The nun sanctified by the virtues of her state
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| No, it is not expedient for you that the Superiors be resisted and thwarted; but if they be supported and consoled in the government of the Community, good order and your spiritual progress will be promoted. What a scandal is it to see certain religious decline certain offices assigned to them, and thus extort obedience from their Superiors! St. Bernard, in his comment on the words of the Redeemer to the blind man, What wilt thou that I do to thee 1 says: "He was truly blind, otherwise he would have exclaimed: Far be it from me, O Lord, to ask Thee to do what I will; tell me rather what Thou wilt have me do for Thee. " 2 Let us apply to ourselves this passage of St. Bernard. There are some nuns whom the abbess must ask what office they wish to have. Perfect religious do not require to be consulted about the office they wish for: should the Superior ask them what charge would be most agreeable to them, they answer that it is not for them to say what employment they desire, but that it belongs to her to tell them what she will have them do. If, then, dear sister, you wish to be truly obedient and truly religious, bear continually in mind: I. That your Superiors hold in your regard the place of Jesus Christ; and endeavor to show them all the veneration and love that are due to his representatives not through a feeling of self-interest, not to be esteemed by them or to avoid their censure, but from the sole motive of pleasing God. And this obedience is due not only to the prelate and abbess, but to all that hold office in the convent: such as the Infirmarian, the Sacristan, and the sister who is charged with the care of the refectory. In obeying the abbess, a religious may be easily influenced by human respect; but in obeying sisters entrusted with the inferior offices, she shows that she possesses the true spirit of obedience. 1 " Quid tibi vis faciam ?" Luke xviii. 41. 2"Vere cœcus, quia non exclamavit: Absit, Domine; tu magis dic quid me facere veils."In Conv. S. Pauli, s. i.
St. Francis of Assisi thanked God in a particular manner for having given him the grace to be always ready to obey the least of the novices in all things in which they might be appointed his Superiors. The saint was accustomed to say that the less the authority of a Superior and the more humble his station and qualifications, the greater is the merit of obedience; because then it proceeds from the sole motive of pleasing God. II. Do not seek the society of imperfect sisters, who have little affection for obedience. III. Receive correction with humility; beg of the Superior to reprimand you as often as reproof may be necessary for you. Be not of the number of those who resent even the slightest rebuke, to whom the Superior cannot give even the necessary admonitions without great caution; whose correction, lest they should be wanting in respect to her, and should disturb the Community she is, perhaps, compelled to defer for several months, till a seasonable opportunity occurs. But woe to the religious who cannot be admonished without such caution! she must be very imperfect indeed. IV. When corrected receive the admonition with humility, and without excusing your fault; and should the Superior charge you with a defect which you had not committed, do not speak of her mistake, unless she commands you to state your guilt or innocence. But I shall hereafter treat this subject more at large. V. Banish from your mind all thoughts and suspicions against the Superior, with the same promptness as if they were thoughts opposed to chastity, and when you hear any one attribute to her a fault which cannot be denied, seek to excuse her as much as you can. But should the fault of the Superior be evident and inexcusable, for example, were she impatient with all the sisters, persuade yourself that God permits this defect in her, not for your injury, but for your profit. St. Gertrude once besought the Lord to deliver the abbess from the fault of frequent impatience. In answer, she was told that he permitted this defect in the abbess, as well for her own advantage as for the good of the religious: for her good, that she might be kept humble; for the good of the religious, that by bearing with her 56 impatience their merit might be increased. 