two Jesuits, Etienne Binet (1569-l639) and Nikolaus Leczynchi (Lancicius) (1574-1652). The Company of Jesus was the greatest innovator amongst all the Institutes of Consecrated Life. The two previously named Jesuits wrote two publications which have made history in the field of religious spirituality and ascetic life:
What is the better form of government: the strict or the gentle? For the superiors of
Religious houses of both genders and for those headmasters who have large’ families’ to
exercise their authority over. A very useful book written by a religious in order to provide
unity and peace to communities and families. (Quel est le meilleur gouvernemnt:le
rigoureux ou le doux? Pour les superieurs et les superieures des maisons religieuses et pour
les Maitres qui ont une grande famille a gouverner:livre tres-util pour entretenir l'union et la
paix dans les Communautes et dans les Familles.Par un Regulier).143
The other publication is: On the conditions required of a good superior to be loved by his subjects and to have his orders obeyed willingly and also to have his subjects open up their consciences to him and many other things, and also to live in a way productive of spiritual benefits and spiritual enjoyment in a Religious Community or Congregation. (De condicionibus boni superioris necessariis tum ut a subditis ametur et ut eius iussa libenter exequantur, tum ut ei suam conscientiam sincere aperiant et alia omnia; ac in religione vel congregatione, cum gaudio spiritus et profectu spirituali vivant et perseverent). 144
Binet presents contrasting opinions and their respective reasons for the way authority should be exercised and makes a decisive option for kindness as a method. “Some hold that the exercise of authority should be rigorous and effective”, while others support the idea that such an exercise of authority can be more successful if it is “gentle, cordial and full of fatherly tenderness”. “Those with a greater amount of wisdom feel that there should be a blending of these two extreme positions. The roses should be joined to the thorns and there should be a way of exercising authority which is gently effective”. 145
The author approaches the above solution by degrees, following the view agreed and shared by most, to begin with. “The most perfect way to exercise authority (govern) is the one which is effectively gentle or, to put it more correctly, the one in which strictness and gentleness are used appropriately and keep each other in check”. 146
However, the author adds, “the doubt still lingers, namely, whether it would be better to lean towards the gentle or the rigorous side, to share love or to create fear; whether it would be more advantageous to use kindness more than severity”. 147
The author favors the first hypothesis. This is precisely the one defined by Don Bosco when he repeatedly says “make yourself loved more than feared”. Binet shows the superiority of his opinion by having recourse to abundant scriptural quotations and historical references, confirmed by a century’s worth of positive experience. Gentleness is the style to learn, employed by God, Jesus, the holy Founders of religious institutions and in particular by St. Francis de Sales and by St. Ignatius. (Binet was St. Francis’s classmate at the Jesuit school of Clermont, in Paris). 148 To support his own thesis further, Binet, in two separate chapters, draws up the profile of “a man who governs with rigor” and the
143 The first edition was 1636. There is also an 1847edition: É.Binet, Quel est le meilleur gouvernment: le rigoreux, ou le
doux? Pour les Supérieurs et les Supèrieurs des maisons religieuses, (Lyon-Paris: Novelle Maison 1847), 175 pages. 144 First edition 1640. Here we cite the Turin, Marietti edition of 1901.
145 É. Binet, Quel est, 4
146 É. Binet, Quel est. 6.
147 É. Binet, Quel est…, p. 7.
148 ibid 12-58.