Full text of "Mores Catholici: or Ages of Faith Volume 4"

I Y* T *-? 4 V. 



wll 

111 





MORES CATHOLICI; 



OR, 



AGES OF FAITH. 



BY 

H. KENELM DIGBY, 



VOLUME FOURTH 



CONTAINING 



BOOKS X. AND XI, 



NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO: 

BENZIGKR BROTHERS, 

PRINTERS TO THE HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE. 

1905 



SUMMARY 



BOOK X. 



CHAPTER I. 

Survey of the ages of faith in relation to the love of peace resumed The monasteries Their 
diffusion, proof of the pacific spirit Some of the most eminent enumerated The monks truly 
pacific men Therefore a review of the monasteries essential to the completion of the history 
commenced in the ninth book . . . . . . p. 9 

CHAPTER II. 

What was monastic life in general ? The question answered . . , p. 29 

CHAPTER III. 

What was the use of monasteries ? A brief reply given p. 37 

CHAPTER IV. 

Journey to the monasteries The site generally beautiful and favorable to peaceful impres 
sions Advantages from the locality The monks loved mountains, islands, forests, and, in gen 
eral, the beauties of nature around them, which they sought to sanctify p. 57 

CHAPTER V. 

The journey continued, and beguiled by narratives relative to the origin of some monas 
teries Arrival at the abbey . . . . . . . p. 83 

CHAPTER VI. 

The monastic buildings described The gate The exterior The offices, gardens, enclosures 
for herbs The fortifications of some abbeys explained Architectural beauty of many Sim 
plicity and poverty of the ancient The refectory The halls for hospitality The charity of 
the monks to strangers The interior decorations, paintings, images, inscriptions p. 101 



S U M M A K V. 

CHAPTER VII. 

The treasury-Jewels, plate, sacred vessels, antiquities, charters, holy relics p. 

CHAPTER VIII. 



The church-The monastic churches peculiarly impressive-Their charactei - 
aud regularity of their offices Advantages resulting from them to the people The toinhs- 
Their prodigious number in the monastic churches !iccounted for 

CHAPTER IX. 

The library Remarks and narratives relative to the monastic collections The scriptorium 
The employment of the monks connected witli it The schools Historical notices relatm- 
to them Remarks on the universities, and the relation iti which they stood to them. p. 171 



CHAPTERS 

Discipline of the monastery The rule, in what it essentially consisted The exterior &lt;&gt;}. 
ance Obedience The habit The fasts aud abstinence The silence The nocturnal vii;iN 
Study Manual labor ..... . p. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Reforms sometimes required Origin of abuses Influence of the world Interfered! 
the State The royal prisons within some monasteries Testimonies fioru ancient writers to 
the great sanctity of the monasteries in the middle ages General and special atte-tati 

p. 

CHAPTER XII. 

The visitors to abbeys What great scenes monasteries wit ne^ed Different classes of c 
described Some came to die, others to fly the desolations of war, others to seek peace of 
miud .... ... 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The convsrtites The call of men to a mon:isti state in ages of faith illustrated by the 
ings of the monks and by histories of memorable conversions . p. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The community in general The peculiar attributes of the monastic character Its simplic 
ity, cheerfulness, benignity, liberality, charity-Its opposition to the lUer.iry and social char 
acter of secular authors, philosophers, and politicians-Remarks on m.-m..ry and old age in 
the cloister-The unity and self-o nMstencv of the monastic character-: 

piety 

p. 



SU MM A III". iii 

CHAPTER XV. 

The monastic occupations Monks not idle men Idleness distinguished from the ability 
and desire to enjoy sanctified leisure The labors of the monks as missionaries, as redeemers 
of captives, a? ministers to the public in times of calamity The regular occupations Agri 
cultural and public works The monks as poets, musicians, and painters . p. 359 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Conversation in the cloister The ascetic wisdom of the monks Mysticism in the cloister 
Narratives of iraculous events Visions Familiar discourses and stories of the 
monks .... . . p. 379 

CHAPTER XVII. 

The peace of cloistral life Testimonies of monks Their friendship within and without 
the monastery Their attachment to their respective cells, houses, and orders The monastic 
diaries indicate contentment Monks of one order loved and revered those of another The 
peace and affection which subsisted between monks and the secular clergy Interruptions to 
this harmony Cases of exception The love evinced by bishops for religious orders The 
monastic exemptions explained Hostility to the monastic orders incompatible with faith, p. 408 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

The influence of the religious orders The monks were the friends of the poor Their ser 
vices to the great and to the whole community ..... p. 451 

CHAPTER XIX. 

A survey of the charters, to discover the sources of monastic wealth The motives of 
founders and benefactors Monasteries regarded as instruments of spiritual, social, and political 
peace The men who founded and protected them were of the number of the pacific Con 
clusion that in monasteries the world has seen a type of peace . . p. 468 

CHAPTER XX. 

Keturn from the monastery Visit hermits by the way The eremitical a distinct branch of 
the pacific family Hermits from earliest times The sites which they generally inhabited 
Their lives Employment and office in the Church The peace which they enjoyed with all 
creatures Descent from their mountain to the scenes to be presented in the next book, where 
the faithful suffer persecution for the sake of justice . . . . p. 497 



SUMMARY, 



BOOK XI. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introduction to the subject of the eighth beatitude How far the just were exempt from perse 
cution in Ages of faith The old experience of the world however still verified The true 
spirit of martyrdom prevailed in the middle ages The earnestness, resolution and courage of 
men Their fortitude; their chivalrous constancy Their rejection of the spirit of false peace and 
of selfish enjoyment Their detachment from earthly treasures ; they were indefatigable to act 
and to suffer like the primitive martyrs Many desired martyrdom Distinctions laid down 
They were to be actuated by the desire of pleasing God Their sacrifice was to be voluntary 
There was to be no needless defiance of danger They were to be pacific and obedient as 
far as was compatible with duty to God Contrast between the Catholic and Protestant spirit 
in this respect The obligation of patience enforced Charity was the root of their fortitude, 
men sought to imitate the passion of Christ Hence it was a supernatural heroism The 
spirit of martyrdom in the women of the middle ages And in yoath and childhood. p. 543 

CHAPTER II. 

Doctrine of the Ages of Faith respecting qualifications and distinctions required to consti 
tute martyrdom Security then against the modern errors as evinced in new mnrtyrologies, 
and in the English regicides-The cause was to be just, and not dependent on the judgment 
of man : but any cause of natural justice was deemed sufficient : hence men were deem, d 
martyrs for justice in government ; for wisdom and fortitude in the administration of states ; 
oya)ty to the legitimate sovereign ; for fidelity to the duty of protecting religion ; for re- 
ting the temptations of ambitinn-For justice, as ministers ofkintrs, and as magistrates, as 
; men, as scientific discoverers, as simple Outholios in the cnmmon walks of life, as 
children and youths from the harshness of n-arpnts and meters, as the poor from the cruelry 
the rich, as artisans from the tyranny of their employers, as servants from the harshness 
of masters, as subjects from unjust laws . . . . . , p. 582 

CHAPTER III. 

Doctrine of the Ages of Faith respecting the necessity of enduring persecution Testimony 
of the ancients -Reflections of the schoolmen History of the Christian persecution from the 



ii SU.MMARY. 

birth of Christ That of the primitive Church familiar to the memory of men in the middle 

ages Conflicts with paganism, with heresy in the second period of the Church : &gt;In 

their familiar themes ........ p. 606 

CHAPTER IV. 

Persecutions continued in the middle ages from pagans In two modes protracted By 
lingering opposition, by inva-ion, hy Javery, and by resisting mission: Persecution frmn 
Mahometans Caused the Crusades Persecution cf he slaves in Africa and Asia, md of the re 
ligious men who labored to redeem them Persecution cf the Chri-tian population by the de 
scent of pirates, and of the missionaries who preached to the MOOI- PVnecnti M of the 
Christians by the Jews By the Mauiciiaeans Traditions of their cruelty . p. ills 

CHAPTER V. 

Persecution incurred by admonishing wicked Christians All were b-und bv this duty 
Danger of correcting them Doctrine of the middle ages on tin s point Friend- \\ ive 

each other free counsel Character of the great Vigfinrre of the pep.- and of the H-lmp- m 
regard to them Examples of the sufferings of ho-y ni -n in COD* qtMQOfl f einieavoi.s t&lt;&gt; cor 
rect wicked princes Persecution incurred by preaching, and by the ordinary ftices of the 
pastoral care ........ j, &gt;; , i 

CHAPTER VI. 

Persecutions suffered by all Christians generally, when evincing eminent sanctity Writer- 
of the middle ages show that this was a necessary consequence Testimony of the anci. 
concurs In the Church the chaff must seek to oppress the wheat-Examples ,,f i,,,]y ,,,. r . 
suffering for being holy, for observing the commands of the Church, for d,,in- h:,t was 
right ; for being just ; for showing an example of Catholic mann. lenient, in 

consequence of which they are shunned and disliked Example of such treatrnent-On what 
grounds it amounts to persecution Persecution on account of sanctity followed men * 
within the cloister-Tepid and unworthy monks persecute their holy brethren for Iwinjj more 
holy, and for seeking to reform their own monasteries or orders Examples-Persecutions in 
curred generally in consequence of great spiritual wisdom Those who possi-s-cd it were de 
spised ns visionary and insane Experience and testimony of the ancient world Examples 
from Christian history Persecution of the holy by the just Examples -Its orit in and effects 
explained ... . . . p. ( 

CHAPTER VII. 

Persecution of the Church collectively by the world Bufferings of holy men incurred by 
defending its liberty The chief epoch distinguished Justice of this cause consi ien-d. in 
early times.in the case of St. Thomas of Canterbury in the caso of holy men defending the 
Church property Testimony of the contemporaries of St. Thomas Judgment of p not 

involved in the contest Judgment of the people p 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The general character of the perseciitors-The kin-s : their Instruments- I, -,. unworthy 



S U M M A K Y. iii 

priest?, men of blood Examples Their policy the same in all ages Their hatred of Rome 
Their arts to impede its aciiou ...... p. 717 

CHAPTER IX 

The heroic patience of those who defended the Church The moderation of the Holy See 
Its indulgence appears excessive Complaints in consequence during the struggle with lien. 
II. in England Its pacific exercise of authority Examples Courage of episcopacy Bishops 
encourage each other The meekness and humility of their deportment . p. 747 

CHAPTER X. 

The sufferings of the clergy for maintaining ecclesiastical liberty Persecution of the Holy 
See in consequence, and of the Church generally SS. Lanfranc, Anselm, Thomas, and his 
companions Spirit of these sufferers Their consolations Martyrdom of St. Thomas, and 
its results ..... ... p. 779 

CHAPTER XI. 

The combined action of all elements of persecution for justice, in the rise and progress of 
the heresy of the sixteenth century At all times heresies united in attacking the Catholic 
Church The persecution by the followers of Luther and Calvin Various causes of the hos 
tility of heresy pointed out Its destructive action Its persecution of the intelligence The cal 
amitous results of its progress Horrors of the persecution The spirit of mockery Its sanguin 
ary form Us legal form Heresy introduces discord and disturbs the pacific order of states 
The confusion consequent oc its propagation Heresy causes wars, religious, civil, and na 
tional wars Contrasts ........ p 796 

CHAPTER XII. 

The sufferings of the monks especially for justice The religious orders sprung from perse 
cution Tiie hatred of them evinced by the pagans, Arians, and Iconoclasts, by the profane 
society of the middle ages, by the violent and unjust, by the Protestants Destruction of the 
monasteries The work pursued in our age Persecution still assails the Church, as it must 
continue to do till the end of time In heaven the consummation . p.829 

CHAPTER XIII. 
The epilogue ... , . p.866 






9027 

MOEES CATHOLTCI; 



OR, 



AGES OF FAITH. 




THE TENTH BOOK. 

CHAPTER I. 

ancients used to say, as we find from the Gorgias of Plato, that it 
was not lawful to break off in the middle of a narrative, and leave it 
without a head, lest it should wander about spectre-like in that condition. 
In accordance with this Athenian fancy, which happens here to coincide 
with graver motives, we must proceed to place, as it were, the head on our 
last history, by commemorating a particular class of persons, who in a 
still more peculiar manner fulfilled the divine prophecy, " Sedebit populus meus 
in pulchritudine pacis, in tabernaculis fidticias, et in requie opulenta/** and whose 
lives seem to have been especially foreshown by the same great voice, declaring, 
"OpusjustitiaB pax : cultus justitisesilentium et securitas usque in sempitennim. 
My theme pursuing then, I have to speak of the multitudes whose steps the clois 
ter guarded during ages of faith ; for without an inti mate acquain ranee with their 
lives and customs, our history would be incomplete, and as it were headless ; 
since, after all, it was chiefly in monasteries that peace found its sincerest wor 
shippers, and the most devoted ministers to dispense and propagate it on earth ; for 
it was within their walls that all we have hitherto seen of peace and of pacific in 
fluence existed in the fullest perfection. Now lest any one should imagine that 
an inquiry into ihe spirit and manners of this separate world, (for the monastic 
life, in fact, constituted a world in itself,) would lead us aside to consider things 
of secondary importance to the general society of men, let us begin by observing 
the immense and universal character of these great institutions: for this people, 
so peculiarly seated in the beauty and plenitude of peace, was not confined to 

* I#. xxxii. 



10 



MORES CATIIOLICI; OR, 



any on- locality or nation ; it was spread over th" whole eartb, and no pi- 
left without the tranquillizinginflnenceofita philosophy and of its manners, \\ :tn- 
ont attempting to trace the pi ogress of the monastic orders, some . -innate ot th-ir 
diffusion may he formed from the incid-ntal notices respecting them, which occur 
in any of tlie local historians of tin; middle ages. 

In the cloistral community of Oryrynehus wen- lo.ono monk-. Th 
besides twelve parish-churches for the peopl.-. uho-r manners were so formed by 
them, that the whole city seem, d &lt;ne church. In Herninpolia were /)&lt;(&gt; moni 
at Nitria their number amounted to 5000 ; at C-Ilia t &gt; L &lt;00. I - i C &gt;olinmg our 
view to the Western Church we find that in the monastery of Si. Tinman, ai Clon- 
ar.d, in Ireland, in which St. Columbkill studied, there were at one ;im 
monks. The abbey of Bangor, near Carrickfergus. founded about the 
and restored bv St. Malachias at ter its destruction l&gt;v the Pan , of wb c &gt;t. 

- - 

Bernard says, "a place truly holy, and fruitful in saint-, mo-i plentifully pro 
ducing: fruit to God," from which came St. Oolninban and Si ( Jali, contained 

o 

fore the death of its founder, St. Comgal, 400ft monk-. In l&gt;anjror, in \\ a 

there were eight divisions, each of 300 monks. In they.-ar !"nt. tii 

than 1000 monks in the abbevot St. Svlvotcr. at Nonamula. Tiie ablx-v of 

* . 

Jumiege soon at ter its foundation by St. Philibert and Quern Bathilde, contained 
900 monks; many bishops, eierks. and n&lt;&gt;bl&lt; lai&lt;-s. rct^-Mi^ thither to renounce 
the world. In the abbey of Fulda, under II ibau .Maur, then- were more, than ;57&lt;&gt; 
monks, when Count Erlafried .-ent thither for monks to |&gt;lace in Ilirschan.* In 
the twelfth century, under St. Peter the Venerable, there were in tin- rn&lt;ma&lt;ter\- 
of Cluny nearly 400 monks, besides an immense number of guests, an I a multi 
tude of poor. 

In the twelfth century, Orderic Vit:di.--ays, that iln- venerable Hi !_ &gt;, abbot 
of Cluny, during the sixty-four years of his rule, admitted m- e than M.ODO 
monks into the ranks of the Lord s host."f r rii&lt;- -ame author relates il.a mi tic- 
day of his own ordination at Rouen, the army of Chri-t \\a- au^monte 1 bv 
nearly 700 clerks, who receive! different ord-rs.J Broth. -r .Jordan of Saxonv, 
the second general of the Dominicans, gave the habit to more than a thousand 
men, whom he alone had &lt;rained to ih&gt; order. 

In the thirteenth century, we find in Milan 140 friars in the I&gt;..inini.-an, and 
100 in the Franciscan con vent. In the same city, at that time, then- were -ixty 
hermits of Si. Augustin. and thirty Canne!ite&gt;.|| The proportions were about the 
same elsewhere: when Mabillon visited the abbeys of Kin-ied,.],, and St. (Jail, 
there were 100 monks in each.lxsid s novic-s.*" Uefore the revolution of l.VJl. 
eighteen monasteries and churches were in the single town of Ki-enach. \\hich 
weredestroyed in one day. From these few statement- it i- evident, that the telitr- 

* Tritbem. in Chronic. Hirsch. f Lib. xi. ,i,l. 

Gualvanei de la Flnmnia. II Ut. Mcd. np. Mur. Rer. It. Script, xi. 

I Annales Mediol. c. 59, ap. id. xvi. Her Gernv.inicum. 



AGESOFFAITH. 11 

101:9 orders embraced an immense part of the population, and, therefore, we should 
certainly be unable to form any just estimate of the number of men who loved 
and enjoyed peace in the middle ages, if we did not take into account these im 
mense and widely-spread communities of the professed pacific. 

We have seen what dark calamitous times afflicted the Holy Church while 
reaping the immortal fruits of faith. In the year 480, when St. Benedict was 
born, the aspect of Europe was deplorably. Italy groaned under the yoke of 
Odoaore, Spain and Aquituine under that of Alaric, both of them Arian princes, 
that is, at enmity with truth, the fountain of peace. Gallacia was subject to the 
Arian Suevi ; Childeric, king of the Francs, was an idolater. The Burguudiuns, 
who were Ariaus, occupied not a small part of Gaul ; and Germany, with a part of 
Britian, were ignorant of the true God. This was, nevertheless, the moment when 
the holy institute of St. Benedict arose, which was founded about the year 529, 
on Mount Cassino, where, according to the remark of Mabillon, there was pro 
vided a safe asylum against human misery.* Long afterwards the state of Eu 
rope, in regard to peace, continued to be calamitous. Gaul, in particular, was 
ruled with a rod of iron ; and Europe generally, in the seventh century, was so 
distracted, that Pope Agatho, in the name of the Roman Synod, claiming indul 
gence for (he diminished literary glory of the Western Church, uses these affect 
ing, and, as Mabillon says, truly golden words. " Since in our regions the fury of 
different nations ragesdaily, at onetime conflicting, at another traversing, at another 
ra.-aging Jtir whole life is full of solicitude Et sola est nostra substantia fides 
nostra, cum qua nobis vivere summa est gloria." But all the while, where the 
evil perhaps was greatest, under the terrible sceptres of Childebert, Clotaire I., 
Chiiperic, Clotaire II., and Dagobert L, warlike kings, for whom the French, at 
tliat time still ferocious, euvinced an astonishing sympathy, and a fidelity unal 
terable ; there were existing the peaceful multitudes to whom monasteries nave 
both peace and the means of its propagation. Even secular historians remark, that 
while the spirit of discord pervaded countries, as in Ireland, arming the natives 
against each other, immense multitudes of the inhabitants of those countries en 
joyed and worshipped peace in the seclusion of monasteries : for though to many 
unknown, these tranquil communities existed in the midst of the disorders and 
troubles of the worldly life. The true lovers of peace were, however, generally 
led to discover them, like St. Auirustin, who says, " I was astonished when I 
heard them speak of this great Monk Anthony, of whom I had known nothing 
till that hour. . I was filled with amaze, hearing of his recent memory and his 



miracles so near our time in testimony to the faith of the Catholic Church. Then 
(he conversation turned upon the multitude of monasteries, and the solitarv holy 
men of the desert, of whom we had known nothing. There was a monastery at 
Milan, full of good im-n, without the walls of the city, under the care of St. Am- 



* Mabillon, Pise fat. hi 1 Saec. Benedic. ii. 



12 M O R E S C A T II O L I C I ; O R, 

brose, and we did not know of its existence."* Thus too, no doubt, it was in 
Gaul, while cruel Merovingian* reigned. Tnen wh&gt;-n ilie L r l&lt;&gt;"in had potted, un 
der the Carlovingians, cities yielded in iinportanee and influence t" abbey-, which 
were like great castles, fortified, containing all things re&lt;jiii&gt;ite I m- a regular and 
pacific life. In the work entitled, " Gallia Chri.-tiana," one i- astonished to see 
the prodigious number of abbeys and convents in tne cities ol France. !! nee an 
ancient writer cries 



" Felix icjiiu Fraticorum, 
Piireti.- luvimda lantuium 
Benedict i inilitum."t 

"If any thing," says one histor.an, " could reconcile tlie eyes f humanity to 
the pictures offered by the first ages of our monarchy, it would be witnout d.&gt;ul&gt;t 
those spontaneous unions of pacific men, who fled from acorrnpte I and &lt;:&lt; -olated 
society, in order to meditate on a better world, to preserve kindled lor fun ire genera 
tions the torch of truth.";}; 

But what Christian land wa- left witnout this happin. s- . The drain i oi hi 
tory," says a recent historian of Ireland, speaking of very earh t in* n&gt; to 

assume an entirely different character. ln&gt;tead of the ferocious MI ill- m kings and 
chieftains, we have the pure and peaceful triumphs of religion. Il.nM.riou&gt; .siint- 
of both sexes pa&lt;s in review before our eye-; ihe cowl and veil eclipse th- gjorv 
even of the re^al crown, and in-t-ad of the grand and festive halls ( ,f laia and 
Emania. the lonely cell of the fasting penitent becomes the s-euc of fain So 

that, in fact, during the most disturbed periods of the nuddl.- a^. -, n.. wanior could 
ever reduce men who really loved peace to the dilemma in wnich Ca-sai pla.-.- the 
people of Marseilles, saying 

" At eoiin contitiria In-il 
Dim fugant: dabitis poeuus pi., par.- netita ; 
Ei nihil esse meo discetis tutius tt-vo, 
Quam, duce me, bellum. "j; 

For, in consequence of the foundations of faith, &gt;ul&gt;jec,s as the KMM of a great 

family were always at liberty to choose and follow either pemce or Ha oppcwte. 

Gista, widow of Earl Godwin, had seven sons," &gt;ay, ()ni,-rie \ u a i g .. 

non, Tostic, Herald, Guorth, Elfgar, Leofwin, and Vulv,&gt;d ; all were eufa du 

tmguished by great personal beauty and merits, thou-h their ends were itll . ,,t 

Ifgarand Vulvod, who loved God, lived holilv and iuppilv; the first a pilgrim 

ionk, died at Rheims in th P true faith : the other die-1 hon.rablv a/Sal- 

The five others, devote&lt;l to arms, perished in cliff-rent j4a ( , s bv the 
|vord."|| 

* Confess. Lib. viii 6 



AGES OF FAITH. 18 

The prodigious number of disciples which each worshipper of peace drew after 
him from the first moment of his conversion, is a fact which sufficiently indi 
cates the attractions possessed by this society distinct from that of the world, though 
ever in the midst of it. The blessed youth Francis de Paula, for instance, in 1435, 
retires into a cave in a desert place, and lo ! Balthazar, Bernardino, Pan his, 
Francis, Antonins, Andrew, Archangelo, Nicholaus, Angelo, Nicholas a Nncito, 
John and Floreutinus follow him.* How should we be detained, if we were to 
speak of the multitudes leading the pacific life in the more celebrated regions in 
mona-tic history ? Such, for example, as Snabiu, which the historians of St. Gall 
style " the land of the saints."f St. Peter Damian says, " That the whole world 
was full of monks ; ;}; that is, of men who loved, enjoyed, and propagated peace. 
Places of monastic retreat existed almost from the beginning of the Church. 
There were monks in Gaul before the time of St. Martin ; for there were some in 
the island of St. Barbara alxwe the confluence of the Arar and the Rhone, who 
received the Christians that fled from the persecution of Septimus Severn?.)] 
How many arose in Sicily in the earlier times may be witnessed in the histories 
of that island,*!" where the ancient Greek monasteries were rebuilt by Counts .Rob 
ert and Roger, on the expulsion of the Sarassins, as were the six Benedictine ab 
beys founded there by St. Gregory the Great, out of his own patrimony.** Mount 
^Etna, that had been formerly devoted to the vain worship of the Gentiles, was in 
the fir-t Christian ages covered with monasteries for the worship of the one true 
God. ff Calabria- which was the first part of Italy, after Rome, to embrace the Chris 
tian fiith, St. Paul having preached ai Rhegium, and which produced so many mar 
tyrs in early and modern times, became another Egypt in regard to monasteries. 
It is delightful to survey in local histories the celebrated monasteries of this region, 
so abundantly endowed, and producing such wise and holy men, who threw in 
the shade those old Pythagorsean days among that illustrious people; to visit this 
cradleof St. Benedict, St. Basil, and St. Bernard, this mother of hermits dwelling 
amidst her rocks and woods, and odoriferous hill-.^| In the fourth and fifth cen 
turies, the Italian monasteries were built chiefly in Milan, Rome, Ravenna, Nola, 
in Campagna, and in the islands of the Etruscan sea. How prodigiously these 
were multiplied in later times, mav be estimated from the number of monasteries 
visited by Ferdinand Ughelli, the Florentine monk and abbot of the Tria Fon- 
tana, at Rome, when he was composing his great work, the "Italia Sacra." 
But, extending our view over Europe, let us recall the names and site of a few 
of the most eminent of these great asylums of pacific men in ages of faith. The 
tracks of the Great Benedict lead from Subiaco to blest Cassino s holy hill, both 
such places of divine peace. 

Passing over these, Italy for many ages gloried in her abbeys of Pomposa, in 

* Chronic. Ord. Miuimorum. f Eckehard IV. in Lib. Benedict. t Lib. vi. Epist. 15. 
Murat. Antiq. It. Isv. J Mab. Pnef. in iii. sxc. *|f Sicilia Sacra, i. 22, ** Id. ii. 
ft ii- 1155- ft Italia Sacra, torn. ix. 175. Murat. Anfiq. It. Ixv. 



14 MORES CATHOLIC I j OR, 

the duchy of Ferrara, two least s from tin- BM, near the-omb branch of th- ! 
of Nonantiila, ton mile&lt; from Mouena, founded in 1&2 by An-elm, duke of Friuli, 
whose sisler Giseltnul" was wife of Aistulph, king of tin- Longnhard- ; oi Tin-.- 
in Piernont, which in the middle of ihe tenth century de-.-rved to In- omipa. 
with Cluny ; of St. Peter a Coelo-anreo in Pa via ; of St. .Instina at Padua ; of 
St. John the Evangelist at Parma; of St. George a \Vni.v, where Mauroseni, 
one of the companions of Romuald, was abbot; of Si. Peter at Mantua ; of 
Maria in Florence ; of St. Appollinarein Cla.-se, near Ravenna ; of St. L .:en/o at 
Capna ; of Camaldoli and Vallembrosa, in the Appenine- ; of( .iva in t:.e c.un- 
try of Salerno, 5000 paces from the city at th&gt; lb.&gt;t of .Mount FciK-tra which 
Muratori reckons the second in importance, after Moant-Cawiuo.* 

Turning to Gaul, we find at a short di&gt;tance. ironi Poiu .-rs, at a spot called 
Lignge, the first convent built by St. Martin, which continual to the last tim&gt;-- 
to produce many eminent men. On beeomiim bishop of Tours, h&lt;- built a -ecoud 
abbey two miles from the city, whicii was tin- eel -brau-d hou-e of Manuoutier, 
the great nursery of bishops, and the school of science in Franc--. Ii wu- h -n- that 
St. Martin was entombed : th&gt;- al)bey bearing hi- nain-- at A mien- wa- on th- 
of the house where the &gt;aint resided, wiiile yi-t a soldier. f St. Benedict on th" 
Loire, in the village of Fleury, foniuld by Leadebod in thcrei^n o: ( llotaire 1 1. 
in 623, possessing the body of St. Benet, renowned in the tenth centurv, und- r 
most holy and learned abbots, and re-one 1 to by multitudes of voiith from all 
countries, attracted by the fame of Constant! u-- the S-hola&lt;iic, w.is m : he dio 
cese of Orleans, eight leagues from that city. Anianc Huuided ly St. 1). M- i, -. n oi 
the count of Maguelore, and especially protected by ( harlemau ne, w: 1 in a 

valley, on the little river Aniaue, in the di&lt;&gt;e&lt;--- ..f Montpellu-r, l.-t ween ih-- eitv 
and Lod6ve. At a league distance wa-the inoiia-terv of (ielio, or ot St. \\"i.liani 
of the Desert, founded by William, duke of Aquitaine, one of the peer- of ( har- 
lemagne. The abbey of St. Lucien, foundeil by C nil ieric, was at IJc.uivai-. 
Luxeuil was in Franche-comt^, in tlie i &lt;f I&gt;e-au; &gt;n, at the foot oft 

mountains of the Vosge towards Lorruin--. After leaving ihi- iiis first loundatiou 
in Gaul, St. Columbau founde*! the monastery of Dis-entis in the Kii- KID A:: 
in a desert 4000 feet above the level of the ~ea, and -ui)-, juently liobbio at the 
foot of the Appeniues, at which you arrive by a ro-id from ( liavera. The abb, y 
of St. Germain des Pr^z, founded soon after the d-iiih oi th- holy patriarch of 
the order4 was at the extremity of the gardens of the royal palace in a -nburb of 
Pans. Corby, in Piccardy, whence such great lights issued in ancient times v. 
three leagues distant from Amiens. St. Ri ( ,uier was two ! from Abbeville, 

which was originally but the villa or farm-hou-e of the abbey.f Ferrers, of 
which Lupus was abbot in 843, was a monastery in thediocese - , fool miles 

Mur. Rer. It. Script, vi. | Voyage Lit. &lt;!, Drux 

t D. Bouiilart Hist, de 1 Abb. de S. Ger. Topographic dc, S ;il . 



AGES OF FAITH. 



15 



from Montargis, on the road to Lyon, Vezelay, founded in the 
by Count Gerard de Ronsillon, so celebrated in old romance, was eight 
dfstaut from Auxerre. Aureliae, founded by St. Gerald, count of Anrelia, was 
In the diocese of Clermont. On seeing that little islet of Lerins, on the coast of 
tntibe. with its arid fields and its meagre tufts of pines, one could never c 
to pa,t which this spot of earth pkyed in the history of Christianity m Gaul, 
from the year 410, when St. Honorat first retired fr, a hermitage there 
stood the renowned monastery which was built soon after, from which so many 
saints were drawn. Bee, founded by HVrlnin, in 1040, where Lauiranc and An- 
Belm were priors, was in the diocese of Rouen, on the little river Bee, eight leag 
west from that city. Faremoutier, founded by St. Fare in 617, was in Brie, on the 
river Morin, five leagues from Meaux. Flay was in the diocese of Beauva,. Fon- 
tevrauld was on the borders of Poitou towards AugOU, in the dioro 
Lilies, where Louis of Blois was abbot, founded in 751 by Count Wigbert, i 
the diocese of Cambray, in Hainault, five miles from Avenue, Premontre, 
chosen by St. Norbert, for the central house of his order, was ma valley in le 
forest of Coucy, in the diocese of Laon, which was a de,ert in the beginning of 

the twelfth century. 

Cisteaux the mother house of the order, founded by Odo, duke of Burgundy, 
in 1098, was five leagues from Dijon, in the diocese of Chalons. La Ferti 
the first branch house, founded by the Seigneurs de Vergy. The second wa 
Ponticmy, in Champagne, on the river Serai n, one league from Ligny-le- 
and four-and-a-half from Auxerre. The third daughter was Clairvaulx, founded 
in 1115 by Thibaud, count of Champagne. This abbey stood on the river Aul 
Morimoud,the fourth daughter, founded in 1115 by Odolricus de Agrimont, was 
on the borders of Lorraine and Burgundy. From these four houses all 
tercian abbeys in the world took their origin/" Molesme was in Champagne, 
three leagues from Chatillon-sur-Seine. Cluny was on the river Grone, on the 
borders of the duchy of Burgundy, five leagues from Macon, and fifteen from 
Lyons. Paray-le-Monial was in Charolais ; St. Selectus was near Xa. bonne ; 
Bourgeul was on the Loire ; Malliac, founded in 990, was near Poitiers ; St. 
Columban was in Sens ; St. Maglor, founded in 979, and St Mary des Champs 
in 994, were in Paris: and St. Albin, found, d in 900, was in Anjou. Of the 
origin of the Spanish monasteries, which was later, writers of that kingdom give 
ns this account. They relate, that in the sixth century, Donetus, a monk and 
disciple of a certain hermit in Africa, foreseeing the violence of the barbarous 
nations, fled in a ship into Spain with seventy monks, and a quantity of manu 
scripts. In Spain he was received by an illustrious and religious woman, Miuicea, 
and there he built the monastery of Servitanum, which was the first monastery 
in Spain.f Of these I shall only mention the monastery of Aleoba, so magnificent, 

* Notitise Abhat. Ord. Cist. per Universum Orbem Lib.i, 
| Hililephons. viiiae Illust, Episcop. Hisp. 



16 MORK^ CATHOLICI; OK 

eo fruitful in learning, so venerable in antiquity, " in which," Bays John of 15 1 n 
" you discern the authority and sanctity of &gt;t. Bernard, and the grandeur ui Ki; 

Alfonso and Ileiirv."* 



Among the (Jermau monasteries of renown, the .-itei fa lew of ihe mo.-; flhi-- 
trious must be present to every one s reeollertion. The most r&lt; M -biatcd." 
Tritheraius says, " were Fnlda, founded by St. Boniface, in Fiaucojii. M l- 

Hesse and Thuringia. The abbey of &gt;:. 1 . tei- and St. Paul in W ei-, ni ing. in 
the diocese of Spires, founded by Kin- I &gt; o.bert ; that ot St. Alliau. mar May- 
ence, founded by ancient kings of France ; that of St. (Jail in Snabia ; that t 
Keichuaw, near Constance, founded by I irminiu-. di-eip e of St. Main : that ol 
Hirsfeld, four miles from Fulda, founded by St. L-illus ; that St Mat). 
near Treves, die most ancient of all the Teutonic hon, ; Mediolaeen-i-. in J. 
raine, founded by St. Luhvin, who from beiiu dn\e IfcMine a monk and abi 
and archbishop of Treves ; the abbeys of St. Maurice at Holcgia, in thrdi. 
Treves ; that of Stavelot, in the dioee.-e ot Liege, (bur Ira-iie- iVmn Sj.a. of im 
mense fame ; that of New C orby, in Saxony, founded by the abbot &lt; |, Vj in 
Piccardy, from which came forth apostles to m .ny nation- ; that of St. Maximii n.-, 
near the walls of Treves, which some think existed in the time of &lt; 
and in which certainly then- were mon^&gt; in the time ..f Si. An^n.-tin ; tin- abb-\ 
of Pram, in the forest oi Ardennes, in a valley on the 1 t 1- river Priim. li.nnded in 
721 by Bertrade, grandmother of lierta, \\ife of King Pejiin, \\h.. h .d a ne 

le.igue from the place, of which Assiicru&gt;, &lt; unit of Anjmi. \\a&lt; the lir&gt;t al)l 

and Hirschau, eight miles from Spires, fun ied in 830 b\ KrlaiVed, nmnt oi Calba, 
with his sons Nottung and Ermendred, and re-tuivd by I ,.pr L, . IX.. \\1,,, \\ ;i . 
of the family of Dagburgh, and Adelbert, count oi Calba, with Wiltrudr, hi&gt; n 
devout wife.f 

Other great Teutonic houses were (Icmbloux, in a In.liow four lea^no t.. \\ 
north-west from Nam ur, founded in !)!2. by St. (Juibcrt, .-..-i^,,,.,,,. deGembloux, 
wlio formed it out of the castle in which he was born. Yiller-. f the mort 

illustrious abbeys, not only of Knbair, l,:it of the whole Cistercian order. &lt;.n ac 
count of the great men it has given to tlie.-hnreh. seated in B between two 
ni(mntains,onthewayto.\ive;ie. The Ueardirti,,,. Abbex of St. Vaasl Bl 
which dated from the seventh century, when the successor of St. Auberf , ttshop of 
Arras, built it over the oratory where the&gt;aint wa&gt; bun-d ; Lobes, founded j 540 
by St. Landelm on theSambre, four leagues from Philippeville. in th- of 
CambrayjQuedliiibourg, in Saxony, in the di- f IIal!,er-tad, founded by 
blessed Matilda, queen of Germany, and King Henry the Fowl-,-, her In, tf 
which the abbess was the first princess of the empire ; Selintrstad, in the dioo 
of Mayence, founded by Eginhard ; Steinfeldt, in the diooeae of C ,towlii i, 
retired the blessed Herman Joseph, at the age of twelve, and the three fotindatioi 

* Joan. Vasaei Brug. Rer. Hispan. Chronic. Hi. f Tritl.om. in Chronic. Hirsa.igiensis. 



AGES OF FAIT II. 17 

of King Dagobert, Elvonensis, in \vliich he was buried, Blandinum near Ghent, 
and St. Buvon, so called from Count Bavo, who there deposed his knightly arms, 
became a monk, and died in sanctity. 

Of the monasteries in the British islands. two of the most illustrious were Bon- 
gor in Ireland founded in the fifth century by St. Comgall, a disciple of Finstan, 
in the county of Down in Ulster, not far from the sea, where the passage to Scot 
land \vas short, and Bangor in Wales, in Flintshire, which Bede calls the most 
renowned cloister of the Briton-;, and which was organized and flourishing, when 
St. Attgustin came from Koine. 

Here, as indeed in nearly all other countries, the foundation of monasteries 
was simultaneous with the first preaching of the gospel. The abbey of Glaston- 
bury dates from about the year 300 ; that of Sherborn in Dorsetshire from 370. 
Tiie first notice of Dryburgh is prior to the year 522, when St. Moden was its 
abbot, under whose invocation was one of its chapels. The great St. Columbkill 
alone founded above an hundred abbeys in Ireland, England, and Scotland, and 
other islands depending ou them. Ireland \\ as covered with these pacific retreats ; 
which yet were continually multiplying, until the sinister epoch of Henry VIII., 
whose agents on their arrival found the monks rebuilding mam* abbeys with 
greater magnificence than before. In England, however, as we learn from Bede, 
there were not in the seventh century many monasteries, so that numbers of 
English nobles and others passed into France, which abounded with them, to re 
tire into abbeys there. " At that time," he says, " the noble princess Earton- 
gathe, daughter of Earcombert, king of Kent, passed the seas and came into 
France, for the purpose of learning to serve God in such a school of sanctity." 
Still, even in the seventh century we find several religious houses founded, as 
those of Chertsey in Surrey, in 666 ; Barking in Essex, in 680 ; Malmesbury 
in Wiltshire, in 670 ; Gloucester, in 680 ; St. Swithin in Winchester, in 634 ; 
St. Austin at Canterbury, in 605 ; Dorchester in Oxfordshire, in 635. The most 
celebrated, which date from the eighth century, were the abbey of Abingdon in 
Berkshire, founded in 720 ; those of Winchcomb and Tewkesburv in Gloucester- 

/ 

shire, in 787 and 715; that of St. Alban in Hertfordshire, in 755; and that of 
Croyland in Lincolnshire, in 716. The abbeys of Thorney in Cambridgeshire, of 
Tavistock in Devonshire, and of St. Cuthbert in Durham, date from the ninth 
century. These were all of the Benedictine order : the abbey of Ramsay in 
Huntingdonshire, was not founded till the tenth century. 

Tue Cistercians, who possessed so many illustrious houses in England, were 
first called into it by a noble Englishman, Walter Espec, in 1125, under King 
Henry I., to whom there exists a letter from St. Bernard. The first abbey was 
Fumes, in the diocese of York, and the sec-.nd Rievaux.* 

Such then were a few of the most eminent of these places esteemed divine, and 

* Notitise Abb, Ord. Cister. viii 



18 MOKES CAT HO L1C I; OR, 

consequently places of divine peace, because, as Hugo ol St. \ ictol 
cannot lu 1 divine, unless they he pl:.ces of quiet and of JM;I&lt; Tru y, \\ell 

might that dove which in its flight marked the circuit of the J.I-MJ. ,-;,&lt;, m,, 
of Hautvillicrs. he interpreted as signifying the tranquil reign of mn- ccnce \\ hicj, 
was there about to commence ; and one might have accepted al dcn.&gt;m- 

ination, ibr all similar retreats, the title given to the eeiebrated mna-:er\ 
mon, on the coast of Bithynia, at the mouth of the Kuxino, which \\a- 
called by the monks, in reference to the tranquillity enjoyed within it. Ii 
t lie place of peace. The mountain of Pzay tie in Poland, near th- riv- : in 

Lithuania, accordingly changed it- name ibr that of the .Mount of l &lt;a&lt;-.-, \\ h :i a 
( amalclolese monastery was built upon it, by Christopher dti I ax/i. grand chan 
cellor of the duke of Lithuania, of the noble Florentine race which had l&gt; n I .ani.-- 
in the preceding century. f I might have noticed many other n of 

equal celebrity, the histories of which, as Kauriel -a\- oi the ub! 
of Aniano, and of St. Guillem-du-Deaert, belqgg essentially to tl, al history 
of the country in which they wore -eated, and even to tint of Kurope.J The 
monastery of Oliva, for instance, is a- closely connected with the histry of iVu-- 
sia as Mount-Casino is with that of Italy. Th" inter--t of many collection- 
French annals, grows pale liofor-- the historical grandeur of St. Mcdaid ..t S. 
sons, founded by dotftira I. where St. Boniface, th- an&lt;&gt;-t, rmanv. ciown- d 
Pepin, king of the Francs, which Charlemagne favored, which wa- in turn- th" 
beloved retreat of Louis-le-Dobonnaire, and the seme of hi- mi-f&gt;r: mi But 

these names alone will suffice to bear out my &gt;u.that tli.-m &gt;na- ! in-t itute, 

containing, as we shall shortly prove, a whole race of men eminentlv \\\ f 

apart from all others that we noticed in the last book, wa- of such wid-- diifusioii 
and of such importance in each localiiy, that half at lei-t ..fa histoiy of Catholic 
manners,. in regard to the beatitude of the pacific, must be devm-d to ;lieir con 
sideration. In fact, it embiac d millions of men di-p.-rs.d over the earth, living 
united and pacifically, tranquil, laborious, ob-dicir. and ti 

That the monastic profession was syin-nymoii- with a devoted 1 toe and 

of its diffusion, might easily be inferred from what we met with in thda-t hook. 
Though the complete appreciation of the fact will he-t be attained aft, , &lt;-.,n -Mul 
ing the present, it may be well to commence it by adducing to the p.,mt some 
express testimony. Xow from the very nature of the in-titut ion, it* in-tructors 
argue that the object and result must have been pacific ; for " from obedieii 
which was its key-stone," says St. John Climaehus. " springs humility, and from 
humility a placid tranquillity of mind." \11 p- rtuibati.-ns" as Cic&lt; 

remarks, "arise from the will and from an opinion. "|| The stoics -aid that tl- 
fountain was intemperance, and a departure from right reason. Accordingly, 

* Annot. in Ccelest. Hier. f Annal, Camaldiil. Lib. 77. t Hist, de la Gaul M*rM 111 

S Grati - iv - i| Tuscul. iv. 



AGES OF FAITH. 19 

in the part of the soul which was reasonable the Pythagoreans placed tranquil 
lity, placid, quiet, and constancy of mind. The monastic rule requiring a life so 
eminently reasonable, averse to self-will, and the influence of private opinion, to 
impatience and intemperance in every form, could not therefore, but conduce to 
that true and placid rest ascribed to those who embraced it in ages of faith, which, 
as Pascha&lt;ins Radbert says, "reason every where composes, and the serenity of 
religion commends."* Accordingly, we find, that peace is always represented as 
the chief characteristic of the monastic state. St. Basil, St. John Chrysostom, 
and St. Augustin, are never weary repeating that it is this, above all things, which 
recommends it to the human race. So it continued to be in every age. We find 
a letter from the celebrated abbot of Corby, Wibald, to the monks of Ha.-tieres, 
with this superscription, " To the prior and the brethren of that place, Deo et paci 
militantibus."f When one of the coiutiers of the emperor Frederic II. was 
moved to embrace the monastic habit, St. Francis gave him the title of Brother 
Pacific, to express that he had escaped from the world s turmoils and pageantries. 
Vincent of Beauvais, or his continuator, styling monks the true pacific, applies to 
them the epithets in holy writ, of "glorious men, rich in virtue, studious of beauty, 
living at peace in their domains, and obtaining glory in the generations of their 
nation. ^ 

( Behold men without contestations," exclaims the Church, in reference to those 
who chiefly came from amongst them, "true worshippers of God, keeping them 
selves pure from all evil work, and continuing in their innocence." " Many 
things might be said in his praise," says a monk of Tillers, of Charles, the eighth 
abbot of that house, in the seventh century, " but there is one of which we should 
make especial mention ihat never, from the day when he first entered the order, 
did tiie sun set upon his wrath ; but, considering that he was bound by the mo 
nastic vow, he forgave, with the utmost benignity, all excesses committed against 
him, watching carefully over the purity of his conscience and the tranquillity of 
his heart :" that is, he realized the monastic ideal : he was the type of the institution. 
In effect, as the rule of the seraphic father expressly requires, " monks of every 
oider were to be at peace with those who hated peace ;" when they went through 
the world they were not to litigate, nor to contend with words, but to be mild and 
|)cific.j| " Xo\v I counsel, admonish, and exhort my brethren in our Lord 
Jesus Christ, that when they go through the world, they should not quarrel nor 
contend with words, nor judge others, but that they should be meek, peaceful, 
modest, tractable, and humble, gently speaking to all as is right." They were to 
have a pacific heart towards those who disturbed their peace, towards those who 
hated peace. Of the pacific, who say with our modern writers of the Anglican school, 
that " in times of peace, with peaceful men, no temper of mind should be more en- 

* Vit Walae. f Ap. &gt;Iartene, Vet. Script, er. Mon. collect, ii. 4-50- \ Spec. Mor. i. part. iv. 
Hist. Mou. Villar. up. Murtene Tiies. Anec. iii. (] Reg. S. Franc, c. 3. 



20 MOKES CAT II Oh K I; &lt;&gt;K, 

couraged than that which seeks peace with all men," the monastic teachers have 
but a poor opinion. " Though they render good \\&gt;r good, and \vi&gt;li to injure no 
one," says St. Bernard, "they can rarely obtain salvation. * Thestandard proposed 
to monks is, that of two other classes pi the peaeel ul of i hose who do HOI r- n 
evil for evil, but who endure wrongs with patienc-, and of tho.-i- win Pud^r 
good for evil ; the former, as he .-a vs. pus-. -sing ; . and l\\ - lat: r, not 

only po-ses-ing their own, but winning otln-i "^ w&lt;&gt;rd \\a- 

escape their lips; for their heart \\astobe at re.-t from all enemies toil "* 

Monks were to be pacific within and without their walls, io\\. &lt;-h i.th-r, and 

towards the rest of men. " Our fast-," .-ay- Hugo ui St. Yid..r, in niscomincnt; 
on the rule of St. Augustin. "do not plea-e (lod a- much a- our concord." 
" There is nothing," he adds, " that Satan so much tear- a- th" unity of charitv : 
for if we distribute all that we pos.-e.-s forG&lt;-d - sake, this the devil does no 
because he possesses nothing ; if we fast, tins he doc- n-.t fear, becati-e In- has no 
need of food; if we watch, he is not alarmed, because hr i- -lerph-ss ; but if we 
are joined in charity, then he greatly fears, because then we hold i earth 

what he disdained to preserve in heaven." 

Expressly for the sake of pea 1 - and charity, the monks of Fulda, we n ad, were 
divided into decades, over which a dean pn sided. j; 

Dom Martene remarks what -ever.- penahir- were dt-cr- .-d in the ancient mo 
nastic statutes, as in those of Froidmont, again-t all di&gt;-.-minator- ,( discord, wh 
offence was a ca-e reserved for th- ahlM.J A monk ..f St. John-de- V . : , t 

Soissons, having calumniated one of the bivthr. n. was sentenced to k--| -ilen,-,. 
for a month, and to carry the holy water, like a novice in the proceswoOfi 

In the year 1224, a discord ari-ing in the convent of Monte S-reno. Tid- ricth 
superior, in common chapter, in holy week, prescribed, in virtue of oU-dicnce, 
that if any monk retained the lea&gt;t rancor against another, he should abstain 
from communion of the altar.** The chronicle of tl,, Canhu-ians relates that the 
holy prior, Henry of Lou vain, would never take ivpose in the evening, .,i- 

tention arose between any of the brethren, until he had re-t .red peace and tran 
quillity. ff 

Over the door of the Aiigiistinian mona-tery in Freybmv, I read these word- : 
Ecce quam bonum et quam jucundum habitare frain- in uiiuin !" Such 
the ideal generally realized in the communities of the middle ng&lt; 

The pacific character of monks in the interior of their cloisters i- di-plav-l in 
a remarkable manner on all occasion^ of election-, whi.-l, w, r. ------ aleuhited totrv 

its sincerity. The very need ,,f an eiectim, arose in ih.-ir judgment from th( d- - 
sire of peace. Witness the.-e words of electors. It i- oertain to all whc, know 



* "" vers ^- 18. t Ih. 18. t B. Ed* Ah., t x. Bib. V,: xii. 

8cbannat.Hi 8 t.Pmden8.1. , V,, y ,, w Li,, 



, . , 

t hronic. Montis Serct.i !lp . Menckt-nii Script. II, ,. (;,.,, jj. 
ft Durlaudi Chronic. Cartus. Lib. vii. c. 31. 



AGKS OF FAITH. 21 

the foundations of Catholic purity that the solidity of the whole church consists 
in p &gt;.iee and the sign of being disciples of Christ, in love. For our Lord say.-, 
in the go-pel, My peace I leave you, my p&lt;ace I give to you ; and again, By 
this .-hall all men kno\v that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another : 
therefore, no one is a disciple of Christ unle-s he is sealed with the seal of love 
and of peace ; but tin s seal cannot be impressed on any unless on those in whom 
is unity of will ; and (hat unity can only be found in those who submit to their 
superior. Therefore, ihe Author of" peace leaving no order in the church with 
out a governing prelate, has clearly taught that in no other way can the fragility 
of human nature be reduced to unity of spirit or preserved in peace. Therefore, 
we poor brethren, in the monastery of Cella Bononi, after the death of Lord 
Garerius the abbot, have chosen a certain brother, by name Bernard, to preside 
over us/ * 

Stephen Pasquier is struck with the provisions for the liberty of elections in 
monasteries in ancient times : he cites from a charter of Charles the Bald, in the 
abbey of Turuuz, in the Maconnois, these words : u We concede to the same con 
gregation license of always choosing for itself an abbot, according to the rule of 
St. Benedict," and this sentence, which an archbishop of Rheims, when he 
founded the abbev of St. Peter, obtained from Clovis the Second, " that the monks 
should have power of electing a superior according to their rule."f 

Let us hear Guibertde Xogent speaking of the de&gt;ire of his friends to promote 
his own election, for the sentiments he expre-ses were not extraordinary in those 
times: " It afflicted me to hear that my relations should be endeavoring to ob 
tain for me what was granted to others, who had no carnal help, but merely the 
assistance of God ; for these relations, in acting thus, were providing not so much 
for me as for themselves. I was delighted at being little : I had altogether a 
horror for a place of power and the shadow of a great name in the world ; then 
first I learned what it was to have the intention of perpetual poverty. What 
shall I say, O Lord, how momentary was that paradise ! how short that quiet, 
how brief the sense of that sweetness ! Scarcely had a few months passed after my 
tasting the fruits of thy good spirit, when, lo ! the news of my election to be ab 
bot of St. Mary at Nogent-sous-Coucy, filled me with dismay, as I judged myself 
the worst and most sordid of men. Alas ! the little progress I had made in let 
ters, and my poor skill in teaching, had, it seem-, rendered my electors blind. 
Good God hvhat would thev have said if thev could have seen my interior ! Thou 

g / 

knowest, O God, who by an inscrutable judgment didst ordain that I. however 
impres-ed with a just sense of my unworthiness, should be set over men so much 
better than myself. Whether God was willing or unwilling in the affairs of my 
election I know not. This one tiling securely I can declare, that I owed it not 
to the attempts made by any of my relations. I was known to none of the elec- 

* Fulbeiti Carnot. Epist. cvii. f Reclierches de la France, Liv. iii, 20. 



MORES CAT 110 LIC I; &lt;&gt; R, 

tors, nor did I know any of them. From not knowing me they in tin- 

more. On ray arrival they coneeale 1 nothing f rm ni". luit with such ful 

confession &lt;] inclosed all their interior that I, who thought I 1.: . monks els-- 

where, certainly knew of iioiie comparable to these. Thon knoweat, OG d. 

I write not this book through arrogance, and tint I w &gt;nld ronfe in it .-ill my 
iniquities if I did not fear lest I should deprave the mind o: many who would In 
filled with horror at my actions. And although my works UP- corrupt and mi-- 
erable, as far as regards myself, yet it is not h dlen fr &gt;m th-e liow much my mind 
was bent upon promoting the salvation of those wh &gt;m thon did-l -nhj.rt to i 
On the day of ray installation I preached on the word- of the p-ophct. which 
were read on that Sunday next Christmas: Apprcli -ndet vir f a r in -uiitn 
domesticum patris sui : vestimenrnm tibi est, priuceps e-to no-t-T, rnin-i autcm 
hoecsnbmanu tua. Et respondent ille : Xon sum medicus, et in domo mea mm 
est panis neque vcstimentnm : nolite eoustituere me principcm. Unit ei im, 
Hierusalcm, et Judas conoid it. From which word-* [explained the duties of the 
pastoral care that a ruler rau-t be a domestic well instructed in the chinch ; the 
vestment is the habit of beautiful exterior works, on account of which h" is m.id-- 
a prince, under whom the ruin of subjects cannt t ike plac : but he irpli- -. I air 
not whom you suppose, who can cure so many evils. You l&gt;rh..ld the xtcrnal 

vestment which yet is not in the house, 1 aus-- the habit of the mind is not tl-c 

same as that of the body. There is not either tiiat da lv biead wlrch signified 



spiritual cons ilations, or that .confirmation of charity in the interior man without 
which no one can rule others well : herein---, therefore, to b- a prince, for Jeru 
salem falls; that is, the experience of internal pac- peri-he-, and Jud i- al-o 
falls : that is, the confession of sins fails through despair, ait r t:i -f int rior 

tranquillity, which is the last of ail evils, an 1, t l -ivfoiv, a jus: : using 

to be ft pastor."* 

It would be endless to cite evidence that merit, without contradiction from 
party or local prejudices, was the only tiling regarded in the peaceful ci of 

the cloister. When the fime of St. Aigulph s pi-ty in the mona.-t-rv of Fh-urv, 
on the Loire, had spread far and wide, the monks of Lerins sent a deputation to 
him to beg that lie would undertake the government of their abbey. Thi- one in 
stance may represent them all. 

With a view to peace, elections wcr- ma !&lt; -ecretlv, s &gt; that th-- nune- ( ,f th 
who elected were not known, which practice we find afterwai nmanded by 

the holy council of Trent. f In the frequency ot the unanimous elections of men 
of superior merit, is remarkably evinced the pacific character of &lt;nch proceedin. 
Let us observe instances. In 1186, when th- abbot Willia-n n bhacy 

of St. Denis, the prior Hnon was elected to succeed him \vi:h-,ut a .liss-nti.-nr 
voice or the least murmur.;}; On the abdication of Ilartmot, Hernlnrd WM elected 

* Guiberti abb. de Novigent. de Vitn propria, Lib. 1. f X xv. G. 

i Clironiques de St. Denis ud an. 1186. 



AGESOFFAITH. 23 

abbot of St. Gall, and tiie historian of that monastery says, " All together, the 
old men and the youths, from the first to the last, the Lord granting a unanimous 
counsel, with one voice chose Bernhurd for their abbot.*" In 1326, John II., 
one of many in the same monastery who possessed genius of the first order, was 
elected abbot of Ein&gt;iedeln without a dissentient voice. Again, in 1421, at the 
general chapter of the Franciscan order in Forli, where there were present about 
3000 brethren, ma-ter Angelo of Sientia, a man excellent in scienceandin preach 
ing, was unanimously elected general. f The religions orders well understood the 
obligation, of which, Pope Alexander III. reminded the Praemonstratensians, on 
occasion of an election, that the rule for all was Nihil per contentionem ant ina- 
nem gloriam4 Not to observe the great calm produced on these occasions by 
the celebration of the divine mysteries, we may remark, that the elements of dis 
cord had been extirpated by deep humility and a just appreciation of the nature 
of pre-eminence. "Brother Bernard of Clairvaux, culled abbot, which is but a 
little thing." Men that could speak thus of their own dignities, were not likely 
to be angry competitors for them. Tne priors of Camaldoli always style them 
selves " the monk and sinner. " 

When it was known that the venerable Angelrann was to be elected abbot of 
the monastery of St. Rickarius King Robert himself pressing the election, the 
holy man judged himself unworthy, and preferred a post of humility to one of 
pre-eminence : so he left the monastery privately and concealed himself. The 
king, on arriving there, was told that the holy man had withdrawn secretly, and 
that no one knew where he was. The king admired the intention, but ordered 
that he should be sought for every where and brought back to him. The soldiers 
were sent on all sides in quest of him : at length, after a long search, he was 
found in the wood of Olnodiol in a deep solitude.)] 

Charles, the eighth abbot of Villiers, in the seventh century, brother of the 
count of Seyne, and at first a distinguished knight, fled from the abbatial dignity, 
but was at length compelled to accept it. He grieved that he should again find 
himself invested with liberties which he had wished to renounce with the world. 
After many labours he obtained leave from the head abbot of Clairvaux to resign 
his offic^, which had always kept him in great fear, considering the account that 
he would have to render of his administration. " This man," said the abbot, " is 
honoured by the greatest princes, beloved through all the country, most dear and 
necessary to his convent, and yet I cannot any longer detain him in his dignity ; 
so, being absolved, he returned to the embraces of Rachel, wishing there to lie 
hidden in p 8 a.c-, and the remnant of his life to pass in the service of God, fulfill 
ing the cloistral discipline."^" 

Ratpert de Origine et div. Casibus Monast. S. Galli. apud Goldast. Rer. Al. 1. 
Annales Foro Livienses ap. Mur. Rer. Vet. Script, xxi. J Ap. Martene, Vet. Script, il. 
Ann. Camald. Prasf. in v. torn. || Chronic. Centulensis, c.2, ap. Dacber. Spicileg. iv. 
1i Hist. Mon. Villar. ap. Martene Tlies. Anec. iii. 



24 MORES (ATIIOLICI; OR, 

A pacific character was an essential qualification in those \viio were to he elected. 
Louis of Paris, commenting the rule oi Si. Franc - " The 1 guar 

dians ought to choos-- good religious in :!, who l&lt;v. : Hiein-elve- and 

others, who know how t &gt; bear the bad humor of . and t&lt;&gt; eunij 

siunate their fragility. The elector- of provincials ou-in to choose men who i 
slow to believe evil of others, and who w 1 - e with tiieir own ey before tliev 
condemn men who are ready to h-ar both : who, through , ,J /, a l 

and goodness, will not believe those, who, umler color of piety and gi. ite- 

ment, come to tell them, as a secret, the fault- of others ; who love j , ii{ \ 

mercy, but mercy still more than justice." 

The terms in which monastic ,-uperiors announce their own election arc off. n 
very affecting. We may form an ide.i &gt;i n u ral -tyle from readini: the 

epistle of Pope Urban IV. to all religious communities, announcing his o\\n elec 
tion to the primal .-eat. That l"tter, one might bdifvr, had been written 1&gt;\ an 
angel, not so much on account of ill" !&gt;:: that pervad--- it, and :he 

perspicuity of its view, as to the origin of rule and the depth of thought which it 
discloses, and the unbending resolution it iwiires--. to defend justice, as from tho 
celestial air of peace which seems to emanate from each humble, loving word, and 
the kind of musical delight which is inspired by its calm, unpretending, and un 
earthly eloquence. f When Stiger heard of his own election to be abbot &gt; 5 
Denis, the only impression he evinced was grief for th - d abbot. He 

on his road returning from Italy, in the month of February, when the n- 
reached him. One day," he .-ay-, h-ing ri-en \r\y to -;,\ matins, be 

fore leaving the hotel where we lodged, I perceived, after tini-hiii^ mv pray. 
that it was still too dark to set out ; so I threw my -elf d: M I wa- on my 

bed, to wait till day. I fell into a doze and had a dr- am, imagining myself to lx in 
a skiff on the wide ocean, at the mercy of ia_:in_r \\av-. and that I prayed God 
to deliver me and conduct me safely to port. I awoke, anil finding it daylight, 
we set out; but on the road I could think ot n&lt;.tln;i- but my dieam, and I fell 
ifl were really threatened with somegreatda ig r. from nhieii the ^oodn d 

would deliver me ; but I said not a word to my &lt;-o npany. After -om-- i 
we met a servant of the abbey of St. Denis, who &gt;topp,-.l on lecogni/ing me, and 
showed great anxiety but inability to speak. At length, he infoi-nxd me th 
the 19th of the mouth, the abbot, Adam, had di-d, an 1 that two da, er, the 

community being as-ombled, had elected me abbot by uuanimon t." Ekl| 

burst int.) tears tli rough sorrow at the death of the h &gt;ly man, who had received 
and nourished his youth, so that all who stood by were witnettefl how he loved 
him. 

The pwicefulness of monastic sii|)eriors appears i,, their readiness to resign 

* Louis de Paris, Exposit. dela Rdgle des F. F. Min.-.ir&gt;. c. 8. 
t Ap, Murteue , Vet. Script, i. p. K&gt;.yj. 



AGES OF FAITH. 25 

rat/ier than disturb concord. Take an instance related by William of Jumiege. 
" A pilgrim on arriving at Cyprus, enters a certa n church of St. Nicholas, where 
he prostrates himself in prayer before the altar, and in the midst of his prayer 
renders up his soul to God. The inhabitants of the island discover that this holy 
pilgrim was the venerable Thierri, abbot of St. Evronl, who had abdicated his 
dignity in consequence of difficulties opposed to him, and who, as a child of peace, 
had resolved to go to Jerusalem. They buried him with honors in their church.* 
The abbot of St, Victor, at Marseilles, in 1217, made a visitation of the monastery 
of Vabres, and in the account which he wrote of his proceedings there, says, 
Since we knew that a grievous and almost implacable discord had arisen be 
tween the abbot and the brethren, we took care to admonish the former, that for 
the sake of peace, he ought voluntarily to abdicate ; and he, receiving our ad 
monition, humbly and devoutly, not caring for temporal honors, but with Paul 
desiring to be anathema for his brethren, willingly yielded up the place."f In 
the last book we had occasion to cite many instances which proved how truly 
pacific was the conduct of religious men, in their intercourse with the world. 

Monks, in general, were men such as a modern author speaks of, "who detested 
the strife of tongues, whom all noises discomposed." The Benedictine hymn for 
vespers, each Friday of the year, was a supplication for the peace of the world. 

" Da gaudioruni prsemia, 
Da gratiarum raunera, 
Dissolve litis vincula, 
Adstringe pacis fcedera." 

"Although to all the faithful of Christ," says Pope Alexander III., "we are 
bound to provide for the administration of justice, yet we are so much the more 
to attend to the cause of monks, as it is less proper for them to engage in any 
litigation."^; Disputes respecting property, for example, were never suffered by 
any who had regard to their profession, to lead them aside from the paths of peace. 
Let us again hear the ancient writers, who describe them involved in such diffi 
culties. " Lord Peter, abbot of Clairvaux," says Caesar of Heisterbach, " had but 
one eye : he was a holy man in deed as well as in name, an imitator of the apos 
tle. With him and his brethren a certain knight contended concerning some 

^ O 

property : the day was fixed for their meeting, in order either to compose the 
difference or to go before the judge. Tiie knight came with his friends, and the 
abbot with only one monk, on foot, like himself, simple and holy. The abbot 
being a lover of peace and poverty, and adespiser of transitory goods, spoke thus 
to the knight before all : &lt; You are a Christian man. If yon say that these 
goods, about which there is this contention, are yours and ought to be yours, I am 

* Lib. vii. c. 26. f Ap. Martene, Vet. Script. Coll. i. p. 1130. 

J Ap. Martene, Vet. Script, xi. 838. 



JO 



MO R KS CATHOLIC I; Oil, 



content with your testimony. Tin- knight raring more fr t: It that) for the 

truth, answered, &lt; They are. indeed, mine, Th-ii I.-t them beyoiire , replied the 
abbot, 1 will not claim them more. So he returned to Claii V.MIX. knijht 

went back to his wife as a conqueror, and toW herall tliathad p 
terrified at words so pure and simple, said, You have d&gt; alt uvacln-rou-ly \\-itii th" 
holv abbot. Divine vengeance will pnni-h us. Unless you re-tor. 
vou shall have no more of mv company. The knight was -truck with reumi 
so he v nt to Clairvaux, renounced tie -, and --. That 

bles-td man in the time of our seniors, visited tlii- doi-fr : in 
being rleated to Philip, king of France, who wa- a givat lover of h"lv -impl 
itv."* " Constantine, a monk," -av- the same author, " relate 1 in methat when 
lie was studying at Paris, John, abbot of St. Victor, \vho wafl &lt; rmaii, iiad 
appeal for judgment in an allodial cause itweeii him and certain great : 
who brought with them many experienced and skilful lawyer.-, who pl^ad -d airainst 
the monks, while the abbot sat simply, without alleging a W ord in r-idv. M that 
he seemed more intent on prayer than on dcfrndin.: : i- can--; \\-nich th" k 
observing, said, Lo:d al)bot, why do you say uothii, To whom he an-weivd 

meekly and with great &gt;implicity, My lord, I know not what to -ay. The king, 
much edified, then -aid to him, Return to your cloister, and I will .-pak for 
you. When the holy man had withdrawn, the king said to the kni-lit, 1 Com 
mand you, on pain of forfeiting my grace, to give no more trouble to th&gt;&gt; holv 
abbot : and thus th" complaint- of the monk- fiudlv MI. :."f 

Many chart- exist containing th- ce-siou of li-jnt.- bv abbo;-t &gt; prelate- for the 
sake of peace. Thus, in 1158, Tbert. abhnt of St. Mi.-ha 11- th- church of 

St. Christopher de Colignola to Villano. archbishop of Pi-a. becau&gt;- i; i- written. 
Servos Dei litigare mm deb^re ;" and that it i- propn- f,r t I of vmera- 

ble places to provide rather the tilings which are of peace and utility, and that in 
this instance the contro\-i-:--i.- cannot !&gt;* - itliout great -caudal and peril 

to souls, and therefore, with the coun-el of hi- brethren, he makes over all hi- 
rights4 

In the annals of the abbey St. Crepin at Soi-son-. i- a -ingular narrati\ 
trial in the twelfth centnrv, whic-li after much pleading, wa- i i by thedroit 

foraiu opposed to the canon law to the issue of a dud. The Abbot Ten If, who 
writes the account in a charter of the y.-ar 1 \ l~), says, " that in rder to j)revent 
it, he and the brethren decreed to settle it bv compromise, in which the abl 
waved its right during the life of the parties." The horror and di- ith whicli 

every instance of a contrary conduct in monks wa- ivjvirded in th-- middl- 
might alone sufficiently prove what was th" general praoti A -atiri-t in the 

end of the twelfth century complaining of -ome law proceedings by the monks of 

* Illust. Mirac. Lib. vi. c. 2. | Ibid. 

^ Murat. Antiq. It. torn. iii. Excerpta Archiv. Pisani. 



AGES OF FAITH. 27 

Graudmout, produces them as a legitimate reason for refusing to joiu their com 
munity. 

" Ergo quid est, quod homo qui vivii ut Angelus intus, 
Pulsatur totiens exterioco foro ?" 

Of the Cartnusians, on the contrary, he says 

" Ad fora non veuiuut quo htem scite resolvant, 
Nee populi vauuui depopulanlur Ave."* 

Terrible is the letter of Peter of Blois, to the abbot of Marmoutier, for having 
cited before the tribunal-, the prior of St. Cosnia, on the subject of certain lands 
and pastures, which he claimed for hi-* monastery. " If you would attend to the 
vow of your profession," h says to him, " you would study the things \vhichare 
above, not those which are on the earth. The servant of God ought not to liti 
gate, but should rather suffer himself to be defrauded. It was not becoming in 
a man of such an order, whose conversation was thought to be in heaven, to liti 
gate for earth. Far be it from a spiritual man thus to affect earth. Of you it is 
written O ye sons of men, why will you love vanity and seek a lie ? For a 
lie, and Lan-itory is the possession of this world. I saw you lately in the audi 
ence of the archbishop of Tours litigating for these lands and pastures; and I 
&lt;Tieve that I saw vou so forgetful of all religion and decorum as to turn all to 

. O 

abuse, and to become a laughing-stock to all, instead of exhibiting in vour con- 

7 ^j O / ^ * 

tenauce and manner the monastic gravity. You threw about your hands, you 
leaped forward, you distorted your whole face, insulting the poor prior with a 
proud demeanor, and shouting on* with a nautic clamor. But He whodwelleth in 
heaven, and beholds th . humble, will deliver the poor from the mighty. So in 
hatred of your dissolved and most troubled state, the prior was that day absolved. 
Nevertheless, there remains for you a heavier judgment, and a day more to be sus 
pected, which will put an end to your litigations, which to the scandal of the monas 
tic profession, you now exercise in every court. For that readiness of a litigious 
and injurious tongue, the day of death which threatens your white head will de 
mand vengeance. Your flesh is congealing ; your limbs are stiffening ; your 
lungs are laboring ; your lips are slavering ; your eyes are growing dim ; your 
face is becoming pallid so in a little spot of earth there will soon be dug a grave 
for the sinner; and a tomb shall be his house for ever, until shall come that ter 
rible day which will render to everv man according to his works. Cease then 

* & 

from things which wound consciences, scandalize the order, and destroy soul-. 
They who litigate for lands or pastures, are unworthy to be placed in the land of 
the living, or in the place of pasture."f 

To the eminently pacific character of those who followed the monastic profes 
sion in ages of faith, we might cite innumerable direct witnesses, and produce also 

* Senteati i Bnmelli de Orditiibus Relig. ap. Martene, Vet. Script, vi. 
f Pet. Bk-j. Epist. cxvii. 



-JS .MORES C ATIIOLIC I : OH. 

ample testimony from the tombs. This is. in fact, the characteristic on which all 
writers of doi-tra! biography .-eem to lay ; he 9 I &lt;1 

monk of St. Ouen, dedicating a work in !&lt;&gt; Nicholas, abbot of that 111011:1 

tery, addresses him in tin si- terms 

" P.itri siiii/iTo. tianquilln pace sereno."* 

What multitudes are commemorated in tli-- Ncu.-tria Pia, and other similar \v 
as having been, like Reinuldus, abbot of I rca ix, " full of pacific gOodne88."f In 

the chronicle of the Carthusians, tlie author, .-;&gt;eaking nf the priors IIu-o. ! . r- 
nard, Riferius, Gerard, William, Henry, .John, Francis. Antony, mid many oth 
sums up their praise by .-ay ing, in all wh&lt;&gt;se biv:t-t- p&gt; :!&lt;( :i:,d -j &gt;i.dn&lt; - 
reigned.";}; In like manner, it is chiefly as the worshippers ..f p- ace tnat we find 
them commemorated on their sepulchres Tim- on the tomb of Xie &gt;!a- 111. ab 
bot of St. Ouen, in the thirteenth century, w- ra i 

" Abbas paciticus. hiiinili-. piu. atijuc pudicus, 
Ju&gt;tiis. ni.iirnitk iis, fr;iti-ni;i jmci- ami. 
Prudcns, faciindiis. palirn&lt;, pari-iiii- Mvundus, 
Non ea qua; inumlus qu . rriiniiic mundus." 

The epitaph of Roger, abbot of St. Kvr.uil, who die&gt;l in 1120, end- with this 
line 

Pacis amutor t-rat. roiro nunc in pac ,it."| 

That of John Inger, prior of St. Barbara, in Xorinaiidv, bears this t-tim.inv- 

. 

" .Kiniilus liic i 

On the tomb of Henry, abbot ut St. Laurence, at I vh,, died in 1208, and 

was buried in the middle of the ciioir, wen- | 

" Abba- Uniriciis iiiL rnruin floe mdiiadiorum, 
Lar-us. paciflcu nu.rum, 

Ju;-titia? cuitor, \cni;i paler c! jiiiiaiis."** 

On that of William III., abbot ,,f JU-e, \\v r- ad 

Mitis. iiiuniticiis. paticns, el pacis araicus."tf 
And, on that of Fardulf, abbot of S : . I).-ni&gt;_ 

Tranquillus, placidus. p-mntusad omne bonum."^ 

Thus the very sepulchres of monk&lt; were made to convey a enforcing 

the peculiar obligation of their state of lif, to 1,. placid, tranquil, ful, ai 

pacific. But these preliminary observations, thon-h neces-ary, Mem to be lead- 

Neustria Pia, xxii. t Ibid. 511. , Dorlandi Chronic. Cart. iv. . . .. tri , Pi;l . x ,. 

^Ibid.780. IIUt. Mon. SM^ir.Leodiens.:,. . Script, iv. 

ctn Divensis de Gestis Ablmt. Be, , i(1 . vi . 



AGES OF FAITH. 29 

ing us back to ground which detained us to ireariness in the last book. Presum 
ing, therefore, that the reader is already prepared to admit the justice of our view, 
in regarding monasteries as the abodes of men so eminently peaceful as to render 
a particular examination of their effects indispensable for the completion of our 
history, let us proceed at once to a new and magnificent subject, and endeavor 
to form an accurate estimate of these wonderful institutions, to the pacific excel 
lence of which all that was holy and illustrious upon earth, in days of the high 
est intellectual glory, delighted to bear witness. Our object is not to give a 
scientific exposition of their history, which can be found in other sources; but to 
become practically familiar with the effects which resulted from them, that we 
may be able henceforth to feel ourselves as at it were personally acquainted both 
with the places themselves, and with the men who inhabited them, with those who 
as Dante says 

" Did bare the feet, and in pursuit of peace, 
So heavenly ran, yet deem d their footing slow."* 




CHAPTER II. 

.HAT was monastic life in general ? and what did it imply ? It was 
simply a Christian life, according to the precepts and counsels of Christ, 
accommodated to peculiar circumstances and wants which are incident 
to some Christians in all ages of the world, and under every possible 
variety in the development of civilization. It implied also the fervor 
and devotion of the first ages, insomuch that even the most bitter an 
tagonists admit, that in the bosom of monasteries in the twelfth century might be 
found the austerity and sincere piety of the primitive church."f That community 
of goods, for instance, which originally characterized the whole Christian society, 
but which certainly was not intended to be perpetual in a literal sense universally, 
was observed in the monastic orders, without leading to any injurious results. 
In them it remained after zeal and charity had grown cold elsewhere, and also 
after it would have been impossible to have realized it in the ordinary society. Pe 
ter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny, accordingly exclaims "What else is it to say, 
Omnia qnse habes da pauperibus, et veni sequere me," but "Become a monk."! 

The monastic life, therefore, implied poverty, or the renouncement of personal 
possessions : and in explanation of their sentiments on this head, there were not 

* Par. xi. f Capefigue, Hist, de Phil. Auguste, i. 39. J Pet. Veu. Epist. i. 28. 



30 MORE- CATHOLIC I; oil, 

wanting those who, to the uttermost, were vowed to be folio divine 

Master. Peter of Bio, ; s remarks, " that few rich men die who, at their 
from this life, do not wish to have been mo-t poor." in truth 

many considerations which recommended poverty to the m&lt; : 
The love of poverty of the Fran -i-caiis to a -\\--\i hi-;orian to " 1 

been an effort to escape alive from the conditions of this life, from the servitude 
of matter, to conquer and antiVipa-e hen- below the indepeodenoe of a pure spirit. "f 
"O how greatly is honest poverty to be desin d," c.\claim&gt; Alanns de In-ulis. 
" To many, riches are an obstacle to acting well. ! :y mid 

cure. If you wish h God you must !&gt; cither pooi- or lik&gt; :h&gt;- pom. 

vis servire Deo. aut pauper -i- op &gt;rt"t, aut pauper; simili-."^ F.v. n in th- | 
cieiit worM, as Cardan remarks, u all professed lovers of wisdom \\, 
Plato and Aristotle having bc-oiuc rich only in their latter y 

But to return. Writ* "mid-: --how* that th" inona-tie was truly 

an a])ostolic life."|j And, in fact, within th- numa- \itli which Europe 

then covered, the manners of the primitive church \\c d ind i- 

peculiar eirenmst inces above spoken of, whim w- s uall prc-cntly explain. 
Hence, Richaixl, archbishop of ( antcrbnry, in the rei^n ! \\ liry II.. writiicj 
th^ Cistercian-, -ays "It is the voice of all men til th- pro. "t ili,-( "-rcr- 

cian order keep the footsteps of aj&gt;o-tolic ivli^ion in moderaiiou of tbod and 
raiment, in watching, in confessions, in discipline, in p-aliiKKly, in hnmility, in 
hospitality, obedience, and in all other fruits of lov ."" \ or the fxternal di-- 
tinctioDJ of monks, their habits, hours, and mole-f lit- . 1". urv sh&gt; 
were not the inventions of caprice, but merely the remain- "t anci -nt m: 
preserved through a^es, while the I th" world had mid 

change. The habit was holy from th" pravr- of lii- ( hurch and .-aii -tity of th 
who wore it. A conversion of th-- heart t . ( J &gt;d was, ih- -r -lor". th" primary and 
the peculiar want of some Chii-tains, the secondary cause of all religions &gt;rd 
existing. " That of the Carthusians," -ay- !)&gt; Tra^y, " ., origin to a holy 

conversation between St. Bruno and two of his friend month of th" j 

was thus ,-een, as the Scripture dc! , !,&lt; a -oiiree of life."** 

Monastic life may be also represented as a n-tor.ition of th" primal state cf man, 
with the substitutions rendered nece-sarv !&gt;v th" fall. So in th" clmm d ,n- 



tanelle the Benedictine rule is thus qualified, " -tatus vit;e inno. ::idum 

eximii P. Benedict 5normam."-H " A convent of ivli^iou-/ -ays Hn&lt;ro of ^ 
Victor, u a congregation of monks, i&gt; a paradis", having the tree of life in the 
midst of it, yielding shade and fruit, that is, Christ giving life."ti 1&gt;&gt;llt il is tuat 

Pet. Bles. Epist. Ix. t Miclu-h-t. II .ii. 

f Alan. In. de Arte Praedicatom, c. 4. Cnrclnn. i Lib. iii. 

1 Rnperti Abbot. Tuiticusis &lt;le Vita vere Apostolica, up. Matte. ;.t. torn ix. 

1 Pet. Bles. Epist. Ixxxii. ** y iL .. , it . Sl . IJnmo. 

ft In Mab. Praef. iu 2 Scseul. Bea. g 1. # Ex Miscelluu. Lib. iii. tit. 60. 



AGES OF FAITH. 31 

state still insecure and requiring defence. Therefore, St. Bernard says, "oui 
order is humility, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost : our order is silence, fasting, 
prayer, labor, and above all, to hold the more excellent way which is charity."* 
St. Anselm defines it in still fewer words, saying, " the object of the monastic 
discipline is purity of heart, and the end everlasting life," f " But were not all 
Christians, whatever be their state, called to perfection ? as Rosmene says in 
the beginning of his maxims, " and might not the cloisters have sheltered men 
of very different intentions?" Assuredly, would have been the answer of the 
middle ages. Therefore, as Antonio de Guevara says, "a perfect man makes the 
world a monastery, and the profane man makes a monastery the world. " J Still 
there were reasons why there should be monasteries, as we shall see in the issue. 

The church had, from the first some persons who aspired to follow the evangelic- 
counsels, and who were styled ascetics, from the Greek word which signifies men 
that exercise themselves. Though they lived in the midst of men, and were dis 
tinguished only by their more austere and regular life, they were, in fact, the same 
as monks. The monastic institute, in its regular form, is traced to the persecu 
tion under Decius, when multitudes fled to the mountains and woods, and were 
so enamoured with their peace that they refused to leave them when the persecu 
tion had ceased || The monastic life began to be called a religious life from the 
word relegendo, either because monks continually read again the things relative 
to God; or, as St, Augustin and St. Thomas observe, "because they were bound 
together by peculiar ties of charity." For at least two centuries the monks were 
not ecclesiastics but purely laymen. St. Pachomius sent none of his monks to 
receive holy orders ; and his monasteries were served by priests from without. As 
Peter of Blois observes, " Paul, Antony, Apollonius, Mutius, Hilarion, Paphnutius, 
both the Macarius , and Arsenius, Benedict, and other men of blessed memory, 
were never made priests." ^[ It is no disparagement to the monastic institution 
that the justice of many of the views on which it was founded had been recog 
nized and enforced by sages of the ancient world ; the fact is certain. Pythagoras 
and his disciples at Crotona led a life in community, and were styled in consequence 
Coenobites.** The Pythagorean life required community of goods, a noviciate, 
piety, erudition, silence, abstinence from flesh and continence,! f Of course, the 
gulf which separates all heathen from Christian philosophy is ever the same ; but 
still the former very often laid down principles which wanted only the founda 
tion of the latter to be identical with the monastic views. Such are many of 
the precepts of Epictetus, J{ and the distinctions of Cebes, where he shows how 
many philosophers, and poets, and orators, mistake the false for the true discip 
line, and that the two guides which enable men to attain to the rock of true dis- 

* Epist. cxlii. f Tractat. ascetic. S. Anselmi, ap. Dacher. Spicileg. iii. J Epist ii, 
Bened. XIV. De Canonizat. Servorum Dei, 152. || Joan. Devoti Institut. Canonicv 

Lib. i. tit. ix. ^ Epist. cxxiii. ** Jamb, de Pyth. vit. 5. ti Ib. 6. || Manual. 20. SO- 



32 MORES CAT HO LU I ; OH. 

cipjineare continence ami endurance, two sisters, who stand &lt;&gt;n the -nmmit and en 
courage tho-e \vlu) attempt to mount, saying. " Endure but a little more and you 
will find the ascent easy and sate." Hi- description of the en trailer to thi- way 
Alight remind one of our old monastic buildings. " Do you see that little door, 
and the path to it bearing no marks of having been trodden \&gt;y many. That is 
tlie gate." Plato, with this reservation, is also thoroughly nionMtkx A- when 
Ue says, "that there remains but a small number of men consorting with phi 
losophy in a worthy manner; sue!) as either magnanimoti&lt; by nature look down 
upon the dignities ami affairs of the -iate a- ben&lt; ath tnem ; or el-e a- abandon -ome 
other art which they had learned, but which they nowd-si&gt;.- m . ompai -i-&lt;.n with 
the love of wisdom, and who therefore come to it." 1I-- -how.- that men who 
are accustomed to the -hades of the earth are incapable ofsn-taining n-ltial light, 
and, on the contrary, that those wiiose conversation i.- : n by their h-iiv life 

find the knowledge of the malice of this world insupportable. Most remarkable, 
indeed, is the similarity between the spirit of^he monastic in^titiite and that ideal 
and definition of good which was announce! bv Cli-authes in the lines recorded 
by St. Clement of Alexaria : 



TdyaQov tptorcis n otov l6r - 

TETayuevoV, ^M;/r, , n)i&lt;n- 

Kparovv eavrur, xiJ /&lt;Jn&lt; &gt;r t 

crv&lt;Srtfpdr t avQficai . in &lt;&gt;rn&lt;i&gt;t-,)i&gt; t 

a&lt;po/ioy, a.\ r,T(ii , A niir n-oi t 

, / r,t,jnir&lt;n , . . i\t&gt;v t 

. -\ tn ntt . 

trripor, tjrntf.\. . \y f 

Xpol l /lfl-i&gt;r, nuntTTrol , it/V; 

dvA.v(lEpo? nra&gt; (lor;? //- . 

w$ Sr f nap etcsiYTfS rev^fonevoS nakoy rtros.) 



Abaiuloniug, however, these observation*, let us inquire from Christian monu 
ments, respec-ting the views and motives of tuo.-e who founded or embraced the 
monastic order, wiio themselves challenged inquiry into its origin. For as no 
one," says Salvian, " does any thing unless tor the sake of .-afetv or advantare, 
so we undertake this mode of life localise we think it convenient, reflecting on the 
shortness of present and the duration of future things, ron&lt;iderini: how little are 
the first, how great the latter, that the judgment will b.- tremendous, and the life 
with God and His saints most blis-ful."* &lt; Wo consider." says an. the,. the 
narrowness of the gate, the numbers who perish, the dangers of the world, of its idle 
conversation, of its many trial-, and the comparative security of renouncing: all 
things for Christ. We reflect on theimportanceof associating with the holv, as David 
Cum sancto sanctus eris, et cum viro inn.x-ente innoopiis eri- : rum elerto 
elec-us eris, cum perverso perverteris. &lt; They remarked/ aa ( ardmal lir.na sa 
that the abundance of cares and solicitudes which must belong to nil who mix 

* De Renuh. vi. f Protreptic.is, c. vi. $ Salvinni Ti.nntl,. i.ib. *. 



AGESOFFAITH. 33 

much with the world is an obstacle to that devout contemplation in which they 
wished to pass tlieir lives ; "* a remark not unnoticed even by the ancient poet, 

Baying, 

At Si (ppev&v 

v Kai 



The Venerable Bede observes, "that a further obstacle was furnished by much 
conversation with peopl in society."! Experience proves," says another, "that 
the soul, dissipated by the curiosity of secular things, can with difficulty recollect 
itself and return to the meditation of heavenly things." The reply made to 
Charles VII. of France might, with the change of a word, express that of monks 
when their opinion was asked respecting the life under a standard formally op 
posed to theirs "One can t lose one s crown with more gaiety." St. Bonaventura 
says, "that he who is loaded with temporal things cannot readily follow Christ. "| 
Now the following Him, whose love is the source of all beatitude, was the most 
important of all occupations in their judgment. Their strongest conviction is thus 
expressed by Dante : 

"He hath in sooth good cause for endless grief, 
Who, for the love of thinir that lasteth not, 
Despoils himself for ever of that 



They renounced, therefore, th 3 former love, and in the cloister sought peace 
from all concupiscence; for to their state almost alone we may truly apply the 

poet s word, 

"Hsec est 

Vita solutorum misera ambitionegravique."** 

Hence, all those injunctions, as in the commencement of the rule of Fontevrauld: 
" Asseculi actibus se facere alienum, nihil amori Christi prseponere."tt Hence, 
these congratulations of St. Bernard, "You have done well, alienating yourself 
more and more from the acts of this world, which is pure and spotless religion."^ 
The first especial cause of all monastic life," says a writer of the fifth century, 
"is the desire to avoid the occasions of sin, to declare war with the perverse world, 
and to be delivered from the danger of its snares." In effect, by their triple vow, 
the monks extracted from themselves the roots of all disorders that fill the world 
with discord, the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the 
pride of life. To extirpate these was to uproot the germs of war and misery from 
the human heart. 

Let us hear the reflections of Mcehler on the ascetical life suggested by the 
work of St. Athanasius on the life of St. Anthony: "Continence, and an indif- 

* De Divin. Psal. 502. f Find. Olymp. vii. J De Teraplo Salom. 

Joan a Jesu instruct. Magist. Novitiorum. | St. Bon.Meditat. Vitse Christi, xxi. 

H xv. ** Hor. Sat. i. 6. ft La Reigle de 1 ordre de Fontevrauld, chap, i 

%\ Epist. ocrlxxxv. 
Conaultatio Zachaei et Apollonii, Lib. iii. 3. 4. ap. Dacher. Spicileg. z. 



34 MORB8 CATHOLICIj o K, 

ferenoe for tne goods and pleasures of the earth, sublime gilts of some souls, and 
in their will, the power, or at least, an ardent desiiv, to break the bonds which at 
tach us to a world that passe.-, have been the lir-t element- of monastic lit ,-. I .y 
means of tliviiie grace tlie spiritual man predominat- - t -ucn a degree in the-e priv. 
ileged souis, ami they are drawn witli such force towards tiling- uncnang, able 
and holv. that the bonds which attach them to the tiling ol this \\orld are hardly 
felt; in them thespriritual almost entirely eclip-e- the animal lite. Their lite is hid- 
den with Jesus Christ in God. The expre-siou is imt xact \\hfii we -ay that 
men have formed the resolution to disengage them-elve.- ij d- -m th&gt;- ii .nds 

which attach tiiem t&gt; things temporal, in order that they niayin- i.- iV.ely occupy 
themselves \vith things eternal. If they do in it marry ; it they mn\ take the 
nourishment wiiioh is absolutely necessary ; if they hold them&gt;elve- at a distance 
from the pleasures and vanities of the world ; it is not b can- thev li:. . 
nized beforehand that these are go &gt;d mean- t thcniselvc- to p itic:.&lt;&gt;n. 

Their manner of life is le.-s the cau-c than the ogpsequenoe of the perfection which 
shines in them. They do not banish tern-trial thought- from their soul- in onler 

to find room tor celestial thought- ; but all place b- ingalreadv -npied bv tli 

it is impossible for the former to find acecs.-. Here tnen we learn to explain the 
origin of the first monks calle i th-- ascetics. They did not invent the -juriinal 
life to form an opj&gt;ositi&lt;&gt;n 10 the wholly sen-n.d life of the majoritv. Th-- : 
were distinguished by a profound knowlelge of -a- -red uuths, and bv a irrcat pietv 
often also (in consequence of the purity and &gt;tren-tii of their mind, and of their 
elevation above the external influences which trouble and .-h-cim-th.- intellectual 
eye) by a just appreciation of things and by a con-nmmate prudence ; in line, 
sometimes by miraculous gifts, by the power of healing maladies in -upernatnral 
manner, of dispelling demons, and of predic:iug ,| M . n,, ,-,.. \,,w man i- natur 
ally inclined to venerate what is pure, great, and holy. These monk- wen- then 
regarded as the friends of God, and the crowd prt-flaed from all aidefl t,. approach 
them, and often came from distant eoiiiitr Th ; - i- the -tate of thinir- d- 

cribed by St. Atlianasiiis in his life of St. Anthony. The inhabitants ol n- aven 
seemed to be descended into the cells of mountains ; th-y chante&lt;l, they cultivated 
sciences, they taught, they prayed, they rejoiced in the glory tocome, they worked 
to do good, and they adorned their lives bv friendship and ooncord. It va-, as 
it were, a country separata! from the rest of the world, a kingdom of pietv and 
justice ; to injure any one, or to suffer injury from anyone, were two thi&gt; 
equally unknown. A multitude of monks peopled the h-i^K hut all were only of 

-oul.anddesired only one thing_theirsanctific.-,,ion and their salvation \Vho- 

iited these cells of the ascetics and contemplated their lives o,,,l, t to have 

d, FLnv lovely are thy pavilions, O Ja-ob ! and thv tent-. &lt; ) Israel ! Th v 

ke the valleys which are spread to a di.-taooe, like the gardens on the banks 

of rivers, like the tabernacles rai-ed by Jehovah. "* 

* Num, xxiv. 5, 6. 



AGESOFFAITH. 35 

" To be a philosopher," says Cowley, " is but to retire from the world, or 
rather to retire from the world as it is man s, into the world as it is God s." 
The monastic writers say no more than this. Popnlus s&lt;&gt;lu- habitabit et inter 
gentes non reputabitnr." " A great praise, brethren," adds Hugo of St. Victor, 
after citing these words, " when the people dwell alone, and are not reputed 
among the nations, all of whom follow the desires of the flesh and the glory of 
the world. "f " There is the world, of which God is the Creator." savs Richard 
of St. Victor; " runndns per ipsurn fact us est : and there is the world, of which 
God is the Saviour ; sic Deus dilexit mundum, ut Filinm sunm unigenitnm daret : 
and there is the world, of which the devil i.s the prince, of which we read, nolite 
diligere mundum."| It was of this last alone that the monastic life implied the 
renouncement. " To fly from Babylon, in its language, as in that of the pro 
phets, meant to fly from ihe city of this world, from, the society of wicked m* n 
and angels." This is what St. Bernard had in view when he cried, "Fly from 
the midst of Babylon ; fly, and save your souls." All the rest was only for 
greater security ; " for they are risks," as he proceeds to say, " for innocence in 
delights, for humility in riches, for piety in business, for truth in loquacity, for 
charity in this perverse world. "|| True the monastic life implied retreat, even 
from the world in which continued many of the elect ; but for many souls this 
was nee.essaiy ; and there are not wanting modern philosophers who have ac 
knowledged that it was. " Though a wise man," says Cowley, " could pass never 
s&lt;&gt; securely through the great roads of human life, yet he will m^et perpetually 
with so many objects and occasions of grief, shame, anger, hatred, indignation, 
and all passion-, that he had better strike into some private path, nay, go so far, 
if he conld, out of the common way, ur nee facta audiat Pelopidarum. "f In 
the monasteries, more than in the farms of Virgil, men were delivered from be 
holding the affairs of empire, and the fall of kingdoms ; there they might live 
in peace, neither lamenting their wants, nor envying those who had possessions ; 
seeing neither the iron laws, nor the insane forum, nor the decrees of senates.** 

Why are devout Christians to be despised for expressing desires which are ad 
mired on the lips of Cowley ami Virgil ? The Catholic phiposophy admitted of 
no such inconsistency. Cowper, indeed, even in praising retirement, adds, 

" Not, that I mean to approve, or would enforce 
A superstitious and monastic course." 

To enforce it no Catholic pretended ; but in what the distinction consists which 
renders the monastic retirement an exception, I believe it would have puzzled 
him to tell. Beatse aures qnae vena-; divini susurri stiscipitmt, et de muiidi 
hnjussusurrationibusnihiladvertunt."ft Such was the monastic principle. "Averte 

* Essays. f Scrm. Ixxvi. J Ric. S. Viet, super Apocalypsum. Lib. iii. 8 

S. August. Civ. Dei, 1 xviii. 18 ||De Conversione. c. xxi. ^ Essays. ** Georg. Lib. ii. 500. 
ft De Ira. iii. 1. 



36 



MORES CATIIOLICI; OR, 



oculos ineosn- videant vanitatem. Emitie lucem tuain et veritatcm tuam." Such 
wus the monastic prayer, and u never will 1 cea-e praying thu-," ad-is Ki.-h:ml 
of Si. Victor, till vanity hath passed and light hatli shone." In line, the 
monastic life was a reducing to practice tne my-tery of holy Saturday; it 
the life hidden in Jesus Christ; a p-rpctuation of the festival in-titnted by Si. 
Paul in the Epistle read on that great day. " Mortui enim estis, ct vita v-tra 
abscondita est cum Christo in Deo." The mona-iic -ilencc, that profound, nan- 
qnil acquiescence in a life of abnegation and of insensibility to human pnu.-e or 
blame, saving charity, was a lift- so contrary to that of tin- world, that it might 
trnlv be compared to the quiet and r. t tiic grave. lint it \va- a tin-- lit- : 

" Cell et coal habitatio cogiiatu- Mint. 8t, Bernard, &lt;( quod geritur in 

ccelis, hoc est in cellis. Quidnam est hoe ? Y:t&gt; r Deo, : 1 

The monastic life, we might have added, implied celibacy ; which a- a Fr.neh 
Dominican observes, was not the invention of monks; it exi-t-d before tl 
were monks, and they onlv raised it to tin- dignity of a virtue : but h:ivin-_ r in a 
forma 1 book explained the s-ntini -nts of m u 1n age- of faith, wh rcp- (.! h ,t 
discipline in regard to the clergy at large, there \va- n&lt;&gt; incc--ity for our dwell 
ing upon it here. John Gerson, in his discourse upon that r- t ntcs in ad 
vance all the objections that have been nru r d in latter times; and to that un 
answerable treatise those who demand farther argument may !&gt; St. 
Chrysostom, it is true, had already done the same, \\h.-n he examined with yr- 
fixed upon the eternal world the happiest and most successful life of tho-r who 
were not called to observe it ;J but further citations are nt-edlcss in ihi- place. 
" Not vain or void of truth," says St. Bernard, " is that form ..f iifo."^ With 
in the cloister it implied days pa-s. d in th- contemplation of thf hirhest nnth, 
and of ideal grandeur, a converse with the glories and -olemnitie- ot univ-i-al 
nature, thoughts of sages and heroes, unmixed with minor things, the fiery con 
sciousness of activity, for, as we shall see, labor wa- of obligation, and at the same 
time, what could hardly perhaps elsewhere be united with it, cloudless serenity 
of mind, uninterrupted peace. 

" Ric. S. Viet. Annot. in. Ps. xxv. f Gcrsnni Opt-ru. i..m. iii. 

$ St. Chrysost. Tract, de Virginitate, cap. uvi. ^ De Converpione, xxi. 



AGES OF F A 1 T H. 37 




CHAPTER III. 

FTER solution of this first inquiry, we shall be asked by those who lack 
experience to direct tnem, in their old errors blind, to what purpose of 
utility served the monastic orders ? For many that are no\v afflicted with 
distorted vision, are persuaded that they were vain, if not pernicious in 
stitutions, foil owing the sophists, who, lamenting that the times of heathen 
philosophy are past, say, in allusion to the Academy, that " the walks 
which a divine wen ins had immortalized, were abandoned to the most deceitful 

25 7 

as well as to the most useless of men." And, indeed, rightly do they say that 
the monks were useless, if we understand and use the distinction pointed out by 
the sage whose genius they extol, who said that the true philosophers are useless 
in the state, adding, " but it is not through their fault that they are useless, since 
it is through that of the evil men, who do not make use of them."* Although it 
will be necessary to have arrived at the end of the present book, to understand 
completely the use of monasteries, we ought not to proceed without endeavoring to 
give some reply to a question that is sure to be urged from the commencement; 
for which purpose let us endeavor to discover what answer would have been im 
mediately given iu ages of faith, had such an inquiry been made. 

It is recorded in monastic history, that St. Bernard coming to make the founda 
tion of the abbey of Villers, in Brabant, and looking down from the mountain 
upon the gorge in which it was to stand, said, " In this place will many souls be 
saved." Such was the utility which lie expected from it. Now this was the chief 
and primary use of monasteries, accord ins: to the judgment of men in ages of 
faith. In them many souls were saved ; placed and retained in harmony with 
God and man, in that divine peace from which in the last book we traced all 
earthly peace. This is beautifully expressed in these words of St. Bernard, which 
we find usually inscribed on some conspicuous part of the Cistercian abbeys, 
Bonurn est nos hie esse, quia homo vivit purius, cadit rarius, surgit velocius, 
iucedit cautius, quiescit securius, moritur felicins, pursratur citius, prsemiatur 
copiosius." The blessed Otho bishop of Bam berg, confessor and apostle of Pom- 
erania, being asked flimiliarlv by some in 1150, whv he founded and built so- 

. 

many monasteries, replied, citing the evangelical parable of the Good Samaritan, 
who conveyed the wounded man to an inn. adding, " The world is all a place ol 
exile, and as long as we live in this world, we are a; a distance from our Lord. 

* Plato, De Ri-Diib. Lib. vi. 



;{S MORES CATIIOLICI; OK. 

Therefore, we need inns and stables. Th&gt; .-&gt; nre tli- n of or,.;^ utility to us poor 

wanderers; and if we fall among robbers and arc .-trip! and wounded, and left 

half-dead, certainly we shall Hud by expei iencc h"\v mtieli better it is to IM- i 

an inn, than at a distance from one; for when sudden de-truction &lt; &gt;m s upon us, 

how ean we l&gt;e carried to a .-table if it IK- far oil i; i- much better th;it there 

should be many such places than few, s-eiuu how ^r.at i- the daii.er and how 

large the number of persons exposed toil; and now especially that men are so 

multiplied on the earth, it is not absnid that mona-t mid be multiplied ; 

since the abundant population admits of numbers emb a^inir a cha-te life. Fiuallv. 

it is well to have these built, that in all things (J..d mi^ht be honored and man 

assisted ; and how irreat is the honor to ( ! &gt;d ami the utility to man, u Inch dailv 

result from mona-terie- ? The spiritual is even ^i eater than the temporal utility ; 

for there the blind see, the lame walk, the leper- areclean-ed, the dead air rai-ed. 

and the poor have the ^o*|&gt;el preached to them."* 

Xot, however, to press men with avowals which would in an instant render evi 
dent the inutility of our attending further to th&gt;-ir objection-, let u- de-c, -ml from 
this elevation, and endeavor to -how by obvion- n-a-ons, drawn from princij 
which all will admit, why such important result* followed from the iustituti- ii of 
the monastic orders. 

Iu the first place, then, the advantages of a life in community, as set forth by 
St. Basil, in his great rules, are irn-at and income-table. That life, one i u 
rights of man," as well as a want incident to humanity, correspond* with an in 
timate sentiment of our nature, which -brinks from the .sad issue de&gt;erib&lt;Hl by a 
great modern writer, where he -ay-, that to advance toward- the L r ia\c, ^-..win..; 
each day more and more isolated, is the lot of man. As doubtles* it is in the 
present age, when the passion of individuality devours the human heart. How 
different is it from that life in a monastery, a. beautifully described by St. Ii ;1 -il ! 
The Stagy rite remarked the want which human nature felt for such anation. 
Men," he says, " love to do things in company with others. They l.,v to take 
exercise together, and to philosophize together ; and it is with friends that they 
wish to pass their days."f 

Those men," says Plato, " who are of the best natures, devote themsely- to 
continence and friendship, conversing with men only, and living without marri 
age, but being susceptible of the most firm and indissoluble affection for such a- 
are of a like nature, from whom they wish never to be separate! thron-h life, 
though they are never able to say what they wish to happen to 6Mb other, while 
s evident that their souls are filled with mme desire which they are not able 
express, and that they divine what is desirable. And if Vulcan shonid come 
:l.em with his instruments, and say, (&gt; men, what i- it that you wish should 
happen to each of you? and if they still doubting he should a-ain ask, Itthil 

DeS. Ottone, Pommeran. Apostol. Lib. i. ;l ,,. Canto. L,,I. Aniiq iii. f Ethic, ix. 12. 



AGES OF FAITH. 39 

what you desire, that you should he united for ever, and never be separated from 
each other ? for if this be your tie-ire, I am willing to unite you, not only as long 
as you live, but in such a manner that you shall not be separated even after 
death, hearing this, it is certain that they would &gt;eem to wish for nothing else, 
and they would feel that this was what they had long desired, the cause being in 
that ancient primal nature of man before he was isolated, to \\hich the highest 
love restores them, yielding them many benefits for the present, :md the greatest 
hopes for the future, inspiring them with piety, and making them happy and 
blessed."* 

Now if the natural reason of men could thus appreciate the advantages of a 
common life, how much more will not the Christian wisdom esteem it ! for as 
an English author says, " it may be truly affirmed, that there was never any 
philosophy, religion, and other discipline, which did so plainly and highly exalt 
the good which is communicative, and depress the good which is private and 
particular, as the holy faith." Hence we find the association of pious men, who 
gave themselves to retreat and prayer, arose in the first days of the church, and were 
spread wherever the gospel was announced ; in allusion to which St. Chrysostom 
says, that whoever has renounced earthly affections or possessions for the disci 
pline of Christ, in order to advance more in his love, on that account will find 
more who will receive him with internal affection, and rejoice to support him 
with their substance. The angel of the school pronounces this sentence, " Man 
to act well want* the assistance of friends, in regard to works both of the active and 
of the contemplative life."f " In a community," says Thomas a Kempis, " a man 
lives more securely ; and if sometimes be is trouble 1 by one, on the other hand he is 
consoled by another. There he is excited to good by example, and warned from evil. 
There he finds persons he can love; the censure on another is an admonition 
to himself: there each on* guards the other. There are diverse offices and one spirit 
of charity. There the sound visiting the sick rejoices so serve Christ in so 
doing ; there one being weary of attendance, another supplies his place. There 
while one reads, many are edified , there each one having his weekly course, they 
all are mutually relieved. There a man has many to pray for him, and at his 
la&lt;t moments to protect him against the devil ; there he ha- a* many helpmates 
as he has companions. There he happily sleeps in the Lord, and has many in 
tercessors to deliver him the sooner from purgatory : there after death he leaves 
heirs who will be mindful of him: there his labor and good conversation will 
not be forgotten, but will profit many in future times for an example. There 
he participates in the merits of all : there he lives fora time with those with 
whom he will hereafter rejoice for everlasting ages."t Clemens Alexandrinus 
thus describes it, " Here all are soldiers and guards ; no one is idle, no one use 
less. One is able to pray for you to God, another to console you when sick in 

* Conviv. c. 16. f Quaest. iv. art. 8. $ Qusest. Serm. o * 



-iO 



MOKES CATHOLICI; &gt;K, 



other to w.vp and gympathwe with yon, another to t-aci. you what is useful 
salvation, another to &lt;*&gt;rreci you w -itn boldn- s-. anoth-r locnn-i , with you 

like a friend; and all, t love you truly, without -uilc, without h\ /. witjmnt 

flatten-. () sweet attondaiuv .f friends. &lt;&gt; b ministry of comfort- ra, &lt; &gt; 

faithful services of tho-e \\lio fear only God, O th- true -implicity which i&lt; in 
capable of a falsehood, O the honorable labor which ifl m ! -dim- &lt; MM!, to 

please God !" 

The conviction of men in ages of faith, that the iut.-rsi&lt; of ihe -onl re.pi 
them to associate with devout per-ons. re-ted upn -"lid principle. -nu- of which 
were not unknown t&lt;&gt; the ancient world. S , at - tvlat-- in th- Platonic dia 
logue, that many of his disciples \\lio made ^:- at pii._M-e-~ in wi-doni while with 
him, had not continued to retain it when th&gt;-y left him. This WM tii- ca-e with 
Aristides, son of Lymnmchns, wlio coiifi e&lt; it in tht-e reinai kal.i. \\oid-. " 1 
say the truth, though it may -ecm incivdinle, hut what I l-ani-d fr.m you 
never in the way of instruction. Imt mer.-ly Uy l&gt;ein^ with you. 1 -. im-d to ad 
vance from being in the &gt;ame house with you, though I wt-n- not to In in the .-a me 
room, but still more when 1 wa- also in tin- &lt;ame room with yo l&gt;le 

to see you while speaking ; and above all, when I .-at by your sid- am) held you ; 
but now, since my absence on the naval expedition, all this faculty lias left me and 
passed away."* Here is a beautiful illustration of the D ty to which -o many 

of the ancient sage- and poets bear wit g when Pindftr ezoUuma, " Hut may it 

happen to me discoursing to be conversant with the good ;"f and Maximus oi Tvre, 
"nothing is more hostile to the virtue of man, than tin* being surrounded with 
wickedness;" and JEschylus, I mourn the destiny that blend- the ju-t with the 
unhallowed. Nothing worse in whatever cau-e than impious lellowship : noth 
ing of good is reaped. If midst a race, inhospitably bent &gt;u -avau r ed*-eds, regard 
less of heaven, the just man fix hi- seat, the impending wrath -pares n.t, but 
strikes him with vindictive fury, eru-hed in the g.-neral ruiM."J Hence the wise 
old man in Plaatos addrexaea the-e word- to h - -&gt;\\ : 

" Nolo ego cum improbis te viris, 

Gnate mi, neque in vh, iinnit: in foro ullum sermonera eisequl. 
Novi ego hoc svculuni, nmrihus quibus sit. Mains bonum malum 
Esse volt, ut sit sm simiiis :";j 

But let us hear the old ( hristian- &lt;peak. u Saul, being am on-; the projh&gt; 
says Father Diego de Stella, " became a prophet and did prophecy, and amonir 
fools he became a fool. St. Peter, b--ing among th- apostles, confe ed Christ to 
be the Son of God, but afterwards in Caiaphas &lt; h n-e, wlu-ri he was with the 
wicked, he did deny him. It ^eemeth hereby tint a irreit alteration wa&gt; made 
m the man by rea.-on of the company tm.t he waswiih. If tmm j)iitte-t dead 

Plato, Theages. f p ytb . Id. 11. } S, P t. owi. Tl.c-b. Irinum. ii. 2. 



AGES OF FAITH. 41 

among quick burning coals, they will soon be &gt;et on fire. Draw thou near unto 
the burning coals which be the virtue* of good men, for though thou be never so 
much wasted and consumed by thine own evil life, yet good men with tU-ir vir 
tues will revive and quicken thee again. St. Thomas, because he did separate 
himself from the rest of his followers, did not see Christ when he ro.-e again ; and 
when he joined himself in company with them again, our Redeemer appeared unto 
him, and so, of an unbelieving disciple, wa- made a faithful and true disciple. It 
is a dangerous thing to for-ake the company of them that fear God. The Holy 
Ghost descended upon Whitsunday \\ hen the disciples were gathered together, and 
if thon wilt continue among good men, thou shalt receive the Holy Gho^t a- they 
did."* 

" He who adheres to a holy man," says St. Gregory the Great, from the custom 
of seeing him, and of speaking with him, and from the example of his works, will 
be kindled with a love of truth." u Since you know that many are called, but 
few chosen," says Pope Adrian, writing to St. Hildegard, "join yourself to the 
number of the few and persevere to the end in holy conversation, that with your 
sifters you may come to those joys which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor 
the heart of man conceived. ; " As in the world," says Dionysius the Carthu 
sian, " one draws another to sin, so in a religious community one attracts another 
to virtue. A brother who is assisted by a brother, says Solomon, l is like a for 
tified city/ Consider deeply the quality and quantity of the perils in the world, 
and act for your soul as you would in case of a temporal danger; for what you 
have to fear is the loss of the highest and incommutable good the eternal God 
Irrecoverable and everlasting felicity," Now this was one of the advantages fur 
nished by monastic life. "Holy men," we read, "attend not to good places, but 
to good conversation in places." " The place of the just," says St. Gregory, " is 
a good conversation r the place of the just is the Lord." " Hence, in the form 
ula of the promise made by strangers on applying for reception into a monastery, 
extracted by Mabillon from a very ancient commentary on the rule of St. Bene 
dict, by Hildemar, we find these words " Coming from distant provinces to this 
monastery, because the conversation of the brethren of this place pleases me ; and 
because my conversation pleases them : therefore, I promise stability in this mon 
astery, and by this writing with my own hand pledge myself that it shall be per 
petual. ^ 

If we refer to facts, there will be no difficulty to find the verification of these 
views. " In all ages," says a modern historian, who is not Catholic, " the clergy 
who lead a life separate in the world have been affected by the influence of the 
passing current ; while the regular or monastic clergy, though hearing the storm 
of human passion-; ro ar nt a distance, escaped its fury, and pursued, without any 
important revolution, the even tenor of its way." And in another history, we 

* On the Contempt of the World. St. Omer, 1622. f Praefat in IV. Saec. S 4. 



42 M O R K S C A T H O L I C I ; O R 

are told, that the experience of all agi -lm\\n tin- evils ami dan&lt;z-r* to which 

isolated prie.-t- arc exposed. Without doubt, such is the purport of hi-torical 
testimony. The Saxon chronicle, in reference to England in ih&lt; I|x 7. - 

"So it was in those da\ - that iittl eoustie&lt;8 w.i- in thi.s land with any 

men but with the monk- alone, wherever they fared W 11." 8 phen Pa&gt;.piier 

observes, - that the monastic in-titiiie \\a- th&lt;- principal instrument by whieh me 
church in France \va- reformed aft. r th - under ti of Charle- 

mairne."t In effect every where elae it was the same. M.-nel. i ofitrat1 -ay. 

that at one t poch the spiritual genm- of tin ( imrcn took i n tin- monies, and 

that the monastic state \va&gt; an asylum tor tiie Cnnreh. a- ihe Church had b en fr 
human ."; 

Peter of P&gt;lois, archdeacon of London, and a secular. oipplieating th&gt; 
ei.irn poutitl t &lt; convert a (rtain pai - i&gt;h chnrcn into a Cistercian convent, on a&lt;-- 
cotint of the inctrrigibi- man - cular ( l-iiry ot th- p a-e. USCfl this 

nj lan^uaj : "C nvert thi- gtve il swine itttn a temple of God ; an-1 let this 

d- n -I sham les- s.nners become A dwelling to: those wh&lt;&gt; &gt;,&gt;,!&lt; ti.c face of the 
of .laeob, and wno will make it a paiadi.-- t pleasuie, and a sin- tuarv of the 

HolyGWt" 

The monastery of Lerins alone gave to the Church twelve archbish- &gt;ps, twelve 
bishop-, and more than one hundre.l marty:-. Thive of the ^rcate-t 
Gregory VII., I l-ban II.. and Pasc-al II., -am- fr-.m Cluny. Tne Churcli of 
God venerates no le. t .an twenty-two -ail) - who wen- monks .f th.. moii.i-terv 

of St. It rtin. at St. ( )mer.|| The arohbisliops of Maycooe oeed tinioat always 1 

be (ira\vn from th" abbb-y ot Fulla. &lt; hi &gt; nterinu th- court of the nx-i a-terv 
of St. Gregory, on the Celiau hill at K me. you read in-ctilx-d the name- ..t 
great and holy bish &gt;p- who i-.-iied from that I ..... -e : amount \\h h.are \\\-&lt;- ..} 
St. An^u-tin,St. Laurentius, St. I etrn-.St. II. .n-riu-, all an hbi-hop- of Canter 
bury, St. Mellitus, bi-hop of Loud u. St. .In-tus, bi&gt;h..p &lt;.f Rochester, and S t . 
Paulinus, archbi-hoj) ot York. In the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centurie-. it 
wa- almost exclusively the mouaste: i-- which suppli.-d men worthy of the epi- 

ioy, The-^e pontitfs retained the habit, and p i in the regular lit;-. 

we read of St. Caesarius of Arle-. St. (id-main of Paris. St. .Klbert Yo k, and 
other-. So renowned was th- abbey of St. Victor, at Paris, for it- di- ipline and 
science, that many French l&gt;i.-h-p- sought to proemv regular cam.ns of tnat iioti-e 
to place in their cathe irals in the room -ulars. The 1-; Mj I i-h Chun-h re 

garded St. Victor s as the seminary of her b;-li,.|,-. Seven cardinal-, two aich- 
b shops, six bishops, and fifty-four abbots, in the c .urse of the t \vi-I f=h century 
alone, came from that monastery.** How immen-e a^tiu was the iiiiinln-r fa lintfl 



1 292. f Rechercbesde la France. Liv. u i. 19 J Hi-t. ill- Fr.mrr. i -jil 

! .(. Bles. Epist. olii j Chronic. S. Bertini. Prolog, ap. Martene. Tlicsaur. An&lt;r&lt;iot. iii. 
^liiinnat. Hist. Fuld. tis. p. 111. 

4 Bulaus HM. Univ.-rs. r.-ir. ii Lu-lmer Hugo von- St. Victor und die Tl.- Kichtun- 

gen seiner Zeit. 



AGESOFFAITH. 43 

given to tlie Church by the ahbey of St. Maximin, at Tiwes ? Mow many illus 
trious men by the ni"n;tstery of Hirschau . " Melro~e ai bey gave St. Euta to the 
see of LindisfariijSt. Edilwald to that of Durnam, St. Boisiius to that of Wo; 
ter, and Wallen, the uncle of kin,: Malcome, to that of St. Andrew, who, how 
ever, refused the invitation, and died here as the humble disciple of St. Bernard, 
in the odor of sanctity, in 1155. f 

Abeillard himself point- d out the reasons of the monastic state being so rec 
ommended, and contrasted the danger of the life of clerks in the world with the 
security of the monastic life.:}: " Such was the esteem of the latter from experience 
of iis utility," says John Devotus tne canonist, that to canons \\as prescribed a 
life in community under] a rule, Peter Damian in Italv Ives of Chartres in 

* m * 

France, and Egbert, archbishop of York, in England, adding monastic vows to 
the canonical institute."! 

By the institution of St. Chrodegang, bishop of Metz, in 760, the .-eeular clergy 
were appointed to live in community like monks. Such, however, was the noto 
riety of the monastic pre-eminence In regard to religion, that in many dioceses 
th* cathedrals were served by monk^. In Germany, from the time of St. Boni 
face, they possessed the cathedrals of Saltzburgh, Eisted, Freybourg, Ratisbon, 
Mayence, and two others, whence the very name of Ministers was derived. Xine 
cathedral- in England were similarly served, as those of Canterbury from the time 
of king Ethelbert to the revolution of the sixteenth century, the archbishop being 
necessarily a monk, of York, Winchester, Sherbourne, Rochester, Norwich, Lin- 
disfaru, Durham, Ely, and Coventry. In France the episcopal church of Toul 
was served by monks, as was, in Spain, that of Toledo, and some others. At the 
very heal of all the churches, in the Lateran Basilica itself, Benedictine monks of 
Mount-Cassino were established in the time of Pope Innocent II., after the slaugh 
ter hy the Lombards, and in the church of St. Peter, by order of Pope Gregory 
III., Benedictines having served the basilica of St. Paul from an early age.ll 

/ o 1 1 

The same services were rendered by the mendicant orders in latter times. Sixty- 
six cardinals, 460 archbishops, and 2,136 bishops have worn the habit of St. 
Domin ; ck ; simple friars, without birth or fortune, who had been chosen only 
through regard to their virtue. 

Over the door of the Capuchin convent at Altorf, I read an inscription, which 
siated, that this house was founded by the inhabitants of the town " for the aug 
mentation and service of the Catholic religion." No happier expression could 
have been selected. Pope Benedict XIV. styled the abbey of St. Gall/ Valid- 
k&lt;imum stabiiimentum verte religions ;"| and six years afterwards he called it, 
; Illnstre monasterium S. Galli, validissimum istud propugnacnlum vene Dei 
religionis." When by persuasion of the good and great king Jarne- of Arragon, 

Trithem. in Chron. Hirs. f Jongelin. Notitise Abb. Ord. Cisterciens. viii. 15. 

I Vie d Abbeil, iii. i ust j t . Canon. Lib. i. tit. 3 g 7 

1 Mabil. Proef. in III. and V. Saecul. Ben. ^ Breve, 1749. 



44 MollKS CATHOLIC I; OK. 

Barcelona and Saragossa fir-t 1 tin.- two holy families of St. Dominic and 

8 Francis, the object of tn- -c cities, a- the Spanish hi-torian BftVB, wa- to mak- 
head against the t\vo grea: evil- of ignorance and avarice.* 

It is a problem vet I &gt; be -olved, whether religi-.il ran long ntinu-- etl eetive 
and in purity, where sueii binwarks are wan: iig, In England, it was tnon-riit 
in the reign of Mary, that the Catholic religion wa- pcrmaiienty r&gt; stored, and 
that everv thing would l&gt;e well again, although the:. were to !&gt; n &lt; more m- 
teries. The oaths of the nobility, (doubtless all h-&gt;no abl- ni -n, a- we -honld 
now style them,) in the name of the whole kingdom to defend that faith, w r- not, 
lio \vever, found quite sufficient to answ.-r the purp But to 

procee&lt;l. The utility of the contemplative and iirenor life !&gt; ing reOQgniaed in 
ages of faith, as a n ce--arv con-eqiiencc. nn&gt;na-t known to !&gt;&gt; indisi.en-- 

able. " I low IKH- -- ary it is to providf ;! th- ijni.-; of nionk-," -a\ - T ! Mn-eii 
III., writing to \Vibali, abi&gt;ot oftVby. "a; IMIU what \\as don.. lt\ the 

C reator of all things, when !! defendeil tW e.uis o| Mary a^.iin-t Ma-tha."t 
If it bf true n -j.-neral." M ^t. Bon ivntnra remark-, " t;.at in &gt;re ciicnm-tai 
an- recjirn-d t or ir- iu d than for t-vil,"t it i- in a particular manner ceitain \\ith 

anl to this hi^he-t and \\\&lt;^t divine virtue, " f-r," as Richard of St. Yi 
&gt;avs, " it is to be not d that the grae.- of the contemplative lit^ &gt; - from n- 
nioiv easily than that of the active, but it is i i with much more difficult \ 

While then all thos-- who \\o-il i s- -k no oth-T \\orth in life, l&gt;nt the inner w 
of thesoundnes- nf the s .nl, mn-t proviil iivnm-tances as will enable them, 

at least, within their mind- to construct a place of p aoe, th &gt; -\ h a-i&gt;:re to th- 
highest life must l--ave n -thiiiir undone thai c;m c.indnc- I - -nritv that thev 

* 

may not. like others, l&gt; -nl)j vt t . pa lltem t iy (V .in -lerusalcm to Baby ion, ..r 
from a place of p-a-v and (juiet to one of coiifu-in and captivity. i " l* or the 
world," -ays Tnoina- a 1\ mpi**/ know- s m my mode- of de -eii :,nd \ i&gt;-ke Inev, 
it contrive- -o many inventions, and has so many quarrels, that no one - p- 
&lt;-an !&gt; safe, no one - faitn tinn. nor can even any o-ie ea-ily be innocent unless he 
.uatc himself from -he en.wd of men and -eek .le-n- ( hrist, to hear Him teach 
hi- (Jospcl in desert place-." " Ther. ~-\i\^ noviet-s he add-. " u r " out 

with Abraham from your coiintrv, and tVoin vonr father - h"ii- . -nd c .me into 
the holy land, that is, into the monastic life, that von may learn d -cipiine. and 
-eive tiie Lord your (Jod faithfully ail the dav- of vonr life."^I " How can any 
one retain the s ,nn Iness of &lt; \.-liim- St. Ani;u-ti;i, " who i- fed with dis- 

o&gt;rd- an 1 eonte-t- ?"** 

The efo -e. ev. n th- adver-aries of mona-tlr 1 f- .-x. laim with (\&gt;wj&gt;er, " O 
blessed secins on tVoin a j irring world ! Retreat has p ; nd much seen res the 

* Bei-naidini Gomesii d.- Vii ;4 Jiicohi Ar:u Lib. ii. 

t Ap. M.-irtrie. Vet. Script. C-.ll. ti.m. ii. g 

: St. IJnn. C(.inpci u l. Thfol. V,-iii. Lib. iii e. in ! ( - Eruditione I! miuil Inter ,. .. 

| Rich. St. Viet. DinL.LCus Novitiorum. ** I itud 



AGES OF FAITH. 45 

mind from all assaults of evil." Moreover, monasteries possessed, in a high de 
gree, that influence of place which was not unobserved by the wise men &lt;&gt;f an 
tiquity, as when Cicero says, " tanta vis admonitiouu ine-t in loci s, ut nun sine 
causa ex his memorise ducta sit disciplina."* Hence, even occasional visits to 
them were deemed salutary: in allusion to which opinion, Michelei exclaim-, 
" Why should we ridicule these candid ages which beleived that they could flv 
from evil by changing place, travel from sin to sanctity, leave Satan with the 
dress which was laid aside for that of the pilgrim ? Is it not something," lie adds, 
" to e-cape from tne influence of pluvs and customs, to change one s country, to 
orientalize one s self to a new life ? Is there not a bad power of infatuation, and 
of blindness in some places, whether it beih M Charmettes of Rousseau, or the Fer- 
ney of Voltaire ? Let us not wonder if on ancestors loved pilgrimages, and at 
tributed to them a virtue of regeneration." t 

" Hence, from knowing what monasteries furnished," St. Bernard says to 
those who dwelt within them, l I beseech you, brethren, by the common safety, 
.studiously profit by the opportunity given to you of working out your salvation. 
Here you have no solicitudes. You have no need of thinking about markets or 
secular affairs, or even about food and clothing. Procul a vobis, magna qnidem 
expartediei malitiaet sollicitndo vitae. Sic abscondit vos Deus in abscondito tab- 
ernacuii sni. Vacate itaque dilectissimi, et videte, quoniam ipse est Deus."^ 

Thus wu- supplied by monasteries, what the Stagy rite admitted was necessary to 
the contemplative life ; for after saying that " man alone, of all other animals, can 
be happy, inasmuch as he has the power of contemplation ; and that, as far as 
there is contemplation, there is also happiness ;" he adds, " yet there will be some 
thing external wanted ; for nature is not sufficient &gt;f itself to contemplation, but the 
body must possess food and other necessaries, " which necessity the monks them 
selves recognized, for "the first impediments to contemplation," says St. Bona- 
ventura, " may be from th b &gt;dv, as when it suffers violent hunger, or thit&gt;t, or 
cold. "|| Monasteries were intended to provide this external supplement, and, 
consequently, by enabling m-n to adopt the contemplative life, conferred benefit 
upon an immense class of societv. For how many are there unfitted for any &lt; ther 
life, but that congenial with the true philosophy of retirement and prayer, "and 
who feel," as Plato says, " ov /Siooroi a\\a&gt;* TTOIOVVTI." If The multitude is 
composed of men adroit in speech, and for communion with the world accom 
plished ; " but," as the poet says 

Others too 



There are, among the walks of lonely life 
Still hiuhti, men for contemplation framed ; 
Shy and unpractised in the strife of phrase : 
Meek men, whose very souls perhaps would sink 

* De Finibus, v. f Hi&lt;t. d&lt;- France, ili. 55. | Serm. 2. 

Si Ethic, x. 8. [Medit. Vii. Christi. Ivi. r EnM. viii. 



10 MOKES CATHOLIC I; OK, 

Beneath them, summoned to sucli in.ercouree. 
Theirs is the lumu.-i.m- t the h the, oowor, 

The thought, tut- im me. :iiicl lue, silent joy 1 

What an asylum do mona-t fries f irnisn t yonu_ r men of thi- character, shrink 
ing from th- ga/,-.- of cold w.indly wi.-.d mi, " inexperienced in itx-alcula; ion-, un- 
suliied by the taruish of its vulgar want.-, si ik of it.- formalitu-, and Btixioui 
cast off the mean n-tii-ti us it impo-es, whicn bind so firmly by tneir iinm 
though singly so eontemptibl"?" The .111 -i--ut- had c\a u 

analogous to what might b- otleivd n \ i i- \\.i- not mad- for a cruel and 

unjust invader, and wtit-n h- undiM-took th-- oilic , and (&gt; ri&gt;li.-.i at t.-r -udi I&gt;HX 
suflcrm^, tlii i 1 - is n o:i-- who do-&lt; not la n m ui- liui in ( hri-tian tiin--- 

& 

we find instances at "vcrv -t--|). In th p H-III oftln- Lm-i of ih*- 1-1.-. when 
Ejdward propost-s to adopt a ci-riain youn^ man . age, IJrnc- inn-rjio-i -. 

" guy K&lt;i \\uril, na 



This is no youth to hold thy bow 

Or fill thy goblet. 

Or b-:ir thy message light. 

Thou Htt a putnm all to wild 

And thoughtless, for this orphan child. 

thoii not how apart he sl&lt; 
Keeps lonely couch and lonely meals ? 
Beltei by far in yon calm cell 
To tend nur si-tci I-at&gt;el. 
\Vidi futlicr Aiigiisiin to share 
The peaceful change of couvi-nt pniyer, 
Than wander wild adventure- through 
With such a reckless guide a- you. 

And so when Bruce with this pa.:- \vcr.- in the convent of his royal sister, he 
says to her, 

" He is a boy of gentle stuiin, 
And I have j&gt;rp-M-d lie -hall dwell 
In Allglistin Hie chap ain .- cell, 
And wait on the.- my Isaln-l. 
Mind not hi- tear- : I ve seen them flow 
As in the thaw iow, 

i kind youth but fanciful, 
Unfit against the tide 10 pull. 
And those that with HIP Bruce would sail, 
Must learn to strive with stream and irale." 

Age too, after a lal&gt;oriou- life, tni-h f,-l tins wan more keenly still, as when 

Bourdaloue begged th^ general of his order to permit him to retire from tin- 

world to solitude ; an 1 s.nU 1 )V violence convert* i. a-nl ii-eu al&gt;ove tlie \\ave- 

h had whelmed and -nnk tlio ra ,|,,\ V n, would need the same shelter ; for, as 

Dairc sings, 



COL: 
\ 

AGES OF FA I Til. 

" It may not be 

That one, who looks upon that light can turn 
To other object willing!} his view. 
For all the good, that will may covet, there 
Is suuim d ; and all, elsewhere defective, found complete."* 

For all such persons, life in the world would have been iimningled bitterness, 
contrasted with what Petrarch writing to his brother Gerard, styles " the quiet 
poverty, the sweet leisure, the united fellowship, and the celestial peace of the 
cloister."f 

A great English philosopher lias the courage to acknowledge some of these ad 
vantages, " for some," he remarked, " have little power to do good, and have 
likewise little strength to resist evil. Many are weary of their conflicts with ad- 
rersity, and are willing to eject those pa-sions which have long busied them in 
vain ; and many are dismissed by age and diseases from the more laborious duties 
of pocietv. In monasteries the weak and timorous may be happily sheltered, the 
weary may repose, and the penitent may meditate. Those retreats of prayer and 
contemplation have something BO congenial to the mind of man, that perhaps 
there is scarcely one that does not purpose to close his life in pious abstraction, 
witli a few associates serious as himself.^ 

Bnt it was not alone to men who embraced the contemplative life, that mon 
asteries were deemed useful ; for as they lived not for themselves alone, the whole 
world it was beleived, received benefit from the prayers and worship offered up 
within them. St. Augustin in many place&lt; remarks, that those who are devoted 
to the contemplative life, conduce not a little to the good of the republic by their 
prayers, and many felt this as personal to themselves. Thus Ives de Chartres, 
writing to a monk, says, " Remember me in your prayers, vestrae enim orationes 
quanto quietiores, tanto saniores." When John Francis Picus of Mirandula 
was deprived of his territories, Baptist, the Mantuan Carmelite, having written 
to him, saying, "I have heard of your misfortune, illustrious man, and to speak 
ingenuously what I feel, yon now seem to me greater than when you reigned ^ 
for it is greater to prove one s self worthy of a kingdom than to be a king ; there 
fore, I love and honor you, and in my prayers are always with you. And 
60 likewise are all the brethren who are here with me in Christ. I deem that a 
wretched kingdom which would deprive one of the sweet delights of study, and 
of friends united in the study of philosophy ; and before all the kingdoms of 
the world, I would prefer, Diocletian like, the silence of the woods, and the 
beauties of a garden." The prince acknowledged the benefit greatefully in these 
words : " 1 can no more believe that you do not as-ist me with your prayers, 
than that fire does not burn ; tor this is the property of you, and of all like you, 
who more immediately wait on Christ. By your assistance I think it must 

* Par. f Var. tfpist. Lib. xix. ^ Jwunson s Rasselas. i Epist. ii. - 



MORES CATHOLICI ; OR, 

have come to pas-, tliat tin- \v&lt; -iglit of -o many cal;. :irn-h 

lightlv tlian I e nil every have IMM 

"Tiir Carthusian order," sayu Petrus Sutorus, " confer* ad\ mi th&gt; 

public by its p writings, bv 

counsel-, aiul by its temporal "| " I ll &lt; arlm- a:i monks," he 

adds, " u-e daily in th-ir ceil-, certain peculiar prayer* for all Dfaom 

and neees-ities that b.-loiig to the litunan ia&lt;&gt; ; - dulou-ly they ,,:, all the 

delusion- and mi-ei ife, ou the pomps of prelate .mhition &gt;i .the 

curiosity of ,-tudents, th" elation of the 1 -am- d. ih 

of th" litigious, th" adidati n~ &gt;ri i of nobles, the vii.l.-n.-,- ..f 
soldiers, tin- corruptions of jiuiue-, i; nien-liaiiis, th" tribulations 
of the married, the avarii tiir want- ! th . he p:dn- "( the 
sick, ihe groans of prisoners. th&lt;- atli n i . i-ph m-, the ppre- 
sions of travellers, th" tribnhr . on- of t : .;i innnnv-i able . tie : evils 
for which they incessantly pray. 1 n ; . modern p .et. \vho-e \voids 
apply to monks, although h- lidnks n t. Hie .-eif-app: ovin^ world, that sc:: 
deigns to notice him, or deem- him but a cypher in the work- 
advant which .-he little dr fioin : -- hour-. I ethai - -he 
owes her suns nine and h r rain, and plenteous liar . t ue prayer- he ni;,! 
when, I-:iac like, he m&lt;di ;iid thinks on her u ho think- nt f.r her-elf. 
Forgive him then, thou bustler in OODOCriW oi little \\orth. an idler in the best, if 
autiior of no mi-&lt;-hief and -oin i, j,,-,,j K . r happiness by nn-ans that 
may advance, Imt cannot hinder thine. Ac.-..nnl him then an encnnibrance on h- 
.-tale, ie- i\ ;:.. fits and fC d : :. r bv id- pr.i\ c i &gt;. a- \\ ell a- b\ 
fair example an i his inHue. ut in HOOthing sorrow, quendiing strife, and aid 
ing indigence, he miry and reromp.-n-e- it well fir it- prot.viioi. 
1 It was," say.- another of hi but hit- I forth the pattern ..fa 
le.-tial life up .11 earth, that men win. enteicd .iceplv. tar pi v than our 
selves, into the gloriou-u f ( hi i-tianity. planted ihroiighnut tne Ian i. and 

Solved t&lt;) perp.-tnaie t .r ever commnniti. - of it- mini&gt;t"i -. MfiioM bnnness and 
profe-i n -hould be pniyer. Tlu-y w\t d to -iiu- -pots, wh.-r- man, 

free from the trammels ,,f the worll, might live in his natural ant 

communion with his Maker. They knew that over the g ,,ith" world, 

men - .-in.- mak-- the v, n heaven- a- it w.-re , -. that ;he dews oi &lt;;.*! - 

ble&gt;-;ng cannot j&gt;a-s through them; and they kept op-,,, in th- mid-t of .-adi 
nation, some accesses to Gtxl, some of these g,,l,U.|i lad.l bv \\hich 

men s hearts ascend to Him, and his bountie- d - . ml upon u-. Thev hear 1 with 
an ear of faith, which in u- is deaf or L.-t, the -on-- of all created thing- morn 
ing and evening ri&gt;ing up before the throne of their Creator, and they thought it 

Mirand. Epist. Lib. IT. f p e t. But. De Vita Carthusians. Lib. ii. t. ii. c. 2. 