1 " The more," says St. Bernard, " you are oppressed, the more you gain." 2 The greater the burden you bear the greater the merit you acquire. St. Gregory teaches that " the commands of Superiors should be respected, though their life be not deserving of praise."3 And speaking of the Scribes and Pharisees, who blasphemed his works, Jesus Christ says: All things whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do; but according to their works, do ye not 4 With regard to the offices of the convent, observe the excellent rule of St. Francis de Sales: "Never to seek and never to refuse any of them." Prefer always that which is least honourable, and least suited to your convenience. Few nuns merit the full reward of obedience by fulfilling the duties of their office, because few accept and discharge them in the true spirit of obedience, and with a pure intention of pleasing God. Imperfect religious look only to the advantages and disadvantages of office; but the perfect regard only the will of God, and therefore seek not their own ease or convenience, but cheerfully embrace pains and labors. Endeavor to be long to the number of the perfect. Do not imagine that the refusal of office, through fear of committing faults in the discharge of its duties, will be excusable before God; but be persuaded that by becoming a religious you bound yourself to serve the convent. 1 Insin. 1. 3, c. 84. 2 " In quantum gravaris, in tantum lucraris." Epist. 73. 3 " Majorum imperia tune etiam veneranda sunt, cum ipsi laudabilem non habent vitam. In 1 Reg. 1. 2, c. 4. 4 " Omnia ergo quæcumque dixerint vobis, servate etfacite, secundum opera vero eorum nolite facere." Matt, xxiii. 3. Could the fear of committing faults justify you in declining a charge, the same fear would exempt all the sisters from the obligation of accepting office. Should they give way to such fears, who would serve the monastery or support the Community? Have a pure intention of pleasing God: fear not; he will assist you. Accept, in the spirit of obedience, the office intrusted to you; and in accepting it, regard not the power of domination; look not to self-ease nor self-esteem, but solely to the obligations of obedience. Accept it with a holy confidence, and listen not to the devil, who will perhaps suggest to you that the duties of such an office are above your strength. If you be obedient, the Lord will give you that strength which you do not possess. Do not imagine that, because the duties of your charge are of a distracting nature they will destroy in your soul the spirit of fervor and recollection. Be assured that if you comply with your duties God will bestow upon you more graces in a quarter of an hour spent in prayer, than, without performing them, you would receive in a retreat of ten days. In the fulfilment of your office endeavor as much as possible to set apart some little time to recollect yourself in prayer. Do not say that your office requires every moment of your time. Perfect religious who have an affection for prayer can find abundant time for the discharge of their duties and for recollection. Do not imitate the conduct of some who burden themselves with such a multiplicity of occupations, that they cannot find a moment s time to recollect themselves before God. In discharging the duties of office be careful not to be partial to your friends. Be still more careful not to abuse your office by employing it as a means of procuring for yourself advantages which the other sisters do not enjoy. Lastly, remember that neither obedience nor even the perfection of obedience forbids a religious to make known to her Superiors all secret disqualifications for the duty imposed upon her. She may, for example, without any violation of obedience, make known to them any bodily infirmity, or whatever would render her unfit for the office assigned to her; because her Superiors are not angels, but human beings, who require to be made acquainted with what of themselves they do not know. But in stating your disqualifications for any charge, you must take care, in the first place, not to speak of those which the Superior already knows; for these she must be supposed to have already taken into consideration. Secondly, after explaining your difficulties, you must cheerfully acquiesce in the judgment of the Superior; and your acquiescence must be manifested externally, as well for her peace and satisfaction as for the edification of the Community. Hence, before they represent to the Superior their unfitness for office, religious would do well to figure to themselves that, notwithstanding their supposed difficulties, she insists on the acceptance of the charge intrusted to them. By this means they will be better disposed to receive, without reply, the decision of the Superior. It is necessary to remark in this place, that a discreet attention to the preservation of health, with a view to be better able to serve God, is not a defect, but an act of virtue. But a superfluous solicitude about health is a fault; and, aided by self-love, makes many unnecessary indulgences appear indispensable. St. Bernard says that some are fitter to be the disciples of Hippocrates and Galenus than of Jesus Christ. " Consider," says the saint, “ that you are a monk and not a physician." 1 And he continues: " Consult for your own repose."2 57 1 " Puta te, quæso, monachum esse, non medicum." In Cant. s. 30. 