had a special gift to hunt out the most hardened and neglected sinners and to bring them back with him to the church for confession.
#vocation
This work, first published in the beginning of the twentieth century, is still popular today.
"How do I know whether I have a vocation or not?” How often this question has risen to the lips of many a young boy or girl, who has come to realize that life has a purpose, only to be brushed aside with an uneasy “I am sure I have not,” or a secret prayer that they might be saved from such a fate! How little they know the happiness they are throwing away in turning from God’s invitation, for such a question, and such a feeling, is often the sign of a genuine vocation."
Doyle was born in Ireland in
1873. He entered the Jesuit Novitiate at the age of 18. Soon after his ordination in 1907, his superiors appointed him on the mission staff for five years. His fame as preacher, confessor and spiritual director spread wide and far, and he had a special gift to hunt out the most hardened and neglected sinners and to bring them back with him to the church for confession.
#vocation
The Family - Seedbed of Vocations
Father John McCloskey
One of the greatest hopes of any Catholic family should be to have one, or more, of their children to be chosen in a special way by God for his service. Traditionally, this has meant a vocation to the diocesan priesthood or one of the religious congregations. In a specific sense we are referring to the priesthood, the religious life, or to one of the various movements and institutions for laypeople that enable them to dedicate themselves totally to God in the middle of the world. These new institutions are highly favored by the Church as a means of complete dedication to the apostolate as we approach the millennium. Nowadays, it is more and more recognized that the vocation to apostolic celibacy for the kingdom of God is also a viable choice for the layperson. Indeed, the Church has made it quite clear through its enthusiastic endorsement of the need and efficacy of specific vocations to the various movements and institutions of the Church that are lay-oriented.
However, it is no secret that generally, with some few notable exceptions in some few dioceses and religious congregations, vocations have been in sharp decline in Europe and North America over the last forty years while on a steady but unspectacular rise throughout the rest of the world during the pontificate of John Paul II. There are a variety of reasons for this decline in the West. We could cite contraception producing smaller families, general affluence resulting in the bourgeois spirit producing a consequent lack of generosity, lack of catechesis, the general confusion in the Church, the sexual revolution and the consequent lost of innocence resulting in cynicism and hedonism among young people where ideals should be high, the sad example of tens of thousands of married couples and priests and religious who have not been faithful to their commitments to God and the Church, and each other. However, the example of holiness is a much more powerful influence on young people if they are brought up in such a way as to appreciate it.
The family atmosphere in which vocations are bred, nourished, and readied for fruition really is no different than what any serious Catholic parents would want to create for their children in order to prepare them for holy marriages and to give a Christian witness in the world. Parents should be preparing their children to be responsible, faithful adult Catholics and who will build up the Church, society, and culture.
Catholic parents who want to produce vocations for the Church have to be ready to be heroically counter cultural. As the old Beatles song put it, "It don't come easy." Putting it mildly, the world appears designed at the moment to thwart people, particularly young people, from even entertaining the thought of complete dedication to God. I like to speak of three particularly strong influences on young people today. One, the general culture; two, the educationally system; three, the family environment. Hopefully, at least two out of three would be positive influences to create a favorable environment for young men and women to commit themselves totally to God. Unfortunately this is not the case. The secular educational system, from top to bottom, as presently constituted, represents the ideology of secular humanism as the norm; the general culture appears designed by a demonic Intelligence to destroy any notion of beauty or truth in any mind or heart.
#vocation
Father John McCloskey
One of the greatest hopes of any Catholic family should be to have one, or more, of their children to be chosen in a special way by God for his service. Traditionally, this has meant a vocation to the diocesan priesthood or one of the religious congregations. In a specific sense we are referring to the priesthood, the religious life, or to one of the various movements and institutions for laypeople that enable them to dedicate themselves totally to God in the middle of the world. These new institutions are highly favored by the Church as a means of complete dedication to the apostolate as we approach the millennium. Nowadays, it is more and more recognized that the vocation to apostolic celibacy for the kingdom of God is also a viable choice for the layperson. Indeed, the Church has made it quite clear through its enthusiastic endorsement of the need and efficacy of specific vocations to the various movements and institutions of the Church that are lay-oriented.
However, it is no secret that generally, with some few notable exceptions in some few dioceses and religious congregations, vocations have been in sharp decline in Europe and North America over the last forty years while on a steady but unspectacular rise throughout the rest of the world during the pontificate of John Paul II. There are a variety of reasons for this decline in the West. We could cite contraception producing smaller families, general affluence resulting in the bourgeois spirit producing a consequent lack of generosity, lack of catechesis, the general confusion in the Church, the sexual revolution and the consequent lost of innocence resulting in cynicism and hedonism among young people where ideals should be high, the sad example of tens of thousands of married couples and priests and religious who have not been faithful to their commitments to God and the Church, and each other. However, the example of holiness is a much more powerful influence on young people if they are brought up in such a way as to appreciate it.
