The Peculiar Authority of the Master of Students

Basil Cole, OP

IN THE "FUNDAMENTAL CONSTITUTION", section VII of the Book of Constitutions and Ordinations of the Order of Friars

Preachers. it states that our government reflects the balanced participation of all members of the Order for pursuing its end. There is a corresponding autonomy of Provinces and convents In union with the Genral Chapter and the Master of the Order as our heads. Then, it continues to assert that our government is communitarian in a special way because superiors normally take office through election and confirmation by a higher superior. Through Chapters and Councils, communities also have a proper role in settling important matters. In a house oi formation this usually means voting on those to be admitted either to the novitiate, simple or solemn vows. In the case of those going on to the clerical state, only the Conventual Council must vote on their suitability for ordination to the diaconate and priesthood.

Curiously, none of the above paragraph applies dir&ctly to the Master of Students (except when it comes to dialoguing about those under his care to the Chapter and Council) who has both a unique ministry and an even more unique community than that of those in the active ministry, for his community is volatile and changing, and therefore more fragile than experienced or mature communities.

Unlike the superiors of the Order, the Master of Students ("Student Mastef strictly speaking is not the title, since studentium in the Latin is not in the nominative case) is not elected but appointed by the diffinitorium of a Provincial Chapter (with no confirmation; see LCO 213§111) and with the proviso that he stays in office until the next Provincial Chapter decides what to do. If a new Master is appointed, the previous one stays in office until the date specified by the Provincial Chapter when a new Master takes over (LCO 182§11). Outside of Chapter time, he is appointed by the Provincial with the consent of his Council (LCO 213§111). Further­more. a Master may be removed from office by a Provincial and his Council between Chapters but only for grave reasons since the Order wants continuity among Masters (LCO 182§111). Nor can a Master validly hold the office of prior (LCO 459§11, 2), These laws pertaining to the choosing, removing of a Master suggest that

100 DOMINICAN ASHRAM

his offiCe is much different from that of the local Prior or any Other superior, in that he can be appointed;tgain and again without a set limit of the number of terms as is the case of the Prior Provincial or Prior and superior. In a certain sense, he does not go out of offtee in a standard date-wise way as Priors and Provincials.

Further, the Master's position is not placed in the section on government, indicating something very special about his office. Even though he is subject to the local Prior in the discipline of the house, his special ministry is not subject to the review of the local Prior (LCO 181), much less to a local Council but to the Provincial and his Council or a Provincial Chapter. He may have a Formation Council (LCO 158). Whether or not this latter body has power over him or not or Is merety consultative is determined by the statutes given to it by the previous Provincial Chapter (LCO 158). Moreover, in addition to the Code of Canon Law, the Constitutions of the Order and the Acta of his Province, the Master has other more particular sets of laws to assist him in the day to day formation of the clerical and non-clerical brethren: the Ratio Formationls Generalis (LCO 186) which is written by the Master of the Order and the Ratio Formationis Parlicularis (mandated by the General Ratfo) which is written and reviewed by the Provincial Chapter or the Provincial with his Council, and submitted to the Master of the Order for his correction and approval.

Since the Master of Students norm airy lives in a Centre of Institutional Studies. he must likewise be familiar with two other particular laws which govern the intellectual life and fonnation of the brethren under his care: Ratio Studiorum Generalis {LCO 229-230), and the Ratio Studiorum Particularis (LCO 231). Again, both sets of laws come from outside the purview of the Master of Students, emanating from the Master of the Order and those in charge of the intellectual life in the local scene, who have composed their own particular law.

It must be kept in mind that these four sets of laws exist so that the process of academic and religious fonnation should be subject to the arbitrariness or whim of neither the Master of Students nor of the head(s) of academic formation. Otherwise, the student would not be nurtured and judged according to the objective norms of the Order and Province but according to feelings and the ad hoc ideas of those in charge of him. Moreover, such arbitrary procedures would be a species of tyranny.

THE MASTER OF STUDENTS 101

These peculiarities of a Master's office mentioned in the previous paragraphs are not at all part of the tasks of a local Prior or superior who is "under'' the Constitutions and Acta of his Province only. This unique situation also says something important about the identity of the Master of Students. The prior of a studentate may not interfere with the work of the Master, yet must know and respect the laws of formation indicated in the previous paragraphs. Hence, these directives indicate that the Master possesses an office In the Order which is very different from a Prior's both in terms of what he must do and, more important, how he must carry on his office. This is the reason why his title is "Mastef rather than superior.

