That Our Perfection Consists in the Observance of the Rules

KEEP the law and the counsel and it shall be as life to thy soul, and grace to thy lips (Prov. iii. 21-22). Keep the commandments and the counsels, says the Wise Man, and they shall be life to your soul, and grace, honeyed and sweet for your throat and spiritual palate. And the Royal Prophet says: How sweet are Thy words to my lips; they are sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm cxviii. 103). St. Jerome, in his letter to Helvidius—which is a reply to twelve problems or questions which he had proposed to him, of which the first was: How shall anyone be able to become perfect ?—replies in those words which Christ our Redeemer used to the youth who, the Holy Scripture tells us, came to Him and on bended knee asked Him: ‘Master, what shall I do to be saved, because I desire greatly to assure myself of my salvation?’ Jesus said to him: “Thou knowest the commandments; keep them and thou shalt be saved.” And the youth replied: “Master, these have I always kept even from my earliest years.” St. Mark the Evangelist says that Jesus looked upon him and loved him (Mark x. 21). By the manner and graciousness with which He regarded the youth, Jesus showed exteriorly His love. Virtue and goodness are things to be greatly loved, and they attract the eyes and heart of God. Jesus then said to him: One thing is lacking to thee: if thou wilt be perfect: go, sell, all that thou hast, and give it to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me (Mark x. 21). In this, then, says St. Jerome, perfection lies, in adding the evangelical counsels to the commandments of God.

The Venerable Bede says that to those who do not content themselves with the keeping of the commandments, but keep also the counsels, there belongs that second crown, which God commanded Moses to put on the first: And upon that another golden crown (Exod. xxv. 25). By this second golden crown is to be understood the added reward and glory they shall possess in heaven who here below do more than others, keeping, besides the commandments, the evangelical counsels; and it is for this reason Christ our Redeemer added: And thou shalt have treasure in heaven (Matt. xix. 21). Not only shall you receive eternal life if you keep the evangelical counsels, but you shall be very rich in heaven, and your treasure there shall be very great. This mercy God has done to religious, that not only has He called us, not only has He drawn us out of darkness into His admirable light (I Pet. ii. 9), that is, to the light of faith, as He has called all other Christians; not only does He wish to raise us to the kingdom of heaven with His dear ones and elect, but He wishes to favor us so that we may be great in the kingdom of heaven, and it is for this reason that He calls us to the keeping of the evangelical counsels, which is that state of perfection that we vow in religion, It is, then, but reasonable that we should correspond to so great a gift, which indeed we do if we keep that which our holy Father asks of us, “that all who enter the Society and live in it should desire to keep all the constitutions and rules in their entirety, also the manner prescribed for living in it, and that they should strive with their whole heart and strength, with the help of divine grace, to keep them perfectly.” In this is our progress and perfection; if we do this we shall be good religious, and if we keep them perfectly we shall be perfect religious.

Our very name bespeaks the obligation we lie under; for we call ourselves religious because we have bound and tied ourselves to the observance of the rules and evangelical counsels. Religious means one bound or tied again; for not only are we bound by the commandments, as are all other Christians, but also by the evangelical counsels, which are contained in the rules. For the same reason, also, the Church calls religious regulars, on account of the obligation they have of keeping their regulae, or rules. This name is very honorable and is used in canon law; while the Council of Trent, and several popes in their apostolic letters, call us clerks regular. Let us, then, strive to bear the name worthily; let us be very regular, and truly observant of our rules, so that our life may be in accordance with the name we bear. St. Bernard, writing to some fervent religious, urging them to go forward in fervor, says: “I ask and earnestly beseech you to be ever most diligent and solicitous in the keeping of the institute and rules of your order, so that, in turn, the institute and rules may keep you.” This means that, by keeping the rules of our order, these same rules will protect us and lead us to perfection.

In the Book of Judges (xiii. 5; xvi. 19) Holy Scripture records that the strength of Samson lay in the tresses of hair on his head; and when these were shorn he lost his strength and was easily conquered and bound by the Philistines. We have here a clear figure of what we have been speaking about. In the case of Samson God placed his strength in the hair of his head, since he was a Nazarene, which was then the same thing as being a religious; and in conformity with their rules and customs he was obliged to grow his hair, and not to use a razor on his head. When, then, his hair was cut by deceit, his secret having been discovered through the infatuate love which he bore for his wife Delilah, he lost along with his hair his religious state and his strength. In like manner our virtue and strength lies in the keeping of our rules, which, no doubt, seem trifling and of small importance, like locks of hair; because we are Nazarenes, that is to say, religious, and we are obliged to cultivate and wear these locks of hair; and if you have them cut, you will become like another Samson, without strength, and be easily conquered and manacled by your enemies the Philistines, who are the devils. And as, when Samson’s hair grew again, God gave him back his strength, so He will give back yours, if you once more set yourself to the observance of the rules and ceremonies and minute points of discipline of your order.