OBADIAH
181
OBEDIENCE
the end of his empire. Abjectly crushed, the Em-
peror yielded to the Spaniards. The kings of
Zaachila and Tehuantepec received baptism and
submitted to tlie mild yoke of the Church. After
the conquest of Moctezvmia's empire tlie Spaniards
who penetrated to Tenoclititlan were amazed to see
the wealth that Moctezuma had accumulated, and in
all probability knew that a great part of the gold
came from Oaxaca. This would explain why from
the first they turned their footsteps towards Oaxaca,
where the first Mass was celebrated on 25 Nov.,
1521, feast of St. Catherine, martyr. Beginning then
development was very rapid, as much perhaps from
the fact that Cortes was created Marquis of Valle de
Oaxaca, in recognition of his distinguished services,
as because of the rich mineral resources of the coun-
try, whose importance was such that it ranked ne.xt
to the City of Mexico itself. Missionaries of the
different religious orders were introduced: Francis-
cans, Dominicans, Augustinians, Jesuits, Friars of
the Oriler of Mercy, Carmelites, Brothers of St. John.
Betlilelicmites, and Oratorians. All these congrega-
tions built handsome churches in the capital of
Oaxaca, which are still in existence, with their con-
vents and subordinate houses annexed. The Do-
minicans laboured most zealously for the conversion
of the natives by means of missions and parochial
work. Four Bishops of Oaxaca have been drawn
from that order, wliile four other orders have each
contributed one.
The arclibishopric at the present time comprises besides the metropolitan chapter, which is composed of the dean, archdeacon, an i chanter, a theological censor, a canon penitentiary, and six other canons. There is a master of ceremonies, a priest sacristan of the main cathedral, and four choir chaplains. The ecclesiastical government consists of a vicar-general, a secretary of the Executive Council, and two assist- ants. The duties of the Provisorato are discharged by the provisor, fiscal promoter, defender of the Holy Office, and diocesan attorney. There is also a Commission of Rites, composed of four ecclesiastics, one of Christian Doctrine under the charge of six ecclesiastics, and a School Board made up of three clergymen and two laymen.
There are 3 parishes in the city each with its respective church, and 19 other churches, that of St. Dominic being notable for the beauty of its architecture and the richness of its ornamentation. The cathedral, which has a nave and four aisles, is remarkable for the exquisite style and ornateness of its decorations, the beauty of its altars, sacred ves.sels, and vestments, the present bishop having devoted great thought and expenditure to improvements of this kind, which increase the dignity of the service. There exist in the archdiocese 25 foranias (deaneries) which comprise 132 parishes and 223 priests.
Only within recent years have there been any Protestants in Oaxaca; these hold their services in private houses. It is not easy to give exactly the number of CathoUcs belonging to the archbishopric, because they are chiefly natives who live in the rural districts and surrounding mountains, but the popu- lation is estimated in 1910 at 1,041,035. The State does not sanction the existence of religious communi- ties of men or women. Since they must carry on their various works without attracting public notice, it is difficult to give statistics either of their number, or of the institutions under their care. So, too, while the parochial schools are steadily increasing' it is almost impossible to give their exact number. In the city of "Oaxaca (in 1910 pop. 37,469) there is a seminary di\-ided into three sections: ordained students {clericales), seminarians {seminaristas) , and prepara- tory students (apostolicos) , of whom 102 are interns, under the charge of 6 Paulist Fathers, 6 assistant professors, and 3 coadjutor brothers. The College
of the Holy Ghost, established to train the sons of
the best families for various careers, has 70 boarders
and 250 day scholars under the direction of 8 eccle-
siastics and several professors. There are 3 select
academies for young women, with an attendance of
600; 6 free schools for boys, with 1600 pupils, and
4 for girls, with 700. Among the charitable institu-
tions under Catholic control are a day nursery ac-
commodating SO children under the care of 5 nurses,
a charity hospital with 24 beds, 12 for men and 12
for women, and a home for the poor with about
90 inmates.
GiLLow, ApunieB HisUricoa (Mexico, 1S89); Battandieb, Ann. Ponlif. (Paris, 1906).
EULOGIO G. GiLLOW.
Obadiah. See Abdias.
Obazine, Monastery of. Diocese of Tulle, founded by St. Stephen of Obazine about 1 134. After his ordi- nation St. Stephen, with another priest, Pierre, began the eremitical life. They attracted a number of fol- lowers and with the sanction of Eustorge, Bishop of Tulle, built a monastery on a site granted them by the Viscount Archambault.
Before 1142 they had no estabUshed rule; however, in this year, St. Stephen was clothed with the regular habit. He had Cistercian monks train his followers in their mode of life, and affiliated his abbey to Citeaux (1147). The number increasing, several foundations were made. Among the most illustrious abbots of Obazine were Fran9ois d'Escobleau (d. 1628), Arch- bishop of Bordeaux, and Charles de la Roche-Aymon (d. 1777), Cardinal Archbishop of Rennes. The monastery was confiscated by the Government during the Revolution (1791). The abbatial church, partly restored, now serves as a parish church.
Le Nain, Hist, de Citenuz (Paris. 1696-7) ; GmsEHT, Notice tur le Cartulaire d'Obazine iTuUe, 1890): Vie de S. Etienne d' Obazine (Tulle, 1881): Gallia chrisl., II; Manrique, Annates cisterc. (Lyons, 1642); Janauschek. Origines cislerc. (Vienna, 1877); HenriQuez, Mcnologium cislerc. (.\ntwerp, 1630),
Edmond Obrecht.
Obba, titular see in Byzacena, northern Africa, of unknown history, although mentioned by Polybius (XIV, vi, under the name of Abba), and Titus Livius (XXX, vii). Situated on the highway from Carthage to Theveste (Tebessa), seven miles from Lares (Lor- beus) and sixteen from Althiburus (Henshir Medina), it is the modern Ebba. Three bishops are known, Paul, present at the Council of Carthage in 225, prob- ably the Paul mentioned in the Martyrology for 19 January; FeUcissimus, a Donatist, present at the con- ference at Carthage in 411; and Valerianus, at the Council of Constantinople, 553.
TouLOTTE, Geog. de V .Afrique chritienne: Proconsulaire (Rennea and Paris, 1892), 225.
S. PJCTRinfes.
Obedience (Lat. obcedire, "to hearken to", hence "to obey") is the compl>'ing with a command or pre- cept. It is here regarded not as a transitory and iso- lated act but rather as a virtue or principle of righteous conduct. It is then said to be the moral habit by which one carries out the order of his superior with the precise intent of fulfilling the injunction. St. Thomas Aquinas considers the obligation of obedience as an obvious consequence of the subordination estab- Ushed in the world by the natural and positive law. The idea that subjection of any sort of one man to an- other is incompatible with human freedom — a notion that had vogue in the religious and political teachings of the post-Reformation period — he refutes by show- ing that it is at variance with the constituted nature of things, and the positive prescriptions of Almighty God. It is worthy of note that whilst it is possible to discern a general aspect of obedience in some acts of all the virtues, in so far as obedience stands for the ex- ecution of anything that is of precept, it is con- templated in this article aa a definitely special virtue.
