The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-12-28
Literature for the Younq.

Literature for the Young.
The fearful responsibility incurred by
parents ON assuming that character is, I'M
happily, not always adequately appreciat-
ed. The mysterious principle of parental
affection, ineradicably united with our
very natures, and everlasting in it's inten-
sity, is, after all, but the means by which
we are destined to work out great end.
If we fail at last in the accomplishment of
that end, if our duty as parents remains
unperformed and thereby an eternal soul
is lost to God, our dereliction is not the
less grave because it has arisen from mis-
directed affection.
There can be but little merit in doing
that to which we are naturally prone, and
it is therefore not all-sufficient to be able
to say that we have loved our offspring.
The preservation of their corporeal we'll
being is matter, to accomplish which, we
not unfrequently expose our own to serious
risk; the security of their spiritual, their
eternal good should not fail to urge US to
equally earnest efforts. The imagina-
tive, plastic mind of childhood is
most sensitive to external Impressions.
Like the floweret of some delicate
plant, the least touch of rude hand leaves
on its pure beauty stain, the mark of
which will scarcely ever be effaced. It's
| culture demands constant attention and
vigilance to protect it from such defacing
contact, a danger which is peculiarly
characteristic of the present age.
This land issdeluged with q food of I'M i.
sound, impure and immoral IMPLICATIONS,
varying from the apparently hAtpaless, and
insidiously suggestive, to opeasand pro-
nounced hostility to all that is good, true
and noble. No man knows the woeful
magnitude Of the evils springing from the
dissemination of these seeds of error and
vice 4; no human law is adequate to coun-
teract or destroy their effects. All parents
recognize it as their duty to shield their
! children from such dangers. But this is
not all. The child thus protected is by no
meaDs safe. His protector may at any
| moment be removed, and unless such a
child has been strengthened by the incul-
cation of high principles, has been taught
to love truth and honor, and despise what
ia false and low, he is but poorly prepared
to resist the destructive allurements of the
world. 1t is to this that we would call the
attention of Catholic parents. 1t does not
suffice to keep our children in ignorance of
all that is bad and vicious; they must
be trained to avoid and resist temptation
when left to their own guidance.
This may, to a great extent, be accom-
plished by example and parental admoni-
ton, but there is another powerful means
which we fear is too often neglected, and
without reason. Catholic literature for the
young does not receive from parents the
encouragement it deserves. Its sphere of
usefulness is unbounded, and when made
supplementary to the instruction and ex-
anple given in the home circle, it's benefits
cannot be estimated. It is not necessary
to analyze the cause of this apparent apathy:
the fact that in many cases it does exist is
patent to the most casual observer, and
should excite serious comment. 1t is the
wilful neglect of a most potent means of
good which Providence has placed at our
disposal, and it is to be feared that by this
neglect, many parents are mourning penal
ties far more serious than the temporal
pain caused by the sight of their children
lapsing from religion, and losing their love
of truth aud virtue.