Chapter II. Zeal for justice

1. The first wing of a director of souls is seal for justice, by which he cannot bear to see any injustice done to himself or to others without interior protest. Every man is to be considered good in so far as he hates evil. The more a thing is cherished, the more is its destruction regretted. Hence it is to be ob served that there are four kinds of persons who are commonly called good in a religious order and in the Church.

2. The first are those who, while they do no wrong, do not diligently exercise themselves in good works, e.g., those who live in peace and tranquillity with others, giving neither offence nor scandal by bad deeds. Of such it is said : " These men were very good to us, and gave us no trouble." 1 We are accustomed to call those good who are gentle in their ways and live sociably with all, even though they appear somewhat sluggish in the practise of virtue. Baptised children are considered good in the same sense.

3. The second kind are better. They do nothing wrong and frequently practise good works, — of self-denial, chastity, humility, charity, assiduous prayer, and similar things which they believe to be good. It is characteristic of this class of persons that, as they neglect naught of the things they understand and are able to do, they are content with what ever good they do, and are not incited to higher things or inspired with a more perfect desire for sanctity. They are satisfied with a certain amount of watching, praying, alms-giving, fasting and similar -practices for God's sake, but leave the higher things to others. To them is applicable what Ecclesiastes says : " I have found that nothing is better than for a man to rejoice in his work, and that this is his portion." 2

4. The third class is even better than the former two. They that belong to it detest and avoid sin, and studiously perform the good that they are able to do, and when they have done all that they can, they think that they have done very little in comparison with what they would have liked to do, knowing that, as the Apostle says, " bodily exercise is profitable to little." 3 Consequently they aspire to vir tues of the soul, sweetness of internal devotion, an intimate knowledge of God and the sensual perception of His Love, deeming themselves to be and to have nothing, nor receiving any consolation from temporal and spiritual things, as long as they are not enjoying, according to their wish and desire, the pleasure of devotion and that arising from the above-mentioned practice of virtues. They are, however, not kindled with fervent zeal against evil habits and against the danger of others falling into sin. They desire that all men should be good and happy, but when they find the contrary to be the ease, they experience no pain but are content with themselves and God. Such per sons, if called to rule over others, are less fit for this purpose, because they give more consideration to their own comfort than to the care of their subjects, like the figtree in the parable, which said : " Can I leave my sweet ness and my delicious fruits, and go to be pro moted among the other trees? " 4

5. The fourth class are the best. They, like the former, are aflame with zeal for justice, innocence, and virtue, and the salvation of souls. They obtain no consolation from their own advancement unless they can draw others with them to God, after the example of our Lord, who, though He possessed in Himself the fulness of everlasting beatitude, was not content with having glory for Himself, but went out and, by assuming the form of a servant, drew many after Him by deed and word. The zeal of justice, like the " scarlet twice dyed," 5 glitters with the two-fold color of 4 Judges 9, II. n, c. 3. 1 6 Virtues of a Religious Superior charity, love of God and of neighbor. Love of God not only inspires a desire to enjoy His sweetness and cling to Him, but delights in doing His holy will, increasing His worship, and exalting His honor, for it desires to see Him acknowledged, loved, served, and glori fied above all things by every one. Love of neighbor desires not only the corporal wellbeing and temporal prosperity of others, but far more their eternal salvation. Wherever, therefore, charity is more perfect, the desire to promote these things is more fervent, the endeavor more energetic, the joy purer, when it sees them accomplished. For charity " seeketh not her own,"6 but the things that are God's. In proportion to the ardor with which you love God, and the purity with which you desire the things that are God's, you grieve over the offences committed against Him, when you see that He is not acknowledged, but dishonored ; when you see that He is not loved and obeyed, that His worship is subverted and His enemies are multiplied and rejoice. And according to the depth of your love for the salvation of your neighbor you will grieve over his. ruin and the obstacles laid in his way toward heaven.

6. Though charity is required of all the friends of God, it is required above all of His representatives, who, according to His will, should be governed by love of justice and hatred of iniquity. " Thou hast loved justice," says the Psalmist, " and hated iniquity." 7 By justice is here meant the observance of all those things that are necessary for the salvation or perfection of souls.

