Vol 9 Issue 7 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward KrierFebruary 13, 2016 ~ Lenten Feria

1. Baptism: Means of Salvation (55)
2. Quinquagesima Sunday
3. Saint Valentine
4. Christ in the Home (30)
5. Articles and notices

Dear Reader:

This week the Church keeps the Ember Days—a time to do penance not only as Lent begins, but as the Church prays for those men who would be ordinarily receiving the various orders in the priesthood. There are seven orders, divided between minor and major. A young man who was accepted into the Seminary would receive the first tonsure (no longer worn because of the anti-Catholic Protestant and Secular world). After completing each course of studies, the young man would receive the Minor Orders of Porter, Lector, Exorcist and Acolyte. Arriving at the proper age and committing to becoming a priest, the candidate would then begin the Major Orders with the vow of celibacy and accepting the obligation to pray the Divine Office in the order of the Subdeaconate.  Having experienced the obligations that a priest is committed and completed further studies, he them receives the order of Deaconate. Here he assists the priests and bishops and partakes in the sacramental graces of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Once has reached the age (minimum 24) and has completed all the priestly preparation the young man is ordained a priest. The Mass on Saturday of Ember Week is arranged to administer these various orders. Let us pray those young men who are preparing for the various orders receive them with the proper dispositions as they will be our future priests. Let us also pray for vocations to the priesthood.

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

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Baptism

Means of Salvation

Sacrament of Baptism

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Continuing with the subject on who is to receive the sacrament of Baptism, the question arises: Are there those who should not or cannot be baptized? Saint Thomas first addresses those who are unrepentant sinners and asks: Whether sinners should be baptized? Despite the present Modernist “Mercy” that tolerates sinners and totally hates saints—and here it is not speaking of those who are weak and ignorant and fall into a sin, but those who “love sin” and reject any notion of taking sin out of their lives—the Church says they cannot be baptized. Why? Saint Thomas tells, quoting Saint Augustine, He Who created thee without thee, will not justify thee without thee. (Serm. clxix, 11)But since a sinner’s will is ill-disposed, he does not co-operate with God. Therefore it is useless to employ Baptism as a means of justification. (Q. 68, art. 4)

Thomas goes on to say the Sacrament of Baptism is to wash away sin, and therefore requires repentance. One who is repentant, has past sins taken away and is made clean; but the sinner who is unrepentant is still in sin—repudiating what is intended by the Sacrament of Baptism:

. . . [B]ecause he wills to sin and purposes to remain in sin. . . the sacrament of Baptism should not be conferred. First, indeed, because by Baptism men are incorporated in Christ, according to Galatians 3:27: “As many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ.” Now so long as a man wills to sin, he cannot be united to Christ, according to 2 Corinthians 6:14: “What participation hath justice with injustice?” Wherefore Augustine says in his book on Penance (Serm. cccli) that “no man who has the use of free-will can begin the new life, except he repent of his former life.” Secondly, because there should be nothing useless in the works of Christ and of the Church. Now that is useless which does not reach the end to which it is ordained; and, on the other hand, no one having the will to sin can, at the same time, be cleansed from sin, which is the purpose of Baptism; for this would be to combine two contradictory things. Thirdly, because there should be no falsehood in the sacramental signs. Now a sign is false if it does not correspond with the thing signified. But the very fact that a man presents himself to be cleansed by Baptism, signifies that he prepares himself for the inward cleansing: while this cannot be the case with one who purposes to remain in sin. Therefore it is manifest that on such a man the sacrament of Baptism is not to be conferred. (Ibid.)

Digressing on the topic of repentance, the question arises whether penance must be done after baptism. The Sacrament of Baptism takes away Original Sin and all personal if any is present and the person is repentant. As sin is taken away, there still remains the punishment due to sin. Therefore, should works of satisfaction be enjoined on sinners that have been baptized?

