Note 8 — Chapter V · THE VOW OF OBEDIENCE.
Reading edition
The following is an extract from a lecture delivered by Mr. W. Walsh, at Bath, reported in the English Churchman, Nov. 26, 1886:
“He (Mr. Walsh) had now to direct attention to the Vow of ‘Obedience,’ taken by many Ritualistic Sisters of Mercy. The rule as to ‘obedience’ varied considerably. In Dr. Pusey’s sisterhood, it was very objectionable indeed. The rule of holy obedience commands the sisters: ‘Ye shall ever address the spiritual Mother with honour and respect; avoid speaking of her among yourselves; cherish and obey her with holy love, without any murmur or sign of hesitation or repugnance, but simply, cordially, and promptly obey with cheerfulness, AND BANISH FROM YOUR MIND ANY QUESTION AS TO THE WISDOM OF THE COMMAND GIVEN YOU. If ye fail in this, ye have failed to resist a temptation of the evil one.’
“Would not such a rule as this, Mr. Walsh continued to say, if placed in the hands of a wicked Mother Superior, lead to the most fearful results? In Father Benson’s ‘Religious Life Portrayed for the Use of Sisters of Mercy,’ the teaching was, if possible, placed in a still more fearful light. In that book the sister is taught that—
“‘A religieuse has made the sacrifice of her will in taking the Vow of Obedience. She is no more her own, but God’s; and she must obey her Superiors for God’s sake, yielding herself as wax to be moulded unresistingly.’”
Well did Mr. Walsh observe: “Persons who had to submit to ‘obedience’ such as this were as truly slaves as any negro.”—Editor.