Chapter 53
lay-out. Apart from the buildings which served the entire community, such as the church, the refectory, kitchen, wardrobe, library, infirmary, and guest house, each craft had its own structure. And in contrast to St. Benedict,
Pachomius assigned a separate cell to each monk, and this had to be left al ways unlocked. Besides the oratory, St. Benedict really provided for only one room, which served a group of 10 to 20 monks each as a community room, re fectory, and dormitory (a simple and humble arrangement indeed). The no vices had their own apartment (chap, lviii); but they took part with the rest of the monastic family in the common prayer of the choir. Like St. Pachomius,
St. Benedict demanded, wherever it was possible, that all the crafts be carried on inside the cloister walls (cf. chap. lxv). The Holy Rule does not indicate whether there was a scriptorium at Montecassinp. In all probability, a room for copying books was not wanting.
FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER
The Reception of Guests All guests that come should be received as would the person of Christ; for (then) he himself will say: "1 was a guest, and ye took me in" (Matt, xxv, 35). And let them be shown every pro per courtesy, especially those of the household of the faith (cf.
Gal. vi, 10) and strangers.
As soon as a guest has been announced, the superior or the brethren should hasten to meet him with every charitable ser vices;1 they should first pray together and then with the kiss of peace begin to associate with one another. The kiss of peace, however, should not be given before a prayer has been said, on account of the deceits of the devil.2 Let the greeting of the guests, both at their arrival and upon their departure, be done with every mark of humility, with bowed head or with one's
1 We are dealing here first of all with those monks who have been assigned for the time being to the duties of hospitality. When Archbishop Athanasius of Alex andria (f 373) arrived in the vicinity of Pakhome's monastery at Tabennisi, the patriarch with all his brethren went forth with great joy and jubilation of soul to welcome their metropolitan, chanting psalms and hymns. And there gathered about him a great throng of monks, thanking God for his presence amongst them"
(Second Life xxvi). Rufinus relates how the hermits, "like a swarm of bees, pour ed out of their cells to greet their guests with all solemnity and to lead them into the cloister" (Historia Monachorum xxi).
2 These monastic tales often make a point of emphasizing how demons in partic ular wormed their way into the cloister in a variety of deceptive shapes and mon astic disguises, in order to stir up mischief there. The same was said of heretics, bad monks, and bogus hermits. St. Pachomius could penerate the disguises of heretical monks. St. Benedict also knew how often monastic hospitality was like ly to be abused (chap. i).
whole body prostrate upon the ground, thus honoring in him the person of Christ, who is really being so received.
After the guests have been welcomed, they shall be led or in duced to pray, and after that let the superior, or one of the brethren appointed by him, sit with them. The law of God should (then) be read in the presence of the guest, so that he may be edified. Thereupon let every courtesy and kindness be shown him.
The fast may also be broken by the superior out of con sideration for the guest, unless it be a special fast such as may not be violated.1 The other brethren, however, should observe the customary duty of fasting.
The abbot (alone) should pour water upon the hands of the guests. But the abbot and all the community shall wash the feet of all the guests. After the feet of the guests have been washed, let them recite this verse: "We have received thy mercy, O
Lord, in the midst of thy temple" (Ps. xlvii, 10). Let most con scientious care be shown to the poor and to strangers,2 be cause in them Christ is truly welcome; for the powerful im pression which wealth and high station inspire creates its own peculiar esteem.
Let the kitchen of the abbot and guests be (in a place) apart, so that the brethren may not be disturbed at unseasonable hours by the arrival of guests, who are never wanting in a monastery.
In this kitchen two of the brethren, who can discharge this task most qbly, should be appointed for the year. Let these be pro vided with help as they need it. so that they may do their work without murmuring; and then, again, when they have less work to do there, let them go elsewhere to the tasks assigned them.
And this consideration shall be had not only for them but also for (the incumbents of) the other offices in the cloister: namely, that they be given adequate assistance as it is needed and that 1 Cassian appealed to a passage in St. Mark (chap, ii, 19) to justify his decision to break his fast upon the arrival of guests. The guest, he said, was to be received like Christ, the bridegroom, in whose presence one should not fast (Institutes v,
24; and Conferense xxi, 14).