2 " Parce quieti tuæ." As if he said, Seek to promote your own peace by living like the rest of the Community, and by avoiding all singular and superfluous indulgence. " Spare the labor of those who serve the Community." 1 Spare the labor of the attendant in the refectory, and of the cook; and seek not after delicacies withheld from others. " Spare the burden of the house." 2 Abstain from putting the Community to any superfluous expense. St. Basil 3 exhorted religious to accustom themselves as much as possible to the common fare. Oh ! how much better is it for a religious to eat and drink like her companions, than to fast, to take discipline, or wear hair- shirts, and afterwards practise singularity in her food! In singularity has originated the relaxation of many religious orders. Be not afraid that by using the common food you will be wanting in the care of your health; for although it is not lawful directly to shorten life with the intention of accelerating death, still, according to the common opinion of theologians, it is allowable to abstain from some indulgences, particularly those that are singular, which might prolong life for some time. Such abstinence is even an act of virtue, when practised with the intention of promoting our own spiritual advancement, and the edification of our neighbour. When the celebrated Chapter of Matts 4 was held, St. Francis of Assisi saw that the demons convened a Chapter, in which they agreed that, to introduce a relaxation of discipline into his Order, in which the spirit of fervor then flourished, the most effectual means would be to induce the religious to receive a great number of novices of noble extraction and of delicate health, because such subjects would be treated with less rigor; thus by degrees discipline would be relaxed, and the spirit of fervor banished from the Order. This reasoning was most just. 1 " Parce labor! ministrantium." 2 " Parce gravamini dornus." 3 .V. de Abdic. rerum. 4 Wading. Ann. Min. anno 1219, n. 19. Beware, then, lest by immoderate care of your health you put your salvation in peril, or at least lose the crown of a saint. Remember that, had the Saints, like you, been unnecessarily solicitous [about the preservation of health, they should never have become saints. Prayer. O my beloved Lord, Thou art beauty itself, goodness itself, and love itself: how can I love anything but Thee ! Fool that I have been ! In my past life I have offered numberless insults to Thee. I have violated Thy law, but I am sorry above all things for my sins, and desire to die of grief for having offended Thee. O my Jesus, have mercy upon me. I desire to cry out continually: My Jesus, mercy; O my Jesus, mercy. But if for the past I have despised Thy love, I now prefer it to all the goods of the earth. Thou, O my Jesus, art, and shalt be forever, the only object of all my affections. My love, I leave all things and desire nothing but Thee. I now say and desire to repeat every moment of my life, that I desire Thee only, O my God, and nothing more. Assist me, O Lord, to be faithful to Thee. Look not on my sins, but on the love that Thou didst bear to me when Thou wast nailed to the Cross for my salvation. In the merits of Thy Passion I place all my hopes. I love Thee, O infinite Good ! O my supreme Good ! and ask nothing of Thee but the grace to love Thee ; to love Thee intensely, and henceforward to love no other object but Thee, my treasure and my all. My Jesus, I give Thee my will : purify its affections. I give Thee my body : preserve it unsullied. I give Thee my soul : make it belong entirely to Thee. Burn with Thy own consuming fire every affection that is opposed to the pure love of Thy divinity. O Mary, my great advocate, I hope first in the merits of thy Son, and afterwards in thy intercession. V. The Obedience due to the Rule. St. Francis de Sales has asserted that "the predestination of religious is connected with the observance of their rules. " And St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi used to say, that the observance of Rule is the shortest way to eternal life and to sanctity. In a word, the only way by which a religious can become a saint and be saved, is to observe her Rule. For her there is no other way that leads to salvation. Hence, no matter how great her austerities, how frequent her prayers, and how numerous her other spiritual works, a religious who habitually violates any, even the most unimportant, rule, will never advance a single step towards perfection. She will labor, but without fruit, verifying in herself the words of the Holy Ghost: He that rejecteth wisdom and discipline is unhappy ; and their fruit is vain, and their labors without fruit, and their works unprofitable 1 They who despise discipline, that is, their Rule, are miserable, and trust in vain in their works; for their labors are without fruit. "We," says St. Teresa, " do not fulfil certain easy duties prescribed by rule, such as silence, which gives no pain; and still we go in search of works of penance; but afterwards we neglect the former and omit the latter." 