Obey your superior as your mother, showing her all respect and honour, lest God be offended in her. But much more is this due to the bishop or priest, who has the care of you all.
Obedience is a virtue that of its own efficacy implants the other virtues in the soul and safely preserves them when they are established. “Obedience is better than sacrifice” (i Kings xv. 22), because by sacrifice the flesh of animals is immolated, but by obedience the noble faculty of the will is surrendered to God. Solomon says : ” The obedient man shall speak of victories,” because when we submit to the word of another out of humility, we internally gain a victory over ourselves. And this obedience is imposed upon us even unto death.
Evil must never be done under obedience — but it sometimes happens that by obedience we may be called upon to forego some good deed of our own choice. Now as, on some occasions, that which obedience ordains us is in no sense
distasteful to us, we must take notice that our obedience is sometimes without any merit if there be anything of self in it. And even if there be nothing agreeable to self-love our obedience may be but of small value. For if some matter of external advantage be commanded, as when a post of honour is allotted to us, we forfeit all the merit of obedience, if we expend ourselves upon this merely from our natural inclination towards this duty. Or, again, supposing that some lowly position be imposed upon us, wherein there is little externally but hardship and contempt, then obedience will have but little merit unless the will sets itself to embrace all these difficulties cheerfully. For otherwise it will discharge the duty heartlessly and only under constraint. Hence we may say that in circumstances difficult to nature, our obedience calls for an exercise of self-will, and, on the contrary, in duties that are pleasant it must exclude self altogether. The reason is because in painful duties obedience is the more praiseworthy as it is subjected to the will of God — and in easy matters it counts for less in proportion as it is counterbalanced by the actual pleasure or honour attached to its performance. Obedience is the ornament that graces innocent souls according to our Lord’s words : 11 My sheep hear my voice ; and I know them, and they follow me” (John x. 27).
Indeed the soul that is without sin cannot but delight in following its Redeemer. And on the
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other hand, none can remain innocent and refuse to obey that divine voice.
In order that all rules may be duly observed, if any point is not well kept it shall not be negligently passed over, but the superior, whose business chiefly it is, shall take care to see it amended and corrected. But if there should happen anything exceeding her power and judgment, it ought to be referred to the priest or bishop, who has a superior charge over you.
Naturally, these precepts of the rule are set before us that they be observed, and if any of them may have been overlooked, that they be speedily attended to. For we cannot continue to neglect any of these matters without harm to our souls — since we vowed that we would observe all these things in detail and promised to regulate our lives by this rule.
We can apply to ourselves the words of the Psalm : ” Thou hast commanded thy commandments to be kept most diligently ” (Ps. cxviii. 4) ; and those of St James : ” Now whosoever shall keep the whole law but offend in one point is become guilty of all ” (James ii. 10).
Therefore it is the duty of the superior and whoever is responsible for regular observance to refer to the bishop or priest who may hold the higher power such points as she is not able to decide regarding the rule of the community. For if any house of the Canonical Order be subject
to the bishop, it is he who is to be understood by the term Presbyter in the rule.
All superiors are appointed in the Church to maintain the established order of things, to correct irregularities, to direct the life and occupations of their subjects by word and example, carrying out the direction of the Apostle : ” Be instant in season, and out of season : reprove, entreat, rebuke” (2 Tim. iv. 2).
Taking into consideration all kinds of circumstances, superiors must exhort their subjects with words, now of encouragement, and now of warning. The unruly and troublesome they must reprove with severity. They must exhort the obedient, the meek, and the patient to make yet higher progress in virtue.
It is their duty to reprove or to punish the neglectful and the proud. And they must beware of passing over any serious offences. As soon as such are brought to notice they must use all their influence to root them out entirely, mindful of that punishment that the priest Heli incurred on account of the offences of his sons. A word of admonition, repeated if needful, will suffice with those that are ordinarily of good will and disposition. But it is necessary to inflict some form of external punishment on those that show signs of malice, of self-will, of pride, or of insubordination. In these cases the words of Solomon apply : ” A fool receiveth not the words of prudence” (Prov. xviii. 2)… . “Thou shalt beat