INSTRUCTION II
RELIGIOUS LIFE'S FOUNDATIONS
A Note on the Pious Work Sudden Deaths
Sudden deaths, as indeed their causes, are on the increase, even among Paulines. And yet that instant of passing to eternity is the momentum a quo pendet aeternitas.1
Every minute second eight persons are born and six die.
Of these lives that come to an end, almost half are sudden deaths. Millions of people
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die on the streets, in offices, at work, in their own beds. Many times sudden death is due to the upheaval of such natural disasters as floods, earthquakes and fires.
When we consider that death is the moment on which eternity depends, the question rises spontaneously: What are good Christians doing to obtain God's mercy for all these people who die suddenly?
It is a holy thing to undertake a crusade of prayers and good works to give spiritual help to the dying.
This is why the Pious Work Sudden Deaths2 was erected.
1. The goal of the Pious Work Sudden Deaths is to have the Lord grant to all those who pass suddenly from this life to eternity, to die in God's grace.
2. All practising Christians can be enrolled: thus Priests, Religious, Missionaries, Sisters, Seminarians, the members of Secular Institutes, Catholic Associations, Third Orders, Catholic Action, workers, people in the professions…
3. Send in your own name.
4. Do a good deed every day for those who die suddenly, or recite some ejaculatory prayer. The good deed can be religious, moral, or charitable. You can also choose one of the deeds you do habitually.
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Art. 192. In the secondary schools the studies are to be appropriately regulated according to the times and places. As our apostolate of communications requires, the students should be able to draw from their studies a sound training of their mind as well as a practical knowledge and the ability to express in writing, and by word of mouth, what they have learned.
Art. 193. Clerics are to be instructed in all the human and divine disciplines according to the needs of their state, namely, in the natural sciences, history, scholastic philosophy, dogmatic, moral, ascetical, and pastoral theology, Sacred Scripture, Church History, Canon Law, liturgy, archaeology, and sacred eloquence, with their auxiliary and related subjects. This training must be entirely in accordance with the norms of Canon Law and the instructions of the Holy See. To the extent of their ability, Clerics are to become expert teachers of souls and thoroughly equipped unto every good work.
Art. 194. That the members may be able to exercise their zeal with greater fruit, during the entire course of studies, they are to be properly prepared for the apostolate by a special theoretical and practical course, whence they may learn and practise the art of spreading the word of God according to the special aim of the Society.
Human life and consecrated life
Underpinning an upright human life are theoretical and practical principles. Of a threefold order, in conformity with
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a human being's three faculties, they concern the mind, feelings, and the will.
The mind: to recognize God as the beginning and end of everything, ruler of the world; on whom we depend, to whom all things must be ordered, to whom we owe legitimate worship; rewarder of good and of evil. Man is a rational being, endowed with a living body and a spiritual and immortal soul; the soul has to govern and take charge of the body.
Feelings: love and fear of God; love of neighbor, God's image; respect his good name, his goods, his life; do not do unto others what, quite reasonably, we should not want done to us; and vice versa.
The will: listen to the inner voice of conscience and duty, experience responsibility for one's acts; virtue and vice; the duties of state; family and social duties; the good use of material and moral goods; the commitment to improve oneself.
The religious life is a perfecting of the Christian life; the latter a perfecting of human life.
For Aspirants, as for any Christian, salvation requires a basic love of God. Paradise is love's enjoyment; hence, in order to attain God, it is necessary to possess love to some degree. A true and necessary attitude for all is to aim for God, to search and long for him.
Even more so for those who wish to travel the more perfect road to heaven.
The religious life and the priestly life call first of all for a good Christian life; the Christian life calls for a good human life.
You can only perfect what already exists; in this case, observance
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of the commandments, the natural law. Thus, to the young rich man who asked what he had to do to be saved, Jesus Christ replied: Observe the commandments; and he set them out. Since the young man declared that he had always observed them, Jesus added: If you would be perfect, leave everything, come and follow me [cf. Mt 19:21].
It is absolutely necessary that the Aspirant give proof beforehand that he does observe the commandments.
The meaning of prayer
This is a wide-open field. We shall limit ourselves to what forms the basic foundation of the religious life.
The Religious is first of all a prayer-person. Hence, the Aspirant must experience beforehand that he is God's creature; that he must worship him, show him love and recognition, and refer all things to him: hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done; that he knows how to adore God and ask for his help; that he observes the vows, honors God's name, and dedicates part of the week to God; that he really wants to know, love and serve God in view of his future life…
Aspirants who have only a traditional and empty religiosity based on emotion, habit and outward show… have no foundation. Perhaps they have learned something and done something; but
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how will they love Christian worship, or give pride of place to prayer, or take part in the Mass, or frequent the Sacraments?
True Aspirants, instead, stand out by their attentiveness to prayer, their behavior in church, their commitment to have an enlightened and solid piety that supports and betters their life. Herein is the first and principal sign of a vocation. They stand out because they delight in catechism classes, the parish, and liturgical functions; in their frequenting the sacraments; their desire to serve Mass, to be close to priests and Religious. With such a background it will not be difficult to cultivate in them the spirit of faith, real trust in God, an aversion to sin, piety and what it is to be a Pauline. They themselves will be the ones to seek out the spiritual Director and the confessor; they who will desire to enter into a closer relationship with Jesus and his heavenly Mother.
