OBEDIENTIARIES
183
OBEDIENTIARIES
the readiness to accept a common rule and direction
manifests a spirit of union and concord which gen-
erously adapts itself to the desires and tastes of others;
eagerness to do the will of God in all things is a mark
of the charity towards God which led Christ to say " I
do always the things which please my Father" (John,
vii, 29). And since the Church has invested superiors
with her authority, religious obedience is supported
by all those texts which recommend submission to
lawful powers, and especially by the following: "He
that heareth you, heareth me" (Luke, x, 16).
Philosophically religious obedience is justified (a) by the experience of the mistakes and illusions to which a man relying on his own unaided opinions is liable. The religious proposes to rule his whole life by devotion to God and his neighbour; how shall he best realize this ideal? By regulating all his actions by his own judgment, or by choosing a prudent and enlightened guide who will give his advice without any consideration of himself? Is it not clear that the latter alternative shows a resolution more sincere, more gen- erous, and at the same time more likely to lead to a successful issue? This obedience is justified also (b) by the help of example and counsel afforded by com- munity life and the acceptance of a rule of conduct, the holiness of which is vouched for by the Church; (c) lastly, since the object of religious orders is not only the perfection of their members, but also the perform- ance of spiritual and corporal works of mercy, they need a union of efforts which can only be assured by religious obedience, just as military obedience is indis- pensable for success in the operations of war.
Religious obedience never reduces a man to a state of passive inertness, it docs not prevent the use of any faculty he may possess, but sanctifies the use of all. It does not forbid any initiative, but subjects it to a prudent control in order to preserve it from indiscre- tion and keep it in the line of true charity. A member of a religious order has often been compared to a dead body, but in truth nothing is killed by the religious vow but vanity and self-love and all their fatal opposition to the Divine will. If superiors and subjects havesome- times failed to understand the practice of religious obedience, if direction has sometimes been indiscreet, these are accidental imperfections from which no human institution is free. The unbounded zeal of men like St. Francis Xavier and other saints who loved their rule, the prominent part which religious have taken in the mission field, and their successes therein, the savage war which the enemies of the Faith have at all times waged against the religious orders; all these things furnish the most eloquent testimony to the happy influence of religious obedience in develop- ing the activity which it sanctifies. The expression "blind obedience" signifies not an unreasoning or un- reasonable submission to authority, but a keen appre- ciation of the rights of authority, the reasonableness of submission, and blindness only to such selfish or worldly considerations as would lessen regard for authority.
,\t present, religious have taken a far greater part than formerly in civil and public life, personally ful- filling all the conditions required of citizens, in order to exercise their right of voting and other functions com- patible with their profession. Obedience does not in- terfere with the proper exercise of such rights. No political system rejects the votes of persons in de- pendent positions, but all freely permit the use of any legitimate influence which corrects to some extent the vicious tendency of equalitarianism: the influence of religious superiors is limited to safeguarding the higher interests of religion. As to the functions to be fulfilled, the superior, by the very fact of permitting his subjects to undertake them, grants all the liberty that is required for their honourable fulfilment.
Historically. — Though St. Paul and the other early hermits were not in a position to practise religious obe-
dience, it was already manifested in the docility with
which their imitators placed themselves under the
guidance of some older man. St. Cyprian, in his
letter "Dehabitu virginum", shows us that at Rome
the virgins followed the direction of the older women.
Obedience was then looked upon as a sort of education,
from which those were dispensed who were considered
perfect and ripe for a solitary life. This idea is found
also in the first chapter of the Rule of St. Benedict.
St. Pachomius (a. d. 292-346) understanding the im-
portance of obedience in community Ufe made it the
foundation of the religious life of the cenobites,
preaching by his own example, and inculcating upon
all superiors the necessity of a scrupulous observance
of the rules of which they were the guardians. The
monks (cf. Cassian, "Institutions") thus saw in per-
fect obedience an excellent application of their uni-
versal spirit of self-renunciation. Later, St. Bernard
insisted on the complete suppression of self-will, i. e.,
of that will which sets itself in opposition to the de-
signs of God and to all that is commanded or desired
for the good of the community. The obedience of the
Eastern monks was imperfect and defective by reason
of the facility with which they changed from one su-
perior or monastery to another. St. Benedict, in con-
sequence, advancing a step farther, introduced a new
rule binding his monks by a vow of stability. A cer-
tain choice of rules still existed, which seemed likely
to be hurtful to the common life, for some monasteries
had various, sets of rules, each set having its own ob-
servants. The reforms in the Order of St. Benedict
brought into existence monastic congregations known
by the identity of their observances, and these were
the forerunners of the mendicant orders with their
rules which have become canonical laws. St. Thomas
thus had before him all the material necessary to en-
able him to treat fully of the subject of religious obe-
dience in his "SummaTheologica", in which he makes
it clear that the vow of obedience is the chief of the
vows of religion.
St. Thomas. Summa Theologica,U-U. QQ. 104 et 186; Idem, Opusc. de perfect, vitw spirit., c. x, xii; Idem, Summa contra Gen- tiles; see also the Commentaries of C.\jetan and Billuart in the portion of the Summa Theol. cited above: Bellarmine, Controv, de monachis, 1, 2, c. xxi; Suarez, De rcligione, tr. 7, X, and tr. 10, IV, c. xiu-xv; De Vale.ntia, In II-II, disp. 10. q. 4, De statu relig., punetum I and 2; Elliot. Life of Father Hecker (New Yorlc, 1896; French tr. by Klein); Maignen, Le P. Hecker est-il un saint/ (Paris. 1898) ; Ladeoze. Etude sur le cenobitisme Pakhomien pendant le IV^ siicle et la premiere moiti^ du cinquikme (Louvain, 1898); ScHIEWlETZ, Das morgenland. Monchtum (Mainz. 1894); Harnack. Das Mdnchtum, seine Ideale und seine Gesch.
A. Vermeersch.
Obedientiaries, a name commonly used in medie- val times for the lesser officials of a monastery who were appointed by will of the superior. In some cases the word is used to include all those who held office be- neath the abbot, but more frequently the prior and sub-prior are excluded from those signified by it. To the obedientiaries were assigned the various duties pertaining to their different offices and they possessed considerable power in their own departments. There was always a right of appeal to the abbot or superior, but in practice most details were settled by the "cus- tomary" of the monastery. The list that follows gives the usual titles of the obedientiaries, but in some monasteries other names were used and other oflicial positions may be found : thus, forexaniple, to this day, in the great Swiss monastery of Einsiefleln the name "dean" is given to the official who is called prior in all other Benedictine houses.
(1) The "cantor", or "precentor", usually as- sisted by the "sub-cantor , or "succentor" (see Cantor). (2) The sacrist, or sacristan, who had charge of the monastic church and of all things neces- sary for the services. He had, as a rule, several assist- ants; (a) the subsaorist, also known as the secretary, the "matricularius", or-the master of work; (b) the treasurer; (c) the "revestiarius". (3) The cellarer.
