Salesian Literature

Conference 1  :  Obligation of the Constitutions

Herein is set forth the obligation of the Constitutions of the Visitation of Holy Mary and the qualities of the devotion which the nuns of that Order ought to possess.

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These Constitutions are not of themselves binding under pain of any sin, mortal or venial. They are only given for the direction and guidance of the members of the Congregation. Still, if any one were to violate them wilfully and purposely, either out of contempt for them, or so as to cause scandal to the sisters or to outsiders, that person would undoubtedly commit a grave offence; for no one can be held guiltless who disparages and dishonours the things of God, contradicts her profession, brings disorder into the Congregation, and squanders those fruits of good example which she ought to produce for the profit of her neighbour. Indeed, such willful contempt is in the end certain to draw down some heavy chastisement from Heaven. It especially deprives the soul of the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, which are generally taken away from those who abandon their good designs and quit the path in which God has placed them.    Now a contempt of the Constitutions, as of all good works, is recognised by the following considerations. Those who out of contempt violate or leave un­done some command, not only wilfully but of set, purpose, undoubtedly fall into this fault.  If, however, they violate it from inadvertence, forgetfulness, or a sudden movement of some passion, it is a different thing; for contempt implies a deliberate will, and a will distinctly determined to do what, it does.  Hence it follows, that those who violate or disobey a command out of contempt, not only disobey but intend to disobey; not only commit, an act of disobedience but commit it with the intention of being disobedient.  You are forbidden to eat between meals: a sister eats plums, apricots, or other fruits; she breaks the Rule and commits a disobedience. Now if she eats from a desire to gratify her appetite, then she disobeys not from disobedience but from gluttony; but if she eats, because she has no respect for the Rule, and dons not wish to pay any attention to it or to submit to it, in which case she disobeys through contempt, and pure disobedience.

 

It follows again, that those who disobey through some sudden inclination or movement of passion would much prefer to satisfy their inclination without disobedience. While, for example, they take pleasure in eating, they are sorry to disobey in not doing; but those who disobey through mere disobedience and contempt are not at all troubled in disobeying, on the contrary, they take pleasure in doing so.  Hence, in the one case, disobedience follows or accompanies the act, but in the other, disobedience precedes the act, and is its cause and motive, although the act itself is one of gluttony.  For they who eat contrary to the command, either after the command or at the time that it is being given, commit a disobedience, although, if in so eating they could avoid it, they would wish not to commit it (like those who, in drinking too much, do not wish to be intoxicated, and yet in drinking do become so.)  But those who eat from contempt of the Rule, or from downright disobedience, actually will the disobedience, so that they would not commit the act, or even desire to commit it, if they were not incited to do so by their will to disobey.  Some then disobey, desiring a thing to which disobedience is attached, and others disobey, desiring the same thing just because disobedience is attached to it.  Some find that there is disobedience in the thing which they desire, and wish that it was not there; others seek for it, and only desire the thing because it is forbidden.  One person says: I disobey because I wish to eat this apricot, which I cannot eat without disobedience; another says: I eat it because I wish to disobey, and I shall do so by eating it.  Disobedience or contempt is a consequence of the one act, but is the motive of the other.  Now, this formal contempt of good and holy things is never free from at least venial sin, even in matters which are only of counsel: for although we may, without offending, refrain from following the counsels in some holy things, and prefer others, yet we cannot, without offending, abandon them from low esteem or contempt of them. We are not bound to follow all that is good, but we are bound to honour and esteem it; consequently, we are still more bound not to despise and undervalue it. It follows, moreover, that those who violate the Rule and Constitutions out of contempt, either consider them to be of no value or utility, which is great, presumption and arrogance; or else, admitting them to be useful and yet not submitting to them, they contradict themselves, to the great detriment of their neighbour, to whom they give scandal and bad example; they fail in their engagement and promises to the Society, and bring disorder into a Religious house, all which things are great faults.

 

I will now give you some tests by which you may discern when a person violates the Rules or obedience out of contempt:

1. When, on being corrected, she turns the reproof into ridicule, and shows no sign of repentance.

2. When she persists in her fault without evincing the smallest desire or will to amend.

3. When she contends that the Rule or command is unreasonable.

4. When she tries to induce others to commit, the same fault, persuading them that they need not be afraid, that it is a mere nothing, that them is no danger at all in the matter.

