JO J 



THE MEANS OF GRACE 



remain unmarried. 4 The New Testament dis- 

 tinctly teaches that marriage is not an obligation 

 binding all, but that, on the contrary, virginity 

 is a higher good (bonum melius) because it 

 enables man to devote himself wholly to the serv- 

 ice of God. To lead a single life for religious or 

 moral motives is better than to marry. 5 



Besides voluntary virginity, just described, 

 there is another kind, altogether involuntary or 

 compulsory, due to physical, moral or social 

 causes. The conditions of life in which a man 

 is placed may be such as to preclude marriage. 

 Thus he may be unable to find a mate, or he may 

 be physically unfit, or suffer from defects or in- 

 clinations which make a happy marriage impos- 

 sible or, at any rate, extremely doubtful. It is 

 no sin to remain unmarried for such and similar 

 reasons. But to refuse to assume the duties of 

 the married state out of pure selfishness, e. g., be- 



4 Cat. Rom., P. II, c. 8, qu. 12.— 

 St. Thomas, Summa Theol., 2a 2ae, 

 qu. 152, art. 2, ad 1: "Praeceptum 

 datum de gencratione {Gen. I, 28) 

 rcspicit totam multitudinem ho- 

 minum, cui nccessarium est, non so- 

 lum, quod multiflicetur corporaliter, 

 sed ctiam, quod spiritualitcr proficiat. 

 Et ideo sufficienter providetur hu- 

 manae multitudini, si quidam carnali 

 generationi operam dent, quidam 

 vero ab hac abstinentes, contempla- 

 tions divinorum vacent ad totius hu- 

 mani generis pulchritudinem et salu- 

 tern: sicut etiam in exercitu quidam 

 castra custodiunt, quidam signa 

 deferunt, quidam gladiis dccertant, 



quae tamen omnia debita sunt multi- 

 tudini, sed per unum impleri non 

 possunt." — Ibid., 3a, Suppl., qu. 41, 

 art. 1 sq.— H. Denifle, O.P., Luther 

 und Luthertutn, Vol. I, and ed., pp. 

 268 sqq. (Volz's translation, I, 1, 

 Somerset, O., 1917, pp. 261 sqq.). 



5 Matt. XIX, 10 sqq.; 1 Cor. VII, 

 25 sq., 32 sqq. — Cone. Trident., 

 Sess. XXIV, can. 10: "Si quis di- 

 xerit, statum coniugalem anteponcn- 

 dum esse statui virginitatis vel caeli- 

 batus, et non esse melius ac beatius 

 manere in virginitate out caelibatu, 

 quam iungi matrimonio, anathema 

 sit." 



