er works which are not
commanded.

[Sidenote: The Folly of Parents]

IV. Now where parents are foolish and train their children after
the fashion of the world, the children are in no way to obey
them; for God, according to the first three Commandments, is to
be more highly regarded than the parents [Acts 5:29]. But
training after the fashion of the world I call it, when they
teach them to seek no more than pleasure, honor and possessions
of this world or its power.

To wear decent clothes and to seek an honest living is a
necessity, and not sin. Yet the heart of a child must be taught
to be sorry that this miserable earthly life cannot well be
lived, or even begun, without the striving after more adornment
and more possessions than are necessary for the protection of the
body against cold and for nourishment. Thus the child must be
taught to grieve that, without its own will, it must do the
world's will and play the fool with the rest of men, and endure
such evil for the sake of something better and to avoid something
worse. So Queen Esther wore her royal crown, and yet said to God,
Esther xiv, "Thou knowest, that the sign of my high estate, which
is upon my head, has never yet delighted me, and I abhor it as a
menstruous rag, and never wear it when I am by myself, but when I
must do it and go before the people." [Beth. 14:16 Vulgate] The
heart that is so minded wears adornment without peril; for it
wears and does not wear, dances and does not dance, lives well
and does not live well. And these are the secret souls, hidden
brides of Christ, but they are rare; for it is hard not to
delight in great adornment and parade. Thus St. Cecilia[38] wore
golden clothes at the command of her parents, but within against
her body she wore a garment of hair.

Here some men say: "How then could I bring my children into
society, and marry them honorably? I must make some display."
Tell me, are not these the words of a heart which despairs of
God, and trusts more on its own providing than on God's care?
Whereas St. Peter teaches and says, I. Peter v, "Cast all your
care upon Him, and be certain that He cares for you." [1 Pet.
5:7] It is a sign that they have never yet thanked God for their
children, have never yet rightly prayed for them, have never yet
commended them to Him; otherwise they would know and have
experienced that they ought to ask God also for the marriage
dower of their children, and await it from Him. Therefore a