CATHOLIC MORAL - Ed. Luis Vives THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT - Honor father and mother.
Lesson 16 my notes in [ ]
185.- Object and importance of this Commandment.-The fourth commandment is intended to regulate the mutual relations between children and parents, and between spiritual and temporal inferiors and superiors.
As the first three commandments regulate our relations with God, so the fourth gives the rules which we are to maintain with His representatives.
The fourth commandment is of transcendental importance, because on its fulfillment depends, in a certain sense, eternal salvation and also the temporal happiness of the individual, of the family, and of society. How happy mankind would be if all children were good children and all parents good parents, if all inferiors were submissive and respectful, and superiors behaved as good representatives of God, from whom their authority comes!
186. What it commands.- This commandment explicitly commands children to honor their parents, that is, to fulfill their obligations to them, and implicitly commands parents to fulfill their obligations to their children. Under the name of parents are also understood those other persons with whom we are united by the ties of blood: grandparents, uncles, aunts, uncles, and brothers and sisters.
By extension, this commandment also includes the mutual duties of masters and servants, teachers and disciples, superiors and inferiors, governors and governed.
187. Duties of children toward parents.- All the duties of children toward parents are summed up in this beautiful quality: filial piety.
Filial piety imposes on the children four principal duties: love, reverence, obedience, and assistance in their needs. Those are duties of justice and of pure gratitude, very pleasing to God, especially if they are fulfilled to honor Him, of whom the parents are representatives.
The obligation to obey parents may cease; but that of loving, respecting and assisting them never ceases. Let children remember that, after God, they owe to their parents their life and the preservation of their existence; that their parents have had to impose on themselves countless sacrifices and that they continue to impose those on them in order to procure the physical and moral development, education, instruction, etc, of their children. How many efforts, acts of patience and self-denial on the part of the mother to care for them and free them from all dangers! How much sweat, fatigue, toil and hardship for the father, in order to obtain food, clothing and housing for the whole family! It is only just and reasonable that children should correspond with filial affection to so many pains and so many labors that are taken for them.
Do you want to know, beloved young people, what you have cost your parents? Calculate, yourselves, what in these twelve or fifteen years that have elapsed since you saw the first light you have spent every day on food, clothing, shoes, washing, sweets, books, teachers, games, walks, medicines, parties, etc. Add to this the incalculable sum of the most tender affection of a mother, your true guardian, and of a loving father, and your sum will go out of the human realm, because there is no number that can represent it. And remember: in the last analysis, you owe all this to God.
It is only when parents are missing that you can appreciate what they are worth. [This lesson should also add that it is only when grandparents are missing that they are truly appreciated. Mankind should remind that the elders of the family should be integrated into the daily life of the family and honored twice as much, since they are like "parents in double measure]
188. Love.- Children should love their parents dearly and tenderly, because, after God, they are their greatest benefactors. This love should be internal and sincere, that is, it should come from the heart, and it should be manifested outwardly more in deeds than in words; in life, with all kinds of attentions, giving them signs of special affection, trying to avoid what could displease them, bearing their defects with patience, and always showing themselves ready to serve them at the hour of death; they should try with all their fervor and efficacy that they receive the Holy Sacraments, parents should not lack constant and pious filial suffrages and after death [that is: Masses for their souls, prayers and acts of sacrifice, we must win indulgences for them…].
EXAMPLES of filial love
1. In an office of the Monte de Piedad [from Wikipedia: they were charities where the poor could obtain cash sums by pawning their belongings and thus meet their most primary needs]., one day a little girl presented herself with her doll and gave it to the employee. The latter smilingly said to her: "What do you want me to do with this, child? -The girl replied, "Daddy is ill, Mommy is crying because she has no money, and I have come to ask you to give me something, leaving my doll here in pawn. The clerk, moved with pity, gave her 5 pesetas as alms and returned the doll to her.
