Obedience.
“All, therefore, they shall say to you, observe and do.” — St. Matt. 23:3.
THIRD DAY.
Obedience is a penance of the reason; this is what renders the sacrifice more agreeable to God than corporal penance. God love in you better the least degree of obedience than all the services you could render Him. — St. John of the Cross.
This saint, having made his course of theology, was ordered back to his Conventual life. His director, who thought he perceived that the science he had acquired gave him thoughts of pride, gave him a catechism, and forbade him to read anything else; he even ordered him to pause at each syllable as children do. John of the Cross submitted. During a considerable time he read no other book; he read it in the manner he had been commanded, and through obedience. By this means he acquired in a high degree this virtue and all others.
Prayer.
My God, give me a love of obedience. I will do promptly, with fidelity and joy, for Thy love, all that is commanded me.