M-001. You
must love your students only in order to lead them to God and to fill them with his Holy
Spirit. |
M-002. You
must not doubt that it is a great gift of God, this grace He was given you to be entrusted
with the instruction of others. |
M-003. You are successors
to the apostles in their task of catechizing and teaching the poor. |
M-004. You are watched by
your students, hence you are obliged to give them good example. |
M-005. You
will lead your disciples to practice virtue far more easily by giving them the example of
a wise and reserved conduct than by anything you can say. |
M-006. Guard against any human attitude
toward your disciples; do not pride yourself over what you do
you owe all to God. |
M-007. You must look upon
this work entrusted to you, by fathers and mothers, as one of the most important and most
necessary services in the church. |
M-008.
Since you are ambassadors and ministers of Jesus Christ in the work you do, you must act
as representing Jesus himself. |
M-009. Examine before God
how you are acting in your ministry and whether you are failing in any of your
responsibilities, come to know yourself as you are. |
M-010. You act as
mediator in regard to your students, God making use of you to teach them the means of
salvation. |
M-011. If you wish your
disciples to practice virtue, do so yourself. |
M-012. Thank God for the grace He was given you in your work of sharing in the
ministry of the apostles. |
M-013.
You are engaged in a ministry wherein you are obliged to touch hearts. You can not do this
without the assistance of the Holy Spirit. |
M-014.
He has entrusted you especially with the care of their souls, which is what God had most
at heart when He made you the guides and guardians of these young people. |
M-015. By your state you
are ministers of God; you must be cooperative with Him and enter into His designs to bring
about their salvation. |
M-016. Jesus Christ told
his apostles, "I must announce the good news of the reign of God, because this is why
I have been sent." This is why Jesus has sent you and why the church , whose
ministers you are, commissions you. |
M-017. It is your
privilege to share in the apostolic mission by giving religious instruction to the
students entrusted to you, and by explaining the truths of the Gospel to them. |
M-018. You should have the highest esteem
for your employment which is apostolic. |
M-109. Strive to render
yourself worthy of your position by your irreproachable conduct; endeavor from today to
begin a new life and see that it continue henceforth to be holy and edifying. |
M-020. Do you apply
yourself to educate in a Christian manner the pupils confided to your care? |
M-021. You will give an
account to God whether you have taught your disciples all they should know according to
their age and ability; whether you have not neglected some students because they were the
slowest, or the poorest; whether you did not show favoritism towards others because they
were rich, or pleasant, or naturally possessing more loveable qualities than others. |
M-022. You must look upon
this work entrusted to you as one of the most important in the Church. |
M-023. You also are
angels sent by God to prepare the way for Him, and to provide the means whereby He may
enter your hearts and those of your students. |
M-024.
It is of great consequence that you should teach more by example than by words. |
M-025. Have you taught
your subject with all possible earnestness? Your first duty with regard to your students
is to give them edification and good example. |
M-026. That your words
may produce their full effect on your students, preach by example and practice what you
wish them to accept. |
M-027. Your students
should see in your decorum the reserve which they themselves should practice, in your
wisdom the manner in which they should conduct themselves. |
M-028. Students are led
more readily to do what they see done for them than to carry out what they hear told them,
particularly when the words they hear are not in harmony with the actions they see. |
M-029. You must strive to
attain a perfect knowledge of the truths or religion by study, because ignorance in such
matters would be criminal since it would cause ignorance in those whom you instruct. |
M-030. You should read
the Holy Scriptures to derive profit from this study since by your ministry you are called
upon to instruct, reprimand, correct, and conduct to piety those under your care. |
M-031. All we can expect
for having devoted ourselves to the education of children and particularly the poor, is
insults, rebuffs, calumnies, persecution, and even death. |
M-032. God will pour down his blessings
on you only if you make the education of your pupils your chief care. |
M-033. You must consider
it a great reward for yourselves, the consolation you feel at the bottom of your hearts,
that the students whom you teach are well-behaved. |
M-034. You should learn
to recognize Jesus beneath the rags of the poor children you have to teach. Adore Him in
their person. |
M-035. Thank God for the
grace he has bestowed on you by calling you to instruct others and train them to do good. |
M-036. If you are a true
lover of Christ, you will take every possible means to instill his love in the hearts of
your students whom you train to be his disciples. |
M-037. Do you believe
possibly that you are responsible for your disciples only during the time of school, that
your attention need not extend to their behavior outside of school, to help them as far as
you are able to live everywhere in a Christian manner? |
M-038. Knowingly or
unknowingly God has confided to your care these students to instructs and train them to
live a good life. |
M-039.
