Of Some Other Things Which Cause Us to Fail in the Observance of the Rules, and of the Remedy for Them

SOMETIMES faults against the rules are wont to come from a certain shyness and pusillanimity, or rather, a lack of mortification, caused by the difficulty that one feels in going and asking leave of the superior for what cannot be done without leave; hence it will be necessary to remove this difficulty. I do not say that you should not drink, nor eat, nor speak, or that you should not take or receive that which another wishes to give you; but what I do say is, that all this should be done with permission. When you might well do the thing with the blessing of God and of your superior, why do you wish to do it without? But you will say: “Have I to go so many times to the superior about each little childish thing? He is busy, and will be annoyed at it.” This is a false impression which I wish to remove. Far from being annoyed at it, superiors on the contrary find this one of the things that most consoles and edifies them; it is their office. Your order sets such store by your being very obedient and doing nothing without leave—that being what makes for your spiritual progress and merit—that it thinks it well worth while to keep this and that and the other superior, whose office it is to give you leave for all that is necessary. Merchants and craftsmen are not apt to be annoyed at occasions arising for them to do a stroke of business; on the contrary, the more customers crowd to their shop, and the more buyers resort to them, the better they are pleased. So it is with good superiors; and for you to think the contrary of anyone is take him for no good superior. How can the superior be annoyed at your coming to him to ask leave for what he knows very well you cannot do without leave? Were you to come to him with some idle tale, or seeking exemptions, you would have reason to fear that he would be annoyed; but where there is an express rule for you to come, it is just the other way about. It gives him pleasure and satisfaction to see his subjects such exact observers of rule, so accurate in their obedience and so particular about small things. On the other hand, superiors are grieved and greatly pained when subjects do not resort to them. Their view in such a case is that you want to get back your liberty and act on your own account, daring to do things without permission, as though there were no superior in the house for you to go to and no rule about the matter. The superior, like a good father, grieves at that; and, desirous as he is of your good, your bad behavior pains him. It is over this that we should make a difficulty, and be careful not to displease superiors herein.

It follows also from what we have said that no one ought to be shy about going to the superior to ask leave for what he knows the rule forbids him to do without leave. Much less should we be shy about telling our brother that we have not leave for what he knows there is a rule about and we are not allowed to do without leave. This is a point of great importance, since some are apt to break rules to escape the mortification of saying: “I have no leave to speak, or to receive what you offer.” These people sometimes excuse themselves by saying that they pass it over in order not to mortify the other person; so they do not trouble to say that they cannot do the thing. This is judging your neighbor to be a poor religious and a poor observer of rules. You should take it that he will not be mortified, but edified, at seeing you so observant. Perchance he took this occasion to try you, to see whether you kept the rules. Pride yourself on being a religious, since such you are, and a great observer of rules; no one can take that amiss, but rather should take it very well.

Others excuse themselves by saying: “I do it not to appear scrupulous.” This again is a very bad excuse, since to appear a keeper of one’s rules is not to appear scrupulous, but religious. He would be in very evil plight who was ashamed to appear a religious, a servant of God, and a great observer of his rules. This is one of the abuses that there are in the world, that, when anyone makes a point of virtue, of frequenting the sacraments, and keeping himself somewhat recollected, people at once murmur and make game of him; and on this account many do not dare to give themselves openly to virtue, as Holy Scripture says of that leading man who came to Christ our Redeemer by night because he did not dare to go in the daytime (John iii. 2). But in religion it is the other way about, and so we should endeavor to keep it always. Among other great advantages that we religious enjoy this is one, that we are in the company of people who are all striving to be more virtuous and more religious, and he who goes furthest in this effort is the most esteemed. A good religious should be so well grounded and so strong in the love of God and of virtue that, though he meet with some contradiction therein, he does not on that account give up doing the good and the better thing, nor blushes to appear a religious and a servant of God. Whoever is ashamed to do this has reason to fear lest the Son of God also be ashamed to uphold and acknowledge him for His servant in presence of His Father, as He says in the Gospel. Whoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him the Son of man shall also be ashamed when he cometh in his glory and that of the Father and of the holy angels (Luke ix. 26). If a gentleman took a servant to accompany him and do him honor, and that servant were so proud and ill-behaved that, when he went with his master, he stayed on purpose a good way behind, not to appear to be his servant, clearly he would deserve to be dismissed and cast out of his master’s household. He, then, has reason to fear the same chastisement, who is ashamed to show himself as the servant of God and observer of his rules.

That we may be the better disabused in this matter, it is well to persuade ourselves that not only those of our own community, but externs also, are greatly edified at our being very exact in the observance of our rules. For example, we are with visitors when the bell rings calling us to some duty, and we say to them: “Sir, we are now called off to this;” and so civilly break off the interview, and go to fulfil our obedience. We know well that some seculars have been edified, and have got more good out of this interruption than they could possibly have got from anything that we could have said to them had we stayed in their company; and the more ancient in religion and the more gifted the person who behaves thus, the greater the edification. Thus great punctuality and exactness in the observance of the rules, and saying that leave must be asked for what the other knows that we cannot do without leave, is not narrow-mindedness nor want of courtesy, even though the person spoken to be a father of ancient standing. Nor is it scrupulosity; it is simply being a good religious, careful to improve: so it cannot offend, but must greatly edify all. If such behavior were a singularity and an extraordinary thing to do, there might, I dare say, be some color of reasonableness in the excuse: “I don’t want to appear singular; Iam afraid they may think it a piece of priggishness;” but it is not priggishness, it is keeping your rule. Besides, in this way once for all you shut the door to similar importunities, which is a great relief; whereas, if you leave it open, you give occasion for their plying you with the like another time. And besides the good and advantage that you hereby gain for yourself, you confer a great benefit on your brother, who perhaps did not think of the rule; and now by your example he does think of it, and sees the importance of it. You could not have given him a better reminder.

In the chronicles of the Order of St. Jerome there is mention of a religious who was conspicuous in his observance of silence, and on that account was held by all in great reverence. A knight of high standing heard of his fame, and went to the monastery with a desire to speak to him. Seeing him going alone to his little garden, he began going after him, calling him to speak with him, but the servant of God did not stop to wait for him who was calling him, nor answered him a word. Thus going after him, they both entered the garden; and, on entering, the holy man prostrated himself on the ground and, closing his eyes with his hand, said to him who wanted to talk to him: “Perhaps, sir, you do not know that I cannot speak without leave of my prior.” Having said these words, he once more prostrated himself on the ground, and said not a word more. The knight, seeing this, had no mind to importune him further; but, so the story goes, returned to his house more edified at his observance of silence than if he had spoken a thousand words.

Of another holy man of the same order it is related in the same chronicle that among many other virtues he had this, that he spoke little, especially in times of silence and in forbidden places, such as the cloister and the church; and not only was he careful not to speak in the places aforesaid, but he would not answer another who spoke to him there. It happened one day that the King Don Henry came to the monastery, and, walking round, chanced in passing through the cloister to see this religious going that way. He called him to speak to him, because he loved him much for the holiness of his life; but he did not care to stop and answer. The king, seeing that he did not answer, began to raise his voice and go after him, calling to him. But the servant of God never stopped, nor answered a word until he got out of the cloister. When they were both out of it, the king asked him why he had not answered before. He then gave him the reason, saying: “In the cloister, where your highness called me, it behooves not us religious to speak, and that is why I did not answer till I got out of it.” At this answer, the story says, the king was greatly edified.