* ld - Lib a - u i" c- 2. tj Cowper. 



AG KS () F FAITH. 49 

-hame that no voice should join them from men, his own chosen children ; and 
they kept their communion with angels and past generations of saint-, and the 
hi^t of spirits with which they were about to dwell, by uniting their hvms of 
praise, in time, in spirit, in the very words themselves, with the praises and thanks 
givings of a world above." 

In regard to philosophy and literature, it would be long to describe the ad 
vantages resulting from the monastic institution, which provided houses in cities 
and in the country, in which were men living apart from the world and above it. 
" It is sinful," says Cardan, who however always takes the lowest ground in his 
reflections, " to think men in monastic orders unfortunate : for what calami tv 
can it be to serve God, to apply to letters and studies, to live without solicitude, 
to have so many excellent companions, skilled in many things, as I may say, 
knowing the secrets of all mortals, to be safe from the anger of princes, from the 
improbity of magistrates, from the injuries of the petulant, to travel through all 
countries at the expense of others, and to find a house prepared every where to 
be revered by all men as sacred, to be delivered from all perturbations and sins, 
and cares, and cupidities ? If you are in health you have many companions of 
cheerfulness, if sick you see no one weeping, but many encouraging and consol 
ing you."* 

Those who desire to reflect on the more spiritual benefits arising to the learned 
men themselves, who enter monasteries, should read the first epistle of Petrus 
Delphinus, prior of the Cumaldolese, to Petrus Douatus, relating the motives 
which induced him to embrace that state ;f and to discover the importance of 
such retreats, in regard to studies and to society in general, one need only cast a 
glance around us at the consequences of abolishing them, at what Plato describes 
as orAAoz a Y& pontiff /cot, seeing the place of philosophy deserted by those who 
should cultivate it, and jumping into it, which is the sad exhibition now pre 
sented here ; " for as these studies are still the most glorious, men," as he says, 
of imperfect and unfinished natures, desire to partake of them ; though, as their 
bodies are degraded by their labors, so their souls, are worn down and reduced 
to dust, as it were, by their mechanical arts."! 

Philosophy, comparing the foundations of our age and those of Catholic times, 
will, therefore, use words like those of Raumer, who, on visiting the ruins of 
Fountain s abbey, exclaimed, " How miserable, stunning, and stupifying, is all 
the noise of your machinery compared with the sanctus, the gloria, and the re 
quiem eternam, which still echo from every stone of these silent ruins !" Not to 
return to Aristotle, who says, that perfect happiness is in contemplation, and that 
men are happy only as far as they mrticipate in that divine life, the holy Scrip 
tures declare, that retreat and leisure are required for wisdom. * Sapientiam scribe 

* Hier. Card. De Utilitate ex Advers. cap. Lib. iii. c 21. 
f Ap. Martene.Vet. Script, torn. iii. p. 915. $ De Repub. vi. Ethic, x. 8. 



r )() Mo i: ES AT 11OLICI ; o II. 

in tempore ocii : t&lt;|iii ainoratur ill actu ip nict fain." At icr citing which 

words, Peter the Venerable, ahhot of Cluny, demands, how can any one write 
things periainii;^ to wistloin who lias HO peac, fnl lei-tire, and \\ h-le life is 

one perm rhed In The en-loin ol tr..nl.|. - ay-, deprivi s the 

rent lest men of meivy, and consequently unlit- tlicm tor the hutnaii .-tudi 
Xam cum omnibus hoi i- ali&lt;pii&lt;l ai : mi-, ant audiinus. etiam (jui 

iiatnra miti-simi sumu-. a-.-iduitat" mole-tiai tun -en-uin &lt;&gt;nm m human! 
animis amittimn- \\ hcn all ill-- clergy In-in ! i-ively (K-eiinied \\ ith all airs 

oi men, there are 1- ft DO per-on- of pacific order, v. it h lei-ui tO cultivate the 
gentle studits that cast &gt;neh a d- licjoii- li-jht ol id. uty upon the liiinian 

i-triice, when tiuT" ar-- no pi i-t~ to c -ir. i:h nature in the wm.d-. &lt; : d;a\v 

rich nicii thither lor a in in nt who mi^ht t: rnal 

ihint^s; wiien poetry, and all work- of imagination, as ot wisdom, hecome the 
domain of 1- ^i-t- or literary davePj or traders in writing, or proud, sullen, 

spiteful, disenchanted seiiators, who, whatever they may pret nd, are die tsted 

al the cm"tion- of the -..;ii, a- \v&gt; li a- at the enjoyment- of mind and o! 
men often -worn and forsworn, nnf &gt;nunat" !&gt; -iiiirs. who ha\ th-- 

thoiiLrhts ot youtli, ot virtue, or ot freulom ; \\h-e h. art- are withered; \\ i 
live&lt; are worn out ; who live only to three impre--i..n-. e^ r "ti-iu. cnpiditv. and 
pride, "^ will nut the ruin ot literatu and niu-t not j)hild-..phy mourn 

the - :i ofth him- in which the men that were to introduce her to 

th" world -.\ere trained up f:nm tiieir yoiilh in ihe heroic lov &lt;!, within the 

ah.xle- of true peace? CoWJN &gt;. the men of I-jmland. which was th" fir-t 

nation to aholi.-h niona-t- ries, that doinu _ d. d .-intei st i, is not t; 

tra \Vnat becomes of pililoeophj i i from iimna-t. 

that came forth men wi;&gt;-" tral" wa- d ting d -;.,t&lt; i -.&gt;d ; and, tie 

circum-p ct and holy iii"ii, who- til the world, have alway- d- -ir-d 

their propagation (^ne of the t nree thinu- which Raymond I.ullv had a; heart, 
li-f.re laying down his life for the love oi Ch: at niona&gt;terie- mi^lit he 

e-tahli-hed in all part- ot the ha -ita ! 

With re-pe-t to social amelioration in g&lt; f mona-teri- s was no 

less "viilent to those who foiind- d them, an.i to all \\ ho had experience of their 
effe "Hi" ; stain, n of William the pious duke ol Acqniia IK . -pe ,kin- oi his 

motive- for f Minding the m. na- erv ot ( lunv. in ! !&lt;&gt;, will prove the fir-t part of 
this proposition j for after savinir that he mai indation. in oniei that 

there may lie a veivrdiie hoiisi- of niaver. faitlifullv f e,|uenled witti vow- and 
- ipplie-ition-, with a lieavenlv com er a 1 i- n !&lt;ie-ip-and internal ardor, and 

ea-eL-ss intrea i-s to the I. ;&lt;]. h-- a Ms. " \\ e t" allv that this our 

donation may he for a perpetual refu.-e to the poor who leave the world, who 
bring away nothing with them hut a irood will, that so our provision may be 

* Epist. i. 20. t Pro t?. K -&lt; i - AIILT. 53. J Timon. 



AGES OF FAITH. 51 

made their abundance. We desire also, that as opportunity and power may be 
afforded, there may be from this time forth, for ever, daily exhibited works of 
mercy to all the poor, to strangers, and to travellers; and 1 conjure all secular 
princes and others, by God and by the -aints. and by the day of tivmendousjudg- 
ment, to refrain from invading or diminishing the substance of these servants of 
God ; and I beseech the holy apostle-. 1 - trr and Paul, to guard this lions- from 
evil men ; and I invoke the wrath of the Almighty upon whoever shall invali 
date this testament, which is made for his love and in honor of his holy servants." 
The latter assertion is verified by the moderns themselves. 

" Here is a convent of twelve persons," says a keen observer of the manners of 
nations, speaking of Spain, " the four eldest are occupied as priests, with confes 
sion, preaching, worship, and the instruction of youth ; two others have charge of 
the church of the house ; the six others go out to beg through the city or country, 
from which they bring home wood, svine, or vegetables. The gifts are so beyond 
the wants of the convent that every day these monks nourish abundantly fifty 
poor of the neighborhood. I have often assisted at these distributions, and I 
have never seen the superior fail to ask after such of his guests as were absent, in 
order to send them provisions. Such is the source of this pretended superstition 
of the people of Spain and Italy, and I conclude by asking, is it possible that 
twelve men could be better employed for the good and security of society ? Be 
sides the material advantage, in respect to agriculture, how much is a village en 
nobled by the living education afforded by monks in preaching, confessing, cate 
chizing, and encouraging confraternities, and instructing children. "f 

It was no wonder that the ruin of such houses was lamented by the people. 
Speaking of the suppression of the smaller monasteries in England, Weever says. 
" It was a pitiful thing to hear the lamentation that the people in the country 
made for them ; for there was great hospitality kept among them.":}: The loss 
of only one monastery thatofOliva, in 1360, which wa- burnt is recorded by 
the northern historians as a national calamity, equal to that of the pestilence of 
that dreadful year. 

Now hear the testimony of one who loved them not : " Half a league from 
Xeres," says Bourgoign, " is one of the most famous Carthusian monasteries in 
Spain, containing some of the finest paintings of Zurbaran and Luc Jordanus. 
The silent inhabitants of this charming asylum make us almost pardon their opu 
lence and pious indolence by their tender solicitude for the two most interest 
ing ages of life ; they begin the education of thirtv poor children of the neighbor 
ing town, and twelve old men past working come to finish their days peaceably 
amongst them.")] "The monastic order/ 1 says a modern historian, speaking of 
England in the time of Lan franc, "became a blessing to the nation ; not only 

* Biblioth. Clun. 2.. f Rubichon du Mecanisme de la Soci6te enFrance et en Angleterre. 
t 105- 8 Voight. G. Prtu&gt;sens. v. | Tableau de 1 Espague, iii. 



M &lt;&gt; K BS C AT HO 1. 1C I ; &lt;&gt;K, 

iiaritv exerei.-cd, agrictlitun and morality inculcated, tin; 

neighborhood kept in peace, luit, a- -di old \\ &gt; .-]&gt; n d ineveiydb .vili/.a- 

tion was rapidly and widely ditfnsed tnroti&lt;;hont the &lt; .untry.* 
Tiavdler- at tue |.r&lt;-,iit day an- struck with tie useful &lt; if" 

order produced by tl hborhood &lt; nvent. " The approaches to H 

.-av- JJom^oi-n. mi the road iV-in Mai; id t - -|n t- 

frightful uppearauce of the country ; for this village belongs to a mnna-t-ryof 

Benedictine-, which ca rd-n round ii eomf.it, nil: ivation Q 
strikin-j: ditli-r IKT in Spain IM I ^\ I II tlr 

the rich st lay j)K&gt;pi \\hi- h i~ explain the 

one and the :. ui th- Sf( mii-t reniemlv r, were tip- 1- a-t 

advair i &gt;r it wa-; with &lt;i vi-w !. t: lit n-nltinj- iVuin tlu ir 

neighborhood, thai men, in og live n-ardi in. \\ r- ad in 

the annals of the Capnoiiiiis, thai in 1680, when a oj&gt;nveii1 order waa t.. 

l&gt;e l)iiiit in the vnTcy -n roiiiidin with each 

oth -r respecting the site to lie i that it mi^lit l&gt;e built in its 

immediate vieini \Vlio can d(nl&gt;i. but inat th - iilnstrimi- men. -wh. like 

;no de Medic -, t u:id d t.r relniih abbey-, were act nat- d n&lt;&gt; t n a vi-\v 

to utility than to a di-piay ut their own ma^nili M Ml . : : mark 

ing in \\h-it a reverential \ &lt;a:,l monk- w rdel by Jn-tiliian and bv the 

great and learned men of primitive til I thus : wno i- hat 

has a j ;iristian pietv, and u hn examines th- th .d. l&gt;nt 

mii-l e-tcctn those men very n-et nl to the church, who endeavor to coni o ni a 
sidiu)ti&gt;ly to the life of ( .ri-t : wined the \\oi-hip 1 \\ith :d the 

devotion of which tie y i.aule. otl eiin &lt;-oii- aiit 

iticeot jirai-e ; who retain the ancient jmen of ( iiri-tian p- ni- 

. the church ; wh &lt; OIM-M-M! pui Ifl of virtue, who, hy their lal 

Iran- 1 me moiiume ; ancient \\ritiie_ to i ty ; who &lt;:ave example 

it- laudable societies; who as many hospitals for the 

poor as mona- in wnicli th&lt;- : the soul f ; in wii di ba]&gt;- 

tismal innocenc. w*B pr- - rved inviolate, or n-ston d wii. n lost, and in which I 
wants of all th- nee&lt;ly were snppli. : . M . - ri - t hotels, in wliich not a one 
the cloistral (lock, but. as L, thewhol world isddivei.d Tom 

the corruptions of the a Finally, who em - : they were i o the 

civil and Christian republic, who- with towns ;,nd s so many prov 

inces !&gt; -for- nninhibit d an 1 des TI, adoni d ;h in with alii -h- in 

with letters, and by giving epii aiul Mistonl iM--it:!t;.,n-. or.Mi.rht so many 

millions of pagans to the 

A Pythagorean -iid of &lt;ld. that th-se \\li.i turwl mysl .re not to 

be despised, for that these admonish men :ly, that who-vrr -hall depait to 

* Europ. in the Mid lydop, vol. iv. f iii + Pnefat. m IV - 4. 



A GES or F A IT 11. 53 

unexpiated and uninit atul will have to lie imni r-ed in ordure, but who 
ever goe- away purged and initialed will d\vell with the gods."* Now, we may 
affirm, that monasteries, in a mo.-t effect ual manner, answered this great end ; 
while, as Petrus Sutorns remarks," the eornipt manners of men sufficiently show 
what verbal preaching can do in this age."f " Seculars," says this author. " who 
perceive what Carthusians undertake through desire of the cel&lt;;stial country, are 
led to consider that the entrance, to heaven is not so easy, but the narrow way.";}: 
Useful then was the mere remembrance that a monastery was near ; and mark 
now the effects of substituting lay proprietors for the poor of Christ that were in 
Rievaulx, Glastonbury, or any other of these celebrated spots. Shall I call old 
philosophy, and demand what she thinks of the change? Her words would be, 
" not with a life than which I can conceive nothing more foul, wretched, or con 
temptible, will I compare that of an Anselm, or a Thomas in th cioister. Who 
that has ever had any commerce with the muses, that is, with humanity and with 
learning, would not rather live near that monk than this lord ? Come now, pre 
pare Scotus, Bonaventure, Dominick, Francis, what domains, what palaces, will 
you prefer to their delights?" How useful is it to see pass through the streets of 
some great capital one wrapt up in sable weeds, which of themselves proclaim so 
many utterable things, and above all, faith ! Truly I felt it so in that happy 
Florence where, amidst the din and pomp of the gay throng, you see the barefooted 
friar, or the solemn hooded man, conveying by their sole aspect such a solemn 
lesson to the rich, and such sweet consolation to the poor. " The mere sight of 
one of these monks," says, St. John Chrysostom, speaking of the hermits who came 
into Antioch, could reconcile men to the calamities of this world. Who would 
not laugh at death when he saw them?" Ask now any of the unhappy exiles 
who have fled from the persecution in Spain and Portugal, what is it of which they 
most feel the want in London, where, as the poet says of his countrymen, 

" we grow early grey but never wise," 

they will tell you, as I was assured by one who said Vak-ntia was his home, that 
it is of monasteries. That is the want of wants : it is the conversation with these 
pious recluses : it is the peace which flows from the mere sense of having access 
to such men. But there we find them not. So disconsolate these poor exiles pass 
through &lt;he long streets of the million-peopled city, which is to them a fruitless 
desert, where, as tiie poet says, 

" each one ,-et-ks his mate, yet his alone, 
Beloved and sought and mourned of none." 

Moreover, in estimating th 1 use of monasteries, we must take it into account the 
interest which they imparted to a wh Ac country, counteracting, bv their local in- 

* Jamhlich. Adbortat. ad Philosoph. 13. f Pet. Sut. de Vita Carthusiaua, Lib. ii. c. 2. 

; Id. ii. t. ii. 2. 



54 MOKKS I AT IK) LIC I; OR, 

flnenee, the baneful ell ; : that policv of Therein in Attica, which men in 

modern times cannot ven b.&gt; : ,M "fa- :lu i: own, which c &gt;n-i-t- in eeniridi/i: 
nation, drawing all &gt;: -j&gt; t, and making it supreme.* What an i:. 

i- given to ! :olid, and Toledo, i-y the uiona-teries which i 

! To what a distance around does the Chartn - M Bore?, with 
magnificent sepulchres, shed luc Ii \\.i- tn.i- tnar, in :; faith, iheani 

(ion and tlic chain) were d 11 ;- y where by i in-tiiutions ; f,.r 

the monasteries had oliarms for all ; tin- naveller mi^ut n-il 

the poor their courts lor disp charity, the untiqiiariau their buildim.:-. 

the -rholar their lihrurie-, the art ,- their painti;i-_:-, an I ( nt their ehurt 

Truly it was well for all mortal- when the-i li.lv inciintain- 

"\\herowere heard the ia-t niniinu utliand t;.e liist ~.mnd of heaven." 

There i- a JIM. ti - influence in th-- - which p-cdnl their (-xi-tenc- 

when wo hear df the Iri-;h monk-* which at th l first .sound Ml in- a- it to dispel fnun 
the face of that glorious i-land all the clon4 of 1 &gt;w pn-ai.- .tions with which 

it has been enveloped l&gt;y the men who nnd T-tand not it- de-tiny, on w iiose 
tongue- it i- a~SMci;te.l with no other ima^c but that of lord lieutenants and police 
men. l&gt;nt let n- attend to the pia -iical r- suit-. What is the fnv-t con- &lt;jnenc 
a religions order b. inj; r i into a city ? Immediately tin-re is a sirueture 

di-covered with a door which opens to all com-is the poor man, the student, the 
retired oilieer, all the nui i-t--d and iVi--ndl-s&gt; nave then f rth a point of union 
where the c.. unties- -entinient- ofta-t", coiineeted \\itli beantv and &lt;Mandenr of 

. 

locality, arc enlisted on the -ide oi fiith, t d -in within them, and to .-et 
up the glorioas throne of Jesoa, Now could a solitary curate &lt; fer the -a me 

kind of benefit as thi- ? Leibnitz, avowing his love for the moiu-tic orders, alter 
enumerating the Services vhich tin-y render, adds " \\iid.-\-.r i- ignorant oftliese 
things, or dni-e- them, has only a narrow and vulgar i h-n of virtue, and &gt;tupidly 
believes that he has accomplished all hi- obligation- to ( , ,,\ when lie | K is externally 
di-ciiar," d some usual practice-^ with tiur habitual c.-ldu- wiiich i- n-ver accom 
panied with anv /.e:d or anv -etitiment. 1 -nch cen-nre the ilius rion- men in 

I . 

Catholic time- w iom obnoxious. P trai f hi- own happiness in 

livinir near the hous- of the Carthn-ian&lt;, wli D nter at all times a- ifoiie 

of the family .f "land Pious of Miraildul Mar-ilin- Ficmns, "lately 

walking on the hills of ! ;- .1--, -nrveyin^ th" whole plain of Florence, and di 
coursing about the lies: -ite for a hoiis -, beholding the place \\ e \\i-x- L. 011- 

ard Areti:-o. an 1 1 andolphiuo. and P.-t i- P.dlippo, had eho-en for their villas. O 
happy Paudolph, cried Picus, who, leaving nubHc aiVair&lt;. inha ; rt -da -acred hoii-e 

I -ay sa-r. d, for near this spit is a grove surrounded by twenty houses of religious 
&lt;)rders."| "The neighborhood of a nioiia-teiy wins me siill," would many say 
in the language of the poet, "I never framed a wi.-h, or formed a plan, that flat 
tered me with hope of early bliss, but there 1 laid the BOOM." 

*Thucyd.ii. 15. f Ejmt. Lib. x. 1 J. ini Kpi.-i. Lih.ii. 



ASKS OF FAITH, S5 

Thus useful to all, we may remark, in fine, that monasteries conferred bene 
fits in a more especial manner on a elas- of men suffering from irremediable 
wounds, who, without that resource, would have been temporally and probably 
for ever wretched. " The suicide of the middle ages/ say- a late editor of the 
chronicles of St. Denis, " was to enter a monastery ;" for the monk was not like 
^olu*, who sends Ulysses away from his shores merely because lie observes him 
to be most miserable. 



(l "Epp 

Ov yap IJ.QI Oe yutS itiri Koni^eney oi)&lt;5 

Ardpa TOY , o$ Ke Qsoitfiv a.TtX.Qr)rai 

In ages of faith, when men were thus prostrated without hope of recovery, not 
self-slaughter, as Mortimer says, nor just death, nor war, the arbitrator of des 
pair, the kind umpire of men s miseries, nor the flying to intentions savage wild, 
more fierce and more inexorable far than empty tigers, or the roaring sea ; but 
the cowl, the harbinger of peace, with sweet enlargement did dismiss them hence. 
Youth, indeed, has often little thought for what the future may bring forth, and 
the world seems made for its enjoyment. 

" Quand j estois jeune, ains qu une amour nouvelle 
Ne se fust prise en ma tendre moelle, 
Je vivois bien heuieux : 
Lors je vivois amoureux de moy mesme, 
Content et gay sans porter face blesme, 
Ny les larmes d 1 oeil. 
J avois escrit au plus haut de la face, 
Avecques I honneur, une agreable audace 
Pleine d um franc desir : 
Avec le pied marchoit ma fantaisie 
Oft je volois, suns peur ue jalousie. 
Seigneur de mon plaisir." 

Thus sings Ronsard of his youth, but how changed was he when he sung thus ! 
The world was no longer the same for him. What is its society to those who 
have stained the childhood of their joy, or who are dragging after them the long 
chain of disappointed hopes? 

A good society," as a French author says. " provides for every thing, even 
for the wants of those who detach themselves from it by choice or by necessity ."f 
" Omnia duplicia, uiiuni contra unum, et no n fecit quicquam deesse, J&gt; says the 
holy text. God provides a contrary thing for each, that there may be a remedy 
for it. How consistent then was it with the order of divine Providence that thert 
should be for those written in sour misfortune s book, to whom the world is not 
a friend, nor the world s law, a refuge such as monasteries, where they may ex 
claim on entering, " Oh, here will I set up my everlasting rest, and shake the 

* x. 72. f C. Nodier, Meditations dn Cloltre. t EC. xlii. 32. 



66 MOUKS CAT I! OL 1C I ; O I 

yoke of inauspicious stars from this world-wearied fl&lt; -h !" For. a- tl- 
"The beast ha- : ami in tin- rock-, t:ie .-live :it ill-- ait ir ; a city can a| 

to anot ier city to defend it; lor there i- nothing: of mortals \vhicli i- happv unto 
the end."* Moved by these eon-.deratioi - b philosophy oft bo 

pre-ent (lay, dc-iring the re-c-ta:&gt;li- mient (f tiic religion- : 

exclaims, u Let us grant to virtue that righ him which crime had lonnerlv. 

There are ahvavs upon earth nvn \vlio nr fat gued with lii sjournev, ami im 
can he sure thai .-oaie day or other he will not be of their number." 

Such then, in brief, were some few oftli . il end- to which mo:m- 

MTved in ages of faith , and, in (nrlus on. are we to lx- told, that th 
Mich institniious to be valuabl d that thev fulfilled their d&gt; -- 

tiny . Hut as St. Gregory " I- n ity -i; 

then too great -rurity for inauV" 1; .,:- th- wo Id : u w a:ii: 

:u riMjtiire her childr n to be ; Ai ct 

oatemplative soiii&lt; now in MM iy tiyi-, wh" w..nld U-t thrive in sancti- 

iittl retirement ? I&gt; -e- theh nu-ui h- art n-&gt; 1 nany in-t:me. 

lion with tin- faithful ? V .11 men now fit t . -truu\ in-t tli- .of the 

111 - which is at enmity with Gkxl ? And when St. .le-ouie tin- chain 

S) huui ,fih" world and it- d an unintelligible i 

.UMUi-z- n-callinir nothing that we &gt;&gt; and feel ? \\ vei an age in which 

all fle-h had m ore corrup d ita AUV, wh MI tb- ;Vi&lt;-n l-hij&gt; "f th" world was in 
dangiToiH, and wh--n it wa- more (&gt;\pcliciit for many t.. -epaiate tiieins. -Iv s from 
it? Yet there ta now wh &gt;f . think that t, of muna-t- r- 

ies is past, a- if th Id n &gt; long n any us ful p- Uut thi- : 

great error ; for we:. ,,n- of our mine i ablvys to be ivimil; and peopl d a-ain 
with monks, its old iuna t }} r OM ] V ihe .,\vlri and th" bat for 

full three hundred years, ih- new o the fir-t davof,,]. &gt;ning i , -ol, 

might begin with the formula, Heri dii-.-l&gt;ainns. 1 would seem as if but one 
dreiry nig nt had interv-n-d &gt;ince thev h.-id la-t met there. There would lx noth 
ing to retract, nothing to chauj-" ; f .r th" monastic life spring from a BOU1 
which lies deep in the human h-art ; M ilut &gt;ii -h in-titu:ions. however nations 
may rage and couu nd agains; them, ean bill fullii ih"ir d s iay with the world. 



Eunp. Supp. ^GV- 



AG fc S OF FAIT. 1 1. f)7 




CHAPTER IV. 

now the tlioughts of men at variance witn the truth, and 
thus prepared again-tgross errors, our purpose may be resumed with 1111- 




o-narded simplicity, as if we talked with friends who understood us. So 

/ 

* let us mount, reader; for the way is long and much uncouth the road, 
perhaps, even threatening , what Achilles so much feared, the being car 
ried away by a mountain torrent, like a shepherd lad by wintry floods. 
I have read in the annals of Corby, in Saxony, how, in 858, Abbo, chamberlain 
in that abbey, perished in a river while only proceeding to visit his mother at 
Hilleneshera. The stream, being swollen with the rains, carried away the incau 
tious monk.* Holy hands, however, like those of St. William, have often con 
trived a safe passage for such poor pilgrims to the desert. So take we courage, 
for one will is in us both. Let some guide lead on to the abbey ! we enter, at 
all events, on unfrequented ways. Ah ! how does the setting forth on such a 
quest remind one of happy wanderings among the vast and noble scenes of na 
ture ! for amid such, in general, were monasteries found. Is there a wild solemn 
desert, or a smiling beauteous spot, far away amidst the woods and mountains, 
which would have spellbound a Salvator Rosa or a Claude? There we are al 
most sure to find the peaceful abode of monks. 

Semper euim valles, silvestribus uudique cinctas 
Arboribus, divus Bernardus, amoeuaque prata 
Et fluvois ; juga sed Benedictus amabat, et arces 
Coelo surgentes 3 quarum vertice late, 
Prospectus petitur, secessum plebis uterqne ; 
Sacrarum scripturarum sludiosus uterque 
Musarum et Piicebi : nou quern colit ethnica turba 
Sed quein Cliristicoke mitum de virgine credunt. 

St. Basil, indeed, who was the first to establish a regular and constant disci 
pline by a general institution for all monks, ordered that monasteries should be 
in the neighborhood of cities, in order to afford assistance to men. St. Benedict, 
who in the west supplied a similiar institution, from the same motive gave monks 
permission to establish their houses in cities and towns, which before that time 
iiad been interdicted to them. The council of Trent advised that monasteries, 
especially of women, should, wherever it wa&lt; possible, be transferred to towns 

* Ap. Luibtiitz. Script. Brims, ii. 



58 MORES CATH JLlC.l. OH, 

for tiit- sake of many advantages, which gave ri~ - M in Par bbeyi in th- 

t ,,f citifs, retaining the title ot the wood in which ihey had l fere be. n .-it- 
nated. lint still innumerable mona-te: i .- eontinnid 1 \i-t in d..-ert pin.--, in 
snots where every tiling s-em&lt;d t.. call 1 , em|&gt;lati..n ofl in primitive 

times, in tiio dflerfa of Poutus, mud amid-t t; Cappad- .-ia. For aJ 

the apostles, the first monks ivti ,d feu va-t M it\ides, for th. of piti&gt;-r and 

meditation, observing certain common rule-, as may be C 1 ectod from Ph.lojml- 
UMI-. St. Jerome argil*- from the very name Moiiaehu-. that ;he pr fettOI .-h.mld 
withdraw from the common haunt* of men; ! hiyBOttom PWniudfl the 

inhabitants of a great city that th oft. n the happi; 

and peace of tiie holv nn-n win) li\ iitary iiie in the mountain- and d.-Tt-. 

where thev are fir from all worldly care- : and in di&gt;coni&gt;ii)!_ r to the je .pi- 
Antioch, he calls the mountains and wood.- the ta: s cftl Cel- 

ebrat (1 W.-K- the cloistral eoinm-initi. s in K. ypt. at Nmi.i, on the monntaiii, and 
at Cellia, in the d-ert. From the latte day and a ni^h 1 - j. n:iie\ taither 

into the wildernc \\a- S c:h . Ma a ins livd. Imt no track led to it, and 

there was no water all tin- wav. s &gt; men eo dd only lie guided to it l&gt;y the &gt;tai 

In the time of St. J.-r-mie tu*- c&lt;eiiiliite- had -t d generally to the li 

mits, living in comjvmi-- of nin t -rthrr, with a t-nth 1 n each commun 

ity. The /,-a; ( .: bu .diiij; ihes.- iitti- a-\ him- \\a- great I 1 : hm- th- 1 
ban used to -p-n ! \\hol u &lt; olicctinr stone- fr&gt;m th-- oeigh boring sea-sb 

with which he i)iiilt on.- monastery cvt-ry year lor those who could not build for 
themselves.]; 

The advice of Cowlev, u \: -&lt;\\&lt;j\U in the choice of a -ituation to regard, 

above all things, th-- ij.-ahnfnlnes- of the pi;; : the mind rather than for the 

body," was al-o tna: of th- monastic found The ol.ir-t mona-tei ie- of tlie 

south of Europe, built in times of peace and -tcnrity. wen iy placetl on the 

-a-coa-t, or on the banks of rive:-, an i in piaoefl tBJ ofaooew. !-- moii- 
a-t r.r-. as Fauriel obaerves, ix came iocii-e- of commeicial a&gt; tivity : but th 
which were built in tim- of coufu-ion and terror, (luring the invasion (if the bar 
barians, or that of the Arabs in Aipiitaine, were &lt;-onstrncted in the most hidden 
gorges of mountain-, or other d--ert places, \vii--r- t: mie the kernel of an 

Agricultural population in place&lt; tint had Ivf .iv ,,iily &gt;een wild bea-t-.;: In gen 
eral, h )weyer, under ail circumstances, -reat attention wa&lt; -liown to the choice of 
locality ; for the influences of nature were Known to he the chief source of a f&gt; 1- 
mg which is , .,;;;,.,] ,,, {) j, ltv . .,,] ; ,] ( ^ , ,] )( , ,,,].. ,];,] 1,,,, follow 

in the track of all lovers of peace and wisdom in the aneint wield. The Py- 
thagonems retired to dwell in lonely - The Pntonician- and Stoics 

used to frequent groves and portico-, that l&gt;eing admonished by the gravity and 



&gt; 8 - 59- + G.)rn--. &lt;iir ChrMlirii.- Mv-tik. i. 

-:u vi i .. Ni c .ph. ii &lt; Hi&gt;t. .U- In O:ml,- M.-riii. iii. I 



AC4ES OF FAITH. 59 

beauty of the place, they might think of nothing but virtue. When Plato taught 
his disciples, he was seated not in a busy city, or a luxurious cabinet, but under 
the aerial portico of the temple of Minerva, on the promontory of Sunium, whence 
you have that superb view of the mountains of Attica and the vast expanse of 
the sea of that great and beautiful nature which can of itself, without the elo 
quence of words, exalt the soul towards its Creator.* When Cicero and his friends 
proposed holding a discourse on philosophy, they repaired to the groves of the 
academy, " maxime quod is locus ab onini turbaid temporis vacuus esset."f 

In the first century of our asra, men had begun to read the Gospel of St. Mat 
thew in the gardens of Academus, and soon after we find the monks in such beauti 
ful groves as that in which the lessons of Plato were imparted, or else in wild 
and solemn regions still farther removed from the perturbations of men. 

" O happy desert !" exclaims St. Basil, " refuge of those whom the world per 
secutes, and whom it cannot endure, consolation of the afflicted, rest of those who 
are weary with the travail and misery of this life, place of refreshment and of 
peace against the ardor of passions, of safety for the body, and of freedom for the 
soul ! Thy remembrance shall never depart from me ! O Jacob, how rich and 
beautiful are thy tabernacles, and thy tents, O Israel ! O solitary life, holy, an 
gelic, blessed ! No tongue can express the sentiments of love which I feel for 
thee ! no voice can paint the joy with which thou dost fill my heart !" 

" It was in the solitude of Thabor," remark the monastic authors, "that Jesus 
Christ was transfigured ; it was in the solitude of the garden that He prepared 
Himself for his passion ; it was in the desert that He combatted and was served 
by angels ; it was in solitude that His precursor prepared for Him the paths of 
justice : it was from the solitude of paradise that Enoch was translated ; it was in a 
solitude that Agar beheld the angel ; it was in a solitude that Abraham saw the 
mysterious representation of theineffable mystery of the Holy Trinity ; it was in a 
solitude that Jacob had the vision of angels ; it was in a solitude that Moses saw the 
burning bush, and that he received the law."! "If we search the Scriptures," 
says Hugo of St. Victor, "we find that God has scarcely ever spoken in a crowd . 
but whenever He wished to instruct men, He manifested Himself not to nations 
or to the people, but to some few individuals, separate from the common herd of 
men, in the silence of the night, or on plains, deserts, and mountains. " Hence 

Cardinal Bona sings 

" O solitude mentibus 
Orantium gratissima ! 
O vera cordis suavitas 
Ignota vnlgi sensibus !" 

The emperor Lothaire wrote to Raban Maur, when that abbot had retired to a 
hermitage, and though the object of his letter was to introduce him to visit his 

* Michaud, Corre spondance de 1 Orient f I)e Finibus, v. 

J Dosithee, Vie de St. Jean de la Croiu. De Area Moral! , Lib. iv. 4. 



CO M&lt;&gt; k K&gt; CAT BDLU;j o K. 

court, he admits the wisdom of ii - : for the rn-ti. solitudf of mountain-," 

he says, " d lights the interior man more than the : I nd r fcitiee ; for 

there no envy d C.-ives t:ie t lan.jirl br.-as; with a n &gt;r Lingua.: - 

adorned with flattering Colors with mutual wicked :&gt;ti&lt;&gt;n. " 

For how many in tact must it ha\ to (juit th" bu-y haunts and the 

inquiring looks of ni"ii, and walk ins&lt;.lit;ni I;, igion in tip- cloister did hut 

sanctity the p ich monn, i, ht, permitting ."tain hit j 

dilection and to -ay 

" This .-h.-ulowy de-erl, unfrequented wood, 
I belter brook linn .:,:: |i.-i A QS. 

Here can i 

And to tin ;&gt;1 linini: no: 

Tune my di&gt;tre-&gt;c-i ati.i my w&lt;&gt;- 



She knew, in fact, that a iv treat :niMi~; th.- lov. iy ..r th. -oL-mn scenes in which 
mona-tcr;. - were j)l.. , ih,- in 

oourae of meu oooaaioDii ill tlie soul Ori^ci, -a\ St. &lt; : tie- J5aj&gt;ti-;, " living 
tlio \vorkl, he went into the d-.-rt. -.\li. lir \\a-purcr, and IHMV.-II more open, 

and God more familiar. " When.-. . ( i \\hifh llow.s upon in 

cxciaim- a Fr.-nch i -crioin- the divine i&gt;fiiedicti.&gt;n in soiitud--, " whence 

tiiis, faith with which my heart overflov, St arct ly a f--w dav&gt; have . la:&gt;- d. 

and it seems as if an a world had j&gt;a~ . trated i .-..in themhv 

an immense ;ihy^, u new man had coniinniced within me. A a, it i- iec;m-e 1 
have found the {&gt;eace of tiie desert, and I.-i t that crowd wiu-iv all pe*O j- 
It is beCftUse ;h soul of man if a limpid wave, \\ larnishfd by 

every Im-e/e tiiat rnfHes it, hut wiicn tiie wind d .v, tiie -urlac- i. -nines 

apt m i:&gt; smooth placidity." Do y.ui not perceive in efl upanion, what a 

peaceful influence }&gt;ervades this whole region ? The moment w enter thi- B- 
lent forest of somhrc pines, u to I,,M- all r-eol lection o f the world &gt;rU, 

and to catch distant harm.M th- V.TV mu-ic of heaven 1 



" &lt;&gt; Bra-pi 

upanion of ih&lt;- \vi-e and good, 
Thy now be mine, 

Thy charms my only thciii 
My haunt the hollow cliff. :.ine 

\V-ivcs ,, ,-r the -_r)o .my stream ; 
Whenri- the sacred owl on pinion-; 

from the rustln . -iis, 

Am: .i-\vn [lie 1 me vale Mill aw ,y 

To more profound repose "* 



To monks the wilderness lias :i mysteriou^ to Har0 yon. Father," aayn 

Antonio De Guevara, the Franciscan, writiiig from Valladolid. in l.j;;:,. to the 



Wordsworth. 



AGES OF FAITH. 61 

abbot of Montserrat, u that I never found myself amongst the great rocks and 
rrawv heights, and pathle-s \\oods of Montserrat. without determining to lead a 

O C *--* 

better life in future, and without feeling .-orn&gt;\v for my past sins. 1 never passed 
by it without going to confession, and celebrating with tears, and jvi-s nga night 
in watching, and making alms, and resolving to correct my life. O, would to God 
that I were in this country what I promised to be in that holy place !" 

In &lt;reneral it suffices to hear the names of the ancient abbevs, to know in what 

~* tr 7 

sort of scenery they are placed. Campus amabilis, as Camaldoli is called in the bull 
of its institution Vallis umbrosa, that valley of ssveet shades to which St. John 
Gualbert retired in 1038. Monte Sereno. Val-profonde, Haute Rive, Beaulieti, 
Fountains, Clairvaux, Sept-Fontaines, Clairlien, Trois-Fontaines, Fonti roid, 
Bonne-Fontaine, Beaupre. Such are the Mveet, harmonious names of monasteri. B, 
derived from fountains, rivers, wood-, islets, mountains, valleys, high eluf-, and 
caverns hoar deep in the shade of pines ; names which have in themselves a power- 
to charm the ear, like those of the Nereides in the Iliad, which recall the beauti 
ful translucid things in the dim, cool grottos of the ocean nymphs.* 

The Spanish writers cannot treat upon the rivers and mountains of Spain with 
out mention of the monasteries which render many of them so illustrious ;f and, 
indeed, if the poetry and science of the ancients could associate tin m every where 
with occult virtues, it was easy for the minds of holy men to fall -in with their 
beautiful suggestion, that wherever a spring rises or a river flows, sacrifices should 
be offered, and to feel a strong desire to impart to them thetrue holiness ofsweet 
and beneficient religion. Who in ages of faith could write a history of woods 
and omit mention of the monks and hermits, or describe the mountain full 
of springs, ^irjr^pa 6^pcoy } and not make mention of the abbev on its side or 
summit? The foundations made bv faith obliged old authors thus to blend with 

~ 

geography philosophy and asceticism. It often suffices to hear the names of the 
places adjacent to monasteries, to know the savage wildness of the locality, at 
least, in early times, when not only wolves and bears, but enormous wild boars 
wandering in bands by night through the woods, almost as dangerous, made high 
walls necessary for the enclosure. Thus, in the immediate neighborhood of St. 
Gall there are places with such names as these. Wolfhalden. Baernegg, Baeren- 
bach, Waldstatt, Waldshati8f&gt;n.$ The house diaries of the abbeys expressly men 
tion the visits of such neighbors. Thus, in the curious annals of Cor by, in Sax 
ony, we read as follows: "This year, 923, on the vigil of St. Vit us, two stags 
came of their own accord into the monastery, of whom one was taken and the 
other dismissed. Hence we have our Porta Cervorum. This year, 1131, a wolf 
was caught in our orchard. It had come from Sollinjjen. In 1140 our hnnt&lt;- 

~ 

man met a bear in Solliugen holding: in its mouth a naked crving child. Being 



f Andreae Resendii Eborensis Antiquitatum Lusitanise, Lib. i. and ii. 
J Ildefons Vou Arx. Gesch. der St. Gallen, i. 



O li E S r A T II O L U 1 , O R 



alone he could not kill it. This year, Il21."&gt;, on the fea-t of the three kinv:-, while 
mat in- were singing, dog-wolfeutered tin- cnm-ch, wi:hout injuring any one; 
only &lt;&gt;n &lt;;oin&lt;4 out lie killed a In l_7o. a she-wolf with her whelp- was 

ton ml one morning very early in the church ot r&gt;otl e/.&lt; n, near the altar, the porter 
not having -hut the door.* 
The venerable lather who showed me over th" hermit s eoiivent of Qsmaldoli, 

said, M We keep these dogs to defend n against thewolve-; for, in winter, wh ii 
the snow lies deep, the, could overleap the wall of our enclosure, anil fall upon 

us at night, as we went to matins in the church. The oold,indeeed, is severe -, hut 

we ^re happy in serving &lt; i d. and then \\e enjoy the ^lorion- view from th;s hi^h 
mountain. We see the stars perhaps, m re M-i-lit at that solemn hour, and 
admire the work-; of the ( rat N :. . in fact. &lt; an uity of 

the spectacle from that hill of S-ali. on whicn St. Romnald -aw the anul&lt;s. The 

hermit, as he looks down apou the va-t wdd i I the deeply channelled and 

yet nnvarie&lt;l Apennines, can discern be\oml tin in the plain- ! Ravenna and the 
line of th - Adriatic, lik Iden til read 1&gt;eneath the i-i~:n._r -tin ; while on his 

left the Mediterranean is at time- discernible. \\h- n moiia-terio weie aban 
doned after heini: plundered and demolished ly harharons invalcrs, the wild 
Sta -oon reeoveretl UudUtorbed [&gt;o ession oi the jronnd as the lawful propri 
etors. Thus after tie death ot the only monk who remained at Ouciie-. w th.n the 
space of 60 y.-ars, th" treefl having ^rown over it an i choked up the oratorie- anil 
huiklings, it heeaine the abode of ferocious animals. Alter that interval a certain 
priest. ll&gt; -told, from Beauvais, l&gt;ein&lt;_ r idoiOBished in a vi-ion to seek out the 
place of St. Kvroul, came in 1 \ ustria. and alter ma - heini: at Monti ort, 

disi-overt d the ancient church, l.y nean- ot certain shepherds, who were led to 
follow a strayed boll into the depths of th . the\ found the old walls 

covered with moss and ivy, with g\ . ro\\in^ l.oth within and without 

tlie ruins. The old men then .&lt;^r -d that this had been the rein; 9fc Kvroiil. 
Sc Restold came and fixed hishahita ion tiiei - ; and (iiia/onde M-.ntf. rt, a nohle 
kniirht, who had piously prop - i t : i: all the chmvhe- and abheys that 

had heen ruined in the time- of calamity, rebuilt at his own expense this abbey 
ot Ouches; the workmen making use of the ancient -t"i). s \\hieh they found 
therein abundance, atom; with the tomb- of many noble per-ou- ; far kiu&lt;:- and 
bishops had been laid to iv-t th. n - in the olden tinie.f So al-o when the l).,ne&gt; 
inounttHl the Seine, in Sol , and burnt the abl&gt;ey of JumiiVes, the wild animals re 
turned to the -p,,t, and resorted to it for thirty j iurinjrthe time it remainul 

ate Sometimes while admirin-, th-- svlvan b.-mtv of their -ite, the visitors 
tc monastic ruins -av, with an intention that MVOn more of liate than love. 
The monks knew well liow to choose their Around." Dnt not to observe that 
it was their labor which first made it fruitful, it tain that they seldom chose 

* Ap. Leibnitz, Script. Brunsv. 11. f Orii. Vit. Lib. vi. ^ Will, of Jumiegea. i. 6. 



AGES OF FAITH. 63 

what men like these would covet ; for it was either pious and generous laymen 
who chose it for them, or else it was to regions wild and desert, often marshy 
and covered with wood, far beyond the bound- of social haunts, that they retired 
to build their monasteries. Such was the savag&lt;- desolation of the island of Ler- 
ins, and so infected was it with poisonous animals,, that St. ifonoratus. bishop of 
Aries, who built the monastery there in 426, was afterwords induced to leave it, 
when he built a convent near the summit of the Alps. Though notwithstanding 
the inconveniences of that island, it became dear to monks, and one of their mo-t 
celebrated abodes. 

Those Lincoln washes, when Ramsey Abbey was on an island,* or that Rom- 
ney Marsh, where the Franciscans had a convent in 1264. f though now the re 
formed ministers are dispensed from residence on it, in consideration of its insalu 
brity, would not, assuredly, have been chosen by our sagacious speculators for 
their abode. We should find to such men no grants of fore-t in the original sense 
of tracts lying out, rejected- foras, including marshes, desert hills, and even waters 
as we do to the abbeys. In the charters of Chilperic to the abbey of St. A incent, 
afterwards of St. Germain, and of Charles the Bald, to St. Denis, and to St. Ben 
ign, at Dijon, we read of the forests of the water ; for in old French the word 
was applied to both wood and water. 

What is the donation of Hugues, duke of Burgundy, on setting out for the 
crusade, to the abbot and brethren of the Holy Cross ? It is the desert of Lacli- 
oer, that they may cultivate it and live on it. What is that of Raoul, Sire de 
Coucy, with consent of his wife Elide, and his children, heirs of his barony, to 
the monks of Pr6montre? It is an uncultivated tract called the Haie de Blais- 
secourt. The land ofCroyland," says Orderic Yitalis, "being marshy and 
hollow, as the name imports, king Ethelbald, being about to construct a stone 
church and monastery, on the site of the wooden hermitage of St. Guthlae, caused 
an innumerable quantity of oak piles to be sunk down, and then from a distance 
of nine miles from a place called Uppalonde he caused firmer earth to be carried, 
and so laid the foundations of this noble monastery, which he loved during all 
his life, and which from its first foundation to this day, has been constantly in 
habited by monks full of religion." The Abbot Ingnlphus gives a similar ac 
count of this foundation, which resembled that of St. Frobert in the seventh cen 
tury, of whom we read, that "desiring to find a place for retreat from the world, 
and many great lords being anxious to honor and serve him, he, nevertheless, 
judged it inexpedient to ask them to give any portion of their lands in favor of 
his projected monastery, lest the solitarv life of his monks might be afterwards 
disturbed by the too frequent visits of secular benefactors. Therefore, by celes 
tial inspiration he went to the court of King Clovis, who gave him a marshy com- 



* Hist. Ramesiensis. i. ap. Gale, ii. f Walding, iv 

| Pusquier s Reciierches de la France, ii. 15. Lib. iv. 



04 MORES CAT HOLIC2|ORj 

mou in the suburbs of Troves, called th- !/!-! &lt; rmaine. Tlii&lt; mar-hy plac&gt; 
hein-4 part of the r&gt;y;tl doma ; us \\a- full of laki&gt; ami \\ced-. and brush w&lt; 
hut the holy man, by dint of great di.i : _;.n&gt; d iu draining off the wi 

and clearing the ground, and then ho eon-trm-ted hi- little cells ami oi a ;orv."* 

The origin of Cisteaux was similar. Robert the Nmiuan, A Iberio, and Stephen 

Hai-.liii i, au Englishman, ait-r remaining -"inetime in tin- \v--d -&gt;t Mole-nie, 
where tht-v ha 1 er-viel -onie hut- in In .i.s, :m( l ( ,bs.-rved -trictly ti e I . I edi 
riilf, removed with twenty-on Ivethreu to a &gt;pot called Ci-teaux, mar.-hv and 
\v..,dy, and des-rt. X -ar ih-- \vo.i.l which snrroiiudnl it. \va- a liiti- church f..r 

the oon venieaoe of the bnsbaudmen who tilled the laud- adjoining. HTC \\a- 
a rivulet from a s &gt;imv said to he .!. \\hidi \\&lt;&gt; . in dry, and Mink 

in wet weather, like th- fountain of the ( ai thu-ian-. Fir-t they cut do\vn tin- 
is, el.-ared away th tn---, and then hnilt hut- with th-- hou^h-. l .\ tneir la 
bor the phii 1 . heeuue w:. ie, au&gt;i th&lt;- irrouud \\ as *jiveu to them 1&gt;\ \"i- milt 

Itiyuald, ami (),lo, duke of I&gt;uri:undy. Th. dnke &gt;uhs quently huilta lod^e for 
himself adjoining the nr&gt;: . to \\hicfi h-- Ul tire &lt;&gt;n the fr-tival-. 

Henry, hi- - &gt;n 1 soil, took th-- hal&gt;i( : the duke \\a-lmried in tiu-ir church. 
rii--y as&gt;nm.-d th" white uud.-r-hahit in honor of th-- iihd Virgin. ! ,\ , ho\v- 
ever, earn- to join tiiem until tlie arrival i.fSt U- niaul in ti. u.t 

In the ancient niom-ti- diploma- an 1 chart. -r- .-t Italy, tm-rc i- n f many 

of which not a tra--f now ezifltn. I8C, Snhiaco. Vultui 

BobhlO, I oMiposi, aud Xouantnla, wt-r.&gt; all oomtructed in wildern- ---.* 
annals ofCorby, in Sax-my. ii-d the f &gt;undat ion of that ahlvy in tli.&gt;- wonl&gt;, 

" In til year sis reli&lt;ri,,ii !&gt;.-_ an w in a \v. i liiiul--." 

St. 1&gt; MI i face, writing to I op, Zacharv, make- mention of Fu.d:i in a way n&lt;t 
iinrc calculated t excite th-- envy of ,ur .-..nteinporar &lt;-.. " Th- i- is," he 
a woody place iu a dcs-rt of \ id . in the midst of the nations to whm 

we have preaehe 1, where, havini; hni t a monasterv. we have placed inonk&gt; \vlio 
live under the rule of St. I &gt;en--dict, m.-n lenoe, cont -nt with the 

labor of their own hand-. I have d- i it in honor of the Holy Saviour. 

and in this place, with the o&gt;ir nieiv, I have prop, ,-ed to -ive my 

b(.dy, worn with old a.ir-, a little rest, a d that it may lie here after death." 
^ hen monks did choo-e their -round, it \sa- often in a d.-s-rt peopled l.y th- 
storms alon-. save when th- M hnnt-r s hone, and the wlf tracks 

her there. How hid-oii-ly it- ~i ;,.,) !lr ,,nnil. nid-. bare, and hi&lt;jh. 

ghagtly, and scarred, and riven." St. Bild -olitude. f.-ll 

a falcon, and fixed himself whre it ali-rhted. &lt; M i vhich wa- then.-, ,-all-d 

Montfaucou. A white eagle -imiiarlv guided St. Thiefri, ,-haplain oi St. K-mi. 
St. Gebehard, refleetimj; wheth -h-.nld f.iind the monastery of Admonte- in 



* Desguerrois Hist. &lt;hi Dincvs.- dc TmyM, p J 

t A-ngeio HanriqueCitUsrciens. An. I. .,. A ntiq. Ital. i 

S Ap. Liebnit/, Script. Ikmisvic. illust. iii. | S. r,,.n I vli. 



BY Ri GifAN 



AGES OF FAITH. Gf&gt; 

a desert place far remote from men, in a valley on the river Auasus, fa-ted three 
days while deliberating. The solitude pleased, and the very horror of overhang 
ing mountains surrounded it on all sides, seemed favorable to a life of heavenly 
contemplation. Nevertheless, the difficulty of approach to it, there being no track, 
discouraged him, till a certain man, by nature deaf and dumb, suddenly spoke in 
German, and said, " Begin, and God will finish it," and never afterwards spoke. 
The monastery was accordingly built there.* The severity of the climate in places 
to which St. Gall and other founders of the Alpine monasteries retired, may be 
learned from the liturgy of that abbey, in which we find these supplications, 
" Aurse ut temperiem te Christe rogamus."f " Ut nobis donetur aeris temperies,"^: 
and " aeris bland os facilesque motus." St. Bernard, from the top of the tower of 
St. Benin at St. Omer, marked the site for the new abbey of Clairmarais, and 
what laud did he select? A spot amidst vast marshes and limpid lakes, and float 
ing islands, which the old romance writers speak of as mysterious and horrible. 
" It is a cursed place, haunted by the demon," says one : " I do not know how 
many spectres resort there."|| The monks, however, placed there by St. Bernard, 
rendered it a delightful solitude, resounding day and night with hymns of love 
and gratitude to God.T In fact, many of the ancient abbeys were built in spots 
which the blind population of heathen times had deemed ill-omened, many of 
them in forests, as Tacitus says, " consecrated by the old terror/ where monks 
alone would venture to remain. 

" olim silvestribus horrida dumis. 
Jam turn relieio pavidos terrebar agrestes 
Dira loci : jam turn silvam saxumque treme bant,"** 

Such was the deep narrow sequestered valley of Battuecas, so famed in the fa 
bulous history of Spain, and which became so dear to religion from their convent 
of Carmelites, which stands amidst the steep rocks half buried in the groves, even 
still almost the only human habitation in that solitude, through which wander- a 
quantity of wild animals of all kinds. No longer on the lofty mountains in the 
centre of Italy, and in the deep woods that clothe them, is one directed to the 
horrid cave which opens its pestiferous jaws to breathe destruction ; but, as on 
Mount Gargano, where stands the monastery of St. Michael, it is to a house of 
peace that pilgrims traverse them. Thanks to holy Benedict, no longer is an un 
happy name associated with lands which the Allia waters,ft or with any of 
those natural vaults, such as :m&gt; found on the shores of Cuma, like the va-t 
cavern which heard the secrets of the horrid Sibyl, or that terrible cave in Sala- 
mis in which Euripides was said to have composed his tragedies.^ The hollow 

* Germania Sacra, torn. ii. 179. f Lytania Ratperti in Lect. Antiq. Canisii. 

t Antiphona de S. Gallo Cod. 389. Lytania de S. "Othmaro. | Berthond. 

1 Piers, Hist, des Abbayes dc Watten et de Clairmarais. ** .En. viii. 348. 1f -Eu. vii. 717. 
U Anl. Gull. xv. 20. 



CO MORES C ATI10LI C I ; &lt;&gt; K. 

rock-, with their clear sources, so by birds bt-Lvi-d, n. than th 

Coveian cave, an- tin- abodes now, not of nymphs and ilrni.ni-, but of hermit- and 
holy fathers, who, like aii _ ;hem. 

-, that they who behold the holy - Benedict, h 

that thev behulil tlie threshold of paradise. To many hid- on whieii mona-t&lt; 
might apply the Yirgilian line, and .say of them before 80 crown 

" Turn neque nomen erat, nee bonos, aut gloria monti."* 

Such was Alvernia. In the land of Florence and dioces.-of . between tlie 

Tyber and the Arn&lt;. to the south and west extend two lines ot liiils fiom the 
Apennines to the Alp-. Over tin - ri-e- an umb rap-on- mountain, which from 
the east towards the Tyber has an ascen; miles, but from th- \\e-t tow 

ards the Corsalo the pilgrim has but three to mount. Upon this ri-e- an th- r 
mount, all of rock, yet beautiful t . adorned with gr ml raising its 

head above all the circumjacent h&lt;-iglr I |,-iv abounds the herb (tilled Caro 

lina, the pricklv haves of whien d- fe d th-- Houer, so Gil led 1 nnu having 1 
u-ed as a remedy against the plague by the army of Chai ! ma_Mie, to whom it is 
.-aid its .-ecret properti-- w--i- divinely revealed. Here are impenetiable caverns, 
abrupt and overhanging rock-, inaccessible cra^s, and profound guit-. wnich 
ite horror. This i- the seraphic mountain of St. Franc:-;, vrhoM &lt;-oiiv nt is 
built into the side. Fvery wht-n- now ar-- -aered jnr .apcl-, oititi.ries, and 

miraculous v -f holy in- n andut ih* 1 consolations of an^ 1 he whole 

place excites the mind with a de-ire attc; holiness of life, and a renouncement of 
the deceits of the world, as if a divine voice were heard, .-ayin^, Locus sanct i- 
est ; finem peooandi facito." Th-- mountain was solemnlv consecrate&lt;l l&gt;y seven 
bishops, those of Arezzo, Urhino, Florence, Assisi, Perugia, Tifernata. and Fi- -- 
oli, at which imposing ceremony St. Bonaventura \va&lt; present. Win re were the 
cells of that saint, and of St. Anthony of 1 adua. are now the chapel-. The bounty 
of Cosmo de MeJici-, and of his wife, Kie..nore of Toledo, to thi- c-nv.-nt is at 
tested by their arms which ar&gt; i ,,n tne building-, -acred vestm- nis, and 
choral books. O tliou joyou- -iniple family of Christ, dwellinir in this desert, so 
free from want-, n cheerful, so engaging ; happy is the man who can U-hold thee 
on tlie great &lt;iay when thon d &gt;-t sr. devoirlv cotnraemorat- the grace be-t-wd 
upon thy holy founder, when countl-s- pilirrims throng thy courts, and kneel be 
fore thy altar 

Other mountain*, once a^-ociated with lugubrious tradition-. l&gt;ecame the chosen 
re-tm&lt;:-place of world-worn men. Such wa&lt; thn mountain of the holy martyr- 
near Grenada, which became so dear to pilirrims. Tt is so called from the immber 
of Christians who con fessed Jesn&lt; Christ there durintr the persecution oftheMoors. 
From the summit the view over the city and the famous plain, through which the 

* xii - 134 f Waddine. An. Min. iv. 



COIJLK 

AC; i-:.s OF FAITH. ( 

river Genii wanders in many circuits, is said to be one of the most delicious in 
all Spain. Here on the spot which once received the tears and blood of so many 
martyrs, and where the Catholic kings had constructed a hermitage and church on 
the conquest of Grenada, to honor theii memory, was built the monastery of 
barefooted Carmelites ; underneath which, were vast cavern-, where the Moors 
used to confine their captives, and where they inflicted tortures to prevail upon 
them to embrace the law of Mahomet. 4 

A similar interest was attached to the site of the celebrated monastery of Cava, 
five miles from Salerno, at the foot of the lofty mountain of Fenestra, founded 
about 992 by St. Alferius, of the family of the Pappacarboni, of the blood of the 
Longobards, which derived its name from the caves in the metal mines of that 
mountain, into which the Christians fled from the fury of Genseric, king of the 
Vandals. f That sombre mountainous desert of Ida too, which Homer animated, 
resounded with the songs of David, when in the third and fourth centuries it was 
inhabited by holy men, whose ruined cells and chapels can still be seen. 

The rnouutian tops to wanderers, over the ocean stream, in heathen and in 
Christain times, were associated with very different recollections. When Jason 
and the Argonauts sailed forward, borne along by the rapid wind, after passing 
the boundless land of the Bechirians, there appeared to them a bay, beyond which 
arose the topmost crags of Caucasus, to the sun s rays alone accessible. There 
Prometheus, with his limbs bound to the hard rock by brazen chains, continually 
fed with his liver, a ravenous eagle rushing upon him. That bird they saw at 
even from the mast-head, flying near the clouds, and heard his sharp scream. 
The sails he made flap with the rush of his mighty wings, for he had not the na 
ture of an aerial bird, but such as became a monster so enormous. Then after a 
little pause, they heard the groaning voice of Prometheus having his entrails torn 
out; and the air resounded with his cries until they again perceived the blood- 
smeared eagle, soaring back from the mountian. Such were not the sounds that 
came from mount iane, when faith had covered them with the asylums of men de 
livered for ever from the worst of torturers. Then monasteries stood upon the 
rocks, whose pinnacles seemed sculptured in the sky, dear age after age to all 
who passed amidst the solitude of distant seas ; for there instead of Promethean 
imprecations, arose continually the saintly orison, and there, instead of victims to 
celestial vengeance, dwelt convertites, having found ease for all the sorrows of 
their wounded conscience, and the sweet nourishment of peace with heaven ; and 
oh, to use the poet s words, 

" How beautiful, and calm, and free they were 
In their youn&lt;r wisdom, when the mortal chain 
Of custom they did hurst and rend in twain. 
And walked as free as light the clouds among. 

* Dosithee, Vie de St. Jean de la Croix. \ Italia Sacra, i. 607. vii. 367. 



68 MOUKS CATHOLIC!; OR, 

In the annals of the Carmelite oid--r, it is relate 1 thai St. I --ing in 

view t&gt;f mount Cann.l. uas overtaken during the iii-ht by a fuiiou- t-ni] 
that the Bailoi divd &lt;&gt;f -aving the \ that the king h-anla bi-11 tolling, 

and on expres-ini; h .in- iu, was tdd tliat it came t r-in the solitary re 

ligious men who lived upon that mountain: &gt;n which he pledged himaelf to 
found a convent tor them in this kingdom if he should &gt; in ful 

filment of which vo\v, he established t 

Tii.- ble&gt;- -ul Iran-formation came on i.-land- ; that ..nee held by l&gt;ru 

on the coa.-t of Brittanv, where u:i\ t" h- ar with t.rn.p 

furious eric- and the nois- of barbaric cymbal*. It \voidd IK- long to enumerate 
the islands which t.ecame now holy, a- Lindi-fai n.\ I&lt;&gt;; . Li para, and that 

on the north side of the bay &lt;&gt;f Dublin, calld the eye f In-land, where St. \ 

. in the sixth centnrv, founded an abbey, in which was tiie c-.py of tlie four 
gospels that was held in such \vii- ration, and 1 . j-E jr, M t &gt;nl, 

where was the abbey fbnn.ied in tiic lifih century ly St. li.ar. which IHN -a me cele 
brated for the sanctity and u-aniing of the monk- . Thus did the dreary sea be 
hold houses of celestial |&gt;ea -e wiihin hearing &gt;i it.- 

Those tra. . wlu-ri- in.-iny a weary sail 

Has seen nlxivc the illiiuitiihlf plain, 

ninur on niuht, mill nii:ht on morning rise, 
Whilst still no hind, to jrn-i-t the wmulcrcr spread 
Its shadowy niouir tlie Mill-bright sea, 

Where the loud r.KiriiiL s i.f the tempest-waves 
So loni; have mingled with the gusty wind, 
In melancholy loneliness, and swept 
The de-er of !;. .n solitudes 

But vocal to the sea-bird s harrowing shriek, 
The bellowing monster, and the rushing storm, 
Now to the sweet and many mingling sounds 
Of holiest impulses respond." 

The inconvenience attending such situations, only furnished occasions for the 
exercise of greater genen&gt;.-ity towards the monks. Thus, as the island of Lipara 
was too small for nourishing cattle, &lt; diiir 1! &lt;\ , \\ 1m, w ith 1 Guifloard, OH 

the expulsion of the Sara ans, hud built there the monastery of St. Bartholomew 
for Benedictine monks, pive to it a farm in Sicily, p .stnre f&gt;r cat:lc, lands for 
culture, and a mountain for feeding swine.* I -land- in lakes and ri vere 

also esteemed fitting ffltea for such foundation-. L-.eh lire, in Ireland, by reasons 
of the number of monks living in its islands wh-iv abbcvs had IM CII found- d in 

. 

an early age, was called the holy lake." On almost all the i-land- in the nu 
merous lakes of that country, as also on those in th" river Shannon, theiv v 
monasteries; and so it \vas where skies were brighter and w:t--r- ni -re pellucid, 
a- Xoncnworth in the Rhine, and L Isle Barbc in the Saono can -till bear witness. 

* Sieilia Sacra, 11. 



AGES OF F A I T II. 69 

On the latter was a Benedictine abbey in an early a&lt;;e of Christianity, with which 
peaceful retreat Charlemagne was so facinated, that lie thought of abdicating his 
throne and of retiring to it. He had formed for it a great library, which the 
Prote.-tants in 1562 destroyed. Lelabonreur has written a valuable history &lt;&gt;f 
tliis abbey, the ruins of which I visited witii melancholy pleasure. The count of 
Stolberg before his conversion, was. struck with admiration on visiting the islands 
of Meinati and Reichecau, on the lake of Constance, the site of once celebrated 
monasteries. He said that they containal all which man could wish for, and ex 
claimed, 

" lite vivere velleui, 

Oblitus stultorum, oblivisoendus et illis."* 

The monks, however, had still better thoughts in seeking these solitudes, though 
poets may be more able to describe their charm. " There was a little lawny islet," 
says one, " paven like mosaic by anemone and violet, and it was shaded over with 
flowers and leaves, where neither sun nor showers, nor breeze could pierce : be 
neath it lay gems, girt by azure waves, with which the clouds and mountains 
paved the lake s blue chasm." In ages of faith, on such a spot there was sure to 
be found an abbey or cell. 

As you mount the Seine, when Harfleur and its high tower, the castle of Tan- 
carville, the dangerous point of Quillebceuf, and, in fine, Caudebec have pas&gt;ed 
successively before your eyes, you perceive at a great distance on the leit bank, 
two white towers detached against the sky, appearing like phantoms on the shore. 
Isolated at the extremity of one of tiie peninsulas, these towers, which from afar 
seem to announce some great city, are then found to be mournful ruins, without 
any other inhabitants than the family of birds, whose sonorous voices, are litard 
re-echoing: such is the site of the once rich and celebrated abbey of Jumiege, 
which dates from the first ages of the French monarchy. Of a truth one cannot 
recall to memory the situation of many ancient monasteries without delight. 
Even their enemies burst out in praise, as in the lines 

" Lo ! Cintra s glorious Eden intervenes 
In variegated maze of mount and &lt;ilen, 
The horrid crags by toppling convent crown d. " 

Oh, how sweet it was to sing toone sself the hymn of evening or any holy chant, 
in memory cherished, while seated on the high clifl skirting a dark foiest of pines, 
which hangs over the Cistercian convent at Freyburg which the rushing torrent 
washes, and almost tarrounds deep in the gulf below. Hauterive again, founded 
by the counts of Grlane before the city of Freyburg, was existing, on which 
abbey that small house depends, is another spot of which the memory must be 
indelible. The valleys beneath the monastery of Camaldoli near Naples, which 

* Reise in Deutschiaml, ?S. 



70 MO li KS CAT no Lie l; o li, 

:i a high mountain, commanding a view &lt;&gt;v.-r the whole scene of the &gt;ixth 
book of the vKneid, present an image i,f paradi-e. " 1 CMMOltor/ 1 -ay- a re 
cent traveller, describing that event, wh&gt; n i vi-it-d it, the wood- which .-niinlv 
surround it on the -ides of tint most precipitous mountain were ju-t i with 

i green leave- in the month &lt;&gt;f April, ami the littl" modest (faonptng pink 
syelamines embalmed tiie air with their fragianee. The cnurcli of the convent 
was quite filled with :onntain flowers. Ah. \vli&lt;&gt; .-an 

wonder that th &lt;ld prophet- in tiieir brigh - of what 

to see the joyful day when the Catholic church should extend i &gt; fula\ as- 

over the eartli !" 
Sometimes the site of some ah hey is to have been originally determined bj 

certain remarkable works of nature, or ot ( \ei-.j.ean art. &lt; f wnieh the hi.-iory was 
forgott-n. Tims the clinic- i.f &lt; Ila.-t .nhury .- -ms i-omu-eied witli that hi^h and 
singular mount, on which, in the carlie-tap- of faith, in Uritain, I ha^anu- and 
Damianns, the niis-ionarie- of 1 i.pr KlmthcTiii-, luiilt tlic ehajwl and cell of^t. 
Michael, u that he miirht have th-T,- honor on earth fro in men who hy c..nimainl 
God should, hrini in- n to t. rnal honor in h and wheiv the h 

monks from Ir.-land, who aft -rward- re-ide 1 fcben^ had -u&lt; h divi; !!-, 

that indulgence- were granted to tho-e who cut a way up t" it through the tan- 
gl-d thorn-, to euahle pilgrim- to fulfil tiieir vw. I vi-iie i it on ft 9 phen l 
dav during a wild storm, \\ hieh -e.-m d likely to -\\ ep l\ not alune the ruin- d 
tower, hut thegivn eon*- itself. InhahitM hy a number of hawksand wild hii 
theirci-y while hovering round, mingled \\ iiii th" furn-us mar of the wind within that 
n-ofl- -s tower, -truck me with a f-eiin-j ora-.v Th- 1 view on ad -id* s cot -respond 
ed, whethe; 1 "ii" regarded the si raggl ing village of l!ia.-t&lt;nl&gt;ury, whose lir 
form a vast cross on the ridge of the i.-land of Avalon, 01 the ruined ahlx-y, &gt;i the 
vast moor and waste of waters that surround -d it in that - a-on, or in th-- tli-tanee, 
Selwood t ore-t, th- -cen.-- ..f Alfreil - vict-Tv uv. i th&lt;- 1 Bt, and the mountains 
of the principality. 

\Vh--re it happens that nature i- 1. -s iir h-- iimi \villoften stand 

near some coios-al fragmentB which d with silent eloquence, the perishable 

character of hum m ainhition tu eon jure up a ei&gt;wd &lt;! tln.n-ht-. and e\&lt; it- u- to 
muse upon the d"-tini- of man. Sneh an instanee is p:&gt; 1 hy thai &lt;-onv- ut 

of Hiei-ouom te- iu Spain, whieh -tand- n.-ir the eiK.nnou- elepi ant- or hulls 

wrou^li on; of the gigantic rooks which rarroanded it, so celMwmted -theToros 
de Gui-ando. In general, however, the holy founders of inona-tei-ie- pi 
the imnmtahl" glor&gt; of nature s works. Thev s.-u^ht out the precipice- and dur 
able forms ,&gt;f de-en reruns, undaunted bv the viiwnin-r -ulf- tearful on 
like those that roppi,. over the nlihey of St. l ,ene.iirf at Siibineo vast ?n:is&lt;e- "t 
which fall each ve ; \v ann never injure it. Of like tbam i&gt;&lt; ne-rn S t . r,.-imato on 
the clear and rushing Anio. whe-e the ble-s^l patriarch BO l U j resi.led. Vet. 
however dreary to a stranger s eve, there w:\&lt; sure t&lt;i be near them &lt;nne gracious 
sp &gt;t with whieh they we-e familiar. A- our t^oet s n?i5. 



AGES OF FAITH. 73 

" It was a barren scene, und wild. 

Where naked cliffs were rudely piled 

But ever and anon between 

Lay velvet tufts of loveliest gieea ; 

And well the monk or hermit knew 

Recesses where the \viUl-flower grew : 

lie drem d such nooks the sweetest shade 

The sum in all its rounds survey d : 

And was poetic impulse given 

By the green hill aud clear blue heaven. 

Often surrounded by some steep and arid wilderness, the site itself is a soft sylvan 
scene, enclosed and bid away as a delicious paradise. 

Great is the surprise of those who pass from Pretavecchio to Camaldoli, after 
traversing tbe scorched and harrowed tops of the barren Apennines, the with 
ered aspect of which makes one s heart faint, to come down upon those soft dewy 
lawns, and green solitudes, and dark pathless woods, and find an Eden raised in 
the waste wilderness. Nothing can exceed the grandeur and wildness. and even 
the romantic interest of the scenes in which many abbeys are placed. From the 
smiling meadows, on which stands the vast abbey of Engelberg, the wooded nioun- 
ains which enclose it on every side rise up precipitously to the stern melancholy 
regions of eternal snow. 

The first sound which breaks the silence of the desert of San-Lorenzo to the 
pilgrims in that solitude is the bell of the Escurial, which has appalled many,, 
from its bursting suddenly on them. The bla-ts that howl round that immense 

f 

and truly solemn monastery during the autumnal season, when the court resides 
within it, are described as terrific. These sudden and impetuous tempests from 
the mountains can overturn carriages on the passage called Longa, which leads 
from the village to the monastery. Again, what a situation is that of the con 
vent of St. Bernard, on the mountain which bears his name! When seated, at 
night-fall, before the fire there, our fatigues almost forgotten amidst cheerful con 
versation, while the wild snow-drift sounded against the windows, I remember 
how cordially every one seemed to greet the wet cold strangers that entered a 
little later, as if from fancying how still more dreary must have become the ways 
that he himself had trodden before the darkness. Strange wild tales often passed 
current respecting the neighborhood of monasteries, and it must be owned the aw 
ful solitudes in which they sometimes stood were well fitted to make us believe 
that there was some excuse for those who related them ; for the solemn wildness 
of the rocks or woods served to give that strength to the imagination which ren 
ders fictions such as these interesting to most men. Thus we read in the annals 
of Corby, in Saxony, under the date of 1422 : "Erasmus Drogge, a hawksman 
and fisher, related to the brethren wonderful things of the spectres seen by him 
in our woods, and at Wisirah and Nethnm. If they were all true, adds the monk, 
I would write them down among wonders."* Again, "this year, 1048, it wa? 

p* Corheipn? ? ap. Leibnitz ?crint Bnmsvicenia Tllnst. 11 



72 Mi&gt;K KS CATHOLIC- 1 OK. 

said, that in Brunsberg is a great treasure, hidden and guarded hy a black d g 
with fiei-v eves. Gasper ( J -m-cr, the hunter, -ay- thai l e saw him. \Vhetl 
he sav- truly, I know not ; but certain it is, that traveder- by nL ht, have tin s 
year been inneh friglitcnt d by spectres on that monntai Oil poor brother 

seems no: t&lt;&gt; have thought them altog th, r lietitioii- ; , 1 in 1034, on the 

fea-t of St. -John the Bapti.-t, "an ignis fatnn- -ed;ie.-d brother Seba-;ian, it- 
turning after tlnsk from tiie next town where he had pivaehrd. Hi^ terror 
such that he died the ne\; thy."* There was a cell for live Id-others belonging 
to the abbey of Gri aw, in 8 Ua, at the foot of the lupha- ui mountain.-, w; 
in German are called the mountains of Giant-, beeaii-e thev are of .-tnpeix; 

height, being almost perpetually covered with snow. \V..ndnm- tin re 

lated there/ saya an old h i, "of a spectre dwelliug among the-e moun 

tain-, and appearing in variou- form- to tiio-e \vno a-eeinl them. Tlie.-e moun 
tains, which separat- Sih-ia from Uoliemia and .Moravia, extend to the Carpath 
ian chain which divide- Hungary from 1 ojand. The abbev of ( Jri-saw o\. 
its origin to the slaughter of the Christian army nntlcr II, nry Harhatns, the lius- 
bancl St. Hedwig", by the litt of Tartars, in t 1 I ll, on the plaias of Lig- 

nicinm."f 

Judging from their favor;;.- haunt-, monk- and hermits seemed to have a pre 
dilection for the life which Dante rather ly ijualifies, as only preferable to 
the tortures of the last or fro/en circle: 

" Oh, ill-sturr d folk, 
Beyond ;ili others wretched ! who abide 
In such a mansion, as I louiiht finds words 

To &gt;!-.-ik of; bettt-r liiid yr in-rt- mi t-arth 
r&gt; en tlock- or mountain L: 

Baptist the Mantnan annde&lt; in tIi--&lt;- \\\}&gt;-&lt; to ilioir dioice : 

"Ilinc d^.vi sanctitiut- partres in montibus altis 
Delf-rn- (lonio.-i tacitas, Ciiart:. 
Carmdus -,us ; Atiio- ; Laiin ta ; Lacerna; 

Et Sina t-t Sor , . ii^. 

Et jiiira Xiir.-ini facto senis inclyta ; ct alt is 
Abiftii.us turritacaput Caraaldula sanctun. 

What Tacitus saya ..f the German- Beenu true of the monks. " In^t-ad of in 
habiting cities, they live .-catten-d and i.-olated, jn-t u ii- -r- -v,-r a fountain, or a 
field, or a gnn Med them :" " Ut funs, nt ,-ampns, ..r n-mus placnit." Do 

we come to somesetpu-s-ere.l .-pot nntler a mountain, which from unknown time 
has yawned into a cavern, nigh and d-ep ; from win. ivtilet, 

* Annales Corbeit-nses up. Leibnit/. Script, nransvicrns n IlluM. 11 

f Caspar Jon-Miuus Xotithc Abbai. Ord. Ci . Ofbem. Liv. % 

, iii 



AGES OF FAITH. 73 

water, like clear air, in its calm sweep bends the soft grass, and keeps for 
ever wet the stems of the sweet flowers, ana tills the grove with sounds, which 
whoso hears must needs forget all pleasure and all pain, all hate and love which 
they had known before that hour of rest ?" There again we shall find a cloister 
of the holy pacific. Or do we turn to the woods under the vast shade of branch 
es to the pine forest where the white eagle builds her nest ; or to the denser 
labyrinth of other trees, who.-e " meeting boughs and implicated leaves weave 
twilight o er the poet s path ; more dark an 1 dark the shades accumulate the 
oak, expanding its immeasurable arms, embraces the light beech, the pyramids 
of the tall cedar overarching, frame most solemn domes within : the parasites, 
starred with ten thousand blo-soms, flow around the grey trunks ; soft mossy 
lawns beneath these canopies extend their swells, fragrant with perfumed herbs, 
and eyed with blooms, minute yet beautiful ; through the dell, silence and twi 
light, twin-sisters, keep their noonday watch, and sail among the shades like va 
porous shapes half seen." There in some sudden opening, which again restores 
you to the sun, you will arrive at the convent, some ancient sanctuary of 
holy men, in which, while lodging for the night, you will hear the animals of 

prey, 

" Ore truces ululare lupi sub nocte silenti." 

Yet the peace of that house will force yon to regard these as the fortunate groves 
and blissful seats, and soon the trees that whisper round it will become dear as 
the monastery s self. Deeply hidden in the heart of ancient forests were many 
abbeys, to which men had to work their way as they could through what might 
be truly termed " a pathless desert, dusk with horrid shades." In the eleventh 
century there was a monastery in the forest of Ferric" re, so secluded, that if it had 
not been for certain iron forges, established in the same forest, the place would 
have remained unknown ; but, in 1147, these works led to its discovery : for a 
monk of St. Martin of Tournay, being at Rheims, and having been charged to 
find out where was an abbey of the name of Ferriere, succeeded at last, by means 
of the workmen, to whom probably he was referred by some monks of St. Maur 
des Fossez, who had come, like himself, to the council of Rheims."* When I 
expressed my intention of proceeding to Bobbio, I was told that from the place 
where I was I should have to travel, either on foot or on horseback, for thirty 
miles, there being no road to it. 

" The access to Morimond, that mother of five orders of knighthood," says Dom 
Martene, " is difficult, owing to the woods and broken tracks by which one has 
to pa-s. It is in a fearful solitude; in a hollow, surrounded by mountains, on 
the borders of France and Lorraine, in which latter stands half of the refectory."! 

"We did not arrive," he says, at the ubbey of Molesme until late at night, 



* Lebeuf, Hist. du. Diocese de Paris, torn. xiv. 257. 
f Voyage LitiAiaire de deux. Beuediclius, 140. 



74 MO 11 K S C ATI1OLICI; OK, 

We having lost our way in the vf (K xIs, whieb causal us to travel two or three 
miles more than were necessary."* "in order to arrive at Clairvaux," he 

which is in a valley NUTOVIftied with mountains and fore-:-. \\ e i.ad i &gt; \ ravel 
nearlv t\vo leagn- &gt; ilmm-h the wood. One cannot approach it without ii-eling 
one s In-art moved with inde.-cribabie feel i HITS, whieh indicate the sanetitv of its 
origin."! " ^ n v ul l ^"tie, i "iir 1 i :i, i- -i " h,- 

-, " in - !:! a f arfnl solitude, that out- can hardly arrive at it without taking 
a guide of tne country. "+ * A;t-r pas.-ing Kiedrich 1 again entered cst," 

.-avs a ind Tu ti &gt; d f -i* above an liour th- ! was liitl" to 

the noble tr.-e.s \vnich eneoinpa-.-ed me ; but riioii^h 1 conM &gt;.-id ( in sec iif iy yard-, 

within tlat (li-taiu-e ih .sie&lt;l al \va\- pl.-iry of minute objects to int. 

me. Aft-r wimlinLT mv way throu&lt;:l the tree- for a ci.n-idTal&gt;le tun*-, I -uddenly 
saw cioe before me, at tin- bottom of a mo-t S -qne-f-i- d \ail-y, t:&gt;e i.l&gt;je--[ of my 
journey, nam- iy, i he v.-ry ancient niona.-ierv of Kb- i lia- n. The sylvan l&gt;v lin. -- 
and th" peaceful r.-tirein- iit of this -pot 1 -tnm^ly f.-d it is quite irnpo-.-ili] 
descril)e. The numa.-tery lay iramediatelj In-neatli me, -o ( ompleieh 
by tiie forest, that it looke-1 a~ ; - built, it nail U --n droppe^l from he \. n 

on its site. Tne i nebular bnildine&gt;. \\ n, its dome. -pin-, -tatu--, ami hi^h-i 
roots, look liue tn-- palaee of some powerful kini: ; and yet the monarch has ap]ar- 
entiy no -uhje t- but f.re-t trees, wnieh on all -ide- almo-t ton- li the aivn hectare, 
and clo-"ly environ ihe garden -\va! ! Thi- de-&lt;-ripti,.n r-call* . -&lt; i\&gt;- that once 

trail ]\i Hi/el and app-as-d mv . .\vn imagination. TII.T,. j, a pathless forest on 
the steep mountains which m ivent of ( amaldoii. A: an open nj. 

caused by the fall ofs.ni no:-m..ns trucks. I u-ed t- III f-r hour- with myr 
of curious (Teatui-t-s all around m- . am-n-j tii- wt-eds grotesque and wild, Before 
mewas t magnificienl n ; Ap -nniues. richly tint- &lt;i with- 5 SUII J ail( 

intervening in a il-p ^ulf boi - if painted on a map, lay the convent on a 
gra-sy ^lad--, with it&lt; interior coiirtsand cloi- . -r- all dfa I. Above the fo. 

as vv.-ll as Ix ne-ith it in the val.ey, are beautiful *lopin&lt;r pastures, covered with 
th" flocks of the mona-tery ; and m&lt;&gt;~! i t r -hin-j wa- the (..-!, dlicioiis air of 
the breezes whieh are inhaled amon_ r -t tiiem. In tiie deep .-ihnt f.ie-t "f u i^an- 
tic pin- .s around the upper hermitage, it i- ei~\ to !&lt;&gt;-. on.- - \\ay. One &lt; . -uld only 
provide arain-t -ne;i an accident by caiefullv no;in- the i in-- 

h n ire leafless trunks, the growth &lt;.f (-mnri- -. blasted by lightning or t-rn from the 
ground, and lyin_ itn their va-t arm- int-rla&lt;-d an i piled in magnificent 

ruin by th ,,. terrible bla-t, which had mad" an open pa -paring 

only naked rocks, a- it swept through acha-m of the mountain. Loud and solemn 
ai"!he ..choex of the woodman s stroke in that fore-t. th d-oj&gt; repose of whieh is 
only broken by them and the tolling of the ahbev beii. Never shall I fbrgft the 
thunder which rolled over that hon-e wheu I lay there two nights before the festi- 



Litti raire de doux R( n liotin. I f Ih. 1 



AGES OF FAITH. 75 

val of the stigmas of St. Francis. Most sweet was the recollection of having beard 
complin sung on the evening of that dreadful night; while the heavens were in 
such awful commotion over our heads, discharging a deluge of waters that sounded 
almost as terrible as the thunder crash. We remained some days longer, and 
great was the sadness with which I heard the matin bell, soon after midnight, 
announcing the last morning of that peace for us. After leaving the bright altars, 
and the saintly men who did their office there, we walked slowly forwards, and 
often turned back to enjoy one more glimpse of the monastery. Arriving at last 
within a few yards of the summit of the mountain, we intended to have reposed 
some time, before placing that final barrier between us and the scene where we 
had enjoyed such peace, but an incident occurred which seemed to break the spell. 
A troop of wild dogs, hunting together, came suddenly upon us over the crest, open 
mouthed, and then glancing aside as if more startled than ourselves, rushed down 
the side of the mountain. 

That the selection of such sites for monasteries arose out of the peculiar affection 
entertained by the holy men who founded them, for the beauties and solemnities 
of nature is, in general, even expressly attested by the ancient writers. William, 
duke of Aquitaine, came one day to a place remote from all human society ; so 
solitary, so silent and inviting to repose, that it seemed, says the chronicle, to be 
an image of the celestial peace. Bernon, abbot of Gigny, who accompanied the 
old duke, said, smiling, " Dismiss your dogs, and let monks come here, for their 
prayers will be of more use to you than all your hounds." Such was the com 
mencement of the abbey of Cluny, by a public donation from duke William to the 
apostles St. Peter and St. Paul in 909.* 

The monastery and church of St. Nicholas de Arena, in Sicily, were built on the 
spot where St. Leo, bishop of Catana, used to retire, far from the city, in order to 
converse with God.f We find the monastic flock always tending to the desert or 
the wood. 

At the beginning of the ninth century, we read, that the holy and learned ^ngus, 
abbot of Clonenagh, used to betake himself for meditation and prayer to a waste, 
solitary tract, near the monastery, which, therefore, used to be called desert -ZEugus. 
St. Elphege, even during the severe frosts of winter, used to arise at midnight, 
while deep sleep ruled the rest of the world, and repair to some desert place, where 
he prayed until the rising sun put the stars to flight. 

It was in the pine forest near Ravenna that the young Romuald nourished his 
love for solitude and the religious Iife4 We read, that St. John of the Cross, go 
ing on one occasion to visit a certain monastery, and finding himself in a retired 
spot surrounded with trees, stopped there to meditate; and that his companions, 
who had suffered him to penetrate alone f&lt;n some distance into the wood, found 
him, after a while, in a rapture of divine contemplation.! 

* P. Lorain, 1 Abhaye de Cluny. f Sicilia Sacra, ii. 1156. 

\ Annul. Camaldulensium, i. 10. P. Dosithee, JJv. vl. 



76 M O K B8 CAT HO LiC I; OK, 

Friar Antonio of Corsica, a holy Capuchin, wh l--f t Ilia country :it an earlv 
age, through horror at tin- f-uis which di-t ii, is r- ; 1 to hav greatly 

loved the convent of Monte Ca^ale, from its being among wood- remote from 
men. After ihc ofli.v of matins, he u-ed to -p-nd all tnc remaining hour- of the 
niirht and dawn in the UT -ve till it was time to -ay mass ; and .-imiiarly, when at 
IVrugia, he used to contemplate in th .nveut.* 

\Vc find that the monks wen- quick to apprecia;.- and to indulge this lo\ 
svlvan beauty in other men. A modern traveller tells u- that on ihc evening of 
\\ \&lt; arrival at Valloml)ro-a. h" retiirm-d to ih alory, afi, r staying in the w&gt; 
sooner than he wi-h-d, I -airig K-t the jat--- mijii: l).-elo--d upon him; and that 
att-T .-upper, a- h- looked through the window &lt;.u the dark I and 

llinir lawn- of that delicious vale, a monk penviv. d hi.- disconcerted ouunte- 
nance, and instantly divined th- i-an--. " ^^ n wish to wander still tlinm;jh t: 
wild-." -iid he; th- ii calling a lay brother, IK- &gt;nl-Ted him to open the uat--, and 
wait at th -m till their -ne-t - return. 

" Who does not delight in feeling the .gentle wind that I from the water?" 

demand- Father Dic^o Murillo, of the ncdf of S- . l- r.mei-, in oiif of his sermon- 
preached in &gt; " \V1 - not : .11 h arin^ tin- hird- -in- 
from branch to branch in th" h.-art of a f. !&gt; ? \\ loteharnvd at th" -i&lt;_ r ht 
of the crystalline rivulet winding from the hiirh mountains ? and win. d. e- not 
his heart ieap for joy \vii.-n h q an ,ch , an-wc: iiej him amidst th" ro&lt; k~. 
Ah ! the-e are in -timable 

The beauty of :h" jrad-n-, brook-, and of Clairvaulx i- desrrib.d by 

the al)bot of Ald"iii) i^ in a manner that in&lt;K now n-efnl h. Mit-d it. 

"Good fiod !" h" fX"la:m-. M wnat con- thoii pnvile for thv j" 

lest they .-hould be absorb- abundant sadih--! h &gt;w manv alleviation- for 

penitents, lest th- y -hould IK? oppre-&lt;ed by their lat&gt; !- ! Th" plac- ha- mndi love 
liness to &gt;o,,the the wi-aried mind, to di-p.-l car.-- and -orrow, to kindl" to devo 
tion those who seek (iod, and to r.-mind them of th" -npeinal IW tu - to which 
we aspire. The meadow at e\-"iitid" remind- me I- ac, 

Dinii v nici) tliiii in. diiin sentio tloii- oilorcm, 
H;- vrlfiuin iiiciii &gt;rai)t mihi pr.ita dicrmn. "J 

Hence, in selecting the site for ne.v foundations, we find -lv that arte-ition 

was paid to tin- things which Pliny -&lt; !&gt; -autifnlly cxpre &gt; ind-.-cribinij the di-trict 
of Clitamnm t;ie " muniiica -ylvarum genera, montinm alllatu-. amniurn fonti- 
unu|iie \iben 

In the fifteenth century, Ulrieh, abbot of St. (Jail, prepared to remove the 
abbey from St. Gall to Iloschach. alleging for motiv.-, tnc turbulent conduct of the 



* Annales Capucinorum 1548. f Srrm. for the sixili Fridnv of l.cnt. 

t Xntiti;c Abb-it. &lt;&gt; M |. Ci- f. n--r Lniv. Orbi in. Lib. i. 



AGES OF F A I T H. 77 

citizens, and that in case of war and the town being besieged, it was impossible 
for the monks to remain neuter, their monastery being within the walls. Day 
and night," he says, " we have no rest : by day we have to endure the ceaseless 
noise of carriages, drums, shots, and cries, and by night the watch round, and the 
forcible intrusion of persons into the cloister. Under such circumstances the holy 
St. Gall and Othmar would certainly have fixed themselves elsewhere. There 
fore, I have chosen the site of Roschach, where there is a most lovely view over 
the lake of Constance to Thurgau and Suabia, the purest air, a place rural amidst 
meadows, vineyards, corn fields, and woods, with abundance of water and stone. 
There would the abbot and monks be .safer and more independent than when 
guarded by walls, towers, and trenches." In 1484 permission for the removal 
being obtained from the pope, the emperor, and the general chapter of the Bene 
dictines, the work was begun, but the citizens of St. Gall assembled in a tumult 
uous manner, and, proceeding to Roschach, demolished the new buildings, declar 
ing that they would never suffer the beautiful abbey to be transferred from their 
town.* 

A wood or a desert regior "cents to have been considered an essential accompani 
ment to a religious house. The monk, like the Homeric hero, had his aypov 
TroXvfisvdpeov.^ Even in the rocky wilderness of Subiaco, the monastery of 
St. Benedict can boast of its little isolated wood of olives. To cut down the 
trees round the desert of Camaldoli was prohibited under pain of excommuni 
cation by Paul III.J Among the necessary things of which the friars of the 
Franciscan order have the usufruct, the commentators on its rule enumerate, along 
with books, woods and gardens. By the constitutions of the Capuchins in 1529, 
one or more cells should be constructed in a solitary place near every convent of 
the order, that if any friar should wish to lead an eremitical life in silence, he 
might have a hut to retire into.|| The Carmelite order also prescribes the hav 
ing deserts in certain places, one in each province, to which the friars can retire 
for the sake of prayer and contemplation. Fuge, tace, quiesce, seems to have been 
their motto. A year was the general period of remaining in these deserts, though 
it was always left to their free choice when to leave them. The hermits were for 
bidden, during the retreat, to engage in any scholastic, philosophical, or theolog 
ical study. During their abode in the wilderness they were permitted to read 
only the holy Scriptures, lives of the saints, works of the fathers, and books which 
treat on the spiritual life. No secular persons were to be admitted for the sake of 
hunting or fishing. The houses of the desert were to be near villages, that in case 
of sickness there might be relief at hand. No one was to be sent there as if to do 
penance, because deserts, as holy places, were only for the perfect. Each hermit 
was to have a seperate cell ; the church was to be in the centre : and the space 

* Ildefons von Arx: 11. f xxiii. J Annal. Camald. Lib Ixxii. 

Louis d Paris, Expos. Lit. de la Rfigie des F. F. Mineurs. |] Annales Capucinorum. 



78 MORE^ CATHOLICI; OR, 

enclosed very consiii ; that amid.-t hills and val md fount;, 

the interior recoi UN more advanc. It if . hn mi- 

ta " &gt; which i on Mount Libanu- 

D 

By (! i Sigebert III., kli LuatncU, the mona&gt;tn y ui, in 

the va.-t forest of the Ardenne-, WMS to be BUITOUDiled by an encio-uiv of twelve 
miles in t-M flit, t" aerve a- a -olitude for the monks, but they limited it to 
miles.t By letters of the bi.-.nop oi (iienoble in 1084, him prohii 

from passing the gate upon tut- bridge, which lorni d ;h bounds of tlj. be 

longing to the monks of the (irand Cha: J&gt;nt while privat- devotion and 

the rules of religious orders th cultivate a love for such r 

monks were cautioned from ascribing moiv than due importance to tiii- intlnence 
of locality ; u for," siiy- Ivcsu^ ( hartn-s, u n-itin-r th the w 

ncr the tops of mountains can mak in ai happv if he iiath not within himself a 
M)litnde of mind, a -abbath oi ihc heart, traiHjuillity of con-ciciice, elevation&gt; in 
his soul, without which, tepidity, cnrio-ity^ vain glory, and perilous t -mj 
temptation upany .-very -oiitude."t " Thei. . -odandt:. an evil 

d -.-rt," says Richard of St. Yin r ; t:u- tir- far from the tumult 

of vio-s, the latter i- when- we find no cultivation of man, n . &gt;mdy nf -anctity 
or of religion. It is a good de-ert \\ :i-n no &gt; &gt;uud t iir -i l.-n.-e but tli 

of the dove, and the -igh whin, - not fro in tne de-ire of divine love. It is 

a". i evil desnt when are wanting ivi. M al d- - iiritn;d del With 1 

distinction, however deeply in: rv cii-cnm- -f place- ai ound tueab- 

bey \va&lt;. to the mona-tic mind, retloient not meieiv ..f i.-anty l&gt;ut ot thought; 
and we find fre&lt;pient indications of tii- spiritual, and intellectual prolit wnich it 
derived from this habit of inten&gt;retiii _: nature. At Fountain s Abbey in York 
shire, a clear and rapid .-tream p.i rd inni r th b. atitifnl oriel windows of the 
retc t -ry. The monks would diaw iosons from thi- tl-wiiii: riv- r. :her 

Nicholas Facteur w;; v.-d one day reclininu r f: -. iiilar windov. in - 

plating the rapidity of the current which pass d U low, until lie appeared to loge 
Iiimseit in an extasy. Some of the monks approached and asked him the cau-e. 

l- rom this window," he replied, " I \\a -:d.-rin_ r with what ha- 

river ran in order to reach the .-en, and I wa&gt; lost in a&lt;tonishm :it that men, who 
are enlightened by reason, should not do the same in order to arriv :i as 

possible at the wide and vast -. a of eternal &lt;rlory."|| 

When we -ec, therefore, that limpid fountain delightful to the eves, flowing with 
out intermission, which is in the middle of ihe va-; tne mainiiiieejit 
mona-tery of St. Maria Xova at Montcr.-_gali; near Palermo, which was founded by 
King William II. inconsequence of a vision which he had while hunting in the 
forest, we may be sure that it was a source of meditation no le^s fruitful than the 



P. Dosithee. Vie de St. Jean de In Croix. x. 4 A p. Marten.-. Vet. Script, col. ii. 7. 
t Ivon. Cam. Epist. cxcii. . :mo t in Pa. 26. | Le Sucre Mount d Olivet. 



AGES OF FAITH. 79 

surrounding gardens commanding tlio.se uioBt delightful views over sea and land 
winch the eyes are never weary of beholding."* Or take an instance of the \\ iU- 
er kind. " In the province of Vienue," says Gervai&gt;e of Villebnry, is the \ni&lt; ry 
of St. Michael de Cam ^sa, wnich is situated upon ihe .-ide of a high mountain ex- 
posed to terrible winds, but removed from all sounds of men, and by posiiiun a 
dedicated to religion. The refectory is vast, and exposed to the full force of the 
blasts. In this is a great window like a door, giving light to the whole. When 
storms rage and the whole house is shaken, wnatever lights are placed in the cen 
tre of that window burn on undisturbed as if all was still. The walls tremble ; 
the light of that little caudle is not moved. "f It is easy to divine the moral 
which the monks would draw. In fact, there seems to have been always care 
that there should be sometning in the aspect around them to furnish food of ihis 
kind. Often, while Standing during weather that would not admit of mountain 
wanderings under the cloistered arches of Engelberg, and of St. Urban s abbey, 
in the country of Soleure, where monks walked to and fro, from \\hose dark 
hoods peered darker eyes, all fitted well for contemplation, 1 used to remark &gt;.me 
who, in thoughtful guise, stood watching the mists sweeping over the mountains, 
ascending and descending amidst the rocks, or, like that famed artist, Vietro Cos- 
imo, the silent fill of the rain, as if it irave them pleasure ; ihn pointing either 
to the cattle wandering through the meadows, as if to note some curious trait of 
instinct, or to the changing hues of the pine forest becoming absolutely black at 
intervals, so near to the abbey, that one might suppo-e the wild animals in their 
dens were within hearing of the holy song. There are whom nothing more de 
lights than such a cloistral view, while groups are occupied in household labors, 
in the wide adjoining courts ; &gt;r manv things are to be done during 
such weather within the walls by servitors as by the monks, who only wait the 
signal of the bell to flock into the church, where swll &lt;* r-ans waken mystic 
ech -es. Hugo of St. Victor borrows an ima^e from e nnessofihe lawn 

which is in the centre of the material cloi-ter, " which," he -ays, refreshes the 
eyes of its inhabitants and render them more capable of reading.";}: 

The trees and rocks were used by the monks as sermons to their con vertite; so 
when he is healed thev led him forth to show the wonders of their svlvau solitude, 

* 

and they together kneel or sit by those spots sacred to God and peace. "The 
whole site of the monastery," says the abbot of Aldenber&lt;r, speaking of his own, 
" is good and agreeable, affording walks full of delight in the valleys, as well as 
on the mountains."! Thus with our old poet these holy men did not 

"Esteem it vainful to follow fancy s eye." 
When St. John of the Cross was in the monastery of Pegnuela, every morning 

* Sicilia Sacra, il. T306. f Gerv. Tilleber. Otia Imperial m 

$ De Claustro Aniniae, Lib. iv. c. 33. Notit. Ab. Ord. Cist, per niiiv. orbeui, II 



80 MORES OATHOLICIj &lt;&gt;K, 

after mass, In- used to retire amidst the mountains of that desert for the sake of 
prayer ami OODteBapbttioO : lit- u-td -en- rally to &gt;it mar a sprni:: much was HUI- 
rounded by wild lives, until ln&gt; heard tin- bell ir me &lt; xeroiMri -it thecomniunitv. 
After i In- used to ivltirn there until the hour of pi-aver in eointuon. I- P- 

queutly be uwd to oononi himadf amidiii ihe rock-. A monk finding him one 

day between the precipices, a-kt d. "Ah, father, will you remain forever amid-t 
the rock--?" to whom the holy man replied, "Wonder n ( ,t, mv &gt;on ; fur when 1 
converse with them, I have fewer things to &gt;ay in confe&gt;sion, than when J con 
verse with men." It wa-amid-t these precipic-- of IV^nticla, tiiat In- c.,mp,.&gt;. d 
his sublimeseraphic l..oks;a- it was in the -olitude of mount A ae: ma, that 
St. Bonaventura wrote hU Itinerariuni mentis in Deuin," and his, "Itineruraiurn 
mentis in seipsum," of whieh Cn-i~\] - I oonfV;f8 thai !.: thirty years and 

more, 1 have wished to he familiar with the-e traet- ; and lo ! at (hi- a^", after 
reading and often ruminating them, even to th- words. I dav. f begun to 

taste them, as I find in them alwayssomediing new." I in tiie figurative lan 
guage of St. John of the ( Yoss in tlie C -lel): ate.l mystei ions e;uitiele \\ hieh expreflMi 
the complaint of a soul wounded by diviu- love, which, however, he com |x&gt;sed in 
a dungeon in Tolexlo, it i p.- what a deep sense he &lt; ned of 

the charm which lies in the sombre forests and lofty mountains, and the sweet 
enamelled meadows, and all the h-ai: this admirable world. 

An ingenious modern authrf -n .."jests the propriety of placing inscriptions 
amid the wilds of Dart m-or, and even of conS -crating particular rocks there to 
particular persons amidst tii"- w: 1 solitarv - If -o judicious and 

compli.-hed a mind could find pleasure in associating the rocks of her countrv with 
"fancied genii or divinitie-," by Druidical inscription- to Odin, Hu.and Mtnlred, 
we can readily comprehend the desire f- It by meditative learned monks, to place 
in the deserts round them, inscriptions or memorials to recall the memory of the 
friends of Got!, with whom they knew that tuey were historically connected, or 
to impart a general le-sou of eternal wisdom to the pilgrim who should pass by. 
When the track was steep and riiirged, one would find inscribed upon the rocks 
some sentence to remind men that the a-cent t heaven i&lt; stcrpand narrow, as I 
read going up to Mount Oalvaro, at Duuo Dos-ula ; to which convent. -&lt;&gt; ofteo 
at the sweet hour of dawn, a holy process! &gt;n mounts. Marc, the poet, a disciple 
ofSt, Benedict, composed verses descriptive of Mount Cassino, of which the fol 
lowing refer to the ascent : 

"Flue properet ccelos optat qni cernere aspectos, 

Nee removet votum semita dura pium. 
Semperdifflcili quteruntur summa labore, 
iii Ctam semper babet vita beata viaoi." 

The only bwoription I observed am-ai^ the ruins of Xetley Abbey, was to this 
* DosiLhee, Lib. viii, f Mrs. Bray, Sketches of Devonstone. 



AUKS OF FAITH. 81 

effect, that whoever did not keep the beaten pathway would be prosecuted, con- 
veving thus a brief but accurate history of the times since that abbey fell to des 
olation ; but were the monks still there, we should doubtle-s have found other 
writing on the trees. In the woods where friars haunt, we should find lines like 
these, which St. Francis placed on an antependium of a little chapel, in a beauti 
ful wood on a high mountain between St. Germini and Porcaria. Above were 
painted various creatures, angels, boys, birds, trees, and so forth, under which, 
was this invitation to them to praise their Creator. 

Timete Dominum, et date illi honorem. 

Diguus Doininus accipere laudem et honorem. 

Omnes qui timetis Deum, laudate eum. 

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Domiuus tecum. 

Laudate eum, ccelum et terra universa. 

Laudate omnia flumina, Domimim. 

Laudate Domiuum quoniam bonus est. 

Omnes qui legitis hsec, beneclicite Dominum. 

Omnes creat u rae, laudate Dominum. 

Omnes volucres cosli, laudate Dominum. 

Omnes pueri, laudate Dominnm. 

Juvenes et virgines, laudate Dominum. 

Dignus est Agnus qui occisusest, accipere laudem et honorem. 

Benedicta sit sancta Triuitas, atque indivisa Unitas. 

Sancte Michael Archangele, defeode nos io praelio." 

Alas! when shall we find in our woods and lawns a similar inscription ! But 
iron hammers, and not the praises of God, resound now on the Wye s woody shore; 
and manufacturers, impelled by wandering boilers, heed not what would have de 
lighted Aldhelm or Shakspeare. 

" O, better were these banks assign d 
To spirits of a gentler kind." 

And now if from the profit which holy monks drew from the beauty or grand 
eur of natural scenes, we turn to consider the sweet influence which their habita 
tions imparted to those scenes, shall we now discover that the service was recip 
rocal and adundantly repaid? When roaming through the woods, or along the 
shores of our dark northern lakes, or climbing up the rocks of the wild moun 
tains which hang over them, in company with the pretty playful goats, would it 
not increase our joy to know that some holy monastery was near, that in an hour 
perhaps we might be in the church, assisting at their solemn vespers, and hear 
ing the instructions of some man of God? How sweet and solemn is the aspect 
of an abbey seen through dark woods, through which lioar.se winds whistle wildly ! 
and when it is the sole object, how much m &gt;re sweet and solemn is the music of 
its adjacent grove under the breeze of night ! Our poet says that the chief marvel 
of the wilderness he loved was a lone dwelling, built by whom or how, none of 
the rustic people clearly knew, further than that it was reared for peace and for 



82 MORES CATHOLIC I; OR, 

religion, by some wise and tender lover of bis kind, ere the crimes of onr age had 
been anticipated in the Christian world s young prime, in height overtopping the 
woods and -eanv -tvniing a work of human art, l&gt;ut as it were Titantic. Such 
\vas tlie ancient abbey, -reining to have grown out &lt;&gt;i the mountains from the liv 
ing stone, lifting itself in caverns light and high ; and how did its voice charm 
that desert and overcome every other harmony ! like the bird which fascinated 
the monk, 

" Who beard not, saw not, felt not aught beside, 
Thro the wid.- world of pleasure and of paiu, 
Save the full flowing and the ample tide 
Of that celestial strain."* 

Yes, happy is it for men when holy piles are scattered through theM vales and 
forests when the spirit ot tue monks is hovering tlnougn them, bieatiiin^ a deep 
and solemn beauty, and imparting to every thought of the human mind a hue 
of brightness and of heaven : for tin n religion s voice, which gives the heart ex 
pansion, and yet peace comes to tlit-m in solitudes, " through the whispering woods, 
and from the fountains, and the od us deep of flowers, and from the breezes 
whether low or loud, and from the rain ofeverv pa-sing cloud, and from the sing 
ing of the summer birds from all sounds and from all silence." For my part&gt; 
if it be permitted me to proclaim a personal expenen- ". if I had never seen Al 
ien rive or Vallombrosa, Camaldoli, or St. ITrban, the beauti.-s of our loveliest 
scenery would not delight iiv as they now can do. I should see them with quite 
different eves. The lawns would not inspire any bright consoling recol lection ., 
nor the deep forests pace. 

* Trench. 



AGES OF FAITH. 83 




CHAPTER V. 



ipURNEYING onwards, and thus continuing to beguile our way, let us 
hear passages from ancient writings relative to the origin and foundation 
of some monasteries; for there can be no theme more suitable to this pil 
grimage, since many of these religious houses were the fruits of a journey 
on foot or on horseback like our own at present, only involving dangers and 
sufferings verv different from what can be our lot. 

o - 

" The proscribed man," according to the old German laws, " was to be led into a 
forest so far as to be beyond the hearing of a troop who waited at the skirts, who were 
to cry out three times. After that he became an outlaw, and might be slain by 
whoever met him."* The heart of forests thus legally abandoned to outlaws, 
was, however, visited by other men of a very different class, who sought the peace 
ful joys of contemplation, the conversion of these outcasts, and the transformation 
of tiie very desert itself into a paradise, fulfilling the divine prophecy which said, 

* Cbnsnlabttur Dominus Sion, et consolabitur o nines minus ejus : et ponetdeser- 
tum ejus quasi delicias, et solitudiuem ejus quasi hortum Domini : gaudium et 
loetitia invenietur in ea, gratiarum actio et vox laudis." Who were these other 
men ? They were monks, and some of them the first apostles of the northern na 
tions, as heroic Percevals or Percefo rests as ever figured in the fabling of old ro 
mance. Through romantic valleys, before deemed inaccessible, they pierced their 
way, and through those vast primeval forests of Germany where ihe squirrel, 
leaping from tree to tree, could traverse seven leagues without descending on the 
ground.f The first apostles of Christianity built cells in the Black Fonst under 
the shade of pines and oaks. Thus we find Sr. Fridolin at Seckingen, St. Offon 
at Schonttern, St. Lnndolin at Ettenheim, and St. Trutpert at the place which 
yet bears his name. If we had the det-dls of their journey, beyond a doubt the 
interest of many heroic fables would seem pale in comparison. In 744 St. Sturm, 
the disciple of St. Boniface, with seven companion*, having pierced into the va.-t 
desert of Hersfeld on the banks of th&gt; Fulda, erected there a monastery under 
the title O f the Holy Saviour, which derived its name from that river. Here were 
soon 400 monks assembled, besides a multitude of dependants, t 

"The herdsman of the parish," says the ancient German laws, "may advance 

* Micbelet, Origines du Droit. f Grimm. J Schaunat, Historia Fuldensis, pars 1. 



84 MORES CATHOLIC I : OR, 

into the forest with his troop, a-; f-ir a- h" can reach with throwing his stick."* 
The interior must liave l&gt;een sufficiently dangerous then. However, the pa-tor 
of souls was to be more courau eou-, ami the monks accordingly pen . far U- 

vond such limit-, ami often for the expre.-s. pm i m. m_ 

ber of the (Jim-nan Hock, as in the in-t i . 01 &gt;t. &gt; ,ju:iiiii-, 

founder of the abbey which bore his name in the sixth century. "\Vli. n&gt;. n ," 
we read, "SAW himself well in-true;. d in the doctrine of the &lt;iiv in Scriptures and 
learned in the monastic m . ;_ lit a proper place to build his monastery, 

A- ii - : ehed through the country, and communicated Ilifl plan to Ins friends 
one of his relations Tni. laif. -aid to iiim, Sin&lt; yon ask me, I will point ..lit a 
place wh -re you can estibd-h yoiir-"if, it your plan l&gt;c in-pind by the lo\ 
God. There is a tract which Mon me. it I not, by hereditary 

rij;iit, l)iit the people who inhabit it resemble wild hea-t-, and feed npo n hninaii 
H"sh, so that it is n _r them without a troop of armed men at 

one s command. Tue ble--, d Seine inswe red, Show me this place, in order that 
if mv d ire conc.-i\ . , divine in&gt;tmct. all the fenwiiy of these men nnv be 

changed into the r nile th-d Haviiiir then taken some companions 

th-veamc to the place which had been m&gt; !. It wa- a forest wh. ! trees 

seeni"d fo touch the cloud-, a d f which the solitude h.id not been disturbed for a 
long time ; th\v ,ini_ r how ih&lt;-v could penetrate into it, when a windiiu path 

wasd"- d, l&gt;ut so narrow and full of briar- that they could hardly put th. ir 

feet on the same line, or make . D.- foot follow th . so thick were the branch"-. 

Ho .vver, after mooh labor and with torn entsthey pen- tr.it- d to the d ptlis 

of thi-&lt; wild forest, and at length tl rrow opening of a cftveri 

dark tint the wild b .-ni-elve- would tear the entrance. Tiiat \\astheiob- 

ber scave, and the al)"&lt;l" ot nnel.-an spirit-;. When tln-v approached it, S--ine t agree 
able to God, lx)wed his knee- and "Hi -red up a pi aver with tears, saying, O L d. 
who hast ma ie heaven and ea ; h. and who jrant -t the prayer ot t h. &gt;e who-uppli- 
oate thee, from whom all _ r "&lt;&gt; i p -, and without whom all theeHbit-oi human 

weakness are vain, if you command t t 1 -h"idd fix mvseif in tin s S lilnde. let 



me know thy will, and i theae commencements. Wh-n he had iinished 

his prayer, he rose up and lifted h - Innd- to ii -aven. with wc-pin&lt;r eyes. Know 
ing, then, that it was und r uuid. i - irthat lie ha i come to this dark 
forest, after havimr bles-,- 1 t it lavin_r tiie foundation of a little 
cell on the spot where he had lir-t put him- i n his knees. The report of his 
arrival eam to the ear- of the n- iuhboiin^ \ who b iu^r moved by a divine 
impulse, exhorted each other, and approached to \ \\ him. A- - "u:us they saw 
him, from wolves tliey b. ea nc lambs, in s . much that they who had before been a 
source of terror were now the rnin -! - a -i-t in ; and from that tirn-this 
place became the abode of flHKicen afer bein"- tue haunt ot cniei toooers 

O 

* Grimm. 



AGES OF FAITH. 85 

and dcm&gt;ns."* \Vhcn St. Gall asked the deacon Ililtibald, who kue\v all the 
de-ert i roin his habits of wandering in quest of ii.-h and ot hawks, whether he 
could lead him to a spot favorable lor a monastery, tin- deacon replied, " This sol 
itude abounds with watery places, lofty moun ains, deep narrow valleys, 
and woods full of hurtful beasts for besides stags and flocks of harmless animals, 
there are nuuiv bears, innumerable boars and tavenous wolves without nutn- 

" / 

her, so that I far you will be devoured if you enter it." Next morning, 
however, at daybreak, they begun to penetrate into it, and about nones came to 
the brook Staina, where was a spot that pleased the man of God, which he marked 
with a cross."!" 

St. Liudger and his brethren being anxious to construct a monastery that 
would be secure from the future desolations of the maritime country, after much 
deliberation fixed upon a plaee within a forest near the river Rura, which was 
afterwards called Werden. Having pitched their tents, they prepared to cut down 
the tress and make a sufficient space, but they stood so thick, and their branches 
were so interlaced, concealing the sky, that it seemed a hopeless undertaking to 
set about building a habitation in such a wilderness. That night the holy man 
rose three times to prayer, placing himself under a great tree. After the third 
time the night, which had been before clear and serene, became obscured ; the 
moon and stars were covered with clouds, and a mighty tempest burst over the 
forest. The gnarled trunks of many centuries fell before that stern blast, and 
the elements of the world were made to save the servants of God. At break of 
day the task was accomplished ; the trees lay prostrate piled on all sides, and a 
sufficient space appeared for the site of the monastery. One only tree on that 
spot was left standing ; it was that under which the man of God prayed; but 
when this was afterwards cut down for the use of the church, a .-tone was placed 
on the same spot to be a memorial for ever.;}: 

To the vast solitude of the Vosges, bordered on the east by Alsace and on the 
west by Burgundy, a region full of high mountains, with hideous rocks rising up 
and crowning them, in a manner resembling castles, with deep valleys between 
them, perfectly black with the quantity of pine wood, and inhabited only by wild 
beasts, many holy men of God bent their steps, and there built houses of religion. 
Thus St. Gundelbert penetrated into it in the reiirn of king Childeric, fixing his 
abode in the spot which is now Sens, where he built a monastery under the rule 
of St. Benedict, and became its abbot. 

St. Dedatus, leaving his brethren, was another who pierced through this tract 
of desolation : he passed, we read, through difficult mountains and valleys, till, 
at length, he came to a spacious vale covered with thick wood, and watered by 
streams, where he built an oratory under the invocation of St. Martin, ami on 

* Acta Sanct. Ora.S. Ben. torn. 264. f De Vita B Qalli Auct. Wal.-ifried Strabo, c. x. 

1 Acta S. Ord. Benfed. Saecul. iv. p. 1. 

Chronic. Senoniensis, Lib. i. 2. ap. Ducher, bpicileg. iii 



86 M() K BS C ATHOLICI; OR, 

the declivity of the liill u chinch nnd-r ili:it of St. Manric. , :nul near it another 
in honor of tut- ni"tlu&gt;r of Chri-t, round wnicn, v.a&gt; a cloi&gt;ter for monks. 

It wa-, however, when (Jontran \\a- k;n_; if Burgundy, and Childeberl of 
Austrasia, ihat tiiis des-rr received it- in - renowned pilgrim an i apostl - in 
rolnmban, who an iv* d tliere wlu-n In- wa- :)&lt;&gt; \&gt; . P&gt; TII in Irclund, 

about the year ;"&gt;t;i), \\\ his youth he applied to learning, and ma 
but fearing the temptations that Mirroiinded him. he left lii- bii th- place, not with 
standing the opposition of his moth ww inl another province of Ireland, 

putting himself unfertile conduct of t ne holy and learn-d Siienns. In tliis.-di I 
hehecanie pn.tound in tlie holy Seript ir--, and OompOM i &gt;-vr:il tr 
which, wa- a ( oinnvnt irv n th- P-alnn. Tiio lov- of (!&lt;&gt;d daily incp a-iiii: in 
him, he forsook the world, an 1 h-vaiii - a monk in l &gt; n- . ;!terli\ 

several vears, he he^an to d -i- , . \ r.diam. to travel int" a ~ti 

Acquainting the abbot withhi&lt; int-nt on. wh -, with much iclii -tancc i^i-ante i liim 
tw- lvu ni ink-, he pa-srd "V"i - wi ii th"in int I lnjiaml, and thence into France. 
To the d--s Tt of the \ - - :. te SO enam. ! i of it&gt; i .ca.-e t hat 

he re- -Ivi-d :o remain in it. Finding an old ruim-d ca- ; .d A najraiV, he 

made choice of it for his mona-tery, w nei e, atV-r living I M .-mil" tim-\ while -up- 
ported ly the charity of the natives, li ed to fimnd aii"l her al&gt;l&gt;ey in the 

sain-- d- - rt. In the yew 590, he d red ;n old nastle ei^ii miles di-t : t i otn 
the fir-t, which had once been stron.dy f. ititi Th : T.nxeuil, in 

which he placed imnnity ; and, finally, his third cloister of Fontaine- was 

similarly placd in anoldci-;!e on the borders of Burgundy and Lorraine.* 
Thfo transformation of C : rpiri&gt; iiy, into the tsylnms of peace, 

must be remarke.l, a- an intere-tiiiLT ciiv iin-tance in the historv of i in-titn- 

tions. It is easy to mnliiply i .&gt;s. In 922 8t &lt;Jnil&gt;ert or Wilwrt, the son 

of Litholde,diangedhisca4leof Gemblnnr* into th" mona-terv which l&gt;e am 

celebrated. It:in- n. whidi Werner, ai.h &gt;t ofSt GWl, Mqoired for li is abbey, 
had been an old ca-tle, which Ail&gt;ert Bert hold and ririch had chin_ r d into an 
Allgtistinian conv(&gt;nt. 

In 1137, William d- (ilana, of th- illn-trions family of the conivts of Vi.-nne, 
desiring to found the (M-t-rcian mona-trv of Ilauterive, actnallv demoli-h d his 



magnificent castle, which was about oOO paces di-tant from tlie-p-t which he 
had selected forth- fonnda-i-n.t In Spain, innnv of tiie an -i-nt ra-tli-s and tow 
ers which had b-en Imilt again-t th- incur-ions of the ftfoOTB, Wt& O : 1, as 
that of Uel-s, n ar Tarancoii, into th(&gt; peaceful a-vlum- of a religion- conimnnity. 
When Adelaide, mother of Looia VTI., instituted the abb 8t Jolin-an-T. 

in the old Merovingian palace of CuiM-. where tli- re! - Iviphi .)-ine drew 

crowds of pilgrims.} or even when Chai le.- the 1 ,, ,1. ; :i s77. f.-nnde.! the al)bey 

* Jonas in Vit. ^. Colutnt). an. \i:iiul. 

f FundatioMoiiu.st.de Altu Ripa, up. M:irt-n... V.-t. Script, t. vi. * IliM. KMS.fl. 1 \ 



AGES OF FAIT 11. 87 

of St. Corneille, in his own palace, at Compiegne, the metamorphosis perhaps 
was no less significative of a inumpii ol peace, and of its holy influence. It was, 
indeed, a favorite act of devotion in the middle ages to consign to God \\hatever 
had been used by wicked men in their machination* against peace. 

" A certain devout soldier, Oylardiis de Wimilio," as we read, in the chronicle 
of St. Bertin, " knowing that there was a wood between Gisnes and Wissant. in 
habited by robbers and murderers, and therefore called Zoudf nvelt, or the field of 
sinner.-, purchased the property through a desire to purge it from such an evil, and 
having driven out the robbers and murderers, lie built a chapel and convent ihere, 
and placed lay brothers in it to serve the poor, and show hospitality to travellers : he 
became so venerated in that wood, that he used to be called St. Oylard. The 
wood itself changed its name, and became Zantenvelt, or the field of saints." 
When blood had stained the soil, whether shed in ranged battles, or in single 
combat, houses of peace and of atonement rose. 

In the same chronicle, we read, that the monastery of Bellolocus, in Flanders, 
was founded by Count Enstache, and endowed for the soul of a cer.ain knight 
whom he had slain in a tonrnament.f The abbey of Slotp, in Pomerania, was 
founded in 1140, by Rutisborus, prince of the Pomerarians and Vandals, on ac 
count of the murder of his brother, Duke Wartislaus, who, in 1136, was killed by 
robbers on that spot.}; After the great victory, in 1348, the Teutonic knights 
founded the monastery of Konigs berg ; and after the battle near the Rudau, in 
1370, the grand master, "NVinrich von Kniprode, founded the beautiful Augustin- 
ian convent of Heiligenbeil. 

In many of the ancient basilicas of Rome, we find tablets suspended, contain 
ing a short history of the circumstances attend ing their foundation ; and if a sim 
ilar custom does not exist in monasteries, the cause must be very different from a 
want of materials to render such accounts interesting. The houses of the monks, 
like those of some noble families in the world, had their traditional, and often 
historical, claim to an origin truly heroic, sometimes terrible and ineffably sad, 
and not unworthy of being sung by poets. A holy conversation, or the praise 
of some friend of God, elicited without premeditation from the lips of youth, were 
sometimes, it is true, the sole facts which gave rise to such foundations, orderected 
their destination. Leviiius, on his return from Jerusalem, after spending some 
time in the monastery of La Cava, came to Mount Albancta, intending to build a 
monastery there. A certain scholar boy coming to him, the holy man a^ked him 
whether he could sing well, and the lad answering that he could, he ordered him 

O / O 

to sing whatever first came into his mind, being secret Iv resolved that he would 
place the church under the invocation of whatever saint the boy should select for 
the subject of his song. Scholars then must have been generally more pious in their 



* Chron. S. Bertini, c. xlii. p. i. up. Martene, Tbes. Anecdot. iii. f &lt;* xiil P - 

$ Caspar Jongelinus Notit. Abb. Orel. Cist. iii. 70. $ Voigbt, Geschichte Freusst-ns v. 



88 MUKK&gt; (ATHOLIrl; Oli, 

selections : at all events, tuis boy &gt;ung the re-pon-i-, Y&lt; ri 1 i.-i mea," and 
real, \vi;h The n&gt; ly man a&gt;-&lt;-oiM n_:y pia-d tin- mona-terv un 

der the invocation ot 1)1 &gt;-.-.! Mary.* - . this i- a .-ini; i mo-t imp: . t ; l- 

iu_j commencement, and that &lt;&gt;i in;my &gt;ther- wa- n&lt; only -om. 

of devout exhortation, \\li.-n &gt; mr holy pilgrim nprai-rd his manned voice t" p nr 
on evil men the love that lay ho-, within hi- -pirit- u.-h 

Bonn Is, th \vad&gt; of immense mona-u i i- - n-ed t" ar.M- in solran | l;. 
in the tables of old of the \\alls ot Tli niov.-d l&gt;y thenii. Ainphion s 

lyre. Gratitiule ! ii-n Vauin rtoh noMem&n in the daj 

Onen, having liillen sick at a |&gt;!a&lt;-e&lt;all&lt; ,in|&gt;. in Normandy, ami 

built there afterwards a ma^niiieent :. it with means. 

Bat their origin was not always thus. Daru tia^dit- if immortal heroismi 

Bftrveilotlfl e. iivt r-ion- of i -n--h were &lt;&gt;M- n th eireiunstaii -e- in the 

first p; i their history, reqamng no poetic itkill to into). , resem 

bling the grandest ji -Id nun P nitfnl in inttTeM forth-iiii 

nation, \vitli tn- additional eharm of l&gt;ein^ unquestionably tm- . In the fr. st j&gt;! 
many abbeys, like that of Saints Vinoent and i Tre-1 . at the 

Salvian waters, near U in , wliieii \\a- foiin ic&lt;l in tll ti l&gt;v Honorius I., inenased 
by PopoLi-i III. and Char. , . and ivl.n.it in iL l l ,v II. norms III..f 

were standing m nnm&lt;-nt- from t-arly time- ,.f nurtyrdom, irarlvin^ the pn 
ground on \vhi-h the S theehnrcll had fai ill s aas the ea^: near 

Palermo, wher- the iii..na-t-ry ofSt, A : it ,a ! I .-ira MU fo i^dtd .-n the &gt;p..t 
wher. -to -d the -t me, from \vnieli S-. A.atha !n.-i:ntei the h n~e \\!K-M --i;.u r to 
suffer for Cnrisi at Catana. 

Tne funou - . Lamen.-e, without i he wall- of Li. -e. waf built mi 

the spot where the munl.-r- - . Lambert, after p -rpe-: atin-j th-ir crime, divi 

ded the spoil, and slew ca.-ii ..t ier, wliile so ei.-a-j: l. Benling heir -onls mutu 
ally to Sttau. " For," siya an liistorian, "as, aoootdini lawa of war, the 
vic:or may take what lie like, from tii- eon.jnored, &gt; . in ,,,,!,., that uhere 
siu hid almnnd-d. &lt;;raee might the m,,ro abound, aci-iiM-h ofQ 1 il built, and 
the HU-IK of victory set up. 

The domestic legends of tin- BKmaBterieB generally indioata three -from 

whidi tli-y to-.k their l.e^inning r ;. f. :i]l .\ s ,nei ity of pnrpo-e ; the 

mpari-.n b in.r the mo-t pro I B, but tlie former connected 

with the mod rtriking narratives. Surh are theaneodntes relative to the ori-rin 

Ofmaiiyofthoae M^-ovin^,,, :in ,l r ;ir lo V i,M.;ian nl, ,-h. like that of St. 

rmains ,],-s Pres, at Paris are ,.f&gt;,. n .-l-arly monamenta :.f repentance, and of 

the power of eonscieuce, though the so-ret motive, a far a&lt; .-xpr,-&gt;ion, miirht 

* Chronic. S. Mnnast. C;.sinrnMs Lib. ii. r. HO. f Notit. Abhat. Ord. Cister. vii. 

t Sirilia Sacra, i. :&gt;1 1 . 

S Hist. Mnnast. S- Laurent. Leodiens. ap. Marten*-. V ,t. iv lo: ,9 



AGESOFFAITH. 89 

main buried with their founders. I" the year 1000, when the abbey of St.Ger- 
maius ues 1 re- was rebuilt, the -r-ut tower, w r hich now ex is.. s, and the portal, were 
left as before. At this porta were statues --f eight kings, four on the right Hand 
and four on the left. One of ihe-e held in his hand t\vo scroll-, and there wa- 
written Clodoiner name so tragic ! the other, the last on the right, had no circlet 
rou nc . his head as the Others, denoting the belief of the person enjoying eternal 
beatitude and, instead of scroll-, In- held a writing open, on which was written 
the first and last letters of the name of Clotaire : these were the murderer and 
his /ietim. Let us, however, hear the express testimony of some monastic chron 
icles relating to the event- which gave rise to their respective houses. 

The monastery of Las Santas Crewses, in Catalonia, was founded by Peter, 
King of Ariagon, in 1152, in a spirit of penitence for his crime in having put to 
death the archbishop of Tarragona, for desiring the cross to be borne before him 
as primate. " It was thought," adds the historian, " that crosses of fire were seen 
at night over the place, which gave rise to the name."* 

Concerning the convent of Frauenalb, in the Black forest, there is the follow 
ing popular tradition : Count Erchinger inhabited the castle of Magenheim. 
He was at table with Frederic, duke of Suabia, an oppressor of his vassals, 
when it was announced that a stag had been seen in the forest of Stremberg. 
Albert de Simmern, his nephew, rose, mounted on horseback, ami set off in pur 
suit. Suddenly he met a man of a horrible aspect, who bade him fear not but 
follow him. Albert obeyed; passing a meadow, he saw an immense castle 
before him, where he was received by a crowd of servants. Introduced into the 
hall, he found the castellan in the midst of his courtiers, who welcomed him, and 
offered him the cup. Not a word was spoken : at a sign by his guide the youth 
left the hull, and mounted again. On their way the awful stranger thus addressed 
him : " The seigupur at table is your uncle Frederic, who has fought so 
bravely in the Holy Land : but he oppressed his vassals. We, the counsellor? 
and servants of his despotism, suffer now thejust penalty of our criminal com 
pliance with his tyranny, until it shall please God to pardon us. Albert, you will 
arrive at power. DO not imitate your uncle. Look now, for the finger of God 
is about to apptar." Albert turned his head back, and saw the castle which he 
had just left in flames. In terror he returned to Magenheim, but Frederic could 
hardly recognize him, his beard and hair having become white. He related his 
adventure, and asked the permission of E whinger to build a church in the place 
where the phantom had appeared ; and such was the origin of the abbey of Frau- 
enalb. 

The great m.i astery of Fiirstenfeld, in Bavaria, owed its existence to a horri 
ble event, which is thus related : For the -ak&lt;&gt; of mutual prtoection against, 
robber-castles and lawless oppressors, many slates of the middle Rhine had 

* Hist. Motiast. S. Laurent. Leodieus. ap. Marteue, Vet. Script. Lib. vi. 13. 



