Ceremonial for the use of Discalced Carmelite nuns of the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel erected in France under the first rule
New edition Paris: Mersch, printer 1888.
Book one: of the plan of the monasteries
Second book: things that serve worship
Third book: of the divine office
Fifth Book: Of the Ceremonies of the Solemn Days and Principal Feasts of the Year
Book Seven: Meals, Recreations, Office Table
Book Eight: Elections, Chapters, Visitations, Confessors and Preachers
Book ninth: novitiate, profession, aggregation
Book Ten: Communion of the Sick, Extreme Unction and Funerals
BOOK ONE : PLAN OF THE MONASTERIES
FOREWORD
1. To facilitate the understanding of the ceremonies that are described in this Ceremonial and the rules that are traced there for the observation of the enclosure, it is necessary above all to give the description of the plan of the monasteries. must be disposed for the exercises of regular life, according to the rules of enclosure and in the spirit of poverty recommended by the Constitutions.
2. We must therefore observe everywhere certain general provisions in conformity with these rules and with the usages of the Order, without it being absolutely necessary that, in all the details, the monasteries are similar to each other.
3. One is often obliged to vary the arrangement of the monasteries according to the dimensions of the ground, the neighboring constructions, a place to be used. Our Mother Saint Thérèse took these various circumstances into account, as can be seen from the convents she had built or appropriated.
4. The plans brought from Spain by M. de Brétigny for the construction of the Carmels in France place the choir on the first floor; it is good to observe that in the monasteries of Avila, Alba, Valladolid and others still, the choir is on the ground floor, on the same level or raised only by a few steps. We can therefore conclude that putting the chorus first is neither an obligation nor a universal custom].
FIRST CHAPTER
From the church.
1. Carefully choose the site on which to build the church, have the plan drawn up by a skilful architect, and follow in its arrangement and decoration the rules of the holy Church.
2. Before beginning the building, one must obtain the permission of the Superiors, then observe the ceremonies prescribed in the Roman Pontifical for the blessing of the place and of the foundation stone.
3. The church is divided into two parts: one of them is enclosed within the enclosure of the monastery, reserved for the functions of the nuns and called the choir of the nuns. The other part is outside the enclosure and intended for the functions of the priests and the service of the faithful.
4. The exterior church is further divided into three parts: the choir, the nave and the chapels.
5. The chancel is separated from the nave by a baluster and steps; the great altar is placed there, which must be leaning against the back wall of the church and raised on a step which is approximately at the level of the floor of the choir of the Nuns, so that they can easily see the elevation of the Holy Host. The choir or sanctuary is reserved for the functions of priests.
6. The nave, intended for the faithful, must as far as possible be removed from the railings of the choir by a few steps which can be closed with a second baluster, or by a sufficient space so that the nuns are not exposed to the view of the nuns. seculars, when these gates are open for Mass, communion and the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
7. The side chapels can be three or four in number. It is appropriate to dedicate them to the Blessed Virgin, to Saint Joseph, to Saint Thérèse, unless the church itself is under their name; if there are a greater number of chapels, it is good to dedicate them to Saint John the Baptist, to Saint Madeleine, to some saint of the Order or even to a mystery or to a saint who would be in a monastery or a locality the object of special devotion.
8. One makes, in one of the walls of the church, as much as possible near the high altar, on the side of the epistle or the gospel, a sort of small tabernacle lockable, in which one keeps the holy oils. ; they adorn it with paintings and inscribe these words: Oleum infirmorum.
9. One can also place in the wall, near the altar, a pipe to drain the water which was used to wash the fingers of the celebrant at Mass, although one can make up for it by a vase, as will tell the second book.
CHAPTER II
Altars and credenzas.
1. When the nuns have an altar built, they must give it a suitable height for the celebration of the holy sacrifice, and a length proportionate to the chapel where it is to be established. It is necessary to observe carefully what the rubrics of the missal and the ecclesiastical canons prescribe, that is to say that the consecrated part of the fixed altar be of stone and of a single piece; that the portable altar or simple sacred stone also be of a single piece; that the altar contains relics, that it is not placed above a place where the dead are buried; that the main altar be raised on three steps and the others on at least one.
2. A cross or some other pious image that leads to devotion is placed on the front of the altar, when on Holy Thursday and Good Friday the altar is uncovered.
3. It is good to surround the sacred stone with a wooden frame to prevent it from breaking and so that it can be carried without touching it; the edges of the stone around the altar can also be timbered to protect the tablecloths and facings from moisture; a movable wooden cornice is also placed on the step, which preserves the bottom of the facing; but it cannot be put on top, because the Ceremonial of Bishops forbids it.
4. One or two tiers are placed on the altars which are used to place candlesticks, vases of flowers and other ornaments. Place above, if possible, a canopy large enough to cover the altar and part of the step. This canopy can be in stone or marble, supported by small columns, or in wood or metal, or finally in fabric, suspended from the vault.
5. A stable credenza is placed on each side of the high altar; at the small altars, only one is placed on the side of the epistle.
6. The altar must be consecrated by the Bishop; the day and year of the consecration are recorded in the registers of the monastery, as well as the name of the prelate who made it.
7. There should be no altar within the enclosure of the monastery where Mass can be celebrated.
CHAPTER III
Of the tabernacle and its communication with the oratory.
1. The tabernacle, placed in the middle of the altar, should be of suitable material and adorned, as much as possible, with carvings; a simple cross in relief is placed at the top; it is given a size proportionate to that of the altar, and a door is made high enough for the ciboria and the monstrances to pass through easily. The tabernacle should not be so high that the priest cannot easily reach it.
2. When the Blessed Sacrament is exposed on the tabernacle, it is necessary to prepare a throne high enough so that the monstrance always surpasses the candlesticks, and also the reliquaries, if there are any on the altar which cannot be removed for the duration of the exhibition.
3. At the back of the tabernacle of the high altar, a second door is made opposite the first, through which the priest passes the monstrance into an arcade, a sort of interior tabernacle made on the side of the nuns. This door should only open when passing the monstrance.
4. The tabernacle must be blessed with the blessing marked in the missal, and always locked. The sacristan keeps this key carefully in a box.
CHAPTER IV
From the Oratory of the Blessed Sacrament.
The oratory was built behind the high altar of the church, where the Blessed Sacrament was exhibited on certain days on the side of the Nuns. We make in the wall, at the level of the door communicating with the tabernacle, an arched opening, high about 0m.65 and 0 widem.40 to 0m,45, the edges of which flare out so that the Holy Host can be seen better; this opening is paneled, the wood is covered with white silk or with a silver cloth decorated with flowers or embroidery, and the opening is closed, on the side of the Nuns, with a gilt copper grille set in the wall. and whose holes are so small that you cannot put your hand through them, but only a small foxtail or the like to clean. A shutter is placed above this grille, the key of which the Prioress always keeps, except when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, and an altar is placed below, of a size proportionate to that of the oratory. The top and the tower of the arcade are gilded and decorated with paintings, and the whole oratory, as much as possible, decorated with paintings. It must have daylight only on the side of the monastery and it communicates with the choir by a small door usually made near the communion railing.
CHAPTER V
From the choir of nuns.
1. The choir of the Nuns, the dimensions of which are indicated on the plan, has as much as possible 4 meters in height from the floor to the beginning of the vault; it can be wood or plaster and the floor must be wood. The side walls are paneled to the height of 2 meters.
2. The choir has two entrance doors made in the wall which separates it from the fore-choir; another door is made between the stalls and the communion rail which leads to the oratory; in front of this door, it is optional to make another larger one, giving on the cloister, by which the Community can enter and leave in procession for some ceremonies.
3. Place in the choir, against the wall of the pre-choir, an altar of about lm.50 long, 0m.66 wide and 1 meter high; it is placed on a step and it is furnished with a step to carry the candlesticks; or place some devotional board above it. The part of the chancel where the altar is located is called the top of the chancel.
4. The stall of the Prioress is on the right side of the altar and that of the Sub-Prioress on the left; both are similar to those of the Sisters. The stalls of the Sisters are placed on each side of the choir along the walls, and there must be only one row. These stalls are motionless, of plain wood, without carvings; the paneling of the wall forms the backrest, and the armrests are of simple polished wood, without any ornament. The last stall must be away from the grid by 1m.50 to 2 meters. Each of them is 1 meter or a little less in width, 0m.40 to 0m.45 deep, 0m.45 high above the floor and 0m.25 between the seat and the armrests.
5. Small roses or squares of a wood of a different color are set into the floor, to indicate to the officers the place where they must perform their duties. The first mark for the semainière is 4 meters from the step of the altar; two other marks, placed at them,30 to 35 of this, are for the first cantors; two others at the same distance of seconds are for the sub-chanters; the last two are for the versiculars and must be about 2 meters away from the grid.
CHAPTER VI
From the large choir screen.
1. At the bottom of the choir of the Nuns, that is to say in the wall which separates it from the church, at 0m,30 or 35 from the floor of the choir, we leave a large void in an arcade 4 meters high, the arcade included, and 3m.30 wide; this void is filled with a grid, bars and a frame.
2. The gate is of iron, wedged and firmly sealed in the wall, at 0m.25 deep on the side of the church. Rising rungs have 0m.016 from the front and 0m.025 thick; the throughs can be similar or have only 0m.018 thick and 0m.006 from the front. The bars are placed at such a distance from each other that the uprights and the crossings form empty squares of 0m, 05.
3. At all the rising bars, but only two at two points of junction with the crossings, one puts on the side of the church a point of iron of 0cm,ll. The base of this point is the same width as the uprights and well welded to them; the end is blunt and rounded, lest you hurt; she has about 0m.016 circumference.
4. To 0m25 of the iron gate, we put on the side of the choir as a second rampart of the same width and height as the gate and also ending in an arcade; it is made up of upright wooden bars without crosspieces. The top hanger does not open and is fixed to the wall by iron legs. Below the hanger and in the square part, these bars are divided into two flaps which can be opened. They have nearly 0m.075 in circumference and we put 0m.025 distance between each of them.
5. The two shutters which open are furnished with two locks which close them together and are distant from each other by a little more than a third of the height of the shutters.
6. Above these wooden bars, we suspend from an iron rod, at the height of the lowest shutter of the frame of which we are going to speak, a curtain of very light black fabric which can be raised with small ropes at the moment. of the consecration and during sermons.
7. Above the iron grating, the wooden bars and the light curtain, one applies in all the height and the width of the opening a wooden frame covered with very thick black canvas. The upper part which makes the hanger must not open, but be fixed to the wall as the wooden bars are in this part. The whole extent of the frame, below the hanger, is divided into four flaps, two one below the other in height on each side; each of these shutters is also broken in two in its width in order to fold up when it is opened. The upper shutter is closed with a large flat bolt which enters the lintel of the arch, and the lower shutter with a similar bolt which enters the support step. Each of these locks meets in its frame a lock with the same key as that of the shutters and the wooden bars. [One can with advantage replace these bolts by locking cremones.] The key of the frame must be kept by the Prioress.
8. Finally, the grille and the frames are covered, on the side of the choir, by a curtain of heavy black canvas, split in the middle so that it opens on both sides. It is suspended by rings of iron or copper from two iron rods above or below the hanger, and it exceeds the bottom of the grid by 0m,l5 about to keep out the wind.
9. A painting or a statue of the Blessed Virgin holding the Child Jesus in her arms or some other subject of devotion is placed above the railing.
CHAPTER VII
From the communion grid.
1. For the communion of nuns, we leave in the wall that separates the choir from the church, a second opening placed at 0m.35 approximately from that closed by the large gate, on the side of the altar, and at 0m.30 above the floor; we give him them.65 high and 0m 6o wide. It is filled to its full extent by an iron grating set in and firmly anchored in the wall. This gate has, on the side of the church, iron spikes like those of the large gate, except that the work is more delicate in proportion to the size of the opening.
2. In the middle of this gate, about 1 meter above the floor, there is a small iron window that can be locked with a key; she has in every way 0m.48 to 0m.22; it is fixed by hinges to one of the bars and is completely flat and without points like the bar to which the hinges are attached, the one which serves as its leaf and a few others still, if necessary, so as not to not interfere with the priest giving Communion. It opens inside the choir.
3. One puts inside, against the grid and in all its extent, a frame of wood without key covered with black fabric; but this canvas is split at the place of the small communion window, so that the part thus split on three sides remains attached at the top only. It is raised for the time of communion and kept lowered at other times.
4. On the side of the choir, behind this grille, of its size and at its interior plumb, a void is left in the wall down to the floor, a kind of square recess, so that the Nuns can come forward to receive the saint. Communion. [It is good to put at the bottom, against the wall, a step of about 0m,15 on which they kneel, and to place at the level of the hands a tablet which serves as a support], then a second of approximately 0m12 wide, reigning with the bottom of the window on which is arranged for communion the taffeta, the small corporal and the gilded silver plate of which it is spoken of in the second and sixth books.
5. All this space is closed with a lockable wooden door, the space placed between the door and the grille is paneled and decorated with paintings. We write in letters of gold, above this door, these words of Our Lord: My flesh is truly food and my blood is truly drink, he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.
6. The Prioress keeps the key of the communion window and that of the wooden door, and gives them to the sacristan for the communion of the nuns.
7. The canopy that is placed in the church above the communion rail can be of marble, wood or metal, if it is not cloth, as will be explained later.
CHAPTER VIII
From the fore-choir.
1. The nuns assemble in the pre-choir before entering the choir and when they leave it.
2. The avant-choir must be placed immediately before the chancel, separated from the top of the chancel only by the wall.
3. It need not be vaulted or paneled; it can be simply tiled; [there would, however, be an advantage in the floor, since the Sisters often have to keep their knees there]. We make the arched windows as well as the front door; it must be wide enough for two Sisters to easily pass abreast. The two doors leading into the chancel should be less wide; between the two is placed a statue or a painting in front of which the Sisters kneel when they wait to go to the choir.
4. There must be no seats or benches in the front choir; a stoup is placed at the front door, and one at each of the two doors leading into the choir. Also hanging from the wall is the processional cross, which must be aboutm.65 tall, 0m.06 wide and 0m.025 thick and bear the image of the Crucifix. The table of the officers of the choir is still suspended there, in a very prominent place.
CHAPTER IX
Bell tower and bells.
1. A wooden or stone bell tower is erected on the top of the pre-choir, surmounted by a cross and, if it is the custom of the country, a copper rooster. On it hang two bells of unequal size [and of moderate weight so that the Sisters can easily ring them].
2. The bell tower should be a little higher than what is highest in the monastery, even the top of the church, and have openings wide enough so that the bells can be heard, not only from all monastery and the neighborhood, but still from afar; the steeple must be solidly built and the bells suspended from a belfry so that their movement does not shake the steeple.
3. So as not to disturb the Sisters who are assembled in the pre-choir, the ropes are brought back in a corner, by return pulleys, and the end is attached to the wall, except while we ring. [It would be easier to place the steeple directly above the place where the bell is rung; Contemplation would benefit from ringing the bell not in the fore-choir, but in an adjoining place.]
4. The Prioress keeps the key to the door of the bell tower, which must always be closed so that no one goes up there without her permission.
CHAPTER X
From the sacristy.
1. There must be two sacristies which are not far from the choir of the church, nor from that of the nuns; the first is outside the cloister and intended for priests, the second is inside and reserved for nuns; these two sacristies are separated by a thick wall in which a tower is placed to pass what is necessary for the service of the altar.
2. The sacristy of the priests takes day on the outside and not in the enclosure; it is furnished with tables and cupboards, and a fountain is placed at the bottom with pipes which carry away the water and preserve the sacristy from humidity. Hand towels are held by the fountain.
3. The interior sacristy can be divided in two by a small partition; in the part which is close to the tower, one poses and one cleans what is going to be used or was used for the church, and in the other one preserves the ornaments. These two rooms are furnished with tables and cupboards.
4. It is necessary that there be in the external sacristy and in that of the interior a swimming pool or sacrarium where one throws the sanctified waters like those in which one purified the sacred cloths; the ashes of the sacred vestments, corporeal and burnt blades, the rest of the holy water and other similar things are also thrown into it; the well can be placed near the wall which divides the sacristies and make two openings, one on each side, but by separating the conduits down to the bottom by an iron grille which prevents any communication. These openings must be covered and even locked so that nothing profane is thrown into them.
CHAPTER XI
From the infirmary chapel.
1. A chapel is built near the infirmary for the service of sick nuns. It must be blessed by a priest deputy of the Superiors and have an altar on which Holy Mass can be celebrated; the entrance is located outside the enclosure, and the nuns cannot go there. A grid is placed in the wall which separates this chapel from the infirmary, through which a Sister who has been ill for a long time can hear Mass, go to confession and take communion; but this grid does not open for any other use. She hasm,l5 or lm.20 high and lm.50 wide; it is furnished with iron spikes similar to those in the parlour; there are also immobile wooden bars and a frame covered with canvas; but a small window is made in the middle of these bars and the grille, which opens and closes like that of communion, to give the Blessed Sacrament to the sick. The key to this window is kept by the Prioress.
2. As it can often be difficult to have Mass said especially for the sick, it is possible, in order to provide them with the means of hearing it, to have a second grating placed in the gallery overlooking the church, built like the one we just mentioned, but without a window and whose canvas-covered frame does not open. It is covered with more lockable wooden shutters. The key must be kept by the Prioress.
CHAPTER XII
A place to keep relics.
1. One prepares in the church building, or in the adjacent places, a place where one can respectfully keep the relics of the saints; it would seem very suitable to place them in the oratory of the Blessed Sacrament and to leave for this purpose, in the wall which separates it from the high altar of the church, two fairly wide voids, sorts of niches or cupboards opening towards the oratory. These voids must be placed lower than the arcade in which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, because, according to the decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, relics must never be exposed above the Blessed Sacrament. According to the same decrees, cabinets must not be opened when exposed.
2. The place in which the relics are placed should be paneled inside and lined with silk material; separations are made there to place reliquaries distinctly and more easily in front of which a curtain of taffeta is suspended from an iron rod; this curtain is red if it covers the relics of martyrs, and white if the relics are of confessors or virgins. A polished iron gate is placed over it, to which the Prioress keeps the key; this grid must be thin and have wide openings so as not to obstruct the view of the reliquaries; finally, above the grille, these cupboards are closed by a slightly strong door, decorated on the outside with paintings and an inscription which indicates that this is the place where the relics rest; the sacristan keeps the key, but on feast days the shutters and the curtains are opened to let the nuns see the relics.
CHAPTER XIII
Hermitages.
1. Care will be taken to make several hermitages dedicated to the mysteries of Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin, or to the Saints most revered in the Church and in the Order.
2. Some of these hermitages, without being very large, must be large enough to contain all the Sisters, not in line, but together and without order. They must be planked, have an altar surmounted by a painting representing the mystery or the Saint to whom they are dedicated, and be held with great neatness, like holy places in which one retires for prayer.
CHAPTER XIV
From the chapter.
1. The chapter must be large enough to contain the entire Community divided into two rows without being rushed, and have an entrance door wide enough for two Sisters to pass abreast. This door opens onto the cloister and must be made as an arcade.
2. An altar is placed in the chapter surmounted by a large picture.
3. The chapter is planked, because the nuns stay there on their knees or sit on the ground; there should therefore be no stalls, but only a small straw chair, to the right of the altar, for the Prioress; benches can be fixed to the wall, but they are only used on Maundy Thursday for the washing of the feet.
4. One writes around the walls of the sentences appropriate to the exercise which is made in this place; these sentences can be enclosed in painted cartouches.
CHAPTER XV
From the novitiate.
1. Each monastery should have a place for the instruction of novices; it is planked and adorned with an altar surmounted by a painting or a statue. Sentences are inscribed on the walls.
2. One or two benches are placed in the novitiate to place the books proper to the instruction of the novices.
CHAPTER XVI
From the refectory.
1. One enters the refectory by a door placed, as much as possible, at the bottom and giving in the cloister; it must be wide enough for the Sisters to enter in procession two by two.
2. The refectory must be pierced with several windows and well ventilated, so that it retains no odor. It is tiled and sentences are inscribed on the walls, which are paneled at a height of lm.65 at 2 meters.
3. We put on the tile, along the paneling, a step of 0m.07 to 0m.08 in height and fixed to the paneling, at 0m.45 above running board, benches 0m.25 at least wide. The tables are lined up in front of the benches at a short distance from them so that you can sit down easily; they have about 0m.65 tall and 0m.58 wide, and their feet are wedged into the running board, which is wide enough to reach to the edge of the tables. A table is placed at the top of the refectory, at an equal distance from the side walls, for the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress; two on each side for the Nuns [and another at the bottom, according to the custom of the Order, for the sick Sisters]. We leave between each table enough empty space so that we can easily enter and leave.
4. At the top of the refectory, in the middle of the wall and above the paneling, is suspended a crucifix to which the nuns make their inclinations. In the middle of one of the sides, between two tables, is placed the pulpit of the reader, made of carpentry like those of the preachers, in octagon, hexagon or square. It is climbed by three or four steps of wood which can be mobile or portable. There is in this pulpit a fixed seat for the reader and below a shelf to place books. A desk is placed in front of the pulpit to hold the books open, and near the reader an iron candlestick to light it.
5. In the middle of the wall which separates the refectory from the kitchen, make an opening or service window having them, 50 wide and high, and closed by a shutter on the side of the kitchen.
6. In front of this opening, one makes on the side of the refectory an advance of paneling of approximately 0m.65 to 0m.70 projecting, containing the entire width of the window, and opening on both sides by shutters which are always kept closed when not in use. We put in this advance a stone table supported by small columns, on which we put everything that the waitress takes and brings back. A cross without a crucifix, about 1 meter long, is usually held on one side of this window, which the nuns use to make mortifications.
CHAPTER XVII
Paths of the cloister and the cemetery.
1. Around the courtyard of the monastery are the four aisles called cloisters; they must open onto the courtyard through arcades. Or place holy water fonts at the four corners, and you always have wooden crosses attached to the walls, unless you can have devotional pictures or figures in relief set in the walls.
2. The aisles of the cloister must be blessed by a priest deputy of the Superiors, in order to serve as a cemetery for the nuns; all the professed Sisters and novices are buried there. Nuns of another Order or secular persons cannot be buried there, except by a privilege which is only very rarely granted, such as to foundresses or to other persons from whom the monastery has received very noticeable benefits. This privilege cannot extend to the founders, because one should never bury men in the fence.
