Chapter 50
FIFTIETH CHAPTER
Brethren who labor jar from the Oratory or are on a Journey Brethren who are working at quite some distance from the monastery and cannot come to the oratory at the proper hour— and the abbot shall be the judge in such cases—should perform the work of God where they are working, and on bended knees in the fear of the Lord.1
Likewise, tnose who have been sent on a journey should not let these appointed hours of prayer pass by unnoticed and should not neglect, in as far as this is possible, to perform in private their daily labor as bondservants of the Lord.
FIFTY-FIRST CHAPTER
Brethren who do not go far away A brother who is sent out of the cloister for any purpose at all and expects to return the same day should not presume to dine outside, even if he is urgently solicited by someone to do so, unless, perhaps he has received specific instructions in this respect from the abbot.2 Should he act otherwise, let him be ex communicated
FIFTY-SECOND CHAPTER
The Oratory of the Monastery Let the oratory be what its name implies (a place for prayer), and let nothing else be done there or kept there.3
1 St. Pachomius gave his monks similar directions (Rule 142).
2 Cf. Dialogues of St. Gregory II, xii. Cassian tells of two young monks, who had been sent out to bring a parcel of figs to a sick hermit in the desert. But while wandering about there (trying to find their way), they became lost and starved to death. "They preferred to sacrifice their lives rather than give up the good (deed) entrusted to them and to lose their temporal existence rather than disobey the command of their superior." (Intitutes v, 40). (Modern conditions and circum stances, not to speak of the prevailing customs in most Congregations, have con siderably mitigated the rigor of this precept. The translator)
3 If the early monks (during the hours of prayer in common) worked at some manual craft in the oratory, it must have occurred primarily in order to offset the
When the Work of God has come to an end, let the brethren all leave in the deepest silence, and let reverence for God be observed, so that a brother who may want to pray in private without hindrance may not be disturbed by another's miscon duct.
Should one, however, perhaps wish to pray there more by himself at other times, let him simply go in and pray, but with tears and fervor of heart.1 Consequently, should another not wish to do likewise, let him not be allowed, as we have said, to remain in the oratory after the Work of God is over (or at other times), merely because he has nothing else to do, so that a brother may not have to put up with any disturbance.
Excursus.
Plan, or Lay-out, of the Cloister.—The hermit was entirely at liberty, not only to arrange his own order of the day, but also to choose his own type of dwell ing place. But even in this matter, we find that there was a manifold and color ful variety. There were those who lived in the ruins of some pagan temple; others dwelt in burial caves; while others spent their lives in caverns in the side of a cliff. Many built themselves cells far from any human habitation.
Some lived within sight and sound of fellow hermits. Others, again, had an extra cell for guests attached to their own. Many had a garden near or adja cent to their cells. Others, finally, had surrounded their humble abodes with a wall.
As we have said, Pachomius was the originator of the clausura, or sacred monastic enclosure. But his cloister must really have been a rather widespread effects of weariness or to ward off the urge to sleep, as the "Rule for Nuns" (Caesarius) still testifies (chap. xv). So far as we know, St. Augustine (f 430) was the first in the West who actually directed that the oratory be used exclusively for the purpose which its name indicated: "In the oratory no one should do anything except what the place is there for and from which it derives its name, so that such as want to do something else may not, outside the prescribed hours of common prayer, disturb those who wish to pray privately during their free moments" (Rule
3). The oratory served as a place for one's personal as well as the common prayer of the brethren. Since St. Benedict had not allotted private cells for his monks and had arranged only for community rooms (such as refectory, dormitory, and in some cases also a separate living room), the oratory must have had a decided significance in their lives of prayer. In a very special manner, the monks there lived in the presence and the nearness of God (cf. chaps, xix & xx). The oratory was the center and source from which their monastic life derived its consecration.
For there really began their true monastic existence (cf. chap. lix). Cf. also Dia logues of St. Gregory II, xxxvii. St. Benedict spent the last moments of his earthly life in the oratory.
1 Cf. chapter xx, Excursus I.