Opera Omnia

HEADING IX
THE RELIGIOUS VOCATIONS
It has already been seen before that regarding this most delicate subject there could be two opposite errors: never to want to find them and much less to encourage such a vocation in some; or else to pretend to see it or to find it unfold in one to whom God has not bestowed it. The first mistake can be caused by a certain pessimism, or by negligence, or by a certain ignorance: the second instead may be due ordinarily to exaggerated zeal. It is good to remain in the middle: God knows well which and how many priests and religious are necessary for the Church. As a providential and providing father, he gives vocation to whom he wants: to us the obligation is to study those who may have it, to cultivate it, help it in all manners.
And on whom does this obligation weigh if not on those who were blessed by God with such a great vocation as the priesthood? We who are the fathers of souls should see to it that on our death these souls do not remain orphans, without a father, a pastor and guide. If to tend the sheep, that are the souls, is meritorious, how much more meritorious it is to train shepherds who are the religious and the priests?
And are not the religious that fortunate part of Jesus Christ's fold that finds itself in the state of perfection, having followed the evangelical counsels? What profound impression do the religious not exercise through their example in

the world? What help don't they give to the Church through their continuing prayers? Are not the missionaries accomplishing the precept of Jesus Christ: Predicate omni creaturae?¹ Are not the sisters the blessed angels in so many hospitals, homes, kindergartens, schools? What glory for the Church also before the unbelievers, are the missionaries who, through religion, brings to the unbelievers in distant countries the civilization and the name of the motherland; and the sisters, whose work and spirit of sacrifice, could they be substituted by servants or lay and expensive teachers?
It seems to me that every priest who moves up the altar for the first time, every religious who makes the profession, every missionary who decides to leave for distant lands, each ought to make the firm resolve: work for their entire life, through initiatives, the word, prayers for training and leaving behind at least two priests, or sisters, or missionaries. Would it be too much? To me it seems not, rather they do much more.
If this wish came true, how much good would it do! Neither will it be said: the religious have their own defects! Inasmuch as one can answer: they have so many merits as well; and who has no defects? Jesus Christ makes use as well of weak instruments for doing great things. One could object: our clergy is big! One can answer: shall it always be so? If it is big at this moment, let there be missionaries: it is certainly not too much that Asia, with its 850 million inhabitants, should have but 6 thousand priests! While in Italy alone there re about 70 thousand!

And what practical norms?
1) Sometimes talk about the religious and priestly state, of sisters and of missionaries. One who aims at this will find the suitable occasion. Occasions of celebrations for some member of the clergy or some

religious: first mass, jubilees of priests, of bishops, of the pope, occasions of religious investiture of some cleric or profession of some religious; occasions of solemnity that come every year, for example, the Epiphany (propagation of the faith), Sunday wherein the Gospel of the Good Shepherd occurs, the feast of some religious or priest saint; occasions that can be found during conferences to the Luigini² and to the Daughters of Mary;³ or else in many other particular circumstances. Neither in public alone, but also in private, while visiting families, while being with young people who show some good inclinations. It would be very good those publications that speak of the Propagation of the faith,⁴ of Holy Infancy,⁵ the Salesian Bulletin,⁶ the Consolata,⁷ etc., are read: likewise those short and easy biographies of priest saints, of missionaries, of religious. If there is in the village the sisters, for them the work will be made a lot easier especially for that which concerns the young ladies.
2. Work. Should it be seen that someone of real signs of vocation (good life, adequate gifts of nature and grace, inclination), the parish priest or the confessor could advance the idea to him by advising him to think over it and pray. If the young man or young woman manifests the desire, it would even be better. Let a very important matter be noted, though: since it concerns a decision of utmost importance and at the same time delicate, it is not absolutely enough to get to know the internal forum: it is suitable that one knows the subject also in the external forum, what may be his conduct: much better yet if one knows the whole complex of the subject's life.
Then, to study and cultivate privately the vocation

means: a) to observe how strong and how lasting is the desire to embrace that state; b) if this desire is borne especially out of supernatural reasons, which often are seen also in children of eight to ten years old; c) if this desire is effective, that is, if it leads the candidate to take the necessary means to make himself worthy of the state he aspires: means that are always the frequent reception of the most Holy Sacraments, flight from entertainments, companions, bad reading materials, a pious life, and also a certain desire to do good deeds to others.
3. Aside from suggesting these means, the priest, especially the parish priest, shall render those material aids that he sees necessary in the practical case, such as clarifications, directions, to give or look for persons for material assistance, to do his best as regards the family, the seminary, the religious house.
4. Should a young man already find himself in the seminary or in the religious house, the care of the priest must not stop, but must change according to circumstances. If the young man sometimes takes a vacation with his family, it is good to exercise a prudent and most diligent watchfulness on his behavior, in order to refer them most faithfully to the superiors. It is especially there that the candidates to the religious or priestly state reveal themselves, because they remain free. If this norm were always observed, how much less tears would have been shed in the Church! One must not leave himself influenced by human judgment or points of view, nor by the tears or fear of relatives, nor by others. It is suitable to refer what is good and bad in their exact reality: and hence leave the candidate's superior an unlimited freedom in giving the final judgment on vocation.

5. During vacation, these candidates meet many dangers, considering their lack of experience and the malice of the world. It shall then be the concern of the priest, especially of the parish priest, to help them with admonitions and with work. It will be most beneficial to insist that they be assiduous in liturgical celebrations, that they teach catechism to the children, that in the morning they arrive in church on time, that they go back later in the day or in the evening for the visit to the Blessed Sacrament and for the Benediction or Rosary. If the circumstances and prudence allow it, since it concerns young persons or clerics of the seminary, they can be often invited to the rectory, even every day, while assigning them some easy occupation: they can be accompanied during ordinary walks, during visits to the sick, etc. This gives them relief, keeps them busy, exercise them in the priestly ministry.
6. Then nothing is more beneficial than a coordinated action between the parish priest and the superiors of the house of formation, in the purpose of guiding the young men according to their vocation, according to the directions of the superiors and according to the needs of the times. It shall then be the concern of both to often confer with one another, intimately, under secrecy: to exchange views, forecasts, impressions: to come to a common understanding as to what to do and the means to choose in the different situations.