These signs, however, are not so certain that, they may not sometimes be produced by other causes than contempt. It may happen that u person shows disrespect for his reprover on account of the light esteem in which he holds him; he persists in his fault from weakness of character, becomes pertinacious through annoyance and temper, and may entice others to commit the same fault for the sake of having companions and to excuse his own wrongdoing.  Still, it is easy to judge from circumstances whether all this is done out of contempt; for that is ordinarily followed by impudence and bold assertion of independence, and the lips are sure, at last, to speak the language of the heart, and to declare, as David has it: Who is lord over us?

 

And here I must add a word about a temptation which may arise on this point: namely, that a person sometimes does not consider himself disobedient or lax if he only despises one or two Rules, of little importance in his opinion, provided that he observes all the others.  But, alas! What self-deception! For what one esteems very little, another may esteem highly, and vice versa; so that in a society, one individual may despise one Rule, a second may think nothing of another, a third of another; and thus all will be thrown into disorder.  For when the human spirit suffers itself to be guided only by its own inclinations and antipathies, what can follow but perpetual inconstancy and all kinds of faults?  Yesterday when I was in a joyous mood, silence was irksome to me, and I was tempted to think it made me lose my time; today when I feel melancholy, I am tempted to think recreation and conversation still more vain; yesterday when I was full of consolation, singing was delightful to me; today when I am dry it will displease me; and so in other instances.

 

In short, they who wish to live happily, and in a perfect manner, must accustom themselves to live according to reason, rule, and obedience, not according to their own inclinations or aversions. They must esteem, honour, and cherish all the Rules, at least in their higher will. If they despise one to­day, tomorrow they will despise another, and the day after yet another, and when once the bond of duty is broken, all that was bound together by it is little by little scattered abroad and lost.

 

God forbid that any daughter of the Visitation should ever wander so far away from the path of the love of God, that she should lose herself in this contempt of the Rules through disobedience, hardness of heart, and obstinacy; for what greater misery or evil could befall her? Especially as there are so few Rules of a special character and peculiar to the Congregation. For the greater part and practically all of these Rules are either so universal that they would have had to observe them in their homes, if they wished to live with any honour, re­putation, and in the fear of God; or they are such as manifestly concern the well-being of a Religious house, or of its officials in particular.

 

If at times there should arise any disgust or aversion for the Constitutions and Regulations of the Congregation, the sisters must behave exactly as they would with regard to other temptations, correcting the aversion they feel by reason and by good and firm resolutions formed in the higher region of the soul. They must wait until God sends them consolation in their path, and shows them (as to Jacob when he was weary and worn out on his journey [Gen. 28:11, 12]) that the Rules and method of life which they have embraced are the true ladder by which they should, like Angels, ascend to God by charity and descend into themselves by humility.

 

But should they, not from any aversion but from infirmity, happen to violate the Rule, then they will instantly humble themselves before Our Lord, asking His pardon, renewing their resolution to observe this particular Rule, and taking especial care not to fall into discouragement and is quiet of mind; on the contrary, they will, with fresh confidence in God, have recourse to His divine love.

 

As regards violations of the Rule which do not proceed from either mere disobedience or contempt, if they are caused by carelessness, infirmity, temptation, or negligence, we may and should confess them as venial sins, or things in which there may be venial sins; for although there may be no sort of sin as regards the obligation of the Rule, there may be some on account of negligence, carelessness, precipitation, or similar faults.  This is because it seldom happens that, seeing some good work which is calculated to make us better, and being actually invited and called to perform it, we wilfully omit it without offence.  Such omission only proceeds from negligence, ill-regulated affection, or want of fervour, and if we are to give account of idle words [Mt. 12:36], how much more of having rendered vain and fruitless the invitation to the practice of the Rule!

 

I have said that we seldom avoid offending God when we wilfully omit the doing of some good work calculated   for our improvement.  I say wilfully, because it may happen that we omit it, not voluntarily, but through forgetfulness or inadvertence or surprise.  In that case there is no sin at all, great or little, unless indeed it were a matter of such great importance that we were bound to be on our guard, so as not to fall into such a state of forgetfulness, inadvertence, or being surprised.   For example, if a sister breaks silence because she is not attentive to the fact of its being silence time, and so does not remember the Rule because she is thinking of other things; or if she is surprised by some sudden desire to speak, and before she has time to think of repressing it has said something, she certainly has not sinned; for the observance of silence is not of such great importance that we must keep so close an attention as to be unable to forget it.  On the contrary, it being a very good thing to occupy ourselves during silence time with holy and pious thoughts, if attention to them should make us forget the silence, this forgetfulness, proceeding from so good a cause, cannot be bad, nor consequently the breaking of silence which arises therefrom.

