LIFE IN A CONVENT.
A convent or monastery as a place of residence for a religious community was made up of various orders and degrees. Therewere cloister monks, lay and clerical; the professed brethren, also lay and clerical; the clerks; the novices; and the servants and artificers. There were recruits from every rank of society—knights and ladies, scions of noble houses, minstrels, and merchants. All were governed by the abbot, who was elected by the community, who lived like a prince, and who had a separate establishment within the precincts set apart for him. He administered the property and enforced discipline, being also confessor to the monks. He had his falconer and his forester, and his minstrels entertained company and travellers. He had officers under him, such as the prior, precentor, cellarer, sacrist, hospitaller, infirmarer, almoner, master of the novices, porter, kitchener, seneschal, etc., according to the size of the building; and these were usually elected by the convent and approved by the abbot. Under the monastery were abbeys, or smaller establishments, each governed by a prior, who had all the abbot’s powers, except deposing and consecrating, and he also had a separate chamber. The nucleus of a monastery was the cloister court, a quadrangular space of greensward surrounded by the cloister buildings, and a covered ambulatory went round the four sides as a promenade for the monks. The church was the principal building, and built in the form of a cross, with a nave and aisles. The scriptorium was a large apartment, where much work was done in transcribing books and illuminating them. The abbot kept open house in the hospitium, and entertained travellers of every degree.
A DAY’S LIFE IN A MONASTERY.
The following is Mr. Travers Hill’s account, given in his “English Monasticism,” of the order of the day in the monastery at Glastonbury, and which went on much the same for ten centuries: At 2 a.m. the bell tolled for matins, when every monk arose, and, after performing his private devotions, hastened to the church and took his seat. When all were assembled, fifteen psalms were sung; then came the nocturn and more psalms. A short interval ensued, during which the chanter, choir, and those who needed it had permission to retire for a short time if they wished; then followed lauds, which were generally finished by 6 a.m., when the bell rang for prime. When this was finished, the monks continued reading till 7 a.m., when the bell was rung and they retired to put on their day-clothes. Afterwards the whole convent, having performed their ablutions and broken their fast, proceeded again to the church, and the bell was rungfor tierce at 9 a.m. After tierce came the morning Mass, and as soon as that was over they marched in procession to the chapter-house for business and correction of faults. This ceremony over, the monks worked or read till sext (12 a.m.), which service being concluded, they dined. Then followed one hour’s sleep in their clothes in the dormitory, unless any of them preferred reading. Nones commenced at 3 p.m., first vespers at 4 p.m., then work or reading till second vespers at 7 p.m.; afterwards reading till collation; then came the service of complin, confession of sins, evening prayers, and retirement to rest about 9 p.m.
THE ROUTINE OF ENGLISH MONKS IN 1080.
The formalism of monkery was well displayed in the code drawn up by Lanfranc, who was made Archbishop of Canterbury by William the Conqueror. By this code the monks were to be called from their beds before daybreak, and go in their night-clothes to the church to sing. Thence to the cloister and hear the boys read till the bell tolls for them to put on their shoes. They were to pass to the dormitory for their day-dress and to the lavatory to wash. They were then to comb themselves, and when the great bell sounded they were to enter the church to receive the holy water. On the signal of another bell, they were to pray, and of another bell to sing, and afterwards to proceed to the altar to say or hear Mass. They were again to dress themselves and to return to the choir, to sit there till the bell summoned them to the chapter-house. On another signal, they were to resort to the refectory. After a certain hour no one was to speak till the children left the monastery; then when the bell sounded again, their shoes were to be taken off, their hands to be washed, and they were to enter the church to repeat the Litany and to hear High Mass. At another signal they were to go in procession. When the bell rang again, they were to pray, and afterwards to revisit the refectory. Some were then to sit in the choir, and those who liked might read. At a fresh signal the nones were to be sung; similar tasks were to succeed again in allotted order, till they were dismissed to their beds.
THE OFFICIALS AND ARRANGEMENTS OF AN ABBEY.
The officers in abbeys are, first, the abbot, who is supreme, and to whom all the others owe obedience. Next is the prior or president, then the subprior and lower officers. The gatehouse was the place where guests are admitted. The refectory was the hallwhere the monks dine. Thelocutoriumor parlour where leave was given to them to converse, there being silence enforced in other parts. The oriel was a side-room where the indisposed monks were allowed to dine. In the abbey church the cloisters were the consecrated ground. Thenavis ecclesiæwas the nave or body of the church. The presbyterium was the raised choir on which the monks chanted. Thevestiariumor vestry where the copes and clothes were deposited. The century or sanctuary was the place where debtors took refuge. The farm or grange was so called agrana gerendo—the overseer whereof was called the prior of the grange. The abbot was a baron in the English Parliament, and was summoned during and after the reign of Henry III.; and so were priors of quality. In 49 Henry III. no less than sixty-four abbots and thirty-six priors with the master of the Temple were all summoned. In Edward III. they were reduced to twenty-six. Gloucestershire was said to be fullest of monasteries, and Westmoreland the freest from them. Shaftesbury had the richest nunnery.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MONKS AND FRIARS.
Fuller, in his “Church History,” says: “It is necessary to premise what was the distinction between monks and friars. For though some will say the matter is not much, if monks and friars were confounded together, yet the distinguishing of them conduceth much to the clearing of history. Some make monks thegenusand friars but thespecies, so that all friars were monks, bute contraall monks were not friars; others, that monks were confined to their cloisters, whilst more liberty was allowed to friars to go about and preach in neighbouring parishes. I see it is very hard just to hit the joint, so as to cleave them asunder at an hair’s breadth, authors being so divided in their opinions. But the most essential difference whereon we must confide is this—monks had nothing in propriety (exclusive property), but all in common; friars had nothing in propriety nor in common, but, being mendicants, begged all their substance from the charity of others. True it is they had cells or houses to dwell or rather hide themselves in, so the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests; but all this went for nothing, seeing they had no means belonging thereunto. Yea, it hath borne a tough debate betwixt them whether a friar may be said to be owner of the clothes he weareth; and it hath been for the most part overruled in the negative. Foresters laugh at the ignorance of that gentleman who made the difference between a stag and a hart that the onewas a red, the other a fallow deer, being both of a kind, only different in age and some other circumstances. Monks and friars hate each other heartily.”
BRAWLS BETWEEN FRIARS AND SECULAR PRIESTS.
In the time of Edward IV. a contest raged between the Begging Friars and secular priests. Fuller, in his “Church History,” says that “it was beheld to be a most pestiferous doctrine that the friars so heightened the perfection of begging that, according to their principles, all the priesthood and prelacy in the land, yea by consequence the Pope himself, did fall short of the sanctity of their order. Yet hard it was for them to persuade his Holiness to quit Peter’s patrimony and betake himself to poverty, although a friar (Thomas Holden by name) did not blush to preach at Paul’s Cross that Christ Himself, as first founder of their society, was a beggar—a manifest untruth, and easily confuted out of Scripture. For vast the difference betwixt begging and taking what the bounty of others doth freely confer, as our Saviour did from such who ministered unto Him of their substance (Luke viii. 3). After zealous preachings and disputings, Pope Paul II. interposed, concluding that it was a damnable heresy to say that Christ publicly begged, whereon the mendicants let the controversy sink into silence never more to be revived.”
ENMITY BETWEEN ORDERS OF MONKS.
The enmity between the Franciscans and Dominicans was notorious. A friar of each order came at the same time to the side of a brook, which it was necessary to ford, and the Dominican requested the Franciscan to carry him across, as he was barefooted, and must otherwise undress. The Franciscan took him on his shoulders and carried him to the middle; then suddenly stopped and asked if he had any money with him. “Only two reals,” replied the Dominican. “Excuse me then, father,” said the Franciscan; “you know my vow—I cannot carry money.” And in he dropped him. It is stated in Surtees’ “History of Durham” (vol. i., p. 42): “The monks well knew how impossible it was to preserve peace betwixt two bodies of ecclesiastics having property contiguous to each other, and therefore wisely provided in most of their grants that neither their feoffees nor tenants should lease or alienate to Jews, nor to any religious house save their own.”
MONKS DISLIKED BY CLERGY.
The chronicler Matthew Paris says that in 1207 the preacherswho were called Minors arose under the favour of Pope Innocent and filled the earth, dwelling in towns and cities in bodies of ten or seven, possessing nothing whatever, living on the Gospel, displaying a true and voluntary poverty in their clothes and food, walking barefoot, girded with knotted ropes, and showing a noble example of humility to all men. But they caused great alarm to many of the prelates because they began to weaken their authority—first of all by their preaching and secret confessions of penitents, afterwards by their open receptions.
A MONK WHO WANTED TO BE AN ANGEL.
It is related among the wise sayings of Antony the hermit and others, that a monk of Mount Sinai, finding his brethren working, said, “Why labour for the meat which perisheth? Mary chose the good part.” On hearing this the abbot ordered the monk to be put in his cell, and when the dinner-bell rang the monk was not called, which made the monk ask the reason why. The abbot replied, “Thou art a spiritual man, and needest not food. We are carnal, and must eat because we work; but thou hast chosen the better part.” The monk was then rather ashamed of his brave resolution. Another monk, John the dwarf, also wanted to be “without care, like the angels, doing nothing but praising God.” So he threw away his cloak, left his brother the abbot, and went into the desert. But after seven days he came back and knocked at the door. “Who is there?” asked his brother. “John.” “Nay, John is turned into an angel and is no more among men.” So he left John outside all night; and in the morning gave John to understand that, if he was a man, he must work; but that if he was an angel, he had no need to live in a cell.
DEATH OF AN ABBESS AT ARLES (A.D.632).
In 632 St. Rusticule, abbess of the convent of St. Cesarius at Arles, died, and her last illness is thus related: “It happened on a certain Friday that after singing vespers as usual with her nuns, finding herself fatigued, she exceeded her strength in making the usual reading. She knew that she was shortly to pass to the Lord. On the Saturday morning she felt cold and lost the use of her limbs. Lying down on a little bed, she was seized with fever; but she never ceased praising God with her eyes raised to heaven. She commended to Him her daughters, whom she was about to leave orphans, and with a firm mind she comforted those who wept around her. She found herself still worse on Sunday;and as it was her custom that her bed should only be made once a year, the servants of God begged permission to give her a softer bed, but she would not consent. On Monday, which was the day of St. Laurence, she lost all strength, and her breathing became difficult. At this sight the sad virgins of Christ poured forth tears and sighs. It being the third hour of the day, as the congregation in its affliction repeated the Psalms in silence, the holy mother in displeasure asked, ‘Why do I not hear the chanting of psalmody?’ The nuns replied that they could not sing through grief. ‘Do sing still louder,’ she replied, ‘in order that I may receive the benefit of it, for it is very sweet for me to hear it.’ The next day her body had lost the power of motion, but her eyes preserved their lustre and shone like stars. Looking on all sides, and not being able to speak, she made signs with her hand that they should cease weeping and be comforted. When one of the sisters felt her feet, she said it was not yet time; but shortly after, at the sixth hour of the day, with a serene countenance and eyes that seemed to smile, this glorious and blessed soul passed to heaven and joined the innumerable choir of saints.”
HOW CÆDMON, A COWHERD, BECAME THE MONK POET (A.D.680).
When St. Hilda was abbess of Whitby, about 660, the rustics used to have their beer-parties, at which they sang or recited warlike songs, turn about, to the accompaniment of the harp. One of the rustics, when the harp was passed round to him in his turn, confessed he could not sing, and left the company covered with shame and confusion. That night he lay in his cattle-shed and had a dream. Some one approached him and said, “Cædmon, sing me something.” He said he could not, and that was the reason of his leaving the party; but the visitor said he knew better, and insisted that Cædmon should sing, and sing then and there of the Creation. Whereupon in his sleep he sang some verses. On waking he remembered the verses, and told the bailiff what had happened. All who heard the verses believed he was inspired, and suggested to him fresh subjects, and he immediately turned them into sacred songs equally impressive. The abbess hearing of this, told Cædmon to become a monk and learn sacred history, which he did. He soon became famous for his extemporaneous versifications of all kinds of sacred subjects, such as the Resurrection, the future judgment, the Passion, and the heavenly kingdom. He is now known as the father of English poetry, and the metrical paraphrase now extant and known as “Cædmon” is a singularly graphic description of sacred scenes. He was thewonder of his time for this gift of song, and lived long among the monks of Whitby. He was cheery in his talk; and when he drew near his end, he asked them to bring the Housel, which he took into his hands, and solemnly said he had friendly disposition towards all God’s servants. The monks wondered what he meant. He asked them how long it would be before the brethren would be awakened for nocturnal lauds. On being answered he said, “Good; let us wait for that hour.” They waited; he then signed himself with the cross, lay back on his pillow, and died amid the music of the sacred hymns he loved so well.