90 M O R E S C A T II O L I C I ; O R, 

entered into a league with prince- and count-, amon- whom was the archduke -ind 
count palatine. Loni- ! Havana, eldest son of ( &gt;tlio. T" discharge the personal 
service of the league, he left .Munich, and went to his pal/ &gt;n the Rhine, 

leaving U liind him ids yonno; \ V! |i M I ;i. daughter o- Henry the ma-nanimous, 
duke of J&gt;rahaut, whom he had lately married. For .- ciinty he placed her in 
the rn-e-- of Mangoldstein. nea; I )..naiiworth. Kli/abeth, his &gt;i-ter, the (jueen of 
Jerusalem, and widow of the emperor ( mir.d, remained with her t . partak 
her .-o.uuue. With the archduke Loir- went Henry von 1 1 i: sdiau, a wild and ,-av- 
nge noble, but distinguished among all Other knights by hi&gt; -tivn 
and add re . Loiii- oVi ended on liira - really, and even Maria heiself pri/ed him. 
Once, as he was playing at ehe vritti h r, he pia\ed her toai.o\v him toaddr- her 
with" Thou," a.s other niirh siii adding, that he would l&gt;c her knight ; but 

thecounte-- turned away from him iu-tantly. This ciicmn-iance is related in an 
old manuscript of tie -of the h &gt;ive o at Dunauw5rth, composed by Puck, 

the pi ior ofthat h"ii-e. Already h .d a \ e.irclap-e i, and the w inter was i etnrn ; n_ r . 
The noble lady mourned for her hu-band, and entreat* d him in the t-nderest style 
to return. Sh-- als wrote to th-- kni-:ht Henry toU-j- that in- would per-uade her 
lord to tiia efl .et, and added, tiiat -he would th-n^rant him wliat he had form 
erly sought H tne areiidukc w:i 1 with red, that to the knight 
with black wax. On ^ivin^ them to the in -he char_fd him not to for 
get tlie siuMiitication, as h- e..nid n t r a i th-- ad-ire.-s ; but through careles-nesa 
he trave the knight - letter to the count, who. on reidin^ it, mis -on.- trued the 
words, and fell into a h .rrii.le panizysni i&gt;f mgft and jealoii- ( )n the sj&gt;ot he 
fellexl tne me- to til-- u r :"und, and, nionntinir the tie te-t Imr- -, ha-tenedto 
Donauwortli. As he entered th-. lie -truck down the porter w no came out 
to him. and on the st pa - &lt; Heliku v,.u lircnnb-iy. a noi.k- lady of the 00 Mit- 

ess, who had com him. Pour other nmulens be flung from the battle 

ments of the ca-tle, and th-n seated him-eli in the mmandinir a bo\- 

to summon the eon nt In vain did sue : . and ca.l h- a\ en 

and earth to witne-s it. \,,t . vn th i Kii/dx-th, who &gt;t"i.i by, could ap 

pease that furious husband, an i h" can&lt;ed his wif- to be beheaded. Thi- wa- in 
1256. Wh-ii iva&lt;on and atleetioii returnel, his sorrow and LIU f- were l)ound- 
less: h- proj&gt;o-ed pilgrimages and penances and it is a popular tradition .-till, 
that in one ni^ht his hair turned ^ey. T,, \l,m&lt;- he went, and s .n-ht jxinauce 
from the sovereitrn pontiff , Alexander IV. At fir-t it wa- appointed that he 
should -et out for th- Holy Land with Inoi) kni-h 1 -, but there many ob 

stacle-, and his j.re-en&lt;-e wa- .-o necessary in liavaria, and on the \l\\ u- , that it 
was finally determined, besides other acts proclaiming n- -tiitence, he should build 
ft monastery, and introduce the Carthusians into Uav.iriu : but tiiis plan was 
changed for that of a Cistercian abbey, for the site of which much difficulty was 
encountered; so that it was not till after the third attempt in l 2t&gt; 2 that the monks 
succeeded in establishing themselves; and tiie place obtained wa- in the garden 



AGES OF FAITH. 91 

of A noble knight, Eberhard, who from his castle on a hill above it used to hear 
at night strange sounds of workmen building, and of a heavenly mu-ic, which 
he took i or a sign that he ought to comply, which he did accordingly, and the 
holy men were then established and endowed, and the place was called Fiirsten- 
feld. Here was read the inscription, 

" Conjugis inuocuse fusi monuments cruoris 
Pro culpa pretium claustra sacrata vides. * 

And again, 

"Bojorum clarus jacit haec fundamma princeps 
In pretium culpas coujugis innocuae." 

Archduke Lewis, the founder, died in 1294 at Heidelberg, in the very room 
in winch he was born. He liad ordered his body to be buried at Fiirstenfeld, which 
convent, was still further enriched by his son and succe-sor, Archduke Rudoli. 
Here lay buried also Anne, his second wife, daughter of Conrad, duke of Poland, 
and Lewis, son of the founder, who was slain in 1284 in a tournament at Norim- 
berg.* 

In the time of the blessed Hydulph, archbishop of Treves, many people were 
still abandoned to idolatry. The holy man, and his brother Erard, had for some 
tune lived in a monastery of the solitude of the Vosges, when it happened that a 
blind daughter, who had been just born to a noble, was carried to the monastery ; 
foi her father, because she hail been born blind, had given orders that she should 
be put to death ; but the mother, having heard of his intention, sent her away by 
a certain old women who was familiar with her, preiering rather to have her ban 
ished than put to death. The two holy brethren, finding out that she was the 
offspring of snch parents, and not yet regenerated by baptism, baptizing her, called 
her Od ilia. Tue chronicle records, " that she was raised from the sacred font illu- 
piined both as to her mind and body. However, in process of time, when she came to 
years of discretion, her brother, who remained with his father, hearing that his sister 
who iiad been born blind was restored to sight, rejoiced greatly, and sent messen 
gers with oilers that Odilia should be brought to him ; which, when his father 
discovered, he ordered his son into his presence, and asked him how he had dared 
to bring back a girl who had been born blind? The son answering, that he had 
done it through hope of his father s benignity, the father, in a transport of rage, 
sm-&gt;te him witli the staff which he carried, and killed him. When he found him 
self has left without an heir, he conceived a sudden affection for his daughter 
Odilia. So that in course of time, in the very castle of her father, which is called 
Hoemborch, she built a cloister of St. Benedict, and enriched it with tier own 
patrimony."* 

Fontevrauld owed its origin to a conscience suddenly illumined by divine grace. 

* Jaeck Gallerie der KlOster Deutschlanda. Jongelinus, Notit. Abbat. Ord. Cister per Uni- 
vers. Orbem, liv. iu. 17. 
f Chronic. Senoniens. c. 14, ap. Dacher Spiclleg. iiL 



MMRKS CAT IK) LIC I ; OK. 

1- A- ran Id wa- a u nt . inan, who, in his youth, was abandoned to a t t. life, 

which he led iinl;l lie had expen ml ali hi- rich ]&gt; :md \M: 1 t 

indigence. In this -tate he bee m &lt; ap a n &gt;: a _ ing or robb&gt; aunied t lie 

forests . f this country, usually dwelling ne.r a fountain, when- he con- i a 

kind of tower, from which he u-edto-dk f&gt;i i h. an 1 -conr the hi_di way&gt; ; and no 
officers of justice COllld extirpate tins ue-t of mischief. What men could n.. 
wa-, howe ompli-hed hv God in a more gentle, nuinner than ly th" sword. 

A- :dl the world talked oi tnis d&gt; sperat hand of robber-, (i &gt;d in-pired a famoti&gt; 
doctor of Paris, a saint, and a great pr- acher, Kobert de 1 AUDI ii-sei ? with a strong 
de-ire to undertake their conversion, lie commended liimnelf to heaven, ami 
out for the fore-t, where lie \\ . taken by the robbers, and led li r 1 

rauld, who desired him to ijive ii|i hi- money. u Willinirly," said h.- : * hut in 
r&lt; turn yon must uive nie your .-mils i\&gt;r (* d :" and therewith h- he^an to -j&gt; 
to tlieni of the eternal judgement of ( MK!, and the -hame and inlainy of iheir o\vn 
lives: and he succeeded in awakening tiieij- co Then he &lt;1 that 

wilderness into a retreat like a n--\v paradis*-. and l)iiilt a mona-terv, c:dling it 
Fontevrauld, i roin the fountain and the name of tin- couveitite ; and R&lt;&gt;1 rt ! - 
inained with tie in, and all the country I : thither to hchold (hi- wonderful 

change wrought hy the hand i &lt; Jod. A very ancient manuscript of the hoii-e 
Bttll existing eOOtaintd a prediction, however, that in thecoui u&gt; -auct- 

uary would a;_ r ain fall into the hands of tii.- wicked, and hecoine peopled with its 
old inhabitants.* 

The origin oftheahl&gt;cy ..fSt. Tmn, or \ . a the di(K-cse of Lie-e, involves 

a narrative \\hich I long a^o promi- ive mv ieader.| 

"Count Kill) rt. it- founder, \\a -fth" ni..s; pouerful no hles and valia 

warriors in the time of th- lir.-t Otho. It h.ippened once that tiii- mar; id count 
was ualkin^ in the place \\ h i real fair is held oy the cro th.it &gt;tood near 

his castle, where merchants and people from a! KIVC ic.-ort lo s.-d and &lt; 

change their various &lt;;oods. As lie walke&lt;I through th" crowd h- s&lt;w a hoi&gt;. 
i:r. at power and adm Table beauty, \\hich M-cmed to liim like a tower of .-t ivn-th. 
if by any manner of bargain he could procure it for himself. Now the owner 
of the horse was a certain clerk, horn of noble |; . ai,d a canon of the &lt; hurch 

of St. Mary the ^r-atcr, at llheims. So when the count and the clerk, with mu 
tual affability, had held a louu r conversation re.-peciin_ the hor-e, they call) 
an au;r -em-iit that the former was to have it for a (rtain price ; but U h- had 
not at the time Sufficient money, he went immediaMv to Heresinda, his ino-t noble 

wife, seeking counsel from her as to what h jht t do ; for on no account 

whatever would he allow the hor-e to be removed from him, saying, that by his 
as-i-tance !: would be able to avert all the injuries of his enemi- s and &gt;. ap&lt; 
from all wreck of fortune. So being in a -feat hnrrv to have done \\ith the &lt; lerk, 

* Which h;is been litcnilly fulfilled, as it is now a prison. f In ix&gt;.&gt;u ii. p. 277. 



AGES OF FAIT II. 03 

without the counsel of his noble wife, who feared the consequences which endued, 
he gave the clerk a wonderful treasure, which he kept always in a strong place, 
saying, that on a certain day he would he able to rcdci-m it, and pay the whoie 
sum. This desirable treasure was composed in likeness of a beautiful collar or 
brooch, which had l&gt;een made by St, Eligius, the venerable bishop, so admirable 
for his holiness, and virtue, and skill in every curious art, and it was for the use 
of Lothaire, king of the French. The stone was a beryl, and it contained an ex 
quisite carving of Susanna, accused by the old judges, 

" Egregiae geutis Rex Anglicus hunc dedit illi, 
Quern fore speravit gratum dans plurima gratis 
Inter quae dantis prosit sibi portio tails." 

To be brief. The appointed day arrived in which the count was to redeem his 
pledge, but the other declared himself ignorant of any such agreement, and that 
he had never so understood the count. Grievously vexed, and full of anger and 
sorrow, the count returned home, and collected a multitude of his neighbors, and 
exposed the execrable machination of the seller, and asked their advice as to bow he 
should proceed to avert this misfortune, which would be an irreparable loss to 
him. By general consent there was made an assembly of all his brothers, and 
friends, and knights, and a crowd of armed people, and they moved hastily to 
the city of Rheims, and besieged it, and took it; and having set spies, they dis 
covered the said clerk flying to the greater church, which they surrounded, and 
not finding him within, they set fire to the whole place, upon which, the criminal 
issued forth, and then he was seized, and the treasure was found in his breast, and 
so it was restored to the count. News of this event reaching the king s ears, the 
court immediately was highly indignant, and a large army, commanded by the 
king in person, marched to revenge this execrable outrage ; but after a desperate 
battle, the king s force was defeated, and the king Charles himself taken prisoner 
by Couut Eilbert, and loaded with chains for many days, till at length, mutual 
pledges of peace being given, the king was delivered, and with great honors, as 
became the royal dignity, escorted to his home, and that desirable treasure re 
mained for ever after inviolably with Count Eilbert. However, divine love 
afterwards distinguished this count; so that partly through compunction for this 
sacrilege, and because he hud formerly built seven castles, in order that he might 
remedy these structures of malediction by the antidote of blessing, he resolved to 
found seven churches, and this was the origin of the monastery of Vasor, in the 
year 944. It was built in the midst of a forest, which was uninhabited, except 
ing that the house of the count was concealed in it. To prepare for building this 
cliurch, he had the wood cut down which surrounded his house, and the place 
rendered agreeable and wholesome. Then close to his house he constructed the 
ohurch, with useful habitations for the monks ; and after three years the monas- 
to.Tv was finished, the church was dedicated to St. Patrick, and the count gave to 



94 MORES CATHOLIC I; OK, 

iv his feudal inheritance. Then that famon- ire, which \\a- the cause ( .f all 

tlie sedition and controversy, \\a&gt; _iven by liini to tne Monks, \\ln.m If &lt; h.i 
to keep it .-airly lor ever. And at the end of twenty-three yens. ; hop 

Foramian, from the |&gt;an&lt; of Ireland, by angelic &lt; nler, l-av;n_ : I Dative soil, 
came with twelve companions to this \ and the count met him, :.nd con 

ducted him to (he mona-tery with ^;&gt;;it honor; and the count pnmnd iliat the 
man of God should lx- mad" abbot ; and ihe king having invi - .1 hi- .-ano- 

tity. commended nim- It to his praver-. a 1 _: ive lii- abbey an e.vmption from 
royal derive- : and th&gt;- man &lt; rd the place Valiem-decoraiD. 

which berani" Yalciodoriim, and th -n \" 

I have -aid that other m .-wed their oiigin to grief, and of h Se we 

might al-o give many in-tancts. At Ta-erns- , in Havana, th-- 1. : ; a obey 
\\ as t ound -d l&gt;v t\vo brothers, princely warriors, Adalbeit and Ottokar, in the 
ivi^ii ol I epin. Afflicted with a dome-tic calamitv, they lenoimcel tlie woi ld, 
and founded this house, which, in the . l.-vrnth &lt;entniy. contaiiuHl two Inindred 
monks, who live&lt;l in great unity and pea. -ilo, dnke of liavai ia, follli 

the ablvy of l\ ; cmsmnnster, in the year 7^7. n a f-it-t wh re lii&gt; only son had 
been slain by a wild boar, which lie was hnntin lii ii- r. havinir h st his 

heir, made ( nri-t his heir, and provided in it tor monk.- of the order of St. I .tne- 

dietj 

In 1134 ; th re was, in that p-irt of \\&lt; -t]&gt;halia which adj"in- th" archbishop: 
of Cologne, a castle cal led Wolmnndstein, innabiied by nb emen who pos-es-ed 
all the .-in rounding country, aini were calh-d tht 1 id- ..f \Volmun-ist in. One 
of the^e, Gerwick by name, a bold and generous youth, -&lt; t out to vi-it the halls 
of the most celebrated princes, in order to -eek friendship &gt;f the most excel 
lent men, and to see both the cities and manners of diilen nt p o[&gt;le. AI riving in 
Bavaria, he met there with a youth bold and generon- like himself, tin- young 
Theobald, marquis of Volienburg, on the Danul&gt;e, which i- a ca-tl? half-way l&gt;e- 
tween Ingolstadt and Ratislion with whom he soon formal a close friendship. 
When this marquis saw that the manners and knightly spirit of the st rang r agreed 
with his own, though married and having children, vet, tur "ii^h d si re of seeing 
strange countries, he exchanged right hands with Gerwick. and the two youths 
swore an indissoluble friend-hip. Soon after, they set out together, with one heart, 
to visit the courts of all princes, to assist at the tournaments which wen- held, 
and to make trial of their fortitude and valor. It happened at one jf these solem 
nities, that the two friends coming into collision, and rn-hing again&gt;t each other 
with all their strength, Gerwick happened to strike Theobald such a terrible blow, 
that, breaking his helmet, he beheld the red drop- flowing from the almost deadly 
wound which he had inflicted on his friend. Gerwick, irrievouslv moved at this 

* Chronic. Abbat. S. Trudonis, liv. 1, ap. Dacher. Spicil.-ir. vii. 366. 

f Jaeck Gallerieder Klostcr Deutchlands, 1. 

| Snat. Dialog. Historic. Martini Abbatis Scotorum Vienna; ap. IVz. Script. Rer. AusL 



AGES OF F A I T H. 

event, resolved in future to renounce chivalry, and to go into voluntary exile, 
abandoning for ever ail the pomps and pleasures of the \v-i-l&lt;l. Tlie wounded mar 
quis, after a short space, began to think of his wife and children, and lo hear the 
voice of God as if present, so true is the word of Isaiah, that " vexation gives 
intelligence." 

So the two friends separated. Gerwiek, having disposed the affairs of his house, 
renounced the world, and became a monk at Sigeberg, not far from Cologne ; and 
the marquis, being moved by his calamity, since he could not renounce the world 
as his friend had done, yei, in order to promote the work of God, deemed it his 
Juty to found an abbey, which he accordingly did, on the river Regen, some miles 
from Ratisbon, which is called by the people the abbey of Reichenbach, conspicu 
ous at present for the beauty of its buildings and the fervor of its religion. 
After some years, Gerwick, on account of his singular urbanity and gentleness, 
having the charge of receiving strangers in his abbey of Sigeberg, it happened 
that the Lord Chuuo, the elect bishop of Ratisbon, returning from the university 
of Paris, was received there to hospitality, and was so much struck with his 
modesty and virtue, that he persuaded the abbot to permit him to accompany him 
to Ratisbon : thus was he compelled by obedience to go \vith the bishop. After 
his arrival, having obtained the bishop s permission, he began to look about for 
a proper place to construct a monastery ; and, penetrating into a thick wood, alone 
pervious to hunters, at a spot which the people now call Kolergrun, having cut 
down some trees, he and his companions began to build a small house, when, lo ! 
the Marquis Theobald came out from his castle of Egra to hunt, and seeing his 
trees cut, and a house erected, in that retreat of wild beasts, he became furious, 
and a&gt;ked who had dared to do this. The brethren, in trembling, began to re 
late their intention; and Gerwick presented himself, and gave the story of his 
life. So when the prince heard him, discovering that this stranger was the noble 
youth of Wolmuudstein once so close to him in friendship, he sprang from his 
horse in a transport of joy, and embraced him, showing him the scar of the 
wound he had given him, and bidding him be of good courage, for that lie would 
assist him in his design. So he gave him as much of the wood as was necessary ; 
and then stones were brought ; and, finding a little fishy brook, the Vander- 
brnn, they built the monastery on its banks ; and there the&gt;e lovers of the desert 
and solitude sat down, and thence the place was called Waldsassen, or the place 
of sitting in the woods. St. Bernard supplied them with monks from Cisteaux. 
At this time, Adelheydin, daughter of Theobald by his first wife, the lady Adel- 
heyde, duchess of Poland, was married to the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, in 
the town of Egra, in pre-ence of many ecele.-iastic-d and secular princes of Ger 
many ; and the marriage Ix-itu celebrated, the emperor came with all his train to 
a&gt;si-t at the consecration of the church of th- n*w abbey, by Chnno, bishop of 
Ratisbon.* 

* Notitiae Abbnt. Or.l. Cisterciens per. univ. Oibeui, Lib. iii. 5. 



&lt;jC, MORES CATHOLIC I- OH 

Some monasteries owed their origin to a sudden iiispittrtioft ariainc from . 
that &gt;eemed umuitou- and trivial : as \\ncn a &gt; ng Iwii:^ pur-mil \&gt;y the k i, 
hounds through a d*s-rt in l ro\ en.-- , .,nd luvipg. taken id gt in the cave of 
~- . 1 i.iin.-. a holy heimit, tin- king was moved to con-tenet a monastery o\ ; 
tli,. ,-a\ Ii was while taking a i epa-t nder tin- l&gt;ougn&gt;, after hunting in the 

forests on the Mount Ca&gt;tellio, that Count \\oitandus \\a&gt; moved to -elect a spot 
for the site of a foundation, which he h .d \ ku mak \\hen on a pilgrin . 

-oine time before to M-nnt G o-ga .u-. in Apulia. The origin ..f the ai.lx v ,f 
Bonp-rt, near the Polll do T A rehe, tlnee le;i _Mle~ fn-ni Kolleii, in lhedio&lt; .s- of 
Kvreiix, \\asa liuntiug adventure. Kien:ml I., kin;- .,f Ki.^land, while him in^ 
a stag, \va- earrietl iiy hi- im|H tmnis horse s~&gt; ttir in(-) the S-in-. ihat he w:i&gt; in 
danger of perishing; and ; that monu iit, \\hile in l ie midst of the water, he 
made a vow to God to huildun -d&gt;hey on \vhat--ver -pot hi- hor-e would first make 
land. This vow he tnlfilled in 1190, and ! endowed ill- abl&gt;ey with noble fiefs 
and baronies.* 

]&gt;ut, having instances of this kind, let u- lake ;i te\\ example- of the last nd 
mo&gt;t ordinarv source from which monasteries a idch was -imply th-- |x : 

ful inspiration of a devout heart ; and we shall lind that, even when thev had no 
other origin but sanctity, or coiiver-ion t( it, there were often eircnm-tai 
which imparted a no 1- &gt;s "lively int- -re-t to ti e fi:.-t page- ot theii 1 hi-ioiy. 

St. Bernard, when in Brabant, for the -ake of preaching, had promi-ed to 
some monk- to .--tablish a convent in tint country. A -or-iin- ly. &lt;n hi- r. turn 
to ( laii vanx, he -elected twel\ moid&lt;&gt;. \\ ith an^iher for their alilxii, and five i. 

B, and, giving them Ids ble--inu. di-:ui--ed tie in. Afiei the (wtavi- &lt;.f I 
ter. tln-s,- men. ^oing out of Claiivaux. d.-cend-d tin- vail. Upon i a&gt;-hiii _: 

tlie country of Brabant, the h r-t ni^ht th- v W.T-- lodged in a piivate h-n-e. with 
an honest man who had no heir. After "upper, liavinj -ung complin-, tlienbb t 
and his monk* retired to le&lt;l in profound -il ne. ; and, a ft. r ,- "ine re-t, lismgup. 
they chanted vigil- in their au-tere PW : which these m. n \\ith whom they were 
Unlged hearing, they were filled with compunction for their -iu-, and gave them 
selves up into their hands, and that pl:ur is railed Seimjontrahmi to thi- da% . 
Then thev continued their journey, and, at lenth, rested at the fountain of God- 
diarch, and in these times all that region wa- uiieidtivate&lt;l, and covered \\ th 
fore&lt;t&lt;. there they built a monastery, in the second year ol the pontiiic.- te ot 
po|&gt;e Eugene III., and in the fourth of the reign of Godfrey III., duke ol Bra- 
bant.f 

The al&gt;bey of Maceirada, in the diocese of Coimbra, owed its origin to Albarac, 
the Sarassin. This Mahometan and warrior, from being; a most biiter enemy ot 
the Church, became a pious Christian, and an humble anachorite. In the year 

* Hist, of Evrpux. 161 

t HisiorU. Mon.ist. Villarivusis. Lib. i. ap. MiiMetie. Tln^uur Atieect ill 



AGES OF FAITH. 97 

11 . }9, lie withdrew into that vast solitude, where he constructed an oratory, and, 
finallr, assumed th Benedictine habit, with a fewbrethrea, vrboee eells l&gt;ecame 

the monastery on wnich Alphouso I., king of Portugal, conferred so many priv 
ileges.* 

In 1118, Gnndramnns, a buffoon, renouncing earthly vanities, chose to lead an 
eremitical life in the wod of Public-Mount ; and, because the place was danger 
ous, in order to exercise hospitality he laid the foundations of a church and con 
vent, and the bear which he used to lead about dew the stones for it. The 
people of Liege flocked to admire the bear drawing the stones ; and some of them 
divin-lv struck, left the world, and began to lead a regular life here. The 
place \vas consecrated under the invocation of St. Giles; and Peter of Liege was 
the fir-t prior, f 

In the forest of Aronaise, there was a spot called the Trunk of Berenger, de 
riving its name from the trunk of a tree, in which was supposed to be the dead 
bodv of Berenger, a famous robber, who had long infested the forest, which tree, 
the robbers who succeeded him, used to pretend to consult, in order to know what 
ransom they should require from their prisoners. The monastery which wa~ 
buift on this spot, in the eleventh century, owed its origin to the blessed Helde- 
marc, who, in 1099, after leading an eremetical life with two others in that forest, 
founded it there. | 

Let us hear now a very ancient document connected with the history of the 
Black Forest. There was a certain noble widow, named Helisena, of the Calba, 
who, finding that God hud refused to give her an heir, besought him fervently to 
make known to her in what manner she could employ her possessions so as to 
glorify his name most. One night she heard a voice in a dream, saying, Helisena, 
God hath heard your prayer : lo ! examine this plain, on which are three pine 
trees lying across one trunk ; on that spot build a church, in which the name of 
God may be honored, and his worship observed. The dream was so distinct, 
that it was as if she had seen the spot. In the morning, putting on a silk robe, as 
in festal attire, in honor of God, and taking with her a maiden and two servants, 
she walked forth as if to enjoy the sweet air ; and after ascending a certain moun 
tain, she found a plain on the top of it, to which three pines, lying across one 
ti"i..k. ;rive a certain sylvan beauty. She burst into tears at the sight, and, tak 
ing off part of her silken attire, placed it on the ground near the pines, to denote 
that he took p &gt;s-ession of the spot for the praise and honor of God ; and then, 
returning home to her family, she called together all her friends, with Evrard 
and Letipold. noble servant-, who then governed the town of Calba, and also the 
first magistrate, and made known to them her intention, and asked if they would 
give her possession of the ground forever . and they said that they would give 

* Notit. Abb. Ord. Cister. Lib. vi. 34. 

f Hisr. Monast. St. Laurent. Leodiens. ap. Martene. Vet, Script. Lib. iv. p. 1081. 

1 Lonsrueviil. Hist, de 1 Eglise Gal. viii 118. 



98 M &lt;&gt; li KS CA TIIOLICI; 

her not only the ground. hut al-o the inc.-. and all tin- field- adjoining. Then 
Ileii-cna laid aside lier .-ilken iob.-, h&lt; r ring, and her jewel-, and placed them 
in th" eha|M l of St. Nidi., las, pr.&gt;nii-im.: that th :n -h-- would \\.ar 

them no more ; and in three years the church wa* finished, -he bnilt aconv. nt 
adjoining it for lour persons, who -hotild -rve it, abstracted tmm the world. 

having sufficient maintenance, thai they might prai tinnally. T&gt; 

this ehnreh -ooii flowed a va-t multituie daiiy ; and ih--n, after tne &lt;-..nipletion of 
tliesc things, t ne noble widow died, and \\as bur ed at Tubi-jen, and 1. liriino, 
the notary of Evraid and Leupold, was pre-ent,at thi- act, in tin- jreai ; ! 

This eiiapel of St. Xa/arin-, on the top of the mountain. gave i i-e to iteinon- 
a-t-ry off Hirsehau, \vh--n Count KI iai rid, in :! n nth (ntnry, hroiigln to it 
body of St. Aurelins from Italy. Trithemiug iid not know thi- .~torv. \\hielM\a- 
fiist di-eovered in the aivmves ot Spires, in lo. M. The histoj-v of th- seo ii l 
foundation of this eelebcated ubbey inv(lvos some inten-stin-j dt-tail-, \\hirh 
thu- nlated : In 1(&gt;")0, I ope St. Le IX.. i the prayer of :h- Kmpei &lt;-r 1 It n \ . 
eoiiiinr into ( lerminy. t&gt; h .Id connciU, and t-tal i-ii | -urned aside from his 

road a liitle to vi-il hs nepll"\V . \dellx-: t. e &gt; lint ot Calha, linal de-eenia,nt of tllC 

Count Ki-lafrid, who ha i touuded tnc in-. . of Si. Anr. liu- ;it 1 1 iischan. and 

his devout wife Wdtrnde ; for tlie oount s mother, daughter of the fount &gt; i \ 

iieim, was the pope - si-ter. &lt; )n arrivinir at hi- &lt;MS 1- of ( .dl&gt;a, lot h- ,-hoiild se.-m 
to enter his nephew .- h"ii-e \\ i:h empty nands, iie delivered, ft -rdinj: to hi- 
torn, words of holy piea&lt;-hiiiL r . and lalxr-d t. h- minds of all i the love of 

(Jod. Ne.x- day he p.mirt .nd count w.-nt forth to take a walk of ieeie &gt;fu. 
and on arriving atthnaooiniitof a !; a in liill. tn.-v sat .io\\ n, \\ hen the pop -a &lt;1. 
This sp--t, dear n--phe\v, surr-n; dnl with mountain-, refresh e&lt;l with stream-. 
and yieldincr the -olitnd- of W.HM^, seems well adai.t-d tor a habitation of servant - 
of God who miirlit adore him day and night. Truly it is a pitv if there should 
not be a house of religion in titis \vh.-le -ol : ,tu T \\h--m A&lt;:.lK-it repli.d. 

" Holy Father, in sooth, the hard-by. in da\ - of vore, -ueh a h(, use, founded 

by one of rny ancestors, a- I hav- oft.-n heird my father -ay, of which th- monk- 
long persevered in irreat -anciity, but, at l-ngih. mi-eral&gt; y d.rlinini: from the 
fervor of holy religion, and lo-inu all spiritna! , and Ix-ing ofl&lt;-n admon 

ished l&gt;y my graild&ther, th-y d.-pi-ed lii- salnta-v c,,un-"is. and hardened their 
heans, till, at length. (UK! go ordaininsr, in order to tak- awav the -randal. their 
temporal irood- were wa- 11 . ith . or moved el-.-wher-. in &lt;\ 

of better living, and none wore left." At hearintr thi&lt; the pope :roan-l. ami 
said, Who nou . p (t , i( j.. O f t l m t mona-terv ?" The count an-weivd, 

that he eonld not tell, as h&lt;- never knew what they had been. Then the pop.- un 
derstood the mvsierv, but -:dd nothimj. A ff-rwai -ds he went alone se&lt;-retly to til- 
Spot designated, and found there an old clerk. IWtold, who told him that he had 

* Gerlierti Ili^tm-in Xijytjr S lvnp. torn, i 4 



AGES OF FAITH. 99 

known the holy monks, who all persevered to the end in a devout life, and then, 
under oath of secrecy, he revealed the fact, which was, that Count Adelbert s 
graiulatner had destroyed the monastery through avarice. The pope then set 
lahoivrs to work, who discovered the body of the .saint, and thn, on pain of re 
fusing absolution, he obliged the count to restore the property, and the monastery 
was rebuilt, and entered upon in 1066.* 

The origin of the monastery of Wmd nerg is thus related by its f Hinder, in a 
charter written in 1167. Be it known to all the faithful, present and future, 
that I, Wintth, built a church in the pla&lt;-e which has it- name from me; for I 
came from Saxony to the said place, being the first who inhabited it, and hence it 
is called from me Wind berg ; for I slept in the said place, and I saw in a dream 
aneairle flving, and with a flap of its wings the earth was shaken ; and it came to 
me and touched me with iis plumes, raying, Rise up, and go to the gnat river, 
and von will meet travellers, and a-k of them which of their number is called 
Winttii : he will be your co-operator. I did as it ordered, for I a-ked him first 
from what land and family he was sprung; and lie answered, that he came from 
Saxony with the army of King Lewis, adding, that the Huns had led him away : 
and further I asked, Who is your mother? and he replied, my mother was called 
Sophia. Then rushing on his neck, I embraced him, weeping for joy, for I knew 
from the relation of mv mother that he was mv brother ; for I was born after he 

. V S 

hn /J been carried off from us, and I had the same name, because of the love which 
my mother bore to mm. Then I opened my heart to him, and disclosed my in 
tention of building a monastery in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the 
blessed Virgin Mary, and of all the saints : and by our sinful hands the relics of 
saint- were carried to it and enclosed within an altar in presence of Azeline the 
priest, "f 

It would be long to tell of the religious houses which owed their origin merely 
to the piety of devout Christians, moved at the peaceful seclusion of particular 
spots, a- wnen Eli, cotintes- of Salisbury, widow of William Longsword, built a 
monastery for Carthusians in her park, at Henton, in Somersetshire,^ and Gauth- 
ier, count of Brienne, founded in 1143, the abbey of Basse-Fontaine, on the skirts 
of the wood of Brienne, near a beautiful fountain, which he had remarked while 
hunting. He, in con-equenre, invited the monks of Beaulieu thither, as being a 
part of the firest nearer to him than Beaulieu ; and besides constructing the mon 
astery, he made them add a chapel towards the north of these woods, where he 
might hear mass before going to hunt. In conclusion, we may remark that these 
pious men. in fixing upon the site for their religious foundations, were very often 
unconsciously determining that of towns and cities, which were the fiual result, 



* Trithem. in Chronic. Hirsaudensis. 

Rdatio de Oridn&lt;j Monast. Windbergensis, ap. Canisii Lectiones Antiq. torn. iii. 

t TaniHT. Xotitiu Monastics. 



KM) M O K KS CAT UOLlCi; &lt;) li. 

~o that they might kn-e used the words of Virgil with as much truth in i t&lt; 

the firs! a- to tin- -icond palt ot tile lille, 

Hie locus urbis erit, ivquii s ea certa laborum." 



Ix:ihan Mini. when increasing the number of cell- round Fulda, which he 
built &lt;&gt;ii diU ciem farm* :in&lt;l at various oratorie-, supplying them with monk-. 
from thcai&gt;bey. w.i- thus founding towns whieh derived their name- fnnu Ilia re 
ligion- t oundation. Abracell was called from Abraham, a monk of Fulda, A -/.el I 
tr&lt;.m the monk Ae/xo, Kde cell t roin Kd.-ling, who lived under the Abbot I 
in 1&lt;)45&gt;, K-T/e l from Kcr&lt;&gt; in the tenth eenturv, Aiche/ell iVom Hai ho &lt;&gt;( Fulda. 
Hi nxe 1 f i om Hai.in- of th -a me abbey in Mat-kenx-ll t roin Matto in tin 

ninth century, SurkcwzII from Salu^o, in 770, and -o !- \\ heiv.* 

In the eiirhth cv-nturv Malines \va&lt; &lt;&gt;nlv a colltn-iion of -ome poor hut- nund a 
monastery which had been built where 8t. liombaud &gt;unVn-d martyrdom in T 
The origin &lt;&gt;f (Jhent is fa -cd to two monasteries which had l&gt;een forme&lt;l by St. 
Amand, in the s-vcnth c. ntiiry, out ot tw . . : astle&lt; ; that of l&gt;uukcr(jne to a pi iory 
in the Dune-, built by St. Kloy, round whii-h -ome fishermen lai-d a few cabin-. 
The town of St. Claudio, in Gallieia, grew out of &gt;onic IK.II-C- buiit tr tlic - 
vant&lt; &lt;&gt;f the Ci&gt;terciaii abl).-y there, to which tiiev paid every year a foul in token 
of its right. At St. Germain there was firs; a monastery in a f-r-^t ; then at 
a castle, which became a royal residence, and la&lt;tlv, a town \\:is the result. Tl. 
is no mention of Pacta in Sicily, surnamed th" nui inanimou- city, before the \ 
1094. when count It-.^er I. built there a noble m .ua-terv, and itssoeiatx d it loan- 
other which is at Lipura.f Similarlv the woiHl-n cell and chapel er^-t d by St. 
Columban, at Bobbio, on the river Trevia. which Arlulphu- rel&gt;uilt with stone. 
gave rise to a town which St. If-nerv, th- emperor, raised to an episcopal city 4 
But here we break off; for 1&lt;&gt;, we are arrived 

" Avete solitudinis. 
Claustrique miles incol."8 

* Schannat. Historia Fuldensis, P. i. f Sicilia Sacra, ii. 770. t Italia Sacra, iv. 925. 
First lines of the hymn for vespers on the feast of all the saints of the Benedictine order, 
13th Noremb. 



A G K a OF FAIT 11. 101 




CHAPTER VI. 

" Quisque domuni nostram veuieus iotrabis amicus 
Ante tuos oculos aspice signa crucis." 

lUCH characters over the portal s arch were read inscribed of tlie monas 
tery of St. Peter, at Salzburg, in the ninth century.* Cnri&gt;tus nobis- 

J 

cum," are the words which first meet the eye on entering the cloister of 
St. Dominic, at Bologna. Pierced hands with anus eroded and support 
ing a cross are the brief affecting symbol over the door of many cloisters, 
to express what i- uppermost in the thoughts of tho who dwell within 
them. In the porch of the Capuchin convent, on the mountain which rises over 
Turin, I saw inscribed "A sonnet on the love of JCMIS Christ." Over aeon- 
vent gate in Alessandria I read these words, " Ad ducat n e&gt;s in montem sanctum 
meuin, et Isetificabo eos in domo oratiuuis mese." But the gates of the house of 
peace, to which you often mount by a steep or woody track which shows on each 
side the .-taues of Christ s pas.-ion, have a voice even without inscriptions. How 
m;n.y thoughts spring up at the sight of one of these pacific fortresses, \vhich have 
calmed so many passions, and protected so many lives ! Who is not moved at 
the sight of that ponal of St. Denis, t( monument of liberty," as a French his 
torian styles it, having been erected with the 200 livres given to the Lord Abbot 
Snger, by the people for their exemption, or on arriving at that small humble 
wicket of the Capuchins. :it which, a wooden cross receives the hand that is to 
sound the bell, so worn and polished by the poor man s hand, (for the rich sel 
dom pass this threshold,) or at I Beholding that curious old archway turreted in 
the ivy-mantled lonely wall, shaded by tall solemn trees, like that which leads to 
the ruined priory of Dover, or to the abbey of St. Martin d Auchy, on the con 
fines of Normandy and Amboise ? The-e seats for the poor, that window for the 
dole, import no hard meaning. But let us enter, and suppose, as the poet say, 
that 

" The arched cloisters, far and wide, 
Ring to the warrior s clanking stride." 

Itenters into the heroic character to admire the beauty of the monastic buildings, 
and to examine with awe and incmisitive attention the grandeur of their stately 

* Gerraanin Sacra, ii. 118. 



10-2 MOKK&gt; CATIlOLUi; Oil, 

wind-braving tower-. Homer represents Telemachtu ami his companions as filled 

with astonishment at the magnificence of the house of Mem-Ian-. Their first cat 
to explore it, nor is it till they have delighted their eye- with, stein g all its treas 
ures that they accept food and drink. X&lt;&gt; pilgrim of the same mould, at Clunv 
or at Clairvaux, would shrink from indulging in &gt;iu li enriositv, or, after viewing 
all, would be ash u mod to express the like amaze, and cry out atfias p f^ei ei- 
ffopoeavra. 

" Architects are melancholy," say- Cardan.* He had in view. n.. duht, the 
immense and -olemn -tincture- of the monk-. \\h.ch. in fact, indicate the p-eva- 
lence of grave, albeit of tho-e versatile and intreniou- mind-, of which the expres 
sion might be St. Angu-tin - word-, alluding to a future life. " in ea SJM- gan. 
quando sane" gaudeo ;" for all their part- ar- made t-&gt; announce or recomend that 
path of noble love, hy following which, as Michael Ang-lo WVS, Wt -hall t 
without danger through the narrow and tearful valley of the trrave. l yond which i- 

theoidy hope of felicity." Them&lt;&gt;nk-, indeed, if we admit Cardan s principle, \\ 

inclined to melancholy, not alone in their ^ipacitv of aidntei t-, hut al-o in eon- 
se&lt;[uence of their genin-a- paint -r- ; for " painting," he add-, - % weav;nL r tap- -try, 
and generally all employment- in the arts make men melancholy." 1 .- hold the 
religions houses which date from aL e- of faith, walk round theircoiuN and cloister-, 
and gardens, and yon will find that the very wails viewed frm without or from 
within, dispose the mind to a kind of solemn peace, and the gravity of devout 
contemplation, reviving dream- tr-a^med up from early day-, the holy and the 
tender. Manv of them, connected as thev are, \\ith the lives of the holv men, 

. * 

had so divine a character, that one may -ay in the words of Leander AlU-itus, 
shaking of Loretto, " Besides the most weighty testimony to prove the tiuth of 
the record or tradition re-j&gt;ecting them, their i- no one so hard of heart. 01 
wicked, but on enteriw is softened and moved to honor the place, 1&gt;\ a certain 

I i 

celestial power and instinct, and to pray for pardon of his -in- to Je-u- ( lni-t."t 
" I shall only mention one thing as to my travels. 9l &lt; hail- - H-m-meo, 

writing to his cousin the Cardinal-Prince of Hohen-Embs. in 1570, I have 
vi-ited Kin-iedeltn, which is two day- journey from mount St. (iothard. and after 
the house of the holy family T do not know a spot where mv soul has been more 
inflamed with pious ardor than tlr In th&lt; r monastery at Milan were 

two ancient towers, beneath one of which was the prison in -which the holy mar 
tyrs Gervase, Protasius. Victor, Nabor. Felix, and others were confined, relative 
to whom some old painting- are still discernible. Even when such influence is 
wanting, &lt;n\\ doe&lt; anirht meet vour view more fit to animate the poet - |&gt;en. auirht 
that more surely by its aspect fill-; nure minds \\-ith sinless envy, than th- al d- 
of the good monks, who. faithful through all hours to their high charge, and 
truly serving God, ha\-e yet hearts and hand- for trees and flower?, enjoy the 

* Hier. C;.rd. De Utilitatc ex Ailvers. Cap. Lib. iii. c. 4. f Descript. Italice, 438. 



AGES OF FAITH. 103 

walks theii predecessors trod, nor covet lineal rights in lands and towers?" 
Ileiiee the poet wishes that he 



-may never fail 



To walk the stunious cloister s pale, 
Aud love the high-embowed roof. 
With antique pillars, tnassy roof." 

" The buildings of the monks in the middle ages appear at present," says a 
French writer, " to have been sufficient for the relief of a population ten times 
greater than it was." We have already .-et-ii how they were spread over every 
(Miintrv. Now let us remark their immensity. The buildings of Cluny wei 
extensive that five or six princes might have been lodged there with all their 
ivtinue. During the council of Constance, the pope, the emperor, and the king of 
France, witu their respective courts, to the number of more than 200 persons, 
lodged there without causing any of the monks to be displaced. The church com 
menced by St. Hugues V. at the expense of Alphonso VI. king of Castile, his 
intimate friend, was the grandest in the world after St. Peter s, at Rome. The 
church of the abbey of Vezelay surpassed in length that of Notre-Dame, at 
Paris. 

In the sumptuous abbey of Corby, in Saxony, Martene says, that three princes 
with their suites can be lodged without inconvenience. The portal built in the 
time of St. Adalard still existed. Adjoining the Chartreuse of Bourg-Fontaine, 
iu the forest of Villers-Cotteret, wa* a palace built by the founder Charles deVa- 
lois, king of France, which had a tribune opening into the church, where he could 
assist at the divine offices : but he would suffer no one of the court to enter the 
cloister. At the vast convent of the Escurial, when the kins arrives, the monks 
retire to the west and south front-, yielding up the principal cells to the royal 
family, and no inconvenience ensues to them. The abbey of St. Medard, at Sois- 
-ons, was a town in itself. Besides its ereat basilica of the Trinity and that of 
St. Sophia, there were within the walls four other churches ; and this was not 
unusual ; for as early as the sixth century there were sometimes many chim-hes 
in one monastery, as Mabillon remarks. There were besides, at St. M&lt;d ml s, 
the royal palace for the emperor, and the abbatinl palace, the cloisters of its 400 
monks, and buildings, to lodge the guests and servant* of the abbev, which 
alone were immense as were also the constructions for the school, and for the dif 
ferent offices all which were crowned with vast towers. At the abbev of Stavelot, 
in the forest of Ardenne. the tower P-SP to nn elevation of 300 feet. Whon the 
abbey of St. Gall was burnt down in 1314. with its churches ;&gt;nd chapels, thirty 
be] Is were melted . The greatest and most harmonious bell in all Enirlnnd was that 
called Guthlac, in the abbey of Crowland.f What must it have been to hear 
its swelling tones across the vast watery desert which surrounds that abbey ? The 

* Ildefons Vc.n Arx, ii. 9. t Hist . l nrn lphi. 



104 -M&lt;&gt; K KS r A i Ho I.ICI ; OK, 

prodigioni BntxtrnotiaiiB ot the.-e edifices from the tenth and eleventh centuries we 

llo\v an astonishment. \\Y learn f i om ( Jiiaidu.- &lt; .imbivn-is, iliai ill-- &gt;tom - u-ed 
in the fouudutiou i Peterborough abb.-v rnurch v. . iliai eight o.\, n 

could -&lt; aivcly move one ot them. Hence \v&lt; may I m in - fthe .-oiiditv 

of one of these buildings. The walls of the Cork convent :it Centra, c.unpu-. d 
of va-t stun- s. of .- \vn 01 eight hundnd ton- \\e;uht ea&lt; h, &gt;&lt;eem ax if the work 

uf nature. Even m the poorest mona-t ri&gt; - th- lie*! mater . i..- \\ lovecL 

Lupus, al&gt;l)ot &lt;i Furivrs, wiitt- { JCdik-ulf, kiiiiz; of ill- Kn^ii&gt;h. i&gt;, \&gt;i-^ a- 
taucv ironi liiin in a timt-of distn, a- lit is al&gt;&lt;&gt;ut t" cover his rimrcii witli Katl.* 
Tlie abbey ofLuxeuil, tliough mocil diminished iu extent when I)&gt;ni Martcne 
vi-ited it in 1708, was still immense, and lud t\\o rlniiflu- enck&gt;ed.f That 
ot Su]ii;n;if, in tht Limousin, founded l&gt;y St. Kh-v, wa- in the i oim of a circle. 
" There are so many remarkable thin-:-," sa\&gt;tni&gt; father, "in iheaob. \ ,iir- 

vaux. that one always finds in ii sonietliin&lt;: n- \\ :icli tim- i-it- it. \\ Cs:iw 

tiie ancient manufactorie.- of the lay brothers and ihe iaiineri .-, \\h.ch are iidmir- 
able." Ibis partly caqilaiiis the prodigi cut nf many mona-icri s, \\hich 

were constructed .-o as to coniain tveiy thinti n \\iihin their walls. Tims 

" many hundred persons \v re afach. d in various ccp:u iii- t&gt;ii,e ;d&gt;l&gt;ey of St. 
Gaily Some of whom lived within it, latnilia iiru-, :i.- ai t i.-ans, mill- i -. bak 
smiths, carpenters, glas- blo\\ci -, bn \\ei~. &gt;i,. pheul-. swineln ids, I&gt;&lt;&gt;a:-lmilder8, 
and mei who ttafia}H&gt;rtvd the ^"&lt;&gt;d.- of the abbey acros- the lake of ComtBBM : 
others lived without the abbey, familia for is, youiii; men and madiens, who as 
sisted by day at different works, bein^ Ixmnd in corapen-:iti n for rent bv their 
parents obligation to repair to the abb. y muri, or to its nearest farmyard, three 
days every week, and give tlu-ir labor."; " Fn.m tiieyt-a; Bil -JO, St. Gall," 

says its historian, " \va- a wdl-inhabittd house. Besides 105 monks and l!0&lt;) 
converse brethren, there were many students and bencfloed peisoii.- who residetl 
within it. The provisions for feeding &gt;uch a community were commensurate. 
There was an oven in which a thousand loaves were baked a 1 a time. 1 
making beer there waul malt-kiln for 100 ineaaarfsofbarleyi Then were -o many 
mills, that every year t.-n new mill-stoiu-s w. re KMjuued to put in place ftho-e that 
were past use. There was a botanical garden also, to furnish medicine! for 
th&gt; sick, and a hostel for traveller-, \\hich wa.- built within the \\alls. The abbey 
w:i&lt; surrounded with workshops, hostelry buildings, and .-tabling. The circuit 
filled the wliole valley from one hill to the other, -o that not only the houses 
which the -. ttlcrs had built for them- 1\ &lt;-. bm al-o St. Man-en s church stood 
within ihe enclosures of the abbey.";- .\t St. lJi(juier. the ^anlen adjoins the 
south side of the abbey. It i- very evcn-ive and -urroiinded with a wall sixty 
feet high, and so thick that there is a walk on th* summit. The fruit-trees all 

* Lupi Epist. 13. f Voyage Lit. t ll&lt;i&lt;-f ns. V&lt;&gt;n Arx. OeschicliU- der S Gallen, i. 56. 
Il&gt;. i. 128. 



A U E S OF F A I T H. 105 

date from the time of the monks. One pear- tree, the wonder of the whole coun 
try, in -aid to be 200 or 300 years old. The vast stein is quite flattened to the 
wall, and its branches spread out like a fan to a prodigious extent on everv side. 
The gardener told me it is always loaded with the finest fruit, with which, in 
deed, the whole ground was then strewed. Nothing can be more picture.-que 
than the view, from this garden, of the long corridors and ruined cloisters, still 
profusely adorned with images of saints. In most monasteries all the offices were 
within the walls; for the monks performed every thing for themselves 

St. Benedict and the synod of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 817, ivquire expres.-ly that 

the lake-hou.se should be within them. The bread in the ancient monasteries was 

baked twice, and often kept so long that it was necessary to break and pulverize 

it wiin a mallet.* The Carthusians in Paris, and the monks of the abbey of St. 

M;i&gt; lin-des-Champs, had contrivances for grinding corn and making better bread, 

uhicia excited great attention. In 817, it was also required that there should be 

enclosures set apart for culinary herbs, in the sowing of which, we may remark, 

the u&gt;ouk- observed no lunar superstitions, though Le Grand d Au.-sy says, that 

such preliminaries were prescribed by common cultivators as indispensable. f 

Among the officers of the monastery of Bobbio, in the year 835, we find cited, 

" the master carpenter, the keeper of the vineyards, the keeper of the orchard.;}; 

The swineherd of the abbey was another Eumaeus; and Homer does not disdain 

to tell us how many swine he had to look after : though he does not add what .-o 

many ci&gt;nvertites in the middle ages learned from experience, that his occupation 

was a toilsome one ; for as John de Brie found when he had to drive them to 

the fields and forests, and back again in the evening, ce sont de rudes i&gt;estes et 

de maulvaise discipline, and often he did not know whether he had not lost some 

of them, so that the task was grievous and almost intolerable to him." Some 

of the s 6va x*-P ( * &gt;v i then, a.s Homer calls them, were generally found at 

the monastery, where their presence was very necessary; for pork was used in 

dressing vegetables by the most austere communities.)) Ducange cites an ancient 

inventory of the abbey of St. Remy, at Rheims, stating that it possessed 415 swine. 

There is a letter of Mappinius. archbishop of Rheims, to Villicus, bishop of Metz, 

in the sixth century, solely written to ask the price of swine. These were often 

a royal donation to monasteries. There are many charters in which the French 

kings permit certain abbeys to feed their swine in the royal forests. The council 

of Paris, in 1092, authorized the monks of Compiegne to send their swine into 

that forest, and forbade any seigneur to ask a tax in com|&gt;ensation. Roger, earl 

or Shrewsbury, gives to the monks of Ouches for ever the right of pasture for 

their swine, in all his f -rests. The annals of Corby, in Saxony, do not disdain 

to notice, that in 905, there was a dysentery amojig the swine, which destroyed 

* Le Graud d Ausgy. Hist, de la Vie privee des Francois I. 102. \ Id. i 196. 

% Murat Antiq. It, Ixv. Le Vray Regime des Berbers, i. | Le Grand d A ussy. i. 310. 



100 MORES CATHOLICI OK. 

nearly all of them ; and the annuls of Ul-ter record as the lir-t achievement of the 
Dane- in Ireland, the drowniug of all the Bwine belonging to the abb diran. 

Lodging for the herd-man and his ilocl;- uddi d, then tore, to the inns- &lt;-l bnildi 
round the cloister. At the ahlvy of Froidmont, thr leagues from Beauvai-, the 
hundred lay-brotners attend d &gt;o much to this brunch of industry, that in ti.ec.ne 
year of l 2:\0 they sold TuiKi il * ees.* 

In abbeys must {&gt; -ought the origin of the Aitesian wells.* Bt I 1 - 
well, in i he abbey ot C luii maniis, dug in 117 J. i- one ofih- d- : t in 1 
The uio-t ancient known, whien d .in \\ 2(&gt;. i- in the ( -ian in.-n;i.-i 

at Lillers. But leaving tin- II\V&lt;T conns, let us repair ! tlie main buiidii 
The-e \vere not caivle-sly con-trucied in a day, like modern work N\". learn 

from Orderic, Vitulis tuat &gt; iglity y,:.:-- \\ re -pent in Building the nohk- al&gt;i&gt;ev .,t 
St. Ouen, at Iiouen.+ hi l. JUG, Marguerite, M-cc.nd wife of Kd \\ard l.,an 
of Philip, kiltgofFrau an to build tne cnoir oft . Fruiieix-an chinch in 

LoiMlon, but died before completing it and \va- buried ih-T The nave ,,f h.- 

church ua- l)eguu by John tie Hriten, earl oi Richmond, and completed by Mar- 
gaiet, conn e-- ,.t Pembroke, (iilbert &lt; . --an ..t ( il-u.-. &gt;: i , and his two -i.-: 
Helena de Spencer, and Kl /ubeth de Bur-_ r h. Twi-ntv f( |&gt;-ed i fore the 

church was finished.;; In general, th-- m.v,i,~ were their own architects. 

All the magnificent buildings of me abbey oj 8t iali. in the mniii cen-nrv. 
were constructed by the monks th-m- Tutilo, tue leal ne-i phd. s i ii. r, 

the painter and musician, wa- ad eminent tor hi&gt; -kill in the art of build 

ing. Laenritih, who was aUo a priest, vraa an excel len: carpenter, and h a- 
equally Serviceable a- a stonecutter. &lt; &gt;n- of their contemporarie- ob-eiv. t 
" men can judge of their ability by looking at the church and nu.n 9bK \ ." 
" Cl-arly it appears." h" -av~, -from tiie ne-t what kind tif binl- inhabit it. 
View the basilica and tne cloister of the monasn-rv, and you will not wond- r at 
what I relate."|| The church Mrat b.gnn in s:i(. and finish, d in five vear-. The 
present edifice of the Grande Chartreuse \\ashuilt l&gt;y Pom Masson, prior ot the 
order, and another monk, who- wan th" architect. It i- related a- a circiim-tunee 
attending the building of the vast church of the ahbev of St. Jolm-des-Yigne-, ai 
Soi on-, that when the two towers were completed, both of them ma-ter-pieo-sof 
&lt;;. thi- ar&lt;&gt;hitectnre for lightness an d durabilitv, the abbot. Ni.-.das IVudlnnniiP-, 
HKNinted to the summit in order to i&gt;la&lt;-" the crs- on the -pi re with his own 
hands, which was at an elevation of 234 fe-t.T When Herlnin, the founder of 
Pec. of Danish race, who h id been a renowned kniirht and favorite of Duke Rob 
ert, and moved, at the ag.- of thirfv-&lt;evon, to renounc- the world, was building 
the abbey of Bonneville, William of Jumieire -ay-, "that he worked it it him-elf 

* Voyaee Lit HP donx Ben. f Annuaire des Loncitndea. 1835. t Hist. Lib. xiii. 

$ Waddinsr. An Mm. turn. vf. | Epist. Ermcnrici in Analcctis Mabill. 

J Hist, de Smssons, ii. ::i. 



AGES OF FAITH. 107 

like a common laborer, carrying the stones, sand, and lime, on his shoulders. The 
more delicate h&lt;- had once been in his proud vanity, the more humble was lie now, 
and patient to support all kinds of fatigue for the love of God."* When Rade- 
boton, son of the count of Altenbourg, proposed to build the abbey of Muri, he 
applied to Embrice, abbot of Einsiedlen, for an architect, who sent him Reginbold 
and some other monks. | The monks were, however, often assisted in these works 
by the confraternity of builders, which soni" suppose was first established at Char- 
tres. When a deputation from it arrived, it was a wondrous spectacle, we are 
told, to see knights and barons tied to carts, and in a spirit of penance drawing 
lime, wood, and stones. Haimon, abbot of St. Pierre-de-Dives, in Normandy, 
in a letter to the monks of a convent in England, in 1145, describes the zeal with 
which rich and powerful nobles undertook to transport the materials like common 
laborers. He adds, " that during the night tapers used to be fastened on the carts, 
and that men used to watch, chanting hymns and canticles." Many of these 
societies were formed into one at Strasbourg, in 1450, by Dotzinger, architect of 
the cathedral. There was a general assi inbly of these lodges at Ratisbon, in 1459, 
where rules were made for the admission of apprentices, companions, and masters, 
and -ecret signs were adopted for mutual recognition. This association was con 
firmed by the German emperors. 

Nothing evinces more remarkably the spirit of these ages than the custom of 
the nobility residing in fortified castles, and the monks in cloisters, of which the 
gates stood open, defended only by faith. However, this order was not wholly 
uniform, and one may be occasionally surprised on finding some monasteries, even 
in desert place-, fortified like castles. The old monasteries, indeed, being built 
exactly on the plan of a Roman house, which, in the last aires, was alwavs forti 
fied, easily admitted of defence ; but a little reflection will soon clear up the dif 
ficulty. The fact is so. The abbey of Mount-Cassino was fortified with walls 
and toners by the abbot, Bertharius, through fear of the Sarassins.^: Bv a draw 
bridge yon still enter the monastery of Grotta Ferrata. which resembles a castle 
en s in&gt;_ r the wooded hill. Others seem by nature fortified Thus the abbey of 
Squillaci is strong by its position, on a lofty crest, surrounded by rocks on all 
sides, between two rivers which surround it, to which circumstance it owed its 
preservation from the calamity which hefel Calabria, in 650, when it was ravaged 
by the Moors. The great square tower of the abby of St. Germaindes-Pres, 
which was built in the time of Charlemagne, contributed to save that house when 
the monk, Abbon, defended it against the Normans. The abbey of St. Medard, 
at Sj- ss &gt;ns was fortified with ditches and many towers by Eudes, count of Paris 
and king of Neustria, through fe:ir of the Danes.|| Tn later time* Charles V. 
having declared war against the English in 1368, obliged Richard, abbot of that 

Lih - vi - 9 - -I- Cluonique &lt;! Einsidlen, 17. J Hist. Cassiaens. c. 

* I J l Sacni, ix. 422. | Hist, de Soissous. 



108 MOKES CAT IK) LIC I; OR, 

mona-tery, to fortify it with \v:iiis, and ditches ami towers, lest the enemv -hould 
take [ a) of it and tnence attack Paris.* How* vi, n hen tor tne security 

of the countrv it \va- nece-sr v that a mna-trrv should be fortified, the c-n.-rnt 



of the l&gt;islio|) of (he dioces-- wa- indi-pensable.f 

The-e lioiisi-s &lt;&gt;f i i ere fore, bore mark- of having .-n-tained many peril-, 

many injuries. IVrli:i|&gt;-, at this moment, a- they -taiul before us, all i- still 
round them, and we suppose tliat their aerial tower- and ma. iv&lt; uali- can have 
only liad to endtn &gt; :or &lt; nturi&gt;- tlie wa-tiii _ r bree/c which has worn the pillar s carv 
ing and mouldered in hi- niche tie- saint, and rounded with consuming p&lt;&gt;\\.| the 
pointed an^"!- of each turret ; but tiies&gt;- abbeys, like veteran-, \\oiu and un&lt;llb- 
&lt;lued through &gt;o many age-, tempt -t-l ca cn, and shown upon b\ the | a :md 
humid lustre of the moon throughout ;h- &gt;i!eiit nijnt, h.-ive sutV- n-d from e\ 
kind of liercc (l-structivc N^cncy ; they have in -en a .i-M : d t he hnstil&lt;- 

rage of Sarassin- and Danes, of Hun- and \.&gt;rniau-, f 1 rote-tants and the Black- 
bauds, of thr Jacobinsaud ( onstiiutionali-t- of th-- pr&gt; s* nt dav. In France, dur- 
in.iT ages ot tiiiih, they wen- often pillaged and burn by the Normans ; in Hug- 
land and Ireland by the Danes ; in Spain by the M.. m : in (! nnanv b\ the 
Huns ; in Italy by the La: - UMIW, and Him- ; in Sicily Uy ti.t 8*1 

sins, whose cruelties !o th-- monks there aie leialtd ii: the aH cctin^ !-tter oi the 
Benedictine of the nmna-tery -if St. IMa- idu- at M. ana, to Pope Vit. -lianus. 
in the year i;:. M J\-n by L., of 0-tia4 The :ibln.\ ,,f Moimt-Ca.-.-ino wa? 
pilla-rcd by the Lombards u .Vsi. and burnt by the Snas-iu- in 84. Tne abbey 
of St. Svlv. -!, at Nonairuli, wa- h.iint by the Huns in !i 0, a 1 n-t restored 
till nine years had eiaps-d.jj f&gt; &gt;.-ven tini .-," -ay- a monk . .latin-: the various 
foMUii"s of hi- .\vii mona-t-rv. " ru t is holy pla-v vi,. a ed bv j.ei tidi..iu&lt; ( hri.-t- 
ian-, or by parans. Fir-t, bv Christian- amid-t ; nt. -tin wars; another tim-by 
the VandaU ; a thi &lt;i time by the S.ira-in* in 831 ; a ourtii time bv tlie private 
rapacity of a ce tain w. Mian in th.- reign of IVpin, father of Cl ail-ma:ue ; the 
n fth time by the Normans, which was de.-ol -olationum ; the sixth and 

-event!! time- by the Hims."|| " When the Danish pinue-, under Hastings and 
Rnllo, ravaged Neu-tria, d. -trovi nt r a ,_rr,.,t nunib-r of remarkable convent-, the 
monk-; fled to caverns and wnod-, or esc ip d to other countries ; a r\ ii^ with them 
the bo uos of their father- and the writings wh ; ch re. .-rd". i their lives, : * al-othe 
charters and titl--d.&gt;eds ,,; th -ir resp. ctiv-- eliurche-. It w;i&gt; then Il-.spies, near 
Cambrai. became . nriche&lt;l with th- l)mlies of St. Hu&lt;jUes, of St. Aieisadre and 
fJh. iit. ; n Fiand-rs. with thos of St. Wandrille, St. Ansb-H. and St. Vnlfran."! 
"I should fill a volume." M - Eck- h ml IV.. allndMi- t" the Huns. " if I 
to relate all that our monks snfif-rd from the Sira-in-. The injury which 
they did to St. Gall, Pfeffers, and Coire. wa- iiumen-e. We could neith.-r make 

* Botiillfirt. Hist de 1 Abbaye de S. Ger-dcs -Pre/., t TTurtor Opsrhirhtc. t&lt;-m. iii. b ii. 
t Sioili-i Sam. ii. 379. . | \ ,!,. (&gt;!. Ci-ter. vii. 75. 

| Chr.micnn Besnense upu(l Durhrr Spiril. L torn i- : Vit. Lib. vi. 



AGES OF FAITH. 

use of the mountains nor cultivate the plain-. They were so bold that they came 
down tVoin Biirneck onrft. Gall, and shoi arrows at the procession whu h was mak- 
in^ round the place: Affairs became so desperate, that the Abbot Burkaid. after 
his pilgrimage to Rome with the Emperor Otho I., in Db 3, was no longer able 
to nourish the monks, so that he wa- obliged logive them permission to provide 
for themselves as well as they could." In the abbey of Morbac, Dom Martene 
f lind the tombs of seven monks, martyrs, who had been massacred by the Huns.* 
Ingnlphns is so particular in his account of the mas.-acre at Crowland, when the 
Danes burst into the church, that he mentions the names of all the persons occu 
pied at that moment in the celebration of ma-s. Theodore, the lord abbot, him- 
&gt;elf was celebrating; brother Elfgetus as deacon, and brother Savinus as sub-dea 
con, minisrered ; and brothers Egelre hi- and Ulricas were the boys who bore 
the lights. Eii htv-foiir monks were butchered, some of them past their hun* 

O . 

dredth year. When tiie subprior Lethwynus was slain in the refectory, brother 
TWarius, a child often veirsof age, of the most beautiful countenance and form, 

o . o 

seeing his senior thus murdered, entreated the pagans that they would also kill 
him ; but count Sidrok, moved with compassion, tore olf his monastic cowl, and 
giving him a Danish dress ordered him to follow him, and in this way his life was; 
preserved ; and he was the onlv person who escaped. The description which is 
given of the return of the oth-r monks to the smouldering ruins is most affecting. 
Then it was that Briestanus, a chanter of the monastery, and a most eloquent 
poet, wrote among the ashes of Crowland these lines, which begin : 

" Quomodo sola secies diulutn regina domorum, 
Nobilis Ecclesia. nuper arnica Dei !" 

The Danes visited twice the sainted island of lona, and burnt the monastery. 
Whatever spot was most distinguished by popular reverence, thither these spoilers 
bent their course. An Irish geographer of that period, describing the desolation, 
says, u that in many of the smaller islands of the Irish seas not even a hermit 
wa- to be found." In fact, they thirsted for the blood of monks and the plunder 
of abbeys. Twice was the monastery of Bangor despoiled by the Danes. On the 
latter occasion the venerable abbot and 900 monks were massacred in one day. 
The monastery of the English at Mayo, the holv isle of Iniscathy in the mouth 
of the Snannon, having the tomb of its patron, St. Senanus, the cells of St. Kevin 
in the valley of Glendalough. the monastery of the Scelig Isles on the coast of 
Kerry, all these and many other seats of holiness were constantly made thescenea 
of ruthless devastation. The cells of the monks on the islets of L&lt;mnh Ree, the 
school of Clonard, renowned throughout Europe, and the ancient abbey of Down, 
the hallowed restin&lt;r-pla"&gt; of the remains of St. Patrick, were at different times 
in the ninth century laid desolate. In short, there was not a single monastery of 

* Vovaire Lit. 136. 



lid MuKEb CATHOLIC I OH, 

any renown which was not plundered :ind laid waste by tlie I&gt;ane- in the eighth 
and ninth centime-." " The devoted courage," :uld- an hi-torian, " of ih 
crowds of eo: -, who still ivt u rued to I he -ame spot, cln&gt; I 11.: rath -r u oat it 

than to leave the hly j)luce unt -iuntod. pio-ents one of th-- atr-cting piciu 
&lt;&gt;f quiet heroism with which the histovy of the church abound-." H-MH--- the \&lt; 
d -Tibing the abbey of Lindi-farne. makes especial mention of fa need of se 
curity : 

" In Saxon stn-nirih Unit abbey frown d 

Witli imis.-ive arches bioad and round, 

Thai ro^e alternate, row and row. 

On ponderous columns, short and low ; 

On the dt-ep wails tin- heathen Dane 

Had pour d. his im])io..- ; :n ; 

And needful WHS such stu-ni:ih to ihese, 

I .xp ^-d lo the teinpi--tui. . 

Scoutired by tin- wind - elerniil sway, 

Opun to ri.vi-r.- lirrei- as u 

Which could twelve hundred ye-u- withstana 

Winds, waves, and northern pi: md." 

No longer then should these ti .\cr- and b itth-inen: on arriving at 

the tainted house- of St. l n -dii-t. wo know that th -ir inhalt tan - migh 

often have complained, like the people of Rimini "t ..li wlion &lt; :c-:ir p:i--. : ih,- 

Rnbic in, thai they \\c:c al\\a\&gt; ^ni-o o l&gt;eh&lt;&gt;ld ihe tirs 1 camp- and to i 

fir-t shock- of war ; and md&lt; lv, that when th- Norman- l&gt;e- 

dParis, the monks were the princip-ilob t " i- t urv. Not tilone exter 

nal dofcu -o- but, to nbviat" the conseqnenoo of -in -pri- I chainlf is also were 

ott -n noc. ssiiry within th- walN. to provide ;i-ain&lt;t -nd ion vi-it- from the 

"Aypiov ctixinjrify, tcparfpor ufartlpa ipofioio,* 

for he too Hirnred even aniun^ ( im\tian ho-t- in ih - new caparity of destro jer of 

iimna-torif-, so analo-jon- to an old H.M. i-,- avo.-ation. Un :idini; now the 

cans whi -h called fur cast-llaied walls, if -iH li then- lie, let us oast our eye- on 
other parts, and proceed exploring. 

Writers of the middle a -ak with admiration of the architecture of many 

ah hov-. \Vdliam ot Malmo-burv nftVfl r&gt;f Tcwko-bnry. " thoro i- tlf - at--ly ai&gt;- 
IH V built bv U&gt;bert. -on ol llamon. win-re the beauty ot the buildings and the 
charity of the monk- enchant- the ,ni" th-" , and -o-ithos tiioir 

mind-. What shall 1 sav." lie e.\elaim-. " c-fTh"rnoy and ; t e b auty \ it&lt; 
l&gt;nildini;&lt;. in whicii this ot it-elf is wonderful, how. anv&gt;n&lt;_ r ilio-&lt;- iak--- an i m 
it should re&lt;t on s &gt;lid t iuii(lati in&lt; ?"+ " The sun." -ay- I,.-. anil, speaking of St. 
Alban -, " hath not - h- r a citv s-&gt; Hnoi goodlier abbey, whether 

a man OODftider the endowments, "i-tho lar^enes-. or tiie incomparable magnificence 

* vi. f Wi. Malm, de Gestis Poiitif. Angionim. Lib iv. 



AGES OF FAITH. Ill 

thereof. A man that saw the abbey would say, verily it were a city, so 
many gate* there are in it, and some of bra-s. .-&lt;&gt; many t&gt;wers, and a most stately 
church, upon winch attend three oilier-, al- Standing gloriously in one and the 
same churchyard, all of passing fine and cur. on- workmanship." 

In Aiiiflo-Saxon times the monastery o; Ilexham exhibited the highest j&gt;erfec- 
tionofait. Its stones were finely polisned, its trails and columns lofty, and it had 
spiral stairs to the top of each tower. Ed&lt;iiu-, who had been at Rome, where he 
wrote St. Wilfrid s life, declares that no building on this side of the Alps was 
equal to it. The superb arched doors of St. Jo-eph s chapel, and the exquisitely- 
beautiful t racer v still discernible among tiie shattered walls, att-.-t what was the 
splendor of the buildings of Glastonbury. In the monastery of St. Bernard, upon 
the heights without the gates of Salamancha, is a spiral staireaise, which only 
touches at the bottom and the top. It was constructed by :\ monk of the house 
of eminent sanctity, and it is so solid that the French and English carried up all 
their artillery upon it. Charles III. sent architects to examine it, who pronounced 
its construction to be a work of art exceeding their ingenuity. 

The religious orders, however, in the earliest aires, were not ambitious in re 
spect to splendor of buildings. u The ancient monks of our order." says Tri th 
em i us, " inhabited humble and dark cells ; but their hearts were lucid and 
splendid with the light of Divine love, and illumined by the knowledge of the 
Scriptures:"* a sentence which is continually repeated in monastic writings of a 
later date.f 

The monastery which St. Mai-tin erected in a secret place two miles from the 
church of Tours, and in which eighty disciples lived with him. wa- only a wooden 
building; ami, throughout the ages of faith, innumerable religious houses were 
of the same character. Such was the Ausrustinian convent in which Luther was 
professed: the foundations were hardly below the surface of the ground ; it had 
only a wooden altar ; the south wall was three feet in height, the rest being 
formed of old planks. It was a true stable of Bethlehem.^; 

Even where the greatest magnificence prevailed, there were many traces of the 
ancient simplicity. Dom Martene, on occasion of his visit to Clairvaux, describes 
the cell of St. Bernard in that abbey, built for him in his infirmities byGuil- 
lautne de Champeaux, bishop of Chalons. " There is no chimney to it," he says, 
li but under his bed was a great stone with holes through it, under which a bra 
zier used to be kindled without his perceiving it : for he would not have al 
lowed his room to be warmed if he had been aware of their intention. His bed 
is still here ; the room open-- on a little chapel, where he used to say mass." 

-"There has been lately erected in Lombardy a house of our order," .-ays a 
Carthusian, " so magnificient, that many wonder our order would admit it ; but 



* In Chronic. Hirsaug. f Annules Novesien. ap. Martene, Vet. Script, iv. 55, 

$ Audio, Vie de Luther, i. 151. 



MOKES CAT Ho LIC I; &lt; &gt; K, 



to fly tin- indignation of princes, winch mi^ht ea-ily In- excited if any thing were 
oppo-ed to them, when they build such In. use- -umptuou-ly, -unit- indulgence 
uiav be made." 

La MauVhale d Ancre, un&lt;ler tne :cgeu. v . Nhuv &lt;! ftffdicift, offered to build, 
at her &gt; ! expeiiae, thechuivn for the Carmeiitee, in tut- Itu- Vaugintnl,al 1 ari-, 
providid tli"y would adopt the plan of an aivlutect which -he admired ; hut tl 
humble nifii considered the plan too magnificent for their order, and g. n&lt; Toii-ly n-- 
fused to accept her offer. God rewarded the e.\a-t observance of Id- -. -i van-, and 
procured them such plentiful alms from the faithful, that in a few y.ai- their 
church was built.f 

The monasteries of the Capuchins, \vhieh were uu th&gt; same plan in all coun 
tries, were always to be constructed like th- hoii-es of the poor, of lath and 
plaster, and uneai ved timber ; to contain not more than ten or twelve brethn 11 
at mo-t, ip order that the rule and holy pov.-rty ini_ r ht be ob-.-rved witli Miore 
perfex-tioii and less impediment, :icco:din_ r t the desire ofSl Fianci-.^ To tli 
house- the word- of St. Jerome mi^ht lx&gt; applied : " In hri-ti villa tota rusiiei- 
tas est." The furniture was to b- sudi as the poor u&gt;e ; and tli* ir chnrche&gt; to be 
O small S not to contain more than fifty p- The convent itself was to 

contain only small poor cells, built witnout art or lK M aut\ In truth, generally, 
all that the jjoud monk a-ke&lt;l \\a- " a .-impl-- dw-ilinu r , wner.- lie rni^lit s t and 
talk of time and change, as the world ebbs and flows. hims lf unchani: d." \\ lien 
the doore and Senate of Ve&KK desired tluU the GapUCililH -uoul.i :heir new 

ly-erected &gt;pleinli(l church ct tin- holy Saviour, built on the ces-ation ofth - 
plague, it wa&gt; iifce-sary to procure a deer : . . ry XIII., authori-- 

ing them to accept it.|| In the fifth and -ixth centuris, the monasterie- in ^&lt;-n- 
eial were built without much cost. Some unculiivat -d land, and a sm ill, plain 
building, with a chapel, &gt;ati&gt;ti.-d the fir-i want- of men who-e great obje&lt;-t wa- to 
make known the word of (J d. and to sanct : fv th-ir own -oul- by contemplation 
and labor. When Charles the eighth, abb ,\ of Vilhrs. cam*- in the \ ear 697 to 
that monastery, he found there nothing but little thuchcl IDU-; -. and. a- it were, 
the huts of shepherds; and he first built there two dormitories of -tone, and 
manv offices. T 

The early monasteries of Ireland and Gaul often resembled those of Egypt in 
primitive times, of which the tvlls wer but wooden lints, sometimes so low tba 
one could not stand upright in them.** The ancit-nt church of t ne abii--\ of&lt; i- 
teaux, cons-crated in 1106. in wliicli St. Stej)neii and St. Albcric were luiiietl. 
not more than fifteen feet wide. It h id only thre-- wind HW in the sanctuary, 
and two in the nave. Similarly, the original church of Cluny was very small. 

* Pctr. Sutorus de Vita Cartbusiana, Lib ii. g iii. . 

t Dosithi-e, Viede S. Jean de la Croix, liv. x. t Annalc- Cnyvicin Tum. nd. an. LV29 

i Ibid :i,l. an. 1528. | Il.i.i. , M 1. ;in 1 

!Ii&gt;t. MonaMt-iii Villariens. i. 3. ap. Martene, Tbes. Auee. iii. ** Sulpic. &i-vi. Di:i!sr. i. 2. 



AG KS F FAITH. 113 

Men did not postpone, therefore, holy purposes for want of money. St. Colnmban 
\va&lt; not obliged to raise vast subscriptions before going to fix himself to the Vos- 
ges. Riches were not wanting to make such f -imitations. Hear how the nr-t 
Fr.mei-eans that came to England were lodged. " Tin- friar minors," &gt;aith Stow, 
" first arrived in England, at Dover, nine in number; five of them remained ;it 
Canterbury, and did then build the first convent of fri;ir minors that ever was in 

* 7 

England ; the other four came to London, and lodged at the preaching friars the 
space of fifteen days, and then hired a house in Cornhill of John Travers, one of 
the sheriffs. They builded there little cells, wherein they inhabited. The devo 
tion of the citizens towards them, and also the multitude of friars so increased, 
that they were, removed by the citizens to a place in St. Nicholas Shambles, 
\vnich John Iwyn, citizen and mercer of London, appropriated to the use of the 
said friars, who became himself a lay-brother." 

The convents of St. Theresa were placed wherever she could obtain a spot, 
within four walls. While proposing to commence the reform of the Carmelite 
order, she set out, in the month of June, to examine a house which had been of 
fered to her for the purpose by Don Raphael M gia Velasquez. She was ac 
companied by one nun, and Father Julian d Avila. They lost their way, and no 
one could direct them to the place, which was called Durvelle ; the name being 
hardly known. The intense heat rendered this the most painful of her journeys. 
At last, about night-fall, they arrived ihere, and found it a poor isolated peas 
ant s house, near a stream, wholly unprotected from sun or wind. This place, 
nevertheless, was sufficient for her purpose, and to supply all that was wanting for 
her first monastery: she destined the porch for the chapel, the garret for the 
choir, the chamber for the dormitory, and half of the kitchen, when divided into 
two parts, for the refectory. Such was the building that served for the celebrated 
reform of this order. To this house retired Father John de St. Matthias, with 
one laborer, and they made the alterations she pointed out, living meanwhile on 
the alms which people of the neighboring village gave them. 

It was in this house that St. John of the cross made the solemn dedication of him 
self to the imitation of the sufferings of Jesus, putting on the habit prescribed by St. 
Theresa, and exhibitingaspectacle to the neighborhood which astonished and edified 
all the people. To his poor chapel flocked crowds of devout pea-ams, who beheld 
every thing about him with surprise and reverence. St. Theresa speaks of this 
foundation with rapture. " The poverty of this house." she says, " did not dis 
please the holy father ; but, on the contrary, delighted him. O Lord God, how 
little capable are proud buildings and external pleasures to give internal conso 
lation ! I conjure you, my sisters, and you. my fathers, to remain always in great 
detachment with respect to magnificent and sumptuous houses, and to have always 
before your eyes the founder of our order, who, by poverty and humility, arrived 
a the eternal enjoyment of the presence of God. In proportion as the body has 
fewer comforts, the soul receives more joy. What advantage can we derive from 



114 .MOKKS r AT HOLICI ; OK. 

:it buildings, when one cell mn-t suHicc us . "* Neverth- ! s-, the piety of the 
faithful wa- s ld&lt; unsatisfied until the-e |Mir monasteries were constructed at i 

on :i great -i- -calc. In Iti M, this hou-" at Durve | mag 

nificent convent, oiMi of the most commodious in OKI ( a-til . It i- :i ma-t-T- 
pifce of art, without any profane ornament-. The original chapel, so poor in it- 

: , hut -o pivcions from tlie tear- which have l&gt;eeu shed in it, i- piv-erved in an 
angle ot the cloister. 

Such were the huniUle heginnin&lt;r- of many &lt;.f th*- in&lt; - rat &lt;l 

" Wond -r not," -a\ - a mona-tie hi-torian, "you wno ivad tni-. at iiic coii-i.,ncy 
of our lath"! -, who oonatraoteil all the editi ts whi-h you hohold with the aim- 

ot the poor. It \v:ts n&gt;t a Iving, it \\a- n&lt;&gt;t a lit. or any i:ivat man, \vno huilt 

this; hut it arose aniiti-: jiov.-riv and tribulation. "f 

Kinirs. however, did often int Tt erc t&gt;u -uch purpo-c&lt;. John V., kin-_ r of I d: tu- 
. durintj a danp rniis illnc . \-..\\. i to i-riH-t, ujvm hi- n-eovcry, a convrnt for 
th" nseot tne pom-, st priory in tiie kingdom : and finding, upon inquiry, ihat 
this \va- at Mafra. where twelve Franri-can- lived t&lt;&gt;_:cth&gt;T in a hut, he inlfil 
his vo-.v, hy erecting: thei-e, in 1717, tii- prc-cnt magnificent ahh--y. th \ .~ trial 
of Portugal, a palace. a&lt; ouveui, and a church of impo-iii^ magnitude, in a bleak, 
solitary country, within view of tin- -a. t-n mi lea from Cintra. 

But let us resume our examina tlic mona-tic buildings. Ill the vaulted 

refectorv of ( iairvaux were two row- oi i &gt; a - and four row- of labl I 

great ha.! of the monk- ot ( antorlniry mea-und "lie hundred and fi t in 

length and forty in lnvadth. Tnc ret--&lt;-tory ofCluny was thirty-ei^ht pace- i 
and twenty-four broad. There \\vtv six ta nie- do\vn tiieh-nirth and three at the 
extremity, namely, that of the pn-i-i.-ir, whi&lt;-ii w i--r tha i all the other-. 

that of the _iv .t -r prior on the riuiit, an i that ot tne claustral pr or on t:&gt;e 1- ft . 
The wall- were beautifully painted with -torie- out of the ( )ld and New Te-tament. 
and with figures of the priiK elv t ounder- and U-m- of ( limy. There 

[go an immense image ofCliri-t. and a r- piv-.-nt -. t e la-t jud\;mei)t.* 

The i-cfect .ry of the irreat ahU y ot St. Alhan - \\a- adoi-ne&lt;l with tape-try, and 
that at (ilomvster with portraits of the kin-:- of Kiiirland in t r. - h ncrallv 

some devout painting or inscription occupied th" n-n- -torv wall-. In that of 
convent of St. Bernard I was -truck with a portrait of an old in nk. -toopiii-r over 
the pageft of BoethiuB. In that of th- ( artnusian nioii Id I -aw 

painted in : - a i|iieeu of Fiance, -crviiiir dinner to the monk- with her own 
hands, and under the picture the-e word*, " Ip-a pias iv_ r ina epnl is parat. ip-a 
mini-trat." Over the door of r lie refectory of the greal Dominican convent at 
Bologna, i&lt; this inscription, which describes the order to be ob-erved there 



* P Dosithee, Vie do S. Jean de la Croix. 1. 

t Chronic. Moriirniiuvn-i- M n. Lib. i. ap DI. torn. iv. 

I Chronic. Cliniincciis. 



AGES OF FAITH. HT; 

" Ut memor vitae pie fructor nraus ingiedere 
Ut sobrius amiifii* intus reficere, 
Ut Deo gratus psallens egredeie." 

The second line refers to the readings which took place during dinner ; to 
which Ivea de Chartres allude-, writing to certain monks in the-r word.-, " I 
might say more, but this is enough tor those wno daily hear ihe sacred Script 
ures read."* The historians of the abbey of Si. Gall expiessly mention that 
-elections from the holy Scriptures, \\itij the comments of Uie holy iaiher.-, and 
the history of Josephus, were read every day at table. 

Buildings for hospitality formed a large portion of monastic piles. The apart 
ments for guests were often magnificent, and in French abbeys were sometimes 
wainscoted with Irish oak, as the room in tne palace of King Charles, which 
was called from it. The Cistercian- always had a Xenodochium adjoining the 
aobey, where every one was received and relieved. f 

Thus we read, th.tt King Alfonso, wis ning to please the Most High, at tne 
prayer of his serene wife, Ele.-mor, built a monastery of Cistercians, near the city 
of Burgos, in a style of great magnificence, and near it a hospital, admirable for 
its buildings and decoration, which he so richly endowed, that ali travellers, at 
any hour of the day, on applying there, were provided with what they wanted ; 
and every night all who chose might lodge there : and the sick were kept there 
till tbrir death or recovery ; and by the hands of women and men of mercy all 
things necessary were given to them.:}; 

The historian of Crowland says, that the venerable Abbot John, in his last 
years, built that solemn and sumptuous hospice which stands between the church 
and the gates of the abbey, in order that strangers and guests of greater dignity 
might be lodged there. 

In the account of the rebuilding of the abbey of St. Tron, it is stated that there 
were within the enclosure two houses of the poor, the one for summer to lodge 
them, and the other for winter, with fireplaces to warm them.|| 

In the monastery of Durham there was the common house, to have a fire kept 
in it all the wiut-r, for the monks to come and \v;irm themselves at it, as they 
were not allowed a fire in their own chambers. u Besides which there was a 
famous house of hospitality, called the guest-hall, within the abbey-garth of 
Durham, on the west side towards the water, in which entertainment was iriv- 
eu to all sorts, noble and gentle, and of what degree soever that came thither as 
strangers, their entertainment nor being inferior to an v place in England, both 
f r. the goodnes&lt; of their diet, the sweet and daintv furniture of their lodging, 
and generally all things necessary for travellers ; and with all this entertainment 

Epist. cxcii. f Notit. Abbat. Ord. Cist. Lib. vii. 57. 

f Roderici Toletani.de Reb. Hispaniae, Liv. vii. o. 34. g Ingulphi Hist 

| Chronic. Abb. S. Tunlonis, Liv. x. ap. Dacher. Spicileg. vii. 



lit) MuUK&gt; ( AT1IOL1CI OH, 

the monks commanded not ;my one to depart wnile he continued of hone-t and 
i U liavior. This hall i.- a goodly, brave place, like unto the iiureh, 

.-npporled on either side by very tine pillars, and in the mid.-t ot the hall wa- a 
large range tor the tire. The chamber- and lodgings belonging to it were richly 
furnished, e-pecially one called the kings chamber, deserving that name."* 

At (ilastonbiiry, the gothie hostel belonging to the abbey, called the abbot - 
inn, for pilgrims, still exists. It \\a.- for the accommodation of pei.-on- \\hocould 
not be lodged within the abbey. 

Though we before had ocea-ion to .-peak ot cclesia&gt;tical ho-pitality in gen. ral, 
\se cannot vi-it the monasteries \\ithout brietlv recur; ing to it in ivfeicnce to the 
charity ot the religions ord At iiic niona.-terv of Xitria, on a mountain forty 

miles from Alexandria, there was a ho-t&gt; 1 ev&gt; r open for stranger-, whe: 
might remain two or three years, or a- long a- they wi-hed : only the fn -t \\ 
could they be without employment. Aft : eight days they were required t. u&gt;rk 
either in the gaidens or in the bakehons--. Ot t :. i-i in -inging the otli.-- . li&lt; 
were kept for the learned. Such wa- the intlnenc.- of monastic no-pit dity in 
first ages, that it wa&gt; the custom even f.r the cti/.n- -I ( )r\ rynchn-, where 
every stranger was received as a brother, to keep watch at the gate- for poor pil 
grims, to invite them to their hou.-e-. Ho-pitality wa- thus praeti&gt;ed by the 
monks from the earlie-t times. 

In the twelfth century, when Mathew was abbot ot St. Martin-le-&lt; iiamp-. at 
Paris, the hospitality and charity of tnat mona.-tery were mo-t remarka:&gt; e. " It 
was regarded," we read, "as a kind of comm MI a-ylum above all those of France 
for bi- hops, abbots, lay noblemen, monk-, clerks, and poor ; The hoii-e 

was always full, and every one was received with a -miling countenance, which 
no importunity of the crowds could ever alter. "f "If the monks," Myfl Peter 
the Venerable, " were to wash the feet of all the -tranger- that come t Cluny, 
and to pro-trate themselves before them, tiiev could do n .thing else from -un 
to sunset. We do what we can. Every dav we wash the feet and handsof three 
&lt;tran-ei&gt;, and offer bread with wine/ J 

At (limy there was no porter placed at the gate ; for the L :ite- w&gt;-re a. way- 
open to every one from morning till night, and struugerfl had only to enter, and 
they found every thing prepared for them.?? In abb-v-, ho\v. -ver. where there 
wa&lt; a porter, his duty wa- to show iM-nignity to all comers. " To all strang 
at the gates of our co vent-," -av the commentator^ on the rule of St. Frai 
"our friir- inu-t -peak -w-tly, even though the person- who come therein} 
rude and importunate ; for though one cannot ahvay- &gt;:ive them aim-, one em re 
fuse ihem with gentleness; and. it s certiin, that a sweet word edifie- -eeulars, 
whereas, the rude reply of one porter, or other friar conversing with secular-. 

* Ancient Monuments of the monastic church of Durham, 139. 

t Bibliittlu-c riuniun-ii-. .Vii l -t V.MI B &gt;iftt. Lib. i Ib. Lib 



AGES OF FAITH. 117 

would scandalize them greatly."* St. Benedict in his rule required the porter to 
bean old and wise man, mature in manner-. f In fart, no one disdained the of 
fice. St. Villibald, from being dean, was made porter of the monastery ofMount- 
Cas-ino, without its being regarded as a derogation. This was he who afterwards 
preached the gospel through Bavaria, and died a holy death in 7874 The Bene 
dictines were always true to the hospitable charges of their great founder. 

" I cannot speak in sufficient detail," says Orderic Vitalis, " of the hospitality 
of the monks of Bee. Let one ask the Burgundians, Spaniards, and other per 
sons who come from far and near, and they will answer and .say truly, with what 
benignity they used to be received by the religious. The gate of Bee is open to 
all travellers, and no one there is ever refused bread. What shall I add ? May 
He who has begun, and who entertains the good which shines in them, maintain 
it unto their arrival at the port of salvation."! 

The abbey of Morbac, in a fearful desert, used to be called " Vivarium pere- 
grinorum," as Dom Marteue remarks. It is said that Martin, abbot of Alne, in- 
Hainaut, having placed over the gate of his monastery the following line, with 
this punctuation, 

" Porta patens esto nulli ; claudatur honesto," 

was deprived in consequence of his dignity. In certain monasteries of Italy, be 
sides the usual hospitality, the abbot had always three poor persons at his private 
table. The rector of a college at Rome arriving at Subiaco, and finding no room 
in the inns, sent to the abbot of St. Scholastics, to ask whether he could lodge 
five of his students. The hospitality of this house must have resembled that of 
Phaeacians, who, as Homer says, used not only to receive every one coming to 
them from east or we.st, but furnish them with an escort, and youths to conduct 
them, and means to enable them to continue their journey ; for the answer of 
that holy man was sent back along with five horse*, to carry them up to the monas 
tery. 

William of Malmesbury records, that, in the monastery of Redding, founded 
by King Henry I., for monks of Cluny, it being a great thoroughfare, more 
monev was expended in hospitably entertaining poor guests, than in supporting 
the whole community of monks. In another monastery, there used to be more 
than one hundred tables laid out in one day.|| In 1310, an abbot gave a feast to 
six thousand guests, for whom were prepared three thousand dishes. In the 
monastery of Villers, the key of the cellar used to be placed in a cleft in the 
neighboring rock, and whoever wanted wine might there take it for his neces 
sity. 1 In the year 1058. the venemble Father Abbot Wulketulus gave to the 
monasterv of Growl and. the chapel of St. Mary, at Spaldying, with all the 
buildings belonging to it, to defray the expense of hospitality to the poor and to 

* Louis de Paris, Expos. nV )-i R^le ,] e s FF Minetirs, 3. f C. 66. + Hist. Cassinens.- 
Lih - iv - 1 Bolhn.i. die 11 .Inn. c. vii. J Hist. Ingulnhi, 66, 



n^ MORES CAT no LIC i; on, 

ihe rich, of whom there wa- generally there a great concourse.* Similarly, the 
&lt;-hureh of 1 1. --el \\as to be as-igned hv Pope Innocent III. to the prior and can 
on- ofGisborne, beOftllSe they give to every one asking, and apply their L oo&lt;: 
hospitality with such xcal that no one. depart- from them empty-handed. f The 
abbot Silver provided lor the exercise of a mo-t ingenious and needful liospitality ; 
lor he e-tabii-hed twelve monks in the priory of St. iVni.-, who were bound to 
entertain three converted Jews.]: 

One can readily understand, from the-e detail- that large provision was n 
.-ary to meet such demands upon mmia-tic benevolence, -in&lt;-&lt;&gt; the reception of 
-trangers within religious hotis.-s wa- n t to ro-mb what the poet speaks of, 



-prompt, hut cold ; 



A loveless M-rvirr, bought and sold." 

Hence, in the cellars of the abb-y ..f Cit.-aux there were, in 1202, twenty thon- 
.-and measures of wine, da ed according to it, - often, lift em, and twenty 

year-; and there Were tmpliurs^ of bu mainin. Clovoiijeanx , 

whicli dated from the pleaching of Si. 1 ,. niar. 

The sarcastic inference whicli the modern- irenerally draw from hearing -nch 
details rniirht -ug^e-t a painful rerlecti.&gt;n h&gt;-re. Alcinons, while entertaining 
I lysses, adds this encouragement to hi- invitation to feast on 



otppa KCtl aAA&j 

w , oreKey 6oi~ f &gt;- ueyapoi6iv 

i tf{7 r a Ao^u vai (Jo?tfi TK,e66iv, 
apt 



Alas ! nature seems to nave d j n. ,a e| uuoe th .-.- tun-- : for the monk who 
now receives a stranger to hospitality might adopt the converse of this invitation, 
and -ay, " Kat and drink, that you may proclaim to your countrvmen, when you 
are at table in your own house with your wife and children, that ih- monk i- al 
ways what the Pnari-ees said our Ma-ter \\a-, a drunkard and a glutton ! " 

I i.-i-tratu- say- to Telemachu&gt;, t hat a guest rememl)ers all his day- the ho-pita- 
ble ijifts of hosts.|| The guests cf monk-, in m-Hlern time-, have furnished an 
exception. Qapefigue &gt;peak&lt; ironically of the sweet life reserved for penitent 
l&gt;arons in Citeaux and Clairvanx. and s-em- to think that, like Homer s heroes, 
the monks were :d way &lt; at table, and that thny did or said nothing until they 
had sati.-hVd their minds with eating and drinking: as if every minute one might 
say of them 

oi 5 kit 6vf.(ci r ) rroiiia itpoKtiiiEva 



Le Grand d Aussy attacks them with great bitternes-. in a long chapter upon 

* Hist Mon. Villariensis, Lib. ii. Prol. ap. Martene. Tbes. Anec- 

+ Epist. Inn. iii. Lib. xiii 308. \ Lcb.-uf. lli^t du Dim^se de Paris, iii. 2l(t- 

Hcaux. Bib. du Hi., up. C;i]i.-ruin-. | xv ")4. 



AGES OF FAITH. 119 

-uuces and ragouts. It is in vain to expostulate with such adversaries, who can 
not bo made to comprehend whit were the consolations of faith. But the truth 
is, that the provision made for the monks was of a different kind : their daiiv 
bread was not what men of this kind so greatly e- teemed, what Homer calls th-r 
medicine for grief ; that which induces forget fulness of all evils; such wine a- 
Helen poured out to Telemachus, which c&gt;uld di-pel all desire of weeping, even 
though one had lost a father, or a mother, or had seen perish before one s eyes a 
brother or a dear son, but a chapter of the Imitation, more efficacious to console 
their spirits than all the mixtures of Egypt. 

Perhaps, however, it may be well to observe in conclusion, that, where monk- 
were not bound to exercise hospitality on this scale, there was nothing in their 
store-rooms that could excite envy. In the first general congregation of the Capu 
chins, in 1529, it was decreed, that never more than provision for one week was 
to be laid up, and nothing beyond it was ever to be received in aims. No super 
ior was to suffer any cask of wine to be in the convent, but only an open vessel 
or jug, containing what was necessary.* 

The philosophers of old used to have the images of their masters not only 
painted on their walls, but also graven on cups and rings, and other objects. 
Thus, Pomponius says, that he had ever before him the image of Epicurus. f The 
Christian sages of the cloister, in like manner, loved to be surrounded by memori 
als of the saints, to remind them of the deeds and sayings of the friends of God. 

To monasteries, therefore, came the arts, which illustrate all the echoes of the 
human world, which tell of sanctity and justice, and mi Id compassion, " progeny 
immortal, of painting, Sculpture, Music, and rapt Poesy, swift shapes and 
sounds, which grow more fair and soft as man grows wise and kind." Our ab 
beys, even in their ruined state, are often still populous with carved imagery, 
beauteous, holy shapes, whose marble smiles fill the hushed air with everlasting 
love." They are deserted now ; but once they bore thy name, O Jesus, Prince of 
Peace ! In the fifteenth century, when the heretics broke into Si. Gall, they loaded 
forty-sue wagons with the wood fragments of the images, which they burnt in a 
fire that was forty-three feet broad : those of stone were carried off, to be em 
ployed in making walls; and those of copper, which were the work of Tutilo, 
they broke to pieces. The choir was surrounded with exquisite carving, which 
they demolished. The walls of the church represented, in painting, the life of St. Gall 
and St. Othmar, which they whitewashed over. Many superb paintings stood 
over the different altars, and many curious works of ancient art surrounded them, 
all which they destroyed. The ruined abbey of St. Riquier is still full of emblem 
atic sculpture and images of saints, with representations under each of some 
&gt;vne connected with his life. The walls are curiously painted in fresco, repre 
senting historical events, with inscriptions beneath, but in a character so ancient 

* Aun. Capucinorum. f Cicero de Finibus, Lib. x. 



M o KK&gt; r A 1 HULK 1 ; (&gt;K. 
that my unpraetis- d eye could not decipin-r ; hem. Nothing c:m e\c. cd the beauty 

of ()u: Ludy t* chapel behind i in- choir, in the church are itiunv ai tan, over maul 

of which arc repiv.- ntcd .-aim- in tli- l!endictin&gt;- lial)it. 

r&gt;\n let us OOliteillpluie the h -aped the di.-troyeis hands. HOW 

many stories, picture i on the cloister-walls in old Toledo ! ho\v inaiiv under the 
.-"Ic iin arch -- of monasteries in I he desert, from i lr^ott- ii b..ok-, or from i \&gt;- 
silcnt in thc^ravc! \Vh:it an h - md religion- intere-t bei,,ng- l" these old 

portrait- offenders an 1 benef i.-tor- which are 1 oiin i in abbey.-! where tne\ 
call, a- at Haute rive, the her.ie virtues .fa Con ii William de GlaiUI ; or, as in 
tue Dominician convent at IJolo^na, the &lt; mut -n nice of tli-- an_ir lic dortor ! In 
the abbey of Km-irdelin one - -c- paiiiitnl th-- Kmpc or St. Ht-nry. with Si. \ olt- 
uaiiir, his preceptor, a Ibnnci 1 monk of tnai lion i &gt;y his .-idc. ( )n hi- 

K-li i- represented St. GeroUl, who tr^ni i&gt;"in^ a prin. un- a liermit \\)&lt; 

and near him are Connon and Ulric, iiis two -011-. who consoled hi&gt; last ia\ - 
putting on the cowl. The inten-t which many -jreat artist- felt in mon: 
coiitrinntcil to till them with painting-. "V^n when the monk- thcinx-lves did not 

.- up the pencil. Thus we find th" t r of IMntnri.-.-hio. and a picture of 

the Blessed Virgin by Leonardo d- Vin- i, in a corridor of the eloi-ter of St. 
&lt; )nnphrio. Similarly, Dominie (ihirlandajo navin^ at, ial veneration for 

the order of Dominicans, it was in their church of Santa Maria-novella, at Flor 
ence, that he had painted his masterpiece. His family had their burial there. 
ll\&lt; BOH, Rodolph Ghirlandaj , had felt tiie full power of the preaching of Savo 
narola, and he devoted his jK iu-il to transmit hi- pat-rnal tradition ofart. Ghilvrti, 
the most ancient historian ofart in Italy, speak- with enthusiasm of a great 
composition with which Ambrose de Lorenzo had cove red the walls of a doi-t* r. 
in which he represented the life of a Christian mi inary. One saw, at first, a 
young man taking the habit of a monk; then the game, entreating pemiissiou 
to be sent, along with other- of the brethren, to Asia, to convert the Sara-.-in- ; 
then their departure, their arrival near the Sultan, who ordus them to be 
scouraged ; then the listening people ; further on, the Sultan condemning them 
to die; their decapitation ; and, after it, a horrible tempe-t. before which \ 
trees are broken and torn up bv the roots, while the |&gt;eople rly in t-rror.* 

In the refectory of the convent of San Salvi, one mile from Florence, there 
were painted, by An. In del Sart .. f..iinij:ur.- ot -tint-. and the L i8l Supper ; and 
it is recorded, that, dining the -ej_r,. i n l.VJ!), when the Fioivnnne- were obliged 
U&gt; demolish all buildings in that pan, when tnev cim- l&gt;.-fore tni&gt; great in 
they were struck dumb and niotionle wit i admiration. At the entrance of the 
cloister of the abbey of S;. V line, at Verdun, Dom Marten- remarked a paint 
ing of the Kmperor St. Henry, whose belt and pike wre still pres-Tv-d in the 
tieasury there, offering to submit his crown and -&lt;&gt; -ptre, and demanding tht. 

* Riode I 1 Art. Clin t. 49. 



AGES OF FAITH. 121 

religions habit from the holy abbot Ilk-hard, \vli&gt; Commands him to resume the 
irovernment of his states, with the.-e verses : 

" Pertaesus regere Henricus venit ecce regendus, 
Vult utruraque abbas, nempe regendo regi."* 

The paintings in the monastic churches were often singularly impressive, from 
the lesson they were designed to convey. In the abbey of Einsiedelin our Lord 
is represented saying to Zacchaeus, " This day I will lodge in thy house," to 
prepare men for communion. The promise of God to Abraham, " Faeiam te 
in magiiam gentem," is made to indicate the propagation of the Benedictines ; 
and the alliance with Noah, Fat- tibi arcam et feed us ponam lecum," the de- 
liverance of those who embraced the monastic state. Over the sacristy, meekness 
is represented bv a symbolic figure, and on tiie ceiling the verse of the Apo 
calypse, " Around the throne were seated twenty-four old men, clothed with 
white, and wearing crowns." Here the sword is only borne as a sign of martyr 
dom, as the only blood shed by those who bear it was their own. 

In the abbey of St. Denis was a mystic painting of St. Paul turning a mill, 
and the prophets carrying each a sack to it, to signify his office of interpreting 
the Old Testament. This abbey itself, with its imagery, was, like many others, 
history and theology. The historical portraits found in monasteries, were often 
deeply interesting. Thus in the cloisters of the Carmelites, at Florence, there 
was a great painting by Ma&lt;accio, representing a procession, at the end of which 
were introduced the most illustrious personages of Florence. 

In the convent of the Celestins, at Paris, was a chapel founded by Louis d Or- 
leans, brother of Charles VI., in 1393, in which all members of that family were 
represented in robes of ceremony ; and in the cloisters of the Carmelite friary, in 
the place BAaubert, the familv of St. Louis were painted wearing their court- 
dresses. Dora Pez does not disdain to insert among his historical documents the 
instsript ions under the long series of portraits which are in the monastery ofClans- 
ter-Nenburg, representing the ancient marquesses and dukes of Austria, of the 
line of Babenberg. with their wives and daughters. f Bur it was sacred pictures 
which the monasteries possessed in greatest number. The monks felt deeply that 
art is godlike, a branch of the divinest studies. One holy brother, lately in the 
Eaourial monastery, as a modern poet tells us, Guiding from cell to cell and 
room to room, a British painter left not unvisited a glorious work, our Lord s 
Last Supper, from the hand of Titian, beautiful as when first it graced the refec 
tory. There, while both stood with eyes fixed upon that masterpiece, the holy 
father in the stranger s Par S p o k e these words, Here dailv do we sit, thanks &lt;riven 
to God for dailv bread, and here, pondering the mischiefs of these restless times, 
and thinking of my brethren dead, dispersed, or changed and changing, I not sel- 

* Voyage Lit. 95. f Fez. Rer. Aust. Script, torn. i. 



1-3-J MORES CATIIOLITI; &lt;)R. 

don i upon this soletnii company unmoved hv &gt;hck of circumstance or lapse 

ot ya!s, until I cannot but hell. AT that they they arc in truth the substance, 
he shadow-. ^ -pake the mild .leronymite, h - melting away with- 

in him like a dream, ere he nad era- &lt;1 to -ja/- , p-map- to sp- ak : " And I ," a 
the poet, grown old, but in a happier land, " have to \-. !- OOl signed tno-eheart- 
moving words, word- that can &gt;&lt;&gt;uthe more than \\\- 

Still ni nastrrie- \\ ri&lt;&gt;t to be academies &lt; if art, as the philo-ophei - of 
&lt; -l-i Mer tailed not to remind caeh oihT from lime to t in.-, a- it t &gt; LT ia n-t 

the exaggeration \vhicli they tor-siw mighl n- i. " It miy be \v,li 
II n&gt;:o of St. Victor, that monk- who dwell in citie-, to \v:,..m th-- eruwd- 
pooplc ihould have the del ighi of paintings forthesiaaplicityol th-s-- \\lio 

are not ilelitrhted with the suhtilty of Scripture ; but fm^is \vho are plea-i-d witn 
N&gt;1 tnde, a Imi-se or an ox is more useful in tie Held tiiaii &lt;-u tn- wall. The ..ue 



pleases tlie eye, the others minister to neee t\." 9t. liernard on One ,u 

even eomplains of the ^rot- s&lt;pie Klllptun found in the el. \\ hat, he 

luirns, "is this ri&lt;liculotis monstrosity, this certain BtCUIge defonttfid beaiitv 
and beautiful deformity Why are the-e urn-lean ape- there? What ap-th- - 

lions, these monstrous eetitaur- d"in_ r What th -e half-men, tiie-e -potted pan 
thers, these liirhtinu: warrior.-, thes" horn-souiidinu r hunt-men ? YOU ,- : ,n s. e un 
der one head many bodie-, and a^ain on one body many heads. I lei- a ipiad- 
ruped with the end of a serpent : tin-re a fi-h with the head of a (piadrup- d. 1 I.T- 
a l&gt;east with the forepart like a horse, and the hind like a goat ; there a horned 
animal, half-horse. So many and so -t range are the form-*, that one is more 
tempted to read in marble than in books, and to pa-s the whole day in admiring 
these thintr&lt;."f I" &lt; , fven to the objects which were expres-l\ f .nrilitv, -| 
wasgenerally a certain l)eauty or emi(.s]t\ imparted. The very clocks of abl 
were often pnKligie- of art. That of Glastonbnry, made by iNt.-t Li-:l,tf ..,:. a 
monk in the fourteenth century, exhibited on the dial, divided into twentv-f.-ur 
hours, the diurnal and nocturnal time, with the solar, lunar, and other a-tro- 
nomic motions, while figures of armed knights on horseback were .-een ridim; 
about in all directions. 

Of the deep symbolicand religion imagery, rpooyavra avvlroi*. wideh covered 
the wall- of monasteries, it would be difficult to form an idea without long ob-er- 
vation of the ancient bnOdingB. On one portal, in Franc--, is repte-ented the 
whole hi-tory of man from the creation, to the Ia-t judgment, according to the 
order adopted by Vincent de Beanvai-, in his Mirror of the World : f&gt;r there is 
n, a- Hidron remaiks, the creation and th- ol&gt;liiration of man to lal&gt;or through 
the twelve Uonthnof the veir, and this represents iheapeoutnm natural- . Then, 
nen havimj fallen, must rise a&lt;rain by science ; therefore, in addition to manual 
labor, the seven liberal arts are seen, and this corresponds to the si&gt;cenlum 

* D- CUustro .Ynimne, Lib. ii. c. 4. f S. Bernard. Apoiog a Guillel. c. xii. 



AGES OF FAITH. 123 

doctrinale. Thus man knows ; but he must make a good use of his knowledge ; 
therefore, in the next place, are shown virtues, social, domestic, and interior. 
Among the first are read liberty, promptitude, friendship; among the 
second all household virtues, represented by women as matrons working; 
among the third, faith, hope, and charity, as also the cardinal virtues; and 
this corresponds to the speculum morale. Lastly, man thus informed, pro 
ceeds to act, and hence are ,-hown all the personages of the Old and New Te.-ta- 
ment, ending with a representation of the end of the world in the final judgment ; 
and this answers to the speculum historale. As in these sculptures, containing 
3000 images, all this is shown only in brief symbols, the whole is developed at 
length on the stained-glass windows of the church in 6000 figures; so that noth 
ing can exceed the grandeur of this sublime poem. Moreover, the instruction 
conveyed bv the separate part is admirable. Thus in all representations of Cher 
ubim and Seraphim, the one cannot be distinguished from the other, for the rea-on 
that love and science were deemed inseparable. Again, the blood flowing from the 
Lamb is poured upon the martyrs, to show that the shedding of their own would 
be of no avail without that of Jesus Christ ; and at the last judgment, the Christ 
appears without pity; he shows his hands pierced, and repels all with the spec 
tacle. Even his bles-ed mother and St. John appear afraid. St. Michael weighs 
the soul- ; the season of mercy has past ; it is now that of justice. 

From an inspection of the monasteries, it is clear also that the poem of Dante 
exercised a great influence on art. The nine circles of hell were represented in an 
abbey of Friuli, and in the cloisters of the Olivetans, at Volterra. 

With respect to the hands which executed these paintings in cloisters, we may 
observe, that the greatest number were either the work of the monks themselves, 
or else the pious offering of artists, and sometimes memorials of their gratitude; 
as when Rubens painted his great picture of the adoration of the shepherds for 
the Fraud-scans of Soissons, to show his sense of the charity they had exercised 
towards him during his sickness, when on his journey from Antwerp to Paris, in 
1622.* " This year, 895," say the Corby annals, " Theodegarius, our brother, 
gave to the convent, to be in memory of him, our Lord s Passion, curiously de 
picted with a pen, an artificial work admired by all." From brother Conrad of 
Vienna, says another monastic; diary, we received some solemn pictures. f Paint 
ing and sculpture were not, however, the only medium of instruction in the adorn 
ment ot cloisters. Inscriptions for the same purpose were also generally used. 
Upon the walls and pillars. " says Weever, relating the destruction of the ab 
beys m England, ceartain inscriptions n pd to be painted or engraven, which 
being hold-nto be snpe^tition&lt;. were thm, defaced, washed over, or obliterated. 
Tim* under the blessed Trinity it had been usual to read, 

* Hist, de Soisson..ii. .9ft. 

* Npcmloff. R. R. p. p. Minorum Conv. Vienn. an. Fez. Script. HPT. A list ii. 



1:M M&lt;&gt; i: K8 ( A i H OLICI j u K. 

A p, Hex Creator. :ivc fili, lux. Srrvator. 

A ve paX ct rhanta&gt; 

Ave simplex . a\v l iim :i\-c Italian- ~im- fine 
Una sununa Tnnil 

And under the cni&lt;-iti\, 

1 Quantum pro nobis Clnislus tulit esse videraus, 
Hi taincn a lachrymis h&lt; u luinina MIV.I ti in-mus. "* 

Lydgate MCribefl a pious inspiration, which suggested to h m the composition oi a 
hymn on the passion, to his having read similar lint-- in :m ahlx v when a boy : 

" Within fifteen, holding my pa&gt;sai:c 
Middle of a cloister, depict up&lt;&gt;n :i wall 
1 saw a crucifix, wlmsr wmimN \\n- not small, 
Witn this word vide written then- iusiiir. 
I&gt;&lt;*hold my meekness, child, and li-avi- Uiy pride. 

John of Whethamstt de, (he learned al)b"t &lt;&gt;t St. Alian ^, in thf rf-iirn of H-nry 
VI. amoiiir othrr iinai^c- and oniani -nis pla&lt;v&lt;l in the churcli ot that ahU-y 
the figures of oeruun heathen philosoplicrs. \\holiad t&gt;titit-d of theiixmrnatiooof 

Christ, and under them th&gt; &gt; lines 

" Istac qui gradieris hos testes si memoreris. 
Credere vim poteris proles Deus est mulieris." 

The walls of that abbey were covered with curious painted imagery, and also 
with pioti&gt; inscriptions in golden characters. Weevrr !_ r ivr- th- vefMfl UMeribed 

in the al)hot s lodging, those in tlie walk between liiscliainlK r and the hull, ti. 
in the windows of the abbot s library, those in the cbamU-r adjoiniiii: his study, 
and those upon the roof over the chancel. On one wall \\a~ writen an admon 
ition to princes 

" Non bene rnncessum princeps regit ille Ducatu 
Conoilio procerum qui non regitur sapientum. 
Judex ijiiando sedes caveas ne jura supines 
Jure quidem iradito. Plebs Rex est. Rex sine regno." 

In one window of the library was written 

"Cum studeas. videas. ut sit. virtus et honeslas ; 
Hie, et ubique tibi finalis causa studendi." 

Sntrer says, " that on the doors of the :d)bey church of St. Denis, on which were 
represented the pa ion. resurrection, and a-&lt;vnsion of our Saviour, tliese v 
were inscribed 

Portarum quisquis att &gt;llere quaeris hnnorem, 
Auntm ncr sumptii-. opcri- mir.-ire lalunem." 

* A Discourse of Funeral Monuments. 



AGEd OF FA I Til. 

Nobile claret opus, sed opus quod, nohile claret, 
Clarified mentes ut eunt per lumina vera 
A.d verurn lumen, ubi Christus janua vera. 
Quale sit iutus in bib drU-nniuat aurea porta. 
Metis Lebes ad veruni pui niiitcrialia surgit, 
Et demersa piius hac visa luce resurgit. "* 

Similar inscriptions, suitable to the office of each place in the monastery, were 
generally found. Tims in the abbey of Muunt-Caasino, over the place for wash 
ing, were these lines 

" Ut foris ohlectet nitor hunc decet Intus haberis, 
Sj tua mens sordet quid erit si laveris ora 
Aut oculos, puro corde lavatomauus."t 

Before the cros in the centre of the great hall of the dead, in the abbey ot 
Citeaux, was this inscription 

" Hie deponuntur monachi quando moriuntur. 
Hinc assumuntur auimse sursumque deferuntur." 

In the cioisier were these solemn verses, reminding men that the form of this 
world was passing away 

" Mundus abit, fortis sim, non ero : sim speciosus, 

Non ero : sim dives, nou ero, mundus abit. 
Mundus abit, non Christus abit, cole uon abeuntem."$ 

In the palace of Lucullus the apartments were called after the names of the 
gods, Apollo, Jupiter, &c, In the monastery of St. Benedict the chambers are 
distinguished by the names of saints. Passing along the corridors in the convent 
of the Franciscans, at Loretto, I observed over the door of each cell some pious 
sentence from the holy scriptures, or the writings of the fathers. Sometimes the 
tradition respecting him who once inhabited the cell served in.-tead of any device, 
as in the room next the library in that Dominican convent of St. Agostino, in 
which Albertus Magnus lived for a while. To walk through the Carthusian mon 
astery of Calci, among the mountains of Pisa, and mark the inscriptions which 
are presented at every step, is a useful study in itself, and the words seem to come 
with -i greater force than they cculd from any book. Over the entrance I read, 
" Ingrediatur gens justa custodiens veritatem ;" at one end of a long corridor, 
" Posuit eos Dens in Paradiso voluptatis ;" over the door of a cell, " In solitu- 
dine boni mores virtutesque omnes discuntur." Most of the lines, however, are 
commemorative of our Saviour s passion, or taken from his last sermon ; and one 
feels that one is in the house of his dearest familiar friend?, who cannot rest with 
out having his sweet image and his divine words ever before them. But it is 



* Sug. Lib. de Rebus in Administratione sua Gestis. ap. Duchesne, iv. 

t Hist. Casinensia. j Martene. Voyage Lit. 219. 



M O K K &gt; C A T 11 U L 1C I ; O K, 

time to repOSQ afw thi- long inspection. Already from these first glances we &lt;-an 
understand the justice o4 lK&gt;m tiavtent s observation, with re-p-ct to the mo; 
tery of St. Remi, at Rheims, when li-- Bars, " that every time fie visit- it, lit- re 
mark- .-omething new that had previou-ly e-eajn-d his not! 9o it ifl in gen 
eral with all these ancient abbeys, where tin- i ricn U of (iod may justly say, that 
they live at peace in splendid poverty Yes, tin- inscription in the ehitivh &gt;,\ 
( arthusians near Pavia, " Ximi&lt; honorati snnt aniiei tni Dens," explain- the n. 
nificence of that incomparable monastery, and expres-e- ih- true iva-on of the 
grandeur and beauty of all otln-r-. And, in eflect, who can eeas*- t. admire the 
grandeur and the beauty of these holy retreats, wh^rc every thini: sJonou- in 
art as well as nature seems concentrated to \\aii upon reli^ ..n : Wnat a triumph 
for all that value intellectual good that there should lv thus already a happy earth 
where men of go&lt;xl-will can enjoy a foret:i-t" of the calm of heaven ! that for them 
there should be such a pure dwelling-place, where there i- a &lt;jiiirt solemn v- 
of Sober reason in all the parts, which reach- s the most thoughtless ear, " while 
every shape and mode of matter lends its for th-- omnipotence ( ,f mind, 
which, from its dark mine, drags the gem of truth to decorate this paradise of 
peace." 



CHAPTER VII. 

MONASTERY, viewed on its heroic side, wa- a groat country mansion. 
or ance-tral palace, antique and veneraMe, full of charm- for tho who 
have an owl-like fondnes- for old \\all-and iw, full ofcurimis mem- 



oriais. retaining traditions from ih- old -n time, and l&gt;- a-tii)ir of an 
who -h- d an eternal renown up&lt;n the familv which inhabited it. How 
would an ordinary hons" iiave L r lori-d in having fr iis founder such a 
hero as St. NVilliam, who-*- al&gt;bey in the des-rt j - hi- name / Onl-ric 

Vital!- -ays, that this glorious knight wa- t e them. of minstrelsv with the. I n- 
glcur-;. Pucaiel h:is discovered an old romance in the honor divided into four 
part-, treating on the childhood of William, th" coronation of Lewis, le charroi 
de Nismes, and the mona-tic life, le moinage of William, 




Moult I ssaiieii s^ncti- cliret ci 
Tant ti r i IJM I - 



Every kind of glory, in fact, shed lustre unon the memory of many founders 

l. Hist, de 1 i. il. 7, 



AGES O* * A I Til. 127 

of abbeys in the middle ages, whose merit could not have been exaggerated by 
the gratitude of their respective communities. Charlemagne himself, in a certain 
charter to the monastery of St. Benin at St. Onier, boasts of his being of the 
lineage of its founder. " Et quoniam," he says, " idem sanctus de genere nostro 
fuisse dignoscitur." And no less honorable to it was another to the same church, 
in which we find Roland and Olivier named a- witnesses.* Well might the 
monks of Boulancour, in the diocese of Troyes, esteem as a glory their possession 
of many charts from such men as i lie seigneurs of Joinville and Villardouin, who 
had been the benefactors of that house, which they enriched with many relics that 
they had brought with them from the ea-t.f Independent of religious grounds 
the monks in general seem to evince towards their founders that kind of reveren 
tial gratitude which Homer s men so invariably cherish for their benefactors, as 
when Eumsens says of his old master 

rov nlv kytav , ca fezve, teat ov napeovr ovojjd&tv atSsonat. 

One is naturally led to take this heroic view of the monastic institution on being 
admitted into the treasury of an abbey which contained often so many titles to 
suggest and substantiate it. 

Having seen enough now of towers and columns, of walls and gates, let us 
follow this good monk who is about to show the ancient estimable things pre 
served in the most secret recesses of his house ; for the spectacle will he curious 
and instructive as well as religions. We first have to pass by the costly deposits 
which appertained not to his community, for such were often found in monas 
teries, as atRheims, in the abbey of St. Denis where the public money and also 
the silver and jewels of private persons used to be placed for security in the hands 
of the abbot and canons exclusively, who alone had the key ; and as at Durham 
and at Strata Florida, where the gentry of the countrv kept their deeds and gen 
ealogies, the registers of their baptisms and marriages, in the arehivium of the 
monks. Lupus, abbot of Ferrers, writes to Hildain, sayintr, " I do not wonder 
that you should have thought of committing your treasure to our custody, since 
you did not know the situation of our monastery ; but if you had known it you 
certainly would not have left it with us three divs ; for though the access is dif 
ficult to pirates, to whom, for our sins, no leujrth of distance is loner, vet the 
weakness of the place, and th small numi&gt;er of men fit to resist, kindles the 
avidity of the rapacious, especially as we are surrounded with woods through 
which they can easily escap"/ $ I&gt;t ns examine th it t&gt;art only which contains 
the property of the abbey, and we shall find that even the monastic treasures par 
took of an Homeric character 



* Chronic. Monfisf S. Bertini, p. ii. cap. i. c. vii. ap. Martene, Thes. Anecdot. iii. 

f Desguerrois, Hist, du DiocSse de Troyes, 289. \ Lupi Epist. ex. 



128 MORES CAT IIOLICI; OR, 

Grms, m:uMc-, ivory, pictures, silver, prccim. toll 

.ut (jui uou halK unt. c&gt;! qtn mm cuiet hubt-re. 

The monks, and in ages of faith, many of tho-e who visited them, verified 
the latter part of this line. When Pope Pa-. hal cam" into France, say the chron 
icles, he visited the abb^y of St. Denis, where he was r&lt; i most solemnly ; 
but a wonderful and memorable example did he leave on thi- &gt;n to all pi 
ent and future, for he did not deirn so mneli a- to look at either gold or sil\ 
or ornament of precious stones, whieh are in th" abbey, but only prostrated him- 
self d"\ outly and wept before ih&gt; h&lt;&gt;l\* bodi--&lt; as one \\ h &gt; otl T d ii m-eif wholly 
to God and to his saint-.* 

Supposing the reader, nevertnel. -- so devout, I do 1&gt; -e.M-h him now t 

raise np his eyes a little, and survev with me for a moment " bags of fiery opal-. 
sapphire-, amethy-t-, jacinths, hard topa/. gra-s- jreeu emeralds, beauteous rubi- &gt;. 
sparkling diamonds, and seld--een costlv -tone-, of so &lt;_ r reat priee a- one of them 
indifferently rated may serve in peril of ealamity to ransom ^reat kings from eap- 
tivitv." 



" I delight," says Cardan, " in little instrum- m- ot iu^enuitv, in gems, in ves 
sels, in brass and silver canisters, and in glas- rlobes."f He would be delighted 
here then, where he would find so mauv e.\(jui-ite tiiinu s lik&gt;- that chalice in the 
treasury of St. Gall, ex electro, miro .pper.-. or those cups in that of St. Mam 
composed of agates and alaba-ter ; th &gt;u^h -ooth, at first, notwithstanding the au 
thority of so profound a philosopher in favor of them, one cannot but wonder to find 
such objects in such a place; for though thev are allinft-, vt being as un-nitable 
presents to monk- a&lt; horses would have l&gt;een to i he p in--.- of Ithaca, t the (jue-tion 
still recurs how came they here? Their intrinsic value, h &gt;\\ever, explains th" 
difficulty ; for that rendered them, it was thought, worthv offer-in .:- to testify the 
|)iety of the donors. Thus Catherine of Lorraine, \\-\\n pi-.-f.-rr-d th" ijua ity of 
Benedictine nun to that of wife of the emp-ror Maximilian, gave to the ! &gt; tie. lie- 
tine monastery of the holy-sacraraeut, at Nancy, which -h" founded, all the jew 
els that had been given to her by princes. I do not deny, but immemorial custom, 
and traces perhaps of ancient manners, to the influence of which, in -mil- decree, 
men, in spite of themselves, continued to be subject, may -onetime- have dictated 
the choice of objects. The usual gifts Stowed by H .mer s hep.,-, t &gt; their part 
ing guests were golden cup- and goblets. Menelaii- Htys, he will .^iveTelemacini- 
the most l&gt;oautiful and honorable present, a cup of silv-r circhnl with gold at th&gt;- 
brim, the work of Vulcm; and then h mentions through how many prineelv 
owners hands it has passed to his own. In monasteries we find cups and gob- 
lets thu 5 ? presented, and a careful record kept of the hi-tory of each. Thus \V it- 
lafius. king of the Mercians, in his charter to the monastery of Crowland, in v 

* Chroniques de St. Denis, ad an. 1107. * Hi-r. C ird. de Vita Proprm. Lib. ii. c. 8. 

$ iv. \v. 114. 



AGES OF FAITH. 129 

among other gifts says, " I offer to the refectory the horn of my table , ( ut senses 
monasterii bibunt inde in festis sanctorum, et in suis benedietionibus memincrint 
aliquamlo animai donatoris Witlatii. Charles the Bald "gave to the abbey 

of St. Denis le Hanap Salomon," supposed to have belonged to king Solomon, 
" which is of pure gold," says the chronicle of St. Denis, " and of fine emeralds 
and fine grains so marvellously worked, that in all the kingdoms of the world 
there was never so subtle a \vork."f 

The hunap which the sultan of Persia, Aaroun, sent to Charlemagne, was in the 
abbey of the Madeleine, at Chateaudun. The abbey of St. Iliqnier, in the eighth 
century, possessed thirteen hanaps. In the abbey of Stavelm Dom Martene saw 
a golden cup, which Wibaldus had brought from Constantinople. These cups in 
very ancient times were used on great occasions in the refectory, not for the pur 
pose of drinking to the saints a custom anathematized by the council of Nantes, 
Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, writing against such a profanation, and Charle 
magne prohibiting it in his capitularies^: but for festivity at great banquets, 
such as Dom Martene describes as having been given by the holy and humble 
abbot of Corby, in Saxony, on the day of his own arrival there, on occasion of 
the dedication of a chapel, when he remarked that whenever the abbot drank to 
the health of any one, the person, whatever might be his rank, stood up while he 
drank. The use of such goblets, however, did not even imply so ranch of 
festivity; f&gt;r Salomon, abbot of St. Gall, who died in 920, who used to drink 
only water at meal-times, drank, nevertheless, out of a heavy golden goblet, set 
round with jewels, corresponding to the basin in his bed-chamber, which was a 
most exquisite work of old Greek art. In the treasury, moreover, the sacred 
vessels were also placed ; respecting each of which there was often some curioue 
hi-tory or tradition. Let us take an instance : In the time of blessed Henry, em 
peror, there was in Germany a certain blind man, who, being moved by what he 
heard preached, (hat he who left anything for God, should receive an hundred 
fold, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his wife, gave his cow to the poor. 
Soon afterwards, going as usual to matins, his foot struck against something ; so, 
stooping down, he found a bag on the ground, which was .small but heavy. On 
returning home he gave it to his wife, who opened it, and found it was full oi 
gold : part of which she kept, carrying the rest to a goldsmith, who purchased it 
from her, pretending that it was only brass. Now it happened that St. Henry 
came to that city at this time, and one of his servants lost a gold spur. This man, 
fearing for the result, went to the same goldsmith, and purchased from him 
another in its stead. The emperor, however, perceived that one of his spnrswas 
new, and inquired the cause, when the whole history was brought to light, as the 
emperor sent for the smith, and inquired respecting the quality of the gold, which, 



* Hist. Ineulphi, p.. 9. f Ad an. 877. 

J Le Grand d Aussy, Hist, de la Vie Privee des Francois, iii, 316. Voyage Lit. i. 237- 



130 MOKKS &lt; A T iroLici; OH, 

after hearing the story, In- concluded wa- tial. Taking the gold from the 

blind man . lie gave them in exchange for it the villa which ; lied 

Plinlendroff, and of the gold lie caused io be made an immense chalice, whli I 
handles, which he gave to the church of hie ed La ir HOC, a: \ . -: d ; and with 
thi- chalice ma-s u-ed to he ofll-red for tin- emperor ,- -mil aft-T his death. This 
i- -hown once a year on Mamiday-Thm sday.* 

The ancient ex voto&lt;, could the history attached to tliem he all known, would 
be a study in itself not a little curious and cxlityin_ r . " 1 r.-u\e:n the 

historian of the abbev of Mm 9 no, or L iuterh-r&lt;r, " having h"a:d one of 
our brethren say, that the person who brought in-- -iiv.-r -h:p, and offered it at the 
altar, mentioned at the time that he ha I h-en delivered from a gr. at tcinpe-t."f 
How many affecting memorial- of heaven s m-Tcv and of man s inju-tce are 
trea-ui-cl h-Te, could we but read them right ! but the mv-t"rious tale is oidy 
half-disclosed, and sealed is now each lip that could have told it. 

The riches of the nion is-eri-s in p. ate aro-e from tne prodigious cjuantitv of 
gold and silver which exi-ted in tne middle in:t of \vhicii pissed to 

them in the way of offerings from the devotion of tiie lay nobility. The Comte 
de Foix, in 14-"&gt;7, i. r ave a bamjnet. at wiiich were twelve tables of seven serv 
each, and for each service there w--:--- 1 10 silver pl.t Le Grand d Au-sv re 

marks, tuat Louis KIV. c mid show nothing oomparable t &gt; \h ri--h--s in tbisre- 
sj&gt;ect of King Charles V.,au invent iry ot wno-- plate still exi-t-.^; \Vh"ii Lonis- 
le-Gros diel, he left all his ^old and ,-ilver [)iat" to be distributed ainonu dif 
ferent abbey-. Philippe-AngitSte l&gt;y hi&lt; last will lefi to the abbev ,,f St. Denis 
all his jewels, precion- Btones, an&lt;) crosses of gold, on condition that t w.-nt v monks 
should tlrere daily -av ma-- t ir his soul. The Odrious drinking horns and v. 
mounted on -tau r -. and lions, and l)oars, used by kin_r&gt;, were utten l--ft to mot, 
teries. Henry V. gave a gold service, r"])re.-nt ir_ r A- - nc.mrt. Honfleur, and 
other places where he had triumphed, to the convent of Simi, which \\a-only 
melted down within late years by some Ijondon .I"\\-. t whom it had !&gt; en ]&gt;le&lt;i 
for money to -upply the necesiti--s of that poor community durin: their abode 
in Lisbon. In the annals of Corby, under the date of 1171, we pad. " Henry 
de A&gt;lob, in honor of the twelve Apo-i ive to St. Vitu- twelve ciq 

with th" elTigv of an Ap --tie. and Oihelricns de Svalen Deru r gave a -ilver t" 
on the feast of St. Martin for frat-rnity." " The-e ])"ief^ of plate in abl* \ -." 
says Le Grand d An--v, " were never n-e&lt;l by the monks, but they \\&lt; re preserved 
in the treasury amon&lt;_ r other curiosities which ns- d to lie -ho\\n on certiin &lt;lays 
and hours." The abbey of St. Riquier in the eighth century posse-sod, besides 
these hanaps already spoken of, knives domei] widi gold and jewels, and a 



* Anon. Leobiensis Chronic. Lib. i. An. mviii. ap. Pea, Script. Rcr. Austriac. 1. 

f Chronicon Montis Scrcni ap. Menckenii Script. Rc-r. Germ. 11. 

t Hist, de la Vie Privee dcs Francois, iii. 262 An. Corb. up. Leibnitz Script. Bruns. iii. 



AGES OF FAIT II. 131 

silver inkstand. Similar presents used to he :-hown in the convent of Fontanelle, 
inci in many other religious housed. Tne mona-tery ofFleury sent many pieces oil 
plate, amongst which were two candelabra* weighing 30 marks, to Lonis-le&gt; 
Jeune, when lie was to set out for the Holy Land. 

Charles the Bald," says the chronicle of St. Denis, "gave to the martyrs his 
great imperial crown, which on grand fe.-tivaU is suspended before the high altar, 
with the crowns of other kings."* 

The kings of France in general left their crown to the abbey of St. Denis. 
"Siconolf," says the historian of Mount-Cassino, carried oft ihe treasures of 
the abbey, consisting of the rich presents of Kings Charles and Pepin, of Kar- 
lomann and Louis, and others in form of chalices and patens, crowns and 
crosses, phials and vases, and precious ornaments, and 130 pounds of the purest 
gold, and silk with gold and gems, besides the golden crown of his father, ad 
mirably adorned with carbuncles, and a quantity of gold and silver coin. "f 

When the Danes arrived at the abbey of Peterborough, in 1070, they took 
away the golden crown in the church, embellished with gems, from the head of 
the crucifix, and the golden stool, set also with gems, from beneath its feet, two 
golden biers, and nine others of silver, adorned with gold and gems, and twelve 
cros-es, some of gold and others of silver, gilt and gemmed, and an aniipendinm, 
all of gold and silver and precious stones. 

In the monastery of Ripon were four Gospel-, written on a purple ground in 
letters of gold, enclosed in a golden caskft, which had been ordered by St. Wil 
frid. The furniture for St. Ina s famous chapel in the abbey of Glastonbury, the 
construction of which cost 2600 pounds of silver, while the value of the altar 
was estimated at 264 pounds of gold, was suitable to its splendor. The covers 
of the Gospels were of gold, above twentv pounds in weight. The priest s vest 
ments interwoven with gold, and cunningly ornamented with precious stones. 
The treasury of Crowland abbey was equally remarkable. We read of one abbot 
of St. Alban s, Simon Lanjham, giving to that abbey at one time copes, vest 
ments, and other ornaments, to the value of 437 poiuids. The chalices, remon 
strances, crosses, shrines, and binding of books, which the Lutheran plunderers 
found in the abbey of St. Gail, in 1532, were of immense value, and many of 
these objects had been in the abbey 600 years. 

