The Vow of obedience, undertaken in the spirit of faith and love in the following of Jesus Christ, Who was obedient even unto death, obliges the submission of our will to the orders of our legitimate Superiors, who act in the place of God when they give commands that are in accordance with the Constitutions.

In the Vow of obedience is contained each missionary’s obligation to defend the Constitutions of the Society and the Society itself, and to inform his Superior regarding anybody, within or without, who might seek to undermine the Constitutions or the Society.

In union with Jesus Christ, we place our entire life at the disposal of the Father Whose Will it is that all men be saved. With Christ we make the Will of the Father the sole reason for our existence: “Doing the Will of Him Who sent me, and bringing His work to completion is My food” (Jn 4:34).

Through the Vow of obedience, we desire to go to the farthest limit in union with the Father’s Will, even to the sacrifice of the Cross, after the example of the Immaculata, “the handmaid of the Lord” (Lk 1:38; Jn 19: 25-27).

We should obey entirely and promptly, not only by exterior execution of what is required, with becoming energy and humility, and without excuses and murmuring even though things are required which are difficult and repugnant to sensitive nature.

In all acts of obedience we should try to maintain in our inmost Soul genuine resignation and true abnegation of hour own wills and judgments, by bringing our wills and judgments wholly into conformity with the Will of God.

The Vow of obedience places us within the Society of the Immaculata. More profoundly, it expresses our availability to all the calls of Our Lord, calls which we can honestly discern through our life, daily events, and the needs of the Catholic Church.

Obedience enables us to bring to bear all the powers of our intelligence and will, all the gifts of grace and nature that we possess, in the certainty that we are working to build up the Mystical Body of Christ in accordance with the plan of God.

Obedience lived fully to the end seems like madness to the world, but it is a sign of love for God and the source of effectiveness in the apostolate. By the crucifying sacrifice it entails, it brings us back to what is essential and binds us, by all the power of our will, to what we have chosen as the goal of our lives: God Alone.

The authority of Superiors comes from the mission they have received from Christ. Consequently, Superiors have the duty of enkindling the fidelity of their subjects in their mission in the Church.

The Superiors who have the right to lay down precepts in the name of the vow of obedience are: The Supreme Pontiff, the Superior General, the Provincial Superiors, Local Superiors, and those who have been expressly delegated, each one in the realm where he has authority. These precepts must be given in writing or before two witnesses.

Missionaries are always permitted to appeal the decision of a superior to a higher superior. Except in cases provided for by law, the appeal is not in suspensivo, but only in devolutivo thus, those who make an appeal must conform with the decision until such time as it might be overturned by the higher superior.

The missionary shall practice the virtue and counsel of obedience. By these he shall seek to mortify his will in all things in order to conform it all the more closely to the Will of God. It is necessary for the good order of the Society that each member obey his superiors in all things, unless he be commanded to do something sinful, or something against the authority of God or of the Church.

We must faithfully discharge the duties entrusted to us and will not, unless directed to do so by the Superior, pry into the work of another in order to find out what he is doing or how he is doing it.

We obey the least important of the Society's rules with perfect fidelity and consider them all as being dear to Jesus Christ.

By the virtue of obedience, each missionary shall generously dedicate himself to the diligent performance of manual tasks, which have been assigned to him.

It is fidelity of this kind which shows that they are led by the Holy Ghost and not by the spirit of the world which, even where virtue is concerned, has no use for anything unless it is showy and has a high-sounding name.

With Christ-like fidelity, we obey the daily Horarium.

We respond promptly to the bell and shall not delay in rendering ourselves to whatever place and circumstance it calls us.

If ever we should come late or miss something prescribed by the Horarium, we excuse ourselves to the Superior.

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