AN EPITOME OF THE RULE OBSERVED AT MELLIFONT AT ITS FOUNDATION AND FOR
ABOUT A CENTURY AND A HALF AFTERWARDS.
"Here man more purely lives; less oft doth fall;
More promptly rises; walks with stricter heed;
More safely rests; dies happier; is freed
Earlier from cleansing fires; and gains withal
A brighter crown."
(_Saint Bernard._)
In the foregoing verses St. Bernard summarises the manifold advantages
accruing from the profession and practice of the rule which he and his
fellow abbots drew up for their followers. In that age of chivalry and
wide extremes, men's minds were profoundly moved by the world-wide
reputation and discourses of an outspoken, fearless monk, who confirmed
his words by incontestable and stupendous miracles. Then, it was nothing
unusual to see the impious sinner of yesterday become a meek repentant
suppliant for admission into some monastery to-day, where he could expiate
and atone for his former grievous excesses. The innocent, also, sought the
shelter of the cloister from the contaminating influences of a corrupt and
corrupting world; and in the spirit of sacrifice presented themselves as
victims to God's outraged justice. At that same period, that is, about the
middle of the twelfth century, there was witnessed an unwonted movement
towards monasticism in its regenerated condition, as the Church Annals
abundantly testify. This happy tendency was mainly due to St. Bernard's
influence and popularity, and was well illustrated by the saying of the
historian: "The whole world became Cistercian."
In essaying to reform St. Benedict's Rule, the first Fathers of the
Cistercian Order sought only to restore its primitive simplicity and
austerity, but they, nevertheless, added some wise provisions which
established their reform on a firm basis, and which the experience of ages
proved to be indispensable. First of all, it was ordained, that all houses
of the Order should be united under one central controlling power, and
that all the Superiors should meet annually for deliberation on matters
appertaining to the maintenance of discipline and the correction of
abuses. This assembly was called the General Chapter, over which the Abbot
of Citeaux presided as recognised head of the Order. Till then, no such
institution existed, and an Abbot General, as we may call him, had it in
his power, from incapacity or any other cause, to disorganise a whole
Order. Under the General Chapter such a catastrophe was impossible.
Besides this wise enactment, St. Stephen drew up what he called the "Chart
of Charity," by which it was ordained that the abbot of a monastery who
had filiations (that is, offshoots or houses founded directly from that
monastery) subject to him, should visit them annually either in person or
by proxy, and minutely inquire into their spiritual, disciplinary, and
financial condition. The abbots of those filiations were bound to return
the visit during the year; but they did so in quality of guest and not as
"Visitor," the official title of the Abbot of the Parent House; or,
"Immediate Father," as he is called. Thus the bands of discipline were
kept tightly drawn, and harmony, with uniformity of observance, was
maintained throughout the entire Order.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF LAVABO (OCTAGON.) See p. 26. _From Photo by W.
Lawrence, Dublin._]
The denizens of the Cloister at that time consisted of two great classes,
who, indeed, enjoyed alike all the advantages of the state, but differed
in their functions and employments. One was busied with the cares of
Martha, the other was admitted to the privilege of Mary. The former were
employed chiefly in domestic duties, and various trades, and were
entrusted with the charge of the granges or outlying farms. These were the
Lay Brothers. Frequently their ranks were augmented by the noble and the
learned, who, unnoticed and unknown till their holy death, guided the
plough, delved the soil, or tended the sheep and oxen in the glades of the
forest. The other class resided in the monastery and devoted their time to
the chanting of the Divine Office, alternating with study in the Cloister
and manual labour in the fields and gardens. These were the choir monks.
Their dress was white. By vigorous toil and strict economy, these good old
monks wrested a competency from their farms, and freely shared their
substance with the needy and the stranger. They exhibited to an astonished
world a practical refutation of its corrupt maxims and habits. Thus by
their very lives, they preached most efficaciously; for by their contempt
of worldly honours and pleasures they gave proof abundant of the faith
that enlightened them to recognise the sublimity of the Gospel truths; of
the hope that sustained them to courageously endure temporal privations
for the sake of future rewards; and of the charity that prompted them to
liken themselves to Jesus Christ, their Master, who, being rich, became
poor for their sakes. Some may be inclined to consider all this as the
effect of monkish extravagance, weak-mindedness, and folly; but modern
investigation, instituted and carried to a successful issue by honest
Protestant writers, has brushed aside such calumnies as hackneyed
catch-words, and has proved that beneath the monk's cowl, there were found
hearts as warm and minds as broad as in any state or grade of society. It
must also be remembered, that for centuries the monks were the teachers
who moulded and fashioned the youth of the upper and middle classes.