We may observe that manv tilings also, of pure curiosity, existed in the treas 
uries of abbeys. Torquemade, who delights in the marvellous, says, that the 
Franciscans of a convent in Valencia possessed some enoromus bones, which Syn- 
forian Campegio, who saw them, supposed to be those of a giant. No doubt in&gt; 
many monasteries fossil remains, and other objects of great natural curiosity, were 
preserved from ancient times, but things historical were chiefly regarded. In the 
treasury of the abbey of the Isle Barbe was preserved the horn of Roland, which 

* Ad an. 877. + Chronic. S. Monast. Casinensis, c. 30. 



M RES CAT IK) Lie I; OR, 

the head of the family .if M"iit-d or, who believed its.-lf descended from him, 
enjoyed the privilege ofexp"sin&lt;r once \cr\- Year. The rln boaM and men 
of Charlemagne, were pre-erved tor manv a^es ill tin- abl&gt;ey ot St. Ieni-. In 
numerable precious works of art Game into the moius eri---of tie n the tak 
ing of Constantinople, in ll2&lt;M, l&gt;v i ne ri n-a&lt;i- T-. In iln-al. Uheinan was 
a wooden rr , nine incta- hiuh, rut out of a sin^l - pic", which showed in more 

than LOO figures the chief paasuges of our Saviour s life, wiih &lt;iivek in-ciip!i&lt;&gt;n- 

added, which tiie monks thru acc|nind. 

What i-nrions and pivrioiis \\ork- of art were in the mona-i. r\ ..t St. Fi-.n-n- 
tino, of Saumnr, in 10O-I ! Tiic ahhot Kohrit. wh was a diliirnil inqnin-r, ol&gt;- 
tainod a ninltitiido of unheard-of ornament-, &lt;_ r iv:it Boreeos of wool, which \ 
fXtendcd in the choir on hi^li &gt;oli inn t . s. icpic-entiii _ r I from the A| 

alypse, curtains and tapestry cuvr-d with figure- at lions in the fields of 

bl"(xl. and others with white Iv.rders, in which were l&gt;ea-ts and Uinl- : If al-o 
made two shields of WOndrOUfl si/e ami heantv. Tiie al)l&gt;ot Mathew also made 
two dorsi;-. and al)lot Adhelx-it is said to have made two silver candelabra*.* 

Amonij tiie inestimable treasnie- of j- -\\eis in tiie al&gt;l&gt;ey &gt;; 8( ~- pli- n. at Troves, 
Dom Mart vth-- Psalter of ( "lint IIeurv,the t xindei of that al&gt;l&gt;ey, written 

in letters of g ill fre-h alter more than 800 \ In the tri asm y of 

Riuc be remarked the ancient hi-eviaiie- of the m..nk-, writt--n in small lett 

on little movable si. r the pur: : l)"iii _ r ^ v- n in part- to monks who 

travelled. lie -aw tlier.- al- tie chair wljirh ! 1 :o St. Bernard when he 

was a novice. In the abl&gt;- 9 Maximin, at Tn-ves, lie -a\ - is a t- \t of the 

Gospels in letters of gold, covered \\itli inestimable jewel-, a present tVi-m the 
Princes- Ada, daughter of Km- IVpin, sister of Chai lema-_Mie, at the end of which 
are these verses in uncial letter- : 

Hie iiln-r rst vita 1 , puruh si. et qnatuor nmnes, 
Cl:n:i salutift-ri ]&gt;:iiiiii-n&gt;. inir.-iciila Clin-ti, 
Qua- pin- eh niistrtim voluit fi utcin : 

Qiifiu ii vissit prt stTilu-if IIKIUT 

Ad;i-:iin-i -i Dri, i&gt;nlclins(jtic ornate inctallis, 
.ju.i. (|iii-(|iic lf_ r :it vrr-us. or-iit- incincnto." 

In tile abbey of St. Ritpiiei he -aw a t- \t of the (. in golden letters, on 

purple vellum, iriven to St. Ani^li&gt;ert by ( narlema^ne. and al-o the original man 
uscript chronicle of the monast-ry by Harinlfe. 

\\ e mav observe, that th 1 verv charters and letter- pre- rv--d in old monasi- 
posse ed a hi&lt;rh deirrpo of intere-t, " Pl- a-e it von to understand." writes one of 
Cromwell s miserable agents. " that in the rendimjr of the muniments ami -barters 
of thehouse of IxMinsey. I found a ehnrt -rof Kini l-Mj-a . wiitt&lt;-n in a verv antiqne 
Roman hand, hardly to be read at the fir-t -i&lt;_ r ht. I am sun- yon would delight to 

* Chronic Turonense :ip M-irtonc Vet. Script, v. 



A(i KS OF FAITH. 133 

see tlie same, for the strangeness and antiquity thereof." In monasteries there were 
often preserved the letters of ancient kings and great men. Thus the Domini 
cans, at Barcelona, possessed a letter, in the hand writing of St. Louis, to father 
Francis de Cendra.* The famous charter, de Liberations Comitatus Devon., 
granted by King John, and its confirmation by his son Henry III., were preserved 
in the abbey of Tavistock.f 

In the abbey of St. Germain-des-Pres was preserved the charter of its foun 
dation by Clotaire, or a very ancient copy of it, and a diploma to the abbey of 
St. Denis in the seventh century, both of which I have seen in the archives of 
the hotel Soubise. Both are legible, the original material having been cemented 
in later times upon a kind of cloth. Many of the diplomas, however, published 
bv the Benedictines, are only copies ; for Louis-le-Debonnaire authorized several 
abbeys to write out afresh their charters, though some real original diplomas un 
questionably exist. Such is that of Clovis to the abbey of St. Denis on papyrus, 
so carefully preserved in the treasury of that abbey, and but rarely shown. On this 
is the signature of Eiigius, St. Eloy, in great Roman characters. Muratori, 
speaking of the eleventh century, remarks a laudable custom of those rude ages, 
as lie terms them, when any doubt existed as to the authencity of a charter ; an 
accurate examination of it was instituted by the judges. The form of character 
the date the signs were all considered ; and if the diploma were proved to 
be a forgery, it was cut with a knife to prevent it from being ever again uaed^ 

But the most interesting objects preserved in the treasuries of abbeys were un 
doubtedly the vestments, clalices, or books which had belonged to the eminent 
saints who had either lived or occasionally resided within their walls. 

In the abbey of Bobbio one saw the coffin, the chalice, the holy staff, and the 
missal of St. Columban, its founder ; in the abbey of St. Gall, before the here 
tics plundered it in the fifteenth century, the bones of St. Gall and of Constance j 
in the abbey of Einsiedelin those of St. Othmar and St. Notker, which had been 
removed thither by the monks, to escape destruction, in the night between the 
23rd and 24th of February. 

* 

" In the abbey of Stavelo," says Dom Martene, " we saw in the treasury the 
chasuble, stole, manipule, sandals, cowl, and comb of St. Remacle, whose body is 
here enshrined. I was greatly moved at seeing his cowl. It is of coarse stuff, 
brown, and all patched. It was the habit of a man who appeared with such eclat 
in the court of our kings, and who renounced his see to live in penance in this 
solitude. The form is that of the ancient chasuables, covering the whole body, 
and without sleeves. It is the most precious monument of antiquity of the kind 
that we possess. "jj 

In the convent of Chelle, on the Marne. he saw the chalice of St. Eloy, which 

* Touron. Hist, des Horn. Illust. de 1 Ord. S. D. i. 5 

f Oliver. Historic Collections relating to the Monasteries of Devon. 

t Autiquit. It. Dissert, v. $ Voyage Lit. ii. 



134 MORES CATHOLICI; OK, 

nearly half a foot deep, and the same in diameter. In theabl&gt;ey ofClairvaux 
he -aid ma with the chalice of Si. I , and \\ith iliat ui St, Malachy, l&gt;otli 

of them -mall, nt half a foot inhei^nt, hut the cup is larjje, though -hallow. 
" On St. Kdmond .- day," he s iys, " 1 -aid mas- under the snrine of the .-aint in 
(he abbey of Pontiimi, with his cnasuaolc. wliieii i- \\lun, y round at the bottom. 
I had the consolation al-o to see his sacred i&gt;odv, which (Jod h;id pre-erved with 
out corruption. Hi- h -ad H bare, and h h- d in id- pontifical habits. II - 

body is white. In the trea-ury 1 -aw al-o hi- pa-toral HIIL:, the chalice and paten 
with which he was buried, and al-o id- p blet. II -MOWII tne pontifi 

cal vr-tinents of St. Thomas of Canterbury, and tiie chapel in \\hich he used to 
pray, and where he had ;i revelation of his martyrdom." It uas at Ti"\e.- that 
he saw the rochet of St. Thomas, of tin" linen, in the form of a ;jreat tunic, on 
which were marks of his brains. 

These bodies of saint- tuted th" most valued r- !i&gt; which mouaMe: 

po-.---d. Th se were th" treasures which attracted the d-voiit pilgrim- from 
-ide. who were drawn into tln-e solit idc- by tin- memon :ne man of 

holy humility and austere penan. Jnd-rd. - t did this attraction prove, 

that many abbot- and m uik- weie unwilling that their moiia-t-Tit s -honld I 
enriched, lest she cone &gt;urse of pilgrims in con-e&lt;p].- M cr -houll disturb the t:an- 
quillity of their -cclud-d life. St. Cuthb-Tt, in hi- dviuj iliaoouree to the monks 
who came to FaMie I-le to vi-it him. slid, " I would rather be Imri-d in this 
island : and [ tiiink it would he even belt -r t .r yours-lve- that I -i.ould re-t li 
because of the numbers wiio will claim -anctuirv. Whatever 1 mav Ix- in mv.-lf, 

. 

yet, a^ I shall )&gt; remem vant of C nrist, they will Hock to mv bwlv ; 

so that vou will be compiled to intercede for them with the powerful of the earth, 

and will, eon-equently, IK subject to much trouble on my account." It is a fact, 
that in many mona-tei i.-s the tnoiik&gt; were ol)liged t&gt; celebrate their office in u 
chapel separate from their threat &lt; iui &lt; h, iu con-e(|iieiice of the multitude that 
flocked to it through reverence for holy relics. Thus within the cloisters of St. 
Gall there was also St. ! r*i chapel, in which th- divine ofliee was &gt;unp ; for 
in the threat church it wotdd not have been po-^jble from the crowd of pilgrim 
to the -hr me of St. Gall. The capitulari-. fn. ii the year 7!M to 7JW, at P rank- 
fort, actually prc-cribe, that in all monast- fies containitiir the l&gt;ody of a saint 
there should he built a chap- l adjoining for th* divine oil 

" There Is a devout h- "i of our order." MI - the irthu-ian Sutoru&lt;. " in the 

of Mi IK, fonixic l bv th&lt;&gt; noble family of Aleneon. (lanfrid of Man-, 

who lid boried there, -h &gt;ii" with miracles. &lt;o that multitudes flocked to his tomb; 

nnd while I wa&lt; in that moin-terv it was in con--*jUen d 1 &gt; rit d \\hether that 

blessed and eanoni/ed pontiff should not be tran :iere."t The incon 



s. Von Arx Osrliidite. d-s S G;ill i. 63. 
f Pet. Sut. de Vit-i Curthusianri, liv. ii. Tract, iii. c. 6- 



AGES OF FAITH. 



135 



venienoe must have been grievous when such a question could be discussed, seeing 
the immense value attached to Mich treasures. 

Indeed the possession of these holy bod.es was regarded as furnishing an a 
tional incentive, to all who dwelt under the &gt;aine roof, to be on their guard aga.ns 
auy spirit that would derogate from the peace and sanctity of the .nonage 
state Beware," says Petrarch to Brother James, the Augustmian friar of -a, 
how you forget or disgrace the glorious name of Austin, and the sacred 
lights of the eremiticial life of so many devout, religions men : 
that under the same roof with you repose the venerable bones of that Aug. 
and let his image be ever present to your imagination, and, as it &lt; 
of all your actions and words, that you may fear in presence of such a wit 
offend Christ the Lord, who is his and your master, as of us all." 

Any wilful misrepresentation as to the authenticity of particular relics was 
deemed a crime of the deepest dye. Shaking .-fan attempt at Ratisbon to clam, 
the possession of relics which were elsewhere, the chronicles of St. Dems use this 
expression. " They forgot the fear of the Lord "f 

Having in the third book, explained the discipline of the Church in regard 
this devotion, we need not delay now to hear the cavils or the sneers of the wrong- 
headed men who systematical Iv oppose the veneration winch she pays 
could never understand," says Michelet, - the di.-dain of the Protestants for relics 
These were -reat historical testi monies. In the abbey of St. Denis the history of 
France was thus related bv relics. Here was a portion of the real cross, given I 
Philip Augustus by the Greek emperor when Constantinople was taken by the 
Crawlers. Here were relics of St. John the Baptist, given by the emperor Her 
aclitus to Dagobert. Here were the head of St. Denis, the hea&lt;l of St. 
Poictiers, the cross and sceptre of Charlemagiv, the chalice used by Sug. 
true founder of the Capetian monarchy, the crown and ring of St. Lewis, and a 

portion of his bones." 

But it is wrong to speculate on the errors of these unhappy men in such a pi 
Let us fall upon our knees, and behold with reverence what is now to be unfolded, 
In the treasurv of the abbey of Clairvaux, where most of the relics were pres 
from the emperors of Constantinople, Doin Martene was shown the skulls of! 
Bernard and of St. Maiuchy. But only observe how rich in such holy treasure 
were once the English monasteries. 

In Saxon histories there is a long catalogue of places in which the bodies of 
saints rest. Thus it savs :-Sr. Austin, who preached the faith to the 
nation, rests in the church of St. Peter, in Canterbury, now the Augnst.ns , with 
the holy bishops Laurence. Mellitu&lt;, Justus, Honorina ; and in the church c 
Christ, within the walls, rest the holy archbishop- Dunstan, Odo, Etl.elsrar, anc 
Elpherii.s; in Rochester, rests St. Paulimis, archbishop of York ; in London, St. 

* Epist. Lib. x. 17. t Ad an. 1050- 



MOK B8 CAT IK) LIC I ( II 



Ercon\\aid :nid St. The&lt;lr.-d ; in Abingdon. St. Vim-entiiis; in Winchester, in 
the old mona-tery, St. Swithin, and ^ --luald, an i St. liinnn.s an-: 

Hedda, and St. Birstan, bi-hp-, and St. .Ju-tn-. martyr; and in the n-\v mon 
astery, St. Grymbald, pi ie&gt;t, and S;. .Index , eon l - -.-or ; in Teignnionth. vin, 
king; in Durham, St. Cnthbert, bi.-hop ; in !&gt; vei iy, St. John, bishop, aud 1 
tun, al)l)ot ; in Wyncfaeloainbe, St. Kenelm, niartvr; in I&gt;&gt;ihy, St. A Ihinnndn-, 
martyr ; in Liehfield, St. ( Vdda ; in Siierbnrn. , St. \Vnl-ins, bi-hop ; in H.Telbrd, 
St. Kgelbrith, king ; in Malme-bnrv, St. Aldelm, bishop ; in Tamworth, St. 
Edgitha ; in llamsey, St. M- iewen and S:. Kaitled, al)lt-s. and (jn 9t Haiti Ida ; 
in Covt iitry, St. ( )-!)IHY:I ; in Ilipon. St. \Vyllnd, and &gt; . A . and St. I 

; in Kly.St. Kthcldritlia, and St. Withbuiga, and St. Krnifnil&lt;l:i, and B 
blirr:i ; in Oxford, St. Frctiifwytii ; in It -unsay, St. Yv and St. l- ci .x, l)i-in&gt;j)s, 
and St. Kilu ln d and St. Mtiiclhi-iih, in:irtyrs, and S . \] ; .ll-d, ijnc u ; inTlin:n--y, 
St. Athnlfns, and St. Fitinin. S:. Hcrtfi idns. hi-lmps. and St. ! ,&gt; tlmY, ai 
and St. Tx-ncdict, abbot of NVcrrinontii. St. Ti &lt; and I IIIIH-, [&gt;i iM-, and St. Tan- 
cre&lt;l, and St. Tnrhml, licnnits. and St. Tova, virgin; in C royhind, St. Gnthlar, 
prit-st ; in Slnltcsbnry, St. Edward, kin-j and martyr, and St. K jiva. queen ; in 
Mel: . Bt Drihthclm ; in Tlmiift, St. Erm&lt; nnyiha. 

Ihec propter ntilitat-m Ic^-ntinin insfrniniu.-." atld- tin- lii-torian, " nt qui 
ali(jii in -anctnni adiiv volncrit, -ciat qnu inn rcqiiirat." 

Oi tlic /cal and in, r cnnity oft: in accjiiirini: relics, \vhni Con.^inti- 

iiop;.- \va- taken in rjoi. there are many curious d tails in the chronicles of the 
mona&gt;i to wliich they gave tli -m. H-nry ofrim. ^peaking of -i partid 

tle cross which he ha- given to an abb -y. Bays, " t iat ii i- the tTCSJOre above all 
t-artiily |&gt;o-- --i IIH the dearc-t ti&gt; hi- heart." 

Tlie iar" s ght ofthew reii.--. WSJ a -kno\\ led^. d a &gt; a divine favor, with pious 
gratitude. Thus another exolsims, u l -r omuia benediotus Deus qui miiii, serv&gt; 

sno licet indignoet t ragili |x?ccatori fere in senio jam exi-tenti, divina pieta- Vld 
ounces-it !"* The ehroniel.-s of St. IVni-, &lt;l-- -i \&lt;n\l^ the Knipen&gt;r ( liarl- - IV., 
vi.-iting the relic- of the abbey and of the li,,ly chapel, -ay. that being nnabl 
walk, lie can-cd hini-elf to b- cinied, wit:. pain and &gt;ntl . ring, before the 

-hiMie ; that hejoin-d his h.nd- and wept, and praved Ioii _ r , and witli irn-it d-- 
VOiion ; and thru, supported on the anns-.f hi- attendant-. appr&gt;acln d and ki 

it.f He declar-d to the miive:.- : ty of Paris, that hb chief object in visiting 

France wa- to In-li ilil these relic- ; a: .:dinglv, the uing intimated to the ab 

bots whose houses he visited, that it wa- hi- de-irv to be n i as a pilgrim 

come to venerate them. Of the relics \\hidi Abba Martin -ent to Paris. Otho, 
of St. 1 Hiys, " these shed In-ir- upon ail (Jermanv and A and Gnn- 

tlier s;iys, " by the coining of the-e, all Ttirotonia bcu r an to IK. counted by men 
more glorious, and by God more happy."* 

* Rigord, c. 48. f Ad an. 1378. t Ap. Uurter, 



" * " of the somh of France, n in Italy, a, U,,h,,,,a. I hf 

Dominwb, the apo,tle of the sou^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ( ^ .^ ^^ 

ic er of the court arrived by night at .he monastery, 

r* 4.1... jv&gt;**iir)TH2f* 



--- 

consequence, he inti.nated t,, hi,,, the o,der ,,f whu he , ^ 

hewas ...joined, oupaiu of exo,,mmu n ,,,t,n, to ake up y ^ ^ ^ 



a eco,,, P a ni od by tin, office,- and t,o "^ ,, a.i 

a, that under wh,cl, he U lu 









a leather case, uud commuted to h.m. 

W ho nrftaed to let him en.e,-, and desired him .o retun, U, ,. - ; - ^ b 

bore the 



W o ne , 

saspicions witi.i,, hi. bOBoa,. The office, , who bore the ww 

,hat, after .eaving Ubede, while ,^in the deser &gt; y te ,. nfie( ,, 



that, utter avmg 114.1 ,, - o-veatlv terrified. 

vou.8, which he thought could not be human, am: *3 g ^ ^ Abg _ 

When Heloise wrote to Peter the Venerable, i ^ ^^ 

lard might be interred in her convent, according 

intimated, the monks of Cluny, who had seen the mctity and *"" ^ 

years esteemed it so valuable a treasure, that they would have 

* i j i , Pptpr thererore, pi &lt; 

hot if they ha,! suspect",! that he would oomplj . 

Kr; ,nt her request; but on condition of her keying his intention ^ ^^^ 

ing the choice of the ti.ue to him, ^ it was nn affau- of 

and autnmn pas^.1 : but. son,, .lavs nfter AH Saints, ,he abbot 

the priorv of ft, MM, on preten,, of making the n-nnl v,.t ; and On, o 

ni,,ht, while the monk- r,,v,el. he caused the b,,dv of Abehnl t s P, 

and i,nmediately set offui.h it. and arrived at Parade, on thes.xteenth 



Vie par 1e P. Dositliee, Lib. viii. 



M RES CATHOLIC I; oil, 

ember. But who can describe the joj and the sorrow of Heloise, hen -he heard 
the lugubrious cluints of ihe choir on the fiitnuicc of the body into tin- church ? 
Theabho; ofCluny sung high mas- : after which he made a jath- iic exhoitati. n ; 
ami then ihe body wa- p.a.vd in the vault, hali i.f which was without ihe .sun-t- 
uary, and half in tin- nun s choir. The abbot left the convent full , ,f h 1\ atl .c- 
tion for Hclois" and for the community, which hea--oeiat-d in aspirimal .-ocieiy 
with ( luny. After thi- solemnity no more is h- ar-i of 1 1. i, : Tin- p. n falling 
from h.-r hand, -h" wiit-s no more letter-. l&gt;u pa-se- the remaining twenty-two 
year- of her lite in the exerci-e of penitence, and in tin- \\i&gt;eand h"ly government 
of Paraclet, which be^am- underlie!- the ornament of th- Clnirch of Franc.-, and 
an examplt&gt; to all the monas-eries ^t t ne a. 

With re-pect to the material value a--o.-iate&lt;l with tlnse relics, it will \n- -nffi- 
it to ob-erve, that the-e we:e contained in siiiin-- 01 reli&lt;jna i- - which II 
often pnxlVe- ot ;irt. Doin Houilian, in hi- h -t-ry of th.- abbey of St. &lt;r 
main-dn-Pies, ha- pven en^ravin-j- io nt the form of-oiii - ofih-ino-t 

ancient that were in the treasurv of that ahhev. The boily .it . St. Iiri _ r it, at Kil- 
daie. \\a- ovei-linnir with i^ohl and silver crowns ; and th- i el Cfl of8t &lt; lnml)a, 
which the ablx)t ot Iona rem. V.d t-r -at .tv to In-land, in Sod, are -tat d to have 
been enclosed in a shrine of p&gt;hl. But the monk, with an angelic -mile, wave- 
US on : lo ! it is the church we are entering. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



&lt;&gt;MI\K. (jni operati -unt justitiam. habital)iini in tabernaculo tuo,et 
r- ijnie-cent in in nt- -aneto ti: II &gt;w solemn are these tir-t Siiimd-, 

and what jovful ferv. n.-y i- excited at the - ie which }&gt; - lit- it- -If ! 

The chinches of the monasteri. s have nevr a III d a r. :.- ifth 

wh -erved t:,-in had forgotten tha -ar-- :il&gt;ont niiniit "a- i- tli" peculiar 
mark of an intense and iweivi.t atl eetion. Tne monks &lt;! eme&lt;l that 
"there could IK- n &gt; nobler t-isk l r a rational lieing than that of providing, with 
the mo.-t punctilious exactness, f&lt;&gt;r tl&gt;e du celebration of t)u &lt; -\\or-hip; 

and no iriHihier dedication of the ofierin-s of nature, an i th" .1 of art, all 

alike his gift, than in the adorning of his earthly dwelling-pi i. N"o tepidity 

penetrate-, a&gt; an atmosphere, in o their church-- ? Xo cold, dead, formal -ounds. 
falling on tlie ear more monotonous than th-- drop of rain in t e i&gt;-&gt;ol of a grotto, 
indicate a sul)-titnt ; on there of cust in, void of soul, for religious fervor and 




AGES OF FAITH. 139 

active zeal, ministering to the desires of the interior life ! " The variety of holy ob 
servances dispels weariness and apathy," says St. Bernard, alluding to the offices 
in the abbey of St. Denis, after the conversion of Sutler, which had led to the re 
form of the whole community.* The words which I read in the abbcv church 
of Einsiedelin, " Ver6 Dominus est in isto loco,"- seem only to express what 
is uppermost on the tongue of all who enter the chnrch of a religious order. What 
; s also singularly striking in them is that profound silence, that extraordinary 
respect, observed. Nothing can be more impressive than to see the community 
assembled, that profound recollection ; those kisses of peace ; those low ^aluta- 
tions, which the monks make to each other ; that general prostration ; those fore 
heads in the dust, when the bell announces the opening of the door of the taber 
nacle in which the Lamb without spot reposes : all that produces a great effect, 
and speaks a language of the soul which it understands, and seldom hears else 
where. 

"Incidence to be noted/ says the chronicler of St. Denis : "it happened, at 
his time, that a man who had quite lost his senses returned to a right memory 
in the church of this abbey ."f Rightly, he does not affirm it a miracle, but an in 
cidence. In effect, to account for it by secondary causes would not be impos 
sible. It was not unprecedented either. In the chronicle of Mount-Cassino we 
read that a mad woman, who used to wander through mountains and valleys, 
woods and fields, by day and by night, never resting except when compelled by 
exhaustion, coming one day to the oratory of St. Benedict, was from that hour 
restored to a sane mind.;}: What strikes one so in these monastic churches, 
what soothes and inspires such delicious calm, was, not the material, but the 
living temple; not the vista of arches and columns, but the man of cowl ador 
ing. While in the monastic churches it must be remembered, that all which 
was visible was only a tvpe and shadow of what reallv existed within the minds 

* I &gt; 

of the men who served them. The soul of the monk was the interior temple, of 
which, the visible was only a material development. 

After the solemn consecration of the church of the monastery of Cava, by Pope 
Urban II., on the fifth of September, in 1092, in presence of Duke Roger, and 
all the people of Salerno, of which, there is such a splendid and curious account 
in Muratori, the pomp being finished, the pontiff, with the cardinals and Duke 
Roger, returned to the cloister; and then, having assembled all the monks, the 
pope spoke to them as follows : 

" Vidistis dilectissimi You have seen, my beloved, how many sacred unctions, 
how many ceremonial rite-, and how many prayers we used, while this house, 
by the ministry of our humility, was dedicated to the Lord : all which things, 
without doubt, were done for your sake, and for the sake of all who are to come 
after you, to the end of time ; in whom will be spiritually fulfilled the things 

* St. Bern. Epist. 78. f Ad an. 11 3. J Chron. Cas. 86- 



140 M ORES C A T II L I C 1 ; O li, 

which this (lay have been fiNKohadowed on these walls : for what lias now been 
done in the visible house, Jesus Christ daily work- in ilie dthful. 

Fur the-e are known t&gt; be truly and really th" temple- of the Holy (, 
"1" u, O my .-on- ! are the temple of the living (J. d ; a- tin- Apostle -aid, ] 
temple ! is holy, whieh you are. Consider, tin re! ore, in \oiir mind-, 

brethren, ho \v great i- the dignity of a devout monk, whon; (, hath led from 
the boi-tcrous wavt - of the world into the calm j&gt;ort &lt;&gt;f reii^i.in, ihat the e\ 
his mind being purged by the monastic discipline, he may the more easily | 
how all human things aie narrow, mortal, and full of -nor and of vanity; 
although still on earth, he is n^veni; lestiul, and already, in a certain man 

ner, as-ociated with the blessed. For the-e are the 1 1 ue oniament-. th 
admirable iiisi-ni-i, of monk-. Theivf jv.hold ta-t wlur yon jKMSsess, that no if 
may take away your crown ; and, d-Mr-st bivthren. since von cannot in th" w..v 
of authority, at lea-t by your prayers, a-sist u- to bear our burden, and condole 
with n- with the allection of piety." 

Then the bretiin-n having been adm:tt--d to ki.-s hi- feet, the Serene Duke, 
and all who had accompanied him, returned to Salerno.* 

. Monks were men of prayer ; and perhap- th .t is to include all in one word. 
"Consider," says St. Thomas, " what a felie tv is granted to you in prayer, bo 

ak with God, to engage in convei -ati ,n with Chii-t, to choose what you 
wish, and to ask what you de-iie."f With all this, we mu.-t take int&lt;- account 
the saintly and impressive looks of the monks and friars, th-- -oh-mn hi-t -rical 
recollection- awakened by the sight of their holy ablx)t ; the ell -ct produced by 
observing them pass, now seen, now lost, as thev &lt;/iide uii ier archil cloi-ters to 
or from the interior of the convent; and the feeling which aris-s fr -m ; t, that 
one is thus admitted to cat&lt;-h a vdjm.p,, of the dome-tic life of the meek men of 
God, who think upon the ancient days, and have in mind the t Tin! v.ais ; who 
n*Htate by night witfa thrir h-art, and exeivis- U ud search tlie n spirit. All 
thi- icted powerfully on th&gt; im ignition. Th. i ment ot these chinches 
was thought to burn under the feet of evil men, if they dared to enter them.:}; 

The annals of Corby, in Saxony, relate, under the date of 1416, that Justin 
Strober, a devout ru-tic among the pea -ants ofStahl, would never enter the church 
nnle-s baretbote l, through reverence for the holv placed I&gt;..nizo, the r.m.dic- 
tme, says that on- day th- u r n at Boniface, duke of Tuscan v, e:une to the abbey 
ofPompoai : and, when a-n -tin- at the divine office, from a lofty tribune, though 
not with a proud heart, looking on the choir, h- &lt;aw the faces of all the boys 
fixed upon the Around, while sweetly singing th&lt;&gt; Hours ; and having a.-kod why 
they stood M, immoveable, he was told by the monks that they always -tood so: 
then he gave secret orders that some one should go on the roof of the church, and 

1 Her. It. Script, torn. vi. f H 3. 9. 83. a. 2 ad 8. 

t Cesar. Heist. Illust. Mirac. xi. 51 Ap. Leibnitz Script. Bruns. Illust. 



A G E S O F F A I T II. 141 

throw down pieces of money. And, lo ! when ten livres fell with a great noise 
upon the pavement, in the midst of the choir, the eyelids of the bovs were never 
raised, and no one stirred to touch the money. 

When Othgar the Paladin, that glorious hero and fri*-nd of Charlemagne, h;ul 
resolved tip &gt;n leaving the world and embracing a religious life, he made a jour- 
nev, f&gt;r the purpose of visiting, as a strange pilgrim, various monasteries, in or 
der that he might udge with his own eyes where the regular discipline was best 
observed. For this purpose he procured a .staff, to which were attached many 
little thongs of leather, and at the end of each thong was an iron ball, which he 
used to let fall with violence upon the pavement of whatever monastery lie en 
tered ; artfullv and diligently remarking whether the monks, at the sound of this 
staff, would lightly turn round through vanity of mind. Having in this manner 
visitel manv monasteries, he found, it is said, nowhere such absence of vanity as 
in that of St. Faro: for there, when he had dashed the appendages of his staff 
upon the pavement, and made a prodigious noise, not one of the monks moved, 
or turned round to see what was the matter, with a mind recalled from the inten 
tion of devotion, excepting one boy, who was shortly after struck with the wand 
of discipline,- and made to return with his eyes from that distraction. The be 
havior of this society appeared the most strict ; and there, accordingly, he as- 
sum d the habit of a monk, where he lived in great sanctity till his death. His 
tomb, of which Mabillion gives an engraving, was one of the greatest curiosities 
in that mon istery.f 

Nothing could exceed the magnificence of the monastic churches in the middle 
ages. We h:ive already remarked the prodigious scale on which many of them 
were built. No less striking was the elegance of their architecture. The pillars 
in the church in the abbey of Lobbe, in the country of Liege, were so slender, 
that the duke of Alba, coming there, did not dare to enter the church, lest the 
vault should fall on him, and exclaimed, " this will be the monks tomb."* Dag- 
obert I. covered that of the abbey of St. Denis, on the outside, with fine silver, as 
the chronicles record. What must have been its brightness within? The riches 
of the church of this abbey, the splendor of its altars, the beauty of its paintings 
and mosaics, are all described iu detail bv the abbot Suger. Desiderius, the ab 
bot of Mount-Cassino, brought over artists from Constantinople to adorn the 
church of that abbey witli precious mosiacs, tessellated pavement, stained glass, 
and paintings , besides which, the man of all prudence caused the boys of the mon 
astery to be taught by the&lt;e artists, in order that the art should never afterwards 
be lost in Italy. || In the twenty-fourth dissertation of Muratori on the An 
tiquities of It.-ily, many details may be found on this subject ; but one cannot 
open any monastic chronicle without meeting with striking instances. The an- 

* Vita Mnthildn, Lib, 1. c. 14. ap Murator. Rer. Italic. Script, v. 

f Acta S. Ord. Benedict. Saecul. iv. pars i. J Voyage Lit. de Deux Bened. 

Liv. v. c. 9. | Chronic. S. Monast. Casinens. Lib. iii. c. 29. 



142 MORES CATHOLICI; OK, 

nals of Corhy, in Saxony, under date of 1:5:50, record that Jolm de Stienburg 
gave to that abbey figures of tin- twelve apo-;le-, as large a- life.* Irna-es of this 
kind \\. . I! of -olid silver. "In the church, " savs St. I5ernard, " are not 

only crowns, but \\he.-l-, .-tudded with j"\vels. and .-urrounded with lamps, -hin- 
ing "&lt;&gt; IS1 \\ i li preeioiis .-ton-- than with their light-. I "! candelabias \\e see 
immense trees of bra-s, fabi icated with wondrou- art. and not .-Inning m&gt;iewith 
lights than with the jewels ,-ct in them. The pavement is full of in, fsaints 

and angels, and inlaid with beautiful colors. IVrnap- ihi- is well, aceoi din- to 
the prophet, Domine, dilexi de.-orem domus tua-. \V&gt; muy suffer tillfl in the 
ehureh, Uvaii-e, although tliev are injurious to the vain and avarii-iou-^ they are 
harmless to the .-imple and devout. f 

We read that Innno. abbot 6f St Gall, began, and nearly finislnd the golden 
tablet which is before the altar of St. Gall, which is more precious fbi the u tern- 
ployed in it than for the materials. "J The walls of this abbey churcn wen- painted 
and inlaid with gold. The high alta: :-d with L r "l i, and ten other altars 

were of silver. The splendor with \\hich the divine worship was celebrated in mon 
asteries OOiresponded to this magnificence. \\ r r ,. a ,l { t |,. -ame abbot, that he also 
made the chasubles, in one of which our lord s ascension is wrought in -r"ld, and 
in another is woven with divine imare-. Similarly he provide! the ^ -Iden -t .Iand 
dalmatics, and other ecclesiastical ornaments, fim-h&gt;-d \\ith -u.-h w .dl ; and M 

many other tiling- he did, that theie is no prince in the world in our ap- u ho, ill 
so short a time, could accomplish so many magnificent works. " Whence," de 
mands Burkhard, "could he have such a weight of gold so many pearls, such 
precious purple, so many subtle workmen ?" &lt; )ri" remon-trance in the ablx&gt;y of 
Einsie.l.-lin contained :&gt; ( J1 1 pearls, 595 diamonds, 38saphires, 154 emeralds, 857 
carbuncle-, 26 hyannths, and 19 amethysts. It was of -old gold, and eleven 
years of work were required to make it.jj In the ninth and tenth centurie- noth- 
ing wa- spared to add grandeur to the divine worship in St. Gall. The same 
attention was paid to it in the abbey of St. Denis, afier it had embraced the re 
form under Snger. On certain festival- -i.xty great wax candle- used to be lighted 
round the hi^h altar. In the abbey of Einsiedelin, before th" holv chapel, -ix- 
teen enormou- wax tap-M-, weighing ninety pounds each, us d to l&gt;urn dav and 
night, at the expense of the Swiss cantons. Dagoberttne Fir-t ha 1 established a 
rent of 100 livre&lt; for th.- light- of the ablwy &lt;&gt;f St. D nis, to !&gt; fiirni&gt;h-l with 
the b. -; .,il from Mar-eilles; and P"i&gt;in added a privilege, that the -ix carts 
which were to convey it WTC to b" exempt from all toll the whole way from that 
city to the abbev.* R. &gt;_, r. enl oi Sh:v \-i.ur\, -avo to the monks of Ouches 
every \ ai , at the beginning of Lent. 100 livre- from his revenue of Ah-ncon, for 
Ughta da\ and night in their church, before the figure of our Ijord upon the cross.** 

* Ap. Leibnitz. f 8. Bern. Apolosr. ad Guillel. c. xii. 

t Bnrkliani &lt;!&lt; ("nsibus S. G;illi, cap. 1. Id. cap. i | Regner, Chn.nique d Eins. 78, 

^ Chroniqucs de St. Denis, v. 9. ** Ord. Vit. v. 



AGES OF FAITH. 143 

And there was no monastery to which donations were not made for supporting 
the lamp, that lamp, " whose narrow fire is shaken by the wind, and on whose 
edge devouring darkness hovers; that small flame, which a- a dying pul.-r i 
and falls, still flickering up and down, was emblematic of oar life, which even 
now thus wastes and ^nks." The chu relics generally wore brilliantly lighted in 
the time of Charlemagne. Aldric, bishop of Mans, ordain* d that every night 
there should burn in the elder church three light- of oil and one of wax, from ves 
pers till sunrise ; that during nocturns there should burn ten of oil and five of wax ; 
buton Sundays and minor festivals, thirty of oil and five of wax should burn through 
the night, and on the greater festivals this number waa to be tripled.* In adorning 
their churches with such magnificence the monks acted not without deep thoughts. 
" Let each one abound in his own sense," says Sngor, But I confess what mo-t 
pleases me is that whatever is most dear and precious ought, above all, to be made 
subservientto the administration of the thrice holy Eucharist. Some oppose to us, that 
it suffices to bring to thi~ administration a holy mind and a pure soul, and a faith 
ful intention. And we also indeed hold that these are especially required. But we 
profess also, that on nothing so much as on this holy sacrifice ought all external 
nobleness to wait in conjunction with all interior purity ; for in all things uni 
versally ought we decently to serve our Redeemer, who in all things universally, 
without exception, did not refuse to provide somewhat for us, who united 
under one admirable individual, our nature with his own, who promised 
that placing us on his right hand, He would grant us to possess his kingdom, who 
liveth and reigneth our Lord through all the ages of ages.f Dom Gervaise, abbot 
of La Trappe, praising Suger for the holy magnificence with which divine worship 
was celebrated in his abbey, adds, " I know indeed that St. Bernard declaimed a- 
gainst the splendor of ornaments in churches, and wished that men might be content 
with bringing a pure heart ; but neither am I ignorant that all the saints were 
not of his opinion, as may be witnessed in St. Chrysostom."| If one can seek in 
these things to please his own vanity, one can also have a design to honor God ; 
and it was with this intention that Suger spared no expense in providing for the 
pomp of worship. His own cell was as poor as those of the other monks ; it had 
neither tapestry nor curtains, and he slept upon straw : he used no carriage or 
litter, but always travelled on horseback, even in his extreme old age. His table 
had all the simplicity of a monastic board, and two persons always sat with him 
when he dined. 

In some monasteries there were three distinct choirs of 100 monks each, witli 
children, which succeeded each other in singing the divine praises. So that there 
was a perpetual psalmody night and day. || This wa&lt; the case in the abbey of St. 
Medard at Soissons, founded by Clotaire I. in 557, one of the most celebrated ab- 

* Gesta Aldrici ap. Baluze Miscellan. torn. i. 

f Sug. Abb. Lib. de Rebus in Administratione su.igestis, ap. Duchesne, iv. 

} Horn. 81, in Mat Hist, de Suger, liv. vi. || Gevbert de Cantu Sacra. 



Ill .M (&gt; K KS CATIIOLICI; () II, 

IH-VS in tin- world, illustrious lor the learning of its monks and th" multitude of 
-aint-, mo-t .if tli ID of noble, ail i -onie of roval l)iood. , which came into 

1 Yaii v HIM in 7-"&gt;7.* and which -ome or ier-, a- tkfl Tneatine-. ;&gt; in re- 

jpcting, w. 11 built in the mona- ( animal IJona .-ays, that the 

cian abbey- were cel-brated for the grandeur of the dmae music which resound, -d 
iii their churches night and day. The ofil&lt;- - Iel&gt;rat--d in them withsn. h 

solemnity and d* votion, tiiat it s-eaied a- if one heard then- the voir" ofangel-&gt; 
Men \ u liturgical anticjuitie- were p with certain peculiar customs, 

:rly times, which were found in th&gt; celebration of divta -hip, in 

religious order-, a- in th &lt; artiui-iau- and Dominican-, and in particular mo: 
teri n that Martin of Tour-. Tun-, in the abbey of St. IVni- 

\\x-rc prart; -er\fd nnoe ;iictime oi th" Merovingians. Such as the anthem 

Ante Evangelium, and that Venit" I opuli before th" oomoamuoB of the i 
on certain festivals the communion \v.i- i^iven in two kinds, by means of a till*-, 
and the mas- \\a- -unj; in (Jreek.* 1 n the abbey of Sr. ( Jail, al-o, on certain 
&lt;lay-. tin- Gloria, Credo, and Pater naeftto i j in (Ir-ck, oi which, ihe n&gt; 

in mu-icare&gt;t!ll pr.se; v.-d ; and in that of Paraclet ma-s had been -uni; inGi 
ou i he feast of Pentecost, from the time - f Heloissa. One of the rule- of the 
Capuchins was, that in towns &lt;&gt;r citie- \vh an flow into ehureh - 

to h ar the divine oflice, on the three days &gt;f i .matin- in; 

int ne evening, but at midni-lr. ding to th--cust ..... t th-- niiei-nt (at lie: 

It wa- th" cu-tom at C luiiy, fur the who said mass, at th" hi _ r h altar, 

administer th" h ly .mmunion under the tw i kind- i&gt; the .l.-a.-..n and subdea- 
and two mm; .viio served. || The Carthus au&gt;, in-t ad ol merely kneeling, 

pr&lt;&gt;-trat d them-elve&gt; on the ground and kissed it, at th" Humu fa.-tu- z In 
the abbey of M"iint-( a--iuo. as in the ba.-ilici &lt; 9 Paul at Koine, there \\ 
certain ton.s ot the chant which differed lVm the ( J r.-goi ian.** In the abbey ,,f 
St. Gall th ii-ularly &lt;..lciun. I iiigh and then sank into 

depth, unlike tlur in other places, which wa- m -re uniform. ft The \&gt;r 
sequences usel in this abbey !( .&gt;!( tie .-ting tiinmgli all Kur ; 

The hymns jHX-uliar to some hon--. in honor oi their r.-pe,-tive patruii-, used to 
plea by the -t rangciie-s of their tone." not cheerful, nor vet sad, :ull 

old thing, -oinr outworn and unu-&lt; d m iiotony, -ucli as ih" c&lt;nutry man 
catching from them siir_ r ami .-pin till they almo-t : they li But \\ 

chiefly charmed tho-e \\ho had mind- tible ot the -ublime in this order, 

tin - Icmnny and religious reverence with \vhich the divine i.flic" wa- eel- brated 
in all religious houss. In mona- uieioiie ot \ ,e time, everv 



* Chronic. Quedlinhur p, Leibnitz, Sciipt. Brunsv. Illust. iii. f Do Divin. Psul. 4.11. 

I Lebtruf, Ili^t. du Di 

^ Con.-tit.of Hie li: nation in I."i29 | Chronic. Clnniacons. 

1" P Vita Carthu&gt;i;iii:i, ii. iv. 5. ** Gilbert de C untu S.-icru. 

ft Ildcfon&gt; Vim Arx. 



AGES OF FAITH. 145 

was regulated by a general sense of what was be&gt;t, from which no one was per 
mitted to deviate. St. Jerome Buys, that a man loses dignity, who, on account of 
an immoderate and indiscreet mode of singing the divine office, incur.- a charge of 
madness or of gloominess. St. Benedict in his rule desires that morose tedion-: 
should be avoided ; ami Wiliia n of Paris and Garson both command that weari 
some and dismal prolongations should be repres-ed, and that spiritual hilarity 
should be observed. Such attention was paid to the music of the choir, that fre 
quent notices occur in ancient books of circumstances relating to it. "I have heard," 
says Csesar of Heist* rbach, "that there was a certain monk in Mount-Cassino, who 
had so sweet a voice, that when on the vigil of Easter he blessed the paschal 
candle, the dulcet tones of that benediction resounded in the ears of all as a celestial 
melody."* 

* 

The truth is, that the divine offices in general could never be suug with such 
effect as in these regular communities, in which they were loved and studied, and 
understood profoundly. That deep meditation of the monks and devout sisters 
on the prayers, must have produced great effects in the celebration of external 
worship. St. There.-a says of that of our Lord, "When I have finished it I can 
proceed no farther. This comprises all consolations; this conveys a solid in 
struction for tlie mind, and a great remedy for all the troubles of the heart."f 
It was in monasteries that the affecting symbols of the Catholic liturgy were 
most fully appreciated. Poujoulat speaks of his seeing an old monk weeping, 
when the prior came to wash his feet with the rest on Maunday Thursday. The 
reason _of course was, that he saw Christ in his superior. We find that when 
monks used to be presented to eminent saints, who were supposed to obtain from 
God whatever they prayed for, what they used to beg on these occasions might 
be demanded for them, was the gift of tears in the church ; one would desire that 
he might always weep during mass ; another at the solemn vigils of the second 
and fifth Feria and on the Sabbath.^; When travelling and in strange churches 
monks were to observe the same demeanor as others, for those who have only 
one heart and one soul ought not to appear dir-similar externally. The devout, 
reverential step of hooded men and their profound genuflections in their churches, 
were actually so many acts of faith the result of a deep and practical conviction 
of the respect which God requires us to pay externally, as well as internally, to 
the mysteries or the symbols of religion. Let us hear a narrative of Ca&gt;sar of 
Heisterbach to illustrate this remark. "In the abbey of Hemmenrode was a cer 
tain convertite, a native of Cologne, by name Liffard, an humble, meek man, 
whose office it was to tend the swine of the monastery. Towards the end of his 
life, as Lord Hermann, then abbot, related to me, he was tempted by the spirit 
t)i pride ; for ne began to say to himself, What am I doing here ? I am well 

* Illust. Mirac. Lib. iv. c. 8. f The Road of Perfection, 42. 

J Caes. Heist. Illust. Mirac. ii. c. 22. 5 St. Ronaventura Speculum Xoviiionvm. c. 30. 



140 MoM BS CATHOLIC I; OK, 

i, but on account of this vile offi&lt; . bv all my friends I will not 

;v any Ion;.:"!. So be resolved to leftV^B the mona-tery next day. JJut 
tliat n:uh;. -1 in \\ - ppeared to him a venerable ; 

wn mi is that lie should follow him. 11 

lo\\. nnitory, which opened of itself. Them pa-t to 

the door of the church, which in like manuer opened t&gt; th- m. The figure m 

up the n.oir &lt;&gt;t th,. OonvertiteS ; h" f ilowed, a:.d HI they passed by the altar of 
St. John the Dapti.-:, made a profound inclination. The other, \\ ho \\ent I; 
-a d then, Voii have done well t&gt; b-w ; ly. Tie n ining to the south 

r of the church, which 1 ito the cloister, they found it also op. .veil 

ij;tt which had- to tin.- cem id win ilarly locke&lt;! 

On : the cenieteiy th- graves of the dead were all open, and the 

ure leading him t&gt;. tnat of a man wh&lt; .fly died, stopp-d and -aid, !&gt; . you 

mark this man? You will soon be like h.m. Now, whither do you wish to go?" 
Then;- u about to lead him to OtMtr putrid bodie-, the nv.-rtite cried out, 
-. are me. \.&lt;~ d. spare me ; for 1 cannot bear the si^ht. Then replied the other, 
\\ by throu^li pride will you de-ert the put &lt; :ti &gt;n . l ro:n:-.- to me on 

this spot that you will remain ; and he promised him. Th--n the grave oloaed, 
ud they returned, each door abutting after them ma they went throu-h. and on 
paasiog before the same altar, I i humblel hims.-lfas i and then felt 

an interior conviction how that tir-t a-t of humility had endeared him to (J d ; 

and entering the dormitory, the door shot of ttadf after them, and when lie lay 
down au r iin on his bed, the figure vani-hed, and from that hour the temptation 
left him.* 

Unroof St. Victor explains why in the diurnal and nocturnal offices the name 
of authors are not pronounced as they are at mass, by saying, "that herdsmen 
and workmen who assist at the latter would not know who wrote the-e passages, 
if they iot told ; wherea- clerks and dome-tic-; of the church know who are 

the authors, from having often heard them." The monk- lovd the divine em- 
ploym- Dt oftheehior; and what is loved i- well done. Caidinal liona ment 
a monk of the Cistercian order, who from ill health had leave from his abb &gt;t to 
absent himself from matins ; vet he hardly ever availed him-elf of the liberty. 
Being I why he expo-ed liims-lf unnecessarily, "I cannot do otherw 

he n-iili -d, "f.r remembering th" consolation I exp. ri-nre in my -onl dur- 
inir the divine office, I am j&gt;ained to th- la-t degree not to be present in tin- 
church where angels and Jesus Christ himself are present with the children of 
men."f 

When L lurentins Ferrarus, abbot of St. Mtirtin s at Palermo, used to hear the 
bells for the divine office, "Let us go. brethren, joyfully," said h", "to recr- 
minls,"| "While suffering under my severe master at school," saysGoibert 

IUu&gt;t. Mir. iv. 4. \ D- Divin Ps.l r.Cl. J Sicili;i S:icra, ii. 1082. 



AGES OF FAITH. 147 

de Nogent, " I did not try to avoid the ecclesiastical office; nay, wheii the hour 
came, I did not even prefer my supper to it."* 

When Gobert, of the abbey of Villiers, was travelling and singing the office 
with his companion, the barking of some dogs would induce him to break oil un 
til they had passed, that he might lose nothing of the harmony of the sacred 
chant ; for though lie was only a lay brother without clerical knowledge, the mere 
sound of the holy words filled his heart with sweetne.-.-. 4 

Monks used often to remain in the church dining the night, even while there 
was no offiee. In ihe decretals of La n franc, referring to the S"ason from October 
to Advent, we read, that the prior at midnight, before matins, is to go through 
the church with a dark lantern, lest any one should be asleep there, and that if any 
one is praying, he is to pass him by in silence." We read in the chronicle of 
Melrose. at the date of 1259, that there was a monk in that abbey who for twenty 
years wa- never known to use his bed ; he slept before the altars. Even in the 
winter he used to spend a gnat part of the night in playing sacred melodies on 
the harp in honor of the Blessed Virgin. By day, while reading the Psaltar, he 
used to sit near the door of the church with a basket of bread ; and no poor per 
sons departed without having something to carry away from it."J 

Sugar always went to matins when he was at St. Denis ; and when affairs of 
state called him to the court, or when he was travelling, he used to rise by night 
to -ay them at the same hour as he would have risen if he had been in the abbey. 
Dom Martene, on occassion of his visit to Clairvaux, remarks that the abbot, in 
his 80th year, assists at nearly all the offices, and rises constantly at two o clock 
for matins. He retires to rest at ten, having eaten but one meal in the day, and 
drank no wine. 

How interesting is it to find the great St. Bernard, whose counsels directed 
kings, whose pen guided the Christians of the east as well as of the wes*-, explain 
ing to a monk of Clairvaux, why he had not replied to his letters on receiving 
them, by saying, that he was occupied in the celebration of the divine festival. 
" Your letters came to my hands on Christmas-day, when the solemnity of course 
did not permit me to think ot any thing else."|| Similarly he apologises to Oger, 
a canon regular, for replying to him in a very short letter, on the ground of its 
being the season of Lent. f There is a time for silence," said the wi-e man ; 
" but what time will have its silence if confabulation is to claim for itself even 
the sacred days of Lent? When we cannot even speak to the present what we 
wish, can we dictate to the absent ? but while I dictate or write, what leisure 
or silence can I have? But you say, 1 can do all this in silence? You cannot 
say so seriously, for what a tumult is in th-- mind of the dictator when a multi 
tude of sentences resounds, where a varietv of words and diversity offenses con- 

* Guih. Abb. de. Xovigento de Vita Sua, Lib. i. c. 6. 

t Hist. Monust. Villar. Lib. ii. an. Martene, Tlies. Anec. iii. 

J Chronic, de Muilros. Rer. Anglic. Script, i. Hi&gt;t de Susrer Lib. vi. Q Epist. 86. 



148 MoliES CATHOLICI ; OR, 

cur, where often wh:it occurs is r-jeeted, and tliat which vanish*- i- r. 

when it ;- lered what is the best expr- ssion. the i\ 

th" Bl( f, the OHM! u-eful, what i- to com- first. \\hat 1-i-t. and other th 

of the same kind ? And do you tell me that tid&gt; is&lt;jniet ? and, i. thctoi 

i- til ttt, will you call this silt-no- All that dramatic in 

attacii.d t the f -tival-. f \\lrcn we -poke in the tilth hook, wa- f. It in nn.ii- 
a-ter s in tin- ction, where it wa- the d&lt; .-ire "f" v&lt; ry one to .-. .-operate, 

in the dt. of his soul, with tiie intention- "f the ehinvh. 

Th" Kdllar clergy, who in a certain sen-e mu-t IIK.V with the \\-nrl 

obliged si i let i in. e up things oi ib)e andof aeeful bewance, thn 

compliance with the manners around them. It the public b. c,.n di-.-ip:. 

Or too iiiueli occupied with the World, to have leisiip i-tinjj at the divine 

otlic,-, the-- i&gt;H5ce- in the elnn-ehes nl the secular are itlier snppre--ed ; (and 
whatevei councils or -vno&lt;l- mav sav,^ r-&lt;juirinj; that the \\h&lt;.V 1 -dial \\ 
and tiie -econd, third, and fourth let i ! .:, --t -huld he eelehrate 1 with 

pniup a- :h" chief day, all th ai anni ver-ai ies are redir !:! n 

tlian an ordinary oh-ervaiicc.) or els--, as we -ee re oiuniended in pabilOltioM 
styleil ( ath .&gt;lic, ;iiey aiv to !&gt; esian- d and .-tript of their ancient univer-al char 
acter ;; at, in fin certain extent, the n-ult ot their ac(iu 

amounts to an interdict, winch e^mes to l&gt;e coi i an indulgence. 

Hut the monk- had no oeca-ion ;,.r such sacrifices : whether people of the world 
chose to hi piou- or indifferent, their church inded with the piai . d 

and the holy circle &lt;&gt;t eccle-ia.-tical rites wa- maintained in all its sublime order, 
numained and unaduit"rated. The monk-, not content with faithfully celebrating 
in their own immediate church, even made foundation- to provide for the -nldim 
rite- Dt the- divine office, wherever their influence extended. Th- r- wa- a priory 
a- Annay belonging 1 .ibbey ofClnny, in whicii were to l&gt;e ahvay- two monks 

along with the prior, who were to say ma-s there daily, and to sing vesper- with 
note- every d. 

The monks would not -u-pend their offices through any human motive. They 

had no partie- of plea-tire to arrange a certain periods of the year, which they 

d to tip- commemoration of an ap. -i . Not even the de-trnction of 

r monastery would cause an interruption to their psalmc.dv. Ingulphu- 

. that at d -iv-break, tiie morning after th" fata night in which the abbey of 

\vland was burnt, the monks performed their office with a lugubrious voice 

in the hall of ( Irimketnliis, the cotTodia-ius of t he ablvv ; and not till aft r\\auls 

. 

did tiiey p . smoking ruins, wh -rethe fne was not even then 

iirni-he&lt;l.|| And let it be o !, that this c-n-tancv was the result as 

much of private inclination :. -trictness of disc-ipline. Thus, during the 



89. | Synodus InKih-nhemcti-. ;i] L-ct. Antiq. 

Cath. M:IJ. No. :N ! Bihlintheca Clmii. c 1714. I 77. 



AGES OF FAITH. U9 

interdict, in 1199, occasioned by the conduct of Philip Anpi-tns to Ingelberge, the 
prior of St. John-dea-Vignes, at. Soi.-sons, ami three of hia monk.-, afflicted at 

tin: silence in their church, left the city on the day of the A--mnption, and pro 
ceeded to a neighboring mountain, where iheiv liad been formerly a li--nnit. 1 
that desert place they sung vespers, and alter a frugal repast took repose till 
midnight, when they rose to sing matins, during which, it was said, they were 
consoled by a choir of angels.* Even in death the desire of the monks: alwava 
npp iired to be to continue their holy song on earth to the last moment, before de 
parting to the world, where it was to resound for ever. St. John of the Cross, dying 
in the convent of Ubede, after receiving extreme unction, at eight o clock in the 
evening, requested the father provincial, and the other monks who wished to re 
main with him, to retire and take some repose, telling them that he would send 
for them in time. After the community had retired, he remained, ki.-sing the 
crucifix, and murmuring words of love till nine o clock, when he asked the hour; 
and the infirraarian having told him, he said, " We &gt;hall depart hence, to say 
matins in heaven, at midnight." Then, after reciting many psalms, and hearing 
some chapters read from the book of Canticles, he continued to ask repeatedly 
what the hour was, and when it was half-past eleven he begged that the commun 
ity might be summoned, and then responded to the prayers in recommendation of 
his s &gt;ul. As -soon as the clock had struck midnight, a monk left the room to 
sound tiie bell. Opening his eyes, at the sound, he asked what it wa-=, and when 
they told him that it was the bell for matins, " Glory to God," he exclaimed. 
Then having looked round on all present, he put his mouth to the feet of the 
crucifix, and said, " In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum," and 
the same instant expired, as if lie fell into a sweet sleep. This was on the 14th 
of December, 1591, in the forty-ninth year of his age, and the twenty-eighth of 
his profession.! How sublime was this nndeviating course of the regular hours, 
which nothing could interrupt ; not even the holy spectacle declared to be pre 
cious in the sight of God, of a deathcene such as this ! No wonder that the bell 
of th monastery, which announced their celebration, should awaken such emotions 
in all who heard it from afar. Methinks these details will even give an additional 
interest to tlv.it allusion to it by the poet, who describes the ride of Sir William 
of Deloraine, 

" When Hawick he pass d, had curfew rung, 
Now midnight lauds were in Mel rose sung." 

When the fleet of French paladins, under Philip Augustus, bound for Pales 
tine, encountered the dreadful storm in the straits of Messina, after the horses and 
provision-; had been thrown over board, the wind and thunder seeming to grow 
more t -rrihle, all hopes of safety were heirinnmj: to vanish ; but after midnight 
the kin;* consoled the men, sayinir, "Cease your fears: already the brethren of 

* Hist, de Soi^son*. ii. 67. } Do&gt;ithee, viii. 



i;,.i MoIlKS C ATII OLICI ; OB 

Clairvaux are rin to matins. Tin- saint-, \viio do not citing 

th .r holy service in lum iirist. Th-ir p: a\ cr- will deliver us t roin thi 

il." A- he sp..,.e. IK tumult of the at rn-sui,, -the Miry of th" 

\vind nras appeased, the moon and stars again ap] and the sea grew calm.* 

Wo mav ob-ervr, in c mclu-ion, that u ..... ks in th" middl not defiei 

in theol .g .cal -ci"iice to dei ml ih- \\islom of tli-ir discipline, in tli 

m-t the cavils of objectors. The worship of the choir/ ays the annalist of 

tlu 1 C apuehins "is not a religion f iudolen and , i 1 men, a- Wycliffaiid 

his peers imag lie, but of divine m- ii, -nch Ofl the Athanas ans, tin 11 isils, th" &lt; 
rils, the Chrv&gt;&gt;stoms, the Cyprian-, tin- Iliiari-s. the A.illbl Ofleft, li.e Au-n-iin-. 
H -eiies in every a^e Inve afa-k- d it, while ih- &lt;-hur.-h lias al-vay- JUMIIOUI 
id --M-d the nation- in which it \\ The benefit n-nliing from hav 

ing these ehureh S, or nmnas t-ri -. at a &gt;hnn dist mee i r nn their homes, wa 
de ply appreciated by the p &gt;:&gt;! : of faith. u Ne if a mona-i -ry," was tiien 

the (jualiticatioii tt&gt; enhance the value a- now it is, " near a pack of 

lioin.d ." The neighborhood of St. Qall, of St. Denis, of Qlastonbui 

Albau s, wa- ih-Mi ind -ed desired on different grounds from wha* it would bo n 
At th --e platv- mmy f- lt th.-ir hearts &lt;penel, and tlieir -oul- in-taiitanron-ly . n- 
franehi-rd from all the servile bond- of this world. Th--&gt;e * dinary in 

stances, but no le-s admirable were the general results to the society around 
them. 

The -ol. mil and tender mel ulies of the church, by means of th&gt;s- institution-, 
gained access to those who, for want of them, would have de^- nerated ) afl we now 
see so many, from the dignity of their baptismal \ , ; 1 or niM-ie ,,f this na 

ture is a &gt;tfen^th"ier both of the mind and of th . If a in &gt;dern phi] 

pher doubta whether the admirable order of the La- lawnoniana \\a- n, 
to the laws (! Lycnr^us than to the elegies of TV:: i not wond.-r that 

those who lived n--ar niou -i-tei i- &gt;. -iimild have im hi many h iy and _"-nfr&lt;&gt;u- 

wntimeiit- mei-ely by singin_ r ihe Gregorian chant with hooded m n. Atl .ctiou 
for the divine offices dictated a delicate -oliehude for the wanUofthoM who \\ 
employed in their celebration, of which we find many traces. !! n . &lt; ti 

the l ald foinidel in the abb -y of St. D il te-n taper- for tip- . to 

l&gt;e plaeel on the tables in winter, bed chronicles obs"rve, "the eoin- 

inuuitv -oiuetiiiK v hire to collation, from the service in the church 

having Uvn ; i before n:Ji t -fall."+ " Tii ! man 

ofHeisI . . " wiio had kept flocks in his youth, but in old a_T" wa- obliged to 
l)e_ r at th" door of our abbey church. !! n -ver wouhl 1 hurch a- lonu r 

a- tiiere was anv part of the divine &lt;&gt;(hV ratiii _ . h" was loved 

by every one.":}: Indeed, from an old nt against the monk- of Moiint- 



Pliilipei-1 (Juillauim- lc Breton, Cant. iv. f Cbroniqur D an. 877. 

Illu*t Mirac. Lib. vi c. 33. 



AGES OF FAITH. 151 

Cassino, that " they mutilated their books in order to make psalters for the use of 
women and children." we may infer how well their offices were followed l&gt;v the 
surrounding poapulation. Tin-reaped bdiVs lived close to the mona.-tery of Bee. 
Their liberality to the convent was unbounded, and th-y r-ceived all kind atten 
tions from the monk-. Of the last who survived, we read, that she continual 
her habits of devotion to the end, and in extreme weakness still a--isted in the 
church daily. So deeply was the scene of her adorations impressed on her thoughts, 
that even when carried home and sitting by the fire, she still constantly thought 
herself in the church. In the annals of Corby, we read, that " about the middle 
of the fifteenth century Regina Salmsen and Veronica de Steinbrug were so 
devout, that neither cold, nor the night air, nor hunger, could ever drive them 
from the church of the abbey, but they lived in it constantly, to be objects of im 
itation to others."* 

In the monastic churches, besides the regular offices, many devotions were ob 
served, which endeared them to the people. Thus, in the annals of Carboy, we read, 
under the date of 1402, that "the chapel of St. Gertrude is repaired, and it is com 
manded that every morning mass shall be celebrated for the sick in general, 
wherever they may be.| " In the abbeys of Ouches, Noyon, and in others, there 
was instituted, " saysOrderic Yitalis, " a solemn anniversary in favor of the fath 
ers, mothers, brothers, and sisters of all the monks of the monastery. Their 
names were inserted in a long register, which is placed on the altar. The same 
dav the almoner received in the abbey as many poor people as there were monks, and 
gave them an entertainment; after which, the ceremony of the Maudatum was 
performed by all the religious." The verses for the solemn procession of the 
relics of St. Gall describe the faithful crowd sweetly singing, bearing the blessed 
burden through hills and vales 

" Scandens et descendens inter montiura confinia, 
Silvarum scrutando loca, valliumque coucava, 
Nullus expers ut locus sit istius solaminis, 
Jamque coelum, jamque terra, jamque pontus laudibus 
Plandat, atque ciieumquaque vox emissa plebibus 
Auctorem invn-mque tanta taraque clari luminis. "\ 

The Benedictines of Einsiedelin, in their processions in the open air, use a por 
table organ to guide the voices of their choir. It was a custom then observed In- 
all the inhabitants of the town, to wear Ions: cloak- while in the church of the ab 
bey, to which they u-ed to hasten at all the regular hours, as if they were them 
selves monks. Indeed, there are few of the ancient chronicle?, in which we do 
not find most remarkable testimonv, to the benefit resulting from the churches 
of the monasteries to the community at large. Let us hear what is recorded 
under the date of 1330 : 

* Ad an. 1 4 .7.2. f An Leibnitz, iii. J Lib. iii. 



.MOKES C AT 110 L ICI; OK, 

- It is an ancient eu-tom of the iti/rn- of Pavia to \v-it often the thresholds 
of the -:i;iits ( &gt;n til" nativity of our Lord ihey proc. ed -..], mnly to the m. : 
tery of St. Saviour with musical instrument-, tymbreN, and trumpets, and silk hau 
liers, with the eh at their head. Similarly on the li-;ival- oi St. 1 
and i" \ _ .-: in, they proceed to the monastery of St. Peir in ( . o lo-aureo, . 
offer pallinms, the multitude of which mav be -ecu on thc-e fr.-tivals when they are 
extend* d in the church. On the 9 I cter and of St. AtiiruM in. crowd- 
from many parts of Lombaidy pa.-s th-- \\h"l. niirht in tip- church. In the n 
astery ,&gt;f St. IVter, in Co-ln-aureo, where is the 1 Si. An&lt;_ r ii-!in, then? \a y 
on every second leria of the year, a solemn sermon, at which nearly the whole 

J UOOet On every third feria there i.- a -ermon in ill- hoi; Me h- units 

of St. Aii&lt;nistin. On the fourth, the sermon is in the church &lt;&gt;( the Domini. 
On the fifth, in that of the ( arm.-liif.-. &lt; )n th&gt;- sixth, in ihe convent of tin- Min 
ors ; and on the Saturdav in Lent alone it is again in the convent of th&gt; Domin 
ican-. Besides the.se, there are particular -ermons oe, a-ionally in diH ereiit holy 
place-. And the crowd- which att-nd them an at. that one mitzht snpi 

the people rarely heard the Word ot ( J. d ; and tiieie i- always at the end a gen 
eral conffe-.-ion and hem diction. On festivals, and every day in Lent, the .-er- 
mon- are more numerou-. On &lt; od Kridav every . n . from the least hoy of 
the town to the most decrepit old p-r-on. i pairs very early to the convent of 
th Minors to hear ih" serin US on the Passion. 1 am d if I have not 

seen -neh multitudes that the wliole city remained d- -erted. There one witness 
es tears and ijroaiH aUundantly, and the who].- day i- sp- iit in hearing sermous 
in different places. In a word, the men have a- much devotion as the women. 
So that if there be some had amongst MS, th number- of the inhahitants 

arc devout and intent on the Divine Word."* It i- marked in a calendar of the 
Jift cnt.i c.-iitnry, that on Good Friday, in the church of the (livat An-n-tin-. at 
Paris, there is always, in differ, nt parts of the church, a sermon in Italian, (. 
man. and I Vneh.t At Durham, we hear of the lair iron pulpit, from which 
one of the monks used to preach everv dav ot devotion at one in the afternoon. 
Salomon, abbot of St. (Jail, shoitly U t on- his d.-ath, on Whit-nnday, pn ached 
four times to vhe people. Th-re wa- hardly a eitv or town in all Fiance in 
which a Pranciaoan theologian from Pari- did not pre ieh in Advent of Lent. 
There was hardly one convent of the order that did not fnrni.-h -ix. ten. or tw&lt; Ive 
devout preachers ;t the f &gt;ree of which dis inetion nnv b. iVom what 

St. Thoma- Kayg, that " it hapne;.- f: &gt;) -icntlv that thev who appioach with 
baldened i l&gt;v m-ans of the \\oid of p eaehiiKj-. are kindl-d to the &lt;livine 

l.,v, 

The churches of the niona-terie&lt; p&gt; --e-.il also a deep historical interest from 

* Anon. Tirinens. (], T/ujilihu-; I 17. an. Munt r II - It Srript. torn. xi. 

t Lclwnf, HUt. (in |) Puis i ii i. J \Va.i line, An Minor ;in. 

Opusc. iv I 



AGES OF FAITH. i:,:j 

the innumerable memorials which they contained, of pious gratitude and domestic 
afU-etioii commemorative of the dead \vh&lt;&gt; repose! beneath them; for thev were 
oyiierally full of sepulchre-fa, many &lt;f them in the hi-h&gt;st degr-c remarkable, 
line lav fin]) rors, philosophers, .-tate.-men, and h who had so often re- 

d a while in abbeys from the cares of their re^pestive .-tations, or in their lat- 
t r \. a s had sought in their peaceful solitude that calm for which they vainly 
sighed throughout a troubled existence. The historian makes us acquainted with 
the events of their lives : the monk recalls their memory in a manner pei haps 
still more forcible, by leading us to their tombs. 

The abbeys of the west, so many of them founded by the Crusaders, bore re 
cord in marble of the perils and escape^ of their benefactors amidst those great 
events. Thus in the Cistercian abbey of Breiiil-Benoit, on the river Eure, found* d 
in 1137, was a chapel erected in pursuance of a vow made by William de Mar- 
eilly, son of the first founder, to testify his pious gratitude for his miraculous 
deliverance from the hands of the Turks, and return to his parents and country. 
But what, above all, arrested the attention of those who visited monasteries with 
a view to interest of this kind, was the sepulchral lore in which they were so 
singularly rich ; for in consequence of many considerations, the desire to be in 
terred within them was throughout the middle a&lt;;es almost universal. 

o o 

Louis-le-gros used often to explain his motive for wishing to be buried in the 
abbey of St. Denis, amidst the saints. " It wa-," he said, in order that by the 
prayers of the pilgrims and others passing, he might obtain pardon of his sins."* 
Even when humility shrunk from burial with the martyrs, men still clung to the 
hope of being associated in the grave with the monastic dead. Orderic Vitalis 
says, that in the year 1108, Philip, king of France, fell sick, and seeing that his 
end was near, he convoked the grandees of the state -ind his friends, and spoke 
as follows : " I know that the sepulture of the French kings is at St. Denis : but 
as I feel that I am a great sinner, I do not dare to have my burial near the body 
of so great a martyr. I revere St. Benedict, that tender father of monks, and I 
desire to be buried in his church on the Loire." According to his desire lie was, 
therefore, buried in the monastery of St. Benoit de Fleuri, between the choir 
and the altar. "f We find instances of restitution being made to monks, with a 
view to gaining burial in their church. 

Frederic d Etampes, sou of Gaudric and Isembard, surnamed Payen, made a 
solemn restitution of ecclesiastical goods to the monastery of Longpont, Fred 
eric came there and deposed the act upon (he altar. The monks proceeded to 
associate him in the prayer.-, of the community, in giving him the book of the 
Gospels to touch, and they promised to burv him in their church. After which, 
he gave the kiss of peace to each of the monks.! When they could not have act- 



* Chroniques de St. Denis, an. 1137. f Lib. xi. 

J Lebeuf, Hist, du Diocr-c &lt;lc Puri-. xi. 262. 



l. l M o K KS CAT IK) Lie I ; oli. 

iianx Sepulture with tin- monks, Mill mm -i.ii.rht t,, 1, :iVt . the benefit of their 
pray, Thus, thearehbi- T-nr- approa. -hint; hi&gt; l:i-t hoin . &lt;-a .- 

to be written to Pope Innocent III. \\hich alter hi-d&lt; were delivered under 

his seal to that poiitiH hy Master P. t r dc Vi,- . in whic;, h- humbly bes. ii^ht 
him t&lt;&gt; charge, by ! Her-. tne prior and monks of ( irand in Ot, t . pray t-. &lt; 
for hi- -oiil.* 

I - \ v to account for this ireneral MM icitude. From tin- peac&lt;- of tli- living 
t" t. C peace of the dead, then. i ofth .nirh: was natural. The monks who 

provided for I he ibniur, hud leisure to study what wa&gt; conducive to the la:: 
they had tim. to think cf tho-e who were deputed to the other world, and h 
\vi:h fervent and fraternal love they -on -lit to fteCUre l .r every man a tranquil 
irrave and an et. i-nal i-est. They were ineciii n- in e.\erci-in^ charity to the dead. 
Jn tne ahln y of Kin-ie&lt;lelin, there was an anniversaiy oilire for the .-on Is of the 
jxx&gt;r strange pilgrims who had died there. 

" Let not t he hr-thri n slumber," -ays Caesar of Hei-terbaeh, " when they chant 
for the dead ; because as knights are gatnered t"i;i-tiier to a tournament. BO flock 
SOllls to tli- ..Mice of the (iead."-f Mm oh&gt;.-rved with what fidelity and revermce 
monks of all oid- r-sun^ *he requiem of tho-e who-e .-oiil&lt; were commended 
their prayers. Mor&lt;.&gt;\&lt; r. the Christian world could not be hettlhs- of the fact, 
tha it was in a mona-tery, that of Cluny, under C)dil&gt;, in 998. that th" f-a-t of 
All sonl-, th.it mos; afleetini;, m&lt; ier commemoration, wa lii-t celebrated, 

which in the following vear was re-nlarly ii 1 tor the whole church by Pope- 

Silvester the second. It was evident that the intero-ts of the dead were m -t 
studied and ait nded to in these eoinmunities. What could be more natural than 
that men should desire to come in per.-onallv for a share of the b, n- fit ? Tl 
who best knew what pa-S"d in monasteries, from bein^ themselves their imn: 
maj be proposed a- taking the had in manifestations of this desire. Thus the 
holy founder of the celebrated abbey in th-- forest of Font evraud beiiu: on his 
travels, and pr-ccivin^ himself about to die, had no other fear but hat of not be- 
iiiir int. -i -red in his beloved Imu-e. "O Fontevraud, Fontevraud, 1 he cried, "I 
wished so much to rest with you !" Sending for the i)ishop of the city, h" &gt;aid 
to him, " Father, know that I do not wi-h to \&gt;e buried at Bethleheni, where God 
d ijned to be born of a virgin, nor at Jerusalem near the holy sepulchre, nor at 
lioine amon&lt;r the martyr-; it is at F"iit vraiid. no where but a 1 I- oiitevrand that 
1 wi-h to rep There accord; ii _ r lv I &gt;oin Martmc found hi- tomb at the &gt;idr 

of the a-tar. Tho.-e who in life ha. i iriven the -troii^c-t proof of attachment to 
the monks by tbnndin^ abix-ys, mav be citei i- iMiowin^ them nearest in regard 
to this - de. Kini; Henry." -a\ - &lt; &gt;r ! ric Vitalis, " died at the ca.-tle of 

Ly. iis. In Normandy ; but at his de-iie, hi- bod\ at r the delay of a month, in 

-equ -nce of unfavorable winds, during which time it lay in the choir of St. 



Epist. Iiiii. iii. Lib. x 47. t IHust. Mirac. viii. 96- 



AGES U F FAITH. i;&gt;5 

Stephen, at Caen, was at length placed on board a ship by the monks, who were 
charged with the office, and transported to England, where it was buried with 
irreat honors in the abbey of Reading." Of th" /.&lt;-al cnvinced by surviving rela 
tives to fulfil such desires, even when they were only presumed, many insta: 
occur. Thus, in 1146, the marchioness of Lucard, taking offence at having been 
refused some favor bv the abbot of Mount Sereno, and a few davs after dvin* at 

^ . 

Gerbestad, was buried tliere by advice of Hojer, count of Mansfeld. At that time 
the Marquis Conrad returned from beyond the sea, and on arriving in Bavaria 
learned the sad event of his wife s death. Hearing that she had not been buried 
in the abbey of Mount Sereno, by advice of Hojer, he became very angry, and 
declared that he would compel him to dig her up with his own hands. Hojer hear 
ing of his anger, and wishing to regain his favor, went by night and per-uad- d 
the guardians to disinter her ; it being six months after she had been buried. This 
being done, he conveyed the body to Witt in, where he met the marquis. Thence 
it was borne to the monastery of Mount Sereno, and honorably buried the same 
day ; the marquis making donations to endow three altars for the repose of her 
soul, to each of which six manses were appropriated. f 

Again, we must remember that monasteries were often the only asylums for the 
bodies as well as the souls of men on whom the world frowned. Hence we find 
such persons in their last sickness, eager to reach them before they died, like 
Wolsey pursuing his journey to Leicester, and greeting the abbot and his convent 
there with these words : " O father abbot, an old man, broken with the storms 
of state, is come to lay his weary bones among you ; give him a little earth for 
charity." In the Saxon chronicle the account of the imprisonment and blinding 
of the innocent Etheling Alfred, son of King Ethelred, who was afterwards led 
to the monastery of Ely, concludes with these lines : 

" Then to the monks tbey brought 
Their captive ; where he sought 
A refuge from his foes 
Till life s sad evening 1 close. 
His body ordered then 
These good and holy men, 
According to his worth, 
Low in the sacred earth, 
To the steeple full-nigh, 
In the south aisle to lie 
Of the transept west ; 
His soul with Christ doth rest." 

There was, m fact, a spirit of generous independence in the religious orders, 
which prompted them to disregard all base fear in granting burial to the dead, when 
by that act they might incur the resentment of the powerful. Hence, the abbeys 
Abound with tombs of unhappy men, unjustly doomed. How many gentle, and 

* Lib. xiii. t Chronic. Montis Sereui ap. Menckeuii Script. Rer. Germ. 11. 



150 MuUKS CATHOLICI; OK 

bravo, and generous, over whose dark fate no lorn hard breathed one melodious 
sigh, VfhuM h .nor is a\ by monks in the inscription- on their -epuirhr- ! 

Ratherius [)i;iv-ni, scd ter li,itheri:i- exiil, i- tin- -nt-nce "ii the tin;&gt; t th.: 

&gt;p ol Yeioua, \slio after bein_ t roin the .- V nma 

and Lie^e, died in the convent of L i)-s, where be hud originally been a monk, 
and \vh- iv his toinh wa- &lt;1 with only this epitaph.* 

In th reian house ol the ( omplnt"ii&lt;ian ueadt-niy, at Aicala, i- tin- tomh 

of William \Val.-h, a Bent die -ji,. monk and bishop, on which, it d. that 

r sufferiug an imprisonment oifthirteeo for the Catholic frith, he dii 

ihei \ile.t In llol. Kolvrt II., ilnke of Normandy, died at ( arditl . in 

ity-ei^nth year of ni- imprisonment, after linim; !&gt; n taken at Tinchebrai. 
Oixleric 1 Yituli- only add-, * he reposes buri- d in th" convent ot the monk 
Peter, at Gloucester."]; Count \Valdev.. .1 of treason against William, \\a- 

kept in prison at \Vinelie-ter. Dm in^ a year." -ay- h di i p--:.ance 

rth" -iiisot h . and never Jailed e\-e;y day to -ini: on-- hnniied and 

fifty 1 s.iii: .ivid. which lie had Icain-d in \i\^ &lt;-hildh( lie surp 

ino-t men in g ! as in coiin^... Devout adorer of God. he ! 

ence to the monk-, and cheri-h d tend -rly tlie church and tl. 
these iva-on&lt; he wa- I. loved hy all who fulfilled the will of (i.d. and his 
deliverance wa- ardently &lt;Iesirexl. In^ulphus says, that tin- ( ount s i -nl -..: . the 
venera: ! \ : - &gt;p Lanfranc, d-ciai e 1 t hat I, Hit of the COmpir 

and that his death would he that of a martyr; hut th; rnpions w :itri- 

hute 1 to hi- death, and also, n ial tj,.. No]-iuans Ion h - Ic-i-hips i.f \oiih- 

ampton and Huntiugdon; so, in line, his enemi railed, and sentence of doth 

wa- pa&gt;-ed and exeeut ; (&gt; the citizens of \\ -:! IKM roiu tneir 

lutls. Hi- hody wa- nto a trench, and no one dar-d to touch it. But: 

fifteen day- it wa- taken up, -till quite fresh, hy Vi-ketel, abbot ..viand, 

\\a-hed. and carried with general moiinMi^ t the monasvrv of&lt; 
it wa- l)uri t d. Inirulphus say-, that the abbot continnini: t.. e\:ol him in hi- 

&gt;en \ormai une enrau r d and sunim -d him i uncil at Ix&gt;n- 

don. where h- wa- d. mel to pri-.,ii. and -ent to Glastoidmrv. t 

tar iron) all that knew him. It wa- on thi- m. that In&lt;_ r niphu&gt;. who a 1 !- r 

Btudyingal We-tmini-t rai .i-d,and mak n^ a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, had 

n prior at Fontandie. in \.,rmandv. w .bix.t of ( Yoyland. Tudei- 

h in in th" next rei^n. th-- monk- ^rievin, that the tomb of their bene&d r. 
( oiint \\aldeve. -lionid be exposed to the wind and th" rain, iv-olved, by advice 
ot [ngulphus, to translate \\&lt;&lt; remains into th" church. \Vh"ii the d e. a 

erowd of ta : thi u! a---mi&gt;led, and th" monk- pi : with lights and all 

::i _ r to find only hi- bom-- and a- &lt; - : fr it wa- th" -ixt""iith 
year of his sleep : but wh- n the tomb \\; ; "d, they found his b dv a- whole 

* Trithcm. Chronic. I! f Notit. Abit &lt;&gt;nl Ci, J - J Lib. xiii. 



AGES F F A IT 1 1 

as the day he was buried. The head was joined to the body, and only a thin red 
mark like a thread was round the neck. The abbot Ingulphus knelt down and 
ki-sed him on the face. The body was then .solemnly borne into the church, and 
placed in a tomb by the side of St. Guthlac, on which, the monks placed the fol 
lowing inscription : " Tins stone covers the intrepid son Si ward the Dane, the 
excellent Earl Waldeve. He lived with honor, feared for his prowes-. Yet in the 
midst of corruptible riches and honors, he loved Christ and endeavored to please 
him. He served the church, loved with respect the clergy, and in a peculiar man 
ner the monks of Croyiand, who were faithful to his memory. Finally, struck 
by the sword of Norman judges, his limbs were confided to the earth on the last 
day of May. The marshes ot Croyiand rejoiced to possess the tomb of a noble 
man, who, as long as he lived, loved this place with a great respect. May the 
Almighty grant to his soul eternal rest in the ciiadel of heaven."* 

Soon after his election, Ingulphus had ridden to London, and made such in 
terest with great men, that he procured the deliverance of his predecessor, Yisketel ; 
and he accordingly sent an e-eort to conduct him from Glastonbury to Croyiand, 
and, says Ingulphus, "with all favor and filial love beholding his worthy and 
venerable person, so excellent with the most holy piety, I replaced him in his an 
cient stall in the choir, and while he lived I only regarded myself as the procur 
ator of the monastery. From him I learnt much concerning England. The ven 
erable man died on the feast of St. Jerome, in 1085." 

In the great abbev of the Cele-tins, at Marconcies, was another memorable in- 

* 

stance; for here, in th" middle of the choir, with his feet towards the altar, lies 
a sculptured figure of the founder, John de Montaigu, who is buried under it; 
and the inscription on the tomb proves the pious fidelity of the monks to his 
memory ; for it ends thus, " lequel en haine des bons et loyanx services par lui 
faits ait Roy et au Royaume fut par les rebellesennemisdu Roy injusternent mis 
& mort a Paris ;" and on another place these verses 

" Pour ce qu en paix tenois le sang de France ; 
Et soulageois le peuple de grevance, 
Je souffris mort contre droll et justice 
Et sans raison : Dieu si m en soit propice." 

By his s ; de was buried Gerard de Montaigu, bishop of Paris, brother of the 
founder. It was the sight of this tomb, and the noble reply of the monk who 
showed it, that made Francis I. declare that " he would never sentence any man 
to death by commissioners. ! 

-In Spanish histories we read, indeed, that the magnificent sepulchre of Alvarus 
de Luna, at Toledo, was de-troyed bv the infante Henry Peter ; but. in general, 
this charity of the monks furnished an occa-ion of which princes availed them- 

* r - il &gt;- iv - f I&gt;houf. [fist, (in Diocese de Paris, ix. 276. 



158 If ORES CATHOLIC I; OK, 

iiiaiity, as when Kin.: John of Ca-tille p- 

ulehre of that (i d mini.-ter, and i ejected with ind jn;ri n t e advice of 

his courtier-, \\hen they complained tliat a man beheaded by hi- orders should 
have a tuml&gt; anion;: kirn.:-.* 

Me:i wlio h:. i deliverance from the hand- of tii -ir eiiemie- TO the iir 

i of the men of peace, \vonid natnrady desire that t neir boiie- mi^ht rest 
neat tneni, where the ,-nrne prayers wiiicli had moved crn-] n. dd be !] 

in their In-half to the God of mercy. Accordingly, the torn :-- ..f-uch men are 
often found in the mona-tic ehnrehes. Thus, in the Carthn-ain mona-tery of 
Mawrbach, we find th.- -epnlchre ot Frederic III. of An-tria, who. in l.". J J. af- 

;he ha" Kmphin^en, in which he was d.-f -ated by the em;" I . m 

Havana, wa- thrown into pris-n. fi;-t in the ca-tlc of I&gt;orn; n i air ! w. 

in that of rrawsennicht. where lie remained in mi-cry until in 132o. when, af 
ter tVnitle-s att- in j&gt;ts by the pop.- and many pvat pei -sona^ &lt; to obtain his : 
he was delivered l&gt;y mean- ot tlie jiior of this monastery, in which he now 
buried. One ancient chronicle remark*-, that he bore his mi-f -mine with &lt;_ r reat 
equanimity, and pre -ntfering that cruel imprisonment to &lt;_ r aiiiin^ hi- lih. 

l&gt;y unlawful mean- ; addini: tlii- curious tal--. tliat when son;. . ith iih 

than knowledge -rut by necromancy :.n evil demon into the j&gt;ri-on. by whom Fred- 

mi^ht have been deliver, d. the pious hero refused, and ordered the mn-ter to 

depart, and guarded his forehead and breast with the -i^n ot the cross. lI"we\-.-r, 
at lent^h (ioti ried, prior of Mawrbaeh, true to the etymolo^v of his name, a 
peace-mak-r, went in the spirit of fortitude \ \. \ i % and -aid. "Op vhy 

do you not [tardon your relative and friend? why attend to the conn-el- of the 
vain, \\iio tndiaver to subvert the clemency of princ. - ". I y u not perceive 
that you will iiain more honor by dispelling JOUt indignation than by ciieri-hing 
it ?" Lewis was moved at the woid- of the monk. lie order, d Frederic to be 
led into his presence, where the prior celebrated mass and _ i both the 

wicred coinmnnion from one H - Fi . deric and Lewi&lt; th- -n a-h other 

the ki-s of peace, and l&gt;ecame ever afterwards as closely united as Jonathan and 
David. Fr&gt; deric returned to Austria as he came out from prison without having 
shaved hi- b-ard, BO that he could : cely r. cognized by any one. II:- return 

beard of with immenae joy by all the people. Thenceforth ! d noth 

ing a--dn-t L- wi-, Init livej ,jni tly, and went no more to battle ; bur u Hor 
ace Punica bella qnietn-." Finally, in 132!t. he found this quiet 
grave with the men who had delivered him.f 

That the mona.-tic charity, in regard to the burial of the d- ad, -tided 

also to the those who died in a state of utter destitution, appears from a statute 
of the Capuchins in their fir-t jn-neral congregation, held in 1529. " \Vedecree," 



* Rod. Santii Ili^t Ili-p. pt. iv. c. 33. 

f An. MI. I. --:-ii-iisis nirn. Lib. r. :ip. P.-/. Srrint. Rcr. Aut. i. 



AGES OF F A IT II. 



say those fathers, "that DO dead bodies, besides those of our brethren 
.should be admitted into our churches, unle-s perchance of some poor persons ta 
wnom burial had been refnaed by the parish prie&gt;t* on account of poverty. If 
such bodies should be brought to our convents and to our de-erts, they must btf 
received and buried ; for it is a work of piety. Let nothing be received for 
their sepulture ; but for charity let us pray to God for their souls."f 

Perhaps one of the most affecting in-tances of this solicitude occurs in the history 
of St. Hughes, who brought with him, from the Carthusian cloisters to the see of 
Lincoln, all the monastic tenderness. To the burial of the dead he continued 90 
devoted throughout his life, that the historian of his ord-r attributes the singular 
magnificence of his own funeral at which assi-t-d two kings, three archbi-hop-. 
fourteen bishops, more than one hundred abbots, and a crowd of counts, barons, 
and knights, English, Norman, Franc, Burguudiau, Irish, and Scotch, to the es 
pecial ordinance of the providence of God, as indicating how much his piety to 
wards the dead had pleased heaven. J It is related of him, on one occasion, that 
being at Rouen, and invited to dinner, by Richard, king of England, he refused to 
go to the palace until he had assisted to bury the dead ; and to the courtiers who 
urged him to hasten, replied, " Let the king sup in the name of the Lord ; for it 
is better that he should sup without us, than that we sh wM neglect humility ac 
cording to the command of the eternal King." Such were the lessons he had 
learned in the school of St. Bruno. 

For all these reasons, then, the churches of the monks contained the sepulchres, 
or at least, the bones, of those who had drunk to the dregs that cup of manifold 
adversity which is administered for wise and beneficent purposes to many 
amongst the children of men. But now abandoning this particular view, let us 
take notice of the tombs, which evince the de&gt;ire of the great in general to ob 
tain burial in monastic ground. Tiie number of the-e in the ancient Benedictine 
abbeys of Europe might be styled infinite ; and after the thirteenth century, the 
Mendicant orders took full part in the same ministry. The crowd of magnificent 
sepulchres in the convents of the Franciscans show, indeed, with what peculiar love 
that order was regarded by the devout nobilitv. " From the first coming of 
these and the Dominicans to Venice," Dandolo says, "that we find the dukes 
generally choosing to be buried either before their doors or in their churehes."|| 
What a multitude of great princes and nobles were entombed in the convent of 
the Minors, at Vienna H[ and in the houses of that order in France how many 
sepulchre- of heroes ! many of whom, like Count Eizear de Sabran, in the con 
vent ai Paris, had been buried even wearing the habit. It was in the Francis 
can convent-, in Ireland, of Athlone and Kildare, that were found the tombs of 

* A case however which subjected him to ecclesiastical censures. 

f Annales Capucinorum, ad an. 1529. J Dorlandi Chronicon Cartus. Lib. iii. 13, 

Id. Lib. iii. c. 8. J An.l. Dauduli Chronic, passim, up. Miirat. Rer. It. Script, xii, 

T Necrolog. R. R: P. P. Minorum, Conv. Vit-nu. up. Pt-z. Script. RtT. Aust. ii. 



lt;&lt; AluKKs L A i liOLiL l ; OR, 

the Dillons and the lord- ofOtValy.* Kverywhere tin- -am-- de-in- \v:i- man 
ted, insomuch that *m&gt;- p- :iud -ecular clerk- ev?n defied the la-t -acra- 

IIH ills to those who chose fcheir aepulchre in tue convent- ol ilic F:an&lt;-i?"-an- ; and 
I .-jK- Alexander IV. wa- oblig.-d to write again.M. -urn inju-tice, to d-i-laiv tliat 
th---.. :ioly t riars might continue to provide tliose who turned to them in d&gt;-ath 
with (piicl graves, f 

\\ nil- proceeding now to view the tombs, we may remark what an additi 
intere-t must have attended .-IK-II in-peti n-. : i. in th -circumstance of having 
for guide a monk who was often a learned hi.-tonan and a saint The office of 
escorting -tranters to the s. piiieiins of the k\n^&lt; in tlie a nbev of St. I -i i-, wa-, 
at one time di-chargrd by Mahillon. What mu-t it liave !*&lt; n to hear ti.e om- 
ments of such a guide standing o\vr the L r rav.- of Si. Loni- ! \V. have only to 

our eyes around u- a- MTC walk on, or to de-cend, holding these lighted tap 
ers, to the crypts where so many sleep in dull coll marbl.-, to find an int--iest in 
ni&lt;&gt;iia-t ries, which, if there had i&gt;een iiotliinj - !- to alh-j,- in their favor, - D 
to hftveaeoured their preservation to tht&gt;-i-nd of time. Ai. w- in the ahlx y n urch 
of Clan J? how many -epulclu .tint- and illustrious pei.-ona-t- on :jll -!&gt; 

Are we in thit of St. Vaast, in A i ra- . we have around us tiie uol)h-t t-mh- in 
all the low coiintrie-. Dom M;. on visiting the al.i.ev ot Si. (Jermain at 

Auxerre, observe-. "This pla&lt;v is pi-rhap- the mo&gt;t ven.-rahle in the whole king 
dom : a id. ai t -r the catacombs ,,f K..mc, I do not know ifone cum find any more 
holy. More than sixty eunoui/.e i -aim- rep.-. h-r-."* 

" Tlie abU-y of St. Viet r with &gt;ut the wall- and near the port," -ay- Dom 
Martene, i- the most venerable j)lac!e of Mur-eille- ; all the land about it u- d 
to be calle&lt;l paradise, from the sanctitv ot th-- monks who inhabited it. Ca--ien 
was its found. -r ; ids sepulchre of marble is t n.T.-. a- also t hat of Tope 1 : ban V.. 
who had been abbot of this lioiise." Tin- -ubterraii -ou- church a^ain of the 
Minims at Aries, which was formerly a priorv dep -ndent on Ix iins. inspii..-. he 
says, a respect which cannot be xj)i.--ed. Here one s^-s seven marble torn 
amoiiir-t oth -rs, that of St. Hilary of Aries. Around the church are an infinity 
of marble sepulchre-. Dom Mart-no thinks, that the tom Ds around the little 
church ot the Holy (Yo , thought to have U-n built by Charlemagne, which 
stands near the mona-t i-y ..f Montmajour, to the &gt; -ntn of Aries, were not tho-e 
of th- s .Idier- of that kin^ slain lv the S iir.ssiu-, but that the plac-- wa- the an- 
ci- n; cemeterv of the monks, who had a chapel in the midst according to ;he old 
cu-tom."&lt; But -ome ancient authors are Very positive on this point. Tne\ 
that great was the d- - re of many to l&gt;e bnrieil in thi- field -Mi-, fi )in the 

id. a i:i : no diabolic, delusions, like tli.&gt;. read of in the &lt;M&gt;~pels as dwelling n--ar 
tomi)-. w ;e -utl crcd to liniror round tlie &lt;lead i&gt; .di. - :ha r -tc 1 in it. All t hat 
in (iaul.or round the Pyrenseun mountains, or the AiKMinine-. I ll in battle with 

* Waddiuij. Aun. Miu. iii. vi. f Id. iv. ad au 1260. J V Id. - 



AGES OF FAITH. 161 

the pagans, wished, they tell OS, to have their burial then-, and were borne thither, 
some on chariot.-*, other- on lmv- s, other- in bouts that dc-o-nded the Rhone, 
whose waters, to prevent their passing beyond it, would \\hirl them round inrca-e- 
eircles if there was an attempt at further progress.* In this in-peetiou of the 
tombs of the monastery, those of the religious naturally should have precedence. 
L&lt;?t us obs"rve a few of the most curimi- and venerable as we pass. But ere we 
take a step in advance, it is impossible to resist the solemn impression which 
conies over the mind on approaching them. 

Luther, arriving on the eve of Palm Sunday at Erfurth, descended at the con 
vent of the Augustins, where, a few years before, he had taken the habit. It was 
nightfall : a little wooden cross over the tomb of a brother whom he had known, 

o " 

and who had lately departed sweetly to the Lord, struck his attention and troubled 
his soul. He was himself no longer the poor friar travelling on foot and begging 
his bread. His power equalled that of Charles V., and all men had their eyes on 
him. That morning, on hi- march, he had sung the famous war hymn which 
Heyne compares to the Marseillaise ; and the emperor was about to resist him, 



as lie snid in his imperial rescript, " though ar the peril of his own blood, of his 
dignity, and of the fortune of the empire." The triumphant innovator was re 
called to himself for an instant by seeing the tomb of a faithful brother. He 

pointed it out to Doctor Jonas : " See, there he rests ; and I :" he could not 

finish. After a little while he returned to it, and sat down on the stone, where he 
remained more than an hour, and till Amsdorf \va&lt; obliged to remind him that 
the convent-bell had tolled the hour for sleep. f Well might the heart, in which 
such tempests were still gathering, have wept at the image of that quiet grave. 
Let us now approach and mark each singly. 

In the abbey of Clairvaux, Dom Martene saw the tombs of St. Bernard, of St. 
Malachy, and of some holy martyrs, which were behind the great altar. In a 
crypt near the cemetery of the abbots were ranged the bones of the monks who 
were contemporary with St. Bernard, and who are revered as saints. In the ab 
bey of St. Germain-des-Pre s, the names of many monks of happy memory were 
handed down in ancient inscriptions, though all trace of their actions had been 
lost. But here we need not pause. These graves are all too old now to remem 
ber the sormw which consigned its charge to each. Some tombs of monks con- 

O 

vey lessons of humility, a- in the epitaph of St. Bruno 

" Doctor eram, prseco Christi, vir notus in orbe ; 
Desuper illud erat, gratia, non merituiD."t 

Others attest in a remarkable manner the virtues of their tenants. Such was 
that of John \Valleis. an English Franciscan, commonly called Arbor vita?, on 
Account of the fruits of erudition for spiritual nourishment which he produced. 

t 

* Gerv Tilb. Otia Imperialia, xc. f Audio, Vie de Luther. 

% Pet. Sutorus de Vila Cai thus. i. 3. 5. 



MOKKS (AT IK) LIC I; OR, 

II- died at Paris, smiling. with the words, " I am going to my country." And 
on lr- -epulrhiv, in tne convent of the Minor*, there wa&lt; a trer s.-ulptured in a!- 
lu-ion to his name.* Such also was that of John Hallin, the historian, and monk 
oftheaMx lairmarai-, Mhi -h wa&gt; ai the end of the cloister near the in. 

of the I d*-- d Yijg n : to: his epitaph consisted of a pictur- ot tli- flagellation 
ofOhri-t. having on the right our lady of sorrow-, and on th- U-ft hi&lt; own por 
trait, with that of his patron St. John.i &lt; )nieric Vital - WeitU to think that the 

carved images on some toml&gt;- Uespeak the sanctirv of thos- th-v represent ; 
for, speakitii: of the ahhey of St. ( eiieti, in \\hicii 1 t() monks had cultivated tin- 

1 s vineyard, imt wiiich, having !&gt; 11 ravaged ly Ha-tii retreat 

for a trihe of niurderoii- rohhcrs. wh" took po--e ion l the rock on which it had 

i : he says, " th-- 4one lotnhs plac&gt; d in and abimt the chinch evidently at; 
to tlio-c who visit them, what P-pect is due to the monks who tl 
On the tomb of St. Bonaventura, in the convent of the Minor-, at Lyon-, \. 

these ver.-es 

" Illc lioinitiinn plura%cquidqiuun excitus inani ; 
ciira innj.Tf :icin.&gt;. in-lii.ra(|in 

UK- c,iii&gt;ili.i, inMini i i:i-cMiiia vulgi 
l&gt; -picil. et varms ulli ;i\cl&gt;;i u: IIOIK 



On the death of this ^rea: do&lt;-tor. which till-d the whole chtirch with grief, 
the pope In- letter- r- C lmnu-nded all pn late- and priests throughout the WOfld 
that each should -ing a mas- t or ni- -..ul. Th- whole city of LVMII-, wliere he 
die&lt;l, attending: the council, as-i-t- d at his ol)-eqnif- witli tear-. 1 &lt; aKani-t-. 
on arriving liere. threw his l&gt;.&gt;,i\ inl tin- Aiar ; hut tiie head and oilier de a&lt;-hed 
j&gt;arts were pres-i ve&lt;l iV"iu tailing into th&gt;-ir hands. jj ( )n some ot th--e - pnlchrt- 
\ve may read the whol- history ot a i-loistral life, a- in the epitaph of .John d - 
Authoii, compose&lt;l l&gt;v Joim liouchet: 

" Di\ an-; avant quc niourut ee bon pere, 
Au^icrc vie il tint en moniisti-n-. 
Eu inespnsant par nicrvcillciix (lesdainc 

gens du monde tt tout lioiineur niondain." 



He slept on no soft conch : 

" Tousjours estoit )e premier ;\ 

( ninbieii iju il fust nolilc (! -icz, 

11 IH- volllnit DC cha-se. lie Vrlierir. 

Kn ^"litmic il vivoit tout st uCt. 

DC comtAence -mit fort timorcuse." 

He departed, repea in^ manv till" \ f-e- : 

I. . at l-i cine : 

Priez 4 Dieu q:ic ptirdmi 



* Waddinc. An. Miti. iv. f Piers. Hi-t dr- \hlvdt- \V:itl-n ot di- Churm. t Lit), viii. 
. iding. iv. an 1^74. | Gnuj.-: Bib t neque Fran&lt;;:ii- . torn. M. 



AGES OF FAITH. 16:5 

Very striking were the tombs ami epitaphs of tin- great convertites in abbey-. 
Mark, for instance, thi~ inscription in the cloister of Clunv: "Hie reqniescit vir 
braiuUe memorke, ntagn usque aMnlionntetnpt or, Hu^o, olim Dux Btir^undiae, 
postea sacerdo- et mona- hus hnjn- mncttt eonhwtt Cluniacensi-. Anitna cjus re- 
qtiiescat in pace! Amen."* Deeply interesting were also those of Pahm-i--, such 
a- that of Antonio, snrnamed Pen grains ; of the noble family of Manzonia, of 
Padua, who at length, after living unknown for some time in the monastery of 
St. Marv dePorcilia. in Palna, passed thence to Christ, in 1261, who i- o.mnvm- 
orated on his sepulchre in that abbey as one "qni omnia loca sancta visitavit." 
The magnificent tomb over the humble Louis de Blois, on which he wa.s styled 
"the ornament and miracle of his age," and the sepulchre of St. Remy, in the 
abbey which bears his name, round which were represented the twelve peers of 
France, as large as life, with their usual symbols as in the coronation of the 
French kings, convey, moreover, a testimony to the virtue of the times them- 
selves, when sanctity received such honors. Anoiher c!as* of these sepmchtv-. 
which cannot be viewed without intense emotion, attests the learning and renown 
of those monies, with whose writings we are now so familiar. Thus we find the 
t&lt;&gt;mb of Richard of St. Victor, on which the-e lines were engraved, on brass: 

" Moribus. inirenio, doctriiut clarus et arte, 

Pulvereo hie te-reris. dncte Hicharde. situ. 
Quern tellus gt-imit fa lici Seotica p.-iriu, 

I c fovet in gremio Gallic.-i terra suo. 
Niltihi Piirca I&lt;TOX nncuii. qiuv stamina parvo 

Tern pore tracta, gravi rupit acerlm nunui. 
Plurima namque tui superant mouimenia laboris, 

Qiite tilri pt-rpetiium sint pavitura dvcus. 
Segnior ut, lento sceleratas morspeiit aede-. 

Sic propero nimis it sub pia tecta gradu." 

Oi-par Jongelinus, when he visited Cisteaux, saw the sepulchre of the great and 
&gt; rated Doctor Aianus, which was at the left side of the cloister, near the en 
trance of the church. The epitaph was as follows : 

" .Vlamim hrevis horn, brevi ttimulo sepelivit, 
Qni duo, qui septem. qui totum scibile scivit, 
Labentis pfecli contemntis rebus eerens fit. 
Intus conversus, erreiribus oommissus nlendis, 
Miile ducpntHno nonneeno qnnqne quarto 
Christo devotus mortales exuit artus ."+ 

When Dom Martene visitod that nl&gt;bev. whoiv Al-&gt;nu. be snys, had left, as a con- 
vertite, an immense f-ime, IIP found a French enitanh on his tomb, nearly to the 
same effect.^; Round fhp sepulchre of Dnn Sootns. in the or&gt;nvpnt of the Francis 
cans at Cologne, the names of fiftpen doctor- were inscribed in brass, amongst 

* Chronic, fluniacens. t Notit. Abb. Ord Oistero. t Voyaee Lir. i. 214. 



104 M OKE&gt; ( ATHULICI; oli, 

whom, William of Ware is dei 1. - MagiBterGuilleimuaVano, 1 \&gt;\nr 

^ .ti.* I m- t.-stiiii" i in- moOMtiotOluba may In- cite 1 ai- ::- at -:ino- mira&lt;- 

nloir- .it. Sucli i- thai &lt;&gt;i Didacn- B;uluin, a Minor friar, in the convnt 

&gt;f Majurica. in Spain, on which is a rude inscription relating his history: the 
i ami day of hi&gt; death U-in. i, thc-e lines 1 ollow : 

Di&lt; IKM- ft mMi-f mi^ravit pnt dictus. 
QuifM-at in pare, sitijuc beiifdirtus. Amen 
Vi vens sir sciibit ilc Mia ccrtu- morte : 
Incertus de hora, gantlet mortis niora. ; 
TYmpu* si ii(}(l:itnr. SmniiK \\\-i j&gt; 
V -isus mutiihitiir. vivo congaudt 1 ! 

In another chapel lies his In-other, &lt; Jar- a- Badam, a man of holy life, on whose 

ton) 1) we read, 

" Is qui jacet, mortis dum noTit et boram.t 



The sepulchres of the monk-, a^ain. are often made to convey -olemn lessons to 
the living. Such is that of Willeram, a monk of Flnda, who Houri-hed in the 
eleventh century, on which \\ere these line- : 

" Fuhlensi onachus \Vi Irani di- fontc vocatus, 

Hie lict-t iniimiius Paster t-rani positus, 
Noniini-i ofHcium cunupit riciio muriMii . 

Qui &gt;ibi iH inpe mulus. cui val--t t .-st- Imnus ? 
Correxi libros, neglexi mm Jims illos : 

Justi siippliriis -on&gt;cius ipsi- milii 
Sed quia deliqui. tin t ini-if tlancllii cupivi, 

Te lameu hoc solum del inihi propicium. "} 

Such also was that tomb of Ponce, ablwtof Cluny, predecessor of Peter the Ven 
erable, who was represented upon his sepulchre in that abbey, lying with Ids teet 
tied and his hand cut otf. to signify that lie &lt;lie&lt;l e\commnnicattHl. Such too 
was the tomb of Father Lupus, at Louvain, one of the mo-t celebrated doctor- 
that university ; of which the epitaph, composed by himself, was as follows: 

"Hseres peccati, Datura films irae, 

Hie jaceo, dignu: nomine reque Lupus. 
Indigiuis, non P. nd -c&gt;lo nominf doctor, 

Verbis non factis mt; docuisse flco. 
Perdocuisse nlios, t-i ii^n docuisse seipsum, 

Quid juvat? O iinuidi fnnius, inane, nihil I 
Ague Dens, Patris doctrina, redemtio mundi, 

Nunc tibi ptfxrratnm i-oninii-ernn rciitn. 
Kt Intro ct mi-retrix crati-j tim n-jna subintrant. 

drat i pi-ccatis fiat.et ista meis." 

The first line appears to haveWn horro\ve&lt;l from theeititaph on the erreat Adam 
* Wuddine. iv. + Tbid. torn. iv. 12". 7 t fcnnnnat. TTitoria Fnldrn*.. . pt. i. 

? VOVHL" df T&gt;fllX l ,rl&gt;f l i. 



AGES OF FAITH. 

of St. Victor, which was engraved on l&gt;ra&lt;s upon his tomb in that cloister at Paris 
Tin-, pt-ihap&gt;, was tiic mo-t bcautifnl that omul aiiv where be found: it was as 

follows : 

" Haeres peccati, iiitlura filius irae, 

Exiliique reus nascitur omnis homo. 
Uude Mipctbit lionio? cujus conceptio culpa, 

Xa&gt;ci pu-iiji, labor vita, nece^,. timri. 
Van.i .-.-tins hominis. vamis decor, omniu vans : 

Inter vana nihil vanius est lioinine. 
Dum inagis alludit pnesentis gloria vitse, 

Praeterit, imino fugit, uon fugit, iinmo peril. 
Post hominem vermis, post vermem fit cinis, heu, heu! 

Sic redit ad cinerem gloria nostra simtil. 
Hie ego qui jaceo miser, et miserabilis Adam, 

Unam, pro summo munere, posco precem. 
Peccavi, fateor, veuiam peto, parce fatenti: 
Parce Pater, fratres parcite, parce Deus." 

" These lines are a proof," says Pasquier, " that there were brave scholars at St, 
Victor s at that time: et eertes j op pose cest&lt;- piece a tons epitaphes, tant anciens 
que modei nes, et nous pouvons de cet eschantillon jngerque les bonnes lettres et- 
toient lors & bonnes enseignes, logees dans ce monastere."* Finally, we may 
observe that the sepulchres of the monks often attest the divine peace which they 
enjoyed in the cloister, and expected in the future life. Such was that of brother 
John de Pontisara, in tbe abbey of St. Germain-des-Pres, " in quo," as the epi 
taph attested, " sensus erat, bonittis, pax, et moderaruen ;" and that of brother 
Peter de Nangis, in the same monastery, whose peaceful goodness was also com- 
raemorated.f On an ancient tomb in Rheims was this inscription : 

" Hie tegitur, cujus in factis gratia, cujus 
Pax in corde fuit, cujus in ore modus." 

The epitapn on Folrad, abbot of St. Denis, contained these lines : 

" Felix ilia hominum est mors et pretiosa bonorum 
Gloria quam sequitur, vita, saliisque quies."t 

The words on the tomb of Father Domenico, in the convent of the Carmelites at 
i ausilypo, u De paradiso ad paiadisnm transiens, 1522," were pei hap- still 
more expressive in their simplicity.^ Amongst the tombs of the monks \ve find 
also often those of great prelate-, who &gt;ought communion with them in the grave. 
Thus the archbishops of Rheims wished to be buried in the ablvy of St. Remy. 
Tri the abbey of Clairvaux, near the great altar, was the tomb of John de Blan- 
chemain. archbishop of Lyons, \\-ho rennauced his see, to retire to this monastery. 
In tne north transept were the tombs of five holy bishops, who from the same 

* Recherche do !a Prance. lAv. iii. c. ?.. I D. Bonillart Hist, de 1 Abb. de S. Ger. 

; \p Mai-tent-. Vet. Scrini. vi. .^ Antiij. e. Hi-t. (. amnaniiB ap. Gifev. T)H-J. Antiq. It. iff 



.Mo KKS CATHOLIC] ; oli, 

place pa-Mil to lu-aven. Under the eliuir of the ehureii of the abbey of St. Mat 
thias, at Treves, was a threat crypt, where D&lt;&gt;in Martene -aw the tomb- of the tir-i 

bishope of Treves, who were til suints. -We counted," h&lt; n of 

them. I -he most venerable p aee in Ti In tin- abU-y of 

amp \\ t -mb of William, bi-liop &gt;t Haveiix, &lt;&gt;n \\ h : ch were tin-.- word-, 

in-criU d hy Hildebert : On the -ixth dav which precedes the month of April, 
oiir-e ended, his recompense commenced." At thecloi-tral gate of S . Maur- 

ice, at An. - the total) and image of Ulueriu-, \vh", in&gt;m a poor -chola-tic, 

irne a celebrated master, and finally bi.-hop of that see. He died in 1148. 

The following is the epitaph : 

"Hie j-irct t hjerius tciicri-s consurtn&lt; ah aunis 

Liuirn;i, im-ntr, maim fruciiir.iiv I 1 
Hildas opus inuliis procioso. mn- iTe, 

Flentera soluri. tiuduin votin-, supi-: Imm 
Frui^ere. ne qiuMiniunn la- li-n-. n-ct-i. 



But, leaving now the tomb- of rrli^...n&gt; men, let us cast a hasty glance at 
those of the ancient kin^s and feudal princes who lie m-.ir them ; many of whom. 
re havealrea&lt;; rv.d, w- iv m..v.-d by a true faitii, irhile oUtera, no doubt. 

\\ere actuated only by an unavailinij; -entiment nfrenior-e and terror, in their de 
sire to have burial here. It was tio oonsolillg spectacle, though it mu-t have &lt;. 
d-eply interotiuir, to behold many t"ini&gt;- ot M. i&lt; .viiii. r ian kings in the abbey- of 
&gt;t CermaiiiKle-l iesand of St. D nis. Those tragic figures, so barbftfons and to 

tt-nible, which pa- iv us in the paire&gt;,,f St. ( lr^- r\ of Tour-, it was here that 

th -y resttnl. Our proud Norman kin^rs, too, and PI mta^enet-, who often in their 
live- de-i:ed -o ill of|)cace, and of these the liarde.-t, mt iron, and implacable, 
who warred again-t their own father-, -eenie 1 soft-ned at the aiemory of the 
cloister, and to recognize their error \\hen they cnos4- their tomb. The maii- 
leiun- of Henry and Richard, kings of Kn_ r land, are found, not in regal cha 
inuler martial trophies ot heraldic bla/on, but with that of Queen Kl.-anor. in the 
rp-t where holy virgins only chant round them, in the choir of their church of 
1 vrault. On the other hand, to find the tombs of those heroic and benefi 
cent princes who are gat he red to the kings &lt;.f thought. 

" Who waged contention with their lime s decay, 
And of the past are all that cannot pass away," 

men had to repair likewise to the rimrch&lt; - of th- monk- ; it was there that they 
found them : Alfred, Edward th- Con lessor, and St. Loiii-, lay bnri d in m&lt;&gt;na-- 
teries. Charles Martel, that irreat instrument in the hands of Almighty God to 
n th-- we-tern Chur-h, lav buried in a tomb of alaba-ter. in tlu- abbey of St. 
I)--nis, by the side of the high altar. lona, founded on Druidieal ruins, lona, 

* Mula-iis. Ili-t Diiif IViii- ii. 



AGES OF FA IT II. 1C,7 

the mother of monks, the oracle of the west in tne -eventh and eighth centuries, 
contained the sepulchres of seventy kin Like Aries, in Gaul, it might be 

stvled u "city of the dead." In &lt; "isu-aux were found the tomb* of the early thikea 
of Biirgundy: &gt;ixty princes ot that house arc buried there, along with many 
bi-hop-. [n the abbey of Ixmgpont there were interred thirteen counts ol ^ - &gt;ns ; 
hut their tombs were without epitaphs, excepting those of Raoul de NYsle, and of 
wife Ade.* In the monastery of the Holy CIM-S, at Ratisbon lay the early 
duke&gt; of Austria. Here was the tomb of its founder, St. Leopold, duke &lt;&gt;f Aus 
tria and Styria ; and also that of Sigismund, king of Hungary, called by some the 
Solomon of Hungary. On a controversy arising between him and his brother 
respecting the kingdom, he began to despise the earth ; and so, unknown, came 
to this abbey, where, for twenty-four years, he lived in all patience and sanctity, 
as a lay-brother and swine-herd ; but, in the article of death, he revealed his name 
and condition to the abbot. On his account the abbey was richly endowed by 
the kings of Hungary. Here lie the bodies of many dukes and marquises, with 
no other monument but a square stone, round which is inscribed the date of their 
departure. Thus on one we read, " 15 cal. Novembris obiit Leopoldus, dux 
Bavariae ; 10 cal. Februarii obiit Ernestus, marchio Austrise; Pridie cal. Septem- 
bris obiit Henricns, duxdc Medlico ; 17 cal. Maii obiit Fredericus, dux Austrise." 
Here are buried also Albert, marquis of Austria ; JEirra, duchess of Au&gt;tria, wife 
of Henry, duke of Medlico ; Gertrude of Brunswick, duchess of Austria and Sty 
ria ; Rigardis, landgrave of Walder-dorff ; and Offhia, countess of Schaumberg ; 
with a multitude of German nobles.f 

In the abbey of St. Remy, at Rheims, were the tombs i&gt;f Oarlomao, brother 
of Charlemagne, of Louis IV.. and of Ijothaire, at the side of the high altar ; of 
Frederone, wife of Charles the Simple; of Gerberge, daughter of the Emperor 
Henry and wife of Louis [V., king of France; of Rigenolde, first count of 
Roucy ; of Aldrade, daughter of Louis IV. ; of Boston, brother of Kin^r Raoul, 
killed at the sieire of St. Qm-ntin in 935; of Hugues, son of Count Roger ; and 
of Cunt Burchard, an Englishman, who died there on hi- return from Rme. 

J O 7 

Some of these, indeed, excite no great curiosity ; but what a deep historic interest 
must have been awakened in the pilgrim s breast when he beheld in the abbey 
of St. Faron,at Meanx, tho tombs of Ogers and of Benoist, two of the most illus 
trious courtiers of Charlemagne, who consecrated themselves there to God \% and 
when he was shown in the abbey of St. Michael de Coxen, founded by Charles- 
le-Chauve in that spot which only the love of the cross could make agreeable, 
the tomb of St. Peter Urseole, doge of Venice, which stands in the choir, his relics 
being in a wooden shrine in an adjoining chapel ; it being to this monastery that 
he retired ! With what deep feeling must he have beheld in the abbey of St. 

* Hist, de Soissons, ii. 153. 

\ Gaspar Jongelimis, Notit. Abb. Ord. Cisterc. per Univers. Ab. Lib. iv. 11. 

: Voyriirc Lit. il&lt;- Deux Ben. v!7. 



M o 1: ! - i A TlluLH I ; OK, 

Arnoul, at Met/. the tomb of Lou .-de-I )ehonnairp, and in the monastery ot 
All&gt;:in, at Ma\ euce, that nf Fa-iradana. the \\ i te of ( n:.i lema_ ne, ut u iiirn the 

pitapl, ud .l with the wuida, " ^pinm- i ;ere- sit i fcrietu 

:" and in the abb ; 1. . i chap* - . .lohn, the tomb- of 

the noi.le warrioi ,. in tin- battle of Mui.rait.-ii. wh- re the Bwii 

L&lt; "(mill uj Austria, in wuich was a perpetual auniver-ary founded t &gt;r iheir -. nl- 
pose ;* and in tiieai&gt;b&lt;-y of Fulda, ven tin- tunilt and ancient c|it;tjli of \\"icrlinu-, 
inliard, \\liu had bct-n sent then- l&gt;y hi- latin r to -tndy und-r Rahan 
Manr.f liut it would be long to tell of thi-sc. How much time -Imiild wi&gt; re 
quire in the noble muna f 1/1 i-pina, in Placentia. the doi- \\hieh wa- 

built by the family of Do Meneses, and tin- i-hureh by that uf AHniririHTijii. . Itefore 
the sepuU hre of the great -John de Attenza, reeajiit ulator of th- laws wliieh the 
Spaniards name de La- I atidas. and In-fore the totnl&gt;s uf tlie Lord&gt; . \".-_ r a. the 
most noble family in Spaing or in the ahlx-v ot Si ata Florida, in \viiieh s&lt; many 
princes ami nobl-- uf \Va!.&gt; av burit-d bef.-re th-- s&lt;-pidchi -, that i i as 

inucii history as the annals of tlie country th-n preserved -^ or in Mrlru-c Abi 
found. (1 about year (!3G by tin- pious ()&gt;\\aid. king of Not thnmbi ia, which 
St. Pavid &gt;jave afterward- to the ( -teiviai -. the -epnlehres uf St. David 

and of Alexander II.. kin js of Scotland; of.Jai 1 ougia-. \\ h&lt;- d -d 

in 1388; ami of his wife Kupm-m a, daughter .if K l&gt;.n Stuart, king of Scot- 
la. ,&lt;1.|| 

From the tombs of founders alone a history of nobility and knighthood 
might nave been written.-., exact and d:ffu-e \\cre the monk.- in commemorating 
the virtue- of their b. netiictors. When &gt;ueh men compos&lt;il their o\\n epitaph, 
it i- true that the style was often two much imbued \\iih the monastic humility 
to r.-nder the te-tim "iiy of much avail, as in the munasterv of tue ( amaldolese, 
in a desert of Poland, \\ h&gt; re near the -re it door of th- church, was th&gt;- ;umb ut 
the founder, Nichola- \\ "1-ki de Podhayco, without any other epitaph but the 
following words compo-ed by him-elf : 

4 Corn in is-a inea pavesco, et ante te erul&gt;esco : 
Dum vt-n-ris judicare, Domine, noli me- comlemnare " 



This noble Pole had Ixn-n bnsl with the archduke- f Au-tria, and \\a- di-tin- 
gui-in-d for hi- chivalrous ijiace-. In hi- \oiith he had visited (iermany. Fra: 
Kn-land. and Italy, and u : -hal in the imperial court of Rodulpli II. Af- 

rs he return, d, full of learning and all virtue, to Poland. (Jn-at were 
id- alms 10 tli .and \\\^ munificence to the churches. Dailv he heard mass, 

and ieciie&lt;l the otlic.- of our lady. He built and endowed two monasteries of 
auons regular, In-sides this in which he li.-&gt;. c Hut when the monks wrote the 

* TschuHi Einsied. Chronik. 64. m... Hist. Pnl.i t Ih. Lib. vi. 5 

Lib. viii. 10. | Ib. viii. i:,. Annul. C:imal(lul-ns. 74. 



AGES OP FAITH. 169 

epitaph of such men, there were many details given which might serve the pur 
poses &lt;&gt;r hi-tory. In the ancient abbey of Lagny, in tin- diocese of Paris, was the 
tomb &lt;&gt;f its great restorer, Herbert, count of Champagne and Brie, in the time of 
King Robert, with this inscription, 

"Exemphi morum, procerum lux, norma bonorum, 

Solamen iniseris, fxitium sceleris* 
Gloria virtutis, lau* fanue, frmu salutis." 

Thibauld the Great, the fourth of this name, count of Champagne, who had 
loaded this monastery with goods, was also buried tnere in solemn state, in 1152. 
Moreover, the tombs of founders were often the only memorials of ancient fam 
ilies in existence : each monastery thus prevented from perishing some illustrious 
name and memory. 

In the abbey of Hauterive was found the tomb of its knightly founder, Wil 
liam, count of Glana, whose portrait was pointed out to me in the hall, represent 
ing him clad in complete steel. His son, the first abbot, lay buried near him. as 
Wolfgang Lazius relates in his book, De Migrationibus Gentium. Orderic Yit- 
alis, speaking of the year 1107, says that many great lords of [England, Richard 
of Reviers, and Roger, surnamed Bigod, died, and were buried in the convent-* 
which they had founded on their own estates ; the latter at Tetford, and the for 
mer al Montibourg, in Normandy.* In the abbey of St. Mary, at Longueville, 
belonging to the monks of Cluny, in Normandy, was the tomb, he says, of Wal 
ter Gifford, earl of Buckingham, with this epitaph: " He founded and built this 
church in which he now rests. This powerful duke was the munificent friend of 
his country, mighty by his valor, illustrious by his piety, and full of respectful 
tenderness for monks."f In the abbey of Potiere, near that of Molesme, Dom 
Martene saw the tomb of its founder, the celebrated Gerard de Roussillon, prince 
of Burgundy, and of other provinces, who died in 890. But it was not alone in 

J f 

the capacity of founders that the knightly and feudal dead lay buried here. One 
of the three cemeteries iu the abbey of Clairvaux was set apart for the noble stran 
gers who happened to die in that house on their journey ; and this provision may 
account for many tombs which are found within monasteries, that seem only 
fraught with reminiscences of the chivalrous world. In the abbey of Glair-lieu, 
Dom Martene observed the tomb of Nicholas de Luxembourg, on which he read, 
"The knight who lies under this stone lived in high renown.":}: 

" En sens, en pace, en vertu consomme." 

The monks had thus around them many tombs of men of knightly fame, to 
whom, however they still loved to ascribe a pacific character, the epitaphs abound 
ing in repetitions of the same noble soothing words. Moult piteuseet grand, sage, 
courtois et plein d honn^ur," as one reads on the tomb of Raoul, duke of Lor 
raine, in the abbev of Beatipre, near Nancy. In monasteries also we find the toml&gt; 

*Lib. xi. f Ib. J Hock Gcrbert und Seinj.ihrhundert, 104. 



ITU MoUKS CATHOLIC!; OK, 

. ! ml li. s in th" prior\ L, n-ar Tour-, on the left 

side I lh- aitar : Tas- &lt;i in tin- convent of S;. Onnfrio ; Dant- w ith tli- Fiai 
at Rav- iina. In fine, it w:;- often within ivli^i.-u- iioii-esinat in- - . culti 

vated a ta-te for curion- i-covered the t -mns of men of ciurk in\ 

rious tain--, who perhap.-. f&gt;r many rea-ons. could n-t nav&gt; h .&lt;! burial el-ewh 

;ieliu- Agrippa wa- interred in ihe ciiurcfaofthe Dominicans, a! (In-nobl- 
: M- i -e Abbey Michael Sc. .t. whom some per-ist in counting \\ ith th&lt; \\ iz- 

. I h- - \ay oftbeirstrOUg &lt;:eniu-, which l r&gt; sa\v thi&gt; lioj&gt;e, eompelleM in- It, ~tu- 

a and learned, t&lt; ol&gt;"y their la-t mandate, \vno at their hnriai, round their 
secret -ti- ii-th, thron^etl in -ol.-nin monniii Th. - \v--re ih&lt;- tomi^ alx iit 

which wild le^cnd- PreTB BO "it,. 11 SUIIg, iikc thai i-&lt;-|&gt;e -tin-_ r ill - ^v lv. -- 

at tlie porch of St. John, which n-.d t i.e.-om.- datiip i deotl 

&lt; ardinal, and to emit water, &gt;o ;i~ to flood tin- plu-c, wheiifv-r a ddrf j.om ,tl \\a- 
bout t&lt; die. However, in general, it must U- aekiiowle&lt;lge&lt;i all \\vi-- al l)i in 
such cemeteries, save the holy and tin -. .,, ( 1. \\ h ,se graves \\en- IDOlftencd Wllb 
the tea:- of men ; a, at the funeral of Lord Nic-l-i-. m.-innn- of Kst, in 1388, in 
the chnrdi of the Minor Friars, at which more than a thoii&gt;and [HMXHIS doih.d 
themselvea in Mack throin_ r h veneration tin h ; s virtue-.* Th. s" were the L 
which ac(jnired such importance in tii- middle ages, from the opinion which then 
prevailed, that men could st lengthen their; ; iid kindle their |&gt;ifty l&gt;y vi-iK 

iniT hem ; " for it was fel &gt;;. llennri Bajfl to th- kni^lit tem|)lars, " that 

devotion is exjx rienced often where the liviiiii &lt; MI versed, than where the 

i tvpo-e."+ Hence those lonu; atfe tin&gt;: pilgrimage- to see a totnh, like that of 
the young Emperor Otho, in the year PKX), to ( Jne-en. to the grave of the fri- nd 
ot his youth, the holy Adalbert of IJohemia ; pro^r . marked with such a - I- 
emn character, undertaken with -ndi earn- -tn--- ami -in^ieininde&lt;liu -s-, when, ac 
companied by many notle Romans, he enteiv-i tli- citv &lt; n f oot, bare-head, d. and 
with nakwl feet ; and :igain ie|H ate&lt;l, when, after celebrating F.a-ter in the , oii- 
vent of Quedlinburg, where hi- si-ter Adelheid was al&gt;l&gt;e-s, of whom he t.-nk s 

ting a he proc-ed-d t- A i\-la-( ha; elle, where he caused to be opened 

th" Lrnive ..f his gr- a- p-. ,Je- - -sor and model, ( narleinagne. Thus did the lieroic 
dead in the age.sof faitli fulfil the poet - word- : 

" \Ve meet airain 



Within the mind-; of men, wlu.sc lip.- ^hitll bleM 
Our memry , -tml wimx- i iitriit ret.-iin 

!li- -( d in- troiMen in the plain. 



By the low vaulte&lt;l stairs, throu&gt;_ r h which ur ( _ r iiide and we did ent^r these 
dark precincts, let n- n- nd, he tir-t and we followinr hi- till on our 

vi.-w the beautiful sta : n--d lights of th-- -ancmary dawn through the broad arch, 
that, thence iuintr, w-.- may again behold the sun. 

* (. hrnnic. E&gt;1. D-r *p. Murat. iv. f Exhort. Ord Mil. Temp. c. xi. 



AGE8 OF FAITH. 



171 



CHAPTER IX. 




lOW have we left the church, and pursued the steps of our sage con 
ductor to the library and the scholastic hulls, where after brief space we 
shall be presented to the living, who in this vast sanctuary inherit 
peace. To the churches from the beginning were confided archives ; 
for the holiness of the place secured their preservation. Justinian ac 
cordingly prescribes that his laws should be laid up in the holy church 
with the sacred things belonging to it. In great churches the need for a ^epar- 
ate place for the purpose was soon felt ; and, at least, in the fifth century, there 
was a place, as at Nola, set apart with appropriate officers of librarian or chancellor. 
The first certain evidence of the existence of a church library, is in a letter of 
St. Jerome to Patnmachins in 394. Soon afterwards St. August in speaks of the 
library of his church in Hippo.* In Rome, Pope Anterus in 238 had made a 
collection of the holy Scriptures ; and mention of libraries is made by Leo the 
Great, in his letter to the Emperor Leo. Hilary gave books to the church of the 
Laterau. In the time of St. Gregory the Great, it had already become the cus- 

o */ 

tom for remote bishops, whenever they had any difficulty about a book, to apply 
to the pope. Such requests came to Gregory from Gaul respecting the Gesta Ire- 
naei ; when his words to the bishop JEtherius were, " De eo vero quod eoclesise 
ve-trse concedendum ex antiqua consuetudine deposcitis."f Similar demands 
came from Alexandria respecting the martyrology of Ensebius, but he could not 
find their books in Rome. Martin I. excused himself to the holy Amandas, 
bishop of Tonirivs, as he could not give him the desired books, " nam codices 
jam rxinauiii stint a nostra bibliotheca, et unde daremus ei. nnllatenus habuinms." 
To the bi-hop of Saragossa he says, " that it is impossible to find the Libri Mor- 
alium of St. Gregory, out of the multitude of books." At the sixth general 
council of Constantinople, in 680. the Roman deputies appeared with many writ 
ing &lt;&gt;f the holy fathers, which the pope had {riven t&gt; them. Paul III. was en 
treated by Pepin to send some Greek books to the abbey of Sr. Denis, which he 
found and &lt;ont in 757. " We have directed to your excellence whnt books we 
could find, ;in antinhonale nnd responsa e. the grammar of Aristotle, the books of 
Dionysius, geometry, orthography, and grammar, all in the Greek tongue. ^ In 



* De Heres. nd QnndnnUdenm. c. 87, t Eni-t ix. 50 t Ccnni Codex Carolin. i. 148. 



17-J M &lt;&gt;li BS CATHOLICI: &lt;&gt;K, 

855, Lupus abbot of Fern rot-- to B -n--dict III. to ohtai: i quantity 

of lx&gt;oks, \\hieh h-- proini.-ed, howvver. punctually to re- 

In tin- mona.-terie- from tin- lir-t, were libraries. Tnu- St. An-ii-tin -p. 

