MATRIMONY 203 



cause of an inordinate love of pleasure, or in or- 

 der to be able to continue in vicious habits, 6 is con- 

 trary to the moral law and exposes a man to great 

 danger. 



However, we must be slow to condemn unmarried per- 

 sons, for they may be actuated by perfectly legitimate 

 motives which they do not care and are under no obliga- 

 tion to reveal even to their confessor. 



One who is too weak to lead a chaste life and unwilling 

 to employ the moral and religious means which would en- 

 able him to live continently, 7 is in duty bound to marry, 

 and the confessor should tell him so. 8 However, it is 

 necessary to proceed with caution in such cases, because 

 the question of marriage is a most delicate and impor- 

 tant one, and continence has to be practiced at certain 

 times even in wedlock. St. Paul expressly teaches that 

 no one should be forbidden to marry, and in spite of his 

 high regard for widows, frankly admits that for many of 

 them it would be better to marry again. 9 



6 "Non amator coniugii, sed libi- voverit; qui te hortatur, ut voveas, 



dinis servus." Cfr. St. Augustine, ipse adiuvat ut reddas." (Migne, 



Confessiones, 1. VI, c. 15, n. 25 P. L., XXXVII, 1717). — St. Thomas, 



(Migne, P. L., XXXII, 732); C. Summa Theol., 3a, Suppl., qu. 42, 



Krieg, Wissenschaft der Seelenlei- art. 3, ad 3: "Adlubetur maius re- 



tung, Vol. I, pp. 318 sqq. medium [contra concupiscentiae 



T Mark XIV, 38; 1 Cor. X, 13. — morbum] per opera spiritualia et 



Cone. Trident., Sess. XXIV, can. 9 carnis mortificationem ab Mis, qui 



"Si quis dixerit, . . . posse omnes matrimonio non utuntur." 



contrahere matrimonium , qui non 81 Cor. VII, 9: Kpelacrov yap 



sentiunt se castitatis, etiamsi earn earns yafiijcrai fj trvpovadai- — On 



voverint, habere donum, anathema the meaning of uri and of the vow 



sit, quum Deus id recte petentibus of celibacy see Denifle, Luther und 



non deneget nee patiatur, nos supra Luthertum, Vol. I, 2nd ed., pp. 92 



id, quod possumus, tentari." — Sess. sqq. (English translation by Volz, I, 



VI, cap. 11: "Deus impossibiha non 1, pp. 100 sqq.). 



iubet." — St. Augustine, Enarr. in 9 1 Cor. VII, 1 sq., 8 sq., 39 sq.; 



Ps., CXXXI, n. 3: "Nemo praesu- 1 Tim. IV, 3; V, 5, 14 sq. 

 mat viribus suis se reddere, quod 



