MARRIAGE GUIDANCE is an attempt to present those facts concerning marriage and family life that should be known by all those who are planning some day to enter the state of matrimony. It is intended to serve principally, though not exclusively, as a textbook. Students in the senior and junior years of college would perhaps derive more benefit from the use of this work than would freshmen and sophomores, for the former will, for the most part, marry sooner, and consequently they may be expected to take greater interest in an analysis of the obligations and the burdens of marriage. Members of adult study clubs who have been denied the advantages of a Catholic college education would undoubtedly find it profitable to discuss the many important topics which are touched upon in these pages. In the first of its three sections MARRIAGE GUIDANCE treats of the remote preparation for marriage. Some of the points which are studied in this section are understanding the opposite sex, the best age at which to marry, fitness to marry, parental approbation, courtship and its dangers, the happiness which children bring to a home, the means to ensure a lasting marriage, and authority in the home. In the second section those points are examined which will be of immediate concern to the couple when they present themselves to their pastor to arrange for the marriage. They will at that time have to attend to such details as procuring their baptismal certificates and the marriage license and choosing two witnesses for the wedding. Although the young man and the young woman may in the past have studied the matter carefully, they should now reflect at length on the nature and the seriousness of the contract into which they are soon to enter. Because the pastor will question them about possible impediments in their case, a large portion of this section is devoted to those laws of the Church which pertain to the matrimonial contract. The priest will conclude his interview with the couple by giving them a practical instruction on marriage. The third section discusses in detail what parents must do in order to discharge their obligation of protecting their offspring and of promoting their spiritual and temporal welfare. It is not easy to train one's children wisely and effectively amid the many unwholesome influences in our large cities. The Author's purpose is to make the student aware of the problems that so often arise in connection with the proper rearing of children and to acquaint him with the principles on which the solution to these difficulties is founded. The Author's advice and observations on the training of young children are based for the most part on the authoritative writings of specialists in child care. This third section has, moreover, been read carefully and approved by a number of persons who have had many years of actual experience in caring for young children. Some topics, such as the bathing and dressing of infants, preparing milk formulas, and the like, are outside the scope of this book. Subjects of this kind are satisfactorily treated in many manuals on the physical care of infants. At the end of this volume are found two appendices. The first of these is a list of phonograph records which a mother may find useful in her attempt to entertain her young children and to develop in them a love of music. The second appendix gives a list of pamphlets for supplementary reading. Although many of these pamphlets contain but a brief development of the subject matter of the chapter to which they are assigned, they often contain material and points of view that will prove helpful to the student.