Obedience
A Social Function
In the letters that Teresia van Miert wrote with the annual Staten (reports), the word obedience often appears. Apparently, obedience was something of importance to her that on April 8, 1882 and in may 1884, she chose obedience as the subject matter of her accompanying letters. In her introduction to the Register, Teresia speaks about “blind obedience.” In her first letter, with the Staat of 1876, we read: “Be slatchtoffers I(in this sense, sacrificial victims) of obedience” and when she writes in 1880 about the observance of the Rules, she often connected this with obedience:
“…you who strictly observe Holy Rules practice…the mortification of one’s own will, because the will of the Holy Rules and that of the Superiors are incessantly opposing our own and human beings themselves, also in holy matters, are always inclined to do their own will. The perfection of the vows, because the Holy Rules not only admonish to observe the vows fervently, but likewise present to you the excellent means to abstain…the most prompt obedience to do the will of the Superiors.”
And in 1885 when she pointed out to her co-Sisters the importance of unity within the congregation, she wrote:
“In unity is beauty, strength and life; outside unity is disorder; weakness; it is death. A community, so far, can only have beauty, strength, and life when the principle of unity exists in her, that flows from the obedience of the subordinates to their local Superiors, of the local Superiors to their General Superior. For every religious community the infallible guarantee for her preservation, her foundation, her keystone, her binding strength lies in obedience. How powerful a House is with the obedience of all its members!”
What are we to think of this special attention of Teresia to obedience? It is good to know that obedience fits in the spirit of the time of the 19th centrury. A spirit of obedience lived in the West European culture at that time. To obey the one above you in social standing was with every well-bred citizen. We can still mention that in 1853, the ecclesiastical hierarchy in the Netherlands was restored. This brought about an almost natural respect for the authorities. From Teresia’s correspondence with Msgr. Zwijsen, it appears that she has great respect for the Bishop.
When he became the Archbishop of Utrecht in 1853, she wrote him, among others, the following on January 4, 1855:
Be assured, Monsignor, that your Serene Highness, will always share in the prayers which we pour at the foot of the Holy Altars and that our Congregation will implore daily the protection of Jesus and His Holy Mother over your Serene Highness… As grateful children we delight in the affection that your Serene Highness always hold for us and we will always consider ourselves fortunate if for many years we can still give our due respect to your Serene Highness for which we ourselves are called to by your Serene Highness. – The most obedient children, Maria Teresia.
Furthermore, we noticed that Teresia connected being obedient with the preservation of the unity within the Congregation. As General Superior she felt responsible to point this out to the other members. Her experience is that if obedience does not prevail within the organization, disorder can easily arise. It is of importance, especially within a widely spread out community like her Congregation, that the rules and customs of the Motherhouse are also observed in the filial houses:
“This unity must be such that when a Sister is transferred to another house, she will not detect any change, except that she will find there – – another building, other people and perhaps other activities; for the rest, the way of life, the observance of the Rules and Customs, in everything must be one and the same with those of the Motherhouse, which, with regard to these, and in other matters, should always serve as an example to other subordinate houses. The Board of the Congregation is obliged to care for that preservation of unity.”
We can ask ourselves if obedience for Teresia van Miert has still another meaning next to her social function. Or is it that she, being a child of her time and for the sake of dear peace, just demands blind obedience? Is obedience for Teresia only doing what you are told? In other words: does Teresia ask obedience from the others just for obedience itself or has she another objective in mind?
Obedience as Imitation
Obedience is the greatest sacrifice you can do, dear Sisters; you cannot bring to God a more pleasant offering than that of your own will and understanding: that sacrifice is for Him more pleasing than the works of penance. And why should we not be obedient to the people who are representatives of God? Was not Jesus Christ, who is God Himself, obedient to people? Well then, as the Savior Himself was obedient to people, should we, significant earthworms, refuse to do this? Only a haughty one can refuse this; but one who has the piety and lives in faith, even so to speak in the world willingly obeys the lawful authority.
