Volume III, Treatise V, Chapter X

The Explanation of St. Paul’s Three Arguments for Obedience

“‘QseY your superiors, and be subject to them; for they watch continually, being to give account for your souls; and obey them so that they may discharge their duty with joy, not sorrow; for. that would do you no good”— (Hebrews 13:17) These words contain the apostle’s three arguments to persuade us to obey our superiors in all things: I mean in all things which are not sinful. For it is of things not sinful we have hitherto spoken, and shall speak of in what follows. As it is the Holy Ghost advances these reasons by the mouth of St. Paul, it is impossible but they must be good and profitable for us. The first argument is drawn from the circumstance that our superior “continually watches over us, as being to give an account of our souls”. And, without doubt, this assurance of always doing well if we obey, is one of the greatest comforts and blessings of a religious life. The superior may be sometimes faulty in commanding this or that, but the subject can never be so in obeying, for God will only ask you if you have done what was commanded you, and if you can give a good account of yourself in this point, you may be sure of having done your duty. You will not be asked if what you had done was to the purpose, or the best thing you could undertake, since this does not belong to you; it is your superior must give an account thereof, and not you. As long as you comply with obedience, if anything be amiss, God takes it off from your account and places it to your superior’s. It is for this reason that St. Jerom, speaking of the advantages of obedience, exclaimed: “O sovereign liberty! O happy and holy security, which renders us almost-impeccable”— in Reg. Mon., c. 6.

’ This assurance that we always do the will of God, is one of the greatest benefits enjoyed by us who are employed in charitable offices towards our neighbour. Though we had resolved to lead a good life in the world, yet we should still have been at a loss to determine whether taking pains for our neighbour’s salvation or the bare attending to our own, would be more grateful to God. At present there is no doubt or difficulty in this case, because the institute of the society which God has called us unto, is to labour for the salvation of souls; and since we know that we execute God’s orders by doing so, we must of necessity be very certain that our labours are grateful to him. Had you remained in the world, perhaps you would not have ventured to hear confessions; and in case you had, there would still have remained this doubt, whether you had followed God’s call or your own choice in doing so, and whether in the end it would prove to your advantage or disadvantage. But now you hear confessions and exercise the other functions of the society, with an assurance that you thereby accomplish the will of God. For it is not you yourself but your superior that has engaged you in these duties; nor is it your part to judge whether you be fit for them or not. This is the duty of your superior, who has selected you, and who is obliged “to watch continually over you, since he must give an account of your soul”.

St. John Climacus is of the same opinion, who speaking of obedience says, that it does excuse us before God. And it is certain, when Almighty God asks you why you did this or that, if you answer that you were commanded to do so by your superiors, you will need no other excuse or acquittal for so doing. The saint says again, that to obey is to sail in safety and to sleep during the passage. For as a passenger in a stout ship steered by an able pilot, has nothing to trouble his head with, but may sleep securely because the pilot is careful and vigilant; so a religious who lives under the yoke of obedience, goes to Heaven sleeping, that is, totally depending upon the conduct of his superiors, who are his pilots and who watch for him. And surely it is no trifle to be carried in the arms of another through all the difficulties and storms of this life; and this is the favour God vouchsafes to all those who live under obedience. It is the superior bears the whole burden; subjects need not concern themselves whether this or that be fittest to be done; they have nothing else to do than to live in repose and rely upon their superior who is their guide.