This is answered in the words of Saint Ambrose, who comments on Romans 11:29 (The gifts and the calling of God are without repentance) with the following words: The grace of God requires neither sighs nor groans in Baptism, nor indeed any work at all, but faith alone; and remits all, gratis. (Commentary on Romans)

As the Apostle says (Romans 6:3-4), “all we who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in His death: for we are buried together with Him, by Baptism unto death”; which is to say that by Baptism man is incorporated in the very death of Christ. Now it is manifest from what has been said above (48, 2,4; 49, 3) that Christ’s death satisfied sufficiently for sins, “not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world,” according to 1 John 2:2. Consequently no kind of satisfaction should be enjoined on one who is being baptized, for any sins whatever: and this would be to dishonor the Passion and death of Christ, as being insufficient for the plenary satisfaction for the sins of those who were to be baptized. (Art. 5)

Even though sin committed after baptism can be remitted, yet penance (therefore the Sacrament of Penance) then must be done in satisfaction for sin. Again, Saint Thomas says:

As Augustine says in his book on Infant Baptism (De Pecc. Merit. et Remiss. i), “the effect of Baptism is to make those, who are baptized, to be incorporated in Christ as His members.” Wherefore the very pains of Christ were satisfactory for the sins of those who were to be baptized; just as the pain of one member can be satisfactory for the sin of another member. Hence it is written (Isaiah 53:4): “Surely He hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows.”

This is why those who are baptized, even though adults, are instructed that they would go straight to heaven, without going to purgatory, if they were to die immediately after baptism. Nor, why the recently baptized do not confess their sins after baptism to receive penance. Thomas continues to explain in the following question, which does not mean unrepentant sinners, but those who were sinners previous to baptism, whether sinners who are going to be baptized are bound to confess their sins? Note should be given to the word, bound, that is this does not mean that one cannot publicly confess their sins to acknowledge God’s mercy, but forgiveness is not obtained by the confession of sin, but by the Sacrament of Baptism. Thomas, therefore, repeats Saint Ambrose quoted above, the grace of God requires neither sighs nor groans in Baptism (Commentary on Romans), and adds prior to that, the words of Saint Augustine (De Vera et Falsa Poenit. xiv): All these circumstances should be taken into account and deplored. Augustine was speaking of Confession when he wrote these words, and Thomas wanted to point out that it is in the Sacrament of Penance that all these acts are necessary; but in Baptism, as Thomas points out using the words of Ambrose, it is not necessary to have the same dispositions required in Penance:

Confession of sins is twofold. One is made inwardly to God: and such confession of sins is required before Baptism: in other words, man should call his sins to mind and sorrow for them; since “he cannot begin the new life, except he repent of his former life,” as Augustine says in his book on Penance (Serm. cccli). The other is the outward confession of sins, which is made to a priest; and such confession is not required before Baptism. First, because this confession, since it is directed to the person of the minister, belongs to the sacrament of Penance, which is not required before Baptism, which is the door of all the sacraments. Secondly, because the reason why a man makes outward confession to a priest, is that the priest may absolve him from his sins, and bind him to works of satisfaction, which should not be enjoined on the baptized, as stated above (Article 5). Moreover those who are being baptized do not need to be released from their sins by the keys of the Church, since all are forgiven them in Baptism. Thirdly, because the very act of confession made to a man is penal, by reason of the shame it inflicts on the one confessing: whereas no exterior punishment is enjoined on a man who is being baptized.

Therefore no special confession of sins is required of those who are being baptized; but that general confession suffices which they make when in accordance with the Church’s ritual they “renounce Satan and all his works.” And in this sense a gloss explains Matthew 3:6, saying that in John’s Baptism “those who are going to be baptized learn that they should confess their sins and promise to amend their life.”

If, however, any persons about to be baptized, wish, out of devotion, to confess their sins, their confession should be heard; not for the purpose of enjoining them to do satisfaction, but in order to instruct them in the spiritual life as a remedy against their vicious habits. (Art. 6)

In the Acts of the Apostles (2:38) one reads: Do penance and be baptized every one of you. It seems to contradict the words of Saint Ambrose, but taking into consideration that, as Saint Thomas demonstrates, the Church requires the catechumen to renounce Satan, his works and his pomps, and that they must act in accordance to the law of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 9:21 and Gal. 6:2), which opposes the nature of man which is prone to evil from his youth (Gen. 8:21). Therefore, penance in the Sacrament of Penance includes outward confession with atonement and amendment; whereas penance in the sacrament of Baptism includes inward confession with amendment.

Having looked at the dispositions one who has reached the age of reason must have to be baptized, Thomas asks, which seems redundant but is found when one is unconscious or unable to respond, whether the intention of receiving the sacrament of Baptism is required on the part of the one baptized? It may even be proposed, what if the person was asleep or someone poured water over the head without them knowing. Would they be baptized? No! And in doubt they would still need to be baptized conditionally as Saint Thomas explains. Saint Thomas reminds that the Church formally asks the one to be baptized whether they want to be baptized as found in the Ritual. If one did not specifically express a desire the Church requires baptism not as a re-baptism, but “If thou art not baptized, I baptize thee. . . .”

By Baptism a man dies to the old life of sin, and begins a certain newness of life, according to Romans 6:4: “We are buried together with” Christ “by Baptism into death; that, as Christ is risen from the dead . . . so we also may walk in newness of life.” Consequently, just as, according to Augustine (Serm. cccli), he who has the use of free-will, must, in order to die to the old life, “will to repent of his former life”; so must he, of his own will, intend to lead a new life, the beginning of which is precisely the receiving of the sacrament. Therefore on the part of the one baptized, it is necessary for him to have the will or intention of receiving the sacrament. (Art. 7)

Just as the intention to be baptized is required of an adult, so faith is required on the part of the one baptized—though it may be an erring faith. This article is to oppose the Donatists and those who consider baptism a rite of initiation into their church. That is, one must have the intention of receiving baptism, but not necessarily adhering to a particular creed. Thomas’ reply should be understood in this manner:

Gregory writing to the bishop Quiricus [Book XI, Letter 67] says: “We have learned from the ancient tradition of the Fathers that when heretics, baptized in the name of the Trinity, come back to Holy Church, they are to be welcomed to her bosom, either with the anointing of chrism, or the imposition of hands, or the mere profession of faith.” But such would not be the case if faith were necessary for a man to receive Baptism.

As appears from what has been said above (S. Th. 63, 6; 66, 9) Baptism produces a twofold effect in the soul, viz. the character and grace. Therefore in two ways may a thing be necessary for Baptism. First, as something without which grace, which is the ultimate effect of the sacrament, cannot be had. And thus right faith is necessary for Baptism, because, as it appears from Romans 3:22, the justice of God is by faith of Jesus Christ.

Secondly, something is required of necessity for Baptism, because without it the baptismal character cannot be imprinted. And thus right faith is not necessary in the one baptized any more than in the one who baptizes: provided the other conditions are fulfilled which are essential to the sacrament. For the sacrament is not perfected by the righteousness of the minister or of the recipient of Baptism, but by the power of God. (Art. 8)

(To be continued)

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Week of First Sunday in Lent

Benedict Baur, O.S.B.

The living water

1. Ember Friday finds us assembled in the church of the Twelve Apostles. The Mass has in mind both the penitents and the neophytes. We join ourselves to them at the Introit and pray, “Deliver me, O Lord, from my necessities, see my abjection and my labor, and forgive me all my sins. To Thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul; in Thee, O my God, I put my trust.”
2. “If the wicked do penance for all his sins, which he hath committed, and keep all My Commandments, and do judgment and justice, living he shall live, and shall not die. I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done; in his justice, which he hath wrought, he shall live. Is it My will that a sinner should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways and live? But if the just man turn himself away from his justice, and do iniquity according to all the abominations which the wicked man useth to work, shall he live? All his justices which he hath done shall not be remembered; . . . in his sin which he hath committed, in them he shall die . . . And when the wicked turneth himself away from his wickedness, which he hath wrought, and doeth judgment and justice; he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth and turneth away himself from all his iniquities which he hath wrought, he shall surely live and not die” (Epistle). Blessed penance! God rejoices in the opportunity we give Him for forgiving our sins. He is eager to forgive the sins of anyone who will turn away from his evil ways and do penance. “The days of penance have come,” the liturgy admonishes us every day at Tierce. “The days of penance have come to us, to redeem our sins and save our souls.” The chapter at Sext continues: “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord; and He will ‘have mercy on him” (Isa. 55:7).

