The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-02-01
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through human agents, and entrusts
this holy task of His priests and re-
ligious, who are the visible guardian
angels of the young in particular.
This most important work is beset
with many and great difficulties, and
! requires much zeal and prudent man.
agement. Certainly a vocation to a
higher life of sanctity can come only
from God: all we can do is to foster
the workings of the Holy Spirit in
those souls, over which we can exer-
else a salutary influence.
Love of Purity.
One of the most effective means to
| accomplish this is to instil in youth
| full hearts a tender love of purity, and
| an intense hatred of the contrary vice.
A young person, that is in the habit of
| yielding to this vice, units himself for
| the higher life of holiness: Such a
| life requires much supernatural wis
dom; and Holy Scripture assures US
| that Wisdom will not dwell in body
subject to sins wis. i, A..
| If then we wish to procure for young
souls a vocation to the higher life we
must keep them innocent; and the
| greatest danger for innocence is the
vice of impurity. The souls, that are
sanctified in Baptism year after year,
are like the fair blossoms, that adorn
the fruit trees, in the springtime, des-
| tined to become many delicious fruits.
But we know by sad experience that
| the majority of the blossoms do not
come to maturity; some are nipped
! in the bud by an early frost; others
attain fuller growth, looking fair
without but falling off because eaten
within by a hidden worm. So, too,
multitudes of children have their
hearts blighted by the cold frost of in
difference, the ordinary effect of an I'M
Catholic education; others are con-
sumed by a gnawing worm within.
| The worm, that eats away the inner
! life of virtue, is most commonly the
vice of impurity.
| Reception OF SacramentS.
Now what are the most efficient anti
dotes against this dreadful vice? The
foremost are the Sacraments of Con-
fession and Holy Communion. This
| is the Divine provision to support our
spiritual life and do restore it, when
it is weakened or lost by sin. This
precious means is needed in all lands
| and all ages, and it is especially need
ed in our land and our age, in which
the dangers to purity are so multiform,
that it is almost as difficult to keep
young people innocent, as it was for
! the three boys in the fiery furnace Of
Babylon to remain unscathed by the
| flames And yet the help of God pro-
| tected these from harm; and thus,
| too, Divine grace protects the limo
cence of thousands of Catholic hearts
in our midst.
Prevent Prayer.
A second most powerful aid to pre-.
serve purity is the use of much fer.
vent prayer The inspired author OF
the Book of Wisdom said: LAS l knew
that l could not otherwise be ,contin
ent except God gave it, and this also
was a point of wisdom to know whose
gift it was, | went to the Lord and be-
sought him. (viii, 2D.
All the great models of purity, that
the Lord has given to His Church
have been remarkable for their appli
cation to prayer Take as examples
of this the youthful Saints, Aloysius
Stanislaus and John Berchmans.
Devotion to Mary.
This prayer becomes the more eff
ficacious, when it takes the form OF
devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary
She is the most perfect model of pur
ity; wherefore, holy Church loves tc
invoke her asa"Virgin most Pure, Vir
gin most Chaste, Virgin Undefiled
Virgin Inviolate, Lily Among Thorns,'
etc. And Mary loves to procure fol
her fervent clients a share in her an
gelic virtue.
/ The sodaIity.
One of the most powerful means tc
acquire a lively devotion to the
Blessed Virgin is to be d faithful mem
Der of her Sodality. This, in fact, is
/ the principal purpose of that most ex
cellent association, and the chief
reason why Holy Church has enriched
it with such copious favors, namely
because it is SO conspicuous a means
of fostering devotion to the Blessed
Mother of God. Those are much mis-
taken who suppose that the main OBJ
| ject the sodality is in promoting
frequent Communions or in
bringing it's members together to re
ceive the Holy Sacrament in common
| for the sake of mutual encouragement
These are valuable effects, no doubt
but they can be obtained by various