2. At the beginning of the glorious National Movement of 1936, in Ronda, the militiamen [socialists, haters of catholics] took a man out of the city to shoot him. A son of the victim begged the assassins for clemency on behalf of his father; but in vain. Then he embraced tightly to his loved one, and thus embraced, they died both pierced by the same red bullets.
3. Charles III had a valet who was to keep watch during the night, in order to come promptly to his call. He called him one night, but received no answer. The king goes out to the adjoining room and finds the page asleep on a divan with a piece of paper comming out of one of his pockets. He takes it out of curiosity and reads a letter from the young man's mother, which reads: "Dear son, with the money you send us from the tips you are entitled to, your two brothers and I have been able to cope with the dreadful misery in which we lived. We now have bread to eat and clothes to keep us warm. I thank you and bless you as the most loving of sons". The king, moved with pity, put the letter back where it was and with it a few gold doubloons. Then he called him louder and the young man woke up. The king asked him what he had in his pocket and the page, after looking at him, burst into tears, protesting his innocence. “Calm down, my son," said the king, "no one wants to lose you. You have a mother and brothers to help. And God, no doubt, is sending you this money for that purpose". The young man understood the king's generosity and thanked him.
189. Obedience.- Children, while they are under parental authority, must obey their parents in all that is just and lawful, because they are the depositaries of the authority of God, and whoever obeys them, obeys God himself. Obedience demands submission to the least parental indications, desires and commands. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord (Colossians III, 20). Jesus is a perfect model of this: He was submissive to them (Luke II, 51).
Obedience is an unmistakable sign of the love of children for their parents, and it is necessary for the good running of the family. This obedience must be cheerful, without complaint; prompt, without reply or discussion; entire, without haggling.
Obedience is a virtue so pleasing to God that Our Lord once said to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque: "You know, my daughter, that I love this virtue, for it I gave my life, and without it no one can please me. Jesus places his delights in obedient souls.
[Note: obedience to God is above that of parents. Many holy monks and nuns had to fight the opposition of parents and even run away to enter religious life].
EXAMPLES. 1. The angel of the Schools, St. Thomas Aquinas, while still a student, was once reading in the refectory of the convent, and was improperly corrected, for having read long a syllable which, in fact, was long. Thomas obeyed and read it briefly [it was probably Latin or Greek]. When the meal was over, as his companions reproved him for not having sustained his reason, he answered them with these admirable words: "Whether a syllable is long or short matters little; obedience matters much more" [Consecrated and all: remember that the first and only obedience is to Christ, the others emanate from it. Here St. Thomas Aquinas did not disobey Christ nor did he lead anyone into error, the other students knew well how the pronunciation was, what he did was an act of humility in enduring being unjustly corrected].
2. St. Charles Garnier, martyred in Granada on December 7, 1649, entered the Society of Jesus at the age of eighteen. His father, accompanying him to the novitiate, said to the Father Teacher: "If I did not love the Society with special affection, I would not give you a son who from his birth until now has not incurred the slightest disobedience, nor has he ever given me the least displeasure".
3. It is told of the saint Priest of Ars [Saint John Mary Vianney] that, as a child, he was presented to his brothers by his mother as a perfect example of obedience. If they resisted or deferred the fulfillment of an order, it was enough for his mother to make an indication to John Mary and he immediately obeyed blindly. Then she would say to the others: "Do you see how your brother obeys without complaining, without murmuring, without hesitation, without delay? See how promptly, diligently, and with docility he obeys my orders.
190. Reverence.- Parents are for the children the most immediate representatives of God on earth, for that reason they must profess to them the maximum respect, submission and reverence, and give them all the honors due to their persons, as is done with that which is most esteemed. This reverence must be manifested in word, in deed, and with all patience, bearing their defects, illnesses, and discomforts. [When parents command children to do something contrary to the Law of God, they are not to be obeyed.]
