LXXXVIII. Marry a Catholic
1.AS REGARDS the choice of a wife, I have another, and a very important point to mention, namely: Marry a Catholic; on no account conclude a mixed marriage; therefore avoid engaging yourself to a non-Catholic.
First of all it must be remarked that no offense to Protestants is intended when Catholics are warned against marrying them. Protestants ought to hold similar opinions, looking at the matter from their own point or view, and, indeed, they frequently do. To prove the truth of what has just been said, I will give two extracts, the first from a Protestant newspaper; they are fraught with useful lessons for Catholics. My first quotation runs thus:
2. "A mixed marriage is always a sad mistake, and any one who forms such a union must make up his mind to experience a good deal of trouble and unhappiness. If the children are brought up as Catholics, the Protestant husband or wife must look on while they say their beads, must hear them invoking the saints, and must tolerate other practices and devotions which are distasteful and annoying to Protestants. If the children are Protestants, discontent and reproaches are sure to follow on the Catholic side; and if some are brought up as Catholics, others as Protestants, the family is divided."
