The same conclusion becomes evident if we consider the frailty of human nature. We know that the heart of man is prone to sin. Through the fall of our first parents a great misfortune came upon them and their posterity. Man has become exceedingly weak; the door of the heart is always open to evil. St. Paul testifies to this: "I know that there dwelleth not in me, that is, in my flesh, that which is good. I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, that is in my members " (Rom. vii. 18, 23). The human heart is especially prone to the sin of impurity. A single look, a single grasp of the hand, is sufficient to awaken the fire of passion. Witness the case of David (2 Kings xi. 2 seq.).
Ask yourselves now whether there is anything wrong in these familiar associations with persons of the opposite sex. They are dangerous in the highest degree. Two young persons by nature most frail meet frequently in the twilight or the dark, in solitary places; the passions are enkindled, flames are unchecked; and you ask is there any danger I If the hermits of the desert with all their prayers and austerities, with their diet of roots and vegetables, could subdue nature only by hard struggles, what is not to be feared when it is a question of two lovers, who perhaps seldom pray and practise little if any self-denial? They will not stop short of the greatest sins if they continue their illicit company-keeping.
The ordinary consequence of dangerous familiarity is a multitude of sins. The river of iniquity that flows from them is not a single stream, but forms many most destructive currents. In the first place we must mention impurity. Indulgence 'in love-affairs, carried on