Worship of the truth
Worship of the truth: this is to honor God. It is a natural duty and so it obliges everyone. The study of truth and the search for truth conform to God's will and to the gift of understanding - realization that he has created us.
Truthfulness, which supposes first of all the love of truth and a hatred for lies and deceit. To lie is to say the opposite of what you are thinking with the aim of deceiving.
Hypocrisy is to bring about deception through one's works, life and behavior. It is a pretence; it is, in other words, to have others believe either through deeds or conduct what is not the real state of affairs. It is also in fact called a lie, as for example, when a person is full of illfeeling and he simulates goodness and affection.
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Mental restriction has some conditions attached, but to deceive with intent is another matter.
To accustom a child to be sincere is a preparation for observing the commandment: Do not bear false witness.
And later on, in accordance with the Gospel: Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil [Mt 5:37].
A liar is also a thief; a thief is also a liar.
There is a need for honesty; for keeping one's word; to make restitution at the time pledged.
Saint Paul says: Nolite mentiri invicem.3 In the Old Testament: Non mentiemini, nec decipiet unusquisque proximum suum.4 Abominatio est Domino labia mendacia.5 Os quod mentitur occidit animam.6
Rash judgements, false accusations and calumny all cause harm to our neighbor. Besides the affront to truth there is the affront to charity and to justice. There is an obligation to retract; you cannot be forgiven if you do not retract.
How damaging certain types of lies can be in confession! Example: not to tell the full number of serious sins; to present oneself to the confessor for some external reason with serious sins, and confess only everyday sins.
Copying class work; introducing forbidden books or magazines; sending slanderous or anonymous letters, and so on.
A person can reach the point of requesting the habit, the novitiate, the vows, and ordination, for purely human reasons: to learn a trade, to pursue studies, without any personal cost, and
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then leave; and afterwards to live a cosy life or to aid relatives.
A person leaves the house asking to go to a place for which permission will be granted while planning to go somewhere else for which permission would not be granted; a person pretends to be sick; a person gives a good reason but the intention is to use it for another purpose. A person who hides serious family defects in order to reach the priesthood or profession.
Fidelity to duty
The gift of the will follows on the gift of understanding. The practice of fidelity to duty trains and reinforces the will.
Applying this in practice:
If people enter to study, then they are to be resolute both in class and in the time set aside for it.
If they come to be Religious, they are to be prepared in accordance with the arrangements made by the Institute.
If they entered this Institute, they are to follow the regulations that are in place.
If advice is given, let them accept it and put it into practice.
If they have made their vows, let them observe them.
If the Confessor or the Spiritual Director admonish them, make a suggestion, and warn them of danger, let them be submissive.
They will be if they have the habit of obeying in the family. But, sadly, in many families discipline and paternal authority are on the decline; children are accustomed to a kind of independence on the one hand
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and to excessive condescendence on the other; children who impose their own ideas and weak parents who give in. An error which is circulating and undermining the will is the morality of the situation, of convenience. Duty is approved in theory, but in practice people do as they want or please, according to convenience or the situation; choice falls where there is the least sacrifice and the greatest satisfaction.
To correct such abuses you would need a lengthy practice of obedience.
Fidelity to the vows
The present time is a critical one for the vows undermined as they are by a disastrous lack of esteem. Profession is approached with little thought, and then it is endured like a great weight; people give in too easily to small things and perhaps also to serious things. There is, initially, deep remorse, but it is soon followed up by indifference. Such means of support as fleeing occasions, and prayer, are neglected; catastrophe strikes, damaging the individual and causing scandal both within and outside the Institute, with the resultant continuus dolor7 of the good members. Graces are lost, yet you do not bewail your fate because you are blind; the road to recovery is blocked; you carry on, externally self-confident, as though a victor, but in your heart you know in reality you are a loser and a traitor… And let us pray that you are not cast down into eternal damnation: Quomodo cecidisti de coelo?8 Those who have the light of God understand; for those who do not, said Fr Gemelli, there is only dread or a serious, prolonged illness; or imprisonment; and at times not even death is release. One of the Twelve was a traitor; but he was lost for all eternity.
We cannot assist impassively. Downfall can sometimes be foreseen; at times we can also be in
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part responsible. Nemo repente fit pessimus.9 Barriers are removed, evil is introduced in subtle ways, you fall headlong into danger: the attraction of the other, pride, books, infringement of the rules, full rein to the senses, a slackening of prayer life, meetings with the other; on the lookout for unseemly shows or films for adults only; you take a few steps back, you gain some ground, but then you fall back again; it becomes worse, almost a habit; finally you are trapped in an unbreakable bond. You end up in what at least apparently you detested, working in a printing plant or a publishing house opposed to the teaching of Jesus Christ and his Church. When you become Satan's victim he drags you down to the ultimate shame: to employ for his use the art you learned for the Gospel; in a life of degradation and disgrace.
