University of Virginia Library

Chapter XIV.

THE VOW OF CELIBACY.

WERE I to write all the ingenious tricks, pious lies, shameful
stories called miracles, and sacrilegious perversions of the
Word of God made use of by superiors of seminaries and
nunneries to entice their poor victims into the trap of perpetual
celibacy, I should have to write ten large volumes, instead of a
short chapter.

Sometimes the trials and obligations of married life are so
exaggerated that they may frighten the strongest heart. At
other times the joys, peace and privileges of celibacy are
depicted with such brilliant colors that they fill the coldest mind
with enthusiasm.

The Pope takes his victim to the top of a high mountain,
and there shows him all the honors, praise, wealth, peace and
joys of this world, united to the most glorious throne of heaven,
and then tells him: "I will give you all those things if you fall
at my feet, promise me an absolute submission, and swear never
to marry in order to serve me better."

Who can refuse such glorious things? But before entirely
shutting their eyes, so that they may not see the bottomless
abyss into which they are to fall, the unfortunate victims sometimes
have forebodings and presentiments of the terrible miseries
which are in store for them. The voice of their conscience,
intelligence and common sense has not always been so fully
silenced as the superior desired.

At the very time when the tempter is whispering his lying
promises into their ears, their Heavenly Father is speaking to
them of the ceaseless trials, the shameful falls, the tedious days,

the dreary nights, and the cruel and insufferable burdens which
are concealed behind the walls where the sweet yoke of the
Good Master is exchanged for the burdens of heartless men and
women.

As formerly, the human victims crowned with flowers, when
dragged to the foot of the altar of their false gods, often cried
out with alarm, and struggled to escape from the bloody knife of
the heathen priest, so at the approach of the fatal hour at which
the impious vow is to be made, the young victims often feel their
hearts fainting and filled with terror. With pale cheeks, trembling
lips and cold-dropping sweat they ask their superiors,
"Is it possible that our merciful God requires of us such a
sacrifice?"

Oh! how the merciless priest of Rome then becomes
eloquent in depicting celibacy as the only way to heaven, or
in showing the eternal fires of hell ready to receive cowards and
traitors, who, after having put their hand to the plough of
celibacy, look back! He speaks of the disappointment and
sadness of so many dear friends, who expected better things of
them. He points out to them their own shame when they will
again be in a world which will have nothing for them but
sneers for their want of perseverance and courage. He overwhelms
them with a thousand pious lies about the miracles
wrought by Christ in favor of his virgins and priests. He
bewitches them by numerous texts of Scripture, which he
brings as evident proof of the will of God in favor of their
taking the vows of celibacy, though they have not the slightest
reference to such vows.

The text of which the strangest abuses are made by the
superiors to persuade the young people of both sexes to bind
themselves to those shameful vows is Matt. xix., 12, 13: "For
there are eunuchs which were born from their mother's womb;
and there are some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of
men; and there are eunuchs which have made themselves
eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to
receive it, let him receive it."

Upon one occasion our superior made a very pressing appeal

to our religious feelings from this text, to induce us to make the
vow of celibacy and become priests. But the address, though
delivered with a great deal of zeal, seemed to us deficient in
logic.

The next day was a day of rest (conge). The students in
theology who were preparing themselves for the priesthood,
with me, talked seriously of the singular arguments of the last
address. It seemed to them that the conclusions could not in
any way be drawn from the selected text, and therefore determined
to respectfully present their objections and their views,
which were also mine, to the superior; and I was chosen to
speak for them all.

At the next conference, after respectfully asking and obtaining
permission to express our objections with our own frank and
plain sentiments, I spoke about as follows:

"Dear and venerable sir: You told us that the following
words of Christ, `There be eunuchs which have made themselves
eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake,'—show us
evidently that we must make the vow of celibacy and make
ourselves eunuchs if we want to become priests. Allow us to
tell you respectfully, that it seems to us that the mind of our
Saviour was very different from yours when he pronounced
these words. In our humble opinion, the only object of the
Son of God was to warn His disciples against one of the most
damnable errors which were to endanger the very existence of
nations. He was foretelling that there would be men so wicked
and blind as to preach that the best way for men to go to
heaven would be to make eunuchs of themselves. Allow us to
draw your attention to the fact that in that speech Jesus Christ
neither approves nor disapproves of the idea of gaining a throne
in heaven by becoming eunuchs. He leaves us to our common
sense and to some clearer parts of Scripture to see whether or
not He approves of those who would make eunuchs of themselves
to gain a crown in heaven. Must we not interpret this
text as we interpret what Jesus said to His apostles, `The time
cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth
God's service' (John xvi., 1, 2).

"Allow us to put these two texts face to face:

"Because our Saviour has said that there would be men who
would think that they would please God (and of course gain a
place in heaven) by killing His disciples, are we, therefore,
allowed to conclude that it would be our duty to kill those who
believe and follow Christ? Surely not.

