A. St. Chrysostom says: "If we knew that a place was unhealthy and subject to pestilence, would we not withdraw our children from it, without being stopped by the riches that they might heap up in it, or by the fact that their health had not as yet suffered? . . . Among seculars shipwrecks are more frequent and sudden, because the difficulties of navigation are greater; but with anchorites storms are less violent, the calm is almost undisturbed. This is why we seek to draw _as many as we can_ to the religious life." Q. St. Jerome read every known author of his time, and summed up in himself the doctrine of all; what does he teach about exhorting others to embrace the religious state? A. St. Jerome writes thus to Heliodorus: "I invite you: make haste. You have made light of my entreaties; perhaps you will listen to my reproaches. Effeminate soldier! What are you doing under the paternal roof? Though your mother tear her hair and rend her garments, though your father stand on the threshold and forbid your departure, you must be deaf to the voice of nature, and hasten with unmoistened eye to enlist under the banner of Christ; love for God and fear of hell easily break all chains." Q. Does St. Augustine teach the same doctrine? A. Yes; St. Augustine says: "I have been passionately fond of the perfection of the evangelical counsels; with God's grace I have embraced them. With all the power I have I exhort others to do the same; and I have companions whom I have succeeded in persuading." Q. What does St. Bernard teach about this question? A. Enumerating the advantages of religious above persons living in the world, St. Bernard says: "They live more purely, they fall more rarely, they rise more speedily, they are aided more powerfully, they live more peacefully, they die more securely, and they are rewarded more abundantly." The influence which St. Bernard exercised by his letters and burning words was so effectual, so irresistible, that he was soon surrounded by a company of young men, who not only changed their way of life, but bound themselves to him to follow the holy path which God had traced out for him. His biographers tell us that the doctrine and eloquence of St. Bernard concerning the religious state were so powerful and convincing that, when he preached, mothers concealed their sons, and wives hid their husbands, and companions kept one another out of Bernard's way, because he persuaded so many to renounce the world and to embrace the religious state. [*] [*] See larger catechism with examples: "Questions on Vocations." Q. Is entrance into the religious state more important for some than for others? A. Yes; entrance into religion is a moral obligation for some, whilst it is a privilege for others. The two following pages will make this point clear. [_This page explains the _Obligation.__] Some are so evidently called to the religious state that they are _morally obliged_ to obey the call. Proofs of this doctrine: