3/16/2021
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| Lorenzetti, "Man of Sorrow" |
Nullo 5
The Watchfulness of the Custodian
“As regards the custodian, although it is desirable that he be a cleric, and moreover a priest, it is not prohibited that he be a layman, as long as a cleric is responsible for the key by which the place of reservation is closed.”
Let’s go slow through this one for a minute, just to understand.
One question arises: what’s meant by the “place of reservation?” Is this the tabernacle or is it the larger church? It may be the larger church since we’ll deal explicitly with the question of the tabernacle’s key later. When the place has to be closed—say, at the end of the day—it’s a cleric who’s responsible for it’s closure. It doesn’t say he cannot delegate this responsibility, just that he’s responsible. It’s hard to imagine old Monsignor Rector going about and checking all the doors of the grand cathedral each night. I can see him hiring help for that. But he’d nevertheless still be responsible.
Now, where ought this custodian to remain all the time?
“He must remain near this place day and night, so that he may quickly make his appearance, as often as need arises; in other words, he must be constantly on the watch.”
This presupposes that there are times when the need arises for the custodian to make an appearance. Within the context of this document, such need would regard the safe-keeping of the MBS. The quick and sudden appearance of a custodian, then, would function as a deterrent to anyone who might wish to do harm.
That there are those who wish to do harm to the MBS and the means by which they would execute their crime not only cannot be excluded from the purview of this document, but is exactly the point of this document. The deliberate failure or refusal to believe that such perpetrators exist or ought to be prevented is itself tantamount to an act of harm. This will become evident later in the document.