"Well, it seems to us that we are not to believe that the
best way to go to heaven is to make ourselves eunuchs, because
our Saviour had said that some men had got that criminal and
foolish notion into their mind!

"Christian nations have always looked with horror upon
those who voluntarily became eunuchs. Common sense, as well
as the Word of God, condemns those who thus destroy in their
own bodies that which God in his wisdom gave them for the
wisest and holiest purposes. Would it not, therefore, be a crime
which every civilized and Christian nation would punish, to
preach publicly and with success to the people that one of the
surest ways for a man to go to heaven would be to make himself
an eunuch? How can we believe that our Saviour could
ever sanction such a practice?

"Moreover, if being eunuchs would make the way to heaven
surer and more easy, would not God be unjust for depriving us
of the great priviledge of being born eunuchs, and thus being
made ripe fruits for heaven?

"It seems to us that that text does not in any way require us
to believe that an eunuch is nearer the kingdom of God than
he who lives just according to the laws which God gave to man
in the earthly paradise. If it was not good for man to be
without his wife when he was so holy and strong as he was in
the Garden of Eden, how can it be good now that he is so weak
and sinful?

"Our Saviour clearly shows that he finds no sanctifying
power in the state of an eunuch, in his answer to the young

man who asked him, `Good master, what must I do that I may
have eternal life?' (Matt. xix., 16.) Did the good Master
answer him in the language we heard from you two days ago,
namely, that the best way to have eternal life is to make yourself
an eunuch—make a solemn vow never to marry? No; but
he said, `Keep the commandments!'

"Were the blessed Saviour to-day in your place, and I
should ask him, `What must I do to be saved, and to show the
way of God to my brethren?' would he not say to me, `Keep
the commandments!' But where is the commandment of God
in the Old or New Testament, to induce us to make such a vow
as that of celibacy? The promise of a place in heaven is not
attached in any way to the vow of celibacy. Christ has not a
word about that doctrine.

"Allow us to respectfully ask, if the views concerning the
vows of celibacy entertained by Christ had been like yours, is it
possible that He would have forgotten to mention them when
He answered the solemn question of that young man? Is it
possible that He would not have said a single word about a
thing which you have represented to us as being of such vital
importance to those who sincerely desire to know what to do to
be saved? Is it not strange that the Church should attach such
an importance to that vow of celibacy, when we look in vain
for such an ordinance in both the Old and New Testaments?
How can we understand the reasons or the importance of such a
strict, and we dare say, unnatural obligation in our day, when
we know very well that the holy apostles themselves were
living with their wives, and that the Saviour had not a word of
rebuke for them on that account?"

This free expression of our common views on the vows of
celibacy evidently took our superior by surprise. He answered
me, with an accent of indignation which he could not suppress.
"Is that all you have to say?"

"It is not quite all we have to say," I answered; "but before
we go further we would be much gratified to receive from you
the light we want on the difficulties which I have just stated."

"You have spoken as a true heretic," replied Mr. Leprohon,

with an unusual vivacity; "and were it not for the hope which
I entertain that you said those things more to receive the light
you want than to present and support the heretical side of such
an important question, I would at once denounce you to the
bishop. You speak of the Holy Scriptures just as a Protestant
would do. You appeal to them as the only source of Christian
truth and knowledge. Have you forgotten that we have the
holy traditions to guide us, the authority of which is equal to
that of the Scriptures?

"You are correct when you say that we do not find any
direct proof in the Bible to enforce the vows of celibacy upon
those who desire to consecrate themselves to the service of the
Church. But if we do not find the obligation of that vow in
the Bible, we find it in the holy traditions of the Church.

"It is an article of faith that the vow of celibacy is ordered
by Jesus Christ, through His Church. The ordinances of the
Church, which are nothing but the ordinances of the Son of
God, are clear on that subject, and bind our consciences, just as
the commandments of God upon Mount Sinai; for Christ has
said, those who do not hear the Church must be looked upon as
heathen and publicans. There is no salvation to those who do
not submit their reasoning to the teachings of the Church.

"You are not required to understand all the reasons for the
vow of celibacy; but you are bound to believe in its necessity
and holiness, as the Church has pronounced her verdict upon
that question. It is not your business to argue about those
matters; but your duty is to obey the Church, as dutiful children
obey a kind mother.

"But who can have any doubt about the necessity of the
vows of celibacy, when we remember that Christ had ordered
His apostles to separate themselves from their wives?—a fact on
which no doubt can remain after hearing St. Peter say to our
Saviour, `Behold, we have forsaken all and followed thee; what
shall we have, therefore?' (Matt. xix. 27). Is not the priest
the true representative of Christ on earth? In his ordination, is
not the priest made the equal, and, in a sense, the superior of
Christ? for when he celebrates Mass he commands Christ, and

that very Son of God is bound to obey! It is not in the power
of Christ to resist the orders of the priest. He must come down
from heaven every time the priest orders Him. The priest
shuts Him up in the holy tabernacles or takes him out of them,
according to his own will.

