Course XLVII - Teaching 27: Superiors (December 21st, 1956)

The Community Sons are very few, and Cafh has made many efforts to educate them because we suppose they will be Superiors of the future.
They have to be Superiors in every aspect; so, the Knight Great Master corrects them so much, since the future of Cafh depends upon them.
When the early Sons passed away, others remained, and the first Tables of the Solitary were established with them; otherwise, teachings would be forgotten before the first difficulties and old age.
Consecrated souls, Ordained Sons of the Community are those that are able to preserve the spirit of Cafh. These souls do not get old; they have not worldly worries, and do not lose their mental agility. A soul of this kind never passes away, and preserves the same spirit, image, knowledge and skill.
Most consecrated souls have to be formed to guide souls; they should not have defects.
The direction of the Community is of the Superior, and since still we are young persons, the Superior is just a part. He should be able not only to lead, but also to sustain the Sons. He should have all qualities, being rightly centered mentally, emotionally and practically. The Sons can be Cupertins, but not “the Superior”.
He should be able to guide the Sons in any sense. He should be able not only to speak, but also to think totally, because the Knight Great Master never will be behind.
The ruin of a Community may be a Superior that is down-to-earth, but with little intellectual common sense. No!, he should be skilled in all and to see all.
He should not rest anytime; this does not refer to work, but to attention and observation.
He must ever meet the needs of the Sons and take care of their spiritual progress, and to watch over the economic needs of the House.
An integral Superior should be wise, kind and skillful. Saint Therese said: “You should be able to look at the sky, but with your feet firmly on earth”. You should be able to speak of theology and mystical asceticism, but also to be aware of the number of potatoes in the pot. All great founders looked at and bore in mind even the littlest things.
Absolute obedience to the Superior: He is tied to his Sons and to the Observance. If a Son is not Observant, he is reprimanded and this is all, but a Superior disobeys the Divine Law if he overlooks a fault.
In a convent of Capuchin sisters, the Superior was a woman that overlooked many things and forgave all. She passed away, and all deemed her to be a saint. One day, in the clothes deposit, certain Sister heard a noise and saw a burnt hand upon the wardrobe, while a voice spoke about infernal sufferings. It was the voice of the above-mentioned Superior.
A Superior should not flatter his Sons: sometimes he should be tough. He should not socialize with them. So he sustains the Observance. A Superior even should make this sacrifice, and even it is right if they consider him a little tough and do not get on well with him. This human congeniality shall become divine congeniality in due time.
This is the great mission of a Superior: to prepare and teach his Sons what they do not know. So, teaching should be continuous, by involving all: recreation time, strolls, particular interviews or spiritual direction.
In his youth, one day the Knight Great Master asked what he should study, and they replied: anything useful to the souls; the rest is useless.
We should teach the Sons continuously; this way they are prepared not only to understand, but also for the teaching. They should be able to posit the doctrine of Cafh: the Superior is responsible for the ignorance of the Son.
The Sons should know the difference between Universal Teaching and particular Cafh’s teaching. We should for true souls that may involve all beings with a divine feeling. For instance: to form an Integral School-Teacher. We should prove this with facts, every day, steadily. They should be strong-minded, without drowsiness or human sloth.
A Superior should lead the souls toward their aims, with love and reprimand, and even with drastic and extreme actions, if necessary: “the soul of the work is more valuable than the contemplation of a person”. We should operate and avoid the expansion of a tumor.
Poor Superior if he feels his Sons must reward his work with love!
You make your things not only with the work of direction but also with that of your hands.
As soon as a Superior goes and looks at, he did his best. But he should know little works and great works, and even the sacrifice, in order to be an efficient Superior. Simone Weil says: “One should work and know the sacrifice of a person”. So, he knows the inner reactions of the work. That is why we alternate. We have to learn our tasks from below, because we see all from below. Example: a wealthy woman said that in the kitchen they knew better than her the movement in the house.
The Superior should be immune to pride, to self-esteem and to his own heart, because he is going to suffer exactly there. Of course, he is a human being and has his weakness, and then he has to be hit there.
If the Superior is lovingly attached to the Sons, then he should protect his own heart, because if he has to reprimand them exactly there, he knows that they shall refuse to be hit, and then he suffers. But if he does not reprimand, this would be a weakness and great evil.
If the Superior is assertive, later they suffer much if they are transferred.
An efficient Superior needs all this: to watch over mind, heart and Sons.
We should be highly responsibly; therefore we should examine our conscience and see how we teach the doctrine, how the Sons follow the mystical path, and how skilled they are to defend themselves in life.
The Son of Cafh should be wholly mind, matter and strength in action. The Superiors are teachers of souls, leading them on the path of light. A Superior that prays, but that is not skilled in his work, is an inefficient Superior.
The Superior should be an image of the Divine Mother, not as to his personality or his outer aspect, but as an expression of Cafh through his own acts and works, and in the Community.