Dominican Life_Joret_OCR_CK.pdf - the Catholic Kingdom!

SECOND SECTION
THE TERTIARY PROFESSION
I. IT IS A REAL PROFESSION
A GOOD Christian performs day by day such acts of
virtue as befit the station in which Providence has
placed him. What more could he do if he were a Tertiary
? Take another such Christian, one who
. . .
belongs to a Third Order, is he any better ?
Let us avoid comparisons between individuals. God
alone is judge. Let us only consider the aforesaid good
Christian and compare his present condition with the
state in which he would find himself if he became a
Tertiary.
Two things would certainly place him in a more
favourable position for striving after Christian perfection.
In the first instance, his condition on entering the
Third Order would receive a new direction which would
his duties and extend them. Then he would
regulate
be under a stricter obligation to fulfil those duties and
would be less liable to omit them. His profession would
consequently give him a twofold aid towards the acquisition
of greater merits.
A term consecrated by the Church characterizes at
the same time this more favourable position and this
more binding obligation. By the very fact of his Profession,
the Tertiary
is introduced is fixed into a
"
superior state of life." Although
it falls short of the
state in which those who take the triple vow of religion
are established and settled, nevertheless it imitates
that state in its quality and duration.
In view of the perfection which he is bound, like any
other Christian, to strive for amid the duties of his secular
28
More Free Items at www.catholickingdom.com