“Jesus went up to Jerusalem.” Christ came to Jerusalem on a Sabbath and approached the pool of Bethsaida. The pool was surrounded by a building having five porches, where lay a great multitude of the sick who were waiting for the movement of the water. He who first reached the water after it had been moved by the angel, was freed from whatever infirmity troubled him. Here Jesus met a man who had suffered for thirty-eight years. “Wilt thou be made whole?” The infirm man answered, “Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pond; for whilst I am coming, another goeth down before me. Jesus saith to him: Arise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and he took up his bed and walked.” What the Gospel records becomes for us a reality in the holy liturgy. The porches of the pool of Bethsaida are for us the world in which we live. Here on every hand lie the sick, the halt, and the lame. The pool is the Church with its fountains of grace which spring up eternally. We are the sick man of the Gospel, with our sins, our vices and evil desires. Who can heal us? Of ourselves we can do nothing. Only Christ can heal us. When He comes to us He can make us whole if we repent of our sins and do penance.

3. Our sickness is symbolized by the number thirty-eight. Forty, according to St. Augustine, is the number of perfection in earthly life. Our number of thirty-eight falls short by two years of reaching our prime and perfection. These two missing years symbolize our lack of the love of God, and love of our neighbor. As long as we lack these two things we are sick. The Sabbath on which the Lord comes to us and heals us, is Holy Saturday or the moment of our baptism. With the grace of baptism He implants charity in our hearts and makes us whole. But we have so often cast this charity out of our hearts again by sin. Then He comes to us again in the sacrament of penance. We repented, we acknowledged our sin, we did penance and He healed us again: “Arise, take up thy bed and walk. Thy sins are forgiven thee,”

The liturgy insists on penance, and justly so. We Christians of the twentieth century are lacking in a real understanding of the necessity, purpose, and value of penance. A true penitential spirit and real works of penance are for the most part unknown to us; we shy away from mortification and privation. We have no patience with suffering and seldom have control over our desires and impulses. We fail to recognize the danger of too much sleep, luxurious dress, and sumptuous meals; and we seek to avoid every inconvenience and spiritual burden. It is a grave burden on us if we are required to fix an hour for rising and for performing our duties. We fret at the loss of our trivial pastimes, and at the sacrifice of empty pleasures. We find it difficult to control our tongues, to guard our eyes, to temper our curiosity, to refuse some dainty morsel, to omit some slight diversion, to give up even some sinful habit that has been dominating us. If this is our disposition, how shall we overcome temptation? “The kingdom of heaven [of virtue and perfection] suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away” (Matt. 11: 12). “Enter ye in at the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in there at. How narrow is the gate and strait is the way that leadeth to life, and few there are that find it” (Matt. 7:13).

PRAYER

Be gracious to Thy people Lord, and as Thou dost make them devoted to Thee, mercifully cherish them with Thy benign assistance. Hear us, O merciful God, and show to our minds the light of Thy grace. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

EMBER SATURDAY IN LENT

Transfiguration

1. The liturgy of the Mass today again recalls the early ages of the Church. The stational church is St. Peter’s in Rome, and the divine services begin at night. Early Sunday morning, at sunrise, we bring the service to a close with the Eucharistic sacrifice and the reception of Holy Communion. Thus we pass the Lenten night of our earthly existence to our real life after the resurrection of Easter.
2. The liturgy attempts to arouse in us a longing for redemption and the brightness of Easter morning. We return to that hour when for the first time, at the moment of our baptism, the heavenly light shone upon us. We cast off at that moment the darkness of sin and freed ourselves of Satan and his pomps. We turned to Christ, the light of men, the sun of life, and promised: I believe; I dedicate myself to God; I dedicate myself to Jesus Christ; I dedicate myself to the Holy Spirit and to the Church. Today we relive that moment. “This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these commandments and judgments [baptismal vows], and to keep and fulfill them with all thy heart and with all thy soul. Thou hast chosen the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in His ways, and keep His ceremonies and precepts and judgments, and obey His commands. And the Lord hath chosen thee this day to be His peculiar people and to keep all His commandments, . . . that thou mayest be a holy people of the Lord thy God” (First lesson). As the people of the Lord, we make our journey through the night of our earthly life toward the light. We are surrounded on all sides by hostile adversaries (Second and third lessons). We see ourselves menaced by Satan, by the world, by our base passions, by the perversity of our own heart. We therefore cry out to God, “Have mercy upon us, O God of all, and behold us in the light of Thy mercies” (Fourth lesson). “Look down, O God our protector, and grant us who are burdened with the weight of our sins, to obtain mercy and thus serve Thee with a tranquil mind” (Second Collect). The liturgy here expresses its longing for light, freedom, and resurrection from the death and bondage of sin. It longs for the coming of the angel of the Lord, who will snatch us from the darkness of the night and lead us to the brightness of eternal day, as he saved the three young men from the fiery furnace (Fifth lesson).