Two o'clock A.M. was the usual hour for rising, when the monks, obedient
to the Sacristan's signal, rising from their straw pallets and slipping on
their sandals (for they slept fully dressed, as the poorer classes of the
time are said to have done,) they left the Dormitory by the stairs that
led down to the southern transept, and proceeding noiselessly, they
reached the Choir where they immediately renewed the oblation of
themselves to God. Then the Office of Matins was commenced, and it with
Lauds occupied about one hour. On solemn festivals the monks rose at
midnight, and the Office lasted over three hours; for then the whole of it
was sung. Matins and Lauds over, they proceeded to the Reading-cloister to
study the Psalms, or Sacred Scripture, or the Fathers: some prolonged
their devotions in the church, where with clean, uplifted hands, they
became powerful mediators between God and His creatures; too many of whom,
alas, ignore their personal obligations. At that time, too, the priests
might celebrate their Masses, as the ancient Rule gave them liberty to
select that hour if they felt so inclined. We do not know how many priests
were amongst the Religious at Mellifont soon after its establishment, but
they must have numbered about twenty, since there were ten altars in the
church. And judging by the number of priests in other monasteries of the
Order at that period, this figure is not too high. We know that in 1147,
there were fifty priests at least at Pontigny, one of the four first
houses of the Order. About five o'clock the monks assembled in Choir for
Prime, after which they went to Chapter, where the Martyrology and portion
of the Rule were sung, as has been already explained. Chapter over, they
entered the Auditorium, where they took off and hung up their cowls, and
each went thence to the manual labour assigned him by the Prior. In
winter, nearly all went out to work in the fields, grubbing up brushwood
and burning it, and so preparing the ground for cultivation. After some
hours spent in labour, they returned to the monastery where they had time
for reading; they then went to Choir for Tierce and High Mass. During
winter the Mass was sung before going out to work. In summer they dined at
11.30, after which an hour was allowed for repose, and None being sung
they resumed their labour in the fields. In winter, dinner was at
half-past two; the evening was spent in study and in chanting the Offices
of Vespers and Compline, and at seven they retired to rest. In summer the
hour for repose was eight o'clock. The Office of Completorium or Compline
always closed the exercises of the day, and all passed before the Abbot,
from whom they received holy water as they left the church. Each went
straight to his simple couch where sweet repose awaited him after his day
of toil and penitential works. His frugal vegetable fare, without
seasoning or condiment, barely sufficed for the wants of nature, and even
this was sparingly doled out to him; for during the winter exercises, that
is, from the 14th of September to Easter, he got only one refection daily
except on Sundays, when he always got two. Wine, though allowed in small
quantities at meals in countries where it was the common drink, was not
permitted here, but in its stead, the monks used beer of their own
brewing. Their raiment consisted of a white woollen tunic of coarse
material and a strip of black cloth over the shoulders, and reaching to
below the knees, gathered in at the waist with a leathern girdle. Over
these, when not employed in manual labour, was worn the long white garment
with wide sleeves, called the cowl. The tunic was the ordinary dress of
peasantry in the twelfth century, and was retained by the reformers of St.
Benedict's Rule, partly because it was the prescribed dress of the monks,
and partly as an incentive to humility; a mark of the perfect equality
which reigned in monasteries, and which removed all distinction of class.
[Illustration: ARCH OF LAVABO (OCTAGON.) See p. 26. _From Photo by W.
Lawrence, Dublin._]
Such was the ordinary routine of life led at Mellifont, but then certain
officials filled important offices which necessarily brought them in
constant contact with the outer world. Such, for instance, was the
Cellarer, who had charge under the Abbot of the temporalities of the
monastery, and catered for all the wants of the community. Some were
deputed to wait on the guests and strangers, while others cared the sick
poor in the hospice with all charity and tenderness. For the maintenance
of the sick poor large tracts of land or revenues arising from
house-property were very often bequeathed by pious people, and the monks
were then their almoners; but, with or without such a provision from
outside, the monks did maintain these establishments from their own
resources.
The Abbot entertained the guests of the monastery at his own table,
dispensing to them such frugal fare as was in keeping with the Rule; for
meat was not allowed to be served, except to the sick. He had his kitchen
and dining-hall apart, but in every other respect, he shared in all the
exercises with his brethren. Though he occupied the place of honour and of
pre-eminence in the monastery, yet he was constantly reminded in the
Rule, that he must not lord it over his monks, but must cherish them as a
tender parent. His object in all his ordinances should be to promote the
welfare of the flock entrusted to him, for which he should render an
account on the last day.
From this relation of the manner of life at Mellifont, we see that it was
in strict conformity with St. Bernard's definition of the Cistercian
Institute, when he writes: "Our Order is humility, peace, and joy in the
Holy Ghost. Our Order is silence, fasting, prayer, and labour, and above
all, to hold the more excellent way, which is charity."