From the above-mentioned text, it is clear that Teresia sees obedience in the light of Christ’s obedience. In the letter to the Hebrews, this is told about Him: “Although He was the Son of God, He learned obedience in the school of suffering.”
Jesus of Nazareth learned to be obedient. But that did not go on by itself. Suffering was His way of learning. Through suffering He grew in obedience. Obedience was given to Him although it cost Him fear and pain. In the New Testament Jesus’ submission to slavery is never mentioned. He let go of His own life voluntarily. Ultimately, it was His own free choice to do the will of His Father.
Teresia speaks about bringing the greatest sacrifice. She knows that learning obedience is not easy. On the contrary, it is a long and hard way. Yet she asks the Sisters to go that way, but she does not force them. She could ask this from her co-Sisters because for her obedience was an extension of lowliness. We saw this already: for her to be lowly formed the foundation of spiritual life. It means in its deepest sense: to know your place with respect to the Other who is God. It is only when you discover who He is and who you are that you cannot do otherwise than obey His will. Just as Jesus accomplished God’s will by obeying the people, so we should also be obedient to those who occupy His place. She writes: “Also be so satisfied with God’s will, which is revealed to you by the lawful authority.” Teresia assumes that those who have authority over us reveal God’s will. Her words mean a lot. She points out that one should be satisfied with what the other says, because God’s voice resounds through the voice of the other. Does it mean that the Sisters should always obey without thinking? No, because in her letter with the 1883 Staat, she writes:
The subordinate, who is obedient in matters which are not contrary to the commandments of God, is assured never to deceive oneself before God and to perform a deed that is pleasing to His Supreme Majesty, even when the Superior herself who commanded it would err. Obedience is always for God, so to say, would reprimand a soul that she had not done enough penance, and the soul would answer that she was not allowed to do more, God would then accept her excuse.
Herewith, Teresia calls on the ability of the Sisters to distinguish. They do not have to do at any cost everything they are told. They can think about the what, the how and the why of the task assigned to them. Finally, it is not about the will of the Superior. She is the Superior. She knows herself; she knows her weaknesses; she knows of erring. She knows her place with respect to god. By speaking like this, she does not place herself above the other Sisters, but next to them. Together they are under God’s authority. He is the Supreme Majesty. However, He is a majesty who hears what moves the other. The God Whom Teresia trusts is always a God of people. In this way, she places herself with her Sisters on the trail of the Other who listens to them and hears them: on the path of obedience.
The Path of Obedience
Obedience appears to be hard at the beginning; she often obliges one to sacrifices which are painful to the heart, spirit and will; but once one has surrendered oneself totally to her, she spreads out such a great joy, so much pleasant peace about life that one cannot live without the will of someone who direct her.
Teresia knew from experience how difficult it was to obey. In the above-mentioned quotation, she puts it into words again. Obedience obliges to sacrifices. Your heart, your spirit and your will are moved by it. You have to sacrifice a lot for it, because obedience can touch you to the core of your being. All what you do, which is you whole being, asks for change. You find yourself, so to say, in a process of transformation and that causes pain. The letting go of your self to be there for the other is like going through a path full of obstacles. And yet, Teresia tells her Sisters that once you finally surrender, as you set foot on the path of obedience, it can happen that you will want nothing more.
In this connection, Teresia use seven times the words holy indifference in her letter attached to the Staat of 1881. What did she mean by that? She said herself : ”…seek nothing, desire nothing, ask nothing, relying completely on the will of the Superior.”
This does not matter to you in favor of the other is being holy. Teresia says that obedience happens in relationship. It is a way of choosing in freedom for the other. It is the encounter with the other. It is seeing God in the other. This means that you learn to see with the eyes of the other. The will of the other has become the norm on which you focus: God’s norm. For Teresia van Miert, God is the God Who speaks to her and to the other Sisters. The life program of the religious is no other than listening and hearing that voice. However, there where freedom and personal responsibility are threatened by an absolute submission to the will of the other, then the Christian obedience is threatened. Christian obedience can only happen in a relationship wherein love and trust dwell.