From IHM School

Little Book of Instructions for Christian Mothers [continued]
(from Mother Love – A Manual for Christian Mothers – by Rev. Pius Franciscus, O.M.Cap., 1926)

On the Christian Training of Children

We should see the goodness of God in everything!

Chapter V. - How the Christian Mother Should Combat the Concupiscence of the Eyes in Her Child.

The second evil propensity, the concupiscence of the eyes, is the inordinate pleasure in things which attract the eye, such as riches, clothes, houses, furniture, etc. Holy Scripture says: “What doth it profit the owner of riches, except to feast his eyes on them?” Ecclesiasticus, ch. 5, v. 10.

The child must be made to realize that it had, properly speaking, nothing of its own, that everything belongs to its parents. The things a child receives from them, should be considered a gift, for which it owes them a debt of gratitude. It should also be made to understand, that even its parents can call nothing their own, that all they have is loaned to them and should be used for performing works of love and mercy according to the Will of God. Furthermore, the child should be taught to consider the poor its equals, and be glad to share with them whatever they need, so that in the day of judgment it may be rewarded for its helpfulness as having done unto Christ whatever was done unto the least of His brethren. Poverty, in general, should be appreciated as a visitation and a grace of God, by which men become like unto the Master and worthy of eternal life. Heaven should be described to the child as a land teeming with riches and treasures, the least part of which is more valuable than all the accumulated values of the whole world. Finally, the child should be taught that riches and possessions are rather dangerous for the soul and that rich people who are not poor in spirit, whose hearts are not detached from the things of this world, have a hard time saving their souls, as Christ Himself says, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. Poverty, on the other hand, with its privations, when borne with patience and for the love and glory of God, is a rich source of eternal merit and reward.

Watching the Blueberry Melodrama with a Sister for company!

Pilfering, which is frequently practiced among children, should be earnestly censured, because it is petty thieving; and continued pilfering as well as larger thefts should be severely punished. A child should never be allowed to take anything without permission, and whatever it needs, it should be obliged to ask for. If the child’s wishes are granted, it should be required to express its thanks, and, if they be refused, it should be trained to accept the refusal with submission and never be permitted to show its disappointment by pouting or grumbling. It should be taught gladly to share with others whatever it has received for its own use or pleasure. When others have more, or prettier, or better things, it should be taught to rejoice in their greater fortune, while on the other hand it should deeply sympathize with the losses of others as if those losses were its own. Gifts of money[,] which a child sometimes receives from friends and relatives, should not be at its own disposal, nor should it have the control of its own little money-bank. Money expenditures for any purpose whatever should always have the permission and the approval of the parents.

Combating the spirit of the world and the inordinate love for temporal possessions, fostering in her children the spirit of Christ, and arousing in their hearts an ardent desire for heavenly things-it is these duties that a Christian mother should consider her most important task, and what we have said may assist her in her very arduous task.

To be continued . . .