The value of a vocation at an early age
St Thomas Aquinas explains that the reason why St John the Apostle calls himself 'the disciple whom Jesus loved' was 'because of his tender age' and, the Angelic Doctor naturally concludes:
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This shows us how God loves in a special way those who give themselves to his service from their earliest youth
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The germs of vocation
The priestly and religious vocation is a mystery of God. God calls when He wants and how He wants.
Therefore, vocation has no age, and it is for this very reason that Minor Seminaries exist in the Church today, whose purpose, as the Second Vatican Council says, is to ‘cultivate the germs of vocation in children and young people who desire to consecrate themselves to God from an early age’.
We see that these are 'seeds of vocation': the Minor Seminary will help to define it, to specify it, and above all to protect it and offer it a favourable environment for it to develop
Signs of a true
vocation
Desire to consecrate oneself
Awareness of the vanity of earthly things
Attraction to prayer
Desire to console the suffering Christ
Spirit of generosity with God
Charitable spirit towards one's neighbour
Desire to save souls
Spirit of magnanimity
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Those who for the love of God and his eternal salvation feel in their hearts the desire to embrace the state of perfection and holiness, can believe, without doubt, that this desire
comes from heaven,
for it is too generous and is far above the desires of nature’
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Do you want to know more?
Read our Vocation Directory
