Here you will find a compilation of the texts of Pope Pius XI cited or mentioned in the book Paths of Love.
The Evangelical counsels are proposed to man's free choice
- In choosing a sort of life there is no doubt that it is in the power and judgment of each person
to prefer either one of the two: either to follow Jesus Christ's counsel of virginity, or to bind themselves in marriage.
To take away from man the natural and primeval right of marriage, to circumscribe in any way the principal ends of marriage laid down in the beginning by God Himself in the words 'Increase and multiply,' is beyond the power of any human law. (Pope Pius XI, Casti Connubii, n.8, AAS 22 (1930), 542. Quoting Pope Leo XIII in Rerum Novarum.)
Signs of a priestly vocation
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70. The Head of the seminary lovingly follows the youths entrusted to his care and studies the inclinations of each. His watchful and experienced eye will perceive, without difficulty, whether one or other have, or have not, a true priestly vocation. This readiness to carry out the
sacred duties, [i.e., a vocation] is, as you well know, Venerable
Brothers, not established so much by some inner inducement of
conscience and sensible feeling, which may sometimes be absent, but
rather by the right aim and intention in those who desire the
priesthood, joined to those physical qualities and spiritual virtues,
which make them suitable for embracing this state of life. They must look to the priesthood solely from the noble motive of consecrating themselves to the service of God and the salvation of souls; they must likewise have, or at least strive earnestly to acquire, solid piety, perfect purity of life and sufficient knowledge such as we have explained previously. Thus they show that they are called by God to the priestly state. Whoever, on the other hand, urged on, perhaps, by ill-advised parents, looks to this state as a means to temporal and earthly gains which he imagines and desires in the priesthood, as happened more often in the past; whoever is intractable, unruly or undisciplined, has small taste for piety, is not industrious, and shows little zeal for souls; whoever has a special tendency to
sensuality, and after long trial has not proved he can conquer it; whoever has no aptitude for study and who will be unable to follow the prescribed courses with due satisfaction; all such cases show that they are not intended for the priesthood.
(Pope Pius XI, Ad Catholici Sacerdotii, n. 70, AAS 28 (1936), 40).
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