Overview

"NOT long ago a devout Catholic girl asked us to write something for the guidance of those who, as she expressed it, were called to the third vocation, that is, to a life of virginity and of service in the world. There are, she explained, so many Catholic girls nowadays who have no mind or no opportunity to enter the religious life, and who, on the other hand, wish to strive bravely for perfection and to do something more than ordinary for God and their neighbor. Many of the spiritual books that they read speak as though the vows of religion and matrimony exhausted the possible vocations for women, and so they are puzzled sometimes to know whether their own state is one that enters into the plans of Providence, or whether the only state they can aspire to is that which the world in the spirit of ridicule has called the life of an "old maid." "To begin with, it is quite clear that women are no more bound than men to enter the state either of religion or of matrimony. Possibly the reason that the old-time writers sometimes seemed to teach a contrary doctrine was that in the circumstances of their time there appeared to be little place for women save in the cloister or the home." How many consider the single state as a true vocation for some people? Let us consider this also on the morning exercise: "Besides the Morning Offering, there is another most blessed and fruitful practice which we should all resolve upon and which begins at the waking hour. It is called by spiritual writers the exam en of conscience, and it is practised in this way: After we have offered our thoughts and words and acts to God, we cast a glance over the coming day and make a strong and earnest purpose to serve God faithfully all during the hours."