And yet it is a law of nature: Make your vows to the Lord, and fulfil them [Ps 76:11]. Religious vows are a serious matter, made after years of prayer and reflection, asked for in writing, professed in the most solemn manner, in the presence of witnesses, and ratified with a person's own signature. That Register will be used by the devil who will present it on Judgement Day. He will scoff at these vows, now in his possession, as proof of infidelity. You will say: But there are dispensations. Yes, but only to save you and others worse ruin.
The dispensation is valid: the Religious is reduced to the lay state if it is a matter of an ordinary Religious. But before God he has wasted grace; he has freely and gradually allowed himself to slip into a spiritual condition whereby, having transgressed the vows, he commits two sins; and to some degree his life becomes a scandal and an impairment to the Institute; hence, either at his own
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request, or through expulsion, a member, harmful to the body corporate, is amputated.
When Jesus said to Judas at the Last Supper: What you are going to do, do quickly [Jn 13:27] he did not free him from his responsibility: but he showed that he knew everything; and, given Judas' obstinacy, that the time had come for the betrayal and that for Jesus his hour had arrived. He had not allowed his enemies to capture him before: it was not yet his hour.
Fidelity to the commandments and natural honesty
There is the seventh commandment Do not steal: it is a natural law. It is easy to believe that some faults are only against the vow, but sometimes they can be against justice, either as regards the Institute or other persons. Is restitution made?
A person's reputation is to be respected; but criticism, accusations, disparaging remarks are all against the fifth commandment. Possibly these are so grievous as to wound confreres; and lead sometimes to scandal.
Respect for others: pass the plate at table. Those who serve themselves first must also think of those coming after.
There are social duties that are natural laws. Just as people enjoy the advantages of society so they must also bear its burdens.
Why do some have all the advantages? For example, to keep a car for one's exclusive use and leave other members disadvantaged; perhaps deny them of it when they
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need it for the apostolate or for some other community service.
There is the vow of obedience, but first there is the fourth commandment. This affirms the obligation to heed parents and superiors. Obedience extends to all who have an office, right up to the production manager in the printing plant.
The law of the sixth commandment is also a natural law before it is a religious vow and a priestly commitment: Do not commit impure acts.
Saint Paul recalls a natural law: Let no one think of himself more highly than he ought to think [cf. Rom 12:3]. On this point someone wrote: the person who esteems himself beyond measure is an arrogant person; the arrogant person is less than human; elsewhere he is referred to as a by-product of the rational person.
There is the natural obligation of gratitude: to the Institute which takes care of its members, nourishes them spiritually and physically, educates them, trains them for life, for Profession, for Ordination, for holiness.
If people do not reflect they end up little by little condemning just about everything, even if they do not have all the facts to judge, or even the ability to judge. And perhaps they are the ones who were given extra help and attention! All this, passing over the good, while ruthlessly spotlighting faults that may be true, or surmised, or made-up.
But it is in the nature of things, and it will be verified, that those who condemn will be condemned according to the judgements they have merited: the measure they used for others will be used on them. Nolite iudicare ut non iudicemini.10
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Conclusion
The natural law obliges to a greater degree than does the positive law; it is the prime law and it obliges everyone, always.
Saint Paul says in Romans 2:14-15: Gentem quae legem (mosaicam) non habent, naturaliter ea, quae legis sunt, faciunt; ejusmodi legem non habentes, ipsi sibi sunt lex; qui ostendunt opus legis scriptum in cordibus suis, testimonium reddente illis conscientia ipsorum, et inter se invicem cogitationibus accusantibus aut etiam defendentibus.11 Defection on the part of Aspirants or, worse, on the part of professed members results first of all from the lack of a foundation, which is the faithful and exquisite practice of all ten commandments.
A person who fails to observe the natural law will not be a good Christian; let alone a priest or Religious.
Be vigilant: see that there is this human foundation, the observance of the commandments; then you can put your trust in being able to construct a solid and tall building.
If love of God is first of all to do his will, then the natural law, which is God's eternal law and surpasses all positive laws, must be observed first of all.
If man does not enjoy a good spring in youth, he will not be able to inure himself against the storms and difficulties of life. The tree must put down roots if it is to weather storms. The house must have a foundation if it is not to fall.
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Let us give the upcoming generation of youth values that reflect joy, morality and sound religion; then they will build the future in accordance with the Lord's wishes.
In these words of a man of faith and experience is a pledge of happiness in this world; and in heaven!
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1 “The moment on which eternity depends.”
2 Cf. San Paolo, August-November 1960, p. 4.
3 “Do not lie to one another” (Col 3:9).
4 “You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another” (Lev 19:11).
5 “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord” (Prov 12:22).
6 “A lying mouth destroys the soul” (Wis 1:11).
7 “Unceasing anguish” (cf. Rom 9:2).
8 “How you are fallen from heaven!” (Is 14:12).
9 “No one becomes wicked all of a sudden.”
10 Judge not, that you be not judged” (Mt 7:1).
11 “When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them…”.