A MONK SLEEPING TOO LONG (A.D.744).
Alcuin (who died 804), when a boy of eleven and devoted to the church, was one night sent by the schoolmaster of the monastery at the request of a lay brother who was left alone in charge of the building to go up and sleep there that night as some company to the brother. They retired to rest; and when it was about cock-crowing, they were awoke by the signal for service. The rustic monk only turned in his bed, and went to sleep again. Not so Alcuin, who soon perceived that the room was full of demons. They surrounded the bed of the sleeping monk, and cried, “You sleep well, brother!” He at once awoke, and they called out, “Why do you alone lie snoring here, while all your brethren are watching in the church?” And they belaboured him heavily as a warning. Meanwhile Alcuin lay trembling under the impression that his turn would come next, and ejaculated to himself that if he were only delivered he would never again love Virgil more than the melody of Psalms. The demons, after punishing the monk, then looked about, and found the boy completely covered up in his bedclothes, panting and almost senseless. On seeing himself discovered, he burst into tears and screamed, whereupon his avengers consulted together, and after a little resolved that they would not beat him, but would turn up the clothes at the foot of the bed and cut his corns, by way of making him remember his promise. The clothes were no sooner touched than Alcuin jumped up, crossed himself, and sang the 12th Psalm with all his might; the demons thereupon vanished, and he and his companion set off to church for safety.
AN ABBOT LECTURING HIS MONKS AGAINST IDLENESS (A.D.1040).
Theodoric, abbot of St. Evroult, in Normandy, about 1040 used to lecture his monks and warn them against idleness, and toldthem this story: “There was a monk in a certain monastery who was guilty of many transgressions against its rules; but he was a transcriber; and being devoted to that work, he of his own accord wrote out an enormous volume of the Divine law. After his death his soul was brought before the tribunal of the just Judge for judgment. And when the evil spirits sharply accused him, and brought forward his innumerable crimes, the holy angels on the other hand showed the book which that monk had written in the house of God, and counted up the letters of that enormous volume as a set-off against the like number of sins. At length the letters had a majority of only one, against which, however, the demons in vain attempted to object any sin. The clemency of the Judge therefore spared the monk, commanded his soul to return to his body, and mercifully granted him space for reformation of his life. Frequently think of this, dear brethren; cleanse your hearts from vain and noxious desires; constantly offer the sacrifice of the works of your hands to the Lord God. Shun idleness with all your power. Frequently consider that only one devil tempts a monk who is employed in any good occupation, while a thousand devils attack him who is idle. Pray, read, chant, write, and employ yourselves, and wisely arm yourselves against the temptations of evil spirits.”
THE WAR OF THE TWO ABBOTS (A.D.1077).
At the critical epoch when the Emperor and Pope were at war, two abbots living twenty miles apart took opposite sides. The monastery of St. Gall, on Lake Constance, founded about 650, was ruled about 1077 by Ulric of Eppinstein as abbot, who took the side of the Emperor; while Eckard, abbot of Reichnau, took the side of the Pope. Ulric was a man of polished manners, versed in the ways of the world, as fit to lead an army as to wield the crosier, of great wealth, and with a host of retainers. He was a little king, at the head of the richest abbey in Europe. The monastery was, however, exposed, being merely the centre of a large village; while Reichnau was on an island, with strong fortifications and safe from attack. For fifteen years the two monasteries were at feud, each seeking occasion to take advantage and overcome its opponent, and engaged in constant skirmishes. Each of the abbots was proud, ambitious, and eager to crush his enemy. The abbot of Reichnau one day tried to draw Ulric, and advanced almost to the gates, but failed to bring on an engagement. After long fencing, a traitor was found in the abbey of Reichnau. As the abbot of Reichnau was makinga journey to obtain a personal interview with the Pope, the Emperor’s troops captured him, and kept him in prison for two years, and a report was circulated of his death. The Emperor then conferred the vacant abbey on Ulric, as a recompense for his eminent services. A friendly duke then seized the opportunity of getting charge of St. Gall and appropriating its revenues. The abbot of Reichnau, on obtaining his freedom from prison, resumed the warfare; but after many intricate turns of affairs a peace was at last concluded in 1094, and put an end to the long series of skirmishes, battles, conflagrations, sieges, and plunderings between these two belligerents.
MONKS ATTACHED TO THE GREGORIAN CHANT (A.D.1083).
In 1083 Roger de Hoveden says that a disgraceful quarrel arose between the monks and the Abbot Turstin of Glastonbury, who had been most unworthily appointed to his office. In his folly he treated the Gregorian chant with contempt, and wanted to force the monks to learn instead the chant of one William of Feschamp. The monks were averse to the change; but one day Turstin rushed unexpectedly into the chapter-house with a body of soldiers. The monks fled into the church and to the altar, and the soldiers pursued them, piercing the crosses, images, and shrines of the saints with darts and arrows, and even speared a monk while embracing the altar. The monks stoutly defended themselves with the benches and candlesticks; and though grievously wounded, at last drove the soldiers beyond the choir. The result was that two monks were killed and fourteen wounded, and some of the soldiers also were wounded. On investigation the King removed the abbot, and some of the monks also were transferred to other abbeys. The abbot afterwards wandered about, and died in misery, as became a homicide.
THE RETRIBUTION OF THOSE WHO PILLAGE MONKS (A.D.1136).
In 1136 we are told by Orderic, a contemporary, that a famous archer, Robert Boet, with his banditti, rushed like wolves on their prey and ravaged the lands of his fellow-monks of St. Evroult. The people of the neighbouring bourg were so incensed that they caught and hanged six of the gang. But the other robbers came soon after, in great fury, to take revenge, and set fire to the village, burning eighty-four houses to ashes. The monks, in a paroxysm of terror, tolled the bells and chanted psalms and litanies in the church, fearing that instant ruin threatened themonastery. Some of the monks went forth with tears to entreat the assailants to desist, and lawful satisfaction would be given; but the bandits, maddened with fury and blind with rage, insulted the envoys and dragged them from their palfreys, and fired the houses near the church. It was only through God’s mercy that the wind changed at the right moment and drove the flames in another direction. The monks’ lodgings, with the books and ecclesiastical ornaments, were saved. It was noticed that after sacking the village of St. Evroult no enterprise of those robbers against their enemies prospered. On the contrary, by God’s judgment, they suffered frequent losses, some of their gang being slain and others taken prisoners. It was but just that those who had attacked unarmed and inoffensive people, whom no fear of God induced them to spare, should meet with the derision of stronger and well-trained troops, by whose superiority they were soon brought low.