The family atmosphere in which vocations are bred, nourished, and readied for fruition really is no different than what any serious Catholic parents would want to create for their children in order to prepare them for holy marriages and to give a Christian witness in the world. Parents should be preparing their children to be responsible, faithful adult Catholics and who will build up the Church, society, and culture.
Catholic parents who want to produce vocations for the Church have to be ready to be heroically counter cultural. As the old Beatles song put it, "It don't come easy." Putting it mildly, the world appears designed at the moment to thwart people, particularly young people, from even entertaining the thought of complete dedication to God. I like to speak of three particularly strong influences on young people today. One, the general culture; two, the educationally system; three, the family environment. Hopefully, at least two out of three would be positive influences to create a favorable environment for young men and women to commit themselves totally to God. Unfortunately this is not the case. The secular educational system, from top to bottom, as presently constituted, represents the ideology of secular humanism as the norm; the general culture appears designed by a demonic Intelligence to destroy any notion of beauty or truth in any mind or heart.
#vocation
Ecce Verbum
The Family - Seedbed of Vocations Father John McCloskey One of the greatest hopes of any Catholic family should be to have one, or more, of their children to be chosen in a special way by God for his service. Traditionally, this has meant a vocation to the…
What can parents to do to create an environment where one or some of their children will discern a specific call from God to follow him completely?
They should want to foster a family life where it is natural to be generous, to make a sincere gift of oneself to others.
Here a few ideas:
Parents must be their children's best friends. To win and keep children's friendship is a daunting but joyful task. You must show your trust for them and respect for their freedom from an early age trusting that the Holy Spirit is already at work in their soul from Baptism. You may sometimes be disappointed but your children will realize that your love is unconditional. Speak often positively about the Church and the greatness of being called to a life of dedication in it. Never speak negatively about persons who have dedicated their lives to God no matter what their human failings might be. Your children should know that you pray for them every day, that they be holy and happy and generous to whatever God calls them. They must know that while you are concerned with their education, health, achievements, career prospects, these are all secondary to their being virtuous and happy in this life and saved in the next.
Foster a simple life of piety in the home adjusted to the condition and ages of the children. It should leave the children asking for more, not begging for less. The Cure of Ars was once asked by parents what they could best do for their children. He said simply to bring them frequently to Jesus in the Eucharist and in the Sacrament of Penance. Figure out how you can do this respecting their freedom yet making it attractive.
What is most important is their seeing you lead a more devout life than they. They will watch you pray, go to Mass, go to confession, read the Sacred Scripture, pray the Rosary, and so on. They will see that the liturgical calendar is the most important one for their family and that you celebrate accordingly. They will also see you make sacrifices in order to do so. Pleasing God, not men, will thus become the priority in their life also.
Teach them to value poverty and detachment. Do not let them indiscriminately acquire things or to measure people by the amount of their possessions. Teach them to make things last and how to go without happily. Teach them how to share cheerfully. Make sure they spend their summers productively. That often times will mean they work and/or spend time in generously serving others less fortunate than themselves.
Expose them according to their age and ability to "take it," to misery. Soup kitchens, nursing homes, and hospital for incurables including for children should be places where, over time, they feel comfortable. One of the most effective ways to assure this quality of generosity is simply to treasure the children God has sent to you. This will help them to place the person and not the pleasure or object at the heart of their moral universe. The greatest gift you can give to your children is brothers and sisters. Persons are not things. Thus too they will never see another person as a means or an object but rather as another Christ whom it is their privilege to serve.
Instill an appreciation of beauty, whether it be in nature, literature, music, or art. The books, magazines, compact disks, videos, musical instruments, and art that you have in your house, the television shows that you watch together, and the family excursions that you take will prepare them to appreciate the goodness of the material world that God has created and redeemed. They will also understand and despise by contrast the culture of death, which kills both the body and the soul. Beware of leaving your children alone with the television or computer, particularly as regards games and the Internet. They should be considered as dangerous substances easily subject to abuse and thus closely supervised and controlled. All of this will prepare them, as they mature, to be more reflective, and contemplative thus more able to wisely discern and answer God's call.
#education #vocation
They should want to foster a family life where it is natural to be generous, to make a sincere gift of oneself to others.