 

If, however, a sister were to forget to attend to a sick person, who for want of such attendance would be in danger, and if the attendance had been so enjoined on the sister that complete reliance was placed on her for the performance of the duty, it would be no good excuse to say: " Oh, I never thought about it, it did not occur to my memory." No indeed, for it was a matter of such great importance that she was bound to attend to it without fail, and her want of attention cannot be excusable, considering the gravity of the matter.

 

We must believe that in proportion to the growth of divine love in the souls of the daughters of the Congregation, will be their increase in exact and careful observance of their Constitutions, although these are not of themselves binding under pain of mortal or venial sin. If they were binding under pain of death, how strictly would they not be observed? Now, love is strong as death [Cant. 6] therefore the attractions of love are strong as the threat of death to make us fulfil a resolution. Jealousy, or zeal, says the sacred Canticle [Cant. 6], is hard and lasting as hell; therefore, souls full of zeal will do as much in virtue of it as they would do for the fear of hell, and more. Hence the daughters of the Congregation, carried onward by the sweet impetuosity of love, with God's help observe their Rules as exactly as if they were bound to do so under pain of eternal damnation.

 

In a word, they will perpetually bear in mind what Solomon says in the Proverbs [Prov. 19:16], He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul: but he that neglecteth his won way shall die: now your way is the condition of life in which God has placed you.  I say nothing here of your obligation to keep your vows, for it is quite evident that any one who absolutely transgresses the Rule in the essential vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, commits mortal sin, as also by breaking enclosure.

 

Let the sisters make special profession of nourishing in their hearts a devotion interior, strong and generous.

 

I say interior, because their will should be in conformity with their outward actions, whether great or small; nothing must be done by routine, but by choice and application of the will. And if sometimes from force of habit the external action precedes the inward affection, at least let the affection follow instantly. If, before my body bows to my Superior, I have not made an act of inward reverence by humbly willing to submit to him, at least let me take care that this willing reverence accompany or follow quickly the outward gesture. The daughters of the Visitation have very few Rules regarding the exterior, few austerities, few ceremonies, few offices; let them willingly and lovingly accommodate their hearts to the practice of these few, letting their exterior acts spring from the interior and these outward acts nourish the interior by the exterior; for so does fire produce ashes and ashes preserve the fire.

 

This devotion must also be strong:

1. In bearing temptations, which never fail those who desire in earnest to serve God.

2. In bearing with the variety of dispositions which are to be met with in the Congregation, this being as severe a trial for weak minds as can be found.

3. In bearing each one of you with her imper­fections, so as not to be disturbed at seeing herself subject to them.

4. In fighting against our imperfections. For as we need a very strong humility not to lose courage, but rather to increase our confidence in God in the midst of our weaknesses, so do we also need a courage strong enough to undertake the correction and perfect amendment of them.

5. In despising the opinion and judgement of the world, which never fails to run counter to all pious institutions, especially in their beginnings.

6. In keeping ourselves independent of all private affections, friendships, or inclinations, so as not to live according to them, but rather according to the light of true piety.

7. In keeping ourselves independent of the sweetness and consolations which may come to us from God or from creatures, so as never to allow ourselves to be attached to them.

8. In waging a continual war against our evil inclinations, humours, habits, and propensities.

Finally, this devotion must be generous, so as not to be dismayed by difficulties. On the contrary, difficulties should increase our courage; for, as says St. Bernard, he whose courage does not grow in the midst of troubles and contradictions is not very valiant.  It must be generous in aiming at the very highest point of perfection, notwithstanding all present imperfections and infirmities, relying with a perfect confidence on the divine mercy, after the example of her who said to her Beloved: Draw me, we will run after Thee in the odour of Thine ointments [Cant. 1:3]; words which seem to mean: “Of myself I am unable to move, but if Thou dost draw me, I shall run.”  The divine Lover of our souls sometimes leaves us, as it were, stuck fast in our miseries so that we may know that our deliverance comes from Him, and so that when it comes we may value it highly as the precious gift of His goodness.  Hence, as generous devotion never ceases to cry out to God: Draw me, so also it never ceases to aspire, to hope, and to resolve courageously to run, saying: We will run after Thee. And we must never be disquieted if we do not at once run after our Saviour, provided that we always say: Draw me, and have the courage to add: we will run.  This Congregation, not differently from other Religious Orders, is not an assemblage of perfect persons, but of such as aim at perfection; not of persons who are running, but of such s intend to run, and who, with that intent, learn first to walk slowly, then to quicken their steps, then to half run, and at last to run.