URGING THE MONKS TO LIVE FRUGALLY.
In the time of Philip, King of France, the venerable abbot Robert of Moleme assembled some devoted disciples, and agreed that they did not live, as they ought, in holy poverty, and procure food and raiment by the labour of their hands. But the convent of monks did not agree with this view, and said that they must wear garments suited to the climate of their own convent. The men in cold climates must wear trousers, and could not go about like women, with loose robes reaching to the ankles. Manual labour was very well, but it was wholly incompatible with constant meditation and profitable silence, or with chanting day and night the Psalms of David. They objected to all innovations. Therefore the abbot and twelve monks withdrew; and having received a gift from the Duke of Burgundy, built a monastery at Citeaux in the diocese of Chalons, and lived there in strict rule. But the Pope being referred to, ordered the Abbot Robert to return to Moleme, which he did, and a substitute was appointed to be abbot of Citeaux. The impulse given by Abbot Robert at Citeaux drew there a great concourse of monks, and sixty-five monasteries were soon after founded, all subject to the superior abbot of Citeaux. The monks of the Cistercian order wear neither trousers nor robes of fur, abstain from fat and flesh meat, maintain perpetual silence, and labour with their own hands for their food and raiment. From September 13th to Easter they fast every day except Sunday; their doors are always shut close;they bury themselves in profound secrecy, admitting no monks belonging to any other religious house into their cells, nor allowing them to be present in the chapel at Mass or other Divine offices. Multitudes of noble champions and learned men join their society from the novelty of its institution, and rejoice to chant triumphant anthems to Christ in the right way.
FORM OF A MONK’S BURIAL.
In the records of the church of Durham it is written that when any monk died there he was dressed in his cowl and habit, and boots were put on his legs, and immediately he was carried to a chamber called the dead man’s chamber, where he remained till night. At night he was removed thence into St. Andrew’s Chapel, adjoining to the same chamber, and there the body remained till eight o’clock in the morning. The night before the funeral two monks, either in kindred or kindness nearest to him, were appointed by the prior to be especial mourners, sitting all night on their knees at the dead man’s feet. Then were the children of the ambry, sitting on their knees in stalls on either side of the corpse, appointed to read David’s Psalter all night through incessantly till eight in the morning, when the body was conveyed to the chapter-house, where the prior and the whole convent met it, and there did say their dirge and devotion; and then the dead corpse was carried by the monks into the centry-garth, where it was buried, and there was but one peal rung for him. The body of St. Francis is placed in a vault under the marble vault in the great church at Assisi, and it is in an upright position, and the vault has a small opening, through which one may look and see a lamp burning. In the convent of the Poor Clares at Assisi, in a vault under the high altar, lies the body of St. Clare, with a lamp burning in front of the opening over it.
HOW SICK MONKS WERE TENDED.
When a monk was sick and in prospect of death, a servant brother was appointed, who should have nothing else to do but to tend him day and night. The cross was placed before his face, and every night a wax taper was kept burning by his side until broad day. Other monks were allowed to be in attendance on him, in order to sing the regular hours and to read the Passion in his extremity. The experienced servants were to watch the proper moment, and to spread the ashes and gently to place the sick man upon them, and then to give a signal by strikingthe door of the cloister, when all the brethren were to run to the chamber, for this was one of the two occasions when it was permitted to them to depart from their usual measured pace, the other being in the event of fire. If Mass should be celebrating or any regular office, all who were without the choir were to hasten, and those within were to remain. If the monks were in the refectory, the reading was to be instantly suspended, and the monks were to haston. The Litany was then to be chanted and the prayers, according to the progress of his agony. The custom of showing penitence by spreading ashes was well observed. Thus at the death of St. Martin, who desired it, sackcloth was spread on the ground, and ashes were strewed upon it in form of a cross, and the assistants gently laid his dying body upon it. The monk of St. Denis says that Louis IX. gave up the ghost on sackcloth and ashes, and with his arms composed in the form of a cross. When the Maid of Orleans asked at her death for a crucifix and none was at hand, an Englishman broke a stick in two parts and made a cross, whereupon the maid kissed it, pressed it to her bosom, and mounted the martyr’s pile.
WHY MONKS HONOR RICH MEN MORE THAN POOR.
St. Bonaventura explains it thus: “It may be asked why do monks and friars honour rich men more than poor, serving them more promptly in confessions and other things? God has care of all men alike; therefore we ought to love all men alike. If the poor man be better than the rich, we should love him more, and yet we must honour the rich more for four reasons. First, because God in this world has given pre-eminence to the rich and powerful; and therefore we conform to His ordination in honouring them so far as relates to this order. Secondly, because of the infirmity of the rich, who, if they are not honoured, grow indignant, and so become more infirm and worse, and a burden to us and to other poor; whereas we ought not to be a scandal to the weak and a cause of their becoming weaker still, but should rather provoke them to good. Thirdly, because a greater utility results from the correction of one rich man than of many poor; for a rich man’s conversion is of advantage to many in several respects. Fourthly, since we receive more corporeal support from the rich, it is but just that we should repay them spiritually. Besides, the affairs of the poor are more easily expedited, because they are not bound by so many ties nor involved in so many perplexities which require counsel oftener.”
GOOD LESSONS INCULCATED BY THE MONKS (A.D.1199).
One of the narratives told by monks about the year 1199, according to Cæsar of Heisterback, was this: Two citizens of Cologne confessed in Lent that they were guilty of lying and perjury, but then that they could not sell anything without both. The priest thereupon reproved them, and strongly recommended them just to try for one year to do without lying. They did agree; but Satan having found out their plan, contrived that nobody should enter their shops; and the tradesmen returned and reported that their obedience had cost them dear, and that really they could not carry on their business that way at all. The priest, however, reassured them once more, telling them that they should really resolve never to offend God this way, whatever might be the consequence. They made this solemn promise; and, strange to relate, from that hour people flocked to their shops, and they soon prospered exceedingly. Another narrative was about one Rocherus, a high dignitary in the church at Magdeburg, who was playing at chess, when a servant boy entered and whispered to the butler that a poor sick woman was at the gate, and sent him to beg just a little wine. Rocherus overhearing this, ordered that some wine should be given to her; but the butler said there was none unless he opened a new cask. Rocherus ordered him at once to open one for the purpose; but the butler, going out, pretended only to comply, and sent away the messenger empty. Scarcely had two hours elapsed when the church bells tolled for a death; and on Rocherus making strict inquiry, and finding that it was the poor woman who asked for wine, and who had not been supplied with any, he summoned the butler to appear, and, boiling with indignation, commanded him instantly to empty the entire hogshead of wine on the ground, declaring that he would never make use of that of which a part had been refused to one of Christ’s poor. He also dismissed the man, and forbade him ever again to enter his presence.