Here a few ideas:
Parents must be their children's best friends. To win and keep children's friendship is a daunting but joyful task. You must show your trust for them and respect for their freedom from an early age trusting that the Holy Spirit is already at work in their soul from Baptism. You may sometimes be disappointed but your children will realize that your love is unconditional. Speak often positively about the Church and the greatness of being called to a life of dedication in it. Never speak negatively about persons who have dedicated their lives to God no matter what their human failings might be. Your children should know that you pray for them every day, that they be holy and happy and generous to whatever God calls them. They must know that while you are concerned with their education, health, achievements, career prospects, these are all secondary to their being virtuous and happy in this life and saved in the next.
Foster a simple life of piety in the home adjusted to the condition and ages of the children. It should leave the children asking for more, not begging for less. The Cure of Ars was once asked by parents what they could best do for their children. He said simply to bring them frequently to Jesus in the Eucharist and in the Sacrament of Penance. Figure out how you can do this respecting their freedom yet making it attractive.
What is most important is their seeing you lead a more devout life than they. They will watch you pray, go to Mass, go to confession, read the Sacred Scripture, pray the Rosary, and so on. They will see that the liturgical calendar is the most important one for their family and that you celebrate accordingly. They will also see you make sacrifices in order to do so. Pleasing God, not men, will thus become the priority in their life also.
Teach them to value poverty and detachment. Do not let them indiscriminately acquire things or to measure people by the amount of their possessions. Teach them to make things last and how to go without happily. Teach them how to share cheerfully. Make sure they spend their summers productively. That often times will mean they work and/or spend time in generously serving others less fortunate than themselves.
Expose them according to their age and ability to "take it," to misery. Soup kitchens, nursing homes, and hospital for incurables including for children should be places where, over time, they feel comfortable. One of the most effective ways to assure this quality of generosity is simply to treasure the children God has sent to you. This will help them to place the person and not the pleasure or object at the heart of their moral universe. The greatest gift you can give to your children is brothers and sisters. Persons are not things. Thus too they will never see another person as a means or an object but rather as another Christ whom it is their privilege to serve.
Instill an appreciation of beauty, whether it be in nature, literature, music, or art. The books, magazines, compact disks, videos, musical instruments, and art that you have in your house, the television shows that you watch together, and the family excursions that you take will prepare them to appreciate the goodness of the material world that God has created and redeemed. They will also understand and despise by contrast the culture of death, which kills both the body and the soul. Beware of leaving your children alone with the television or computer, particularly as regards games and the Internet. They should be considered as dangerous substances easily subject to abuse and thus closely supervised and controlled. All of this will prepare them, as they mature, to be more reflective, and contemplative thus more able to wisely discern and answer God's call.
#education #vocation
Ecce Verbum
What can parents to do to create an environment where one or some of their children will discern a specific call from God to follow him completely? They should want to foster a family life where it is natural to be generous, to make a sincere gift of oneself…
Take special care with their formation outside the house. Encourage them to have a wide variety of friends with whom they can share the joy of your own family life. By the time they graduate from high school they simply must have an excellent grasp of Catholic teaching in its doctrine and morality and be able to give an account to others of the hope that is within them. This is your primary responsibility. Every family has different financial circumstances and choices. It may be home schooling, the parochial or private school, or even the public school. It is not simply a question of choice, however.
Christian parents have a serious responsibility to improve all varieties of education, always insisting on the primary responsibility of parents for their children's education.
If need be, you may have to teach them the Faith yourselves but in any case you must not send them off to university as innocent lambs ready for the slaughter. Believe me, there are plenty of wolves out there. Introduce them to the saints as their role models while also encouraging them to imitate the virtues of the great men and women of history.
Remember you are preparing them for a life of service and dedication to God and not necessarily in the convent, monastery, or rectory. You may also want to encourage them, gently, to participate in Catholic programs for youth that are sound, demanding, and fun. It may be there that they first come in contact with those other mentors and new friends who will introduce them more concretely to the possibility of a life of total dedication.
If you supply (offer) your children to God through your prayer and careful preparation, He will match you by taking them and through His grace and their collaboration. Don't forget the shortcut of entrusting them to Mary, the Mother of God. If our Lady takes a special liking to them, her Son will form them into the new evangelizers of the third millennium.
First appeared in Position Papers (Ireland) in March, 1999.
#education #vocation
Christian parents have a serious responsibility to improve all varieties of education, always insisting on the primary responsibility of parents for their children's education.
If need be, you may have to teach them the Faith yourselves but in any case you must not send them off to university as innocent lambs ready for the slaughter. Believe me, there are plenty of wolves out there. Introduce them to the saints as their role models while also encouraging them to imitate the virtues of the great men and women of history.
Remember you are preparing them for a life of service and dedication to God and not necessarily in the convent, monastery, or rectory. You may also want to encourage them, gently, to participate in Catholic programs for youth that are sound, demanding, and fun. It may be there that they first come in contact with those other mentors and new friends who will introduce them more concretely to the possibility of a life of total dedication.