3. Prioresses have no other place of burial than the cloister common to all Religious.
4. One puts on the graves of the Prioresses and the Nuns only a simple stone of about 50 square centimeters, containing only the inscription of their name, their age, the day of death and the time they have lived in religion. If any Sister has died in the odor of holiness, according to the decrees of Urban VIII, no particular ornament should be placed on her tomb without the permission of the Holy See.
NOTE. Civil law does not allow in France to bury in the fence. It is praiseworthy, however, to ask for this privilege in localities where it is possible to obtain it; it would be desirable that permission be requested at least to bring the bones back to the monastery a few years after death. We would thus come closer to the intention of our holy Mother, who would have liked to make a point of the Constitution of the burial of the Nuns in the cloister.
CHAPTER XVIII
From the parlor and its gate.
1. Saint Jerome would have liked there to be only one gate in the monasteries or that, if there were several, they were very small and the bars so pressed together that you could hardly pass your finger through them . Urban IV ordered that each gate be armed with iron spikes; Saint François de Paule ordered his nuns to install a second iron gate spaced from the first by the thickness of the wall. Saint Charles, in his Synods, approves of these two grids; moreover, he wants them to be so strong that they cannot easily bend or break them, to be at least 0 apart from each otherm22, that we add to that which is on the side of the Nuns an iron plate pierced with small holes as if to pass ordinary peppercorns, and that this plate be covered with a frame of canvas or other black fabric and coarse. Finally the Cardinals, in the Apostolic Visitation, order that the openings of the gates be so narrow that the hand of a little girl cannot pass through them. All these holy precautions approve and confirm those which are in use in the Order.
2. There must be in each monastery only one parlor through which one can see. However, it may sometimes be necessary to have a second parlor whose shutters can be opened.
3. We place in the wall of this parlor an iron grating, 1 meter high and XNUMX meter wide.m.30 to lm.35; its amounts have 0m.009 in face and double in thickness, and the crosspieces have equal or slightly less proportions; they form by crossing empty squares of 0m,038. One attaches to the points of junction, but of two by two only, of the points of iron of 0m.10 in length; their width at the base is that of the uprights, and their circumference at the tip, which is rounded, of 0m, 018.
To this gate armed with iron spikes, Saint Thérèse wanted to add on the side of the Nuns a gate of wooden bars at a distance of 0m.30 to 0m.35 of the first; these rungs have 0m.05 in circumference and are at 0m.025 away from each other. The iron gate and the wooden bars are set in the wall, and have no windows that can be opened. A curtain is put over the bars, and a wooden frame is applied over the whole thing, covered with a black cloth so big and thick that the Nuns cannot see through it, because they must not see any more than to be seen. This frame opens with two shutters, one on each side, and closes with a key. The Prioress keeps the key of the frame like that of the conventual door.
5. Since it is customary for nothing to pass through the gate, there is usually in the parlour, to pass business papers or other similar things, a very small tower of which the Prioress keeps the key.
6. There is never a fireplace in the parlor either on the nuns' side or on the secular side; this custom was established by Saint Thérèse.
CHAPTER XIX
Confessionals and visiting rooms with the same railings.
1. The confessionals are built in the form of a cell; the outside part is almost equal to the inside part; these two parts are separated from each other by a thick wall in which one leaves, at about 0m.75 or 0m.80 from the floor, an opening of 65 square centimeters; we make all around, inside and outside, a bevel slope of 0m.07 or 0m.08, and the void is filled by a grid of 50 square centimeters which is thus enclosed in the middle of the thickness of the wall. The holes in this grid are 38 square millimeters like those of the parlor grid, but no spikes are put in them. Behind the grating, on the side of the Nuns, a tin plate of the same size, motionless, pierced with small holes as if to pass peppercorns, leaving as many solids as empty to give passage to the voice, is fixed. This tin plate, like the grille, must be fixed in the wall in such a way that it cannot be opened; it is covered with a curtain of black cloth on the side of the Nuns, and moreover, at 0m.050 or 0m.075 away, we put a wooden frame that cannot be opened and covered with a very thick black canvas. The armrests and all around this opening are paneled and some painting is placed above which inspires penance.
2. Each monastery must have at least one of these confessionals, near the church, for the confessions of nuns; you can have one or two other similar rooms, having the same use as the parlour, but whose grid is constructed like that of the confessionals.
CHAPTER XX
Towers.
1. It is necessary, in order to avoid the frequent opening of the door, to have two towers: one of them is called the great tower, there one receives all the messages and the things necessary for the monastery; the other is that of the sacristy, through which one passes the ornaments of the church and one tells the ecclesiastics and the sexton what concerns the divine cult.
2. The big tower must not be placed in a passage or in an open place where the nuns can hear what is being treated there; on the contrary, it must be between two small rooms, one inside where the nuns do not enter, the other outside where the seculars cannot enter without being introduced by the portieres.
3. Fireplaces must not be allowed, either inside or outside, in the rooms of the grand tower.
4. The height of this tower is 1m,10 including the thickness of the two boards below and above, and its diameter of the same measure; the height is separated in a cross by planks making in two stages eight equal compartments which end up decreasing from the circumference to the middle; [these eight compartments can however be some wide and low, others long and narrow, which allows a greater number of objects to pass through the lathe, without leaving enough room for the passage of a person.] One should never suffer from cracks through which one can see or be seen at all; the tree that makes the middle has 0m, 16 in size and is cut with eight sides; it has the full height of the tower to make it stronger. The wall opening for the inside and outside doors cannot exceed 0m, 53 to 0m, 38 in width, nor 1 meter in height, so that one cannot see above or below; the edge of this opening can be paneled to attach the shutters which close the tower.
5. These shutters must always be locked on both sides, except when people speak there, and the door and the coach outside must carry their key on them.
6. The tour of the sacristy has 0m.90 in height and at 0m.88 in diameter or depth, because we do not put a tree in the middle; it is surrounded by round boards which close it all around to the reserve of 0m.50 wide. We set it to the height of 0m55 a partition which forms a second floor; its width is also split in two. [One can make unequal divisions there, as it was indicated for the large tower, so that it is enough for the need for the sacristy; one could even give to this tower the height of the great tower, provided that, by the provision of fixed divisions, one makes impossible the passage of a person.] The openings have 0m.90 tall and 0m.50 wide.
7. The shutters of the tower of the sacristy must always be locked on both sides, like those of the large tower. The sacristan carries the key from within, the confessor and the sexton each have a key from without.
8. These two towers must be of strong and thick planks, so perfectly joined, as we said above, that nothing can be seen or passed on either side. Out of the time of use, an iron hook must keep them perpetually arrested on the side of the Nuns.
CHAPTER XXI
Walls and fence gate.
1. It is easy to see from the ordinances of Saint Jerome that the ancient custom of the Church is to surround the enclosure of monasteries with high walls. Saint Charles, in his Synods, prescribes that the enclosing walls should be at least 7 meters from the ground outside and inside, and that they be made even higher if necessary to protect themselves from the view of the seculars. The custom of the Order is to give them about 7m.00 tall and at least 0m.60 thick,
in proportion to the height and the quality of the materials. The walls must be strong enough that they cannot easily be breached or knocked down; no window should be left there, nor even a crack, however small, which has a view of the outside.
2. We must avoid as much as possible to attach to the enclosing walls any lean-to or other building, however low it may be, nor even to place it nearer than 2m.50 to 3 meters. Nor should we put trellises supported by poles or other things, nor plant trees too close to these walls, the branches of which can in any way facilitate the entry or exit of the monastery. If there are similar things against the boundary wall on the side of the neighbors, they must be asked to remove them, and if they refuse to do so, if possible, contact the lords of the place. and magistrates; but to avoid any occasion of lawsuit, it would be appropriate for the monasteries not to have party walls and to have them built at their own expense.
3. If a stream passes through the enclosure or a fountain arises there, the waters of which must issue from it, the entrance and the exit must be closed with a strong arch or conduit nearly 3 meters in length, and proportion the height and width to the amount of water. The vault should be closed at both ends by a grid of very thick and pressed iron bars, well sealed in the wall and planted deep in the earth. It is not necessary to put these grids when the stream passes only through a part of the enclosure entirely covered with a strong vault, without any opening or crack, or having, as Saint Charles permits, only small holes to channel water through the fence. When we can only avoid the eguiers (tanks containing runoff water) have their discharge outside, it is necessary to put there grids with small meshes and a conduit so long that one cannot see neither from the outside to the inside, nor from the inside to the outside.
4. Only one fence gate is needed, 5 meters high and 4 meters wide, reinforced with double boards or made of boards having at least 0m.075 thick. Julius II, the Congregation of Cardinals and Saint Charles ordered that the boards be joined so well that there is not a slot through which one can, neither on one side nor on the other, pass a simple paper . It is necessary that one makes, in this large door, a smaller door called window. This small door and the big one must always be closed with two keys, one of which is kept by the Prioress and the other by the door.
The Congregation of Cardinals in the Apostolic Visitation and Saint Charles in his Provincial Councils have ordered, for greater safety, that there be, at 3m50 or 4 meters behind this first door, a second door of the same size and provided with locks which open only at the same time and for the same occasions as the first. The Order has always observed this precaution.
CHAPTER XXII
Rules to follow for the days to be given to the monastery.
1. No window should be made that looks outward, that is, onto the streets and other places where seculars can go; every day is taken on the fence. If, however, a dormitory or other places on the highest floors could only be lighted by daylight on the outside courtyard, we could do so; but the openings should be placed at the top of the room, against the ceiling, be made in glaze, have only 0m.35 tall and 0m.65 wide, and be lined with a trellis of iron wire. It should always be observed that these days can only be taken in the courtyards outside and never in the streets or in other places.
2. The Prioresses are not permitted to have, under the pretext of surveillance, any grille or window which overlooks the courtyard or the servants' quarters. The advantage that one believes to derive from this freedom is not comparable to the harm that can result from it, and it would be to deviate from the rules and advice that the Holy Fathers give to Religious women to preserve themselves in the purity of their state. .
3. The floors above may well have a view of the countryside, over the enclosing walls, but care must be taken that this view is far enough away so that you cannot recognize a person, nor hear him speak. .
4. All windows which overlook the courtyards and gardens of the monastery must be fitted with iron bars, but it is not necessary for those which overlook the cloister.
5. We must also avoid, as much as possible, that no secular house has a view of the monastery.
CHAPTER XXIII
Of the accommodation of the confessor and that of the servants.
1. The lodging of the confessor must be absolutely separated from the monastery and must have no door on the side of the courtyard of the towers.
2. The housing of the tourières outside is adjoining the towers and parlors; there must be no window looking from the monastery onto this dwelling, nor from this dwelling onto the monastery. If there are rooms in the enclosure which are above or below those into which the seculars enter, they must be separated from them by strong vaults without any opening, however small.
CHAPTER XXIV
Sentences to be inscribed in various places in the monastery.
It is customary in our Order to inscribe on the walls, in various places of the monastery, sentences drawn from Holy Scripture and the works of the saints. We do this in the chapter, in the novitiate, in the refectory, in the visiting room, etc. These sentences can be enclosed in cartouches; they must be appropriate to each location. These are given as an indication.
FOR THE CHAPTER
1. Jesus Christ was obedient unto death.
2. Christ himself suffered for us in order to set us an example.
3. The sufferings of the present life have no proportion with this glory which owes a
one day burst within us.
4. The righteous always accuse themselves first.
5. My beloved ones, confess your faults to one another.
6. I will remember my past life in the bitterness of my soul.
7. If we do not do penance, we will fall into the hands of the Lord.
8. Remember that we all deserve punishment.
9. He who rejects correction despises his soul.
10. The patient suffers for a time, but afterward joy will be restored.
11. Humble your heart and suffer; give ear and receive the words of wisdom,
12. He who despises discipline is unhappy.
FOR THE NOVITIATE
1. Blessed is he whom you instruct, Lord, and to whom you teach your law.
2. Blessed is he who places his will in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night.
3. Open my eyes, Lord, and I will consider the wonders of your law.
4. How I love your law, Lord; it is the subject of my meditation day and night.
5. The law of the Lord is immaculate, it converts souls.
6. The testimony of the Lord is faithful, it gives wisdom to the little ones.
7. Lord, teach me the way of your precepts, let me know the path in which I must walk.
8. If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.
FOR THE REFECTORY
1. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be satisfied.
2. Whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty, but the water that I will
will give will become in him a fountain of water welling up to eternal life.
3. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
4. I will be satisfied, Lord, when your glory appears to me.
5. Whether I eat, or drink, or sleep, or do anything else, I always have in my ears the voice of the trumpet saying: Arise, dead, come to judgment.
6. My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work.
7. They gave me gall for food, and in my thirst they drank me with vinegar.
8. I am the bread of life, whoever eats me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
9. My flesh is truly food and my blood is truly drink.
10. I am at the door and I knock; if anyone opens to me, I will sup with him and he with me.
11. Consider the table of Heaven, and the food which is God, and the guests which are the Angels; look up at this table, longing to see you there.
12. Don't worry about saying, What shall we eat, what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? and do not seek to elevate yourselves, for the people of the world seek all these things; but rather seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.
13. Blessed is he who eats bread in the kingdom of God.
14. It seemed to you that I ate and drank with you, but I use food and drink that men cannot see.
15. Whether you eat, or drink, or do something else, do everything for the glory of God.
FOR THE TALK
1. You will be justified or condemned by your words.
2. You will give an account on the day of judgment for every idle word you speak.
3. Talking a lot always makes some mistake.
4. If anyone speaks, let it be as having the words of God.
5. Only the perfect keep themselves from offense in their words.
6. Who guards his mouth guards his soul.
FOR THE HEATER
1. Always rejoice in God.
2. Let those who rejoice be as if they were not rejoicing, and let those who mourn be as if they were not weeping.
3. Religious life guards the heart and gives joy and gladness.
4. Can the friends of the Bridegroom mourn while the Bridegroom is with them?
5. Jokes in the world are jokes, but in religion they are blasphemies.
6. Let my heart rejoice to fear God.
BOOK SECOND : THINGS THAT SERVE IN WORSHIP
FIRST PART
OF WORSHIP IN THE CHURCH
FIRST CHAPTER
Of the interior ornament of the tabernacle and of the decoration of the altars of the church.
1. The interior of the tabernacle, even the door, must be lined with a cloth of silver or white silk; one attaches on the bottom with pins a clean and very white fabric which covers all the extent of it, and one puts on this fabric the blessed corporal to pose the holy ciborium. Also, in the window where the Blessed Sacrament is displayed in the oratory, a corporal is placed on which the monstrance is placed.
2. Neither holy oils nor any relic should be kept in the tabernacle, but only the most Blessed Sacrament.
3. The chaplains visit the tabernacle every week to keep it perfectly clean, and see to it that the corporal is always well placed.
4. Cover the fixed or portable altar with oilcloth. According to the rubric of the missal (ch. xx), the altar must, for the celebration of the Mass, be covered with three white tablecloths, blessed by the Bishop or by a priest who has received the power from him. The top one must be long enough so that, covering the whole altar, it falls down and touches the ground on both sides equally. The other two are shorter, one folded in half may suffice.
5. These three tablecloths must have the same width as the altar; they are only necessary at the altars at which Holy Mass is celebrated; to the others we can put only one.
6. For altar facing, see next chapter.
7. The rubric of the missal requires that on the altar where Mass is to be celebrated, there should be a crucifix and at least two candlesticks with their candles; the tablet of secrets is placed at the foot of the cross, and on the side of the epistle a cushion to place the missal. On this same side of the epistle, on the credenza, we place a candle for the elevation of the Blessed Sacrament, a bell, two glass cruets, one for wine, the other for water, a small basin and a towel to wipe your hands.
8. The cross of the altar for Mass must bear the image of Our Lord crucified. Its place is in the middle of the altar.
9. This cross is removed when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed on the altar.
10. For the use of candlesticks, see chapter viii of this book.
11. The correct, complete and large-printed Tablet of Secrets is chosen; another tablet containing the prayers of the Lavabo is placed next to the Epistle, and a third containing the Gospel of Saint John next to the Gospel. These three tablets are commonly called canons.
12. The missal should also be correct, large print and well bound.
13. This missal is placed on a cushion of the same color as the facings and suitably adorned; this pillow is 0 longm.40 to 0m,4o and 0 widem.30 to 0m.35; it is usually filled with horsehair. This cushion is often replaced by a desk.
14. The bell is tolled at Mass according to the rubric of the missal, and in addition, the bell of the monastery is tolled at the elevation, as will be said later.
15. The heading indicates the use of glass cruets rather than of another material, in order to avoid, thanks to the transparency of the glass, that one does not confuse the water and the wine, which would expose to this that the sacrifice was nil; one can however use silver cruets, but it is then necessary to take great precautions and to put, in addition to the indications which are on the lids, a red ribbon with the cruet which contains the wine.
16. If there is not a pool intended to receive the water which the priest has used at the Washbasin, a vase is prepared in a suitable place to receive it.
17. One can only place on the table of the altar, during the Mass, what is used for the holy sacrifice; apart from the Masses, ornaments can be placed there, such as small paintings, vases and flowers; at no time can the priest's barrette or handkerchief be placed there.
18. Cover the credenza with a white tablecloth reaching down to the floor on all sides, even in front.
19. The cruets, the basin, the manuterge, the candle and the tablecloth for communion are placed on the credenza.
20. The candle for the elevation is placed on a large candlestick near the step of the altar.
21. After Masses, the sexton covers the altars with a carpet or veil of suitable material. The altar is not covered when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, nor during a vesting ceremony or any other that requires it to be uncovered.
22. The altar in the infirmary chapel is ornate like the altars in the church.
CHAPTER II
Facings.
1. One applies to the front part of the altar a facing called front of the altar; its color must be related to the office and the Mass of the day, according to the use of the Roman Church which uses five colors: white, red, green, purple and black. These various colors are used as indicated by the heading of the missal.
2. The facing must be adorned in the middle with a cross or a pious figure; it would be good not to put family coats of arms there. No figures are needed at the time of the Passion.
3. It is advisable to put a fringe on the upper part of the facing, if this does not harm its ornamentation; its lower part is hidden by the cornice which must preserve it. It must be able to be suspended from a wooden frame of the same size as the altar; this stretcher should be hidden under the fabric and keep it extended. It is permitted, during the time of Masses, to cover with a veil, to guarantee it, the upper part of a precious facing.
4. There is no blessing for altar facings.
5. Care is taken to vary the facings according to the solemnity and to put more beautiful ones on first and second class feasts, mediocre ones on Sundays and less solemn feasts, finally lesser ones on ordinary days. The finest vestments are used when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and at the altar of Maundy Thursday, when a Bishop celebrates Mass or confers the Sacrament of Confirmation in the monastery church, when a priest says his first Mass. , when a Sister receives the habit or the veil or makes profession.
CHAPTER III
Pavilions, canopies, etc.
1. The tabernacle, when it contains the Blessed Sacrament, must be covered with a wide and large silk pavilion which hides it completely, but which allows the door to be opened easily; the flag must be white, or better of the color of the day, except for the exceptions noted in the following chapter.
2. We said in the first book that we place a canopy above the high altar. If this baldachin is of fabric, the slopes can be made of mixed colors, to have to change them less often; but it is proper, at least at feasts, that they be of the color of the day. A pious figure can be painted in the background.
3. The communion grid must be lined at all times, on the church side, with a canopy with slopes and two curtains falling to the bottom of the grid; they are changed so that they are always the same color as the facings of the altar.
4. For communion, the little window is lined with a taffeta sash in the color of the facing of the altar; however if the altar is covered with black, this scarf must be purple; its length is about 1 m.20 and its width 0ra.60; they hang her as much outside as inside.
5. When there is a sermon, the pulpit is adorned with a vestment; if this pulpit is embellished with paintings or other ornaments, it may be covered except on days of preaching.
6. The step of the high altar is usually covered with a carpet; at least one must not fail to do so when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed or there is solemnity in the church.
CHAPTER IV
Clarification of the rubrics of the missal and the ritual on the use of facings and pavilions.
1. The colors of the altars are changed at First Vespers of the following feast; it could only be dispensed with in Lent if Vespers were recited immediately after the celebration of Masses, there was not enough time to make this change.
2. When Vespers are divided between the office of the day and that of the following day, the altar is adorned with the color of the following one.
3. On Sundays which come in octaves, the vestments of the priest and the facings of the altar are of the color of the octave, except on Sundays when purple is used.
4. Vestments for altars, tabernacle pavilions, chasubles, dalmatics or tunics, stoles, maniples, cushions, purses, veils, copes, pulpit coverings, curtains, canopies and communion vestments, shall be uniform in color with exceptions. following: 1° the pavilion of the tabernacle and the communion taffeta are purple when the ornaments are black; 2° when the Mass is not in conformity with the office, the facings of the altar are of the color suitable for the office, and the vestments of the celebrant of the color suitable for the Mass; 3° when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, the front of the altar, the pavilion and the communion taffeta are always white in color, although the other altars and the vestments of the priest are of another color due to the weather or the weather. 'a party; 4° for the salutations of the Blessed Sacrament, white facings and ornaments are used at the high altar whatever the color of the day, but the color of the other altars is not changed. At the ceremonies of the taking of the habit and the veil, white is used, unless a Sunday or a double feast requires another color.
5. The sacristan puts on the appropriate vestments at the next office after the last Mass in the church or at the high altar, and the sexton puts them on the altar the same morning, if possible.
6. When it is necessary to prepare the altars for the next day, the sexton does it only in the evening when the people have retired, after Vespers and the sermon, or only after Compline if they are said afterwards. At the Office of the Dead, the black facing is removed after Mass.
7. In spite of the various customs of the dioceses or will stick to the Roman usage, which is to cover the crosses with violet veils without any figure from Passion Sunday until Good Friday after the adoration of the cross; we do the same for the other images, but we only discover them on Holy Saturday during the Gloria in excelsis.
CHAPTER V
Sacred vessels and some others.
1. Religious should follow with great care the rules of Holy Church for the matter, form, consecration or blessing of sacred vessels. They will not forget that when the chalice has been broken or profaned, or the cup has been regilded, it loses its consecration and must receive it again.
2. They will not be satisfied with what is absolutely prescribed by the Church for sacred vessels, such as having chalices and ciboria whose cup only is of silver and gilded inside, and monstrances whose lunula only be silver gilt; but they will do their best to ensure that these sacred vessels are entirely of gold or silver.
