Chapter I

DEFINITION.----EVERY PERSON HAS SOME SPECIAL VOCATION.

Q. What is a vocation?

A. A call from God to some state of life.

Q. Which are the principal states of life?

A. Matrimony, virginity, the religious state, and the priesthood.

Q. Has every person a vocation?

A. Yes; God gives a special vocation to each person.

Q. How is this doctrine proved?

A. St. Paul says: "Every one hath his proper gift from God; one after this manner, and another after that. . . . _As_ the Lord hath distributed to _every one_, as _God hath called every one_, so let him walk." [*]

[*] The references are given in the larger catechism entitled "Questions on Vocations."

Q. Is it not beneath God's notice to give a particular vocation to each person?

A. Not at all; for even the birds of the air are objects of the providence of God: "Yea, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of _more value_ than _many sparrows._"

Q. What do Father Faber and St. Alphonsus say on this subject?

A. Father Faber says: "Every man has a distinct vocation." St. Alphonsus says: "We must embrace that state to which _God calls us_."

Q. What does St. Augustine teach concerning special vocations?

A. St. Augustine says: "He who does little, but in a state to which _God calls him,_ does more than he who labors much, but in a state which he has thoughtlessly chosen: a cripple limping in the right way is better than a racer out of it."