Vol 9 Issue 6 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
February 6, 2016~ St Titus, opn!

1. Baptism: Means of Salvation (54)
2. Quinquagesima Sunday
3. Saints Felicitas & Perpetua
4. Christ in the Home (29)
5. Articles and notices

Dear Reader:

February is the Month of the Passion, that is, a month dedicated to reflecting upon the Passion of Christ. As Ash Wednesday normally falls during this month and Lent begins, it is appropriate that Catholics begin to join Christ in that of meditating on His passion and death in preparing for Holy Week and the Resurrection. March places observing the life of Saint Joseph—so important for the Church of which he is declared Universal Patron and guiding it as the enemies of Christ seeks its destruction and therefore leads it into the desert. Returning to Lent, as we receive the ashes on our forehead, let us remember that we are going to unite ourselves with Christ and the easiest way is to read the Gospel accounts, the Catholic authors who have meditated upon the life of Christ (such as Goodier) or the mystics. As is the custom, let us also sacrifice that is allowed but pleasing to our taste or enjoyment (sweets, drinks, or entertainment). Normally what we spend on this pleasure we then offer to the poor as though giving in to Christ as a work of mercy.

Speaking of Mercy—let us not take it in the same manner now propagated: Tolerate sinners and totally hate saints! Those striving for holiness seem to be condemned while evilness of character is exalted within sinners. How else explain words that escape leaders who say those who follow the rules are Pelagians and that we should find the good in those not following them? And then have the audacity to say Mercy is God’s Name, when it is not—rather it is the absolute, “I am Who am” (Exod. 3:14) and why faithful Catholics are faithful, because they are trying to be perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect. (Cf. Matt. 5:48; vide Luke 6:40) Christ came to take sin out of the world, not glorify it!

As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit.—The Editor

____________________

Baptism

Means of Salvation

Sacrament of Baptism

Saint Thomas Aquinas

In the next section of the Summa Theologica that covers baptism Saint Thomas addresses the recipient of the Sacrament of Baptism. First he addresses the necessity of baptism. It is certainly of importance that the proper understanding of the necessity of baptism be presented when there are those who would either deny its necessity or deny salvation to anyone who was not able to have the sacrament administered to them (i.e., water poured over their head). To those who would say it is not necessary Thomas places the question, whether all are bound to receive Baptism? He retorts with the Scriptural passage of St. John:Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)

Taking what is stated by Gennadius of Marseilles (De Eccl. Dogm. xli.) that we believe the way of salvation to be open to those only who are baptized. [Note: Saint Thomas believed it was the work of Augustine] Thomas explains:

. . . Men are bound to that without which they cannot obtain salvation. Now it is manifest that no one can obtain salvation but through Christ; wherefore the Apostle says (Romans 5:18): “As by the offense of one unto all men unto condemnation; so also by the justice of one, unto all men unto justification of life.” But for this end is Baptism conferred on a man, that being regenerated thereby, he may be incorporated in Christ, by becoming His member: wherefore it is written (Galatians 3:27): “As many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ.” Consequently it is manifest that all are bound to be baptized: and that without Baptism there is no salvation for men.

. . . At no time, not even before the coming of Christ, could men be saved unless they became members of Christ: because, as it is written (Acts 4:12), “there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.” But before Christ’s coming, men were incorporated in Christ by faith in His future coming: of which faith circumcision was the “seal,” as the Apostle calls it (Romans 4:11): whereas before circumcision was instituted, men were incorporated in Christ by “faith alone,” as Gregory says (Moral. iv), together with the offering of sacrifices, by means of which the Fathers of old made profession of their faith. Again, since Christ’s coming, men are incorporated in Christ by faith; according to Ephesians 3:17: “That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts.” But faith in a thing already present is manifested by a sign different from that by which it was manifested when that thing was yet in the future: just as we use other parts of the verb, to signify the present, the past, and the future. Consequently although the sacrament itself of Baptism was not always necessary for salvation, yet faith, of which Baptism is the sacrament, was always necessary. (q. 68, art. 1)

