Q. What do the Sacred Scriptures say of mixed marriages?
A. "Bear not the yoke with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath light with darkness, or what part hath the faithful with the unbeliever?" "Neither shalt thou make marriages with them. Thou shalt not give thy daughter to his son, nor take his daughter for thy son; for she will turn away thy son from following Me; and the wrath of the Lord will be kindled, and will quickly destroy thee."
Mixed marriages are the fruitful source of numberless evils: the loss of faith to countless generations, immorality, attachment to the things of earth, and godless lives; and "as a man lives, so shall he die."
Q. What is the best remedy for these evils?
A. To remove their cause. Parents, young folks, and even advanced school-children should be taught the evil of mixed marriages before their minds become warped by company-keeping, passion, and bad example.
Many pastors obtain excellent results by frequently instructing the children concerning mixed marriages, and by teaching them the doctrine of the Church on this subject. [*]
[*] See "Mollie's Mistake, or Mixed Marriages," by Rev. J. W. Book, Cannelton. Ind. We highly recommend it as a very readable and instructive book.
[C]HAPTER V.
VIRGINITY.
Q. How is it proved that the state of virginity is a vocation?
A. St. Paul mentions virginity as a special state of life, and recommends it in preference to matrimony.
In the heading of the seventh chapter of the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians we find these words: "Virginity is preferable to the married state." In this whole chapter St. Paul speaks strongly in favor of the state of virginity: "I would that all men were even as myself;" that is, as the Fathers of Trent explain, "that all embraced the virtue of continence."
Q. Why is virginity to be preferred to the marriage state?
A. Because virginity is more pleasing to God, and more conducive to salvation.