Part 31 (1/2)
[1] The opinion of M. Bruno has been lately adopted by all the abbeys of the order. In a General Chapter of La Trappe, held from the 12th to the 18th September, 1894, in Holland, at Tilburg, it was decided that except in seasons of fasting, the monks might eat a little in the morning, dine at eleven, and sup in the evening.
Article CXVI. of the new const.i.tutions, voted by this a.s.sembly of the Chapter and approved by the Holy See, is in effect thus conceived:--
”Diebus quibus non jejunatur a Sancto Pascha usque ad Idus Septembris, Dominicis per totum annum et omnibus festis Sermonis aut feriatis extra Quadrigesimam, omnes monachi mane accipiant mixtum, hora undecima prandeant et ad seram coenent.”
”And the fathers lead the same life as the lay brothers?”
”Absolutely--they set the example; they all swallow the same pittance, and sleep in the same dormitory on similar beds; there is complete equality. Only, the fathers have the advantage of singing the office and obtaining more frequent communions.”
”Among the lay brothers there are two who have interested me particularly, one quite young, a tall fair man with a pointed beard, the other a very old man, quite bent?”
”The young one is Brother Anacletus; this young man is a veritable column of prayer, and one of the most precious recruits whom Heaven has bestowed upon our abbey. As for old Simeon, he is a child of La Trappe, for he was brought up in an orphanage of the order. There you have an extraordinary soul, a true saint, who already lives absorbed in G.o.d. We will talk of him at greater length another day, for it is time we went down; the hour of s.e.xt is near.
”Wait, here is the rosary which I am pleased to offer you. Allow me to add to it a medal of Saint Benedict.” And he made over to Durtal a small wooden rosary, and the strange circle engraved with cabalistic letters, the amulet of Saint Benedict.
”Do you know the meaning of these signs?”
”Yes; I read it once in a pamphlet of Dom Gueranger.”
”Good. And, by-the-bye, when do you communicate?”
”To-morrow.”
”To-morrow; it is impossible!”
”Why impossible?”
”Because there will be only a single ma.s.s to-morrow, that of five o'clock, and at that the rule prevents your communicating alone. Father Benedict, who usually says an earlier ma.s.s, went away this morning and will not return for two days. There is some mistake.”
”But the prior positively declared to me that I should communicate to-morrow!” exclaimed Durtal. ”Not all the fathers here, then, are priests?”
”No, in fact, as to priests, there is the abbot who is ill, the prior who will offer the sacrifice to-morrow at five o'clock, Father Benedict of whom I spoke to you, and another whom you have not seen and who is travelling. And then, if it had been possible, I also should have approached the Holy Table.”
”Then, if the fathers are not all ordained, what difference is there between those who have obtained the priesthood and the simple lay brothers?”
”Education--to be a father a man must have studied, must know Latin, and in a word must not be what the lay brothers are, peasants or workmen. In any case I shall see the prior, and as to the communion to-morrow, I will let you know, after the office. But it is tiresome; it is a pity you could not have come up this morning, with us.”
Durtal made a gesture of regret. He went into the chapel, dwelling on this misfortune and praying G.o.d not to delay his re-entry into grace any longer.
After s.e.xt, the oblate came to rejoin him. ”It is just as I thought,” he said, ”but nevertheless you will be admitted to take the Sacrament. The father prior has arranged with the curate who dines with us. He will say a ma.s.s to-morrow morning before leaving, and you will then communicate.”
”Oh!” groaned Durtal.
This news broke his heart. That he should have come to La Trappe to receive the Eucharist from the hands of a priest of pa.s.sage, from a jovial priest such as this man! ”Ah, no, I have confessed to a monk, and I wished to receive the communion from a monk!” he exclaimed. ”It would have been better to wait till Father Benedict returned--but what can I do? I can hardly explain to the prior how repugnant this unknown priest is to me, and how terribly painful it would be to me, after having gone through so much, to end by being thus reconciled in a cloister.”
And he complained to G.o.d, telling Him that all the joy he might have felt in being purified and clean at last, was now spoilt by this disappointment.
He arrived at the refectory hanging his head.
The curate was there already. Seeing Durtal's sad demeanour, he charitably tried to cheer him, but the jokes he attempted produced the opposite effect. Durtal smiled in order to be polite, but his air was so wearied that M. Bruno, who saw it, turned the conversation and monopolized the priest.