Having addressed the left, he then turns to the right to answer whether a man can be saved without Baptism? The question is not without warrant and though because Thomas repeats the same sources to say one is bound to be baptized in order to point out he is not going to contradict himself, but differentiate between necessary (obligatory) and absolute (sine qua non, or essential). Believing Augustine to be the author of the statements from De Ecclesiasticis Dogmatibus he takes another passage from Augustine’s Questionum in Heptateuchum Libri Septem (lib. III, q. lxxxiv) some have received the invisible sanctification without visible sacraments, and to their profit; but though it is possible to have the visible sanctification, consisting in a visible sacrament, without the invisible sanctification, it will be to no profit. He continues: Since, therefore, the sacrament of Baptism pertains to the visible sanctification, it seems that a man can obtain salvation without the sacrament of Baptism, by means of the invisible sanctification. And his explanation:

The sacrament or Baptism may be wanting to someone in two ways. First, both in reality and in desire; as is the case with those who neither are baptized, nor wished to be baptized: which clearly indicates contempt of the sacrament, in regard to those who have the use of the free-will. Consequently those to whom Baptism is wanting thus, cannot obtain salvation: since neither sacramentally nor mentally are they incorporated in Christ, through Whom alone can salvation be obtained.

Secondly, the sacrament of Baptism may be wanting to anyone in reality but not in desire: for instance, when a man wishes to be baptized, but by some ill-chance he is forestalled by death before receiving Baptism. And such a man can obtain salvation without being actually baptized, on account of his desire for Baptism, which desire is the outcome of “faith that worketh by charity,” whereby God, Whose power is not tied to visible sacraments, sanctifies man inwardly. Hence Ambrose says of Valentinian, who died while yet a catechumen: “I lost him whom I was to regenerate: but he did not lose the grace he prayed for.”

As it is written (1 Samuel 16:7), “man seeth those things that appear, but the Lord beholdeth the heart.” Now a man who desires to be “born again of water and the Holy Ghost” by Baptism, is regenerated in heart though not in body. thus the Apostle says (Romans 2:29) that “the circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not of men but of God.” (Art. 2)

But Thomas also remarks that it does not have the same effect as Sacramental Baptism or Martyrdom, for:

No man obtains eternal life unless he be free from all guilt and debt of punishment. Now this plenary absolution is given when a man receives Baptism, or suffers martyrdom: for which reason is it stated that martyrdom “contains all the sacramental virtue of Baptism,” i.e. as to the full deliverance from guilt and punishment. Suppose, therefore, a catechumen to have the desire for Baptism (else he could not be said to die in his good works, which cannot be without “faith that worketh by charity”), such a one, were he to die, would not forthwith come to eternal life, but would suffer punishment for his past sins, “but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire” as is stated 1 Corinthians 3:15. (Ibid.)

And he can conclude: The sacrament of Baptism is said to be necessary for salvation in so far as man cannot be saved without, at least, Baptism of desire; “which, with God, counts for the deed(Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 57).

Having revisited the question of the necessity of baptism, he then addresses the time a person is to be baptized. It was already seen at the time of Pope Siricius (384-398) the question of deferring Baptism to a later date was under discussion and he affirmed the Spanish that if there was a chance that one would not be baptized, it was to be done without delay. This was read in his epistle Directa ad decessorem to Himerius, Bishop of Tarragona (Iberia or present Spain) on February 10, 385, which affirms what the Council of Elvira had decreed, while at the same time attempting to keep the custom of the Church to reserve baptism to the days prescribed:

(Chapter 2, § 3) Just as We say, then, that the sacred reverence due to Easter is in no respect to be reduced, so we wish that aid be brought with all swiftness to infants who, because of their age, are not yet able to speak as well as to those who require the water of sacred baptism in any necessity whatsoever, so that it may not redound to the loss of our soul if, after those who desired it are denied the font of salvation, one (of them), when he departs this world, loses both his life and the kingdom (of heaven). Let anyone, likewise, who is in danger of shipwreck, the attack of an enemy, the uncertainty of a siege, or the hopelessness of some bodily illness and who requests that help be provided him by the incomparable aid of the faith obtain the reward of a speedy rebirth at the very moment when he requests it. The error made in this respect up to this point should be enough; from now on, let all priests hold to the aforesaid rule if they do not wish to be torn from the firmness of the apostolic rock upon which Christ has built his whole Church. (Denzinger-Hünermann, 184)