You have been called by Jesus to accomplish his ministry to teach. |
M-040. You have been
chosen by God to succeed the apostles in the work of teaching the doctrine of Jesus
Christ. |
M-041. God has bestowed
on you an honor since he destines you to be the spiritual father of the students whom you
instruct. |
M-042. He, Christ, has
chosen you in preference to many others to announce his truths to your students who are
his beloved ones. |
M-043.
Since Jesus Christ has chosen you among so many others to be his cooperators in the
salvation of souls, you must study in the Gospel how Jesus brought his disciples to
practice the truths of the gospel. |
M-044. Since you have to
prepare the hearts of others for the coming of Christ, you should first dispose your own
for an increase of zeal, that your words may produce their proper effect upon those whom
you are to instruct. |
M-045. Study the life and
zeal of St. John the Baptist, remembering that you are obliged, as he was, to prepare the
way of the Lord in your students. |
M-046. Your zeal cannot
produce an effect unless it be the outcome of the love of God which is in you. |
M-047. It is zeal which makes your
students capable of receiving a share in the grace which is in you for doing good. For
your zeal draws upon you in the Spirit of God. It is this spirit who gives your students
the power to practice good. |
M-048.
This is what your zeal must inspire in your disciples, God as it were appealing through
you, since you are ambassadors for Christ. |
M-049. It is your duty to
admonish the unruly in a way that will lead them to give up their former way of live. You
must cheer the faint-hearted, support the weak, and be patient toward all. |
M-050. Keep the goals of
your work as clear as those of Jesus himself so that you will draw his blessing and grace
upon yourself and all your labors. |
M-051. If you neglect to
reprove and correct your disciples when it is needed, you would have abused the ministry
with which God honored you when He put you in charge of guiding these students. |
M-052. It is your daily
duty to teach the children confided to your care. You must give them instructions suited
to their capacity otherwise your labor would be in vain. |
M-053. Provide your
pupils with the means of salvation appropriate to their development. Teach them without
using clever words, lest the Cross of Christ
become devoid of meaning. |
M-054. Those who instruct
others must get to know their pupils and discern the manner in which to act towards them. |
M-055. You must win your students to
practice the gospel maxims, and to this end you must give them means which are easy and
accommodated to their age. |
M-056.
Those who help them to save themselves must speak simply so that every word will be clear
and easy to understand. |
M-057. Let the
proclamation of his truth be your continual effort in the lessons you give your pupils,
looking upon yourselves as ministers of God and the administers of His mysteries. |
M-058. You should
manifest courage and intrepidity in teaching
your zeal and your faith being
strengthened by the thought that you are Gods ministers and you act in his name. |
M-059. After zeal for
teaching and good example, this serious self-control is one of the most useful virtue for
those who are responsible for teaching the young. |
M-060. You must be very
attentive especially when the students in your care do something out of order, and you are
required to reprove or correct them. There is nothing you must avoid more than allowing
your feelings to run away with you in situations like this. |
M-061. You cannot
instruct your disciples better than by affording them edification, and by repressing every
movement of anger. |
M-062. Your pupils must
see that your motives are not restricted to merely human ends. |
M-063. For no matter how
much faith your students may have, nor how lively it may be, if they are not practicing
any good works at all, their faith will be of no use to them. |
M-064. Jesus Christ wants you to
understand that the more your work is energized by him, the more it will produce good in
your disciples. |
M-065. You must reprove
and correct your disciples when they commit some fault, the more so because it is typical
of children that they often make mistakes by doing things without thinking. |
M-066. Reproof and
correction lead them to watch over themselves in order not to be making the same mistakes
all the time. |
M-067. The result of wise
correction is that those who receive it are disposed to correct their faults, whereas when
correction is administered through uncontrolled emotion
it serves only to turn the
disciples against his teacher and to arouse in him feelings of revenge and ill will, which
sometimes last a long time. |
M-068. Take care
that it is love and zeal for your students that leads you to correct them. |
M-069. Show them so much
kindness when you give corrections
that they not only will not be angry at you, but
will show you gratitude for the good you have done for them, a sincere regret for their
faults, and a firm intention not to commit them again. |
M-070. You are obliged to
know in order to teach. |
M-071. You should endeavor to train your
students in piety, to make them love prayer. |
M-072. We learn how
advantageous it is to inspire children with piety and to lead them especially to read good
books capable of making a salutary impression on their minds. |
M-072. It is important to
teach your students to pray
with much reverence and in secret
getting rid of
all thoughts that could distract their minds during prayer so that they will be occupied
solely with God and easily obtain what they ask Him. |
M-073. As far as possible
help your students to avoid bad companions. |
M-074. Inspire your
students with a love of virtue and fill their hearts with sentiments of piety. |
M-075. Your mission does
not consist in making your pupils Christians, but rather in making them true Christians. |
M-076. Teach your
disciples the knowledge of God. Make known to them the truths of the gospel. Train them to
put them in practice. |
M-077. Your work enjoys
little consideration in the eyes of others, but in the eyes of God it does. |
M-078. It is not enough
that children be kept in school and busy. Those who are called upon to teach them must
devote themselves especially to bring them up in a Christian spirit. |
M-079. You must help
students to be kind to one another, compassionate, mutually forgiving, just as God had
forgiven them in Jesus Christ, and loving one another as Jesus loved them. |
M-080. If you knew the great good that
you produce for your students in preserving and increasing grace by their frequent
reception of the sacraments, you would never let up teaching them about this. |
M-081.
