That We Owe Much Gratitude to God for Making the Account of Conscience in the Society so Easy and Pleasant, and How It Comes to Be So

WE owe much gratitude to the Lord for the singular favor and benefit He has done to the Society, in that there is in it this manifestation to superiors, and that practised so pleasantly and joyously, although in itself it is more difficult than exterior penances and mortifications. The difficulty there is in it may be well understood from that which is found in sacramental confession, wherein men commonly feel more difficulty than in the rest of the commandments. To lighten the difficulty, it was necessary that there should be also a divine precept, a most strict precept, of the seal of secrecy in confession. And with all that, some people make such a difficulty over it that, rather than open out, they choose to start a hell for themselves in this life, with fits of remorse and anxiety dogging their steps, and in the next life a hell consummated forever. But when you reveal your whole heart to the superior, you do more than go to confession, since you reveal and declare not only sins, which are the matter of confession, but what is not sin nor matter of sin. And many a time a man is apt to feel more repugnance in mentioning a piece of vulgarity or meanness that he has fallen into than in mentioning graver sins; and what is more, all this is done out of confession. It is, then, a thing greatly to value and to render endless thanks for, that the Lord has made to us so easy and so pleasant a thing in itself so difficult, and otherwise so profitable.

But let us see the reason of this facility and pleasantness of procedure in the Society. The first and chiefest is the grace of religious vocation, for God gives special aid to every religious order to take the means that make for its advancement according to the institute that it professes; that is what we call the grace of vocation. And since for the end which the Society professes—which involves our being liable to tramp the world over, and deal with all sorts of people for the help of souls—it is a means so important and necessary, for reasons given above, that the superior should know us from head to foot, within and without, hence it is that God gives us special support and aid to do this.

The second thing that renders it easy and pleasant is the welcome given by superiors, the fatherly affection that subjects find in them, the gentleness and love with which they receive them, till it looks as though they were there for no other purpose than to hear and console you. This is a thing of much importance, and it is needful for subjects to be persuaded that they shall find this hearty welcome from superiors, that all may have recourse to them with confidence, and not fail on a point so important as this for fear of superiors and their apparent harshness. And a help to their being persuaded of this is the fact that it greatly concerns superiors themselves to give a good welcome to their subjects, it being their office to do so, and they would fail in their duty if they did it not. The blessed St. Bernard on these words of the Canticles (i. 3): We will be glad and rejoice in thee, mindful of thy affectionate ways, more pleasant and luscious than wine, gives a very good admonition to superiors. These are his words: “Hear this, ye prelates and superiors, ye who are more anxious to be terrors to your subjects than to do them good. Learn to behave as mothers, not as lords and masters. Try to be loved rather than feared; show even to your subjects a maternal affection, teeming with milk, not puffed out with imperiousness and an air of authority.” And he quotes to this effect the saying of St. Paul: Brethren, if any man for frailty be overtaken by any sin, do ye who are spiritual instruct such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering thyself lest thou too be tempted (Gal. vi. 1). And that of the Prophet Ezechiel: The wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require at thy hand an account of his blood (iii. 18). Woe to superiors, he says, who do not give a gracious welcome to their subjects when they have recourse to them in their temptations and weaknesses! Woe to them if they send them away offended and soured, and show them no fatherly affection! If on this account the subject dies or takes a turn for the worse, as may well happen, God will demand an account of it from the superior. Thus, if it were not for your sake, but only for what concerns himself, the superior is forced to do his office well, that you may do yours well.

The third thing that makes this practice easy and agreeable in the Society is the very frequent and common example and use of it that exists, and that we see every day in our brethren. We may say here what St. Augustine says occurred to him, when he was thinking of becoming a convert to our Christian religion, and the observance of chastity made a difficulty to him, and he could not bring himself to make up his mind. He put before himself, he says, continence under the figure of a highly honorable lady, who pointed out to him many boys and girls that she kept covered under her large mantle, and many other persons of various states and ages, all very chaste and virtuous; and she said to him with a smile, as if to mock him: ‘“Can’t you do what these boys and girls do? Or, think you, that what these boys and girls do, they do of their own strength and not of God?” With this the saint was greatly encouraged. So you may say when the devil puts before you a difficulty: ‘Come, come, can’t you do what they all do? Won’t you do what your neighbor does, a man of longer standing, greater learning, more prudence and discretion than you?” This smooths down the difficulties so much that it not only facilitates things, but makes us even feel a difficulty in not doing it, seeing that it would be remarked and give disedification of you not to do what all do. Thus we should all try to secure the continuance of this good practice and custom, for the example of one is an encouragement to others. They who can show the longest standing and most learning are most bound to keep up this and the like practices by their example and by their talk and conversation. Such persons, as they can do most good, are also capable of doing most harm; for the rest have regard to what they do and say, and esteem and follow what they see them esteem and follow. And, besides, it is important for everyone to keep up this use and practice, since thereby it will become easy; while if the use is dropped, in a few days it will become very difficult, as happens in other exercises of humility and mortification. We see it also in the case of confession, that they who leave a twelvemonth between one confession and another find it a very difficult business, while to them who confess often it is easy and pleasant.

In the fourth place it will be a help to know that what is said to the superior or the prefect of spiritual things is not said as to a judge, but as to a father, that he may give comfort, counsel, and remedy; and that no one can be punished for anything said in this court, even though it deserve punishment, any more than for what is said in confession; for these courts [of conscience and of justice] are different, and no argument can be drawn from the one to the other.

Fifthly, a thing that will greatly forward this manifestation of conscience, and help to confirm what has been said, is noted in our Constitutions: it is that the superior must keep everything secret that is there said. Thus you may be quite sure that what you say in giving an account of conscience will remain in the breast of the superior, and will be known or communicated to none, nor will any harm or disgrace come upon you on that account. Even the natural secret here is binding, and binding under mortal sin; and, besides, our Father General Claudius Aquaviva has backed it up with grave and severe ordinances, adding pains and penalties for those who are careless on this point, even to the length of deposing them from office; and he would have subjects not only made aware of this his ordinance, but, further, know that superiors who fail in the execution and observance of it shall be deposed. As to prevent men from shunning sacramental confession it was necessary also to impose upon priests a strict precept of the seal and secrecy thereof, so likewise, that none may take occasion of shunning manifestation of conscience, our Father has judged it necessary to insist so much on the secrecy of the communication that there may be no cooling down of ardor, no falling off, in an affair of such importance; for, he says, I do not know that there could be anything more pernicious than that to the good government of the Society, which desires to lead its subjects in the way of perfection by inward training and spiritual direction rather than by outward enactments and penances. Hence superiors will understand what great harm they will do to the order if they are careless of secrecy in these things.