Saint Thomas initiates this argument again when he asks whether Baptism should be deferred? Quoting Pope Leo I (440-61) who wrote in his Epistle (xvi): Two seasons, [Easter and Pentecost] are fixed by the Roman Pontiff for the celebration of Baptism. Wherefore we admonish your Beatitude not to add any other days to this custom.He then includes that error of delaying baptism so that one could sin and then be freed of sins before death by baptism, as at the time of Augustine, which led to many dying without baptism and encouraged sin:

Further, as we read in Isaiah 27:9, “this is all the fruit, that the sin . . . should be taken away.” Now sin seems to be taken away, or at any rate lessened, if Baptism be deferred. First, because those who sin after Baptism, sin more grievously, according to Hebrews 10:29: “How much more, do you think, he deserveth worse punishments, who hath . . . esteemed the blood of the testament,” i.e. Baptism, “unclean, by which he was sanctified?” Secondly, because Baptism takes away past, but not future, sins: wherefore the more it is deferred, the more sins it takes away. Therefore it seems that Baptism should be deferred for a long time.

Thomas replies to the delaying of baptism in the same vein as Pope Siricius by quoting from the book of Ecclesiaticus (5:8): Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day. He extends the admonishment by saying: But the perfect conversion to God is of those who are regenerated in Christ by Baptism. Therefore Baptism should not be deferred from day to day. With these words Thomas goes on to explain:

In this matter we must make a distinction and see whether those who are to be baptized are children or adults. For if they be children, Baptism should not be deferred. First, because in them we do not look for better instruction or fuller conversion. Secondly, because of the danger of death, for no other remedy is available for them besides the sacrament of Baptism.

On the other hand, adults have a remedy in the mere desire for Baptism, as stated above (Article 2). And therefore Baptism should not be conferred on adults as soon as they are converted, but it should be deferred until some fixed time. First, as a safeguard to the Church, lest she be deceived through baptizing those who come to her under false pretenses, according to 1 John 4:1: “Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, if they be of God.” And those who approach Baptism are put to this test, when their faith and morals are subjected to proof for a space of time. Secondly, this is needful as being useful for those who are baptized; for they require a certain space of time in order to be fully instructed in the faith, and to be drilled in those things that pertain to the Christian mode of life. Thirdly, a certain reverence for the sacrament demands a delay whereby men are admitted to Baptism at the principal festivities, viz. of Easter and Pentecost, the result being that they receive the sacrament with greater devotion.

There are, however, two reasons for forgoing this delay. First, when those who are to be baptized appear to be perfectly instructed in the faith and ready for Baptism; thus, Philip baptized the Eunuch at once (Acts 8); and Peter, Cornelius and those who were with him (Acts 10). Secondly, by reason of sickness or some kind of danger of death. Wherefore Pope Leo says (Epist. xvi): “Those who are threatened by death, sickness, siege, persecution, or shipwreck, should be baptized at any time.” Yet if a man is forestalled by death, so as to have no time to receive the sacrament, while he awaits the season appointed by the Church, he is saved, yet “so as by fire,” as stated above (2, ad 2). Nevertheless he sins if he defer being baptized beyond the time appointed by the Church, except this be for an unavoidable cause and with the permission of the authorities of the Church. But even this sin, with his other sins, can be washed away by his subsequent contrition, which takes the place of Baptism, as stated above (Question 66, Article 11).

(To be continued)

————————–

Week of Sexagesima Sunday

Benedict Baur, O.S.B.

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

The power of prayer 

1. We gather for the divine services in the sanctuary of the soldier and martyr, St. George. Together with us he prays the Introit: “When I cried to the Lord, He heard my voice from them that drew near to me …. Cast thy care upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.” Let us pray like King Ezechias in the Epistle and like the Roman officer in the Gospel. Lent is a time for prayer.
2. “In those days Ezechias was sick even to death; and Isaias, the son of Amos the prophet, came unto him and said to him, Thus saith the Lord: Take order with thy house, for thou shalt die, and not live. And Ezechias turned his face towards the wall and prayed to the Lord and said: I beseech Thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before Thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in Thy sight. And Ezechias wept with great weeping. And the word of the Lord came to Isaias, saying: Go and say to Ezechias, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer and I have seen thy tears; behold I will add to thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect it” (Epistle). Ezechias begged for a favor, and more was granted him than he had dared ask for. “Ask and it shall be given you” (Luke 11:9). “Cast thy care upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee” (Introit).

