1. The principle itself of special vocations. "Who separated me from my mother's womb, and _called_ me by _His grace._"--GAL. i. 15. "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to _every man unto profit_ . . . dividing to _every one_ according as _He will._"--1. COR. xii. 7, 11. 2. "There are _very many_ who _cannot enter heaven_ unless they abandon all things."--ST. GREGORY THE GREAT. 3. "If we wish to _secure our eternal salvation,_ we _must embrace_ that state of life to which God _calls_ us."--ST. LIGUORI. 4. "The choice of a state of life decides whether our conduct shall be good or bad."--ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN. 5. "It is very difficult to save one's self in a state of life in which God does not wish one to be."--ST. VINCENT DE PAUL. 6. "You run well, but out of the way; he who does little, but in the 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."--ST. AUGUSTINE. 7. "O hard-hearted father; O cruel mother; you wish rather that we perish with you (by remaining in the world) than be saved without you."--ST. BERNARD. [_This page explains the _Privilege.__] There are yet many more persons who have the _privilege_ of entering the religious state without a _moral obligation_ of doing so. Even though persons should have vocations to the marriage state in the sense that God would not _require_ anything higher of them, yet they are _privileged_ to enter the religious state if no impediment exists. Proofs of this doctrine: 1. The MIND of Church. The Church sacredly guards for all her children the _privilege_ of entering the religious state, even after promise of marriage: "Be zealous for the better gifts. And I shew unto you yet a more excellent way." 2. It is _of faith_ that virginity is preferable to matrimony: "If any one saith that the marriage state is to be preferred before the state of virginity, let him be anathema."--COUNCIL OF TRENT. The religious state is a more usual and a safer way of preserving virginity than a life in the outer world. 3. The invitation to the counsels is _general;_ it may be accepted by anyone who is not prevented by some particular impediment, as marriage, sickness, or home obligations. "The three counsels--of poverty, chastity, and obedience--constitute the substance, of the religious state."--SUAREZ. 4. "I say to the unmarried, and to the widows: it is good for them if they so continue, even as I. . . . The unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the things of the world, how she may please her husband."--ST. PAUL.