2 The word peregrinus (a wanderer) may also mean a pilgrim. Celebrated desert abbots and their monasteries were not in existence long before they became the goal of many pilgrimages and individual pilgrims. Occasionally, however, mere strangers and wanderers also made use of monastic hospitality.
when they are once more free, that they may be available for other tasks of obedience.
Likewise, let there be assigned to the guest house a brother whose soul is filled with the fear of God.2 And let a sufficent number of beds always be ready there. Thus let the House of God be managed prudently by prudent men.
Let no brother, however, unless he has been so instructed, as sociate with the guests in any way or enter into conversation with them; but should a monk see one or meet one, let him greet the guest humbly, as we have said, ask him for a blessing, and (should he be spoken to), go on his way, remarking that it is not permitted to converse with a guest.1
Excursus 1.
/ Guests.—Hospitality was one of the characteristic traits of the cenobites as well as of the hermits. Of course, there were anchorites who strictly avoided every contact with "the World." Thus the hermit Arsenius declined to grant the request of Theophilus (f 412), Archbishop of Alexandria, for a visit. The reason for this attitude was a fear that they might lose their interior peace and recollection and be enticed back to the world. For this reason, too, the visits of other hermits were at times distracting and unwelcome. On the other hand, many hermits had attached to their cell or near it an extra room for guests. Theodoret of Cyrus (f c. 460), in his Historia Monastica, tells of one abbot, later Bishop Abraham, that "while he kept his body under strict as cetic discipline—he had no need for the arts of either a cook or a baker—he nevertheless took more than ordinary care of others. He always had a bed
2 According to old-monastic custom, each cloister had its guest master, to whom was given the care of all guests (Cassian, Institutes iv, 7). This monk, too, had assistants. St. Benedict prescribed that he be a man filled with the fear of God and endowed with the same qualifications as the cellarer (chap, xxxi) and the warden of the infirmary (xxxvi). To a large extent it depended upon the guest master whether the guests had been edified when they left the precincts of the cloister. As far as the old monachism was concerned, the relation with its guests was probably the only possible occasion for the "world" to insinuate its way into the monastery. Two of the brethren were appointed for the term of a year to look after the cooking and kitchen of the abbot and his guests, and these two had to have a fair acquaintance with the culinary art. The Rule did not require any special cooking or serving talents from the servers in the community kitchen anil refectory (cf. chap. xxxv). St. Benedict, however, did demand more than ordinary ability from the weekly reader and from those who did the chanting and intoning in the oratory (cf. chap, xxxviii & xlvii; also chap, lvi, comment 1).
' In this day and age it is no longer possible to observe all the prescriptions so minutely described in this chapter, particularly the details dealing with the solemn reception of guests and the washing of their hands and feet.
made up and ready for visiting strangers. At meals he set before them the finest and choicest of breads, fragrant wine, fish, vegetables, and everything else that went with such a repast. He himself sat down with them when they stayed for a midday meal and served each guest from the dishes on the table.
Indeed, like another patriarch of the same name, who had waited upon strang ers, he handed them a beaker of wine and encouraged them to drink, although he himself neither ate nor drank along with them" (chapter xvii).
The early monks soon developed individual styles of association with their guests, which differed radically from the hospitality of worldings and were purely of a religious character. St. Benedict knew of usages in this re spect that were already well established, some of which he adopted. Rufinus of Aquileia (f 410) describes the hospitality of Abbot Apollonius in words that are almost identical with those we find in the Rule's chapter on guests
(Historia Monachorum vii). St. Jerome testified: "We have the duty of hospi tality very much at heart in our cloister. We receive all those who come to us in a friendly and joyful manner. We are afraid, namely, that Mary and Joseph may find no room at our inn, that Jesus himself may be locked out and may one day say to us: 'I was a guest (a stranger) and ye took me not in.' We re ceive everyone except heretics" (Apologia contra Rufinum III, xvii).