.mabley neaf Trev* -. ( .minir to a certain h"ii-e where ii\v-lt -ome ..f thy 
.-crvauts, the poor in spirit, in whom is tin- kingdom of Heaven, they found li 
a manu-eript, containing the life .,f Anthony. "f St. G it also 

&gt;p- ak- of ahook in the monastery of the holy Archangel in Sicilv.J Intiie-ixth 
century, the cloisters were the ^reat -di"ol&gt; ot maniisci ipts, for St. Benedict re 
quires, the monks to practi-e -ncii arts a- were analo&lt;roii- to tlieii The 

fir-t splendid ; nstanee of a rich monastic library was that of the monastery of 
Sqnillace, the jrift ot Cas-iinlonis, who ha 1 Ixm IM)I-II there, and who, after coll 
ing a library at Koine a- a -tan-maM. eontinupd to -earch for DUUiaaoripta to en 
rich the collection of hi- monks, || for wliieh he :idvi-ed them to wi-itc out n 
&lt;-opie&gt;.^[ endeavoring to facilitate their task by .-onipo-in^ hi- l&gt;ook !&gt; Ortho- 
grapliia. From tin &gt;e\eirh till the elevcntb c.-ntnrv, this example was folio 
at Bobbio, KCoiint-Cassiiio, Xonantol i.*la Chins i. Pomp .-a. Piscara, and other 
lienedictine abbey-. (Inib-Tt, of Xo^ent, -peaking oftiie first di-ci |de- of St 
Hi-lino, sa\-. " ( hooMii^ t live in the utmost poverty, they neverthel 1-ct 

a most rich library."** 

Wordly b.-oks. however, w-re inneh ne^le&lt;-ted, exceptinir by Cassiodrn- at 
Sjinilac-. Q :l)eit at Bobbio, Hi -r.-nvmii- at P..nip sa. and bv a few oil i 
Tin- libraries of chapter- in cathedral- a!s &gt; wen exten-ive. Tho-e of Verona and 
Milan in the ninth, and that of Y. ]j in the tenth centnrv, were very i ich 
collections. In mona-teri- it was in the tw- lfui centnrv, ahove all, that the re 
formed Benedictines, -mlly the Ci.-tei&lt;-ian-, enrich- d their convent- with 

book-. Yet the /.-al of the It dians. savs Blume, did not equal that of the 
French monk-, who-e maxim \\a- ( aiistinm sine annario, quasi castmin -ine 
armamentai io,"ft or, a- .Mm of Salisbury says, " A cloi.-ter without books i- a 
citadel without arms." 

In the thirteenth ("-nturv. the Dominicans and Fran d a.i their 

p &gt; :- in zeal for writint: and collectintr bi.nks; but toward.- the end of 

th" fonntM nth centnrv. the flinirishinu period of the spiritual archives drew to 
it- cl-i-e. and the invention of printini; dimini-hed the importance of the monastic 
libraries. The monks were deprived often of their choie.-t b .ok-. Even Am- 
brosins Traversari expr. --sc- jov whenever a mann-cript was u riv,-n to him which 
had belonged to a mona-t"rv. and he made no -crnple in taking from religions 
houses the book- of ! monk-. Thoma&lt; Ph;idni&lt; took from Bobbio a pile 

of the most important manuscripts, which had originally come from England or 
Ireland: iln^-e h- remov. d to Koine. wh-M-e some have b .-n lately brought t&lt;&gt; 



* Muniton Antiq. vii. Ill f Confess, viii. 6. t Epist. viii 15. ? Urynl. 58 

| Pr.p. ,]&lt; I,, s ti Diviu. Script I&gt; " I.!, r. viii e. ! 30. ** De Vita sua. i. 10. 

ft (irtiifn-tl. Canonic Ep I M. M Tii Aiu-c. i 



AGES OF FAITH. 17:; 



liu r ht by the illustrious Mai. The spoils with which Po jgius returned from St. 
(Jail to Italy are well known. The most important manuscripts with which -h-- 
Vatican had been enriched from the fifteenth to the s"v-nie.-nth centuri--, nad all 
come out of moua.-t -rit -s : many of the book- of Jiobbio were removed to li&lt;&gt;m&gt;-. 
Turin, Milan, Naples, and Vienna. Mabillon to &gt;k ;it lru-t one manuscript from 
it to Paris. A worse fate awaited thes-- collection-sin Englan i ; and wherever 
the modern heresies penetrated. books con id have no chance, wiien e\vn me fam- 
ou- Anger viliiau library, first collected by Angerville, bishop of Durham, waa 
de-t roved with the two noble libraries of Cobban i, bishop of Winchester, and 
that of Duke Humphrey. \Veever -ay-, that from Merton College alone a cart 
load of manuscripts were carried off and thrown away. Libraries as old as the 
seventh centurv, like that of Weremoiith, to which the abbot Benedict had 
brought over such a quantity of books from Italy, then perished. 

But let us return to happier times, and mark the progress of the monastic col 
lections. Men of all classes contributed to form them. The monks, if Gerbert 
expresses their sentiments, applied to the work of collecting books, with a view 
to the peace resulting from stndv. This learned monk of Anrillac, writing to 
K ard, abbot of Tours, says, that the cau-e of his undertaking such labor in 
collecting books in Italy, Germany, and Belgium, was his contempt for the treach 
eries of fortune, which contempt was the result in him, not alone of nature, but 
of an elaborated doctrine. Moreover," he adds," in leisure and occupation, we 
learn by means of books that of which we were ignorant. It was to his love 
of peace that the monk of Croyland ascribc.s the liberality of the Abbot Richard, 
in the time of Richard III., to the librarv of that house, which he enriched not 
only with books that lie purchased, but also with many that were written with 
his own hand.t Trithemins, who was such a great collector, speaks of his own 
motive thus, " Nothing is pleasanter, nothing more delightful than reading. I 
have passed nights without sleep, studying the Scriptures, and omitted to take my 
meals in order to save time for reading, quit-quid in mnndo scibile est, scire sem 
per cu|)iebam."$ But it is Richard of Bury, who above all reveals what was in 
the mind of monks, when they applied with such diligence to form libraries. &lt;Tn 
books," says this great churchman, " every one who seeketh wisdom findeth it. 
In these, Cherubim extend their wings, and excite the intelligence ofthe students, 
and they look from pole to pole, and from the rising to the setting sun. In these, 
lire most high incomprehensible God is contained apprehensibly and adored. In 
these lies open the nature of celestial and tenv-trial. and infernal things. In these 
arc revealed laws by which all policies are ruled, the offices ofthe celestial hier 
archy distinguished, and the tyrannies of demons de-cribed. In book&lt; I find the 
dead as if alive : in books I foresee the future, in books are manifested the laws 
of peace. All things else fail w ith time. Saturn ceases not to devour his off- 

* Epist. 44. f Hist. Croyland. $ Nepiachus up. Eccard. 11. 



174 M K KS ( ATIiOLlCl ; () R, 

spr ng ; for oblivion ;h tin- glory of the world. 15m &lt;i"d hath provided a 

remedy i,.r us in . \\iilioin winch all that were evei would have IM-II 

wiiliout a m -mory. Towers fall to the earth, triumpha - perish, nor &lt; an any 

king or pope confer a laatiug privilege, uulesa by books. Finally, think what con 
venience or learning there i- in book- ; how ea-ily, how secretly, how securely, 
may lay baiv without shame to books the poverty of human ignorance. Th 
the masters who instruct us without r &gt;d.-, without ang.-r, and witliout money. If you 
approach, they si. -ep not ; if you interro-at-- them, tiiey d-&gt; not hide then ; it 

you mi-take, they &lt;! t murmur or laugh. () book-, al&lt;&gt;ne lioeral and i: 

lib-nil, \V!M give to all. who ask and emaneipat" all wh jfOU. Th- tree of life 

von are. and tiie river of naradis.-, with which the human intelligence i- ir: 
and made fruitful. The contemplation of truth i-ni.&gt;r perfect by books, which do 
not -u tier the ads of the intelligence to be interrupted; th&gt;T&gt; f tv. i o to 

be tiie most immediate instruments of s|K-eulati\ ty : OOUaeqoently, no p: 

ought to hinder a man from the purchase of book-, mile-- &lt;&gt;n account of tiie malic-- 
of the s.-ll.-r, or tiie need of waiting for* a more e-nveii eiit tim- ; for a^ wudon is an 
infinite treasure, the value of lx&gt;oks is ineffable, ami ihei-.-ibn- Alistotle, \vlioin 
Av n- a tiii ika \\as given as a rule in natni I n-ii for a f.-w 

books of Speusippos. Tne monks, w. -o ven. Mtomedlobi 

licitoiis in regard t &gt; ho.k-. and to be d- li _ r ht"d in th -ir eoinpany. as with all rie 
and iheiu-e it ; s that we find in m..~t moiia-t.- i. - -udi -plendid trea-n ni- 

dit n. giving a delectable liiilit to th path of laics. O tiia- devout labor of 
their hands in writiiiir Ixxtks ; how pret erable to all M ( &gt; tlV it - .ici- 

tnde, by means of whien iieithe: Martha nor Ma: \ e.ni !&gt; eorrupted. Truly the 
love of book- is th-- hve of wi-dom. and a tl or avaricious life cannot be 

combined with it ; Therefore gome --lie -ays, 

Nulhi libri&gt; t-rit iipta maims feminine tincta, 

Nee nuinmatH qin-unt ronJu v-iciin- libri^. 
Nummipi ( cum ,il&gt;rirnli-. u -IJIK -unt &gt;iinnl ease : 
Ambos cr-d: mini nn tenet un:i dom 

No one can -erve book- and mammon ; for the former reveal (1 d. TniiV an 
image of future beatitude i&lt; the e,,nt- -mplation n \\h eh on tun- -. 

the Creator, at another, tiie creature i- Been, and fr -in a nil torren 

ligiit faith is drawn : how admirabi.- in f .e power of books, while bv them we !&gt;e- 
holtl the univer.-e, and a&lt; if in a eeatain mirror of et -rnitv, the thing- which are 
not a- if thev were ! \V-- uo nd mountains, we dive int" aby--es. we see ran at- 
ures of all kind.-, we di-:inLruish tin- prop. t earthly bodies, and we veil 

pass to comtempla:e those that are heavenb . Lo. thn- 1)V l&gt;ooks we attain to 
the reward of beatitude, \vnile we are n- \-,.j only traveller- joiini -yini: toward- it. 

On promotion to great digni:i--s in the state, monks loved to make d- nations 

Philubibliou, 15. 



AGES OF FAITH. 175 

of books to the houses they left. Thus Simon Lan-ham, abbot of St. Alban s, 
when lu- went out o I - Jaud. left the monks l&gt;o.,k- to the value of 830. It 
was the plea-iire they &lt;i lr..in purchasing hooks for their libraries that 

de:ei Paris so delightiul to the monks and &lt;&gt;th -ia-ti&lt;-&lt; of the middle 

who visitetl it. "O blessed God of gods in &gt;Sin. time Kiciiani oi Bury, 

" what a Hood of pleasure rejoices our lieart whenever we arc at liherty t&lt;&gt; visit 
that paradi.-e o{ tlie world, Paris, where days alway- .-eem to us too few and 
short , through the immensity of our love ! There are liliraric&lt; more redolent of 
delight than all the shops of aromatics ; there an- tne flowering meadow.- &lt;&gt;l all 
volumes that can be found any where. There inde-d, untying our purs- trings 
and opening our treasures, we disperse money with a joyful heart, and ransom 
with dirt books that are beyond all price. But lo how good and pleasant a 
thing it is to gather together into one, the arms of clerical warfare, that there 
may be a supply of them for us to use in the wars against heretics, if ever they 
should rise up against us !"* 

The house-diaries of abbeys are very partieula in noticing donations to the 
library. Thus in the annals of Corby, in Saxony, we read " This year 1094, 
John de Mantrop gave to the library a folio book in Arabic, brought from 
Pannonia. In 1097, March wartns made a law that every novice on the day of 
his profession, should give a useful and valuable book to the library. He desired 
also that every superior of a mona-tery subject to ours, .-honld collect a chronicle 
of his house, and send it to him to be a memorial for future ages. In 1215, 
Baltha-ar Rummer of St. Ansgarius gave us a manual, in which all his holy 
labors in the north are briefly and studiously noted, according to years and days. 
In 1379. Joachim de Bramburg gave to the library various Arabic and He 
brew books, which had been formerly taken in war in Hungary." 

Laymen also co-operated. St. Louis left his books to be divided between the 
Franciscan and Dominican orders. Malatesta Xovello of Rimini built and fur 
nished a noble library in the Franciscan convent of Cessna. Henry III., arch 
duke of Bavaria, gave a noble library to the abbey of Tagernsee, where he spent 
many hours of devout meditation. f The spirit of private collectors was hardly 
known. In every town in Italy, indeed, a- Gerbert ob-erves, books in abun 
dance were to be found. | Frederic II. formed an excellent library . a- did in 
the fourteenth century Robert, king of Sicily. The eru-ade- probably caused a 
number of Greek books to be brought to Italy. || Colucoio Salutato, Petrarch, 
Niceolo Xiccoli, and Thomas of Sarzana. afterward- Pp" Nicholas V. were all 
eminent instruments in collecting and collating ciaical manuscripts; but still 
these men were for removed from -eeking to have private libraries. Petrarch 
wished to sell his books in order to erect a chapel of the Blessed Virgin.*^ Nic- 

* Id. c. 8. f Jaeck. Gallerie der K15&gt;ter rVtiNchl-imls. J Tirab. iii. 3. 1. 

Petri &lt;le Vin. Lib. iii. En. 67. | Heeren Gescn. des Stud, der Klass. Lilt. t. 1. 

1 Epist. 34. 



170 M O K K &gt; C A T II O L 1 C I ; O It, 



coli .- library at Fl.iivnc- was plural in a mona-t"ry ; and al-o in the fol lowing 
. the public librarie- founded by private per- &gt;n- \\ere aiway.- at ached eaii-T 
to a inona- ; to a church. ( )nc may pau-e here an instant lo admire the 

\\i-Join oi the-e men in this KSpeut, " Ii i- natural," .-ay- Illume, that 
: pi-Djx-rty oi communities -hould endup ! n^.-r than what iiulividuals may 

have accumulated for thetnaelves. I kno\\ of no library whieh has been 1 
Aether in the han 1- oi a private family fur In Th i- 

ther disper-ed or transferred t" a foundation. Therefore it \\onid be iir-elc to 
\vn: -:ory of private libraries."* 

What an affecting oommenl on th&gt; statement mii:bt he furnished by the letter 
Ulin Franci- I icn- of Mirandnia. mi th-- death f lii- nneii- ,lolin J it-n-, to 
la|)ti.-t tlie Carmelite, in \vhioh, after observing that hi-diath i- a- admirablr a- 
hi- lil -, ,-^nce he departed full o! holine-.- and charity. 1 -. "It i&gt; not \ et 

known what i- to be don.- with his ricli lihrary. I hope, however, that I may 
ibleto collect and arrange allthe frai;ments and particle- ot hi- \\rilinj. Ala- ! 
fallaeions hopes and vain de-ire-! I beheld many chc-ts mil of .-erap-, DOT did 
I find any thin-: \vhieli could lie lironirht into li-ht "ti t- own feet. O if yon had 
seen \\hal th n^- h- had e &gt;nceive&lt;l. what he had iindei tak&lt; n, you would scare, ly 
have been a tie tO n ran from bar-. In htm revived all the phiL -ophers and 
theologians, all the ancient- and moderns, it n : &gt; \&lt; . 1,. ,i. at le -t. if \ on \\ i.l 
lieve a di-cipl" who loviil him, c(jndle&lt;l. 1&gt; . yon and these \vho are under 
p iir out prayer- to Cnri-i t .r tni- friendly nian."t 

Wiiat is to be done with his library . Such i- the -ad que-tion now at every 
scholar - dea:h, which the wi-er men of the mid :erai tool; tare to 

obviate, by c-ollectin^ hook- for abbeys rather than for themselve-. .M lira tori 
treat- on the libniries of the inona me cataio-ne- of books left 

to th -in by monks. + Tiie library of Fulda. which peii-hei in the thirty 
war, dated from the OarlovillgiailS. Down to the :&gt;euiniim_ r oftl nteenth 

(vutnrv -tiou of manuscript- nrafl ..... ciops. Twelve monk.- had aluay- 

be*-i. -antly employed in writiniront book- for it. This va-t library, thead- 

of th" Italian philosop ners of th" liftwuth century, was divided into 

da -. Some frairments of its catalogue in the tini"of( h il&gt; 
exi-t : th" book- were then chieflv li\ he h &gt;lv fatiier- and monastic rid--. 

Tiie libra &gt;rbv in (J. rmanv, wa- al-o imni"ii-e. Tiii- \\a&lt; plaitdered in the 



war- ofti, iiturv, and tran-: to t nat of Woifenbi r i&lt; !- ." 

librarv &gt;( Clemliloni-s, so rich in the lii-torical ant ; &lt;)uiiies ..t r.e,jinm, \\a- more 
than 700 vears .ltl at its hit" di-pe!S on. In tin- abbev : St. &lt; iall, in tie eolith 
etMitnry. th-re were s ill but fe\v i The abb .t &lt;. Lite fust to en 

large the collection. The abb - i.rinrdd and Hartmot enrich-d it with their 



* Bluine, Itcr It.-ilinim. i. f Epkl Lib i r Antiq Itftlte, DiM 

/.ic-rclhriucr. Hist. Lit. &lt;!.- TOni. S IJ.-n. 1 1^: , I . lotlquiUle* PuldentW, 4B 

| Scbanoat. Hi^t. Fuldeasis, P. i. f Hi-Ten. Ue-ch. d. t hiss. Lit. i. 



AGES OF FAITH. 177 

private collections. The former gave th of St. Paul, Missals and d 

pel-, Homilies, Work- of the Fathers, Lives of the Saints, a hook on astronomy, 
auother on medicine, a Virgil, a Chroniea Julii I De Vita Caroli Imper- 

atoris, De Bonitute Hludovici Imperatoris, DeRegibua Meroviugoram, aod Epis- 
tola Alexandri de Situ India?. It i&gt; not t&lt;&gt; IK- wondered at, that the books in 
this abbey were found by Poggius ami Cincius concealed and neglected in the 
tower, when we consider the deplorable state to whicli it had been reduced for some 
time previous by the enemies of the monks, and by the barbarous lay nobles \\ho 
had de&gt;troved theanoieut discipline.* For as Trithemius remarks, whenever 
there was decay of discipline, the library, like every thing, was neglected, as in 
the abbey of St. Martin, at Spanheim, till the year 1459,f when it again deserved 
the epithet of Bibliotheeam illam solemnem.J When the reformers came to St. 
Gall, many precious manuscripts and records were seen carried out by children 
through the streets. Some were taken from them by the magistrates and laid up 
iu the council-house. In one chest were found more than 600 brief but very old 
charters. There was also a census of the nobles and plebeians in the time of Louis- 
le-Debonnaire. Some of these manuscripts came into the hands of Goldast, others 
into those of Schobinger. In the books of the archives of St. Gall there are notices 
of the place from which each came. Thus in manuscripts of the ninth century 
we read, " Hsee a coenobio S. Dionysi venit expositio ;" again, Istnd, de viti- 
bu- a palatio Aquisgrani venit ;" again, " Ado Episcop. Wienensis reliquias S. 
Desiderii cum actibus ejus vita? niisit ad S. Gallum." The library of Lobes, of 
which, the abbots were great promoters of learning, was also very great and pre 
cious. Trithemius increased the library of his abbey, enriching it with many and 
most rare MSS. on parchment and paper. During the twenty years when he used 
to visit different abbeys of his order in various provinces, he was able to examine 
all their libraries, and wherever he found a duplicate copy of a book which he 
had not, he procured it either by purchase or promise of another in its stead. " It 
happened ^ften, 1 he says, " in different monasteries and orders, that I found many 
volumes of astronomy, music, mathematics, philosophy poesy, oratorv, historv 
medicine, and art, which the good fathers either did not understand, or, fearing 
they might \ie nn occasion of violating their holy rule, asked me to take away for 
myself, and to give them others printed, whieh they more wanted. So in the 
course of twenty years I have brought to this abbey about 2000 volumes. I have 
not saen or heard in all Germany of such a rare and wonderful collection as this 
un", containing such a number, not alone of common books, but of rare, hid- 
dei&gt;, secret, wonderful books, such as are scarcely to be found any where else." 
The manii-cripts from thi&lt; monastery, with tho-e of the abbey of Lorsch which 
were also precious, were removed to the Vatican in the time of Pope Gregory 

*Ildefons Von An. 5i. f Trithem. Nepiachua. $ Epist. ii. 3. 

S In Notis ap Vadiaui Farrag. iii. 



178 Mo K E8 CATHOLIC] : o ! 

XV., \\h- n the library of Heidelberg was ] .1 to the IIly S e ly Maxim 

ilian, duke of Bavaria, in the year 1 i J J. 
In Fraii eriea were very ri-h in bonks. Stephen Puquier cano 

eutlie cnily BXprett \i\- admiration ofth-ra. " Though mueh," he - 

i the length of year- and the misfortune- ..foil:- tim-, one may 
still gather out of the libra, ie- of th- m-iia ;&gt;lu-ieiirs U-anx brin- d-nt 

p-ut cmlx-llir le public."* " I cannot omit mentioning," si n, that at 

John s in Lvon* there are certain very ane ent books \v: n thel 

I, of which one i- legible and contains a eonini -iitary P- .1m- ; but tie- 

other, which is nnbonnd and torn, is written in old chaiaeters, wh 
the simple truth, cannot 1&gt; Ine and clear. To many 

who are not -killed in *u--h matters, the i to !.- (in- k 1-tt-r-, but they are 

Latin characters, ..f which th- form only is unlike ours; so that, bowevercl&lt; 
a man may be, he would find it hard to read a page in a \v&lt; Th , in 

fact, the works ..f St. Avitu-, archbi-hop i VM me. Some think that th&gt; y ar- 
witten on linen, ethers that it is on junk of the Nile, other- t -:&gt;t i: i- -n little 
i&gt; eees of wool glued together. It isiinp"--- divin.- exa&lt;-tly what they are. 

tainly they are vt e and worthy of !, thiongh reveieu&lt; 

anriquity."t The library of the abU-v of ( lunv I fa I t- -tants pilla 

and burnt it in the sixteenth (nturv, w.is dt-emed one of the wonder- of the world, 
and in fact it equalled tha* of tie emi -t intinop The literary 

in the abb.-v- of S . i;,-my at Rhrini-. ufSt. Benedict on the Loire, of 

Victor and St. Germain at Paris, and of St. De&il alter its discipline had been 
reformed by Sug- : . pert a - immense. 

The mo-t important mann-cripts of the P -t ivian Library, collecte&lt;l by Paul 
Petau, and afterwards pnrehasetl bv VowiH, from his -on Alexander, for 40,000 
livres, whieh fonn-the kernel oftne Alexandrine Lil&gt;rary in the Vatican, 

eame in 1502 out of the plund-ied abbey of St. P&gt;enoit-sur-le-Loire, from whieh 
Bongars aNo enriched his collection. The library of St. Victor was full of the 
noet rare and excel! k-. Preqoeatlj tbe origiai] mamMcriptaof tnegi 

men who had rend, red particular abbeys illustrious were pr s&gt; TV- d in them. 
Thn- in (iembloux I&gt;om Marten. -aw that of ti.e i-hnmicle of Sig.-bn t. th- 1- ;ter- 
of Guibert, and -..me work- of St. Ilath-rius. In the twelfth r-ntury th- library 
of tlie abbev of S-. M. iai.l at Soi- n- wasceh-brated ; and Vincent of Beauvais 

i 

speaks with raptun- ..fthat of St. Martin at Tour-. U-speeting the librarie- in 
the Italian abbeys, we find abundant detail- in the interesting work of Blame. 
The library of th- Au_ni-tinian hermit* at Padua was eel-brated ; writers- of the 
middle a L .k of it with admiration. $ Many of the mann-eript- had b 

written there, though Tomasini found that many were lost or damaged, the Pans 

* Roclierches de la France, iii. 19. f Hist, do Lynns, liv ii. 

* &lt;J i vai- ... Vic- d Ai.hri.liird. v. -om mi-lit. Savonurolae de Inudibus Patavii. 



AGES OF FAITH. 179 

theologians and other professors who used to proceed from this monastery, having 
probably taken a groat part away with them. Th-- library of St. John in Ver- 
tlara, at Padua, was perhaps the richest in that city. Th" Dominican library of 
S*v Joiiu and Paul at Venice, is described by Toma-ini a;id Montfaucon. Here 
was a Thueydides of the tenth century, and works by Gktilleliuiu I astrengi* 
who from being a Turk became a monk of that house, and enriched it with many 
oriental manuscripts. In Bobbio, of which the library wa- celebrated already in 
823, Mabillon found a Sacramentarium Gallicanum of the seventh century. 
Gerbert, who was abbot here in 972, left part of his treasures on leaving it. 
Dungal brought here forty volumes. In all there were 700 volumes of most an 
cient manuscripts, a treasure which the richest library in our times would envy. 
Here was a marthyrology of the ninth century ; also the Liber S. Columbani of 
the tenth. On another ancient book were these lines 

" Sancte Colnmba, tibi Scotto tuns incola Dungal 
Tradidit hutic librum, quo fratrum coida beentur, 
Qui legis ergo, Deus pretium sit rnuneris, ora." 

Here was also a vast collection of books on agriculture and on the laws and 

^ 

division of ground. The library of La Chiusa, between Susa and Turin, was 
famous in the eleventh century, when Gerald us, its librarian, was a most learned 
man.* At the fire in 899, which destroyed the renowned abbey of Nonantola,a 
great part of the books were preserved. Already in 1279 there was a catalogue 
made of its privileges, which began upon Papyrus. Another rich catalogue 
was made in 1632 by command of Cardinal Antonio Barberini. In the eleventh 
century a catalogue existed of its manuscripts.manyof which Traversal! found al 
most consumed by age. In the seventeenth century, under the Barberini most 
of the-e were removed to the library of the S. Croce of Jerusalem at Rome. At 
Camaldoli the archives were in the lower monastery at Fontebuono ; the library 
was in the upper at the hermitage, one mile higher up the mountain, where lived 
the clebrated Ambrosias Traverearius, who added greatly to this collection. The 
French removed both to the town of Bibbiena ; but the autographs of Ambro- 
sius are found in the Camadolese convent of St. Michael at Venice. The ( istcrciau 
convent of S. Maria Maddalena at Florence had a great library, much enriched 
by the celebrated Ferdinando Ughelli, a monk of the house, who is said to have 
found a treasure here, which he expended in the purchase of books. The Dom 
inican library ofS. Maria Xnvlla vied with that of the Franciscans of the Santa 
Croce. In the abbey of Pomposa was one of the most beautiful libraries in Italy. 
The oldc-t history of this collection is a catalogue written in the eleventh century. 
It&lt; author names the abbot Hieronymus, his predecessor, as the founder. By 
his order, a monk from th d sert, by name and example Bonus, skilled in all 
arts, employed himself in collecting books, whether beautifully written or other- 

* Mabill. Actu. iri. 2. 



MORES CATHOLIC I ; o K, 

wi-e ; for the Said :. veil to have them all n \\ : form &lt; 

body of a library. N &gt; church, 00 Oltj, Q0( 8VD UO:IM-. oodld &lt; o:it -nd with I m- 
i in the (plant A- holy book-. Ail thcolil moiia --iina W&lt; 

: diploma-, many of which \\.-ic ..n papyi Hut we 

iia\ pursue these inquiries far ; a fc\\- mr odwehaved 

it all Europe ce! the library of thi \ Imandriau 

nioii - Saviour at Me ina. which contained mann-cript autograph 

alm&lt; th"(!iv. . ! ; ..-rs.* [n Spain celebrati the iil&gt;:- : ,: 

\ . velda ::ear LOJTOH &gt;. .if St. li -m-dict ofS 3( Paul at I5ar- 

&gt;t. Vincent at Oviedo ; and in Portugal at that of A] Finally, 

mo-: curious were the libraries in the monasfa t th" i-land- of the An-hi: 

Vndrs, 1 . aii.l I. and also in 1 ii Mount 

Allies which only date I IMIII the ninth and tenth eeirurie-, o( whicii the l&gt;.-s! ae- 

:iv ii hv John ( inineniH, and in Yill.iV- I ml- ironiena to Ilomer.t 
The inscripti in in the library Manice* lliana at Florence, " PublkxB et niax- 
ini" panperiini utilitati," mav serVQ lo indi.-at- the rule oli-erve 1 in the al&gt;l&gt;ey- of 
the middle a^i s. wlu-re siic :i c ill- ction- \v*-re originally formed to lx.-nefit thej&gt;oor. 
1! hard de I&gt;ury e.\pp-&gt; el hnt a general d A lim he \vmt lloWB : 

"Movd hy Him who alone grantetli and p "&gt;d will to men, I ili .i- 

L enily inquired what ainon^ a .l tie - of pi. ty wonll mo-t plea~e the Al- 

miglry, and most profit tne church militant. Then hef.ire th" eye of our mind 
ther-- came a ; : :i -.-holars, or rather of the elect, in whom God th" 

[ficer, an.i Nature \\\&lt; handmaid n, had planted th of the best mam 

and sciences, but whom penury -&lt;. oppress-d that they were dried up, Ix- -an-e 
th -e fruitful S l~, in . : uant, were watered with no clew in the un 

cultivated -oil of youth : -otiiat their virtue lav hidden and Imried. So the p 
withered away, and the corn degenerated into tares; and th--y who mi^ht have 

vn up into -trolly columns of the Churcli, by the capacity &lt;&gt;f a -nl ins, 

were obliged t o r.-ni &gt;unce &gt;t ndies. Thus they are repell-d violently from the : 
tarean cup oi philo-ophy, for whicii tliey t.iiist the more from having ta-ted it ; 
and being deprived of the writing- and h.lp&lt; necessary for contemplation, as if 

nii;h a kind o a-v, tie v return for the sake of bread to mechanical arts, 

lie ( iiurch and the scandal of the whole clergy. So mother ( hnrch 
cannot brin^ forth BOUB, but thnm^h want of th- t -w and little tilings with which 
natnp- i- c..nt"!it-d, -h- losei pupil- thai would afierwan: M- chamj&gt;- 

ions of the faith. Alas! how suddenly the -un i- 1 in the i.iv_ r ht Am. 

anil tiie planet- made to in, i\ ^rade, and the- fall. \Vhateaiiapionsman 

behold more d-plorabie ! \Vi.at can more exeit-- hi- &lt; -ompa ion? What can more 

ly dis-olve into warm drop- a cont; aNd he-.n-t ? Therefor-- we considered how 
much it would pr.-fit the Ci/ri-tian republic to b- to the poor, and 

* Sn ii. 1001. f Heeren. Gescli. d. Class. Lit. 



AQ ES OF FA IT II. 181 



nourish .-indents, not with the delight- of Sardanupalns, or the riehe- 
but with scholastic. mediocrity. How many nave i eon-picuons by uo lus- 

tre of birth and no h.Trditary .-ncce.-siou, but only a i-ted by th-- piety of good 
men, who have desrve i apo-tolic chairs, in which they have served tin- faithful, 
subjected the proud, and procured the l.berty ofth" ( hun-h ? Tli -r- th- iv- 

sult of our meditation was pity for this obscure race of men, who might render 
such service to the Church, and a resolution to as-ist them, not only with means 
of subsistence, but with books for their studies; and to this end our intention 
ever watched before our Lord. Truly this extatic love so moved us, that re 
nouncing all other earth v thing- w applied ourselves to collect books."* 

The libraries of the monks were in a strict sense also public libraries; for 
they were open to every one. That in the convent of St, Francis, at Padua, was 
open during six hours every day in summer, and live in winter. But M"iitfau- 
9011 complained that the Benedictine library in St. Giorgio Maggiore was not suf 
ficiently acce-&lt;ible. That of the Benedictines at Orleans was open to the public 
three day- in the week.f Before the great revolution there were in Paris nine 
teen libraries con.-tantly open to students, whereas the number at present does not 
exceed eight, all of which are closed during six months of the year. Dom Martene, 
on visiting the abbey of St. Jean des Yignes, at Soissons, remarked that all the 
books in the library were still chained.}. They were, moreover, protected by 
sentence of excommunication against al! dilapidators ; yet in certain ea-e.s the books 
might be borrowed for life ; though Lupus, abbot of Ferrers, would hardly have 
consented to this measure, judging from what he says in a letter to Hincmar. 
" The comment of Btde," lie says, "on the apostle, from the works of Angnstin, 
I fear to send to you, because the book is so large that it cannot be concealed in 
the breast, nor can it be well contained in a sack, and the beauty of the codex is 
such, that if it were to fall into the hands of the wicked, it might be lost both for 
you and me."|| The twenty-two volumes which John, abbot of Cluny, left to 
that abbey were chained to the wall. Similarly the books which Octaviamis 
Praeconius, of the order of Minors, archbishop of Palermo, placed in the hall of 
hi- palace, in order that persons who came to transact business might not pass any 
moments in idleness while waiting for their turn, were chained to the walls. *[ 
In Italy one still sees the chains attached to book- in the libraries Laurenziana 
and Malatestian;i. 

But though wearing fetters, they were not imprisoned. Books, though now 
unchained, are not always so accessible a- th-v were when the monks were their 
k(-|Mrs. \Vhen I was at Amiens the librarian told me that he had to spend 
that day in the market, and therefore could not open the cases of the precious 
books which had come from the abbey of Corby. I could not refrain from ex- 

* Ric. de Buri Philobiblion, Piol 

t Biiiliorhoqiic IIit. drs Aut. dchi Conir. de St. M:mr. 02. t Voyage Lit. 

Hist. ..is. ii | Luni Epist. 7(1. - , , BflCItt, i. 



M ORES C A T II O L I C I ; &lt;&gt; K, 

o him my i egret that thes- tiva-nr. s were not -till in tin- h:m&lt;ls of 
monk- at &lt; "rby, though 1 -huu.d then have had t&lt;&gt; ride them. 

Truly 1 might have added, it would liav lv &gt; n better to have had I 
Jiti :i ;h:ii) t&lt;&gt; a coin . or to the gn nadi-r whom we find at the door 

of the Bourbon libiary :ti Nap 

In the middle ages there \va- more libertv dfaoeew t" bonks. When 1 . 
ion opened his library of St. Ma:k s elinn-ii. h.-i.niy forbad the removal &lt; f h&gt;ok- 
beyond the eity, and ordert-d that whoever was entrusted with a book within the 
eity should deposit double it- value. Antonio Agu-tin ti..k a inanu-ei ipt out 
of til- Mar/ianu lihraiy into Mendu/a - hoti-e. Ainnner \\as sent to him out of 
the public library in Fl&lt;&gt;ren&lt;-e.* \Vhcn in S une nnn I - tin- -tl- &lt;-t- of lend 

ing hooks won. 1 loiin 1 so evil that the custom was prohibited, th" council of Paris. 
in 121 J, complained of the :ii&gt;l&gt; &gt;;s who refused to lend book-, and foibade tln in 
to pledge t hem-elves in future to sm-h refu-als, "qum eommodttV infer pnttipm 
misei iconliie o}&gt;era eomputetiir."f 

Blnnie, after oomplahlillg of the ill management and diniculties opposed to 
strangers in the capitu ar libraric-. MJS, that in mona n the c untry he al 

ways met with the mo-t obliging reception. 

Nothing can be more all -ctionate than the terms with which monk- of the mid 
dle igefl invite vi-it &gt;rs to th -;r 1 braries. Lupus, abbot of Ferrers, in th-- diocese 
ofS. ii-. n the abbot Alti-igns, in the di&gt; Yoi k, -ay in-, that ase\ 

animal love- its like. - &gt; he de&gt; be unit d with him in fi i&gt; nd&gt;hip and -a 

prayers on account of their c. -mmon snidi-s ..f wiMlom.* And the Liter of \Vi- 
bald, abbot of new ( to the aichbi-hop of P&gt;n-men in 1151, is enough toex- 

cite the envy of many of our e.int -m;. - "It w :y in^to us/ hf -ay-, 

that you visited our brethren and con- ,. d them : but I wi-li yon would nttirn 
and remain longer; and, as you promised, t:.at vmi would turn over and search 
not aloii" th&lt;- volumes of our shelves, but :d-o th-- -ehedule-. I wish that we may 
have tiiis delight together, in . ind quiet, and leisure ; for what gn ater hap 

piness in lifc."^ Tht-sf i. Id writer- accordingly are continually "i &gt;&lt; rviiiL r . that 
they have se--n and Pad c.-rtain books in certain solemn monasteriffl, ott- ii in dis 
tant lands. 

\\ find that the mo-t delicate att -ntion wa- inculcated bv the monks fiorn 
early time in ;he u-e of books. Th-. nil- of St. I aehoiniiis enter- into many 

ting their distribution and cla-&gt;:lic.itioii in th- library, and the 
be taken of them; for in-tan- . , in not leaving them open \\hen a- y one left hi- 

cell. The Coutamier o ux, spenkiug of the intervals of study, aays, " Ifit 

be ,ny wh-re, let th .11 to \\hoin i nt rusted place it 

back in the drawer, or it he wish to leave it on h&gt; I him make a sign to the 



L Auir. Opp. t. vii. p. 185. f Ann:il.-s &lt;! Pliil. Clin t. torn, xviii. 

t Luni Epist. Ixii. ,. Mtuinir. V-t. S-ripi. ii. 



AGES OF FAITH. 183 

brother sitting nearest him 10 guard it."* The rule of St. Isidore requires that the 
books should be returned every evening. The regulations of the library &lt;-f the 
abbey of Si. Victor, at Mar-eilles, arc ordained expressly, a* the Statute of Main- 
en us, iu 1198, stales, with a view to extirpate the !&lt;&gt;a&gt;t root of dis&gt;en&gt;ion which 
might interrupi the unity and peace so necessary in all places, butr-o much more 
inidispensable where the love of Christ causes many persons to dwell together un 
der one roof.f 

In respect to the care of books m the middle ages, we may form some idea 
of the prevailing manners Irom reading the curious instructions of Richard de 
Bury. " Not alone do we serve God," he says, " by preparing volumes of new 
books, but also by pre.-erving and treating with great care those we have already. 
Truly after the vestments and vessels dedicated to our Lord s body, sacred books 
deserve to be treated with most reverence by clerks. In shutting and opening 
volume* they should observe a mature modesty, not too hastily loosing the clasps, 
nor failing to shut them when they have finished reading; for it is far more im 
portant to preserve a book than a shoe. The race of scholars requires to be bridled 
with the rules of elders ; for some act with petulance and presumption, judging 
of things as if they had experience when they are void of it. You will see one 
youth lazily reclining over 1 is studies, and in the winter season, when suffering 
from a sorry rheum, permitting drops from his nose to fall upon the page. I wish 
that such a scholar, instead of a book, may have to sit over leather with a shoe 
maker. He has a nail, too, like a giant s, with which he marks the margin ot 
the passages that plea-e him. He lias, besides, innumerable straws, which he 
puts between the leaves to help his memory : these accumulate so as to swell the 
junctures of the binding, and there they are forgotten, and left to rot. He scruples 
not to eat fruit and cheese over the open book, and to pass the plate dissolutely 
over it, and, because he has no bag provided for alms, he commits the fragments 
to the book. What more shall I add? Leaning on his two elbows, lie rest- upon 
it, invites sleep, and doubles down the corners of the leaves, to their no small 
detriment. Then when the showers are passed, and the flowers have appeared 
in our land, thi-; scholar, whom we describe, rather a neglector than an inspector 
of books, stuffs his book with the first violets and roses he can find, and turns over 
the leaves with hot hands, never thinking for a month to close the book, so that 
insects penetrate and eat into it, and at last it is BO distended than one cannot shut 
it. There are impudent youth-: who will even make letters in books ; so that 
wherever there is a broad margin you will find a monstrous alphabet, or some 
thing frivolous that occurred to their imagination, which immediately their uu- 
chastened pen presumed to put down There are some thieves also who cut out 
t"aves or letters, which kind of sacrilege ourht to be prohibited under anathe 
mas. An honest scholar will always wash his hands before taking up a book after 

* Ap. Martene, Atitiq. M Miach. Rit. Lib. i. c. 7 f Ap. Martene, Vet. Script, i. p. 1020. 



M &lt;) K BS CAT IK) LIC I : K. 

dinner, and a crying child should never !&gt; -ntVered to admire the capital 
of book-, le-t his wet ii -hould pollute the parchment; forhetoudtefl what- 

- a . MO: aics, \\liu handle a book turned upside do\vn, sis if 

properly directed, aiv alt-- tin r unworthy of having communion with !&gt; oks. In 
fine, till iie^lip Miv in regard to h -hided ny th- example of &lt;&gt;ur Saviour ; 

for \\lini he ha i read iVoin the hook which was delivered to him, we read that he 
did not return it to the minister until he liad clo-ed it a-ain with hi&gt;mo-t -acred 
bands; from which stud nt- ..n-ht to take : \ainple never lo commit ti 

BDOe with regard to hooks."* 

Tin- minute attention to the pn-ervation of d m-t im rely to -nch 

men as Richard de Jiury, who u-cd to lir-aihe l..ok&lt;, lik. I whom &lt; !&lt;:&lt;&gt; de- 

Bcrihfs sitting in tin- library uf Lncnllu-, not so much reading a- inhaling them : 
"quasi heluari lihris videhatur ; "f hn 1 all m ml&gt;ti- ?Gty religious 

community which had maintaii, &lt;li-cipline. In the manuscripts executed 

ly direction of Regimbert, librarian at Richenaii, under theAlil" t- \\"ald, II 
Erlbald, and Rudhclm, certain line.- nerally insert d. which, after stating 

that he hud procurtxl th- .ks for thi : th - l&gt;r. thu-n, conclude thu- : 



Adjunit cunctos Dmnini p&lt; r miialiiif nmnen, 
Hoc ut nullus opus cuiijuiim coucesserit extra ; 
Ni prius ilk- ti&lt;i&lt; -in dedt-rit, ve! (lfiiinie pignus 
. I h:is ;i iic&gt; i}ii;i- :ic.-j pit S:ilv:i n luiltut. 
Dulcis iimiei- L r r:ivftn M-riiiciidi attciidc liiborem : 
Tolle, apcri. iccitii, nc livda.i, clan 

Hugo of St. Victor observes, that the re-in o th-- cedar-wool is useful to pre 

serve books; for that, when auoint d with it, neithei in-eci- nor an o&gt;n- 

sunu 1 them4 The bindini; .f book- foi ined ;i of the monk-, to 

which much imporiaiK e was attached. Although hunting had been interdicted 

to all m-le-ia-tics, by the councils of Agdein "JH;. V.\&gt; n in o!7. and of Pont An- 

deni.-r in iL Til, which prohibition had been ext.ml d e\jvr- monks in th" 

time of Charlemagne, and even to the KinVht-Ternpiais. yet, imd--r that em- 

:ibM-ty wa- given to the monks of St. P.ertin at St. ():m-r. and of St. Denis 

to hunt in their woods, in order to procure -kin- f &lt;r binding their boo 

:l roy, count of Aujou, founding a !&gt;eu- .lictine hou-e at Sainte-, in 1047, 

e to it tin- t , ,,th of r on some land- in the I-]. - of &lt; &gt;l P.II, to supply 

cover- tbr their 1 

At the abb, A- of IM etTeis as elsewhere, it wa- th-- cii-toin in time of war to con 
ceal the library and the church treasure with -uch care, that only few pi-sons 
knew the place. The consequence WES, that, On their death, aluableth: 

were oft- n lo-t. Aocordinglv, in the tenth century, under Abbot Ulrich, and 

* Philoliiblinn. r. 17. f DC Fiiiibus iii. 

J Hut " &lt;!&lt; S. Vi:-t. Institut. Monastic. Lib. ii : 

^ Chron. ^lonast. S. IJert, 1. ir. ut Th . Vn.c. iii. 



AGES OF FAITH. 185 

again in 1155, under abbot Hfiiry, lot tivasure&lt; of this kind were unexpectedly 

ml. On the la~t i.cr:i&gt;ii&gt;n tla- convent came int &gt; i&gt;&lt;&gt; :i of ten silver 

chalice-, with ve.-tmen;s ; and a rich library, containing, 1 M -.choral 

hunks and works uf the holy faih&gt;-is An^ustin, Jt-rome. (. gory, Isidore, 1 . 
and Alcuin, a vast collection of classical ant hot.- ,: " Virgil, Juvenal and I r-ins in 
one volume ; Statins, Terence, Serving on the Bacolics, Lucau, Orating, Salust, 
Sedulins. two books of Arator, Oito and Aviann.s; Waltar, Omerns. FulgentlOS, 
and the Trojan history, Donatus Theocritus, Topics of Till ly, in- Pnedicnmenta 
of Aristotle, two books of Porphyry, a book of Geom jtry ; and the Cantica Cn- 
tieoruin, metrically and Teutonieally composed."* It is remarkable that Richard 
tie Bury, when enumerating the injuries caused to libraries by wars, cites only in 
stances from heathen times. No doubt, the monasteries, in Christian ages, pre 
served them from any wide destruction. Suffer they did, however, at times, as 
in the abbey of St. Sal vat or de Settirao, at Florence, which contained an immense 
library, from the ruins of which the celebrated Medicsean collections were 
formed or increased. I remember," says Caspar Jongellinus, " that, when 
living in that house, I used to wonder, on seeing how many volumes were cov- 
ivd with mud, and torn and defaced ; but an old monk told me what he had 
heard from the ancient fathers, that it was Florentine soldiers who had cau.--d 
that destruction : for, being placed in ambush in the monastery, and sallying forth 
to repel the enemy from the walls, they had scarcely proceeded beyond the ditch, 
when the substructure failed ; and their being a great confusion, in order to facil 
itate the return of those who were without, and who would otherwise have been 
slain in the trench, they took a quantity of books and made a bridge across with 
them, on which they passed back."f 

But now we come to the place where so many of these volumes were written. 
On entering the Scriptorium, in the abbey of Fulda, you read this inscription : 

" Hie sedeant sacrae scrihentes famina legis 

Nee non sauctoruiu dicta sacrata patrum 
Hie iuterserere caveant sua frivola verbis, 

Frivola, nee propter erret et ipsa manus. 
Correctosque sibi quaerant studiose Hbellos 

Tramite quo recto penna volantis eat. 
Est labor egreglua sacros jam scribere libros, 

Nee merceae sua scriptor et ipse caret."J 

An ancient manuscript in the librarv of Einsiedelin describes St. Gregory writ 
ing his dialogues with Petrus Diaconus, on the deeds of holy men in Italy, in 
the monastery which bears his name at Rome, to which he used to retire from the 
burden of the pontifical office. These are the lines : 

* Ildefons von ATX. i. 29-1. f Notit. Abb. Ord. Cisterc. Lib. vii. 38. 

J Scbannat. Hist. .Fuldensis, i. 



Moi: K ITH OLI CI ; OR, 

Sanctorum .da culmrs sedet ordlne 

Div Myatii 

Hos inter icsiilcns Ajr. ipetus ji; log 

i lilciirum cotiduiit arte locum. 
Gratia par cu: Minibus unu8, 

- n.-i vcrhii quidcin, M-d tamcn uti:i fide 

St. y of Tours relates, that L-obardus tin- U reqaently oooopied 

in tun- writing out i&gt; and Sulpitia* Severtu says, 1 .at. in ti. 

Martin, ID art was cultivated hut tiiat of willing, to which tiicyoui 
were icvot..,l, while their elder- had l-isur- to pray. Tlii-, U Mabilh.n ob 
i-en-, s. \\a- tlr I .1) .r ot tin- l !! diriine-, \vii&gt; tiins transmiit- d thf ti- 
ot :mtiiu : tv to our tiinc&gt; Tli.- Al) iM.i Frederick of HiwoiMMi, whom Tritli. iniu- 
Myl.-s tin liuinhlcst ot HUM), hsi-1 his j)lac- an in-n- tin- \vi i:-i s in th- Scrip 
torium of that a!)lfy. in n thiuir taking :ny (lisiiu.-ti..n t&lt; liimself.| 

Th.- Srriptni inm &lt;! nion;.- lilx-rally endowed. Tiin- t.. that of 

St. Ediimndsltury \\ : i th- profit- ..t twn mill- ; to that of Kly, thf rr\- 

enue of two chuivh.- : t.. iha; ofS SwithiB ! \Vin-li-n-r, ihe tiili.- oi a valu 
able rectory. Th- art of tian-ci ihiu-j; manuscript- flourish d till about a century 
Iwfore the di-covcry of printing. H-cn-n &gt;ay- % that DV l:ir the jrreate-t number 
of corruptions in our manu-crip 1 - an- to !&gt; a-cnb.-d to the n -^lip-iice of writ, r- 
during that inteival : an.l that the care pra-ti-ed in the t-nth and fourteenth cen 
turies in transcribing is evident at the fir-t glauc.-.:J (J.-rlnvt, in his hi-tory of 

tti- Black Forest, wys, that, if there was nothing the 1. autiful writing of 
the teutli centurv, l&gt;v in- an-; of which -o many valua hle nionuiuent&lt; have 1 
transmitted to 11-, oii-jht to convince us that it was not a barl&gt;arous :iu Books 
were then beautifully painted and emlM-Hish -d with emblems and miniati. 
that the who]. -ccm.-d to be the proiuce, not of human, but of angelic, hand-. 
The fervor of abbots in that tenth century, in employing writers t&gt; p 
valuable booUs by multiplying conir-. can never !&gt; -utli&lt; iently praised, la 
rnar. in hi- 1 iward, bi-hop of HiUl.-&lt;heim. mj*, that he establish, d 

"- iptoriums. iv-t alone in the inona- 1 ri- -, lnt in diver&lt; {&gt;la e-, by means of 
which he collect- d a copious libiary ot book-. both of divines and philo.^opl 
In " ar; of writiii" never attaine*! to sm-h p.-r! -tion as in the ninth and 

tenth centuri s; and all antiquarian- will admit that th- form more or le-- le 
ts in th" manu-cript- of dilV--re:it Bgefl plaa s b"fore our eye- the 
6tate -f the sciences at that time, according :i- it was more or 1--- flourishing.")! 

The same purchment w:is som- or thrice written upon ; but if in 

this way many mann-"ript- &gt;f thfifth. sixtli, and seven :h centuries were de&gt;t roved, 
it is -ome that the monk- who d!d - only followed th" example of the 

Romans, who had alw:; rVd this cii-tom ; and that from the time when 

* Annalium CHmaldtil.-nMum. Lib. ii. 70. f Pi. -if in ; &gt;riic. Hirsaug. 

Lit. im Mitu-lalu-r. i. : I Uist. Nigrae Silvae, i. 160. 



AGES OF F A I T II. 187 

men begun to write books, with a separation between the words, it was thought 
fair, before th- art of investigating antiquity wa- advanced, tu put a.-ide, a* not 
fit for use, the Romish Merovingian and Scottish writings, in which all the words 
wer-- joined together, and to make them s-rve for some other work. 

Writing books was the main employment of the monks of St. (Jail in the ninth 
and tenth centuries, to collate which they brought manuscripts from Judy an 1 
France; and this was the object of most of their epistolary correspondence. They 
wrote only on parchment, which, out of the hides of wild beast-, they manufac 
tured with such skill, that it is often whiter and thinner than the finest post paper. 
In the beginning of the ninth century their writing was obscured by many Mer 
ovingian and Longobardi-h signs ; but from 820 this cursive writing was gen 
erally laid aside for the Carlovingian Roman characters. The great antiquarians, 
Mabillon, Baluze, Basnage, Calmet, and Gerbert, found few manuscripts to equal 
in beauty those of St. Gall. They were the work of many hands. Some made 
i he parchment, others drew the lines, others wrote the books, others put in the gold 
and the initial letters, others painted them, others compared the text with 
the original, which work was generally done by night in the Scriptorium be 
tween matins and lauds ; and the last hands were employed in binding them within 
thick boards, cramped with iron, lead, or ivory. The best and most eminent 
writers of this time were Sintram, Folkard, Wolfkoz, Gotzbert, Bernwick, Al- 
fart, Thiothard, Rifine, Wikram, St. Notker, Burgolf, Albrich, Egloff.* Writ 
ing was learned by the verse, es-ery where known, containing nearly all the let 
ters of the alphabet, 

" Adnexique Globum Zepbyrique Kanna secabant." 

The labor was great, and Eadbert complain* of it, saving. a Qui nescit scribere 
non putat esse laborem, tres enim digiti scribunt, totum corpus laborat."f They 
sought also to write without ink, and to engrave the letters on the parchment with 
a style, of which examples are found in the manuscripts of St. Gali.^: Waldo, 
abbot of St. Gall, affirming something, says, " Never, while I have strength in 
these three fingers ;" for he was an admirable writer, adds Ratnerius.S " All the 
Cisalpine world," says Eckehard, "admires the fingers of our Sintram, who wrote 
out the Gospel which we possess. It is astonishing how one man could write 
out so many books, since we find works by him in most places of this kingdom. 
His writing was most delicate, yet you will rarely find that he had to erase one 
word in a page through any mistake.")) A book of the Gosp-ls, in gold letters, 
by him, still exists. Almost every monastery in Germany could boast of having 
some book written by his hand. 

* Cartae Traditionum, el Catalogus Mi&gt;tTum S. Galli, sec. 9. f Cod. MSS. 243. 

\ Ildefons von AT x. Hatpert. de Origine S. Galli, ap. Goldast. Rer. Allem. i. 

| De Casibus S. Galli, ap. id. 



188 Moi: : B CATHOLIC! : o II. 

In the mann.-eripts of the n : , Havana, the names of monks 

who e.Hiid write and illuminai &gt;rded. Thus we read tliat Kliii 

mad.- a beautiful copy of Plin ;ural History, with the aninia. 

.lames the Florentine, a holy monk of St. Marv oft: .it Florence, \\ lu&gt; 

: at an advan. in 1: , , -,-i, I. rated for his -kill in writing the t-h.-ial 

ks. To him that house owed tuvnty of the tine.-t that tue world ever -aw. I b- 
\\hieh are found in K-.ni -, and in tin- chnrche- of St. Miehu&lt; 1 and 
^- Ma thia- in Veni An old chronicler of the niona-tery of St. 

aat pious community aa simi arlv mployed iu the time of Robert, 

\eellent p.-arl- ne now iv-to; 

while other- are writt -n out for t he fir.-t time."}; 

9tudeota f St. (iall. who had made some progress in the ars lineandi, were 
always employed in writing out hooks. Wlien Kekeliard found any boy- .-lov. 
study, he made them apply to writing : hut there was a di.-tinetion mad-; for 

1, " If the work In- to write th&lt;- (*o&gt;p.-l. nr a Mi.-.-al. let men of a pt-rfe.-t age 
write it wit u all dili-. :ul attention. lri-h nionl. Q to h 

i^lit \\ith them int&gt;&gt; (lermanythe ni d n: Dg&lt; n \\a.\ taidet- ; for, in tlte 

manoaoriptl ol St. (Jail, we read of pniiila: nun; ill : the Irish, as 

i in the Man tker. The 1 tiu--- old mann- 

cnrions. Thus on iie \\e n-ad, " Ant- rioia ;e_ i."- -nnt -orreeta ;" on 
ther, which had been disfigured by I: tain sane- 

tarn epi-tolam vitio script. .ri- depravai i."|| The copiers found their task lal&gt;or- 
i"iis. On . -Sieir - oitatem, ita desiderat scriptor finem 

lihri " an..;her \\ tan, NVritti-n with great trouble ;" another, 

I- .."T St. Notker writes of himself. " N - 

;&gt;ntavi, -i ill. ; :ata I lihlioth- . 3. Gralli, cui Dei gratia multa aooumtH 

lavi. -.!:!. fiandaveiim."** One is ama he la ..;-: their 

lian uis work. Horn Ktiennot, who travelletl so much h the li orar- 

lifiereol abbeys, wrote out in the .-paee of eleven yean forty-fiV" volnme- 

in toli unini; the resolt of his researches. ff The anonymoos monk &lt;f]&gt; 

. "that, be-id. - i vnpietl in tli" ta-k of in-trm-t -n. ne wrote with 

:i hand not niily books .i his &lt;.wn e .mj&gt;o-iti..n, Imt al-o twenty Mi-- 
1 .M-j)el-, two with tlie Epistles and &lt; I.. .-pels, and foil r booh - 
Matins."^ 

Harduin, who liv-d in a n-niote cell of the martvr Satnrninns, built by the 

1 Wandiv^isi m- at V t n lie, wrote with Id- own hand four volumes of 

the Evangelists in Roman letter*; one volume of S;. Pa: - - : t : vol- 

iim- Sacramentaria ; one of read! in th-- (J.)-pel- ; i\&lt;- eontaininj; forty 

hoimlie- ,,f Pope fJre . ory ; a book of Arithmetic, with letters concerning th" 

* Jai-ck Giillt-rie d.T KUtater ! * .\:I:M .iinl.l I.i ; &gt;. Ivii. J Lib. iv. 

toll M. | ( .. miii. * In Cod. M j&gt; 

if Bihiiot. Hi-t. ilr hi &lt; ur. *t Ai&gt;. M - 



AGES OF FAITH. 

Paschal time; one volume, containing from the eleventh to tin- eighteenth book 
of St. Augustin, De Civitate Dei ; OIK- of Venerable Ii&lt;-de, " IV Natnris re nun 
:u- temporibus ;" one of a P-alter, with the Amhrosian Hymn- ; .ni-- of t!i-- 1 
of St. Wandregisile, St. Ansbert, and St.AVolfrann ; one Volume of Questions of St. 
An&gt;l&gt;crt to Siwinum, red use ; and one Antiphonarium.* Maurus Lapi, a Flo 
rentine monk of Camaldoli, while living nine years in the desert, and more than 
forty-six in the monastery of St. Matthias do Mariano, read and wrote out more 
than 1000 manuscripts ; the list of which, including the most excellent word- of 
the middle ages, shows that he could make a good choice of authors. f Gerhard 
of Monie-Sereno, though having a defect in his .sight, wrote out six Missals, one 
Plenarium, one Lectionarinm, four Gradnals, one Antiphonarinm, two book- of 
Homilies, two Passionals, four books of Morals, and two Matutinals.;}. Prodig 
ious is the number of books which Trithemius says he has written during the 
twenty-three years of his being abbot at Spanlieim. 

Again, to remark the spirit with which the monks pursued these labors. Let 
us hear a monk of the abbey of Morigni : " May God reward all constructors, 
enlargers and protectors of this place, and have mercy on them ; on me also, 
Teulfus, who have written these things, and who know not wiiether I have done 
it any service, excepting that I have, to the best of my power, corrected and ac 
centuated the whole Bible from Genesis to the last Epistle of Paul ; St. Augustin, 
from his book, De Trinitate Dei, till that of John, the Morals of Gregory, and 
other works who for a long time was precentor, and afterwards attempted to be 
prior; but to govern as was required, partly through ignorance, partly through 
negligence, partly through infirmity, not of body but of manners, I could not. 
Yon who read this, I beseech, by the sweet name of my Lord Jesus Christ, to 
say, with all the affection you can, ( O God, merciful by nature, who showest mercy 
and hast pity upon all, show mercy, I pray, to Teulfus, unworthy of thy mercy. 1 
But if you .-hut your bowels against me, and turn a deaf ear to my prayer, you 
will sin, both against God, who is charity, and against me."|| 

In the silence of their cells these men rejoiced in the thought that they could, 
by tiie labor of their pens, preach to the human race. Happy intention," cries 
Oassiodorus to his monks, alluding to those who transcribed the ancient books, 
" praise-worthy assiduity, by the hand to preach to men, by the fingers to open 
the lips, in silence to give salvation to men, and with a pen to fight against the 
unlawful suggestions of the devil; for Satan receives as many wounds as the 
writer puts down words of the Lord. Resting in the one place lie goes, by 
means of the dissemination of his \\-ork, through different provinces ; his labor is 
read in holy places ; the people learn from it how they may be converted from an 



* Chronic. Fontanellense, ap. Dacher. Spicileg. iii. f Annal. Camaldulena. 67. 

\ Chronic. Montis S.erenl. jj Ncoiachus. 

| Chrouicou Muuritiiaceuse ap. Ducln-.-nc, \om. iv. 



Mo K 1 VTHOLH I ; o K, 

will to s. "1 \\itli a clean i Pete?, the \ il abbot of Cluny, 

speaks in the .-a me manner t&lt; 

In a manuscript of S:. Aiuustin on the I -; ik IJadnif, in the 

abl" ^t. Yaa- at Arras, a lating what wa- th- h pe of the writer j 

for he sivs, that as niaiiv -ins \v&lt;&gt;ull he f r iveii him, a- he hal written \\ord-in 

w 9 w * 

..* " In Ar: ..a in. mast ry of PnBIDOl - I \\-\v\ t . ..m a 

priest of thai i, " th- lain 

writ*-! , named Uichard. an KuJ^hinan, \\ &lt;.mb \\a~ twenty years 

: h" had lain in it, when hi- right hand wa- found wliuh- and tlexibi. cut 

I tl tV . .in a live bodv, while all tie iua-hes. It was a hand 

l&gt;y charity. It H still j. at lum 

Having ali.ady in the third lx"k \ er nuich &gt;f this ground, I pa-son 

now a- rapid I v I as can ; but it is impo-~i visit mmi;; . and &lt;&gt;tnit all 

in in n of ;" i the mi.&gt;t r- inarkal)! - 1 atur-^ in their hi-tory. 

Tlie tir-t institutnr- of the UK iife \\ men, \\ \i&lt;&gt; made mi . 

.ineiity than . t earning. " M- iia hus non d . - d plaiigentis hal&gt;ct 

i-tlicium, " art; the words of St. J-r..m-. &lt;! by the &lt; }j n-ian order for it- 

motto. To gn . vr. not to teach, \\as their ollie-. This mad x- . Aujnstin exelaim, 
in allusion to St. Anthony, that the mil. ri-e up and take heaven by fol 

while we u ith oui learning are -inking -t }&gt; id tio:,. ; 9( \iithonyhadiioadmira- 
tion tor learned men, and h" used to -ay that a -oiind mind wa- mor^ ancii nt 
than ail tlie wi-dom of lette!s. A rfetiu philo-oph- -ing surpri-e how 

h. Id jHT-ist in th - monastic life without tie -n of i bfl repli.-d, 

\ - my book ; f -r in all parts of th- ; m I read the orach d." 

Th" b-ginning of the book of St. Gregory of Toon, I Virtuti Miraci 

will &gt;i:owwit;i what m nd the- m nk- withdrew from the .-tndy of profiuae liter- 
atuie, though it is true this holy man - his acquaintance with h athcn liter- 

atur- inth words with wnich he declares hi- -en- vanity. All tliningh 

the til ni -u made m- .lint of piety than oi "lea: i il ! to 

th-uoid-. P. :t is an hnnible iu&lt;i:&lt;- wlio serv - &lt; i.id than a prond philos ..ph. r 
who neglects him&lt;elf, while consi.i. r ,n_ r t: f ti.-- h- avens ;" and - also 

St. Hilary -ays, u Meditatia Icgis non solum in verbi- lej -&lt;! in OJKTO et 

r- l : _ r ione." 

II ar t no words of monks mo-t d. Vot&lt;d K.cla-.-ieal harniusr. Th .-e who live 
ill, and wi-h to -peak well, and (h-pl-t- faulty language rath, r than corrupt man- 
11. , are i s Lupus, abbot of F-i r- n : " ( &gt;"ini- labor hominis 

in &lt;.re eju-, .-t anirna illius non veplebitur :" " for it i-ju-t that h" who attributes 
the fir-t j. aeo to learning, and not to saiu-tity, -hould be excluded in a destructive 
fast from the refection of wisdom."|j 

* Martene, Voyage, Lib. 64. t Illust. Mir. xii. t Confess, viii. 8. In Ps&L i. 
| Lupi Epi-t. xxxv. 



AG ES OF FA IT II. 191 

"Though you ask for the books of Tully, yet I know that you are a Chris 
tian, not a Ciceronian ; for you only pa-s into foreign camps as ;i spy." So wr 
in 1150, the superior of an abbey in Hildesheim to Wibuld, abbot of New Cor- 
bv, who replies to him : "You judged rightly of us : the di&gt;h&lt;- &lt;if ( ic. TO we do 
not serve among the first, or to the chief table; but when replenished with better 
food, we partake of them as of the sweet meats which were served for the des 
sert." 

Mabillon shows the error of some in the last century, who supposed that mo 
nasteries were instituted for the purpose of cultivating human -cience : for they 
who entered them generally counted sciences along with the other secular things 
which they abandoned for the love of Christ,* But, at the same time, he proves 
with what assiduity, as well as humility, studies were recommended within clois 
ters, under the influence of religion. f 

Cosma the Scholastic had more books than any one else in Alexandria, and he 
used willingly to lend them to any one who asked him; and you saw nothing 
with him but books and benches, a bed and a table; " and whenever I went to 
see him," says Sophronius, " I used to find him either reading or writing.";}; 

In the time of Charlemagne there were opened many schools for the Greek. 
" Do not wonder," says a m onk, that the Abbot Hermann should have carried 
a Greek Testament always with him ; for this learned and religious prior was 
skilled in the Greek tongue, which he had learned in the Caroline College atOs- 
naburg ; for in that foundation all the clergy were skilled in both Greek and La 
tin. ^ Long before, St. Csesarius oi* Aries used to celebrate the Divine worship 
in Greek as well as in Latin. The king, Charles, wished to make Compiegne a 
second Constantinople, and gave it the name of KapXoTtoXiS, and to a new 
founded abbey in Burgundy he gave the name of Alpha. This Grsecomauia 
shows that the language was much cultivated then. In the tenth century, at St. 
Martial of Limoges, it was the custom on Easter-day to sing the Gloria, Sanctus, 
and Agnus Dei, in Greek. At Auriol, near Marseille, there was a company oi 
Greek monks. In 1167, William, who from a physician had become a monk, 
brought Greek books to Paris from Constantinople,!] which greatly excited the in- 
teresl of the learned. Philip Augustus founded a Collegium Consfcintinopolitan- 
urn for young Greeks ; and the Dominican and Franciscan ord-rs applied with 
diligence to the same study. The first who gave a translation from the Greek 
of Aristotle s Morals was Robert, bishop of Lincoln, in the thirteenth century, 
At this time many eminent Grecians flourished ; as William of Morbeka, Thomas 
Cantiprautanus Henry of Brabant, Bartholomew of Messina, Eugenius Ammir* 
atus, and James of Venice.^ 

1 Tract, de Studiis Monast. pt. i. c. i. f Ib. ii. t Pratum Spirituale, c. 173. 

Chronic. Coenobii Virgin. Ottberg. ap. Paulini Her. et. Antiq. German. Syntag. 
i Chronic, de S. Denis, ad ann. 1167. 
T Staudenmaier Johan Scotus und die Weissenschaften Seiner Zeit. 



I . - MoUK.S f AT 110 LIC 1; &lt;&gt; K, 

I am awa -e tlmt some imxlern writer- are of opinion that tin- monks, l&gt;v pie- 
.in- and cultivating tb anoi. n; l arn ; n_r, "iilv ivtaniei \\i - tfnn th - 

pn i the lininan mind. ( ap. fi-i,. that their literature ItplWMed tilt 

nerv . - Fr- ndi and so national, of the tn.ubadom .-.- lint it may be aquation to 
be : 1 to other.-, whether the in-tairair oils development of their !ir-t ihoii- 

howev. r Fivnch or else where national, is alway- a mode of advancing tin- int. 1- 
lig&lt; men. ElirymachOB, ind.-.d, is very anxious, like mo.-t ut Homer - h- - 

roes, to express whatev r &lt; mes upperm- 






otpp ti ncv i-i ortfifooi \-f\evn.\ 

Bnt perhaps it \va* quite a- \\ell that the monk-, instead of eftOODnging th- 
l)arl:irians around them t&lt; ntt--r in veise \\ h;i it. MI- mimU firs; call- d on th -m 

to say, inviUnl them to their &gt;ehool&gt;. \vnere they learned to hear a little l&gt;et 
they expiv rd !h-msel\ 

In th m-.na&gt;trrii- of the middl- .vild in their situation and 

"lemn in th--ir -trueture, were t oiind men of profound learning, a- well a- in 
th&gt;- iieart of cities, who \\eiv known to their eoiitemp"rarii- as lights both for di 
vine and human studio : a- Th DIM of Si, Vi--t"r i- d.&gt;.-nl&gt;.-il 

" Est lux aneraa Tbomte c-nllatti I rinri 

Qui meruit martyr juris amort- m&lt;&gt;ri."$ 

The early monks did not disdain the ancient learninr. for we know that the 
missionaries of St. (?re&lt;rory brought a Homer with th -m to Kii^iand. and Kaban 
M.iiir is commemorated a- Laving first broiiirht ure to tlie ( in man-.jS 

In the ninth and tenth centuii. S the monk- of St. Gall amid understand, rad, 
and write the German, Latin, and Greek tongues ; they \\en- -killed a* orators, 
astronomers, physician-, expounders of tlie ^ i Scripture, in all hi-tory, and 
in clas-ical literature. Tho-e m d in Greek weiv t--nne&lt;l tl. ,s ]\m i 

fratn-&lt; Kllenici. The prol held an ej&gt;i-tolary c-oi r.-poml&lt; nee with the court 

and the learned m 11 of the n-jo, and wr- &gt;ften calle&lt;l to occupy distant sec-. The 
monks of St Gall wereamon&lt;: tlie tir-t to form the German into a writMi lanim.. 
for it was not till the ninth orntnry that it could written. l :.rt of tlie nil- 
St. Benedict, with tho Pater no-tor, Credo, and Confiteor. tmnslated into 
man. were the first example, and thoso wero written in th- Greek and Run 
alphab-f oftlio T/atin charaotpr^. R inert, nnenfthfW in the ninth century, com 
pound in German a popular hvmn in honor of St. Gall. In France Ordcric Vit 
al i* particularly notices the monlc of Roe as d-votirvj t!i-m*-lves to the study of 
letters. " Sneh /-al did thev -how." h- MVP, in ev endinir tn snrn (l ". vstt r 
ics and in useful dis&lt;-onrse, that almost all seemed to b" philosopher-, while tho-e 

* Hit d. Phil. Aiisust. ii. W. f xviii 351. t Bulaws Hist. Univ. par. ii. 

F. CornHii Monarli. Brcvlar. Ftil&lt;l-r. 



AGES OF FAIT II. 193 

were illiterate, called Ru-ties, might learn grammar from them." But all 
tlie ureater houses contained men of eminent learning down to tin- latent tii 
when the Benedictine order gave to tlie republic of Menard, Mabillon, 

Montfancon, d Acheri, Gallois, Deifau, Massiiet, Bulteau, Gerheron, (Ie~\ 
Lami, Gunner, Rou-sel, and Ruinart. The Mendicant orders prouU -ed ai.-o men 
of most profound erudition. Joseph Scaliger writing to Isaac Ca-aubon td,s him 
to search in tlie king s library for some ii"tes of a Dominican friar on the Alco 
ran, which will greatly as-ist his studies, and without which he will find olcur- 
ities that will be inexplicable. The English Franc-iscans were e-p&gt; &lt; aily learn- d 
towards the end of the thirte-nth century. Then shone Rod til ph Coleburg, Roger 
Bacon, Henry Willot, Thomas Docking of Norfolk, Richard Ruins, Adam de 
Marisco, William of Ware, John Wallet, John of London, who followed Roger 
Bacon to Paris, and, having been sent by him to Rome, was retained there by 
Pop.- Innocent, Robert Crusius, and Richard Middleton, the la.-t of whom is 
commemorated with fourteen other chief doctors of his order on the tomb of Dun 
Scot us at Cologne.* 

Though we before visited the schools of the middle ages, we cannot refuse to 
take another glance at them, being now within the very walls where the greatest 
were established ; and from the library and scriptorium we are naturally directed 
to the Scholastic Halls, so appropriately placed within the asylums of peace, as the 
very word Scholastic indicates, for it implies leisure from external material things 
to be free to study as to adore God. These forests and valleys through which 
we have lately penetrated might have been designated in the middle ages as the 
studious walks and shades, the schools of sages. In the tenth century, when St. 
Wolfgang retired to Einsiedelin, that solitary monastery was embosomed in a 
vast forest, and yet crowds of pupils came there to its schools from all the neighbor 
ing provinces. In every abbey there was a professor of theology and of philoso 
phy. How strange it sounds now to hear of a Dom Badier professing philoso 
phy at St. Denis, and of a Dom Lopin teaching philosophy on Mount St. Mich 
ael in Normany, places in our ears only associated with the thoughts of barracks 
and state prisoners, who have no other idea of philosophv besides the revolt of 
the intelligence against God. The monasteries were schools of theology, philoso 
phy, of languages, of writing, of art, and of law ; for there too men " spent their 
youth in flowing gown, studying their Ulpian." In the time of Charlemagne 
letters as well as theology were taught in cloisters l&gt;efore numerous disciples; 
and in cities studious youths were permitted to assist at the lectures without be 
ing inhabitants of the monastery. Down to the seventeenth century the monks 
permitted laics to attend the scholastic cla-ses of their novices,! and these were 
sometimes far advanced in age; for on^ result of the monastic influence was to 
convince men that, as Clement Alexandrensis says, u no time could be un.-easou- 

* Wadding, Ann. Minorum, iv. v. vi. f Monteil, Hist, des Francois, viii. 544. 



lli-l .MOR Bfi C ATH OLIC I ; &lt;&gt; II. 

;il ilf when it wa- :i (pi- -tion of giving health to the soul, that it could never be 
ttn&gt; -o&lt; MI or to philoeophiae, a- it could never be too ~&lt;&gt;"n or too late to 

be happy : that both young and old mu-t philosophi/c ; tint tin- old may grow 
yonn_r a&lt;_;aiu through the good things \vhicli conn- t &gt; them t roin grace, and tliat 
the young may be at the .-a me time both young and old through confidence in the 
i-itu iv." 

The ancient pulpits of philosophy exist d in France till the revolution. Every 
monastery mantained some learned men to give public instruction ; "and it \a 
worthy of remark," -av- ("onringiu-, " that in ihe -ixth, M-venth, and eighth cen- 
turies, throughout the whole we-tern church, then- wa- no one distinguish- d by 
hi- writings u h o had not been educated in a monastery. "f An historian of Ire- 
laud observes, tliat the rapidity with which the -cho-ls of tne m &lt;na- 
frotn their ashes alter being burnt bv tne iiort!im&lt;-n, and r- - i with 

the voice of instruction, seems hardly le-- than marvellous. Only a f-w months 
after a dc-p- rat" inroad of Dan.-- int.i Armagh, \\eatv told of a youth of royal 
1 repairing to it- M-hools for the Oumplvtiun of his education ." In England, 
after tlie coming of ihe Xom:in&lt;, every mma-^ eiy had a publk) aehool j and where 
funds could not immediately \^- t oiind. bain- were hired for the purpose, where 
the teacher- grtituitou-lx attend- d. Thu- in the timt of JoH rcHl. abliot of Cioyland, 
four monks from Cot-nham usetl to walk to &lt; im uridge to give gratuiton&gt; les-uns, 
day on Latin literatuiv. another on Aristotle according to the comment- of 
Porphyry and Av- rroeflj, another on Rhetoric, from Cicero and Quintilian, an 
other on tlie Scripture- and the holy fathers. Paris owe- its extension &lt; u the 
north bank of the S in- to the -chool .fthe abb-y of St. German rAuxerrois, 
which \\a- celebrat d in an early age. Th" scli.-ol even in the nuns convent of 
1 n .u- Paris, in the time of tiie Men-vm-iau-. was r -orted to by crowd- of 
KOB to hear the scriptural 1-ctiire- of S-. li.-iiilla. The ardor for study in 
th" middle age- wa- not left without abundant means to cany it into tllect. In- 
striK : n WM widelv dillu-eil, and the idea of converting it into ft monopoly n- v- r 
ent- i.d into tlie imagination of the monks. Thi- year, 961," says the annals 
of Corby in Saxony, " the -chool in the new church flourished a- if contending 
with oiir&lt;. Thu- the mother love- the daught--r, and the dau jht-r honors the 
mother."* In the neighborhood of St. Gall there w- unde&lt;] by the 

count.- -ii\\il, which the monks of cour- favored, a- they &lt;iid ev ry use 

ful institution;;-; but it wa- n ronaeqiienoe of the tendency which s&lt; hools ofthis 
kind naturally indicated, tiiat Pope Alexander III. wrote to all the French bish- 
op&lt; -har-in.j- them to forliid the master- to r-c-ive money, " 1- ice should 

m to be exposed for sale, which ought to be offered to every on- . || 

On the other hand, there was a certain iace of wandering scholars lying out in 

* Stromat. iv. 9. t De Antiquitatibus Acvulrmiri- t Ap. Leibnitz Script Bruns. iii. 

lldefons. von Arx. | Ap Martene, Vet. Script, ii. 853. 



AGES OF FAITH. 195 

the fields, who used to be^ from nMiia-tc; -i- s with insolence, against \vhom it was 
sometimes necessary to pass decrees, :is in tin- council of Sai/burg in 1 2\) 2, and 
also in 1 t- )ti. &gt;: " All studies in the monasteries yielded to the labor of in-truc- 
tion. Abbou, the monk of the ninili century, who wrote the poem on the siege 
of Paris, begs indulgence for the faults in it, which he has not had time to correct, 
" ob Bobolarttm pluralitatem." 

Of the facility afforded to the poor of educating their sous by the schools of 
the monks, the history of Pope Sylvester II. furnished a memorable example. 
Born in the mountains of Auvergne of poor parent.-, the brethren of the monastery 
of the holy Gerald us at Anrillac took the destitute lad under their protection. 
The Abbot Gerald, the scholastic Raimund, the monks Bernhard, Airard, and 
all the rest, showed him a father s love ; but e-pecially under the instruction of 
Raimund were his extraordinary talents developed. After some time the breth 
ren, with praiseworthy disregard of all selfi-h interests, sent him to travel, in or 
der that he might find fresh food for his genius, and vi&gt;it other &gt;ch&lt;ols. He first 
visited all the celebrated abbeys of France ; in each of which he formed friendships, 
which proved the consolation of his future life ; so that, when subsequently he 
passed into Spain and Italy, lie was united in intimacy with Adalbert) of Rheims, 
Notger of Luttieh, Ecbert of Treves, Eccard, abbot of St. Julian at Tours, Adson 
of Moutier-on-Der, Constautine, scholastic at Fleury, and with many other noble 
and learned monks, f 

Besides the greater there were lesser schools adjoining every monastery for the 
children of the neighborhood. Hence the old chronicler of St. Riquier, after 
stating that boys are educated there, adds, " The treasures of wisdom are dispersed 
on all sides ; the country is rendered illustrious, and every where, and by all men, 
Ceutula is called happy. "J 

" After the pestilence in 1348 there was such a scarcity of men," says a chroni 
cle of Soissons, "that no one could be found in the small towns to teach little chil 
dren to read." Therefore, foundations were made by John Dumont for sending 
scholars to one or other of the five universities. The decay of schools, and the 
consequent want of instruction among the people, previous to the great outbreak 
of heresy in the time of Luther, explained the desolation which ensued in some 
countries, as St. Vincent Ferrer cleariv pointed out; and, in fact, where educa 
tion was most extended, as in Spain and Italy, during the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries, these errors were not able to penetrate or take root.|| 

It would be long to tell of the great monastic schools which diffused such light 
throughout Europe during the middle ages. In the tenth century the most cele 
brated were Lobbes, where Rather, and Gorctim, where John Vendieres taught, 
Gemblours, Prum, St. Martin at Tours, St. Germain at Paris, Fulda, Hirschfeld, 



* GtTinunia Sacra, ii. 331. f Hock, 61. t Lib. iv. Hist, de Soissons, ii. 211. 
j M inti-il Hist. &lt;U-s Francois, viii. 564. 



I . G M() K KS CAT IK) LIC I : OR, 

Flcury, Luxouil. St. P.omfa. at \l UK-. Monte-( as-ino. In th ll-mi-hed 

the "Te:it monastic Schools of 8l Qfl . I; iciitMiull, Ivn-edclin, I Yter,in^"ii, Cinny, 

ani aiming the mountain- of Aiivcr^nc tin- doi-ter of Aunllac at the end of the 
ninth centnrv, founded liv the hoiv (Jeraldu-, St. Vim-eiil at Toiil. St. Pelil and 

. . / / 

( iiifiis .-it M !/, and St. liuni at l{ ;"ims.* ( V; :i.-&lt;&gt; were the moii:i 

\ &lt;an in Mayenee, where the monks Th ud ri -u .uid Di^mai floiir- 
i.-hed ; I II r-chau, wh&gt; re studied A mull , A da 11 d M.^imad, r- nowned 

through alK it rmany ; of (Why, in Saxony, where the - th" eel, 

Wittichind ; and ol the al)l)-y .-t Si. Maximin at TI.VC-, wnidi j)n.&lt;hi(vtl ;it the 
same tiin- tnanv in. - I.-IH men. apnMli-s and many r-. nl 1 ).in- 

nl&gt;", tii 8t, I da/.c, in the I.laek K &gt;nnde&lt;l in !( )() l\ !;.-_ nbTt,a n. 

man of the court \\as distinguished ; a&lt; \\a- al- . r. .nman, \vliere tin- holy A 
trik hetraii \\\&lt; apo-tnljc con 

At Montfanr n, on the l^nlt r&gt; of Lorraine, ti;e:c \\er&gt;\ in ( J 1 }, learned monk-, 
who had ll d from Knjland, and a fanii. "1. At Ca-tres, in K"\ . the 

Ahl&gt;"t Diirandn- d served immortality ly his writing on the .h.-v and In-tory. 
\ : dose of the tenth century \\ere founded t ne allx-ys of St. IVter in Uisul- 
dum, in the di&lt;K-e~. of (iirona ; S-. Mary, in . in the diocese of Urtrel ; and 

St. Michael a &lt; MU1, in the TV tlkdl eoiitain-d most eminent sell* 

mule: thealihot- l o;.ti . and (iiiarinn- ; to tie la-t of which cam" 

Peter 1 V n . \ith his fiimd- (Jr:. . Man: os- ni, and 

I! maiild, th" sult-r.jii"nt tound.-r of ( amaldoli. and the old hermit Marim. 
In the th I and 1 onrteent :i &lt; n!n! : l :i leigcailS 

and Dominican-- d:i \v muititndt-s to their convents. More than 700 frats at a 
time, from ev&gt; ry pa l&gt;e&gt; ii Utiown to n sort to tii.- I- ran- 

an convent in Paris for the of.-tudy.* Tlie seholastu- iiail- in thi- W n- 

vent were partieidarlv i:rand. Tne &lt;jreatt r -eh ol- \\-rrimieX !y any 

others inth" I liiv-i-ity. They v -ntv-ix ll"-t loir, r and forty ix ln&gt; 

with eleven great \vindov There were two 1 on theology, -pc nla- 

tiveandiir . morning, and t\v every afternoon, on tii II ly Scrip 

tures. l&gt;.iilv, from lour to five in :h" evniiii j, the fathers n-ed ! dispn .-n 
the-.- 1- rtuiv-, any one that eho-- answering :i ;d dispntiii^ :ir.iin&gt;t them. I l l 
youths \\ere educated in the seminary, winch contained an elegant hall, in \\hieh 
two of the vounirer hr- thrcn i 1 parts of the divine ..tliee every ni-ht ; hut 

on festivals all were required to he pi. s"iit in the church at th" same time. Here 
" r t -ur ~ch M f ! -ram mar. another tor rhetoric, another for lo&lt;ne, and 

the fourth for the ma-t"r of the sentence- and th" phv.-ie- of Ari-totle.ji 

Thu-, re-idev. after a loui; int -rval here we find oiir-elves a-jaiu r iisim_ r our hands 
in admiration of tae m-re names ot th" m ma-tic s ho ( l- Q middle a^es? 



* Hock. GtrlM-rt uiMl SeinjilirliuiHl. \ \\m\ 

I Diiciu-nc. Antiq . . i,- Fr.,D, W;id(iiiiL . An. I 



AGES OF FA IT 11. 197 

Again, I a&gt;k, what must it have been to haw entered that of the abb-v of St. 
Victor at Paris, when it cont tined such masi ling". Al;un, and the two 

Richards? How deeply imere-tinj; even now is it to vi-it the monastery of St. 
J)ominic at]Xaples, oiieoftho.se great schools whose ma-;er- po--c.-.^-d ~nch an em 
pire ! St. Tnomasof Aqtiin composed here many of his works, and here hetanght 
theology during fii teen months. At a later time King Alphon-o I, of Arragou 
n-ed often to com" here on horseback, to as-i.-t at the lectures of the pro 
The tracts of St. Thoma- meet you at every step. You see hi- small cell, now a 
chapel, hi&gt; class, and the remains of his chair. Of the great men who presided 
over the school of St. Gall, in regard to poetry, music, and painting, I shall have 
occasion to speak hereafter. In learning, they held the first place. When Kck&gt; - 
hard II. entered the council of May once, six bishops rose up to salute him as 
their old master in the school of this abbey.* 

Through the ninth, tenth, and eleventh enturies, all the masters were great men. 
The Emperor Otho I. would do nothing without the advice of Eckehard I. sist 
son of the recluse IJachild. He was the most learned and magnanimous man of 
his age. and the most pitiful to the poor. He left behind him a description of the 
heroic deds of Walter, which Eckehard TV. afterwards copied out in a more 
complete form, and &gt;tyled " Lydius Charlomanicus." In pursuance of a vow, he 
had begun to write al-o a life of St. Wiborad. Eckehard II. Palatinus was a 
stately and most .noble person: " nemini tinqtiam Benedict i cucullus decentius 
insedcrat." He made no distinction between the noMe and other students, but 
employed those of least talent more in writing, painting, and gilding. He knew 
how to write down in short hand the .substance of every thing that was said, a- 
soon as it was uttered. He was subsequently called to the court of Otho I., and 
appointed over the imperial chapel. Two discourses, which he had taken down 
in short hand, still exist, which Eckehard IV. has inserted in his chronicle. 
Eckehard LV. composed an emblem to express each of the art-, with its attri 
butes. Notker, the physician, was maternal uncle of the abbot Xotkar : he was 
skilled in medicine above all other men of his age, and was h- Id in great respect 
at the court of Otho I. Curious proofs of his discernment are recorded. So strict 
a disciplinarian was he in the cloister, that he was snrnamed " Piperis granum." 
lu old age he lost his Mght. The veneration of his contemporaries is well ex- 
pres.-ed in the notice of his death : "Obiit Notker i benignissimi doctoris et med- 
iei."f Notker Laheo, or the " thick-lipped," was considered the mo-t learned man 
of his time, as well as ihe uio-t benign.;}: He was a profound theologian, astron 
omer, and mathematician, deeply versed in the Greek and Latin and German 
tongues. He acquired from his contemporaries immense applause by his works on 
the German toivjue, and his name will be for ever dear and venerable to all who 
stmly the old German lit* rature. He formed many learned men ; and amongst 

* De Cusibus S- Galli, ap. Golilast. ii. f Necrolog. $ Chronic. Hepidunni ad ;in. 1022. 



MORES CATHOLICI; OR, 

them Kckehard IV.. a &lt; .. author of the tiiiil.ilt-.-i-.-. On his d-ath-bed he 

OOmmauded \\ :it should have a dinner in his pre-eii v, tiiai lie ini^lit 

n- h:- la-t time in | i-nre which they rec.iv-d. Tli - 

joy vrat granted lohiin. They dined h.-fbiv in- i. tl. and h - expired amid-t the 
feare and lamentations of the poor. II- del intheseveuty-aixthyearof hisi 

in in I ! . "f the pla-ue which tin- army had brought out of Italy. Hi- di-ciple, 
I. .u-hard IV nut of him with : 



" Hie thiis t-t hoinini- nidiiionis, 

Hutu 1 iiu-rilo Ik-bunt. Miiiili, (jin tlcin &gt;uut."* 



i -(ierman \vorks, then- rcma : u his tra islation of tin- P-alms, of Aristotle, 
Boctin-. Martiaiuis ( aix-lia, and a -hm t tfciii-t- on ninsic.il iiistrninnit-. 11 - 
translations of Jol&gt; and of St. &lt; . e lo-t. On ilu- -am-- day with 

hitnduvl, of the plague, thn-- otiit-r pr&lt;&gt; |; dp . \ n . | i ] .] niti.-rt, 

who were all placeil in on.- _&gt;;ravc. Meivhaul I \" . W*H al- a iT eat proficient in 
the ( lennan, Latin, and (ii-e.-k kXlgttee, profoundly v--i&gt;ed in heath- n and Chris 
tian anti&lt;Miitic-. I ! publish- d tii- chr..niel" of iii- hoii-e. from the time of the Ab- 
lot S:il,.inn t" t:iat . f Immo:a work of hi^li vain.-, not "idy f..rth- hi-iory oi 

:naiiv, but for that of all Knr&lt;&gt;p .. 1 1 is -e- ml work i- theoelebrtted iiKUin-cript, 

" Liber Bene&lt;lic:tioi)uni,"^ or the p&gt;--trv &lt;&gt;f the mv-t--iies and the f.-tivaK with 

{taintini;-, and containing benediotioili lor ilitlereiit ()OCttUOII8. 1I&gt;- tlie&lt;l it) 1070. 

Th" Latin tonirtic was s &gt; timroii^hly tan-lit MI the &gt;cho -1 of thi- :.l&gt;l&gt;ey, that, 

in the teadinir- which were alway- ma&lt;ie at table, no fault wa- ev -i-vable. 

cptinj^ tlie .-mailer l&gt;. .\- - - udent ever dar. d to &lt;p. a u in any other tongue 

but Latin. Xo wnere t-ls.-, in all (Jermany, did one write -ndi (r&lt;MKl Latin: and 
treati-t- were written here at ono- in Latin, and ni)t. a- elsewhere, translated in 
to it from the German.:}: In t_ r ii -ral, th- metiiod of instruction in the mona-ter- 
iesofthe midtlle ago- vrafl M) BOCOessfbl, tint John of Salisl.nrv Bays, that -\ 
out-, who is not ai - iuetly deficient in natural abilities, can Larn to write and 

d; Latin jwf.Ttly in on.- v- The pr..t ors of St. (Jail explained TH 

(inintilian, Virgil, Lucan, Fiaccns, an-l Statins; ami irnve th- ir x- nolais to I 
Sail::- . Livy. TrogO, Frontinti-, S&lt;ilinu&lt;, Varr-.. Jnv-nil, Tcn-n.-e. 1 ,-rsins and 
^ ph &lt;!,-. The siiujeet- for their p.etiv v, neraliy taken out of the r,d&gt;l &gt;, 

or Chinch hi-tory. le-entl-. an.l J&gt;M-C- for festivalf*. The declamation proper for 
p-.t-:rv wa- indicat-d to th- n-a h-r- bv musical n t which the manuscript 

poems of S-dulitK and Ade .hdm are an .-x-imple.|| In diah-rti--, and logic their 
:-- were Ari&lt;t"tle, Plato, Porphyrins and Il.- tin-. Xotk-r Lab- &gt;. the thick- 
, wrote a tran-lation. in German, of A - i-totV- L-. _-!&lt;. MMS-I \va&lt; tanght 
with srreat eare. They studied also mathematics and _ .-. .m--try ; and Notker La- 



* In Lib. Rctictl. * In Ood. M N -. 39:j. in 4to., .f -, ;:: p-, 

1 Ec-ki-hurd inCa^.xi. " i- 24. I In Cml. I 



AGES OF FA IT II. 199 

beo, drew mathematical figures for the students, and c\i&gt;lain"d in German the 
meaning of the different trnns. According to them, ih&gt; |&gt;:itri:irch Abraham wa^ 
the inventor of these figures In a-t-nnomy, which they named " a-tr&lt;&gt;lo_- 
they did not confine (heir researches to tin- confl -ll-niun- ami c mrse of the sun. 
Thev sought also to us*- the telescope and the astroltabe,and were able to make a 
Celestial globe, perhaps tin. first that was ever -ecu in Germany. Tueir a-tri&gt;n&lt;tn- 
ical guides were Alexander, Higius, and A rat us. They held Zoroaster, whose 
kingdom they said was Bactria, to be the gr&lt; ai&lt; -( a-tronomer, and Kin- I tol-my, 
a- the inventor of the sun s hours, and of the astrolabe an a-tron&gt;m cai in-tru- 
ment which the painters at that time u-ed as an emblem of magic. Such diligent 
readers were they of the classic-, that they often used the ancient term-, and ap 
plied them to contemporary things. Thus the Christian church wa- " S-natus 
populusque, Respublica." They borrowed figures, in speaking, fiom the ancient 
history, and styled St. Gall Praetor," and " Censor." Above all, they were as 
siduous in studying the Holy Scriptures, and the fathers, especially Origen, Ath- 
anasius, Augustin, Jerome, Gregory, Isidore, Chrysostom, Bede, Sedulius, Boet- 
ius, Avitns, Primasius, and the ecclesiastical historians. Their philosophic views 
were often expressal in verse: as for instance, of prayer, they said, 

" Precibus Deus non mutatur, praesciens earurn operatur. " 

Of penance, 

" Vult velut igoarus Deus, ut fatearis amarus. 

lutirae salvamur si continue fateamur." 

They had some strange notions; as, for instance, that the letters of the language 
which Adam and the serpent spoke had a magical power. As for science, in opposi 
tion to religion, the monks of St. Gall held that religion must always be regarded 
as far elevated above all sciences ; though science and learning must be used in 
its def. ii-e, after the example of St. Athanasius, Augustin, and Boetius. Besides 
the study of the ancients, the vulgar tongue was by no means neglected at St. 
Gall : the monks applied themselves with diligence to its formation, and made it 
the object of study. 

" Primus Barbarieam scribens, faciensque saporam," says Eckehard IV.;* and 
Hud pert wrote a German grammar, explaining scientific words. | In the German 
writings of their composition we find an elegance which was then new: so that 
moiv was etl e tc 1 t &gt;wanls its refinement in th&gt; ninth, tenth, and eleventh c--n- 
turies than was done dining the seven hundred vars following : and Ildefous 
von Ar.-e -ays that no German can fail to r gr-r bitterly that these old masters 
of.the tongue should have been laid a&lt;ide bv th&lt;&gt;s who, nt lat" years, have sought 
to improve it. \V&lt;- may remark, ind-ed. thar every \vh-re the monks labored in 
thtii schools to pre-erve the popular language of the country in which they were. 
In England, when, und"" the severe ordinances of t ne Xormans, the old Saxon 

* In Lib. Beued. 155. f Goldust. Ht-r. Allemann. torn. 



M &lt;)K Rg CATHOLICI; &lt;&gt;K, 

cha : about to be h&gt;s , th"i&gt;- Were patriot- in the iiiolia-tci 

late writer, \viio preferred them -till ; aid we an- indebted to -uch m-n i or their 

ation. fngnlphus was Ode, Bewailing the lo-- of many of id- char; 
in the li:e of 101H, a i -n -everal out of the 

ii we had duplicates, tha th--y ini-hi IK- kept in tne cloister for 
hin&lt;; the junior- the Saxon hand. Hivin_: been 1 fh&lt; d i &gt; au-c of the 

1 h. l become unknown. .-\.-ept l&gt;y ,rs ; thejuni 

the were ii: .1 to read the old Idler, thai tney mijit undcr-tand and 

maintain onr charter-, when th v old." 

But, ton-turn to St. &lt; Ja l : e the -tiidi--. that ahhot I lriek \ I I 1 

cook, Han- Ivitnel, and hi- [&gt; &gt;r . La , :vn ! ;-.-h,coulcl hoih -j&gt; lk La; in, ( ire-k, 
and Hel)re\v. besidei i j - : ! .! in many l&gt;ianeh"&lt; o* science. Ti 
this a 1)1 iey ended with the thirteenth eeninry ; for, in th- ntii, : 

DObllity -uper.-edetl the nionk-, and every tliini: -unk to the lowe-t !!). A ur-at 
rni, however, a_rain took place: t or. in tiie -eveiu.-enth c -niurv, nio-t i the 

n -\-ic- and - ni"inl)er- to -tudy in the abbey of 

8 ( I", to which many ali n &gt;t- a;&gt;pli- d lor monks, in &lt;i:d tore th- 1 di-ci- 

pline of their own h :i- : ^reat moil boolS) similar details might 

be ]&gt;! dnee&lt;l. 

Wibald. ahho: rl&gt;v. in 1 Hi), writing to MmiWgold, master -.-hoo], 

cone- in n_ r ti.. men who have : , by their \vii 

Bede, an&lt;) Ainbros--, Heimon, Antpei-;. Baban, John S.-i.u. and others, w. 

k- we r ad. H &gt;. tint we -Inmhl stiuly I uh . Soph 

ocles, and Sinionidf.-.* In theniniii century. :he -eh -oi oj the moin-i.-ry of Hir 
schau i profes-or-. Ii ithard, Riclii). d, and Harderad ; of the 

last of whom we pad, " a and famoii- throu^iniut the world: 

d ir to k ; n_ r -. ai d most dear to his own ; in lite and ernditi&lt; ..... lost eminent. "f 
In th-abnev of Ta^ernxv was perhap- tlie olde-t .--hool in Bavaria. 1 ur- 

manv 1 men. Werinhei teller. The (Ji 

In. and H.-brew toii^n cultivated in it with sn and botanical 

.-Indie- wen 1 by a garden provided f"r the purpose."^ 

Thi- union &lt; ( f -. -h-la-tic in-trnctioti with religious education in th&gt;- nioi, 
of tlie mid a- conformable to the judgment and practice of all Cinistian 

an itjiiitv : 3 La- tantins, " cum reiitrioiu- ins"paral&gt;iii nexu coh- 

L w j S&lt;-ho .,1- w- re, i -uMltoth. &lt;,f b -hop-, and t .every 

chnrcii. II. -nee. we read of Wilfrid, the holy bishop of York, that great men 
mitt -d their -on- to be edncate&lt;l bv him, wh- th -; they int -nded to militate fbr 
the Lord or for the world ;|| and of 1 the .-ame s- e. in ih- words ascrib 

ed to Alcnin : 



* Ap. Mar. \ - t Gerbert. Hi- N .v. 

I .] illeric de: K Dtier Di-nt-rhlantls. i. ll) - iv - c - 3 

| Will. M.lmo-. (! Pool, Aiulor. iii. 



AGKS OF FAITH. 201 



" Indolis egrcL iM- jiivenes quoscuii(]i}c vitlclnit 
Hos sibi conjiinxit, tlocuit, nutrivit, atmivit."* 

The monks, however, dwelling within vast al&gt;b&gt; \&gt; in the country, and sur 
rounded with every tiling favorable to study, \vere, in a -till more especial man 
ner, th" instructors to whom men most desired to commit their sons; and cer 
tainly they did not betray the trust reposed in them. In their cloister-, the wi.-h 
of St. Clement of Alexandria was realized : men honored the young, and supplied 
them with the education of God rt)y rtaidftav rov Qeov. f When Abe- 
lard, in the abbey of St. Denis, composed that learned poem in elegiae verse, in 
which he lavs down the best rules to lead a holy and learned life, uniting piety 
and study, he did but explain the monastic education in general. " The schools 
in the monasteries," says a great professor of the Academy of Paris, "were more 
than schools of learning : they were, in a high sense, schools ; for the moral fac 
ulties were singularly well cultivated. The great originality of the middle ages 
was this cultivation of self-knowledge. Less inventive than antiquity, these ages 
did nothing but study man. Thus theology itself was the study of man: for the 
relations of God with man required that study 4 " The first instruction foi 
youth," says Bonald, " that of which it is not given to man to appreciate the val 
ue, or to estimate the influence, consists in habits, rather than in reasonings; in 
examples, rather than in direct lessous." This was supplied in the monastic 
schools; where the duties of life according to the law of God, not the metaphysi 
cal theories cf heathen, or the subtleties of a later philosophy, were to be the 
chief subjects attended to.|| " You have sent your two nephews to be instructed 
by me," writes Peter of Blois, " the one a boy, the other a youth ; and yon say 
that the latter has a great genius, and that you never met with any one of a more 
subtle vein; and this, because, omitting the study of authors, he has fled at once 
to the intricacies of the logicians. But I believe the result will not be exactly 
wh it you suppose. Not in such things is the foundation of learning ; and, to 
many, pernicious is that subtlety which you extol. For what does it avail to spend 
his days on things whjch can never profit htm, either at home or abroad, in the 
forum or in the cloister, in the court or in the Church, or any where but in the 
schools ? What is more sharp than the beard of corn ? and yet what is it good 
for? Such is the genius which is all subtlety, without gravity. Do not, there 
fore, allege any more the subtle vein of your William ; for I fear I shall only 
have twice the labor with him; since I must first eradicate what has taken root 
in him. If John only perseveres in his disposition, the younger will supplant the 
elder, Jacob, Esau."^[ As Trithemius -ays of St. Bonaventura, "The monks 
taught and explained th&lt;- whole sacred Scripture and theology: teaching with a 
certain spiritual sweetness, they delighted and, with delight, they moved and in- 

* Alcnini Poema d(; Pont. Eccles. Eborac. f Stromat. iv. 17. t Michelet. 

Legislation Prim. id. 40. J Petr. Bles. Serm. 29. 1 Epist. ci. 



M &lt;&gt; 11 KS (AT HO LIC I ; OR, 

:ieir auditor-." All ilia: our wi- - 1 |&gt; . t&gt; wi-hed i hat youth 
i 11 \va- panted here; and ( .&gt;wper Ilimself would lind hi- fonde-t .-j 
ulali ii . ted. " NVhen 1 wa- KVen " 1 WH i to 

be - 1 ! the most i di t, ami th 1 ; 

thenceforth my \vhol. time was -pent iii medi atin^- iii -" p . r -. a , : \i 

tin- regular discipline and -in^iii^ in the church: and I found i; .-we t to &gt;&lt; al- 

Wftys either learning, or teaching, or writiiir." T-&gt; ih.- w;-dm "f tid- traiiMi.: 

in l Itarncd iii u of late:- times subscribed, when the .Je-uit- instituted their 
la-: noviciate, or y. ar of tetrat. t. tvp-dr t i l&gt;iva&lt; h -- which an applic-ation t&gt; 
hiiinan -cit-nc. &gt; mi^ht have &lt;-ansr&lt;l in tin- &gt;nl. 

Wiifii tlic &gt;v&gt;ti in of tin a_-. it i \sa- yiri.iiii j to that which no\v prcva 1~, 

! were n&gt;t \vantiii" tVmn the &lt; i loi&gt;t--r, liLctiiai ofSavon r 1 i. t 

O 7 

&gt;t familic- that "and ducat ion widen coii-i-is in nia uin^ children &gt;tudv 
pmt ane juK ts. and th- ii - ndin^ th -in ! a bankiug-hoUM to tai^e le o us of 
exchange and n-ury, was as prejudicial to their .-oiil- as to th-ir i IJut 

the M-ntrnre had L r "nc t oilii, and inon !&gt; &gt;npei&gt;- i.-d liy that 

which s iid- men lor oontemplatioa to the gambling-room, and for pidls &gt;phy to 
a London tavern. 

The greal authors of the midd i a. idn -nsly by their con- 

kemporaries in tlie monasi ho I-. I; wras of prodigious service to 016," 

! ol 1 , . -. that in inv youth I ws made to learn l&gt;y hear: tli-- elegant let 
ters of Hddeheri, h:sh"p of Man.-."* The w.-ri. ( ierl&gt;ert in innumerable 
niann-cript- were pr. &gt;pa_ r .it- d through all th-- niiinast -ri- s &gt;t Murop--, in tne Jir-t 

half of the eleventii . ntnr\. I roft&gt;--or- \ rmed on the model of snob men. 

Writing to Matthias, Kin^ of Hun-arv, Ifarsiliiis Ficinus says, "that n Nico 
las he will bear the blessed Thomas A&lt;jiiiua-."^ Hula-us t&gt;x.-us--- himself iVom 
enunieratin-j the writings of St. lionaventnra, s-iyiii^. " ln-.-an-e th--y are dady 
in the hand- of the 1-arned."^ Fmm a c-py which was ^iven to me hy a ir ly 
priest of the -o.-iety of .Ie-u-, I find tiiat his mrditatioii- on the iif-- of ( hri-t \\ere 
print- d s&lt;, early as in 141)0, which -h&lt;&gt;\\s how \\ell their value had Keen pre- 
vion-ly n: ...1. 

^ it ; t tiie ela-sitica:ion of -ciencis, and the ( .rd--r ill which they were 

tail::: it in the -,-|i the monks, there a: e modern i ,;no\vle 

that :li in they followed, which was tnat of Vincent &lt;n ! &gt; au\ a -. i- ii-itir 

that thit ot L.:-&lt;l P&gt;. icon and : he BucyclopodisU of the &lt; ntiry. It 

was in fact a natural order, in-t partial and arhitiarv, hut hi-hlv i a d 

ju-t. Hie dignity f ti, in-trne;5on wa- never more profoundly ielt."r 

pi -ally maintained, tiian in tiie midile ajes and in tlr s -chooi&gt;. Hou sn!&gt;- 
lime ar tiie words of Po] \ X . wiimn: to the i 9 1 -ini; 

the duty of :itt- llding to the intere.-td of learirnj ! " The first :onn--tioll of the 

* Epist. ci f Hock, 1" I Epist. ix. =; Hi&gt;t. Univei.-it. Pan&gt;. turn. iii. 



AGES OF FAITH. 203 

supernal hand before its fall," says the pontiff, had an intelligence little less 
than the angelic, and penetrated the secrets of hstial thin.;- with the serene 
force of light, and obtained knowledge of sciences from the depth of an illumin 
ated brea-t ; but after the fall, it could no longer behold, without the interpos 
ing cloud of worldly darkness, what it formerly contemplated l&gt;ut the immen-c 
benignity of the Creator, unwilling that such an ingenious creature, formed in 
his own likeness, should become utterly vile, to repair gloriously, as if by acci 
dent, which was injured by the deadly food, decreed that rude man whom natur 
al reason could scarcely lead to the perfection of discretion, should be instructed 
by sciences and arts, and that the nations dispersed into the variety or many idbtns 
should be again united as it were, by means of one universal source of communi 
cation in the one literary order of Latinity : thus the deeds of our fathers are re 
corded in books ; thus the contests of truth and falsehood are related : thus are 
taught the process of generations and corruptions of all bodies, the qualities of 
elements : thus the harmony of voices enables men to conceive how the Lord may 
be served by musical modulation : thus the scholastic doctrine estimates termin 
ations, distinguishes the length and breadth, and height and depth, the move-r 
ments and construction of the heavenly bodies, and the whole physical order, 
though apparently transcending the force of reason. Greatly then does it con 
cern all orthodox kings that they should possess in their kingdoms industrious 
men, illustrious for science and virtue, conducing to the glory of their reign, un 
der the Prince of Peace.* In point of fact, too, the instructors of youth held a 
lofty position in society. 

While presiding over the school at Rheims, Gerbert was in relation with all 
the most eminent personages of the day. He was greatly esteemed by Adelheid, 
the second wife of Otho I. and by Theophania, the wife of Othoil. and daughter 
of the Greek Imperial house, and also by Adelheid, the wife of Hugues Capet, who 
entrusted him with the education of her son Robert. Ruthai d, head of the school 
of the monastery of Hirschau, refused the episcopacy of Halberstat, which was 
offered to him. by the emperor, saying, " let it be given to one worthy of it. I 
hesitate not to prefer the monastic quiet, and the study of the Scriptures, to all 
the honors and riches of the world. "f 

" According to the sentence of my heart," says Peter of Blois, " if there be a 
Paradise in the present life, it is either in the cloister or in the schools ; for what 
ever is without these two is full of anxiety, disquietude, bitterness, fear, solici 
tude and sorrow."| " Scholastic labor," he says elsewhere, " although inefficacious 
to salvation, partakes nevertheless of a certain worldly decorum and secular inno 
cence/^ The greatest intelligences of the middle ages fled to it, sooner or lat 
er, for peace. " For these care- :md trouble-," savs Gerbert, writing to Raimnnd, 
the monk of Aurillac, " the only remedy is philosophy and the studies in which 

* Ap. Martene, V^t. Script, ii. p. 1274. f Gerbert. Historia Nigrae Silvse, i. 136. 

.+ Pet. Bles. Epist. xiii. Epist. 139 . 



20-1 M (&gt; li K VT 110 LIC I; OK, 

we have ~i&gt; often, a- in (hi- turbulent IDOBeut, anughl a refuse iVoin the storms of 
fortune raging ugftiod othen or ouneivet, The Mate of the republic in Italy seem 
ing to admit of U t other mean- of escape from tlie yoke of tyrants, l&gt;nt by cue. 
m.: ourselve- in commotions and horrois, \\e hav ch n tic -(tain leisnr 
studies, rather than the nnct rtain bnsine-s of war-. Far&gt; wcli brother Aiiard, 
farewell the mo-t holy order; and you my director and in.-trnctor. lie mindful of 
tne in your holy pra\ ; How atl .v lations of ilie in-art- of Mich 

men ! In later times, the &lt;_ r ivat .John ( ier-"ii ll.-.l to tlie -nine peace. TOW. 

(be cloee of hit life he retired to LVOH-, ojx-m Imol for boy-, and wrote Tia&lt;- 

tatus dc jtarvulis trahendi- ad Clni- urn. In dyiiiir. h tiiat tin -\\or.i-of 

the holy ma-s " Sur-um Corda" shou d be tie- only in-eription on hi.- tomb. 

Mildness and benignity constituted the mode of treating -ral-nts in the 111011- 
a-tie -ehools. Tli:.- is exi-re d in the imagery oi t :,e Can it&gt; at Pi-a, \\ i 

grammar i- n led bv a woman \\h - -nek t-&gt; a child. Win n Si 

\va- fir-l received as a little i),.v at St. 1&gt; ui-. the IM&lt; : .t him to tlie priory 

of St. Martin in order that hi- tender a-e mi^iit not In- e.\po-ed to ti :ity 

of the ride- ob-etvcd in th-- abh n i- the liivoi ite (inalitv a-erib.d 

* 1 

to tlie prof.--,, i--. a- in the ne,-i of St. ( .a 1, \\h--ie th" death of one of tin in 

in 91 5 is tliu-not"d, " \.,n. M dinbitu- l- ailaui t\&gt; -imi magistri." 

All the let! .m the -tu. . (Jail, of which fragments remain, indicate 

the - eatment. I" om the time that I was plac- d und.-r the yoke of your 

authoiity," uys n diaoi pie to hia master there, " you have ednemted t withowt 

any remuneration from inv friend-, witii n &gt; !-- 1 -v-- than if I had been your \\ n 

&gt; n : but as it i&gt; written in tin 1, the laborer i- worthy ot hi- hire. I pro- 

io my in tin- i-land which i- ,-a le i Lindova, and then- I think 

that I -hall receive soin.- Ittl-- pi- .nt, w th which I ran return to your presence." 

These poor boys w.-r,- educati-d thus t l.-rlv, however humble mi^ht be their 

birth. Another of them write- to his parents, and says, " Yon have f&gt;ilo\\ed the 
.11 -els iii sending me to tin- mona-te y of St. Gall for edification in dis 
cipline and learning. Then- I - I have found these two things abundantly : 
but :li s i- my d m ,nd, that you woiil 1 tut of vour coinpas-ion send me a little 
present of two shirts and a linen tunic, tha I mav appear honorably with my fel- 
-tndent-, and not with tin- -h ,m of nak-dnc--. t Wherever a contrary -\ -- 
tern was intnxliieexl, we read of its hein^ ,-,nd Miined. Tim- Kuffi idu-, a holy man 
of the dlOO8M of Cologne, OOedftjr Inatinj a g om the school, 
and seem- a s&lt;-holar about to \- ; . , n-h-tl up like a lion, raising hi&gt; .-tail 
again-t the sehola-ti,- and \u&lt; as-i-taut. and delivered the Itov from their hands, 
Bayinjr, " What a doinr, tvrant V Von are placed here to teach, not to kill 
scbola: The other remained mute and confounded.^ 

Epist. Gerbcni. 45. t Ap. Goldast. Aleman. Antiquit. II. I. 

t i MM 1 1. - &lt; rbach Illust. Mir. Lib. x 



AGES OF FAITH. 905 

Guibert de Nogert, after describing what he terms the cruel love of his peda 
gogue, to whoso private tuition he had been committed in his boyhood, observes 
"that it was irrational not to allow him time to play, ixvau-r the puerile, aud in 
deed the nature of grown men," he says, " is beyond measure distended by the 
laity of meditation, it is weakened, and rendered lethargic. In proportion 
as the acumen of the mind kindles to pei severance in study, does it on the other 
hand cool from its strength being too much exhausted, and from exeo-s of rigor 
it becomes dull. Therefore it is n v-sary tor the intelligence, while encompae 
with the weight of the body to be more temperately exercised : for even in 
heaven there is one hour s silence, from the impossibility of exercising the gift of 
contemplation without intermission. Much more are mortal minds incapable of 
excessive labor. God has not made nature uniform, but has delighted us with 
variety, and the mutations of day and night, spring and summer, autumn and 
winter. Let every one therefore who has the name of master, take heed, and let 
him moderate the discipline of boys and youths, because we ought not to treat 
them as if there were in them the plenary gravity of old men. My master pun 
ished me for not knowing what he did not know himself, but it was too bad to 
expect from a fragile little breast what he had never given to it. And nothing 
is more difficult, than to give instruction to others when one s own ideas are not 
clear. All this I say, my God, ot that I would injure such a friend, but in or 
der that everv one who reads mav understand that \ve should never teach for cer- 

&lt;r * 

tain any thing that we may fancy, nor involve others in the clouds of our own 
conjectures/ * 

Within monasteries such was not the discipline ; for \ve find men looking back 
to them with love, as to th: play-place of their early days. Colemaun says, that 
he had heard Hemming, the sub-prior of Peterborough, describe the juvenile sports 
of St. Wulstan, and how he used to play on the meadows with other boys, and 
that, at a time when he was a mirror of saintly youth.f The Pr6 aux Clercs was 
an important spot to the students of the abbey of St. Germain-des-Pre s at Paris : 
so was the river or the pool to those of other monasteries ; for some of them, like 
Beowulf himself, would not have feared to .struggle with a fancied foe beneath the 
waters. The abbot Oderisius erected a bath in the abbey of Monte-Caasino in 
the tenth century 4 Baths also were in the monastery of St. Benedict at Capua. 
The rule permitted even the monks themselves to bathe ; which custom St. Dun- 
etan and Lancfranc sanctioned. In the annals of Corby, at the date of 1264, we 
read that the junior brethren used to perform a sacred comedy of Joseph, sold and 
promoted, but that this was ill-interpreted by the other superiors of the order ; 
and in a manuscript of Clauster-neuburg, there is mention of a pious drama, in 
wbidn our Lord s resurrection was represented. In the monastery of St. Blaise, 

* Ouiberti Abb. de Novigento de vita u. Lib cap. i. 5 . t Dissection of theJBaxon Chronick. 
% Chronic. Casinensw, Lib. iv. 3. Hist. Casinensis, Praef. 



200 AIol, &lt; ATHOLICI; OR, 

in the Black Forest, there was a l&gt;&lt;i&lt;k containing tin- play of the three Magi, in 
which ihe neighboring nobles, such M the counts of Lupfen and Fnr.-t- ; 

to perform. From the faculties which Pope 1 lonorins 111. yields to William, 
bishop df Modena, of absolving scholars who should strd&lt;e one another lightly and 
without rancor,* it is el-ar thai juvenile -port- had ail reasonable scope. The 
amu.-emt -nts of play-day &lt; in the aboey oi St. ( J dl, in thetenth century, were throw- 
log, running, wrestling, mid having a mock fi^li; with &gt;tn- 

" Hac galea lapidrnt pueri. pi m i uitqiio H tielli, 
His stadiis ad mctas trndant, Ins prtcmiii prendant, 
HI- Tlialos juvfiiis drxtu-t, maims inicia pal;u&gt;tret, 
Dor- Miidus. snli-t ictu- clam dare hi 

Ephebis riulla hodir -inl qii:i^&lt;&gt; tla^flla, 
Circator siicat &lt;icu|..xjiu- vidrndn rctlt 
O, rniiii donciur, hidic sil&gt;i taipa putctur, 
Tu Pater fly.-ii- vi.li-an- &lt;ji, rampi&gt;i." 



Above all, swimming, wine, and lights, that i-. play till aft -r dark. 

" Snpp-ditant ft-sto tri:i Giuidin, (Pax Pater i-sto) 
Fax, luvacrum, vinum "f 

Such were their three joys. The wine is an allusion to the foundation made 
by Erchenbert, a va--:il ot ihe ablx v, from d- :ii l- .l^. t r.r -jivinj a. h of 

the .-tiuleiits a gla--oi \\ iin- on ]].[-, r &lt;ia\ . K Qg&lt; I.an.i \\.~n j&gt; &gt;.doinon 

III. gave tii -in certain davs of play, and the ocvj-ion of th- latter being given is 
thus related. After spemlini: -oin-- d ivs at S . Gall, the Ai l&gt; -t Salomon, bi-hop 
of Constance, &gt;n the morning of hi- departnic, wi-hingto l)id adiou to the schol 
ars a&lt; he pa ed by th" -di ol, opened the d-tor and went in. "Now it was the 
law then as now," say- K.-i&lt;eh:ird, "that all strangers entering should be made 
prisoners till they ransomed t hem-elves. So the scholars cried out that they made 
prisoner not the Lord Abbot indeed, but the Bishop : he willingly suffered them ; 
so they placed him in the ma-ter s chair. Well, said he, but if I sit in the 
ma-ter s &lt; at, I will u-e his authority/ * Be it so, said they ; still as our mas 
ter, we will ask yon to ransom yourself/ Then he. as he al\vay&lt; delighted in the 
studies of St. (Jail, risimj up, emi and ki--ed them all one after another. 

* Yea, said he, if I live I will ransom mv-elf. Th"ii i_ r &gt;i ig out, and eallini: the 
seniors be fore the door of the school-, he ordained that thenceforth the bovs should 

. 

have three successive day- of play every y.-ar, and -hoidd have meat for dinner 
on each of them ; and then he departed." II" fl-mi-hed under the Emperor 
Lewis, and saw five kinjs, who wre all his friends. Under him there were 
fifty-two priests in the abbey, twenty-four deac.-n-. fifteen -ub-deacoii-, and twenty 
Iys4 The walks of the students were another recreation. In the eighth 

Italia Sacra, i. lie. f Vacation Song of NoVker L*bco in LR) Beoed. t7. 

J Eckehard de Casibus S. G14i. c. i. 



AGES OF FAITH. Jo? 

century, tlu i abbey of Reiehenau having a cell and school in Ober Bollittgen, an(J 
Meinrad one of the monks being sent to preside over it by tin- abbot, we read that, 
the walks which this professor nsed to tuk&lt;- witn iiis -cholarson the other xhnreoi 
the lake and in th&gt;- deep fbre-t of K/-lwaid. in-piivd him with such a love for 
solitude, that at l^ngtn lie left iiis office ol teacher, and U eame a hermit in that 
wood.* Such were in general the tranquil recreati"ii- of me pacific household, 
The remorse inspired by accidents arming from nmgner spoils, indicates with 
what eyes they were regarded. Meinhcr the .second abbot of Monte S&gt;-reno. in 
1137, had a brother, Wiemann, who \\as pn sent at a certain juvenile play when 
one boy was killed. As a penance, he immediately resolved to leave the world 
and follow his brother; but he would never consent to rise higher than sub- 
deacon, f 

We have before heard that it was in the monastic schools that kind s sons had 
generally received their education, procnl a strepitn offend icnlixjue aidicis, as the 
old writers sav. Here in effect \ve find them alon^r with tho-e of the humblest 
subjects; and indeed it was a noble and kingly culture, which imparted the &gt;en-o 
of duties, which dried not up the heart, neither rendered the body incompetent 
for exercise, nor the mind for the meditation of moral truth-. From the time of 
Charlemagne the sons of the French kings were always brought up in monaster 
ies, and generally at St. Denis, where they recieved a Christain education, and 
were trained to a manly and pious discipline. Dagobert, son ofthe king of Aus- 
trasia, were educated in a monastery of Ireland, and after a seclusion of many 
years there, being recalled to his own country, he became sovereign of all Aus- 
trasia as the second Dagobert. Louis VII. says of himself in a certain charter, 
" we passed the time of our boyhood in the cloister of the church, as if in a cer 
tain maternal bosom. "J 

In the thirteenth century the emperor Philip, from having received his educa 
tion in an abbey, was said to have retained ever afterwards a great fondness for 
the sacral offices. &lt;; He loved to assist at them, and in the house of the Lord, 
l&gt;efore whom is no respect of persons, he used to appear with so little regard to 
his dignity, that he used to suffer the poorest prie.st or scholar to repeat the iv 
po uses at his side, as if he were only his fellow-scholar." This emperor excelled 
all men of his age in chivalrous deeds and renown. The chronicle of St. Richarius 
&gt;avs, "that in this monastery dukes, counts, sons of dukes, and sons of counts, 
and sons of kings, were educated : whatever was most sublime in dignity in the 
kingdom of the Francs rejoiced in having a relation in the monastery of St, 
Richarius. Many of our abbots were count-, shining in nobility of birth and 
strict observers of the sacred rule."|| So it was every wuere. The young Count 
Elzear de Sabran was educated with the monks ofthe abbey of Marseilles : Cos- 

* Berno Augiens. in Vit. S. Meinrad. 11. 

f Chronic. Montis Sereni ;ip. Menckenii Script. Rer. Gcr. 11. t Ap. Script. Fr. xii. 90. 

Hurter Gesch. Inn , iii. II 94. j Lib. Hi. c. x. 



M ( ii K&gt; CAT HO LIC I : &lt;) K. 

mo df Medicis. tne fainT i m- countrv, in th- 1 Camaldolese eonvent ot the an- 
- :it Florence. I ll- books of the middle ages contain many incidental tc-ti- 

ino: th.- character of tnc stndi-nt- in the ni &gt;n:isii&lt; &gt; school-. ( )f St. ! rn- 

wird. iliirif.-ntli birtiiop of Hildesheiut, tin- old writer ii |ii-i lite, Tan-jina . .-a\ -, 

When a youth in tin- -chooN, ni- genius and virtu-- were admirable. \\ hen I 

: to ial&lt;c liiin with me &lt;ui nil tBC - vice u ithoii; tne monu-tery. 1 n-ed ti. lie 

struck more than ever with ins extraordinary qualitSe*, whic-n at other time.-, \\ 

lie wa- ill the mid-t of the other voiiths. I could not so easilv estimate Often 

. 

for the whole day \ve studied ,.n hoi-eback, at one time leading a no less piol \ 

ii than if we were at 1-isnre in th-- si-hool^, at aiiotin-r jx.eti/in^ and ma), 
ver-e- l&gt;v th.- way ; then descending to |)i-.-aic -jruiuid, \v- II-M! to a run le on &lt;|&lt; 

lions of philosophy. II .&lt;! ii" Ie-&gt; m tli-- meenanieal arts than in all liberal 

H- wrote h- aiititnlly, he p:iintel well, i..- senlptiir- d, and OOnStltl 
."* Pet Ulois. writiiiir I" ih"a ilot oi (Jlon **7*t " ^" (l " :t ~^ 

me .vht-ther I knew this ne-.\ nishop of I ari-. and wnat I think ot hi&gt; lite and 
manner-. It i- of enrio-ity t&lt;&gt; inquire tlm- ; Uut I know tbat the love to your 
L&gt;i d Henry of lile&lt;-.-d mem. TV, im- late liishop ot \\ or .illij;es you to in 

quire of us. I knew him when he \va- a l&gt;ov, and I devoutly loved him a- a 
little -eholar. I eter tie \ rMi... h - ma-t--r, n-ed often to tell inr with w hat 
lieitnde and devotion he n- d -.n-th t" .-\. !!- hi- 1&gt; .vi-h veais in \\ork- "t 
fi -ty. A- a youth h- walk.- i in -a:i&lt;-iihVati"U and honor. In later life he di 
all ids jrojHrtv in Knu r land an to tlie p-xir, impoverishing liim-elf 

t "iirieh three indnsti iuii- -eimlars. He ifl now transplanted, that hi- liirht may 
?hine to all men. Ifei- n-ai Iv ridat-d by i&gt;lo..dtothe king- of England and 
Franr,., but the humility ot his mind . - tne nobility o&lt; hi- ori _ r in."t 

-ar of IIei-;erbaeli : .-iii _ r the -anetity of a sdiolai . " In 

1&gt; "iin," lit- -ay-, wa- a eertain reelnse, wiio one nigiit pencived such a light 
through the chinks of h- r oell, that -he thought it wa- day. &lt;)|&gt;enin&lt;_ r her \\in- 
tl&gt;w, which looked over the cemetery, she saw over tnc grave of a scholar, who 
had \tee\\ lately hmi&gt;d. a woman surrounded with a bia/c of glory, which wa- 
tli* can-e ot the light. She t n&lt;ni _ r lit s ne heard a voic.- -aying that it was the 
mother of Christ come to take away the martyr : for truly -ciiol irs. it they live 
innocently, and learn with y.eal, are martyrs." t 

In the third lx&gt;ok we have seen the cans - which led to the establishment ot 
th-- nnivrsitir-, to which the superiors ot niona-tie -chools -o nnwiliin _ r ly s--nt 
th- if stnd"iits. It \a- imfioesible, liow-ve-. to n-i-t the new attraction. Sot ha 
Stephen Laxington.au I. _ -mi in of angelic life, t ne nineteenth abbot of ( lair- 

vau ted, in 1 J |O, th i ; tiie F.-rnardine-. at I a-i-, for the -in&lt;lent- 

of that ahl&gt;ey. The abbot &lt; had houses tor their u-|ic&lt;-tive student- in ditVnent 



* Vita ik-ruwjirdi. Ep. Ilililesh. ap. Leibnitz Script. Brun&gt;v. illiio. torn. i. 

t PH. IJ..- Kpisi.exxvi. Jxii.46. ?i Vb. Onl. Tist. 



A&lt;J K 8 &lt;&gt; F K A I T II. 209 

universities. Those of Trowast, of Mouul St. Mn-lm.-l, of I&gt;:iunc, Ihrd iie, Bar- 
II-TV. J);ival, 1 &gt;e S;ivi^,,y, I)c Monday.-, !&gt;, St. liarbe, and DC ll.-l.e Ksloillc, had 
ho-tels for their pupil-, in the university of Caen, and all bbois used toa 

&gt;i-t at the opening of the -chools, which \vas a very honorable tiling to -ee, add- 

I&gt;e Bowrgueville.* 

\Ve before remarked the extraordinary privileges granted with a view to draw 
scholars to the-e academies. Many who had assisted to destroy the institutions 
of the middle age, the houses of the templars and of the lepers, coming to have 
doubts as their own mission, founded colleges for the j&gt;oor; little popular state-, 
as it were, in the heart of Paris, which were multiplied in a few years. Never 
theless, these only seemed to give occasion to the monastic student for following the 
example of St. Benedict, who, when a youth, chose to forego all ihe advantage of 
attendance at the public schools, to be " scienter ne.-riens et sapienter indoctus," 
rather than sully the purity of his soul by remaining to witness the disordered 
life of the student. 

When the monastery of Clairvaux, in early times, first instituted a house for 
-indents at Paris, the abbot sent to the devout Arnulph, abbot of Villiers, to ask 
his assistance ; but the latter was astonished at thi- novelty, savs the chronicle, 
ft for he knew that the order had been founded in the spirit of great simplicity, 
and that it had continued to his time to evince the utmost humility and sanctity, 
and it seemed strange that monks should now forego the cloistral exercise, and 
give themselves to the study of letters. He considered the words of the apo. 
tie, Scientia inflat. So he returned answer that he would give nothing ; which 
the abbot of Clairvaux took ill. Future generations," adds the chronicle, will 
judge whether the man of God discerned the truth, and whether the same humil 
ity will continue in religious houses as in times before the ordination of such 
Btudies. M f 

Experience too soon justified these forebodings. The universities proved a 
-nave which entangled and captured many. That of Naples, founded by Fred 
eric II., out of spite to Bologna, produced fruits worthy of it- author, even while 
nivii of great merit, such as Peter of Ireland, the master of St. Thomas, taught 
philosophy in it. O how young Thomas, while studying under him, regretted 
the sweet days that he had passed at Mount-Cassino.J 

The universities contributed to create a classical mania in certain cities, and as 
an ingenious author says, " both in arts and letters to hasten the resurrection of 
Paganism. The universities opposed everv thing that broke the spiritless uni 
formity arising from the notions of centralization. In the quarrel of the empire 
with the Church, they almost always took the side of the temporal power, which 
had more seductive presents than the popedom.|| They were often hostile to he- 

* Les Recherches de Normandie. 

t Hist. Monnst . Villariensis. i. c. 8, ap. Mnrtene, Thes. Anecdot. iii. 

t Touron, Vic tie St. Thorn. Rio de 1 Art. Chretien, 445. \ A.udin, Vie de Luther, i. 40. 



Jlo M o K K &gt; CAT IK) LIC I; OR, 



roic virtue. That ot P i - ,j. ,1, d a^ain-t ill-- maid of Orleans. They w. iv not 
de-tined to inherit th" \&gt; at unit- of \\nieh we are y.-i to tn-at. A- :h- - of 

11-iiry VIII. d;-&lt;-..vn-d t ;n-y could In- Ixni-^iit over f&gt;r a certain -urn to lietray 
jn-tice, though th -v illicit afterward- turn r ..... id and f&gt;r greater ease l&gt;&lt;-tiav the 
piircha-er-. T:i&gt;- univer-it\ i 1 &lt;ri- \v.i- d. r.-volntion. At i.iK-1- 

lin, it pr.Mlnced no man of eminence. Tip- i&gt;i&lt;hop- did not contid-- th.-ir schohrs 
to it, lull kept them in their M-ininaries. They foinul afb-r all that th. monks had 
IxH-n ri^ni at tir-t. 

I ll iip. .iiiix.; it; Goodhope, in answer to a certuin .lohn, formerly a dix-ipK- of 
An.-clni, \\hoatUM- beoo&ling a nonk -r-ni-(i ; ; tin- time of hi- -tndu- in 

I ari-. -a\s. " r&gt;lt---.l i- tin- man, nt \vlio liath ht at.l Ma-ter Ansrlm, or wlio 
hatli studied at Par,-, hut whom thon, (&gt; L.M.I, doth tca.-n thy law. * " \\ .- 
can neither condemn nor approve of your \\i-li to study at Uo.,,jn 
Clement I \ ., writing to a clerk named U n inond d&lt;- 1 l -r tiie name 

.oiitinue-, " taken prop.-rly, -em- so fair that it -o.-the- th. 

all who hear it, t" whom it present^ eiih-M a 1 &gt; -tndy, or on-- stndi -n&gt; only 

in n m- , aitnoii^h ofieii one thinir i- acted and another pretended " There 

\\a- a &lt;:!. in \onth at Daventium, Tii"ina&gt; ( Kempi-. " pur-nini: his 

.-tndie- as a scholar, and -oinetime- h 9 d ;o i&gt;e invi ed and tempte&lt;l \&gt;\ otl .i-of 
pnteiltl tO remove to Pi - . hut hy tin- ad- dev-ut jK-rsons he /leelineii 

nir himself to suen d .n^, : -. M.an\\hiie, it liap(&gt; n- d that tuoofhi- t . How 
.-indent-, who had p. ne from that seh-t.il to studv at Paris, a" iort time.: 

there, both On tfafl -ani - day. The said yoiitM, h-virinir "f thi-, was &lt;trnek with 
the iinc -rtain L ood tteodltlg -cholastic thiiiL:-. and induc.-d to le-. -me a di-eiple 
of Christ amonjr monks."* 

" Mi-ericurdia- Domini in a?tenium eaniaho," nl t-r itiin - which wtd- a Sax- 

* O 

on monk exclaim-, "O l&gt;&gt;i d my Gml, my Creator and ll.tle.-mer, what ..... 
hast thon shown me from th-- U ginninir of mv life to thi- day. Not an hour or 
moment h -ed in which thon ha-t not multiplied np"ii me thy men 

thon didst preserve my infancy and voiith,and -/iv-me -u&lt; h - in the St ho 1-. 

that in my ei^ht.. nth year I was placed over -iw ,-r ei-hty scholar- to examine 
them in f i reek. Then \\hen my parent ii such a teputat on in Par B, 

\\i-hed m, move to Ivt nrt i for nnve:-itv -tn.iie-. thon didst inspire me 

with Kctter re-oltlti"ii- ; lor then I l-^an to think and s;iv. Ifn-w I r6T6tob0 
a doctor, and v- ry day t,. i-ar the -aintation. I&gt; inine DO &lt;):, and ifal\er this 
life I should d -e.-nd to - ternal flame&lt;. what wonl 1 all mv philosophy and learn- 
ava 1". So tile \vr :id om&gt;.. nad-- me d.-M-rmiii" to I orsako 

the world and its delight-. Therefon UK m- TCP- ..ffjod I will forever -inp, 
who inspired me with the trood will to enter thi- holy order." 