The Roman soldier comes with great faith to Jesus, urged on by a loving care for his ill servant (Gospel). He besought the Lord: “Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously tormented. And Jesus saith to him, I will come and heal him. And the centurion, making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouIdst enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man subject to authority, having under me soldiers; and I say to this: Go, and he goeth; and to another: Come, and he cometh; and to my servant: Do this, and he doeth it.” Such confidence moves the Lord, who answers the prayer of the centurion, “Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee. And the servant was healed at the same hour.” “And all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive” (Matt. 21:22).

3. The sacred liturgy sees in the Roman centurion of the Gospel the stational saint, St. George. He comes today to the Lord and implores for his sick servant; that is, for the congregation which is present in his house. He comes with the love and the solicitude of the centurion of the Gospel and makes a plea for us, his congregation. We have confidence that his plea will be answered. From the statements made in the Epistle and Gospel we understand the power of humble and confident prayer to God. Christian prayer obtains its great effectiveness because of the union of the members with their Head, Christ. If Christ is praying with us, what great confidence this should give us.

The liturgy exhorts us urgently today to prayer of petition. We are urged to pray for ourselves, as Ezechias did, and for others, as the centurion of the Gospel did. “Ask and it shall be given you,” reads that great command of the order of grace. The one, then, who does not ask, does not receive. He who asks for little, receives little; who asks for much, receives much. “He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich [who do not ask] He hath sent empty away” (Luke 1:53). “All [adults] who are saved, are saved because they have prayed. And all who are damned, are damned because they have not prayed” (St. Alphonsus Liguori). Prayer is the ordinary means of obtaining grace from God.

In the days of faith and devotion, Christians frequently prayed the seven penitential psalms and the way of the cross, and daily assisted at Mass and performed other special works of penance during Lent. We also should pray more during Lent than is our wont.

PRAYER

O God, who art offended by sin and appeased by penance, graciously regard the prayers of Thy people milking supplication to Thee, and turn aside the scourge of Thy anger, which we deserve for our sins. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY

Fraternal charity

1. The liturgy today leads us into the house of the “two men of mercy,” the holy martyrs John and Paul. They had distributed their large possessions to the poor, so that they could follow the way to heaven without impediment. On account of their charity “the Lord hath heard them and hath had mercy on them” (Introit). From the example of these two saints of effective brotherly love, the Church teaches us today the third aspect of our lenten work and baptismal renewal; it consists in the perfecting of the spirit of active Christian, brotherly love. “He that loveth not, abideth in death” (I John 3: 14).
2. “Is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? Loose the bands of wickedness, undo the bundles that oppress; let them that are broken go free, and break asunder every burden. Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy and the harborless into thy house; when thou shalt see one naked, cover him, and despise not thy own flesh [your fellow man]. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily arise. . . . Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall hear; thou shalt cry, and He shall say: Here I am. Because I the Lord thy God am merciful” (Epistle). “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matt. 5:7). Fasting, mortification, works of penance are good and necessary, but only when they are preceded by the observance of the first commandment, the love of God and of one’s neighbor, and serve love and kindness. “And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing” (I Cor. 13:3).

“He that loveth his neighbor hath fulfilled the law.” Every other commandment is contained in this precept. “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself . . . . Love therefore is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:8 fl.). Dispensation can be given from fasting; but from love, never. “Love thy neighbor as thyself’ (Matt. 19: 19). Do we observe this command?

“You have heard that it hath been said: Thou shalt love thy neighbor and [the Pharisees added this] hate thy enemy. But I say to you: Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you; and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you; that you may be the children of your Father, who is in heaven, who maketh His sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust” (Gospel). To the sanctification of Lent belong the will of brotherly love and the act of this love, even of the love of one’s enemy. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” “Be ye therefore merciful as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive. and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given to you” (Luke 6:36-38).