3. The sacristan may not touch the sacred vessels with her bare hands, unless special permission [which is usually obtained for her]. She must wash and clean them from time to time, if the chaplains do not do it themselves, and tighten them every day only after having carefully removed the dust. She puts the chalice and the paten separately in a canvas envelope and encloses them in a case where they must be kept.
4. The monstrance is also kept in a case.
5. There must be two ciboriums, one larger which usually remains in the tabernacle and contains the communion wafers, the other smaller which can be carried for the communion of the sick. [It is good to have a third of sufficient size to contain hosts for several days, and to use it alternately with the first.]
6. In addition to these sacred vases, there should be for the communion of the Nuns a plate of gilded silver the width of the communion window, and a little longer than the table which is on the side of the Nuns is wide, in order to that it passes to the side of the priest of about 0m.05. It has a small rim to hold the particles of the hosts that may fall into it; it is suitable to put a ring in front by which the priest can carry it more easily. She must be blessed with the blessing of the ciboria.
7. It is also necessary to have in the sacristy censers with the shuttle and the spoon, holy water fonts and sprinklers, ewers and basins to wash the hands of the priests at Mass and in various ceremonies.
8. There are also some vessels of copper or other material to wash and clean the chalices, the patens and the ciboria, as well as to purify and whiten the corporals, the pales and the purificatories. These vases are kept apart, perfectly clean, and they are never used for profane purposes.
CHAPTER VI
Linen from the sacristy.
1. For the linens of the church as for the sacred vessels, the sacristans will carefully conform to the rules of the Holy Church, either for their fabrics and their dimensions, or for the blessings they must receive.
2. The sacred linens are the altar cloths, the corporals, the pales and the purificatories. They are blessed, except the purificators.
3. The non-sacred linens are the manuterges and the communion cloths. We don't bless them.
4. The amice, the alb and the cord are part of the sacred garments. They must be blessed.
5. There should also be in the sacristy rochets with narrow sleeves for bishops and prelates, and surplices with wide sleeves for other ecclesiastics and clerics. Ratchets and surplices are not blessed.
6. The sacristan must hold all these linens with great neatness, particularly the corporeal ones, the pales and the purificatories; she has to change the linen as often as necessary, especially that which gets dirty more easily, such as friendlies.
7. When the blessed cloths have been laundered, they do not need a new blessing; but if they have been so torn or mended that they have lost their first form, they must be blessed again.
8. The sacristan should not, without special permission, touch the bare hands of corporeals, pales, and purificators when they have served at the altar; and as the holy canons forbid women, even consecrated to God, to purify the sacred linen, the nuns will have them pass through a first water, before bleaching them, by a person who is in orders; then they can handle them until they have again been used at the altar.
9. The corporeals and the blades should be starched, but only pure starch should be used without any color mixture. Of the various ways indicated by the rubrics for folding the corporal, the simplest is to form nine equal squares.
10. You must also have in the sacristy various other linens, such as hand towels for the priests and handkerchiefs; these linens can be put in the common detergent, but all the others must be washed separately.
CHAPTER VII
Sacred ornaments.
1. Monasteries shall have chasubles, maniple stoles, chalice veils, purses, dalmatics, tunics and copes of shapes, fabrics and colors adopted by the Holy Church. All these garments must be blessed, yet this is controversial for the cope; if, by repairing them, we
causes them to lose their first form, they must be blessed again. We still need pavilions of white color and of precious fabric for the ciboria; a humeral veil; a purple veil to cover the holy oils, when they are taken to the sick; purple, white and black veils to cover the crosses according to the rubric during the time of the Passion, on Holy Thursday and Good Friday; white veils made of violet silk for the adoration of the cross on Good Friday; finally scarves or desk covers, cushions and carpets of various colors to serve the different uses indicated in this Ceremonial.
2. The priests use these ornaments in the circumstances marked by the rubrics.
CHAPTER VIII
Lamps and candles.
1. A lamp is kept in front of the altar where the Blessed Sacrament rests, which burns incessantly day and night. The sacristan will take care that this lamp is not allowed to go out and that only olive oil is burned in it; if it cannot be obtained, vegetable oil is used as much as possible. Lamps may be lighted in other chapels in front of altars or images of saints, if such is the custom of the country.
2. It is appropriate to have in each sacristy several more or less rich candelabra fittings, to vary them according to the solemnity and according to the altars. Low candlesticks are also needed to light up the celebrant, if necessary.
3. The sacristan maintains the various candelabra fittings with great neatness, and, if there is silver, she keeps them in their cases,
4. At the high altar there are not less than four candlesticks, nor more than six, unless there is some extraordinary cause, as will be explained later.
5. In addition, in front of this altar, two large candlesticks are placed far enough apart so that they do not interfere with the ministers who serve at Mass.
6. A third torch is placed on the credence which is used at the moment of communion to accompany the priest when he brings the Eucharist to the Religious.
7. On the other altars only two or four candlesticks are placed which always remain there as ornaments, and on the front only one is placed.
8. The practice of covering candlesticks on ordinary days is only tolerated, it is much more regular not to do so.
9. Below the tip of all the candlesticks, we put a round plate of white or yellow iron according to the color of the candlesticks, to receive the drops of wax which flow from the candle.
10. All candlesticks are filled with wax candles. Two candles are lighted on the altar at all Low Masses. Four are lit at conventual Masses on Sundays and less solemn feast days, and, as a general rule, at all sung Masses which are not solemn. Six are lit: 1° at the conventual Mass of first class feasts and those of second class which have an octave; 2° at Masses for Cardinals, Nuncios and Bishops; 3° at Masses in the chapels on the day of their solemnity, if there is a major competition; otherwise only four are lit; 4° to the blessings of Candles, Ashes and Palms and to the Masses which follow them.
11. Two large candles are lighted on the candlesticks in front of the altar before the consecration until after communion: 1° at all conventual Masses; 2° to sung Masses; 3° at Masses for Cardinals, Nuncios and Bishops. One only lights the one which is on the side of the Epistle to the Ordinary Low Masses; one lights in the same way that of the small furnace bridges. The candles are never removed from these candlesticks to accompany the priest when he takes communion to the nuns; the third torch placed on the credenza is used for this purpose.
12. A silver candlestick garnished with a wax candle should always be held near a bishop. If in dark weather the celebrating priest needs light, he should be given a low candlestick with a candle.
13. Four candles are lighted at the high altar at Vespers on Sundays and at first and second Vespers of second-class feasts which have no octave; six are lit at first and second Vespers of first class feasts and at those of second class which have an octave.
14. Whenever the Blessed Sacrament is exposed in church, at least ten candles are lighted on the altar; in the monasteries which have the means, they light a greater number, at least during the conventual Mass, the exposition and the blessing. We also light, during the exposition and the reposition, the two candles which are in front of the altar. The Clementine Instruction will be observed as much as possible.
15. Not less than ten candles are lighted at the altar of Maundy Thursday; but it is good to increase the number as much as possible, to do more honor to the Blessed Sacrament.
16. Candles are still used, in addition to those on the altar, when carrying the Blessed Sacrament on the morning of Holy Thursday and Good Friday; it is also used at the office of Holy Saturday.
17. Six yellow wax candles are lighted on the high altar on the three days of Darkness during Matins and Lauds, and on Good Friday during the Mass of the Presanctified.
18. The triangle of Darkness is filled with fifteen yellow candles.
19. Yellow candles are also used for the services of the Dead; four or six are lit at the high altar according to the solemnity of the service.
20. To light the candles, the sacristan takes light from the lamp of the Blessed Sacrament, unless there are already lights on the altar. He first lights the candle closest to the cross on the Gospel side, then the corresponding candle on the Epistle side, and so on. To extinguish, he follows the opposite order, starting with the candle furthest from the cross on the Epistle side, then with the corresponding candle on the Gospel side, and so on. After Mass he extinguishes the candles only after having escorted the priest to the sacristy. To light and extinguish the candles, we use a small light and a snuffer placed at the end of a stick.
CHAPTER IX
Holy water.
1. The sacristan must, every Sunday, have water blessed in sufficient quantity for the use of the church and the monastery throughout the week. To this end she passes water and a little salt in the morning; the priest who is to celebrate or the chaplain of the monastery blesses this water before the conventual Mass; they carry it to the altar of the church for sprinkling and pass part of it for the monastery. . .
2. This blessing is made even on the morning of Easter and Pentecost, since the day before, in the monasteries, there was no blessing of the font.
3. The sacristan keeps the fonts of the church always full of holy water; he puts fresh holy water in it every Sunday; for this purpose he takes care to first remove the remaining one with a sponge and throw it into the pool, then to clean the stoup well.
CHAPTER X
Paintings.
1. According to the recommendation of the Holy Council of Trent, pictures of Our Lord, of the Blessed Virgin and of saints are placed in the monastery church. They should especially be placed above the altars and surrounded by wooden or marble cornices. These pictures must be appropriate to excite piety and have nothing profane or improper.
2. The sacristan often has the paintings in the church cleaned; she can even have them covered on the days of the week, however it is better to do this only at the time of the Passion when the Church prescribes it.
CHAPTER XI
Of some duties of the sacristan.
1. The sacristan has some functions to perform in most ceremonies and in many holy actions of religious life, such as confession and communion of the Sisters. She also has some special closing obligations. These various obligations will be indicated to him in the chapters which treat of these matters, as those which concern the service of the church have been marked in the preceding chapters; we will therefore confine ourselves to bringing together here some duties which are peculiar to him, and of which we shall not have occasion to speak in the course of this Ceremonial.
2. The sacristan takes care that there is always in the sacristy altar breads made by one of the chaplains or by the nuns, but never by lay hands. They must be of wheat flour, without spot or break; they are kept after they are cut in a dry place, they are renewed from fifteen to fifteen days, and they are cleaned of the fragments before giving them for the holy sacrifice. They are passed to the celebrant in boxes lined with white linen, if they are not silver.
3. If, after Mass, there remains some parcel on the paten, the sacristan asks the priest to take it back; if he has already left the church, she drops the parcel into the corporal, without touching it, and leaves it there until the next day.
4. When purificators are brought back from the altar still wet, she puts them in the air to remove all moisture.
5. On major feasts and when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, she burns incense in cassolettes, in the church and in the choir of the nuns; she renews them from time to time, principally at Masses and at the office, and more especially still at the conventual Mass at the time of communion, and at Vespers. This replaces the incense given to other churches.
6. She is still holding scent sachets on the small table in the communion rail near the shutter.
7. Although we can mix the perfumes of various ingredients, we nevertheless use in the incense of the altar more incense than other matter.
8. The sacristan reminds the chaplains to clean the tabernacle weekly; she herself must be very clean in all that concerns the altar.
9. She provides the sacristan with a cassock and a ratchet to serve conventual Mass.
10. Out of respect for the sacred vestments and for their preservation, the tables on which they are laid are lined with a tablecloth (under which a rug can be placed). The sacristine also lined the cupboards and boards of the sacristy with paper or canvas, so that what was placed there was not damaged.
SECOND PART
OF WORSHIP IN THE MONASTERY
CHAPTER XII
Of the decoration of the altars of the monastery and of the paintings.
1. An altar is placed in front of the arcade where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the oratory; at all times this altar is covered with two tablecloths, or one folded in two, and a white facing; when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, several candlesticks and a few vases of flowers are placed there, and at other times a crucifix and two candlesticks with their candles.
2. The altar of the choir is furnished with a tablecloth hanging down to the ground and with a covering of the color of the office of the day; a crucifix and two or four candlesticks are placed on the step.
3. On the altars of the chapter, of the novitiate and of the hermitages, a crucifix and two candlesticks are placed.
4. It is good to put at all the altars a tablecloth below to keep the one above.
5. No gold or silver should be placed on the facings of the altars of the monastery, except for that of the oratory of the Blessed Sacrament.
6. We have already said in the first book that the oratory can be furnished with pictures, and that a picture or a statue is placed against the wall above all the other altars; put one in the pre-choir, between the two doors of the choir, and also at the head of the refectory, above the paneling; one can still put others in the choir, the pre-choir, the hermitages and other public places. Each Sister can have in her cell a table of about 0m.30 to 0m.35 to revive his devotion by contemplating him.
CHAPTER XIII
Candles and other lights.
1. When the Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the oratory, at least six wax candles are lit there.
2. Four white wax candles are lighted on the altar of the choir during first and second Vespers, Matins and Lauds of first-class feasts, as well as at the taking of the habit and veil. At the Commemoration of the Dead and at the funerals of the Sisters, four yellow wax candles are lit.
3. At all processions, a candle is carried on each side of the cross; moreover, the Sisters carry candles at the Great Salvo on Saturdays, at the reading of the Martyrology on Christmas Eve at the Candlemas procession, at the taking of the habit, professions, taking of the veil, at the communion of the sick, at funerals of the Sisters and those of the seculars. Candles are still used when receiving, exhibiting or carrying relics in procession. It is also applied to representations of the Dead.
4. Only tallow candles [or other poor lighting] are used in choir to say the office. The candles are placed on portable candlesticks of plain wood with a tin plate at the top. These candlesticks have about lm.20 tall.
5. These candlesticks are placed on each side of the choir at Matins, so that there is one to light four nuns; this number can be reduced at the Morning Hours and at Compline; but there is always in the middle of the choir a candlestick with a candle larger than the others for the use of the semainiere, the readers and the other officers.
6. On the table of the officers of the choir, from week to week, or more rarely if the Prioress finds it better, a Sister is designated to take care of these luminaries. Before the evening prayer, she brings the candlesticks to a corner of the pre-choir; before the office she carries them to the choir, and after the office she brings them back to the place where she keeps them. She cleans them every day, as well as the plaque and the speckles.
7. This same Sister is also in charge of all the other luminaries that serve the Community; it places in the middle of the refectory, and along its length, two or three candlesticks similar to those of the choir; for recreation she never puts on more than three, which have about 0m.75 tall.
8. She takes care that the way is lighted when the Community goes in the evening from one exercise to another, such as prayer in the refectory, and recreation at Compline.
9. As soon as night begins, that is to say in winter at about half past four, she lights a lantern and places it on a candlestick in a corner of the choir; at the time of Compline she transports it to the pre-choir and returns it to the choir after Compline. When nine o'clock strikes, she brings it back to the pre-choir and puts it out. She still lights it in the morning during prayer.
10. A lantern is suspended in the middle of the dormitory, either by means of a pulley or otherwise, with a lamp large enough to burn thirteen or fourteen hours in succession without the need to refill it with oil. It is turned on at nightfall and only turned off during the day.
CHAPTER XIV
Giant clams.
1. Stoups are placed in all public places of the monastery, such as the pre-choir, the choir, the refectory, the chapter, the hermitages, the dormitory and others. We put it in the four corners
cloisters. We have a copper holy water font for the choir. We must also put a holy water font in each cell. The nuns must use holy water with respect and take care not to spill it on the ground. After taking it, they place it on their foreheads in the shape of a cross.
3. When they enter the ceremony in the refectory, the one who is on the side of the font takes holy water and gives it to her companion, and they mutually make a half bow.
4. We give from week to week the care of holy water fonts to a Sister named at the table of offices of the choir. This Sister removes the water from the giant clams at the end of the week and has it thrown into the pool.
CHAPTER XV
About the use of the choir screen.
1. There is only ever one key to the gate frame; this key is kept by the Prioress, who gives it to the Sub-Prioress or, in her absence, to the sacristan, when she cannot open the case herself.
2. The sash only opens for Mass, sermons, [greetings], when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, at elections, at the taking of the habit and veil, when a deceased Nun is exposed to the choir , and finally to funerals.
3. Only the lower shutters are opened for Mass and sermons.
4. These shutters are opened to the Low Masses from the beginning and to the sung Masses from the Offertory. The canvas curtain is left to hang between the frame and the bars; however, if the nuns cannot be seen by the seculars, it is raised before the consecration and not lowered until the Pater. The window shutters of the choir must be closed before opening the frame.
5. [The frame is opened for the greeting as for the Mass, but the curtain is never raised.]
6. The curtain is raised for sermons and when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed.
7. The wooden bars are only opened at elections, at the taking of the habit and veil, when a deceased is exposed to the choir, and at burials.
8. Novices never approach the gate closer than one meter when it is closed, and than four meters when it is open. The professed only come within a foot of it when it is closed, and three or four feet when it is open. When the curtain is open, the Sisters must be covered with their veils, except for the consecration of the Mass and when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, because then the windows of the choir are closed.
CHAPTER XVI
Of the use of bells.
1. Each monastery must have, as it has been said, two bells of unequal size: the larger one is used to ring in action and the smaller one to ring, if the opposite is not marked. [It is an ancient custom in the Order to ring the two bells in motion and both on great feasts and on some solemn occasions.]
2. So that there is uniformity between all the monasteries in the use of bells, the Sub-Prioress will take care that the following rules are observed exactly:
§ Ier. — MASSES, OFFICES, PROCESSIONS, SERMONS.
1. For the Conventual Mass, three strokes are rung the length of a Miserere, the first two ringing within half an hour of each other, the third ringing two Miserere after the second stroke.
2. One rings for the Mass for the infirm after the Hours during a Miserere, and for all other low Masses during a De profundis said calmly.
3. When a priest says his first Mass, even though it is without solemnity and it is not the conventual Mass, the bell is rung once.
4. Ringing, but with the big bell, at the time of the elevation of the conventual Mass and that of the infirm after the Hours.
5. On Maundy Thursday and the eve of Easter and Pentecost, the Gloria in excelsis is rung throughout, after the priest has intoned the first words.
6. On ordinary days, two strokes are rung for all the Hours of the office, the first in motion during a Miserere, the second sounded during a De profundis; one leaves two Miserere of interval between these two blows.
7. We must except from this rule Lauds, which are not rung, because they are said after Matins, and Compline, for which, whether they are sung or recited, they are only rings during a De profundis or counting thirty strokes, as will be indicated later.
8. The big bell is rung throughout the Te Deum.
9. The first stroke of the Mass serves for None on ferial days when the little office of the Blessed Virgin is recited; [but then one can advance this first blow so that there is between the two blows a sufficient interval to recite the office].
10. At first-class feasts and at those of second class which have an octave, three strokes are sounded for Matins and for Vespers, the first two in motion and the last tinkled. Each of these strokes is given the length of a Miserere and the same interval is left from one to the other. The custom of ordinary days is followed for the other Hours, except for None, which begins at the first stroke of Mass whenever this part of the Office is sung, except on Ascension Day. [We can then advance this first move, as was said above.]
11. Certain days of the year call for special rules.
12. At Vespers of the last days of Advent, the great bell is rung during the antiphons called 0 and the Magnificat; if one only remembers the feria, one rings only during the antiphon, the verse and the prayer.
13. On Christmas night, the three bells of Matins are sounded at equal distance, beginning at a quarter past nine and ending at half past nine. The blow of the Te Deum is used for the Mass, then the bell is rung so that the celebrant does not begin before midnight. On the morning of that same day, the ordinary stroke of the Angelus and the prayer serves for Prime, which is then said, and towards the end of Prime the bells ring for the Mass of the dawn, after which the bell rings for Tierce and Sext the accustomed blows.
14. In Lent, whatever Vespers are said at eleven o'clock, they are rung in the ordinary manner; but on ferial days when the Office of the Blessed Virgin is said, seven or eight strokes are rung a quarter of an hour before eleven o'clock to say Vespers, during which those of the day are rung, so that the two strokes are end when Great Vespers begin.
15. On Holy Wednesday, at a quarter to four, the space of a De profundis is rung for Compline, during which the three strokes accustomed to solemn Matins are sounded for Darkness. In the evening, at half-past eight, they ring for discipline.
16. On Maundy Thursday, Prime and High Mass are rung at the usual time and manner; at this Mass, the bells are rung during the Gloria in excelsis, as mentioned above, and then the bells are no longer used until the Gloria in excelsis on Holy Saturday, but the truncheon, which will be discussed later. After the procession of the Blessed Sacrament which follows the Mass, a blow is struck with the truncheon for Vespers; at two o'clock in the afternoon, a stroke for the washing of the feet; at four o'clock a knock for Compline, and at the end of Compline another knock for Darkness; in the evening at nine o'clock, a blow is struck for discipline.
17. On Good Friday there is a knock at five o'clock in the morning for Prime, [a second knock at the end of Prime for the chapter], and a third after the chapter for the other Hours. At ten o'clock, two knocks are struck with the usual intervals at Masses to announce the service, and after post-communion one knock for Vespers. They strike for Compline and Darkness at the same time and in the same way as Holy Thursday; in the evening they knock at half-past eight for discipline.
18. On Holy Saturday, the baton is struck at the ordinary hour for Prime, and at the end of the Hours two strokes are struck for the service, leaving between these two strokes an interval of half an hour. The bells are rung during the Gloria in excelsis like on Maundy Thursday, but they are not rung for Vespers. At four o'clock, we ring the space of a De profundis for Compline.
19. On Easter day, at three o'clock in the morning, Matins is rung in the manner accustomed to solemn days; the Te Deum, the Low Mass and the Angelus are rung as usual, but nothing special for Prime; the last stroke of the procession serves to announce the other Hours.
20. On Ascension Day, at one o'clock in the afternoon, the big bell rings for None for the space of a Miserere.
21. On the eve of Pentecost, the blows of the Mass serve for the prophecies. One rings during the Gloria in excelsis like Maundy Thursday.
22. At the solemn Offices of the Dead, the big bell is rung during Vespers, the psalms of the first Nocturne of the vigils, the great Libera and all Lauds. [It is customary to ring the bell in broken strokes, then in motion with the intervals indicated later for the death of a Sister.] At the double and semi-double vigils, the bell is rung during the Libéra which follows the last lesson and during the one that is sung after Mass.
23. At all processions of obligation, the sound of the space of a Miserere is rung, the first time at the beginning of the procession when the nuns come out of the choir, the second at the end when they return to it. We observe the same thing in the processions which come from outside in devotion to the churches of the monasteries, ringing once at their entrance and once at their exit.
24. For the procession which takes place at the end of the Mass for the Dead, on the day of their Commemoration, the big bell is rung without stopping for its entire duration; in the procession which takes place every week for the deceased, it is rung at each station during the responsories until the Pater and during the De profundis which is said at the end.