The Mass shows us how this longing may be fulfilled. In the Gospel we are led up to Mount Tabor so that with Peter, in whose church we celebrate the holy mysteries today, we may be witnesses of the transfiguration of the Lord. The path of our life leads through the night of our earthly pilgrimage, and as we follow it we must embrace the cross, mortification, humiliation, and suffering; but it will lead us finally to the heights of Mount Tabor and transfiguration. Christ is the head and we are the members of one body. Today He appears in the splendor of His transfiguration on Mount Tabor and in the Holy Sacrifice; we who are members of His body will one day share in that glorification, and with the Church we shall live eternally united to Him. The transfigured host on the Tabor of the altar is our certain assurance of the future glorification and transfiguration of the Church. With confidence we dwell, not on the night that surrounds us now, but rather on the glory of the awakening that awaits us in the eternal transfiguration of the everlasting Easter. “Lord, it is good for us to be here.”

3. Today we renew our baptismal vows. At the celebration of the Mass we should repeat our Abrenuntio: “I renounce.” With the gifts of bread and wine which we bring to the altar, we join ourselves to the sacrifice and pledge: “Receive my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my will I give Thee all that I am so that You may do with me what You will.”

Transfiguration! After the Lenten trials and sacrifices of our earthly life, we may look forward to transfiguration in heaven. Now we see only the hard, stony path that stretches out before us. We are so absorbed by the struggle with ourselves, so busy with the sacrifices, prayers, and works that are imposed on us, that we are prone to lose sight of the glory that awaits us. If we could keep the thought of our future glory before us, we should find new courage and strength to bear our trials and hardships more joyfully. If only the glorified Savior were more truly a part of our conscious life! Today the holy liturgy urges us to acquire such an awareness.

“That thou mayest be a holy people of the Lord” (First lesson). Baptism, religious profession, and holy orders make us the holy people of the Lord. How easily we forget that we are His chosen people! How readily we forsake Him and turn to lesser gods!

PRAYER

Look favorably upon Thy people, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and by Thy mercy turn aside from them the scourges of Thy wrath. Direct our actions, we beseech Thee, O Lord, by Thy inspiration and further them with Thy continual help; that every prayer and work of ours may begin always from Thee and through Thee likewise be ended. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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14: ST VALENTINE, MARTYR (C. A.D. 269)

Valentine was a holy priest in Rome, who, with St Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, on finding all his promises to make him renounce his faith ineffectual, commanded him to be beaten with clubs, and afterwards to be beheaded, which was executed on February 14, about the year 270. Pope Julius I is said to have built a church near Ponte Mole to his memory, which for a long time gave name to the gate now called Porta del Popolo, formerly Porta Valentini. The greatest part of his relics are now in the church of St Praxedes. His name is celebrated as that of an illustrious martyr in the sacramentary of St Gregory, the Roman Missal of Thomnasius, in the calendar of F. Fronto and that of Allatius, in Bede, Usuard, Ado, Notker and all other martyrologies on this day. To abolish the heathen’s lewd superstitious custom of boys drawing the names of girls, in honour of their goddess Februata Juno, on the 15th of this month, several zealous pastors substituted the names of saints in billets given on this day. (Butlers’ Lives of the Saints)

Valentine was a holy priest who lived in Rome.

Along with St. Marius, he helped the martyrs to die a good and holy death. He gave them the Sacraments of Holy Communion and Extreme Unction to help them on their journey to Heaven.

While he was performing these holy deeds of charity, the Roman soldiers discovered him. But because St. Valentine was admired by all the people and even by the Emperor—for his virtue and wisdom, he was not put to death at once. The Emperor himself sent for him and welcomed him kindly. He invited him to sit down beside him. Then he asked him, “Why did such a wise man as you lower yourself to join a religion that is against the gods of Rome?”

“Sir,” answered Valentine gently, “if you knew the God I adore, you would hate the religion that makes you worship devils. You would be proud to adore the only true God, the Creator of Heaven and earth. Only He can make you and all your people truly happy.”

