The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1886-06-26

HOW TRAPPISTS LIVE.

HOW TRAPPISTS LIVE
AesE MARouANp GIVES AN ACCOUNT
OF MoNAsTIc LIFE.
The Monastery at Gsthssmane, Ky.-Msd.
ltation and Occupation - The Only
Words Spsken-A Long-Lfvsd Class-In
the sCells-Rulss-Rscrui
"1n the first place, ths Tr.ppist takes
vows Of poverty, chastity, and obedisnos
for life, - do al priests Of the Catholic
church. Then hs agrees to bury himself In
q monastery and work at any occupation,
howevery menisl, 70 which his supsriors
may assign him. The applicant for Trap
pist's cell IL thoroughly tested before hs
takes these vowa He must for several years
60 through tho hardships which the abbs
recounted to your correspondent o. follows:
aWe rise at II midnight Az We always
wear our cassocks, there is no delay about
dressing, and we are in ths chapel by 1.:11
Then We sing the mathis and hymns till .
O'Clock, after which there Il . high mass
lasting till L Private meditations and pious
reading follow till daylight, when all
the monks disperse to their occupationA At
our monastery in kentucky every brother
is q mechanic or does work Of some kind, %
that, with our 200 acres Of land, W manage
to support ourselves without any outside
assistahce, and. can even hslp the poor.
Some Of US are carpenters, some black
smiths, some do the necessary tailoring, and
few are employed ~ oooks and house
keepers When you VndeFqtapd that W
raise our own crops, grind our grain,
cook our food, make our clothes and
keep our little colony in operation unsided,
you will confess that we are not what some
people call lazy monka'
Work is kept up from daylight till p
m, and during all this time absolute silence
must be preserved Thsfonly words spoken
are the tMemento Morieris' (Remember
thou wilt die'), which 10 tho morning greet
ing. Meals take up little Of our TINA Be,
fore going to work we get a ss,nics Of bran.
bread and cup g water. At noon W
dine OF Vegetables and milk At s o'clock
e....utner collation. Of bread and water il
served Yes, We are strict vegetarians,
not for purpose Of health, but to deny Tho
animal appetite l might mention, though,
that the rules Of the 6rder allow the use OF
meat once II seven years-when Christmas
fs..s ON Friday-but few OF us take advant.
age Of this relaxation. What IL the effect
of the dieti Well, you may have heard that
recent statistics in France show that as a
class the Trappists are the longest lived men
in that country. We generally die Of old
age, except in cases whore chronic diseases
were contracted before entering the monas-
terry, and even then tho lives Of the suffer.
ers are greatly prolonged by tho mode Of
living Ali The necessary doctoring Is done
by brother who WAS onco q drug clerk,
and who binds fractures and plastsrs cuts to
our satisfaction have not seen
. doctor for more than ten yearA
AFTER THE DA1's WORK.
After our days work Il done and the col
iation Of bread and water il taken we re-
tire to our rooms, or rather cells, for rest
These cells are ton feet by four, have stons
walls and q stone floor, and are furnished
with q wooden bed, chair, and wash
~stand have read storieU 1bout our .sisep.
ing in coffina Thsse are not exactly true.
Our bed Is a big plank, like coffin in out.
line, but without the rising sides aud ends
We use mattresses or ticks and covering
only In cold weather. Our cassocks ara
never taken of except when cleanliness re-
quires change Of clothes. As hard board
Is not a comfortable bed, you may imsgi Inc
that we are not loath to rise. when tho bell
rings at midnight for matina
With regard to our apparel, we con.
stantly wear rough-hair shirts, which are
very painful, especially in warm weather.
Our cassocks are heavy woolen In summer
and alpaca in winter. Clean linen collars
are donned every morning. Since we have
not facilities for making shoes and boots,
We must content ourselves with sandals,
which arc, after all, quite as comfortable
and serviceable
"Some Of our rules, Outside the daily rou.
tine, may also seem unnecessarily severe to
people in the world, but we are satisfied with
them. When relative, however Close. Of
any monk dies, all 80 called into the chapel,
the announcement Is made that one Of tine
brothers has lost q father, mother, or other
relative, and all pray for the soul Of tho
deceased Tho object Of concealing the
name is to prevent grief aud the recalling
Of worldly things from interfering with
the tenor Of each man's life When
monk himself dies he is buried With pomp-
GUS religious services, and, after prayers
and masses, the big record book Is taken
down from behind tho altar and red cross
placed opposite tho name Of the departed.
Are many Americans spplying for I'D.
mission to tho orders Not many, must
say. Most Of our recruits como from France
and other Catholic countries Of Europe"-
Nv. l. R" in Chicago Tribune g.