The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-07-08
l.
LETTER OF THE MOST REVEREND ARCHBISHOP
voCATIoNs TO THE HOLY PRIESTHOOD

HOLY PRIESTHOOD
Outside the priesthood there are vo-
cations to which belong, assuredly,
merit and value. But, all things said
such vocations are of earth, dealing
with the things of earth, while voca-
tons to the priesthood are for God
and for immortal souls-of Heaven
in their immediate origin, of Heaven
in their immediate purposes. Outside
the priesthood aims there are that we
must account. as high and worthiest-
the quickening of fellow-men into
flights of charity and benevolence, the
rescuing of the fallen and the lowly
from ignorance and suffering. To
such aims refined minds and valiant
hearts readily soar; deservedly we re-
ward them with tribute of esteem and
admiration. But are not all such as
pirations equally the goal of the priest
hood, and there so much the more
within effective reach, that in the
priesthood the divine closely commin-
giles with the human, to the effect that
the aspiration is the purer and the
more intensified, and the result the
surer and the more plenteous. And,
then, in the priesthood, in addition to
achievements for the welfare of men
On earth, there are achievements for
their welfare in eternity. 1t is the
grandeur of the priesthood that, as the
godliness of which st. Paul has writ
ten, it has within its works and it's
hopes 'the promise of the life that now
is and of that which is to come. :
Verify, vocation to the priesthood is
the gift the most exalted, the most
fruitful within the bestowal of Him
Who is Master of earth and of Heaven.
To youths whose minds are illumined
With the rays of faith, whose hearts
burn with the ardors of charity, vo-
cation to the priesthood is 1.-The pearl
If great price," which the best of the
children of men should covet to pos
sess-"the pearl which, once found,
they should, at all cost, at all sacri-
flee, buy and clasp to their bosom.
l appeal to parents in whose son a
probable vocation to the priesthood is
unfolding the promise of coming ma
turity. Bending over the privileged
youth, they should ask: What an
one, think We, shall this child be? For
the hand of the Lord was with him.
Gladly should they make the Offering
of him to the Lord: gladly should they
make whatever sacrifice this offering
may imply. The ripening of voca-
| ton is in the hands of parents rather
than in those of any others. Here is
| to be found one of the chief impedi
ments to vocations-the lack of Chris
tan faith in father or in mother, the
worldly ambition of either in directing
the steppings of their son to other
| pathways in life, whittier beckon Wis
ions of material comfort and worldly
allurement. 1t is the call of earth in
opposition to that of Heaven, the call
of nature in opposition to that of grace
To such call the faithful Christianswill
promptly deny a hearing, seeing things
as God, rather than men, sees them, as
eternity, rather than time, adjudges
value to them.
The blessing of Heaven upon q
Christian family is the gift of priestlJ
vocation to one of it's children. 1t is
the reward of fidelity to God: it is the
/ sure mark of such fidelity. There are
| families, where, short of special mir
acle of grace, vocation never ger
inmates, or, if somehow it is there
born, it quickly withers and dies
| Those are the families, where the
usual atmosphere is repellent to the
sweetness and comeliness of Christian
life, where the example of parents sc
lowers the spiritual tone of the child
| that it banishes from his mind al
supernal thought, from his heart al
| freshness of grace and purity. III
quest for vocations, we must first dis
cover the Christian home, the Chris
tian father and mother. Granted to {
parish, or to diocese, true Christian
families, vacations will not be want
ing. They are the choice flowers O
the well-cultivated garden, whose sol
is rich, whose nutriment is the de
scending dew of the skies. The Chris
tian home is the nursery of vacations
other agencies-presbyter colleges
or Summaries ARE the mere helpers
to growth and development.
l am not forgetful of the f1nancia
sacrifice that the education of son tt
the priesthood imposes upon parents
When the sacrifice is within the abilit,
Of parents, why should it not gladly b,
made? 1t is an offering to religion
most precious, most valuable. VIII.
should not parents gladly make it, ever
when by doing so they deny them
selves in comfort and enjoyment
otherwise legitimate? Money is ger
erously spent to fit children for world
ly vocations: why not, to fit them TO
the service of God in the holy priest
hood? Cases, however, there may be
when the sacrifice is beyond the reacl
of parents. The youth there may b
} whose talent and piety mark him TO
the priesthood, the moderate circum
, stances of whose parents forbid tn
expense of years in studies prepare
tory to the theological seminary. Thi
youth should not be deprived of an OF
: portunity to fit himself for the sanctr
airy. Means to this end should not b
beyond the reach of religion 1t vii
be to me, as the Bishop of the diocese
to labor towards securing those means