"By becoming priests of the New Testament you will be
raised to a dignity which is much above that of angels. From
these sublime privileges flows the obligation of the priest to
raise himself to a degree of holiness much above the level of
the common people, a holiness equal to that of the angels. Has
not our Saviour, when speaking of the angels, said, `Neque
nubent neque nubentur?' They marry not, nor are given in
marriage. Surely, since the priests are the messengers and
angels of God, on earth they must be clad with angelic holiness
and purity.

"Does not Paul say that the state of virginity is superior to
that of marriage? Does not that saying of the apostle show
that the priest, whose hands every day touch the divine body
and blood of Christ, must be chaste and pure, and must not be
defiled by the duties of married life? That vow of celibacy is
like a holy chain, which keeps us above the filth of this earth
and ties us to heaven. Jesus Christ, through His holy Church,
commands that vow to his priests as the most efficacious remedy
against the inclinations of our corrupt nature.

"According to the holy Fathers, the vow of celibacy is like
a strong, high tower, from the top of which we can fight our
enemies, and be perfectly safe from their darts and weapons.

"I will be happy to answer your other objections, if you
have any more," said Mr. Leprohon.

"We are much obliged to you for your answers," I replied,
"and we will avail ourselves of your kindness to present you
with some other observations.

"And, firstly, we thank you for having told us that we find
nothing in the Word of God to support the vows of celibacy,
and that it is only by the traditions of the Church that we can
prove their necessity and holiness. It was our impression that
you desired us to believe that the necessity of that vow was

founded on the Holy Scriptures. If you will allow it, we will
discuss the traditions another time, and will confine ourselves
to-day to the different texts to which you referred in favor of
celibacy.

"When Peter says, `We have given up everything,' it seems
to us that he had no intention of saying that he had forever
given up his wife by a vow. For St. Paul positively says,
many years after, that Peter had his wife; that he was not only
living with her in his own house, but was traveling with her
when preaching the gospel. The words of Scripture are of
such evidence on that subject that they can neither be obscured
by any shrewd explanation nor by any tradition, however
respectable it may appear.

"Though you know the words of Paul on that subject, you
will allow us to read them: `Have we not power to eat and
drink? have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well
as other apostles and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?'
(1 Cor. ix., 4, 5). St. Peter saying, `We have forsaken everything'
could not mean then that he had made a vow of celibacy,
and that he would not live with his wife as a married man.
Evidently the words of Peter mean only that Jesus had the first
place in his heart—that everything else, even the dearest objects
of his love, as father, mother, wife, were only secondary in his
affections and thoughts.

"Your other text about the angels who do not marry, from
which you infer the obligation and law of the vow of celibacy,
does not seem to us to bear on that subject as much as you have
told us. For, be kind enough to again read the text: `Jesus
answered and said unto them, `Ye do err, not knowing the
Scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they
neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels
of God in heaven' (Matt. xxii. 29, 30). You see that when
our Saviour speaks of men who are like angels, and who do not
marry, He takes care to observe that he speaks of the state of
men after the resurrection. If the Church had the same rule
for us that Christ mentioned for the angelic men to whom He
refers, and would allow us to make a vow never to marry after

the resurrection, we would not have the slightest objection to
such a vow.

"You see that our Saviour speaks of a state of celibacy; but
He does not intimate that that state is to begin on this side of the
grave. Why does not our Church imitate and follow the teachings
of our Saviour? Why does she enforce a state of celibacy before
the resurrection, while Christ postpones the promulgation
of this law till after that great day?

"Christ speaks of a perpetual celibacy only in heaven! On
what authority, then, does our Church enforce that celibacy on
this side of the grave, when we still carry our souls in earthly
vessels?

"You tell us that the vow of celibacy is the best remedy
against the inclinations of our corrupt nature; but do you not
fear that your remedy makes war against the great one which
God prepared in His wisdom? Do we not read in our own vulgate:
`Propter fornicationem autem quisque suam uxorem
hebeat, et unaquaquæ virum suum'? `To avoid fornication let
every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her
own husband' (2 Cor. vii. 2.)

"Is it not too strange, indeed, that God does tell us that the
best remedy He had prepared against the inclinations of our corrupt
nature is in the blessings of a holy marriage. `Let every
man have his own wife, and every woman her own husband.'
But now our Church has found another remedy, which is more
accordant to the dignity of man and the holiness of God, and that
remedy is the vow of celibacy!"