The Emperor wanted to know more about the Christian religion, and St. Valentine answered all his questions with great wisdom. The people of the court became angry. They did not like to see their Emperor interested in the religion of the Christians. The Emperor saw that they were angry. He thought more about pleasing men than pleasing God. So he turned the Saint over to the governor to be judged.

That is how St. Valentine, too, suffered martyrdom for his beloved Lord Jesus. He was beaten with clubs and later beheaded.

St. Valentine was a man of great virtue because he knew his religion well. The more we learn about our Faith, the more we will want to grow in every virtue.

(Saints for Young People, vol. 1)

CHRIST IN THE HOME

BY RAOUL PLUS, S.J.

(1951)

MARRIAGE

TRAINING 

FROM THREE TO FIVE

AT THIS period of their life, children have not in general arrived at an awakening, at least not a complete awakening, of their moral sense. They are midway between the unawareness of their first years and a completely rational contact with life; their principal occupation is play—the little boy will be busy building and tearing down; the little girl will be busy scribbling away at indefinite designs or dressing and undressing her sawdust doll, the first in a series of many dolls.

They will have just the beginning of a contact—depending upon their family, their mother particularly—with the invisible world. They will learn their prayers, know that there is a God who is good and they will hear about little Jesus. They will also know that there are things that are forbidden, but they will not as yet see the wickedness of sin; they take what belongs to mamma without knowing that they are stealing; they do not always tell the truth without knowing really that it is an evil thing to lie and when they do speak untruly it is much more through an instinct of self-defense than through innate perversion. They would go to the end of the world for a kiss and much further still for a piece of candy. But if they must give up the piece of candy to a little brother or sister, they will do it with not too bad a grace but they will see to it that they get a lick of it themselves before parting with it; after all, aren’t they being quite generous already? And if for Christmas mother has suggested that they sacrifice some of their sweets to little Jesus, they do it eagerly but see nothing wrong with coming back quietly later to eat up their sacrifices.

It is important to capitalize on this marvelous period of the child’s life.

Since the child loves to imagine, it is necessary to suggest images to its mind and since the child needs to be educated, these images should be elevating. That can be done very early by using the lives of the saints, the life of Mary and of Jesus. Why not? How many details of Scripture are most picturesque and quite within the grasp of the child’s mind; this is especially true if the Gospel episodes have first come by way of the mother’s heart; she will know how to awaken without straining, instruct without fatiguing, and adapt it all to the mentality of the child.

A prime guiding principle here is Never anything inexact! Children at this age are extremely docile. “Papa said it or Mamma said it,” makes it sacred. Therefore, great attention to the stories they are told, to the allusions made or the conversations held in their presence.

At this age the child is inclined to refer everything to itself, but very likely to be disinterested in goodness. By nature it is selfish; it has a terrific sense of ownership; will share nothing; wants everything. Since it has numerous needs and knows itself to be little, it seeks to surround itself with the greatest possible number of things to its own advantage. But if little by little it is taught to look about to see that there are others less privileged, that to give up things for love of another is something fine, it will be found capable of remarkable generosity.

The child at this age has not since the time of its baptism become incrusted with the shell of negligence and the faults an adult might commit; simplicity is inherent in it; it is pure; it has infused Faith and the Holy Spirit in its soul is at ease.

But it is essential to avoid scandalizing the least of these little ones, giving them the example of evil, of impurity even material impurity, of lying, of anger.

Further, the child is readily distracted, forgetful, has its head in the clouds. You speak to it and it listens or does not listen as fancy strikes; it follows its own thought and interior emotion. Your commands fall on its ears like water on marble. You must catch its attention, reiterate your suggestions or commands without impatience on your part or fatigue for the child.

Constant attention is necessary to train them in manners, in proper sleeping habits, in conduct at table; to check the first symptoms of greediness, laziness, lack of discipline, sensuality. The child is still thoughtless but the educator must not be. Long explanations are not needed; a word, simple look go a long way and speak volumes at times.

Parents should never lose courage even if the results are imperfect. Let them examine their methods and change them if necessary. Let them see in these little ones only Christ—”Whatsoever you do to these, the least of My brethren, you do unto Me.”

THE ART OF GIVING CHILDREN FAULTS

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