EXAMPLES 1. Solomon was a model of reverent children, when he was seated on the throne and his mother Bathsheba came in to speak to him, he arose, went to meet her and prostrated himself before her. Then he sat down on his throne, and commanded another throne to be placed on the right side of the royal seat, and thereon he made his mother rest (III Kings II, 19).
2. Saint Thomas More, great chancellor of England and martyr of the Catholic faith in the time of Henry VIII, being already a father of a family and holding high offices, did not leave his house, nor begin his ordinary tasks, without first asking his parents' blessing on his knees.
3. One morning in 1787, a student in Vienna was kissing the hand of a prisoner who was busy cleaning the street. A minister, Baron Kresi, noticed him and called the young man's attention: "What have you done, kissing the hand of a prisoner?" The student answered with tears: "Yes, sir, he is a prisoner, but he is my father". The minister, moved, referred the matter to the Emperor Joseph II of Austria, who gave the order to release the prisoner, because - he said - "he who thus knew how to educate his children and make himself loved by them, cannot be an evildoer".
4. In China, a certain judge sentenced a man to have his hands amputated. As soon as a daughter of his heard of it, she presented herself to the court, saying: "These two hands of mine also belong to my father, his hands are more necessary to the family, so cut mine off, and respect those of my father.
191. Assistance.- It is a duty of justice and strict gratitude that the children help and assist their parents as much as they can, participating in their material works and spiritual concerns; taking care of them in health and sickness; providing them, as much as possible, with what they need, to filially correspond to the benefits they received from them in childhood and youth since they saw the light of the sun; and, especially, helping them to die well. This is the greatest service that a good son can and should render to his parents in this world. [That is, to provide them with the visit of the Priest in time to give them the Sacrament of Extreme Unction (now called Anointing of the ill), and Confession and Holy Communion when they are sick. To die well is to die in the grace of God. St. Joseph is the patron of the good death, he died assisted by Jesus Christ and Mary Most Holy. Euthanasia is suicide and condemns to hell the one who does it and the one who receives it].
For children who love their parents, it is a most grateful obligation to assist them with all their affection in their old age.
EXAMPLES- I. That is love! - A young Austrian girl, after having sold her beautiful hair to provide some relief for her aged parents, hearing that a famous dentist paid thirty crowns for each white and intact tooth, presented herself to him, ready to sacrifice the beauty of her face for the welfare of her parents. But the dentist, somewhat surprised, questioned the motives of such a determination and, instead of pulling out her teeth, gave her a hundred crowns as alms, and days later he presented himself at her parents' house to ask for the hand of the young woman who had so proved her virtue. This case reminds Ruth and Boaz. Thus God blesses good children.
II. A model child - During the War of Independence, the inhabitants of Sallent learned one day that the French had set fire to the city of Manresa, and, fearing the same outrages, they fled to hide in the jungles and mountains. Saint Anthony Mary Claret, then a boy of seven years old, stood by his grandfather John's side, guiding him by the hand, so that he would not stumble over the stones of the road in the darkness of the night, while the older ones were more concerned about getting to safety. His mother never had to reprimand him for any lack of obedience or respect, and his father always proposed him as a model to the other brothers.
192. Sins of the children against the fourth commandment.- Children sin gravely against the love they owe to their parents if they fail in their filial duties in serious matters; for example, if they hate, despise, or ridicule them; if they treat them as enemies or strangers; if they taunt them or speak of them as if they hated them; if they slander them or murmur about them in public; if they slander them, if they treat them harshly or wish them death or some grave evil; if they give them grave displeasure to the point of making them very sad or making them weep; if they rejoice in their misfortunes or neglect their studies very noticeably, etc.
They sin gravely against the reverence and respect due them, those who kill or injure them, or cause them bodily harm; those who hit them, however lightly but with injury; those who raise their hands with threat or deliberation, even if they do not go so far as to act; those who utter insults against them or curse them; those who accuse them in court without serious and reasonable cause; those who mock them; those who despise them because of their poverty and refuse to consider them as their parents; those who speak to them with haughtiness, insolence or are ashamed of their social status, their physical defects, rudeness or lack of culture.
