By meditating on the life, passion, and death of Jesus Christ St. Francis of Assisi was filled with such a burning zeal for God and his neighbor that he renounced his great wealth, and his right to an honorable inheritance, and spent his life in inflaming others with zeal for the salvation of souls.
The foul sight and the stench of the corpse of the Empress Isabella opened the eyes of Francis Borgia to the folly of a worldly life. He renounced the world and entered the Society of Jesus, where he sanctified himself, thinking often of the eternal torments of hell.
Q. What, then, is the principal difference in the feelings or emotions of those called to the religious state?
A. Some people, having their will inflamed with a love for the religious state, enter it with great pleasure, and without any questions about the matter; others enter it only when their understanding has become so enlightened as to discover the vanity and dangers of the world, and when they see clearly the greater security of salvation in the religious state. These latter persons may even be somewhat dull in their affection for this state, and not so inclined, humanly, to follow that which reason and faith point out to them; in their lower, animal feelings they may even experience a kind of repugnance to do what their higher reasoning powers dictate to them. This second kind of vocation is better than the first, and more generally approved by those who are experienced in such matters; for, being grounded on reason and faith, it is less subject to error, and more likely to attain the crown of perseverance.
Q. Which are the proper motives for entering the religious state?
A. The first motive should be the greater security of our own salvation; the second, to promote the glory of God by a good life and by contributing to the salvation of others.
Q. Which are the impediments to entrance into religion?
A. The ordinary impediments are ill health, unsuitable age, and the obligation of supporting poor and helpless parents.
[C]HAPTER IX.
DOUBTS ABOUT A VOCATION TO THE RELIGIOUS STATE.
Views of St. Ignatius and St. Francis de Sales.
Q. What should be done by a person who thinks of entering the religious state, but fears that he may not be called to it by Almighty God?
A. St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuit Order, gives an excellent answer to this question. He says: "If a person thinks of embracing a secular life, he should ask and desire more evident signs that God calls him to a secular life than if there were question of embracing the evangelical counsels; for Our Lord Himself has evidently exhorted us to embrace His counsels, and, on the other hand, He has evidently laid before us the great dangers and difficulties of a secular life; so that, if we rightly conclude, revelations and extraordinary tokens of His will are more necessary for a man entering upon a life in the world than for one entering the religious state."
Q. Is this doctrine of St. Ignatius supported by Sacred Scripture?
A. This doctrine is in perfect harmony with the teaching of the Scriptures. Our blessed Lord says: "Woe to the world because of scandals;" and St. John, the beloved disciple, says: "If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him; for all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life."