* Epist. vii. ap. Buhi-u- Hi.-t. Univi-rs. Par. turn. ii. f Ap. Balu-. Miscellan. torn. Hi 

J Thoin. i Keinn I&gt; \ ..vitinnini. 

Johan, Buscii.i Li r ];.-:., ni:itimiis M C. i. :ip. Lril - itz. Script. BniDSV.i. 



AGES OF FAITH. 211 

The ni&lt;&gt;na-tic students did not pant after the waters of the university with tho 
ardor which impelled the Saxon innovator in repair to Erfurt h and Wittenh 
"When Arnulph II., the nineteenth abbot of Villiero, in the eighth r.-ntirv. wu- 
a youth, liedid not wish to be s nt t Paris to study," says the chronicle f that 
abbev, " rather deailillg to be edified in charity than to be inflated with science, imi 
tating the example of St. Benedict, who devoted himself wholly to religion, o- 
niittin&gt;r the schools. Nevertheless, at that time the monastery had many .-indent* 
at Paris."* Writing to one of his clerks, Pet r us Cellcn.si- -ays, your pia-e of 
exile is sufficiently replete with joys, however vain. Who besides yourself 
would not esteem Paris a place of delight, a garden of plant-, a land of first frn 
Xevenheless, in laughing you have spoken the truth ; for where there a re great 
er pleasures for the b.dy, there is the place of banishment for the soul. Uhi 
major et amplior volnptas corporutn, ibi rerum exilium animarum ; et ubi regnat 
luxnria, ibi miserabi liter aneillatur et affligitur aiiinia. O Paris, what a fit place 
art thon for taking captive and deceiving souls ! In thee are placed the net- of 
vice, and the snares of evil, and the arrows of death, which pierce the hearts of 
the foolish. So thinks my John, and therefore he name- it an exile. May yon 
always esteem it as an exile, and hasten to your true country. There you will 
find face to face in the book of life not figures and elements, but divinity and 
truth itself, without the labor of reading or the weariness of seeing, without dan 
ger of mistake or error in understanding, without the care of retaining or th&lt; fear 
of forgetting. O happy school, where Christ will teach our hearts by the word 
of his power; where we shall learn, without study and reading, in what manner 
we may be able to live eternally happy ! Th i re the book is not purchased ; the 
Master of the writings is not paid. There is no circumvention of disputations, 
no intricatinn of sophisms, but a clear determination of all questions, and a full 
apprehension of all reasons and arguments. There life avails mor than reading, 
simplicity more than ability. There no one is refuted, excepting those who are 
excluded: but with one word of final judgment, Ite and Venite, all objections 
and questions are decided forever. I wish that the sons of men would apply 
themselves to these better studies, rather than to vain and pernicious discourses. 
( Vrtainly they would find a more abundant return of fruit, and a greater and more 
availing honor."f 

But it is time that we pass still more into the interior of the abbey, and inquire 
respecting the ride- and customs of the house of peace. 

* Hisi. Mon. Villar. c. xi. f Epist Lib. iv. 10. 



MOltK i A I 11 ULiCi; Oil, 




CHAPTKK X. 

FTER describing in minute detail tiir miseries that marked a courtit 
life when Henry the Second \\as the Kngli&gt;h king. Peter of Blois con 
cludes, -nmming all up. !&gt;y -ay ing that " in the eonrt there i- no or- 
d&gt; Perhaps \\econld not find a mr i tor marking 

the contrast l&gt;.-;\veen the peaceful life in cloist -;- and thatot othei in- n, 
than by n-ing the conver-e of this -cntence, an 1 saying that in the mon- 
r\ th ! wa- order. 1 1 up, ,,( St. Victor, indeed, -iippu- : in the court; 

hut his distinction- make the contrast no l&lt; tiiking. " Far ditlerent. lys, 

" i&lt; the order of tlie eloi-ter from tiiat oi tne court : ther-- you &gt;it in eouix-il with 
the rich in see ret to -lay the innocent h--ie vou -iiiLT. \ cuiu eonsilio 

vanitati-, et enm impii- in n - Tli -re your riirht hand U fllll of gifts J h- 

you wah your hands with the in nooent. Th i inn-are i; here to the 

poor free otlerin^- ar.- made Th-Tc the nnner i- praised in the de-itvs of his 
-onl ; here tin- just man i- !&gt;:e--tsl."^ P.-rhap- a^ain we could not l&gt;ett--r por 
tray the cheerful diversitv incident to the cloistral order than bjoon fronting it with 
the striking piettire of its exact opposite, which Tick produee- as the vi-ion 

r"j)Mliate. In the mum foil- \ a-t hall-, --varin- ot men." he says, "\ver-- sit 
ting, standing, or walking about, all in th" -ame -tate of deplorable woe. And 
no varietv, u&lt; divi-ion of time, no hour, no day or nigh: changed ihis melancholy 
monotoiiousness. One -oiitarv amusement was th Now and then some one 

[minded the other- oftheir former faith : howduring a -hort tim-- they had i-ared 
and worshipped (i.&gt;d. Tiien a loud luirst of lau-lit -r, as at a mo-t port-Mitoiis 
al)-nrdity, peai.-d through the hall. Afterwards they all u . and -.in* 

ve with all their t :icuitie- to call hack th&gt;- iv\ .[ nee and -anctiiy oftheir for- 
ni r ftH liii_ r s. hut in vain." In the mona-tery the rule \va- variety in unifrmitv, 
and he eonstijueiic-e- w- : pe icei ul joy. and hop.- that never withered. u 1&gt; 
olleci." -a\~ St. H.i-il to a fallen virgin, % recollect the tranquil days, and the 
illuminated ii:^lit-. and the spiritual channts, and the sonorou- p.-alm d\ , and the 
holy prayers. "J " Whatever is done hy the mon - a ^i.-at Kngli-h phil 

osopher, " is incited by an adequate motive, Their tinie is regularly distributed ; 
one duty -neee.-d- another, &gt;o that thev arc no- :eft open t tip- .ir-t raction of un- 
guidetl choice, nor lo-t in the shades of li-tle-- inactivity. There is a certain task 

* Pet. Bles. xiv. f Hugo de St. Viet. De Claustro Annna. Lib. ii. 16. t Epb 1 



AGKS OF FAITH. 

to I).- performed ai an appro&gt;&gt; hour; and iheir toils are cheerful, becan-: 

they consider tnctii as art- of piety. by which they arc always advancing towaids 
endless ielicity Tne hour.- in mona-iic life de- -i ved tin- appellation -iven 10 
them by tin- Pythagorean poet, where he speaks oi the three &gt;i-ieix " &lt; taod-legfeUt* 
lion, Justice, and IVa -e," \viiieh were aUo called hours, from lime h, in- es-cn- 
tial to the exercise oi their respective functions.! Such were the fruits of the moti- 
a-tie rule, order, variety, and peace. 

The nio-t celebrated of the primitive rules of the oriental monks wtrethofleol 
St. Air.hony, St. Macaire, St. Hilarion, and St. I achomins. In tin- la-t half of 
the fourth cenuiry the rule of St. B.isil gave greater regularity to the m&lt;&gt;n 
institution. St. Augustin found monks in Italy, and, in fact, the monastic or.iei 
\va- soon spread over the west. In a work of the filth century we read, Th--o 
men generally live in remote places, even when they reside in eilie-. Their con 
versation is without ostentation : they have one place of assembling; they are 
humbly clad; they care not how vile may be their food and drink ; they have 
appointed hours for dinging psalms and hymns to God ; they fast till evening ; the/ 
sleep upon rushes, and during the night, there are stated vigils and times of prayer. 
Thev never mistake the approach of day, but the first dawn raises them and mat 
utinal devotion is exercis.-d m offering praise to Gotl."$ There were, however^ 
tuen various orders in the west. The Italian monks generally followed the rule 
of St. Basil, but in Gaul each great monastery gave name to a certain class as 
following the customs of that chief house, which in the sixth century all lapsed 
into the holy institute of St. Benedict. Towards the end of the fifth century 
at Nuroia, a few ieigueseast from Spoleto, at the foot of the Apennines, St. Ben 
edict the great was born, the patriarch of the western monks. At Subiaeo, and 
in twelve other monasteries built by him, he left a certain form of order, 
but gave no laws or precept&lt; to bind these in union round a common centre, ac 
cording to the idea which had originated with Pachomins, but which had become 
nearly obsolete, each mona-terv following the rules of its own abbot. Theie 
w* re n.-;trly as many rules as then- were cells and monasteries ; yet all were united 
in peace and charity. There were supposed to be but one order of monks in tiie 
Church. Three centuries after the iireat Benedict, in the vear ~~&gt;\, the second of 

/ 

thai name was born. St. Benedict of Aniane was by rare a (ioth ; he was bred 
a page in the court of Pepin-le-Bref, became a warrior, and served in many of the 
expeditions of Charlemagne. In 774 he renounced the world and became a monk 
in the abbey of St. Seme, from which he passed aficrwar-is to that of Aniane, 
where lie became abbot. He it was who conceived the plan of mincing the rites 
of ail tne different monasteries to one common standard. This jivat work wa-&gt; 
begun at the -oiemn assembly or the abbots of ilie western empire at Aix-la-C ha- 

* Johnson. Ifcissrlas. f Olymp. xiii. 

H onsul; it. Xie,.:ii -t Apollonii . Lih. iii. c. iii. iv. up. Dm-un. Spicileg. x 
jj Maiuli. Pi;u! it. ID V. &gt;a fiu li.ii. ^ iv. 



M ORES CAT Uo I. irl : OB 

pelle. The \\ar- and Iron 1 the ni ith century revived, ho\\ev r. tin- eonf.i- 

i. uhi. h \va- n.it finally r. moved till tin- rise of the celebrated congregation of 
( limy mi. . The rule of Si. Benedict used to be eilli the 

ml bur/ rale, both by oi*UMl* aud chapters. M d&gt;ilhn p . i .- M 

i-ham. that the fn-t monks of Kuglaml followed thi- rule,* which M. 1 , ,m 
int; many, K.TO, a monk ol ill, tran-lating it nr.. .he har- 

baroii- i.lioin of that peop, The one name of monks, th. . b.-gan to IK. 

ingui.-hed into vari Uis branch.-- at the cu.l of the ninth centurv, when the 

Cation ofCInny, on account &lt;&gt;f eii-tom- -uperindiiced to the rule of. St. I&gt;. n- 
-n to U- called the order of ("inny, the chief feature-- hein-: the .-nl 

&lt;ion of other monasteries to the abbot f Ciiiny, In the . I. vmh ct-ntnry suc- 

the co iitj relation &lt;.f( amaldoli, f.iindfd ly St. liniual(i : that of Yallam- 
l&gt;n-. ^t. -John (lualU-rt, that of Ci-tc m\ l&gt;y St. U.-iert. ami many otli. r- 

wllicn \\ef- all Mlhjeet to the rule ..( St. 15- lie ii. -I ; - that until the thirteenth 
tvntury, and tlie i i&gt;e of the Mendicant orders, their \\a&gt; bat Otieiirder of B1OM 
for though tiier.- \\-re the title- ..: ( l^iny, ( :mia d.li, and ..-lie 
11 cunfcilerated in the union of one rule. The tial&gt;it&gt; inder&lt;l were ditl rent ; the 
Hiieieiit lien, dictinrs wearing Mack, whence th alkil the I&gt;1 iek iiKHik- ; 

the Ci-tcieiuns at first ^iey, and afterwards whit-. H- nee 8t I ,, n rd. in hi&gt; 
A|)&gt;loir\- to the Alibot Willian u Timm ..idinem profe-sionr :n 

inn there \\a-still but one genius of the ancient mona.-tic order, and one 
object \\itii them all. 

\\ hat no\v wa&gt; in general the fundamental charai-t -r of all monastic rnh - . I 

- an adaptation t&lt;&gt; the eml ot procui in&lt;; a pacific life in common for men, whose 
\.;i - \\ e t.i be spent in contemplating or in announcing their benignant Lord 

i- Chi i-t, cither as ht-ini; born .r nnr-r&lt;l. ir a- t a hin_ r , or fa-Mi &gt;_ r . " pi ( acn- 
ini;, or laboring, &lt;&gt;r d\ ing, or rising a^ain, or a-, ending to heaven, or coming again 
i&lt;&gt; judgment. \Vhrn a I5enc&lt;!ictiiie monk fir-t -ubsi-ribed his engagement, he laid 
ihe in-truincnt on the altar, ie|iatin^. "Sn-ripeme, I ) .mine, secnndnm ehxjninm 
tmnn, et vivam; rt nonconfu : b expectatine ne a !" These words liav- 

iiiiT been thrice repeated ly t i. a einbl. d br. thr. n. t ne n-wly pr^:. --, d prostrated 
himself at the feet of each nmnk in SIICCI-HOII, b--, celling him to pray for him. 
and as he wa- rai-d by raeli In- r-eeivd tin- ki&gt;- of peace. "The rule of St. 
! .. Ii ." -ay- Mi&lt;-helrt, contra-ting it with that of St. ( olnmban, whie h -&gt;on 
p- ri-h.-ii thion&lt;_ r h it- xees*s of mysticism, " i- a rule ( if good s&lt; i ns , a rule of la- 
Uu, grave and practical." A^ the above term- ..f -nl)-eripti.m indicate. ;t is a rule 
ronformable to the word "fdod. Similarly aj-dn in the rule i.f St. l- raneis there 

. 

i&gt; nothing but what i- prc-cnlx-d in the holy Scripture-, as the hles-ed :e-: riu-&gt; 
^piia -ii&lt;i \-. The -eraphic father "idv -ay-. Th- rule awl life of the friar- 
minor con-i-t- in oli-erving the holy Gospel of our Loid Je-u- Ohri-t, living in 
)l&gt;r&lt;lienec. without property, and in chastity." 

l&gt;ra-f:it. in 1 S:ve. Hciu-d. 8. :&gt;. (i-idast. Uer. Aiein. ii. 1 



AG t: S OF I- 1 A I I II. 216 

Bernard ine, general of the Capuchins, lays, in his apology to Cardinal San- 
severino, &lt;% The perfection of the -eraphic and evangelic rule &lt;-on-i t- n t n -\ 1- 
lables or -entencc-, but in spirit and in truth." The order of tiie hare-; , ote. i Car 
melite- oil civd, as Si. Theresa -aid, " I hcse three steps to Christian p- i, pov 
erty in eoninion, retreat from the world, and manual labor." " In eoi ivetion, 
and admonition, and discipline," say the Pnemon-traten.-ian statutes, " all i- to be 
done according to the rule, * Cum dilectione homitmm et odio vitiorum. "f John 
And::ea, a most eminent lawyer, when in Rome, examined the statutes of the Car 
thusians, ami then said, that lie had never read or heard of any drawn up with 
greater discretion, sobriety , humility, or charity than these; and soon afterwards 
with his patrimony he built the Carthusian monastery of Bologna. : "On entering 
a religions order," says Father Judde, "a man finds that the rule has only devel 
oped what he had long been accustomed to read in his own heart." Thus be 
fore the constitutions of St. Ignatius, St. Franeis Xavier governed in India 
nearly in the same manner as the holy founder did in Europe. The first fathers, 
on receiving the constitutions, found that they had themselves had the .-ame 
thoughts.! A modern French auihor,|| alluding to the reform instituted by St. 
Benediet of Aniane, produces some of the minute articles which were designed 
for the domestic regulation of monasteries, respecting habits and diet, and then 
complains that these are miserable prescriptions, quite foreign to a religious senti- 
ment or moral institution. But he should have observed, that these precepts be^an 
by enforcing attention i&lt;&gt; the original rules which had extorted his praise, and 
though to a prof, s-or before a promiscuous as&gt;ernbly these minute articles niiuht 
seem trifling, to any experienced superior, who had to govern a number of men 
living in one house, they would probably apj&gt;ear a necessary part of the material 
element of a religious community. The prescribing a particular diet for each 
-ca-&lt;n, the prohibition ofindiscriminate bleeding, and the providing peculiar in- 
dulgencea for the sick or delicate, or even the regulating the hours 01 opening 
and shutting the ^ates by the alternation of certain month-;, furnish weak grounds 
for the conclusion that the monastic institution had lost its grandeur, and had 
become full of puerilities and servitude. 

Flic Mioei-iorsof r ligious iiottses kn&lt;-\v perfectly well the distinction which this 
historian seems to propo-e a&lt; th- result of his own philosophy. " llabetis dilec- 
ti-simi : you have here, my beloved, according: to vour request, certain customs 
which we observe, in which are many mean and minute thing-, which perhaps 
ought not to be written, unless because your love ua- resolved to judge nothing, 
but to embrace whatever wa- prepared." So -peak - Father Guiiro, prior of the 
Carthusians, at the end of his "Customs," about fbrty-four year- after the foun 
dation of the order by St. Bruno.*: Indeed, the fourth chapter of the first book of 

" Annales Capucinorum. ad an. l."i:;i; f Statute Ord. Prajmon. c. vi. 

t Pet. Sutnrns, DC yit-i (\irihusmna. ii. ili. :;. &lt; (Euvres Spirit, iv. 65. Guizot 

*T Annales o n l. Carthusiensis Lib. i. c. 80. 



J|f, .M ORES i AT lioLK I ; &lt;&gt; It, 



this collection. treating on th.-^pipt and mil uf this order, supplies an admin 

an-wer t-&gt; such object on-. Ki.-uard &lt;l St. Victor, \viiil-- -honing that tin- di-ci- 
pline of the body i- liseies* without the di-cipiine of the mind, ob-ci v .-, liiai " \\ h&gt; t ,. 
exterior discipline i&gt; wanting, the int-rior riainlv cannot U- mainiaiiii (!."* 
" 1 . ry pow. 9t. Thomas, * which can IK- ordained to action requires ; al&gt;it 

by which it may 1 K - well disposed to art, and then-fort- hal&gt;it i- n- o --ary to the \\ ill, 
which is an in a-lh ctual |vo\v-r."| The ol/jcri ot ihc inona-tic ri^nlation- \\a~ to 
ju-oduct hahit. 

The wisest politician- have admitted that the l&gt;c-t way of l.-uniiiii: ho\\ t _ r "V- 
crn a -tat- well wa- t &lt; -tudv tlic constitution of religious oixli ir~onl,in- 

i 

i. was obedieooe, without which as the historian of the CarthuMiaiM -ay.-, "not 

cvt-ti the de-ert could yield p-a- 1 . ." and theret or- 8t, liruii r- nounc.-d that ~\ 
solitude at the voice ot tiie ^n pontiff.}; Hut for men hiiinlne and &lt;je- tie. 

a- ev.-n t ne profane hi-toiian feinark-, " th" -ci". i: &lt; inii.li \\a-atni*- 

liberty. "$ Tiic services and pr; : t i.1 pon exalt and ennoble, ami oorrespond 

with tho&gt;" lof\y -entiniciit- of t he &lt;r1;iiity of our origin. \\ hi- h are found in the 
writiiiL s of the u r " at men who collected the tradition* of antiquity, while tho-eof 
the world -eein often invented, in order to degrade -and linmilial ni- n, while. l&gt;y 
flattering the pa ions, they reconcile them to the vilcm--- and absurdity of (he 
oflfnv- retpiired. " Why -liould monastic olxslicncc -eem ._ ri. \oii- V" a-k- a ma 

" What a hanl obcdimc,- do unhappy men render in the world, 
without anv consolation or fruit from it !"|, The motto of the congregation of 
the Oratoire mi ^iit hav. been that of all the r-li_rioii.s hoiis. 4&gt; Ici Ton obeit 
-an- dep -ndi---, t Ton jouvernc -an- commander." The monastic rule- excluded 
despotism. " For no -nperior or -nbjec;," nayg I , { -r of I ,] ,j.. " i~ it lawful to 
follow his own will ; for the legislator ,,f monks pn-cribed a- if by a L r meral 
edict, that all should follow the rule a- their ma-tcr ; and from this law neither 
the abbot no:- the prior is e\cept-d." - In point of tart, too, the L r &gt;vernment of 
monks was full of indulgence and oondeaoensioii. Seldom could they ad- 
their superior in words like those of Kuryloehu- in the name of his companion- 
to l l\ in plaining of his iron nanire in ordering them to wander all the 

night long : 

2^e rAn? //*- , - irepi rot uevoS ovSe n ) 

M r&gt;,,i"F ni*V/)f,. T/T(l TvrrAT. ;/.** 

William of .Jnmie^e &gt;HV - of K .i.crt. a !&gt; t ofSt. Kvroid. who t-tai&gt;lislied ft 
mona-teiv .n the -hoiv- of &lt; alabria, that " h- d -dan ed hi- own body, hut .-np- 
,,] ,.,i : ,n wh,, to him with food and clothin-r in abundaiu-e, while en- 

d.-avorinjr to maintain their heart.- under a regular di-cipiine."tt 



Hi, - \ \ . .ori.-r Tabernaruli Fird. 1... \rt.v. 

t Pel. SutDi-us. DC Vit:i Caitims. i. v. 1. . ni.-ric Vit Ili-i KTof. L\b.\il 

|JoHii Instruct. Mi-i.-t. N. Vitioruui. f Pet. Hies. Hp:-:. i:;i. ** xii. 279. 

tf Lib. vii. 30. 



AGES OF FAITH. 21? 

"It is not for me." -ay- IVter tlic Venn-able, abbot of ("limy, "ID deter 
n&lt;&gt; vires, an 1 by my probation of a year cans.- them to be rejected i ..r ever. 1 
not for ni" to r -I use to supply meal and drink, and clothing, and otiier i, 
rics according to tlie diversity of infirmities, climate, an 1 times, lest, while I do 
u-t render to man what is man s, he cannot render to God what is God -. Nor 
shall charity give place hereto the dictates of a proud -uperstiti &gt;n."* "No hing 
utrary to the rules, " he aayx again, "which is done from charity; if weed nj. 
or modifv some minor regulation-, \vedo it for the good of other- ; and w- broad- 
Iv reply to those who accuse us of innovation, that charity justifies and call- for 
such dispen-ations."f The cloister, notwithstanding the strictness of its discipline, 
did not furnish an exception to there-alt which a modern author ascribes to the 
organization of society in the middle ages, saying, in allusion to it, " Jamais 1 in- 
dividu n a tant vecu." 

We find that the monastic superiors followed the method of Pythagoras, who 
u-ed to adopt a different mode of dis-ipline with different persons. When A bar- 
is the Scythian came from the Hyperboreians, advanced in age, a priest of Apollo, 
and versed in sacred things, though rude and uncultivated in Greek discipline, 
he did not lead him about first through various contemplations, but dispensed 
with the long silence and the long hearing, and at once admitted him to familiar 
ity with his doctrines.* The priors of the middle ages acted thus. When 
Count Guigo w.ts admitted into the monastery of Cluny, the holy Abbot Hugo, 
knowing that lie had l&gt;eeu brought up delicately from a boy, and was accn-iom- 
ed to have only soft furs or silk next his skin, granted him a dispensation frm 
wearing the usual coarse woollen vest; for lie foresaw that he who was fir-t in 
the secular warfare would no le-s desire to contend with the best in tin- spiritual, 
and so the event proved." St. Adalhard, in the ninth century, though tiie 
names of the brethren were inscribed in his heart, yet had always a certain num 
ber of them written on a tablet, which he held iu his hand, that he might sedu 
lously examine and study the manners of each, aa thinking that he would have to 
answer for them in judgment. Therefore, knowing what was peculiarly ex(&gt;e- 
dient for each, he provided what was conductive to their salvation. || Orderic 
Vitalis says of Theodoric the first abbot of Onohe, in the eleventh century, "he 
admitted men of different ages and degrees to conversion under the rule ofthe holy 
Father Benedict. He led humbly to follow a better life in the school of Christ, 
Goufroi, Rainaud, Foulques, and some other learned grammarian.-. He treated 
with goodnesa the old man Riculphe, and the country priest Roger, the gard 
ener Duraud, and som&gt;- other simple disciples. H" trained also to the art of 
reading well, sin^im: and writing, and other us- fal works, proper for the serv- 
ents of God, Herbert and Revenger, Gosceliu and Ito lulphe, Gisletart, Bernard^ 

* 8. Pet. Ven. Kpi-t Lib. i. 28. f Ibid 

t Jamblich de Pyt-h. Vit. lit. &lt; Bibliothec. (. uniacens. 459. 

| Vita S. Adalhanli Mai). Acta S. Ord. Ben. iv. 1. 



MOK B8 &lt; ATI! 01. 1C I ; OR. 

U ;i d,and (iu.llaume, and many oilier vmin_j men o; di-position- ; in 

fin*-, many of th ug -iich /eal and sanctity, found al-o their -dva- 

UUB 

Si. IJernard advising Turstin. archbishop -if York, to hold what he holds, and 
exhibit a moid; in I it\ , add-, that it - m- latent i-aus- -lioidd 

compel him, or tin- Lord Popein.. i- de-ire ot (ju;c;, h- ad \isc- him nt i 

i liy r- p .n-d a-peiitv of :ood or clothing or poverty, provided lit- may pa-- 

an hope to tind i- puntv ; and mole ID hon.-e- of this 

kind soul- an- in such a manner consulted to i gi :md \\eak- 

fnting car. ; ,1- uic&lt;i."t &gt;;. Iv-rnard furnish &gt; a icinark- 

ablt- in-iantv ot tli.- iurlH-arano- of immilfltic &gt;uj ri.i - in hi- o\\n conduct to- 

d- Nicol-.n-. !iic no .-heat and imp -t !. uh- ! fi th-- CUim-ians under 

him, carrying off bookfl and money ; ha- {u-ntly i^:-xi l-ttcisin hi- name. 

from navinir pn cssion of hi- seal. St. ! rnard -a\.-tnat h-- had luit; known tin 

man, l)iit liad waited for his &lt; .nyrr-ion op ,,pcn dj-.-laiatioii of treachery.^ 

It was t-ha a , iio\\. vcr, of all niona- i*- ml-- to imply a - t life from 

which no diil&gt;t nn-n &lt;&gt;[ the luxurious habit* belonging to the modern civilisation 

ii with a kind o; horror, a- from an austerity winch n-ith r ;{- n MM 
liirion -auction : though a littie oonniderutioa \vould lead any iinprejndi -. d mind 
to .1 conclu-i..n widely difleivnt from th- &gt;.r i- the truth oli-e \. d iiy St. 

Auiru-t ii, ti.at t Rf thus-- wno lo\-e (lod to n -trench tli.-ir cupidities 

tlian it i- fortlios- wiio love th- wond hi -a i-t y ihem.":J " \\ eaie apt enough." 
- a iai&gt; lust-nan, " to rulicule the aii-r r ..li-er\ an&lt;--- of sme onl r- : yet we 
IIUIN. -nred iliat without such .iii-i. -ritie- moiia.-tic pi -tv could not long sub- 

&gt; -t. Those who live on the luxurie- ot nature will receive the yok- i tn- | 

II 

Having already allude&lt;l to the belief and pm &gt;\ men in ages of faith in 

t ,1 -hall now pa on ha-iily ; only ohs--rviiig, by th - way, that even 

uicieiit philosophers practiced icfa of 80 i- filial to teach them patience and 

endurance, | j L \va- known to have done.* H. iuer. a- ( ardan remarks, 

make- his riys~es not coum tor he pivf ;s Ajax to him ; not -trong or -wift. 

for h-- ma v - .\ i, - -interior to him ; not rich, for h the first ida-- to 

Priam; not jMuerfnl, for h- subje.-ts him to A _ r ainMiinon : but h- asctn.&lt;- 

him the virtue of endurance.** .\.-t alone with the mvsterioii- depths of religion, 

but a..-o with all that i- irreat and iieroic among men, was the au-terity of the 

-tial life in harmony : and h wa- a popular saving of the middle 

. a- we learn from Hugo of S;. Victor, "That a -oldie* and a monk wear 

the .-.ime clotn."++ Th- mild and delicious grace- of faith won 1*1 n--ve: have ! en 

i in the \\orld. if die e iiad not b-.-n llaO witne -d, as Hiij" &lt;.f S . Victor 



* Lib. iii. f 1 Epist. -J9- - ". ;i l H..inf. 

| Enropr in Mill. A-. -. v..i. ii ^ Aul. Gell. ii. I. ** Cardnn ii- Sapientia. i. 

f| IV- (. laiisiri Aiiiina-, [ah. ii. 18. 



AGES OF FAITH. i?l:&gt; 

savs " the sackcloth of Jerome ; the tunic of Benedict ; the mat of Euialius ; the 

* 

tears of Ars&gt; uin- ; the iiake&lt;in&gt; f Paul ; the put of Elisha.* 

Men of counterfeit gaiety, who live in the crowd, though often heard to ex 
claim, "O ho\v full of briars is this working-day world !" are filled with sad- 
on visiting a Carthusian or Cistercian house, from believing that the inhab 
itants ofthe.se serene abides, ina " es-ible to bitter care, are in a state, more wretch 
ed than the general infelicity of man : they even evince displeasure, declaring 
loudly that they do not pity th -ni, since by their choice of life, they have brought 
that misery on themselves. But we have only to wait a little to l&gt;e convinced of 
their error : for the wind of adversity, sooner or later, i.s sure to blow upon that 
smiling surface, and then all is visibly reversed. Let the moment of reflection 
come; who are, then, the self-tormented ? Will it be for them to compassionate 
the monks ? Morality may -pare her grave concern, and her kind suspicions. 
They will have to say of them what the Book of Wisdom affirm- of the just: 
"Illi autem sunt in pace." And if the scene is so quicklv altered in the pro-en t 
dark, uncertain life, where a blow, or a sickness, or any political convulsion, is 
sufficient to make the dissipated and the religious change parts, in regard even to 
the external condition, what will be the contrast hereafter, when every one will 
be obliged to distinguish good from evil, without having any longer the power to 
make a choice ! This, this was the reflection that reconciled men in ages of 
1 iith to the austerity of cloisters. O what folly," exclaim- an ascetic, " to fear 
the monastic discipline, and not the flames of inextinguishable, eternal fire ! Ah 
there is too great a difference between the humble habits of monks and the gha-tly 
aspect of demons; between the devout chant of the religious and the intolerable 
wailing of the damned. "f 

The habits of the monastic order were not the inventions of caprice, but the re 
sult of experience, which determined what dress was most simple, ceconornical, 
and conducive to the purposes of the life to be pursued by monks. Paul IV., on 
hi- election to the papal chair, being mindful of the ancient friendship which 
from tender years, existed between him and Jerome Suessanus, the hermit of 
Monte Corona, sent orders to him to come to Rome. The obedient man arrived, 
and was received by the pope with a joyful countenance. After embracing him, 
the pontiff, raising him up, said, " What covering is this, Jerome? Wnat aus- 
teritv i- i his? It is too vile : you must lay it aside." Th- old man answered, 
lfo|y Father! when clad in this habit, I can walk more easily amidst the 
oaks and brushwood : nor would any other be suitable to a penitent." " You 
-had be no louder in the wood- and desert," said th e pope ; u but yon shall re 
main here with us, and from a hermit become a cardinal." Prostrate instantly 
on the earth the old man fell ; and, with tears, implored the pontiff not to execute 
such a resolution ; declaring that he knew of no happiness beyond the solitude 

* Id. Prolog. t Dialog. Novitiorum. 



J-JO MO 11 Kb CATllOLKi; oil. 

be d -ert. The pop, found that it wultl 1&gt;&lt; VOCU t&lt;&gt; pre him farther, 

M tn&gt; noly man returned HI triumph i&lt; nis .-eil in tn-wo,ds. Tins is that .&gt;l&gt;s-- 

; li !oii\ Mill- Siic-&gt; .MIII-, -tyled alunv- Tlu- hermit "f Monte ( mmi i who 
ictus d he cardinal - nat." lie wa&gt; an c\ Ib-nt phy-ician, and &gt;kilid in the 
hading art, on which he had .-xpic-sly \\rtt-n.* NeytTtheh--, thon-ii " the 
brushwood" accounted for much, it cannot bcdoui ted hut iliat tin- I tru-- on- 

twe.-n the .-" 1mm r HUMOUS habit and tin 1 spirit of the moms: ie ..id B, 
A vain heart," - I 8t fitt anl, " in. inc.- a not" of vanity in the body ; and 
the external sii|x?rfluity is an index of the int -rior." There was be-iue-. p. ih:ip&lt;, 
a certain tradition of antiquity, which \va- not without it&lt; influence, in tne origi 
nal i-iioicc of color: fur, though OIK- eanm&gt;t suppu&gt;e that the xaniplei f Pytha- 

:us, who u-t&lt;l to wear a white hal&gt;it,t wa- ki-pt in vit-w. yet many ot th- first 
Christians, who pa-sed from the --ho. !- "f the philosophi-fs ami retained their habit 
may I* presumed to have handed down sumc _ notion M to th* kiml mo-t 

suitable to the life which eon e-p&lt;&gt;nd"d, in th" Church, with that of their former 
condition. 8t Clem-Mi- -t Alexandii; that 1 lato follows Moses, in praising 

white garments a- mo.-t prupx-r tor peaceful IIK-II. who ar&gt;- cnildren of hu r ht.| I- 
saiah. he ay. went barefoot ; Kli ^an&lt;l &gt;:. John the I&gt;apti-t weie coar- .id.|j 

Popular l&lt;H-al n&gt;ai;e vli- in later tim--, ;he i-hoio- uf the s--raphic i at .er; 

though po.-ts found it -uitable to an angel as to him who did open the gate of 
purgatory : of whom they -ay 

" Ashes, or eartli. t-i i-n di y ( &gt;ut &lt;&gt;f the ground, 
\Vi if of niif (Mlur with the robe he wore." 



"The fewer thing^a mm wants the nearer he i- to (Jinl." ie|&gt;Jied Socrat--, to 
who ridiculed li:&gt; m-tom of walking barefoot, and having but one dr &lt;s for 
summer and winter. Sublime an-wer ! which ought to content t ho-e meihinks 
who now disdain the habit in which I&gt;ante wished .&gt; die. l.ut, in the-e mo-t 
t;iddy time.s, men, who could endure to bear the app la 1 ion, would -hudder at the 
thought of wearing the canonized habit of a monk ; which, of old, was of it-elf 
an indication, both of the ..hedj. nr&lt;- and the charity of its wearer : tor it \ 
suredly an act of charity to let men see, by the very raiment with which they 
clothed themselves, that they were -tiil in the mid-t of them, tho-.&lt;. \\-ho followed 
in the narrow track of -aintly founders, bound to&lt;rether in a ven.-raile -o&lt;-i.&gt;ty t 
pie-ei-ve. not so much the prop,-rtv or ;h- exemption-;, which miglr have be^-oine 
i pernicioii-, a- th" B(i i it of the holy ordet- of St. l&gt;"iie&lt;lict an 8t, Kianci-, 
80 inseparably coiinecte&lt;l with a literal observanc*- of their rules. " I knew many 
inr m n," siv- Ka:h r Kl/ear 1 Archer, a Franci-can, "who, from having 
only U held certain preaciiers of our order in tne pulpit, before tuey had pro 
nounced a word, were already converted in their hearts, and had resolved to leave 

* Annul. Ciunald. Lib. Ixxii. t Jamlilich. ! Vit. Pyth $ Paed. Lib. lii. c. 11. 

I.I. Lib. ii. c. 10. 



AG B8 &lt;&gt; F F A IT H. 

(lie world, merely by the force of these men s countenances. Hence it is BO often 
said, that our habit of itself preaches ; and that it has a thousand tongue-, ach 
the most eloquent."* 

The fasts anil abstinence, us regulated in the monasteries, wre for from l&gt;einir 
contrary to what the philosophy of the ancients deemed wis&lt;- and expedient. 
Amidst banquet- like the Syracusan and Italic tabl. s, tiiat Plato condemn. d. 
men may n..\v speak disdainfully of them and obtain applause ; but, with sueh 
manners, it will lie still true to say, in the words ol ihai philosopher, that no man 
under heaven can ever l&gt;e wise.| Pythagoras prescriped abstinence from 
certain kinds of food, from being convinced that the juice of meat tended to ren 
der wickedness robust. " Who knows not," adds u great French physician " that 
men fasting are more disposed tor meditation ; and that, after a feast, the mind 
is weakened. The ait of abstinence is the art of living well.":}: St Clement of 
Alexandria remarks, " that much food produces indolence, and oblivion, and 
stupiditv ;" and Aianus dc Insuli- d &gt;es n&lt;&gt;t confine the evil to the soul, for he 
says, " Do vou know whence conv infirmities of body and mind? certainly it is 
from e\-eess of food, and the deluge of potations. "|| Hence the saying of the 
middle ages : "Plmvs crapuLu quarn gladius." Besides, it was impossible that men 
of gentle and refined natures should not love and adore that Orphic life, innocent 
and primeval, free from the slaughter and the blood of animals. "The less one 
seeks," moreover, as Hugo of St. Victor says, in commenting on the rule of St. 
An^nstin, u the more strictly one lives, the happier one is: for an abstemiou- 
life kills vices, extinguishes desires, nourishes virtues, strengthens the soul, and 
elevates the mind to celestial things." With what horror men in the middle ages 
regarded the shame and sin of gluttony, may be witnessed in the curious letter of 
Peter of Bloisto Richard of Salisbury.*]" Truly, if we abide by the sentence of 
their philosophy, there ought to be no hesitation in deciding between the sim 
ple diet of the monks, and the luxurious grandeur of worldly tables, as described 
by Le Grand d Aussy, from the pages of FroL-sart and other old authors; be 
tween those of " voracious Burgundy, loving feasts," and the boards of that aus 
tere community of Ctteaux, reviving the manners to which the Church alludes 
in the vesper hymn for the feast of all the saints of the Benedictine order: 

" Vohis olus ciharia 
Fuere. vel lejrnmina: 
Potumqur lymplia prsebuit, 
Humusque dura lectulum." 

Antiphanes, the Delian phvsicinn. -aid that one run-" of the di-ea-es of men was 
the diversity of food ; and Cardan, in the same capacitv. speak- &gt;f the excellence 
offish, as heiii j: simple and li^ht nourishment.** St. Bonaventura, accordingly, 



* Sacre Mont d Olivct. -f Phtoni- Kpist, vii. | Alihert. PJiysio ioirie lies Passions. 

J5 Paedag. ii. 1. j Di- Artc Pi -tdi, Mtoria. Lib. iv. ^ Ep. 85. ** Pnuk-nt. Civilis. 43. 



MOKES CATHOLIC I; OR, 

&gt;!&gt;- :ia- monks in tin- cloMer, in consequence of their temperate and austere 

lift-, ally live to a great a. e.* Inni"iia-t trthu.-ians, as an hi-tor- 

ian of that order observes, ;t .- &lt; mmon to find father- of eighty and a hundred 
year- ol a^., witnesses that their di.-ripliii" doe- n&lt; t impair th _aii of na 

ture, -f I ll ! 6 de Geraittb remarked monks in th" convent of St. ( a harine, 
who, at tli Ji y and nin&gt; t \-six y&lt; ar-. ibowed all tin- vi-or m voiith. The 

coinmon opinion. t:,at th" Carthu-ians take a vow to ab-tain from meat a 1 
lutely, is without foundation ; for th-Te is nothing in their -tatute- to loibid tip in 
fan eating k in CUM of n.-c.ssi;y.| Father Fl/ -ar I Archer, the Franci-can, 

r ol)s-rvin_ r how abstinent- i- conducive to health, say-, " it it were not for 
tiieir life being] flipped at the foundation-, which aiv th&gt;- ti-t, in con-eqn- 
th" ice and ii&gt;ck and craggy paths which they have to [.; r. 1 l&gt;. lieve that 

i&gt;nr pt&gt;or friars, from l&gt;einL r so ahtemion~. would live :&lt;&gt; !&gt; .-o old that it would 
-siry to knock tliem on th" h-ad at 1 a-t.;! " Why do philosopher- and 
- live longer than other men . " is a ({iie~ti&lt;&gt;n put l&gt;y &lt; ardan ; wiio rep. 
" II caiiM tliev lea i a .-imple, abstentious lii c, in harmony with nature." | In fact, 
the inona-tic rules imp-s--d nothing novel in that n-jtc-t. Wht-u the rule &gt;: St. 
Benedict \\as liiM intio&lt;liiced into lirittany, there had ii-n alr.-ady serii ti 

m of a simple, natural life, au-t"iv Imt healihinl, in the monks, who had i 
long in that country. r Mal)illoii justly ol - hatth- t-xperi- : many 

. and th" admiralile frugality ot tlie mo~t nol\ men ot ( Jermany. must disprove 

th as-M-rtion of the moderns, who pretend that the mona-tir di-cipline cannot be 

borne und T that &gt;ky, and with the bodily tlispo-ition of that jwople.* And,l&gt;e- 

-id&gt; must r -nn-mii -r tne maxim of all religions 01 &lt;. iiic.n Fulbert of 

Chaitns ihn- expres-e- : " Ab-tim-iux- only from ni -at d&gt;es not so much avail 

with in- L id, as the mortification of vice-&gt;."tt It is certain tliat the abstinence 

t the rrligiou- ord is, like parts of -and ve-tments, are now only ve8- 

primiiive time-, whicii oiiginallv firmed no disti m-t ion betwc-n nio: 

and other men. Le Grand d Anssy. citin- the -t-itne- oftli" icform of St. Claude 

in 1 } l&gt;. -ay- liuU lie eit&gt;- th" ml- - of the monk^ frequently, l)e&lt; an-c, from their 

n"Un-hni"iit, can it-arn wliat \va- .eueral f XK! of the people 4t so that 

iown to that |&gt;eriod. the discipline of mona-teri.-s p: 1 no such pr dig- 

ion- coiitra-t as \\e m. jiit now -nppo-e to that of tne majority of secular houses. 
^ .-:lv wa- L nt ..!- rv"l bv the p.-op.t-at laiye, t u -ohrea- in ! 

the only six oxen and about -ixty caivc- k lied for tin IIrt-l- 1 &gt;i"ii and 

the whole city of Pari- : f.r the li.&lt;-t&gt;ital had t nen the ex -lu-ive privihr-. ,,f m 11- 

ingmcit in Lent, -m ti.e d- liv. rain f a physician - cert ilic ite. -iun"i by the 

CUr6. In 16)5, the nuinlH-r was increa-ed to two hnndnd oxen and t 

* D&lt;- R-format. Horn, Int.-r r t Pet. Sutorus de Vita ( urllmsiana. Lih. i. c. 8. 

J Id. ^ I. 9 \! n| .i Olivet, 581. | Canlun dc Consolntione. Lib. ii. 

1 Lohim-aii HM di-Hn-J. Liv ii. ** Pni-nit. in III. S*c. Ben. 2. ft Fulb. Car. Epist. 36. 
U Hi-t. (if hi Vio puve,- .iv F ii. 233 



AGES OF FA IT II. 

thousand calves; and so it went on incroa-in-, until, as at present, the consump 
tion ixv.ime nearly the same throughout the year.* 

Tli- discipline of religious hou-es M lliat &lt;-f tin- ehntvh generally, both in the 

and west, has varied in different age- with to the kinds ofi ooil which 

i abstinence. Socrates says, "some absiain from all animals, others 

eat only ii-h, others eat fowl, with fi.-h, believing iliein born from the waters, in 

rons. tjueiuv of the text in which Mo- mis, that the water- vrere oommauded 

to produce them on the fifth day, an interpretation -eneml iVom the fourth century, 

and which St. Basil and St. Ambm-. -e t -med 10 authorize. In the nio.-t 

austere religious orders, fowl and game were permitted at certain seasons. St. 

O s O * 

Columban led his monks with that food during a .-carcity. Chilperic invited St. 
Gregory of Tours to take some soup, adding that h" might eat it as it was made 
of fowl. However in 817, the council of Aix-la-C hapelle forbade the use of such 
food excepting during the days of Easter and ( nri-ttnas ; and in consequence of 
this regulation the royal donations of fowl yearly to many different monaster 
ies were annulled, or rendered only obligatory at tho-e -asoiis. This rule of the 
council did not affect the tables of seculars, for until the eighteenth century, no 
one scrupled at them to eat various kinds of aquatic birds on days of abstinence.* 
Atone time again, the Sundays of Lent were of abstinence, and at others not. 
In the tenth century, meat was then eaten, Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, 
allected rigorism, and accused the west of not observing Lent strictly ; but Hat- 
ram, monk of Corby, Hincmar of Rheims, Eudes, bishop of Paris, and others re 
plied to him, and showed that such things vary.:}: 

Local circumstances sometimes affected the discipline of houses. Thus the ab 
bey of Mount Sereno being on the top of a lofty mountain, and far di-tant from 
places were fish could be obtained, Pope Innocent III. gave the community leave 
to eat fltvh, especially as their rule of St. Augustin did not forbid it. In the 
abbey of St. Gall on days when meat was permitted, the monks eat bears flesh, 
and that of wild horses, wild bulls, ibexes, marmot-, pheasants, swans, peaeocks, 
and all other birds. || In the eighth century, St. Qhrodsgand, bishop of Metz, 
speaks of acorns failing, as if they constituted an important article of food. 
Philippe-le-Hardi, duke of Burgundy, who had a Dominican for his Confessor, 
used to regale that monk every year on the festival of St. Thomas of Aquin, with 
a lamprey ; and if it was impossible to find one. h" used to give him forty-five 
sous in silver. With respect to the order observed in the refectory, many min 
uter rules were laid down ; but we have no spa&lt;v to devote to them. The place 
of each monk who held office, the position of the td&gt;les, the number and kind 
of vessels, the books to be read according t &gt; the alternations of mouths, were all 
determined. In the abbey of Croyland, it was ordained that every day after 
dinner, as soon as grace was said, there should be praver.s for the soul of King 

* Id. if. 112. t Le Grand d Au^y. i. 326. \ Id. ii. :;. Kpist. Inn. Lib. v. 10. 

y lldrfoiis von Arx (Jcsctn chte d. S. G. i. O. u. 



M O If KS CATHOLIC I; OR, 

lhald, the f under, and tliat the honnty of King Wichtlaf, who It-It hi- 
drinking horn, siiould ho conum moi^t-d. 

Tin- silence in observed r li^ions hons-- \\-a- another f-ature of monastic 

j)line, at whieh in-n conversant with the Ie-.-s&lt;&gt;n- ot aneient wi-doin will he 1. 
j&gt;osed to wonder, than thn-e wh-se mind- are t..:med hy ;li- ci.mm-in opinion- of 
later times. One of the first proof s which Pvtha^.ra- required fV .in his dis&lt;-ij 

whether thev wei exf^vH^i . tin; is. to keep in sil.-ncc \\hat he taiijht 

them ; f-r h" laid nr-re -tre-s upon the l&gt;e im aide t !&lt; &lt;-p siienee, ;h:.n on tl.&gt; 
ahletotalk.* Caton- 1 wu that all men \\cre mute; tt .uld he 

then less improbity ,f forcibly expn -nly what IMiitar -down in h 

on "speaking to &gt; much." It W8H Simouide- w: hat we had tten to 

repent having spoken, hut ueverhavii: In -peaking we have men 

for our masters," -av- the Chseroiiian ft &gt;ut in ket-pin&gt;_ r -ilt-ne--, th-- ir i-," 

which was an allusion to the my-tori- dd-, " i- not only with 

out thi iv-, hut it is with &gt;ut pain an v ; it is S-.ciatie 

and tiia _ r n:iiiimoii-."| Alluding j Kalians io uhi&lt;-h opinions, St. John Climachu- 
styles 4l a silent man a son of philosophy." Th" antiquity of tl. pine 

anioiii: Chi i-tian- has been often shown. "Extra l?-a!mos -ilentinm est," &gt;a\ s 
^ .lri-,.inc in his epistle to Mareella. -peaking i-f ( hi^t an ommunity. At 
Nitria in early time- it wa&lt; a rule ;hat n&gt; .mid -pak till aft- r &gt;-.\t. At 

non rand p&gt;aim".iy. a- if in paradi-c. l- r-nn complin till tin- " I P- 

tiosa in &gt; oii-peetu I &gt;omini" at prim-, -il- ii . i li^ious hon-e. 

The i- pillar p! fa monastery whei -ilt -nc" \v ---ived, were the dor 

mitory, the refectory, the infirmary, the library, the chapter room, the cloister, 
and the iiV -ii ii d _arden.^ 

We may P mark that the del :i-.-ipliii" amoni: the worshippers of 

", fnrni-hes occasion to th moiia-t:c philo-oph . ineing the profound 

knowledge which thej pofl if human nature. " Choose sil saya 1 

of I di i-. " if y.&gt;:i wish to have jietuv of iieart."|| St. Bernard calls the tongue, 
" the insti iiment :h -oempty the hea \- a furnace," he .-ays. 

which the month is always OJHM], caim-t r. tain the heat within itself, so neither 
can the heart preserve in it-elf tin devotion, unl- &gt;s the month I- 

with the | The holy ( arthn&lt;i an Patriarch Bruno knew well 

how to appreciate the force which i- VMiich-af. d to man, and the dan- which 
encompa-s him in the frigid atmo-pheiv of th" pr- - ir lif . when he wrote at the 
head of hi- laws "Sile If anv .-h fle to he disputation^, and to iiKjnire why 

siicli law- i he necessarv. the &lt; ins miirlit have d cmed it sufficient 

apology for their cus-om to replv with Sh 



" Why, tis good to be sail, and say nothing." 

* Jamblich de Pythae. Vita. c. 20. t Aul. OH. xviii. 7. I &lt; 20. 

ft Jtvin a Jesu lostructiu Magiatri Novitiorum, 2~&gt;. [ Pet. Bies. de Silentio 



AUKS OF FAITH. 

In point of fact, however, there :in- many m&gt; n t&gt; whom this part of discipline 
i- full of charms. Hear how Cardan speaks of hims&lt;-lf. " I i t-.-l that I am lit 
tle tit for conversation : tir.-t . b&gt; cau-e I lov -olitude ; for never am I more with 
thos" whom I love, than when I am alone. Hut I love God, the good Spirit. 
When 1 am alone, I contemplate the imiii&lt; n- good, the eternal wi-dom, the 
Author of light, the true joy, the foundation of truth, the Author of all ihi 
who N happy in himself, and tii" de-ire of all the happy. What other mind can 
I love ? What int- lli^eiiee more sincere, more lofty, more secure than the divine? 
Libraries are crammed with book- ; minds are spoiled by eruditon ; wen tran 
scribe but write not : what then can I hope from the converse of men garru 
lous, avaricious, lying. ambitious men? But you say, man is a social animal, and 
whv renounce friends in the world ? I know that these things can be objected to 
me; but I am not ignorant that many things may seem hard and absurd, which 
when investigated appear very different ; and that on the contrary, there are other 
things apparently gen lie and useful, which in reality are absurd and hard." 

The nocturnal vigil- a .rain pre-eut&lt; d a point of contrast between the cloister and 
the world, suiliciently remarkable, and though men at present may not be long 
sleepers like Kpimenides, no part of monastic discipline seems to them to present 
a more vulnerable side. Who is this that moves solitary along the dusky aisles, 

Nv/cra 81 duppoGiTjv, ore 6 i 8ov6i ftporol a\\oi ; 



In ages of faith it was the monk, and truly his motive was sublime. Within 
monasteries there were, at least, four hours of spiritual exercise and solemn music, 
while the rest of the world was buried in sleep. When I was in Camaldoli, the 
monks used to begin matins in the churcli at half-pa-t twelve. At three they re 
turned to take repose, and at five rose tor the day. At the Carthusian mona-tery 
of La-part-Dieu, in a dc }&gt; black forest ot pines on the mountains of Freyburg, 
the monks rose at eleven, and remained in the church till two. They then re 
turned to rest till five. The day closed with them at seven in the evening, when 
they ret i ied to rest. So that the very observance ot hours separated them from 
the world, and I confess on going back to it, I almost envied them even this dis 
tinction. In the abbey of ( rovland three lights used to burn in the cloister, and 
four in the dormitory every ni^ht till day-break, in order to -j;uard against fire 
and many othr danger-, as Inguiplins says.f The chronicles of St. Trndo say, 
" that lights all night wcp- necessary in the doi-ter ot that abbey, to obviate that 
horror of darkne-- which the children and the monks would otherwise have had 
to encounter in goin : _ to ma ius and returning."^ In the houses of the knight 
templars also lights used always to burn through the whole night.;? The holv 
fathers, a- we observed in the fifth book, were unanimous in recommending the 

* De vita prnpria. c. 53. f p. mr&gt; 

. Abbati;c S. Trnl vi. ;ip. Dacher. Spicileg. vu. legula Ixx. 



.Mo KKS CAT HO LIC I ; OR, 

practice of devotion in tin- night. The mona-tie obscrvunc-- is th&gt;T. for" no nov 
elty. Our sleep," BajsSt r:isil in his (pi-tie to Si. &lt; - Na/ian/- n. ". ii^ht 

to bo short, and interrupted by the thought- of salvation. The middle of the 
lit ought to be lor those who arc entirely devoted to a spiritual life, what 
inning "f the day i.- for person- who live in the \\ )1 d." &lt; brjsoetom 

.-peaks of it as a monastic cu-tom to assist at the divine w-r-hip before day at th" 
crowing of thcock. " A sleeping man. Cl.-mens Alexandrinns, " i- ; 

a dead man. Oftentimes during th-- night, &lt;ne ought \ ri- from one - }&gt; d and 
give thanks to God. 7ro\\tx/ci5 /cat r// 5 " YVKTO* avfyi-prtov TI~/S ATO/T//? L 



The more ancient monk- determined their time of ri-ing by the course of 

star-, as Cas-ian relate-. | The monk- of ( limy ob-ei ved thi- rnle.J Gnomons 
were u-ed in the day, or hour odorns relate- in his divine r ad- 

ings. Petrns Damianus allude- to another but dillicnlt in kno\\ 

hours, which was, from t ne (jnantity &lt;! l -a in- -unj 3 HIM a-cribe th- fir.-t 

olcH-k to the invention of Pope Sylvester iLj but a ;-lock was -cut a&lt; a j)i s. nt to 
( harlemairne from the king of Penia, kl hundred year- b--foiv Sylve-te;. 
The ancient Roman- had a boy to announce the hour-. ition-ly 

thought it better to number th" hours l)efore meiidian. than ih..-eaft T it, a fancy 
which app-ar- al-o in the work of lle-iod entiilei 1 &gt;. l ys." 

Sueh then in brief, were the in--: seven p -cripti.n- of the niona-tie d sci- 
plii. To the multitude they mav app-ar painful, tor without love, all things 
are bitter and ta- :&gt;ut whatever n - BWed l&gt;y love. a,s the holy 

fathers of the desert and th" monks of later ages found, the former u-ing herb- and 
bark of trees, dry bread and cold \\ r nourisliment, the earth for their bed, a 

stone for their pillow, sackcloth for ing, and the latter the diet and neo- 

- U-longing generally to the poor, in all which things th&gt;-y Ix.tii found an 
ineflal)le -weetness on account of love, which renders all difficult thing- li jht. : d 
a- it were nothing. || Th" le^i-1 it"f if !". mtevrault show- that the ineinb. : - : 
his order \viil do nothing through fi-ar, but that tliey will ob-erve all their rule 
through the love ..f Chri-:, and through ti 1 habit and delight in virtue 

which will belong to them.* Strict indeed was the obligation of monks to com 
ply with their holy institute. The exact ob-ervance &lt;&gt;f the rule of St. Benedict, 
during the ninth and tenth centuries, wa&lt; an obj.-ct even of the gi nteie-t 

to kin. Every monk was bound to learn it bv heart, word by word.* A 

German hi-torian -av- that no monarch- c uld have more at heart the discipline 
and maintenance of their troops than the Emperors Otho I. and D ;id I I. had 
deeply fixed in their brea-t-a- their fond de-ire, th -xact ob-ervanc.- of the rule 
of St. Benedict, by the monk- who profes-ed it. Otho I. -wore that he would 

* Pa-dairo-iis, Lib. ii. c. 9. f Lib. ii. c. 17 t Bibliotheea Cluniacensis, 448. 

&gt;pi. I: , &lt;-:ip 17. | Idioto Conttmp. " La Rcigle de I ordrc dc Funtevrauld. c. liv. 
** C;ipit. Aciuisirmn. 81",. 



AGES OF FAITH. 227 

break his crown and give the fragments to the abbey of St. Gall, if it were nec 
essary to promote the observance of the rule. He delayed to give the kiss to the 
new elected Abbot Xotker, merely from observing him dressed with more elegance 
than lie thought would have been sanctioned by St. Benedict. Monks \vereburied 
holding the rule in their hand, to signify how much depended on their having 
well observed it. 

" We arrived at Fontevrault," says Dotn Martene, " while they were celebrating 
the obsequies of a voting monk who had died that day. In the morning lie had 
been carried into the church of the nuns, where high mass had been sung for his 
soul, and all the sisters had given him the holy water. Thence he had been car 
ried into that of the monks, where we saw him clad in his monastic habit, holding in 
his hand a taper, with the rule, which was as the sentence of eternal happiness, if 
he had well observed it, or of his damnation if he had ill observed it."* But the due 
observance was known to be spiritual rather than literal, for hear how St. Ber 
nard himself speaks : " How d\) they hold the rule, yon say, \\-\\ &gt; are clad in skins, 
and fed with flesh, aud dispensed from manual labor ? Attend to the rule of God, 
from which the institute of St. Benedict does not dissent, Regnum Dei intra vos 
est . Therefore, brethren, do not found a calumny upon corporal observances, 
and neglect the chief thing.s of the rule, which are its spiritual institutions. Bet 
ter is humility, clad in skins, than pride in destitution. Better is a lit 
tle meat for use than much vegetables for satiety. Esan was reprehend 
ed not for flesh but for pottage; and Adam was condemned, not for flesh but 
for fruit ; and Jonathan was judged, not for flesh but for honey ; whereas Elias 
eat flesh with innocence, and Abraham placed flesh before approving angels. 
Wine in moderation, as St. Paul prescribes, is better than water avidity. Nor 
should you glory in the labor of your hands, since Martha, who served, was re 
proved, and Mary, who sat still, was praised ; for the true labor is that which is 
spiritual."f 

When any one monastery became eminent for the regularity of its discipline, 
the abbots of other houses used to propose it as a model to their own community. 
Thus, in the seventeenth century, the superiors of many abbevs in Switzerland 
applied to St. Gall for monks to effect a reform in their respective houses, when some 
were sent in consequence to Mariaberg, in the Tyrol ; to Rheinan, Engelberg, Dis- 
entis. Pfeffers, Fnlda, Hirschfeld, Ettenhei in minister, Kempten; only at the latter 
convent they were opposed by ihe lay nobilitv. 

The venerable abbey of St. Venue, at Verdun, twice reformed all the monas 
teries of France. In the eleventh century its holy abbot, Richard, restored the 
discipline of more than forty principal abbeys, which communicated the reform 
toothers; and, in later times, Dom Didier-le-la-Cour, prior of the same house, 
caused the spirit of St. Benedict to revive in nearly 300 monasteries, -and the 
congregations of St. Venne and of St. Maur to be instituted. 

* Voyage Lit. de Deux Beued. 1717. * S. Bern, de Pmeceplo et Dispensatione, v. 6. 



MO K KS CAT 110 LIC I; &lt;&gt; K, 

One great object of the journeys of tin- monks in the middle ages wa- to visit 
different mon -, with a view to examine their customs, in order to Iran 

those that \vt llent to their own. Tim- we read 9t, I Jot ill phr the 

middle of the Seventh century, that in hi- mona.-t- ry in Lincolnshire he e-tab- 
li-hed many holy customs and rule- of lii e \\hich h - had learn- d in im&gt;n 
bevoiid -ea. " !! taught his disci pit-.- the precepts of Salvation according to the 
rule, o: d Father IJeuedict, mingling old with ne v and new with ancient 

thii ..uc time teaching the institution of the ancient-, at another what he 

h .1 lisc ned lv him-elf."* Ingulph, abbot of Crowland, in th- time of \\ "1- 
liain the Conqueror. -a\&lt;. " Remembering that, to the honoi i and the edi 
fication of his people, in the m. :&gt;eyond sea of F .nian- lie, Jiimi." 
Clnnv, and others, niandatum of the poor wa- aiway- o: nigh u, : 
and that the j&gt;eople of (Jod were mueli ed.li-d bv it. and that in onr Knglish mon- 
rie- it was omitted or unknown, by the advi :ir whole convent, I or- 
tlaiiuHl that it should be daily practiced in our monastery, din-din.; that the al 
moner should leave ih" .-hoir after th- ion. and to proceed to the &lt;jate of 
the monast-rv, and introduce three - r- into th- I parlor: or, ift: 
should be no stmigen, time poor old men; and ifth-rc -hould be none such, 
three hone-t nd then, at the end of ma--, th ! -hould h.- washed, and 
provisions -iveii t &gt; -adi of them, which they ini-^ht eat t here or carry away with 
them as they cin. 

Brother Udalricn- of ( limy, being sent by th -alib .t into (lennany, and coming 
to a monastery in the lilaek Fop-t at Spin--, the abbot of i nat hoii--. William, re 
quested him to state i he particular cii-t &gt;ms that were ..b-ervei at Cluny; " for," 
said he, " your church, by the niciw d. hath obtained no .-mall reputation 

of religion anion^ us : therefore, you would con; , r a -Tea; favr on me, if voii would 
inform me what aie the eu-toins and in-t itntion- ofv..ur : - th- ? 

even if they are n. t ob-.Tved by us, it will serve t&gt; hnmbl-- us, if we learn how vou 
live and eonvt r-e."| " I hear, he continues, " tliat voiir r&gt; adiii _ r s on private nights 
in winter are very long. Will you relate in what manner the Old and New I 
lament are read, both in winter and -nmnie Udalrcii-. after giving him t! 

satisiaction, informs him of diver- .:u- obs- i -ved at Clnnv. "OnManndav 

Thursday," be gays, " the poor are introduced into the cloister, and placed on -. 

in order ; the lord abbot and a--i-tant- proceed t" wa- n their feet, while Man- 
datum iiovnm is read. Then the wine i&lt; bl.^-ed, and two denarii are given (o 
each of the poor. After collation in the ref.-etorv, tiie monk- ri-e to charity, and 
no one thru pivsum-- t al)-tain wholly from the wine \\hieh is prcKluced ; but 
every one ta-tts a littl--. Wh-n a monk desii- ! . he stand- before the 

priest, and drawing his right hand from under the sleeve, place- it on his biva-t, 



* M ib. Pni-f in iv. - | Hi-t. Cn-yl. 10a 

i Anti(iuii&gt;ii s Ciuisiietiicliiies Chmincensis MOD. Pr.xi in. ;ip. Dach iv. 



AGES OF FAITH. 229 

which is the sign of confession. If any one incurs a venial sin, lie does not for 
that day ki-s the text of the gospel, nor go to the peuco, or to the offering."* 
From all other Benedictine monasteries one monk us d t &gt; be sent to Monte-Cas- 
MUO, in order to observe the disripliiv.j there, f an 1 for a similar purpo-e the ab- 
l)o:s of Firniita-i, Pontigny, Clairvaux, and Morimond, were obliged to visit 
Citeaux separately every year.J 

Heading occupied a large portion of time in the monasteries of the middle ages. 
In the 1) n dictine houses all were to study, as well as to labor with their hands. 
In L"nt every one received a manuscript from the library, which he was to read 
through in order, and return it in capite quadragesimse. From the morning un 
til tierce the monks were then to be employed in study, and no one was to cause 
any distraction by conversation. On Sundays all were to study. Pope Leo 
IV. decreed, in the Roman synod, that on every day the monks should be in 
structed by reading or pious discussion amongst themselves.]) The novices were 
required to learn the New Testim&gt;nt by heart, and every day they were to de 
vote half an hour to study it.*j[ After vespers the juniors and others might study 
history or philosophy.* In the rule of St. Isidore it is required that after ves 
pers the monks should meditate or dispute on questions out of the divine lessons 
till complin. 

The word collation originated in the practice in monasteries of taking some slight 
food and drink on fasting days, in the evening, before going to hear read the col 
lations of Cissien, previous to singing complin. In reply to the abbot William 
of Spires, Udalricus of Cluny thus describes the order of study in that abbey: 
"The Pentateuch is read between Septuagesima and the beginning of Lent, both 
in the church and in the refectory, each day the reader beginning where he had 
last finished. During the nights of Lent we read the exposition of St. Augustm 
on the Psalms ; during which reading a brother goes about with a lantern to see 
that no one perchance sleeps. During the Passion we read the prophet Jeremiah, 
but only in the church. During the Paschal octave the Acts of the Apostles, and 
thence to the Ascension, the Apocalypse, and the canonical Epistles, which read 
ing continues till Pentecost; including the books of Kings, of Solomon, Job, 
Toby, Judith, Esther. Esdras, and Maccabees : all which are read only in the re 
fectory, an 1 never in the church, excepting in portions on certain Sundays. Fron&gt; 
the calends of November Ezecbiel is irad only in thechnrch, and finished before the 
least of St. Martin, and then we read Daniel and the Twelve Prophets, with 
iiomilitt of the blessd Pope Gregorv nron Ezeehiel. During Advent we read 
tli-i prophet Esaia, which is generally finished in six nights. Then follow the 
epistles of Pope Leo, De Incarnatione Domini, and other sermons of the holy 
fathers, especially of St. Augustin. We then read the Apostle; the Epistle to 

* Ib. c. xii. 18. f Hist. Cassinens. Ssec. v. 

t Anirelo Manrique Cjsterciensium Annal. torn i. Reg. c. 55. | Praefat. in 1 Ssec. Ben. 

1" Joan a Jesu Instructio Magist i Novitior. c. 19. ** Ib. 



230 MORES CAT II 01, 1C I; OR, 

the Romans is read through in two night-. If the Apo-tle should he finished 
before 8eptunge&gt;ima, \\e real th&gt;- exposition m up&lt;.n tlie 

Epistle to tin* II -. Tlr- is th" c r -1 of 

In the wise OOOamauitief of inc w-tc/n moid. -h- d to the soil by hihor, 

men beheld for th" fi;-t time work hy fr&lt;-e hmd-. In the rule of S . ! ,. n-diet, 
asa French historian observes, "on-- i- -truck :it &lt;h" ;Minir:il)le equilibrium ofde- 
votion and practice. Labor is the first word of St. I M - rule. In vain did- 

soine of the Iri-h -e&gt; k a more mystic rule under that of N ( .lumban, admit 
ting only pravcr and contemplation according to the oriental id- a. The rule of 
St. Benedict extinguished it in th- Th - &lt;cd. r give to the ancient world, 

worn with slavery, the first example of labor performed by free men. For the 
first time, the citi/en, humbled by the ruin of the city, turned his eyes to the 
lands \vhich lie had d i. and remembered the labor which was comman 

at the beginning of the world in ihe -entcmv pronounced ..n Adam. Thi- great 
innovation of free and voluntary labor, efl .-cted by the monks, is the basis of 
the modern -oeiety." 

" On arriving at tiie mon;istry of St. CEqnit Julian, who had been 

sent by the Roman pontiff, "I found there some old men writing : I as; 
where was the abbot? and th--y repii. d, In the valb-y beneath the mo . he 

is cutting gra- Speaking ofHerluin, founder of l&gt;.c, and of hi&gt; first monks, 

William of Jum : (T8, Yon would have seen them, after the oftir of the 

church, going into the field* to spend the day in agricultural labors; the abbot 
carrying th- sc d- -nhis head, and holding t &gt;N in his hand : - "aring the 

ground, others carrying manure on their sh&lt;&gt;nl lef*, End spreading "t "ii thegi-mind ; 
no one eating hi- bread in idlenes&lt;, all reinrnin^ to the church at the hour of 
the divine ofli- i-, and then &gt;itti.i&lt;_ r down to a incil ..f ^at -n bread and IM rbs with 
salt and water. f When the monk- of ( luny u- d t&lt; . -o into the fi&gt; Ids to work, 
they would Ix gin l&gt;y standing in order with their i t.and tlu-n, after 

short prayers, they pnxveded !.. labor with their iiautls. 

From tlie travel- of Dom Martene we can learn how .-trictly the monks com- 
j)lied with this injunction uf their ride down to the latter times. H In the ab 
bey ofOrval," he says, \ve saw angels in mortal h die-. Xeal-us imitator- f 
the fir-t father-, they observe unequal hours in the di-trii)iition of tin i scs ; 

they work in the fields, and take their dinner there during the harve-t ; th--y are 
always i:ay, and &lt; the j"y of th -ir -"id pain ed on their conntenances." 

On arriving at the a!&gt;l&gt;ey of ( lemhlo i\. we iiea-d that the dav before t ne monks 
had l&gt;een at work five hours in the fields, gathering in the harve-l.|| " On v, 
and delica- iron," says the rule ofS;. Benedict, " su- h work*, or arts, &gt;hoiild 

b(&gt; enj lined, that they may neith"! 1 be idle, nor oppr- --ed with violent labor. 



A-tuiq. Consuet. Clun. c. 1. ap. DMO IUT Spirih-ir. iv. + Lib. vi c. 9. 

Anti(j. CoiKiict. Cluiii ic.-nv Mon. Lil&gt;. 1. c. 30. np. Dncher. Spicilc.ir. iv. 
\ Lit. do Dcix B-n. 1 is. 9. | Ib. 1 



AGES OF FAITH. 231 

If there should be artisans in the monastery, let them exercise their art with all 
humility, and let not avarice creep in by the sale of their works, but let them al- 
wavs be given cheaper than the same would be sold by seculars, that in all things 
God mav be glorified." Many monks, who studied mechanic-sin the timeof Pope 
St. Gregory VII. are spoken of a* being most skilful workmen. They were archi 
tects, carvers in wood, workers in metal ; and even the common arts for the use of 
the monastery, such as those of shoemakers and vestment-makers, were exercised 
by monks.f 

Trithemius mentions that there were 150 monks in Hirschau ; and, besides 
these, there were sixty bearded brethren, who were not clerks, but called conver- 
tites, who were employed in manual labor, and imitating the contemplation of the 
monks. " Amongst these were men skilled in all mechanical arts : carpenters, 
masons, smiths, sen I ptors, carvers ; and also tailors and shoemakers: all these 
met in common in the church at nocturnal vigils, and had permission either 
to follow the monk.-) offices or to hear shorter, and all dined together in the 
refectory. The master of these convertites was one of the best monks, and 
most learned in the Scriptures and skilled in preaching : Master Barba to- 
rum was his name. On Sundays and festivals after prime, and again after 
sext or nones, he preached on vulgar observance. There were also fifty oblats 
men who retained their secular habit, doing all kinds of menial work, helping the 
builders and carrying water, and ready for any duty, who also served in the hos 
pital, and all with the alacrity of charity ; and they also had a master, who was 
a monk. Thus there were in all 260 men, serving God in all the fervor of char 
ity and peace of religion, in all cleanness of heart and poverty of spirit, so that 
it was truly admirable to think of it. At complin every night, they all met in the 
church ; and, when the office was finished, all retired in silence to their cells. O 
how beautiful and delightful to behold such peace on earth, such a fraternity among 
men !"^ 

From the seventh century, in the abbey of St. Denis, there was a certain num 
ber of poor, called Matricularii from their names being inscribed on the boards 
of the abbey ; and these were supported and employed in various ways" 

"Although the monks, "says Peter the Venerable, abbot of Cluny, "have ser 
vants and rustic laborers, we employ them only for lawful uses, and never 
vex them by exactions, or impose any thing insupportable. If we see them in 
want, we support them with our own. We have servants and maidservants, not 
as servants and maid-servants, but as brothers and sisters ; and we never permit 
any one to injure them. "|| In the Benedictine order, the abbots and abbesses, 
on certain days of the year, were to minister to their inferiors in the kitchen. 
The rule of St. Ferreolus, as also the ritual of Bee, prescribes that this shall be 

* Reg. cap. 58. f Voigt Hildebrand und seiu Zeitalter. 

t Trithem. in Chronic. Hirsaugiensis, $ Leboeuf. Hist, du Diocese de Paris, iii. 200. 

| S. Pet. Ven. Abb. Cluu. Eirist. Lib. i. 28. 



Mo BBS ( A Til O L1C I ; OK, 

dom- three times in the year. All tlii- picture of moiia-tic work- I -aw realized, 
wiiile 1 &lt;1 in the abbey ofGamaldolij and I remember being much struck 

at the pietv ofthe servants and herd-men, wh&gt;&gt; used to be a--embl&lt;d everv even- 
ing to -ay the and tlit- litany, immediately aft-T MR- monks had &gt;i\\\- \ . -j 

In c oiu lu-ion one may ol&gt;-,Tve that tin- divi-ion of labor \va- a- \\eil old-red in 
mona-teries as in the most indn-trioii- city. S^n; 1 with attending 

to th" i T ; others were to pr side OV&lt; r :li Top- and hat \ 

OIK- wa- I &gt; nvfivt- the tribute- : another to regulate the d. in. -tic economy. One 
bad care oi tlu- sick ; another had to receive the pilgrims anil strangers ; another to 
wait upon the poor.* 



CHAPTEB 



^ i. 




iCRUTABOR Ilierusalem in lucerni- :" at hearing which words ofthe 
Supreme Judge, St. IJernanl exclaims, "Quid ill liabylone tutuui, si 
11 : .-alem man. t -crntininm !"-* ,\ - .\ . :\\\ .. ibtIM r d- -eneiacy er- 
1, there \\a&lt; liabyloii, in th" judgment of tlie ages of faith ; and the 
difficulty of concealing or disguising anv evil which insinnat-d it-eli into 
the manners or institute. -us oftiM middl . i- one ot the mo-t re 

markable 1 atnivs wiiich difltinguUh tliem iVom later times. ""Many, by the 
persuasion of others," says Peter tie lilois. " Ix-liev that their perver.-ity is hid 
den ; but they are perilously deceivcl : lor 1- 1 v. TV -ujH-rior lx? a-snreil. tiiat, on 
Borne side or other, he will be always infamous nnl -s iie e\ in true -anetityin 
liis work-: Vox populi vox Di-i.J" It WM e.juallv impo-&gt;ible for relaxation 
in communitits to be. palliated m- k,.pt - ivt : ;t - ..... b--c;ime nois--d abroad. 
Hence inquiry and reform were words as familiar in iho-c iim&lt; i\ ; 

and, according to the advice ofthe conncill Al;&gt;e:; \".. dnke of An&gt;tria, 

abbots rather desired reform of exi-ti;iu r than the erection of new mona.-terii - 

JUit there was another kind of examination anticipated, and very .iitVen-ntly re 
garded ; which HIILM) uf St. Victor thus d-&gt;crib- : " Ualam, tiiniing liis l ac 
wards tiie tiesert. and rai-in&lt;_ r up h beheld I-rael daelling in tents by tril&gt;es; 

and the spirit of God coming upon him, he said, How beautiful are they tab 
ernacles, O Jacob! and thy tents, O Israel ! The vain peple turns it 



*Michauil, clcs Mona-terf-s an M&gt;yen-age. f Si-nn I F.pi&gt;t L"i 

Scnat. Diuloi:. Hi.-tdiic .Maitiin Abbatis Srotorum Vicn. an. PeZ. Script. Her. Au?t. ii. 



AGES OF FAITH. 

towards the desert, while in see-ret thought it examines attentively the conversation 
of those who live spiritually, it raises its eye.-, that it may -see Israel." 

To the vain people, thus idly engaged, many objections are familiar, founded 
upon the imaginary or real abti-es which existed occasionally in the monasteries 
of the middle ages. These are vain, as will be evident, after a calm investigation : 
nevertheless, it will be necessary to touch upon this ground, so as to endeavor to 
form a correct estimate of the validity of the charges which are adduced against 
the peaceful communities to which Christianity gave rise. Now, in order to dis 
cover the abuses which arrived in monasteries, to what books should we refer? 
To those of the monks themselves, and of the men who loved monasteries. If we 
read the Apology of St. Bernard, we shall find that the modern unbelievers have 
nothing to urge against the abuses of the monastic state, that was not exposed with 
far greater force by that great father of monks and of the Church. 

" In exposing abuses/ says St. Bernard, " I do not fear that I shall give trouble 
to those who love the order ; but I feel assured that they will look gratefully on 
those who attack what they themselves detest."f "In all the religious orders/ 
says John of Salisbury, "there are found some of the faithful and some of the rep 
robate. Nor is the truth of religion or of profession on that account obscured : 
for what profession is there, or what society has ever been read of, into which 
some blot did not penetrate?" After a long condemnation of (he vices which 
could be discerned in monasteries, he concludes thus : " This does not refer to the 
men who observe their profession. There is no life more faithful, none more 
simple, none more happy, than theirs within the cloister, performing their duties 
humbly, in all obedience and reverence, in all sanctification and honor, conversing 
with God ; and, as if terrestrial angels, ignorant of all the perturbations of the 
world. If there be any thing in what is said which may seem to afflict them, it 
should be referred to fraternal charity."! "See your vocation, brethren," says 
another guide : " to enter a monastery is the beginning of the utmost perfection ; 
but to live not perfectly in a monastery, is the utmost damnation. " In the earl 
iest records of monastic history some traces of evil men are found. The desert hail 
its Sarabaites, those unworthy childern. In the latter times, pretended Francis 
cans, and pretended Clares, caused scandal in Italy, and gave occasion to papal 
censures. || In every abbey, perhaps, lay sovwe dead member, to use the expres 
sion of the Carthusian Sutorws, who cites in confirmation of it the text, " Non 
est domus in qua non jaceat mortuus."^[ Speaking of these monasteries, the ab 
bots of the middle ages repeat the words of St. Augustin, and say, " I do not 
dare to pretend that my house is better than the ark of Noa, where, among eight 
men, one reprobate was found, or better than the house of Abraham, where it 
was said, Ejice ancillam et filinm ejus/ or better than the habitation of our 



* Serm. 78. t. Apologia ad Gmllel. c. 7. J De Nugis Curialium, c. 21. 

Nuremberg Doct. Ascet. I. iv. 36. || Wacldinir, An. Minorum, torn. iii. 1 Exod. xviii. 



M&gt; K KS CAT HO LIC I; OR, 

1. .rd Christ, in which eleven good men tolerated flu- thief and tsaitor Judas. or 
bettor tlian heaven it-&lt; It , fr-.m which tli i- fell." In a |&gt; -pectiuu- the 

religious orders, written about the en i of th*- twelft i century, the source of all 
danger to the cloistral discipline \va- thus pointed out : 



" Qui stint in dmi.-t!-.) ijiiHM &gt;.itii;iii in 
i liirima fal.M&gt;riim -unt vriv pnienl.-i frutrum, 
Et venit a fal-i-- f:;i:iil&gt;u- ninnr nuilimi."* 

But there were many spring-; from which it f b ttern--.- mitjht flov. 

GuiU-rt, abbot &lt;&gt; \ &gt;:&gt; ir . Btfl ni&gt;e- the &lt;! cliue which had occurred l..-f..p- ni&gt; time 
in the nmn .- ic discipline to the custom of n-c.-iviiiir children, \\ h eooe intro- 

dtic. d c;u-, 1 "n-,- and tepiditv into tr .. d-M-.t The unhappy GotUcbalk had 

thus l&gt;een oil ered, by his father, Count IJernus. a Sa.v n. to iht- alil--y ot Fulda, 
where Ivihan Maur, against th- youtii s iiciinati"ii-. -ted in thinking that 

the act of hU parenis hound him to the si trate to (J,&gt;&lt;1. G&lt;ittschalk ap 

pealed to the Archhishop Ot-^ar. of Main/. \vh" euiiveivd a synod, to whieli c:iine 
twenty-eiirht hishops and -i\ !iblots ; and the re.-ult of which was, that Rahan 
was summoned to answer Ivfoiv the K np-ror I^e\vi~, to whom he ddrewed a 
writing in his own defense, entitled " 1 ). Oolatione PU--I o: inn." of which there ii 

a copy in tlie al)l- Melk. in Austria. ( i.-ttschalk, ho\y. nained in the 

monastic &gt;tate, though he removed to the abU-y ot ( )rbais, in the diocese 
of Soisson-. 

A&lt;:ainsr this custom, founded upon : of the Old Testament, but ot 

the result of ignoranOB or nnw &gt;rthv motive- in worMlv pa -eii 1 -. l&gt;o:ii the monks 
and the -nvcreiijn pmtiH- ooatiiiUfl lv raised their V"i&lt; &gt;--. The monk- were care 
ful to sh"\\- the importaix ..... f uiidei taking that h"lv lif-. not thr ii-jh the advice 
or influence of parent-, Init willintrly of their own 100016, and -ol.-ly moved by 
the vocation of Christ.* That alUervice and saerifn--- mn-t be voluntary, i- -hown 
by on-- writer of the middle a_ r - s in tlies" w&lt; ~ : M.TO (juidem homo -urn, non 
a-iniis. ut -pintail-Mi-; invit"r ad onera, non eompellar invitus." To provide 
airain-t the incauti!H recent ion of novices in monasteries, St. Benedict, at the 
synod of Aix-1 a-( iiaix-llc. in 817, can-ed it to be d that the entmnce to 

monasteriefl - nonld not !) mad- ea-v t &gt; novice- ; that, in the cell of the &lt;_ ! 
they should -erve the -tran^-rs a few dav-. !&lt; of pf"liation ; and tliat, 

if they had any property, it was to I&gt;C _MVU to th ir parent-. || Udalricus accord 
ingly relates, in I im- of Cinny, that til" &lt;.blat- that is the children who 

b en oU .-ivd to the rnotia-terv bv their parent -- were triven the habit, iuit 
that the benediction was &lt;i i until they -honld attain the legitimate age; 

* S.Mii.-n-irriirunolli de Ordinibus Rdiuiosi ap. M:irt.-nf. V. t. Script, torn. vi. 
f I).- Vit:i I rnpri-i, i. H. 

J Antiquior. Consuetud. Cluniacens. Mon. ap. Dacher. Spicileg. iv. g Pet. Bles. Ep. 128. 
| Cap. 34. 



AGES OF FA ITU. 

that is, says Mabillon, until they should be of an age to know their own will; 
for without their own .-pomaiifons choice, it was expres-ly forbidden by the later 
canons to make them monks.* At Hirsohau, in the tenth century, no one under 
twenty was permitted to profess. t A child, named Lambert, had been constrained 
by his father to assume the monastic habit. On growing up, he wished to in 
herit the goods of his family, of which his parents sought to deprive him. Pope 
Nicholas t. declared his profession mill:}: The Church terribly condemned those 
who entered a monastery from any other motive but piety. " Such persons," says 
the council of Cologne under Herman V., "are not sons of God, or monks, but 
clearly mercenaries ;" and the council of Trent pronounces an anathema upon all, 
of whatever quality or state, who should compel or entice any one to take the 
habit. Mabillon has proved, by the testimony of Cardinal Peter Damian, 
that the custom of offering children had been abolished, at Mount-Cassiiio, before 
the end of the twelfth century. So attached to it were some parents, that Pope 
Clement III. had found great difficulties in laboring to extirpate it ; and there 
were not wanting writers to inveigh against such prohibitions. However, if it 
lingered any where, the decrees of Celestin III. and of Innocent III. put a total 
end to it. The young St. Thomas was sent to Monnt-Cassino at the age of five, 
merely to be educated with other children, and that also under a secular tutor. |j 
Louis of Paris, in his exposition of the rule of the Franciscans, shows how well 
guarded was that order from ail abuse on this side, " No one," he says, " who 
is the sole support of his parents, can be received into it. If the parents of a 
friar fall into extreme necessity, he is to succor them ; if not within the order, he 
can leave it, and work for them, asking leave from his superiors ; and if leave 
should l)e refused, he must still do so, because he is more obliged to the divine 
and natural law than to all vows : but it is certain that he can always assist them 
otherwise, as there are never wanting charitable personsto prevent the necessity of a 
friar leaving his order. The brethren cannot induce, directly or indirectly, a no 
vice to leave his goods to the order, or to the parents of the brethren, however, 
poor. No one having debts can be received into it ; but if any should be so re 
ceived, the order is obliged to pay the debts. The brethren must not receive any 
one for sake of friendship, relationship, or any human respect ; and must not re 
fuse any one through hatred, contempt, or any human respect, under pain of mor 
tal sin."^[ In the abbey of St. Gall, youths of high nobility were not so much 
desired ; as experience proved that they, more than others, were liable to degen 
erate, and introduce confusion and relaxation into cloisters.** 

The, monastic exemptions, though granted with an excellent intention, were 
sometimes a source of abuse, against which St. Bernard expressly wrote, in- 

*Prsef. In IV. Ssec. Ben. 7 f Trithem. in Chronic. Hirsaug. 

J Bibliotb. Hist, dela Congreg. de S. Maur. 236. S Sess. 25. c. 18. 

Touron, Vie de S. Th om. 13. f Expos. Lit. de la Rfigle des FF. Mineurs, c. 2. 

** Eckebard in Cas. 



:vi ORES ( A T II U L I C I ; OK, 

ctUcattiig tbedatyofobedieuoe t&gt; the ordinary.* "Some mon ."hesavs 

" in ditlerent dioce-&lt; -, pertain inuiv iiuiut diately to tiie Holy See, from the w il 
tlu- founders ; l)Ut what devotion grant-, i- one tiling; and what ambition, im 
patient of snl jec:i-n. contrives, i- an&lt;.th, Tim- hi- write.- to P.-pe Innon 
to defend Albero, mroh bishop of Treve*, against ih- unholy a! St. Maximin 

and -onie contumacious monks, \\lio, und-r pr - tenc- of their immunities, op: 
the wisli of that pnlate to reform them.} In 1215, the Lat.-ran Council depi . 
abbey- fall jurisdiction to whirh they were not in a condition to 

prove their claims. AjKtther aoaroe of degeneracy ofconi in the men tlieni- 

.- who embraced the inoiui- be. It \\.i- ;h- remark &gt;! Kpictrtu.-, and of 

all the old that, to m. n ot b:i-c natin -. the -tudv ofpbilo0Ophj wa-nrher 

injurious than benelii-ial. When !) p -iv.-ivd a man without -liain--, impoi in 
and andaeiou-, eornipt and n.-ol, nt. he knew him to be one who m- ddied \\itlithe 
study and diseijilin-- of piiiloaophj 

Who seck&gt; to qne-tion whether .-udi onld be di-eoven d in tin- eli.:-ter ? 

Doubtless tiieiv mi^ht !) found at times some eoni.t in who- - hood that 

dark bird nestled of \\hieh 1 d;- ; though sneh impo-tors iinind not I 

beneath their hands of promise the thn&gt;n who wait. tin 1 ble--inj : 

they w- r. sur.- to In- nnma.-ketl at ln^th. and diivt-n out. But a in-re -ui 
inisehief eon-i-ted in the gradual d -dine )t pi*-ty in others, who, IH their eoin- 
inencement. had -hc&lt;l Instr. . Why d manna t:i-tr now in-ipid in your 

month." -,.y- ;h monk- in thi- condition, "if it is not that ymi 

have returned i the wi . t&lt;-hed coii-olat ;ni- ot tiie\\. . 1\ -m^Hiber your 

troini: out from Iv^ypt. L t that dav Lord be r in your memo 

Unquestionably the hand of th-- Lord was with von, or else yon would h: 
inaiiicd in the world. When- i-, th-n, that &gt;piiit.t:iat primitive fervor, thai Hrm 
intention, that imm Vi-aliie resolution, that love sti .tth ?"|| 

The apostate of Erfurth -ays, that h-- r :t r pronouncing h-is 

monastic vow that his fa:h- : XflainHnl, "Hi ant that this may not be a 

trick of Satan !" " \\ o: :- \\ . : into my heart. 1 lie a that it 

.ied as if (Jod had spokt n by hi- month." Th&lt; manifest evi. 

d in th" natural or acipiired ii^ n-t ncy ot .-uiu- men. who would n &gt;l ind 

:ily renounce the r i -ion. l&gt;ir produce relaxations, like that of 

the -eraphic family to which Punt" alind - a- b.in^ turned backward, when by 

.ua-paita there \\c:c made chan_ r - - in it- rnl". " I 1 from a certian 

prudent and religion- man, lingo of St. Victor, that th-. -oineki 

of ni n who c be rtani d witli order in religion. Tie 

painters, physicians, and Imtl o ms. who are ao-n&gt;:oined (,, travel through ditVerent. 
region-. Men of this d-crijuion can hardly be stable. The art of painting is 

* S. I5.-rn ilr Oilirio I 9. 4 D,. &lt; , , , . . , jf. .j. 

.1. Gfl. xvi. 19. | Thoiu. a Ken, 



AGES OF FAITH. 237 

very delightful ; for when a painter has painted a church, a chapter-room, a re- 
fectorv, or any cabinets, if leave be granted to him, on being invited with en 
treaties, he goes to another monastery for the sake of painting. He paints the 
works of Christ upon a wall, but I wish lie would hold them in mind, that he 
might know how to paint them in his life and manners. The medicinal art re 
quires many things; for he who exercises it must have abundance of aromatic 
plants and medicines. When any one near the church falls sick, he is asked to 
go to him, and the abbot can hardly refuse him permission. Yet he only makes 
experiments on things uncertain. The experiment is fallacious, and he is often 
deceived. Whereas a monk should never speak any thing but what is true. 
Buffoons and jesters also, and those who have once acquired the habit of rambling, 
can scarcely ever be content to remain in the cloister."* The fathers of the 
council of Cloveshoe in the eighth century decreed that bishops were to take care 
that the monasteries should correspond with their name ; that is, should be habita 
tions of men laboring for God in silence and peace, and not receptacles of arts which 
minister to pleasure, of poets, minstrels, and musicians, but the abodes of men pray 
ing, reading, and praising God ; that the youths within them should be trained to 
the love of the sacred Scriptures, in order that men well learned may be forth-coming 
to the general utility of the Church. Monks and abbots of the middle ages had oc 
casion from time to time to complain of the introduction of human vanity into the re 
treats from which such pains had been taken to exclude it. In 1281 a general chap 
ter of the Cistercians pronounced against the luxury of equipages which the abbots 
of Ciieaux began then to affect. It forbad any abbot or monk to mount into a char 
iot or palanquin, imitating effeminate delicacy, on pain of being commanded to fast 
ou bread and water. To what refinement cookery was carried in some monasteries 
in the age of St. Bernard appears from his apology to William. f " With such 
art," he says, " are all things prepared, that when you have devoured four or five 
dishes, you will imagine that you are only beginning. Who is able to describe 
in how many modes, to omit other things, eggs alone are turned and tortured, 
with what study they are converted and subverted, liquified, hardened, and di 
minished ; now fried, now baked, now stuffed, now mixed, now separated? In 
some monasteries on great festivals wine is mixed with honey and the dust of 
pigments. Is this, too, for the sake of the stomach and one s infirmity ? Alas ! 
after such potations, when one rises to matins, it will not be a song but a lamen 
tation, &lt; Non cantum sed planctum potius extorquebis." Are we to laugh or to 
lament at such things ? Was it [\ni&lt; Mat-arms lived ? thus that Basil taught ? 
thus that Antony ordained ? thus that the fathers in Egypt conversed ? thus, fin 
ally, that Saints Odo, Mai olus, Odilo, Hugo held the rule ? Again, he remarks 
that there are some men who are no sooner monks than they find they have weak 
stomachs, and who, instead of being clad with the cheapest raiment according to 

*Hugo de S. Viet. Institut. Monast, Lib. i. c. 45. f c. 9. t Id. c. 9. 



MORES CATHOLICI; o Ii, 

the rule, seek the n. X ly in &lt;&gt;ur provi: u,d 

any th "d en ngh tor them. 1 h- in* .-; h"im:ai,lf ; in the woild, au 

iinperor him.-eli, would nut di-dain the \vhi&lt;-h they WCftT, if adapted 

their U 

Some monks, in defiance of the raiimi-, which did not even permit iluin to keep 
sporting dogs,* were kno\\n to indulge in hunting, and J)om Martene n l.tt - an 
in.-: hat fell under hi- \vn ol.-e: vation : "On arriving at th- little ab- 

be\ \\iiieli is in a va-t -.-litude," hesa :bbot wa- ab-ent, but 

the monk charged with ivee ivm haritably, and while 

\\aiting for dinner, led us int ;he kitchen to \\ann our-elves ; fur in this coun- 
trv there o much cfreminy. \Ve counted a- many as ten hunt n 

who warmed themselves round a fire lar_;&lt; enough t :i ox, it j the 

en-toni here to thru whole tiv- - into the lire. We heard that we cotild not see 
the libran sithout lo.-ing time, or thinking that \\v lost much by not .-teing 

it, we mounted our horses and rode p at Statberg."f \\ 

laxatioiis prevailc&lt;l, : nee and tepl?lity were a natuial euii-cijiicnce. ( .- 

of Hiesterbae n n hit-- an in-tan&lt;v in an amu-ing manner. " Il- iiry, a knight of 
Bonn," he -a led 1^ nt witii n-. Ait-T lie had returned home he met 

day the Abbot (ierard, and .-;d-i, My lord, I pray you tos--ll mea.-tone so n- ar 
to -ucli and-uch a pillar in yuur ehurch.and I will pay whatever you a-k for it. 
\Vliv, what - i it be of to vou ! demanded the icher. I wi.l plac-- it 

. 

by my bed, rep.i.d the knight, for .-nch i- it- property, that whoevr puts his 
head near it falls a-lerp. Kvrr ait.-rwar.ls when the abbot felt drowsy in the 
church, he hnd only to look at the stone and he wa- awai ver."J 

Abuse* therefore there were; for, as Run- &gt;av-. To angels, wisdom and love 
are in one mea-me dealt from Him in whom nought unequal dwells; but will 
and mean&gt; in mortals with unlike win^- are tie 1- But, what is very im- 

ponant to remark, they were expo-ed ; thi-v were lain* and a reform sooner 

or later was the result. Thus a compl- oiatioii of discipline witne--.d St 

Germain. I/An\.-rn&gt;i- in !7&lt;), St. Maur des F.--. / an-i &gt;;. l&gt;nii- n. ar I ari- in 
994, St. Rieharms in Centula and St. Wal.tr. &lt; in L- nca in iso. &gt; 1 etei at ^l - 
lun in 991, St. Andreas in Yienn. in !i .U. Marmoutier, St. \l &gt; -h- in ( hart res, 
and St. Menign in I &gt;ijon in !X&lt;). Fontanc-lle in 901 . St. Arnulf in M aaon, 
Mariin and St. Julian in Tours in . 7.;, Mici in 984. where Letald wrote. M --a\ . 
St. Peter in Sen-. I. one of the eai lie-: in Franc**, in 978, St. Kligius in 

Noyon in 980, St. Quintin near Per.imie in H77, \\h -re th-- d.-a- on Dudo related 
the history of the Normans in the spirit of the old min.-tiels ; and St. .b&gt;docu- in 
977. 

When Peter, abbot of Clnny, had sent coinieis with 1- all the lions 

hie order, convoking all the priors of England, Italy, and other kingdoms to 

*Concil. Paris, 1210. Montpellier, 1217. f Voyage Lit. 24S. + Lii&gt; . iv. c. 37. ? Pa:. 15. 



AGES OF FAITH 239 

assemble at Cluny on the third Sunday of Lent, to receive more austere rules than 
had been previously observed, Ordeiic Vitalis was struck at the fact that no dis 
sentient voice was heard. " The persons convoked," he says, "obeyed, and on 
the day fixed 200 priors met at Cluny. There were in the abbey that day 1212 
monks. They made a procession, chanting according to the ecclesiastical rite, and 
in the joy of th -ir hearts praising God devoutly. I can speak of this with cer 
tainty, since I had the satisfaction of being there and of seeing this glorious army 
assembled in the name of Jesus Christ.** 

"In our religious communities," says Fleury, "those which have relaxed in 
their observances, though the object of that relaxation was to attract more mem 
bers, decrease from day to day, whilst the most regular and austere houses are 
filled with eagerness."! St. Bernard, alluding to the wish of the old Abbot 
Guarinus to reform his community and attain perfection, expresses himself in these 
terms in writing to him : " Whence could such an ardor for renewing the order 
spring up, but from a renovation of mind ? Thus a good tree yields good fruit. 
Your fruits are most pure, but what tree could produce them unless cleanness of 
heart ?": With such fruits the cloisters of the middle ages abounded. " Theo- 
doric, abbot of St. Tron," says Rndulfus, " loved our order and all who loved it, 
in so much that no brother enjoyed his friendship who he did not know was a 
faithful and diligent observer of its duties ; and on the other hand, if a brother 
had ever so loudly reprehended any thing in his life, or words, or works, yet if 
it was known to him that he was faithful and diligent, he had familiar and con 
stant access to him ; for he attended to nothing but the faithful discharge of the 
duties imposed by theehurch; neither age, nor familiarity, uorfear, nor consanguin 
ity, nor science, nor beauty, nor nobility, nor prospect of utility, nor any other 
consideration, had the smallest weight with him in opposition to this." "What I 
am going to relate," says Caesar of Heisterbach, " was told me by a certain ab 
bot of our order, and by the monk Everhard, of the mona-tery in which it oc 
curred. In Ostburg s Abbey, in the diocese of Utrecht, was a zealous monk. 
On the death of his abbot and the election of another, whom he knew to be a 
worldly man, he lamented, saying, Alas ! the discipline of this monastery will 
soon perish ! and he said, Lord Jesus Christ, let me not live longer to witness 
the desolation of this house. As he could not be induced to give his vote for 
the new abbot, he said to him with a tranquil mind, God knows that I love you, 
but I know that the religion of this house will be destroyed bv you. Early on 
the next morning, after saying mass, he desired to be anointed, though in perfect 
health. On their remonstrance he persisted, sayinir, Thfs very day I shall die. 
Then having placed the mat, he lay down and caused the community to be as 
sembled by striking the tablet. After the prayers, as death did not seem to come, 

* Lib. xiil. f Discourse surl Hist. Des vi. Pretn. Siecles. 20. 

J Epist. 254. Cbronic. Abd. S. Trud. up. Dacher. Spicileg. vii 



240 M O R E S C A T H O L I C I ; O R, 

he rose up, and placing on hi&lt; n(vk the stole with which he !v -aid n 

lie ; nvKcd St. Mary, mul placed him-elf bef..re tin- altar, in the manner used 
with those who are in their agony. The just man - prayer was heard ; for he ex 
pired, and all tliat he had predicted came in pa--." Tur-tin, archl&gt;i-hop u f 
Y -rk, write- a- l-Uow- t.i \Villiain, arehbi.-iiop of ( \mterbury : " It is known to 
many with what go &gt;dne-s and renown of virtue the illustrion- monastery o: 
Mary ol Y :k flourished in the ears of all men. Hence tii. i i-h. - ,.j ti.e h 
greatly in i , but as virtue seldom k ce with wealth, about half a 

year a^ -meo( the brethern, moved, I believe, by -i divine in-tinei. Wgantc.be 
vehement lv agitated in mind re-pecting the t their c&lt;&gt;nv&lt; r-ation, and bv a 

Stinging con-eieiur, as they testifi -d to -iiflcr urernally, I -arin^ 1st they might 
be running in vain ; for they, thought it would be a crime, or rather insanity, if 
thev -hoiild bear the rule of St. Benedict not to -alvation, but to judgment of 

h. They di-clo-e&lt;] their views to the Prior Richard, wh&lt; :ne deli: 

ation, i to a ist them. Their numb lounted to thin. en. 80011 

the viiril F 38, Peter and Paul, the IN-ior Richard, on whom almost the whole 
care of the monastery devoK ok with him hi- -lib-prior Gervaise and 

:eofth . and di- th--ir . familiarly to the L ! i Abbot a man, 

indeed, honorat)le and _r"&gt;d, but tin) -imn e an i illiterate. He -lnnM : . d ;1 r tiie 

novelty of the thin&lt;r, and denied that lit nld change t ne customs of the p!. 

To him tiie Lord Prior rej&gt;lied a- a learned man, and showed thai they wi-hed to 
int:i&gt;diice no noveltie-, but on the contiary, to re-t } the ancient mode of life 
instituted by their bles.^ d I- a-ie r Benedict, and above all. tiie m..-t ancient 
pel of Chri-t, which pieced- d all rules. We seek not to disparage any other 
monks,* said they, we envy n&lt;&gt; "thcr- ; we know that in everv j&gt;lace we serve 
our Lord ; we militate under one king: but we know that the difierent execises 
appointed by St. Benedict to obviate -loth, tnc neinv of the -oul, such as read 
ing, prayer, labor, incln- UK! -lability, ought to l&gt;e ..b-erved atvord- 
ing to his rule. Therefore, O venerable father, let us recur ngclieal pur 
ity, to evangelical perfect ion, and to peac&gt;\ If we compare oui lives with that 
standard, we shall &gt;ee how we are fall- ii and condemn d. Behold how alive Is 
the go-pel in the Saviuiac monks, and those of Cl.drvaux, who lately came to u- ; 
in whom so .-hines the evangelic light, that if it !&gt; lawful to -av -o. it would be 
more useful to imitate them than to recite t! &lt;!. \\ hen their holy conv r- 
sation is seen, tin m- to revive ami flourish again in tiiem. They alone 
seek not their own alone ; they alone possess nothing ; they alone injure not their 
neighbor ; they are content with a moderate culture of the earth, and the u-e of 
cattle, and they do r. ! to have th -e mil"-- so lonu a- &lt;i"d wi-he-, because 
when God wishes them to be taken away, thev do not claim them by litig.ition. 
They, I believe, can truly say, The world is crucified to u-, and we to the world. 

* IlluM. Mir. Lib. si. &lt; 



AGES OF FAITH. 241 

They may be permitted to say, f Dimitte nobi.s debita nostra/ who have no debtor 
from whom they wish to exact any thing. Happy race of men, whose habits, 
food, and entire mode of conversation savors of the Gospel. Their sole portion 
is God. As far as is possible for humanity, they fulfil the law of loving God 
ami their neighbors : for adhering to God alone, they hold all temporal things 
in such contempt, that they desire nothing which can be an occasion of anger to 
their neighbor Therefore, O father, it cannot seem to be impossible to ob 
serve the rule of blessed Benedict, since God has given us such examples. Thus 
spake the prior, but the Lord Abbot Galfrid, did not receive his words well ; but 
as he acknowledged that he was less clear-sighted and learned, he desired them 
to explain more fully by writing what they thought could be enforced , and when 
this was done, he desired time for deliberation, and promised an answer after the 
nativity of St. Mary. Meanwhile the fears and resentment of the other monks 
became so notorious, that the Prior Richard, the sub-prior, and secretary of the 
monastery thought fit to disclose the whole to the archbishop, and demand his 
Clemency and that of St. Peter. Therefore Turstin the archbishop, hearing that 
these servants of God preferred nothing to the love of Christ, feared lest he should 
offend in them against the grace of Christ if he did not attend to their petition 
and provide for their necessity, and so by advice of religious persons he sum 
moned before him the Lord Abbot Galfrid and Richard the prior, with his sub- 
prior, that he might procure the fulfilment of their wishes in peace. They ac 
cordingly protested again with tears that all they sought was to observe the rule 
in its ancient purity, aud the lord abbot weeping confessed that their work had 
been long required, and promised that he would be no impediment. The tepid 
monks, however, threw many obstacles in his way, nor was it utitil the exercise 
of the archbishop s authority that the reform was fully accomplished."* 

The influence of the world upon the manners of the cloister could not but be 
felt here and there during certain intervals. At one time secular men began to 
entice monks to come forward to assist them in their temporal affairs. Pope 
Eugene III. then warned the Cistercians in a letter to their general chapter against 
permitting themselves to be thus persuaded. "Since the children of this world," 
he says, "endeavor to draw you over, though unwilling, to manage their affairs, 
and wish to recall you from the peace of contemplation and the silence of the des 
ert to occupations and secular business, fix the eyes of your mind again on the in 
stitutions of your fathers, and having the prophetic example, choose rather to be 
abject in the house of God, than to dwell iti the tents of sinners." At another 
time laymen invaded the monasteries, and in order to plunder them, pretended to 
have a right to govern them. The pomp of some worldly abbots had opened 
the door to this abuse ; for nothing could *eom to be secular after this deplorable 
example, "I have seen," says St. Bernard, an abbot proceeding with more 

* St. Bernard, Epist. 



24-J MOKKS CAT IK) LIC I ; OR, 

than sixty Inn -emeu in his train. If you were to -re them pass, you would gay 

that thcv \\-ri-cnot tiuh Ts of mona-teries, but Lord* of oBfltlee j not diced 

souls, hut prinrt-s of provin 9 ly will tiny . :roni honir to a dis 

tance of four leagues without taking all their fnrn tire \\ith them, as if u r "inj; 
with an army or about to pa-s a d--serf, whrrr it uould br imp. to find 

. Could not our v --&gt; 1 splice f,ir \vasidmr the hands and for drinking 
wine? Would not a candle give light without being in branches, and th"Se of 
gold or silver? Could not one sleep mile-- und r coverings of foreign manu 
facture? Could not oii&gt; servant st i llice to look after the hor-f-, and wait at table, 
and prepare the l&gt;eds."f In the eighth century began in Fiance the abu-e 
of certain mon s being taken possession of forcibly by threat lords, who so: 

part of their revenue- for th"insel\. Hie abbot of Murhart came to Stutt- 

;/ard to the Avone of the convent Udalric de Wurtem ! thought," said 

he. ":hat the monastery of Murhart had been founded foj- monk- ; but 1 now see 
that it was for do--. My monks can no longer perform the divine otli umMst 
the e -- barking. 8 - th^y are in my convent, 1 .-hall remain 1,- 

The lord Avoiieean nouri-h me much in -ily than I can his doi_ r s." The 

A. voo6 had abused the right of BotMge, that of 1. the 1 d l doga The 

kind s inuit-meii arr ._a d at diiT-n-nt t \ tyrannical pr. \ wiiich 

they ex.-rci- d OVCT the monks. Tn.-y claim- &lt;1 tin- ri-ht t . remain ;hr.--davs in 
monasteries with their do^s, hoiMSj and all tneir e&lt;|uii ,nd to ! maintainetl 

during thetim-. Tin- al&gt;u-e wa- aloli-neil by kin-: Charles V. Havini: him 
self lodged with his hunters in \:\&gt; ,-&gt; in tli- it Livry. he ^ aV e the monks 
in indemnity the riinit to feed thirty -wine in tli -t.f 

Tlie abbey ol St. IIub&lt;-rt in the Ardeunr- mi^ht have it -distinct race of black 
dot:-, called the d St. HuU-rt, witiioiit any abu-e P -nltiiiL , but it would be 

dffioult to give an adequ npeu-ation ;&lt;.r tiie evil that must have accrued to 

discipline from such royal intru-ions. The kiu^s of France airain claimed the 

pri\ &gt;f plaoiog one or two maimed Roldien in .njoved 

the ri^ht of free election, as oblat- or lav brothers; but as Stephen I .i-.juier re 
marked, this opened the way to nthepaiioftbekiog4 The ^ 

oi all abuse-, however, eonsi-ted in tne appointment of secular abbot-, whose gov 
ernment was destrnctiv of the wh-.l.- in-na-t &lt; discipline ; for the-e abbot- would 
not allow the monks t : me to perform their ,,Hic.-s ; and from their cruelt ics the 
&lt;"ilv \\a_v of. j by addns-inj petition- to th" em p. : 

About the middle of tiie fourteen: h centurv, the Fii _d -h having plundered the 
ablwy of La-ny, ..n their departure th- hoi; left under the jriiard of 1 

tie la Cri(jii". a most crii -l mm. who -pared nothing that the I". ^ -h had left. 
Yet his cruelty could not resist the patience of th* monk-!, lie was touched with 

* Apolog. ad GuilU-1. f Le Grand d Aussy Hist, d.- l.-i Vie Prive-, &c. i. 367. 

4 Recherches de la France, iii. 40. ubil. 1 raef. iu IV. M . Bcued. 



AGES OF FAITH. 243 

compassion ; and to repair the evil he had done, he laid the foundation of a new 
and magnificent church, and finish- tl the sanctuary.* In later times there were 
instances or these -eeular nobles being appointed by the state to govern monaster 
ies even while minors j as when Claude de Saint-Simon \va&gt; made abbot of Ju- 
mie^es in his twentieth year, during the regency of the duke of Orleans, who 
gave him that dignity, which he exercised to the ruin of the mona-ttry and the 
oppression of the poor. Many similar instances might \K produced ; but it is 
great injustice to represent such men, who were the enemies of monks, as their 
representatives. 

In the middle ages the deposition of evil superiors was always a matter of 
cour-e, unless when monastic liberty was fetter- d by the secular power. In the 
year 810 the monks of Fulda being prevented from applying to learning by the 
oppression of their severe abbot, Ratgarim, inveighed against him by various em 
blems and facetious device*, of which one represented an abbot mounted on a uni 
corn riding over some sheep who fled before him. He was finally accused, con 
victed, and deposed. f " It is to be observed," says Michand, " that the monks 
who wrote chronicles of their order or monastery were careful to mention and re 
cord whenever an irreligious or, as they called him, an Unhappy abbot ruled ; 
and whenever the monks forgot the spirit of their institute, by living to themselves 
rather than to Christ. They never fail even to mention at what epochs discipline 
was in the lea-t relaxed, as when the monks were too much attached to the refec 
tory, when they repeated their office too rapidly in the Church, and when there 
was no attempt to correct them." Now the same writers, we must remember, 
generally describe the monasteries as being^a spiritual garden, and a paradise of 
perfection. They alwavs designate a time of relaxed discipline as an exceptional 
period of calamity ; as in the chronicle of Sens, where we read, &lt;( de Adelardo mis- 
ero abbato Senoniensiet de miseria eju-dem loci."^ The misery WAS a decay of piety 
and a life of pleasure. And whit was the conclusion? "The time of mercy 
from God arrived," says the monk, " for there was in the monastery a youth 
named Rambert who desired to follow a holy life; so he fled from the house, and 
repaired to a neighboring monastery where the monks were holy men serving 
God, who received him with kindness. After a time, being fully instructed in 
the rules of discipline, and invested with authority, he returned to the degenerate 
congregation, and laid before them the mode of life observed in the house from 
which he came ; but finding his exhortations in vain, he used his authority, and gave 
them theirchoice either t adopt a holy life or to leave the monastery. All submit 
ted but four, who followed the way of death, and left the cloister. The rest resolved 
to live to God ; and in a short time Rambert became the object of their love and 



reverence." 



* Lebeuf. xv. 47. t Schannat. Hist. FuMensis. P. iii. 3. 

| Cup. 18. an. Dacher. Spicileg. iii. 



J44 Moil K S C A T II O L I C I ; () R, 

Several instance- of the .same kind occur in the annals of CWl&gt;y in Saxony 
Thus I I, "In til.- year 1104 th- scii&gt;ol of the monastery declined sully; 

and thi- year, lit*!*. tn- author .if the evil is puni-hed by ( i&gt; :. * Again, at 
the ilau- of 1 17O \\e find tins notice, The i &gt;ur mmia.-tery was deploiabl. 

that 1). H liiy compo-ed and &gt;ung a public lamentation in the form of a 

litany. In 1471 lit- went with license ..t superiors to be ma-tei 
Ib r..&gt;veld. In the mean time may ( i. id nave mercy upon Cm by, \\h-i 
ami ham died our order, where luxury ami sloth n&lt;&gt;w d&gt; pies- it. Tiii- is 

enough for the wi-e :" with which words tin- annal- conclude. "+ At St. Gall the 
same :n; i u-i-n by -ecular nobles took place ; but during those horrible times .-..mo 
of the monks remained imnioveable. Th . Fran/, who died in 1529, am d-t 

all this d-solatioii, was a man of the puie-t manner-, loving ^randeur in the di 
vine wor.-hip, .-tudyin^ the ancient history ol his country, and can-in^ to be v, 
ten out some lx&gt;:iutiful books. ( )f Fridolin Sieh- r, who, at the .-a me time, \\ 

nil work.- respeotingtiie divine oflice, the annuary of the hon . " (^ui in 

cmieti- an&lt;ni-tiis hujiis tempori- pc in mit i limobili-." I n fact it :.-mark 

nui le in all a^es of monastic hi hat dmii when 

there was the greatest d .licipliii". there were alwav.- in moi 

true -ervants ot liod, wlio-e piety \\a- I : nnation of the other-. Thi- Abeil- 

lard loimd tolx-th" ca-e:it St. D ni- bet .retht- rei orm h.-ul !&gt;&lt; n ell eird by Su 
gar 5 and hence, while reproving evil m&lt; n, we al\\a\~ tin ! those who -ou-lit to re 
form the maiinc!- of -n.-h h meludiQi in words like th-e of Peter of 
Blois, who terminal. -ermon thu-, " \\"e do not -ay th&gt; .-&lt; thin_- 
brethren, on ace&gt;nnt of yon ; f,,r anion_ -t vou th-T-- ar-- many who excel in 
sanctity ; but yet th-i* a: ih-- :ip . many who are 

.k, and many who -leep. tin- a- yet the tan- -_ r ro\v with the wheat. "f The 
conclusion arrived at by the fathers &lt;f tin- Svn&gt;d of Teudo, muit r 1 bishop 

of Met/, alt-! Bp ftking of the e ndition of the moii; in their addu-ss 1 , Lo- 

thaire, I^ewis. and ( harl.-, i- conveyed in the-e remarkable words: "If the 
ionks at thi- pient momen: ! be I fed in reiraid t&gt; divine rcligon 

and to the tility of the republic, they .-hould be either corrected, or better men 
substituted in their place but let not the oidei of religion, and the in r.d 

places, on account of the wick of the depr iv. d, he committed to tho- 

whom it is not lawful t&gt; c..iurnit them ; since the Scripture clearly -Imw- that 
O/ini wa-s struck dead for wisiiin-to rai.-e up the fallen ark ..f tli-- L ni. \\hich 
was not lawful for him so much a&lt; to touch."* 

It cannot i hui tnat tie an i privilege- with which kii 

chose to invent the sui&gt;eriors o rcl;-i"ii- ho i.-ied th- way t-&gt; much 

abuse on the part of the secular administration. It would !&gt; lorn.: and n 
to tell of these. The abbots of Fulda had sovcreNju power over ten s ilia re miles 

* Ap. Leibnitz. Script. Bruus. ii. f Serin. Ivi. J .Vp Hcumanu. &lt;le Re Dipl &gt;in. ii B 



AGES OF FAITH. 245 

round the abb-,-y.* The Ian* led possessions of the monks, by the feudal law, sub- 
jtrted them to the duty of military service, to which even convents of nuns were 
bound, as in the instance uf that of our lady at Soissons.f Kings too very often 
chose to have their prisoners placed in confinement within monasteries, and hence 
prisons were often attached to them. It is true the plan may have originated in 
the predominant piety of the age, which sought to identify criminal.- with peni 
tents who only through that gate could pass to peace; but still the surprise with 
which one observed some abbeys fortified like castles, could not exceed that which 
the stranger experiences when he hears that there is a prison within them ; and 
still more when he finds it such as Dom Martene describes when he says, " At 
the abbey of St. Xicholas-aux-bois, three leagues from Laon, in a fearful solitude, 
we saw the royal prisons, which are horrible to behold."^ 

In the Fourth Book we refuted the accusation brought by some modern authors 
against the monks when charging them with cruelty ; and we observed what was 
really the monastic discipline in regard to the punishment of offenders. The hor 
rible event of Anastasios, a priest, being buried alive in an ancient crypt among 
the bodies of the dead by order of Cantinus, bishop of Clermont, a tyrant and 
usurer, allied with Jews, in revenge for his refusing to give him up some charters, 
may have led to the strange reports from which such authors took their ideas, and 
to which Cardan seems to allude where he says, " To be buried alive and suffer 
atrocious punishments either never happens in the monastic orders, or more rarely 
than to be impaled or sawed asunder by order of secular judges.")) Still, in 
the theory of the criminal jurisprudence, the mediaeval church, as a modern his 
torian observes, " having fully adopted the wise and beneficent doctrine that pun 
ishment is to be inflicted by fallible man upon his fellow-creatures, not in terror but 
in love, and imprisonment being consequently considered as an ecclesiastical pen 
ance, not thundered in vengeance for the satisfaction of the state, but imposed for 
the good, of the offender, in order to lead him to repentance and mercy ;" the m&lt;&gt;n- 
a-teries were deemed not unfitting places for being made the scene of such correc 
tion ; and, in fact, the policy of those who have transferred criminals elsewhere, 
seems nothing else but " to drag from heaven the unrepentant soul, which might 
have quenched in reconciling prayers a life of burning crimes." In the monas 
teries of the middle ages, therefore, one sometimes found men imprisoned by eeele- 
siastical as well as by royal sentence. Thus Gottschalk, after being degraded, 
was confined in Hautvilliers under the Abbot Hilduin, who allowed him the use 
of pens and ink, though Raban Maur considered this an improper indulgence, 
and in reply to Pope Nicholas, whose love of justice was not greater than his love 
of men, and who remonstrated against such severity, thought it enough to show in 
his own excuse that he had taken care to have him supplied with " all necessaries." 



* Schannat. Hist. Fuldens. ii. 1. t Hist, de Soissons. i. 29r&gt;. j Voyage Lit. 48. 

Gallia Christiana, ii! 241. J De Utilit. ex Advers. iii. 23. 



MORES? CATIIOLICI ; OH, 

In prison, howevw, tii.-ie iie died, without retraction and without the sacraments.* 
Some dark solemn men that were kno\\n t &gt; !&gt;* within mona-t-i ie-. wearing the 
aspect of prisoners by the chains round their bo He.-, \\ , how v. i, 1&gt;\- th.-ir 

own dt sir. . Do you demand th-- , of -urn austerity ? My answer in:iy be 

-hort. Blood hath been shed ere now in th&gt; ol l. ii time ; ay, and - &lt;. mnr- 

d- rs h : &gt;rmed. In our time-, when the brains are out, men die, and 

there i- thought an end; but in ages of faith they lose again with twenty mur 
ders on their crowns, and pu-hed the slaver from hi- -tool. Then when gra&lt; e 
procured contrition, then- VI in nl p - embraced, till in th" cloister the 

once proud cm.-l eastellain found Tims in an early a_ r - were seen, by St 

John Climaelius, some in the monastery of the p i wh &gt; u-ed to en: ivat that 

they might not be loosed from their chains even in their s- puielire-. " I suv," 
he says, " what the eve of the negligent liath n . and what hath i\-&lt;i entered 

into the heart of the luxurioin man to ooooeiv&lt; tne d nd woi-d- which can 

do violence to G&lt;xl. ^ me I -aw who pi-- wh &gt;ie ni j nts in pnyer, otli-r- pi 
trate on ashes. On all -ides I he u-d \ ne, mi-ermu, 

me rnisernm ! jn-t" jn-tc. p.ir. 1 --. parci I* 1 " ne cried. 

Doniine, si p. Others, M if at the gates of heaven, Ap--ri oobiaJud- 

ex januam. A peri nobi-ex ijno iilun nobi-ii&gt;&lt;i- p r pc -atnm i-iati-imns . Oth 
er-. Ofttende faciem tnam tantnm et -alvi t-iini i-. ()th--rs. A ppare hi- qui in 
tenebris et umbra m dr.nt "t 

Th" bl. -J-M! Dominicus. -nrnamei Lorioatnn, of whom we before spoke, died in 
the abbey of Monte-( a--ino on tie L L n i of .Jannasy. K. 5!. To tint al)bey 
al- had come Count Radeciii&lt;. boinul with a lri.rc ch.-iin t &gt; h : - nc -k, who, after 
killing Qlimoald, had i.e- ii m.vd to :eiionnce (he world, and thu&lt; lie cani^ 

embrace a life of austere pena in tha m mastery.* Su.-h were the examples 

whieh the monks propo-.-d to th-se who were committed to their en-tody, as be- 
inir obnoxioii- to the vengeance of the law. to wiiich class the pri-oners that one 

found in monasteries generally b.-lon^rd, being persoos oonfined tlp-n-by onW&lt;&gt;f 
the king or bythesentenee f a power wholly -e&lt;-ular. often barl)arous and despotic. 
Thus we meet with a certain (Jerman wh - had !&gt;. u put out and right 

hand cut oft, leading an arduous lite in a cell liear the abbey of Poi&poaa, to whom 

Kaimbald, a holy youth, was appointed to minis-r 

Tritliemiiix mentions a most curious circum-t ii tiii _ r a man mo-t c"le- 

brated \T!IO fell into this condition. 1*. t r de Vii- i-aln&gt;ot, wa- a(i.-r- 

nian, the cbattoellor of Fn d. ic|&lt; II.. a ciiiinin&lt;_r man and lamed, who det eti 
the injustice of the emperor ajainst the pop- with all the .fids -lojue 

and px.-u-.ed his lebeliion again-t th- .huivh with Mieli abilitv, that (Ire-rory IX. 
exdaimed " O quant us esses fili. -i te. ut Imp. riiun, l&gt;enev..lentem hab--ret San eta 

* Staudrnmiiirr. Scot, ft& f Grad. V. t Chrouir. & M .11. Cass. XX. 

l- Camalduleiis. Lib. xii. 



AGES OF FA IT II. 247 

EcclesiaJ" Afterwards, by I know not what means, he incurred the resentment 
of Csesar, who put out his eyes and sent him into a monastery, where, blind and 
wretched, he lived in the bitterness of his heart, and by long affliction compen 
sated for whatever sins he had been guilty of against God and the church. It hap 
pened after a few years that the emperor being excommunicated, deserted by the 
princes and despised by foreigners, having no means of paying bis army, resolved to 
have recourse to Peter, his old chancellor, whose prudence he knew surpassed that of 
most other men. So he came to the monastery where he lived, and being admit 
ted, said all that he could think would mollify and appease the blind recluse, ask 
ing his pardon with loud protestations of remorse, and promising immense compen 
sation, and in fine, adding, " I know that you could give me good advice in these 
straits." Peter, who concealed his mind under a placid countenance, revolving 
nothing but immortal revenge, advised him to take the gold and silver vessels 
of the monasteries and churches to melt them down, and with that to produce to 
pay his troops, and then to invade his enemies, after which he could make resti 
tution. The advice pleased the emperor. So he plundered all the churches, 
promising to restore whatever he took ; but he never returned any thing. From 
that day he never prospered more. The al&gt;bot of the monastery is said to have 
asked Peter, on hearing that it was he who hud given such advice, how a legist 
and a wise man like him could have recommended so unjust a measure ; to whom 
the other made no secret of the subtle vengeance which had suggested the idea 
to him of giving such counsels.* The victims of political convulsion were often 
found in monastic confinement. 

Desiderius, king of Lombards, after the battle of Pavia, was led prisoner into 
Gaul by Charlemagne, as all the annals declare ; but they do not mention the place 
where he spent the remainder of his life, nor the manner of his death. Mabillon 
discovered these particulars in the manuscript of an ancient monk, where he 
found these words, " In the year 772, Pavia being taken, Desiderius, and his wife 
Ansa were banished to the abbey of Corby, and there Desiderius persevered in 
vigils, and prayers, and fasts, and many good works, till the day of his death." 

Of his being thus confined in Corby, the monks of that abbey, when Mabillon 
wrote, had lost all tradition. Down to the French revolution visitors to the ab 
bey, of St. Medard at Soissions used to be shown a cell which was said to have 
been the prison of Louis-le-Debonnaire where he was confined by order of Lo- 
thaire. "The good brethren," says that poor emperor, "had great compassion 
on my &lt;rnef, and they comforted me much. They prayed for me, and assured 
me that if I placed all my hopes in God, I should soon have consolation and 
recovery from my sorrows." By order of his sons, sergeants were placed about 
the prison to guard him ; and that abbey in particular was chosen, because know 
ing how much he loved it, his sons hoped that he would willingly resign his 

* In Chronic. Hirsaugiens. an. 1229. 



248 MOKES CATHOLIC I; OK, 

eeptiv ami embrace the mna-tic habit.* The monk Odilon has recorded the 
very word- of the unhappy emperor - lamentation. Thi-i:&lt;.al belonged *&gt; the ; 
to tin- myal palace, and not to the abbey. It \va- near the J&gt;a-ili. a of the Trinity 
on the nortn part of the enclosure. One -till .- li:.l:--ubterraii &lt;,u- c. Us to 

the north-east of the crypt of the Great Church and to the &gt;&lt;&gt;uth of ill-site ofthe 
Ba-ilica of the Trinity, which are -aid to have been the pri.-,u of Louis. On 
these walls one can trace in Gothic lettt rs 



j- suy* bit-n prlns 
DC (iouk-urs (jut- j endure : 
M-&gt;ivii niu roiivk-iiuroit. : la 

me. tieut (lure 



But these lines, \vritt"ii no doubt ly s &gt;me prisoner, are po-tcrior, bv ]0r&gt; years 
to Louis. f 

Sometimes, however, tin- -fiilar power, in comrnittin&lt;_r prisoners to th&gt; u-tody 
of monk&lt;, only complied with their . . which were oiVered in a spirit of 

the ten. lerest charity. Thn r of H. -:,. rbach - A t the time win n Kin; 

Otliu went to Iinme to i ncd emperor, leavi v.-rnnx nt ! the Mo- 

Belle to his hro hrr. H.-niy l .,la:i: 6, a .riain noble was nmdeinned to death for 
pilla:in&lt;r. Daniel, abbot of Sconavia, by !i - ca, "l&gt;taintil pardon for him on 

condition that he would -ati-iy Cod f,, r i,i. -i M - in t! r.-ian order. Tims 

did he rsr;ij).- d.-ath and final p-rditi.n : and I hiv-- in-ard of many who similarly 
obtained d-liv bv the interce-&lt;ion of our ord 



Duke Henry, th- Saxon, father of t:,e emperor Otho, liavini: put out the eyes 
of a certain nobleman for hi.- crimes, &lt;J..d ol h:- mercy converted that punish 
ment into a medicine ; tbr ho &lt;rave him such contrition that In- u-ed t" !&gt; al\\ 
in the church ofthe abbev ofHilderhem moiirnin&lt;, r for his &gt;in-. and b:-.-a- nin^ 
at rr MI -tial country.^ In theannal&lt; of ( orbv. at the date ofl!89, we find 

tlii&lt; brief notice, "A certain nobleman is s"iit into our monastery for tin- sake of 
penance."]] In the E-ourial is a chamb.-r wh-re the tradition of the monastery 
that the nnfortanate Don Carl - t--rminat-d lii- dav- bv refusing ft&gt;od. 
Kvi-n so late as th" time of Francis f. we find it usual to send -tat* 1 pri-oners for 

confinement to the abbey of Moant 8t M h-t.-l. r The m- ive. ho\\c\ we 

Ix-foi- &lt;.bs,.rve&lt;l, cannot but be esteemed most worthy oft ho loved and fol 

lowed 

But having now specified some oft: ..... hief ab hichcp-pt into t(v monnp- 

tic institution, at the same time irnardini; the reader from nii~takin&lt;_ r ibr a! 
what was i n reality laudable, and -u^j-. sf.-d the r. tle,-t on&lt; to which tli"\- ono/ht 
to irive ; i&lt;e in minds lilt prejudiced, let u&lt; obx-rve what evid -nce may be Collected 

* Chroniques de S. Dt-nis. i. f Hist . ilc Soi^mi&lt;. i. P.lt i t Illu^t. Minr Lib i. c- 31. 
Id. Lib. ii. 36. | An. Curb. ap. Leibnitz. Script. Brims, iii. 

Tf Raoul Hist, ik- Mont. S. Mirht-1. 



AGES OF FAITH. 249 

from unimpeachable witnesses, who lived in the middle ages, to prove the vir 
tues and perfection of discipline which existed in the monasteries ; that we may 
not depart with such an erroneous impression as that the evil had counterpoised 
the good. The language of these witnesses is that of prudence, us well us of ad 
miration. "Of the sanctity of many, no one can judge more truly than the 
Searcher of hearts," says the monastic historian of the Cistercians ; " yet we speak 
what we have heard and known concerning our abbots."* Let us hear, then, 
what was the result of their knowledge. " If there be any perfection in this 
world, it can be found in cloisters :"f such is the evidence of Hugo of St. Victor. 
" Truly," says St. Bernard, " you can behold, in almost all congregations of 
monks, some men that are filled with consolations, abounding in joy, always cheer 
ful and agreeable, fervent in spirit, meditating day and night on the law of God, 
frequently looking up to heaven and lifting up pure hands in prayer, careful ob 
servers of their conscience, and devout followers of good works; to whom disci 
pline is lovely, fasting sweet, the vigils short, manual labor plea-ant, and the whole 
austerity of their conversation refreshing.":}: " I see in cloisters," says Peter of 
Blois, who was himself a secular priest, " celestial men, or rather earthly angels, 
whose conversation is in heaven, who, with a certain noble pride, despise the 
honors and riches of this world." Hear how those who knew the monks per 
sonally speak : "If any one asks me," says the Abbot de Ranee, speaking of 
Brother Euthyme III., "whether this monk has or has not sinned since he came 
under our direction ? I answer, by the principles of faith, he has sinned, since 
the Holy Ghost teaches us, Non est enim homo qui non peccet ; || but I answer, 
by my own knowledge and according to my observation, he has not sinned."^ 

Odelirius, counsellor of Roger, earl of Shrewsbury, has immortalized his name 
by his eloquent exhortations to that noble-man, in 1083, in praise of monks and 
the monastic discipline. "Who," he exclaims, "can worthily relate all their 
vigifs, hymns, psalmody, prayers, alms, and sacrifices! What denial of their 
own will for the Jove of our Lord Jesus Christ ! What shall I say of the chas 
tity of monks, of their silence, of their modesty, of their obedience? Such an 
abundance of virtues confounds my astonished intelligence, and I confess that my 
tongue fails me to express it. From my tender youth I have long been admitted 
to the secrets of monks ; and, by familiar relations, I have learned thoroughly 
what were their manners. In consequence, when I consider the conduct of all 
mortals, who inhabit the earth, I see that they are all, in their lives, inferior to 
monks who live canonically according to the rules of their order."** 

Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, in the reign of Henry II., writing to the 
Cistercian order, says, "Among all the orders with which the Spouse of Christ 
is adorned, there is none more fragrant with virtue, none sweeter in Christ with 

* Gasp. Jong. Notit. Abb. Ord. Cist. Lib. iv. 16. ^ De Claustro Animae, ii. 17. 

Id. In Ascensione Dnm. Serm. vi. g Epist. cii. J Lib. 2. Reg. nil. 

fRelat. de la Mort de quelques Rel. i. ** Orderic Vital. Lib. v. 