If a Master possessed juridical authority from the law of the Church or the Order, he could give formal precepts, appoint con­fessors, assign students to the apostolate, among many other things which come under the notion of "jurisdiction". Instead, he possesses (in theory) a more living authority which is based more on his human ability to generate trust than on sheer power to impose "orders" or "ordinations" upon the students who in turn try to accomplish what is asked of them in deep faith without much human trust. He is much like any other "master'' in the natural order who does not teach by making demands, rules and decisions, but rather by creating an atmosphere of trust flowing from his person­ality shaped by experience and knowledge (the Master of Novices has another similar but separate identity which merits study as well). He shows the way to re-discovering again and again the means of fulfilling the mysterious vocation of clerical or non-clerical religious perfection which the student learned as a novice.

Also, involved in this very title, the Master of Students is not called a" Mastel' because students are subject to him as slaves but because in some way, he is a teacher. He may not be a teacher in the academic sense, but he is a teacher in the profound sense of someone who possesses by connaturaltty (experience) the way to lead others on the path of Dominican perfection of charity/love. Imbued himself with a sense of theological curiosity and of the cluster of virtues which make u~ the not!on of what it means to be a Dominican, he becomes an exemplar of a very complex life-style. He is supposed to attract the students to discipline more than someone who implicitly or explicitly enforces extrinsically a difficult ideal by simply appealing to his own God-given and

102 DOMINICAN ASHRAM

Church-given authority. This cluster of virtues may be compared to the leaves of an onion. From another perspective, a master artist such as Michelangelo, would never demand from lesser members of his school that they obey him as such. He would show them what to do in a general way. Then he would approve, disapprove, and explain or follow up more in detail what he wanted and why, after observing their work. The same thing applies to another master called a "maestro" or conductor of a symphony. The musicians know and trust him, and so, follow his lead not to please him or keep their jobs so much as to cooperate in the production of a beautiful piece of music.

looking up the word master in the multi-volume Oxfora Dictionary, one will discover twenty-nine entries with both positive and negative meanings. I think the Order means the word in the senses indicated above and the notion of authority flowing more from within than imposed from without. Whereas the Prior paS: sasses canonical authority and power, with many checks against the exercise of his authority, he is the first among equals. But a Master is somewhat without canonical power and is normally superior in virtue and experience to those under his care. The Prior's work is to see to it thatthe daily life runs along smoothly and without needless interruptions. He must interpret the Constitutions in such a manner that the majority will be able to keep tending toward the perfection of charity without becoming tense and anx~ ious. The latter effects can happen when the letter of the Constitu~ tions becomes morf3 operative than the spirit, and so becomes a deadly letter. Sometimes the "spirit" can become so fashionable as to discount the letter and so discipline degenerates into soft livinq especially in regard to poverty which must be a value in spirit anq in fact (Code of Canon Law ,600). ~

•

The Prior's Vocation

The Prior presides with authority so that the communityJ and its members do the work of the Order: pulpit preachin teaching, counselling (in or outside the confessional) and writi ·. There are really no other purposes we have been founded for und the rubric of preaching, except by way of exception (painting li~ • that of Fra Angelico for example}. So, the Prior leads a hidden IJ • preserving the externals of Religious Ufe (making schedul_ chairing meetings to seek consensus where possible, clarifying ~

THE MASTER OF STUDENTS 103

goals of the community, and the like) by the kindness and firmnessof his leadership. The Prior need not be a great player in the game of the apostolate, but he is the administrator, the instru­ment of Divine Providence enabling the apostolate(s) of the community to have the basic conditions to flourish. He is supposed to be home most of the time, being there as a presence and watching over the minutiae of our life. Occasionally, he may be a great teacher or preacher, but if he is, it may hinder the work of the Order, as Blessed Humbert of Romans once indicated. It would be better if he resigned or were removed for the sake of the work of the Order and do teaching and preaching instead which is more desperately needed than being In charge. StThomas also thought that the superior need not be a very holy man but a good man capable of governing with regnatlve prudence. Truly his is a hidden life and a thankless one. Many members of his community may in fact be better religious and much more effective as preachers and the like, but they depend upon him for many of the little things of a well-functioning community which make for a smoother and a more peaceful setting for Religious Life to flourish in the house. Nonnally when that happens, the apostolate(s) also flourish as well.

