Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-23
A Night at the Grand Chartreuse.

whitewashed walls and shadOwy recesses,
from which half expected to see the spirit
forms of dead monks glide. Taking my
seat at small, bare table, a silent brother
placed before me bowl of thin vegetable
soup, in which some chopped eggs fioated;;
Fish followed, then an Omelette, and
the whole was washed down with bot
tie of excellent red wine. 1t was a
frugal repast, but an epicurean spread
as compared with the dietary scale
of the monks themselves. Meat of every
kind is vigorously interdicted, that is, the
flesh of animals in any form. Each brOtheF
Only Gets Two Meals a Day.
They consist of hot water favored with
egg; vegetables cooked in oil; while the
only drink allowed is cold water. The
monks do not eat together except
on Sundays and religious fete days,
when they all sup in the refectOry.
On other days every man has his meals
alone, in the solitude of his cell, and but
brief time is allowed him, for it is con-
sidered sinful to spend more time in eating
and drinking than is absolutely necessary to
swallow down so much food as will hold
body and soul together. That men may
keep themselves healthy, even on such
meager diet as that have mentioned, is
proved by the monks of the Grande Char
tiCucO3 lOL tICs NACtAlChb hOttllL- anu
generally live to a green old age. Even
the weak and delicate grow strong and
hardy under the severe discipline. The
rasping friction of the nervous system,
which annually Stays its tens of thousands
in the outer world, is unknown here All
is calm and peaceful, and the austeritv of
the life led is compensated for by the abid-
ing and hopeful faith. 1t is brief prepara-
tion for an eternal life of unsulIied iOy in q
world where mans sin is known no more.
Surely nothing else but such u faith could
sustain mortal beings under an ordeal so
trying.
This strange community of Carthusians is
divided into categories of ''Fathers" and
Brothers The former wear robes of
white wool, einctured with girdle of white
leather. Their heads and faces are closely
shaven, and the head is generally envel-
Oped in cowl, which is attached to the
robe. They are all ordained priests, and it
is to them the rule of silence, solitude and
fasting more particularly applies. The fasting
is represented by the daily bill of fare
have given, and it never varies all the year
round, except on Fridays and certain days
in Lent, when, poor as it is, it is still
further reduced. The solitude consists of
Many Hours Spent in Prayer
in the loneliness of the cell, and the silence
lLhpOoCU 10 D1phCI Dl ulbuOol lldlDlC
answers to questions addressed to
them. Sustained conversation is
fault, and would be severely pun
ished Aspirants for the Fatherhood
have to submit to q most trying nEritiate,
which lasts for five full years. After that
they are ordained, and from that moment
they renounce the world, with all its lur-
ing temptations and its sin. Their lives
henceforth must be strictly holy in Accord
= L..
The Brothers are the manual laborers, the
hewers Of wood and drawers of water. They
do everything that is required in the way
of domestic service. They wear sandals on
their bare feet, and their bodies are clothed
in a long, loose, brown robe, fastened at the
waist by a rope girdle. On both
branches of the order the same severe
regime is compulsory, but on Fridays the
Brothers only get a morsal of black bread
and cup of cold water. The attention to
spiritual duties is all-absorbing, and under
no circumstances must it be relaxed. Mathis
commence in the chapel at II o'clock at
night, and continue until about o'clock
After a short rest, the divine service is re-
sumed at 6 o'clock. But all the monks do
not attend the mathis at one time. While
some sleep others pray. And it is doubtful
if among the religious orders of the world
anything more solemn and impressive than
this midnight service could be found.
To witness it was my chief aim in going to
the convent, and so L left my cell after q
short sleep, and proceeded to the chapel as
the deep-tOned bell struck y with sonOrous
sounds that rolled in ghOstly echoes along
the lofty corridors. The passage through
which L made my way was vast one, and
solitary lamp Intellectually struggled to
illumine the darkness. L groped along
until L reached a door that swung
silently open to my touch. Then 1 stood
within the chapel, where all was silent, and
q Cimmeriap gloom reigned. Far in the
depths of the darkness was a glimmcring,
star-like lamp over the altar, but its beams,
feeble and struggling, revealed nothing, it
only accentuated the pitchy blackness all
around. The feeble lanterns of the monks,
one to every third stall, were invisible from
my position. Everything was suggestive of
4 tomb far down in the bowels of the earth
the silence, the cold, the damp earthly
smell that filed ones nostrils, all seemed
10 indicate decaying mortality. Suddenly,
with startling abruptness, single voice
broke into
Plaintive, Monotonous Chant.
Then others took up the cadence
with moaning wall that gradually died
lway until there was unbroken silence
lgain. There was something strange and
weird in this performance, for the impene-
rable darkness, the star-like lamp, the vail
ng voices of unseen figures, seemed alto
,ether unnatural. 1t begot in me a shudder
hat L could not repress, for the moaning
md wailing appeared to be associated
With death rather than life. There was
nothing in the whole ceremony Indicative
,f Joy or hope, but rather their converse
adness and despair. Throughout those
weary hours the wailing chant and the
ilence alternated. / wanted to go away, but
ould not. Some strange fascination kept
ne there, and L recalled some of the won-
lerful descriptive scenes in Dante which
we're irresistibly suggested. My imagina-
ion was wrought on to such an extent that
pictured vast gloomy space as filled with
lnquiet spirits condemned to torture; and
he lamp as typical of the one ray of hope
hat told them that after a long period of
'enance they should pass from the gloom of
roe to the lightness and joy of eternal
ay, when their anguish should cease for
yer and rest be found AT last, to my
-reat relief, saw the beams of a new morn
teal in at the chapel windows The bowed
orms of the cowled monks were family
iscernible, kneeling before the altar, where
till burned the watch-lamp. One by one
hey rose and fitted away like shadows; no
ound came from their footballs, no rustic
rom their garments. Warmly clad though
was,
Shivered With the Cold,
nd was cramped with the position
had maintained for hours; for
had been fearful of moving
,st any harsh, grating noise should break