Volume III, Treatise VI, Chapter II

That Our Perfection Consists in the Observance of Our Rules

‘‘ OBSERVE my law and my counsel, and this shall be the salvation of thy soul and the sweetness of thy life’ (Proverbs 3:21,22) It is thus the Holy Ghost by the mouth of the wise man exhorts us to an exact observance of God’s law and counsels}; and those words are very conformable to these of the Royal Prophet, “how pleasing, O Lord, are thy words! They are sweeter to my mouth than honey or the honey-comb”—Ps., exvili. 103. St. Jerom, writing to Helvidius in answer to twelve questions he had proposed him, of which the first was, what he ought to do to attain perfection, made the same answer that Jesus Christ did to the young man in the gospel, who cast himself at his feet, and asked him what he should do to gain eternal life. Our Saviour answered him, “If thou wouldst enter into life everlasting, observe the commandments” (Matthew 19:17),—and this man answering that he had observed them from his youth, “Jesus looked upon him”, says the evangelist, “and loved him”’ (Mark 10:21) And here, by the bye, we may take notice of what merit virtue and goodness is, whereas it draws the eyes of the Son of God upon us, and gains his very heart. But to come to our subject. ‘There is one thing you still want”, says our Saviour, “go, sell all that which thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven, and then come and follow me”’ (Mark 10:21) Behold here, says St. Jerom, what perfection precisely consists in, it consists in adding the evangelical counsels to the commandments. Venerable Bede says, ‘that the second crown of gold which God commanded Moses to put upon the first” — (Exodus 25:25),— signifies the recompense of those who, not content with keeping the commandments of God, practise also the evangelical counsels. It is for this reason that Jesus Christ adds, “and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven”—Mat., xix. 21; as if he would have said, thou shalt not only obtain everlasting life if thou practise those counsels I give thee, but thy recompense in Heaven shall thereby also become greater and more glorious. Thus ‘God has not only called us out uf darkness to the admirable light of his glory”—I. Pet., ii. 9,—as he has called all Christians, “and will not only transfer us to the kingdom of his beloved Son”—Col., i, 18,—but he desires to give us the first places therein. And it is upon this account he calls us to keep his evangelical counsels, in which consists the state {of perfection which all religious have embraced. It is therefore very just to endeavour on our part to correspond to so great a benefit, and we shall infallibly correspond to it if we take care to practise what our founder has commanded us when he says, let all those who enter into the society propose to themselves to observe entirely all the constitutions, all the rules, and all the practices therein observed; and by the mercy of God let them apply themselves with all their heart and with all their strength perfectly to observe them. Behold here in what our spiritual advancement and perfection consists: and we shall become perfect religious if we observe these with all the perfection that is required of us. Nay, even the name of religious seems to signify this obligation; for it signifies a man who is bound again; because in effect religious are not only bound by God’s commandments, as all other Christians are, but also by the evangelical counsels, which are contained in each order. The obligation which they have to observe their rules is also signified by the name of regulars, which the Church gives them, which is a very honourable name, and which is also given them by the canon law; and we ourselves are called regular clerks by the Council of Trent and in the bulls of several Popes. Let us then endeavour worthily to correspond to our name, by rendering our lives conformable to it, and by becoming regular observers of our rules. St. Bernard, writing to some religious to exhort them to persevere in their fervour: “TI beseech you, brethren”, says he to them, “and earnestly conjure you to live after such a manner in our Lord, that you may be always careful to keep the rules of your order, and that they may keep and guard you”. By this we see that if we take care to ketp our rules, they will also keep us and maintain us in the perfection of our state.

The holy Scripture takes notice (Judges, xvi. 19), that the strength of Samson lay in his hair, and that as soon as it was cut off he lost all his strength, and was easily overcome and bound by the Philistines. This is an admirable figure of the state of a religious life, for as all the strength of Samson consisted in his hair, which he kept without cutting, being of the sect of the Nazareans, that is, of such as, having consecrated themselves to God, made profession to wear their hair without ever permitting it to be cut, even so all our perfection, and all other virtue, consists in keeping our rules; for though they appear to us to be of as light and small consequence as hair is, yet they are of great importance, by reason of the vow which we have made to God to observe them. Moreover, as from the very moment that Samson had his hair cut by the treachery of Dalila, to whom he had confided his secret, he lost with his hair all his strength, which God had been pleased to join to it; so, as soon as we shall fail to keep exactly our rules, we shall easily be overcome and bound by the Philistines, as Samson was, that is to say, we shall easily fall into the snares and come under the power of the devils our enemies.

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