Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-11-07
Life in a Modern Monasterx.

a monks day begins at 4:30 A. NJ, and
that breakfast is very light and hastv
matter, taken without formality somewhere
between s and 9, no one will be surprised
to hear that English stomachs are ready
for their principal meal at 1890. Let us
go through day; At 400 precisely-for
punctuality Is great matter-the big bell
| begins tolling for mathis This is the
modern equivalent of what used to be
called the midnight office. In the thir-
| tenth century the hour was \. NJ, now
1t is ); in some monasterics on the CONT
nent it is 4. But in those days they went
| to bed at shutdown or soon after 6. while
we moderns think 9 o'clock early. When
the tower clock has ceased striking ) all
rise, at a signal given by the Superior,
from the places where they have been
kneeling and waiting in the chancel and
| the matin service begins. On ordinary
days it lasts an hour and a
quarter, and has not much about it of
ceremony or ritual that could catch the
| eve of an onlooker. But on festivals it is
an almost gay scene, and must begin earlier
| on account of its greater protraetion. On
such occasions large number are arrayed
in alb and cope; the organ accompanies
the chant, and sometimes the voices of
boys mingle with the heavier tones of the
monks These little choristeTs are Sc
lected from the abbey school, prime
is chanted at 100; the conventional mass
that is, the public mass of the days
sung at o'clock, and at this the whole
school assists. On festivals this is the
great celebration of the day, and is more
or less solemn i'll proportion to the great
ness of the feast; 4 sermon often accom-
panies it. The next time that the COM
munity are called to the church is for the
office OF None" and after this, at 1870,
comes the evening office, or vespers. This,
like the mass, is sung with organ accom-
panimcnt, and these two, with mathis,
make up the more solemn Of the daily
services, at which all are more stringently
bound 10 be present The office OF Comp
line the closing PRAYER of the day, recited
at $50 makes the sixth and last time
that the monks assemble in the
church. They spend at least three
hours and half every day in this |
choral duty-on festivals much more; it is
one of the principal employments of mo-
nastic life. This order of the day never |
varies, with the single exception that on
'ouhutES ana very great festivals the nlSll
mass takes place at 10 o'clock, for the con-
veniencc Of those "outsiders" who frequent |
the abbey church, and who might think 8
O'Clock rather early. The remainder of the
day is filed up in divers ways, in the dis
charge of the various occupations which
each has assigned to him From the end
of Compline till the end of Prime of the
following morning is Il time of the strictest
silence and recollection not word must
be spoken for anything short Of the gravcst
necessity, and no worl; or business is done.
1t is the time for the nightly rest, and for
meditation and private PRAYER. But when
Prime is finished the active work of the
day begins. Foremost among this is the
work of teaching; for the monks of these
days still maintain their ancient tradition
of education, and the school is am almost
integral part OF Il monastic establishment.
The Nineteenth Century.