A bad son had the audacity to summon his father before a judge. The latter said to him in reply: "If you are not right, you will be condemned, and if you are right, you deserve to be condemned".
[It is obvious that this father was not summoned for a serious matter. As the A.T. says that "wickedness shall increase" there are now many serious reasons why some parents should lose custody of their children. And there are countries like England where parents are taken away the custody if they take care of their children's mental and physical health, not hormonating their children when they are fooled by gender ideology].
One can sin gravely against obedience, if the importance of the command and the resistance that is opposed are important. It is a grave sin to formally disregard them in an important matter concerning the government of the house, good morals, religious duties, and salvation; to become a soldier without their consent or against their will, except for legal dispositions; to marry without consulting them, if they are not far away and their consent is presumed (1); to deliberately disobey them when they command with the intention of obliging in things of great importance; to associate with bad company with grave danger to the soul or to frequent dangerous places in spite of their formal prohibition; to seriously neglect studies and not to train oneself in one's career and profession; to refuse their commands with shouts [cries], with gestures or slyly; to argue stubbornly about the orders given or to be reluctant to carry them out.
(1) May a young man marry a person worthy of him in whom he has set his eyes after consulting his parents, even if they work to dissuade him.
[Someone managed to introduce, at least in very small letters, this last paragraph of two lines. Of course children are not slaves to parents! “Man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh" Clearly he leaves them, he is free, and then is joined to his wife. Arranged marriages... how much misfortune for lack of sincere love... St. Rita, St. Monica, St. Clotilde... were dedicated pious wives and succeeded in converting their husbands (and Blessed Isabella Canori Mora, after she died), but great examples do not abound. We have to discern the spirits]
The gravity of disobedience must be judged according to the importance of what is commanded and the gravity of the harm that falls on the disobedient or on the parents. Many times the disobedience is not serious, because the command of the parents is not rigorous, or because the son lacks warning of the malice of the act.
EXAMPLE: A young woman, determined to marry against the will of her father, was presented by him to St. Arnulf, bishop of Soissons. The holy bishop said to the father, "It is not right that you oblige your daughter to marry against her will, neither that you deny her the husband she asks for..." And, turning to the daughter, he said to her: "Marry whomever you want, but you will not enjoy it" Indeed, a few days later her husband was killed and she became a widow as soon as she was married. Punishment for her disobedience and lack of respect for her father.
[Here there was no disobedience, since neither the parents have the right to impose marriages nor the children have the obligation to marry whom they are told. And the Bishop advised them along those lines. But since he was a saint, I suppose God inspired him that in that particular situation, things were going to end badly.
But the devil’s children infiltrated in the Church are bugs that want to twist things, teachings, etc. to accommodate their slave interests. They are slaves of their father, murderer and liar, and make their children slaves (they do not let them study what they want or marry whoever they want, yes they allow them to become “hot” with catholic adolescents, whom they deceive a few years meawhile studying the career and then, when they have their degree they marry one of their collectivity, they come to Catholic Church to “learn”, “to be trained in love”, in fact they use those naïve girls to get rid of stress and are those flies that spoil a vase of perfum).
On day, seeing some sprinklers watering a square, which when passing through a certain point made a rainbow of 4 colors, I remembered that science says that it has 6 colors but the "popular tradition" says that there are 7, liars invented the color indigo, which does not exist in nature, to include it in the rainbow. It is that the children of the devil are continually twisting the truth to try to make things match their arrogance. Another thing is when God uses a language that means something to us and He wants to give us a message (e.g. to find out the name of 666). Number 6 is not a cursed number, the lily flower has 6 petals, etc. But for example, in an exorcism once a demon said that he commanded a legion of demons of the air so big that if they were embodied they would not let see the light of the sun. And as a rainbow is formed after rain (which cleanses the atmosphere) when the droplets are suspended in the atmosphere and the sun passes through them... I think that if all of us who call ourselves Catholics would obey Our Lady of the Roses perfectly well, and spread the knowledge of God in all the earth... as Our Lady of the Roses teaches, according to the Holy tradition… there would be purification on Earth and water of grace in the air and we would have that rainbow. And instead of the 6 of demons in the air, there would be the 6 of a beautiful rainbow. The truth of science helps to understand, but the arrogance of wanting to correct reality because it does not match narrow minds is vile... and unfortunately that is what is abounding in schools, etc.: lies, satanism, and on top of that those liars, One world planners, are drying up the atmosphere with satellites... I told you this because they start by making their children slaves of a false cause, they continue attacking the truth: spiritual and facts of science, and they end attacking life in all levels].