MOK1- \TIIOLICI; OK. 

tilt-odor of a holy reputation, tli:in yours." Y&lt; t he blame- tli- in for om thing, 
" 1" tin lands \\hich \\eiv .-nbject to tithes, bt I -re they p , tin-in, 

ma nj.t by the fact .f coining into their hands."* P -ter oi P.!./- bears a 

Minilar te-timony to th&lt;- ( i-t-Teians. " I ll T&gt; ," In- approved 

-chool of religion; there one finds th" prat-tic- i&gt;l tiic iitmo-t niotlf- ularitv 

of manners, the alVection ot iraternitv. i t mind, tin- communieat on ( .t all 

things, mutual service, rigor of discipline, the ! the bond ol ehar- 

ity, the subjection of the flesh, ti cue "I hospitality, liberty &lt;&gt;i .-tudy, the 

order of vigils, the calm oi meditation, the devotion of p-abno iy ."*- To th-- 
CarthnsiftU order which, in faet, has in-ver reijnir. tl r.-: onu to the pns--nt day 
lie Ix ars the same. " Through all land-," he says, " by i . it- 

fame hath gone forth, an&lt;l the odor (if its BWeetneM iiaih rraehed to the end- of 
the eart n : for it ifl tin- plantation of ( l-d. ami tin- vine of the Lord - &gt;th ; 

therefore now has its fruit multiplied to an immense in I M -hold how it 

rtli it- braiii-h -, no\v even to the Mi, and it- &lt;nit-hoot- as t,i- as Mi in 
land !"J Would you inquire n&lt;&gt;\\ e &gt;nceTTl 1 .mis that Franei- and I &gt;.&gt;minio 

led among tiie way \\h ...t -\\oilt-:r with vanity A- 

Dante -:.ys, " he tfli- of both, \\lio on.- eomim-ndeth. \\hi-h ol tht-m -ot- t-r be 
taken: t -rtheii- ne end."j| rn-iiii- MII--IIS IJitontini. 

that the world \va&gt; retbiinetl by these t\\. . I V-minie and Fianci-. In the begin 
ning of the evangrlir aniioiineement, h-- (.b--rvt-. \\hen th- woni ol tin- Lonl wa- 
preaciicd to the - two w M- eho&gt;--n, P. t- r and Paul. When 

the w -rid had relan- d t.. vir- -s, and the Lord in IIK-M-V wi-hed t(; reform it, he 
ajain eho-e two. th- one &lt;-iieni:&gt;i&lt;-, t he : :i -r -t-ranli . b .&lt;!!-, l&gt;i it one mind.^ 

Pop" 1 rl.an I V. s-yies the onler of Minor-, "t.a: fi.-M of virtue- which the 
Lord hath b e.--e&lt;l."** Mven th- IP d- mal tribute paid to it bv a worldlv p 
will b tM no less sat i- factory ; a- \\h-n &lt; ).-tavien d.- Saint-( Iflais, in his 

." So . iir d l lonneur," while describing tii.- vanitv of hi- ea 1 lv life, ami hi.- 
lightening. acknowledge.- that while in that state, whenever it thundered he wi-hed 
to be a Franei-ean : 



ctinvcrs 
conli lirr rh:int-nt h\ nn:i - &lt; t | 



The learned Albert ii- S;iit:iineii&gt;i- havinj- rec--iv-d from his friend, \ielm 
Niccoli, a mordant invective :igain&gt;t the fatliers, of the nhscrvawe written by the 
famous Poggio Brandolino, N\ mnitv aro-t- from a family pique, wrote a 

formal reply, wishing to defend, In- &gt;ay-. tin m-t innoct-nt men, witii \\ii-m 
he ha- ecnvr-ed, a- a brother, during four:- Y"ii considci-/ : 

to Poggio. " a- not worthy of the hi&gt;_ r h- st ii..n &gt;r. those who. in my opinion, th 

*Pet. Bles. Kpist. 82. fid. 86. * M. 86. :mt.-. i. li. | Par. xi. 

*" W.-iii&lt;!in-, Apj&gt;arat. a.l Annal. ** Ap. Maitcnc. \" i. 1 - 1( 

ft Goujct, Biblidtiieiiui- Fnm c aisr. t.nn. \ 



AGES OF FAITH. 251 

weil, who are greatful to their friends, pacific to their enemies, solicitous 
for the dangers of others, and not negligent to their own, who, casting off all 
pollution-* of the world, condemn what they once were, and love what tliev are to 
be in th future life, make themselves judges &lt;-f their own wanderings, exult in 
having escaped i rom the disquietudes and tempests of the world, and, wiih minds 
far above it, superior to all earthly power, devote themselves to virtue and jus 
tice, forgetting wh;U is behind, and stretching forwards to what is before, think 
life tedious and death most happy. whose care it is never tc yield to vice, but 
to subdue it, who deplore the passions of the profligate, having restrained their 
own by discipline, who, through evil report and good report, in cold :md pov 
erty, pursue their steady way, rejoicing more than the vulgar and fooli&gt;h multi 
tude in their vanities, and, what is above all, who so completely subject and hu 
miliate and neglect themselves for Christ, thai they brinir into captivity every 
thought, to th obedience of Christ, and fear not to be counted fools for his sake, 
saying with the Apostle, * [f any one seem to be wise in this world, let him be 
come a fool, that he may be wise, lo ! this is what I think of these men : such 
I know to be the pure and excellent lives of many of them ] such, at least, the 
innocuous character of the rest."* 

This brings us down to an age of great degeneracy : yet, let it be observed, that 
there is still a cloud of witnesses, who give the same evidence. Observe what 
learning and sanctity the celebrated Ambrose Traversari of Camaldoli found in 
the numerous monasteries of his order in Italy, when, as prior-general, in 1433, 
he made his visitation. Again, on his journey from Basle to Vienna, in 1435, 
he says, " many most noble monasteries we found on the banks of the Danube, 
in which the monks lived most religiously."f 

In 1415, an Italian author thus speaks: "What shall I say of monks, of 
which the number of most holy &lt;nd learned seems almost infinite? We cannot 
deny that uo\v and formerly there have b a eu bad men in that habit : but who 
could number the good and illustrious "? Who so mad as to think that if men 
wished to be evil, they would choose such a life as tin s? Truly, long since, all 
devotion oi Christians, and nearly all religion, would have perished, if these 
holy men had not, by their doctrin- j and example of life, protected the faith of 
Chri-t, contending for it. as Ihe Apostle gays, through evil report and good re 
port. Men are disposed to criticise the conduct of monks wiih more severity 
than justice ; and those are counted monsters who are detected falling in the least 
from the rule of perfection. I think it often happens that many, desirous of 
calumniating them before the vulgar, say things of them which are far from 
true, ascribing their poor habit, grave speech and aspect, to hypocrisy; their 
preaching, to vanity ; their cheerfulln^s, to scurrility ; their justice, to cruelty; 
their care to preserve the rights of the Church, to avarice and rapacity for 

Ap. Wadding, torn. x. f Annal. Camald. Lib. IxiL 



MOKKS CATHOLICI; OK, 

all things are full of calumny, and thus did men declaim against the apostles and 
against Christ."* 

In 1708 and 1718, it was resolved, in the general chapter at Marmoutier, to 
depute two monks to travel, in order to visit the archives of different abbeys in 
France and Germany. Dorn Mart . ne and Dom Duraud proceeded accordingly 
on this visitation ; and their testimony a^s to the perfection which then prevailed 
with few exceptions, in the religious houses, is to the highest degree delightful 
and conclusive.! Even the arch-sophist of Fiance, in modern times, bears thi- 
timony :"It cannot be denied,"he says, "that there were great virtues in the cloister. 
There is hardly still a monastery which does not contain some admirable soul 

If, now, from these general state m -.it-, we pass to the examination of more par 
ticular evidence, the result will lx&gt; no le-- con-oling. William of Mahnesbui-y 
says of the abbey of Thorney, "Tnilv 1 might call that i-laml the abode of 
chastity and of all virtues, and a school of divine philo80phen." \Vythmann, 
a-bbot of liamsey, was a man who sought rather to govern by fear than love, 
that th Tc. \vcre often occasions of hai.-h retorts. On one of these, being greatly 
p-rated, he went to Aeth -ric, the bishop of the diocese, and accu-ed the monks 
of insubordination and disorder. The bishop, who had been educated in that 
house, was inclined to give no credit to the accusation ; for he could not believe 
that the men whose piety he had known when a boy could so soon have fallen 
from the love of discipline. Therefore, consoling the abbot with some general 
words, and sending him away, he secretly resolved to visit the abbey in d\^.i 
to judge with his own eyes as to the justice of the charge. So, coming to the 
island, and dodging in the neighborhood, he arrived very early in the morning, 
in disguise of atraveller, and entered th&gt; m n &gt;~t iv as if for the sake of praying ; 
and, as every place stood open to all comers, he began to examine all things care 
fully : then he saw some at private altars, devoutly celcbia ing mass ; others pray 
ing around the high altar ; others sitting in thick order between the pillars of the 
cloister, either reading in profound silence, or else writing or employed in some 
other useful exercise. After a while, &lt;m- of the brethren, observing the curiosity with 
which he examined every part of the house, l&gt; g;m to wonder at him ; and at length, 
discovering him to be the bishop, hastened and informed the abbot, who came forth 
to receive the guest, But Aetheric reproved him severely, and admonished him to 
be less suspicious and morose in his government of the abbey, and reminded him 
of the express injunctions of St. Benedict on this head ; and then, concluding 
with words of peace to the brethren as well as to the abbot, he departed. But 
the abbot, reflecting on his own faults, and the obstacles occasioned by the violence 
of his temper, resigned the administration of the abbey, and, taking leave of 

* Benedict Accolti AretinI De Praestantia Virorum sui ^Evi. Dialog. Thesaur, Antlq. Italia;. 
ix. 

f Voyage Lit. ile Deux Benedict. See also Vet. Script. Prsef. In torn. ix. 

t Volt. Essai sur lea Mceurs, &c. la Lib. IT. De Gest. Pontif. Aug. 



AGES OF FAITH. 253 

the brethren, set out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. ./Ethelstan was elected in his 
place. After a year, Wythmann returned ; and the fame of his approach reached 
Ramsey at the moment when JSSthelstan, with the monks, were sitting in the refec 
tory. Immediately, he ordered the lector to stop reading, and, putting on the sacred 
vestments, they all proceeded with great reverence to meet the former abbot. But 
he, remembering his faults, humbly refused to re-assume his authority, and chose 
for his residence a solitary place called Northeya, which is but a stone s throw 
from the church, but inaccessible, excepting by a boat ; and there, with one monk 
for his companion, and two servants, he spent the remainder of his days. 
To such monasteries our old English poet thus alludes : 

" There was an ancient house, not far away, 
Renown d throughout the world for sacred lore 
And pure unspotted life ; so well, they say, 
It governed was, and guided evermore."* 

England, in fact, possessed many such. Lydgate, while lamenting his own dis 
obedient sensual life, following the reverse of all that he was taught, and taking 
little heed " What Christ Jesus suffered for his sake," acknowledges that the dis 
cipline of the abbey at Bury was excellent : 

" This holy rule was unto me radde 
And expounde in full notable wyse 
By vertuous men, relygious and sadde, 
Pull well expert, dyscrete, prudent, and wyse 
And observautes of many goodly emprise. 
I herde all well, but, towchyng to the dede 
Of that they taught, I toke but lytell hede." 

in the twelfth century, when Sugar was abbot of St. Denis, the two Cistercian ab 
beys of Rivaulx and fountains, in the diocese of York, were in great reputation 
of sanctity. Of the latter, Gasper Jongelinus says that it drew its name from cer 
tain fountains, which were a happy presage of its future holiness : for truly, he 
adds, there were there in abundance the waters of celestial desire, and of living 
piety, which spring up to life eternal. f But let us look elsewhere. St. Peter 
Damian visited Mount-Cassino, and thus describes it : " All here were either aged, 
or young men rejoicing in the decorum of youthful life, who, as sons of the proph 
ets, were fit to seek Elias through the desert ; or truly, in the flower of youth, 
like the Apostle John, to overcome the wicked one.":}: That was a fine tribute 
to the virtue of the monastery of Septimus which Marsilins Ficinus paid, in writ 
ing to Francis Soderino, bishop of Volterra, where he says, " I know indeed how 
you love these monks ; those pious men, whom I also not only love, but wor 
ship. ^ Scardeoneo, a secular priest, speaking of the convent of St. Mark at Pad 
ua, adds this testimony : " Which to this day flourishes in the highest opinion of 
sanctity."|| Ermenric, monk of Rich nan, in his epistle " De Grammatica," thus 

* Spenser, ii. 10. f Notitse Abbat. Ord. Cister. per Univ. Orb. Lib. viii. 5. 

J Epist. xvii. Epist. Lib. xi. | De Antiquitate Patavfce. 



MOKES CATIIOLICI; OR, 

speaks of the monk* of St. Gall : " There I found each more humble and more 
pa til-ill than the other. Nor i- then? any hitter zeal unionist them, or malice, or 
envy ; but charity alone reigns tiiere, along with justice . L&gt;vc. the mother of vir 
tu- &gt;, and Concord, fa daughter, and Simplicity, it- attendant, have there, with 
out d libt, their proper dwell ing."* Adalbero, bi-hop of Verona, came to St. Gall 
for the sake of prayer. "The grace of tiiis place," saith he, " i- Mi-eater than it* 
lame : h&gt; re is religion with learning, severity with discipline. What other- mav 
think I know not; hut I will declare my iinpiv--i"iis. 1 c.nne here sekiu# on 
saint, and a dead one ; but. sooth. I found many ,-aints and living ones. 1 *! 

Many of the brief notices of the abbot- of Corby in Sa\. ny, ..riven in theannal- 
of that abbey, ind Vate a hap{&gt; pon as prevailing at that time. Thus, 

at the date of 876, we rad, " Our A v ga ius died, our mother was a 

widow; Tanemar, a good father, d--d him. In SHO. Avdied, worthy oft 

longer life; IJovo, a man circum-p- &lt; t, succeeded him. In HIS. Yolkmar, wLy 
restor.l the church a- well as he could, \\a.- r of the family, and re 

ligious abbot, beloved by all, but wh&lt; in (Jod r- set ved Ibi horrible time-, on ac 
count of public evil- ; therefore, to prayers and tear-, Ins -irongwt arms, he ex 
horted us -ericusly."^ 

Turning to France, the only difficulty is to choose between te^tinioires of equal 
force, in proof of th tv \\li.-h &gt; in her religion- booaes, Kilt v-nine 

abbots hail governed the abbey fCUuJ from 11 Jo ! IT .K), to whom we 

have this testimony : " Their conduct wa- exemplary in the interior of the cloister, 
worthy and honorable towards other monasteries, towards the bishops of the di 
ocese, towards the seigneur- oi the &lt;-..imt:y. :.nd, \\e nee&lt;l not add, towards the j&gt;eo- 
ple."^ Guibert, abbot ibloiir, HJI ..f the monks of St. Martin at Tours, 

in his letter to Philip, ari bl&gt;ishop of Coio i) . M No hin^ i- there im&lt;i sciplined, 
nothing inordinate ; all things are (jmet, e n-onant : nothing being under, noth 
ing over done ;but all thing-, by disposition of wisdom, are. in mea-nre, \\eight, and 
numl&gt;er, as far as is poa-iiile to human infirmit -hat tin i membtrs of 

that Church cohering to itself, solicitous to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the 
bond of peace ; the whole body compact is connected, and evepv juncture cemented, 
and everv disturbance appeased : there dwell- the wolf with the lamb, the leopard 
with the kid, and a child ran lead them ; tint Child, I mean, of whom it is written, 
Filer natc- e-t nobi- ; and in that holv house of God, i place is made in 

peace, they dwell &lt; n&lt; rdant and unanimous."! Lupus abbot of F-rror&lt;, in his 
letter to the monk- of St. &lt; , n at An.\&lt; rre. -:t\-, True cliaritv, ind-ed, al 

ways flourishes in the inhnhitantl of our mon. . but never has it declared 

its greatness by so many certain proof- a- in "iir tini(."^ Cluny obtained thi- 
\vell-des&lt; rved prai-e from St. Grcg&lt;rv VII. at tne "jcneral council: "That, 
through the grace of God. under holy and piou- abbots, it had attained to such 

* Ap. Heumann, DC Re Diplom. ii. 187. f Eokc-hanl &lt;ie Casibus S. Galli, r. 1. ap. Goldast. i. 
$ Ap. Leibnitz, Script, livnns. iii. t=. J iers. Llisl. dea Abbayt-- di \\ . n. et de Clairm. 165. 
| Ap. Martene, Vet. Script, i. Prffif. T Epist. 116. 



AGES OF FAITH. 255 

dignity and religious strictness, that, in the service of God :ind spiritual fervor, 
it surpassed all other communities, ancient and modern ; and that no abbey in all 
the world was to be compared to it : for there had been no abbot there who was- 
not a saint." OfCiteaux, Pope Eugene III., in 1152, said that it flourished irt 
the fame of sacred religion. The third abbot of this house was Stephen Hard 
ing, of a noble English family, " decorated with the grace of eminent, sanctity, a 
lover of the desert, and a most fervent emulator of holy poverty," as he is styled 
in the book of the origins of Cisteatix. In the archives it is said of him : 

" Anglicus hie Stephanus fulsit velut Angelus unus 
Sacrata veste Bernardum vestiit Iste." 

The three daughters of Cisteaux, the abbey of La Fert4, that of Pontiany, 
and Clairvaux, were all true sources of spiritual life. Peter de Roya, who 
styles himself, "by the mercy of God, a novice at Clairvaux," writes a- follow.-* 
to the superior of another house : " It was not strange that I should become 
thoughtful and solicitous, when I reflected on the manner of my past life, not 
having lived a moment from my childhood without performing some work of 
death. Greatly I loved the assemblies of vanity, spectacles, jests, idleness ; to ut 
ter falsehood, to swear, to commit perjury, to flatter ; all these, from long daily 
custom, I learned to consider not sins, but, as it were, certain agreeable ornaments 
of society and mundane probity. Yet I knew that these same things, causing. 2 
separation between God and man, were vanities and lies. I omit greater things, 
elation of heart, emulations, hatred, dissensions, detractions : but the Father 1 
of mercies had compassion on me, and at length visited and drew me to his Son. 
Thus was I saved from the waters of Babylon, and mercifully placed in Clairvanx, 
at the fountains of the Saviour. For Clairvaux, though situated in a vallev, has 
its foundations on the holy mountains, whose gates the Lord loveth more than 
the tabernacles of Jacob. Glorious things are told of these, because of them. 
The glorious and wonderful G&lt;&gt;d workefch glorious and wonderful things: for 
there the inveterate return to their heart ; and, though their exterior man be cor 
rupted, yet the interior is restored to life, and renewed from day to day in Him 
who created man. There the proud are humbled, the rich impoverished, the 
poor evangelized, and the darkne-s of sins transmitted into light. In this house, 
therefore, though the multitude gathered together from the ends of the earth is 
immense, congregated from all regions and nations, yet is there only one heart 
and one mind ; so that of this house we may truly say, Eecealienigente, et Ty- 
rus, et popnlus .Ethiopum, hi fuerunt illic. This is the habitation of all these, 
rejoicing not with vain joy. But as for me, the more diligently I examine these 
poor of blessed life, the more thoroughly am I convinced that they follow Christ 
in all things, and that they are true ministers of God. For, while at prayer, speak 
ing to God in spirit and in truth, and while I have Conversed privately with them 
in a familiar manner, and when 1 have remarked their humble manner of conduct- 



M &lt;&gt; K K&gt; CAT 11 OLICJ ; O K, 

ing them-elves. it is plainly evident thai they are the i atuiliar friends of God. 
While praising him in the cnoial psalmody, th- who,. &lt;\ their l&gt;od\, in all 

the fear and revered itv, shows ho\v pure and li-&gt;\v feiv-nt i- the atl ee- 

tion .if their mind. Their &gt;olemn enunciation, and moios - distinction, in modu 
lating (he I .-alm-, &gt;lmw- iio\\ sweet ill theii in- &gt;\\[\i- are the Word- d. When 
1 oteive them in the diurnal hours, and in the nocturnal vigils before midnight, 
till prime, with only a short interval betu -n. I holiiy and indefatigably sing 
ing, they -tern to me indeed little los than the angel-, but much more than men. 
Such continued alacrity, and such endurance, with such fervor and run it, can only 
be from a divine gift. Whil-t reading they seem lightly to dra\\ the \\a ersol 
Sil K , with silence flowing and gu,-hing up to eternal life. Their di-po.-ition and 
habit demonstrate that they are all discipl- s of one Master, teaching in their 
hearts, and -ay in-. Audi Israel et lacent. They are silent ; and they hear, and 
Jhey become wiser. If \\e ngard th-iii in il OK i.t manual labor, their life 

will appeal no 1- nappy. In all thc-e woiks, it i evident that they are led 1 
divine Spirit. With such a parent mind, such a placid and irnmoveable counte 
nance, with such -weet and holy order, they do al, thing-, that though their lal&gt;or 
is great, vet they scarcely -ecm to move, or to U- oppressed in any rc-pc&lt;-;. A- 
moii j-t the-e pour I uiuicr&gt;tand KM i)i&gt;hop-. i-thei- conoids, other- illustrious 

men of great science of dignity, othei&gt; youth- of -reat binh and hop- ; l&gt;ut now, 
by tne _ if &lt; ;.K|, all acceptation of p- I M,!,- h.-ing eradicated, the h&gt;jher any 

on snpp. -&gt;ed hini-cif in the world, the l.&gt;\\er does he make him-elf in this little 
flock. Therefore, \\hen I b. held these men in the gardens with their rake-, in 
th-- m- adows with their fork-, in the fields with their ploughs, in the wood- with 
their hatchet-., while considering what they were, I look on their present state, 
their works, instrument^, abje&lt; &gt;n-, dis irclertnl and vile ve-tments. according 

to the judgment of tin- eves, tie v -eein to me not men, but a f-olisU race, a mute, 
-hanaeful flock, the opprobrium of men, and ihe outcasts of the jK ople ; but a 
-ound and taiihfnl intelieet proclaims to me, in the h-art, that their life is hid 
den in Christ. Amongst them I iejoi.-c to -.&lt;f (Jaiifi id 1 eron- -n-i-, liaynald Mor- 
inen-i-. Waller de In-uia. and another, wnom I knew once the mo&gt;t inveterate in 
the old man ; Init now, 1&gt;\ the &gt;Ma&lt;r of God, not even a vestige of that ancient mind 

j 

remains in them. In the old man, I knew them with an exalted heart, walking 
with supeieilion- eye- ; but n.iw I KC t-iem humbled under the merciful hand of 
God. In the old man I knew them a- whitened sepulcln- s without, within full 
of dead men s bones ; but now I Ix-hold them a- ve-s.-l- of the Lord, which al 
though they may appear oiitwardiv d-&gt;pica! l". vet within are full of celestial j 
fumes. When, therefore, this o.mmunitv i- seen iroiiiir "&lt;it to its ecmfctOMd 
labor and ieturnin&lt;r r. gularlv and -imply one after anothci. a- if :i paistic host 
wearing onlv the arms of p mu-t not the anirels &lt;&gt;f (iod, -eeing them thus 

move, &lt; uewlv converted from darknes- to rini-t. -im_ r through joy and ad- 
.miration ? The excluded demon is confounded and filled with grief, seeing what 



AGES OF FAITH. 257 

I trust he may :il\vnys SOP, the resurrection ofthe.se, brining no moderate de- 
..trii -tinii on ni.i own kingdom. Again, what think you must be the impression 
on set -ing them at table at the appointed limes for food ! Truly, they evince such 
modesty, such holiness, that they must appear to every one what they are, just 
men and fearing God. Here they receive I he spiritual food for which they Imu- 
( &gt; r&gt; the Word of Life; here they reverently partake of the other gifts of God 
placed before them, not exquisite delights, but of the labor of their hands, vege 
tables and grain of the earth. Cyder is their drink. If they cannot have this, 
they rejoice in simple water. Rarely they use wine. In a word, obedience is 
the rule of their whole life ; which they so faithfully observe in all ihings, that 
there is not a single moment of the day or night which is not offered up to God ; so 
that I firmly believe by every step and movement of their hands they gain re 
mission of sin, or increase of the crown to life eternal. These few things con 
cerning the poor of Clairvaux I send to yon, according to my promise. There 
remain greater things; but to describe them I am not sufficient. All my desire 
is to be associated in body and spirit with these poor of Christ. God willing, on 
the Sunday after the Ascension we are to receive the armor of our profession, 
by the grace and benediction of Jesus Christ , which, by the merits of his Moth 
er, and your prayers, may He grant to us. Amen."* 

Innumerable houses retained the fervor and regularity of monastic life down to 
the latest times. The abbey of St. Jean-des-Vignes atSoissous, founded in 1076, 
by Hugues, Seigneur de Chateau-Thierry, had never wanted reform down to the 
year 1718, when Dom Martene visited ir, and found its discipline so perfect. f 
Bourdoise, that model of the secular clergy, in the reign of Louis XIII., describes 
in glowing terms the edification which he received from visiting the abbey of 
Jnmiege,;}: which, down to the Revolution, was a blessing to the country. " On 
arriving at Cor by in Saxony," says the two Benedictine travellers, we were re 
ceived as brothers. The abbot is very humble ; and, only for the honor paid to 
him, one would never suppose that he was a prince, and had the prerogatives of a 
sovereign. We were greatly edified by all persons of the community ." We 
found the abbe* of Prutn retaining great discipline. The prior is esteemed a 
saint all through the country ; and the monks are most devout and mortified. 
The only charge advanced against the prior, is, that he lives too retired, and that 
he does not see strangers sufficiently. |j On arriving at Treves we descended to 
the abbey of St. Maximin. where we were received with the utmost cordiality. 
We can say confidently that God is well served in this house. All the holy prac- 
tio-&lt; of religion are admirably observed. Their chant is majestic, their ceremonial 
venerable. Although the apartments for guests are magnificent, those of the ab- 
l&gt;ot are simple, and contain only necessaries. During our stay we saw nothing 
but what was most edifying.^" 

* St. Bernard. Epist. 441. f Voyage Lit. 24. \ Vie de Bourdoise Liv. iii. 246. 

8 Id - L 257 - II W. 273. t Id. 285. 



MUl: B8 r AT HO LIC I ; OK, 

If these testiraon its arc nt sufficient, I kno\v not what would -ati-fy u-. We 
ini^lit sum up the evidence in th-- word- of a French liistorian, and say, " In 
abbeys, tin- high ideal of the middle age- wa- reaii/ed."* Beyond tlii- it would 
not, methinks, be possible to find terms that would convey praise, of cour-e, -ul&gt;- 
posing th. MII addressed to per-ons comp -tenth* instruct- d. 

But ii"W, having been for sonic ime under the holy roof, let us institute an in 
quiry which this allusion to tin- apartments for guests may Datn rally suggest and 
demand, Who are the men that come occasionally to vi.-it these sanctuaries of 
God and peac 




CIIAl TKi; XII. 

come to the abbey. Many from each of the various conditions 
into which is divided the .-ocial life of man. They coine all at once 

n multitudes on dav- of solemn festival. Thev c ..me one bv one. se- 



ly, \}\ &gt;t al-h. seeking to a-sua-- the intolerable thir-t which 
them with -omedro|&gt;- f:..m the fountains of pirad -e. which 
they know, 01 at lea-t su-peet, are opened here. Let us h.-ar instan 
ces related by the witne who -awthein cotm 1 . 

" We inhal)it tli" wo..d- ; and th-- 1 :ity coveiinps of trees are more familiar to 
us than the stone walls of houses." Hji brother Gislebert. writinir to Peter the 
veil- - a i.le abbot of Cluny ; " yet \\e are not hermi litary as to resemble the 

sparrow alone on the house-top. Though \\e have penenate&lt;l into thi- va-t for- 
t--t for th" sake of solitude, yet we draw after us such a crowd of men, that we 
11 to have o n- nirtcd rather a i-ity tnan a hermitage ; for to -av nothin&lt;r &lt;&gt;f 
tint tumultuous multitude which tl ek here from all the surrounding country, 
in order to have dispute settled, And disoords appeased, and judicial sente: 
modified, the parts of the . a-t b yon : th md tin 1 transalpine nations of th" 

. si nd -uch n nuinlxT of t-m a--a : r- 10 u~, that it would require more than 
the care of the gf ate~t kin^ to eive an an-\\ er to them all."t The dignity of 
tlii- act of maUiiiir pea--e ua- then decmc&lt;l worth the au&lt;lience of king- and prin 
ces. who often attended on tin isioit*. 

K iulphiH. d s&lt;-ribiiiL r the concourse of people that u-.d to visit the abb- y of 
St. Tron, - Such a crowd of persons, nobles, and farmers, and per-. .us of 

b&lt;ith KX6K, u-ed to dir-ct ih-ir course to our ga e-, :don&lt;: the road-, and over the 
fields, and through the meado ,-ciallv on soiemn davs, and dwellint 1 in leafv 

tent-; and tal&gt;ernacles of nark, for no IMU- \.&gt;\ contain them, the whole place 



Mirtielet. f Bihliotd. ciu. 



AGES OF FAITH. 259 

seemed besieged. Then there was the crowd of merchants, who could scarcely find 
horses and chariots, carls and animals, to carry such a multitude of strangers. 
Then how shall I describe the oblations at the altar? I say nothing of the animals, 
horses, oxen, heifers, rams, sheep, which used to be offered in an incredible mul 
titude; but also they used to present beyond all weight and number linen 
and wax, bread and clieese ; and by the time of vespers the guards in the cloister 
used to be fatigued in receiving and heaping up the piles of money, though they had 
nothing else to do."* 

In the annals of the abbey of Corby, in Saxony, we have this significant notice. 
"In 950 a donius mercatoria was built for the accommodation and security ol 
merchants coming to the festival of St. Vims." Throughout the whole year 
crowds of pilgrims used to visit the abbey of Ein-iedeliu. A writer in 1373 say.-, 
that there strangers were continually arriving und departing. In 1350, on ;he 
14th of September, that abbey received one hundred deputies from the citizens of 
Basle, and seventy from those of Strasbourg. Two years before, m the vigil of 
St. Simon and St. Jude, the affluence from all parts of Europe was so great that 
the cantons of Zurich and Schwitz took alarm. In 1636, the town of Uberlingen, 
grateful for its deliverance from the Swedes, sent to it a deputation cf 550 per 
sons ; and many other towns used to make votive processions to it annually. In 
one year the number of pilgrims amounted to 180.000 ;f and among these kneel 
ing youths, these boy-travellers, whose stained shoulders bore impress of the load 
they had carried over the mountains thr-uigh the sultry day, might be distinguished 
often the fervent disciples of far-distant schools, sous of the noblest houses n 
Europe, thus prepared by labors like those of the poor to taste the sweets with 
which innocence was in such places filled. 

There being ereat indulgences on the anniversary of the dedication of the church 

&lt;y o 

of the abbey of Riddershusen, in the duchy of Brunswick, which fell on the 15th 
of June, that festivity was changed after eighty years ; for the crowd from the 
neighboring town and villages, says the Abbot Jongelinus, was so great, that the 
corn used to be trodden down, and the crops injured by the multitude, who used 
even to cut down the slighter trees to erect booths Therefore to remove all cause 
of offending man and God, the Abbot Eggelingu&lt;, with consent of the superiors 
of the Cistercian order and of Pope Innocent VI., transferred it to the Sunday 
after St. Martin, as a less genial sea son 4 

When the new church of Mount-Cassi no was to be consecrated, Hildebrand, at 
that time archdeacon, cardinal-, and priests, and magnats, came tnere, with bish 
ops, abbots, monks, clerks, princes, nobles, and citizens of all condition, with 
women also from all parts of Italy, in such crowds that it would be easier to count 
the stars of heaven than to enumerate them all. Not only all the courts of the 



* Chronic. Abbatiae S. Trudonis, Lib. i. apnd Dacher. Spicilesr. tom.vii. p. 356. 

! Clironique d Einsiciielin, J Notit. Abb. Ord. Cister per Univ. Orb. Lib. iii. 



MO ii K kTHOLICl; &lt;&gt; K, 

monastery, but th" whole mountain, from the foot IM tin- -umrnit, and even the 

field- around it, weiv rover d with the multitude; and during ilie three prec. d- 

vin* , bre.id, hVsii, and fisii \\cre given in such abumlanc. , thai not one 

p .r-on oi tnat prodigious multitude could complain of not liavinj received -uili- 

iL Tlier. were pr - t t-n aivhbi-hops. forty-three bigliope, Richard, pi: 
cf Capua, with hi- SOD, and brother (Ji-nliu-, prince of Salerno, and hi&gt; brother 
Landulfu-, pr i : Beneventun ^ in&lt; ilnke of Naples, with Sergin- duke of 
nttitn : and a- for the other prince- and nobles, both Italian and Norman, it 
would be impossible to name them, he chuieh \\a- dciuat&lt;d, in the 

1071, with the utiiui5t devotion and joy. and honor, and glory. The crowd COB- 
tiiuied during eiirht la\&gt; confessiiiL r their sins to gain the indulu ;iid tiien all 

returned to their homes in gnat jov. 

1 Nee in- dn* t-.&lt;t populis coCuniibus agmina denso, 
Nee M-(|iiif&gt; ; pi iptTHti in luci-in A nucto. diemque 
Ex; p .ir j t." 

" Milia prof nndens au msenia c-cls-i Casini, 
Vincit iicr (hirum pictas. :iiu..r i-t liciu-ilicti. 
Vine-it t nhii-i tides pr: ,:ii!m- i-tir 

Credit ur. cl &lt;*\imm\ Rrru-diciu- 

In fine, eaeh &gt;ne would have ci.enie.1 him-elt au inlilel. &lt;vr most wretched, if at 
least he could not have come in for the end of such a solemnity.* 



Pope-, ernp -n.r-. kin^-, princes, and -jr-at noblemen, \\eiv ot ien in the li- o| 
visitor- to abbey.- in the middle ay- s, \\h-Mi tie mi ti - ot religion nttra 

th-iii. 01 Qliy and Mount-( a-.-ino could boa-t ol I -\ n no 

pitality the vicai&gt; of Chri-t. That \va- a memorable x-ene \\hieh en-uel in 
hureh of the latter abbey, \\hen Pope Adrian II. gave ai S .lution to the empei or 
J-oilmir... who, with all his com tiers, committed perjury in obtain it, and so partook 

"f death, receiving the oommankxi to judgment, which tellalmo-t suddenly upon 

them ! 

Iii the Benedictine abbey at F.-nara I read an inscription, stating how I*-ipe 

Pin- VI.. on his return from Germany, had Stopped in ; ! and delii: 

the nionk^ with his cheerful, angelic count nanc", and human c, .nversation. 

In the Carthu&gt;ian moiia-terv. on th" Roman way, three mile- from Florence, I 
was .-how n the cell in which th" -ame holy p&lt;mtiff lod_ r e&lt;l in darker ti; 
That evening all wa- -ilent in its solemn corr d -. -ave tiiat the voice- of the 
monk- chanting vrgperfl in the churcii, were faintly heard in the di-tan. The 

solemn convent of the Dominicans at Sienna is still standing, whicli once : 

within it St Thoina- ol Aqiiin. Si. A ntoniuu-. ble-&gt;, d Ambrogio. and (iuido Lu.-- 
i jnan, king of Cyprus. Here, in 1 KJ J, wa-hell a L" iierai cliapter of rift i-n hun 
dred friars , and here, in 1 Hit, Pin- 1 1. l.U-sed the standard of the Crusaders. 

* Chronic. Cassinensis, Lib. iii. c. 



AGES OF FAITH. 261 

In the ancient monastery &lt;&gt;f Grotta Ferrata there is a ^olemn painting, to rep- 
re-ent the emperor, Oiho III., arriving tin-re, and St. Niln&lt;, with his monks, 
proceeding f orih to meet him. That emperor, through remorse for having caused 
tiie rebel Crescentins to be beheaded after he had capitulated, having walked bate- 
loot to the sanctuary of St Michael, on Mount Gargano, passed a whole Lent as 
a penitent in the monastery of Clas-e. In that season it was common to find 
crowned heads under the cloi-ters of St. Benedict. Thus we find king Charles 
the Bald passing the Lent and Easter festival of the year 869 in trie abbe^ of St. 
Denis.* 

In the great abbey of St. Manr do- Fosses king Henry I. testified, by a charter 
of th&lt; 1 year 1058, that he used often to come there Jo pray. Louis VII. came 
there in 1168. Philippe Auguste lodged there in Mid-Lent in 1223. St. Louis 
was there in 1 229 and 1254. The emperor Charles IV. era me. there twice in 
1377 to perform his devotious.f Orderic Vitalis says, that when Boemond, 
after li\&gt; deliverance, hud left St. Leonard-le-Noblet having made his prayers ut 
the tomb of the holy confessor, he spent the Lent in travelling through France, 
making his offers at many altars. He had great reason to rejoice in the monas 
teries, where he was received with open arms, and he returned thanks to God for 
the benignity of the western Christians. He was accompanied by the son of the 
emperor Diogenes, as well as by many other illustrious Greeks.;}; 

The emperor Lewis II., celebrating Easter, i n the abbey of Fulda. was heard to 
say, * O I wish that I might always remain in this court of heaven, and die in 
it ! What can be desired more delightful and profitable ?" 

Orderic Vitalis mentions that Count Richard, son of Richard 1. of Normandy, 
used to hold his court at Ea-ter in the monastery of Fecamp, founded by his 
father, and make offerings at the solemnity before the altar of the Holy Trinity. 
The same day, after ma&gt;s, before going to his court and dining with his barons, he 
used, with his two sons, Richard and Robert, to repair to the refectory of the 
monks and the two youth-;, taking the dishes from the kitchen window, used to 
present them to their father, as the monks used to do; and then he used to place 
them, first before ihe abbot, and then before the monks. When he had so done, 
with great humilitv he used to present himself to the abbot, and obtain permis 
sion to depart, and then he went t&lt;&gt; the court gaily with a content* d heart. One 
day Richard came to Jumiege, and passed the night there. The next morning, 
after saying his prayers, he placed on the altar a little piece of wood. "When he 
was withdrawn, the Sacristans approached the altar, expecting to find a mark, or 
an ounce of gold, or something similar. Finding onlv thi~ little piece of wood, - 
they were astonished. At length thev asked him whv he placed such a thing 
on the altar. Then he told them that it was Vimoutier, a certain manor v 
which he wished to give them for the salvation of his soul. 

* Letwuf. Mist ihi Diocese de Paris, iii. f Id. v. 135. J Lib. xi. 

Scliannnt. Hist. Fill dens, i. 



MOKES C A T 11 O L I C I ; O K, 

Independent of such visits, many religious house- were visited on certain . 
.ID- by a kind of domestic court. The hundred knight- attached to the es- 

tates of the abbey ol &gt;;. Eliquier composed a retinue almost royal at ( hristn 

Ka-ter, and iVir The chapter or general as- &gt; mbly ot the knight- of Si 

Michael was held every y. ar in tiie hall of i he knights, in the abbey of Mount 
St. Mich .-iel, on the i29ih of September. 

In 1113, Henry, king of Kn-land, accompanied by many princes and prei 
came to tJie abbey of ( )nche- and celebrated th- 1 nrilication ot St. Mary. 11 
mained a longtime in the cloisiet of the monk-. . \amined them Oarefillly daring 
thr repast, and having considere&lt;l the conventual en-toms, ] ih- m hi-ldy. 

The next day lie entered the chapter-room and humbly boonght the monk- t . 
grant him the favor of thei iation.* 

King ( anutc, with (Ju- n Kmma, and i\i" grandee- of his kingdom, pro] 
ing to celebrate tii- f -iival ol the Purification i-t St. Mary in the abbev ( .f Klv. 
proceeded thither in l&gt;oaH. A&gt; ;ne\ appioa&lt;-h d near, the king -dtiie row 

ers to rest upon their oar-, that he nn^lu u r a/-e upon tiie church which io&gt;r aliov 
tlit- bank. Then it wa&lt; thai he heard the chant of the nionk&gt;, whicn filled him 
with such joy, that he broke f.rth in the song, " .Merry -nn-en ;he Moiieh, - 
Ely," which was ever afterward- a common -on^ an ,l proverbial in the coiintrv. 
Then landing, he \va- reet-ivd at the church professionally bv the al)b (1 t and 
monk-. iing to the custom of reccivin&lt;; &lt;_ r rcat men. This kin-_ r n-i 

times to \K&gt; &lt;lrawn in a si- (!_. over the ice to Kly, when it wa- not jxissible to ap 
proach it in any other manner.! 

In the annal- of Corby. in Saxony. \ve read at the date of 867 as follow 
Lewis the younger made hi- devotion- in &gt;ur mona-tei v, piai-in^ the di-cipline 
of our brethren, and -ayin&gt;_ r that there \\as n,, happier life than that of monks 
dwnjs conversing with God From Corby he went t&gt; Hi rivoitinm." Again 
in 940 " the Seigneur de Woldenb \-^ came wounded to the monasterv, .ie-iring 
to pass the night in prayer and fasting near the relics of St. Vitns. He was 
ter next day. and soon quite cured. He was grateful. In 1136, Lothariu- Au- 
_Mi-tn- stayed in the monastery some time. In 137s, many nobles were \\ith n&gt; 
this summer, and each was gracing. ! In the abb-y of Kmsiedelin, are r.conl- 
-ting the arrival of distinguished pilgrims. There we rea&lt;l that the Kmpctor 
Otho the (Jreat, and St. Adelaide his wife. nine therein 965; St. (J.-roM. duke 
of Saxony, in 972 ; Kinr Thai-le- IV. attended by a crowd of sigm-m s and pr- - 

i in }:} &gt;:}; tin- Emperor Sigiaraond in 1417: F. rdinand III. emperor ofthe 
Romans, in 1442, Uside^ a multitude of princes and nobles ot the fust houses 
of Germany, and many amba ad-: -. repre-cnting their re-p.-.-tive -o\-ereii:n-. 
King Conrad k-ing at Con-tain- on Chri-tmas-day. after dinner the bi-hop 

Ordorio. Vit. Lib. x i. + Ui-t Kiin,-i&lt; Lib ii. c. 27. ap. G:\U- Hist Hrit. torn. i. 

; Ap. Leibnitz, ii. 



AGES OF FAIT H. 2V3 

praised the processions at vespers, which took place during those three days in 
our abbey, says a monk of St. Gall. "O I wish that I were there !" exclaimed 
the king, " why should not we go my friends to that abbey to-morrow morning?" 
Bouts were accordingly prepared, and early at daybreak, the king embarked with 
the bishop and all his court, and at mid-day readied our shores, and was received 
with great joy into our monastery, where he remained three nights. It would be 
long to say with what delight the days and nights were spent, admit ing the old 
men and youths in the choir like so many angels. At the procession of children, 
the king ordered an apple to be thrown on the pavement; and when he saw that 
not one of the least children was moved so much as to look at it, he wondered at 
the discipline. On the king saying that he would dine in the refectory and 
partake of the common fare, the prefect said, " Alas, it is unfortunate that you 
will not wait till to-morrow, for then perhaps we shall have beans and bread, 
which we have not to-day." Then the children reading in order, on descending 
from i he desk, the king sent gold to be put into their mouths, and when one boy 
spat it out, " This one," said he, if he lives, will beagood monk." Then rising 
from table, he turned to his men and said, " that he had never before dined with 
such pleasure." On the morrow he caused himself to be enrolled as a con 
script brother, when he gave the price of a vestment to each of ihe monks, and to 
the boys he granted three days play. Then entering the oratory of blessed Oth- 
mar, lately canonized by Roman authority, who had been persecuted by his own 
family, he offered gold and silver on the altar. That day also, he said, " he 
wished to dine with the brethren as a conscript brother," adding, " that he would 
furnish pepper to season their beans." Never before was there seen or heard such 
a tea si in thai refectory. There was the smell of meat, the dance, and the sym 
phony. The king marked the graver brethren, and smiled to see their darkened 
countenances, as not liking the unaccustomed thing, but through respect for the 
king they said nothing. On the fourth evening he departed, the brethren thanking 

him with tears, to whom he promised that he would be a benefactor as long as he 
lived.* 

Eckehard the fourth, in his benedictional says, that when the Empress Gisela, 
and her husband Conrad II. with their son Henry III. came to St. Gall, and 
h:id themselves received as conscript members of the abbey, they begged from the 
Abbot Diet bald, the book of Job and the Psalter, which Notker Labeo had first 
translated into German. 

The occasion of some royal visits to monasteries, as we have already observed, 
was the pacification of differences. Thus the monastery of Ranshoven beheld the 
solemn interview of Frederic, duke of Austria, and the emperor Lewis IV. when 
by the intervention of the archbishop of Salzbourg they were reconciled to each 
Other.f The custom of courts gave rise to others ; as when the kings of Bur- 

* Erkelmrd de Caibus S. Galli. c. 1. 

f Anon. Chronic Lud. iv. Imp. ap. Fez. Script. Rer. AuM. torn. ii. 



MOKK&gt; CATHOLICI; oil, 

gundy, whose capital \v:is &lt; i. lu-va, u-ed to he crowned in ih" abbey of St. Main 

in tit \ Where iii n luul -pent their youth . u \\a- ie ; 

iii tiiei: therefore, or when wounded, kings used to beoonveyed to tne mon 

astery in which they ha* i Urn &lt; ducated. or at lea-t to BOOK "U.- h&lt;&gt;u.~ . Thus 

wei n h"\\ Loui linking his eod to be uear, removed to theabb -y 

of Si. Di ni". and \vlien . ail the ploughs in the field- round tin- a"bev 

\\ep- deserted, Be &gt; i L r. r sl y&lt;. the people flocking together t&lt;&gt; hail him on hi.- 
tnrn to Paris, anl commending him to God for hav;n_: 90 i&lt;&gt;n_: preserved 
[he . peac--. When Wiliiaiutlie ( .&gt;n&lt;jneror fell fro in his inuse, having U-cn ear- 
ri 1 t Rouen, he \va- n inovei to the prim 3 iervai-, to lie mtder the Otre 
of ; !)( All&gt;ot (lonthanl, who foresaw from ih that he could not reec.ver. 

Then- lie dieil. So a&gt;_ r ain it. was in the monu.- F Long|xmt, tliat Loniv t 

Kr.uic-e. -on of King Philippe-le-Hanli. &gt;iie&lt;l. th-- ila\ an : hour of \vh. 

earefully nottnl in tiie diary of the hon lint m-n of all , .,-- ~ in 

the tirst -hock of calamity, natd n turn t..- iryes towards tne cloi-t that 

th" romances of chivalry whon they r-pi-.-nt th-- xvoiindcil kniudr- de-inu^ to 
be carried to w&gt;me abbey in the neighborhood, tihfnl pic;m-c&gt; of the man 

ners of th Thus when Qyron-le-Corti&gt;ia lying on tli- g-.mnd near the 

fountain in the forest, after Iii- eornhat with another knight. a&gt;us " \\herehrcan 
have lepo-eV" his varlet replies to h in. "Sir. near ii- re is a house of religion, 
whither knigiits often repair, and kn-w that tne brethren in it labor verv willing 
ly. and do the honor- to all -train: kni^h s uhoec.m. -t them, and yon may 
r main thoi f at yonr ea.- ." Hi-tor\ presents many in 

of illustrious men of the true heroic stamp, who e\pie--]\ icKiir-d to inonastei- 
ie- in order to prepuie tor death. Thus ihe .jreat ( oiint Uichaid, oi St.lioint 
\\ho-e reni ival from the world iiavc such joy \ ! . . - , ino, died in ihe convent of 
the Domini.-. n- at 15 -ria, in which he was buried. Kveiy ..n.- ha- h- aid of the 
national legends which predict th- ntnrn to his country at a future day, of ^ome 
her whose memory i- -till in benedictHMi. Well, . vcn : -t tiie predom 

inant inciination of the he-oic mind ; t oi , if yon bt-iieve tnem, i: is not in the pa - 
ace or at the dome-tic iie.inh, mat he will iv-appeir: it i- in -mne abbey that ne 
will firs! be diaOOTered. A&lt;-eo .linglv \\hen the Portngii -e tiionglit that I&gt; n 
.in had actually returned to Portugal, it wa-a convent of Franeis. an- tiiat 
th -y said lie was seen to enter.*] Moiiast- t--n receivel .jreat person. 

within their gate- as visit- &gt;:-. who only sought a religion-, retreat or momentary 

refresh i neiit. 

Inguljiliu- ivlat --tnat in the year 1 4f&gt; 1, in which Kin-. Kdward IV. was mar 

ried, Mariiaret, Du.-iie-s of Som.-r-et. widow ot Duke .John, who was alway- mo-t 

lavorable and h -ni ju to the m ma-terv of Crovland, cam" there, and \\a- willingly 

" -V d as a sister into the chap &gt;!-. In th" &lt;jr-:\\ ( i-tercian monastery ofdu 



F. ^85. f Hier. (.JomMu-si dv Portui:. et C:istcl. Lib. ii. 



AGES OF FAITH. 265 

Val Notre Dame which stood in a deep valley, six leagues north-west of Paris, 
the King Philippe-de-Valois, came to lodge for some time in the year 1333, and 
King Charles V. lodged there in 1869.* It appears from tablets of N\ax pre 
served in the abbey of St. Germain-des-Pres, that in 1306, King Philippe-le- 
Bel came to the abbey of Vaux de Sernay, with all his court, f This monarch 
often visited the abbey of Longpout. It is marked on tablets of wax that 
he was there in September in 1308, and in December in 1304. Almost every 
year some sovereign was lodged in the abbey of Cluny. Dom Martene was 
shown in the abbey of Royamnont, the place where the King St. Louis u.-ed to 
sleep in the dormitory of the monks. When King Childebert, with his wife 
and court, arrived at a short distance from the monastery of Ouches, which he was 

* 7 

about to visit through desire of seeing the blessed Father Evroul, whose reputa 
tion had reached his ears, he alighted from his horse and ordered all his company 
to prepare for appearing worthily before the monks.! We read in old Spanish 
chronicles, that King Ferdinand coming once to the monastery of St. Facundus, 
and dining in the refectory, content with the common fare of the monks, and ob 
serving all discipline like a brother, there was brought to him a glass vessel, and 
while receiving it from the abbot s hand it fell to the ground and was broken. 
The king, lamenting his own negligence, caused to be brought to him a gold ves 
sel adorned with gems, and offered it to the abbot in compensation.^ 

In the monastery of the Holy Cross at Ratisbon, the emperor used often to 
dine witli his court, when hunting. In the monastery of Montserrat, there were 
certain chambers set apart for lodging separately, kings, dukes, marquises, counts, 
and knights.|| In fact, all high parsonages used to spend certain intervals within 
religious houses. The counts of Champagne, whenever they came to Lagny, al 
ways had their lodging in the abbey. Stephen, the most ancient of the Seigneurs 
de Baubigny, was known in the abbey of St. Denis as a knight and gentleman 
commensal of the Abbot Sugar.^ Cosmo de Medicis being received an exile at 
Venice, with every mark of highest honor, chose for his place of residence the 
monastery of St. George, where he afterwards erected a superb library, which he 
enriched with many manuscripts, to express his gratitude for the hospitality used 
towards him by the friars on that occasion. In the first court of Camaldoli is an 
inscription, stating how the pious princes of Tuscany had visited that wild wood 
and sacred cloister, and how their presents had exhilarated the monks. Warriors 
on their expeditions sometimes demanded hospitality in abbeys. The historian 
ofElv re afes an instance: "Onetime," he says, " when the venerable Duke 
Brithuod of Northumberland, was advancing with a small force against a great 
army of the Danes, on approaching the abbey of Ramsey, he sent forwards to beg 

* Leboeuf, Hist, dn Diocese de Paris, iv. f Id. ix. 168. J Ord. Vit. vi. 

$Roderic. Toletan. de reb. Hispan. Lib. vi. c. 14. 

| Lucii Marine! Siculi de rcb. Hispan. Lib. v. 

1" Lebceuf, Hist, du Diocese de Paris, torn. vi. 280. 



MO ILK 6 CATHOLIC 1 1; OR, 

italitv : but the Abbot L i-io -nit back ans\\er that the place WU8 not Sufficient 

, e snen a multiiud , bill that ho wouli gladly entertain him an 
ii&gt;anion.- : to A honi tn duke replied, "L&gt;t :h&lt;- lor : abb &gt;t kn..s\ that I d , i )()t 
i to snj) n.nii-- w thont these, Uraii-r I am not ahl-- t. fi-ht alone without 

:l ;" ;ii; -11 to Klv. -cii;in^ fo: ward- I th-- Ah ix.t 

K - H-, tnat lie and hi- ai my meant to sup with him; who returned an- \- i . that 

in the work of charity ho w;;- j . t no number- ; hn! that In- rather eon- 

i him on his eoinii: 8n he wa- d by the in &lt;&gt;n 1 \vitli 

i love and service, that he ever afterward- :* " _ r reat atlivtion for th pi; 

dying his giatitud.- tlie nt-xt day, hy giving to the abbey the manor- of SpaKl- 
e.vieh, Triunpington, Fnlhourn, and many &lt;th-r-, and onlv 1&gt;. i:i n-turn, that 

if he .-honld fall in l&gt;attle, they \\ -uld &lt;arv In- lvo]s- tli-r-- to h- ln:i.d. Th -n 
Commending him-elf to the pray r- "Mho hrothivn, he )&gt; --d on hi- cxpc.ii- 

tion, in which after ti^htm-.: coiira^- -uusiy foi ( !! t-u day-, on the fifteenth M 

-a\v, he fell, when the Dane- cut oil id- h- a i and urri-d it a \av with th- in. 
The Al)h.t of Ely, with some monk-, hearing tin- event, &lt;ani to ih"ti--ld of hat- 
tie and having found hi- \nx\\\ l&gt;ion^ht it hac u to th.- ahi..y and hmied it with 
L T -at iionor, plaoingupoa i fw*X in place of th-- h&lt;-ad. This pioii- aifd 

brave man flourished in th K : _ I \i, mid 

he diexl in the fourteenth y&lt; K nj .l- .d--hfl. Hi- widou- .!" :--.tl.-d t ^-ivo 

several manor- to th - al&gt;h-y, and also a v-ii wovt-n and paint--d. repreflentiug the 
deeds of her hu-hand, in in- in ry of iii- worth.* 

T.ie record of the vi-it- of -_ r reat hi-:oiical eh;iraet-rs to the r-T_ ioii- hon--s is 
indeed very intere-tin^. I^ t u- tak- -vhich d-crih- the 

strangers who cam- u&gt; ih" ahhoy of M nnt-OtttfinO) to which such crowds re- 

tl from the oa-t as well a&gt; from iln- \\--t, t-ither to view the church or to con- 

with the illu-triou- Ai&gt;h..t I )&lt;-iderin-, with wiiom k inp.-r"r-, and kin--, and 
queens corresponded hv letters, in which thfv ooonnended them-- v&gt; - to his 
prayers, f Hither cam-- the Kmpr&gt; ^Lgnee, iriftol H -nrv II.. from the fimheri 
limits of Germanv, to -&gt; him, like anotii* r Saha to - m .ther Solomon. I ler.- -he 
remaiiifd six months venerating the brethrMi. Hither c.-im- Bobeii^ooaiit of Laura- 
tello, with hi- knight, in Lent, for the sake of praver.t Hither came &lt; )th 111., 
l &gt; andulphiis of B -nc\ entum. the Kmp-Tis St. Henry. ( ..nrad I I., an&lt;l Henry I II. 
li lard, pi-ince of Capua, liohert (iid-eard. dnke ofCalahiia, th - Hmp- TO Loth- 
aire. Honrv. duke of Bavaria, and It &gt;i&gt;.-rt, ])riin--- "t &lt; apua, in company with 
St. Bernard and manv X.innan manual--. $ Tne-e vi-it- -f kin-_ to niMinistcries 
wen- an oci-a-ion to th" m nks ot -ati-ly;ii _ r th-ir project^, not of ambition, hut of 
humilitv ; as when t ; i- v.-n -r.il)i- Hartmot. ahixit of St. Gall, availed himself of 
the visit of the emperor to t Kit m ..na-t.-ry on hi- r.-tnrn from Ifalv. to obtain j&gt;er- 
mission to abdicate and retire from a j&gt;o*t of authority. |[ In u .-n--:-al the monks 

* TIit. Eli.-n- Lib. ii \ Chronic. Cassinens. Lib. iii. .T2. t iv. ? Hist. Cus^ineiis. vii 
| Rat pert &lt;k- Oritrinc Monast. S. Galli, cap. x ap.. (i..l.l-t-?. IN-r. Al. i. 



AGES OF F A I T II, 267 

sought to convert such visits to the spiritual welfare of their guests, who were al 
ways addivt&gt;d \viili solemn words of admonition, and conducted in the first in 
stance to the church, that they might adore th" blessed sacrament.* Whatever 
miglit be their state or character, they were invited to adopt the outward forms of 
the peaceful on entering the monastery. The monks of Mount St. Michael ob 
tained the royal sanction to oblige every one who visited that abbey to lay aside 
his arms, even to his dagger, at the gate.f In the abbey of St. Gall great men 
of the world were only admitted into the interior of the cloister on condition of 
putting on a cowl over their dress. Eckehard IV. saw on Easter day eight counts 
in cowls going in procession with the monks, following the cross, with youths 
and old men wherever they went, and dining with them at mid-day. J The con 
versation of the monks on these occasions, as we shall observe presently, was de 
signed expre.-sly to win their guests to a sense of religion, and so verify the pro 
verbial saying, that no one returned from a holy place the same as he went. A 
few short words from them, uttered with that tone and look of conviction which 
so peculiarly belongs to their blessed order, a simple admonition such as 

" O gentlemen, the time of life is short, 
To spend that shortness basely were too long," 

fell not in vain upon the stranger s ear. " Thou art an adept," he would exclaim, 
"in the difficult lore of the scholastic wisdom of Greek, perhaps, and Frank phi 
losophy. Thy spirit is present in the past, and sees the course of this old world, 
and how man can fall and rise. It is much 

I honor thee, and would be what thou art, 
Were I not what I ain : but 
Moreover thou disdainest us, and ours ; 
Thou art as God, whom thou contemplatest." 

" Disdain thee !" would the monk reply, " Not the worm beneath my feet I 

The Almighty has care for meaner things 
Than thou canst dream, and has made pride for those 
Who would he what they may not, or would seem 
That which they are not. Stranger ! talk no more 
Of thee and me, the future and the past: 
But look on that which cannot change the One, 
The Unborn and Undying. " 

Thus would speak the monk to his strange guest, and his strong words could 
never pass away ; for ;it each syllable he uttered, it was a new fibre of the other s 
soul 4 hat he laid bare. 

^V&lt; rend that a certain nooleman of Old Castille, who for his prodigalities and 
debauchery was obliged to fly from his home, passing the mountains of the Sierra 

* Si. Bonnvent. Spec, Novitiorum, ii. 3. f Raoul Hist, de Mt. St. Michel, 210. 

1 Eekehurd in Gas. c. 16. g ^heiley. 



MORES &lt; A T II &lt;&gt; 1,1 &lt; I . o K. 

Moivna, found Father John of the Cross, who was then prior of the monastery 

ot Caivary. H. li-do-ed lo him his nnhapp. Kate, and the holy man made li in 

BO well on the happiness of hi- -ntl ; i ,iu:-, tuat In- was changed into a dif- 

;it man, and laments! nothing but his tormer impatient-. u I -p--ak from 

experieiic- . ^entleman, u for though my -on-ows were very great, his 

di.-coiir.-e caused me not only to hear them patiently, but e\vn to rejoice in what 
I suti T&lt; d ; and I think that I should never have been able to have endured my 
m -fortunes if he had noteoineto my a i-tane ." - \Vnat- \vr prejudic. - a Mran- 

might have a monk.-," MjTI Bourgoign, " lie would renounce them after 

a vi.-it to tlie Ilieronvmitt s (if the K-.-nrial : lie would be eonv n d that under 
that habit the Spaniard el the- mueh tr Tiiere he i- i-.-eeived with 

hospitality, loaded with kindne-, and. if inelineil to l,-tie:&gt;. all the t iv.,-iir- - ..f 
the library are at his disp.-sa!."* Some : "-&gt;ts irere BO oharnied that we find them 
remaining s-veral years in mona-ter Thu&gt; in 11 ( .7 Alb.-rtus 5- f.-uiul &lt;l\\ell- 

ing in the mona- 9 Vnlrew, in Mantua, with the understanding that 

he .should neither otl er hims- if, n r we:w the muna-tie Imbit, nor | obctli- 

ence t . th- abbot, but should have free liberty f. - t . what ver r.-ular or ir- 

ilar place he might ehoos- with all hi- books, and without asking the abbot .- 
pcnni-sioii, a . o;di:iu to mutual eoptraet mad.- i.etwu-n him and the abbot. 
There were also iv.-iding then- I&gt;ani!tns and Bogaj lu-, and other-, like Albert, 
not bound to the house. f So in the annals (l fr..i-l&gt;y in - . we read, " 1 nis 
yew, 937, (\ de 1 evn.-, long a hunt. nd a brave knight, for the 

of his -oul, ehos.- his habitation, hi- wife i&gt;-in_: d a i, in our mona-t-ry. and thou-jli 
not made a monk, he v.-t iiv.-d d.-voutly aceording to our rule and ordei ." N. ver- 
theless th- - i .-am. ofti n a - ro at abuse, of which the diie&lt;-toi &lt; s of 

the eloist-i- e. mplained. St. Bernard \\riting-nlln-... a m.viee, who became 
afterward- an abbot, -ay-. " A- much as you can, my son, avoid the conver-ation- 
of guest-, which, while they fill the ear, empty the miiul."* M-n who came 
through cutio-ity to listen with learn- d lather than religions ear- were not such 
Iconic visitors. 

St. Stephen, on being elected abbot of Citeaux, applying himself with great 
7*-al to presei ve that fervent eomniunitv in the ,-pirit of poverty and s- elusion, 

among other precautions provided against the vi-it- of -traii _r T-. Th : s si ked 

the duke of Burgundv. \ ho wa- in the habit of holding hi- court in the ab 
and in cons-Mjuence he withdie&gt;\ the alms which had be- n it- only &gt;upp T:. The 
holy abbot however persevered with courage, and was at length abundantly eon- 
soled by the arrival ofSt IVnard and his companions. lii Italy the visit- of the 
rich became &lt;o unrea-"nai&gt;le and troublesome, tint an abbot writing to IVer of 
Blois expresses his intention of al&gt;dicat iuir hi- otlice in con-equence. " Quid de 



* Tablc:ni d- TF^paene, i. 238. f Auml. (.nnal liilcn-iuin. Lib. xxxv. 

t Kpi-i. ::0 J Sul. S.-ver Dinlni: Hi. 1 



AGES OF F A I T II. 

hospitalitate dicam, quse merit o hostilitas pot ins quam hospitalitas censeretur ?" 
IVter of Blois, however, in reply, advised him to tliink no more about abdicat 
ing but to put a stop to abuses, and observe moderation. The rule of Fontev- 
rauid says, " If the king or queen, the dauphin, or other royal princes or foiind- 
t-i&gt; &gt;hould desire to enter the monastery and no entreaties can di.-suade thorn, let 
them enter, but with as few aticn ;am~ as poible: but let them not attempt to 
pa-s the niglit within, if they \vi-h to avoid the .-entenee of excommunication. "f 
Tli* old kings of France being used to iiold their (Mint at St. Deni.-, where they 
had a palace, at the four solemn festivals of the year, King Robert promised the 
monks that henceforth neither he nor hi- successors would celebrate the great festi 
vals there, in order not to disturb the service of the monks, who used to be troub 
led by the presence of their courts. It appears also from a charter of Henry III., 
count of Champagne, in 1271, that Count Thibaud, one of his predecessors, had 
given up the right of gite in the abbey of Lagnv. in order to please the monks, 
who paid him in return the annual sum of one hundred Iivres4 

Examples, moreover, were not wanting of the visits of great men to monaster 
ies with an intention of ungratefully requiting their ho-pitality by plundering 
them. Her) ii in, chancellor of the duke of Normandy, and Raoul de Traci, came 
to Ouches, and received hospitality in the convent of the confessor St. Evroul. 
"In their simplicity," says Orderic Vitalis, the monks, overjoyed at the arriv 
al of such great personages, rendered to them all manner of duties. They led 
them familiarly into their chaples, and oratories, and private chambers, and showed 
them the &gt;hrines and relics of the saints, which were till then preserved in 
secret. These lords viewed apparently with respect the sacred objects, and 
withdrew after making their presents and prayers ; but soon after, as the Chal- 
(heans in Jerusalem, they returned with a troop of brigands, and cruelly carried 
off the vases, books, relics, and all the precious objects of the church of God." 
Christiern II., king of Denmark, was received to hospitality with all kindness 
into the monastery of Nydalens, called Newvale, on the day of the Purification. 
He took occasion t&lt;&gt; seize the abbot, with seven monks, after they had said mass, 
and tying their hands behind their backs he caused them to be flung into the river ; 
and when the abbot by natural strength succeeded in breaking the cords and in 
gaining the shores, lie was slain by the king s satellites. || What Cicero said of a 
whole province, that "if the Romans wished to maintain utility in war and dignity 
in peace, it should be defended not only from calamity but even from the fear of 
calamity, "^[ being generally admitted as a principle to guide all nations in regard 
to every separate religion* house, it followed that monasteries, during times of war, 
received numbers of fugitive-; \\-lio sought an asylum. Not to speak of the nu 
merous population attracted permanently by the peace which reigned round them, 

* Epist. 102. f La Reisrle de Fontes. c. vi. f Lehoeuf, xv. 71. Lib. vi. 

| Olai Magni Septent. Hist. Lib. viii. o. 18. t Pro ,ege Manilia. 



270 Molth&gt; CATHOLIC I; OK, 

niauv towns and even cities owing their origin to their neighborhood, we mu-t, 
th-T Mi-.ik - mention there of the gnerta who came to them foretime to 

ie&gt;"la:ions of war. The -ite of monasteries was often a protection. On the 
inva-i &gt;n of th" Danes i u 1O]:&gt;, ilic abbey- of ( &gt;o\ land, Tiiorncy, and Kly, &lt;&gt;, 
their pre-ervation to th- heavy rain- which had laid the country round under 
water. OrdericVitalis f Thorney, "Th- ie it a eouv. IK .,i moir ra 

ted from all secular habitation, built in honor of St. Mary, which i- celebr. 
for the purity of worship which (tod ivc-ives there. 

The venerable Ad -lwold. bishop of \Yinchesier, built this hou-e in tin- time of 
king Kdelred, at ter the massacre by the Dan. -, in which the ble--ed Kdniund 

suffered martyrdom. He transferred to it the body of St. Botulf. ubbot 1 &lt;-n- 

* * 

ton. Iu this obscure a-vlum th-- monks were in -a: lile combating faith- 

fully for God."* Under tiu- ( arloviit _ r ian-. the al&gt;b.&gt;\ - rtifiedj theieu 

danger of kin^s OOBVeitlng them into myal [ al:.&lt;- heir permanent alt 

but wh -u iht-abbvy^ wt-r- i&gt;iila j"d bv the Norman-, whilt- &lt;-iii. a ole : 

tli -ii) s&gt;i. (&lt;- fully, kini:- fnnd that tiff \vrr.-ui ii e inthe latter, and tliei 

forth their only constant inhabitant- wen- the monk.- or the d- ad. a- at St. Denis. 

i Ust ordinary \vurs, however, the monasteries pi-ovexl, in most instance-, a 
cure a-yliim. 

During the dreadful insurrection of the north, in the rei^n of Henry VI.. tlie 
monk of Croy Uuid detGribel the alarm of th- monks in that monast -iy hearing 
tt the tl-vastatioii- &lt;-oinmitte i -n near th- in, aiM bedttte the OOCUltry peopl- had 

brought all their tretftureft with them to Croyland to be m . -Miritv, which 

made it a more likely prey to the invaders. The preeiou- VI \itn the cnar- 

aiid monuin.-nt-, \\ei-. . th . all caietudv hi.ideu within walls. lYu- 

--ued daily from the convent, and every n ei matins and lands, 

pray el s and ttari i- d :o be pour-.i m round the r-mb of the IIM-I inlv father 

( Jilthl ic, tiie patron of Croylaild. A watch VfUB -et d-o at ev. i v ^at-oi ih.- town, 

an i no one \\a&gt; ! lowed eitlier to enter or depart without leave. The adjacetil 

ways were obetrootei by great t !- throun ar. .-&gt; them in many places. I 

we were not ijiven a prt-v t.. ..ur enemies, for tiiat sivaL r e armv pa-s-d mi 
after having been within six miles of us. ()noi i-ion th&lt;- convent ofhermitl 

in the dt-sett i ddoli rnnas:ill L r i j ater risk; for ^n the pa aiu 

armv we read that it \\a- n - iv-d t&lt;t s-nd a detachment to plunder it, b-cai. 
quantity of corn and utensil- hid lieen --nt th i -it ety 1&gt;\- the people of &lt; 

en i thr&lt;ugh fear nf the army. Some of the hermits in terror were preparin. 
fly over the high rocks of the mountain- : but -.ne of them. I etrns Teuton 
of moat holy life, exhort- i th-m to remain, and make a -ol.-inn -npplication, 
proceeding t-wo bv two. with t ue er ug them, wlien. lo ! such a dense 

and frigid darkness came over the desert that the day was turned into black night, 

* L,ib. xi. 



AGES OF FAITH, 271 

so that the soldiers who had begun to enter the forest fell into confusion and into 
the utmost horror ; and it \\a&gt; not without great difficulty that they returned to the 
camp.* In 1406, when John, Duke of Burgundy, governed the country of the 
Morins, the English having made a sally from Calais, invaded the frontiers of 
Artois, and on the eve of St. Martin ravaged the suburbs of St. Omer, made pris 
oners the richest inhabitants, and finally rushed into the Dominican convent to 
pillage it ; but the superior, who was a prudent man, went to meet them, and suc 
ceeded so well with his prayers that he moved the hearts of the soldiers, so that 
they abstained from every disorder. The superior then received them graciously 
into the house, gave them to eat and drink ; and two hogshead of wine which 
Count John had lately sent them, were given to them to make merry on the fe i-t 
of St. Martin. Four days after, to testify their gratitude, they sent back to the 
convent twelve gold nobles called of the rose, which was equivalent to 131 francs ; 
and, moreover, for the sake of the good monk, spared the village of Bosselart, 
which they had resolved to burn to ashes. f 

During the middle ages many such scenes occurred that might have reminded 
one of Ulysses giving wine to the Cyclops 



Kv/c\a)ip, r-f}, rrie otvov, ixel (payES avSpoiiea 
Take compassion on us and rage not so madly, 

ov 8e naivEcii ovfcer d 



Thus did barbarous soldiers receive and drink the monks wine, and rejoice 
greatly, drinking it, and call upon them for more, saying, " Our land indeed 
produces wine, but this is an emanation of Ambrosia and Nectar."^: The con 
vent of St. Catherine, near Diessenhofen, on the Rhine, had a narrow escape in 
1460, when the army of Sigismund of Austria having been defeated in battle there, 
some of the soldiers, who fled into that house, proposed to set fire to it. A 
pious soldier, shocked at the design, threw hins u lf on his kness before a crucifix, 
and after a short prayer, turning to the warriors, spoke to them with such eifect 
that they desisted from what they had begun ; then, after great exertion, he suc 
ceeded in stopping the flames. This soldier was Nicholas, who subsequently be 
came the hermit so celebrated under the appellation of Von der Flue ; and the 
crucifix before which he prayed may be seen to this day in that convent. Thus- 
some pious soul was always near, some impression of awe was sure to be awakened 
in the most hostile breasts, so that many elements then conspired to preserve the 
peace of monasteries. While the world was agitated with a thousand disorders 

O 

in consequence of the decomposition of the empire of Chnrlemagne, the abbey of 
Corby is described by one who inhabited it as a place like that Paradise from 

* Annal. Camaldul. Lib. Ixvi. 

f Piers Hist, des Flamands des Haut. Pont, et de Lyzel, 97. $ ix. 350. 

Weissenbach Leben des Nikol, &c. 26- 



M &lt; II KS CAT HOI, ICI : &lt;&gt; li 

\\nich man w d hy tin- envy ot the s.-rix-nt : Itldi was the peace, and ord- 

and angelic tone .if tue 



" O who with spri-ch of war and woes 
Would wish to break the M.fl u-pote 
Of such a tranquil -&lt; 



Y&gt; -ueh -p.- eli did penetrate ev. n into the nrlo-mes of religious men ; and m 
one of their old chronicles theie i- :in aii-edole related which pre-ents ill a vei v 
Jx aiitiful and striking manner ilie contrast to which tlii- gave n&gt;e. " A &lt;ii. 
fill contention raged Ix-iwe-n King Th. od&lt;.rie and Tneo.iel.ert, hoth -wiling 
proudly again-t ea h other with the strength of ih- nati n- At th 1 ^ tine HIH 
man of God, St. Coliunhan, with St. M.i^ini- and other-, had Urn i i hy 

rh""lci)frt on their retreat tr-m Lnxenil. A i-i ivini; on tlie -h &gt;res r.f the lake of 
&lt; "ii-tance, they l)iiilt a cell in an ancient d. I plMeoalied Arbooa, an&lt;l there 

awaited the r.&gt;ult .f this cont- &gt;t. Soon th-._. i.- : n i.Mitle was fought n-ar the ca-tle 
of Tolhiac, in wnich innumeniblv men ot hotli armies iell. rheni,-l.-rt l&gt;ein&lt;j-c&lt;ni- 
(|iierel tl- d. Now it eanu ne hour in which t lie liattle was tiirht- 

inir. thai HI.- man of &lt; J"d, &lt; olnrnlian. \\as &gt;ittmir in the fore.-t on tiie trunk of a &lt;le- 
caytHJ tree rcadin^a hook, over \\hich he tell a-leep ; and \\-\\\\- n^ he -aw 

what passed l&gt;. turrii the two kin ikin&lt;_ r , h" calle&lt;l Marim&gt;. hi- iii-ciplo. 

told him that a Uloinlv battle of kitlgfl wa- ju-t taking pla&lt;--. and that much 
human Mood wa- -he. idint;. M.I.JIUI- then answeicd and -aid, I^ord father. I 
\\ M nj under a pin* -t I with -1- j&gt;. and it seemed to m.- ;il- 

a battle \\a- fought : ami takn atl 1 \\i-hed to -trike Thcodoric and &lt;! liver 

Tbendebert, hut a e-rtain form forhad in-. - \iinj. It i- not ne&lt;-essary for you ( () 
do s .. sin&lt;-- the Lord will -o,,n avenge tliy ma--. &lt; olnmban. Then awak 
I rose and hasten el to declan- to yon thi- v -i n While hoth of them wondered 
at the-e thini:-. KiiiKX hn- standing hy, said ra-hly, Nfv tather, yon ouirht to af- 
tord the -ntfra-re of your |&gt;ray r- to rhr.-d.-l&gt;.-n, that he may vanquish tne eotn- 
inon enemy TheodoHo ; to whom hlesMNl C oltnnhan -ai&lt;i, Yon L ive a foolish 
counsel, and one alien trom reliirion ; inr-ueh cannot U- the will of the Lord, who 
has command-Mi n- to pray for our en. mi---." f How impre-sive i- thi- scene ! 
this contni-t Ix- w. en tne delight- of tin : ind the hitternes- of human 

miserv ! How calm the forest, where, from brain h to htaneh. the feather, d (jiiir- 
is applv their wonted art, with full joy welcoming tiies- hours of prime, ami 
-. uv-on-cious of any evil, as ifthe univr-e \\er-- thrilled with love, warlile still 
amid the leave- tnat to their joound lay- ke..p tenor ! What jwace t K&gt; in the he 
of the-e monks &lt;ittin&lt;r -o thoiMjhtfnlly a- ifentrawvd hv the swe&lt; f lieir 

-"tinr t \, 1( i ih fm j,,, w ...yj t() think that all the while the work of cur- d liate 
sbonld he so near ! for hark ! at lon&lt;r intervals, with t ach return of the slowly 

* Vit i - \.l ilimr.li ,;. Mat.. .Vein S. &lt;)rd. Bened. S*c. iv. 1. 
t VituS. Mugui, Lib. i.e. ~t. ;ip. (loldnst. t&lt;.ni. i. p. ii. 



AGES OF FAITH. 273 

undulating air, there comes a harsh demoniac sound, deep and terrible, for which 
nature has no echo. It is the noise ofihe crim-on seething plain, made up oi the 
cry of blood, and the fierce taunt of an im mortal rage, ami the shrieks of scornful 
and unyielding wretched men hurling defiance as they die. 

Tidings of war penetrated into cloisters whenever any monk arrived who had 
been obliged to make a journey during its continuance. To the perils which smb. 
men encountered Lupus alludes in writing to the Abbot Marcwad, saying, " We 
commend this novice, our runner, to your sanctity, answering in every respect t&lt; 
his profession, excepting that, I believe, on account ot nocturnal fears he cannot 
sleep alone."* In war-time monks who returned from a journey had no want 
of adventures to relate. Rodulph, of the Benedictine abbey of St. Tron, about the 
year 1000, was chosen by the other monks as a proper person to bear a message 
from them to the bishop of Metz respecting the unjust usurpation of Herriman, a 
service of some danger, as the roads were beset with hostile armies. " However, 
regarding," he says, " more the utility of the church than my own life, I set out ; 
but in order not to take the public road, I joined myself to the army of Godefrey, 
duke of Lorraine, and Frederic, bishop of Cologne, which was advancing, as I 
supposed, to Verdun. Good Jesus ! what did I not endure in that journey ! or 
who could relate it ! And what was I to do, a monk, and having only one atten 
dant ? If I directed my steps to a town, either the town had been already destroyed 
by the army, or, if it existed, I knew there was no security in it : but if I were to re 
main in the open fields between the armies, I had no means of contriving a roof 
or shelter for myself or my horses. I knew not where to procure food for myself 
or for them ; nor did I dare to separate myself from my companion. At length, 
committing myself to God and to our blessed patron, leaving the army, I passed 
on to a little village which was half burnt down, and there was not one man left 
in it; but I found some women there who had fled through fear of the army; 
and seeing me, a monk, advance to them, they rushed to meet me, contending 
with each other as to which of them should give me hospitality for the night, that 
by my presence they might he defended from the rapine of the armed men. 
When I had turned into one house, immediately all the women with their boys 
and children that had been left in the village came crying and groaning to my 
hospice, dragging with them their pigs, and their cocks and hens, and all their ani 
mals ; and they brought to meand my companion oat-bread and cheese, and milk for 
provisions, and also hay and oats for our horses : but returning, thanks to God, I 
took nothing from them gratis, and we lost nothing durinsr the night. Early 
the next morning the army moved on, and so the good women preserved all their 
stock. After many hardships we reached Verdun on the tenth day ; and the 
bishop of Metz was in the neighborhood :&lt;t a place called Dongeus ; so there I 
Delivered my letters. The reply of the bishop was favorable to us ; but as there 

* Lupi Epist. Ixx. 



.M VML t 6 C A T H O L 1 C I ; O R, 

\\.t- (1, -t, on my i-turn, I might fall into tne hands of Hei riman, a letter 

al-o directed to niui in which the words M modified as t&lt;&gt; admit 

double -signification. Having re&lt;- i\ cd ;ntse letter-, and the Iciftl uf] 

tin- bishop, 1 p cpiivd to return; but i hardly knew by what \\ay.for I ki 
thai Herri na i had an ambu-h reaiiy to int -uvpt me. \\&lt; . I pa-~ d 

the ea-tlc of l&gt;n&gt; , and took up my lod^in^ i .&lt;r the ni-hi with tie r- --dion- can- 
oii- of in- m iia-tei\ ffl P . who h. id a hou*e in tin- Kariy ne\t 

morniiiir tli v _ r :iv&gt; me a LTU de, and I p- &lt; un-. wh 

a reil ot tne brethren of tin- monastery of St. Ilulx-it. and witli them I 
the n u r h:. ( )n the third div 1 cam- t&lt;&gt; th-- monastery ot St. Huneit. thmujrh a 
l ii_ r \vav, and a vast and mo-t ln&gt;rri:le -oiitnde. ( )n the ti.nnh dav, beinir 
L r ii.d"d iv a certain clerk \\lif : eaptivity no ,r-~ tnaii my.-rij . \\r ,11. 1 

KII &gt;\v not t nroii^h \vlia l-rty in-aintains and rooky liri^his. and then 

&gt;iii;h deep an 1 mar-hy valleys, to the 1:1 rat exiiaiisiion ol unr i, md &lt;nir 

own anxietv, turning on on ev. the lra-t sound l-t w- -lionld b- 

taken; till, at length, at dawn on th-- tit ili day, w- t onnd oiir--lv &lt; at tin- end of 
that terrible d -er , and tne elerk pn .m- way and I aiMiher. The 

monks of Cinny have a cell in the woods belwe.-n Hn\cand Lieje, and th--ie 1 
wa- lerrivrd tor the night with all humanity. ( )n the sixth dav we came to 
Lieg", whe c the mo-t pious abimt of &gt; .1 ,111 . I )om Stephen, enter! n uc i and 
eonsoled m", out wained metnat Her; man had iii- - on tiiei-.ou out for me. 

I took a bold step, for I repair- d to the niti- &lt; i i i - belt, which count 

\\a-ijoined with Herrirnan, and -iiowing her the HMbigOOlM letter, I had her per- 
mi.-sion to pro&lt; eeil, and no one dared to contradict her : and so mona.-tic &gt;inij 
ity deluded the cunnm-: of the woman. On arriving at our coiiv nt the iir-tuien 
were astoid-iitd ; and -at theins- Ivc- down round me witi oy, an 

me as if I had returned from the tomb : and they gave thank&gt; t" (iixlformy 
wonderful e-cape. T&gt; it atte: a time, when the coiinte-s dr-&lt; ; how she had 

been deluded, she kindled i he iage of her husband against me to &gt;uch a 
that I was not -ate ev. n within the walls of oiir cloi-ter ; and -o, tearing e,,n- 

itlv fi-r my lite, 1 . v made ai : aiuetn- iits \\it i ( ..m; .Xrnnlfot Louvain 

that h" should conduct me away in I ! .-d me out .n th- fonrtn &lt; t the cal- 

eiiii- ^ ptemWr, very -ad on having a |i . K) i"iiu r i-uniliar to me, and ilie 
yoimt; men in win &gt;se e&lt;l neat ion I ha-i iau n .-uch pain-, and a &lt;-&lt;-ngic-ation in which 
I had so lonjr labored, and which I was never likely to seea&gt;_ r ain. I wept, ih 
fore, biitenv. and so proceeded to St. Lnireiice. to be under me \\is-- al&gt;bot 1 
eiiirer. \\herc. tnank- to his iri eat numanity, I was fixed and consol.-d by the third 

week of September** 

But to return to the Abbey and ol he fugitiv-- wno came to it for ho-pi- 

tality. When Ingulphu- came fn -t to Cr..yland as abbot, he found there -ixty- 

* Chronic. Abbatia-. &gt;. Tiuilmns, Lii). vii. up. D.claT. Sp.cileg. vii. 



AGES OF FAITH. 275 

two monks, of whom four were lay brothers, besides monks of other monasteries, 
wh&lt;&gt; were in community with the chapter of that house, and who whenever thev 
came sat in the choir and in the refectory, and slept in the dormitory, and then- 
would &gt;tay a- long as they liked: and -ometimes not till halt a year or a whole 
year would they return to their own nn&gt;nast"ries ; for particularly in time of war 
or disturbance thev flocked toCrovIand. On this occasion there were in the hon- 



ten monks from Thorney, six from JJury, eiuht from Ramsey, three from Ely, 
nine from St. Edmund s, twelve from St. Alkin s, ten from Westminster, two 
from St. Andrew of Northampton, fourteen from Christ Church, Norwich, fifteen 
from Thetford, seven from Coventry, six from St. Mary s, without York, ten from 
St. Mary s of Stow, six from Michelneys, and five from Malmslmry, be-ides daily 
comers and others who always livid there for the sake of security, and had obtained 
leave to be united with the .society ; for the urbanity of Croyland was such that no 
one was ever sent awav." In much later times, when the Swede was carrying on 
war against the Catholics of Germany, the monks of the abbey of Einsiedelin gave 
hospitality at one time to three abbots and to more than thirty monks from other 
monasteries, who had taken refuge there.* The Count ofStolberg, in his history of 
Alfred, after observing that " in times of war and desolation illustrious sufferers 
found a sure refuge in the holy asylum of a monastery/ adds, "this explains 
why so many princes, when restored to their thrones, showed such gratitude to 
them. In the day of adversity thev had found there protection again.-t their ene 
mies, consolations in misfortune, and wise lessons ; leisure to reflect upon the dis 
orders of their past life, and new strength to resolve upon reforming it."f "The 
tempest of civil war," says Ingulphus, "was now hanging over the kingdom : 
but in order to escape a little from it during Lent, King Henry VI. came to the 
abbey of Croyland for the sake of devotion, to make his offerings humbly at the 
tomb of our holy father Guthlac. When he had tranquilly remained for three 
days and three nights, being much delighted with the observances of religion, he 
earnestly sought to be admitted into the fraternity of our monastery, and he ob 
tained ir. Soon after, in order to show his gratitude, he published a decree ex 
empting all the inhabitants of the town of Croyland for ever from the tax-gath 
erers and ministers of the king." But to return to the more ordinary times of 
general tranquillity. 

We have observed how the hospitality of the monks was often abused ; but 
there were visitors of a different class from those we have hitherto seen, whose ar 
rival at monasteries was an occasion of unmin^led joy to their holy inhabitants, 
and whose presence disturbed not the tranquillity of the house of peace. Hearken 
to their first words : 

"We enter from this time to prove 
Thy hospitality and love, 

*Regnier Chronique d Einsiedelin, 78. f Chap. iii. 



MOK K&gt; CATHOLICI; oil. 

- .\vn toward thy : .est: 

From hind to land we would not stray; 

whither should we go away? 
With thee is perfect rest."* 

Those are the pilgrims who used BO often to oome from distant ooontrict and 

nuiin t&lt;&gt; die. Such ua- St. Malaehi, who, as St. Bernard -1 from his 

far distant country, the tartiie- - and, uni( Clairvanx, \\ IKMC he died.t Such 
\\ a.- Molina 1, another Irishman, who made a pilgrimage i- K ine, in company with 
hi- uiiric Maruus, a distinguished monk, and many of;, is countrymen. &lt; )n their 
return over the llhetian Alps they all toou tin- way to St. Gall, in order to s-e the 
place whep- :hc lii\ (Jail and so many Irishmen after iiim had lived and I 

still living. Mdugal and \furkiiabeiii --d by the monks to remain, consented, 

and &gt;;ave. their li n--e- a id mo icv, ho &gt;ks ant ve-tments t &gt; the ablc-y. 

under the name of M ir c! M-, ditninn:ivc from hi- uin-l.- &gt;fark, \va- made 

"f ho inner -chool, in which h" l orme&lt;l Ilianv eminent nien.^: Th- &gt; Irish, in the 

ninth century, " (jnibu- &gt;n- i.-tndo [lera^rlnandi jam ji:-n in natui-am con versa 

a- \Valafrid Stral- . in hi- l:feot ^ . &lt; i ill.jj w. lom&lt; v-ito! 

ditV-Tcilt ffli^iou- lions,- which they v;-i cd ; and many of thorn never re- 

tuni d t &gt; their country, Imt muaiueditl Itah , France, and ( Jermany, whore tht-y 

.me monks or hermit-. In a codex of St. (iall are these lines alluding to 

them 

" Hi sum -anni, qu-w inula nnstra 

Nohilis in lisTfrvi-i niiiriv -nisi darns, 

Quorum irratsi fides, virtus, honor, inciita vita 
Has :iuii&gt;. Miiniu.-i-ijU I saci.ivit unio-uns. 

Semin.i tjui vi;r Aiiji iiuui prr :i^r&lt;)8, 

Ex (jui^ maturos converts in liorrt-a fructus, 
No ici iir 111:1 ilf stirpe crcnti 

Hie Mini K : in .p-ibe 

l -. inuutii(|in- tuiiH-nti.-i nu-mbra! 

Cum Clni-ii potius dchctis im-mbra videri , 
Prudcn-i hie p tiiMt (piin (J.-illus atquc M-piiltuS, 
Ardens icnis Srotornm conscendif ad altos. 
LuV&gt;lane rni ruit nomem. dinniimqii - vocari. 
Aunue r me hie pro nomine F.-vlan, 

Dutiduin lio- liorto* fecit, (piiciinqne requirls, 
V. : - .- . qui dixit :iiuief."| 



Sometimes, however, the-- holy ^in-t- only romained f n. Thus in 

the annals of Corby, in Saxony, we read, u Thi- year, 1 1 _ : ,. Nicholas, one of the 
h- rm ts of the moiia.-tery of St. Gall, came to IH, and was made a p-ader ; he re- 

* Treneh. 

f Ireland usp&lt;J to he called Scotia Major. Mmtyroi. 15 Noikcr Pet. Lombard de Hi bcrnia 
( oinmentJii iu&gt;, 

: I .rkehuid in Cas. i Lib. ii. c. 47. | Ex. 0. x. n.10. 



AGES OF FAITH. 277 

turned to Switzerland, and became, we hear, an abbot/ \V&gt; lately observed how 
tnanv personages of dignity in this world visited the abbey oi Mouni-CuSbino, 
L"t u.i hear its annalist record the arrival of other guests, wlio-e chief greatness 
consisted in their saintly fame. Hither, then, came St. Adalbert, bishop of the 
Sclavonians, having left his see by permission of the Roman Pontiff, through de 
sire of making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; but the abbot and prior, as if by di 
vine admonition, dissuaded him, saying, " It is the part of a magnanimous man 
to avoid the perplexities of this fugitive world, sed quotidie loca nova mutare 
minus laudabile est. For as the inconstancy of the wintry sea is an evil to nav 
igation, so a wandering from place to place threatens danger. To stand in one 
spot, and the more freely to apply to sup Tiial things, not we, but the precepts of 
our ancestors and the examples of the bravest men exhort you." Moved by these 
words, he resolved to renounce that project, and to proceed no farther, but io con 
clude there the remainder of his days ; though by command of the Pope he after 
wards returned 10 the pagan people, from whom he received a martyr s crown.* 
Hither also came, for the sake of prayer, St. Romuald and St. Boniface, and many 
others of the Teutonic race : hither came Count Olibanus, by advice of St. Rom 
uald renouncing the world, ami along with him bringing fifteen horses laden 
with treasure, ostensibly coming to pray for a season, but in fixed resolve to re 
main here for ever.f Hither came the Lord Odilo, of venerable fame, from 
Cluny : through reverence for St. Benedict, he ascended the mountain on foot, 
and when, after the custom of the monastery, he had been introduced into the 
chapter-room, and led honorably to the abbot and brethren, after the solemn 
words used on the reception of such a guest, he said aloud. "Sicut audivimus 
ita et vidimus in civitate Domini virtutum, in civitate Dei nostri, et in Monte 
Sancto ejus/ J 

Hither came very devoutly Hugo, the venerable abbot of Cluny, a man of 
celebrated life, desiring to be received with his congregation into community of 
prayers in life and death with the brethren. Hither came St. Villibald from- 
England, which he had left ten years before, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 

The joy with which the monks must have welcomed the arrival of such men 
could only have been equalled by that of the guests themselves on entering their 
gate&lt;. When we find St. Thomas Aquinas seized with sickness, which appears 
to be mortal, at the castle of Magenza, the seat of the Count Aunibal of C can, 
at which lie had Bopped on his way from Naples to the council of Lyons, in or 
der to bid adieu to his niece Frances of Aquin, and afterwards proceeding on his 
journey, though inwardly persuaded that his last hour was at hand, how consoled 
are we to hear of his arriving at Fossa Nuovo, the fanvm* abbey of the Cistercians,- 
in a desert in the diocese of Terracin.-i ! In fact, he had fastened his departure 
from the castle, saying. " If the Lord pleaseth u&gt; give me a little strength, I shall 

* Cap. xvii. Lib. ii. f Id. cap. xix Lib. ii. t Cap. liii. Lib. ii. iii. 51. 



MORES CATHOLIC I; OR, 

proce-d, in order (hat I may IK- found in - nw mona-tery, rather than in a secular 
hoi; On fin :he abbey, alter first praying in-fore the ble--ed -ueram- nt 

according :-&gt; h. ; - ctist mi, ne pa ed into tne cloister, which he never lived to ._,,, 
Out of, rep U, I lav reipiie- ni-a in -:e&lt;-idum -avuli." The UK til kl 

were not in !&lt; to fiie hon. i on them by the arrival of ftiich a guest. 

He wa- lodged iii the abbot s apartment ; and (lie monk- would cut down and 
v with th -ir own hand- the wood that wa- to burn in hi- i oom, thinking them- 
.- Ivs h:ippy if tliey could render anv Ki VK- to the holy doctor, who, u y 1 liv- 
iug, wa- hastening to a kingdom. Th&gt; \ eiltr at-d ;d:n t&lt;&gt; dicta -- di-ciirs.-s on 
ill - Cantica ranticoruin ; but he replied, Give me tii- spirit of S\ I , mard.aud 
I will comply with your re.pi There lied unl on the seventh of March. 1^71, 

some hours after midnight, just at tli- dawn of day. 

A scene of th" &gt;ame kind was \vitiies-.-d in the mona-tery of Favcntia, ll Ka- 
veuna, in : VC It7li.at iiii-lni_ lit, on the octave ..f St. IVte . 1 -. chair. \\\\&lt;&gt;\, 

Peter Dainian, that gnui star of -aiictity and learnint;, set upon the v\ () rld. el ( ,-ii\u; 
in that hon-e h - 1- Cation with his life.* Tritheinius ivlat another dc-pl\- iu- 
-!in u r vi&gt;it made t&lt; a r "li^i. &gt;us non-e. Si. . \n-elin, arclibi-hop ot ( anterbiiry, 
iiearing of the bh-s-d Abb.t \Villiam and the s:uietity of the monks at Hiis.-nau, 
turned out of IPS way when on his. return from Rome and visited ihem, icmain- 
iiii: with them fonrnt ii day-, a man holy with the holy, a monk with moi 
and an humble archbishop with the humble. St. \Villiam rejoiced (&lt;&gt; -eethe pri 
mal- of England, whom he ha ten heard spoken ofa.s a man of God. In 
the midst of the brethren tne holy aivhhi-hop remained like one of their 
number, sp.-aking many things on tin- Holy Si-riptmvs, on the observance of 
the monastic conversation, on the -alvation of souls, and on the love of (iod. Of 
ten he lamented aloud his own OANB, tliil he wa- drawn from a cloister to an epi- 

t-opal chair; he wa- .-..:, ip.-li- ,i, Ite -ai&lt;l,to COIIV.-IM- with tlie world. "() liappv, 
and tlirice liappv, tlioae," h- cried, " who could -erve ({od in monadic peart- and 
solitnd Tlien commending himself to the prayer- of all, and -riving them his 

bene iiction, he departed on his return to Kn^land, whence he came, but he never 
lost the memory of this visit. Bishops, indeed, were generally glad to pay -ueh 
visit-, which conferred pl--a-ure on the monks. Tim-, in the annals of Corby, in 
Snxony, we read, "This vear, 875. Luithebart, tli- bishop, on his journey, pa.- d 
a night in our mona-tery, and wa- benign lv received by Ad--l _ r ariu- and the whole 
c-&gt;nvent." And in the records of Einsiedelin, tin; arrival of St. Charles Borromeo, 
in 1576, i- noted down. 

Great men in exile, and mere -ocular wanderers too, arrived often at the mon- 
asteri- -, and received h&lt;spiiality during a oertaitl -pace of time. In 1M), l*eter 
II., abbot of Kin-itHlelin. obtained from the Kmp Tor \Vin confirma 

tion of the privilege which conferred on his ablx. i y " the rijjht t&lt;&gt; rec.-ive iM 

* Aunal. ( .-iniald. Lib. xix. t Chronic. Hit snug. 



AGES OF FAITH. 279 

persons." In all ages, the Benedictines desired this " droit d accueillir les ban- 
uis," to which they owed many illustrious visitors. The well-known compas 
sion of all the religious orders drew many strangers to their houses : for those who 
could sympathize so deeply with woes they only read about, as may be witness d 
in the impassioned exclamations of the poor Friar Martinns, on hearing of the 
sufferings of St. Elizabeth, would not be frigid comforters in presence of the un 
happy. The abbey of Blandinberg, near Ghent, acquired frpsh celebrity from 
having received, in his banishment, St. Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury. In 
the abbey of Clairmarais, St. Thomas, of the same see, found an asylum; and, 
when lodged again in the abbey of St. Bertin, at St. Omer, he remembered with 
pleasure that the same house had received the learned Alcuin, the great Kings 
Alfred and Canute, and that resplendent light of England St. Dunstan. St. 
Thomas, on his way thither, having reposed for a night in Lille, the house in 
which he lodged still bears this inscription : " Sancto T lionise Canturbiensi hujus 
sedis quondam hospiti sitlaus, honor, et gloria ;" and the water of its well is asked 
for by the peasants, with faitli in Him whose martyr drank it. The abbey of 
Pontigny, that second daughter of Citeaux, served as an asylum to three holy 
archbishops of Canterbury ; St. Thomas, and Stephen Langton, and St. Edmund. 
Many were the victims of oppression who found refuge in this house, and hence 
we find there this inscription : 

" Est Pontiniacus pons exulis, hortus, asylum; 
His graditur, spatiatur in hoc, requiescit in illo."* 

Another class of pacific visitors whose presence was hailed with an immense 
and holy joy was that of men intellectually great; wiiose genius that cast glory 
on their age, was not without enthusiastic admirers under the monastic cowl. 
Never did such high intelligences give each other rendezvous in the palace of 
princes, as used to meet here. For whom now sounds the porter s bell ? there 
are quick steps in the cloister ; the abbot smiles, to indicate the joy that will ac 
company the coming guest. It is Michael Angelo who arrives! it is Dante! 
or a prince philosopher perhaps, a Picus of Mirandula ; or the Songster of Jer 
usalem, the sweetest of the poets, Tas-&lt;o ! When the ponderous gates of the ab 
bey flew open to receive such men, there were that day many glad hearts within it, 
though plaudits were not heard to wound its sanctity. Where did Dante find that 
friendly solitude which invited him, as he says, to visit ancient books ?f Where 
did the great Buonarotti hold that silent and meditative intercourse with eternal 
trutli ? It was in some monastery among woods and mountains, to which they 
used to repair from time to time, seeking renovation of their spirits and peace. 
Learned renowned monks of distant abbeys were also welcome visitors to relig- 

* Gall. Christ, xii. 440. f De Vulgari Eloquentia. 



HOI \TiioLiri : oil. 

ion- houses. Thus, in til- ; of Kin-i. di lin, the arrival of Don Mabillon, in 

!&lt;;&gt;: ,. is noted down ; M altfO thai Ol 1 in &lt; a met, in 17 

N (I one br ng . :, "ven the mere secular wanderera, like those of latter Una 

.ml \v i ;h,.iu as gue-ts. Tli,- Song-ter ot \ 

1 himself, wnrn at Atii -n-, in ti:ecitv n| Minerva, in piv&lt;i.nc.- of tin- l j ar- 
thi iion, cho-e for his tod-ing tin- convent of Capuchins.* Count Kl/ 
hran who&gt;e nam*- alone Urines one kick to tin- ag- .- of faith and heroic virtue 
ha- left, in the tablet- of Vallombrosa and Camaldoli, a memorial of the peace 
that he derived from inhaling the .-aiictity of tho-e eloi-ter- ; and &lt;! tainly, 
most .strangely pervert" i mn-t l&gt;e the mind \vhich do s not regard the mem 
of a visit to the monasteries O f Switzerland and Italy a.- one of its nio-t delight 
ful r- coll.-ction-. \Vhat, in ta- i. i&gt; more calculat-- 1 to m.ik \&gt; and lasting 
impression than the -oiemn nm-ic of the monk-s, chanting by ni&lt;^ht in the rhureh 
of X alloinhro-a . \\ hat nioiv . ttiii j; than that nt-w lit e on. m m&gt; to 1 treat he 
in those delieion- MeQfl &gt;anci li i it\ lull, \\nen, after e&gt;capiujr in the 
&gt;umni"r month- from Klor.-H --- to he nlonniain-, one innds thoM swelling lawns 
when y.-t the tender dew -ti ive- \ it i the -nn. o ..11 within 
the dark primeval f Mat -en-en that a &gt;if-y . \\hocan for^ft the tolling of 
matin Itell atC amal . awful amid-t the solitude &lt;&gt;t thos*- Appennines ! or 
the salutation. . ach dav hef.re the dawn had eiia-td the hour of prime. 1&gt;\ the 
monk nt ni\\z in his l.-ni: white naltit. carryini; hi- lamp, and saying with a 
smile, " Dco^iati:. Ah! olle cannot \\onderthal |&gt;. o d i-ljo-e to ac 
cept the hospitalities if r- liirioti- m&lt;-n. ratherthan to court the invitation- of the 
.t. In Dry hu 1-14 abltev rcsid-&gt;i oi\.-n th- moral (iow. r, and the philosophic 
Sir d . In the convent of: he Carmelites on that hill where &lt; aio had ni- larni, 
and where highe-t (Jod in temler ni -rcy now &gt;ho\\&gt; m Vi&lt;ia \\rot- MJ^ 
CSlriatiad. In the Carthu-ian mona-tery, one leaijtie Iroin Milan, IVtiarch, \\ ho 
had a country villa near it, spent hi- happirM hours. u In that cloi-ter," he 
-. " I njoy at all hours of the day the pure and delightful pi re 
ligion ; the u r at&gt;-- are alwavs o; me; but I am n-ol\-, d not to lodge tli 

I should give trouble t&lt;t otin-rs in see.Jnt; my own plea-nre. In tin- happy 
retreat I draw eonsolation from my pious mom Their eonvi sitin i- not 

brilliant, but it i- innocent and holy ; their n-p:i-t- are not inviting, but in tneir 
eonipanv th.-:.- i- p-rie&lt;-t tVe--do!n ; \\hiie th"ir prayers will lye my ijreat comfort, 
both in my lif-- and at my death." 

Finailv, for it would Ite endh ss to p : with instance-, to th" monastery of 

St. Onufri" l .i--o came, in his la-t hour-, wiien he felt that he wa- never to leave 
it moi- . S-i/"d with mortal -ickn s-. at th-- moment when ih - triumph of the 
lanre i-crown was to have l&gt;een conferred upon him, he eaus-d hims"lf to be re 
moved to this monastery, when all hi- thoiiL ir - n (iod. On the ar- 

* Mienauil. le l &lt; )ric 



AGES OF FAIT H. 281 

rival of Cardinal Cinthio with the Pope s benediction, heexclaimed, "This is the 
crown with widen I hope to be crowned, not as a poet in the Capitol, but as a 
child of tlie church in heaven." 

So here, in conclusion, we discern that not in vain were made these visits to the 
monasteries of the middle age-, where men found that for which their hearts per- 
hap-i so long had yearned, edification and peace. " Alas ! but you astonish me," 
exclaims the youth who receives a stranger coming a&lt; a suppliant to the temple in 
the ancient tragedy, " that your eyes should overflow with tears, thus moistening 
your gentle cheeks on beholding the chaste oracle of Apollo ; all others. a&gt; soon 
as they see the vaults of the god, are filled with joy. and you must weep !" " It 
is not strange that I should weep," was the reply, % for I applied my thoughts to 
an ancient remembrance : my mind was at my home, and not here." The sup 
pliant, who came devoutly to the sanctuaries of Christian peace, could not so easily 
stand aloof to cherish the remembrance of even the dearest things domestic : his 
tears were only of repentance or of ecstasy. 

" How much, say d he, more happie is the state 
In which ye, father, here doe dwell at ease, 
sheading a life so free and fortunate, 
From all the tempests of these worldly seas. 
Which tosse the rest in daungerous disease / 
Where warres, and wreckes, and wicked enmitie, 
Doe them afflict, which no man can appease- "* 

Such were the impressions of Petrarch when he visited the Carthusian monastery 
of Montneux, and found there his brother Gerard become a perfect anchorite, dis 
engaged from every tiling upon earth, consummate in piety, and longing for the 
joys of heaven. " I blushed," he says, " to behold a younger brother, and my in 
ferior, now risen so far above me. At the same time, what a subject of joy and 
glory to have now such a brother !" 

George Vasari, in a letter to Giovanni Pollastro, describes his own affliction, 
amounting: almost to madness, on the death of Duke Alexander, and the consola 
tion he derived from a visit to Camaldoli. I verily believe that had I eree- 
vered long in the same course, it would have brought me to an untimely end. 
But it was by you, my dear Master Giovanni, blessed be God for it a thousand 
times! it was by your means that I was conducted to the hermits of Camaldo 
li ; and it was impossible for me to have been conducted to a fitter place to bring me 
to my proper senses, because I passed my time in a way that did me infinite service : 
for, by communing with these holy hermits, thev, in the space of two days, worked 
such an alteration in my mind for my &lt;r&lt;)od and my health, that I began to be 
sensible of my f( rmer follv, and the madness with which I had been blinded. 
But now, it is in this chain of lofty mountains of the Appennines, beautified by 

* Spenser, vi. a. 



MO BBS CATHOLIC1 ; o K, 

the straight fir-tree-, that I am made to feel the high value of a life of p. 
Ib : the.-e holy hermits have their abode together, leaving the vain world In-low 
them, win, a fervent -pirit elevated t.&gt; Go.i. I h n and conversed i ,,r ;,ii 

hour wi h five old hermit-, neither of them under "i-ht nd who 

are strengthened to perfection In- the Lord ; and it - &gt; m-d to me a- if I had h&lt; , 
the discourse of five ang.-i- o( Parad Then, alter a pans--, ivturnin&lt;_: t" liis 

pagan images, he -ay-, " Iftiierehad b- en a CftUlftkloli, Ly-aiid- r would nave 
been enabled rid of that deep melancholy \vliieii preyed upon iii- -n 

mind during his hut- r JT&lt; M8. M 

And now, Having ob-erved th" guests in all their variety of character, what | 
we to think of these monastic receptio:.- . .\-:i Fr--nch hi-torian tak 
to demand, in alluding to that papal court whi it- briirhtc-t lumin 

aries from the cloi-t.-r. When- will you find a hou-e in mod.-rn times wiu ie the 
Church, the Cii:istian monarchy, rii -olo.jy, IMiil.-.pliy, Ili-tory, l .. try. I aint- 
ing, and Music, send thn-. day af;er day, their repre-ent -itivt- . \Vh- i the 

human soul, as if already passioide aftd BSOIped from all its fleshly ln-nds. c-.ine- 
t" -ubstitnte tin- .-nb-tauc.- fnr the hope ; and to enjoy, in present nality, what 
is of faith, the c.&gt;mmnnion of saints? 

But we must 1 -ave it to the chronicles of the middle ag-- t &gt; d -erilx- the guests 
of the la-t and hrji -t Order, \\li" cnn.- to mona-t -rie- tn -dnte the sons of peace 
within them, and receive fr- in tl. interdlUlge of holj look-, a pi .f iiind 

and my-ti lation. w When the kil^ 8fc L &lt;n -." -a\ s one ofth -t:. wa-at 

Rome on hi- pilgrimage, h aving heard therenoun .f In-otlier (Jil, - , who wa- 
then rt-siding at l -ru^ia. lie took tie- rad t &gt; ih.it city in order to see him. I&gt; - 
inj; arrived at the convent of the Kiiai Min-&gt;r&gt;. without Ix ing rin Mgnix- d, travel 
ing a- a oilgrim, he U-g ^ d th.-port-i to permit him to &gt;}&gt; ak t" brother Giles. 
The brother who had charge &lt;&gt;f the gate invited him to wait, and proceed -d to 
lo ik for Ciiles, who had a -ndden revelation that it was the king of France, and 
niMer this impression he de-cended, and threw him-elf on his kn-e-at thcf. et of 
the holy king, while tne king, in like manner, knelt before Giles, and having 
kis-ed and embrace* 1 each other with many .-i&lt;_ r ns of mutual charitv. thev sepai- 
: in - |.-nee, without either of them uttering a word. While the-e two devout 

Soul- were thus united in spiritual itent, the porter a-ked oneof the stranger- who 

( was that pilgrim tnat had embraced br .tle-r (! 1 - - \\ith -o much familiarity, and 
he an- that it was Louis, king &lt;&gt;f France, who was come tor the purpo-e of 

uj tiie &lt;_ Mod fai her, being on a visit to th-- li"ly pi.- \l .me. The friars. 

hearing of the eircum-t ince, were disp].-a-e,l a 1 th" -ittl :iony with which 

brothei Gil.-.- had ivc.-ived this great king, and ex press* . 1 their surprise that he 
should have committe i -uch a fault. My bretiu-en, replied Gile&lt;. be not 
troubled at vhat ha- hajipened. The king is content with me, as I am with 
him; and IR&gt; not astonished that w- have H"t .-\rh:iiiged a word with each other, 
for otir di-. was mute; and know that w.iile we eini)rac- d, the divine light 



AGES OF FAITH. 28o 

revealed to each of us the interior of the other s heart : and having fixed the yes 
of our souls upon that eternal brightness in whicn all things are beheld clearer than 
in themselves, we have spoken to one another, although we n.-ed no words. 
The friars remained astonished and confused at this reply, beating their breasts for 
having so rashly judged an action so holy." 

To enjoy this mute discourse, this ineffable communion of inspired hearts, this 
participation of eternal brightness, this supernatural, divine contentment, the visi 
tors to monasteries often avowedly came. For hear a memorable example. One 
day a pilgrim entered the abbey of Corvo, and stood in silence before the monks. 
After some time, one of them demanded what he wished and what he sought 
there? The stranger, without answering, contemplated the arcades and the col 
umns of the cloister. The monk asked him again what he desired, and what he 
was seeking? Then lie slowly turned ins head, and looking upon the monk and 
his brethren, replied, " Peace." Struck with the word, his tone, and manner, 
the monk took him aside, and after a few words, understood that it was Dante 
who stood before him. Then he, drawing a book from his breast, gave it to him 
graciously, and said, " Brother, here is a part of my work, with which perhaps 
you are not acquainted. I leave you this remembrance." " I took the book," adds 
the monk, "and after pressing it to my heart, opened it in his presence with 
great love, expressing, however, my surprise that he should have written in the vul 
gar tongue. In reply, he adduced many things, full of a sublime passion, in praise 
of the people, and to the disparagement of the nobles of our time." What seekest 
thou, stranger ? Peace. 

In the next chapter we shall see how many others came with the same object, 
and how divinely their best wishes were fulfilled. 



284 



M K b\ b C A T ii O L I C I j U U, 



CHAPTER XIII. 




(HENCE come ye, friend- V" The poet fancies what the monk be 
held. Alas ! I cannot name all that I read of -oriow, toil, :m,l -hanie 
on your worn tares; as in legends old, which make immortal tnc 
astrous fane of OOnqoemn and impo-ter-, thedi-cord ot your hearts 
I in your look- beh&lt;&gt;id. Whence come ye? From pouring human 
blood t ortli on tiie earth? Sp ak ! Are your liands in -laugh- 
sanguine huestained freshly? Speak then! \Vh. n&lt;v come ye?" A youth 

made reply. 

" Wearily, wearily. oVr the boundless deep 

We sail. Thou reade-t well tin- misery 

Toid iu th 1 i yes ; but nincli doth sleep 

Within, which thi-re tin- p-wir lu-itrl loves to keep, 

Or d.-iri- not writt- OH the (ii&gt;hoiiort il brow. . 

Even from our childhood have we learned to sleep 

The hi- : v in the tears of w- 

And never diramed of hope or refujre until no" 

Such words spake the omvertitifs \vh.-n Hr-t tli-y reached the ]&gt;ortals which re 
ceived them to religion- peace. Such were their recollections of the world they 
were leaving, and -ueh their ezperienoe on catching tlie fiiv-t glimp-sofa better. 
The chang". though iplete. \\as often already cnnsummated when they tit&gt;t 

came, for it wa- the previous cdnver-iin of their heart- to OCK! which had made 
them resolve to a nine the cowl of Benedict, or to trird them-elv--- with the cord 

8t, Francis. Their v&lt;n ce-. thevet urc. as we nre led toward- them, may [&gt;e the 
echo of that choru- of -pirit- of which the -rime po.-t so beautifully &gt;in. 

(&lt; our mind 
Whicli was late so dusk, and obscure, and blind . 

\v tis an ocean 
Of clear emotion. 
A heaven of serene and mighty motion. 



fti rs. 

Thioiiirh blood and tcur-. 
And ;i thick hell of imtreii-. :ind liopes. and fears, 

\Ve w:id-d and flew. 

And the M&gt; few 

Where the bud-hlijrhted flowers of happiness erew. 

* Shi-i. 



AGES OF FAITH. 

" Our feet now, every palm, 

Are sandnll d with calm, 
And the dew of our wings in a rain of balm ; 

And, beyond our eyes, 

The human love lies 
Which makes ail it gazes on Paradise. 

In the beginning of this book we observe*! that there were men among the lost 
and found again for whom it was neces-ary that there should be phice-, as St. 
Bernard says, n t and delectable, not for rejoicing, as in the world, bui for mourn 
ing the things committed in the world, where by much subtle and useful preach 
ing of the seniors, and by much more subtle and useful examination of their con 
versation men might be instructed to all good,* in other words, that there are 
persons who must cloister them in some religious house, where holy lives must 
win a new world s crown, which their profane hours here have stricken down. The 
change of mind implied in this necessity, constituting the con versions which we are 
now about to consider, though deemed unintelligible by the blind world, remains 
a psychological fact, the existence of which, history places beyond all doubt or 
question. Could one read the hearts, known only to God, of men during the 
last moments that precede their death, during that twilight of life when nature 
makes a pause, and they lie passive and voiceless, with thoughts beyond the 
reaches of their souls, one would find that sooner or later the need of such mighty 
renovations became known to most of Adam s sinful children. But long before 
that hour, it ha-; been disclosed to thousands, to men who, as the poet says, in all 
their enjoyment 

" Have this trick of melancholy." 

and who say from the bottom of their hearts, " in omnibus requiem qnsesivi, et in 
omnibus dolorem et laborem inveni. Non est requies nisi in hereditate sancto 
rum." O melancholy ! who ever yet could sound thy bottom ! O God ! O God ! 
how bitter is the state of man unreconciled, unsanctified ! Hearken to his cries, 
woe is me whence are we, and why are we ? of what scene the actors or spec 
tators? evening must usher night, night urge the morrow, month follow month 
with woe, and year wake year to sorrow." St. Bernard heard cries like these. 
" I have known men," he says, u satiated with this world, and to such a degree as to 
nauseate its memory. I have known them satiated with money, satiated with 
honors, satiated with pleasures, satiated with curiosities, and not moderately, but 
even to the utmost stretch of loathing satiated ,"f Nevertheless, the difficulty 
opposed to conversion might remain the same as before, for adversity and pros 
perity seem to present an equal obstacle to it. Therefore St. August in says, " for 
me, when I reflect on the conduct of the lovers of the world, I know not at what 
time preaching can be employed most seasonably to heal their mind : for when 

* Epist. 418. t De Conversione, 14. 



- 88 MOBB8 OATHOLICI; OR, 

uis are fa viable to them, on. ,i drunken with fortune; and the in- 

solence of their pride makes th-m reject as tabl--, the renion-t ranges and -avings, 

ioly men. It adversity pie- tnem, wholly occupied with wnat aflliet- tiiem, 
tln-y think more of delivering th- inselve- from the evd which they f.el, than ,,f 
taking measures against that which menace- them. The IM . oppre ed by 

Pharaoh - otlirer-. ivius.-d to pay attention to what Mo-r.-,had { &gt; -ay t&lt;. them I M. in 

L " Tney would not h -ar h m," -av the Scriptures, "on account of then 
treme atlliction, and th- tin- labor with which they \\viv l&gt;ad -d." " Xon 

acquieverunt ei, propter augu-tiam spiritu-, et "j&gt;us duri-simum." A holy poj&gt;e 
therefore said: " that it was a greater miracle to convert a -inner, thant-- re 
ad ead man to lit ." " He wh hath not expericuc- -d the enmity of th. I m 

- the Greek poet and philosopher, " know&lt; not whence are the wounds of life." 
The ancients thoiigiit that all unhappy men had their attending fury. The true 
wisdom, rcavaKt^ TKXVKOV &lt;/;/jmrA-"j- // r/.^/&lt;r, a- it \a--tylcd by "lie. \\ 
knew it not, \vitii th -ub-titutiou of a word, a - the 

d of discovering some spot like th* promi-ed by Min--i va, n^cft^ i*7Ti in&lt;&gt;\&gt;* 
oi gvos, * the need of taking - --p. which may -ecu re 

forever the soul from -uch demoniac per-e- iition, and e. .ududes h^r add -- to 
liim, who t c-1- tne powr oi calamity in word- like those wiiich D.mt ht-ard, 
when admitted to behold ;ne -utVerin^ -piiit-. "Oh! t ni- irange a thin_ r , it 

i- a gr-Mt -i-n tnat (Jixl doth love th There are men who correspond to 

fn-t sounds of her voice, and -av 

" 8ome great thing is to be endured or done : 
Wlifii I know wlmt. I shall be -til md calm, 
And never iinything will move me more." 

Then begin those terrible -ti ii _ r - r le- between the demon and divine grace in 
human breasts, which the chronicles of th-- ages of faith 80 awfully de-cril&gt;e. Then 
there is a counter, voice, which gnvn, 



Thine iiwii -(ml i- clrnn:t(l to a foul fiend 
Through misery -- 
This fiend, wlm-c ijliiistly pi-&lt;ence ever 
Beside thce like thy shadow liimir-. 
Dream not to eli i^f ; the in nl endeavor 
Would thee tc 

Be as thou art. Thy settled fate 
Dark as it is, all rhatiire would airi:ravate. 



Thus is lie for a while turned back to thoughts which can delight no more, to 
books whose power is dead. Vainly would his winter borrow sunny leaves from 
.uiy bough. He if diaoonragttl at th- immensity of the cnang.- required. " Sunt 
snirn omnia ista ex errorum orta radicibus," a- the philosopher says. " quse evel- 



!; in 



AGESOFFAITH. 287 

lenda et cxtrahenda penitus, non cimimcideuda nee ampntanda stint," and 
"tmlv it is a great labor," as Richard of St. Victor observe-, "to desert accus 
tomed things, to leave below long familiarized thought-, and to ascend to things 
&lt;&lt;! -tial. t One might describe what the converts suffered, in the very language 
of IMato, where he says, that "the soul when its wings begin to grow, suffers in 
the same manner as the gums are affected with pain when the teeth first project,"^ 
and illustrate it from that curious passage in which Plutarch speaks of the diffi 
culty and di-gnst which is experience;! at the commencement, by men who en 
gage in tJiilosophv before they have experience of its joys. During this middle 
interval, he &gt;ays that they suffer much, and that many fall back in consequence. 
Thus Scxtius, a Roman, having abandoned the honors and offices of Rome for 
the love of philosophy.] and soon after finding difficulties and torments in his stud 
ies, was going to throw himself headlong into the sea : lie relates a similar thing 
of Diogenes, the Sinopien, when he began to give himself to philosophy. It was 
on a day of festive rejoicing with the Athenians ; the theatres were opened, as 
semblies were held, dances and masquerades occupied the whole night, while he 
in a corner of the place, shut up as if to sleep, began to give way to a thousand 
imaginations, which greatly weakened hi.s heart, suggesting to him that he was go 
ing to throw himself voluntarily into a laborious, strange, and savage mode of life, 
being separated from the rest of the world and deprived of all good. With the-e 
thoughts present to him, he espied a little mouse that came to gnaw the crumbs 
thai hail fallen from his great loaf, and this gave him fresh courage, and he said 
to himself, "What sayest thou? Diogenes, behold a creature lhat still lives, 
and makes a feast upon thy leavings, whilst thou, coward as thou art, lamentest 
that thou art not drunken and surfeited like these men, satiated with luxury and 
delicacies. " 

Thus St. Ephrem represents the demon entering into conversation with the 
Christian-soul, and saying, " What ! always refuse yourself such and such enjoy 
ment! How long will you torment yourself with these desires ! and the Chris 
tian resisting his suggestions by considerations drawn from the goodness of God, 
the shortness of human life, and the importance of eternal salvation. || Difficulty 
is still in the way, and of greater magnitude, so that in a spiritual sense was ver 
ified the remark of a modern philosopher, " we have tears in this world before \v&lt;j 
have smiles, Francesco! We have struggles before Ave have composure ; we have 
strife and complaints before we have submission and gratitude." For as Hugo of 
St. Victor says, " there is this difference between the love of the world, and the love 
of God, that the former seems sweet in the beginning, but proves bitter in the end, 
while the latter begins from bitterness, but has sweetness for its end."^" Discour- 
;iu inent, therefore, in the first stages of the new life ensues. The combat 

* Tuscnl. iv. 26. f De Contemplatione. 1 Lib.iii. c. 13. J Phsedrns. 

S " How to nerceivw one s Proir ." ] Out. 1 If DC ArcaMorali. Lib. i. 1. 



888 Mui; B8 AT no LI ci ; OR, 

seems to slacken, Imt it i- only becau-e every power that f:i-li ; n.- an&lt;l upholds, 
works silt-ntly. Consideration, like an an_-el comes, as til -ays, 

"\Ynip.-. out tin- ouYndini; Adiun. " 
TheR his resolutions become livd no more on vanity. 

" O let me not," quoth he. 1 then tunic agnine 
K.-icke to tlu- world. who&gt;e joyrs &gt;&lt;i fiuiiless a; 
Hut let me here for :ii-- in : 

In fine, his wi-h In- :hat which i- itit nlly expressed by Shirley, 

Th -ir H H sun ten til 

Th:m tli;it which rises in ti, me 

To feed u; me 

A bird of : rtoui in:m, 

I rise from tatth, :nid no more to turn back 
Hut for ft bu 

Some may be oflVmlcil on hearing of his choice, lint all his true friends answer, 

- () let him p;ivs he hates him 
ThafwouM upon Hie rack of this tough world 

tch him out Ion 

Tt would !&gt; ditli -ult in tliis frigid a ni c \vhi&lt;-li uo\v enooni] us, 

k and h &gt;ly joy which - idi convcr-ioii- 

i i:i a_"-&gt; of f aitlj : (Iln-ia in 9 \n~elm. whrn he 

hears tliat his ancient friend Etodtilf lias become a monk, "glory ! ;(J(Kl in the 
t, who fives i will to men m rartli, qui in t-ira d:it lioininilnis 

bonam volnntatem ; wh :iii h-md bath changed accord n_ r to mydcsii-e, the 
will of my lflov-&lt;l frit-nd trotn the vanity of the world, whieii profits no one, but 
injuivs all ifholove it. to truth which never injure-; any one. but which profits 
all who s.-ek it." 

Of th 9BlVe - &gt;f this threat drama within human brea-t-, it is not for 

my pw to trace even a faint outline. \Vhat \\a- th-- dix-our-e which worked 
such miracle-, can be l-arnt l&gt;esf perh^S hereafter, when we com-- to c,,n verse 
with the monks. K\pr---ly -uited -oinc imc- to the jii-ofessed enemies of peace, 
their words resembled th ~ ~~ n-cr. 



f M!h tin- -uiit of tMiihly c -n-| . me 

And w:i^h thy iiun 1- from miilt of blo.idy lid&lt;l : 
r i ! can nought hut sin. and war&lt; Imt sorrow yield."f 

Their exhortations, however, to etni.r ic,- a monastic lit . hiefly founded 

upon til- L l eat truth-, the appreciation &lt;&gt;f whicli niovs m-n : -. ] ,ri O n 

in general, as when with St. Jerome they say,"if you had the wisdom of Solomon, 

* Epist. u. 10. t . 10. 



AGES OF FAITH. 289 

the beauty of Absalom, the strength of Samson, the wealth of Croesus, (he power 
of Augustus, what would it all avail you, when your fl e -h would be consigned to 
worms, and your soul to demons ?" A* when they tell men to address themselves 
in the words of Peter de Roya, who says, "O Peter, the things in which you de- 
liglit are of the world. There will be a time when they will not be, but you will 
be." And as when they entreat them to conclude with St. Angustin, "terrena 
calcare, ccelestia sitire." Which do you wish, they ask with him another time, 
to love temporal tilings, and to pass with them, or to love Christ, and with him 
to live for ever ? But can I not love him in the world ? some will say, to whom 
the monk replies as the spirit did to Dante, heaving forth a deep and audible sigh, 
"brother the world is blind, and thou in truth com st from it."f "It is true, "as 
Richard of St. Victor says, "that in the sterile and arid desert of the world, the 
devout soul, while it labors for true joy, can fructify this barren soil, and bring 
forth even there something that will remain.";}; But esteem not yourself to be 
of such perfection that you can associate with those who keep in the broad, 
while you walk in the narrow way." 

Then turning to depict the vanity of the former, they appeal to the calamities of 
life, and say to the sufferer,"thou most beauteous inn, why should hard-favored 
grief be lodged in thee ? Et nunc quid tibi vis in via ^Egypti, ut bibas aquam turbi- 
dam ? et quid tibi cum via Assyriorum, ut bibas aquam fluminis ?" If it were ever 
so delightful, as St. Bernard says, " the world passes, et relinquere magis expedit 
quam relinqui." Of the rapid and imperceptible flight of time, even poets of the 
world, they add, remind you, when like Guillaume de Lorris, the Ennius of 
France, they remark, how, in a moment, three times are already past. 



"Le terns que s en va nuit et jour 
Sans repos prendre et sans sejour; 



which made the Gentile say, 



ra ftvrjra 5 ot vvv Ttpoorov rfyovu&i 6K,io.v t 
i&gt;5 av rpstiaS Einoini rov? do&lt;pov? fipor&v 
etrai, K.ai 

uoopictv 



"The world is called a desert," says Richard of St. Victor, "either because it 
is deserted and despised, or because it deserts and fails in itself. For daily with 
time pass the joys of time, and as manv joys of days as days pass away and fail. 
The w,orld, therefore, is always losing joy, and consequently the soul perfectly 
despiseth such fleeting joy, and endeavors to ascend by the desert to true and 
eternal joy . w || 



* S. Bern. Epist. 441. f Purg. xvi. t In Cantic. Can* Eurip. Medea, 1233. 
| In Cantica C 



MORES CATHOLICI; OR, 

Th \vith n; hortations Mich as : f&gt;t. Jerome, my 

tri ml. \v;iat i- it that still retain- you in the woi 1 i . Yon, who-- fin- -on] is 
not mail" t&lt;&gt;r th" world, how lon^ will you bury yourself in liiiu hab- 

11 v long .viil you remain prisoner in these cine-, the worth;. 
human vanity ? Tru-t m. adjoin your friei tne. after me, and to 

rowd. " Ah, In- per-uaii.d by in. 
KMI- in- world of sorrow. Th" tumult will never eeoae in n; I w- be 

upon tiif short like loam. L ! thy merry, () Lord, be ujou u^ ! What avails 
tli" ambition of honor, the delight of the flesh, the visitingB of d rela 

tions, tiif oH -riinjs &lt;&gt;f subject- . I- not tiie -oul . !ia;n i d wu by the- that 

it cannot Hy away and find : d blk- ? \\V niu-t either cunjii. r these or be 

conquered by them. O human heart, rhydoyon wiiydiy.,u flv? There 

is nothing: hard or bitter here, but a little bark and -nrlare. The -iD-tanre is 
8Wet tne-s and peace. () human heart, why fea calktl back? Why trem 

ble to be repaired ? Yon ar wil iiii^and unwilling. &lt;) hea t ! wanting fervor, 
why do you not has! ,ord &gt;f h--artsV Why do yu collect all things but 

yourst lt ?* Al te: a .l. iiowev -r, as St. Bernard --." ii oonvenuon :- nlfi 
tii" \V -rk not of a human, but of a divine \ for the h&lt;-arin&gt;: which no labor 

wa- Decenary : linoe the laU^r wanting wa- ratii-r t n the ears, that t 

illicit not hear ii."f 

G ias devoted one portion of kis great work to a tr&lt; :i the call of men 

in the middle a^t-s to a mona-ti.- lii e, f which we -ha 1 p: Beutly i"lat" in&gt;tance8. 
I shall take care not to involve m\- If in ih" my-tcrins depths of this sulj-ct, 
by inquiring how this call \\a- m i : , and \\ e result wa- spontaneou-, 

the fruit of that &gt; i a;ion to which the p ib - the expulsion of what 

nd-, or, involuntary, the consequence of tho-e peculiar Braces which St. Autrn 
tin -ay- (i,.d | vithout beim: excited by any previou- disposition on our part. 

In e nl, . that An^el who-e nam expr.--.- cure ofGoxl, and he who, ac- 

St. Thomas, i- the biv.ith of the -pirit of the Saviour wiiich is to kill 
Auti-Ciirist, contribir.il to the Work, as-ist d doiibtle-s by tlios^ who di-.-ipate 
theilai- Kiiess vh i h iV" received from God the cha: ^uanliii _ r mt n, 

who have joy on t ne &gt;:iver- on of s ; nners, who led Lot from the midst of the re- 
rej)r.. :.at-, and who h--paf-r will make the final -"i&gt;..ratiou b-tween the just 
and the unju-t. The visible cu uses whioh led men to cntei in -n &gt;-! nes were many 
and various. As C;&lt; I Ici-terbach o :-rves, " Conversion sometimes pre- 

cetles anil -on. ntrition."| " For some," he adds, " are led from 

the first by the sole vocation of God, of whom Petrus Sutorus, the Carthusian, 
says, 

" Sunt qu! blanditiis, sunt qui terrore vocantur : 
Et tamcD bos omnes spiritns unus agit. 

* Lib 3. Epist. 12. f De ( nnv.-r-iun.- 1. 2. t Ulust. Mir Lib. ii. 1. 



AGES OF FAITH. &/1 

Bltnditiis Simon, fl;immis et fulgore Paulus, 
Qui fuit ex acri fulmine pulsus equo."* 

Whereas many who end well begin through an unworthy motive; for 
" others," says Cie-arins, " enter monasteries by the instinct of the malignant 
ipirit, as those who come to .steal, or to entice away some brother. Some are moved 
bv a certain levity of mi ml ; many by the ministry of others, that is, by the word of 
exhortation, the virtue of prayer, and the force of example. Xece.s-ity draws in 
numerable ; as for instance, sickness, when men recover after a vow; poverty, 
when they seek a retreat ; captivity, shame at others faults, danger, fear, the pros- 
pectof doom hereafter, or the desire of the celestial country," all which he illustrates 
by examples.! Then as to the form of conversion : " Some," he says, " come 
with pomp and troops of friends, others alone with humility. A knight named 
Walevanus came to Heruerode, entered the cloister on horseback, armed cap-a-pie, 
and, as our seniors, who were present, related to me, going up through the mid 
dle of the choir, in presence of all the wondering brethren, offered himself before the 
altar, placed his arms upon it, and then demanded the habit. Afterwards, through 
humility, he became a lay brother. Abbot Philip of Otterburg, on the contrary, 
being of noble parents, chose a different mode, as a canon of Utrecht who was 
present told me. Being converted at Paris during his .studies, he left the school 
secretly, and being handsomely dressed, as became a youth of his condition, he 
changed clothes with a poor scholar whom he met on the way. On arriving at 
the abbey of Bonavallis, he applied for admission, but the brethren seeing his 
worn cap and old clothes, esteemed him one of the wandering scholars, and were 
very near rejecting him."^; Many clerks who come to monasteries follow this 
latter mode, and pretend through humility to be laics, and ask permission to tend 
the flocks. 

Certainly put what construction one will upon the motives, it is a wonderful 
page in the history of mankind which records the conversions of men to a mo 
nastic state during the ages of faith. Let us in the first place only observe who 
were the men. To such a question Valentio, a Benedictine monk, is represented 
answering thus : 

" To fashion my reply to your demand 
Is not to boast, though I proclaim the honors 
Of our profession : Four emperors, 
Forty-six kiugs, and one and fifty Queens, 
Have changed their royal ermines for our sables ; 
These cowls have clothed the heads of fourteen hundred 
And six kings sons ; of dukes, great marquises, 
And earls, two thousand and above four hundred 
Have turned their princely coronets into 



* De Vita Carthus. ii. iii. 7. f Illust. Mir. Lib. i. 5. t Ulust. Mir. Lib. i. c. 38. 

g Id. i. :19. 