7. Some of these things have their foundation in the eternal law, such as the pure vir tues : humility, chastity, charity, mercy, and the like, without which no one can be saved. To these the commandments of God in the old and in the new law are mainly directed. For, as our Lord says, upon the law of God and neigh bor " dependeth the whole law and the proph ets." 8 Others are of human institution, pre scribed by an authority that acts in the name of 1 8 Virtues of a Religious Superior God. Such are the laws that have been laid down by the Church for the general welfare, the rites for the administration of the Sacra ments, and other regulations of positive law. " The canons are to be observed by every one," 9 in such a manner that each one shall observe what pertains to his state and what is prescribed for all, laymen as well as clerics. Others proceed from a vow, as the things which no one is compelled to do, tut which a man of his own free will has promised and is obliged to keep as it were by divine command. Such are, for instance, the chastity and obedience of the religious state, the abdication of property in monasteries, and the special obligations imposed by the rule of each order upon its members. " When thou hast made a vow to the Lord, thy God, thou shalt not delay to pay it; because the Lord thy God will require it. And if thou delay, it shall be imputed to thee for a sin. If thou wilt not promise, thou shalt be without sin. But that 8X. de Constit., 1. g, tit. 2: " Canonum statuta custodiantur ab omnibus." which is once gone out of thy lips, thou shalt observe and shalt do as thou hast promised to the Lord, thy God, and hast spoken with thy own will and thy own mouth." 10 Still others proceed from certain practices of spiritual progress, which are not otherwise necessary for salvation, such as the discipline of the Divine Office, the individual duties in an order, the order of duties, the time of observing silence, the use of food and raiment, the order of time and work, vigils and other spiritual practices, which differ in the various religious orders according to what seems most expedient for each. Though in regard to these things there exists no such strict obligation as if salvation were impossible without them, yet disregard of them mars the beauty of religious life and usually prevents spiritual progress and the edification of others. For just as the love of justice zealously promotes those things in oneself and in others, so on the other hand it grieves and is consumed and in censed when they are disregarded. " Have I 2O Virtues of a Religious Superior not," says the Psalmist, " hated them, O Lord, that hated Thee; and pined away because of Thy enemies." n

8. A person imbued with zeal for justice has a certain innate delicacy of feeling, which teaches him to deplore grave transgressions more seriously than minor ones. A thoughtful person considers things as they are, either good or bad, but a fool either regards great things as trifles or trifles as great things, and takes the mote in his brother's eye for a beam, " straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel." 12 " You tithe mint and rue and every herb and pass over judgment and the charity of God," says Christ.13 Such persons are carried away by selfishness and are not guided by the Spirit of God, like unto those who punish a person more severely for a neg lected inclination in choir than for repeated detractions of another religious, or grow more indignant over the neglect of a versicle or some minute prescription of the rubrics than « Matth. 7, 3 ; 23, 24. over a serious quarrel accompanied by scandal.

9. First and above all, therefore, transgres sions of the commandments of God must be prevented and deplored ; then transgressions of the inviolable precepts of holy Church; after this the non-observance of those things to which a person has bound himself by a voluntary promise, as, for instance, the regular observance of a rule, especially that which is prescribed as a matter of precept; finally, all habits having a species of malice, namely, avarice, pride, envy, gluttony, anger, suspicious familiarity, disobedience, and similar vices, through which the reputation of religious, whereby the rest of the faithful ought to be edified and learn what to avoid and what to do, loses its sweet odor, so that the faithful are scandalised by their vices rather than re freshed by the example of their virtues. St. Paul had such in mind when he said : " The name of God is blasphemed through you among the Gentiles." 14 A serious secret sin is more easily corrected than such an evil habit, because the former can be cured by secret penance, whereas an evil habit is scarcely ever eradicated from the hearts of those whom it controls.

10. In the fifth place, the zealous practice of prayer must be encouraged. It enlivens the true religious spirit and incites to the practice of every virtue. A religious congregation that is not fed with this oil runs dry. The structure of good works is unstable if it is not sustained by frequent and devout prayer as a stone wall is sustained by cement. In every religious order in which the fervor of devotion has decreased, the structure of the other virtues begins to weaken and is in danger of ruin. " The lamps of the foolish went out." 15

11. Finally there is to be mentioned the neglect of external discipline, which has been established as an ornament of the religious life and an incentive to spiritual progress. To disregard it is a sign of carelessness and interior levity. Compliance with discipline is not prescribed in such a way that one is not allowed to live differently, but for the reason that it is more conducive to conformity of virtue and uniformity of life, lest any one live and act as he likes and thus prove a cause of disturbance to others. In regard to such customs and practices, which are in themselves indifferent, but prescribed, as has been said,16 for other reasons, greater care should be given to their being well observed than to scrupulous anxiety lest by some slight indulgence they be neglected, unless, indeed, their habitual disregard would engender a bad habit and dissimulation nourish neglect; in which case, to prevent other evils, the zeal of discipline must not relent.