Children sin when they who do not assist their parents when they are sick, neither care for them, nor work for their health, nor visit them even when they are in health; those who commit the crime of abandoning them in their spiritual or bodily needs, in poverty and misery, or give them little economic support and unwillingly; those who do not console them in their misfortunes and moral afflictions; those who do not care for the goods they are later to inherit, or who, having inherited, do not fulfill their legacies; those who squander it in gambling, undue travels and amusements; those who in their parent’s last illness do not try that they receive the Holy Sacraments, and much more if they try to deny them this assistance; those who after the death of their parents do not pay them the filial tribute of those suffrages to which they have a right.
EXAMPLES of bad sons: Cain, who terribly lacerated the heart of his parents, treacherously killing his innocent brother Abel. Ham, maliciously disrespecting his father Noah. Absalom, rebelling against his loving father David, and taking up arms against him.
193. Cases in which the obligation to obey ceases: There can be some cases in which children should not obey their parents.
1. When what the parents command is not licit or honest, that is, when it is contrary to the law of God or of the Church, to justice or to good morals. In such cases one cannot obey them, because it would be a despise to the Law of God, a disobedience to God. Children must obey their parents because they represent God for them, but since the moment that they command something against the Divine Law, they are no longer representatives of God, but they act in the way of satan and, therefore, they cannot be obeyed. Beautiful examples bring us the lives of the Saints, of children who preferred to die rather than sin by obeying their parents: St. Hermenegild; the holy virgins and martyrs Barbara, in Nicomedia; Christina, in Bolsena (Italy); Reina or Regina, in Alesia of Gaul; Margarita, in Antioch of Pisidia, etc. [St. Perpetua and St. Agatha whose parents did not agree that they should be Christians... etc.].
2. When it is a matter of the choice of state. Generally speaking, it is good to ask permission and advice from one's parents, because of the respect due to them, or because of the experience they have of life. However, there are cases, especially if it is a matter of states of perfection, in which children are not obliged to obey. If a son feels himself called by God to the religious or priestly life and his parents are prudent and upright, he should consult them; if they are irreligious, he can prudently choose what suits him, and then ask their consent, or, if he thinks they will be absolutely opposed, he can leave them without telling them, or, better, try to convince them, as St. Aloysius Gonzaga did. If it is a question of marring, there is a grave obligation to consult them, but no grave obligation to follow their advice in everything.
By natural right, children can choose the state that suits them, as long as they do not disregard the divine precepts. "When God clearly calls to a state," says St. Thomas Aquinas, "one should rather obey Him than the parents who oppose it, unless the latter have grave causes and powerful reasons for opposing it."
[I can't think of what can be powerful against God's call, but e.g. St. Rita wanted to be a nun but her parents forced her to marry and she married, converted her husband and became a widow (because a murderer killed him and the laws left him unpunished and her children wanted to avenge him but she prayed to God that He would take them away before they made a crime. And God took them) and then two saints made her fly over the convent wall and enter, since the superior was opposed to her becoming a nun. In St. Rita we have a very good example that we must always keep looking for God. He is the Almighty. Here we have a case of obedience that apparently ends badly for the blind. But she saved her husband's soul, her children got to heaven and she was a saint nun].