Do not forget to help your students develop gentleness, patience, love, and respect for
their parents and all the conduct that is proper to a Christian person. |
M-082. You must not be
satisfied with keeping the students in your care from doing evil. You must also lead them
to practice as well all the good of which they are capable. |
M-083. Learn to speak
little but with wisdom. |
M-084. Are you so
vigilant over your students as to prevent them from doing evil in your presence? |
M-085. All your life
should be given up to the work of rendering your students good Christians. Watch over them
with great vigilance. |
M-086. Are you careful to
preserve your students from all that may corrupt their morals, especially bad companions? |
M-088. Teach them the
rules of a Christian life, and the means by which they might secure their eternal
salvation. It is for this end that God called you to your present vocation. |
M-089. When we are in a
ministry, we must add zeal to action, or else all we do will have but little result. |
M-090. Abandon yourself
entirely to the Holy Spirit that He may ask of the Eternal Father all the graces you need
for yourself and those entrusted to your care. |
M-091. You should act the
part of intercessors with God to obtain for your pupils by your prayers the piety that no
other care and attention could procure for them. |
M-092. When you encounter
some difficulty in the guidance of your disciples, when there are some who do not profit
from your teaching and you observe a reckless spirit in them, turn to God with confidence. |
M-093. You must
constantly represent the needs of your disciples to Jesus Christ , explaining to him the
difficulties you experience in guiding them. |
M-094. In order to
fulfill your responsibility with as much perfection and care as God requires of you,
frequently give yourself to the Spirit of the Lord to act only under His influence and not
through self-seeking. This Holy spirit then will fill your students with Himself, and they
will be able to posse fully the Christian Spirit. |
M-095. Since those who
teach are but the voice of God, it is from God that their words must proceed to make him
known to those whom they instruct. |
M-096. Whenever you feel
temper, do not cease praying until you have chased the evil spirit form you. |
M-097. When you
experience difficulty in practicing virtue, you should endeavor to regain it by prayer. |
M-098. Is your faith such
as to enable you to touch the hearts of your students and to inspire them with the
Christian Spirit? |
M-099.
Do not be content with reading or learning from men that you have to teach others. Pray
that God may so impress the truth upon your mind that you may never consider yourself
anything but as St. Paul says:"Christs servant and stewards of Gods
mysteries" (Cor.4.1) |
M-100. We learn to speak
to God only by listening to his voice, for the art of conversing with Him can only be
taught by God himself. |
M-101. Realize that the
better you apply yourself to prayer the better
you will be able to communicate what
is necessary to others. |
M-102. In all we
undertake we should begin by prayer to ask God the light and grace necessary to secure our
success in this holy ministry. For we can achieve success only insofar as he helps us and
the Holy Spirit directs us. |
M-103. The more ardently
you apply yourself to prayer for the good of the souls confided to you, the more facility
God will grant you for touching them. |
M-104. You must regard
your students piety, and not what may be agreeable or otherwise in their external
appearance. |
M-105. By your mission
you are required to labor against the evil inclinations of your students
it is not
by mere natural knowledge that you will achieve the required result, but the Spirit of God
and the assistance of his grace which you will obtain through prayer. |
M-106. Rest assured that you will know
the sacred Scriptures better by meditating on them than by learning them by heart. |
M-107. You have two kinds
of students to instruct: those who are idlers and inclined to evil, and those who are good
or at least tend towards good. Pray for both. |
M-108. The more you speak
of Jesus and what relates to Him, the more you will come to know and relish what is good,
and the holy truths He has taught us. |
M-109. You will
contribute to the good of your country by teaching your students to read and write and all
that pertains to your functions. But you must join prayer to your exterior effort. For
failing this, your action will have little effect. |