Chapter 8
Canon 6: It is not correct to say that God's mercy will be our portion if only (that is, through our own strength) we believe, will, strive, attempt, labor, watch, exert ourselves, pray, seek, and knock.
Grace not only assists the humility and obedience of man, but it is a gift of grace that he is humble and obedient;
Canon 7: Solely by our own natural powers, without the assistance of grace, we cannot think, choose, or in any way do anything pertaining to salvation; Canon 9: All good thoughts and deeds are gifts of God;
Canon 12: Everything that God loves in us is God's own gift; Canon 17: What makes the heathen strong is terrestrial love (Leidenschaft).
What makes the Christian strong is the love of God infused into our hearts by the Holy Spirit; Canon 18: Unmerited grace precedes meritorious works;
Canon 25: Our love for God is itself a gift of God.
Had it not been for Augustine, Western monasticism might perhaps have degenerated into a fruitless striving for achievement. Through him it was in troduced to a true synthesis of the agape and the eros. Clearly, Martin Lu ther (f 1546) tried to exclude all human effort from the work of salvation.
He had the idea that his thinking and his teaching were in accordance with the doctrine of St. Paul and St. Augustine. But the Council of Trent (1545-1563), following the teacher on grace from Hippo as the Council of Orange had openly interpreted him, defended anew and more clearly defined his synthesis of the agape and the eros.
EXTERNAL (Liturgical) WORSHIP OF GOD (Chapters viii to xx)
EIGHTH CHAPTER
The Divine Office at Night (Matins) In the winter time, that is, from the first of November until
Easter, following a reasonable reckoning, let the monks rise at the eighth hour of the night, so that, having rested a little more than half the night, they may get up refreshed. Whatever (time) is left over after the Vigils may be used by the brethren for the practice of the psalms or for reading.1
From Easter until the aforesaid first of November, the hour 1 What the others are to do is not stated—possibly devote themselves to reading or to prayer. The practice of the psalms in the case of those who could read
for celebrating the Vigils should be so adjusted (to the season! that, after a very short interval to let the brethren go out for the necessities of nature, the hour of lauds (Matutini), to begin at daybreak, may follow immediately.2
Excursus 1.
Ancient Reckoning of Time— At the bottom of the modern reckoning of time, there lies the astronomical fact, that year in and year out the earth re volves regularly on its axis, in equal lengths of time, in that revolution bringing about the succession of changes from day to night and from night again to day. We divide this time space into 24 hours of 60 minutes each, reckoning from one midnight to the next. Our modern watches and clocks have practical ly eliminated as a problem the task of reckoning time.
The men of the ancient world had a double standard for keeping track of the time—somewhat naive, of course, from our point of view. They reckoned first the hours of the day, that is, the period between sunup and sundown, and then the hours of the night from sundown to sunup. Each of these time spans they divided into twelve periods, the day hours and the night hours respective ly. It immediately becomes apparent that in this system of reckoning, the day hours and the night hours would be of equal length, 60 minutes each, only on the 21st of March and on the 21st of September, at the time of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. In the summer half of the year, on account of the earlier sunrise and the later sunset, the day hours would be longer than the night hours; in the winter half of the year, on account of the later sunrise and the earlier sunset, the night hours would be longer than the day hours. Con sequently, the length of the Horae of both the day offices and the night offices varied accordingly, becoming longer or shorter as the seasons changed.
The ancients checked their reckoning of their time with the course of the sun by day and with the movement of the stars by night, also with their sundials and with their sand clocks.
From the following schedules, in which are given approximately the hours of the day at the time of the spring and autumn equinoxes as well as at meant memorizing them, since the monks of that early time did not have separate books for each member of the choir (cf. chap, ix, Excursus).
2 The word Vigilia (Night-watches, Night Office), which the Rule uses here has been replaced by the word ' Matins," probably because it is no longer held at an hour so soon after midnight, but in the early hours of the morning. A custom coming into vogue in the American Cassinese Congregation is to recite Martins in in the late afternoon or early evening. (Tr.) The canonical hour which the HolyRule designates as Matins (Matutini) is now called Lauds (Landes) from the last three psalms of the psalter (148-150). (Both Matins and Lauds could formerly be anticipated, that is, recited on the previous evening. The new liturgical regu lations prescribe that Lauds must be recited in the early morning of the current day. The translator.)
the time of the summer and winter solstices, comparing them with their equi valents according to our modern reckoning, one can understand how the hours of the day and the hours of the night would gradually change from day to day and from week to week etc., in the course of the year.
Ancient Time Reckoning — In Terms of — Modern Time Reckoning Mar. 21 & Sep. 21
Dec. 21 lune 21 First Hour Begins . ... 6:00 A.M.
7:40 A.M.
4:00 A.M.
Ends . ... 7:00 A.M. ends 8:23 A.M. ends
5:20 A.M.
Second Hour ends. ... 8:00 A.M. ends 9:08 A.M. ends
6:40 A.M.
Third Hour ends. ... 9:00 A.M. ends 9:51 A.M. ends
8:00 A.M.
Fourth Hour ends. ... 10:00 A.M. ends 10:34 A.M. ends
9:20 A.M.
Fifth Hour ends. ... 11:00 A.M. ends 11:17 A.M. ends 10:40 A.M.
Sixth Hour ends. ... 12:00 Noon ends 12:00 Noon ends 12:00 Noon Seventh Hour ends. .. 1:00 P.M. ends 12:40 P.M. ends
1:20 P.M.
Eighth Hour ends. .. 2:00 P.M. ends 1:20 P.M. ends
2:40 P.M.
Ninth Hour ends. .. 3:00 P.M. ends 2:00 P.M. ends
4:00 P.M.
Tenth Hour ends. .. 4:00 P.M. ends 2:40 P.M. ends
5:20 P.M.
Eleventh Hour ends.... .. 5:00 P.M. ends 3:20 P.M. ends
6:40 P.M.
Twelfth Hour ends. .. 6:00 P.M. ends 4:00 P.M. ends
8:00 P.M.
From the foregoing schedules it will be seen that, with the exception of the periods around the 21st of March and the 21st of September, when the hours of the day were fully or approximately 60 minutes each, the other days of the year varied considerably in length. Thus on the 21st of December, an hour of the day lasted only 40 minutes, while an hour of the day on the 21st of June lasted fully 80 minutes, the latter double the length of the former. The same kind of reckoning was applied to the night hours, but in reverse order.
Again, with the exception of the periods around the equinoxes, when the nights and days were of equal length, a night hour around the 21st of Dec. lasted 80 minutes, while around the 21st of June it lasted only half that time, or 40 minutes. When, therefore, St. Benedict specified that the brethren,
"following a reasonable reckoning, should from the first of November until Easter arise at the eighth hour" (chap, viii), that would have been about 2:30 A.M., according to our reckoning. It is evident, in view of their imperfect instruments for measuring time, that this hour could be only approximate.
The Holy Rule takes extra pains to provide that everything be done as near ly as possible at the specified hour. In naming the hours, the ancients were thinking of the end of the hour rather than of its beginning. By the eighth hour, therefore, St. Benedict meant a period or point during the equinoxes at which this hour would have been approximately 2:00 A.M. according to our reckoning.
Especially noteworthy periods of the day among the ancients were the
following: the hour of dawn (sunrise, or beginning of the first hour), the third, the sixth, and the ninth hours. The night was similarly divided into sundown (the time when the lamps were being lighted — the first hour of the night), the first, the second, the third (cockcrow), and the fourth nightwatches. At military posts, the night-watches were announced by means of trumpet calls, in cities the authorities usually provided bells or gongs to signal the changing hours. In monasteries, however, signals for the hours of prayer were given by hammer blows on metal or wooden disks. The first cenobites, following the practice of the early Church, sanctified the hours of the night as well as those of the day with special prayers; hence the Vigilia and the Horae Diurnae (little hours).
Excursus 11.
Daily Order in the Cloister.—The hermit could arrange the order of his day's activities with complete freedom. He could, for example, pray, work, exercise, sit in his cell, or take nourishment at the hours best suited to his per sonal needs and tastes. And yet, despite all its basic freedom and colorful variety, eremitism did adhere to certain chstomary days and hours for the celebration of specific (feasts) and the performance of certain duties and activities. To these, among others, belonged repairing to some church on Sunday for Mass and the reception of the Sacraments( cf. chap, xx, Excursus
I II), the observance of the customary prayer periods, and other usages which, according to primitive custom, even lay Chrisians were expectedto observe
(cf. chap, xvi, Excursus I). Many a hermit spent the night in prayer. In most instances they combined their prayers with the weaving of mats, ropes, and baskets.
The cenobite, on the other hand, was bound to the daily order as deter mined by his abbot and the prescriptions of his rule. In the monasteries of St. Pachomius, the "Vigils," or Night Office, as well as the "little hours" during the day were still left to the private zeal of the monks. There were, however, two common prayer periods, one at the hour of "cock-crow" (after midnight and before sunrise) and another at "lamp-lighting time" in the eve ning (Cassian, Institutes iii, 2f). Although the monks from all the "houses" were present for the celebration of the Eucharist on Saturday evening and early Sunday morning, as well as for the two common prayer periods on Sun day, the monks of the individual cloisters of the confederation observed these common prayer periods for themselves during the week. Yet there was still much time left over for manual labor, private prayer, and spiritual reading.
The abbot of the federation was supposed to hold one conference for all monks on Saturday and two on Sunday, while the superior of each separate cloister had to give an instruction to the monks under him on Wednesdays and Fridays. The subject of these conferences was in the main taken from the Scriptures. But dogmatic topics were dwelt upon as well. At the end of the talks, the monks could also by questions and mutual discussions clarify in their
minds the matters treated and fix them more firmly in memory. Two common repasts, or meal times, were also customary in Pakhome's cloisters. The first took place soon after midday and the second, really the principal meal of the day, in the evening. On Wednesdays and Fridays, which, according to primi tive Church regulations, were observed as days of fast in all the houses, the midday meal fell away. For ascetic reasons, a monk could stay away from the midday meal permanently.
In St. Basil's cloisters, prayer in common was already regulated more in detail. He was acquainted with seven periods of prayer (cf. chap, xvi, Excur sus I.). Manual labor, which in Pakhome's federation occupied a large part of the time, was, however, somewhat restricted.
All monks, hermits as well as cenobites, gave as a rule special attention to the Scriptures. Many monks knew the entire 150 psalms by heart. It has been related of some, and credibly so, that they had memorized all the books of the Bible (cf. Palladius, Vitae Pat rum, xi, xviii, xxvi, xxxvii, and lviii). Thus it was said of the monks of Pachomius that "they learnt the whole of the Scriptures by heart" (loc. cit. xxxii). At all events, it was old-monastic practice to commit extensive sections of the Bible to memory.
Alongside the Scriptures, the writings of the Church Fathers were at times given their share of attention and study. Palladius tells of an ascetic nun,
Silvania by name—perhaps he had in mind Melania the Elder (f 410)—that she was possessed of a deep understanding and of so ardent a desire for knowledge and culture that she turned the nights into days with her assiduous preoccupation with the literary monuments of the ancients; thus she had memorized three million lines from Origen and all 25 thousand lines from Gregory (Nazianzen), Stephanus, Pierius, Basil, and other noteworthy authors.
She had not been satisfied with reading them once and cursorily, but studied each book with marked attention seven or eight times (loc. cit. ivj. He relates also of Ammonius the Tall: "This man knew both the Old and the New Test aments by heart and had busied himself so zealously with the writings of such learned men as Origen, Pierius. Didymus, and Stephanus that, according to the testimony of the desert fathers, he had read six million (lines) of their works" (Ibid. loc. cit., xi). But one monk, who had committed 14 books of the Scriptures to memory, could not in a crucial moment during a lecture remem ber a single line. The Holy Rule takes the practice of memorizing parts of the Holy Scriptures as a matter of course (cf. chap, x, 13).
In his monasteries St. Augustine had endeavored to bring about a harmo nious blending of manual labor with public and private prayer, as well as with public and private spiritual reading. The libraries of his monasteries and convents contained, besides the Holy Scriptures, his own numerous works. He placed spiritual reading on the same level with prayer. "When you pray," he said, "you speak with God. When you read, God speaks to you" (On Ps.
Ixxxv, 7).
Of all the old monastic rules, the Holy Rule furnished the most detailed criteria for determining the daily monastic routine. Still, there remain certain obscurities arising from a few of its summary provisions. St. Benedict takes many a thing for granted that is unknown to us now. From what we have said a few pages back about the older reckoning of time, we know that there were two flexible daily orders observed at Montecassino. The Holy Rule dis tinguishes between two main divisions of the year: the winter season and the summer period. An important segment of the winter season was Lent, or the 40 days of fast. The summer period began with Easter. About the beginning
Of the winter season, there is an obscurity, since the instructions of the Rule seem to be somewhat contradictory. It is possible that the Rule wishes three stages of the winter order to be kept in mind here: the 14th of September as the beginning of the monastic fast days after the mitigation of the summer order; the first of October as the beginning of the daily schedule for manual labor during the winter months; and the first of November as the beginning of the earlier rising and the longer night offices (P. Buddenborg).
The Winter Order.—The monks rose about 2:00 A.M. They then went im mediately clothed as they had slept in the habits, which were probably not much different from those that they wore during the day (cf. chap, lv, 22), to the night office (night-watches, vigilia, nocturnae—our modern Matins). In the summer time these lasted perhaps an hour, in the winter time up to an hour longer.* After the night office there came after an interval—which was rather long in winter, in summer much shorter—the morning office or Lauds
(Landes), then called Matins (Matutini). These were held at the break of day, or dawn (Aurora). The time between the night-watches (Nocturnae) and the morning office was given to spiritual activities (chap. viii). Shortly after this, there undoubtedly followed the office of Prime (hora prima), so timed that it would come at the end of the first hour. It must be observed here that the Rule in the timing of the so-called little hours (Prime, Tierce, Sext, and Nones), which, in keeping with their names were to be performed at the first, third, sixth, and ninth hours, must have permitted a certain degree of latitude in their timing (cf. e.g., chap, xlviii). After Prime the time was devoted to reading until the hour of Tierce, to begin about 9:08 according to our reckoning. After Tierce came manual labor, which was to go on—interrupted only by the hour of Sext (to begin about 11:17 A.M.)—until the hour of Nones (about 1:20
P.M.), after which the monks took their one meal of the day (at about 2:00
P.M.). The meal, finished, they again occupied themselves with "reading," that is, with the study of the psalms and with the writings of the "Fathers" until Vespers (formerly called "evensong" and still so referred to by Highchurch Anglicans) was to be so timed that it could come to an end about sun down. The day closed during the evening twilight with the reading of Cas- * (The longer duration of the night office at the time of St. Benedict, as compared with the time it takes to recite our office, seems to point to the fact that the
ian's "Conferences." Before the setting in of complete darkness, came the monk's "night prayers," or the comparatively short office of Compline (chap, xlii). (These were undoubtedly chanted by heart in the early darkness, since they had long been memorized, as they were the same from day to day.
The translator) The monks then retired for the night.
The Order for Lent—Since Lent was a part of the winter season, it be longed essentially to the winter order. A few variations, however, must be noted: The reading after Prime lasted until Tierce, which was held at the be ginning of the fourth hour, that is, about 9:51 A.M. instead of at 9:08 A.M.
