States of Christian Life and Vocation, According to the Doctors and Theologians of the Church/Part 2/Section 1/Chapter 1

CHAPTER I. PRAYER.
" WHO is the man that can understand his own way?" (Prov. xx, 24.) How can we by ourselves foresee all the dangers that are to be met with in this or that state, even though it be lawful and holy ? God alone knows the means and the obstacles that his creature is to find in its path. Man sees the opening of the career, and, as it were, the beginning of the road, that lies before him ; but, inexperienced in travel, he knows neither the thorns that will blood-stain his feet, nor the stones against which he may stumble, nor the precipice whose depths shall yawn beneath his steps. What is to be done amid such darkness save to cry out to God with the Royal Prophet : " Enlighten my eyes that I may never sleep in death ;" "O Lord ! make me know my end ;" "Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God. Make the way known to me wherein I should walk ; for I have lifted up my soul to thee ;" "Turn away my eyes that they may not behold vanity ; " "Give me understanding"?

When the wind whirling about the sands of the desert hides from the traveller the road that he should follow, his only guide are the stars of heaven. " As we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to thee." " If any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men abundantly, and upbraideth not ; and it shall be given to him." This wisdom, as Cornelius a Lapide notices, is nothing else but a knowledge of our last end, and of the means to reach it. And who is there that has greater need of this wisdom than young people without experience in life, and still having to choose a state in it ? No one more than they has to fear the deceptions and prejudices of the world, the rush of passions and of a fiery imagination, and the fascination of trifles which shroud real good in darkness. Let them pray, therefore. Indeed, if prayer is at all times a consolation, a strength, a light, for the Christian in all his leading actions, is its presence not needed to direct, sustain, and cheer him in the greatest and most decisive step of his life, the choice of a state ? With good reason, then, has every author who deals with this matter recommended prayer, earnest, ardent prayer, before making such a choice. St. Ignatius says that we should "entreat the mercy of God, that he will vouchsafe to instruct our mind and impel our will in that direction in which we ought in preference to go."

"We should pray earnestly to God," wrote St. Liguori to a young man, " to make known to us his will, whatever may be the state he has in store for us." The chief favor which we ought to beg of God, after our first communion, is, according to us, to know the kind of life in which we shall most easily save our souls. Wherefore it is important from early life to practise some daily devotion or penance, with a view to gain this knowledge. " Do not fail," continues St. Liguori, "to recommend yourself in a special way to our holy mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, beseeching her to obtain for you grace perfectly to fulfil the will of her divine son.

St. Louis Gonzaga paid frequent visits to our Lady's altar, fasted every Saturday in her honor, and often received holy communion for the same object. On the feast of the Assumption, having eaten the bread of angels, whilst in the name of Mary he besought the Holy Ghost to manifest his will, the young saint learned, in a clear and definite way, what God wished him to do. The Blessed Virgin is, indeed, the star that God has made to shine over the ocean of this world to guide unto the haven of salvation the tempest-tost children of men. Turn not away your eyes from the light of that star, if you wish to escape the fury of the waves, says St. Bernard. In all your doubts and anxieties think of Mary, call upon her name.

By invoking God and his holy mother with perseverance, confidence, fervor, docility, and the other necessary conditions, we shall surely obtain, if not a revelation and extraordinary lights on the path we should follow, at least the purity of intention and the Christian prudence which we need to make a choice in accordance with God and with our holy faith. Jesus Christ has promised to grant everything to well-made prayer. We must not, however, neglect those other means which we have still to mention. Also, let us not forget that, when mortal sin reigns in a soul, it acts like a cloud veiling from us the light of heaven, and hindering the ardor of prayer. "Your iniquities," says Isaias (lix, 2), "have divided between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you." "The way of the wicked is darksome : they know not where they fall." (Prov. iv, 19.)

Who can refrain from pitying those young people who grovel in evil thoughts and pursuits up to the hour at which they have come to a final decision on their future? Will some few hastily uttered aspirations, a few returns for a moment to virtue, be able to scatter the clouds that have been heaped up by a guilty life? Saul consulted the Lord, and could get no answer: God withdrew from the king who had refused to obey his commands, (i Kings, xxviii, 6, 18.) Hence, he who wishes to learn what state he should embrace, ought to keep himself constantly in the state of grace by receiving the sacraments, at least often enough to avoid grievous sin. This is what will render prayer efficacious, make it penetrate the heavens, and bring down on the soul the mercy and light of the Almighty.