CHAPTER X.

_DAILY ROUTINE AT LLANTHONY._

At 1.45 every morning the sisters are called by the words, “Benedicamus Domino.” Each sister must instantly arise, saying, “Deo gratias,” then prostrate herself and kiss the floor; and after tidying herself, she must kneel upright with her back toward the bed, in silent prayer, until the first chime of the bell ceases. The nuns then form themselves into a procession, with lighted tapers in their hands, and sing as they go to church, where they remain, singing, praying, and reciting psalms, etc., until 4 a.m. They then retire to their cells, and rest until quarter to five (unless they have the lamentations of Jeremiah to recite, or it is Lent, for during that season they remain in church from 2 to 6), when they are again awakened by the same words, and have the same routine to perform. Then follows the office of “Prime.” If a priest is there, mass is said, or sung, after which the “Martyrology” follows, and “prayers for the faithful departed.” We then remain in silent meditation until the Angelus bell is rung, when we sing the “Angelus,” and then form in procession and go to spiritual reading till 8. At that hour the bell calls us to church again, when we recite the offices of Terce and Sext, and listen to a meditation. At 8.45 the “Pittance bell” rings, and we form in procession again, and go into the refectory, where we find half-a-pint of unsweetened coffee, some dry bread, potatoes, rice or porridge, and salt, some of which we _must_ eat, whether we are hungry or not. Many a time, like David, have we mingled our bread with weeping, and well nigh washed our bed with tears. Of course, the rule about eating this pittance of a meal did not apply to the Superiors, for they had whatever they liked, and had it whenever they liked.

At 9 o’clock the bell again rings, and we go to the Sacristy and sing, “Veni, Creator.” After this the work of the day commences, and real hard work it is.

But at 12 o’clock (midday) the bell is again rung, and we go to church and sing the “Angelus,” and listen to a meditation on the blessed Sacrament from St. Alphonsus Liguori, etc. We then come out of church and go to chapter, where each sister accuses herself of any fault against rule. Should a sister omit anything, or her fellow-sisters consider she has not told everything, it is their duty to say, “I accuse sister so-and-so of doing, or saying, or leaving undone, such a thing.” It may be true or false, but the person accused cannot justify herself, while the sister who has accused her is praised for doing so, and is told that it wants great courage to perform such a kindness to her sister. Sometimes (more often than not) the Superior will keep the sisters there an hour or two accusing some sister, whom she has some special spite against, of faults she never committed or even thought of, and the least transgression of rule is severely punished; while want of true charity, and the Superior’s temper, are highly praised as in accordance with the will of God.

Besides these daily “chapters,” each day we had to write down every transgression of rule, and to present the record to the Novice-mistress every Saturday morning. If she felt inclined, she would write two or three more pages of our sins, which of course she knew nothing about. Then she would pass these confessions on to the Mother Prioress, who would do a little more scribbling, and then, in turn, pass them on to the reverend Father, who would often write underneath, “Most disgraceful,” and keep us away from Sunday Communion, and return our books on Monday morning to commence the same thing over again. Chapter being over, we went back to work till three, when the bell rang again for nones.

At 3.30 the dinner bell rings, and we all formed in procession, said a long grace, and then sat down to our meal, consisting of fish or eggs, vegetables, pudding, or soup, and water. On Sundays we had chicken and pudding. Flesh meat (with this exception) was not allowed except for the Superiors, who had it every day, or twice or even three times a day, except Friday.

At 4 o’clock, the “recreation” bell rings, and again we formed in procession, and recited a prayer, offering the silence of the day past to God. And now we all must talk, even though we may have nothing to speak about. If we keep silence for five minutes, we are supposed to be in a temper, and the erring sister is told to go to her cell till she is sent for. At 5 o’clock, the bell again rings; we form in procession, and go to church, and sing Vespers and the “Angelus.”

At 6 o’clock the tea bell rings. Tea consists of bread-and-butter, or jam, or treacle, and tea. At 6.30 the bell again rings for conference (“Lives of the Saints”).

At 7.30 the bell rings for compline, which often lasts till 9 o’clock, for there is compline to sing, _De Profundis_, prayers for the dead, litany of the blessed Virgin, and hymn and prayers to our holy Father St. Benedict, meditation, and the closing hymn, after which we go in procession, singing “Ave, Maria,” to the dormitory, when each sister, kneeling at the entrance of her cell, closes her eyes, and sings:

Mother of Jesus, night is come, And wearily we fall to sleep; Ask Him to guard our cloister home, From powers of ill His flock to keep. Ave, Maria; Ave, Maria; Ave, Maria.

We then undress, perform our ablutions, redress, praying at each holy garment we put on; finally we lie down, making the sign of the cross, and saying, “I will lay me down in peace,” etc. The “peace” is a query. It was more often “I will lay me down in sorrow,” worn out in mind and body, and thus closes the peaceful, perfect, sublime, happy, holy day!

In summer the rule differs a little, and is not quite so strict. But during the season of Lent it is much stricter, and we only have the 9 o’clock pittance, and one meal at 5 o’clock, and we actually rise in the morning at 1.45, and do not rest any more till night. On Ash Wednesday we had nothing to eat or drink until six o’clock in the evening; we stayed in church practically the whole of the day. The floor of the church is strewn with ashes and cinders from the grates, and we sit on the ground in the ashes instead of in our stalls.[16] The 6 o’clock meal is scarcely touched, as every one is feeling too cold and ill to eat. After compline we have to lash ourselves with the “Discipline,” and then we have to go to bed unwashed, as a penance for our sins. We are not even allowed to shake the ashes out of our serge habits before retiring for the night; to do so would be to break solemn silence, so we actually sit in ashes all day, and sleep in them all night. On Good Friday we go through a somewhat similar day, but the ashes are dispensed with. Every day, over and above the divine office and prayer, continual supplication for the conversion of sinners, and for the dead, are offered, each person taking an hour’s watch before the reserved Sacrament, so that the church is not left from 5 a.m. till 10 or 11 p.m.