3. “We know that we have passed from death [sin] to life [grace] because we love the brethren. He that loveth not, abideth in death” (I John 3:14). How is true penance or the forgiveness of sin possible if we are not diligent in the practice of brotherly love?

Today’s liturgy reminds us of two special fields of brotherly love: almsgiving and the love of one’s enemies. In the liturgy the stational saints, John and Paul, are the men of mercy, men of good deeds to the poor. If the Church today takes us into their house, she wishes that we enter into their spirit and perform works of mercy, especially almsgiving. Are we doing our duty in this regard? Have we not much to make good during the holy season of Lent? “He that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him; how does the charity of God abide in him?” (I John 3: 17.) How can he obtain forgiveness from God if he attend not to his brother’s need?

How about our love of our enemies? “Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you; and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you; that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh His sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust.” Love of our enemies is not merely a counsel, it is a holy, positive command of the Lord. It is a proof of the genuineness of our love for our neighbor and for God. If the love of enemies, which the Gospel asks for, is to be found so seldom even among us Christians, that is an indication that among us Christians-it is unfortunately true-very little love is to be found.

Herein lies the principal weakness in our Christian life: we lack sufficient love of our neighbor, both inwardly and outwardly. Our lives are full of self-love and self-seeking. Here our lenten activity must begin its work. The effort that the holy season of Lent asks of us is: “Love your enemies. Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you.” Die to self-love and to self-seeking. That is the most important mortification.

PRAYER

O God, strength of those who hope in Thee, be propitious to our prayers; and because without Thee human weakness can do nothing, grant us the assistance of Thy grace, so that we may be pleasing to Thee by the fulfillment of Thy commandments both in desire and in act. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

————————–

FEBRUARY 7

St. Romuald, Abbot and Confessor

1. St. Romuald, founder of the Camaldolese Order, was born about 952, of a prominent family. He grew up with his every wish fulfilled, but without education. Up to the age of twenty, he threw himself recklessly into every kind of pleasure; but then, the grace of God besieged and finally conquered him, after he had witnessed a duel in which his father killed a relative. The young man considered himself guilty, too, and he performed the forty-day ecclesiastical penance in the monastery of St. Apollinaris in Ravenna. During this time he decided to renounce the world and serve God alone. In 972 he entered the same monastery and soon became a model to the good and a stone of scandal to the negligent. When he found out that the latter were plotting against him he left the monastery, and in 975 joined the hermit, Martin, in Catalonia, Spain. On his return to Italy and to his monastery, he was elected abbot, in 996. On the insistence of Emperor Otto II he accepted the office, but, after two years he resigned in order to devote himself wholly to the reform of the Benedictine monasteries of Italy. As part of his campaign he founded a number of hermit-colonies, among them the one at Camaldoli in Tuscany. It was his purpose to combine the hermit’s manner of life with that of the cenobites living in community. St. Romuald died on June 19, 1027.
2. “What of us who have forsaken all and followed Thee?” (Gospel). No doubt, the young Romuald did not easily overcome his attraction to worldly pleasures and goods. He had grown up with a desire for human love, for dogs and horses, for hunting and falconry, for hilarious parties and sensual enjoyment. But, by the grace of God, there grew in his soul mysterious and unusual feelings and impulses. A deep longing for nobler and higher things sometimes took possession of him and made his worldly activities so distasteful that he occasionally withdrew from the company of friends and comrades, in spite of their taunts.

Finally, he could resist grace no longer. He broke with his previous habits so radically and completely that he soon surpassed his religious brethren in virtues, in fidelity to the rules, in zeal, and in self-sacrifice. Romuald lived only for God. For the rest of his life, he labored with indomitable energy against worldliness in monasteries and canonries. However, his sincere intentions were often misunderstood, misinterpreted, or suspected; he was insulted and mistreated, and was even ordered out of some monasteries. Nevertheless, he persisted in his efforts, for praise and abuse from men were alike meaningless to him. He was concerned only about the honor of God. He wanted nothing for himself; for his enemies he always had sincere love and sympathy, as well as the charity of his prayers.

