St. Alphonsus de Liguori, giving advice to a priest on how to help young man
in choosing a state of life, also mentions these two elements:
Let the
confessor test well the vocation of his penitent, asking whether the penitent
has some obstacle to it, due to incapacity, poor health, or the need of his
parents. And let him especially weigh his purpose, to see if it is right, i.e.,
in order to unite himself more closely to God, or to amend the falls of his
previous life, or to avoid the dangers of the world. But if the primary end is
worldly—in order to lead a more agreeable life, or to free himself from
relatives of an unfeeling character, or to please his parents, who push him to
this—let him beware of permitting him to enter religious life. For in that case,
it is not a true vocation, and entering in this way, without a true vocation,
will have a bad outcome. But if the end is good, and no obstacle is present,
then neither the confessor, nor anyone else, as St. Thomas teaches, (Quodlib. 3,
art. 14), should or can without grave fault impede him, or attempt to dissuade
him from the vocation.
Name: Fr Leo Donovan OP Order: Dominican (Order of Preachers) Date of Ordination: July 9, 1967 Portfolio: Parish Priest, Petit Valley “I am grateful to Trinidad and to the Church in Trinidad.” A sentiment shared by many priests who come into our archdiocese to serve. These same sentiments were shared by Irish-born, Fr Leo Donovan. As a young boy, Leo loved the members of his very Catholic family. Two members whom he particularly admired were two of his uncles, both of whom were priests serving in Trinidad, one in the 1930s, Fr Aengus Byrnes and one in the 1960s, Fr Anthony Roche. He also had three cousins who were priests and one cousin who is a nun. It was therefore relatively natural that he would, at a young age, decide to join the Order of Preachers. After seven years of study for the priesthood, he was ordained in 1967 and went to Rome to study for a license in theology. In 1968, he followed in the footsteps of his uncles and came to Trinidad to serve as a priest. He arrived a few
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