St. Pachomius erected his guest house near the portal, just inside the mon astic enclosure, for men visitors (monks, clerics, laymen, the poor and the sick). Most likely outside the cloister walls, but likewise near the portal, stood the hospice for women. Palladius (+ before 431) tells of a colony of hermits who had grouped themselves about a church. Near the "church stood a ho spice; here every stranger found a shelter, and was permitted to stay until he went away of his own free will, even if he remained for two or three years. On one day of the week he was left without anything to do; but on the other days he was sent to work in the gardens, the bakery, or the kitchen. If he could read, he was given a book and was not permitted to converse with anyone until the sixth hour" (Vitae Patrum vii).
Excursus II.
The Kiss of Peace.—The kiss of peace was a significant sign, symbolizing the common bonds of ecclesiastical life and charity in the primitive Church. "Sa lute one another with a holy kiss" (cf. Rom. xvi, 16; 1 Cor. xvi, 20; 2 Cor. xiii, 12; and Peter v, 14). The kiss of peace already held an established place in the liturgical worship of the Church at the time of the Apostles. It was placed originally at the end of the prayer service rather than at the be ginning of the Eucharistic worship. St. Justin of Rome (f 165) testified to this when he said: "Once we have ended our prayer service (on Sunday), let us greet one another with a kiss. After this let bread and a beaker of wine (mixed with water) be brought to the superior of the brethren" (Apologia I, Ixv). Ac cording to Tcrtullian (f 220), the kiss of peace meant the placing of a seal up on prayer (On prayer xviii). Hippolytus of Rome (f 238) denied the kiss of peace to the catechumens: "Your kiss of peace is not yet chaste," he said. After
baptism, however, they were immediately permitted to take part in all the ser vices of the faithful and exchange the kiss of peace with them (Apostolic Tra dition). Origen of Alexandria (f 251) defended "the custom of brethren giving one another the kisS of peace after prayer in the churches by appeal ing to the admonition of the Apostle that they should give one another the kiss of peace." The Apostle called this kiss holy. By using this word, he wish ed to instruct the faithful that the kisses given in the churches were chaste and that they were not hypocritical, as was the case with Judas . . . Let the kiss of the faithful be chaste; then let them show a sincere peace in honorable love"
(On Rom. x, 33).
As the liturgical services of the Church blended more and more with the Eucharistic worship, the kiss of peace also found its way into the heart of the Mass itself and thus grew to be an obvious preparation for Holy Communion.
It became, therefore, a very earnest admonition not to partake of the heaven ly bread without charity in one's heart. "You should not believe that this kiss," said Cyril of Jerusalem (f 386), "is the same sort of kiss that friends ex change in the market place . . . This kiss /hinds souls to one another and pledges one to forget all wrongs. It is a symbol of the union of souls and of the forgiveness of every injustice. Wherefore Christ said: 'If, therefore, thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy brother; and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift' (Matt, v, 23-24).
Consequently, the kiss also implies reconciliation and for that reason is holy"
(Funfte Mystag. Katechese). According to St. Augustine, "the kiss of peace is a great sacrament (i.e., a sacred thing). Kiss in such a manner that thou mayest have charity and not be a Judas. Judas, the traitor, kissed Christ with his mouth, but bore enmity for him in his heart." St. Gregory tells of certain hermits who, when their vessel, was threatened with shipwreck, "gave one an other the kiss of peace and received the Holy Eucharist, which they had brought with them" (Dialogues III, xxxvi).
Up to this very moment, the kiss of peace is ever in danger of being con sidered a mere external rite and is thereby losing its deepest significance. St.
Clement of Alexandria (f 215) as early as his day berated those Christians who exchanged the kiss of peace with loveless hearts: "If we have been call ed," he said, "to the kingdom of God, let us walk worthy of that kingdom in that we love God and our neighbor. You, however, let only the noise of your kisses reverberate in the churches, whilst charity does not dwell in you" (Der
Erzieher 111, Ixxxi).
It is obvious that the monastic Church of the Coenobium attributed con siderable importance to the kiss of peace in its ritual. It was also a symbol t'f an all-pervading life and charity in the monastic community. The Holy
Rule mentions it four times in the process of outlining its provisions: two times in the chapter on guests, once in the 63rd chapter, whee it ordains that the brethren bestow the kiss of peace upon one another in the order of their pro-
fession "as they approach the altar for Holy Communion;" and, finally, in a pithy phrase, once more in the fourth chapter, when it cautions them not to bestow a false kiss upon their fellow religious. Besides the liturgical kiss of peace in conjunction with the reception of Holy Communion, the old monachism also knew of the kiss of peace as it was practiced at the reception of guests (in addition to this 53rd chapter of the Rule, see also the 7th and 9th chapters of the Historia Monachorum by Rufinus). Through the kiss of peace, the guest was to a certain extent incorporated into the body of the community during the time of his sojourn among the brethren. If the Holy Rule does not deal expressly with this aspect of the subject, we can nevertheless assume, as the Rule of the Master does in its 89th chapter, that when the novice at his profession receives the kiss of peace from each individual brother and asks that brother to pray for him, he, too, is therewith acknowledged and received as a brother into the community (cf. chap, lviii).
The so-called Dionysius the Areopagite (or pseudo-Dionysius c. 500) was acquainted with this kiss at a monastic profession: "If a priest who blesses the monk and all the faithful present bestows the kiss of peace upon the newly professed, you may recognize in this the holy brotherhood of the God-like, who lovingly rejoice with one another in heavenly gladness" (Kirchliche Hierarchie VI, iv). The monk who had been excommunicated for some serious offense against the Rule was surely reconciled through a kiss of peace and therewith readmitted into the company of his brethren (cf. chap. xliv). Like wise, a reconciliation between two brothers who had been at odds with each other must have been sealed with a kiss of peace.
A prayer in an old manuscript that dates from the seventh century, but must surely go back to an earlier time, reads as follows: "O Lord, grant us all, who live together in this holy house, the grace to possess the peace that we bestow upon one another and to keep the peace that we have been given.
May peace ever remain with us even without a kiss, since a kiss without peace hath no lasting worth."
Excursus 111.
Benedictine Peace.—The Holy Rule refers four times more to the subject of peace without having the kiss of peace specifically in view. In the prologue it adjures us, in the words of the psalmist, "to seek peace and pursue it" (Ps. xxxiii, 15); in the fourth chapter: "after a quarrel to make peace with one's brother before sundown." In the 34th chapter it argues that the "evil of mur muring" is contrary to the worth-while ideal of peace: "and then all the mem bers will be at peace." Finally, in the 64th chapter it provides that the abbot, for the preservation of peace and charity, be left to dispose freely of the vari ous offices in the cloister.
Many of the Church Fathers have praised the happiness and the blessings of peace. But St. Augustine has penned probably the most beautiful and inspiring tribute to it with long paragraphs in the 19th book of his "City of God." He closes the "Confessions," which he had begun with a reference to his "rest-
less heart," with this prayer for peace: "O Lord, grant us peace—for thou hast given us all things—the peace of repose, the peace of thy Sabbath, the Sab bath without a sundown" (XIII, xxxv).
Under the term "Peace" we are to understand the normal and holy condi tion of a thing—for everything has its own kind of peace. In contrast to this normal and holy condition, there rampages among men those abnormalities which are the direct antitheses of that happy state: namely, contentions, un rest, disorder, war, and chaos. Where injustice, unkindness, unrest, disorder, and excess prevail, there can be no true and genuine peace. The "Roman
Peace," which Imperial Rome imposed upon her conquered peoples by force of arms, was in the last analysis not a true peace, may it have made these peoples participants in all the blessings of Roman civilization and culture, and may poets have praised it in eloquent words ever so loudly.