“Well-loved by God, well-loved among men, on his name a benediction rests. The Lord gave him such honor as He gives to His holy ones; gave him renown by striking terror into his enemies. . . . He made him great in the eyes of kings, entrusted commandments to him in full view of the chosen people, made a revelation to him of divine glory. The Lord set him apart, chosen out from the rest of mankind, so loyal he was and so gentle; answered his prayer by taking him up into a cloud, and there, face to face, imparting commandments to him, the law that gives life and wisdom” (Lesson).

In these words the Church praises the holy monk and hermit. Like Moses, to whom the above text originally referred. Romuald was selected by God to be the inspired leader of the monks of his day, to conduct them out of the slavery of worldliness, through the desert of strict discipline, into the promised land of grace, virtue, and holiness, and, finally, into the blessed possession of God in heaven. As one “well-loved by God,” St. Romuald received the gift of sublime contemplation and of tears. He had an unusual facility in the understanding of Scripture, as well as an aptitude for counseling and comforting others. But, above all other gifts, love glowed brightly in his soul-a love that won all hearts; even sinners and the lukewarm felt their cold hearts inflamed by the fire of his love. Emperor St. Henry II rose from his throne when he saw St. Romuald coming and greeted him with the words: “I wish my soul were like yours.”

3. Joyfully, we honor the holy Founder in the words of the Introit: “Right reason is on the good man’s lips, well weighed: are all his counsels; his steps never falter, because the law of God rules in his heart.” Again, in the words of the Gradual, we sing: “With abundant blessings Thou hast met him on his way, hast set a jewelled crown on his head. He prayed for life, and Thou hast granted him life unfailing till the end of time.”

What would have become of Romuald if he had not followed the call of grace and begun a new life? What if he had rejected the grace of conversion? “May the offerings we lay upon Thy sacred altars, Lord, through the pleading of the holy abbot Romuald be of help to our salvation” (Secret).

Collect: May the intercession of the blessed abbot Romuald gain us Thy favor, we pray Thee, Lord, and may his advocacy win for us that which we do not ourselves deserve. Amen.

CHRIST IN THE HOME

BY RAOUL PLUS, S.J.(1951)

MARRIAGE

TRAINING 

THE FIRST YEARS

In his book “Something of Myself for My Friends Known and Unknown,” Rudyard Kipling uses as the keynote for the first chapter, the following quotation: “Give me the first six years of a child’s life; you can have the rest.”

How parents ought to meditate on those words!

Why did Rudyard Kipling speak in this vein?

Before these first six years there is of course the question of heredity. Every man is an heir and every man is an ancestor. Children do resemble their parents. We have considered this before.

There is a second kind of hereditary influence—the formation that is given even before marriage by the father and the mother. “When does the education of the child begin?” Napoleon was asked. He replied, “Twenty years before its birth in the education of its mother.”

From its mother? From its father too. But the mother is unquestionably a prime influence since until the child is at least six the principal care of the child is in the hands of the mother.

What a mistake to let a child give in to all its whims!

“But he doesn’t understand,” people say. “You can’t reason with a baby in the cradle.”

No, of course not, but from the cradle on, the child can be taught many things well. Not by reasoning but by habit-formation.

Here are two mothers; both of them have a baby. Naturally both babies cry when they want their desires known. In one case, the mother who knows that all the needs and legitimate wants of the baby have been satisfied, lets it cry; it should like to advance if it could, the time for its bottle. No, it will be served at the right time, not before. The little one soon perceives that no one pays any attention to its demands and ceases its tempestuous howling.

In the other case, the minute the baby begins to cry, the mother dashes to soothe it. She cannot resist her baby’s cry. Instead of rearing it for itself, she rears it for herself, because she suffers too much from hearing it call or because its tears unnerve and disturb her. She gives in. She is lost. The little one is going to become frightfully capricious. Later she will not be able to control it. “Cry away my little man; you don’t need a thing,” would be a more wholesome attitude than yielding, provided of course, she knows that the baby is all right and that her conduct is not motivated by laziness but by a true desire to train the child.

That is only one detail. But in everything she should be guided by the same principle—the true good of the child. Then at six years it will know how to obey. And if the mother follows through progressively with the development of the child, helping it to use properly its young liberty, she

…

[Message clipped]  View entire message