- Thou shalt, -when about to become a mother, restrain thy passions, and keep thyself in thought and affection. Closely united to God. Far be it from thee to nourish the being thou art soon to bring forth with the poisonous milk of unhallowed desires.
- Thou shalt look upon thy children not so much as thy own, as the children of God. This they have become through baptism. Thou shouldst deem it thy special and highest duty to rear them as His children in the way of perfection.
- Thou shalt pay particular attention to the first six years of childhood, since they are the most important in the matter of Christian education. Thou shalt not spoil thy first child, since the others will follow its example.
- Thou shalt not leave the religious education of thy children entirely to their spiritual directors and teachers. Thou shalt train them thyself in morals and doctrine which later on they will learn both in church and at school; that is, the holy faith, love of Jesus Christ, confidence in his ever blessed Mother, reverence for the saints of God, and prayer. Teach them as early as possible to make the sign of the cross, and to pronounce the holy names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. At this age they should be taught, little by little, to recite with joined hands, the Hail Mary, the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles’ Creed, the Six Truths to be known and believed by all, the Ten Commandments of God, the Six Precepts of the Church, the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy, the Prayer to the Angel
Guardian, the Holy Rosary, and other prayers suitable for children. - Thou shalt love thy children all alike, for the sake of God. Thou shalt not leave unnoticed their good conduct and qualities, but encourage them to persevere and improve in good, and accustom them to its practice.
- Thou shalt not allow bad habits to take root in the heart of thy child; but, as soon as they appear, thou shalt carefully eradicate them. Such habits are: ingratitude, willfulness, disobedience, stubbornness, inordinate independence, imperiousness vanity, arrogance, coquetry, untruthfulness, dissimulation, aversion, jealousy, satisfaction at the misfortunes of others, immodest conduct, gluttony, and voluptuousness.
- Thou shalt punish thy children when necessary; but for inconsiderateness and weakness not more severely than for sin. Nor shall their punishment be regulated by thy own whims. Let it, on the contrary, be administered with justice and reason in accordance with the duty imposed upon thee by Almighty God.
- Thou shalt not raise thy children in greater dread of thy own severity than of the just and omnipotent God, the Divine Savior, and their guardian angel. By thy earnest and gentle behavior, thou shalt lead them to revere thee as the representative of God.
- Thy children should see nothing at home but what is good and edifying. They should never witness domestic discord, intemperance, dishonesty, avarice, or immodesty. They should be
carefully prevented from associating with persons that use evil language, or frequenting places in which such language might be heard. They should neither see nor read bad books or journals, and no indecent pictures should fall into their
hands.
10, Thou shalt not allow thy children to worship false gods. That is to say, thou shalt impress on their mind that everything earthly and temporal is of secondary importance, and that one thing alone is necessary: viz., “o know God, to love Him, to serve Him, and thus work out their salvation. Thou shalt teach them that all the sufferings, the joys, and the labors of this life are but rounds of the ladder by which they
are to ascend to heaven.
To the observance or neglect of these commandments is attached a blessing or a malediction both for thee, Christian Mother, and for thy children. Wherefore, examine thy conscience before confession, as to whether or not thou hast fulfilled thy duty in this regard.
The Ten Commandments of a Christian Education.
Fr. Zepeda
Share it!
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Reddit
Telegram
Email
The Christian Mother
The Christian Mother is updated by the administrator and volunteer contributors
Contact us!
Channels
- The Catholic Wire show
- The Christian Mother
- The Y
- How to be a Catholic
- The Spiritual Life
See all content
- Podcast content
- Video content
- The Blogs
- The Art Projects
Shop
- Book store
- Audio Store
- Shirts and Mugs
- Our Listener's stuff
- Catholic Clothing
One Response
I love this! Wish I’d had it sooner, but better late than never.