Persuading Our Families to Love God

"When as a superior it was necessary for [St John of the Cross] to correct his subjects, he was cautious lest through impatience or anger he would succeed only in saddening or discouraging them. "He made his corrections with much gentleness and charity and always saw to it that the one being corrected would not leave his presence sad." His method of governing was not one of harshness. "Who has ever seen men persuaded to love God by harshness?" he used to ask. And he said that when Religious are brought up with such irrational severity, they become pusillanimous [ie: cowardly; faint-hearted; timid] in undertaking things of great virtue. Another characteristic of his "wonderfully gracious" manners was his custom of asking his subjects for their opinions in various matters or problems which arose. All of this created a holy environment of serenity and joy in the relationship of the friars to their superior."
from "The Collected Works of St John of the Cross", trans. Kavanaugh & Rodriguez, ICS Publications, Washington, DC, 1979, p29

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