The advantage which religious feel in being thus delivered from the uneasiness and perplexity which seculars are liable to, and in knowing the infallible way to Heaven, has induced many devout persons to enlist themselves under obedience. For though they be ever so well employed in the world, they may still doubt whether God called them to those employments; because every man has not the same call, even to what is good, much less to an office so much above his abilities as is the care of souls. This made a grave doctor say, that had he rather pick straws out of obedience, than to do the greatest charity imaginable of his own choice; because in the first we are sure that we do God’s will, but our own choice renders the second suspected. But obedience gives us this security and frees us from inquietude, not only in things that relate to our neighbour, but also in what concerns our own spiritual advancement. For suppose I were now in the world, and had a desire to serve God, I should perhaps often doubt whether I eat too much or too little; slept more or less than I ought; performed too great or too small penance; allowed too much or too little time to my prayers; and so of other things. Whereas in religion I am exempted from these inconveniencies; for here I only eat what they give me, sleep only as long as my rule permits, do what penance is appointed, and employ in prayer all the time my rule assigns me. All things are so well weighed and regulated by my superiors, that I cannot doubt of my accomplishing God’s will as long as I observe obedience. But this is not all; the tranquillity of religion does not confine its charity to the soul; it goes farther, and extends its care to the body also; so that a religious needs not trouble himself about temporals, any more than he that embarks in a ship which is stored with provisions of every kind. The superior continually watches over both body and soul. He provides for our diet and clothing, that we may employ ourselves more freely in the service of God; and this is so great an advantage, that Cassian relates (Collat., ix. c. 13) it engaged the abbot John, after twenty years’ solitude, to put himself once more under the obedience of a superior. This holy man, having lived in a monastery thirty years, retired into the desert according to the practice of those days, where he lived twenty years, so much favoured with divine consolations, and so absorbed in contemplation, that he seemed almost to have lost the use of his senses, and frequently forgot to give his body some small refreshment. Yet neither these extraordinary favours which God did him, nor all the sweet raptures of a solitary contemplative life, could divert him, after twenty years spent in them, from resolving to return to his monastery and to live in community as he had done before under the yoke of obedience. He told his motive in these words: Though, says he, contemplation has more advantages in solitude than in a monastery, yet I find this inequality recompensed by the happiness we find in a monastery, of “not being solicitous about to-morrow”—Mat., vi. 34. And indeed to be freed from all care of temporals, as religious are, must needs bring much peace and quiet along with it; and yet the certainty religious have of their actions being grateful to God, and that as long as they are obedient they cannot displease him, is incomparably a far greater happiness,

All religious have, like the children of Israel, a Moses that goes up to the mountain and declares the will of God to them. They have a prophet too like them to clear their doubts; so that whensoever they have any difficulty, they can say, as the Israelites said in the like occasion, “Let us go and consult him that sees” —I. Kings, ix. 9. They called their prophet “the man that sees’, because he saw and knew the will of God, and then declared it to the people. In this we have the same advantage they had, and can say in all our doubts and difficulties, “let us consult him that sees”—let us address ourselves to him whom God has given us for our prophet—to him who holds the place of God himself, and can make known his will unto us. Nay, we may justly apply these words of Baruch to ourselves, “We Israelites are happy, because we know what pleases God’ (Baruch 4:4) For, pray tell me, whether every religious does not enjoy this happiness, since he assuredly knows what God requires of him, and what will render him more pleasing in his sight..

“The second argument which the apostle makes use of to persuade us to obey superiors, is, “that they may discharge their duty with joy, and not with grief”. St. Paul, sensible of the great charge which superiors have, does out of compassion recommend a prompt obedience to their orders, thereby to render their burden the lighter. Let us enter into this consideration with the apostle, and since those that are in superiority have already so great a load upon them as to render an account to God of both their own and our actions, let us not add to their load by our indocility. A superior is certainly to be pitied when-he meets with stubborn persons, whom he cannot deal with as he pleases, nor command as he judges convenient, and when he must have his thoughts continually upon the rack to find out whether his command will be well received, or what reasons and difficulties they will allege for a dispensation, and what steps he must take to render his orders palatable. There is as much trouble in governing persons of. this description as there is in making use of a sore leg or arm. For the pain of even moving the leg is sometimes so intense that we cannot advance one step, though it be ever so much to our advantage; and the pain of the arm is often so acute that we cannot so much as lift up our hand to our mouth to feed ourselves. The reason is, because they are so sore that you cannot use them without pain. It is the same with every religious, who is a member of the order to which God has called him; for the whole order, like the Church, is only one body. Now if there be any one member of this order indisposed, or stubborn and intractable, his superiors can never employ him without feeling pain themselves, though they have ever so much need of his service. For when a superior sees that a subject obeys with reluctance and discontent, he is so sensibly troubled at it that he dares not command this member, though the business be ever so pressing, and though great inconveniencies follow from its being neglected.

