Monastic Life HON 300 (Norton) • [slide 2] January 20 - St. Fabian & Sebasian • [slide 3] St. Fabian • Pope from 236-250 ACE • Legend has it that he was a layman who happened to be in Rome for the election of the new Pope • A dove descended on his head • Others saw this as a sign from God & was unanimously elected Pope • Sent out churchmen to Christianize Gaul (France) • Martyred by beheading during the persecution under Emperor Decius - Jan 20, 250 • St. Sebastian • Roman soldier from what is now Narbonne in France • Educated in Milan • Actively Christian during Roman persecutions of the third century • Executed by Diocletion • Emperor commanded that Sebastian be led to a field & bound to a stake & then shot with arrows until he was as full of arrows as a hedgehog • When his body was retrieved for burial, they found that he was still alive, and he was taken home & nursed back to health. • He later stood on a step & harangued the Emperor as he passed by • The Emperor had him beaten to death with clubs the second time • [slide 4] St. Agnes (Jan 21) - (Virgin and Martyr) • Born around 291, Died around 304 ACE • Member of Roman nobility • Martyred at the age of 12 or 13 during the Diocletian persecutions • Same as Sebastian • She refused to marry the son of the Prefect, so he condemned her to death. • Since Roman law did not allow the execution of virgins, she was dragged, naked through the streats to a brothel • As she prayed, her hair grew and covered her body. • All of the men who attempted to rape her were immediately struck blind. • They tried to burn her at the stake, but the bundle of wood would not light. • So the officer in charge drew his sword & beheaded her. • [slides 5–6] Her bones are kept in the 17th-century church of Saint Agnes in Rome, build over the catacomb that housed her tomb. • [slide 7] Monastic life largely governed by the Rule of St. Benedict (480- 547 ACE) • Written for his monks at Montecassino (Italy) • Very practical - dealt with day to day issues in an even-handed way • Not as strict as other attempts at monastic rules • [slide 8] Day governed 8 prayer services • Called “Canonical Hours,” or just “Hours” • Divisions: • By time of Day • Nocturnal • Matins (middle of the night - the 8th hour according the the Rule of St. Benedict) • Lauds (ends at dawn) • Diurnal • Prime, Terce, Sext, None (1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th hours) • Vespers (before evening meal) • Compline (before bed) • By Importance • Greater Hours • Vespers, Matins, Lauds • Lesser Hours • Prime, Terce, Sext, None • Compline • [slide 9] Other rules would follow, many based on, or extensions of, the Rule of St. Benedict • Cluniac – 10th century and beyond • First attempt at forming a congregation, monasteries under the rule of the Abbot of Cluny • Benedictine, wear standard black habits • All follow the same (in theory) liturgical order, although adjusted for local practice • Last church at Cluny (Cluny III to art historians) dismantled after the French Revolution • Cistercian • Founded 1098 at the monastery of Cîteaux, near Dijon in eastern France. • Known as the “White Monks” (white habits as opposed to the black habits of Benedictines) • Still follow the Rule of St. Benedict, although more strictly • St. Bernard of Clairveaux is probably the most famous, well known, Cistercian monk • Carthusian • Founded by St. Bruno of Cologne in 1084 as hermitage in the valley of the Chartreuse mountains in the French Alps • Combines life of monk (communal living) with that of hermit. • Follows Statutes of St. Bruno • “Charterhouse” (name of the monastery) and “Carthusian” taken from the name of the mountains where first settled • [slide 10] Visiting a Carthusian Monastery (Italian documentary about life in a contemporary Carthusian monastery (or charterhouse - 1st of 4 parts) • Things to notice (and some terms) • Cologne (Köln), Germany: city on the Rhine river (NW Germany) • Reims (France): city in NE France - where the French kings were coronated • Cenobites - monks who live in common • Eremites - hermits • Conversi - lay brothers • The night office (Matins) • Choir: 2 sets of stalls facing each other. • Common meal - silence with a public reading • What do you notice? What is puzzling? What is interesting? Glossary • Benedictine Monks • Benedictine Rule (Benedicts’s Rule for Monks) • Carthusian Monks • Cenobite • Charterhouse • Choir (the place) • Cistercian Monks • Conversi (Lay Brothers) • Conversion of St. Paul (Jan. 25) • Divine Office (hours) • Vespers • Compline • Matins • Lauds • Prime • Terce • Sext • Nones • [Vespers] • [Compline] • Eremite • Mass • St. Benedict • St. Bruno of Cologne • St. Bernard of Clairveaux.