HOW YOU FAILED DURING THIS YEAR
IN REGARD TO YOURSELVES
AND OBSERVANCE OF THE RULE

92.1 First Point

            You can fail in observance of the Rule either in the house, outside the house, or in school. In the house there are three ways of failing: first, in fidelity and punctuality regarding the exercises. Have you considered this point as one of the main means of salvation, as in fact it is? The reason for this is that fidelity gives you a sort of guaranty of keeping exactly the commandments of God, because he who is faithful in little things will also be in those which are great,[i] says Our Lord.

            Have you not sometimes quite easily dispensed yourself during the past year from Holy Communion simply out of lack of feeling? Have you not neglected prayer, or allowed yourself to be distracted while making it? Have you considered these two exercises as the ones which draw down the grace of God on all the others? With this in view have you applied yourself to these two exercises with affection?

            Have all your exercises been dear to you? Have you looked upon them as the absolutely necessary way to reach the perfection of your state and consequently of making sure of your salvation?

            Have you left everything at the first sound of the bell, even when you were with persons from outside the community? This must always be done without fail, for it is exactly at the first sound of the bell that you hear God's will indicated to you.

            Have you been strict in keeping silence? This is the first means of establishing observance of the Rule in a house; without this you must not expect that there will be any order in a religious community. Consequently, since you are obliged to contribute to the good order of your house, be faithful to these two things.

            By means of them, good order will be established and maintained with ease, provided you add obedience in all things to the one responsible for the direction of the community, for obedience is the first virtue of a community and distinguishes it essentially from secular houses.

92.2 Second Point

            It is no less important to be faithful to the Rule outside the house than in it, because we should give edification to our neighbor, and this should especially be required of religious persons.

            The first thing we must pay attention to, is great self‑control.[ii] Saint Paul recommends this to the faithful above all things. Let your self‑control, he says, be known to everyone.[iii] This is as if he said, do not be self‑controlled only when you are alone and in private, as you should be, of course, because the Lord is near you, but also act in the same way before everyone. Thus, when you are outside the house, act in such a way that all may recognize and be edified by your self-control. This is necessary because you work for the salvation of others, and you must begin by giving them good example in order to win them to God.

            You must also carefully observe silence in the streets and, as your Rule prescribes, say the rosary so as not to be distracted by what comes before your eyes; you should rather be occupied with the presence of God. Patience and silence especially are equally necessary for you when people say something insulting or something that is liable to trouble you.

            Have you been faithful to all these practices during this year? They are of very great importance for you if you do not want to scandalize others and do not want to be distracted in the streets. A person consecrated to God must be easily distinguished from a secular by his exterior appearance and by the way he acts, because he owes edification not only to prudent people, as Saint Paul says, but also to those who are not such,[iv] and who often take scandal over everything, especially in the case of religious.

92.3 Third Point

            School being the place where the Brothers spend most of their time during the day, where the activities they engage in are the ones in which they are most involved, and where they find the most occasions for distraction, the Brothers cannot watch too closely over themselves in order not to lose any of the merit which they should draw from their work for the salvation of their souls, and in order not to fail there in any of their duties.

            Have you been exact during this year to follow the order of the lessons, always to make use of the signal, and always to correct your pupils when they have made some mistake? You cannot dispense yourself from this without failing in one of your principal duties.

            Have you been exact to teach catechism every day during all the prescribed time and in the manner prescribed? Have you been concerned that your disciples be instructed in their religion? This is your principal obligation, although other matters should not be neglected.

            Have you not at times acted in a careless and negligent way? Have you not chatted with the children uselessly, asking them for news, or listening willingly to the news they told you? Have you not read books other than those that the children were reading whom you are responsible to instruct? In a word, have you not wasted time, which in your profession no longer belongs to you any more than servants' time belongs to them, obliged as they are to use all of it in their master's service, as you are for the benefit of your students.

            Have you not accepted something from them? You know that this is in no way permitted, for if you fall into this fault, your school would no longer be gratuitous, if all you received from them was only some tobacco. This is something which should not be done, or tolerated, because the use of tobacco is forbidden to you, and because you have to conduct the school gratuitously; that is essential to your Institute.

            Examine whether you have fallen into these kinds of faults during this year, and how often, and whether in that case you have accused yourself exactly of them in confession. Take proper resolutions on all these matters. Finally, strip off the old man today and put on the new man, as Saint Paul exhorts you to do, and ask God, following the advice of the same apostle, to renew in you tomorrow the spirit of your state and your professions.[v]