The Master of Students Is not Prioral

The Master, on the other hand, is not dealing with equals or even morally superior people from the religious perspective. For many years he must gradually guide the student brothers principally by the use of conferences and secondly by use of counselling (without becoming a guru interfering with the legitimate privacy of each student brother) toward religious and apostolic perfection. Thi~ unique community is always changing as new members come and go, ultimately never to return. By the time they are ordained deacons and priests or sent on their apostolate in solemn vows, the students possess at least some measure of those virtues and value­judgments which the Master has taught by articulating what they are as well as imaging them in his person. The Prior normally does not have to do this, though occasionally he may.

It is the Master who must show the student how to integrate his studies with his prayer (i.e., taking lectures on the Trinity and learning how to meditate upon them), how to meditate while praying the Rosary, how to approach the apostolate without seeking self­aggrandizement, how to disagree with one's brothers without becoming disagreeable, how to communicate mercy to one's broth­ers without becoming wishy-washy, how to find Christ in each

104 DOMINICAN ASHRAM

brother in a flawed community, how to check rash judgment, seek forgiveness, and affirm one's brolfler without becoming a flatterer and finally how to recognize a true friend and be faithful to him while communicating, working and cooperating with the wider commu­nity. Occasional confrontations must become carerfrontations concerning the problems and conflicts the student may have. He has to teach them that in community there is no win or lose situation. All are expected to collaborate not compete. Hence their aspira­tions, attitudes and values must be inspired by him so that they learn to live with themselves and each other.

These problems require special attention year in and year out requiring the Master to took for new ways to express the '~how" and more important, the "why'' of the Dominican life-style. The Master Is a teacher of religious and moral values. Hence it is no accident that part at his work is helping the student brothers "think with the Church" (LCO 214§1). Some things cannot be com­manded, even if true. They must be modelled and portrayed and then, one hopes, the apprentices (the student brothers in this case) will grasp what he is leading them into more by osmosis rather than by arbitrarily pushing them into the future.

In most large organizations, the leader must also be a manager. Managing seems to include the following: planning, goal­setting, organizing, motivating and finally "following-up". The Mas­ter of Students already has the plans, goals and sometimes the organizing aspects laid out for him by higher authority. His problem is to motivate and follow-up.

By motivating the students which is based upon their respect for him, the Master has to giv~ to the hidden life and "waiting" qualities of formation an enthusiastic dimension (call it zest}, since the brothers easily lose the over-all picture in the day to day grind of prayer and study, class work and the like. These activities can lose their glamour year after year, even with those who are gifted with intellectual or scientific inclinations. By follow­up, the Master has to become involved in studies not from the academic perspective so much as from the spiritual point of view. This means, he should be involved in the students' papers, reflec­tions and discussions so that they can see from the Master how important the over-all picture is -that is, he must convince themt hat they are not wasting time studying seemingly abstract or dry subjects. The Master needs to make certain by proper feed-back that his perception of the student and the student's perception of

THE MASTER OF STUDENTS 105

he Dominican vocation is realistic and not lost in an abstract Norld of sentimental feelings for metaphysics, social justice, lturgy or preaching. Part of perseverance is dreaming realisticallty 3bout one's future and the Master must see to it that the student is !lOt kidding or escaping into himself by running away from his reality as a Dominican into activities outside the house or the emotional, intellectual or religious surges going on inside his soul which bear no practical fruit. This latter problem has been called by some "mystical wishful thinking".

By now, it should be more than evident that the Master of Students is not a superior simply speaking but someone called to do a far more difficult task, one which is not so hidden or ordinary as the Prior's but far more demanding and difficult, requiring the patience of a Job. The brethren whom he may think have the greatest hopes and potential may leave before or after ordination and so bring him much personal disappointment. Others may never live up to their potential as he sees them but merely coast along. Still others may not grasp what he is trying to teach them for several years and may even regress before his very eyes. It requires an uncommon sense of hope and optimism to keep on with the work enthusiastically, hoping for the best without demanding practical goals for his students that are too high. Unfortunately, we have no canonized saint who was a Master of Students. We are still waiting!