New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-03-28


Il How do you get that?'
well, the young man to whom Christ SAID
Sell all that thou hast and follow me, had a
distinct vocation. Nowadays, if man is I'M
happy in the world. he cOnsults his spiritual
adviser His adviser tells him to pray. and If, as
he prays, he finds himself becoming disguised with
the world and nothing there can satisfy HIM, he
has call to retirement and by coming here he
can find out whether the call is genuine or not
Does the Scripture say that?'
Don't you know that st. Matthew says, lie
that leaves father and mother, wife ana chld,
lands or living shall receive hundred fold and
life cvcrlasting'?' II give the texts as thev
were quoted. 1T may I've that l should like
worldly pleasures, that | should enjoy the mar
rage state, and so on; but there is no happiness
to compare with that find here"
Z" But doesn't true Christianity require SACRIFICE
for the good of others?"
ayes, and if you go into retirement you do good
to others
"How?"
"By praying. We can do far more good In
that way. some of us. than in any other There
is no benefit to compare with that
Couldn't you pray as well if you were mar
red?"
Paul says, To be married is well, but not to
bc married is better
"Or by not refusing TO speak,"
"St James says, He that is silent can offend
no man. Trappst has his thoughts constantly
fixed on Heavenly things. Man is so disposed
that if he talks he must talk of the world. When
he is silent, he Immediately begins to think OF
G9d s me or and do1 the snsth % S
great God is and how little man ls.-and then
when | lie down at night l feel that l can
say. In ie. Domino. speravi non confundor IN
cternum 49,.
:" How long is it since you were out in the
Don't you wonder what kind Of place
mo. suppose it's Just the same as it used
to be- excepting that tney zen Inc mG nS Sflli
aires. .
= DO you ever think of the friends you left
there ~
Yes, pray for them"
The present Abbot belongs 70 the princey house
of Bourbon. He is a slight man, NOT tall put
of stately presence, with an aIlstqcratc head ana
refined features His eyes are brown. his eye
brows black, his sharp aud his beard gray.
He is the only monk that walks without
shambing.. He speaks English win plqaia u
belongs 10 French nerves and delicate physique.
He wears the common white habit ana Dlack
scapulary of the religious father. A wooden
crnciix hangs from Ills neck by purple cord.
The AbbotS seal ring adorns his right foreilnGer;
He is evidently man OF great shieWdncSs ana
fine education. He shares all the hardships Of
his subordinates, excepting that he does no work
with his hands. In his office hangs c0l0red
political map of the United States. He receives
visitors with formal bow. knock on the
door he answers with an imperious stamp Of the
foot, and yOu get some idea Of the discipline
of the order when you see brown prolher SINK
on his knees before him and Join his hands III
suppicatOn over some trlile concerning me sihthN'
The Abbot thawed when asked INN qucs-
ti0nS like those | put 10 Father Peter
Why is a, TrappSt silent he repeated lie
81 fIar linn
would conversation do us What could we tax
about? | know nothing about my brothers
families and they know nothing about mine. In
the world, what IS the ordinary topic? roh-
ties: then scandal
Couldn't you help each other by comparing
your thoughts on religion -,
We are not angels: we are only men. We
should surely drift into worldly talk if we
opened our mouths. All men have passions
and ARE weak Think Of silence, my dear friend,
continued the Abbot, in huShed w, wh ,'Ila
of God Think Of Nature. how silent She is.
Think of the starry heavens, If We were TO
speak here, we should he nothing but farmers
But what about all the sorrow and suffer
ing among men that you don't help to alleviate
Don't You neglect the obligation of practical be-
ncyolcncc when YOU shut yourselves up In these
cloiscrs?"
The Abbot paused. That requires TO be con
sidcrcd, ne said, presently. Then, like Father
Peter be slew me with text. Don't YOU re-
member how Moses went up into the mountain
while the people were lighting in the plain below
While he lifted his hands, his army prOspered.
When lac lowered them. they suffered loss. Now
don't YOU see the case >?
What good does tagclation do the world?'
"Why, the world hates suffering. You can
never mako the body love pain, except by
Is it sin not TO love pain? Do you blame
man for his natural instincts
NO. But fageation is painful and we want
10 suffer little bodily pain Tor the sake of the
sinful world. We are like the litIc boy who wanted
10 be whipped for his brothers delinquency. .,
the world is wicked, and the Abbot raised
his hands SO that the sleeves fell away from his
thin, bare arms. " was IN Paris the other day
and stood the Eincl Tower. | thought. as |
looked down. how little is man. how little
am. And how much prayer Is needed.
The Abbot pressed my hand cordially when
left and urged me to come again or send my
friends. The only human thing about the Trap
pistS is. indeed, their simple hospitality.
The story of the community reveals The I'M
healthy impulse behind 1T. 1t was founded at
La Irappc i'm France in the seventeenth century,
by the dssolute Able de I;anic VINO, on hasten
ing to meet his mistress the beautiful DucheSNe
de Montbazon after Il short absence, found her
dead and laid ont in her collin. (raZcd win
grief and rcmOrse, he imposed on the new luStl-
tuition unhcard-of sacrifice, and his lanailcal
bchcsts the Kentucky Tnppi,ts to this day
patiently fulfil. The order Is the Reformed
Cisicrcian. The monastery Is dedicated 10 the
Virgin, whose purity the white cOwl embcmlzce.
The monks are divided into two bodies. the lay
brothers,, who wear the brown habit and OBJ
serve all the ordinances, but know no Latin, and
the religious fathers" habited in white. who
chant in the ch,.r. Among the white fathers only
those wearing the black scapulary are bound by
final VOWS and may never he dismissed, ana or
these only the priests may cOhdnct service. an
outsider is taken on trial for a month. lie spends
the night in prayer and fasting. and the day IN
toll, with intervals for meditation. ana learns
all about prime and salvc, and matln ana Hud
and compne He is forbidden to speak, eN-
ccptng to the prior the abbot, and their will
is absolute. They cannot compel him to sc0urge
himself; but if in the choir he mistakes syllable
in the inernnablc psalms, he is made To kiss
the abbey floor and PROSTATE himself before the
others lie must rcpress ali carnal desires ana every
tender sentiment that he ever learned at ms
mothers knee 90 shivcring about dismal corridors
ard stand for hours in the abbey twilight with
swimming head, lntonng slow psam Ill sepul-
chra KEY and concentrate his thoughts on theolo2l-
cal distractions until lie develops an lncuraDle
monomanla. -,
If the human race is thus TO he regcnerated, the
Abbot and his associates are not expanding Their