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Religious Obedience
1. THE VOW OF OBEDIENCE
A. PRE-EMINENCE OF THIS VOW OVER THE TWO
OTHERS
A Religious should regard this as the principal
of the three Vows of religion; that is, as the one
that has pre-eminence over the two others, and
which is the most necessary to the Religious state,
because a Religious, by her Vow of Obedience,
offers and consecrates to God the intimate faculties of her soul, and consequently
what she possesses most precious and dear; namely, her own
will, with the other powers that depend on it.
And as Religious Obedience extends to all the
details of her life, it is a holocaust or a perfect
sacrifice.
The Vow of Obedience is the most necessary
to the Religious state, because it properly constitutes the Religious body. It is the indispensable
bond and also the powerful spring which should communicate to all
the members of this body motion and life. B. OBLIGATION OF THE VOW OF OBEDIENCE
By her Vow of Obedience a Religious promises
God to obey her lawful Superiors in all that they
shall command according to the Rule.
We must distinguish in Superiors a triple
power of commanding.
The first power is that which the Church has
conferred on the founder of the Order or Congregation of writing a Rule or Constitution, and
on the Superiors of the same body, of adding
thereto statutes and regulations. By virtue of
this power, Obedience is due to the Constitution,
Statutes and Rules.
The second power, equally consecrated by the
Church, resembles the paternal power in the family. It is that which the Superiors have, as heads
of the Religious family, of commanding their inferiors in all that is within the limits of the Rule,
and of thus disposing of their acts for the service
of God and the good of the Community.
This second power may be communicated also
to subalterns, and then obedience must be paid to
these inferior officers as to the Superiors themselves for the portion of authority invested in
them.
This second power establishes the obligation of
following the prescriptions of Superiors, just as the first power
establishes the obligations of observing the Rules and Statutes, independently
even of the Vow of Obedience. For this reason,
Novices also are subject to both of these powers.
The third power, also sanctioned by the Church,
but more special and sacred, is that which results from the Vow of Obedience. When a Religious makes this Vow, she imposes on herself an
obligation, much stricter and graver, of obeying
the Superior every time she shall command in
virtue of this Vow; so that if she disobeys her,
she commits a sin, which is the violation of the
Vow she has made.
The words according to the Rule, mean that
the Superior has the right of commanding not
only what is expressed in the Rule, but also what
can be implied by it. Such are, penances against
transgressors of it, the means proper to secure
its observance, the manner of fulfilling well all
employments, and all that belongs to a good and
right administration.
But Superiors cannot command that which
would be a sin, even venial, nor what is evidently
contrary to the Institute or outside the duties
which it imposes. However, in doubt, the inferior is obliged to obey, until a superior authority
decides.
The precise matter of the Vow of Obedience is
only that to which the Superior in commanding
declares she wishes to oblige the Religious in
virtue of her Vow. Every other injunction of
the Superior draws its obligation from the second
power explained above, and comes under the object, not of the Vow, but of the virtue of
Obedience, as we shall soon explain.
The Superior declares her will to oblige in
virtue of the Vow by this formula: In virtue of
holy Obedience, or in the name of Our Lord
Jesus Christ, or others similar.
You would sin mortally against the Vow of
Obedience if you disobeyed, in a matter sufficiently grave, a command of the Superior imposed in the above manner, in particular or in
general, by word of mouth or by writing, given
immediately by herself or by means of another.
In a light matter, the Superior cannot oblige
under pain of sin, even in virtue of the Vow. But it is to be
remarked that in Religious Communities a matter which seems light in itself can
easily become grave on account of the end or
circumstances, by reason of its connection with
the common good.
A Superior should use the right of commanding
in virtue of Obedience only with great discretion,
very rarely, and for only truly important motives but, it may be asked, if the Superior hardly
ever commands in virtue of the Vow, is the Religious always or nearly always without the merit
of the Vow?
To this we must answer: By no means, because the Vow influences all the acts of religious
Obedience performed by the Religious, even when
there is no question of a violation of the Vow.
And it is the same with the other two Vows.
This truth is shown as follows:
1. The Religious has placed herself by Vow
in a state of dependence on her Superior, and the latter can always
use her right of obliging in conscience, if the matter is grave. It is the Vow,
therefore, that leads the Religious to obey such
actual commands.
2. When she submits to the Superior's will,
she does so out of the love and respect she has for
her Vow, to remove all danger of failing in it,
should the Superior ever have recourse to the
right which it gives her.
3. The practice of the Vows may be compared
to that of the Commandments: by doing more
than is prescribed under pain of sin, we observe
them more perfectly and more meritoriously.
This more perfect Obedience becomes more
meritorious also for two other reasons:
1. Because the will shows itself more devoted,
prompt and liberal than in merely observing the
precept:
2. Because the act of Obedience receives an
increase of influence from many other excellent
virtues, as charity, humility, etc.
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