25. For sermons, we ring from the beginning of the hymn of Vespers (or at Easter from the end of the psalm In exitu Israel de Egypto)
until the end of the last oration of the office, and, after leaving a Miserere in between, the space of a De profundis is sounded a second time. [We can limit ourselves to ringing the space of a Miserere a little before the sermon, except on solemn days when it is announced by a volley.] In Lent, we ring the sermon in the same way a quarter of an hour before starting it; at the battles of coat and veil one does not ring it.
§ II – ANGELUS, PRAYER, RECREATION, ETC.
1. For the Angelus, the big bell is rung three times three times, leaving between these three times the space of an Ave Maria, then it is rung during a De profundis. The morning Angelus is rung before prayer, the second at noon and the third at the end of evening prayer.
2. For morning prayer, after ringing the Angelus, the big bell is rung for two Miserere; for the evening prayer, it is only rung during a Miserere.
3. For the end of the two recesses and of the hour of lesson at three o'clock, the beginning of silence after Compline, the evening examination and the retreat after Matins, the little bell is rung thirty times.
4. The knocks at the end of the evening recess also serve to announce Compline. When we sing Compline, we also announce them by thirty strokes.
5. [Twelve or fifteen rings are rung after Prime to indicate the end of the great silence.]
6. Twelve strokes of the little bell are rung twice, leaving space for an Ave Maria between the two times, when the Community is to be assembled for some exhortation in the parlor, for the blessing of a Bishop, for the announcement of the Visitation of the monastery and future elections as well as to draw votes, for the administration of Holy Viaticum or Extreme Unction, finally on other occasions when the Prioress deems it necessary.
§ III. — PROFESSIONS, BURIAL, ETC.
1. On the days of profession, the big bell is rung during the Te Deum, after the novice has pronounced her vows.
2. To call the Sisters to say the prayers of agony during the day, five or six rings are rung twice, leaving between the two times the space of an Ave Maria; during the night, the Sisters are warned by truncheons.
3. When a Nun has just expired, the big bell is rung three times, and after a moment's interruption, it is rung during a Miserere three different times, leaving between the three times the space of the same psalm.
4. When the deceased is carried from the infirmary to the choir and from the choir to the burial, the big bell is rung, which is still done throughout the whole ceremony which takes place around the burial.
5. If one is buried in the church of the monastery, one rings the big bell first at the entrance of the body to the church; then two more times during the burial service during a De profundis, leaving the space of the same psalm between the two times; finally while the body is placed in the burial until the burial is completed.
§ IV – OF THE STAMP AND OF THE BUN.
1. Besides the two bells of which we have just spoken, there must be another called gong, which is suspended in a somewhat eminent and convenient place from where it can be easily heard by the whole convent. This bell is used to ring the morning examination, the refectory, the chapter, some special assemblies of the vocals, and also to call the officers and other nuns of the monastery.
2. For the chapter, we sound three times three double bells, leaving between these three times the space of an Ave Maria; but if you only want to assemble the vocals, you only sound three double knocks twice.
3. For the examination before dinner, twelve double bells are rung which are also used for the refectory; the same is rung after the evening Angelus for supper or snacks.
4. A tablet containing the names of the Sisters and the number of strokes by which each of them must be called is placed near the gong.
5. To serve as a signal to the Sisters, the truncheon is still used; this is called a very thick board having on each side two loops of iron moving horizontally, and
at the top a handle by which it is shaken.
6. The truncheon is used to awaken the Sisters; it is played in the dormitory in the morning, a quarter of an hour before the Angelus, then at the end of the midday silence.
7. The truncheon is still used in the other circumstances mentioned in this chapter, that is to say, to replace the bells from the Gloria in excelsis of Holy Thursday to that of Holy Saturday, and to call the bells. Sisters when one must at night pray the prayers of agony or give Holy Viaticum and Extreme Unction.
THIRD BOOK : of the divine office
FIRST CHAPTER
From the hour of the divine office.
1. The Constitutions order Matins to be said after nine o'clock, and not before, nor so much after that one cannot leave the choir around eleven o'clock, a little more or less. This does not mean Christmas Eve when Matins begins at half past nine, reserving Lauds to be sung immediately after Midnight Mass. We also except from this rule the last three days of Holy Week when we sing Darkness at half past four or a little earlier, and finally on the Sunday of the Resurrection of Our Lord when we sing Matins and Lauds. at three o'clock in the morning.
2. Vespers are said at all times at the stroke of two o'clock, as the Constitutions ordain, with the exception only of Lent when they prescribe to be said in the morning before dinner, according to the order and custom of the Church. ; at this time they begin at eleven o'clock, and if Vespers of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin were to be said beforehand, they would begin a quarter of an hour earlier.
3. On the day of the Commemoration of the Dead, Vespers for the Dead are said after those of the day and Matins after those of the Great Office. On the other days when the Office of the Dead must be said, it is recited in its entirety after Vespers of the day during the year, and at two o'clock in Lent.
4. Prime is said immediately after the morning prayer, and if the Prioress sees fit, the other Hours will be said immediately; otherwise we will leave one or two to be said before Mass, so that before Mass they are all said. Such is the rule of the Constitutions; it nevertheless suffers from a few exceptions because of the singularity of certain days, such as Christmas, Good Friday, Easter and Ascension, as is prescribed for the ceremonies of these feasts. According to the freedom given by the Constitutions to postpone some of the Hours to say them immediately before Mass, None is reserved for this hour whenever it is to be sung, beginning this Hour of the office at the first stroke. of the Mass [which can then be rung a little earlier]. We say None at the same time on simple feasts and on holidays when we say the small office of the Blessed Virgin.
5. The Constitutions allow, on the one hand, recreation for an hour after the meal, and on the other hand, order that Compline be said at any time after supper or snack, in order to remain silent afterwards. This suggests that Compline should be said after recess and ended at half past seven or, when not fasting, a little later. [The most general practice is to ring the end of recess always at the same time, that is to say, so as to begin Compline at a quarter to eight.] However, when we have to say the Compline and Matins of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, the end of recreation is rung at seven o'clock [or seven-a-quarter], unless the Compline of the Great Office has been sung. When we have to sing them, we do it [before or] after the sermon, if there is one; otherwise at half past four.
CHAPTER II
Of the use of cloaks, large sails and books.
1. When the nuns have to wear the cloaks, they put them on before entering the pre-choir, and if one of them had forgotten to put them on, she would not enter the choir with the others. .
2. Nuns wear cloaks at all sung High Masses, except those for the deceased which are not solemn.
3. At Low Masses at which they communicate, they take their cloaks to the choir and put them on after the offertory.
4. At sung Masses where cloaks should not be worn and where the Community does not communicate, the nuns who have communicated would leave them to sing the post-communion and appear to conform to the rest of the choir.
5. They wear the coats at the Canonical Hours of the first class feasts, of those of
second class which have octave, of the feasts of the Holy Trinity, of the Circumcision of Our Lord, of the last three days of Holy Week, beginning with the Darkness of Wednesday; finally to all the Office of the Dead on the day of their great Commemoration. It should be noted that coats are worn on holidays and not on first-class Sundays. They are never worn at Compline.
6. The nuns still wear the cloaks at Prime on Christmas Eve, at the blessing of candles, ashes and palms, at the washing of feet on Maundy Thursday, at the office and at Mass on Good Friday, at prophecies and to the Mass on the eve of Easter and Pentecost, to the great Salve Regina on Saturdays, to the processions of obligation which are sung marked in the Manual, to the sermons, to the vestments, professions and impositions of the veil of the Religious, to the chapter , at the Visitation, at the elections, at the reception of a relic, of a Bishop, of a Prioress elected outside the house, at the solemn reception of the Visitor and the king or queen, at the Confirmation of a postulant or a novice.
7. They wear it when they assist at Communion for the Sick and at the administration of Extreme Unction, when a deceased person is brought to the choir and kept there, at the funerals of the Nuns and at all the Offices of the Dead when the body is present, the first which is said for the Superior and for the proper Prioress, finally that of the Visitors and of the proper founders or foundresses.
8. The nuns wear the large veil lowered, as a general rule, whenever they are exposed to the sight of seculars, such as when they hear the sermon, receive candles, ashes and palms, attend the taking of habit and veil, at the communion and at the administration of the sick Sisters, at the funerals of the Sisters, and on some other occasions which will be marked in their place.
9. For Communion, the small veil is simply lowered to near the mouth, so that the priest can easily give the Holy Host without touching it.
10. The books that the Sisters must bring to choir are the breviaries or the Proper for Matins, the missal for the sung Masses and the Manual for processions or other ceremonies. The diurnals usually remain in the choir.
CHAPTER III
From the assembly to the pre-choir.
1. Before entering the choir for Mass, for the Office and for the Grand Salve, the Sisters stop for some time in the pre-choir to meditate.
At the first stroke of the bell calling for these exercises, or at the second if three are to be rung, each one, leaving all work, goes to the pre-choir with gravity and modesty, dress and sleeves down, hands under the scapular, with the necessary books, and also the mantle if ordered.
3. Arrived at the pre-choir, she takes holy water and puts it on her forehead in the shape of a cross, then she makes a deep bow to the painting placed between the two doors of the choir, kneels in his rank and makes the ordinary sign of the cross.
4. The Sisters stand on their knees divided into two choirs, the younger ones closer to the painting; thus they wait for the last stroke of the bell.
5. We do not assemble in the pre-choir: 2° for Mass when the Community hears another than the conventual; 3° for the Mass and for the Office when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed; XNUMX° during the three days of Darkness, that is to say since Matins is said on Wednesday until Compline on Holy Saturday exclusively.
6. One enters directly into the choir for morning and evening mental prayer, and for the morning examination.
CHAPTER IV
From the entry and from the situations to the chorus.
1. When the last stroke of the bell begins to sound, the one presiding over the pre-choir gives the sign: all immediately kiss the earth; then, without any delay, the first cantor begins the entrance psalm; the Sisters, rising, follow him in two choirs, and, the novices going first, all go two by two, one on each side, to make a deep bow to the board; separating then, they take holy water, each enter by the door on its own side, come together, on the marks of the cantors, to genuflect to the Blessed Sacrament and go to their stalls, turning for this in the same way. way, [i.e. each towards the side of the stalls it is to occupy].
2. The youngest, however reserving the places of the officers, place themselves in the stalls closest to the gate and the older ones in the furthest away, except for Mass, as will be said in chapter xvii; all stand facing each other, divided into two choirs until the end of the psalm; then they kneel facing the Blessed Sacrament; at the sign given by her who presides, all make the sign of the cross with the thumb on the forehead, lips and breast, saying: Per signum crucis de inimicis nostris libera nos, Deus noster; then the ordinary sign of the cross, saying: In nomine Patris, etc.; after which they kiss the ground and rise to begin the office.
3. The Sub-Prioress can put in the middle of the rows, on each side of the choir, some Sisters with a louder voice to support the others, although these are not their places.
4. The Sisters of the white veil are not included in the order just indicated, because they must not perform any function in the choir, neither for the office nor for the ceremonies, except in processions. They can still be used when there are not enough nuns in the choir for the ceremonies of taking the habit and veil and at burials; but, apart from these occasions, they will never stop in the pre-choir when the Community is assembled there, nor will they go to the stalls of the choir. At the office, they will be kneeling near the gate, outside the stalls, and, in whatever place, their places will always be after the Sisters of the choir.
5. Going from the pre-choir to the choir, we usually say the psalm Laetatus sum, except for Compline where we say the psalm Deus misereatur nostri, the Matins of Easter where we sing the Regina coeli, and the grand Salve into which one enters in silence.
6. If a Sister comes late to the service, that is to say after the first psalm has begun, she kneels in the middle, near the altar of the choir, makes the signs of the cross and kisses Earth; at the sign of the one who presides, she gets up, greets the two sides of the choir and goes to her place, where she assumes the attitude of the other Sisters.
7. If she arrives while the choirs are deeply bowed or an officer alone says what is of her office, she stands by the door until these things are finished or, if she has already entered and left knees, she prostrates herself only when they are finished, because the one who presides can only then make a sign to her to get up.
8. If the one who comes late to the choir does not find there any Sister older than her, she does not prostrate herself in the middle of the choir, but only makes the genuflection and the ordinary bows, then goes to her place and kisses there. Earth.
9. If a Sister returns to the choir after having left it, she makes the usual genuflection and bows, then goes to her place and kisses the ground there without waiting for any sign from the Prioress.
10. Whenever a nun enters the choir outside the office for any purpose whatsoever, except for graces and the last station of the processions, she genuflects to the Blessed Sacrament and bows to her who presides, then she goes to her place, kneels and kisses the ground. [When entering for mental prayer and also for the morning examination, each one makes in particular the same signs of the cross as for the office, before kissing the earth.]
41. For mental prayer and the morning and evening examination, the nuns kneel along their stalls, the novices closer to the gate.
CHAPTER V
Rules of song and storytelling.
1. In our Holy Order there are two ways of saying the office: song and story.
2. The song consists of a relatively high tone, [but still low according to the recommendation of our Holy Mother Thérèse], a slow pronunciation, long pauses and a small inflection of
voice over the last syllables at the end of the verse. All other singing is prohibited in the choir.
3. The narrative consists of a lower tone, a more lively pronunciation, shorter pauses and an always uniform tone, without any inflection.
4. Between singing and reciting there is therefore this difference that in singing one holds the tone higher and that one ends with an inflection of voice, and that in reciting the tone is lower and that one sustains it to the end without inflection.
5. In singing, inflection is used as follows:
6. The semainer does it at the end of the verses Domine, labia mea aperies; Deus in adjutorium meum intende; Covered nos, Deus salutaris noster; Domine, exaudi orationem meam; Benedicamus Domino; at the end of absolutions, blessings and chapters; at the prayers, saying Oremus, then before the conclusion and at the end of this conclusion; to the intonation of the Te Deum, the final antiphons of the Blessed Virgin, and the Regina Coeli of the entry into the choir on Easter Sunday.
7. The cantors make the inflection at the end of the verses of the Invitatory and those of the psalm Venite exultemus; before all the revivals that the choir does of the Invitatoire; to the Benedicamus Domino; at the Requiescant in Pace of Vespers and Solemn Lauds.
8. The versiculars make it in all the verses, even those of the short responses, except for the second which is only half a verse.
9. The readers make the inflection at the end of the verse Jube, Domne, benedicere, at each period, at all the interrogative points and at the end of all the lessons, even of the Office of the Dead; in the verse Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis, and in the verse of the responses.
40. The reader of the martyrology observes the same inflections after having pronounced the Calends and after the day of the moon, at each point which ends the story of the saint or of the mystery announced, before the conclusion and alibi aliorum, and finally at the word Virginum . It also makes an inflection at the end of the brief lesson of Prime and Compline, and at the end of Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis.
11. All those who sing or repeat an antiphon alone, make an inflection at the place where they stop to let the choir continue.
12. The choir makes the inflection when it responds to the semainière, to the cantors, versiculars and readers, after they themselves have sung with inflection; he does it again at the end of the Gloria Patri, of the Sicut erat, of the Alleluia or Laus tibi Domine of the beginning of the Hours, at the end of each verse of the psalms and of the Te Deum, of each stanza of the hymns, of the responses and of their revival, of all the antiphons; finally at each point of the Salve Regina and of the other final antiphons of the Blessed Virgin.
13. We observe all the accents in the song and in the story, but in each verse we mark mainly four of them: the first of the verse, the last before the mediant, the first which follows it and the last before the end.
14. There must be a reasonable pause at all the mediants and another slightly longer pause at the end of the verses.
15. In hymns where the stanzas are four or six lines long, two lines are said without pause. When singing the hymn Iste Confessor and the hymns of St. John the Baptist, St. Elijah, St. Elisha, St. Albert and others in long measure, so little is posed at the end of each line; in the recital, as in the other hymns, two lines are said without a pause.
16. The office must be recited in a devout, simple and grave manner, in a full voice, without interruption or haste.
17. The tone of the song and the story should be easy and natural, so that all the voices can arrive there without effort, and that all agree without any dissonance.
18. There must also be the same movement, all having to begin and end together; to this end, there will be in each choir a few principal voices who will take care to begin, and the others will be careful to follow them.
19. Each verse of the psalms should be started without any haste; one choir must have finished perfectly when the other resumes.
20. Care should be taken to soften the voice a little before and after pauses; it is softened on the first syllable so that it is said more calmly and more distinctly. It is necessary to avoid making a jet of voice on the last syllable, but to say it with a force equal to the rest of the verse, then to let the voice die while finishing. However, it is necessary to maintain the tone, because each choir must give to the one who will take over a full and whole tone. It is necessary to support above all in tua, tuo, tuas, meis, etc., because these short words have a bad effect if they are not well supported.
21. Each will carefully avoid affectation, particularities and slowness, for these harm the song without adding to its gravity, and it is better to make longer pauses than to drag on the words. The pronunciation should be simple, clear and distinct; you must also avoid any movement of the face while singing, as well as anything that would harm the dignity of the office, and spare neither your voice nor your strength to perform it well.
22. All the Sisters must know the rules of singing and reciting well, but those who lead the choir must have an understanding of them even more; also the Sub-Prioress, who has the direction of the choir, will see to it with great care, correcting the faults and rectifying the defects which could be introduced.
CHAPTER VI
Of the Different Degrees of Solemnity in the Recitation of the Office.
1. On solemn feasts of the first and second class, the tone of the song and the story should be higher, the movement slower, the accents more sustained and the pauses longer in proportion to the dignity of the day. At the double and semi-double offices of non-working feasts, we recite more lightly and in a mediocre tone; at those of simple feasts, holidays and the ordinary Office of the Dead, we say a little more quickly and in a lower tone; at the small Office of the Blessed Virgin, they recite in an even lower voice.
2. Everything recited on the last three days of Holy Week is said lower and more calmly than usual.
3. Matins and Lauds are said in a lower tone than the rest of the office and calm enough to end them at the time indicated by the Constitutions. When the tone of the Office is too high, the Sub Prioress takes care to lower it at the beginning of the responsories which follow the lessons.
4. The Hours and Compline are said a little higher than Matins, and Vespers even higher and also more calmly. However, the tone should not be sour and too high, but all the Sisters should be able to easily reach it and support it.
5. Always keep pauses shorter or longer in proportion to the movement.
6. The Domine, labia mea, the Deus, in adjutorium, the Invitatory, the Venite exultemus, the Te Deum, the canticles Benedictus, Magnificat, Nunc dimittis, the hymns, the chapters and the orations are recited more calmly than the psalms .
7. The preces, the memoirs, the verses Dominus det nobis suam pacem, Fidelium animae and Divinum auxilum are said in a lower tone than the rest, and the devotional memoirs which follow the office are said even lower.
CHAPTER VII
Days when we have to sing.
1. The first and second Vespers of the first class feasts and of those of the second class which have an octave, of the feasts of the Holy Trinity and of the Circumcision, are sung. The Vespers of Saint Anne and those of the Transfiguration of Our Lord are also sung; but these feasts do not have, one of first Vespers and the other of seconds, because of the feasts which are in competition with them. Only the second Vespers of the feasts of command are sung.
2. Vespers are still sung on Sundays, during the entire octave of the feast of the Blessed Sacrament, and whenever the Blessed Sacrament is exposed.
3. The memoirs and the final antiphon of the Blessed Virgin are not included in the chanting of Vespers, they are ordinarily only recited; however, they are sung at Vespers on Easter Sunday, and at first and second Vespers of Christmas, of Pentecost, [of Our Lady of Mount Carmel,] of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, of the feasts of Saint Thérèse, of Saint Joseph, of the titular of the church, finally at the first Vespers of All Saints and at the second Vespers when it is necessary.
4. The Vespers of the Dead are sung at the solemn Commemoration of the dead and at the complete office which is said at the death of a nun in her own monastery.
5. Matins and Lauds are sung entirely at the feasts of Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of Holy Week; the lessons should be sung higher than the rest of the service.
6. On the other feasts of the first class, either of the Church or of the Order, only the beginning of Matins is sung up to and including the hymn, then the Te Deum. At Lauds, we sing from the chapter to the end.
7. At the feasts of the second class which have an octave, at the Holy Trinity and at the Circumcision, a part of Matins is sung as at the feasts of the first class; but at Lauds they only sing from the chapter if the Prioress is performing the service.
8. At other second-class feasts which do not have an octave, only the Te Deum is sung.
9. At the Commemoration of the dead and at the office which is said after the death of a nun in her own monastery, the Invitatory, the Venite and the Libera which follow the ninth lesson are sung. They still sing the Nocturne with three lessons which precedes the High Mass at the funeral.
10. Prime is sung, including the martyrology, on Christmas Eve and Day, Easter Day and Holy Trinity Day.
11. Tierce is sung on the day of Pentecost and the first two days of its octave.
12. None is sung at all first-class feasts, at those of second-class which have an octave, and at the Circumcision; only the last two feasts of Pentecost are excepted, because Tierce was sung.
13. Compline is sung, including the antiphon to the Blessed Virgin, on the eve and day of Christmas, Easter, Pentecost; at Corpus Christi and each of the days of its octave; at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin; at the feasts of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, of All Saints, of Saint Joseph, of Saint Thérèse and of the patron or holder of the monastery church.
14. On the other first-class feasts and on those of the second class which have an octave, the antiphon of the Blessed Virgin is sung only the day before and on the day.
15. This same antiphon is sung throughout the octave of the feasts of Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, [of Our Lady of Mount Carmel,] of the Assumption, of Saint Thérèse, of All Saints' Day and of the patron or holder.
16. The verses Dominus det nobis snam pacem, Fidelium animae and Divinum auxilium are never sung, as are the devotional memoirs which are said after the office.
17. What is ordained to be sung on feasts of the first and second class, does not mean the Sundays of the said classes.
18. The Prioress cannot diminish anything of the song, except for once and in some circumstance which has no consequence.
CHAPTER VIII
From the sign of the cross.
1. The nuns make the sign of the cross from forehead to chest saying: In nomine Patris, etc., after having knelt in the pre-choir before the divine office.
2. They make the sign of the cross with the thumb on the forehead, the lips and the heart, saying: Per signum Crucis, etc., then from the forehead to the chest, saying: In nomine Patris, etc., after being entrances to the choir, before kissing the ground to begin the service.
3. During the office, they do it with the thumb: 1° on the lips, when the semainer says: Domine, labia mea aperies, at the beginning of Matins; 2° on the scapular at the place of the heart to these words: Converte nos, Deus, salutaris noster, at the beginning of Compline.