The sound of my last words were still on my lips when our
venerable superior, unable any longer to conceal his indignation,
abruptly interrupted me, saying:

"I do exceedingly regret to have allowed you to go so far.
This is not a Christian and humble discussion between young
Levites and their superior, to receive from him the light they
want. It is the exposition and defence of the most heretical
doctrines I have ever heard. Are you not ashamed, when you
try to make us prefer your interpretation of the Holy Scriptures
to that of the Church? Is it to you, or to His holy Church,

that Christ promised the light of the Holy Ghost? Is it you
who have to teach the Church, or the Church who must teach
you? Is it you who will govern and guide the Church, or the
Church who will govern and guide you?

"My dear Chiniquy, if there is not a great and prompt
change in you and in those whom you pretend to represent, I
fear much for you all. You show a spirit of infidelity and
revolt which frightens me. Just like Lucifer, you rebel against
the Lord! Do you not fear to share the eternal pains of his
rebellion?

"Whence have you taken the false and heretical notions you
have, for instance, about the wives of the apostles? Do you not
know that you are supporting a Protestant error, when you say
that the apostles were living with their wives in the usual way
of married people? It is true that Paul says that the apostles
had women with them, and that they were even traveling with
them. But the holy traditions of the Church tell us that those
women were holy virgins, who were traveling with the apostles
to serve and help them in different ways. They were ministering
to their different wants—washing their underclothes, preparing
their meals, just like the housekeeper whom the priests have
to-day. It is a Protestant impiety to think and speak otherwise.

"But only a word more, and I am done. If you accept the
teaching of the Church, and submit yourself as doubtful children
to that most holy Mother, she will raise you to the dignity of
the priesthood, a dignity much above kings and emperors in this
world. If you serve her with fidelity, she will secure to you the
respect and veneration of the whole world while you live, and
procure you a crown of glory in heaven.

"But if you reject her doctrines, and persist in your rebellious
views against one of the most holy dogmas; if you continue to
listen to the voice of your own deceitful reason rather than to
the voice of the Church, in the interpretation of the Holy
Scriptures, you become heretics, apostates and Protestants; you
will lead a dishonored life in this world, and you will be lost for
all eternity."

Our superior left us immediately after these fulminating
words. Some of the theological students, after his exit, laughed
heartily, and thanked me for having so bravely fought and
gained a glorious victory. Two of them, Joseph Turcot and
Benony Legendre, disgusted by the sophisms and logical absurdities
of our superior left the seminary a few days after. The
rest, with me, had not the moral courage to follow their example,
but remained, stunned by the last words of our superior.

I went to my room and fell on my kees, with a torrent of
tears falling from my eyes. I was really sorry for having
wounded his feelings, but still more so for having dared for a
moment to oppose my own feeble and fallible reason to the
mighty and infallible intelligence of my Church!

At first it appeared to me that I was only combatting, in a
respectful way, against my old friend, Rev. Mr. Leprohon; but
I had received it from his own lips that I had really fought
against the Lord!

After having spent a long and dark night of anguish and
remorse, my first action, the next day, was to go to confession,
and ask my confessor, with tears of regret, pardon for the sins I
had committed and the scandal I had given.

Had I listened to the voice of my conscience, I certainly
would have left the seminary that day; for they told me that I
had confounded my superior and pulverized all his arguments.
Reason and conscience told me that the vow of celibacy was a
sin against logic, morality and God; that that vow could not be
sustained by any argument from the Holy Scriptures, logic or
common sense. But I was a most sincere Roman Catholic. I
had therefore to fight a new battle against my conscience and
intelligence, so as to subdue and silence them forever! Many a
time it was my hope, before this, to have succeeded in slaughtering
them at the foot of the altar of my Church; but that day,
far from being forever silenced and buried, they had come out
again with renewed force, to waken me from the terrible
illusions in which I was living. Nevertheless, after a long and
frightful battle, my hope was that they were perfectly subdued
and buried under the feet of the holy Fathers, the learned theologians

and the venerable popes, whose voice only I was
determined now to follow. I felt a real calm after that struggle.
It was evidently the silence of death, although my confessor
told me it was the peace of God. More than ever I determined
to have no knowledge, no thought, no will, no light, no desires,
no science but that which my Church would give me through
my superior. I was fallible, she was infallible! I was a sinner,
she was the immaculate spouse of Jesus Christ! I was weak,
she had more power than the great waters of the ocean! I was
but an atom, she was covering the world with her glory!
What, therefore, could I have to fear in humbling myself to her
feet, to live of her life, to be strong of her strength, wise of her
wisdom, holy with her holiness? Had not my superior repeatedly
told me that no error, no sin would be imputed to me as
long as I obeyed my Church and walked in her ways?

With these sentiments of a most profound and perfect respect
for my Church, I irrevocably consecrated myself to her service
on the 4th of May, 1832, by making the vow of celibacy and accepting
the office of sub-deacon.