Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-10-09
MOyAsTIC LIFE.
fouTiNe AT cHARrHEuss FROM
MORNING TO NIGHT.

houTiNe AT cH4RTHEuss FROM
MORNING TO NIGHT.
Peep st csrfhnssan Monks Abode.
iuTitnye Of the Esrest Desersptlou.
One Meal Day-yow Of siIsnes--rh~
Rsiss RELAXED.
After breakfast guests are conducted
round the monastery, and even iadies--who
are not allowed 70 stay over night within the
walls but get shelter at the Old hospital near.
which u superintendent by the Sisters Of
aercy-may, II armed with papAI license,
COME acsoss and have a pep at the arrange
menfs Of this misogyniss household. The
Cnartresise has no architectural giories and
wound never make picturesque ruin. In
deed the churches which the cartbrasiars
nave generously built in the nefghborinS VII
lagos are far richer in decoration snd more
elaborate In style than their own chapess.
There is, however. plenty to interest II you
care to take a look round.
THE cAETHUsissts ABODE.
Each pere has two little rooms. with :
workshop and garden attached. all in ona
place, 50 that, unlike the usual n0nastic
arrangements, the Carthslsiari's abode II al
contained, Every caItEsusian IN. in fact
practically hermit, with Just little more
accommodation than the traditional hermit
usually had. That may help to account Tor
the remarkable fact that tiiss order waa
about the only one which never degenerated
50 far from the primitive type az to need
reformation. DormiEory gossip, drawing
room scandal nongering, hanging about the
pantry doors, quarFeiing, swearing and steal
ing pastry were not possible under such social
conditions. The furniture Is OF the barest de-
sciptIof. 1t consists Of wooden bed:
That wooden bed,
Which shall their cDfhn be- when dead
chair, a writing and dining table, joiner,s
bench, plain bookcase, the usual helps to
devotion, 'the suffering Son Of Nan upon the
wall, i" and few religious pictures.
A monks food consists OF one meal a dav
This is pushed in by a sliding grating in the
cloister wall. 50 that ne never sees the person
who brings it. It is made up Of SOUP. fish
and vegetables ordinary days, and on Fri
days and during Lent Of simple bread and
water, though this prison fare was. in stricter
times, the rule for three days in each week.
The silent fathers are now allowed. the great
luxury Of fire in cold weather, though that
is a worldly concession to modern ideas Of
comfort. The severity of the old fireless rule
may be imagined when it is remembered that
| the monastery is over 1000 feet up and i
buried in snow great portion of the year.
There Il pathetic story Of father belong
ing to the other great Carthusian house in
C.lztssa rrf.o rzrkz< I'll -
highest Carthusian dignity Of prior OF the
parent monastery, willingly came, hut came
knowing for certain that the severity of
the climate would speedily kill him. It was
call from the Lord, not to better living.
/ He obeyed it, and in few months lay down
I to die.
THE VOW OF sILEScE
1 The great vow Of silence, 50 characteristic
of the Carthusians, was easily kept by the
( self contained arrangement just mentioned
/ Even on festive days, when they ate in COM
mon, this rule was strictly observed It has
+ been 50 far relaxed in modern times that the
/ fathers are allowed TO walk out together once
a week and converse with one another. or
I even to speak 10 others when spoken to. The
time they have TO spare from the offices,
/ which are particularly lengthy, is taken I'D
& will JULIET "
and cleaning. These fathers are mostly
aristocrats of various Municipalities They
/ are at present about forty in number. The
entrance fee is large, the novitiate long and
severe, the great life vows of fearful rigidity.
I The horsehaiT shirt and linenless rule admit
Of no exception, and, though it Is taking a
rather shallow and supercilious view Of be
I lief to call these Carrhusians s'last Of the
4 l.. L -
that nothing short Of an overInasterins be
/ lief could make life possible here. There Is
certainly nothing in the appearance Of tbs
monks themselves, nothing in their habit
and surroundings, 10 allow one to indulge In
the Erasmus vein. The ghmpses one gets are
/ with one or two exceptions, Of pale, worr
deathlike faces, with the shadow as Of 8
great sorrow upon them. They are not face.
Of the hue and expression suitable for popu
lar cartoons for those traditional scene.
where monastic life is represented as an aftel
dinner nap on dowery versnds, or the hug
ging of claret cask in an underground
cellar.
As YOU leave the cells your feeling is thal
of charitable pity-pity for the narruwnes
/ which leads men, Carthusians and others no
so logical to think that this world and thi
life are the DEVILS and not Gods. But this
qualified by the reflection that men of ranl
NAV stay in the world and spend their none,
in worse WAYS than in building churches fo
poor villages. or in eridowing hospitals ans
schools. and deaf ami dumb institutions 70
poor districts: spend their time in wors
WAYS than il the manufacture Of medicina
hqueurs, the culture of aromatic flowers, il
fasting and prayer, and employ their intel
lectuaI gifts, poetieaI and political, in wors
ways than in silence The monastery ibrar.
is well stocked with books. chiefly of a dsvo
tional character Words.
Farm Life in Northern Italy.