4. They make the sign of the cross from the forehead to the chest: 1° by saying Deus, in adjutorium, at the beginning of the Hours; 2° to Adjutorium nostrum; 3° in Indulgentiam after confession; 4° in the verses Dominus nos benedicat and Benedicat et custodiat nos, at the end of Prime and Compline; 5° at the beginning of the hymns Magnificat, Benedictus, Nunc dimittis; 6° to these words: Per signum Crucis of the commemoration of the Cross at the ferial office.
CHAPTER IX
When it is necessary to be turned towards the Blessed Sacrament or in choir.
1. Religious are turned towards the Blessed Sacrament at all Hours from the Deus, in adjutorium to the Gloria Patri. They are moreover:
2. At Matins, during Domine, labia mea aperies.
3. At Lauds, during the chapter; if there are memoirs, from the beginning of these memoirs to the Pater; finally during the antiphon to the Blessed Virgin.
4. At Prime, from the chapter to the first prayer and from Pretiosa to the end, except from the first Gloria Patri until after the Pater and during the second Gloria Patri.
5. At Tierce, Sext and None, from the chapter to the prayer, and during the antiphon of the Blessed Virgin which is said at that of the Hours with which we end.
6. At Vespers, as at Lauds.
7. At Compline, from the beginning to the Pater, from Couverte nos to the Gloria Patri, during the chapter and the brief response, finally during the antiphon to the Blessed Virgin when she is said standing.
8. When we say the preces at any Hour whatsoever, we are turned towards the Blessed Sacrament for their entire duration if we say them on our knees, [apart from the Confiteor during which we put ourselves half in choir;] we are the same towards the Blessed Sacrament when we say them upright, except during the Confiteor and all that we say deeply bowed.
9. The nuns are still turned towards the Blessed Sacrament in the first stanzas of the hymns Veni Creator and Ave Maris Stella, during the verse Christus factus est, the Miserere and the oration Respice of the three days of Darkness. They are also so during the singing for the blessing of Candles, Ashes and Palms, and at the morning service on Good Friday, the eves of Easter and Pentecost, except during prophecies and when one is deeply bowed.
10. In prayers where one is bowed, one turns towards the Blessed Sacrament as soon as one is straightened up, except that the choirs should have been turned towards each other to what is said immediately after the prayer.
11. All the officers who say something in the office, either in the middle of the choir or in their stalls, say it facing the gate, and as long as they are in the middle of the choir, they remain in this attitude.
12. The choirs are turned towards each other at all the rest of the office and, in general, at all that is said to be deeply inclined.
13. Although the choirs are most often turned towards the Blessed Sacrament when they are on their knees, they are nevertheless turned towards each other at these words of the Venite at Matins: Venite, adoremus et procidamus ante Deum, et in the verse of the Te Deum: Te ergo quoesumus; to the stanzas O Crux ave and Tantum ergo; finally during the Antiphon of the Blessed Virgin at Compline, except when she says she is standing, as noted above.
CHAPTER X
When you have to be standing, kneeling or sitting.
1. Nuns are standing throughout the divine office with the following exceptions:
2. One is on one's knees at these words of the Venite at Matins: Venite, adoremus et procidamus ante Deum, and at the verse of the Te Deum: Te ergo quaesumus; to the antiphon of the Blessed Virgin which concludes the Hours, except during the Easter season and, the rest of the year, from Vespers on Saturday until after Compline on Sunday; during the Pater, the Ave and the Creed of Compline when the antiphon to the Blessed Virgin was said on your knees; during the first stanza of the hymns Veni Creator and Ave maris stella, the stanzas O Crux ave and Tantum ergo; during the preces where the rubric prescribes it, only getting up at Prime for the martyrology (after which one does not get back on one's knees), and at the other Hours only after the prayer and the memoirs; during the preces of the Office of the Dead, even at Easter time - at all the offices of the three days of Darkness, from the verse Christus factus est until the end of the prayer; to all the devotional memories that are said after the service.
3. One is seated: 1° during the lessons of the breviary, except for the text of the Gospel which precedes the homily and a lesson read by the Prioress; we sit down after having answered Amen to the benediction of the semainière and we get up when the reader says: Tu autern; 2° during the martyrology; we sit down from the beginning of the reading except during the announcements of the feasts of Christmas, Easter, [of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and of Saint Thérèse]. We get up at the end to answer Deo gratias,
4. The choirs stand or sit alternately psalm after psalm, during the psalms of the canonical office and of the Office of the Dead; yet this change is only made at Matins of ferias from two to two psalms, and at the first nocturne of the Sunday office, from four to four psalms.
5. However, the psalms Laudate Dominum omnes gentes and Laudate Dominum de coelis are always said standing with the two following ones, as well as the beginning of Psalm 112, Laudate pueri Dominum, until after these words: Sit nomen Domini benedictum; the verse Gloria Patri at the end of the psalms and the verse Benedicamus Patrem et Filium cum Sancto Spiritu at the end of the canticle Benedicite omnia opera Domini Domino.
6. When we sit down for the psalms, we do so at the median of the first verse and we rise at the median of the last verse before Gloria Patri or Benedicamus Patrem, etc.
7. One stands: 1° during all the little office of the Blessed Virgin and all that is sung at the desks at the blessing of candles and ashes; 2nd, at the blessing of Palm Sunday, except during the epistle; 3° at the morning office on Good Friday, Holy Saturday and the eve of Pentecost, except during the prophecies when one sits down.
8. The officers say standing all that is of their office, except at the preces of the ferias and the Dead and at the memoirs of devotion where they stand on their knees. However, the semainière gets up at the end of the preces to say all the prayers standing, without kneeling again for any antiphon or memorial that would follow them.
9. When the Prioress or, in her absence, the Sub-Prioress enters or leaves the choir, the Sisters rise if they are seated; but when they are on their knees in the pre-choir, they rise only for the Prioress.
10. The Nuns, according to the custom kept from time immemorial, speak only on their knees to the Prioress; they speak in the same way to the Sub-Prioress in the places where the Community is gathered if the Prioress is absent.
CHAPTER XI
Prostrations.
1. Nuns have in use three kinds of prostration: half-prostration, which is done by bowing while kneeling, so that the head is about a foot from the ground; the whole prostration, which consists of kissing the ground, and the great prostration, which is done by lying entirely against the ground, arms open in the shape of a cross.
2. The semi-prostration is done in the office at Prime when the preces are said on the knees, first by the semainière alone while she says the Confiteor and the choir resumes Misereatur, then by all the Sisters when they repeat the Confiteor and the semainière says: Misereatur.
3. Whole prostration or kissing of the ground is done every time one enters the choir or leaves it, except when the Community enters there for graces after the meal and for the last station of the processions, or when she comes out after prayers said standing up; each Sister still does it when she comes late to the office or when she makes some mistake there.
4. We make the great prostration at the renewal of vows on the day of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, and when we have committed a fault in the choir so notable that it could have been heard from outside. The novices also do this when they receive the habit and the veil and when they make their profession.
5. Apart from the taking of the habit and the veil, no one makes any prostration when the gate is open and one could be seen by the seculars. We do not include under this rule the half-prostration which is done at Low Mass, because the windows of the choir are closed.
CHAPTER XII
Genuflections.
1. There are two kinds of bows: the genuflexion and the bow.
2. Genuflexion itself is of two kinds: two-knee genuflexion and single-knee genuflexion or simply genuflexion.
3. The double-kneed genuflection is done by putting both knees on the ground; being on your knees, you make a bow.
4. Genuflexion on both knees is done before the exposed Blessed Sacrament, even when it is veiled, before the open tabernacle, or during Mass if the Blessed Sacrament is on the altar (that is, from consecration to communion). One still genuflects on both knees in front of the tabernacle which contains the Holy Host reserved for the Mass of the Presanctified on Holy Thursday and Good Friday.
5. The genuflection on both knees is done only when arriving at the chancel and when leaving it. If it is necessary to come and go to perform a ceremony, or for another reason in front of the Blessed Sacrament exposed, uncovered or enclosed in the chapel of the altar, one then genuflects with one knee.
6. If we are in the case of kneeling at the very place where we must genuflect on both knees, or if we are currently kneeling at the same place, we only make the inclination which completes this genuflection when one has knelt down and before getting up again.
7. Ordinary genuflexion or single-knee genuflexion is done by bending the right knee only; it should touch the ground near the left heel. This genuflexion must not be accompanied by a bow of the head.
8. Genuflexion with one knee is done to salute the Most Blessed Sacrament enclosed in the tabernacle. We except the Holy Host reserved for the Mass of the Presanctified, on Good Thursday and Good Friday, which is greeted by a genuflexion on both knees, as it is said previously in n° 4. Sacrament exposed or uncovered, whenever there is no need to genuflect on both knees, according to what is said in n° 5.
9. We must salute the Blessed Sacrament by genuflecting: 11° when entering the choir, crossing it or leaving it; 1° when one arrives in the middle of the choir to fulfill an office there or when one leaves it after having fulfilled it; 2° at the end of the lessons by saying: Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis.
10. A relic of the True Cross exposed to veneration is saluted by a genuflexion of one knee.
11. We genuflect to salute the cross of the high altar throughout the day of Good Friday, from the moment it is uncovered.
12 If one is in the case of kneeling at the very place where one should genuflect, or if one is actually kneeling at the same place, there is, as a rule, no to genuflect, either before kneeling or before getting up.
CHAPTER XIII
Inclinations.
1. There are three kinds of bows: the deep bow which is done by bending the shoulders enough so that the hands can be placed in a cross on the knees, under the scapular; the mediocre bow which is done by bending the shoulders in a rather notable way, having also the hands under the scapular; and the slight inclination which is made of the head only with some movement of the shoulders.
2. The Sisters make the deep bow during the Pater, Ave, Credo, when they are said standing; to these words: Benedicamus Patrem et Filium cum Sancto Spiritu from the canticle Benedicile omnia opera Domini Domino; to Gloria Patri verse until Sicut erat; to the doxologies in which the three persons of the Holy Trinity are named by their proper names and in the order of the divine processions; at the first prayer of the canonical office and that of the Blessed Virgin, from the word Oremus to Per omnia saecula saeculorum, and at all the prayers of the procession of the Dead, except the last.
3. The semainière makes the deep bow to Prime and Compline while she recites the Confiteor and the choir resumes Misereatur; the choir does it in turn while it repeats the Confiteor and the semainière says Misereatur.
4. The mediocre bow or half-bow is made to salute the Blessed Sacrament when, being turned towards the gate, the nuns turn around in chorus, either all together or individually, except when they turn to bow. deeply.
5. The half-bow is still made in a more or less pronounced way, to someone of a superior, equal or almost equal rank. We did it :
6. To greet the Prioress or, in her absence, the Sub-Prioress: 1° by passing close to her when entering or leaving the choir; 2° every time one leaves one's place to go and fulfill a function in the middle of the choir or returns to one's place after having fulfilled it.
7. To greet both sides of the choir: 1° every time one enters the choir, crosses it or leaves it during the office; 2° when one arrives in the middle of the choir to fulfill an office there alone or when one leaves it after having fulfilled it.
8. To greet each other mutually: 1° when we go together in the middle of the choir to fulfill the same office there, before genuflexion when we arrive, after genuflexion when we leave; before and after the announcement of an antiphon or simply before, if the service is semi-double; before the announcement and after the intonation if it is double; 3e when we meet in the house [or sit next to each other, either in choir or in some other Community exercise].
9. Officers make a mediocre bow when saying the Gloria Patri alone.
10. When a Sister enters the choir outside the office, she only makes a half bow to the one who presides, after having made the genuflexion.
11. We make the slight bow to the name of the Holy Trinity, to the verse Benedicamus Patrem every time it comes back in the office (except in the canticle Benedicite where we make the deep bow, as it comes from 'to be said), and all the times the three lovely people are referred to by their proper names; to the word Oremus; in the names of Jesus, of Mary, of Saint Joseph, of Saint Elijah, of Saint Thérèse, of the saint whose office or memory is made, of the Holy Father the living Pope and of the diocesan Bishop if one says aloud the prayer for him. By memory is meant here a commemoration proper and not the votes of the patron, of the holder, etc., which are made at the offices of the semi-double rite and below.
12. We again make the little bow to these words of Psalm 110: Sanctum et terribile nomen ejus, and to those of Psalm 112: Sit nomen Domini benedictum; to these words of the Christmas hymn: Et nos beata quos sacri Rigavit unda sanguinis, and to those of the hymn of the Blessed Virgin: Maria, Mater gratiae, Mater misericordioe; when we begin one of the four antiphons of the Blessed Virgin at the end of the Hours, if we say it standing. Each Sister does it again by receiving holy water from the hand of the semainiere.
13. One graduates the inclination according to the circumstances; but all things being equal, it should be deeper when done while seated.
CHAPTER XIV
Dress, rules and silence to be kept in the choir.
1. The nuns, before entering the choir or the fore-choir, must put their clothes in order, lower their robes and sleeves, and only appear in the holy place with great modesty, eyes lowered. , hands under the scapular, avoiding however that this perfect exterior composition ever feels affectation.
2. When they kiss the earth, either in the middle of the choir, or in their place, they will always turn towards the Blessed Sacrament, but will then resume the attitude of the others.
3. They will take care when greeting the one who presides not to turn their backs on the Blessed Sacrament.
4. They will walk in the choir only by great necessity, and never during the reading of the Gospel, of the martyrology, nor when one is deeply inclined. If they are on the way when you say the Gloria Patri or any other word that requires deep inclination, they will stop until you get up. They will also avoid passing in front of the officers when they are in the middle of the choir.
5. If they carry any book, it will be under the scapular.
6. Their attitude must always be marked by gravity and mortification; standing, they will be straight and firm; seated, they will stand in the middle of their stalls without leaning on them; at all times, they will have their hands under the scapular, except when they have to join them or hold their book, and then they will always cover them with their sleeves; their feet will also be completely covered with their robe.
7. They will join their hands on the scapular during the closing antiphons of the Blessed Virgin, whether they are said standing or kneeling.
8. They will perform the ceremonies of the choir with uniformity, taking care not to precede each other in genuflections, bows and changes of attitude.
9. If a Sister cannot prostrate, bow or stand, she will kiss her scapular while turning to the presiding one to ask her permission; during the prostrations or inclinations of the choir, she will put her hands under her scapular and make at least the half-bow to the Gloria Patri.
10. Silence should be kept in choir with great respect. Only the Prioress can speak to the Sisters there for necessary matters, and the Sub-Prioress for the needs of her office. The Sisters can speak in this place only to the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress and must do so only by great necessity; both will speak very low and in few words, even expressing themselves, if possible, by signs, as would be kissing one's scapular before the Prioress to ask permission to pass from one choir to another. other, etc
11. When a nun needs to speak to another during the service, she must bring her out of the choir. This silence in the choir must not only be observed when the Community is assembled there, but also at all times.
12. We must also avoid any action that could disturb the silence of the choir, such as coughing too loudly, etc. When one or two officers alone say something, one must abstain from making the slightest noise, even if only from turning the pages of one's book.
13. Neither the Prioress nor any of the Sisters can speak at the choir bars.
CHAPTER XV
Precautions against faults in the office and penances.
1. To avoid mistakes during the office, the nuns should have correct and well accented breviaries, study their rubrics carefully and consult the brief every day and the remarks that the sub-prioress could add to it; finally, foresee everything they must say and observe in choir, especially those who have offices to perform.
2. If, despite these precautions, a nun makes a mistake, she will kiss the earth in the place where she committed it, but she will wait for the other side of the choir to sing or recite so as not to weaken the voices on her side. ; if it is an officer, she will kiss the ground only after having completed what is her duty; finally, if two officers are together in the middle of the choir and only one makes a mistake, his companion will wait until she has kissed the ground to genuflect and leave the mark at the same time as her.
3. If the whole choir, or at least a large part of it, makes a mistake, all those who participated in it will kiss the ground immediately afterwards, but one after the other starting with the oldest, so that there is always voices to support the song.
4. If the fault committed by one or more Sisters is so notable that it could have been seen from the outside, those who committed it will come after the office, before the exit psalm, to make the great prostration in the middle of the choir. and will only rise at the sign of her who presides.
CHAPTER XVI
From the exit of the choir.
1. When one must leave the choir, the one who presides gives the sign; then all kiss the earth if they are on their knees, the first cantor begins the exit psalm and the Sisters come on each side of the choir, by rank of religion, the youngest first, to genuflect two by two on the marks of the singers; they separate to go out each by the door on their side, make a half bow together as they pass near the Prioress, do not take holy water and place themselves in the fore-choir, the youngest near the door entrance and the old ones near the doors of the choir. They remain thus in chorus until the end of the psalm, and turn towards the image which is between the two doors for the verses and the prayers.
2. On leaving Matins and the Little Hours, the psalm Deus misereatur nostri is said with the verses Salvos fac, etc., and the prayer indicated in Book VI, Chapter XIII. After Compline, the psalm De profundis is said with the verses A porta inferi, etc., and the prayer indicated in the same chapter.
3. Leaving Vespers, cross the pre-choir without stopping there to go, while saying the litany of the Blessed Virgin, to the hermitage designated by the Prioress or by the one who presides; but if there is no procession, the litanies are said in choir, then they go out in the same order and saying the same prayers as after Matins and the Little Hours.
4. When leaving the morning examination and the evening prayer, go in procession to the refectory, saying the psalm De profundis one or more times, depending on the distance. Arrived at the refectory, all stand upright, facing the painting, and the semainière says: A porta inferi, etc., as at the end of Compline.
5. The coming out of the three days of Darkness is indicated in book VII, chapter v.
6. When the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, each withdraws privately without saying a psalm; people only go out in procession to go to the refectory.
7. No nun can leave the choir without the permission of the one who presides; if she is obliged to leave, she kisses her scapular in front of her to ask her permission, tells her the reason for her going out and makes a half-bow as she passes near her. If a Sister needs to bring another out, she first asks permission, makes a half bow to the Sister she wants to call, then both kiss their scapulars and make a half bow as they pass. before the first of the choir. The portress, coming to call a Sister, observes the same rules as the other Nuns if the Prioress is present, but in her absence she only kisses her scapular in front of the one who presides.
8. When a Sister has permission to go out, she kisses the ground where she is before leaving the choir.
CHAPTER XVII
From the Mass.
§ Ier. — OF THE HOUR OF MASS AND OF THE ENTRANCE TO THE CHORUS.
1. According to the Constitutions, Mass is said at eight o'clock in summer and at nine o'clock in winter, which must be understood as sung Masses as well as Low Masses.
2. Nuns stop in the pre-choir before entering the choir for Mass, except when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the church or the Mass attended by the Community is other than the conventual Mass. .
3. They enter the choir according to the order prescribed for the office; but the way in which they arrange themselves in the stalls on entering for Low Mass is different, that is to say that the youngest are placed in the stalls furthest from the gate and the older ones in the nearest, according to the order they will occupy in front of the gate.
4. One should not enter the choir during the epistle and the gospel; it is also appropriate not to enter or walk in the choir during the prayers, or from the consecration until the communion, unless it is for the service of the choir.
5. If one arrives after the introit of the sung Mass, one does the same penance as for entering the office late. We don't do this penance at Low Mass, because the gate is open.
§II. — OF THE LOW MASS.
1. To hear Low Mass, the nuns kneel in front of the grille, or on the side where they can best see the elevation of the Host and the chalice. They form two rows separated from each other by two or three feet. The Prioress and the Sub-Prioress place themselves four feet from the gate, the Sisters place themselves behind them by rank of religion, starting with the elders. Leave about a half-foot interval between each Sister of the same rank.
2. As soon as Mass begins, the windows being closed, the frame of the grille is opened, letting the black canvas curtain hang over the wooden bars.
3. The Sisters make the sign of the cross when the priest says: In nomine Patris.
4. They make the semi-prostration from the Confiteor of the cleric until the priest goes up to the altar.
5. They rise at the Gospel and make the sign of the cross with the thumb on the forehead, lips and chest when the priest says: Initium or Sequentia sancti Evangelii.
6. They get back on their knees for the Credo and kiss the earth at these words: Et homo factus est.
7. If they receive communion, they put on their cloaks at the offertory.
8. The big bell is rung at the time of the consecration.
9. The curtain covering the wooden bars is raised at the time of the consecration up to the Pater, if there are no seculars close enough to the gate to be seen.
10. The Sisters make the semi-prostration after the elevation of the chalice up to Nobis quoque peccatoribus.
11. They still do it when they take Communion, from the Confiteor until after the Domine non sum dignus.
12. They bow and make the sign of the cross while receiving the priest's blessing.
13. They rise and make the signs of the cross at the last Gospel as at the first; they kneel and kiss the earth at these words: Et Verbum caro factum est. [The gate is closed as soon as Mass is over.]
14. The earth is kissed on Christmas Day at the first Gospel of the third Mass with these words: Et Verbum caro factum est. We kneel on the day of Epiphany to these words of the Gospel: Et procidentes adoraverunt eum, and on Wednesday of the fourth week of Lent to these words: Et procidens adoravit eum.
§III. — HIGH MASS.
1. When the Mass is to be sung, two desks with their missals are placed in advance three or four feet from the great railing of the choir and at a similar distance from each other.
2. After the entrance psalm, the cantors kneel in front of the desks and the Sisters at the stalls by rank of religion, the youngest closer to the gate; however, the stalls closest to the gate, opposite the desks, must be reserved for the cantors; it is also possible, while the gate is closed, to put in the stalls which are closer to it some of the Sisters who have better voices.
3. The Sisters face the Blessed Sacrament throughout Mass, except when seated or deeply reclining. The inclinations generally indicated for the Office are observed during Mass.
4. At the ringing of the bell at the beginning of the Mass, all rise, make the sign of the cross, and at the same time the cantors warned, if necessary, by the Sub-Prioress and in her absence by the sacristan. , the introit begins in front of the desks, which the Sisters continue to the stalls with their missals.
5. At the Gloria in excelsis, the nuns, in addition to the ordinary bows, make the slight bow to the words: Deo, Adoramus te, Gratias agimus tibi, Suscipe deprecationem nostram.
6. They bow deeply during the first prayer, rise at the Per omnia and, if there are other prayers, turn immediately towards the Blessed Sacrament.
7. The Sisters sit during the Epistle; the versiculars alone stand upright in front of the desks; towards the end, they turn to the singers and make them a half-bow to invite them to return.
8. All rise after the epistle.
9. When the priest sings before the Gospel: lnitium or Sequentia sancti Evangelii, the Sisters make the sign of the cross with the thumb on the forehead, lips and chest.