If you supply (offer) your children to God through your prayer and careful preparation, He will match you by taking them and through His grace and their collaboration. Don't forget the shortcut of entrusting them to Mary, the Mother of God. If our Lady takes a special liking to them, her Son will form them into the new evangelizers of the third millennium.
First appeared in Position Papers (Ireland) in March, 1999.
#education #vocation
Ecce Verbum
The Family - Seedbed of Vocations Father John McCloskey One of the greatest hopes of any Catholic family should be to have one, or more, of their children to be chosen in a special way by God for his service. Traditionally, this has meant a vocation to the…
Prayer for religious vocations
O Holy Family of Nazareth, community of love of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, model and ideal of every Christian family, to you we entrust our families.
Open the heart of every family to the faith, to welcoming the word of God, to Christian witness, so that it become a source of new and holy vocations.
Touch the hearts of parents, so that with prompt charity, wise care, and loving devotion they be for their sons and daughters sure guides towards spiritual and eternal values.
Stir up in the hearts of young people a right conscience and a free will, so that growing in "wisdom, age and grace", they might welcome generously the gift of a divine vocation.
Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that all of us, contemplating and imitating the assiduous prayer, generous obedience, dignified poverty and virginal purity lived out in your midst, might set about fulfilling the will of God and accompanying with far-sighted sensitivity those among us who are called to follow more closely the Lord Jesus, who "has given himself for us" (cf. Gal 2:20).
Amen!
(Message for XXXI World Day for Vocations, 26 December 1993)
#prayer #vocation
O Holy Family of Nazareth, community of love of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, model and ideal of every Christian family, to you we entrust our families.
Open the heart of every family to the faith, to welcoming the word of God, to Christian witness, so that it become a source of new and holy vocations.
Touch the hearts of parents, so that with prompt charity, wise care, and loving devotion they be for their sons and daughters sure guides towards spiritual and eternal values.
Stir up in the hearts of young people a right conscience and a free will, so that growing in "wisdom, age and grace", they might welcome generously the gift of a divine vocation.
Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that all of us, contemplating and imitating the assiduous prayer, generous obedience, dignified poverty and virginal purity lived out in your midst, might set about fulfilling the will of God and accompanying with far-sighted sensitivity those among us who are called to follow more closely the Lord Jesus, who "has given himself for us" (cf. Gal 2:20).
Amen!
(Message for XXXI World Day for Vocations, 26 December 1993)
#prayer #vocation
Ecce Verbum
Vocations-Doyle (1).pdf
vdocuments_net_a_vincentian_father_vocations_saints_vincentian_father.pdf
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"Vocations Explained:
Matrimony, Virginity, The religious state, and the priesthood"
by a Vincentian Father
I. Definition- Every Person has some special vocation
II. Necessity of following a vocation
III. Matrimony- Is it a vocation?
IV. Mixed Marriages
V. Virginity
VI. The Three Evangelical Counsels
1. Poverty
2. Perpetual Chastity
3. Obedience
VII. The Religious State
VIII. Marks of a vocation to the religious state
IX. Doubts about a vocation to the religious state
X. Encouraging others to enter the religious state
XI. Means of preserving a vocation to the religious state - some obstacles
XII. Children and the religious state
XIII. Duty of parents regarding the religious vocation of their children
XIV. Vocations to the priesthood
XV. Do vocations to the priesthood come directly from God?
XVI. Fostering vocations to the priesthood
XVII. Preventing vocations to the priesthood
XVIII. Means of knowing our vocation
1. Prayer
2. Freedom from sin
3. Humility
4. Retreat
5. Counsel
Prayer of St Bernard
#vocation
Matrimony, Virginity, The religious state, and the priesthood"
by a Vincentian Father
I. Definition- Every Person has some special vocation
II. Necessity of following a vocation
III. Matrimony- Is it a vocation?
IV. Mixed Marriages
V. Virginity
VI. The Three Evangelical Counsels
1. Poverty
2. Perpetual Chastity
3. Obedience
VII. The Religious State
VIII. Marks of a vocation to the religious state
IX. Doubts about a vocation to the religious state
X. Encouraging others to enter the religious state
XI. Means of preserving a vocation to the religious state - some obstacles
XII. Children and the religious state
XIII. Duty of parents regarding the religious vocation of their children
XIV. Vocations to the priesthood
XV. Do vocations to the priesthood come directly from God?
XVI. Fostering vocations to the priesthood
XVII. Preventing vocations to the priesthood
XVIII. Means of knowing our vocation
1. Prayer
2. Freedom from sin
3. Humility
4. Retreat
5. Counsel
Prayer of St Bernard
#vocation