{"id":26642,"date":"2025-09-10T18:00:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T17:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/?p=26642"},"modified":"2025-09-10T18:00:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T17:00:31","slug":"blessed-schuster-on-the-divine-judgment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2025\/09\/blessed-schuster-on-the-divine-judgment\/","title":{"rendered":"Blessed Schuster On the Divine Judgment"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the Divine Judgment<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/b>1. \u2018Let the Abbot have ever present that at the dreadful tribunal of God an investigation will be made both of his own teaching and of the obedience of the disciples, and let him recall that, if there shall be imputed to the fault of the shepherd even that lesser increase which the Head of the house may there find in the flock, on the other hand he should know that he will emerge thence without blame if the shepherd shall have shown all possible diligence to the restless and disobedient flock. If he shall have sought to employ every most efficacious cure for their spiritual maladies, in such a case the shepherd, emerging absolved at the tribunal of God, shall repeat with the Prophet: I have not hidden in my heart Thy law, but I have preached Thy saving truths, and they in return have despised me. In such a case, upon the disobedient little sheep of his flock death shall rest as punishment.\u2019 <\/i>(Rule, Chapter 2)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

*** <\/span><\/p>\n

2. After the excessive power of the Commendatory Abbots sent the Benedictine Abbeys to their ruin, the great monastic Reformers of the 14th-15th centuries sought a remedy in weakening as much as possible the power of the Abbot, which they wished to be yearly and subject to a Central Commission which would preside over the entire Confederation of the Monasteries: the Regime<\/i> [governing council]. The familial character of the Benedictine cenobium was altered by this. All the possible juridical controls on Abbatial governance during the 17th-18th centuries in Italy did not hinder the decline of the Regular Observance. The vital principle is within, and it cannot be substituted externally with juridical artifices. <\/span><\/p>\n

Saint Benedict, too, was concerned that the Patria potestas<\/i> of the abbot should not degenerate into despotism, or be transformed into a dictatorship. Against the possible danger of this malady, he provides the corrective of the holy fear of God, the most just judge of human acts. If the Abbot in the monastery does not preach well by example and by word, there is a danger that he will not be saved. <\/span><\/p>\n

For their part too, if the monks by murmuring and an undisciplined life render the Abbot\u2019s work ineffective, he will indeed be saved and will be paid by the heavenly Master, but they, the indocile little sheep, will meet a sad death. Poena sit eis praevalens ipsa mors<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

A dangerous condition, this, should an opposition be created in the monastery against the Abbot who guards and demands the Holy Observance!<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, it would be better to imitate the Patriarch Saint Benedict in the cenobium of Vicovaro, rather than squandering one\u2019s own labour without profit, greatly disturbing the spirits of the others and losing one\u2019s own peace!<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember always that governance, in the Church, rather than a personal right, is an office. When this no longer attains its goal, if it is possible, it is better to change the guard.<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

3. The Holy Cassinese Patriarch shows himself austere towards the restless monks, but neither does he\u00a0 spare the Abbot.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Gospel parable of the talents, the master punished the lazy servant because he had not traded with the talent that he had received in trust, such that the capital had remained unfruitful.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Abbot must therefore answer at the tribunal of God even for the lack of gain which the Master may encounter, if by his negligence the Community has not advanced very much in the ways of God. He will then be responsible for each failed sanctity<\/i>, if this should happen by his negligence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Abbot and monks, then, let us endeavour to live always in the atmosphere and by the light of this divine tribunal, and let us always dread that sentence with which Saint Benedict threatens us: Poena sit eis praevalens ipsa mors<\/i>. [Let death itself be the punishment that prevails upon them.]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the Divine Judgment \u00a01. \u2018Let the Abbot have ever present that at the dreadful tribunal of God an investigation will be made both of his own teaching and of the obedience of the disciples, and let him recall that, if there shall be imputed to the fault of the shepherd even that lesser increase <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":589,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[456,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bd-schusters-daily-thoughts","category-rule-of-saint-benedict"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-6VI","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26642"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/589"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26643,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26642\/revisions\/26643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}