10. At the Creed, they make a slight bow at the words Deum and Simul adoratur, kneel at Et incarnatus est and kiss the ground at these words: Et homo factus est; the singers alone say them and only kiss the earth after having finished them.
11. After the offertory, the frame is opened, the windows of the choir having been closed beforehand, and one places oneself on their knees in front of the grating as at Low Masses, [with this difference that the cantors place themselves immediately after the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress].
12. We rise to the Per omnia of the preface; we bow to the word Deo of the verse Gratias agamus.
13. At the time of the consecration, the curtain is raised and lowered as at Low Masses and the large bell is rung.
14. After the elevation of the chalice, one rises to sing the Benedictus and remains so until after the Agnus Dei.
15. At the Confiteor which precedes the communion of the Sisters, one makes the semi-prostration until the Domine non sum dignus.
16. Communion follows the order indicated in Book VI, Chapter II.
17. The communion antiphon is sung standing in the stalls, [the gate being again closed and the shutters open. The cantors are at the desks].
18. We bow deeply at the first prayer following Communion, then we turn back to the Blessed Sacrament.
19. One kneels for the blessing of the celebrant; we bow and make the sign of the cross when we receive it.
20. We rise for the last gospel; the same signs of the cross are made there as at the first, and the earth is kissed at these words: Et Verbum caro factum est.
21. One kneels in some particular cases: 1° in the verse Veni, Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium of the Masses of the Holy Spirit, even at Easter time; 2° to these words: In nomine Jesu omne genu flectatur, when they are sung in the epistle; 3° in the verse of the line Adjuva nos, Deus, in Lent; 4° when one says: Flectamus genua, up to Levate.
22. We still follow at High Masses the particular rules indicated at Low Masses.
IF V. — SINGING FOR MASS.
1. The Mass is sung solemnly, if possible, that is to say with deacon and sub-deacon, two acolytes and a thurifer, at all first class feasts and at those of second class having octave .
2. The same solemnity is used for the blessing of Candles at Candlemas, for that of Ashes and Palms as well as for the Mass which follows them; for the office and Mass on Holy Thursday and Saturday and for the morning office on Good Friday; for the office and Mass on the eve of Pentecost.
3. The Mass for the Dead is solemnly sung: 1° on the day of their Commemoration; 2° at the burial of a nun or a novice; 3° the first of the two Masses which must be said for the Superior and the Prioress; 4° the Mass for the Visitors and the proper founder or foundress.
4. At all these Masses, four cantors are employed, except at second-class feasts at which the Prioress does not perform the office.
5. Mass is sung without solemnity, that is to say without deacon or sub-deacon, on second class feasts and every Sunday of the year; on these occasions only two cantors are employed. Mass would be sung in the same way on days when it would be a general custom or a vow to sing it in the town where the monastery is located. It is up to the Prioresses to have Mass sung on the octave of Corpus Christi and on the day of the Transfiguration.
6. The second Mass is also sung in the same way after the death of the Superior or the Prioress and, if it is easily possible, that which is said on the death of a nun from another monastery.
7. Whenever the Mass is sung for some extraordinary circumstance, four cantors are employed when it is solemn and two when it is not.
8. One can, in places where it is easy to have a deacon and sub-deacon, employ them at all sung Masses; but we should only put four cantors to those which have been indicated above.
9. At the High Masses, the choir sings the introit, the Kyrie, the Gloria in excelsis, the gradual with its verses and the Alleluia, the traits, the prose, the Credo, the offertory, the Sanctus, the Agnus Dei, communion and all that he responds to the celebrant. These various parts of the Mass are sung as follows:
10. The cantors intone gravely and in an easy tone the introit which the choir pursues until the verse of the psalm; they sing half of this verse which the choir is finishing; they say Gloria Patri, the choir pursues Sicut erat; they repeat more lightly the first words of the introit, the chorus continues it in the same way.
11. The cantors begin Kyrie, the first chorus continues Eleison; the second choir sings Kyrie eleison; the first takes up Kyrie eleison, and so each sings alternately until the last Kyrie, which the two choirs sing together and more seriously.
12. The priest having intoned Gloria in excelsis Deo, the cantors continue et in terra pax and the first choir continues; the second choir sings the second verse, and so alternately until the last, which the two choirs sing together and more calmly.
13. The singers intone the gradual, the choir pursues it; they begin the first verse and the chorus finishes it; they say the first Alleluia and the choir the second; they sing the entire last verse and the choir then says Alleluia.
14. On Easter Day and during its octave, the singers begin the first two verses of the gradual, the choir continues them; they say the first Alleluia, the chorus the second; they begin the third verse which the choir ends.
15. In Easter time, the gradual is sung in this way: the cantors say the first Alleluia and the choir the second; they begin the first verse, the choir continues it and also says Alleluia; they say the entire second verse and the choir responds Alleluia.
16. The cantors begin the line and the choirs continue the verses alternately. The same is done with the lines that follow the prophecies of Holy Week and the eve of Pentecost.
17. The cantors begin the proses, of which each choir sings a stanza alternately, joining together to sing Amen and also Alleluia when it is to be said.
18. The same order is followed in the Credo as in the Gloria, but these words: Et homo factus est, are sung more slowly and only by the cantors.
19. The cantors begin the offertory, which is continued by the two choirs.
20. The cantors say the first Sanctus and the two choirs continue until Benedictus comes. After the elevation of the chalice, they begin Benediclus qui venit, who is pursued by the two choirs.
21. Each of the three Agnus Dei is intoned by the cantors and continued by the two choirs.
22. Communion is sung like the offertory.
23. The cantors, whether two or four, say together all that is of their office; then, when the choirs sing alternately, they each join their choir. The first is considered to be the one to which the semainière belongs, although the latter has no function to fulfill during Mass.
24. The whole choir responds to the celebrant.
25. The cantors make an inflection at the end of all intonations, but not through the verses they begin; the choir does it at the end of what it is pursuing or of the verse it sings. Thus in the introit, the singers make the inflection at the beginning and the chorus at the end; the singers do not do it through the mediation of the verse, but the choir does it by finishing it; the cantors do it at the end of the Gloria Patri, and the choir at the word Amen. At Kyrie, we take a short break between Kyrie and eleison, and the singers do the inflection with the choir on eleison.
26. We still make an inflection at all the Hallelujahs, or only at the last one when there are two in a row.
27. We do the same at the end of everything we answer to the celebrant.
§ V. — MASS FOR THE DEAD AND THE “LIBERA”.
1. At Masses for the Dead, the rules of ordinary sung Masses are followed with these differences: 1° Religious are on their knees during prayers; 2° at the offertory, the cantors say together: Hostias et preces, and the choirs also repeat together: Quam olim Abrahoe, etc.; 3° at communion, the singers alone say the verse Requiem aeternam and the choir resumes: Cum sanctis tuis, etc.
2. The Libéra is sung after all the High Masses for the Dead and after the Low Masses for the Religious.
3. The singers, being in the middle of the choir, begin the Libera, say the next three verses, the first Kyrie eleison and the Requiescant in pace, after which only they leave the middle of the choir.
4. They kneel, along with the whole choir, from the first Kyrie eleison to the end.
5. The priest ordinarily stands before the high altar to say the Pater, the verses and the prayer; but if the tomb was in the church, he would go there to say the prayers marked in the missal.
§ VI. — PENANCES AT MASS AND EXIT FROM THE CHOIR.
4. When a Sister makes a mistake at Mass, she kisses the ground as at the Office.
2. The Religious leave Mass in the same order and saying the same prayers as after Matins and the Little Hours, except: 1° when the greater part of the Community has taken Communion; 2° when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed; 3° when, in a particular case, the Mass that the Community has heard is other than the conventual Mass.
BOOK FOUR : CHORUS OFFICERS
FIRST CHAPTER
From the choir officers' table.
1. There must be in each monastery a table of the officers of the choir; on one side are inscribed the names of the offices, on the other those of the Sisters destined to fulfill them. The names of the Sisters are written on mobile tickets, so that they can be changed from week to week.
2. Each week the Sub-Prioress, or in her absence the one designated by the Prioress, draws up the table of officers for the following week.
3. She names the semainière, taking it alternately from one choir to another, from week to week; she starts the round on her own, then descends from the oldest to the youngest.
4. She chooses two cantors, one in each choir; that of the first choir is called cantor first; that of the second, cantor second.
5. She chooses and designates two versiculars in the same way.
6. She also names the reader of the martyrology. She designates all these officers descending from the oldest to the youngest.
TABLE OF CHORUS OFFICES
Reader of the I*Lesson
Reader of the II* Lesson
Reader of the III* Lesson
Reader of the IV* Lesson
Reader of the V* Lesson
Reader of the VI* Lesson
Reader of the VII* Lesson
Reader of the VIII' Lesson
Reader of the IX* Lesson.
Reader of Martyrology.
To ring the bells
For the lights of the Choir.
To clean the clams.
7. On the eve of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, she indicates the readers of the lessons and the order in which they must read. She can do the same on Saturday of each week if the Prioress sees fit, but there is no obligation to do so.
8. The Prioress performs the office at a number of feasts; there are then four special cantors: cantor and sub-cantor first in the first choir, cantor and sub-cantor seconds in the second choir. The Sub-Prioress and the first three of the choir are employed for this office, if they have a sufficient voice; otherwise the Sub-Prioress substitutes those who have the best voice among those who follow. The Prioress has only two versiculars, also chosen among the oldest after the cantors. The Prioress and her officers are only named on the table during the weeks of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. The Sub-Prioress makes semainière the day after these three feasts without being named on the table.
9. Care must be taken, in composing this table, to give a Sister only the offices that she can fulfill well and not to give her two that are incompatible; nor should an unprofessed novice, that is to say still wearing the white veil, be put together at the same office with a Sister wearing the black veil; finally, it is advisable, as much as possible, to employ at the same office Sisters whose height and voice agree well, and to choose for the feasts those of the Sisters who have better voices.
10. One should never give the offices of semainiere and cantor to novices who are not yet professed.
11. The table of offices is read at the end of the refectory on Saturday of each week, except that of the octave of Christmas, when it is not renewed, because the Prioress, the Sub-Prioress and the elders making the office during this octave, the officers whose functions have been interrupted by the feast, resume them after the octave is finished and continue them until the following Saturday.
12. If the Prioress thinks it good that a Sister should have the care of the choir lights for a considerable time, her name is neither inscribed on the table nor read in the refectory during this time.
13. The table of choir officers remains exposed in the pre-choir throughout the week.
CHAPTER II
Duties of the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress.
1. The Prioress and the Sub-Prioress, having to be the model and the living rule of the monastery, will regard as one of their first obligations to study the rubrics of the breviary and the missal, to know the Ceremonial and the Manual well, in a word, to be perfectly instructed in the ceremonies of the choir.
2. The principal function of the Prioress, and in her absence of that which presides, in relation to
the divine office, is to give the sign when one must enter or leave the choir, kiss the ground before beginning the office, get up after having kissed it when one arrives late, then begin or continue the office aloud after Pater, Ave, Credo.
3. She gives these signs by clapping her hands or her book or something that makes noise and is easily and distinctly heard; she also gives, either verbally or by a bow of the head, permission to a Sister to leave the choir or to bring out another; she very calmly says Pater, Ave, Credo, before giving the sign to the choir, and does the same for the prayers that are said in a low voice during the other Community exercises.
4. The Prioress gives the blessing to the Community in the pre-choir, in the morning after the Hours and in the evening after Compline, making a sign of the cross over the Sisters with the words Benedicat and Custodiate, etc., then a third times after Matins making the same sign of the cross over the Sisters, but in silence.
5. The Sub-Prioress, being specially charged with the direction of the choir and the other conventual ceremonies, must discharge them with zeal and neglect nothing so that the offices are carried out with order and dignity. She must compose the table of officers, see to it that the exercises are sounded with precision, have an Ordo placed in the pre-choir that all the Religious can consult, make the necessary corrections and additions, foresee the difficulties, instruct ceremonies all the Sisters, especially the officers, and finally informing the Community in the pre-choir, either in writing or verbally at the end of the Hours, of the particular exercises that would have to be done.
6. She must reduce the tone and the movement of the choir to its just measures, divide the voices of the choir into equal parts, causing the Sisters to change rank and even side, if necessary, arrange the Sisters in procession, sign to the cantors to begin singing at the Candles, Ashes and Palm Sunday ceremonies, and also at Masses, if need be.
7. Although it is not permitted to walk in the choir when one is deeply inclined, nor to pass in front of the officers when they are on their marks, the Sub-Prioress may do so in a pressing need to prevent a fault. or fix it.
8. It is also up to her to correct the faults, but she must make these corrections with prudence and gentleness. If, by doing them at the same time, she should cause some trouble and make the fault more obvious, she would wait until after the half of the verse or the end of what is said in error, or even not warn the Sister until after the output of the Hours.
9 She does all these things on her own and ex officio, although the Prioress is present: this is not contrary to the Constitutions which order that no fault be taken up again, for the Sub-Prioress simply fulfills the duty of her charges and can direct the choir only by rectifying at the same time the errors which are made in the office; this cannot be considered a reprimand. If she had to pass from one choir to another to give some order, the Prioress being present, she would not do so without bowing to her and kissing her own scapular to ask permission.
10. The Sub-Prioress sings the martyrology on Christmas Eve and the Gospel at the Mandatum on Maundy Thursday, if her voice permits; otherwise she appoints a Sister to replace her.
CHAPTER III
On the manner of saying the antiphons and the responses.
1. The first antiphon of all the Hours, as well as those of the Magnificat, the Benedictus and the Nunc dimittis, must be intoned by the semainiere. The Prioress and the Sub-Prioress sing antiphons only when they themselves are semainers.
2. The other antiphons are begun alternately by a Sister from one of the two choirs.
3. At the feasts of the first and second class, and during the octaves of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, they are intoned by the oldest, descending from the oldest of each of the choirs to the second and so on.
4. On other days, the antiphons are intoned by the youngest Religious, beginning with the oldest among them.
5. All the antiphons of the memoirs are begun by the cantors together if they are in the middle of the choir, by the first cantor only if they are in the stalls.
6. The cantor who is going to announce an antiphon goes in front of the one to whom it is to be announced and greets her. When the above is finished, she announces the antiphon in a clear voice, so as to be heard only by the closest Sisters. When the antiphon is intoned if the office is double, or as soon as it is announced if it is semi-double, she again salutes the one to whom the antiphon was announced, and returns to her place to intone the psalm. The Sister to whom the antiphon is announced must return the two bows at the same time as she receives them, and remain turned towards the cantor to intone the antiphon. You can make only one bow at semi-double offices. The intonation of the antiphon should be of moderate length.
7. These rules are observed at the Minor Office of the Blessed Virgin as well as at the Canonical Office; but at the Offices of the Dead and on the Three Days of Darkness the antiphons are not announced.
8. After the psalms and canticles, the whole choir repeats the antiphons which are raised by the cantors, if such is the custom.
9. The responsories of Matins lessons are said by the whole choir. When the reader says: Tu autem, all the nuns rise, respond Deo grattas and begin the response, the reader says the verse and, if necessary, the Gloria Patri, after which the choir resumes the response.
CHAPTER IV
From the week.
1. The semainiere, regardless of her profession rank, has an assigned stall opposite her mark.
2. She says Domine, labia mea aperies at Matins, Deus, in adjutorium at all the Hours, intones the hymns of Matins, Lauds and Vespers, the Te Deum, the first antiphon of each of the Hours, those of the Magnificat, of the Benedictus and the Nunc dimittis; she says the first Kyrie and the verses of the preces, all the chapters and all the orations, even those of the devotional memoirs after the office, the verses Dominus nos benedicat at the end of Prime and Benedicat et custodiat nos at the end of Compline , the verses Domine exaudi, Benedicamus Domino, etc.
3. She says in the middle of the choir all that is of her charge, except the absolutions and benedictions of the lessons of Matins, the chapters and the beginning of the antiphons and hymns for which she remains in her stall.
4. She goes to the middle of the choir as soon as the Prioress has given the sign to begin the office; after Pater, Ave, Credo, it waits for a second sign to intone the beginning of the Hour and does not leave its mark until after the Gloria Patri which follows the Deus, in adjutorium.
5. At Compline, she goes in the same way to the middle of the choir to give the blessing to the reader; she remains there to say: Adjutorium nostrum, Confiteor, Misereatur et Indulgentiam, Couverte nos, Deus et Deus, in adjutorium, and does not return to her stall, as at the other Hours, until after the Gloria Patri.
6. At the Small Office of the Blessed Virgin, the semainière says everything from her place, except the beginning of those of the Hours which are recited immediately after the corresponding Hours of the Great Office; thus she leaves the middle of the choir at the end of the Compline of the day only after having begun the Compline of the Blessed Virgin; it does the same at Prime, Tierce, Sexte and None.
7. She only says the first words of the Pater and the Credo aloud when the breviary indicates that the last must be said in the same way, Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, Carnis resurrectionem; she is waiting, to use these last words, for the sign of the Prioress. She says the whole Pater aloud at the preces of Vespers and Lauds, when the breviary orders it.
8. When she says a prayer outside the office, she ends it with the short conclusion: Per Christum Dominum nostrum, Qui vivis et regnas Deus, if the contrary is not expressly marked as in the great Salve on Saturdays.
9. It must give the choir a fair and measured tone, which is neither too high nor too low, but
mediocre, and generally suitable for all voices.
CHAPTER V
singers.
1. The cantors have, like the semainière, assigned stalls in front of their brands. When there are four cantors, the sub-cantors place themselves in the stalls immediately below the cantors.
2. The principal tasks of the cantors at the office are to begin the Invitatory and to say the Venitus, to announce the hymns of Vespers, Matins and Lauds, to begin those of the small Hours and the Compiles, finally to announce the antiphons, to raise them if such is the custom, and to begin the psalms.
3. They say, the first Invitatory and the psalm Venite together in the middle of the choir; they leave their marks after the Sicut erat, leaving the choir to repeat the Invitatory. At the small office of the Blessed Virgin, the first cantor says everything from her stall.
4. The cantors announce the antiphons according to the order and manner indicated in Chapter III, taking care not to turn their backs on the Blessed Sacrament when announcing the antiphon, not to announce it before the choir has finished this above, to do it in a mediocre voice that can be heard by the closest Sisters and not by the whole choir, and finally not to begin the psalm while walking.
5. At the Office of the Dead, they say the Venite in the middle of the choir as at the canonical office, but they do not announce the antiphons; they begin them themselves if the office is double, and let them begin with the versiculars if the office is semi-double.
6. At the small office of the Blessed Virgin, the cantors announce the antiphons as at the canonical office, but they do all the rest of their office in their places.
7. When a psalm has its antiphon, it is begun by the cantor of the side of the choir where this antiphon was said. If several psalms are under the same antiphon, the first is begun by the cantor who announced the antiphon, the other psalms are begun by the cantor of that of the two choirs to which the first verse returns. We do not understand under this rule the psalms of Lauds, Deus misereatur nostri, Cantate Domino, Laudate Dominum in sanctis ejus, which are said as if they were one with the one that precedes them.
8. The singers intone half of the first verse of the psalms until the pause; but if the first words of the antiphon on semi-doubles, or the whole antiphon on double days, are similar to the first words or the first verse of the psalm, the singers begin the psalm only where the antiphon ends.
9. When they sing a hymn, they say the first two lines; when they announce it, they only say the first line or only the first words.
CHAPTER VI
Versiculars.
1. The versiculars also have fixed places, below the cantors, in the stalls directly opposite their marks. If, by exception, they had to be placed in stalls closer to the grid, they should always face each other.
2. They say the verses, as their name indicates, namely: those of the nocturnes, of the hymns, of the brief responses, of the memoirs, of the final antiphon of the Blessed Virgin and of the memoirs of devotion; the others are reserved for the week.
3. They also begin, each on their own, the Antiphons of the Offices of the Dead when they are semi-double.
4. They say the verses together in the middle of the choir, with the exception of those of the nocturnes, which they say thus only on the feasts of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, and on the three days of Darkness; on other days, the first versicular says them alone in her stall.
5. They come out of their stalls and go to their marks: 1° for the short responses, when the semainière begins the chapter which precedes them; 2° for the verses which follow the hymns, at the beginning of the last stanza or doxology, or if the doxology requires the inclination, during the penultimate stanza; 3° for those of the memoirs, at the beginning of the first antiphon; 4° for the verse of the final antiphon of the Blessed Virgin, towards the end of this antiphon; 5° for that of the nocturnes, at the repetition of the last antiphon.
6. They must be careful to make the changes in the verses demanded by the times and the festivals, and to add the Alleluias to the verses and to the brief responses when the rubrics prescribe it. It should be noted that at the feast and in the octave of the Immaculate Conception, Prime is said to Qui natus es instead of Qui venturus es, and that, although Alleluias are added to the short responses of Tierce, Sexte and None of the feasts of Our Lord, it is not done at the office of the Blessed Sacrament which is recited on vacant Thursdays, because it is a votive office.
7. In the small office of the Blessed Virgin and in the memoirs of devotion, the first versicular says everything about its place.
CHAPTER VII
Lesson readers.
1. The order of readers is taken from the youngest to the oldest, that is to say that the youngest of those who must read the lessons read the first and the oldest the last.
2. At the office of nine lessons of ordinary feasts the youngest reader on the side of the semainière says the first lesson, the youngest on the opposite side succeeds her, and so on for the first two nocturnes. At first and second class feasts and during the octave of Christmas, it is the Elder Nuns who say the lessons in this same order. On the third nocturne, it is always the first cantor who reads the seventh lesson, the second cantor the eighth and the semainière the ninth.
3. At the services of three lessons, it is the cantors and the semainière who say these lessons if there is a gospel, and the three youngest nuns, if there is none.
4. At all offices, even at the little office of the Blessed Virgin, the readers read the lessons in the middle of the choir, on the mark of the semainier.
5. They go to the marks as follows: for the first lesson of each nocturne, to these words of the Pater: Et ne nos inducas in tentationem; for the others, at the beginning of the responsory of the preceding lesson.
