II.
Detachment from Seculars, and even from the Sisters.[1]
St. Augustine says that whoever does not shun dangerous conversations will soon fall into a precipice: "He that will not avoid suspected familiarity soon falls into ruin." The example of the unhappy Solomon should make us all tremble. At first he was most dear to God, and even the inspired of the Holy Ghost, but by the love of strange women he was in his old age led into idolatry. Nor should his fall be a subject of wonder; for, as St. Cyprian says, to stand in the midst of flames and not to burn is impossible.
Be assured, O blessed spouse of the Lord, that for religious the atmosphere of the parlor, where conversations are held with seculars, is pestiferous. As in the choir religious breathe the salubrious air of paradise, so in the parlor they may inhale the pestilential vapors of hell. A religious, were she in her father's house, would certainly not dare to spend an hour or two in conversation with persons of every age and of both sexes, and will she not scruple to do so in God's own dwelling? Is the house of the Lord to be treated with less respect than the house of a secular?
But you will say: By the grace of God such conversations are harmless. Let those that speak thus remember, that all friendships founded on a sensible affection for external objects, if not productive of other evils, are at least great obstacles to perfection. They certainly
- ↑ On this and other similar passages, see a useful remark in the Notice at the beginning of this volume. — Ed.
