THE RULE OF LIFE
• Introduction • Chapter I • Chapter II • Chapter III • Chapter IV • Chapter V •
• Chapter VI • Chapter VII • Chapter VIII • Chapter IX •
Chapter III
Obedience, Poverty, Chastity
1. In first place you ought to obey God, the Roman pontiff, the bishops, superiors of your Order; then, their vicars, local officials, the bell calling you to common exercises. This you ought to do quickly, promptly, perfectly, patiently, humbly, decisively, perseveringly. Nor should you be ashamed to be subject - to men, since the Apostle [Peter] would wish us to be subject to all creatures, more so to every authority (Rom 13:1-7; 1 Pt 2:13; 1 Tim 2:2). For there is no authority, he says, unless it is from God. He who resists this authority, resists the divine Will, which is the highest form of stupidity. You should assume the motive and example of obedience of our Redeemer himself, who "humbled himself, being made obedient unto death, even death on the Cross" (Philip 2:8) He who would refuse to imitate [Christ] would appear not to want to reign with Christ if he did not obey due authority who takes the place of Christ. The following order must be kept in obeying: the lesser power should yield to the greater power, nor should that lesser power attempt to weaken the greater. [Concerning what has been ordered:] if a previous order will clearly have been revoked, a later order should be given adherence. You should all respect the Ordinaries of the locality with due submission and be most ready to obey them. Nonetheless, in order to avoid confusion in jurisdiction and many disorders, only the superiors will attend to the just orders of-the Bishops.[8] The members, on the other hand, will obey the superiors and the laws without any reluctance and pretense. Nor should they believe they have any right or privilege to take the superior to an outside court. This is stated to avoid many quarrels, scandals and rebellions. If ever any [of these] controversies should happen, or any less notable deficiency, then it should be settled and corrected within the congregation itself, in an ordinary way, peacefully and justly. Through this rule we nonetheless do not intend to contradict anything of Canon law, nothing regarding the decrees and views of the Roman Church. If anyone among you has been found stubbornly disobedient, or a firebrand, or a wicked agitator of others, let him be restrained by the common action of all those who favor interior peace and good government (first, however, having given the possibility for a just defense and apology and due process of law having been kept). If necessary, even the force of civil authorities may be employed.[9] Truly it is right that a servant of God be a peaceful man. Should he consider the person he should obey? Or shouldn't he consider love on account of which he obeys? You should fulfill, with divine assistance, humbly and joyfully, all penances and mortifications assigned by a superior, although they may seem burdensome. You should not murmur against the superiors, or complain, but you should love and honor them. But if anyone should have been truly burdened by some superior, let him either endure patiently what he finds oppressive for the merit of eternal life, or by himself or through another present with greatest meekness and humility, a petition to the superior, by whom he is pressed, so that he might use due moderation in the situation.
2. The essence of your poverty is found in this: that no one keeps anything privately without the consent of the Superiors, nor would he dare to call anything his own. However, those things given for his use let him preserve them neatly, carefully and for as long as possible Let all income be turned over for common use whether it comes from alms or other sources. Let them observe absolutely and strictly the manner of collecting, saving and dispensing this income, the manner contained in the papal decrees[10] under the penalties specified there Without the permission of the superior, let none keep with himself either money or food or drink, under the penalty of losing active and passive voice. Such permission could be granted only for some good reason and for a short time, for all ought to live mm common resources and the common table. However, foreseeing all he harm [that could come from its use], this permission is to be granted chiefly and only to the aged and the sick. No member should receive anything from anybody without the permission of the superiors whether it be from a house member or an outsider; nor should he give anything to anyone. Before profession he should dispose of his inheritance and his goods in the world, if he had any. If he was hindered by something, then he should settle his affairs as quickly as possible after profession, since our Lord openly stated: None of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his possessions (Lk l4:33b). The superiors will provide the members, as much as they will be able in the Lord, sufficiently in all things according to our norms, no superfluously however. Otherwise, on account of more rigorous want the members would be found slothful in their service of God. It is fitting for each one to be mindful that he is rather the imitator of the heavenly King in need, who, it is said, had neither his own home (Mt 8:20; Lk 9:58), nor when he was thirsty, was ashamed to have asked for water (Jn 4:7). So you once you find yourself in a situation of utmost poverty[11], rejoice exceedingly, because then you can be the true disciples and followers of Christ the Lord.
3. Obedience guards chastity, and poverty nourishes chastity. Therefore, the one eager for purity exercises himself in obedience and poverty, and then he will possess chastity. The following means will be able to greatly aid anyone to preserve this angelic virtue [of chastity]: modesty of the eyes and the constant elevation of the mind to God; the flight from laziness, idle conversations, useless reading; prudent avoiding of dangerous company; love of one's cell, and respect for the cloister; an ardent invocation of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mother of God, your guardian angel, St. Joseph, the holy virgins. The superiors will take pains lest they throw anyone into a situation endangering so great a virtue, or that they would neglect someone so endangered, seeing that they will have to render to God a most strict accounting of those entrusted to them.
[8] This was the time when the Marians were still a diocesan Institute dependent juridically on the Bishop of the place. Only in 1699 did the Marians gain the privilege of exemption from this jurisdiction.
[9] It was common practice for civil authority to aid in ending rebellions in monasteries.
[10] Clement VIII Nullus omnino, 1599.
[11] Fr. Stanislaus, as a Piarist, was very much attached to the legal and ascetical concept of "utmost poverty" that he had learned in novitiate. Due to the reform of the Piarists in 1656, he was already not able to profess it. (Later he was evidently trying to preserve or bring back at least some of its elements, by writing the Apology for the Utmost Poverty.) We do not have any evidence that in his own Institute he ever tried to introduce the "utmost poverty - either in that most strict, of the Capuchins; or in that less strict of the Piarist since 1622 - in the legal sense. Nevertheless he cherished utmost poverty as an actual experience in religious life and insisted on the need of being satisfied with the true necessities of life, and with an utmost simplicity of life (cf. for example, below, ch. 5. n.9, towards the end). In 1679 Bishop Wierzbowski witnesses to the "utmost poverty" in which the Marians were living (cf. Positio, p. 399, n. 12).