Vocations

Jean Fouquet (b. ca. 1420, Tours, d. ca. 1480, Tours)
The Martyrdom of St Apollonia
1452-60
Illumination
Musée Condé, Chantilly

Father Mark in Vultus Christi has an interesting anecdote:

“About thirty years ago a certain Abbot decreed new admissions policies for his monastery.

In order to be accepted as a postulant one had to have had a happy childhood; one could not come from a broken home; one had to have affective and sexual maturity and a blameless record of unsullied virtue; one had to have no past history of problems with drugs or alcohol and no alcoholism or mental illness in one's family; one had to have an undergraduate degree and be free of debts; and one had to have good teeth with no cavities.

Paradise is peopled with saints who would not have measured up to the Reverend Father's standards. As a youthful friend of mine would say, "Dude! Get real!" “

If this typical, no wonder there has been a shortage of priests and religious.

For more about teeth and the lack of, see: St. Apollonia: The Patron Saint of Dentistry