A POPE INVITING A FELLOW-MONK TO COURT.
Pope Paul IV., on his election to the papal chair in 1555, being mindful of his ancient friendship for Jerome Suessanus, the hermit of Monte Corona, sent orders to him to come to Rome. The obedient hermit arrived, and was joyfully welcomed; but the Pope, raising him up, said, “What garment is this, Jerome? It is too mean. You must lay it aside.” “Nay, holy father,” said Jerome; “when clad in this habit I can walk more easilyamid the oaks and brushwood; nor would any other be suitable to a penitent.” “Oh, but,” said the Pope, “you shall be no longer in the woods and desert; you shall remain here with us, and from a hermit become a cardinal.” The hermit at once fell prostrate on the earth, and with tears implored the Pontiff not to think of executing such a resolution, declaring that he knew of no happiness beyond the solitude of the desert. The Pope admitted, on reflection, that it would be grievous to press him further; so the holy man returned in triumph to his cell in the woods.
THE ORDER OF FRIARS.
The thirteenth century saw the rise of a new class of religious orders, actuated by different views from monachism. The basis of monkery was entire seclusion from the world and its busy ways, in order to fix the mind on holy contemplations, and hence monasteries were built in wilds and deserts. The friars thought they could improve their usefulness by mixing with mankind and helping them by active duties. Hence they established their houses in or near great towns, and acted like home missionaries, teaching and preaching; and they cultivated science as well as religion. There soon grew up four leading orders of friars—Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustines. The Dominicans laid themselves out for converting heretics; the Franciscans for preaching the Gospel and promoting charity; the Carmelites originated at Mount Carmel, in Palestine; the Augustines were called Austin Friars. The friars renounced property, and resolved to work for a livelihood or live on alms; and they were called the Pope’s Militia.
THE CINDERELLA OF THE CONVENT.
St. Basil relates that in a female convent at Tabennes, in Egypt, one of the sisters was treated by all the rest as the fool of the convent, and made to wash up the dishes and do the humblest menial work. And to crown the contempt shown towards her, she was made to wear a turban of patchwork and a dress of rags. She was never seen to sit at table and join in meals. Yet she never complained nor uttered a reproach. A holy man named Pyoterus lived not far from the convent, and one night an angel appeared and bade him go and visit a sister in the convent who wore a turban as a headdress. “That sister,” said the angel, “is holier than thou art. Though always in tribulation both night and day, she is always mindful of God,and never troubled in mind, as you are.” Pyoterus went to the convent and asked to see the sisters. All were brought and presented to him. But he said, “One is still missing.” “Nay, holy father,” said the abbess, “all are here, except the poor scullion, who is a fool.” “Let me see her,” said the hermit. Then Isidora was brought; whereupon Pyoterus fell at her feet and exclaimed, “Bless me, my sister, beloved of the Lord.” The four hundred sisters were astounded at this spectacle; but Pyoterus said to them, “Pray that you may find as much favour in the day of judgment as this despised one. I tell you the Lord hath said you think yourselves wise, but it would be well if you were as wise as this fool.” So saying, he left the convent. The treatment afterwards bestowed on Isidora caused her to leave the convent altogether.
THE NUNS AND LAY BROTHERS AT SEMPRINGHAM (A.D.1139).
About 1139, says Robert Manning, of Brine, St. Gilbert established a priory at Sempringham, in Lincolnshire, for poor maidens. At first these were served only by poor maids; but soon lay brothers did that duty, and priests ministered to them. The two sexes lived within the same enclosure, but were separated by a high wall, with a small hole of a window to pass food and necessaries. On high feast days both sexes met in the church of the nuns, but they were separated by a cloth. All the food was prepared by the nuns and the sisters, and passed through the small window. When the priests entered the nuns’ house, they were to be accompanied by a number of persons, and the nuns were to have their faces covered in their presence. No gossiping or talebearing was allowed. The lay brothers were never to enter the nuns’ enclosure save in case of fire, thieves, etc. The nuns and sisters washed the linen of the canons, but not of the lay brothers, who had to do their own. The women were permitted to sew for the men, but not to cut out, make, or mend their breeches for them. The head prioress and nuns, on their annual journey round the nuns’ houses, were to have an escort of a canon and a lay brother to protect them and supply necessaries. There was to be no more conversation between them than was absolutely necessary, and the men were enjoined to retire to a respectful distance whenever the women had to descend from their travelling waggon. On journeys the women were never to lodge in the same houses as the men, if it could possibly be helped. Disorderly monks were expelled, and disorderly nuns were shut up in a little hut separate from therest, there to repent till death released them. In the priory no flesh was allowed: beer was the only liquor allowed; and if it ran short, wine might be used if well watered. In the management of the farms, where milkmaids and reapers were hired, no lay brother was allowed to speak except in presence of witnesses. And young and pretty women were to be especially shunned. The lay brothers were not allowed any books, and learned only the Paternoster, the Credo, the Miserere, and other necessary prayers.
COMPUNCTIOUS VISITING OF MONKS.
St. Waltheof was a son of the Earl of Northumberland, and died about 1160. He became a monk and entered a monastery in Lincolnshire. He was most vigorous and scrupulous in his habits. One day, riding with the abbot, he was pestered by a horsefly, and often flapped it away with his sleeve, till at last in a fit of anger he gave a violent snap and killed it. At this fatal turn of affairs he immediately dismounted and flung himself prostrate before the dead fly, and in presence of the abbot confessed his sin in thus killing a creature of God, which he was unable to restore to life again. The abbot smiled benignly, and imposed a very light penance for the offence. St. Benno, born at Hildesheim and Bishop of Meissen, was an enthusiastic reviver of church music. When the Pope excommunicated his king, Benno ordered two of his canons to throw the keys of his minster into the river Elbe. He was intensely conscientious and mindful of the feelings of others. One evening, as he was walking in the fields near Meissen, meditating and praying, he was disturbed by the croaking of the frogs. He angrily bade them be silent, and they obeyed. But he had not gone far when his conscience smote him. He repeated to himself the verse, “O ye whales and all that move in the waters, bless ye the Lord.” Then overwhelmed with shame, as the thought occurred to him that perhaps the praises of the poor frogs might be as acceptable as his own to the great Creator, he returned to the marsh and said aloud, “O ye frogs, sing on to the Lord your song of thanksgiving.” This good bishop died in 1106.