This consideration may be serviceable in order to undeceive those who fancy that it is a fine thing to be superior of a house, and to have so many spiritual children at a word of command. Rebecca longed very much to have children, and God complied

fs with her desire; but when seized with the pangs of childbed, and feeling the twins dispute the right of primogeniture in her womb, she began to repent her longing, and say, ‘“‘ What necessity was there of my conceiving if this was to follow upon it?” (Genesis 25:22) Superiors are much in the same situation. When they see their commands obeyed with reluctance—when their subjects reply, complain, and murmur, then it is that they feel the grief.their spiritual children give them—then it is that they groan under their burden, and sigh that they are not so happy as to be in a post where they might have nothing else to do than obey the superior’s orders; then they say, is this the advantage of superiority? Is this the satisfaction our spiritual children afford us? It is better to be without them than pay so dear for them. It is but those who have had experience that know the pain attached to superiority. It is an ordinary saying, that a good superior must first be a good subject, and no doubt he must have carried the yoke of obedience, that he may apply to himself these words of St. Paul: ‘We have a High Priest that can compassionate our infirmities; he himself has gone through all sorts of trials’ (Hebrews 4:15) I must needs add here, that I think with a great deal of reason, that as in order to know how to govern others, it is of great advantage to have had an experimental knowledge of obedience; in like manner, in order to know how to obey, it is very useful to have had an experimental knowledge of governing, and of the pain felt by a superior when his subjects do not obey freely. For, with this experimental knowledge, no man will give pain so acute to his superior. In order to gain this experience, it is not necessary to have been a superior, but it is sufficient to have been for a time entrusted with the command of another. How often then did you forbear to command for fear of being disobeyed! And how often has it happened that you yourself had rather have done the thing than command it to be done by another! It is easy to infer from hence how much a superior suffers when his subjects think his commands hard, and show their unwillingness in obeying them. A superior that is reduced to these straits would rather choose to do everything himself, if it were possible, than command anything; and for this reason he cannot but always groan under his burden. Nor is this his greatest trouble—their own frailty is his greatest affliction; for, being a father, he cannot but grieve to see these failings in his children. It touches him to the quick to see how little they relish mortification; to see their reluctance in accepting of lowly offices, which they should be ready to embrace upon all occasions; whereas, whenever they are offered them, they immediately reply, repine, excuse themselves, and find some inconvenience or other in what is commanded. Thomas & Kempis says, that a lukewarm religious is always indisposed to what he does not like, and never wants his pretences to be dispensed with in the things he has no mind to perform. We always want strength to do such things as we feel] a repugnance to; but when they are according to our wishes, though ever so painful, they must be done. It is this made St. Chrysostom say, “that the force of the will must needs be great, since it enables us to do whatever is pleasing to us, and not to do whatever is displeasing”.

There is no pain so sensible to superiors, nor any mortification so great, as when their subjects are thus indocile and unmortified. Obey them therefore submissively, do not give them this affliction, hinder them from groaning under their burden; “for after all this will do you no good”; and this is St. Paul’s third reason or argument to exhort us to obedience. Consider that this indocile temper of yours can never turn to your advantage— that you will be the first to suffer by it, as all persons of a stubborn disposition have found to their cost; that you will one day groan under the burden as well as your superior; and that if you continue thus, your life will be very uneasy. Consider that you will be looked upon as a sick member, and one unfit for any service, a circumstance which certainly will not conduce to your salvation. Lastly, consider that your superiors, out of condescension to your humour, will let you do what you please, so that instead of doing God’s will, you will do your own, than which nothing is more pernicious, or more to be dreaded by a religious, as has been already declared elsewhere.

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