2 Not to advance in perfection is but a small part of the evils 58 that arise from the infraction of light rules. According to St. Bernard, the worst consequence of such transgressions is, that the habit of them renders very difficult the observance of the most important rules, and even of the vows. 1" Disciplinam qui abjicit, infelix est; et vacua est spes illorum. et labores sine fructu." Wisd. iii. II. 2 Way of Per f. ch. II. Oh! what a scandal to see certain religious, so well instructed during their novitiate in the observance of the rule, and after their profession, disregard reguiar discipline, as if their solemn consecration to Jesus Christ exempted them from all the obligations of the religious state! A learned author says: " It is better to be a finger united to the body, than to be an eye separated from it." 1 An eye torn from the body is but rottenness; and an action that wears the appearance of virtue, but is not conformable to rule, will never please God; instead of promoting, it will impede the perfection of a religious. For, as St. Augustine says, acts of devotion opposed to rule are but so many steps out of the way, and so many stumbling-blocks to the soul. But you, dear sister, have left the world to become a saint; and do you not see, that not to conquer yourself in small things will not only prevent you from being a saint, but will also expose you to the danger of perdition ? " We had," says St. Eucherius of Lyons, " abundant strength to relinquish the dearest affections, and we are not strong enough to overcome negligence." 2 We had the courage to renounce all attachments to relatives, to property, and to the pleasures of the world; and now we are too weak to conquer our tendency to violate rule. Cassian relates that to a certain monk who had abandoned the dignity of senator to enter religion, but afterwards did not observe his rule, St. Basil said, in a tone of commiseration: " You have lost the rank of senator, and have not become a monk." 3 Unhappy man, what have you done? To become a monk, you have forfeited the honourable station of senator, and have not attained the sanctity of a religious. 1 "Melius est digitum esse, et esse in corpore, quam esse oculum, et evelli de corpore." 2 "Ad relinquendos dulces affectus, fortissimi fuimus ; et nunc, ad declinandas negligentias, infirmi sumus." Ad Monach. hom. 8. 3 " Senatorem perdidisti, et monachum non fecisti." Tertullian says: " If you deem the liberty of the world to be true liberty, you have returned to servitude, and have lost the liberty of Christ." 1 As if he said: O spouse of Jesus, you have gone forth from the slavery of the world, and have taken possession of the liberty of Christ, by putting off all earthly affections the unhappy chains which hold so many poor souls in bondage; and will you still esteem the liberty of the world to be true liberty ? If you do, you have miserably returned to the slavery of the world, and have lost the freedom of the children of God, which Jesus Christ purchased for you. FIRST EXCUSE. Some religious excuse their negligence by saying that the rules which they violate are of no importance. To them I answer, in the first place, that no Rule of religion can be deemed unimportant or undeserving of attention. All the rules of religion should be respected, because they are all ordained by Almighty God, and approved by the Church, as means of attaining the perfection "to which every religious consecrated to God should continually aspire; and because the neglect of even trifling rules injures regular discipline, and disturbs the whole Community. It is certain that the spirit of fervor flourishes in the convent where attention is paid to the smallest rules; but where they are neglected, there piety is either lost or begins to decay Father St. Jure 2 relates that Father Oviedo, the Superior of the college of the Jesuits in Naples, insisted on the punctual observance of even the smallest rules. He was opposed by Father Bobadilla, who asserted that it was not right to oblige subjects to observe such trifles. 1 " Si veram putes sæculi libertatem, rediisti in servitutem hominis, et amisisti libertatem Christi." De Cor. milit. 2 Knowledge and Love, book 3, ch. 17, i. By this opposition the rigor of discipline was relaxed; the event showed the evil consequences of the neglect of rule. By the habitual violation of order, a contempt for the most important as well as for the smallest rules was engendered in some, who afterwards abandoned religion. Being informed of the relaxation which had taken place, St. Ignatius ordained that the rules should be observed with the utmost exactness, and thus discipline was reestablished. Tepid and negligent religious disregard trifles, but , the devil sets great value on the smallest violation of rules; he carefully marks all our transactions to charge us with them one day before the tribunal of Jesus Christ. St. Richard, a religious, having once got his hair cut before the usual time, saw the devil gathering and numbering the hairs that were scattered over the floor. 