MONKERY BECOMING WORKED OUT.
By the twelfth century the status of monk was beginning to deteriorate. The fine theories on which it started lost hold, and demoralisation was setting in. The loose way of admitting all and sundry led to a difficulty in keeping strict control. It usedto be said they began to steal each other’s clothes and cups and little articles of property. It is said that in the abbey of St. Tron, about 1200, each monk had a locked cupboard behind his seat in the refectory, wherein he carefully secured his napkin, spoon, cup, and dish. Even the bedclothes were not safe. Then so many went about traversing every corner of Christendom, bearded and tonsured and wearing the religious habit, living by begging and imposture, and peddling false relics, that the very name of monk became a term of contempt. Yet William of Newburgh says that under Stephen’s short reign (1135-1154) more monasteries were founded in England than during the hundred years preceding.
THE WAR OF THE NUNS OF BASLE (A.D.1430).
About 1297 a convent was established at Little Basle called the Sisters of Klurgenthal, who during the next century acquired great reputation, not so much from the austerity of their rules as for their wealthy connections among all the nobles of the district. The prior of a Dominican monastery in Basle was the advocate of the sisterhood; but they had long felt this a grievous burden, and they resolved to get rid of the interference of the monks. About 1430, one day, the friar called, when they barred him out, and let him know he need not show his face again within the house. The indignant monks then spread abroad rumours of the luxurious dresses, habits, and loose living of the sisters, and even slandered their characters and invoked the interference of the Pope to put down the scandal thereby created. The Pope sent commissioners, who felt it their duty to hold a solemn inquiry into the allegations against their dissipated and ungodly lives. The ladies demurely listened to the papal commissioner, and then retired without saying a word; but a few minutes later they each and all returned, armed with every kitchen implement they could find, and belaboured right and left the commissioners, who in their terror fled, leaving the papal bull behind them, and with their clothes torn off their backs. This appalling treason shocked the papal authorities, who ordered the sisters to be expelled and stripped of their possessions. One or two of the sisters who professed to be shocked at their companions begged to be allowed to remain till they could get their things put together; and during this interval, which was extended on one pretext or another to months, they appealed to their noble cousins, brothers, and relatives to come to their rescue, and they even procured the support of the Emperor to their claims. The nobles did so, andwith a large body of retainers so contrived that the Pope had to consent to an arbitration to settle all matters in difference with the jealous and rapacious monks who longed to succeed to the nuns’ possessions. So skilfully was the rest of the war directed on the part of the nuns that they practically reversed the adverse judgment, and were restored to all that they had lost, returning with pomp like deposed queens, and they became more powerful and kept up a more brilliant establishment than ever.
ONE MONK STEALING ANOTHER MONK’S FOOD.
It is related by Ruffinus that a monk was in the habit of coming to the cell of a holy anchorite and secretly stealing his food; and although the latter knew of it, still, in order to subdue himself, he made as if he perceived him not, and exerted himself to work more diligently in order to repair his loss. He thus reasoned with himself: “God hath sent me aforetime that which I needed, and this brother too will be a blessing to me.” And having sustained this tribulation a long time, his strength failed, and he was dying. And many brethren stood around looking upon him; and seeing among them the brother who had for so long a time stolen his bread, he called him to his side and kissed his hands, and said before them all, “I render thanks to these hands, my brethren, for by means of them I trust to enter Paradise.” On hearing and understanding this, that brother took shame to himself, and was touched with remorse, changed his life, did heavy penance for his sins, and became a perfect monk through the example of the holy father who had died.
A MONKISH MODE OF DECIDING ON CREEDS (A.D.680).
When the Monothelite heresy arose and disturbed the Church—namely, the doctrine that Christ had only one will, though He had the human and Godlike natures separate—the sixth general council of the Church was held at Constantinople in 680 to settle it. A monk named Polychronius, and a resolute Monothelite, rose and challenged the council to put the doctrine to the test of a miracle. He proposed to lay his creed on a dead body: if the dead rose not, he surrendered himself to the will of the Emperor. A body accordingly was brought into a neighbouring bath. The Emperor, the ministers, the whole council, and a wondering multitude adjourned to this place. Polychronius presented a sealed paper, which was opened and read; it declared his creed, and that he had been commanded in a vision to hasten toConstantinople to prevent the Emperor from establishing heresy. The paper was laid on the corpse; Polychronius sat whispering into its ear; and the patient assembly awaited the issue for some hours. But the obstinate dead would not come to life. A unanimous anathema was then pronounced, condemning Polychronius as a heretic and deceiver; and he was degraded from his functions. The council then anathematised all round who thereafter disbelieved the doctrine that there were two wills and two operations in Christ’s nature.
A MONK INTERCEDING FOR PRISONERS (A.D.460).
The monk Severinus, in the fifth century, was asked to intercede for some Roman subjects who were condemned to hard labour by Gisa, Queen of the Rugii. She made an angry answer, and bade the monk to be gone to his cell to his prayers, and not presume to interfere with her doing as she pleased with her own prisoners. Not long afterwards she issued harsh orders to some goldsmiths who were imprisoned, and compelled to work beyond their strength, in order to complete some royal ornaments which she required. By accident her little son one day strayed into the prison, whereupon the prisoners seized him and threatened that, as they were tired of life and reckless of consequences, they would first kill the child and then themselves, unless some royal messenger was sent to assure them of their immediate release. The Queen, filled with alarm, was conscience-struck, and acknowledged the Divine retribution thus prepared for her. She acceded to the prisoners’ demands, and not only released the men, but she sent to Severinus to entreat his forgiveness for the way in which she had neglected his admonitions.
HOW THE CARTHUSIANS ACQUIRED AN ELIGIBLE SITE.
The order of Carthusian monks had the credit of having, the most strictly of all the orders, adhered to its rules for some six hundred years. One of the rules, that each monk was to be bled five times a year—which modern science, however, shuns—must have been founded on some misapprehension. The astute manner in which this order acquired a gift of land in Paris has been recorded as follows: St. Louis had given the order a house at Paris, from the windows of which they saw another more extensive and convenient mansion and site in the neighbourhood. Soon afterwards this house opposite was found to be haunted by spirits and goblins, which made a great noise in the night,rattling their chains, and sending forth the most horrid yells and groans. Amongst other hideous things a green monster appeared every night, with a large white beard, half man and half serpent, terrifying all the passengers and neighbourhood. What was to be done with this intolerable nuisance? The pious monarch gave the house to the Carthusians, after which no more noises were heard and no more spectres appeared; but the street in which the house was situated was long known as Hell-fire Street, which name it bore in St. Foix’s time.
