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99. The Bodily LIfe of Offspring in the State of Innocence

1. There is no reason to suppose that children born in thestate of innocence would have been perfectly strong and able to usetheir members (to walk, for instance) right from the moment oftheir birth. The tender weakness of infancy is not a defect ofnature consequent upon sin; it is a normal and natural condition;for nature tends to develop its perfections, moving from a lessperfect to a more perfect state. Children born in the state ofinnocence would have possessed strength and power suitable to theirage, and advancing with their age.

2. Nor should we suppose, as some have done, that, in thestate of innocence, there would have been no distinction of sex.Distinction of sex was present in our first parents in theirinnocence; it belongs to the rounded completeness of human nature;it is a requirement for the propagation of the race according tothe Creator's plan; it manifests, in its order, the gradedvariety and perfection of the universe.

"Lord, take from me everything that hinders me from going to You. give me all that will lead me to You. Take me from myself and give me to Yourself."
St Nicholas Flue

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"Whom do you seek, friend, if you seek not God? Seek him, find him, cleave to him; bind your will to his with bands of steel and you will live always at peace in this life and in the next."
St Alphonsus de Liguori

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"Let no one wear a mask, otherwise he will do ill; and if he has one, let him burn it."
St Philip Neri

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