Only then did the monks go about their manual tasks, which lasted, inter rupted as a matter of course by the office of Sext, until the tenth hour, that is, until 2:00 P.M. At the beginning of the eleventh hour (2:40 P.M.), came the Office of Nones. Vespers were begun at the twelfth hour (about 3:20 P.M.), after which came the day's one and only meal (about 4:00 P.M.), followed by the reading of Cassian's "Conferences" almost immediately, and then Com pline.
The Summer Order.—With the Feast of Easter there began a considerably different order of the day. The hour for rising had to be so timed that the Vigils, or as we say Matins, could be finished by dawn. After a short interval the Matutini (our Lauds) were to be started and to be chanted during the dawn hours. There was a bit of a time-interval between sunrise and Prime, which was to take place at the end of the first hour, or about 5:20 A.M. After the office of Prime the time was given over to manual labor rather than to reading. This lasted until Tierce, which was begun at the end of the third hour (or about 8:00 A.M.). From the beginning of the fifth hour (9:20 A.M.), the brethren occupied themselves with reading until near the end of the sixth hour, when they chanted Sext, but early enough so that the midday meal could be eaten as nearly as possible at the beginning of the seventh hour, or about 12:00 o'clock. After the meal the brethren could, if they wished, rest until
Nones, to be held about the middle of the eighth hour, that is, about an hour and a half before the ninth hour, or approximately 2:00 P.M. The brethren then remained at their tasks until Vespers, which were chanted early enough so that the evening meal, reading of the "Conferences," and Compline could all be over before darkness came on.
The daily order in the cloister, like the monastic order after the 14th of September, had to be modified somewhat on account of the monastic fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays. The time immediately after Sext which, during the summer and early autumn had been given to the midday meal, was now per haps devoted to reading. It is possible that the little hour of Sext was also postponed somewhat. After Nones possibly a half hour (40 minutes) was sub tracted from the labor period for the day's one meal. And because the eve ning meal fell away, Vespers were likewise chanted somewhat later.
Vigils and the other offices were then chanted. The translator)
Order for Sundays and Feast Days.—The daily order which we have thus far outlined held good only for weekdays. Sundays and Holy Days as well as feasts of the Saints had their own arrangement and schedule. On account of the shorter nights and the longer night-office on such days, the monks had to rise considerably earlier in the summer than at the eighth hour of the night.
Lauds, Prime, Tierce, Sext, and Nones, as their names indicate, could then be sung at the prescribed hours. The Eucharistic Sacrifice was celebrated be tween the hours of Tierce and Sext. Evensong and Compline were chanted as on all the other days of summer. All the time that remained free between the periods of prayer was devoted to spiritual reading. Those monks who could not or did not care to read were expected to keep themselves busy with some kind of manual activity (cf. chap, xlviii).
The most precious hours of the day or of the night, of course, were the hours dedicated to the "Work of God". But the day's occupations of every kind were constantly being sanctified at intervals by a period of prayer. As a matter of prudence, while the heart of the day was taken up with manual labor, the morning and evening hours in the daily order were set aside for spiritual reading. Only during the hot summer days were the midday hours devoted to spiritual reading, while the cooler periods were reserved for manual labor. Proportionately more time was given to manual labor during this sea son of the year. In the winter months, however, the ratio was reversed. More time was then given to reading than to work. The original order, or schedule, of the daily routine as outlined in the Holy Rule is without doubt no longer in use in any of our abbeys at the present time, although attempts have been made from time to time in the course of the centuries to get back to it.
The daily routine of the Holy Rule is a beautiful example of the discretio as exercised by the Patriarch of Montccassino. The periods of prayer, spiritual reading, and manual labor were planned with contemporary conditions in mind and display a wise tempering of old-monastic severity with an up-todate mildness. St Benedict was an adept at fitting the routine of monastic life into the divinely created rhythm of the world's natural pace. However, even if the Rule can no longer be followed to the letter, it still has its "worth as a standard to go by" (P. Buddenborg).