M ( U K s ( AT UOLICI; OR, 

An hinnlik- coronet of huii , left by 
The ra/or ilius ."* 

" Pimi- t comam ca; - an ancient author of one who underwent this 

transformation, "e: invenit coronam &lt;rloria- reliipiit ve-timenta -avularia, et -n~ 

-:u candidum; rel :&lt;piii p .mpam hujns mund:. -t |,,i-; 

In the midd ii Mirpri.-&lt;d no one on \ a mona-t -rv 

t &gt; find a kinir aiuoi j In the abbey of St. Mcdanl at &gt; 

tin- kiiiLT- Kude and Raoul were abbots. In a cloister ,&lt;l A : ma-i in tin- eighth 

aithhertach, an Iri.-h kinr. wh nerousand 

lul ivii;n of seven u. and -[.cut the remainder of 

iu m-.na-tic -eclu.-ioii. In tin inoii f IOIKI ini^lit Ix 1 found his -iic- 

\ial II.. lr.:luT ol Hu^h Allan IV., who iu T a ha)&gt;i&gt;v n-ijn of 

similar dnraiion r-tii.d to tlu&gt; siiinc n-,i::ii&gt;ii- peace. Many Iri-h aiih-v- hclidd 

l ihi.s kiivl ; and BOOB al: n ( .f Kn^land, the An 

n history in.-ntion- the uam-s ofiiii.n- than thirty ). r-.n- of l.oth &gt;-.\.-, who 
their thrones to i, in tin- M.Jitnde of a cloi-ter. 

\Vhat vet- mav have l&gt;--n the cireuin-tanee&gt; ot :inieto facilitate &gt;nch a 

. 

, it eaniuit !&gt; denied,* 1 Byi th- &gt; 3t . " but that such a reso- 

lutioi) in poisons of that rank pr !. j&gt; M-ntinient of the vanity of ^ 

and temv-trial pl-asure, a s rion- nu-di:atioii on what is vi&gt;ihle and on wha: i- 
invisihle, on wha: is ]ri&gt;hal.le and on \\liat i- ei&lt; rnal."* In the al)l&gt;ey of 
M &gt;!int-Cas~ino nii^ht have Keen t ound St. Cm-Ionian, eliest s,,n of Charles Mar- 
tel, and the uncle of ( harlema-iie. to whom ly hi- lath -r .- ! -tainent had liillen 
tria, StiaUa, and Thnriiii, ; a, all which he resigned to his son Drogo ; in the 
height of prosju-rity bidding adieu to the world in 785, resign ng his dignity, 1&lt; 

in^ the ^-i i il -,11-hip of his children to Pepin. and retiring tir-t to the monastery 
on Mount Soiactc, \\ln-n. i much reuanled on account of his contempt of 

al maje-tv, lie f- a red vain i^lory. So h" H- d thence ly niuht with one compan 
ion, and repaire i to this al.hey. H.- applied at the irate in the usual manner, a-k- 
iniT t -p-ak wit n the al)l)ot, and oH erinir him-elf as a |Mr Frank, who -nn^ht 
tod p liaii - tor homici : AS -uch he --ived, and here he remained 

_C unknown,]: hecominjj; the k iu fobedienoe and humility; so that he was 
appoint -end a fe\v sheep, which he us. d to lead forth to pa-tun- and hack 

lin, haviuir on one n to defend them from robher-. Il-ie be died in 

odor of -anetit . In the same mona-tery mi jht \w found Radii/, k mir of th- 

Longobards. Aft r -parinir Peruiria at th - priver of /.acharias, h" \va- con 

verted by him at Rmc to a relij;ii.ns life, with hi- wif- Ta-ia. and his daughter 
Rattrnda. Here he became a monk ; and there is a vineyard which is planted 



* Shirley. Tlic Oratoful Servant. t J.ifV "f Alfred, rhap. iii. 

^ Anii.-iiistri Siixo an. K &gt;rp. II Hon Catin &lt; vii. 



AGES OF FAITH. 293 

near the mona.-tery, that is called after him to tins day.* To the abbey of Prum 
came the Emperor Lotnaire, sou of Louis-le-Debonnaiie, where, after making the 
world tremble by his anus, he made the sacrifice of himself to God, by taking 
the habit ; and in that hoti&gt;e he died, where Dom Mat tone .-a\v his tomb in the 
middle, of the choir. 

\Vnat an impiv-.-ive comment on the ^ame le.-son is furnished by a walk un 
der the doge s palace at Venice, from which so many of those great princes passed 
to the tranquillity of a cloister. Of the great Urseolus we shall soon speak more 
fully ; but besides him, observe how many took the same read to peace. Ursus Bad- 
oarius II. created in 912, a most holy duke, after twenty years reign, put on the 
monastic habit in the monastery of St. Felix in Amiano, where he died in 
odor of sanctity. Vitalis Candianus, created in 978, put on the monastic habit. 
Tribunns Memius, created in 979, became a Benedictine monk. Otho Urseolns, 
created in 1009, fled into Greece, where he \\i-htd to become a monk. Olius 
Malipetrus, created in 1179, the conqueror, of Ptolomaule, who vanquished Sal- 
adin, alter fourteen years of glorious dominion became a monk. Petro Ziani, 
created in 1205, after twenty-two years of glory, exchanged the ducal dignity for 
the habit of St. Benedict, f Such names alone impose silence ; but what would be 
the impression if we had before ns their portraits, like that by Bellini of the Doge 
Leonard Lo red a no, whose eye of fire piercing from a bony orbit, does not overcome 
the expn ssion of an imperturbable religious calm ? Let us hear the monastic chron 
iclers. "In this monastery of Villiers," says its hi.-torian, " were many conver- 
tites, noble men, who came there to perfect their conversion. There were here, 
Gobert, count of Asperimont, Henry de Biibae, William de Donglebiert, and 
Oliver, of the noble house of Sombreffe. There were also here many famous 
knights, who having renounced the temporal for the celestial chivalry, now clothed 
their limbs in the monastic habit. Franc d Exkenua, chatelain of Montigni, 
the lord of Bohenem, the lords Gerard de Greis, Henry de Brein, John de 
Salench, John de Eoist. and \Valter de Riklam. These four la&gt;t knights as 
sumed the habit of convertites. Theobald, Chatellain de Court ray, and lately a 
bold knight, became a monk, and at the same time another renowned son of chiv 
alry, Franc de Lachem, a convertite/^ This year, 871," say ft another, " Eccer- 
icus from a knight is made our brother and obedient son, formerly a wild man, 
ferus homo." Such is the notice of his conversion in the annals ofCorby in 
Saxony. 

The origin of the foundation ofHnlne Abbey in Northumberland, the first of 
Carmelite friars in these kingdoms, presents another instance; for among the 
British barons who went to the holy war in the reign of King Henry III. were 
William de Vesey lord of Alnwick, and Richard Gray, who on visiting Mount 

* I&lt;1. c. 8. f Thesaurus Antiq. It. torn. v. 

t Hist. Monast. Villariens. Lib. ii. Prolog, ap. jiavteue, Thes. Anec. iii. 
5 A p. Leitmiiz, Script. Bruns. ii. 



-. .! M) U RS OATHOL1 C I; OK, 

!y found then- union- th" mmiks a countryman of their own, 

Rilpu F. i, fr.mi Northumberland, \viiu had di-iin^ni-he i him-elf in a 

former cru-a lc, an i who \\ n piofe-s-d in that ,-olitnde. \V||. n Vea v and 

(rrav P turno! : Kagland, they importuned the snperioi of the Cai unlit, 
their country man ae,- Miipany them homo, which was ^rant d upon condition that 
they \vml 1 fmnd a mona-te: y tor Can in their o\vn c./nntry. S..on after 

r r--tur.i. Fr -b&gt;rn, mindful of hi- en^a^.-ineiit. bdjaii toli.nU out for a place, 
and after exaiiiinin^ ail the circumjacent -olitmlc-, he .1; 1- iu:h ti.\cd upon ti 
inln.rl it 1, by tne n Ambiance \vhich the adjoining hill horo to .Mount 

i. l. 

Thus ainon^ hooded men the red-cr.&gt;--od kni^iit and once ^ay champion in ihc 
tilt -d ground mii^ht n .vaikin-; under the vaulted cl- ; ppcarin^, p-r- 

liaps, to those who ha i btfwre known him, likt- d- Wilton to Clara, on the hattlc- 
ments of Tantailon C:i-il", of whom the p.,. 



" Wilton liiniM-lf hc^nr 

It niiirht have seemed his passing ghost, 
every youthful grace was lost." 

" Adam, a monk of Lneka, fold me," -ay- &lt; ;e-n- "f H,.i-tPrl&gt;a&lt;-h, " that there 
was in Saxony, a knight of the n;: A lard 10, a mm if -nch prowess, that in 

hi- Iir4 tournami-nt, when made a kniirht. ho acquired with his own hand four 
teen horses. As a prudent man, ascribing the temporal honor not to his own 

strenvrt i, hut t &lt; &lt;l &gt;d, he ro-t-r-d them all, and hiddi: u to his compani us 

and th- w-&gt;rld. tt&gt;ok the hal&gt;it in the mona-t- ry ot Lncka." In tin- al&gt;l&gt;ey of 
B&gt;u-tlis in Tn-cany could he found l&gt;:oth \ :i (! Jan-on. who !&gt; ! &gt;: e hc- 
coiu irj- i i : in monk liad heen tlic count of K -nil -i L r . a faniotis knight, who 

_;-iitat the-ie^r,. ,,f Vicmiii, at thccaptiiic &lt;( Ii :d i. and at t: I 1 &gt;attle of T.ar- 

can, wh ! Sohie^ki defcaiid the ()ttonan army. n. Hein.au. &lt;&lt; nut of 

Zlr i ::, ,) ? &gt;,u , if I &gt;!! old I.. reilOlinoed Ilia power and all his worldly splendor, and 
wa ider- d in a pilgrim s habit to (he monastery of Clnnv, to pray ands"rvo(J d. 
II liv- d there und; d and in L r rcat humilitv : as the chronicle - 11 --. "lie 

na le k --e: :he -wine of the convent, for the l&gt;ve of C hri.-t ; and until 

li : s doith remun"d unknown, tending \\\&lt;&gt; swine. "f 

T, i -,,1-1, , oiint of Coibeil. edi, t h- e,,n: t of Hu^ues C ap-t. and the in- 

timi e fri- iid ..f Kinr Robert, aft--! a lit - "f military fame, retire* I to the m&lt; iia~ 
1 ; the hai.it. ai d n-ed to p. rform the 

otli.-eofan Aeulvth-4 - niilatlv. I; \I.. wbray. - ail ..f Xoithnmberland, 

OQOe a MI .-t valiant knight, a man of hi^li -i-irit and imme: uno 

in the end t &gt; be a -horn monk in the albev ..f St. All-an. where he lay bur 1. 
on th" north side of tin- ty, liav ni; &lt;lied in til- \car 1106. In the -..nvcnt 



t. Mir xi.i-.19 fChron. Ilirsaug. ! 

* [,.-:HiMlf, IH-t. (ill 1)1 



AGES OF FAITH. 295 

of St. Evroul at Ouches, as we learn from William of Jumiege, might be found 
Robert de Grandmenil, who liaving studied letters in his youth, and afterwards 
interrupted his studies during five years, while .-(juire to the duke of Normandy, 
by whom he was then knighted and loaded wiih immense presents, was moved by 
tlie Spirit of God to disdain all things and become a monk in this abbey, which 
he had rebuilt.* In the monastery of Corby was a young man of twenty year.-, 
emploved in laboring in the garden. This humble novice, standing among the 
beds with the hoe in hi- hand, has lately been seen among the first nobles in the 
palace of the emperor Lewis; for this is Adalliard, who has been moved to re 
nounce the world in disgust, by observing the injustice uf the emperor inputting 
awav his wife, through dislike of her father Desiderius.f In the abbey of Eiu- 
siedelin in the ninth century miirht be seen St. Gerold, duke of Saxony, who had 
left all things to become a monk there, and his two sons, who had followed his 
example, and who remained there till their death. In the abbey of Preaux, as 
Orderic Vitalis relates, might be found Roger de Beaumont, a wise and modest 
nobleman, who had always been faithful to the dukes of Normandy, and who 
bowed his head under the monastic yoke in this convent, which his father Onfroi 
de Vieilles had founded on his own estate.J 

Helinand, whose verses on death were so celebrated, was a nobleman, remark 
able for his beauty, and skill in all chivalrous accomplishments. He became a 
monk at Frigid Mont, and paints himself, in writing to Walter, in these words : 
" Lo ! he is made a spectacle to angels and to men, who before was a spectacle of 
levity : for no scene, no circus, no theatre, no amphitheatre, no forum, no gym 
nasium, no arena, resounded without him. You have known the man Helinand, 
if indeed, a man, for he seemed not so much a man born to labor, as a bird 
born to flying ; running round and perambulating the earth, seeking whom he 
might devour, either by adulation or defiance. Lo ! in a cloister is now enclosed 
the man to whom the world seemed not only like a cloister, but even a prison. No 
one would believe that he could be converted at the age of fifty. Yet such was 
the example he gave the world. " 

In the abbey of Croyland, at one time, was seen au abbot who was a man of 
royal blood, and who had inherited from his father sixty manors and vast riches. 
This wa- Turketel, who had renounced all the pleasures of the world for the di 
vine worship, and who became a monk there, as Orderic Vitalis relates. || 

In this monasterv of Hirschau, savs Trithemius, there were rnanv who before 

j , * 

entering religion had been of great name and ample dignity in the world, of lofty 
blood and great riches ; and theie were others who had sprung from rustic and 
poor parents Yet the utmost love bound them altogether in charity. All fol 
lowed one mode of living : the gentle were not preferred to the servile conver- 



* Lib. vii. 23. , f Vita S. Adalhardi Mab.Act. S. Ord. Ben. iv. \ Lib. via. 

Bula us, Hist. Universit. Paris, toin. ii. | Lib. iv. 



MOi. CATHOLICI ; &lt;&gt; K, 



; nor could blood u.-urp any place of honor among monk-, but only virtu. ; 
lor, whether -ervant or tree, all were on- in Cnri-t -I :li&lt;-att 

tion of sanctity here, ihat glorious duke-, counts, and I 

tlui: they ; -am-- h npany with ti. of ( hri-t, ami con 

formed tlr in- n all humility, to the one patt-ru. a- if they had been h. 

Th- chronicle of the abbey of Monte Sereno. at - tin- many passage- in 

th" B6 iilar life of the prince of the country, in th U makes mention of liis 

: In llol), til . .id, mar&lt;ini- of M -:iia. by divine ^racc, n.u-:.i. 

the uncertainty of his life, and fearing lest he -h&lt;&gt;nLi tail with a fallin-_ r world if 
he remained in it, resolved to leave it, and so a nmed th ar habit, em 

bracing poverty for the love qfChrid : vrhoae devotion and a-| .rted t 

from all the princes \vh :it to witm-s -uch a change in .-uch a inn." 

When we li-ar the circumstance- ofoODVersions we shall inert with nianv m 



remarkable inst a; -nil -hall only oh-erve, that the mcinii.-nni 

which aro-e in the thirt&gt;eirh century, hi like niatm&gt; r reoeiyed into them n: 
Iiiilh and potent lords, wiio preferred to their grandeur in the world tl 
which now ^ird^d them. How many illustrious nobles and prince- of It.iiv be 
came niiuor friar- ! Wadding di- befl amon^ th.-m William and Rarnal-a-, 

nephews of the manjiiis of Male-pina ; lionav- -ntura. count of Monte I&gt;olio ; &gt;i- 
moii de Battifolio, count of I uppi- ; !&gt; &gt;:ii: on1 II ivneriu- de Dep- 

nouaco, of Pi-a; I.andi no, count of Santa Flora; Alliertnccio, count of Mang- 
oiu . Toodellino, ooont of Ghuigalanda ; Lewi-, -MM ,- Bandino dalfoufc* 

Qraitello : an 1 theu he -ays, (( If ao many nobles end ;ii- order fr-m Tus- 

cauv aloii-, w nat number- must not h -it from the oth -r prov- 

iii""s of Italy, as also from Spain, Franc--, and ( J--rmany ! The numlxT of 

noble, youths converted by the preaching 8t. Fra ie, ;md who became 

his compani m-, rend- r&lt; vain all attempt at r.d enumeration. Ii u--ed I&gt;i- 

ony-ins, the Carthu-ian, remark- the -am- : ne ally in reaped to all 

in \i\&lt; time, ail -ays, "Do you not see how many elegant, 1-ann-d. rich, 
noble youths every day de-ert tli; world, and all that they p n order to 

enter a mona-t -ry and r- main in it for ever ?"| 

But why. it may be a-kv&lt;l, have we l&gt;een - arcful to observ* the rank and 
:-ldly c .ndition of these convrtites wlu cani" -e.-kin \\ -- -hall re- 

ma n longer p--rhan- survevini th- return of &lt;ttl\.-r- ; but th" monks tin n sel - 
did not di-dain to notic.- th- uoliility of th. wh &gt; j&gt;ine&lt;l them. "God, 

ind d," - - Bernard, i- not an acceptor .&gt;t - : !i--vi !e . --. virtue 

in a nobleman I know not how plea-e- m PB : ifl i perchance that it i- more 
con-picu MIS ? True it is. that a person not noble, wanting &lt;^lory. eanm :-ily 

make it appear whether it be because he is unwilling to have it, or whether he 5s 

* Chronic. HITS. f Ann. Min. torn v. t U. l)in CaMini nvers. Tt-rcat. Lib. vii. 



AGES OF FAITH. 297 

unable. I praise a virtue of necessity, but still more that which freedom chooses 
than that which necessity requires." 

In withdrawing kings from secular pomp, and knights from the warfare of 
til*; world, (rod -eemed to triumph more gloriously, casting down such chivalry into 
the sea ot contrition and penitence. In fact, converts of this kind were often the 
most perfect ; a- was remarked by Hugo of St. Victor, for he says, " It is detes 
table that the poor should be delicate where the rich is laborious and ab.-temious ; 
which yet we often find to be the case : for many, in proportion a,s they were more 
noble and delicate in the world, live in the monastery so much the more in an ab 
ject and strict manner; and many, in proportion as they were more abject and 
poor, so much the more seek they to be exalted and delicate in the monastery ."f 
The monk of Cluny cites a memorable instance, for he says, " \Ve have seen 
Hugo, formerly duke of Burgundy, and afterwards standard bearer in the spirit 
ual warfare ; who used to grease the shoes of the brethren, and so to humble 
himself that the lowest persons used to be amazed to see such a prince beneath 
their feet.";{: Tacitus says that the habit of ambition is the last garment that the 
sage throws off, and Pericles went farther still, tor he said that the love of honor 
never grew old To yap qjiXon^oy dy^pooy /ioVoK. " That passion/ he says, 
" is always young ; and in the extremity of old age it is not gain, as some say, 
which delights men, but the being honored ." What then, would have been the 
astonishment of these great thinkers of antiquity if they could have seen the duke 
of Burgundy with the Cluniac monks? For, let it be remembered, when such 
men withdrew to cloisters from the stormy scene of a discordant world, it was 
not with the mind of Achilles, who, though removed from the battle, still longed 
for it UoSfsff/cs 6 avrijv TS UroXe^ov rf.\\ The convertites were not, as the 
moderns suppose, always ready at a word to reassume their former exercises ; as 
easily excited as Ulysses, who, on being taunted by Euryolus, declares that he 
will engage in the games, adding, 



yap //$$ knoozpvva^ 8s fie siicck v. 
All whose enthusiasm returns in an instant : 



Sevp aye, TtEtprjQrjra)- sTtei /u 
ij itv^ rtaXij rj teal itoGiv ,*fl 



" I am no unworthy combatant when it is. a trial of strength ; I know well how 
to bend the bow; I am the first to strike, aiming the arrow against the crowd, 
though there be many others at my side who can direct them well ; and I affirm 
that amonir the present generation I have no equal." The convertite, wrapped 
up in his sable weeds, had no disguise to throw off thus, no desire lurking in his 
heart such as the Homeric hero proclaimed with so much emphasis, that he might 

* Epist. cxiii. f Institut. Monastics. \ BibliothSque Clun. 459. 

Thucyd. ii. 44. | II. ii. T II. viii. 



MOB CATHOLICI- oil, 

be once more what In- \\a- !&gt; for&lt;- be wore th" cowl, when he stormed cities with 
harms- ou his hack.* Alluding ID his dialled condition, he would noi have 
with a -Lh, like him described in the Li-t M Lay, " 1 wa- not a 1 way- a 

man of That 1. D -t aiw.iy- holy and pacific a- h- had ilion 

wa- tin- -oiircc of his ];iiu-ntati"ii- ; th- i - i-lin^ with which lie lo !&lt; d nark upon 
hi- iormei w^s u. -t that e\|&gt; by &lt; Mavian de Saint-Uelai- in the stau- 

which conclude, 

" Adieu, maisons nobles el les heaul.x Ueulz, 
Ou j ay passe inn pivmir-rr jmivri.. 

je vivuis L-H moiiiluinr plaisance. " 



But it was raiher that described i&gt;y Han:--, when h- -ay-, 

" And as a tn:ni, with difficult short i)rc:itli, 
Forcspcnt with toiling, scap d from sea to shore, 
Turns to tin- p wide waste, and stands 

At gaze ; e u s . it, tual yet fail d, 

Struirirling with terror, turud \.o view the straits 
Thai uone hath pass d ami liv d."f 

Baptist of Fa n-a, the celebrate 1 co:iv. rtitc. who. from being a ferocious sold 
ier, became a Capuehin, m one *KV _: &gt;uu to beu; alms in Fa. n-a, and 

carrvin - in hi.s l&gt;o- 1:1], a tiding &lt; h - iisioin. a c-Ttain vtunig 

nobleman be^an to aeeuse iiini for &gt;o doing a- a hypocrite; t" wh.&gt;m JJaptist 
in -klv an- \ red, " \Vliy d v. ii &lt;--u^iire meso iy . It I carried .-o manv 

vears in mv bosom the weapon- nt the &lt;l -nion, with which I perpetrated So many 

. wnv do you c -n ieiun in t -r now. though late, carrying in it the ii; : 
of C iirist ?"j The historian of the abbey of Vilii-rs dwell- on another instance 
in point. " The pious Gobert," he p:op - I in his heart to for-ak- the 

ilc warfare for God ; and not a second time a:ter thi&gt; did he look back with 
th... eye- &lt;.f his mind or of his hVsh. Tii 1 tni- man convert d. oiiceso pow 

erful in all virtue according to the world, most noble in the antiquity of his i 
rohu-t in body, tremendous in a -: : rible in word, a famou- count. Thus 

dal h.- withdraw him -elf from th-- emhni -e- of th" world, and de-orve to approach 
:rue and jx-rfect .sif-ty. And in this b. .rim,;nir of his conversion 
tli-- Illuminat -r of all nation- - . iili^it -ned hi- heart, that i &gt;ded with the 

utl " " "M 1 t nat exc-lle,,, ..... ftlic m .-t illiKirion, nobility which hnd IM-II 

tran-mitt..d to him by i,loo&lt;l ; M ti.at. d Z :,11 that wu lofty, like a poor 

stran-er h- to -k re% in thi- ab tde of th- po,,r of Phri-t. This mnn, ele,. t of 
G&lt;M!. wcighinur and I stimatin-r worldly warfa -.- and all tlio irlorv of the world t 
be but as dust bef. &gt;iv the face of the wind, learned to d-pisc all that was of the 

* "IT. f Hell. i. t Annal. nip-u-in &gt;rum. ad an. 1562. 



AGES OF FAITH. 299 

world, as if it had been written in his heart \vhai St. Aiigustin says, ( Mundus 
clamat Deficiam, diabolus clamat Destruain, caro clamat Tradam, Deus elamat 
licliciam. Therefore, as he had exercised secular warfare, so now he began to em 
brace the spiritual warfare : that as with delight he had militated for the world, 
so now with devotion he might militate for God. Being desirous of associating 
himself with monks of the Cistercian order, he proceeded to the monastery of 
Villiers, where the whole chorus rejoiced on his arrival ; and, after a year spent 
with them in holy discipline, he became a monk there. Then did he love and 
humbly revere all the brethren, in God and for God ; and knowing that pride 
was the root of all evil, he became mild and humble of heart. A wise dissembler, 
he studied to conceal whatever virtue he daily practiced, fearing as if to be plun 
dered unless that treasure was concealed. Beini; now rich in Christ, he despised 
the world, and of a lion became a lamb. He was sad with those that were sad, 
he consoled them and assisted them ; giving offence to no one, constant in prayer, 
cheerful in fastings, fervent in the divine offices, being filled with all chanty, 
and clothed with the marriage garment."* 

That these conversions generally were thus complete and durable, we have in 
numerable testimonies to prove; but we should observe also that the pictures 
given of them by the modern writers represent exceptional instances, against 
which the Church had expressly provided by the most severe censures. The 
council of Nice decreed ten years of peuanee to those who should resume the belt 
of warfare, after having laid it aside in a monastery ; so that some novices, dur 
ing the first year of their probation, did not lay aside their secular dress, that, if 
at the end they should wish to return to the world, they might not be involved 
in this sentence. f But it is not enough to ascertain the rank and position in the 
world which these convertites occupied before coming to the monastery. Methinks 
one would gladly hear what were the circumstances which led them first to turn 
their eyes towards it, as to a port of safety. Such men indeed love not to bur 
den their remembrance with a heaviness that is gone ; yet, if we question them, 
each will answer, " I do not shame to tell you what I was ; since my conversion 
so sweetly tastes, being the thing I am." Let us, then, hear them speak, for 
their history will be enough to make us fools in an instant deep contemplative. 
They might commence it in the words of Dante : 

" O fond anxiety of mortal men ! 
How vain and inconclusive arguments 
Are those which make thee beat thy wings below. 
For statutes one, and one for aphorisms 
Was hunting ; 

To rob, another ; and another sought, 
By civil businpss, wealth ; one, moiling, lay 
Tangled in net of sensual delight ; 

* Hist. Monat. Villar. ap. Martene Thea. Anec. iii. f Mabil Prssfat. iv. gffic. 7. 



300 Mo 11 ES r AT II&lt;&gt; LI r I; OR, 

And our to wi-iicss imlol. : _ r n &lt;I : 

. lime, from all tlu-sc empty riiiiii:* escap d 
Witli other?, I thus dormu-ly 

\V il"ft. ;u).l m:l li- tin- ! he;iv n."* 



Some of these narratives an- piickly t"ld. Tneobald, a venerable man of the 
rcian order, nobly horn. by chance seeing St l :inrd, imme&lt;liatcly lett all 
and f llowel hii! Henry, theelde-t h: other of Kin- Louii VIL, who enjoyed 

many . d dignities, while that monarch was on the crusade, coming ()I1 .- 

day to ClairvauN n-nlt with St. Mernard. express- d a wish to sec also the 

monks and recommend hiiiis-lt to their pray. r-. Tne -aim, who always l&lt; 
care in his eonversation with u -t -.cue -alntary advice for their -alva- 

tion. aficr concluding r ( In;- n -- . tui ii -d th" di- -nr-. itnal niat- 

. an 1 added," I trust in ( J-d that you will not &lt;lie in tho brilliant condition which 
yon now oeciipv, :ind that you wili - how useful ar&gt;- the ] - which von 

hav now been tlcmandiu^ ot tho brethren. " Th- prediction was i nllilled the 
-ame dav : tlio yonn&lt;j prince r. x.Kvd tVi in that hour t" oonsecnte him- ll to ( Jud ; 
and, s-ndini; away his guards :md tli ]] inni who accompanied him, 

lie remained a* ( i lirvaux. i-enoiiii - n^ all hi- ben--fic. 

A company of young gentlemen . a-ne to Claii-vanx on one occasion throtiirh cur 
iosity to -" the liolv Abbot St. Bernard, of whom fiune reported such irn-at thin^r-. 

It wa- then Shrovetide ; and they, beino in th-- heat of youth, sought out a j)lac&lt;&gt; 
IP ar the :iii! 1 &lt; h to rnn at the rinir. t W ihemft Ive- in arm-, and -ueh like 

entertainn. Th.-siiir it-dth-inno Imt they would not lift- 

ben to him. He th -n c Munaud- d l&gt;er to be brought out and irivcn them to 
drink: but he fir-t bl ----- d it. Scarcely were they _ r "i). ."it of the moi 
wh"i). moved by a new -pirit,th--y b.-jan totaik a u.ii _ -t hem-elves of the world, 
of i and d T e-rntly. without delay, they alto-c-hef, with one 

mind and will, returned to the m :y, and with i;reat humility be^jcd to lie 

admittel into it : and, with .rival &lt; ,inaL r and patience, pnung through many 
lal&gt;ors, thcv gloriously i ed iu the order. 

Adalb -ro. a yo in&lt;r clerk . in th" train of ( Jod-trid. duke of Bou 

illon, came to th ^ . Hubert with the duke, to meet by appointment the 

:ut Albert of N amur ; i i whom ther" wa- a jr-vioii-; di^ .;&lt;.i,, n 

instil : ! . "iiiilon. \ .. r Rtm&lt; to hear a discu ion. -\- &lt;1 lie re- 

mainel to enj &gt;\- tha by ob-ervin^ the holy brethren.]; 

Daniel de (Jngrespuoil \\as a (Jerman merchant, who us"d to trade with Ve 

nice. While remaining in that city he n-ed often t in a boat to the 

monast -ry ..f the herm ; 3t Maria d" Muriano, and to sp.-nd whole honr- in 

ith the M. H" : : th - visit- - i, that at len_[r:h he 

resolved to follow the example of the men whom h" -o greatly loved : and in 



* Par. xi. 4 Hi-t. : !. Fontanis, ap. Da ;-idleg. X. 

$ Hist. Andagi/iH iKsi.s Mon:i&gt;t. :ip. .Martt-iif, Vi-t. Script. i\ 



AGES OF FAITH. 301 

1392, he was received amongst them as an oblat.* 

Rudolf, elected abbot of St. Tron in 1107, relates his own conversion. He 
was born in the town on the Sambre, conspicuous for its monastery" of St. Peter, 
built by the bishop St. Amand, where rests the glorious saint Fredegand. His 
parents were plebeian, but most Christian and spotless in reputation ; showing 
great hospitality and kindness, without ceasing, to the poor. He was placed at 
school till his eighteenth year, and on being made subdeacon, with liberty of go 
ing where he chose, being induced through love of a certain companion, a clerk, 
by name Lambert, who confessed to him that he wished to become a monk at Aix- 
la-Chapelle, he went with him to that city, hoping to see the famous place where 
warm water springs out of the earth, which is near the palace there ; yet nothing 
was then less in his mind than to become a monk. But when every night, after 
the manner of monks, the lives of the fathers were read to the brethren at col 
lation, he used to hide himself in a corner, whence he could hear and understand 
all that was read. Neither did he do this as yet so much for the sake of edifica 
tion as of merely hearing the miracles of the life of simple men, such as were 
there read, and of listening to the novelty of their ?till more simple style; but 
when he had attended more frequently and ardently, not so much to the rustic 
ity of style as to the wonderful sayings and actions of the simple and holy 
fathers, he began to feel a great contempt for the miseries of this present life, and to 
ascend to a disrelish for the world ; and this used to be the subject of his thoughts 
at night when he retired to his bed. What remains? After a few days he not 
only confirmed his as yet wavering companion, but took the same habit himself, 
together with his companion, on the same day of the conversion of St. Paul.f 

" Brother Gerlac," says Caesar of Heisterbaeh, " as he acknowledged to me. 
conceived his first design of conversion from seeing a certain monk, whom I 
knew well, saying mass with abundant tears in his parish church. Gerlac, who 
served his mass, from that hour, conceived such a love and reverence for the or 
der that he could not rest until he became a monk himself.";}; "You knew 
Henry," he says, "our chamberlain, whose conversion was in this manner. Being 
a clerk and canon of Treves, loaded with riches and honors, he fell sick, and, in 
hopes of recovering health, he proposed to descend the Rhine in a bark, and &lt;&lt; n- 
eult the physicians of Cologne, who are numerous in that city. As he passed by 
our monastery he inquired the name of the place, and then said that he would 
lodge there ; so he sent his boys to the abbot to ask for horses to carry him up to 
it; and they returning with them, he was received to hospitality. That night I 
know not what he &gt;aw, or by what influence lie was converted, but in the morn 
ing he sent back his attendants weeping with the bark, and then assuming the 
habit, he remained with us." 



Annal. Camakiul.ens. Lib. Ivi. f Chronic. Abb. S. Trudonis ap. Dacher. Spicilee. vii. 
t lllust. Mirac. Lib. i. 24. ]b. Lib. j. c . 23. 



MORES CATHOLIC I; OK, 

(iuibcit *!&gt; N&lt;"_r&lt; nt al-o a.-ci il&gt;.- hi- owniir-t conversion t&lt; them. Aiding 

moiiu- in th ir church. " My moth* T," he -ays, " having renounced tli-- \\ 

. inv i ath T - de.ith, I wa- \--l\ alone, without parent-, without a master, with 
out a peda : j;o U Mi. lie who had -u t lithfiilly edm-a &lt; ! UK-, had followed my 
mother s example, and taken a monastic halit. &gt; DL full liberty, I be 
gan to abuse it iutemperately ; to lanji at tin- churehe- ; to have a honor for the 
Schools; to all .; ;h" company of lav \ouih- of rnyowi, showeredev 
to e jii -;r,an Mud .e- ; t . l.-t my hair L r r ^ like their- ; and to indul. inch in 
-leep tiiat I be^an to &gt;_ r row fat. Meanwliile tlie fame of my deed- n -a- lied my 
Hint tr-, and immediately, a- if anticipating my de-truction, she he-Min 

ad. The veiv eloih-- \\hi. :i -lie had herself made for m ..-ite me the 

more, in which I used to r" to the ehnreh. I l&gt;--&gt;:aii to cut ,-hort now after the 

lion of youthful petuleiuv ; and, in short, there was nothing about me |&gt;- !;- 
or miMlerate. My mther, at tliis cri-i-, hastened to tin of Flaix. or St. 

nier, whi&lt;-h was in the diorr ..] Lami ; and li- i pef-uaded \-, reo 

me :.- a disciple iut^. ti.at monastery. I . 1 : . to witness, O God ! pioii- di 
poser of all thiiiir-, that frm the hour in which I entered the baalioa of that 
moiuiMerv, and beheld tin- monks sitting there, I conceive 1 in C.UIM qucmv of see 
ing them, such a deHTC of be.-omin;j a m- iiix that my fervour n v r a:t- rwanls 
grev . nor did mv mind ever rest till t ne vow ot my heait was fulfilled. So 

then, dwelling with tiiem under the si me d i-t-r, ani i their habits ; 

as a flame i- .-.vitetl l)y the wind, M my mind, t p.m (XmtBI&pkfting them, could 
not but IK&gt; kindled with the desire t, r.- m &gt; tie in. At length 1 di-dosi-d what 
was in my mind to my mother ; but siie, fearing puerile levity, re;.ct,-d my pro- 

d. to my &lt;jre:it concern; and. wiien I applied to my maMi-r. be OppOMd it 
still more. So by thi- d i:&gt;|.. repul- 1 wa- i;riev.u-ly vexed ; but, through 
reverence for mv mother and th" f.-.ir ot my master, I be^an t ta it I had 

never thoiiirht of such a thiiiir. Thus I remained from the octave of 1 ent- 
till ChriMmas, wh-n no l,,n^-r aole thy int. -rnal excitement, () Lord, I 

had reeourse to the abbot of Flaix. I threw myself weeping at his fet, and fin 
ally ,.d the habit from his haiul- ; my mother in the tlistance looking on. 
And now, O Lonl. true liu;ht, clearly &lt;lo I reeolleet the ine-timable bounty which 
thoii d .1st lavi-h upon m-- ; f&gt;r a&lt; - ion a- I liad, on thy invitation, ree.-ived the 
habit, there -earned to !&gt; id removed from the face of my heart."* 

A maattMript of the abb SK Victor, al Paris relates that William, surnamed 

of Denmark from his having lived for a lon^ time in that kingdom, U inir at 
Kj)iney, where he had retired in t \X 1 1 ~&gt;O, one day, on rising from dinner, 

a letter Was brought to him from the ibbol &lt;&gt;fSt. Gene\-i \ve, l)ejiriug that he 
would come to him. William cri-d our, on reading it, (&lt; Is this a dream?" li- ing 
come to St. Genevieve, the abbot -poke to him of the contempt of the world in a 

* De Vit:i Propria. 



AGES OF FAITH. 303 

manner so affecting, showing him a crucifix, painted on a window, that he threw 
himself at his feet, and so&lt;&gt;u after took the habit and became sub-prior of the 
house."* This instantaneous leaving the pitcher, like the woman of Samaria, 
for the sake of enjoying that living water which is given by our Saviour Jesus 
Christ, was thus the form of many conversions. Such men were no procrastina- 
tors, having an intimate conviction, like Denoophilus, without having read Pin 
dar, i hat opportunity with mortals is always of short duration KaipoS npo? 
dvBpGOTtoov fipaxu /V/3ov.f Those old pictures in which the lost souls, hor 
ribly disfigured, are represented ineffectually continuing the cry, " Cras, eras, 
eras !" that sent them to that place of torment, conveyed a lesson in a most im 
pressive manner, which was often also on the tongues of Catholic philosophers. 
" Promise me not on to-morrow," savs Marsilius Ficinus. " If on the morrow 
only you were to eat and drink, what would you be to-day, my friend. Perish 
that to-morrow that you may not be lost to-day. O how many men are deceived 
by that to-morrow !"J 

Love, from which all passions spring for, as the ascetics say, men desire what 
they love, and hate, and fear, what they think contrary to it; love, which Dante, 
Michael Angelo, and the great philosophers of the school who formetl them, 
all speak of as belonging peculiarly to minds wellborn and to noble natures, was 
a fruitful source of conversion in ages of faith, when oft a greater power than 
men could contradict thwarted their intents. Borne on a fragile bark, amidst 
tempestuous seas, whether in the morn or the eve of life, like Michael Angelo, 
they were led by some such contradition to think of the account which all must 
give, and to consider in what clouds of error was their impassioned soul involved 
when art or beauty was its idol. " What," exclaims that great poet, " becomes 
of all such thoughts on the approach of the two deaths the one certain, the other 
menacing? Neither painting, nor sculpture, nor the love of that human grace 
they represent, can delight them more : their soul flees to the love of God, who 
extends upon the cross his arms to receive them." That all, through the ages of 
faith, the love of creatures, the appreciation of their beatitv, and of their innocence, 
was leading men to conversion, may be witnessed in every work that bears the 
stamp of the popular genius of the time. Dante puts in the mouth of her he loved 
these words : " When sweetest thing had failed thee with my death, thou 
shonldst have pruned thy wing for better realms, to follow me, and never stooped 
again ;" as if the remembrance of her alone ought to have raised him npto heaven.|| 
What a testimony is here ! and such, in fact, was the consequence of noble 
affection; for thousands could be shown, and pointed out by name, whom love 
led on to sanctity. Converts, who had come to peace from this side of the laby- 

* Lebceuf, Hist de Diocese du Paris, xiii. 323. f Pyth. Od. iv. J Epist. Lib. i. 

Mich. Ang. Son. xxxv. | p urg . xxx j. 



MoliKs CATHOLICI ; o U, 

rintli of life, might be di- 1 iijnMi &lt;1 perhap&gt; fr.. in others l&gt;y a certain t &gt;ne p. 
iur to tin-in. It ifl not tint they en vinoed a desire to ivturn a_:aiu to earth, ac 
cording to the common fable of the day, which repiv-ent- them inwardly pining 
till they ean throw off the cowl ; for, as we l&gt;ef&gt;re ohs.-rvt d, with re-pert to the 
warriors, men fr .m the doi-ter did not 1 &gt;okback so upon their former 
s ; but it is that th y evinced in general more r &gt; rve than others, and per- 
hap-, ifpos-ible, a Mill g :dist:-action from the visible world, when they 

Ming that hymn of the church f&lt;.r land- in the -pring : 



"D 

In qu.i rrtliin-nt omniu ; 
Lectern ur et m&gt;s in vium 
Tun mlurti di-xtera. " 

"For, O stranger," as the monk would say. if he had ever heard these words 

of Landor, "the heart that ha&lt; once l&gt;een bathe&lt;l in love s pure fountain retains 

the pulse of youth for uver. 1&gt; ii can only take away the sorrowful from our 

.ns ; the H ;he colorl- film that enveloped it falls off and 

peri-h 

Antonius Santar.m \ IP n a y ..nth. loved a beautiful girl, and sought her 

in murria _r&lt; ; but sh-- answt-red cont -mptnon-iy that he should first po and wa-h 
iu the Jordan lH?fore -he would accept him. Through ardor of love, ae&lt;- .rdin-ly, 
he set out and w-nt into Syria, bathed in the Jordan, and brought back a phial 
of water ; r&gt; counted to the maid the lalx&gt;rs and per 1- -.t his journey, undertaken 
for her love. The in-renti" 1 thought -he ought to yield to -uch con-tant af- 

on, and so rnarrie&lt;l him whom li-tine she had de-pised ; but, shortly after dy- 
inj-, Antonius bade the world farewell, departed into ( a-tile, and took the habit 
of th - Minors, and died in odor of sanctity in 1270.* In fact, compassion, so 
closely allied to love, led mainy to the .-loiter in ages when men had such great 
so su-ceptible, like him who faint -d at th-- rcital of Francesca. 

The calamities of life opene&lt;l \vid-- th" door of eloisters for those whose mourn 
ing was from God, whom fond nature iivle&gt;d eoniMiand -d to lament. l&gt;ut \\ h 

- Shak-peare says, were rea iit-rriinent ; for the monk-; who pitied the 

sorrows of these wanderers did not, like the Minerva of Homer, accuse heaven of 
cruelty towards them, but saw only fresh instances of its providence and of its 
mercy : for, as a poet 

"Seeds burst not their dark cells without a throe, 
All birth is effort shall not love s be so?"f 

St. Cloud, son ofdodomir, &lt;iirj of Orhans. and .n of Clovis and ofSt 

Clotilda, after escaping a a na ion when a hoy by his uncle, who murdered his 

* Wadding, An. Minorum, torn, iv f Trjticli. 



AGES OF FAITH. 305 

brother, coming to reflect upon the vanity of greatness, betook himself to a 
solitary life, and finally retired to a small monastery, which he built, at Nogent ; 
which place, where he died, ever afterwards bore hi.s name.* 

Robert deGrenteiuesnil was a warrior who had been knighted by William the 
Conqueror, after having been his squire for five years. He had seen his father 
parish in an uuhappv war of the barons, and a new husband, William, count of 
Kvreux, occupied his place. The^e two events threw the young baron into a deep 
melancholy, and the count could not dissipate it. "Considering the mortal state, 
elegit magis in domo Domini abjectus manere, quam in tabernaculis peccatorum 
ad lempns ut foenum florere."f His two sisters, Emma and Judith, embraced 
at the same time the monastic life, and took the veil in the chapel of ^t. Evroult. 
Thus did he obtain deliverance from the deceitful world, and from its cruelties 
come to this peace. 

In the twelfth century the family of the counts of Raperschwil was rendered re 
nowned by the two brothers Rudolph and Henry ; the former lived at Neu-Rap- 
erschwil, the latter at Wandelberg. Both were distinguished warriors, both had 
made a pilgrimage to Palestine ; Henry, besides, had been to Egypt and to Com- 
postello. After the death of his wife, Anna of Horn berg, and his only daughter, 
Anna, he founded the .cloister of Wittingen in 1227, into which he entered him 
self in 1243 as a common conscript brother. 

"Hark! 

Was it the wind through some hollow stone 
Sent that soft and tender moan?" 

It may be the sound of lementation, which will at moments find utterance, even 
within this house of peace ; for we may say of some who dwelt within these vaults, 
of whom distinct we hear the sighs, that "theirs was not a new sad soul. What 
had not each of them endured !" Sorrows of the mind, sufferings of body, there 
was no bitterness in the cup of life that could be new to his lips. "I can bear 
greater things," he might have replied, in the words of Ulysses, 

yap nd\a jrdAA eitaQov Kai no\X 
Kai 



In the retreat of Hugues de Grandmenil, after his combat with Raoul, count 
of Mantes, Richard de Hendricourt received a wound. He was flying as fast as his 
horse could carry him, and trying to ford the river Epte, when a knight who fol 
lowed wounded him with a lance in the back. Carried by his brethren of arms to 
Newmarket, and fearing death, he followed the advice of Hugues, to whose house 
he was attached by military service, and made a vow to combat for God under 
the monastic laws. Proceeding, therefore, to the abbey of Ouches, he soon recov- 

Leboeuf, Hist. du. Diocdse de Paris, vii. 29 t Orderic. Vital. Lib. iii. J v. 223. 



300 M ORES A T II OLICI; O i:. 

ered, though not alto^eth- T, and live. i years there full of fervor, and -Div 

ing the church in diver*-- manner 

Ble-s -d Conrad, i&gt;f P.a-ntia, of the illu&gt;trious family of the Confaloniera, in 
1 :? .&gt;&lt; &gt;, a youth of th&gt;- be.-t di.-po-iii..u-, ami bred to all accomplishments, tall, ofele- 
gmt form and noble Countenance, received in marriage 10ufrsv na. the daughter 
/Ultima, of a house equally noble, and of great virtue. Tney lived t "_ r cth&gt;r 
tranquilly and piou-ly til the great arti-t nnurivt d l&gt;y a .-ingular device to draw 
t &gt; himself this c! il. It happened that while hunting mud following an an- 

imal which hid iiself in a den-c th cket, ho ord- r&gt; d fire to be aj&gt;{&gt; i-d to it, and 
the flames caught the neighboring nd 1&gt;\- the force of the wind soon extended 

far and wide, causing _ r i - i; d -t n t -n and irreparaltle damage to tin- inhabitants 
oi the country. The puvtor of the city sent his &gt;atel!ites to discover the author, 
but Ooond by unknown etiirnxl - .1. i \ h ;ne. The officers found no 

"ii but a ru- ; .-.ill -ctin^ wood f -om \\\- lire ; and as he trembled and remained 
dumb at the terrible look- and &lt;|iiestion-i of the oflicers, they sei/e i him. hurried 
him the jud je, put him t" in- torture, and through pain IK- cm that 

he had done it. Tnen b--in^ e.r:d inmtl to the -take, he \va- 1 to it through the 

et in which Conrad resided. When the young nobleman heaid that the innocent 

\\a-t . -nller for him, he rushed into the mid-t of -h- cr.-wd. and proclaimexl hit: 

the LTnilty p - i. and app &gt;:ic!iin_r th-- praetor, (ial -a//&gt; \ ise ( uti, informed him 

&lt;&gt;f tiie whole circumstance, II- \\ - pardoned on th.- &lt;_Moimd of it- having been 

done unintentionally, but lie was rnpi nvd to repair the lo-s \\hich the fire had oc- 

ioned. His friends and parents and hi- pious \\ ife contributed ; but his mind 
h id received such a shock, that he de, -m.-d it better thence-forth to 1 ave those to 
love the world, and to -crve ( J&lt;xl alme. Hi- \\-ife desired to cuter a convent of Clar- 

. and so having given away all he had, he departed pen nyless from his nativ&lt; ! 
in a foreign dre&gt;s, and came to a -olitary place called Ciorgolarum, where some 
j&gt;ioii- men lc 1 a holy lifeundorthe third in-titut" of St. Francis ; but as many of his 
ancient friends, drawn by the report of his ,-ancti; v, came to see him, he left that 
place and went to Rome, whence he pass -d into Sicily, which was then renowned 
for the number of p tug men the- Alt r pa-sin^ by Caita and Palermo, he 
withdrew into the c. 11- or cav- rn- of Pi//, -ni, at the third stttne from tin- city ot 
na, situated among the mount ian-, and whieh are now called from St. Con 
rad, ami here he lived n &lt;jreat penit- t ty in a rocky cave.f 

Let us hear another instance. The eii -my bur-t into the castle of the Marquis 
Malaspina, slew him and In s brothers, and lest any post -rity -liould remain, threw 
Will am, -on of the marquis, only five yeir- old, from the window of a tower in 
the -ight of his mother, who at the ins-ant omnmended him to the prn t St. 

nci.s : that night on tip- departure of the enemy the child wa&lt; heard crying at 
the gate. It was the little boy restored to the widow. On -rowing up, he ful- 

* Crderic. Vital. Lib. iii. f Wad. An Minorum. 



AGES OF FAITH. 307 

filled his mother s desire, and assumed the Franciscan habit in the convent of 

Parma.* 

Remorse was another source from which conversions came, and strange were 

the first greetings of the men it drew, who might have truly said on entering, 

" If there had any where appeared in space 
Another place of refuge, where to flee, 
Our hearts baJ taken refuge in that place, 
And not with thee."f 

Of these conversions, Caesar of Heisterbach cites curious examples. " I said," 
he observes, that many became monks through fear of hell ; such were men who 
had studied magic, and given themselves to Satan, and had been miraculously 
converted by visions." J 

Guido Bonatus, the Florentine, that man of dark renown as an astrologer 
and mathematician, of whom we spoke in the last book, though Wadding only 
styles him "a philosopher, to hear whom disciples flowed in from all parts of 
Europe, and who in the tumults of Florence, being exiled, took up his residence 
at Flori," at an advanced age embraced the order of St. Francis, in the province 
of Bologna, and humbly and holily terminated his Hfe. 

Guido da Monte Feltro, count of Urbiuo, whose posterity became the princes 
of Urbino, a man renowned through all Italy for his military glry, having con 
quered so many cities, wearied at length with so many wars, sought to make his 
peace with the Holy See, and for the injury which he had wrought in war, threw 
himself at the feet of Celestine V. and of Boniface his successor, and begged to be 
received to grace, promising to make restitution, and as a sign of perfect contri 
tion and true penance, expressing a wish to be received into the order of the Min 
ors. To that effect, the pope wrote to the minister of the province of the marshes, 
and on the feast of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, that hero renowned for warlike 
glory, assumed the Franciscan habit in the convent of Aucona. The rest of his 
days he pa-t in constant prayer, and in the exercise of the most profound humil 
ity ; and made a blessed-end in that cloister: which evidence of domestic wit 
nesses and serious writers is to be preferred, says Wadding, to the poetic fictions 
of Dante, who places him in hell, for having given perfidious counsel to Pope 
Boniface, and for having at his desire resumed his former ways.|| * 

The conversion of John of Erfurt was most affecting. This youth in the be 
ginning of the fifteenth century, born of a noble race of Thuringia, loved a maid 
of equal birth, but found a rival in another knight. They agreed at length to 
fiVht far her ; the day was fixed ; crowds assembled ; the two knights came forth, 
adorned with their most sumptuous ornaments. Thrice they ran against each 
other with terrible eftect each time, and the third fall proved fatal to his op- 

* Id. tom.viii. f Trench. t Lib. i. c. 33. An. Min. torn. v. | Id. v. 1296. 



308 M&lt;KK&gt; ( ATHOLICI; OR, 



ponont, who lay dead b-neaih Irs ho \ -jvueral -h. ait hailed the conqueror 

but this -p. ctacle &lt;&gt;t d-ath had a dilleien: efftvt upon iiiiu. II.- rode .,fl instantly 
to the door of a Dominican convent, and calle 1 out to them to ..pm. Tin- por- 
d. .c\. him into the court. .k.iin al -Ir.rd. and held hi- bone :i 
longtime, till tin- prior came- down to ask \\hat he wanted; at whose fret he 
thren him-elf. and besought admission into the order. The coinmunitv \\a- -a ! d 
to d lil and the n.-xt day h. 9 :i aft--r, his fatiier and rela 

tions arrived, threat n n_: vengeance mil -- lie were delivered ; hut the friar .-ne- 
ceeded in soothing them. This OOUVertite became an apo.-tle to .-onif 1 
tribes, and died in odor of -an.-tiiy in 1 1 i I. Thus ;h. iv \\ a-ioiis, when, 

a- ( limachu- tlliet p. than our L-&gt;nl .I n- ; for he 

led an I us, whereas their love often 1 it-olj.ct&gt;. Aii&gt;t&gt;tle Lim- 

Belf tatlght that there Wi VOS wnen a physician or a ( ...... maud r \\errto l&gt;e 

obeved ratlier than i ;* and tho-e who lilam- St. Tiioina- i r flv;n&gt;_ r from 

his tathei s lion-e, never t did; harshly min mi- for l.avin_r his m.ithei 1 to 

mourn \\\- alienee, without having apprised MT ol ld&gt; j&gt;r. jt^-t.t The authority 
of pan nt- heiiiLT a participation of :li. in \\liom. a- S;. Paul .-ay-, j- 

ali paternity; \\h -u ( &gt; commanded one tidn^, and parent- a eontrarv. there 
was no (jiiotion a- to ih- principle, thoiii^ii th Te miirht be difficulty as to tiie cir- 
riim-tance- i&gt;v wnich men \ he guided. H.wever, all through the agefl of 

fi irh the ins;. rh contrariety were of ilie rai- curieiioe. 

But to pr. .ceed. II- : i- another convit ! whose i ifl &gt;! plv atl cting. 

.lai ojionus was horn in th&gt; I odi in l T mhri:i. At tirst he applied to civil 

law, in which he mad-- such a pmtici, he \\ a- erea ed a . In this 

early stage of nis lite he d honors and luxury, and heid human things within 

hi- arm- with a cl^se emh ,nd all ans and frauds he knew. He niarrid 

a noble lady adorned with all virtues and of singular piety, yd \\ho.throiK_rhlove 
of him, adopt d the mannei \ ho mtditaied only vain and profane things 

as a worldly woman, in older ti.a: shf miudit appear not inferior ! h--r hnshand. 
M-anwhile. not forgetful &lt;! led a holy li: oret, and under the veil 

of an ambitious -plendor, cone :vat virtue- ot m n i. I[ happened OM day, 

that as -h" wa \n&lt;_: wi;h manv noble ladit-s at a oerl :!,. offline-, 

in the midst of th-- joy and plaudits of the as-emblv. th- beams on which the 

iv. and sii(l,l.. M lv t nat wiiol.- ti" ,p ,,f women were buried in 

a mighty ruin ; s&gt;m-- had th&gt;-ir limb- bj-ok"ii, otn.-i- w.-i-e wounded rnortnlly, 
amoiiL r ^t whom was the wif.- of .1 ,s. \ v h., r"iniinel -peechle--. and shortly 

after died. The hu-oand, on hearing ofwhm had liapintd. He\v to the spot, 
s&lt;-i/(Hl his wife in his arm-, and arried her o&gt;it. On unc Verin_ r her bo-om. in 
Older to a-si-t her breath in&lt;_ , lo ! under the luxurv of a n ..cioii&lt; vest, h" beheld 
next her -kin n coarse hair -hirt, which she was thu- wearing on the very day 

* Ethic. i\ | Od. iv. 



AGES OF FAITH. 309 

when he thought that .-he with other women was abandoned to the delights of sec 
ular entertainment. Immoveable, with lix-d eyes like one wrapt in a maze, he 
stood di.-cerning the hidden virtue oi his .-pousc, and the secret of her thoughts 
respecting the vanity ol the present, and the importance of the future life, argu 
ing a mind so different from what lie had always wished to think that she poss 
essed. Syllable he spoke none ; but wore the semblance of a man by other care 
beset, and keenly pressed, than any thought of those who in his presence stood. 
This was not a vain astonishment, or idle perturbation, but that holy sorrow which 
renders the soul and spirit dear to God. From that moment he began to phil 
osophize subtilly in the school of Christ, became a most holy man, and so veri 
fied the apostle s word-, that an infidel husband is sanctified by a faithful wife. 
Thus being seriously turned to God, he surveyed the darkness which had before 
encompassed him, and resolved to renounce the world for ever, and to dedicate 
the remainder of his life to God alone. So he withdrew from the honors and pur 
suits which had engrossed him in the city, and sought no longer any thing else, 
but how to conquer himself, subdue his passions, and do penance for the sins of 
his past life. Giving all his riches to the poor, he clothed himself in a vile habit, 
and de-sin d to be despised and rejected by all men ; so that through the city and 
villages adjacent he even courted the derision of the vulgar ingenious and most 
holy artifice to avenge her whom he had loved vainly until now. For reflecting 
that his wise had sinned through human respect and regard to his opinions, it was 
most just he thought, that all the scorn and infamy that the meanest profligate could 
merit should light on him. So he counterfeited idiotcy, and made his appearance 
as a hideous vagrant amidst the public games at Todi ; but no one amongst grown 
up persons laughed at his extravagance, for, suspecting his purpose, all were struck 
with astonishment and admiration, at seeing a man once so noble and wealthy, 
now such a humble penitent. A day being fixed for the marriage of his niece, 
his brother sent to request that if he assisted at it, he would not dir-honor the 
family by any extravagance : he replied that his brother might attend to the honor 
of his family, but that his thoughts, were elsewhere set. In fact he appeared 
suddenly in the midst of that joyful feast, covered with mud and feathers, like a 
wild mon-ter, more hideous than any African savage, and the company broke up 
in consequence, some with indignation retiring, others with pity. The children 
used now to pursue him, and style him Jacoponus contemptuously, instead of Ja 
cobus, his baptismal name, and that title he chose ever afterwards to bear : still, 
in the midst of all his extravagance, his grave and wondrous answers used to fill 
men with stupor and admiration. A citizen of Todi having purchased a colt, 
and wishing to send it to his house, nsked Jacoponus, who stood nigh, to lead it 
home, which he promised to do, replying, " Trust me, I will take it to your 
home:" he took it to the church of St. Fortnnatus, where that citizen had his an 
cestral tomb, and he fastened it to the stones of the sepulchre. The citizen, on 
learning what he had done, returned to his house in thoughtfulness and dread. 



310 MOKES U A T II O L I C I ; O R, 

Ten years did Jaeopoiius -pend in this manner, which hi- commemorates in hi. 
p in of Odari &gt;. Finally, li eive the hal)it of St. Fiaiici-, hut thfc 

Mi;:r- far- d to reorivt "in- amount thi in wh.&gt; pa--cd lor an id;ot or a maniac. 
After this rep wa- no; neo tor many day.- ; but at length Me leturned to the 

same con\ id delivered a manuscript to the 1 rair, with a ivipic-t that 

it might IK- i the guardian. This wa- the book which IK- lid just 

&lt; .mpo-ed on the c ontempt of the world. Tlie frair-on reading i:, ami h-a: 
that he wa- the author, dis. I the mystery oi h,- penance, admitted him with 

veneration, and inm y v;ave him the habit. 

The servant of (J d was a noble civilian and doctor. Neverthele-s IP- ref 
to b 1 to the pi I, and d&gt; main a laic ; and under th- name 

Brother Jaeoponu- was h. d. \\"itliin the cloi-ter now he only .-ought 

how to humble him . nd imit; ; us Cnrist ; all ni^ht long he u-ed to 

eivise himself in prayer and meditat.on ; being asked what he was ready to Buffer, 
he replied, that he d - i to s itl T a 1 tbfl pains of earth and h -ll if, what is im- 
po ibloj lie could the divine jtl-ticr, and be anathema t r m ( hri-t tbr ( tiris- 

tian&gt;. Pagans, -. ai.d I)emoii.-. It would be the highert joy, he mid to, suf 
fer f f all lie -e in hell, in order to imitate ( hri-t, who would have saved all. Thus 
he till-d with th nt 1 ve of God : he -nmr, h-- wept, he broke torth in 

sighs ; and withdrawing into -olitary places h" would embrace the trees, and in 

ati of divine a fleet ion cry out," O sweet JesoB, O moot loving Jesus I M 

Hein- uked by one of the brethren on a certain occasion \vhy he wept ,-o, he re 
plied, " riecaiiM love i&lt; n it love 1 qnia amor non anuu tur." Inflain-d with 
divine charity, he wa- no le /eiilous to dei cnd the honor of God. reproving 
vices with admirable libertv, and, like other-, profoundly devoted to the Holy 
See, not sparing on one &lt; &lt; -a-ion even the per-on of the chief pontift"; on which 
tint, after the twentieth i- bein_ in religion, h- niined by or 

der of Boniface VIII. It i- -aid that thr Pope pas-inr by the pri-on, and see 
ing him there, asked when he thought he -iiould get out ? and that he replied, 
" \Vh"n you cure: 1 it ;" which pr^liction wa- v.-rified ; for when Boniface was 

,-ly capture 1 by (M .nna at AiiM^ni, Jacopoiui- wa- liberated. 
From that time his whole life -e.-ine ] absorbe I in divine love. He composed 
several beautiful canticles, indulging like a swan in mel ,dv -hortly l&gt;efore his 
death. At len-th. b. -ii,- verv old. h- f. I -ick ; and the brethren Meing that his 
death wa- near. advis-l him to fbrtify himself with th -n.-nt^ of thechurch ; 

but he said that it was not yet time. S ,nie one t ; ieu n &gt;t nnd. r-ta idiiiH Inn. ex 
claimed, "Do you not kii"\v, father, that unl-s- von receive t ;ie mv-terie-, you 
will depart from life like an ath--i-t :" wrl en he an-wered. - I believe in three 
1 &gt;( ! " Divinity, which creat- d the w n-ld out of nothing, and in Jesus 

Christ His Son, born of a virgin and crucifi-d." The brethi ;ri)ri-(&gt;d at his 

answer, nbrvod, that this wa- n .t - ilfiei. nt ; but that he mu-- rec-ive t n^ - 
raments of the church ; he replied, that he fully intended to i them, but 



AGES OF FAITH. 311 

from the sacred hands of his dearest friend, brother John of Alvernia. The 
brethren began to lament, supposing that this brother, who svas so far absent, 
could not arrive in time, and they urged him the more ; but, as if not hearing 
them, he began to sing that canticle, " Auirna benedetta dal alto creatore, risguar- 
da il ttio signore, che in croce ti aspetta." Scarcely had he ceased, when, lo ! 
two brethren are seen approaching, one of whom is John of Alvernia ; the two 
holy friends embraced, and after exchanging tokens of devout affection, John ad 
ministered to him the sacrosanct mysteries, after which he sung that hymn, "Jesu 
nostra fidanza, del cuor somma speranza ;" and having finished it, he exhorted 
the brethren to persevere in the way of holiness. Then, with upraised eyes and 
hands, with a fervent spirit, he said, " Domine, in man us tuas commendo spirit- 
urn meum," and so passed from that state of lamentable exile to the eternal glory. 
He expired on the very night of our Lord s nativity, and at the moment when 
the priest at the altar, singing the first mass, was entoning the angelic hymn of 
Gloria in excelsis Deo ; and all who were present felt convinced that he did not 
breathe his last through force of the disease, but through ardor of divine love, 
which, at that moment, overcame his heart, and let loose his spirit through thtf 
weakness of its fleshly tenement. Such was his blessed death. His sacred body 
was carried in solemn train to Todi, and buried in the convent of St. Clare, 
which is without the walls. It was afterwards removed into the monastery of 
St. Fortunatus within the city. The bishop erected a noble tomb over it, and 
placed on it this inscription 

" Ossa beati Jacoponi de Benedicts Tuderini 
Fratris ordinis Minorum, qui stultus propter 
Christum, nova mundum arte delusit, et coelum rapuit." 

In his poesy he neglected refinetneut of language, so that with the Tuscan 
tongue he mingled Tudertine, Sicilian, Calabt ian, and Neapolitan expressions. 
From the following lines one may judge of his Latin style, and still more of the 
profound thoughts which fixed and directed his conversion 

" Cur mundus militat sub vana gloria, 
Cujiis prosperitas est transitoria? 
Tarn cito labitur ejus potentia, 
Quam vasa figuli, quse sunt fragilia. 
Pins crede litteris scriptis in trlacie 
Quam mundi frasilis vnna? fallacire. 
Din uhi Salomon, olim tain nobilis, 
Vel ubi Sampson est. dux invincibilis, 
Vel pulcher Absalon. vnltu mirabilis, 
Vel dulris Jonata*. multum amabilis? 
Quo Caesar ahiit. celsus imperio, 
Vel Dives, splendidus totu? in prandio? 
Die ubi Tnllius. clarus eloquio? 
Vel Aristoteles, summus ingenio? 



M Oftlfl CATHOLICI; o li, 

Tot cl.iri pror-jres, tot rcnnn spatia, 
Tot ora pni sulum, tot re^na fortia? 
Tot mundi pn; nit:i poU-utiaT 

In ieiu ix-uii elauduntur oniuia. 
Quain o niuinli gloria! 

Ut umbra lioini; . lia. 

Qiue semper siihtraliunt ;i t( ni.i pia-mia, 

.iiciint iiomituMii it. i vi i 

O : iniuin, &lt; &gt; in;i-st pulvt i 

O 103, O vanitas cur ic t -xtlli 

nitii.-, uinini oras vix&lt; 
hiiiiiiin omnibus. .|U un i.u ;&gt;..; 
Ha&lt; niundi L loria. (jna- in.it iii pnulitur, 
Sacris in litter.- ni liiritur. 

ve folium, ijuoii vcnto rapittir, 
i Imiiiiiiuin, h;ic vita tollilur. 
Nil tutim (liM-rN, (juml poti-spni. 
Quod inundus tribuit, intendit r.i] 
Supenm c&lt;&gt; 

ix &lt;jui putmt nuiiiduin 



Siat-h then was Jaooponosj tin- history of \vho~- marvellous conversion could 



not but dttaiii us lot 

But n\v, i no nioic install.-".-) of this fxtraonliuary kind, for, in general, 

divine i^race, without the MtraoMfK d t y ot any violent i-xtornal t-vt-nt&gt;, ltd men 

n brace a in &gt;nu-ti&lt;- iil &lt;-, 1 \l:tt was theonluiarv uianii -r ot con- 

.tu ; ami illu-trate it by exam;. n&gt;iiions l&gt;,.tli from pp-vious inno- 

.irl i roni the (lisjo-itiun ..[ a M-&lt;-ular mind to the .-anctity of the cloi-tt-r, 

til- foma-r bein^ &lt; nly from p&lt;-a&lt;v tc !n..p- pr.ifound. 

Paodulph \\ 1 a slu-plicrd on the mountains of Tu-raiiy u^ar Pi-toia. 

From vonth tending ;,i- sli-Tp aniid-t lonely mountains, h- anjuiivd the g 

d liir. Such was his ab n t .r in !! -v an i profit, that he counted 

all as dro what he pivc to the po-r; he w&lt;.rc a knotted 

round i ,1 ni tnry &gt;f our Lor i - Paion, on which he meditated con- 

tinualiv ; and while hi- -h : on the pastn OBed to climb to the top of 

the hili, or retire int the WOIK! and pray Hi- tcllow sheplierds and all 

the ru-tif lad- him ; and h" used to exhort them to ab-tain from all HI). 

In his thirty-third vnr, l).-inu r Belli &lt;n a journey, in &lt;!&gt; in_ -om- wa t-r it chai. 
eternil (rod that ch iuce did u r i &lt;1 --- L^Mil be -h .uld meet two Capnclrn friars 
in the -ame boat which convevcl him. A &gt;h it . .&gt;nver-:ilion with them deter 
mine 1 the rest of hi- lif". lie was adrni ted a nour the novices in tlie convent of 
IContepolitrani, where he died in d.&gt;r of sanctity.* 

HeladiiH, rector of th" voval court, as Hildcphou-o -tvl-- Irin " I nder a seo 
ular habit had long fulfilled a monk s vorv inter .a inolentiaiuque seculi 

* Annal. Canuciiioruir. -568. 



AGES OF FAITH. 313 

he loved solitude and followed secrets; and at length, leaving all things, he fled 

to the monasterv which hud long been the object of hi.- affection-." 

Thomas Jnstiniani, a Venetian .-enator of the illustrious family of i hat name, 
embraced a religious life, became a nennit in i lie monastery of the desert of Cam- 
aldoli in 1510. He describes with affecting simplicity the anguish with which 
he abandoned relations and friends; but nothing could shake his resolution. 
He persuaded his friend Vincentius Quirinus, another senator of Venice, to fol 
low him, who embraced the same life within the year. Thus these two noble 
friends became the humble brothers Paul and Peter. Quirinus had written 
many learned works ; lie was versed in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin ; he had filled 
many hi&gt;j.h po-ts and legations for his country ; he had been ambassador to 
Philip, duke of Burgundy, to Maximilian, Emperor, and to the king of Spain. 
Numerous friends wrote to dissuade him, but he was inimoveable. All Florence 
was filled with amaze on hearing of his flight to the desert. Hedied in the arms 
of his sweet friend Justinian), in the thirty-fifth year of his age and third of his 
being in religion. Justiniani, who signs himself brother Paul the hermit, took an 
active part in the administration of hi* order. It was he who surrounded the 
hermitage with a wall. He died on Mount Soracte in 1528, a most holy blessed 
death, which he seems to have foreseen and predicted in a certain poem which he 
composed the same year, in which he sung the combat of nature and of grace. 
His ancient portrait in his cowl, a mo-t striking painting, is in the possession of 
that illustrious family. f 

Petrns Qnirinus, on his embassies for the Venetian republic, had visited Ger 
many, France, Spain, Burgundy, and England, and found noplace preferable to 
the solitude of Camaldoii. So also Andreas Trivisanus, another Venetian senator, 
had searched various parts of Italy, all Dalmatia, a great part of Greece, and even 
had been to Palestine, and he found no place safer and more apt fora Christian 
contemplatist than the same desert. So writes Paul Justiniani in a letter to two 
noble Venetians, his friends.;}; 

But here comes a convertite whose history we have been long promised. "Pet- 
rus Urseohis wa&lt; elected d"ge of Venice in 976. He for a long time refused to 
accept it, fearing le-t by the ambition of secular honor he should lose the resolu 
tion of sanctity, a- Dandnlus says. At length, however, he was prevailed upon 
by the people, who supplicated him to consent, for the good of his country. What 
noble edifices he erected and repaired in the city, and what holy laws he instituted, 
may be &gt;* en in the authors of the Venetian history, and in his life by Guido 
Grandia. 

It happened in the course of time, that n certain venerable abbot, Guarinus by 
name, from the farthest parts of Gaul, came for the sake of prayer into Italy, be 
ing accustomed to make pilgrimages to various regions of the world. After 

* Hildephotis. Vitae Illust. Episc. Hisp f Annal. Camald. Lib. Ixx. t Id. Lib. Ixx. Ixxi. 



314 Moi CATHOLIC I; OK, 

assisting at the elevation of the l&gt;-&gt;n&lt; --of St. Hilary t lit- second, bishop of CucaflBOO, 

K. . t i venerate ihe body ..f St. Maik. Having perfon 

devotion- in the ba-ilica, li { a citi/.-n on leaving the church, where he 

could find a ho-piee, who ivpli.-d, Why do you M- k a hospice fn&gt;m me, \\li.-ii I 
dur-t not -rant a lod^iiii; to you. my lord, or t" any coming to th" r 
bless -d Mark V l ut why - :naiided the abbot. I &gt; the duke of 

this e..untrv, .-dd the eiti/tn, who is the ho-t of all strain:- r- coiiiin-j hither, 
ha- mad" a deep e ;ha no Btranger should he received to hospitality by any one 
i&gt; n hi.:. It alone, or with leave t roin him ; for lie has imilt gnal h&lt;&gt;u.~-. for the 
purpose, in which tlie rich and poor are alike ive. ived. On tiiis intelli^.-nee 
tlie pious (in triii repaired to the palace and entered it \\ithconfideiic". \Vnoart 
tlioii, venerable father, a-k the enard-. \\ ho seekest admiitance to the pr n 
i am (inarinu-, coming from far land-, and having Visited the oratory "fhletd 
Mark, I -ecu ii -elfiil iiospit.diiv ; nd it \\a- t Id to me to apply here, hut I 
know ii" t to whom I mi-;,i t m\-lf. % Th-Mi the dln-tri -n- dome-tics 

immediately 1 1 theahlx.t, and led him to the duke s hrd ehumher. And 

when the duke -aw him, he ros- nj&gt; in-tainly and -jave him a ki-s oi j. 1 he 

next day he de-ired tlie holy man to &lt;_M\V him advice r.-p-.-;iiiir h|&gt; ,,\vn .-tate ; 
for he said he felt it to !&gt; full ofjvul for his son , ; and \\&gt;- entn at d him to devise 
some way hy which he mi^ht i d. Th -ahh &lt;i ic|lied that he wa.s l&gt;oiiiid 

to Uoine, l&gt;ut that he wotiid soon return, and that then he ini^ht d -jvnd upon 
his i^iviiii; him eoni.&gt;--l "ii that p&gt; Aooordiug^ly i li in-- he depart-d, 

\vh ! iiestlii!e&lt;l the tnr-shold of the A id thr- W hims-lfat the 

th" 1 op" llenedict \ II. In line, hereiinned to Venice on th" &lt;lav he had ap 
pointed. The sol.-mn d -u&gt;-ion hi: mil in tue palace, he ad\ i-rd tlie dnke 
to renounce the wor d nd the dnke.iom. ;md t &gt; emhraee a life of holv ohedience- 
Now thi~ wa- the plan whim the duke had lor n-d to adopt, without hav 
ing ventured to disclose h - intention ojK?nly. From this ni &gt;m-nt, however, he 
l&gt;egan to arrange mi-asur-- f r carrying it into etle&lt;-t. 

" &lt; )n the festival of tne ma: ~~ Ammon, which was in LSeptenil&gt;e:r, having 
deposed the ducal rob", he -fcretly 1. ft h. palace, and accompanied hv ( Jiiariiius, 
U^muald, and Marino. h&gt;- embarked on a ve-&gt;el whioii oonveyed him to the ah)&gt;ey 

- . Hilary of (lamharanus. which had been by Ai -i-l .lohn, pa- 

triareh- ; \ . :uc . I .irtv in the morning, a- tn- holy duke did not com.- a- n 
ual to the matutinal "Hl-e in ;he bi-iliea f &gt; . Mark, he was -on^nt ( r in the 
ap.irtuien-s, but oiild not he found within the pal&gt; After lo: .-h the 

me .n_ r er- at length i-ame to th" abii.-y ot St. Hilary. Ur- -"ln- IKM p-.-i 
Guarinns to -have his beard and to clothe him in th" P&gt;- d "tine habit. Th 

_ r iii/-d (iiiarinu-, an 1 lavinir hold ofiiim. a&gt;ke,l where wa- th" dnke ? J&gt;ut 
he said, L&lt;&gt;, here am I. with th"s-- m\ companions. Kxamine whether your 
lord be IK The i on all without be in IT aid" ni/.e him. How 

ever, as soon as they had departed, th" dnke f&lt;arin_: led lu -notild b" discovered 



AGES OF FAITH. 315 

on a second visit, proceeded immediately with his companions to Verona, on en 
tering which city, in order to pas- with more security, he followed the feet of the 
mules as a humble muleteer, and so escaped through; then mounting their 
horses they rode, on, avoiding Vic&lt; nza ; and such was their ha-te, that on the 
third day they reached Milan. Thence they pursued their journey steadily to 
Narbonne; and then after taking some rest there, they passed into Catalonia. On 
coming within view of the white top of Mount Canigo, which is so called from 
being covered with snow, the blessed duke knew that he was near the monastery 
that was to receive him, and he said to the abbot, I believe we are now near the 
place. It would be wrong riding thus proudly to approach the court of angels ; 
for an unworthy servant like me should enter the presence of his master in hu 
mility and penitence. So saying, he alighted, took off his spurs and his shoes, 
and thus barefooted proceeded the rest of the way. The brethren came forth a 
mile to meet them, singing hymns to God, and with a solemn processsion bearing 
the relicks which the abbot had brought with him into the church. Thus in the 
year 978, one month after his flight, did they enter the abbey of St. Michael at 
Cuxano, and here he received the habit from the hands of St. Romuald. In this 
house he remained, a mirror of justice to all, performing every duty with the utmost 
obedience and humility, being chiefly employed at first in dispensing food to the 
poor, assisting the sick, receiving strangers, tilling the ground, and subsequently 
as sacristan, showing himself in all states a man both in heart and word pacific, 
Senex in mundo juvenescit in Deo, accustomed to command, he submitted to obey; 
from being a lord he became a servant, and led a humble and merciful life. Dur 
ing this time Romuald and Marino lived iu a desert place not far from the abbey, 
in a wood called Longadera, where they erected cells. 

"The death of this great duke took place in the fifth year after his arrival. 
After receiving the sacraments with infinite devotion, he begged the brethren to 
place him sitting up in his chair, and then asked if the lord of that country would 
come at his invitation to see him; for he wished to give him useful counsel and 
the kiss of peace. Accordingly, that nobleman, Oliba, count of Cabra, came hum 
bly to see the venerable duke, who gave him the kiss of peace, and exhorted him 
to despise the world for God. His words made such an impression that Oliba soon 
after chose the monachal life. The blessed duke expired at the ninth hour on the 
third day of January. Immediatelv alternate choirs of monks with tearful 
and tremulous voices sung the office round the dead. The next day the lord of 
the province coming with the first nobles, at sight of the pious limbs lying upon 
the bier, burst into tears. Then the bodv \vus brought into the church, and masses 

, 

weresnid with all devotion : they buried him in the cloister near the church door. 
Some time after, it is said, lights used to appear by night over the grave, illum 
inating in a wonderful manner all the cloisters, so that the brethren did not dare 
to pass one by one separately before the office, as they had previously been accus 
tomed. The Count Oliba leaving great riches to his son, having a treasure suffi- 



316 MOK !&gt; CATHOLIOIj "It, 

eient to ioad lifi -cn in&gt;r-e&gt;, af t-T consulting with St. llomnald, j I d in coin- 

pa nv \\ ..u inn- M.uinns and John ( ii adi iii-cns to .Monnt-Ca-sino, \\hen- IK; 

assnni d tin- liai)i(. St. Koinnaid ! -ir.ug to follow tli-iu, sn&lt;-h was tin- ardor of 
the {&gt; .pie for p ;jr liini, that, in order ll w.i- obliged to f. 

himself iii-id. irned at length barefoot to Ravenna. Marinii- the 

nit, who*! only obj"ct had been to Booompany Oliba to Mount-Ca^ioo, and 
the bones of 8k Ben oust med to solitude, depai 

their arrival and travelled into Apulia, \\ht-re lietix d his henui 
\I ,n .mi. Hem his travel* ended, for the Sanmina who &lt;M--iij&gt;ied the 

topofihe in. unit iin strangled tli- 1 pious hermit in !)S8, a man ofwondroilfl -iin- 
plieitv and of &gt;ineffe purity. Christians, however, &lt;jave him an hoiiorahle 

sepulture in the place which tin y eallcd aft- r him Marino. (Inarinns, who 
SO a n. d to wailder, being Father a p-dmer and -np.-rioi- ..t d tl -rent ahl&gt; 

than MK- ahi) . \ one hmi-- [H-oeced to Jerusalem, and John ( JIM- 

diniaoua, the third oompanionol olil.a. i Itoacoomponyhira. That poor 

convi-rtite \v is oV -rwiielnied at tii" tobllghl t ltein: dc-i-i ti-d i ( \ tiif-m all : he wept, 

and em n not to t oi-siUe him. ^ u, at i--a-t, he .Fohn, oii^hi 

not to violate th- 1 pr.tinise yon make t S . 1( . miald, \vho wished yon to ke&lt;-p me 

niv in rioeofQod. 1 Notlli . n..wev.-r, could ehan^f th"ir ir-oln- 

ti in. 90 ill V set Ollt toireih Alt. i dr-midin^ the hill, the hor-&lt;- &lt;&gt;n wliieh 

(Jn.irin i- r Vand after w: n.nnl, &gt;trnek John with his hoof 

and broke his tliiirh. Fnllini; down, he U"jan lo tliink of his &lt;nvn pei-fidv and 

dis &gt;;&gt; li.-iice ; his hrokon tiii^h remindetl him oi hi- Uioken faith. I .ein^ ear- 

ri d ha-k, ne l--_ &lt;;ed permi-simi to 1, .-11 hnilt for him-i-lf n- ar tip- monas- 

;ne manner that he had learne 1 from St. Romnald in Catalonia; and 

then-, during thirty years, till hi- deith, he remained in holy conversation. 

inn- and Mn iiu- l&gt;--in_ r d"pait-l, and John ( Jradiniscn* coming but tardy 

to tli- mona-t i-v, Oliha h-f t Moiint-( assino and returned to his own conntrv ; for 

. 9 

the n . of his IHMII^ pre-ent at the constH-ration a ehnreli there. The 

death of Guarinns is only indicated by letter- of Pope Sereins IV. in 1011 to 
Olil&gt; successor, Son of that foi rn.r count whom Peun- (JneoltU and Iloin- 

uald had converted, but \\lio .-nhs- &lt;juently retnined \ his ibrm.T -tatf. Kora- 
nald, in fine, l&gt;y his prayer- and tears irain d h - father. Duke Sergius, to relig 
ion, completing thn- tiieri,,n[) of cho-en -j)irit- that -nrronnded Urseolus."* 

The next, also, comes not -inirly. Let u- inquire- who he is. The monk who 
should lx&gt; thus questioned wonld ac&lt;piit him thus. 

Charles, the eighth abbot of Villiers, had IWHMI a famous knight, and mighty 

in deeds of anus. From the sehool h- had Ix-en trained to warfare, in which he 

riv di-tin^iii-he*! himself, that he be&lt;-ime dear to kings and primv- ; Ml 

that the Lord Philip, archbishop of Cologne, when at the court of Mayence, fear- 

* Aanal. Catnulduleasiutu, Lib. ir. viii. 



AGES OF FAITH. 317 

ing for his own life, chose him for his special guard. It happened once that he 
rode from Mayence with the Lord Gerard Wascard to a certain tournament at 
Worms. Alter some time they de-rend"d upon a meadow, which was most agree 
able wit!) flowers of every color, with stream &lt; and fountains, which they traversed 
in ,-ilence, neither speaking to the other. At length, breaking silence, they pro 
posed that, each should tell the other what had been his thoughts. "Truly then," 
said the first/ I have been thinking and attentively considering the wonderful 
and variou&lt; beauties of this place, and in fine, it has been foreshown to me, that 
all which flourishes in the world is but vanity and of little value :" and t\i&lt;&gt; other 
replied, that such precisely had been his own thoughts. Thereupon they said to 
each other, " Let us provide something for ourselves of real utility. Shall we 
pa&gt;s the sea ? But we shall meet with there what we leave behind us here, no 
ble horses, .seductive beauty, brilliant armor and weapons ; hearts will be wounded, 
and perhaps virtue injured. What then? Shall we pass to the wolfskin habit of 
Emmerode, and declare a truce to tournaments for five years?" This was their 
resolution. So they proceeded to that monastery, and made their vows conditionally; 
and then, contented with one squire each, they returned to Cologne. Soon after 
wards Ulricus Fiasco, who had wished that they might accompany him beyond 
sea, took himself the same vow, and with them received the habit. Gerard 
Wascard lost a part of his hand, because he said that he had rather this should 
happen to him than that the least injury should befall Charles, whom he foresaw 
would by God s grace become a clerk-. After some time such was the event ; 
for Charles having left his parents, and his riches, and his companions, repaired 
to the abbey of Emmerode, and there assumed the arms of sacred chivalry, and 
by his example and exhortations, many nobles and chieftains, not only from the 
holy city of Cologne, but also from remote lands, namely, Ulricus Fiasco, 
Gerald Vastaldus, Walter de Birbac, and many other renowned men in secular 
warfare, became no less illustrious in spiritual conversation. How much the 
monastery of Emmerode was benefitted by this accession may well be thought. 
When the Emperor Frederic came to Liege, and a great crowd of nobles had met 
there, as soon as Charles and Ulric appeared, Philip, count of Flanders, with a 
multitude of nobles, went to meet them ; so that the emperor, as if deserted by all ? 
was left almost alone ; for as they had the favor of the emperor in the world, so 
he loved and honored them in religion. His son the Emperor Henry no less 
honored them ; he gave to Charles a cross adorned with precious stones and gems. 
About this time Godescald de Volmonsteyn was converted from the world to whicli 
he had been wholly devoted : he went to the abbey of Mount Stroeberg, and left 
all the world in ignorance of his vow. It happened that Evrard his brother was 
going into Westphalia, and on the way he turned aside to see a certain recluse, who 
lay concealed on a rock, who received him with great benignity. After the first 
words of holy salutation she said to him, " My lord, say to your brother Godes 
cald, that his light is burning before the Lord, and that it shines brightly." He, all 



318 MOUKS CATHOLIC I; OK, 

astonished at tliese words, said, " Sister, consider what you say. There is no one 
in all Cologne so devoted t. .-ecular pleasures as my brother : for be attend 
nothing else but to -ati-fy his curiosity. Therefor.- reflect iij&gt;on what you .-ay." 
After much entreaty h- rxiortnl from her the m-aning of her word- ; wiu n -he 
told him plainly, that God had HI . t d thifl Heai ing HI&lt; h new- or 

liis broth -r, he was profoundly -ad, like a man devoted to the world; and re- 
tnrnin_ .^ogiie he found that what had !.. n told liim w:is (juiie true. (!&lt;&gt;d- 

.ld thu- wi-hing the world fart-well, ent ivd S: roeln TJ, and led a holy life 
imoog that congregation of .-aim-. His brother Kvrard n :i in 

th" 111 .na.-tic habit, in a certain church in which all the congr. u r :ttion- of Cologne 
wef" a-- -mbled."* 

Peritape, however, no conversion was more celebrated in the middle ages than 
that of the Duke St. William. " When- i- their a dance of young p-opl,-, de 
mand- a monk of hi- m .na-terv in tli- d M rt, " or any a embly of pea-ants, war 
riors, or nobles, or wh-n i- tin r :i vigil O f a h,,ly t a-t. \\h- n OIL- does not hear 
Ming swe.-tly in mo&lt;liilate&lt;l wovds \\riat and how _ r i eat was William? wi h what 
glory lie -rv.(l Hmpcr..r Charle- ? and what victories he trained over the Infidel.-." 

The coiHjne-t of I . na, which thev surrendered to him in 801, was his 

la-t exploit ; for he then p - .l\c i to retire from the world, and abdicate his mil- 
itar\ c immand of Aipiitaiiif. He found an an-: rl in the ( \ mi"-, at 

the junction of the little valleys of G i naud&lt;&gt;;; II ault, and there he bnik 
hi- mona-tc! v. Still he doubted whe:h ii _ r lit to c nu t any in-t&lt;mt de- 

n without havinur con-nlt- d Charl -n whom lie was attached by the 

est friendship. It Memed : dm best not to transfer him--lf to thi- new war 
fare until he had gained the consent of this most Christian Uinj. He accord 
ingly departed to the north of (Jaul. desired the o&lt;&gt;cas5on of a private interview, 
and -poke H- follows: l&gt; My lord and my father Charl-. whom the heavenly 
King hath made king over the people; you know how true and faithful I have 
been always to you, and how I loved you more than my life and this pleasant 
light. You know how oft-n as your soldier 1 have followed yon to the peril of 
death, always ready to lay down my life for you. Now th--n hear me, I beseech 
von, patiently : lo ! I rev al to you my conscience !&gt; -fore (iod, and demand per- 
mis-ion to become a soldier of the eternal Kinir. I have a vow and a long de- 
. that, renouncing all things, I may for the future serve God in that monas 
tery which by your favor I have const rn -t-d in th- dc-ert." At th&lt;-e words the 
countenance of Charle- fell, and lii- ey. - ovei flou.d \\ ith tears. " My Lord Wil 
liam," he replied, "what a hard word is thi.-, and how bitter! You have 
wounded my h- art by thi- petition. Nevei l!i-le . -ince it : - just, devout, and 
reasonable, I have nothing to oppos.- to it ; nor i- it lawful for mp to refuse von. 
If you had preferred the service of any other mortal king, 1 niig!if indeed have 

* Hiat. MOD. Villariens. ap. Martene, Thes. Anec. ill. 



AGES OF FAITH. 319 

felt that it was an injury to myself, if you had done it for the sake of greater 
honors, or dignity, or riches, I would willingly have offered all that I pos~e-se&lt;! 
to retain you ; but since nothing of this is the case, but that, despising things p 
cut, you wish to be the soldier of the King of angels, .so be it with you ; I con 
sent to it: only you must take with you &gt;ome gift, as a token of my affection, 
and a memorial of our friendship." With the.-e words he burst into tears, and 
fell upon his neck, and for a long time wept bitterly.* After this scene William 
returned to Aquitaiue, visited on liis way the famous monastery of St. Julian at 
Brives, where he deposed his arms us an offering to God. In the twelfth century, 
his buckler used to be shown in the treasury of that house as a precious curiosity, 
attesting, by its dimensions and weight, the gigantic form and strength of the 
hero. Thence he returned to his monastery of Gelon, where he took the habit, 
and ever afterwards comported himself as the humblest of the brethren. The 
disciple and biographer of St. Benoit d Aniane says, that he had often seen him 
in the plain of Aniane, in the time of harvest amongst the reapers, mounted 
on an ass, and carrying before him a great vessel of wine, which he presented to 
each reaper in turn. It must have been an affecting spectacle, to see so humbly 
and charitably employed the man who had so often given battle to tht Sarassins. 
and won such renown among worldly heroes, f 

Guibert de Nogent ascribes the restoration of monastic discipline in his time to 
certain wondrous conversions which had lately taken place ; of which one of the most 
remarkable was that of Ebrard, count of Breteuil, in Picardy. This was a fam 
ous nobleman, young and handsome, immensely rich, but of a proud mind; a 
man distinguished, however, for many brilliant qualities, amongst the first nobles 
of France. At length, he began to contemplate his own state, and to consider how 
he did nothing in the world but consign himself and others to damnation. Sir 
having secretly made some of his ancient companions aware of his thoughts, he 
privately along with them departed into some foreign country, where unknown 
he employed himself in making charcoal in the forests ; and there, when he had 
sold it in the towns, he thought he had for the fir&gt;t time attained to supreme 
riches. Thus the interior glory of the king s daughter might be considered by 
all. Teudebaldus, who is now universally regarded as a saint, a youth of noble 
race, had previously renounced the world ; and it was his example that Ebrard 
was animated to follow. Finally he sought the abbey of Marmon-tier, where he 
received the habit. We have heard, that, when he lived in the world, he was 
so studious of dress that none of the rich could equal him, and of such a haughty 
manner that no one could hardly address a word to him ; but, after he became a 
monk, we beheld him so careless about his person, that to judge by his dress and 
humble countenance, you would have thought that he had not been a cotijit, but a 

* Vita S. Will. Ducis et Mon. Gellonens ap. Mahil. Acta S. Ord. Ben. saec. iv, L 
f Fauriel. Hist, de la Gaule Merid. iii. 489. 



MORES &lt; &THOLICI; &lt;&gt;K, 

poor ru-tic ; and wneii IK- n-ed t,, it by the :ibboi through cities and tov 

he never could be induced by h;- &lt;i\vii \viil MI much a- lu ent&gt; r tin- castle- which 
lit- liU l left. V .! the* thi mimic- (Jnibert de \...n-nt. he rdut.-d him- 

when I \\a- \"tniu r , lor IK- ii-ed to treat nit- with an e^p -dai love on account of 
plir OQBMDguillity, On the.-e roiiver-ii n-, lor that of Bruno also \va- :it thi- 
time, va&gt;t flock- of men and women began to follow in the holy track. Wh-it .-liail 
1 -ay .-f their ages, wben children of ten or ele\vn \ .i | m- --lit .[tning- 

loiiii-ing to the old, and aciel with mon- di-cipiim- than \\.nld sn-m poibl. 
their \rai&gt;! Inth -c i-onvt-r-ioiis took place \viiat \\ i v d in the ancient 

jnartyrs, that greater vivai-ity of faith was found in the \v-ak and tender bo 
of the yoiuiir, than in those which were in the authority of a_re ;md .science. 
M &gt;na-terie- then increa-ed in numb* r. and were built not only in cities, town-, 
|U)d villugM, but al-o ill the W" d- and d.-eri-. where forme! ly wei e oni\ ! n- of 
wihi b -a-: - or cavern- of rob :.-rs. N--ble&gt; caught tiie holy flame, and canif f.-rward 
svitii theii- ti.-asnre-, and illn.-trions women . nriclu-d and adorned church, s with 
precious t^il ts.* 

All these tiiat W have as yet b-held are convenites that once were eminent in 
secular and military life, but there are amount them many others, who, though 
previoii-lv &gt;e|.arate to the ( hnivn, stood in no le.-&gt; nee&lt;l peihuji- of toiai r. nova 
tion. Th" crowd which follows, then, is made up &lt;-f |&gt;rie-t&gt; and unat phil 
pliers. \vho have com.- here demandin. i th- doi-t.-r i Thn- to Monnt- 

D) Paul ill- deacon, alb r the captivity of Kin^ I )esidei in-, wh-.s.- no- 
tary lie hat! be. n. an&lt;l the death of A rich*-, prince of IIeiie\ entnm, who had 
reived him in ids banishment ; for the -entence \ de:ith passed on him on ac 
count of hi- fidelity t &gt; th" kini; had been .mmutil to e.\il", through regard for 
his irenius as an h:-tor.an and poet&gt; Hither came Mark the poet, eontemjxmirv 
of St. Beuedict, who sj&gt;eaks of his own conver.-i-n in these lines: 

" Hue ego cum scelerum depressi subissem, 

Depotitmn -t-ri-ii pmulus abessp michi 
Credo qiifnl. -t fa-lix vitii fruar insuper ilia 
Ora pro Miirm si Ik iit iiicif tuo " 



Hither came to receive the habit ( ..nstantine Afrieanus, that prodigy of learning 
who brought from the east, after studies and travels of thirty-nine years, a pro 
found knowledge of grammar, dialectic.-. &lt;reomei ry, a-tronomy, antl all the -eie: 
of the ( halda ans, Arabs, Per-ian-, Saras-ins. Ivjvptians and Indian-. H.-IV 
came :il&lt;o Alfanu-. a poet and mu-ician ; ami Alb-Tic, full of all erudition. 
Many others of this da-- mi&lt;_ r ht be shown in different mona-terie-. To single 
out but one from England, Henry de &gt;runlac. a great theologian in the church 
ot \ ork in the twelfth century, and of eminent dignity in the province from his 

* He Vita Propria, Lib. i. c. xi. f Chronic. S. Mon;ist. On- \v J Lib iii. 



AGES OF F A IT II. 321 

nobility and riches, left every thing t&lt;&gt; become ;i monk at Clnirvaux, under the 
conduct of St. Bernar&lt;l. Such convert itcs excitul greater astonishment than the 
sight of kings, and barons, and laymen who had studied sciences, in tlie cowl; 
for, as Dante &gt;ays, " More easily and perfectly do they come to the habit of phil 
osophic truth who have never heard it, tnan they who have heard it when im 
bued \vith false opinions 1 ."* 

.Jordan of Saxony being asked, on one occasion, why masters of arts, nn&gt;re 
than theologians, came to the sermons of the friars, replied, "As peasants that 
drink water are more easily intoxicated with wine, so those who drink only the 
water of Aristotle, when on Sundays or festivals they come to the church, are 
more easily converted by the words of Jesus Christ ; whereas theologians are 
like sacristans, who, from daily habit, pass before the altar without saluting it." 
In fact, the lay scholars come in crowds to conversion. 

" How many learned men and great philosophers embraced the Carthusian or 
der, beginning with St. Bruno? Sutorus enumerate- them: Gnigo de Castro, 
Rifferius, Trusianus the Florentine physician, Ludolphns, Henricns de Kalkar, 
luiinald, Bonifacius Ferrarius. brother of blessed Vincent the Dominican, Hen- 
rictis deCosfeldia, Adrian, John de Tenetamunda, Hermann, Henry de Halsia, 
Stephen de Senis, Goswin de Beca, Oswald de Corda, Gerard de Stredam. Nich 
olas Albergatus, Bartholomew of Ruremunda, John of Louvain. James de Para- 
diso, JEgidius Aurifaber, Ulricus, John de Indagine, Dionysius Rickel, James 
dc Gruytrode, Henry de Piro, John Venetus, Heiory Vroede, Henry Arnold 
Gerard of Breda, Henry Loen, Lanrentius, Martin of Laon, John de Lapide, 
Werner de Laer, Peter Rnffi, Francis de Puteo, author of the Margarita Philo- 
sophica, and others. f In fact, the Carthusians, more than any other order, re 
ceived into its port the wearied scholars and philosophers of the university of 
Paris.;}; Cluny and Citeaux, however, were not without their tribute. But we 
must not suffer to pass by unnoticed in the crowd the Socrates of the Gauls, the 
western Plato, as his friend the venerable Peter, styled Abeilard, of whom he 
says, after describing his intellectual victories, 



-tune magis omnia vincit. 



Cum, Cluniensem Monacum moremque professus, 
Ad Christi veram transivit philosophiam." 

Let us hear the holy abbot describe this illustrious convert in a letter .o Heloisa, 
who called herself the sou roe of aU his misfortunes, and from whose affection death 
alone could take away the sorrowful. -I wish that our Cluny might possess you ;"it 
is thiis he writes to her ; " I wish that you might there be expecting, with the oth 
er handmaidens of Christ, the day of heavenly deliverance ; but since this is not 

* De Monarcbia, i. p. xiii. 41. f De Vita Carthus. II. iii. 7. 

t BiilfEus:, Hist Universit. Paris. 11. 



M&lt;) It K&gt; CAT Ilo LIC I; o K, 

uted t&lt;&gt; us, yet we may rejoice in p --- H^ your yes, I -av, voiir servant 
\vii. ayatobc named with honor, that true philosopher of &lt; hri--. Ma-t- r I 1 

whom in the la-t years of his life the -amc divine di-po-it ion transferred to 
C luuy ; and with him enneiied it a-&lt; with some tiling far al&gt;ove all -old and ; 
eioi, to relate \\ho.-e holy, and humble, anil devout conversation amon^ 

11- \oidl require no short di-con: Unless I am [ do not ! 

that 1 ever -aw any one like him in the habit and ge-tnre of humility ; in-oiiiuch, 
that neither (J.-rmain was moiv low.y nor Martin him-elf poorer to a di-eerning 
And when I compelled him. amidst that vast flock of brethren, to 
hold a superior rank, !&lt; seem-d to be thy last of all. Often I usel to wonder, 
during tlie pro&lt;- s-ions, when he with the i st walked before me, and t uly 

ama/. -d how a man of such a cel&gt; brat^d name eoidd tims despi-e himself, and 
throw hinis- If away. He ITU th-- mo-,; Minple, th" mosi ab&gt;t.-tnioii*. the mot 
modified of ii- all. In him weiv seen e n- a ,l -tndy, fiv ( pient prayer, perpetual 
-il"iic- , unless wh -n a familiar conference of the brethr. n. or a jniblic sei moil in 
th- convent, oiili^-d him to -p-ak : devoutly h.- tiM to fretjiient th. cele-tial BIO- 
ramein-, ,.(! riii up t &gt; (iKl the sii&lt;-ritie" of the immortal Lamb. Hi- mind, his 
tongue, hi- work, were always divine, philusopnie, full oi erudition and in.-ti ue- 
lion. Thus did th s -imp .. ami just man, fearing &lt; -d and departing from evil, 

p . me p u tioii of ti u.- with n-, OOOHecrating Hie ia-t day- of lus life to (iod. 

ike of ilia health, as he labortnl under a bodily diaeaae, 1 - nt him to 
Cnal-n -. Sftdlie, wire i i- tilt tnoal .jf able and bi ant i ful sj)ot in our Hur- 
&lt;_ r nndv. and there I procured him a r- - Jefl 6 in our monastery near the eitv. 
Th ! , renew! HIT hi- ancient -ttiui. -. a- far a- in- malady would permit he \\a- eon- 

i iv over his books, and every moment. liketh- per Greg ry. he either prayed, 

. or wrote, or dictated. In the-- -did the evangclioftl 8umnx&gt;t:s find 

Irm, ii . t -I-"pin&lt;; like many, but \\at -hin^; truly waieh^n^ ; and ealietl him, 

not a- the tboiisii but a- th&gt;- wi-e virgin, to the marriage oi eiernity : for he bor. 

with him a lamp full of oil ; that is, a ooosoieiioe till *! with tiie testimony of a 

holy life. H- 1 .-t din - -nddeu, coMluci in*; him -peedily to the xl r- mitv. 

I e:i. how holily, how devoutly, how Cat uolicady, did he make th- -oiif- &gt;-i"ii- 

ot his uiith, and of his sin- ! With wha: atll-.-tion of a d giring heart did he re- 

th" b^dv of our Lord and I\-d-. U-r, the viaticum of this pilgrimage and 
til-- pledge of ternal life! How faithfully did he command to Him his body 
and soul, h -ro and for eternity ! ill th* religions brethren of that mona-iery are 
witne-se-. T;m- pa--tl tod.nl with m^-kne-- and humility Ma-ter ! t i . the 
ma-ter of - , he wh wa- known to the whole world, and evei v where &lt; 

brated. Tiierefoi-.-. v- ii -rab -- an 1 U lovrd - -tcr in the Lord, he to whom you 
were bound in th bonds of marriage, and in the -till Ivtter chains of divine char 
ity ; with whom, and under whom, you have -o In ,.] die Lord : he. 1 -ay. 
in the last advent, with the voice of the Arehan jel. and with t ne trump of 
&lt; d, shall be restored to you. B&lt; m n ifu!. ther.-fore, of him in the Lord: be 



BY RtV. T. CAU-AGHAN 

AGES OF FAITH. 32:! 

mindful also of me and of the holy sisters associated with our congregation.* 
\Viththe fame of this flight the whole Christian world run"; and vet there were 



instances in which the power of grace was thought to hestill more visib! v displaved ; 
for the conver-i ms dc-ni d most astonishing of all were thos" which took 
place within the cloister irsrlf, of monks who had not the spirit of their order, 
or of men who had assumed the cowl without purity of intention, and worn it 
without sanctity of life. 

"A wandering clerk," says Caesar of Hei^terbach, "came to Clairvaux with a 
design to steal, under cloak of religion. During the whole year of his novice- 
ship he could pilfer nothing, such vigilance was observed. Then, said he to him 
self, if I become a monk I shall have more opportunities : so with that intention 
he was received to the habit. But the pious Lord, who wisheth not the death of 
a sinner, wonderfully changed his perverse will ; for he became contrite and so 
much did he advance in holy religion, that so&lt;&gt;n after he was made prior of that 
abbey. Such was the mercy of God and the monachal benediction. * f 
This example, however, exhibits not one of the most desperate caaea ; for, of all 
conversions, the most rare and difficult was from the corruption of the best state or 
from tepidity in the cloister. So deep was the impression of this truth, that we find 
there was a necessity for guarding monks against being too quick to believe them 
selves involved in the danger. Let us hear JElred, abbot of Rivaulx. "Not long 
ago,"he says, "a certain brother, renouncing the world, came to our monastery, and 
was placed by our reverend abbot under my littleness, to be instructed in regular 
discipline. He used sometimes to ask me how ir came to pass, that, while in the 
secular habit and conversation, lie used oftener to feel compunction and to be dis 
solved, as it were, in the sweetness of divine love. I demanded of him whether 
he thought his life was then more holy than his present, and more acceptable to 
God. Far otherwise, he replied : since I now do many things, of which if I 
had done one formerly ; not only I should have been thought holy by all, but as 
worthy of being adored. On my questioning him still further, he said, that he did 
not remember to have thought much about the many tribulations through which we 
must enter into the kingdom of God, but he used to feel as if he loved Christ with 
more sweetness. Yet, he added, I then never suffered any thing for Him, whereas 
now I suffer much for His sake ; formerly T never kept silence, or refrained from 
idle and vain words; and even afier my devout tears, I used immediately to re 
turn to laughing and to fables, being borue hither and thither as pa-sion directed ; 
loving assemblies, not shrinking from drink-bouts, and indulging in matin 
sleep and in excessive feasting. T was subject to anirer, and I had cupidity for 
worldly things : and now all is changed and reversed for tempeianee, coarse rai 
ment, study, a hard bed, and a bell to call one up to Matins ; we eat our bread m 

* S. Petri Ven. Abb. Clun. Epist Lib. iv. 21 Bibliothec. Cliiniacensis. 

f Csesarius Heisterbachensis Illustrium Mintculorum et Hist. Memorabilium, Lib. i. c. 8. 



. 4 MO !, l&gt; . ATHOLICI ; n li, 

tue sweat of oil! face- ; we have no will of our own ; their i- no place for idle- 
I ought i"t to ..nut some thills:- which no les.s delight tlian the former 
e ; there are no qoarrels ; nex er is there beard a - t u, complaint. 

.in of b oppre-s on of [he rustic-, ir-rthe piteoUS cbltttor of the injured 

; ; no 1 ;-. u.-eailar jndg -u".it- ; all is peace, tranquillity, and won- 

droii- ,1 mi from worldly tumult-. Then- i- -ndi unity exi-ting anidii^ 
brethren, tna; we -cem to be all one ; ami mere i- no excepting of j i, no re- 

1 to in: ie will t)l mi is la -A- : hundred ni"ii, wh&gt; mar i&gt;\- words as 

from ih" mouth of &lt; ;,,&lt;! : and t &gt; -nm up all in brief, th re ifl n nhing in the &lt; B 
}&gt; !-, or Apo-tolii- i -. .&gt;r b -ok- of the holy I . which &lt;! b. long 

t &gt; ths order ani pi- .f.-sion. What you -ay. I replied, i- not v i&gt;e t to 

your boa-ting, but to ihe tt-i voi- of a novice ; yet 1 wish you .!Utin- thai 

you -uoidd not b.-lievf th- .- i- any pi , in this lit .- wuidi ha- not Ir -u.-d 

p r- ii- altacliMl to it ; lest if by di QDOf \ "ii -h -uld find s .nx-thing in word or d.- d 
deficient, von might be troiil)lfd. lint do you think that all these things \\hieh 
you rniini Tate. may ! compared with voiir for.u- - . N .. tniiv. replied 

h-\ i T thai flowing of tea - never rfinl--r-l m\- OOIM . noi d-- 

livered me fnm the fear of death] and now 1 lri\-c a -tain, d :o t uis .JO.K!. Of a 

tnrh, I must coiif.--. uul.s- I \\i-n to deceive my-di , that were I to choose to re 
turn to that fonu-r life, it would not b* ac. mint lif &lt; hr - 1 . but tor the -ak 

tin- world ; not turoiign a de-in- nt ^n-at* !- [ -n, but through nuwillin-i 

to "udnre my p:c- ir labor-. S.. t iiat. not with-tauding \\ hat I iemcnr.-r ot ; 
-\\r-t tears, and that ti-rv. nt I..\T tor ( hri-t, I am co-npd.cd hv tne authority of 

all Scripture, by ,. and by my con- ; , to b.-b.-vf that this life is to IHJ 

tl to that fnn-T( vr-atiou ; tor it i- the ke&lt;-pin&lt;_ r of th" comman&lt;Im-uts 

whieli prove- 1 \ K -mark a^.-dn, I - d. ho v that t an-:torv motion can 1)6 

do criterion of the love of ( u&lt;v men are mov i-ilv in teaisat anv t 

&lt;ly nT vain recitation wiiicu di-play- th- oppiT ions of iunof tn-e. ..p anv Iwan- 
tifni and hei oic dt-.-d ; therefore, it i- absmd to r-timate love from such vain 
pi -ty ; to; -ucli thing- r.-ally to pa-&lt; b.-f.n- hi- \ -. the sam- man would 

not -a itic-- tnc Ica-t part of ins sir deliv.-r th" per on flp whom h.- 

in taitle. Mneli gieat -r tbily i- it to believe that if anv luxurious or tepid 
pep-in, bv the hidden i\ 9p -ation ot ( lo, i. -huiild be e.,silv niovel toeompimc- 
tion and tens, and vet return with the came facility to his former vanities that 
Ir- - and moment ary affection woiiid b" a g- ; thf love of 

( " i th n .iution to fly from whatever is coiitrarv to the divine will, and 

idnre every labor which i- imp..-,,! up,,,, him in hi- name. Thi- is true, he 
replied with dowi : -for I remember that I u-ed to l,e -om. time- moved to 

s at the fable- whidi are invented about Arthur ; and. therefore, it w.a- threat 
vanity in me to think that I wa- holv. and capable of great things, mearh be- 

e 1 (l*ed often tO Weep when thev read - ,m- affecting trait resp- c-i ig our 
Lr&gt;f&lt;l. Ah, how miserably aresuch nn-ii .iec- ived when they are eneon raged, bv 



AGES OF FAITH. 

the experience of such emotions, to return to their unholy living ! Truly. I con- 
ciud d, ihep - uring f&gt;rt i tear- is ;i most iiratefui and acceptable sacrifice to God : 
but onlv so \\ heiM&gt;H ri&lt; d by the penitent and the assailed, in the spirit of humility, 
and with a contrite heart; by those who fly to the bosom of Jons, and bring 
forth fruits \vorthv of p- nance. Therefore, you and I, and ail of us should labor that 
this mortification of the fle-h, this solictnde of vigils, this coarseness of raiment, thifl 
austerity of food, this gravity of silence, this holocaust of the whole interior and 
exterior of man, may be fattened, as it were, by the sweetness of tears and devout 
affection; that being lighted over the altar of the heart by the fire of divine 
charity, it may send up a pleasant savor ; but if you cannot have both, it is better 
to be without tears in apostolic poverty than with daily tears to transgress the 
divine commands ; for though we should rai.-e the dead and cast out devils, 
and give sight to tiie blind, we should nevertheless hear from the Lord these" 
word&lt;, Discedite a mequicunque fuerint operarii iniquitatis. 

Moreover, converts within monasteries sometimes complained that they were 
no longer objects of the same attention as before they entered them, when they 
were only wavering between the world and God. A. knight who had entered the 
order of St. Francis, complained thus to brother Giles through whose admon 
itions he had taken the habir, that since he had followed him to the cloister, he no 
longer instructed and conversed wiih him as he had been accustomed to do while 
he was in the world. The lioly man replied " that now being of the house and 
family of God, he did not think it becoming to advise him any longer, as he \\a* 
now only his companion and brother."! However, the evil didexi-t. which ren 
dered necessary conversions within the cloister, and its insidious progress is thus 
described by Richard de St. Victor: " If you think that you have, fallen from 
that grace which you enjoyed at the commencement of your religious life, attend 
diligently to what you act silently with yourself, think upon \\hat thoughts oc 
cupy you. If you meditate only on vain, onlv on pre&gt;ent things, how is it 
strange that you should be deprived of a revelation of profound and future things? 
In the beginning of your conversion, when you thought alone on eternal, alone on 
spiritual and future things, when you breathed only for things sublime, what 
wonder if, according to your desire, you deserved to be comforted? The 
Lord heard the desire of (he poor. Yon have ceased to sit at the feet of the Lord, 
and to rest like Mary. You are troubled about many things, like Martha. Re 
member then whence you have fallen ; do penance and resume your former works. 
If you desire to regain the ancient srrace, if you seek to recover tlm-e visions in 
your secret chamber, recur 10 Daniel, renew vour devotion, and prepare again 
your heart for the recovery of that pristine &lt;rrace." 

Again, he speaks as follows : "The voice of the Lord is on the waters. Re* 

* jElrerii RlnVvnlk-ns. Abb. Spec. CharitatK Lib. II. c. 17. 20. 

* Les Chroniques des Frere&lt; MiriPiir-. I,il&gt; vii is 
J DC Ernditione Hoininis Int-r. Lib. i. I.e. 19. 



M(&gt;KE&gt; CATBOLIGI; OR, 

member this when you tremble tin your oun infirm ty. Do v,.n fear pi-id- 
niui.i uiul vain Belf-ounfideuoe ? The voice of the Lord hreaketh the cedais. I *., 

. ti-.ir tin- Ham*- of pa-.-ion V The voice ofth- Lord exlinguisneth the ; 
I;, nold, you -av, your mind i- very light, inconstant, wandering, rtneinatiiit:, 
,iid not Nvi-hing, changing ii&gt; purpo.-e like tin- Hood of the -ea, \\hich i, 
moved by every wind. l&gt;nt ne who convert th the sea into dry land t-ilv 

cau-e the wat r- which arc under heaven to \} _; th-T into one |&gt;1 

rv l:uid may appear. The voice of tin- Lord i&gt; on tlic water-. II. .w 
mauydoyou .-ee advancing before you \ religion, \\ho were i 

frivolous 1 Iv \oiir-elf, and \\lio are now -table, -olid, and jiei feet in discipline. 
When you ,-ee these ni -n leavintr the world to a-siime the habit of religion, know 

.r.-lly that the Lord of Majesiy luiih thnnd. : ith terrified tht-ir h* . 

huth S -nt fonh his thunder ov.r man\ \\at- r-. !! who hatii ijiven them &gt;tal)ilitv 
can :en-th.-n you. and repre-s tiiese flaotoAtiug thooghta which detain you. 

Th.- Lord will give you latitude ot ii--:irt even :i- the -ands on the - and 

yon will have a- _ r :cat an aluindanceN.f. i- von had formerlv o| u md 

Tain thoughts J yinr h-art. like th- great sea of the world, will \n&gt; mud -lor- j 
and ^ -M&lt;! d -ir-- will l&gt;e multiplied in it like the sand on it- &gt;lio What al 

mighty power i- h&gt;-re displayed . I&gt;ut yon -ay, v:le men are in authority who 
ftbiue ; .wii capiic. Hosv could I c\ r i n iure this, who am 

an ingenuous and leariMxl man, and of nohle famih ? HOW -hould I IK* ahi 

p who hear a lofty li.-art, e.\alte&lt;l alxtv the cedar- of Li oann- ? To thi- I 
nawei in brief , til" voi.-f oftne Lord lnvakeih the cedars He can e ;i -il\ r-- 
pre voiir pride, and make the camel [&gt;a through the needle s eye, for all thin-r 
are possible to him who can do all things in heaven and in earth, in the sea, and 
in all deep place-. Tiiougli he behold a heart bitter and fluctuating a- the --a, a 
mind dark a&gt; the aby--. yet alway&gt; and every where he can do all tiling-, and not 
only at the thunder of his voice, hut even olt--n at his asjHH-t, the mountains of 
arrogance are broken down, the hills of pride taut low, and thr cedar- oi Libanu&gt; 
laid pro-irate."* 

Hut let us now observe some of these converts who-e deliverance had con-oled 
the family of heaven. St. Gnuther had l&gt;een received into the Beuediciine al&gt;l&gt; y 

\itaicli, but the habits of hi- eurlv life were so -ti"ii-,that the etl ort.- of the 
Aii! k St. G leiiard were inetrei tual to overcome hi- ticklene.-s. To reclaim him 
from ni.- lingering attachments, a more |X)werfnl monitor wa-. at the abiiot - re- 
^ne-t, induc-&lt;l to 8e&lt; j him. This was no less a per- m than the Emperor St. 
Henry, who represent/"! to him that a- he could not -e|-\v two masters, God a d 
the vrorld, he must choose which he would follow. From that moment (Iiinther 
became as firm as he had l&gt;efore been wavering. 

The next i- still more worthy of regard. Super s early life was in the bustle 

* Annot. in PS. xxviii 



AGES OF FAITH. 3*27 

-^ular affairs, amidst wars, and diversions of the chase, which were but ill be- 
euining ill a monk. The origin of his conversion i- ascribed by Gervai&gt;e, abbot 
of Lft-Trappe, to many event- that were calculated to turn his mind to meditation. 
Such were the circumstances of his last military expedition when lie iMiowtd 
Kini: Lniii- against certain nobles who had driven the bishop of Clermont from 
his see, at tlie siege of which city Suger was exposed to great danger, and this he 
considers to have been the first blow by which God deigned to open his eyes, and 
make him consider the fragility of life. The second he suggests, was the a*.-a-- 
Miuttioii of Charles, the good count of Flanders, who had often admoni.-hed him 
to amend his life; and the third, which made sure the conquest of this rebellious 
*uil, the spectacle of the terrible vengeance which King Louis exerci&gt;ed against 
his enemies. After this last sanguinary expedition, Suger returned to his abbey 
very pensive, buried in profound melancholy, of which no one could imagine the 
cause ; "he was suffering," says Gervaise, " the pangs of parturition," that is, as 
&gt; Angustin explains it, the sorrows of a true penitence, which were to bring 
ibrth the fruit of salvation, and produce the formation of Jesus Christ in his heart 
by a new life. It is the combat of tiie flesh and spirit, of nature and grace, which 
causes ail these convulsions : and the life which Suger had previously led, had forti 
fied nature so that the struggle was terrible ; but his heart having now been shaken, 
might with only one more effort be carried by assault. The tragical end of two 
famous abbots of his order, who had been his friends, and who had led a life very 
similar to his own, was the last blow which grace made use of to carry this fort- 
re-s, which had long been giving way. The one was Ponce, abbot of Cluny, and 
the other Orderic, abbot of Mount-GasBtnn. The former deposed by the Pope, 
and excommunicated, died in a tower at Rome, impenitent, notwithstanding every 
effort made for his conversion. The latter was also desposed and excommunicated : 
in which acts of just discipline, Suger beheld the judgment passed upon his own 
conduct by the sovereign pontiff, similar probably to that which awaited him 
self. Finally, fhe charitable severity of St. Bernard, his strong and energetic 
remonstrances, filled with the Spirit of God, completed the conversion of this 
noble heart. Being t hus wholly transformed into a new man, his fir-tact was to 
reform the abbey of St. Denis by his guidance and example ; which he effected 
without noise, opposition, or scandal. Thus was God glorified, the neighborhood 
edified, the church consoled.* 

Now comes another of great learning and no less renown, who will relate to us 
his own conversion. " Tnere was a time," it is Guibert de Nogent who speaks, 
when I wa- animated with such a desire of learning, that I gasped after it, and 
tli uirlit myself worthless if I past a day without study. Often was I thought 
to be sleeping when my mind was dictating something, or my eyes ri vetted on 
some book. And, O pious Jesu, thou wert not ignorant what was my intention ; 

* Hist, de Suger, iv. v. 



MO It 88 i AT 110 LIC1 : OR, 



[ -mi^lii to ijain prai-e and t ! mm-- more honorable in the pre-i nt 

.rieiids against in ;honi;ii they advised me well, yet encuiiraged me 

:i p a - ; and when I fan &lt;.; ihat I eon .d -"on obtain all tnat tii- V pron: 
me. :h&lt; &lt;it deluding me \\itii nio-t vain exp-- tations. However, mj 

in ni \va- th . 1 tor ieni])tat ;n, and undoubtedly at that time 1 wa- in 

naime: re.-onned as to my intelligence; i &lt; &gt;\- ait hou^h I -till had |&gt;i;. 
movement- .f jov and aihjvr. v. t 1 felt no; formerly more horror at t 
-in-, tnan 1 experienced IMW at tl I, or rather at \\hat \\er- lion- at all. 

emuiat-d nio-t /. J tho-e wnoni 1 - pini; tor ihrir otl .-iicr-, and \\hat- 

r ihinu tVoni tliee, were to my .-*! n&lt;: and hc:ii in: ino-t iriat-t nl. Clearly, 

() Lord &lt;;,.!, I was thi-ii liviiii, with a trrcat \ R* thv Ian. and with an 

intinit- ition ot all sin; and frhatever oould -aid and ii-ardand known 

of tlioc, most ainhition-ly did I drink it up. Tin- cruel d- iih.n, irritated by t: 
if st idi -, .itllc-trd me now and -&gt;-nt me IMCI inl- dn-ain-. so that ..... win 
, Ivin, in mv i&gt;.d, an-i ih&gt; lamp shininir hriirlitly, near me suildciuy I thou-ht 
I hoard th - voice of many p . and I - im-&lt;l to IH hoUi a &lt;lt-ad man. who 

cried out ; and when I aroso up t -rritird. I HIM th- lamp &gt; xtini:ui-h&lt;tl, and a d- - 
mon -t&lt;Mnl mar. at wnosr -i^ht I -honld have t dh-n int" tnadnc , it my ina-ter 
had not ha-teiKxl to traixjinlli/* and i-.-n-.tlr me. Thus in many way- di&lt;l th" 
t -mptrr peraeoa nu- in th Sf v--ai - of youthtul tr d : ami, () pious (Jod, 

how many virtorir-, how many rrowns for victvrif&gt; -honld I tliis dav nu-rit. it I 
had immovfiihly pi-r-ist- d in &lt; i omiiatinir him! I now -ntV T t:;. row- from 

th* jraloii-y and ci\vy of others, \\ho w.-ir an^ r r\ a n. &gt;nd I wa- wearied 

Uy cou- ,:&gt;!! ty of inquisitions. I became so enraj)tiiivd with the -tiid 

-ifniition, that I n- -lertc-i tlie serion- things of the divine pa _ r for ridii-nlons 
vanity, and I oven affected to write in the *tvh* of Ovid and the Bin-olio, -o 
forgetful &lt;lid rny mind jjrow of the proper riijor, and of the moiia-tie profession, 
only on-i how 1 c.iiild imitate the writing- of some poet, without ever- 

- derini; to what distance tni- mi&lt;:!it lead me from the end of my holy order. Ill 
fine, such an etl &lt;-et had this lascivious literature upon my mind, that at last, from 
th" abundance ,,f the lieart. the month I &gt;* &lt;_ : m to -peak, and I composed 1- Her- void 
of all lione:ty and mo iera ion : this my d- ! &gt; able -ta - d v if v 1 in 

a dream to my in who beheld an air- d nvin. and heard him - . - Jivean 

iint to me of the letters which have l&gt;. en &lt;-om|)osed. but the hand which wrote 
these letters is not his who wrot- r nem : the moaninorof which \vonl-, my ma 
and I ea&lt;ilv conjectun &lt;1. f&gt;r thev s^emeil to i-re.liet that mv hand would not per- 
iii such compositions: and yet. () L-rd. f.-.n know"-; how I did -till con 
tinue secretly to write -nch p&lt;e ii-, witnont daring to -how them to any one, 
thon.jh sometimes I n.-ed to recite pa- -o mv companion-, and b" overjoyed 

when thev exalted them. For all thi-. &lt;&gt; Fa-he:-, th -n di&gt; ; -t i-mr-h m-. visiting 
iii" with various BOrroWl and vexations of mind, and infirmitie- ofb-dv, and thus 
at len.jrtii cime that -word even to my soul. TT-iv -n-jr then felt th" vanity ot 



AGES OF FAITH. 329 

less studies, I began, though late, to breathe after the commentaries on the sacred 
Scriptures, to which many good doctor- had often endeavored to entice me. I 
now gave my.-eif to the study of Gregory and of Anaeloi, that man of incomparable 
ning and most holy life, who knew me when a boy; and when lie heard how 
my interior proceeded, used to teach me many things; and when he came to this 
monastery in which I resided, he so sedulously indulged me in the benefits of his 
erudition, that I seemed to be the soli- cau&gt;e of his having come to reside with us. 
In process of time, being exhorted by my abbot, I began to compose a cmnmen- 
tarv on Genesis ; which work, whether it hath done service to any other, I know 
not, but this is certain, that it conferred no small benefit on me, by delivering me 
from the idleness which ministers to sin. I have besides written many other 
works, which I shall not enumerate, because 1 intend to exercise myself, as long 
as I live, in such exercises."* 

How many curious facts might be elicited from this affecting description, given 
by Guibert of his early life, which would throw light upon the intellectual his 
tory of the middle ages, and confirm many of our former statements ! but for such 
comments time is not allowed ns. 

The conversion of John Taulerus, which I shall next relate briefly, was, how 
ever, more remarkable. Born in 1294, he had embraced the Dominican order in 
the convent of Strasbourg, in which city and at Cologne he had preached with 
great fame, though being still far removed from the spirit of an interior life. His 
change was mysterious. He arrived at the age of fifty in 1346, when a simple 
laic of devout retired life was secretly warned to go to Cologne, .v distance of fif 
teen leagues. He obeyed, arrived, heard Taulerus pi-each, and the spirit of God 
made him feel that it was to instruct this preacher that he had been called from 
his solitude. Accosting him he besought him to be his confessor. Taulerus con 
sented. After three months, the penitent requested him to make a discourse on 
the means of attaining to perfection. The confessor was surprised at the demand, 
but }\e complied, and nothing could be nobler than the sermon which was the 
result. The laic at his next confession repeated it all word by word, and then 
asked him if he really felt that he possessed that humility, that purity of heart, 
and detachment from creatures ; or if he, like a Pharisee, only pretended to have 
these graces. Taulerus. already humbled under the hand of God, opening his 
eyes to the divine light, heard him with respect and astonishment, and then said, 
Finish what you have begun, von know me better than I know myself ; behold 
me in your hands and under your direction ; you are my conductor and my mas 
ter." Thus did this rpnowned doctor become the humble disciple of a poor peas 
ant. The catechism or alphabet which he placed in his hands, to teach him the 
praeticp of whatever was most elevated in religion, has been published by Surius,.^ 
The laic, on seeing him well confirmed in his resolution, said that the will of 

* De Vita Propria. f TTH Vit Snblim. ex Surio. 



MORES CATHOLIC I ; OR, 

God railed him el-e-,\ h- -re ; tod him to refrain tVoin preaching and Iron, h. aring 

Confessions (lining l\\o .n,d t. ;lt lime !II - .lltllde. .-t idy:n life 

and doctr.i [ .!-(; -i in his cell. u And now, my lord master." -aid In-, 

.ruling in the divine assistance, persevere as you ha^ un. and n- f \^i\ \our- 

i in all thinir- with profound and true humility. Trn*t in (!&lt;&gt;d ami 
\p : ami oU-v whatever lie may pre-cril&lt;-, wh--ih&gt;T it l&gt;e sweet or 

hirer. As tor me, I ! vou, !&gt; imi troubled that I Van no longer remain 

\viih you ;" and with the-- word- he departed to Ilia OVtti country. The -acrifice 
thu- imi o- d was immen-r ; hut Tanl- ni- never i . imply, irivin.j up 

all the lYjiits &lt;&gt;&gt; hi- mini.-trv and hi- ^u-at r-pitatioii : I -T. n fact, i: .un 

til" -"ii-Tal opinion, thai h-- nad lo-i his sni-e-, hi- i f.-i iVinid-. repeating what 
the Roman - v-rnor .-aid t &gt; I aul, 1% .M ulta- ie litti-ra ad insani;:uiOOnvTUint. M \ ; 

.th, in 1^4S. the trrni oi t drew in-ar it- end. The clunrh ct. it-hrated 

vei--i..u ot St. I aul. He felt an extraordinary latioii: tbelaioretui 

and told him that the I .ni -umiiitr his preaching wa- arrived. Tanieni-, 

annoanoed that lie would preach on tfic third day. hninrn&gt;r crowds aaeeinhl 
He a-eend- d the pulpit, and found hiin-elf uual&gt;le to -peau : he wept, hut eoiiM 
not articulat.- a word. Th-- : withd:--.\. si . g ()! a trntn ht- s mad." 

The laie however returned to him, and - d tnat the humiliation must have 

16 iVom &lt;Jod. There \\a- too mneii coiitideuc" iu in- tir-t aHiiounrcmtnt. 
"A-k," h-- -aid, " pernn imi alter a lap-e ot five da\ -, to preach in anv t)l&gt;-eiire 
ehureli ot ( ..loirne, or in your convent. Hnvin^ ohtaii.e i I&lt;-HVC. hi- fir-t stTinon to 
the brethren filled them all with a&gt;toni-hment, and hi- re tiie p"iple, 

on the word-. \. &gt; -pon&gt;n- v.nit, e\&lt; i .am &gt;i," pnnlui-cil eH e&lt; t- that 

Would seem incredible, iftney w-re imt a; -cs. In tin--, tlroiiijli 

all the provinces of(ieriuany. fnm the day oi his eouver-ion till his death, Ins 
preaching reaped innuni -rai le --uls. irhile hit predictions as to the reli^i. .us in 
novators who W&n t" conunt-nc.- \\ith Wieklifl i-, s-em to warrant the opinion tnat 
hi- voice was miraculously prophetic.* When he fore-aw hi- end to l&gt;e near, he 
&lt;!.-ii- ,1 ,,nc" more to see the uiv-teri-.u.- laic ; and on his arrival he put into hi- hands 
the history of his own conver-ion. " Do with it." - -iid ne, "what you ]&gt;! a- . illy 
let not my name appear in i t." %&gt; I have." r- plirdthe laic, " five of your sermon^, 
v/ritten out a* I heard you preach them -. I can join them to these mem &gt;ii&gt; 
OS to form a little l&gt;ook." Tauleru- made si jn- ni, and shortly aft-T I 

.- -\ /.&lt;&gt;] with paral\-i-. He expii ed in hi- &lt;-onvent of Stnisixmnj, on the 17th ok 
May, 1 ]&lt;)1. nine vear- after his happy conv r-ion. Tanleru&gt; wrote only in (i 
man. and to Surin- we o\ve th" Latin tran-lation of his works, which. Louis 
Dloi- -ay-, " alone are -ufficient to refute all the here-ie- of th- - later li 
One more instance let us mark, and then the chapter ends. 

: Taul. Semi I)&lt;m Pri. Qu;ul. 148. 
Touron, IliM. des Hem. Illi^t. de i Onl. &lt;! - Don !&lt;&gt;m ii. Liv. 13. 



AG K S () F FA IT II. 331 

A wondrous conversion wa&lt; that of John of Fano, provincial minister of tlie 
maishes, who, after l&gt;eing the bitter enemy of the Capuchins, and, like another 
Saul, in i is attempt- t&lt;&gt; extingui&gt;h that reform at its birth, became suddenly, in 
1534, another Paul in regard to zeal and service- for the same reformation. The 
origin ofhis change is thus related. Having been for some time considering the 
deeaved state of his order, and the virtues ascribed to the new reformers, he called 
to mind the persecution he had exercised against them, and thought at times that 
he \vas called to judgment on account of it. While ruminating these things there 
arrived late one evening at hi- convent of Cingulo, over which he presided, two 
Capuchin friars drenched with rain, to whom the porter, with harsh words, re- 
fu&gt;ed a lodging. John, who was walking in the cloister next the gate, asked the 
porter who they were, and when he heard they were Capuchin-, he ordered them 
to be admitted and received with kindness. So a fire being kindled, while they 
dried their habit, John considered within himself the rough mended stuff, recall 
ing the ancient poverty of St. Francis their cheerful faces, their humility, mod 
esty, and simplicity. The sight affected him, as it did also the other brethren. 
After supper, when the others had retired to their separate cells, John alone re 
mained with them, and began to inquire of them respecting the &gt;tate of their re 
form and their mode of life.. After they had explained every thing, he rose, 
broke an apple which he held in his hand into two parts, and gave it to them, say 
ing, " Meanwhile, take thi- apple, brethren, graciously until you can receive my 
self more happily." In brief, the whole community resolved to migrate to the 
Capuchins, but each had only ventured to disclose his wish to one especial friend. 
John of Fano had deliberated with Eusebius of Ancona, general of the Capu 
chins, and each of the brethren having taken similar precautions with respect to 
himself, while each snppo.-ed that there was only one friend privy to his design, 
it so happened that all set out in one night, though at different hours, taking the 
road to Rome, so that there remained in the convent onlv one old layman and a 
companion. It is said that they all met together before the gate of the convent 
of St. Euphemia, where they were received with joy, and admitted into the or 
der.* 

But we have already overpassed our limits in remaining with the convertites. Our 
guide proposes to introduce us now to the community at large ; a&lt; it is important 
that we should observe the peculiar features of the monastic character, concerning 
which there are at present such contradictory opinions. Modern sophi-ts, when 
alluding to the religion- orders, are fbnd of de-ignating them contemptuously as 
" a race. \\ ( 11, be it so. Let u observe then by what traits of instinct, if you 
will, it was principally distinguished. 

* Anuui. Capucinorum, 1534. 



M o i: K&gt; CATHOLIC!; u it, 




CHAPTER XIV. 

HOEVK1I i- conversant withth- different e-tatesthat spring from the 
diilerem duties in human lit i- m&gt;t to U-toid that iheiv ace in- 

t.liectuai ami external l ; a u - appn.pra:e to all. in tormin- which 
Iiatiliv, thai i-. ll :no!tai \\a.\, d..tli well her ; The pa 

cific inhabitants of the doiftOT, perhap- aU.v.- all oti ft, were -ubject 
t&gt; the : iiHuenee of a peculiar mould from whi&lt; h BO disposition could 
v long e-c.ipe ; ami our object new mu-t !&gt; to a-ccitain what fruit- w- ! the 
ilt. 

It ha- ho ii -,ii&lt;l that one &gt;hould have pa-t five year- in tilling the ground to UB 

diTstMlld the (.iconic- of \" _r;l, :iud I well! v \c:c- in the maiKUr- iiient of nfl iir- 

*| \v:iv eleai v tlir u_ h !! : i