6. The reader, after making the usual genuflection and bows in the middle of the choir, remains turned towards the Blessed Sacrament until the moment of asking for the blessing; then, turning to the semainière, she bows deeply, her hands still under the scapular, and says: Jube, Domne, benedicere. It remains thus until the semainière having given the benediction, the choir answers Amen; then, opening her book, she begins the lesson calmly and aloud, clear and distinct, observing the punctuation and the accents, so that one can not only hear her distinctly, but also follow the meaning of her words. She must be careful to take the ordinary tone of the choir or, if she cannot, to get as close to it as possible. It is to be hoped that, while giving her voice, she moderates it so that she can hear if it is taken up; in this case, she stops, resumes herself, then continues her reading and kisses the ground only after having said the verse of the response.
7. At the end of her lesson, she says: Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis, and at the same time makes the
genuflect.
8. While the choir responds Deo gratias and begins the response, the reader withdraws to the mark of the cantor on her side to say the verse there, and leave the place of the semainière to the reader who must read the next lesson.
9. When the semainière says the ninth lesson, she asks for the blessing of the Prioress, in her absence of the Sub-Prioress, in the absence of both, of the most senior of the choir.
CHAPTER VIII
From the Reader of Martyrology.
1. The reader of the martyrology leaves her stall when the semainière says the Domine, exaudi ora-iionem meam which follows Prime's first prayer; she goes to the middle of the choir on the mark of the semainière.
2. She does not ask for the blessing before beginning to read, but she keeps the rules prescribed for other female readers, bringing even greater preparation and attention to this reading, because the martyrology has more headings and a more difficult pronunciation .
3. She ends her reading with these words: Et alibi aliorum, etc., and the chorus responds Deo gratias.
4. The reader having made the genuflection and the usual bows, the semainière returns to the mark in the middle of the choir.
5. We will speak in the first chapter of the following book of the special ceremony in the martyrology on Christmas Eve.
6. The reader of the martyrology must also read the brief lessons of Prime and Compline. At Prime, towards the end of the prayer Dirigere et sanctificare, and at Compline as soon as the sign has been given to begin, she goes to the versicular mark on her side, and after having made the genuflexion and the bows ordinary, she bows deeply towards the semainière, saying: Jube, Domne, benedicere; after having received the blessing, she gets up, does her reading and finishes it like that of the Matins lessons.
CHAPTER IX
A few rules for officers.
1. The officers enter into the exercise of their offices on Saturday at Vespers, except in Lent, because the table of offices is not read until after Vespers.
2. They should take special care in planning what is in their office, and get to their marks early enough so that they don't have to keep the choir waiting or start walking.
3. They always carry their book under their scapular.
4. When two or more perform the same office together, they make their genuflections and bows in agreement.
5. They must not say anything by heart and strive to fulfill their duties with great accuracy.
6. They are turned towards the Blessed Sacrament for everything they have to say about their office; they only make a bow after having completed it if they have to turn around in chorus; likewise, when they say something in the middle of the choir, they do not bow afterwards, but only the genuflection and the ordinary bows before returning to their stalls.
7. In the absence of one of the officers of the choir, the one who exercised the same office the previous week replaces her; it must be the one on the same side so as not to have to go from one choir to another. For the same reason, the weekly is not replaced by that of the previous week, but plot of the penultimate week.
8. If an officer was in the choir, but she could not fulfill her office or had to leave the choir, she would ask the one who preceded her to replace her, preventing her by a half-bow. If this Sister was not herself in choir, the officer would kiss her scapular in front of the Prioress to ask permission to inform the Sub-Prioress, or if the latter were absent, she would inform the Prioress herself so that that she designate a Sister who would replace her in her office.
CHAPTER X
Days when the Prioress, the Sub-Prioress and the Elders perform the office out of dignity and what must then be observed.
1. The Prioress performs the Office from First Vespers until after Compline of the day, on the feasts of Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Holy Trinity, Holy Sacrament, of the Sacred Heart, of the Dedication of the Church, of the Immaculate Conception, of the Nativity, of the Purification, of the Annunciation and of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, on the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, at the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, at the feasts of Saint Joseph, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, of All Saints, of Saint Thérèse, of Saint Elijah, of Saint John of the Cross, of patronage of Saint Joseph, finally of the patron or holder, of the patron of the diocese, and as a general rule at all first-class feasts.
2. She still does semainière on Christmas Eve at Prime, the last three days of Holy Week, on the day of the Commemoration of the Dead and at the other solemn Offices of the Dead indicated in the following book, chapter xxi.
3. When the Prioress performs the office, she observes the same rules as the other semainiers, except the following: 1° she has four special cantors; 2nd, these four singers accompany him in the middle of the choir for Vespers, Matins and Lauds, and only two for the other Hours; 3° she says in the middle of the choir the first antiphons of Vespers, Lauds and Compline and leaves it only with the cantors, after they have begun the psalm; 4th, she says again in the middle of the choir the chapters of Vespers and Lauds, as well as the beginning of the hymn which follows them; 5° after having begun Prime, Tierce, Sexte and None, she only leaves the middle of the choir with the singers, after these have begun the hymn.
4. The cantors who accompany the Prioress leave their stalls at the same time as her, walk ahead of her with an even step and, being on the marks, make the usual genuflection and bows with her. They remain in the middle of the choir as much as the Prioress, announce the antiphon or the hymn to her there, begin the psalm, then retire with her. Only at Compline, after the Pater, the Ave and the Creed, do they genuflect and retire to their stalls, leaving the Prioress alone to give the holy water.
5. The two or four cantors say together in the middle of the choir what they must begin there; they are the ones who say Benedicamus Domino or Requiescant in pace at Vespers and at Lauds. What they sing in their stalls is begun by the cantor and the sub-cantor of the
same side for Vespers, Matins and Lauds, and by the cantor alone at the Small Hours and at Compline.
6. The versiculars are never more than two; the first says the verses of the nocturnes alone in her stall, except on the feasts of Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and the three days of Darkness, when the two versiculars say these verses together on their marks.
7. The antiphons and the lessons are said by the former nuns. The Prioress reads the ninth lesson, she takes the blessing of the Sub-Prioress or, in her absence, of the oldest. The choir stands as she reads her lesson.
8. The verses of the responsories are said by two Sisters; when a lesson is finished, the reader who is to read the following lesson goes quickly to the one who has read the preceding lesson, and both of them say together on the marks of the cantors the verse of the response. When the last lesson is followed by a responsory, the cantors who accompany the one who has said the ninth lesson say the verses of this responsory in the middle of the choir.
9. If a non-professed novice was during the week for the martyrology, she would give the reading to the professed who preceded her.
10. When the Prioress is absent, the Sub-Prioress, or in her absence the most senior having a sufficient voice, replaces her as weekly, and the same ceremonies are observed for the one who replaces them as for the Prioress; however, if it is the Sub-Prioress, she does not change places, and if it is an old Sister, she takes the ordinary place of semainiers.
11. The Sub-Prioress performs the office of semainiere in her turn like the other nuns, and then everything happens as for the other semainieres. When she fulfills this function out of dignity, the day after Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, she has as cantors at all the Hours of the office two old Sisters who accompany her, observing the same ceremonies as for the Prioress; the readers say the verses of the responses in pairs.
12. Before saying her lesson, she takes the blessing of the Prioress or, failing her, of the most senior member of the choir.
13. When she is absent, the most senior sister replaces her, and one observes towards her all that one would observe towards the Sub-Prioress.
14. The Elder Sisters perform the office during the octaves of Easter, Pentecost and Christmas, each according to her rank, beginning at Matins with the oldest on the side of the Prioress, then on the side of the Sub-Prioress, and thus successively from one choir to another. They have two singers chosen from among the oldest, but below them as much as possible, and they are not accompanied when they go to the middle of the choir.
RECAPITULATION OF THE THIRD AND FOURTH BOOKS
§ I. — CEREMONIES FOR THE OFFICE
At Matins.
1. The Prioress having given the sign to begin the office, all the Sisters make the signs of the cross, saying: Per signum Crucis, ln nomine Patris, and kiss the earth; they rise, turn in chorus and bow deeply to say Pater, Ave, Credo.
2. The semainière, after having kissed the earth, goes to her mark, genuflects and bows to the choir, and says these same prayers turned towards the Blessed Sacrament and deeply bowed.
3. At the sign of the Prioress, she straightens up and the Sisters turn to the Blessed Sacrament.
4. She says Domine, labia mea aperies, making the sign of the cross with her thumb on her lips. The choir makes the same sign.
5. She says. Deus, in adjutorium by making the ordinary sign of the cross; the sisters make the same sign. They bow deeply during the Gloria Patri and remain in chorus throughout Matins.
6. In Sicut erat, the cantors go on their marks; they greet each other mutually, genuflect, then say the Invitatory and the Venite.
7. The semainiere, having made the usual genuflection and bows, returns to her stall.
8. At these words from the Venite: Venite adoremus et procidamus ante Deum, the whole choir kneels and rises before ploremus.
9. After the Sicut erat, the two cantors salute each other, genuflect and leave their marks. The first cantor goes to the semainière; when the Invitatory is finished, both greet each other, the cantor announces the beginning of the hymn and the semainière sings it; they salute each other again, and the singer returns to her stall. The choir continues the hymn; when it is finished, the first cantor announces the antiphon to the semainière in the same way as she announced the hymn; when the antiphon is said or sung, according to the ritual of the feast, it begins the psalm. After the psalm, the choir repeats the antiphon which is raised by the cantor, if such is the custom.
10. The cantor of the second choir announces the second antiphon with the same ceremonies and following the order indicated in chapter III, then she begins the psalm.
11. The cantor of the first choir does the same for the third antiphon and the third psalm.
12. After the repetition of the third antiphon, the first versicular says the verse from her stall and the choir responds.
13. The semainer says aloud Pater noster, let the deeply inclined choir continue in a low voice; at the sign of the one who presides, she says: Et ne nos inducas, etc. At the same time, the reader of the first lesson, carrying her book under her scapular, goes to the mark and genuflects and bows to the choir.
14. The semainière having said the Exaudi absolution, the reader turns towards her, bows deeply and says: Jube, Domne, benedicere. The semainière gives the benediction, to which the Sisters answer Amen, then they sit down.
13. The reader reads the lesson, which she ends with these words: Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis, genuflecting at the same time. The choir rises, responds Deo gratias and begins the response.
16. After the genuflection, the reader goes to the mark of the cantor on her side, and the reader of the following lesson succeeds her on the mark of the semainier; the one who has read the lesson says the responsory verse, then genuflects and bows to the choir and returns to her stall.
17. Do the same for the other lessons; at the third, the reader also says the Gloria Patri of the response. She remains on the weekday mark for the responsory, since there is no reader to follow her.
18. The same order is followed on the other two nocturnes, with this difference that on the second nocturne, the first and the third psalm with their antiphon are begun by the second choir. The fourth and sixth lessons are also said by readers of the second choir. On the third nocturne, the seventh lesson is said by the first cantor, the eighth by the second, the ninth by the semainiere, who takes the blessing of the Prioress or, in her absence, of the Sub-Prioress.
19. After completing her lesson, the semainer begins the Te Deum, then returns to her stall. The whole choir kneels during the verse Te ergo quaesumus.
20. While the Te Deum is being said, the big bell is rung.
21. If there were only three lessons at Matins, these three lessons would be read by the cantors and the semainiere if there was a gospel, if not by the three youngest Sisters.
22. At the end of the Te Deum, the semainière returns to the mark and says Deus, in adjutorium, as at Matins.
23. The whole choir turns to the Blessed Sacrament up to the Gloria Patri; at the Sicut erat, the semainière returns to her stall, where the first cantor announces the first antiphon to her; she intones it and the choir follows her, then the same cantor intones the first psalm; the second cantor announces the second antiphon in the same way and begins the psalm, and so on from one choir to another. The psalm Deus misereatur nostri is said as if it were one with the one that precedes it; the same is done for the psalms Cantate Domino canticum novum and Laudate Dominum in sanctis ejus which are combined with the Laudate Dominum de coelis. One makes the profound inclination to these words of the Benedicite: Benedicamus Patrem et Filium cum Sancto Spiritu; we get up before Laudemus.
24. After the repetition of the fifth antiphon, the semainière recites the chapter from her stall; during this chapter, the Sisters turn to the Blessed Sacrament; then, having answered Deo gratias, they make a half bow and turn in chorus.
25. The first cantor announces to the semainière the beginning of the hymn; this being intoned, the choir pursues it.
26. In the last stanza, the versiculars go on their marks, salute each other mutually, genuflect and say the verse; then they genuflect, salute each other and return to their places.
27. The choir having answered, the first cantor announces the antiphon of Benedictus to the semainière.
28. When the antiphon is said or intoned, according to the ritual of the feast, the cantor begins the Benedictus. The whole choir makes the sign of the cross.
29. At the end of the Benedictus, the semainiere returns to her mark; she says Domine, listens to the prayer, bowing to the word Oremus, to the name of the saint and to Jesum Christum.
30. During this prayer, the choir bows deeply; it recovers at Per omnia.
31. If there are memorials, the whole choir turns to the Blessed Sacrament; the first cantor begins the antiphons in her stall, the two versiculars say the verses on their marks, and the semainière says the prayers also on her mark.
32. After these memoirs, or, if there are none, after the prayer, the semainière says the verses Domine, exaudi and Beneclicamus Domino, then, in a lower tone, Fidelium animae.
33. We say the Pater very low and deeply inclined; at the sign we get up, the semainière says in a low tone: Dominus det nobis suam pacem; then, joining her hands on the scapular, she begins the antiphon to the Blessed Virgin in the same tone as the rest of the Office and bows while intoning it; at the same time, all the Sisters turn towards the Blessed Sacrament, stand or kneel depending on the weather, and join their hands on the scapular. If the antiphon is said standing up, one bows at the first words; if it is said kneeling, the semainière takes this attitude only after the intonation.
34. Towards the end of the antiphon, the versiculars go to the marks to say the verse.
35. The semainière, still on the mark, says the prayer standing while making the accustomed inclinations; she then says in a lower tone Divinum auxilium and returns to her stall.
36. The devotional memoirs are then said more lightly and in a lower tone than the rest of the office; all the Sisters, even the officers, say them on their knees in the stalls.
37. The Prioress having given the sign to begin Prime, the signs of the cross are made and the ground is kissed; then they say Pater, Ave, Credo, upright and deeply bowed, the semainière on its mark and the Sisters in the stalls.
38. At the second sign, the semainière rises and the choir turns to the Blessed Sacrament.
39. The semainière says Deus, in adjutorium while making the sign of the cross, the choir makes the same sign and responds to it; we turn around in chorus for the Gloria Patri.
40. At the Sicut erat, the semainière returns to her stall; then the first cantor intones the first two lines of the hymn, which the choirs pursue alternately. When the hymn is finished, the first cantor announces the antiphon to the semainière, the latter intones it and the first cantor begins the first psalm; the other psalms are begun by the cantor on the side of the choir to which the first verse returns.
41. After the psalms or the Quicumque, the choir repeats the antiphon.
42. The semainière says the chapter; at the same time the choirs turn towards the Blessed Sacrament and the versiculars return to their marks.
43. After the chapter, they say the brief response; they make the half bow to the Gloria Patri, during which the choirs turn towards each other to bow deeply; they turn immediately afterwards towards the Blessed Sacrament.
44. Towards the end of the brief response, the semainiere comes to her mark.
45. When there are preces, if they are said on their knees, the choirs remain turned towards the Blessed Sacrament throughout their duration, [turning however half into a choir during the Confiteor and the Misereatur;] if they are said standing, we turn around in chorus during the Pater, Ave, Credo, Confiteor, Misereatur and Indulgentiam.
46. The semainière then says the prayer, during which the choir bows deeply. After the Benedicamus Domino, she returns to her stall and the reader of the martyrology replaces her on her mark.
47. When the reading of the martyrology begins, the choir sits down, except for the feasts indicated in book III, chapter x. The reading being finished, the choir rises and answers Deo gratias. The reader returns to her stall and the semainière returns to its mark.
48. At these words: Pretiosa, etc., the Sisters turn to the Blessed Sacrament; at the Gloria Patri, they turn around in chorus and remain so until: Et ne nos inducas in tentationem. They then turn to the Blessed Sacrament, turn around in chorus for the second Gloria Patri, then back to the Blessed Sacrament until the end of Prime.
49. Towards the end of the last prayer, the reader of the martyrology goes to the versicular mark on her side. When the prayer is over, she bows deeply towards the semainer, saying: Jube, Domne benedicere. The semainer gives the benediction; the reader gets up, turns to the Blessed Sacrament, reads the brief lesson, genuflects while saying Tu autem, salutes both sides of the choir and returns to her stall.
50. The semainiere completes Prime. All the Sisters make the sign of the cross with her at Adjutorium nostrum and a second time at Dominus nos benedicat. Then they turn around in chorus to say the Pater and the Ave de Tierce.
51. The same order is followed at Tierce as at Prime, Sexte and None, less the preces which are said only at feasts and always on their knees; after the brief response, the semainière says Domine, heard, then the prayer of the day during which the choir bows deeply; she then says: Domine, exaudi; Benedicamus Domino; then, in a lower tone, Fidelium animae.
52. The same is done in Sexte and None.
53. The antiphon of the Blessed Virgin is said as at Lauds, at the end of the Hour by which the office is concluded.
54. At Vespers, the same order is followed as at Lauds; the Sign of the Cross is made at the beginning of the Magnificat.
55. At Compline, after the sign has been given, the signs of the cross made and the earth kissed, the semainer goes to her mark and the reader of the martyrology to that of the versicular on her side; the reader turns to the semainière, bows deeply and says: jube, domne, benedicere. The semainière says the benediction and, the choir having answered amen, the reader gets up, turns to the Blessed Sacrament, reads the short lesson as if at a premium and returns to her stall; the semainière says adjutorium nostrum while making the sign of the cross with the whole choir. The choir having answered, we bow deeply to say the pater.
56. At the sign of her who presides, the semainiere, deeply bowed, recites the Conflteor; the chorus resumes Misereatur, after which it rises again.
57. The choir, bowing deeply, repeats the Confiteor; he gets up after the semainière has said Misereatur.
58. The semainière says Indulgentiam, during which she makes the sign of the cross as does the whole choir.
59. She says Converte nos, making with the thumb on the scapular the sign of the cross at the place of the heart.
60. At the same time, the whole choir turns to the Blessed Sacrament and makes the same sign of the cross.
61. The semainière says Deus, in adjutorium as in the other Hours; we also turn around in chorus to say the Gloria Patri; at the Sicut erat, she returns to her stall where the first cantor announces the antiphon to her; this being intoned, the first cantor begins the first psalm, then all those which follow; after the repetition of the antiphon, she intones the hymn.
62. The semainière then says the chapter in her stall, and the versiculars go to their marks where they say the brief response as at the small Hours, then they return to their stalls.
63. The first cantor announces the antiphon of the Nunc dimittis in the week; the latter having intoned it, the cantor begins the canticle. The whole choir makes the sign of the cross.
64. At the repetition of the antiphon, the weekwoman goes to the mark; if there are preces, she says them as at Prime, otherwise she says the prayer during which the choir bows deeply.
65. When she says the Benedicat verse, she makes the sign of the cross like the whole choir.
66. The nuns say the antiphon of the Blessed Virgin as at the other Hours, observing however to remain turned in choir when it must be said on their knees. We keep during the Pater, the Ave and the Credo the attitude that we had during the antiphon, but bowing deeply if we say them standing.
67. The semainière then gives holy water, as indicated in chapter iv of book VI; then we turn to the Blessed Sacrament to recite the Sacrosanctoe, after which we say the memory of Saint Madeleine.
§II. — VARIOUS DEGREES OF SOLEMNITY.
1. On ferias, on Sundays, even first class, and on feasts below second class, the youngest nuns intone the antiphons and say the lessons of Matins, with the exception of those of the third nocturn, which are always reserved for singers and semainière.
2. When there are only three lessons at the office, if there is a gospel, it is the cantors and the semainière who say them; otherwise they are the three youngest nuns in the choir.
3. At second-class feasts, it is the older Sisters who say the lessons and the antiphons. The Te Deum is sung at Matins; Mass is also sung.
4. On feasts of the second class with octave, the nuns wear the cloaks for the Mass and for all the Hours, except for Compline.
5. Three strokes are rung for Vespers and Matins.
6. The Elder Sisters say the antiphons and the lessons.
7. The Prioress sometimes performs the service. (See Chapter X of Book IV.)
8. First and Second Vespers, None and Mass are sung. At Compline, only the antiphon to the Blessed Virgin is sung; at Matins, the Domine, labia mea, the Deus, in adjutorium, the Venite, the hymn and the Te Deum; at Lauds, only if the Prioress does the service, we sing from the chapter until the end.
9. At the first class feasts, the same ceremonies are observed as for the second class feasts with octave, but the Prioress always performs the office; moreover, four candles are lighted on the altar in the choir during Vespers, Matins and Lauds.
10. On the feasts of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, of the Assumption, of All Saints, of Saint Thérèse, of Saint Joseph, of the titular, the memoirs and the antiphon to the Blessed Virgin are sung at the first and second Vespers, and this same antiphon at Compline throughout the octave.
11. We do the same at the feasts of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, and moreover we sing Matins and Lauds entirely; the versiculars say the verses of the nocturnes in pairs on their marks. The ancients perform the office during the octave of these feasts.
12. On the last three days of Holy Week, Matins and Lauds are sung, and the versiculars say the verses of Matins in pairs on their marks.
13. On certain days Compline is sung, as indicated in Chapter VII, Book III.
FIFTH BOOK : CEREMONIES OF SOLEMN DAYS AND MAIN FESTIVALS OF THE YEAR
FIRST CHAPTER
From Advent.
1. On the first Sunday of Advent, the responsory of the first lesson of Matins is in a very exceptional form; the readers of the first and second lessons say the verses together.
2. On December 17 begin the great antiphons called "O" [antiphons of the days before Christmas beginning with an admiring ô]; they end on December 23. They are said with particular solemnity. If the office of the feria is done, the semainière gravely intones the antiphon "O" of the day, the choir continues it and, after the Magnificat, the two cantors will repeat it in the middle of the choir. If we perform the service of a feast and the antiphon is said only as a commemoration, the two singers will begin it in the middle of the choir.
3. If we do feria, we ring the big bell from the intonation of the antiphon before the Magnificat until after its repetition; if one only remembers the feria, one rings only during the antiphon, the verse and the prayer.
4. On Christmas Eve, we sing Prime with solemnity; the Prioress does the office and the nuns wear their cloaks.
5. The Sub-Prioress sings the martyrology herself, if her voice allows; she is accompanied in the middle of the choir by four young nuns whom she appoints the day before.