LUTHER SOFTENED AT REVISITING HIS OLD CONVENT.
It is related by Audin, in his Life of Luther, that on the eve of Palm Sunday Luther arrived at Erfurth and descended at the convent of the Augustines, where a few years before he had taken the habit. It was nightfall; a little wooden cross over the tomb of a brother whom he had known, and who had lately departed sweetly to the Lord, struck his attention and troubled his soul. He was himself no longer the poor friar travelling on foot and begging his bread. His power equalled that of Charles V., and all men had their eyes on him. That morning, on his march, he had sung the famous war hymn, which Heyne compares to the Marseillaise, and the Emperor was about to resist him, as he said in his imperial rescript, “though at the peril of his own blood, of his dignity, and of the fortune of the empire.” The triumphant innovator was recalled to himself for an instant by seeing the tomb of a faithful brother. He pointed it out to Doctor Jonas. “See, there he rests; and I——” He could not finish. After a little while he returned to it and sat down on the stone, where he remained more than an hour, and till Amsdorf was obliged to remind him that the convent bell had tolled the hour for sleep. Well might the heart in which such tempests were still gathering have wept at the image of that quiet grave.
THE MONKS AND POLITE LETTERS (A.D.527).
Cassiodorus, a most accomplished and high-born youth, became prime minister to Odoacer and then to Theodoric; but on the downfall of the Ostrogoths he become tired of diplomacy, and at seventy years of age retired and founded the monastery of Viviers about 527, at the foot of Mount Moscius. He was not satisfied with the usual occupations of monastic life; and having always been devoted to the pursuit of learning and science, he sought to distinguish his monastery from the others by making it the asylum of literature and the arts. He endowed the institution with hisRoman library, containing the accumulations of half a century. Not only were the monks incited by his example to the study of classical and sacred literature, but he trained them likewise to the art of carefully transcribing manuscripts of rare and precious works. He introduced also the arts of bookbinding, gardening, and medicine. He employed much of his own spare time also in the composition of scientific treatises, and in making clocks, sundials, and lamps. His mode of arranging the occupations of monks became known as a system, and was adopted beyond the boundaries of Italy; and thus the multiplication of manuscripts became a recognised employment, like prayer and fasting. He is said to have lived to be a hundred years old, and left several interesting works of his own on sacred literature.
THE MONKISH LITERATURE ABOUT THE SAINTS.
The early Christians had great difficulty in obtaining knowledge of the Scriptures, though it was the duty of the bishops and priests and deacons to read these as part of the service. And the want of printing was a great drawback to the circulation of every kind of book knowledge at the fireside. But the Lives of the Saints were the favourites, and the most keenly sought after from the sixth to the sixteenth century. Many of the biographies were written by some friend or pupil of the deceased person, and still remain most graphic pictures of the habits of the age. The ingenuity of the authors, when they lived long after their hero, was taxed in order to crowd into the narrative every incident which could sustain the craving for the marvellous and romantic, and these were the inventions of the composer. The Lives were written in the language of the people, and the supply seemed to be equal to the demand. They moulded the creed of all the common people, and the artists embodied them in endless forms in stained windows, mosaics, and pictures. So wonderful were the works usually recorded that they not only arrested the ear at once, but they became so blended and intermixed with history, that it is almost impossible to separate the fact from the fiction. Many of the details seem purposeless in their absurdity; while a few are well narrated and so probable that they were implicitly believed by all who enrolled themselves among the faithful.
THE SCRIPTORIUM IN THE MONASTERY OF ST. GALL.
The monastery of St. Gall, in Switzerland, which rose to be one of the chief religious houses in the Frankish Empire in 816-883, had a fine library and scriptorium, where the monksexcelled in copying manuscripts and illuminating them. The monks sat daily in perfect silence at writing-tables, copying the works of the Fathers and the Bible. They often wrote marginal notes, giving vent to their wants and desires of the moment. Each house had its peculiar style of penmanship. In the time of the Abbot Hartmut, about 870, there were three famous monks at St. Gall, called Notker the Stammerer, Ratpert, and Tutilo, and close friends. Notker was said to be the most learned man of his time; and one day a presumptuous emperor’s chaplain went up to him, saying, “Most learned sir, you know everything; pray tell us what God is doing now.” Notker at once replied, “He is doing now what He is always doing, and what He will soon do to thee. He is exalting the humble and abasing the proud.” A chronicler says that this chaplain, in departing in the Emperor’s train, was thrown from his horse and disfigured for life. Notker was a great musician, and set the best hymns to music for use in all the Western Churches. Ratpert also composed sacred songs and a chronicle of the abbey. Tutilo was skilful as an orator, as well as carver and painter, and played on the flute. His delight was to travel from monastery to monastery, where he was always welcome; for he carved and painted and made gifts of his own fine workmanship. These three friends greatly enjoyed their time of meeting each night in the scriptorium, where they discoursed on Bible subjects. One night they overheard the new abbot, who was greatly disliked, listening at the door, and they seized him and chastised him vigorously, to the great delight of the brethren. In revenge the abbot wilfully cut and spoiled the leaves of some valuable Greek works then in course of being copied by Notker.
BEAUTIFUL MANUSCRIPTS OF MONKS.
The art of transcribing manuscripts flourished in the monasteries till about a century before the discovery of printing. Gerbert, in his “History of the Black Forest,” says that if there was nothing else, the beautiful writing of the tenth century, by means of which so many valuable monuments have been transmitted to us, ought to convince us that it was not a barbarous age. Books were then so beautifully painted and embellished with emblems and miniatures that the whole seemed to be the produce not of human but of angelic hands. The fervour of the abbots in that tenth century in employing writers to preserve valuable books by multiplying copies can never be sufficiently praised. Tangmar, in his Life of St. Berward of Hildesheim, says that he establishedscriptoriums, not only in the monasteries, but in divers places, by means of which he collected a copious library of books, both of divines and philosophers. In fact, the art of writing never attained to such perfection as in the ninth and tenth centuries; and all antiquarians will admit that the form—more or less elegant—of characters in the manuscripts of different ages places before our eyes the state of the sciences at that time, according as it was more or less flourishing. The same parchment was sometimes twice or thrice written upon. The monks only followed the practice of the Romans in thus rewriting on the same parchment.
THE PENMANSHIP OF THE MONKS.
