Page:Thecompleteascet01grimuoft.djvu/230

 religious. "If," says  St.  Basil,  "a  worldling  make  use of  scurrilous  expressions,  he  is  not  noticed.  But  if  a man  who  professes  to  lead  a  perfect  life  appear  to  depart in  the  slightest  degree  from  his  duty,  he  is  instantly remarked  by  all." In a  secular,  no  one  observes indecent words,  because  they  are  common  in  the  world; but if  religious  who  profess  to  aspire  to  sanctity  be guilty  of  the  smallest  impropriety,  universal  attention  is immediately  directed  to  their  conduct.

To observe  modesty  in  words  at  the  common  recreations, you  must  attend  to  the  following  rules:

1. You  must  abstain  from  all  murmurings,  even  against manifest abuses.

2. You  must  never  interrupt  the  person  that  is  speaking. And, says  the  Holy  Ghost,  interrupt  not  others  in  the midst  of  their  discourse.  How  scandalous  is  it  to  see  a religious  engrossing  to  herself  the  whole  conversation! — to see  her  ready  to  stop  the  sisters  in  the  middle  of  a word,  or  of  a  sentence,  and  thus  show  her  pride  by  pretending to  know  everything,  and  constituting  herself mistress of  all! Such conduct  is  a  source  of  great annoyance to  all  that  join  in  the  conversation. However, every religious  should  speak  occasionally  during the hours  of  recreation,  and  particularly  when  the  others are silent;  for,  should  all  abstain  from  speaking,  the  end of the  rule  which  prescribes  recreation  would  be  frustrated. But modesty  requires,  particularly  from  the young, that,  after  speaking  as  much  as  will  be  necessary for the  ends  of  the  recreation,  they  show  a  stronger  inclination to  listen  than  to  speak. The best  rule,  then,  is to  speak  when  others  are  silent,  and  to  be  silent  when others are  speaking.