Peace means the whole extent of the messianic peace of the future, which was held up before the eyes of the chosen people by the psalmists (cf. Ps. lxxi, 7) and by the prophets (Isaias ix, 7-8). The Messias was called the "Prince of Peace," and "of his kingdom there shall be no end." In the word
"Peace," also, the Lord summed up the essence of the new happiness that he came to bring men: "Peace I leave with you, my peace 1 give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you" (John xiv, 27). The message of the an gels at the birth of the Savior was one of peace: "Peace on earth to men of good will" (Luke ii, 14). The word also occurs in conjunction with the greet ings and good wishes in most letters of the Apostles. Although the word, on the basis of a Graeco-Judaic custom, may be a translation of an every-day greeting common among the Jews and Greeks, that is, "hail" or "fare you well" (Jewish—shalom; Greek-chaire), in the mouth of the Apostles and in the primitive Church, it had the special meaning of peace with God, of the peace which, by the grace of God, comes to us through Christ (cf. Rom. v, 1).
According to St. Paul, "he is our peace" (Ephcs. ii, 14). Peace means the con dition of the new creation established by him. Granted us, again, through Christ, this peace is life, everlasting life, not ossification or death—is love, joy, tranquillity, and order. Peace is the yearning represented by all man's holiest desires and the fulfillment of them.
Of course, the peace which the Lord promised his Church is a boon of the future, that is, the Church will again and again experience it and hope for it. The same holds true of the monastic Church. The kiss of peace, which is a symbol of that peace, points ever in the direction of its future fulfillment, when all contentions, all unrest, and all disorders will have been overcome.
The monastic Church, too, will one day pass over into the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of peace (cf. the opening stanza of the Vesper hymn for the dedica tion of a church Urbs Jerusalem beata, etc.).
We do not find the words, "Benedictine Peace," as a'phrase with that connotation in the Holy Rule. But it is not essentially distinct from the peace with which the Lord promised to endow his Church. But as an ideal
exemplification of that Church, which the coenobium aims to be and must be, this "Benedictine Peace" or monastic peace should before everything else be come a reality in the coenobium of St. Benedict. The more faithfully the head and members of that monastic Church live up to the high ideals of their voca tion, the more may they hope that the happiness of this peace will blossom for them even upon this earth. "Benedictine Peace" connotes a grace and a heavy responsibility.
Excursus IV.
The Washing of Feet.—In the hot and dusty southlands, the washing of hands and feet was an obviously necessary act of bodily sanitation. The ser vers in the refectory and kitchen rendered this service of love each week to all the brethren (cf. chap. xxxv). The offering of water to the guests for their hands and feet was an open sign of consideration, esteem, and hospitality (cf.
Luke vii, 44). The washing of feet in particular was one of the earliest Christ ian customs, based as it was upon the example and recommendation of the Savior himself (John xiii, 1-17). In the very act of washing their feet, the Master disclosed to his infant Church his humility and his love. And the mo nastic Church did not wish to dispense with this deep symbol of selfless and humble charity. The Rule of St. Pachomius also based its prescription of washing the feet of arriving guests upon the precepts of the Gospel (chap. li).
St. Basil twitted the hermits, precisely because they were unable to follow the example of the Lord in this regard: "The Lord," he said, "out of the fullness of his abundant love, did not content himself with teaching his disciples by word of mouth, but also gave them a clear and unmistakble proof of his hu mility and perfect love by girding himself with a towel and washing their feet. If you live for yourself alone, whose feet will you wash, whom will you serve, after whom will you be the last" (Longer Rules vii, 4)? Rufinus gives us some beautiful examples of this services of charity in his Historia Monachorum (chaps, i & ii); (and the Holy Rule's 53rd chapter owes a literary debt to his 7th chapter, verses 9 & 21). Sulpicius Severus says of his visit to St. Martin of Tours: "He invited me to a meal at his holy table; he himself of fered me water for my hands, and in the evening he washed my feet himself.
I did not have the courage to resist or object, so much was I under the spell of his powerful personality" (Life of St. Martin xxv). The washing of feet in the evening was a common monastic practice, as was the washing of hands be fore meals.
In some branches of the Order and in most Congregations, the washing of feet is a custom only at the reception (clothing) of novices. In probably all
Congregations, it is still a custom on Holy Thursday.