Evening journal., 1888-06-29
li0NASTIC LIFE.
ROUTINE AT cHARTREUSE FROM
MORNING TO NIGHT.

MORNING TO NIGHT.
Peep at Carthusian sgoni's Abode.
Furniiure Of tho Tarcst Description.
One Meal pay--vow Of sIieaco-The
Rules Relaxed.
After breakfast guests arc conducted
round the monastery, and even ladies--who
are not allowed TO stay over night within the
walls, but get sheieorat the old hospital near,
which is saperiLtended by the Sisters Of
Mercy-may, il armed with papal license,
come across and have a peep at the arrange
ments OF this misogynist household The
Chartreuse has no architectural rlories and
wouh never make a picturesque ruin. In
deed the churches which the Carthusians
have generously built in the neighboriug vil-
lagos are far richer in decoration and more
elaborate in style than their own chapels
There is, however plenty TO interest il you
care to take a look round
THE cARTHUsAH's AnoDz.
Each pere has two littlo rooms, with
I workshop and garden attached, oil in one
/ place, 60 that, unlike tho usual nionaslic
arrangements, the Carthusiana abode is self
| contained, Every Csrthusian il, in fart,
| practically a hermit, with just littlo moro
accommodation than the traditional hermit
usually had. That may help to account FOR
the remarkable fact that this order was
| about tho only one which mover dcrenerated
4 50 fgr from tho primitive type as to noed
reformation Dormitory gossip, drawing
room scandal mongcring, hanging about the
pantry doors, quarreling, swearing and steal
ing pastry wcre not possible under such social
conditions. The furniture is OF tho barcst de-
sciption. IL consists Of e wooden bed
That woodsn bed.
Which shall their coaln 90 whom dead.
a chair, a writing and dining table, joiner's
bench, plain bookcase. tho usual helps 70
devotion, "the suffering Son Of Man upon the
wall, and few religious pictures
a monks food consists Of ono meal a day.
lhir is pushed in by sliding grating in tho
cloister wall, 50 that he never sooa the person
who brings it, 1t is made up Of soup, fish
and vegetables on ordinary days. and on Fri
days and during Lent Of simple bread and
water, though this prison fare was In stricter
times tina ruls FOR three days in each week.
The silent fathers are now allowed tho great
luxury OF . fire in cold weather, though that
is a worldly concession Ia modern ideas of
NAtAAAA-ts -AN hlfNAAAJ OA Niie RlA rlEo1 iula
may bo imagined whsn it is remembered that
the nonaEtery is over 1000 feet up and is
buried u snow great portion Of the year.
Theirs is a pathetic story OF father belong
ing 70 the other great CarthusiAn houso in
sunny Calabria who, wbsn elected to the
highest Csrthusian dignity Of prior Of tho
parent monastery, willingly came, but came
knowing for certain that tina severity Of
tho climate would speedily Kill him. II was
a call from the Lord, not 20 a better living.
He obeyed IL, and in few months lay down
to die
THE vow oS eu-RNcE
Ths great vow q silence, 80 characteristic
OF tho Carthusans, uas easily kept by the
s~lf contained arrangement Just mentioned.
Even on festive days when they ate in com
mon, this rule waa strictly observed It has
been SC far relaxed in modern times that the
: fathers arc allowed TO walk ont together once
week and converse with one another, ol
8 even 70 speak to others when spoken 10. The
I tino they hsvc 60 SPARE from tho Offices
which are particularly lengthy, is taken up
with reading, meditation, loinery, gardening
and cleaning These fathers rro mostly
aristocrats q various nstionalities. They
are al present about forty in number. Tn.
entrance Zee is large, the novitiate long and
/
The horiehsir shirt and linenless rule admit
OF no exception, and though il is taking @
: rather shallow and supsrcilious visw Of be
0 lief to call those Carthusians "last OF h,
b people who believe still it seems certain
that nothing short Of an ovsrInastering be
e lief could make life possible hers. There il
A certainly nothing in the appearance Of thi
monks themselves, nothing in their habit
n and surroundings, 70 allow one 10 indulge n
tho Erasmus voin. The giimpses one gets are
/. with one or two exceptions, OF pale, wori
dsathliko faces, with tho shadow as Of
=, great sorrow upon them. They are not face
i OF the hus and expression Suitable FOR popu
lar cartoons for thoss traditional scene
where monaSsic lifsis represented as an afte
dinner nap on a howery veranda, or the hug
ging Of a clRrst cssk in an undcrgroun,
( cellar.
AS you leave ths cells your feeling is tha
Of charitable pity-pitY for the narroWnes
which leads mon, Carthusians and others no
s 10 logical, to think that this world and thi
q lifo are the DEVILS and not Gods But this
qualified by tho reflection that men Of ranl
5 may stay in tho world and spend their mone
g in worse ways than in building churches 70
y poor villages or in sndowing hospitals an
: schools, and deaf and dumb institutions TO
= poor districts: spend their Tins ia wors
/. ways than in tho manufacture Of medicina
liqueurs, the culture OF aromatic flowers. i
fasting and prayer, aud employ their inte
lactual gifts, poeticai and political, in wors
l. ways than in silence Tbs monastery librar
q Is well stocked with books, chiefly Of a devc
u tional chAractsr.-0ood Words.