One of the departments of every monastery was the scriptorium or writing-office, where, during the dark ages, many precious books were copied and circulated, and no member was admitted except the heads of the house or on business. There were two classes of monks in this department, called theantiquarii, who made copies of valuable old books, and thelibrarii, who copied new books and inferior ones. The books chiefly copied were the Scriptures, also missals or church services, works on theology, and the classics. St. David, the patron saint of Wales, is said to have begun shortly before his death to transcribe the Gospel of St. John in letters of gold with his own hand. In this constant practice sprang up the art of illumination, so vainly imitated by the artists of the present day, not from want of genius, but from want of something almost indescribable in the conception and execution—a tone and preservation of colour, and especially of gilding, which was essentially peculiar to the old monks, who must have possessed some secret both of combination and fixing of colours which has been lost with them. This elaborate illumination was devoted to religious books, psalms, missals, and prayer-books; in other works the first letters of chapters were beautifully illuminated, and other leading letters in a lesser degree. Such were the peculiar labours of the scriptorium; and to encourage those who dedicated their time to it, a special benediction was attached to the office. We got our Bible and our classics from them.
THE MONASTERIES AS MUSEUMS OF ART.
Kings and emperors often bequeathed their rarest treasures of gold and jewels to monasteries. The kings of France often left their crowns to the abbey of St. Denis. Monte Cassino had great store of presents from kings of chalices and patens, crowns and crosses, phials and vases, and precious ornaments of purest gold,and silks with gold and gems. When the Danes arrived at the abbey of Peterborough in 1070, they took away the golden crown in the church embellished with gems from the head of the crucifix, and the golden stool set with gems, and rare articles of gold and precious stones. In the monastery of Ripon were four gospels written on a purple ground in letters of gold, inclosed in a golden casket. The furniture for St. Ina’s famous chapel in Glastonbury was of silver and gold of great value, the covers of the gospels were of gold, and the priests’ vestments interwoven with gold and cunningly ornamented with precious stones. In the treasury of the abbey of the Isle Barbe, the horn of Roland was preserved; in the abbey of St. Denis the chessboard and men used by Charlemagne. In the abbey of Rheinau was a wooden cross nine inches high, cut out of a single piece, and showing in more than a hundred figures the chief passages of our Saviour’s life. In the abbey of St. Stephen, at Troyes, the Psalter of Count Henry, the founder, written in letters of gold, was still fresh after eight hundred years. In the treasury of Citeaux was the chair in which St. Bernard sat as a novice; and there were ancient breviaries of the monks, written in small letters, as pocket companions in their travels. At Treves the gospels, written in letters of gold covered with jewels, were the present of Princess Ada, sister of Charlemagne.
LEARNING AND EMBROIDERY OF THE NUNS.
The nuns who followed the Benedictine order often displayed learning as well as manual skill. Willibald says those of Britain and Germany excelled in the studies usual to men. They followed the example of the monks in transcribing books, and even in composing others. Those of the monastery of Eikers, in Belgium, were celebrated for their labours in reading and meditating, in writing and in painting. The abbesses Harlind and Renild, besides works of embroidery and weaving, were said to have written with their own hands the four gospels, the whole Psalter, and many other books of Scripture, which they ornamented with liquid gold, gems, and pearls. Cæsaria, abbess of Arles, and her nuns wrote out many Divine books during the time that was spent between psalmody and fasting, vigils and readings. Heloise and her nuns proposed difficult questions on the sacred Scriptures to Abelard, and showed an acuteness and discernment little inferior to his own. Peter the Venerable, in his letter to Heloise, said it was sweet to prolong discourse with her, for her erudition was not less celebrated than her sanctity. So that there was always a successionof noted women from age to age, like Marcella, whose acuteness and learning were constantly extolled by St. Jerome in his letters.
THE MONKS AT MISSAL PAINTING.
The art of illumination was one of the great triumphs of the monks in the Middle Ages, though the same, or at least a kindred, art was practised in Egypt long before the Christian era. So early as the fourth century St. Jerome complained of the ornamentation of enormous capital letters in books as an abuse. A copy of the New Testament was executed in the fourth century in letters of silver, with the initials in gold, and is still preserved in the royal library at Upsal under the title of the “Codex Argenteus.” In the seventh century enormous initial letters began to supersede the current practice of introducing miniatures in the ornamentation. The new style then consisted of interlaced fretwork or entwined branches of white and gold on a background of variegated colours. Irish monasteries excelled the British about that age in this kind of work, and the Anglo-Saxon youths went to Ireland to obtain a mastery of the favourite styles. St. Dunstan was himself an expert illuminator. A fine specimen, called St. Cuthbert’s Gospels, was executed by a bishop of Lindisfarne about 721, and is now in the Cottonian Library. The finest specimen of English illumination of the tenth century is the Duke of Devonshire’s “Benedictional,” executed by the Bishop of Winchester in 984, where pictures of glorified confessors are on the first page. The initial letters became longer and longer, until their tails reached nearly the whole length of the page, and next they were carried round the three sides. The foliage, flowers, birds, animals, and miniatures in the background were carefully drawn. The printing-press was the death-knell of this elaborate style of decorating books; yet the earliest printed books had also spaces for illumination. While it flourished, the great artists were vastly appreciated. It was a saintly work and a labour of love, and success in it was the highest ambition of the best men of the age.
A MONK GREAT IN MUSIC AND ILLUMINATING.
Roger De Warrene, nephew of the Earl of Surrey, became a monk in the abbey of St. Evroult, and lived there forty-six years, abounding in zeal and every good work. Though his person was handsome, he chose to disfigure it by a mean dress. A respectful modesty marked his whole demeanour; his voice was musical, and he had an agreeable mode of speech. His strength of bodyenabled him to undergo much toil, while he was at all times ready to sing psalms and hymns. He was gifted with pleasing manners, and was courteous towards his brother monks. He was abstemious himself, but generous to others; always alive for vigils, and incredibly modest. He did not plume himself with worldly ostentation on his noble birth, but obeyed the rules with unhesitating humility, and was always pleased to do the lowest offices required of the monks. For many years he was in the habit of cleaning the brethren’s shoes, washing their stockings, and cheerfully doing other services which would be irksome to stupid and conceited persons. He ornamented a book of the gospels with gold, silver, and precious stones, and procured several vestments and copes for the chanters, with carpets and curtains and other ornaments for the church. He got all he could from his brothers and relations as occasion offered, and what he wrested from their bodily gratifications he applied with joy to Divine offices for the good of their souls.