06-10-2026, 08:17 AM
Mgr. Louis de Ségur: Short Answers to Common Objections Against Religion - 1908
FORTY-NINTH OBJECTION. I CANNOT! IT IS TOO DIFFICULT!
Answer. Say rather that you will not. We can do all we choose to do, in whatever regards conscience and salvation.
What is wanting is not the power, it is the courage. We dread labor, we shrink from it. The true Christian is brave; like a good soldier, who is only the more stimulated to combat by the attacks of the enemy, he fears nothing. Resting on Jesus Christ, from Him he gains the strength which inspires him. If he falls, he rises again, and renews the combat with greater strength than he had before.
"I cannot!" The sluggard, who in the morning yawns, stretches himself, and again turns to sleep, instead of doing his work, says also, "I cannot!"
A day will come when you will see that you could. But the time will then be gone, the hour for working will have passed away.
You will be before the tribunal of Jesus Christ, and you will hear His awful words, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels."* On that day, you will understand that you could!
However, there is one thing true enough in what you say. You certainly cannot conquer your evil passions, and practice the lofty virtues of the Christian, if you do not seek the necessary strength, in the place where it is to be found.
No, you cannot avoid the sins which you habitually fall into, if you do not employ those means which Jesus Christ your Saviour has placed for this purpose in the hands of His Church.
You know what these means are; in those happier days when you were good, pure, honest, because you were a Christian in fact, you adopted them, and you know by experience all their sweetness, all their efficacy. They are —
Prayer;
The sanctification of the Sunday;
Religious instruction;
The frequenting, above all, of confession and Holy Communion;
The avoidance of the occasions of sin, of unlawful amusements, bad companions, and bad books.
Without these means, no, you certainly cannot be good. With them, not only you can be good, but there is nothing more pleasant or easy.
How many young men there are, men, too, of every age and condition of life, who have more violent passions than you have, and yet who subdue them, and who have mastered them! Many are more exposed to temptations than you are, and have more obstacles of every kind to surmount. What they do, why cannot you do?
I knew an old soldier who had been in the habit of swearing by the name of God from his childhood. He could not utter two sentences without swearing. One day, touched by a good exhortation he heard, he resolved to fulfil his duties as a Christian. He determined energetically to conquer this defect; and in a fortnight's time he succeeded. Every time that the name of God escaped his lips, he said to himself: "My God forgive me, Thy holy name be blessed!" He did the same whenever he heard his comrades fall into the same sin. "I am obliged," he said to me, "to do my best; I catch myself more than fifty times a day."
We have often seen men addicted to the terrible vice of drunkenness, obtain a still more difficult victory over it, with a like courage. The celebrated General Cambronne, when a common soldier, had this detestable habit. One day, when intoxicated, he struck an officer, and was condemned to death. His Colonel, who was much attached to him, because of his brave and loyal character, obtained his pardon on condition that he would never drink any more wine. Twenty-five years after, Corporal Cambronne was General Cambronne, and immortalized by his heroic retreat at Waterloo. Surrounded by his family in Paris, he lived quietly, loved and esteemed by all. His old colonel invited him one day to dinner, with some old comrades in arms. The place of honor at the host's right hand was reserved for Cambronne. Some very exquisite wine, kept for great occasions, was put on the table. "Ah! General," said the old Colonel, "you will tell me that this is something rare, this wine;" and he was about to fill Cambronne's glass. He declines it, the other insists; Cambronne becomes annoyed. "But, General, I assure you, it is excellent!" "That is not the question!" Cambronne replied, quickly; "it is a question of my honor! my promise when a corporal, have you forgotten it, Colonel? Since that day I have never touched a single drop of wine. My word and my conscience are of more consequence than your wine!"
There was energy of character! That was a man to admire!
Be of good courage then; that is what is wanting. A man is a Christian from the moment that he wills it.
FORTY-NINTH OBJECTION. I CANNOT! IT IS TOO DIFFICULT!
Answer. Say rather that you will not. We can do all we choose to do, in whatever regards conscience and salvation.
What is wanting is not the power, it is the courage. We dread labor, we shrink from it. The true Christian is brave; like a good soldier, who is only the more stimulated to combat by the attacks of the enemy, he fears nothing. Resting on Jesus Christ, from Him he gains the strength which inspires him. If he falls, he rises again, and renews the combat with greater strength than he had before.
"I cannot!" The sluggard, who in the morning yawns, stretches himself, and again turns to sleep, instead of doing his work, says also, "I cannot!"
A day will come when you will see that you could. But the time will then be gone, the hour for working will have passed away.
You will be before the tribunal of Jesus Christ, and you will hear His awful words, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels."* On that day, you will understand that you could!
However, there is one thing true enough in what you say. You certainly cannot conquer your evil passions, and practice the lofty virtues of the Christian, if you do not seek the necessary strength, in the place where it is to be found.
No, you cannot avoid the sins which you habitually fall into, if you do not employ those means which Jesus Christ your Saviour has placed for this purpose in the hands of His Church.
You know what these means are; in those happier days when you were good, pure, honest, because you were a Christian in fact, you adopted them, and you know by experience all their sweetness, all their efficacy. They are —
Prayer;
The sanctification of the Sunday;
Religious instruction;
The frequenting, above all, of confession and Holy Communion;
The avoidance of the occasions of sin, of unlawful amusements, bad companions, and bad books.
Without these means, no, you certainly cannot be good. With them, not only you can be good, but there is nothing more pleasant or easy.
How many young men there are, men, too, of every age and condition of life, who have more violent passions than you have, and yet who subdue them, and who have mastered them! Many are more exposed to temptations than you are, and have more obstacles of every kind to surmount. What they do, why cannot you do?
I knew an old soldier who had been in the habit of swearing by the name of God from his childhood. He could not utter two sentences without swearing. One day, touched by a good exhortation he heard, he resolved to fulfil his duties as a Christian. He determined energetically to conquer this defect; and in a fortnight's time he succeeded. Every time that the name of God escaped his lips, he said to himself: "My God forgive me, Thy holy name be blessed!" He did the same whenever he heard his comrades fall into the same sin. "I am obliged," he said to me, "to do my best; I catch myself more than fifty times a day."
We have often seen men addicted to the terrible vice of drunkenness, obtain a still more difficult victory over it, with a like courage. The celebrated General Cambronne, when a common soldier, had this detestable habit. One day, when intoxicated, he struck an officer, and was condemned to death. His Colonel, who was much attached to him, because of his brave and loyal character, obtained his pardon on condition that he would never drink any more wine. Twenty-five years after, Corporal Cambronne was General Cambronne, and immortalized by his heroic retreat at Waterloo. Surrounded by his family in Paris, he lived quietly, loved and esteemed by all. His old colonel invited him one day to dinner, with some old comrades in arms. The place of honor at the host's right hand was reserved for Cambronne. Some very exquisite wine, kept for great occasions, was put on the table. "Ah! General," said the old Colonel, "you will tell me that this is something rare, this wine;" and he was about to fill Cambronne's glass. He declines it, the other insists; Cambronne becomes annoyed. "But, General, I assure you, it is excellent!" "That is not the question!" Cambronne replied, quickly; "it is a question of my honor! my promise when a corporal, have you forgotten it, Colonel? Since that day I have never touched a single drop of wine. My word and my conscience are of more consequence than your wine!"
There was energy of character! That was a man to admire!
Be of good courage then; that is what is wanting. A man is a Christian from the moment that he wills it.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre