rather let him be assured that the charge of the many is the service of the many." St. Augustine carries on the same idea concerning the Superior, saying: "Let her count herself happy, not in exercising the power which rules, but in practising the love which serves ; adding, “In honour in the sight of men let her be raised above you, but in fear in the sight of God let her be, as it were, beneath your feet."'*

The fact of the humility that must attend upon the office of Superior involves as a necessary corollary, a very solemn obligation for the subject. "Therefore ought you," writes St. Augustine, " to be more tractable, having compassion not only on yourselves but also on her, for the loftier her station, the greater her danger."

5. He must have a close union with God, and be of such mental habit as will enable him promptly and unreservedly to refer all questions to the judgment of the Holy Spirit the moment they arise. The sustained motive of his life must be of a distinctly supernatural character, so that he may be able to decide everything according to God, and not according to man. The motto on his shield must be "Pro Deo, per Deum, secundum Deum."

6. A Superior must be wholly unselfish, filled with the charity that "seeketh not her own." Above all others in the community, he must not desire his own will. He must in all things place himself second to all. Like a father sacrificing himself for the good of his

1 St. Basil, Regulae Fusius Tractatae, 30.

2 St. Augustine, Epis. ccxi, 15. Migne, P. L., Tom. xxxiii, col. 964-5. 3 St. Augustine, ibid., col. 965.

child, so must the Superior be to his spiritual children, and that with so joyous, unselfish and generous a spirit that he is unconscious that any sacrifice is being made.

7. He must promote a strict but reasonable observance of the Rule by his actions even more than by his words. It was said of a certain Religious Superior : "If you would know what the Rule prescribes for any particular hour, go and see what she is doing at that hour." The daily life of the Superior should be an epitome of the Rule.

8. He requires a largeness of mind that will enable him to keep all requirements of the Rule in their proper proportion. He must yield no jot of principle, and with courage " the Superior is to apply remedies without flinching to those who are ailing,"1 and yet know how to administer the Rule with that wise flexibility which will secure its application in its fulness to every one of the varying dispositions and temperaments that he is called upon to govern.

9. No one in the community is required so carefully to guard his affections as the Superior. If particular friendships amongst subjects lead to the wreck of vocations, like friendships indulged by the Superior lead to the wreck of communities. should with great care repress any manifestation of greater esteem or affection for one than for another.

He

III. Of the Right Mingling of Mildness and Strength in Religious Government

The government of a Religious community depends for its real efficacy on the right mingling of strength 1 St. Basil, Regulae Fusius Tractatae, 52.

and mildness in the character and policy of the Superior. The proper harmony of these qualities produces a wise and good government, calculated to lead souls in the way of Perfection to which they are vowed.

It is not difficult to be firm; it is not difficult to be mild. It is difficult to combine these qualities in right proportion, so that, on the one hand, offenders may not go unrebuked, and, on the other, weaker souls be not rebuffed and discouraged at the demands made upon them. In seeking to balance these virtues the one against the other, the danger lies in permitting firmness to harden into an unloving rigour, or mildness to degenerate into laxity and weakness. In order to learn how to avoid this Charybdis on the one side, and Scylla on the other, let us take for our instructor one of the greatest Religious Superiors of modern times, Claudio Aquaviva, who out of his wide experience gives us a long list of conditions under which failure may easily appear.

Religious government, he says, is likely to be harsh and painful under the following circumstances :

1. When the thing commanded is difficult and unsupportable as the result of a Superior's lack of judgment or of discretion.

2. When a subject is required to fulfil an obedience which through unfeigned physical, or spiritual incapacity he is unable to do.

3. When the command is given in a despotic manner, especially if there are signs of anger on the part of the Superior.

4. If a command is pressed at a time when the

subject is not well-disposed towards it, without giving him time and means to change his disposition.

5. Where small things are exacted with the same rigour as great ones, or even more forcibly, merely to accord with a Superior's personal wish or taste.

6. If a Superior rejects at once a subject's reasons or excuses, instead of first listening kindly.

7. Where a Superior permits himself to appear suspicious of a subject, and is never content with anything he does.

8. If a Superior interprets everything relating to a subject in its worst sense. This, says Fr. Aquaviva, is in reality a very grave matter.

9. If the Superior looks only to the ultimate perfection of his community without having compassion on the spiritual infirmities of individuals.

10. When he gives commands so that they cannot be understood, in order to make opportunity for a rebuke.

11. When immediately, without allowing himself time for consideration, he refuses requests made.

12. If, in cases of doubt, his interpretations are always rigid and scrupulous.

Should a Superior fail through too much rigour, however, he will find himself in the painful and humiliating situation of not being able to apologize or make any open amends for his fault. For, says St. Augustine, "If the necessity of administering correction had forced any severe words out of your mouth in reprimanding your inferiors, though you should perceive that you had exceeded due bounds in so doing, it is not required that you ask pardon of

your inferiors, lest by paying too great a regard to humility, you should weaken the authority you ought to retain in governing your subjects." The presence of the painful possibility of doing a wrong that one may not be able to right, should make a Superior doubly watchful to avoid such a fault.

It is to be noted that it is said that apology is not required in such cases. There may be subjects so true and humble that authority would not be endangered by abasing oneself before them, but this counsel, nevertheless, as a general rule, is to be observed.

The conditions that render Religious government weak and relaxed are reduced by the same authority to the following points :

I. In regulating the community, to give one's attention only to those things that are grave and liable to cause scandal, having no concern for anything else.

2. To be lenient in regard to the observance of rules, as though they were to be imposed always with

reserve.

3. To revoke readily or to permit neglect of what has been commanded because of a slight repugnance on the part of the subject.

4. To allow frequency of a fault in a subject to blind him to its seriousness.

5. While judging and disapproving, to fail to warn or rebuke the guilty for fear of grieving him or disposing him against oneself. Undoubtedly," says our authority," there would be in this case reason to

1 St. Augustine, Epis. ccxi. Migne, P. L., Tom. xxxiii, col. 964.