12. A superior who is imbued with a true zeal for justice, therefore, will first of all take care not to do or teach anything wrong; secondly not to allow or permit himself to be moved by importunity or deception; thirdly, not to favor or prefer to see anything done without being asked, or in his absence; fourthly, never to dissemble or be silent, as if 16 Supra, n. 7. he had no knowledge of things, whereas it is his duty to admonish and teach how bad certain things are, and to deter others from presuming to attempt them in future ; fifthly, not to permit faults to go unpunished, because the punishment of a transgression always produces some good, namely, by deterring the one who is guilty from sinning again. " Sin no more," said Christ, " lest some worse thing happen to thee." 17 Furthermore, faults should not be permitted to go unpunished, in order that the erring brother may be cleansed from his sin and not be punished more severely by God later on, for, says Proverbs, " Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell." 18 Also for the reason that by this means others may be taught to beware lest they fall into similar faults. " The wicked man being scourged, the fool shall be wiser," 19 that is to say, the weak and the beginner learn to be cautious. Finally, the Superior, who takes the place of the Supreme Judge, saves his own soul from the sin of neglect by fulfilling his duty. Heli, the high priest, because he failed to do this, heard his own sentence of death and also that of his sons.20

13. Dutiful religious differ from careless ones not in this that among the former none is found without sin, but that none is suffered to sin unpunished, and they are studiously pro tected from the danger of sinning, kept away from the incorrigible, and are cherished and loved, that they may persevere and advance continuously on the way to perfection. Since depravity was found among the choirs of the holy Angels before their confirmation in grace, and among the Apostles under the direction of Christ, what order of virtuous persons on earth may dare to claim for itself that there is no sin in its members? Though many are free from sin by the grace of God, yet not all. " You are clean, but not all." 21

14. It is well for the good, while they are still in a position to acquire supernatural merits, to have among them some wicked per- 20 i Kings 4, ii sq. 21John 13, 10. sons who may be for them the occasion of greater merit. They may have compassion on them in their wickedness. Their zeal may be inflamed. They may exert themselves in correcting the erring. They may be filled with fear of becoming like them. The wicked may become a source of temptations to the good. The good may have to suffer persecution from the wicked. They may be confounded and humbled in considering the evil ways of the bad, because they are not like them, and prompted to render thanks to Him who has protected them from becoming like the wicked. If no opportunity were offered to the good to practice the above mentioned virtues, their merits would by that much be curtailed. " What things a man shall sow," says St. Paul, " these also shall he reap." 22

15. Badly disposed religious, however, are to be neither cherished nor favored, but may be tolerated, especially those whose faults are secret and do not contaminate others, and for whom there is hope of amendment. Where these things are lacking, bad religious cannot be tolerated without serious detriment, and hence should be expelled, in order that their wickedness may not appear to be agree able to those who are good. During the time that they are tolerated, they are to be punished with the rod of admonitions, corrections, hu miliations, and penances ; and soothed with the balm of exhortations, consolations, prayers, and promises, if they recover from their faults and become strong. The way of sin and temptation must be closed to them. This is also beneficial for good religious, lest the occasion of sin corrupt them. If a superior, who takes the place of God, " whom his Lord setteth over his family," 23 and to whom for this reason subjects owe the same obedience as to the Lord Himself, fails to correct delinquents, permits the growth of bad habits and the introduction of evil prac tices, and allows those that have crept in to increase and spread; if he sees that the regular observances are neglected and transgressions multiply, and yet neglects to stop the existing or impending evils to the best of his ability, he shall be responsible to God for three things. 1 6. First of all he shall have to render an account to God for his negligence in omitting to do that to which his office obliged him. " Because being ministers of his kingdom, you have not judged rightly, nor kept the law of justice, nor walked according to the will of God. Horribly and speedily will he appear to you: for a most severe judgement shall be for them that bear rule." 24 Secondly, all the sins of his subjects, which he could and ought to have corrected, are im puted to him. "If thou dost not speak to warn the wicked man from his ways, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I shall require his blood at thy hand." 25 In the third place, he shall be responsible for the abuse of the dignity and power that was given to him, having turned it to his own honor and pleasure and not to the purpose for 2* Wis. 6, 5. 2B Ezech. 33, 8. which it was conferred upon him. " Take ye away ... the talent from him . . . and the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 26

16. A superior who is imbued with the right kind of zeal should show how much he loves God by promoting in himself and in others what pleases Him. He should not falter in his zeal through sloth, nor tire in his exer tions, nor be deflected by counsels, nor fooled by cunning, nor carried away by friendship and flattery, nor terrified by threats, nor become discouraged on account of long standing abuses, but should fulfill his duty.