The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-12-29

his reward, much more he who gives The
living water of wiadom shall not lose bis
| recompense in heaven" "Happy in tentio ,
says Cassiodor It us, "praiseworthy assiduity
by the hand to preach to men, with the
fingers to open the lips, in silence to give
| salvation to sinners, and with a pen ia
fight against the unlawful suggestions oi
| the devil; for Satan receives 'ss many
wounds as the writer puts down words OF
our Lord" Says Mabilion "Oue of the
most usual labors of the monks was the
| copying of books. Trithemius recommend
ed it to them in his seventh hOmily, and
again enforces it in one of his works es-
pecially devoted to the subject, De Laude
Scriptorups Mdnualium. We learn from the
testimony of Palladius that this was one of
the chief occupations of the disciples Of st.
Pachomius, and st. jerome enumerRtes it
among the employmeuts Of the solitaries.
| They copy books he says, 'that by the
labor of their hands they may gain food,
/ and at the same time promote the edifca-
tion of their minds. st. Ferreol, in his
| rule, directs that those who do not labor
| in the tilling of the soil shall employ them
| selves in the copying of bosks st. Nil the
| younger had no other occupation, and st.
| Gregory of Tours, speaking of holy re-
cluse in his diocese, says that 'by this
labor he extipguished all evil thoug ghts
| that might arise in his mind"
One OF the chief employments of the
monks in the Imon asteres of Egypt, as of
the disciples of st. Martin, was the m multi-
plcation of books. An ancient historic q
of Durham declares of the religious that
they "were always virtuously occupied
either in writing good and godly works or
studying the Holy Scriptures. The III ouks
of St. 6 Gall in the ninth and tenth centuries,
labored with great diligence in the trans
cription of books, "bringiDg MSS. from
France and Italy in order to collste their
copies and secure critical accuracy, and
entering into a widely extended CORES
pondence in order to obtain access to
various libraries" An old chronicler of
the monastery of st. RiQuier, writing in
the latter end of the tenth century, quaint
ly says: "Books of great science, excel
lent pearls, are now restored, while others
are written out for the first time" Abbot
William of Hirschau, in the eleventh CEN
tury, set apart twelve of the brethren,
whom "he caused to devote themselves
especially to the transcription of the
Scriptures, and appointed one nook of
learning and experience as superintendent
over the infinite number of others who
labored in the transcription of gener7'
books ;" and the Abbot Frederick, of t! &,
same monastery, was accustomed to take |
his seat in the scriptorium among the |
brethren and share their toll. A chapter |
of the Cstercisn Order, he'd in 1874, made |
this branch of monastic labors the subject |
OI u EpGCl6l luhG 10 Ril |
and wherever tho monks are,
to custom, engaged in writing,
silence shall be kept as in the cloister."
The correspondence of med iRval monks
also affords evidence of the zeal with which
they sought, by the reciprocal interchange |
Of duplicates and the loan of books, to
augment their own libraries, while extend
ing to others the benefits of their literary
treasures. Abbot Gerbert of Bobbio
afterwards Pope Sylvester II }, in a letter
10 the monk Rainaid, writes: "I entreat
: Sou to render ME one service, which you
can do without danger or injury to your
self, and which will bind me most closely |
to you. You know with what zeal seek
Tor copies of books from all quarters and
you know how many writers there are both
n the cities and in the country parts of
Italy entreat you, then, that you cause
to be made for me of these
oooks"-which he then proceeds to enum-
5rate. Lupus, Abbot of Ferrieres, writes
10 Alstig, abbot in the church of York, de-
string him to lend him certain works to be
and promising that they shall
be faithfully returned, and to Pope Ben
edict ILL.,, IN e57, making a similar appii>
cation in the eighth century we f cd Pepin
applying to Pope Paul l. for some Greek
books for the Abbey of St. Denis, which
we're sent. In fact, the custom of borrow |
ug and exchanging bOoSs was a common
one among med seTal scholars.
Special endowmenss were often made
for the announcement of the labors of the
For example, that of St.
Edmon dsbury was assigned the profits of
two mile; and that of st. SWithin, at
the tithes of valuable rec.
tory. Although hunting had been strictly
interdicted to ecclesiastics by councils in
SOC and 5l7, which prohibition was after
wards extended to all orders of monks,
yet under Charlemagne permission was
given to the monks of St. Denis, and of
st. Bernard at st. o ner, to hunt in their
woods for the purpose of procuring skins
for binding their books a similar privi-
lege was accorded to the religious of the
Abbey of st. Sithiu and Geoffrey, Count
Of Apjou, in founding Benedictine mon
astery at Saintes, in the eleventh century,
gave to it tenth of the deer on the
island of Oleron, to supply covers for the
books transcribed by the brethren. 1t is
reasonable to infer from these CONCESSIONS
that the monks must have produced q
great number of books, Indeed many