Sometimes, the necessity in which the parents find themselves obliges the son to delay the realization of his purposes, as long as he is needed in the parental home. There is no lack of exemplary punishments from God for children who married, disregarding the prudent advice of their parents. [Please remember what Saint John Bosco said: “When a child abandons his parents to follow the vocation, Jesus Christ takes his place in the family”]
194. Obligations of parents toward their children.- "Parents have a very grave obligation to provide with all their strength for the education of their children, both religious and moral, as well as physical and civil, and to look after their temporal good. They have the gravest obligation to love and educate them in a Christian way.
Parents must love their children in a Christian way, considering them as sacred deposits that God has entrusted to them. This love must be tender, gentle, but firm and effective, orderly and supernaturalized, constant and equal for all, avoiding degrading pampering. [For example, if the mother always caresses her son (or daughter) telling him (or her) that he (or she) is the best, the most beautiful, the most intelligent in the world... she fills him (or her) with pride that makes him (or her) blind, because he (or she) only knows how to look at himself (or herself), stupid and vile, since pride is the sin of the devil. By the way see how stupid is inclusive language].
The good education of children is for parents a most sacred and indispensable duty. The principal obligation of parents, with regard to their children, is religious and moral education: "Fathers, bring up your children in discipline and in the teaching of the Lord" (Eph. VI, 4).
It is of paramount importance because of the tremendous consequences for the individual and society if it fails; on this education depends the fate of families and states.
"Religious education gives to the Church worthy ministers; to the State, legislators and magistrates of integrity; to families, exemplary fathers and mothers and well-educated children; to Religion, distinguished protectors and favorers; and to Heaven, Saints". All non-Christian education is false and pernicious, for man walks off his path, which is that of eternal happiness.
[Now, if they do not wear the brown Scapular (imposed the first time by a Carmelite or Franciscan priest, or by a common priest meanwhile they find those others), the Crucifix, the Miraculous Medal, the Medal of St. Benedict around their necks, they are not protected and satanists change parents, magistrates, priests, etc. for false clones or directly perverts aged with hormones and society goes to hell. Wear the sacramentals, you and your children, and obey Our Lady of the Roses well to be protected spiritually and physically. And also the Rosary around your neck, although the only thing that must be visible is the Crucifix with the image of Jesus. Read the Message of Our Lady of the Roses (1977.Oct.06)]
Religious education demands of parents that they teach Religion to their children by themselves and by good teachers and oblige them to practice it; that at all times they give them good example, by attending Mass, reading good books, practicing works of mercy, etc.
[The first obligation is for parents to set an example of practicing, and to teach the Religion by transmitting the love they have for it; children love to follow Christ and Our Lady and to imitate the Saints when they are given good example and good preaching].
Moral education requires that they teach them good manners; that they correct their defects; that they zealously and prudently watch over their reading, conversations, shows, entertainments and company; that they keep them away from vices and occasions of sin; that they punish them, if necessary, but paternally, always in proportion to the fault, without excesses or softness.
Physical education requires that they feed and maintain them properly, according to the means at their parents' disposal; that they watch over their health and take care of them when they are sick; that they leave them a sufficient inheritance or place them in a trade or state in which they can earn a living, etc.
Social or civil education requires that parents give their children an intellectual formation proportionate to their economic means and social position, as well as to the faculties and dispositions of the children; that they leave them freedom to choose the state of life to which they feel called or which they see fit for them, advising them with prudence, and, if necessary, with energy to prevent them from taking disastrous steps.
By the law of nature, parents have the full right to give their children an education in conformity with the ultimate end for which they have been created, and no human power can legitimately take this right away from them.
[The State is a server of the citizens, the State is to help parents in their task according to the Holy Doctrine].
The child, before being a citizen, is the child of his parents, from whom he has his existence; therefore, the right to educate him belongs to them and not to the State, but the latter has the obligation to protect and promote the right of the parents, and to provide them with the means to exercise it. The Church has always helped parents in this difficult task (1).