 

This generous devotion despises nothing, and enables us without trouble or anxiety to see others walking, running, or flying, according to the diversity of inspirations and variety of the measure of divine grace which each one receives.  The great apostle St. Paul addresses this lessen to the Romans [15:2,3,5,6[: One believeth that he may eat all things, another who is weak eateth herbs: let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not, and he that eateth not, let him not judge him that eateth.  Let every man abound in his own sense: he that eateth eateth to the Lord, and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and both the one and the other give thanks to God.

 

The Rules[1] do not command many fasts, but nevertheless some individuals may for special needs obtain permission to practise extra ones; let not those who fast despise those who eat, nor those who eat despise those who fast.  And the same in all other things which are neither commanded nor forbidden, let each one abound in her own sense: that is, let each enjoy and use her liberty, without judging or interfering with the others who do not do as she does, or trying to persuade them that her ways are the best; since it may even be that one eats with as much renunciation of her own will as another fasts, and that one does not tell her faults, from as strong a renunciation as that with which another tells them.

 

Generous devotion does not wish to have companions in all that it does, but only in its aim, which is the glory of God and the advancement of our neighbour in divine love; and provided it sees its neighbour so advancing, it cares little what road is taken to reach the goal.  As long as he who fasts, fasts for God, and he who fasts not, also fasts not for God;, it is as well satisfied with the one as with the other.  It has no wish to drag others in its train, but simply, humbly, and calmly pursues its own road.  Even if it happens that a person eats, not for God, but from her own inclination; or that she avoids the discipline, not for God, but from natural aversion, still those who go the contrary way must not in any way judge her, but must, without passing censure, pursue their way gently and sweetly, without despising or judging the weak hardly, remembering that if on these occasions some perhaps yield too easily to their inclinations and antipathies, others on other occasions do the same.  Let those, however, who have such inclinations and antipathies, beware of saying a word or giving a sign which would show annoyance at the superiority of the others, for this would be a great impertinence; rather, considering their own weakness, they ought to look upon those who do better than themselves with a holy, sweet, and cordial reverence; for thus they may draw as much profit from their own weakness by means of the humility which will proceed from it, as others will draw from their exercises.  For if this point is well understood and observed it will preserve a marvellous tranquillity and sweetness in the Congregation.  Let Martha be active, but let her not disturb Magdalene let Magdalene be contemplative, but let her not despise Martha, for Our Lord will take the part of her who is censured.

 

Nevertheless, if some sisters have an aversion from things which are pious, good, and approved, or have inclinations for things which are less pious, they will, if they follow my advice, use violence and, as far as possible, go against their aversions and inclinations, so as to render themselves truly mistresses of themselves, and serve God by an excellent mortification. Thus they will do violence to their repugnance, contradict their contradictions, turn away from their inclinations, shun their aver­sions, and everywhere and in all things establish the supremacy of reason, especially when they have leisure to form their resolution.  And, in conclusion, they will try to keep their heart supple and accommodating, submissive and ready to yield in all lawful matters, and to show in all their undertakings obedience and charity, like the dove which receives all the colours given to her by the sun.  happy are pliable hearts, for they will never break!

 

The daughters of the Visitation will always speak very humbly of their little Congregation, and, as regards honour and esteem, will prefer all others to it; but, as regards love, they will prefer it to all others, freely testifying, when opportunity occurs, how happily they live in this vocation.  Thus wives ought to prefer their husbands to all others, not in honour but in affection; thus each one prefers his native country to every other in love, but not in esteem, and every mariner holds the vessel in which he sails dearer than all others, although these may be richer and better equipped.  Let us frankly own that other Congregations are better, richer, and more excellent, but not more lovable or more desirable for us, since Our Lord has willed that it should be our country and our bark, and that our hearts should be wedded to this Order; in accordance with the saying of n one who, when asked which was the sweetest resting place and the best nourishment for a child, replied: “the breast and the milk of its mother,” for though there may be a fairer breast and better milk to be found, yet for it there can be none more suitable nor more dear.

 

 

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[1] It is not commanded to take the discipline, yet it may be advantageous to some to do so, whereas others are not at all attracted to it.

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