§ III. On Domestic Dangers

I. A maidservant who yesterday yielded to solicitation, or who because of frailty is exposed to grave danger of yielding to it, is bound to seek another service; and, if for this purpose it is necessary, to warn her parents that she is exposed to danger. "These things, however," adds St. Alphonsus, "are to be understood if a person of this kind is frail and little devout; for if she were given to piety and cautious, and used suitable remedies for repelling temptations and for meeting passion, then I would not bind her to remove the occasion" (VI, 452). Likewise a maidservant must seek another service if the son of the household or a fellow servant is for her a proximate occasion of sinning, unless by warning the master or the son's parents she can put an end to the occasion and prefers to do so (St. Alphonsus, VI, 439). The master himself is bound, if it can be done without grave inconvenience - of which kind would be his wife's suspicion - to dismiss the maidservant under one pretext or another.

II. A young man for whom a brother lying in the same bed is an occasion of sinning is bound, if there is hope, to seek a change of bed, and, if for this purpose it is necessary, to warn his parents about his brother's wickedness. If a change of bed cannot be hoped for, he is nevertheless bound to warn his parents, unless the brother wholly desists from shameful acts.