1 In like manner, St. Gertrude 2 saw the enemy collecting all the little tufts of wool which, for want of the perfect spirit of poverty, she had allowed to be wasted; and all the syllables of the Office that 59 had been omitted because it was recited with too much rapidity. Blessed Denis the Carthusian relates that Satan appeared once to a religious with a needle and a silk thread in his hand, which she had used withoiat permission. Thus the enemy of mankind keeps an account of every word uttered in the place or time of silence, of every look of curiosity, and of every transgression of rule into which negligent religious fall. It is because they are heedless of small faults that these miserable souls experience nothing but aridity and irksomeness in their meditations, Communions, and in all their exercises of devotion. 1 Surius, St pt. 15. 2 Insin. 1. 3, c. 33. In punishment of one look of curiosity, contrary to the inspiration of the Holy Ghost not to indulge her eyes, St. Gertrude was visited with spiritual dryness for eleven days. It is but just that whoever sows little should gather but little fruit. He who soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly. 1 How can the Lord be liberal of his graces and consolations to a religious who serves him with reserve and with negligence ? Had she faithfully observed such a rule God would perhaps have bestowed upon her great graces; but in punishment of her negligence he has justly withheld them from her. Blessed Egidius used to say, "By a small neglect a great grace may be lost." "Many," says St. Bonaventure, "desire to die for Christ, and are at the same time unwilling to bear light crosses for his sake." 2 Many pant after the crown of martyrdom, and will violate a small rule rather than submit to a trifling inconvenience. If, says the Saint, you received a command hard to be observed, and in its fulfilment attended with serious disadvantages, there might perhaps be some apology for its violation; but for the infraction of rules of easy observance there cannot be the shadow of an excuse. The more unimportant a rule, and the more easy it is to be observed, the more imperfect the religious who transgresses it, because the greater is her attachment to self-will. But God grant, as has been said above, 3 that the disregard of small rules may not lead her one day to the violation of her vow, and to eternal perdition. He that breaketh a hedge, says the Holy Ghost, a serpent shall bite him." Whoever breaks down the fence of the Rule stands in great danger of being one day bitten by the infernal serpent. When you see a religious of exemplary conduct fall into the pit of sin, do not imagine that the devil, by the first attack, succeeded in effecting her ruin. No, he first induced her to neglect her Rule and to despise small things, and then drew her into grievous transgressions. 1 "Qui parce seminat, parce et metet." 2 Cor. ix. 6. 2"Multi optant pro Christo mori, qui pro Christo nolunt levia pati." De Prof. rel. 1. 2, c. 5. 3 Page 172. 4" Qui dissipat sepem, mordebit eum coluber." Ecdcs. x. 8. SECOND EXCUSE. Others excuse themselves by saying that the Rule does not bind under pain of sin. It has been already said (Chap. IV.) that to violate without sufficient necessity even the Rules that are not obligatory under the penalty of moral guilt, is, according to the common opinion of theologians, at least a venial transgression. Speaking of the Rule of his Order, which has not the force of a strict precept, St. Thomas, after stating that the violation of the vows is a mortal sin, says that " the transgression of the other Rules is only a venial fault." 1 I have said that to break any Rule without sufficient cause is at least a venial sin. For when the violation of Rule is productive of serious injury or of great scandal in the convent, it may be a mortal sin. For example, to disturb habitually the general silence, to enter the cells of your companions, to break without leave the fasts prescribed by the Rule, and similar irregularities, sometimes rob the soul of sanctifying grace. But that the violation of Rule is at least a venial sin, cannot be doubted: 1. Because a religious by transgressing her Rule neglects the means of attaining the perfection to which she is bound to aspire; 2. Because she is unfaithful to the promise which at her profession she made to observe the Rules of the Community; 3. Because by her bad example in transgressing the Rule she disturbs the good order of the Community; 4. And lastly (and this is the strongest reason): Because every infraction of the Rule proceeds from self-love, and is a departure from the will of God. 1" Transgressio obligat solum ad peccatum veniale." 2. 2, q. iSO, a. 9. |