ON OBEDIENCE

FROM this humility is born obedience, for only the humble man can be
inwardly obedient. Obedience is a submission and pliant disposition,
and a good will ready for all that is good. Obedience subjects a man
to orders, to prohibitions, and to the will of God, and it subjects
the soul and sensual force to the highest reason, in such a way that
the man lives suitably and reasonably. And it makes men submissive
and obedient to Holy Church and to the sacraments, and to all the
good practices of holy Christianity. It prepares man, and makes him
ready for the service of all, in works, in bodily and spiritual
care, according to the needs of each, and prudence. Also, it drives
far away disobedience, which is the daughter of pride, and which we
ought to flee from more than from poison. Obedience in will and work
adorns, extends, and manifests the humility of man. It gives peace
to cloisters, and if it exists in the prelate, as it ought to exist,
it attracts those who are under his orders. It maintains peace and
equality among equals. And he who observes it is beloved by those
who are above him, and the gifts of God, which are eternal, elevate
and enrich him.

ON THE ABDICATION OF OUR OWN WILL

FROM this obedience is born the abdication of our own will. By this
abdication the substance and occasion of pride are repulsed, and the
greatest humility is accomplished. And God rules the man as He
wills; and the will of the man is so well united to that of God that
he can neither wish nor desire anything otherwise. He has put off
the old man, and has put on the new man, renewed and perfect
according to the divine will. It is of such an one that Christ said,