(1) Parents sin gravely if, while there are Catholic schools, they send their children to other schools that are frankly bad, secular, communist, etc. In all cases that may arise, they must follow the instructions of the Bishops. They also sin gravely if they unjustly restrict their freedom in the choice of state (although ignorance can excuse them); if they refuse their daughters the dowry for marriage or entry into religion, and their sons the patrimony to receive Holy Orders.
[Regretably, nowadays even so called “catholic schools” teach bad, heretic, secular or even perverted teachings]
195. Obligations of the spouses.- The happiness of marital partnership, formed by husband and wife, is based on mutual love, chaste cohabitation, fidelity, the common home, and the same food, each contributing to the common welfare according to his or her possibilities.
St. Paul wants the husband to love his wife as Christ loves his Church; and the wife to respect and obey the husband (in everything that is reasonable, just and honest), because in him resides the domestic authority.
Special duties of the husband are: to administer with care the family patrimony, to support the family, to promote the practice of Religion and sanctity of customs in the home, to correct his spouse charitably. The woman, is in charge, especially, of the order of the house and the collaboration in the administration, avoiding useless expenses. [Read the Messgages of Our Lady of the Roses, the mother is the guardian of the family souls]
EXAMPLES: Model wives. 1. St. Francesca Romana prayed the Office of the Blessed Virgin every day. One day, while she was praying one of the antiphons, she was called four times by her husband, on different occasions, and all four times she hastened to the call without finishing the recitation of that antiphon. When, for the fifth time, she was about to recite it, she found it engraved in letters of gold, and the Lord showed her in a vision that this miracle had taken place so that she might see how pleasing to God was her punctual obedience to her husband.
2. When St. Clotilde married Clovis, king of the Franks, she proposed to win him for Christ, and, for that purpose, to be very obedient, submissive and model in everything: "My own will," she said, "I left it in my parents' house. That is why more than once Clovis said to his people: "I have won a hundred battles, but I have been defeated by Clotilde”.
3. Model marriages: Mirror of all of them was that of Mary Most Holy with the most chaste St. Joseph. Imitators of Her in chastity were the holy martyrs Cecilia and her husband Valerian (November 22); Julian and Basilisa (January 9); St. Edward, the Confessor, king of England (October 13) [confessor is one who confesses his faith publicly among difficulties] and Editha; St. Henry II, emperor of Germany (July 15) and St. Cunegunda (January 3); Saints Counts Eleazarus and Delphine (September 27).
Models of married people were Saint Isidro Labrador and Saint María de la Cabeza who after the first son that God granted them, resolved to keep perfect continence; the parents of Saint Teresa; Saint Juana Francisca and her husband the baron of Chantal who did not seem to have more than a soul and a heart; the famous Ampère; Ozanam, founder of the Conferences of St. Vincent de Paul; St. Gregory of Nacianzo, converted by his wife St. Nona, exemplary bond that gave to heaven several Saints, one of them Father of the Church.
Duties between relatives: Between relatives there are mutual relations similar to those of parents and children, but in proportion to the degree of kinship. Of course it is natural that brothers and sisters should love each other with particular love; likewise they should help and assist each other in the necessities of life, especially if one of them is in an urgent case. The older brothers and sisters, in particular, have the same obligations toward the younger ones as the parents when the latter are absent, unless they are under the care of other tutors: grandparents, uncles, etc.
197. Practical lesson: If a child has the duty to honor his earthly parents, how much greater and more imperative will be his obligation to honor his heavenly Father, to whom he is indebted for his earthly parents and for spiritual and temporal goods beyond counting, and to his mother Mary Most Holy, Who loves him so much and obtains from God continual graces and favors!
On the other hand, keep in mind what the proverb says: He who is a bad son will be a bad father. [Unless he acknowledges his sins, repents, confesses and changes his life by following Christ as Holy Tradition teaches.]
[Lesson 17 is also about the 4th commandment: duties of superiors and inferiors].