The nun sanctified by the virtues of her state
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| A religious truly obedient is never slow to obey, but instantly applies her ears to hear every precept, and her hands and feet to execute every command. She does not indulge in slothful slumbers after the morning bell, but obeying its sound as the call of God himself, she instantly rises. On receiving a precept, she makes no reply, offers no excuses, manifests no repugnance, as some do, by a silence which often afflicts the Superior, but instantly and with external joy shows her readiness to obey, and immediately fulfils the command. She is not like those who are with difficulty made to submit to authority, and who by their reluctance to obey lose the greater part of the merit of obedience. No; to insure her compliance with every duty, neither entreaties, nor arguments, nor repeated commands are necessary. She fulfils at once, and without reply, every obligation of obedience. Oh ! how meritorious in the sight of God is prompt obedience. He has several times shown, even by supernatural prodigies, how acceptable it is in his sight. St. Mark, a monk, while engaged in writing, was called by his Superior, the Abbot Silvan; the saint left unfinished a word which he had just begun, and instantly obeyed. On his return he found the remainder of the word written in letters of gold. Blosius 1 relates that a nun to whom the infant Jesus appeared, being summoned at the moment of his appearance to a certain duty, instantly obeyed the call. On her return she found him grown up to the age of manhood, and was addressed by him in the following words: "My child, your ready obedience has made me grow thus in your heart." Jesus appeared to another religious, who on hearing the bell for Vespers left him, and went to the choir. 1 Inst. spir. a pp. 4, c. 6.
When she returned to her cell, he appeared to her again and said: "Because you left me, you have found me again; had you not obeyed the call of duty, I should have departed from you." To try the obedience of some of his monks who were confined to bed by sickness, St. Columban commanded them to rise, and go to the barn to thrash corn. As many as were filled with the true spirit of -obedience instantly arose, and were suddenly restored to health. The others, because they were weak in spirit as well as in body, remained in bed and continued in their infirmities. 1 65 God has also sometimes shown how much he dislikes tardy obedience. Blessed Juniper, while employed in planting a tree in the garden, was called by St. Francis. The brother did not obey the call immediately, but waited till he had finished the work in which he was engaged. The saint, to show him the fault he had committed by the tardiness of his obedience, cursed the tree, and on the part of God, commanded it to grow no larger. The tree obeyed, and never increased in size. 2 The narrator of this fact states, that when he wrote his annals the tree was preserved in the convent of the city of Carinula; that It remained green, but was as small as when it was planted. How scandalous is it to see certain religious slow to obey, for no other reason than because they are commanded to obey ! Were the duty of obedience not of precept, they should perhaps discharge it without delay, because it would be agreeable to self-will. Some will obey only after having frequently said to the Superior: I cannot perform this duty. They would speak with more truth if they said: I do not wish to do what you command. St. Joseph Calasanctius used to say that he who instead of saying " I will not," says " I cannot," deceives himself, and not the Superior. 1 Flatus, De Bono stat. rel. 1. 2, c. 5. 2 Wading, Annal. Min, anno 1222, n. II. THE SECOND DEGREE. The second degree of obedience is to obey with exactness; that is, with punctuality, and without interpretation. PUNCTUALLY. You should obey with punctuality, and not rob God of any part of your sacrifice by a mutilation of the victim you offer to him. You should carefully fulfil the whole duty imposed upon you, and employ in its discharge all the time prescribed by obedience. Some are punctual in the presence of the Superior, but in her absence they comply so imperfectly with the obligations of obedience, that it would be difficult to determine whether the fulfilment of their duties is a source of merit or demerit. St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi used to say, that " religious have consecrated their will not to men, but to God; that they have given it to him, not in part, but entirely and without reserve." WITHOUT INTERPRETATIONS. It is also necessary to obey without interpreting in your own favour the commands that you receive. A lay-brother, from another convent, came one day to the house of the Dominicans in Bologna. Being obliged to go out in haste on pressing and important business, he obtained permission from the Superior to take for his companion the brother whom he should first meet. Meeting, by chance, St. Thomas, he asked the saint in the name of the Superior to accompany him. The saint instantly obeyed, but being corpulent, walked slowly; the lay-brother, because his business was urgent, entreated the saint to quicken his pace. When the brother knew who his companion was, he frequently begged pardon of St. Thomas for having treated him so disrespectfully; but the holy Doctor bore all without the least sign of impatience. 1 1 Surius, 7 Mart 13 St. Thomas might have interpreted the command of the Prior, and have reasonably inferred that it did not extend to him; but no: he wished to obey without reply and without interpretation, and when he was told that he might have excused himself, he answered that the sole concern of a religious should be, to fulfil with exactness the obligations of obedience. Cassian 1 relates that two young religious being sent by the Abbot John with a basket of figs, as a present to an aged monk who lived at a distance, missed their way and wandered through a desert for many days without food. In such necessity they might, without violating obedience, have interpreted in their own favour the command of the Superior, and have eaten of the figs sent to the monk; but rather than depart from even the letter of the precept, they submitted to a painful death. They were afterwards found dead, and the figs untouched. I do not mean to say that it is never lawful to transgress the letter of a precept; or that it is wrong to interpret the will of Superiors, when circumstances justify or render necessary an interpretation of their command. But I assert that certain forced and sophistical interpretations differ but little from formal acts of disobedience. Subjects should always comply even with the letter of a precept, unless they be certain that the Superior does not intend to oblige them to fulfil it. Some religious, though fully acquainted with the will of the Superior, follow the dictates of their own caprice, saying that what they do is not forbidden. But Albert Magnus says that " a truly obedient man never waits for a command, but performs, as if commanded, whatever he knows or judges to be the will of his Superior." 2 1 He Cœnob. inst. 1. 5, c. 40. 2 " Verus obediens nunquam præceptum exspectat; sed, selum voluntatem prælati sciens vel credens, exsequitur pro præcepto." De Virtut. c. 3. 66 It is in the prompt fulfilment of the will of the Superior that perfect obedience consists. St. Thomas teaches that the will of the Superior, in whatever way it is known, should be regarded as a tacit precept by the religious who aspires to perfect obedience. 1 THE THIRD DEGREE. The third degree of obedience is to obey with JOY. To obey with reluctance, and murmuring against Superiors, is a defect rather than an act of virtue. " If," says St. Bernard, " murmuring in your heart, you begin to judge the Superior, though you externally comply with the precept, your compliance is not a virtue, but a covering of malice." 2 If you murmur interiorly against the Superior, the fulfilment of her commands is but a cloak thrown over your malice. For your obedience is only external, and in your heart you disregard her authority and violate the divine law. Oh! what a misery to see certain religious who discharge with cheerfulness only the duties which they themselves have asked, or which they have been requested and entreated to perform, and who accept without reluctance only the offices by which their own self-love is gratified? How can a person who importunes the Superior for a charge agreeable to her inclinations, who is willing to accept such a charge and no other how, I say, can she be called an obedient religious? St. Ignatius used to say, that to regard as an act of obedience the fulfilment of a command extorted from a Superior is an illusion; and in confirmation of his assertion he adduced the following words of St. Bernard: " 1 2. 2, q. 104, a. 2. 2 " Si coeperis dijudicare prælatum, si murmuras in corde, etsi exterius impleas, non est virtus, sed velamentum malitire." In Circumc. D. s. 3. Whosoever, either openly or secretly, labors to obtain from his spiritual Father a precept agreeable to self-will, deceives and vainly flatters himself by imagining that he practises obedience; for in this he does not obey his Superior, but the Superior rather obeys him."1 Tritemius goes so far as to call the religious who obeys with reluctance a monster of the devil; 2 for he too obeys, but his obedience is forced. A religious who obeys only by constraint is in a certain sense worse than the demons; because she has promised obedience to God by her solemn vow, but they have not. In what, I ask, does the obedience of such a religious consist ? Is it not in doing with cheerfulness what pleases her own caprice, and in performing what is painful to selflove with reluctance, and with external signs of discontent ? " What room is there for obedience," says St. Bernard, " where the bitterness of sadness is perceived ?" 3 God loveth a cheerful giver4says the Apostle. The Lord loves the man who performs with cheerfulness whatever he does for the love of God. Religious filled with the true spirit of obedience execute with the greatest joy the commands that are most opposed to their inclinations; because it is in the fulfilment of such commands that they are most certain of not doing their own will, and of doing the will of God. And what can give greater happiness to a Christian than in the performance of every duty to be able to say: By this action I please God? If you, dear sister, desire to give great pleasure to Jesus Christ, beg of the Superior to impose upon you whatever precepts she pleases without any regard to your inclinations; for thus she will be more free in prescribing to you the necessary duties, and you shall have greater merit in executing her orders. You shall then be certain of deserving as great a reward by works agreeable to self-love as by the exercises opposed to the feelings of flesh and blood. Never depart from the excellent rule of St. Francis de Sales neither to ask nor to refuse any duty. 1 " Quisquis, vel aperte vel occulte, satagit ut, quod habet in voluntate, hoc ei spiritualis pater injungat, ipse se seducit, si sibi quasi de obedientia blandiatur; neque enim in ea re ipse prælato, sed magis ei prælatus obedit." DC divers, s. 35. 2 " Monstra diaboli." 3 " Quis locus obedientire, ubi tristitine cernitur negritudo ?" Ibid. s. 41. 4 " Hilarem enim datorem diligit Deus." 2 Cor. ix. 7. "Obedience," says St. John Climacus, " is the sepulchre of self-will." 1 Some call obedience the death of self-will; but it is more properly denominated its sepulchre. For the dead, as long as they are unburied, may be seen; but after their interment they are no longer visible. Some destroy self-will by the practice of obedience, but still allow it to appear in their exterior. In the perfect, self-will is not only dead, but buried; so that in their actions it can never be perceived. In St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi self-will was so completely extinguished that her Superiors could never know what was agreeable or disagreeable to her. Endeavor to imitate her conduct, and to receive with perfect indifference all the duties, offices, and employments that may be assigned to you; and to fulfil them with cheerfulness and alacrity. If you desire to discharge your obligations with true joy, you must perform them from the pure intention of pleasing God. If you comply with them to obtain the friendship of the Superior, to induce her to grant your 67 requests, to escape her displeasure, or the charge of disobedience, or through any other motive of self-interest, you may indeed satisfy the Superior, but you will not please God, and therefore you shall suffer all the fatigue and pains of obedience with out enjoying the tranquillity of an obedient religious. Moreover, if to please God be the sole end of your obedience, you will cheerfully obey, not only when the tone and manner of the Superior are sweet and agreeable, but also when her directions are given in severe and commanding language: in this merit consists. 1 " Obedientia est sepulcrum propriæ voluntatis." Scala par ad. gr. 4. Father Rodriguez relates that St. Gertrude besought the Lord to deliver the abbess from her roughness of manner and impatience towards the sisters, but in answer Almighty God told her that he permitted these defects in the abbess to keep her humble, and for the greater trial and merit of the religious. THE FOURTH DEGREE. The fourth and last degree of perfect obedience is to obey with SIMPLICITY. Servants, says the Apostle, be obedient . . . in the simplicity of your hearts. 1 To be simple of heart you must subject your own judgment to that of the Superior, and esteem as just and reasonable whatever she commands. Behold how the Holy Ghost teaches his spouse the duty of perfect obedience: If thou knowest not thyself, O fairest among women, go forth, and follow after the steps of thy flocks 2 O fairest of women, if you know not how to make yourself the object of my love, come and I will teach you; go forth from thyself, and follow after the steps of thy flocks, which, when sent to pasture, ask not where or when or why they go ? They obey their pastor without reply: so should a religious obey without demanding the reasons why she should obey. That great servant of God, Father Pavone, of the Society of Jesus, used to say that obedience, to be perfect, should captivate the intellect as well as the will. The obedience of a religious whose will only obeys, and whose understanding condemns what the Superior commands, is lame and imperfect. St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi says that " perfect obedience requires a soul without a will, and a will without an intellect." 1" Obedite . . . in simplicitate cordis vestri." Ephes. vi. 5. 2" Si ignoras te, o pulcherrima inter mulieres! egredere, et abi post vestigia gregum." Cant. 1. 7. Hence to acquire the perfect spirit of obedience the saint was accustomed, first to captivate her judgment, and then to perform the duty imposed upon her. He who does not practise obedience of the intellect will hardly obey with cheerfulness; his submission will be that of a slave the result of force, not the obedience of a child, and the fruit of love. Hence the Apostle says: With a good will serving as to the Lord, and not to men 1 Obey with a good will, serving God rather than men. Your obedience will never be cheerful unless it proceed from a motive of pleasing God, who can never err in his precepts, and who commands only what will be profitable to us. St. Thomas teaches that though the commands of a Superior may appear impossible, a religious should make an effort to fulfil them. Because subjects have no right to decide on the possibility or impossibility of a precept imposed upon them. " Perfect obedience," says St. Bernard, "is indiscreet." 2 In subjects perfect obedience does not require discretion. And in another place the saint says: "It is impossible for a prudent novice to persevere in religion." 3 A novice who regulates her obedience by her own prudence cannot persevere in the religious state. Because, continues the saint, to assume the office of Superior is, in a novice, insufferable pride. " To decide belongs to the Superior; and to obey is the duty of the subject." 4 To decide what is to be done is the prerogative of the Superior, and to fulfil her commands the bounden duty of subjects. St. Ignatius once said that should the Pope command him to undertake a voyage by sea in a ship without a mast, without oars or sails, he would blindly obey the precept. 1 "Cum bona voluntate servientes, sicut Domino, et non hominibus." Eph. vi. 7. 2 " Perfecta obedientia est indiscreta." DC Vit. sol. c. 5. 3" Novitium prudentem in congregatione durare, impossibile est." 4 " Discernere superioris est, aliorum est obedire." And when he was told that it would be imprudent to expose his life to danger, he answered that prudence is necessary in Superiors; but in subjects the perfection of prudence is to obey without prudence. This doctrine is conformable to Holy Scripture: Behold, says the Lord, as clay is in the potter’s hands. 1 Religious must leave themselves in the hands of the Superior to be moulded as she wills. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it: What art thou making ? 2 If clay should dare to say to the potter, Why hast thou formed me thus? the potter ought to answer: Be silent: it is not your business to inquire what I do, but to obey and to receive whatever form I please to give you. Such the answer merited by religious who seek to know why a precept, an office, or a duty is imposed upon them. St. Jerome, in an epistle to Rusticus, a monk, says: " It is your duty to obey: judge not of the decision of your Superiors." 3 In the lives of the monks of La Trappe we read that a good religious called Arsenius judged to be superfluous the expense incurred by the Superior in making the church more commodious. 68 But afterwards, reflecting that his judgment was in opposition to that of his Superior, he went immediately and with tears accused himself of his fault as if it were a great crime. The abbot told him that his fault was not so grievous as he imagined; but Arsenius could not restrain the torrent of tears which flowed from his eyes. To regard as good whatever Superiors command, is the blind obedience so much praised by the saints ; and is the duty of every religious, and this for four reasons : 1 Because, according to the proverb, no one is fit to be a judge in his own cause. 4 When there is question of their own interest, self-love renders it difficult for all men to distinguish truth from falsehood ; and therefore no one should be the judge of what regards himself. 2. Because a Superior is acquainted with a great many circumstances of which subjects are ignorant; and therefore her opinion should be preferred to theirs. 3. Because subjects only regard their own interests; but the Superior looks to the good of the Community. 4. Because Superiors are assisted, in a particular manner, by Almighty God to govern the Community; and therefore are favoured with lights not given to subjects. 1 " Quasi lutum figuli in manu ipsius." Ecchis, xxxiii. 13. 2 " Numquid dicet lutum figulo suo: Quid facis . . . ?" Is. xlv. 9. 3 " Nee de majorum sententia judices, cujus officium est obedire." 4 " Nemo rcctus judex sui ipsius." Of St. Paul it is written, that after his conversion, when his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. But they leading him by the hand, brought him to Damascus. 1 Some religious are unwilling to obey without examining whether the duty imposed upon them will be profitable or unprofitable to them. Should it appear not suited to them, they either refuse to obey, or obey only with reluctance, and sometimes go so far as to charge the Superior with imprudence, indiscretion, or partiality. All this arises from a want of the spirit of blind obedience, and from a desire to demand from the Superior the reason why she imposes certain duties. " To seek for reasons is," according to St. Bernard, " a sign of an imperfect heart." 5 Whoever demands the reason of a precept shows a very imperfect will. It was by asking the reasons of the divine command that the devil tempted Eve to eat the forbidden apple, and succeeded in making her prevaricate. Why, said the serpent, hath God commanded you, that you should not cat of every tree in paradise? 3 Had Eve answered: It belongs not to us to seek the reason of the precept: it is our duty to obey; she should not have fallen. 1" Apertisque oculis, nihil videbat ; ad manus autem ilium tra-hentes, introduxerunt Damascum." Acts, ix. 8. 2" Imperfecti cordis indicium est, exigere de quibusque rationem." De Præc. et Disp. c. 10. 3"Cur præcepit vobis Deus ut non comederetis de omni ligno paradisi?" Gen. iii. I. But because she began to examine the reason of the command, she replied, We can eat of the fruits of paradise. There is but one tree which we are forbidden to touch, lest perhaps we die. 1 Perceiving that she began to doubt the threatened punishment of death, he rejoined, Be not afraid, you shall not die, 2 and thus he persuaded her to transgress the command of God. Religious that are truly obedient seek not for reasons; but, like St. Paul, with open eyes, they see not, and reduce a haughty intellect to the subjection of obedience, by submitting their judgment to that of their Superior. St. John Climacus 3 says that a religious should banish thoughts opposed to obedience, as she would reject thoughts against chastity, that is, immediately, and without reply; and that, instead of questioning the reasonableness of the precepts of her Superior, she should always seek for reasons to defend their expediency. Almighty God has several times shown, in a miraculous manner, how much he delights in the blind obedience of religious. Sulpitius Severus relates,4 that to try the obedience of a young man who applied for admission into a certain monastery, the abbot commanded him to walk into a furnace filled with burning coals. The young man instantly plunged into the fire, but received no injury; his clothes were not even touched. St. Gregory 5 relates that St. Benedict commanded St. Maurus to follow the young St. Placidus, who had fallen into a river. St. Maurus obeyed, walked on the waters, and saved the life of the boy. 1 " Ne forte moriamur." Gen. iii. 3. 2 " Nequaquam morte moriemini." Ibid. 4. 3 Scal, parad. gr. 4. 4 De Virt. man. or. dial. I, c. 12. 5 Dial. l. 2, c. 7. These examples are not to be imitated. The precepts given by these holy men, and their fulfilment, proceeded from extraordinary impulses of the Holy Ghost, who assured the Superiors that by their commands, and the subjects that by their obedience, they were accomplishing the divine will. But at the same time they show how much God is pleased by blind unhesitating obedience. To try the obedience of their subjects, Superiors sometimes impose commands that are inexpedient, and even absurd. St. Francis commanded his disciples to plant cabbages with their roots uppermost. He obliged Brother 69 Matthew to continue turning round till he fell to the ground. St. Teresa made similar trials of her children. But you will ask, Of what use are such precepts ? In answer I ask, Why are untrained horses made sometimes to run, sometimes to stop, and sometimes to go back ? All these contribute to make them obedient to the bridle ; and to exercise religious in what appears extravagant and useless accustoms them to subdue the stubbornness of their own will, and to subject their own judgments to that of their Superiors. St. Joseph Calasanctius used to say, that " to follow one s own judgment in the practice of obedience, is not obedience." In every act of your life, be careful, dear sister, never to prefer your opinion to that of your Superiors. St. Philip Neri has remarked, that nothing is more dangerous than to be directed by one s own counsel. Peter of Blois says that " to trust ones self-alone, is the greatest of evils." 1 Cassian asserts that " it is impossible for him who confides in his own judgment to escape the deceits and illusions of the devil." 2 1 "Sibi solum credere, pessimum est." 2"Impossibile est, qui proprio fidit iudicio, diaboli illusione non decipi." Coll. 16, c,11. Hence St. John Chrysostom teaches that "nothing is so destructive of the Church as a separation of disciples from their masters."1 There is nothing which does greater injury to the Church of God than the opposition of disciples to the opinion of their masters; and there is nothing more ruinous to a religious Community than the disregard of the sisters for the judgment of their Superiors. Prayer. O my Jesus, Thou dost never abandon a soul that seeks Thee. Thou hast not forsaken them that love thee. 2 I have left the world to find Thee in this holy place: but I have only sought myself and my own pleasures, and thus I have greatly offended Thee. Forget, O Lord, the past, and pardon the offences which I have committed against Thee, and which I now abhor with my whole soul. I feel a strong desire to be come a saint, and to please Thee in all things. I know that this desire is Thy gift. Ah ! my Spouse, what has induced Thee to visit with so much love a soul so ungrateful, and to bestow upon me so many graces, after all the insults I have offered to Thee? With an humble and a contrite heart I thank Thee for all Thy favors : be a thousand times blessed for them. Thou dost invite me to Thy love; and I desire to obey Thy call. I know the value of this grace, and am resolved never more to be unmindful of Thy benefits, as I have hitherto been. I love Thee, O my Sovereign Good ! I love Thee, O my God ! Thou art my only treasure, and the only object of my love. Give me strength to correspond, by my affections, to the love which Thou dost bear me. Grant that I may love Thee always; that I may love Thee intensely: I ask nothing more. O my mother, Mary, thank thy Son for me, and obtain for me the grace to be faithful to him during the remainder of my life. O Mother of God, in thee I trust. 1 " Nihil est quod Ecclesiam Dei ita destruere potest, ut quando discipuli magistris non cohærent." In iliud ad Rom. c. 16, Salutate, etc. 2 " Non dereliquisti quærentes te, Domine." Dan. xiv. 37. |