{"id":27640,"date":"2026-09-12T17:27:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T16:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/?p=27640"},"modified":"2026-09-12T17:31:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T16:31:29","slug":"todays-chapter-the-universal-love-of-our-heavenly-abbess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2026\/09\/todays-chapter-the-universal-love-of-our-heavenly-abbess\/","title":{"rendered":"Today’s Chapter: The Universal Love of Our Heavenly Abbess"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 2: What kind of man the Abbot ought to be (vv. 16-22)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let him [the Abbot] make no distinction of persons in the monastery. Let not one be loved more than another, unless he be found to excel in good works or in obedience. Let not one of noble birth be put before him that was formerly a slave, unless some other reasonable cause exist for it. But if upon just consideration it should so seem good to the Abbot, let him arrange as he please concerning the place of any one whomsoever; but, otherwise, let them keep their own places; because, whether bond or free, we are all one in Christ, and bear an equal rank in the service of one Lord, \u201cFor with God there is no respecting of persons.\u201d Only for one reason are we preferred in His sight, if we be found to surpass others in good works and in humility. Let the Abbot, then, shew equal love to all, and let the same discipline be imposed upon all according to their deserts.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the last several days’ readings of the Holy Rule, the Abbot has been instructed about his duty to represent Christ by teaching the law of God, doing all for the holiness of the flock even to the point of laying down his life, teaching them more by word than by example. Today\u2019s passage touches on another aspect of the Abbot\u2019s Christ-representing task: to love all equally without respecting of persons. Our Lord makes it clear throughout His earthly life that He has come to save all without exception\u2014men and women, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, the public sinners and the apparently righteous. The Church has always condemned the Calvinist idea that Our Lord died only for an elect portion of humanity, and has insisted that, however one may attempt to explain the mystery of predestination and reprobation, we must hold fast to the truth taught by Saint Paul, that God truly desires all men to be saved (1 Tim 2:4).<\/p>\n

At the same time, the love that the Abbot is to have for all does not preclude having a special kind of love for those who are found to excel in good works and obedience, for those who are found humiles <\/em>(RSB 2:21). In this too he imitates the Heavenly Father and His Son Our Lord, Who indeed had a special love for the Blessed Virgin Mary who excelled all in good works, obedience, and humility. That God loves Our Lady more than any of His other creatures may strike the modern mind as unfair. In truth, of course, it is absurd for man to tell God that anything He does is unfair; He is free, like the master of the vineyard in the parable, to distribute His gifts as He wills (Mt 20:14-15). The sense of unfairness that we might have at seeing the favour God shows to others stems from the false idea that the grace they receive somehow impoverishes us. But it is not so: even while loving Our Lady and His Saints with a special love because of their good works and their humility, God still loves all men, and desires all to be saved, for as the Book of Wisdom tells us in the Introit of Ash Wednesday, He hates nothing of what He has created (Wis 11:25).<\/p>\n

This universal love of God the Father and His Son for all men is set forth as a model for the Abbot, and it is a challenging one. How easy it is for a superior to be inclined to show favour to a certain brother not because of his objective merits, but simply because he finds it easier to get on with him because of his temperament, his background, or his particular talents! That the Abbot should prefer those who excel in obedience and humility does not necessarily mean that he should show preference to brothers who make his life pleasant and who never raise difficulties. At times the truly good, humble, and obedient brother may also be the one who challenges the Abbot by respectfully expressing a different point of view. The Abbot is thus called to examine closely the motives of his dealings with the brethren: are they motivated by considerations of flesh and blood, or by the supernatural charity of Christ? The same holds true, mutatis mutandis<\/em>, for every monk. All of us naturally tend to get on better with certain brothers than with others, and such affinities can very easily lead to treating one person differently from another. So we must each ask ourselves: do I love all my brothers with the love of God, which sees past purely human considerations? Do I truly desire the good for each one\u2014which may be very different from what I would personally find convenient?<\/p>\n

In this universal charity, as in all of the other aspects of this chapter, Our Heavenly Abbess is again the model. She, who has been given to us as the Mother of Mercy and the Refuge of Sinners, manifests in a special way the universal charity of her Son towards all those He has redeemed. Today\u2019s feast of her holy Name reminds us in particular that she is always ready to help any of her children who call upon her, no matter how unlovable they may feel at a particular moment. In a traditional supplica to Our Lady as Mother of Perpetual Succour, St Alphonsus says, \u2018My only fear is that in time of temptation I may fail to call out to thee, and so perish miserably.\u2019 If we call on her, we can sure of her aid. So all monks, including the Abbot, can take comfort today from the immortal words of Saint Bernard:<\/p>\n

In dangers, in narrow places, in doubtful matters, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let her not depart from thy mouth, let her not depart from thy heart; and that thou mayest obtain the aid of her prayer, do not abandon the example of her manner of life. Following her, thou dost not stray; beseeching her, thou dost not despair; thinking on her, thou dost not wander; with her holding thee, thou dost not stumble; with her protecting thee, thou dost not fear; with her leading thee, thou dost not tire; with her favour, thou dost arrive and dost experience in thyself how rightly it was said: And the name of the Virgin was Mary.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 2: What kind of man the Abbot ought to be (vv. 16-22) Let him [the Abbot] make no distinction of persons in the monastery. Let not one be loved more than another, unless he be found to excel in good works or in obedience. Let not one of noble birth be put before him <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":591,"featured_media":27642,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[498],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-rule-2026"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vultuschristi.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Perpetual_help_original_icon.jpg?fit=500%2C609&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-7bO","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/591"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27640"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27645,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27640\/revisions\/27645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}