6. Before Prime, the sacristan spreads a carpet in the middle of the choir, between the places of the cantors; she puts there a desk covered with a purple scarf. At the beginning of Prime, she gives candles to the choir sisters.
7. She has ready in the pre-choir four white candles larger than those of the other Sisters for those who accompany the reader, and a lamp to light them.
8. At the beginning of Prime's brief responsory, the reader of the martyrology and the four designated Sisters leave the choir after having made the genuflection and the usual bows; they go to the pre-choir, where those who are to carry the candles take them and light them.
9. At the end of Prime's first oration, they enter the choir two by two through the two doors, the two youngest first. All four place themselves on the marks of the cantors; the reader who comes last, carrying the martyrology under her scapular, takes the place of the semainière, who yields it to her; all five of them genuflect together and stand upright, facing the Blessed Sacrament; then the reader places the open martyrology on the desk in the place she is to read, and if she needs light while reading, the sacristan gives her a candle.
10. She begins the reading in a mediocre tone, making the voice inflection at each point; she raises her voice a little at these words: In Bethleem Judoe, and sings in an even higher tone these words: Nativitas Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum carnem.
11. The nuns lit their candles at the end of the prayer Domine Deus omnipotens, and the semainière took hers on returning to her stall; all remain in silence, standing, until the martyrology begins; so they sit down. At these words: Jesus Christus aeternus Deus, they rise; to these: In Bethlehem Judae, they kneel, turned in chorus; at Nativitas, all bow down.
12. The reader and those accompanying her do not kneel and prostrate themselves until after the words: secundum carnem, and this, towards the Blessed Sacrament. The whole choir remains prostrate until the one who presides gives, after a short pause, the sign to rise; then the choirs sit down again until the end of the martyrology, which the reader continues in the tone she had taken at the beginning.
13. None of the nuns, unless they are ill, must attend this reading, and they prepare to come as soon as the bell rings for Prime.
CHAPTER II
From the Christmas party.
1. On Christmas Eve, the first bell of Matins is sounded at a quarter past nine to begin the service at half past nine, taking a quarter of an hour to strike the three bells at an equal distance.
2. Matins is sung entirely; the versiculars say the verses of the Nocturnes in pairs.
3. The ringing of the Te Deum takes the place of the first stroke of the midnight Mass and the last is tolled immediately afterwards, remembering however that the Mass must not begin until the stroke of midnight.
4. Immediately after Mass, we sing Lauds, after which we do not go out in procession. Each one remains in the choir according to her devotion or visits the hermitage where the crib is represented, to pray there and take one of the notes from the childhood of Our Lord that the Prioress has had placed there.
5. The nuns take two hours of rest this night, if they do not have permission to stay up all night.
6. In the morning, we sing Prime at six o'clock, then we attend Mass at daybreak, then we say Tierce and Sext.
7. We sing None before the High Mass of the day.
CHAPTER III
From the feast of Epiphany.
1. The Church cuts off, at the beginning of Matins, the Invitatory and the Venite; this psalm is said on the third nocturne; the four singers then go to the middle of the choir to sing the antiphon, then the psalm. The choir repeats the antiphon according to the order indicated by the breviary. No rubric prescribes genuflexion during this psalm.
2. At Mass, one genuflects with both knees to these words of the first Gospel: Et procidentes adoraverunt eum.
CHAPTER IV
From the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin.
1. According to the Ceremonial of the Bishops, if this feast meets with a privileged Sunday of the second class, it is transferred, except in the churches dedicated to the Blessed Virgin; but the blessing of candles and the procession always take place on February 2.
2. The sacristan prepares the albs, the amices and the cords for the celebrant and his ministers; in addition, the purple stole and cope for the celebrant or, in the absence of a cope, the stole only; finally the purple stole for the deacon.
3. She has prepared near the altar, on the side of the Epistle, a credenza on which the candles to be blessed, the stoup and the censer are placed. Among the candles must be one of mediocre size intended to be used during the year for the dying Sisters.
4. According to the same Ceremonial of the Bishops, one puts at the altar a purple facing, easy to remove, which one places above the white one, if one must say the Mass of the Blessed Virgin; this purple facing is removed while the celebrant leaves his purple cope and takes the white ornaments to say the Mass of the feast. If we do the Sunday service, we only use purple ornaments.
5. The sacristan places in the choir, after the Hours, the large ceremonial curtain or some other less large, but sufficient to prevent the Sisters from being seen through the communion rail when it is open.
6. If there are only crosses at the corner of the cloisters, the Sub-Prioress has small altars erected there and adorns them with pictures of piety for the stations of the procession.
7. Before conventual Mass, the Sisters take their cloaks and large veils and enter the choir in the usual manner. Throughout the blessing, they stand upright, facing the Blessed Sacrament.
8. At this ceremony they sing, and four singers are employed.
9. When the nuns are assembled in the choir, the celebrant first gives holy water if it is a Sunday, then he goes up to the altar accompanied by his ministers to bless the candles.
10. The benediction having been made, he receives or takes a lighted candle, gives it to those who serve it at the altar, then distributes it to the Sisters through the small communion grid.
11. The Sisters, beginning with the Prioress and the oldest, will receive the candles; they have the large veil lowered, make a deep bow to the priest, kneel down, receive the candle, kiss it and, having risen, make a second bow before retiring.
12. When the priest begins to distribute the candles, the cantors at the desks intone the antiphon Lumen, which the choir continues; then they say together the verses of the Nunc dimittis, and the two choirs repeat between each verse the antiphon Lumen. The antiphon Exsurge, which is said at the end of the distribution, is sung in the manner of the introit.
13. We take care that there are successively nuns who continue the song while others are going to receive the candles.
14. The Sisters placed to the right of the choir hold their candles with their left hand, those on the left hold them with their right hand. During the procession, on the contrary, candles are held outside the rows.
15. The distribution finished and the prayer said, the Sisters get ready to make the procession; the deacon sings: Procedamus in pace: and the Sisters respond: In nome Christi, Amen. Then the four cantors begin the antiphon Adorna thalamum; the choir pursues it with the rest of what is marked in the Manual, until the procession has returned to the door of the choir, at the entrance of which the cantors intone the response Obtulerunt pro eo. The responsory finished, the candles are extinguished and the Mass is sung.
16. According to the rubric of the missal and the ordinance of the Ceremonial of the Bishops, the candles are again lighted during the Gospel and from the consecration until after the communion of the priest, the grid being closed and the Sisters omitting the ordinary prostration. . The sacristan then takes the candles from the Sisters.
17. If the Mass of Purification is not said, the candles are not lit either on that day or on the day it is said.
18. After Compline on February 2, even if the feast is transferred, the antiphon Ave Regina coelorum is said.
CHAPTER V
From Ash Wednesday.
1. The sacristan prepares in a small basin purified and very dry ashes, made from the blessed branches of the previous year; she passes them to the sacristy with the stoup and the sprinkler, the censer and the shuttle, an ewer, a basin, some breadcrumbs and a towel. She still prepares the albs, the amices and the cords for the celebrant, the deacon and the sub-deacon; moreover, for the celebrant, the purple stole and cope; in the absence of a cope, the stole only; for the deacon, the stole of the same color. No use is made of maniples or dalmatics.
2. After the ceremony, the sacristan throws the water and the breadcrumbs into the pool.
3. Inside, she prepares a curtain in the choir to prevent the Religious from being seen through the communion grid, as she did for the blessing of the Candles.
4. The Sisters take their cloaks and large veils, enter the choir in the usual manner and place themselves on their knees along the stalls.
5. There must be four singers; they will place themselves in front of their desks, behind the curtain.
6. When the priest has gone up to the altar, the sign is given to begin; then the singers intone the antiphon Exaudi nos, and the whole choir, rising, continues it like an introit. The Sisters remain standing in the stalls, facing the Blessed Sacrament, throughout the ceremony, and respond to the priest as needed.
7. When the imposition of Ashes begins, the cantors intone and the choir continues the antiphon Immutemur and the following ones; you must sing the Emendemus responsory very calmly, and take care that there is no interruption in the song while the nuns go to receive the ashes.
8. They present themselves to the communion grid successively and in order of seniority, make a deep bow to the celebrant, kneel down with their hands joined under the scapular and the large veils lowered; they receive the ashes on their heads, over the large veil, and, after having risen, make a second bow to the celebrant.
9. When the distribution of Ashes and the Concede prayer are finished, the Mass is sung.
CHAPTER VI
Of Sunday and of the time of the Passion.
1. Holy Church prescribes that crosses and images be veiled during the time of the Passion. The sacristan will therefore have the crosses and images of the church covered, as well as the cross in the sacristy of the priests, before Vespers on the Saturday preceding Passion Sunday. Sails should be purple in color.
2. During this time of the Passion, we must refrain from adorning the altars with pictures of saints.
3. The Church also omits from the office the ordinary memorials of the Blessed Virgin and of the saints; the nuns, to conform to this custom, will likewise omit the memoirs of devotion, but not the litanies of the Blessed Virgin.
CHAPTER VII
From Palm Sunday.
1. The ceremonies of the blessing of the Palms are in many respects in conformity with those of Candlemas; also many of the things prescribed for the blessing of candles will serve for this chapter.
2. The albs, amices, cords and maniple for the celebrant, the deacon and the subdeacon are prepared in the sacristy; moreover, the purple stole and cope for the celebrant, and the stole of the same color for the deacon.
3. Arrange on a credenza, near the altar, on the side of the epistle, a sufficient number of branches; to this are added the stoup and the sprinkler, the censer and the shuttle.
4. The sacristan prepares the curtain in front of the gate, and the Sub-Prioress the places of the stations in the cloister, as on Candlemas Day.
5. The nuns also assemble in the choir before the conventual Mass in the same order as at Candlemas, and they begin by giving holy water.
6. When the priest, having finished the sprinkling, has returned to the altar, the four cantors sing the antiphon Hosanna Filio David from the pulpits.
7. The Sisters stand in the stalls, standing, facing the Blessed Sacrament, except during the epistle when they are seated; they continue what the singers have begun and respond to the priest.
8. After the epistle, the four cantors begin one of the two gradual Collegerunt or In monte Oliveti; they say the verse alone, begin the Sanctus, and again say the Benedictus verse alone.
9. When the blessing is finished and the priest has received or taken a branch, the cantors begin the antiphon Pueri Hebraeorum and the following one, which are repeated by the choir and continued until the distribution is finished. Care is taken to ensure that there is no interruption in the singing during the distribution.
10. The nuns receive the palms and carry them in the procession with the same ceremonies as they receive and carry the blessed candles at Candlemas.
11. When the priest has said the last prayer, they get ready to make the procession. The processional cross must be covered with a purple veil; a branch is tied to it with a purple ribbon.
12. The cantors begin the procession with the antiphon Cum appropinquaret and the following ones, marked in the missal and in the Manual. They say them all or in part, according to the number of stations ordered and the arrangement of the places.
13. The last station is always made at that of the doors of the choir by which the procession must enter and, if there is one near the large gate where the ceremony can be carried out, it is preferably chosen so as to that the singing of the hymn Gloria, laus may be heard from the church.
14. Before the procession approaches the door, two Sisters chosen by the Sub-Prioress as having the best voice, break away from the procession and go ahead of it to enter the choir alone, the door of which they close; they stand in silence near this gate until the procession is lined up on the other side as follows:
15. The cross-bearer, having at his side the Sisters who carry the candlesticks, stands in front of the door in the middle and returns the crucifix towards the procession; the Sisters line up around her, but some of the louder-voiced ones are moved closer to the door.
16. The two Sisters who are in the choir, facing the door, calmly sing, in a high and clear tone, the first stanza of the hymn Gloria, laus. The Sisters outside repeat it in a corresponding tone, but much lower; the two Sisters then sing the second stanza, the choir repeats the first. We thus continue all the stanzas, or only a part, according to the orders of the Prioress.
17. The stanzas to be said being completed, the cross-bearer returns the crucifix towards the door, which she strikes with the bottom of the cross; the Sisters who are inside open immediately and the procession enters the choir. The singers then begin the responsory Ingrediente Domino which the choir continues, and at the end of which Gloria Patri is not said.
48. If there is no door near the gate and you have to enter through the two small doors of the choir, the ceremony takes place at the one on the side of the Prioress; the cross-bearer and those who carry the candlesticks enter by this door without separating, but the others enter each by the door on their side and make the ordinary genuflexion at the Blessed Sacrament.
19. When all the Sisters are in their places, those carrying the cross and the candlesticks will deposit them in the pre-choir.
20. Then Mass is sung. During the reading of the Passion and the Gospel, the Sisters hold their palms in their hands. They prostrate themselves and kiss the ground at these words of the Passion: Jesus autem iterum clamans voce magna emisit spiritum, and get up when the priest starts reading again. They do the same on the other days of Holy Week to these words of the Passion: Emisit spiritum, Tradidit spiritum, Expiravit.
CHAPTER VIII
Of the Three Days of Darkness.
1. On Wednesday of Holy Week, after Mass, the sacristan adorns the altar and the tabernacle with purple facings; she had six wooden candlesticks, not gilded or silvered, placed on the altar, filled with candles of yellow wax weighing one or half a kilogram each. Although it is proper to put up these candlesticks on Wednesday, they are however not obligatory until after the stripping of the altars.
2. She has placed in front of the step of the altar, on the side of the epistle, a triangular candlestick having fifteen points of iron at equal distance, to carry as many candles of yellow wax of the weight of sixty to ninety grams each.
3. These candles, as well as those of the altar, are lit before Darkness. After each psalm of Matins and Lauds, the sexton or an ecclesiastic extinguishes a candle from the triangular candlestick, starting with the lowest on the Gospel side, then the corresponding candle on the Epistle side, and so on. to that of the summit, which it does not extinguish.
4. In the verse Ut sine timore of the Benedictus, he extinguishes the candle of the altar furthest from the cross on the side of the Gospel, then in each verse of the canticle, he extinguishes first the two following candles, then those on the side of the epistle following the same order. He then extinguishes all the other lights in the church, except for the lamp which burns in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
5. During the repetition of the antiphon of the Benedictus, he takes the candle which remains lit at the top of the triangle, and keeps it lit at the corner of the altar, on the side of the epistle or under the credenza. When we begin Christus factus est, he keeps it hidden behind the altar without extinguishing it, and he makes it appear when he hears the noise which announces the end of the service.
6. The nuns assemble in the pre-choir as usual for Compline on Wednesday; but from these Complines until those of Holy Saturday, there is no longer any assembly in the pre-choir either before or after the office; we enter the choir in silence.
7. During this same time, cloaks are worn at all services, morning and evening, except at Compline.
8. Compline is said immediately before Matins; they are rung at four o'clock or a little earlier, so that the Darkness ends towards evening and at sunset. During Compline on Wednesday, the three strokes of Solemn Matins are sounded with the usual intervals, so that the last stroke is sounded during the sprinkling of holy water. On Thursdays and Fridays, only one blow of the truncheon is struck for Darkness at the end of Compline. From the darkness.
9. Darkness, that is to say Matins and Lauds, is sung with all the solemnity befitting these days. The cantors themselves sing the antiphons at these offices.
10. After Compline, all the Sisters kneeling in their stalls, the Prioress gives the sign to begin the office, and herself, remaining in her stall, says Pater, Ave, Credo, then she gives a second sign; then the two cantors of the first choir intone the first antiphon. They thus begin the antiphons and the psalms, two by two, without leaving their stalls.
11. The Church suppresses the Gloria Patri after the psalms, the last words of which, from the mediant of the last verse, are said very calmly and in a lugubrious manner.
12. The versiculars say all the verses, even those of the nocturnes, together and in the middle of the choir.
13. The lessons are also said in the middle of the choir, as well as the verses of the responses.
14. The readers of the first three lessons make an ordinary voice inflection at the titles of the lessons, a double inflection at each Hebrew letter Aleph, Beth, etc., and an ordinary inflection before each Hebrew letter even though the sentence preceding it does not would end only with a question mark. They still make the usual inflection on each of these words: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, after which they make a trail as at the end of the psalms.
15. In the other lessons, we make the ordinary inflection at each point, even interrogative, but we do not make a trail at the end.
16. The choir begins and sings the responsories in the usual manner in the same tone as the psalms; the readers say the verses.
17. The cantors accompany the Prioress or her substitute when she says the ninth lesson; they say the verse of the responsory together, and return to their stalls to begin the first antiphon and the first psalm of Lauds.
18. After the antiphon of Benedictus, the Prioress, kneeling with the whole choir, begins the verse Christus factus est which is to be sung at Lauds; the choir continues this verse, adding to it each day what the breviary prescribes.
19. The Pater is then said very softly, then the Prioress gives a sign and the first cantor alone begins the psalm Miserere mei, Deus, in a very low tone, as one says the preces; the two choirs pursue it alternately in the same way.
20. The Prioress, still on her knees in her stall, says the oration Respice aloud until the word tormentum; the conclusion is said in a low voice.
21. When the prayer is over, the Sub-Prioress makes a little noise by knocking two or three times on her stall or on her breviary, and all the Sisters do the same.
22. Only Matins and Lauds are sung; all the other Hours, following the rubric of the breviary, are recited in a low, mournful voice. Vespers are recited in the same way, but a little more calmly; the antiphons are not announced there. The Prioress does not go into the middle of the choir for the beginning or the end of any of the Hours; she says it all from her stall.
23. We end the psalms with a trail as in Matins.
24. The Prioress begins, at the end of each of the Hours, the verse Christus factus is in a very low tone, because this verse must be said in the same way and in the same tone as what immediately precedes it.
25. The Pater, the Miserere and the prayer are then said as after Lauds.
26. During these three days, neither Pater nor Ave nor anything else is added at the end of any of the Hours, and the reading of the martyrology is omitted.
27. From Wednesday, beginning in Darkness, until Saturday after the morning service, the antiphons and prayers are not said before and after the mental prayer; we go from the choir to the refectory in the usual order, but in silence; we observe moreover what is indicated in book VII, chapters i and vi, for the Benedicite and the graces.
28. Discipline is taken before the evening examination during three Miserere, the verse Christus factus est and the prayer Respice. On Wednesday, the bell rings for this exercise at half past eight.
29. The bells and the bell of the church are no longer rung from the Gloria in excelsis of Holy Thursday until that of Holy Saturday; the bells are replaced by the truncheon inside the monastery, to call the Sisters to the exercises and for the Angelus.
30. During the last three days of Holy Week, that is to say from the end of the morning office of Maundy Thursday until after that of Holy Saturday, the holy water must be removed from the stoups of the Holy Week. church and places where the Community assembles, and during this same time one does not make the sprinkling of holy water.
CHAPTER IX
From Holy Thursday.
1. The sacristan has prepared in advance, in one of the chapels of the church, a repository consisting of an altar and a small tabernacle, and adorned with hangings which cannot be black or dark in color; it is also adorned with lights, it is necessary to put at least ten candles there.
2. The high altar should be dressed in purple for the office and white for the Mass. The white facing is placed under the violet in advance and the latter is promptly removed at the end of the Hours.
3. The altar cross is also covered in white during Mass; it is then covered with violet.
4. The candlesticks of the altar and those of the altar should be of the finest, and the candles of white wax.
5. In addition to the Mass chalice, another larger and more beautiful chalice is prepared to receive the consecrated Host. It must be large enough to easily contain it; it is covered with the pale, the paten, a beautiful white veil and a ribbon of white silk is added to it. Two hosts are placed on the paten which is to be used at Mass.
6. Candles are also prepared which the sacristan will distribute to some seculars for the procession and which he will then collect; it should not be given to the deacon or the sub-deacon.
7. On Maundy Thursday, Prime is rung at the ordinary time and manner and High Mass is rung in the manner of conventual Masses.
8. Throughout the singing of the Gloria in excelsis, after it has been intoned by the celebrant, the bells are rung; then they are not rung until Gloria on Holy Saturday.
9. After Mass, according to the Roman rubric, the chalice containing the consecrated Host must be brought to the altar and locked up in the tabernacle. When the clergy set off for the procession, the cantors being on their knees in front of the gate as well as the whole choir, begin the hymn Pange lingua; it is sung slowly enough to be sufficient for the time of the procession and the ceremony.
10. After the return of the Blessed Sacrament procession, a baton is struck for Vespers. They are said in a low voice like the little Hours, but a little more calmly. The antiphons are begun by the cantors, as in Darkness.
11. During Vespers, the ecclesiastics remove the consecrated hosts from the tabernacle of the high altar and leave the door open. They put the ciborium in the tabernacle of the oratory or, in the absence of an oratory, in a closed chapel of the church or in the sacristy. A lamp of olive oil is maintained in front of the Holy Reserve.
12. After Vespers, the celebrant, the deacon and the sub-deacon come to strip the altars; all three are dressed in their albs, the celebrant and the deacon also wear the violet stole.
13. During this ceremony, the whole choir stands on their knees; the Prioress, also on her knees, begins the antiphon Diviserunt sibi, and when it is finished the two cantors of the first choir begin the psalm Deus, Deus meus, which the choirs continue alternately.
14. The tablecloths, facings and ornaments are removed from the high altar; the pavilion of the tabernacle is also removed, the door of which remains open; only the six wooden candlesticks and the cross covered with a violet veil are left on this altar; on the other altars, only a veiled crucifix and two candlesticks are left. After the office, the holy water is removed from the holy water fonts, as previously mentioned.
15. When appropriate, the cross of the high altar is saluted by a deep bow. One does not genuflect, because the Blessed Sacrament is not in the tabernacle; but if the altar were placed opposite the grille of the choir, it would be necessary to salute the Blessed Sacrament with the genuflection of both knees.
16. The Prioress washes the feet of thirteen Sisters, if the monastery can provide them; these Sisters are chosen by her and advised by the Sub-Prioress. This ceremony is usually performed at the chapter, at two o'clock in the afternoon; if the Prioress cannot do so, she is replaced by the Sub-Prioress or, in her absence, by the oldest in the monastery.
17. The robière prepares in a place close to the chapter vases and basins, cold water and hot water with fragrant herbs, dry cloths to wipe the feet and all that is necessary for the ceremony.
18. The sacristan has the altar of the chapter covered with a white facing; she places there a crucifix covered with a violet veil and four candlesticks with white candles; she spreads a carpet a little higher than the middle of the chapter on which she places the desk covered with a white scarf, and over it a missal to read the Gospel. She puts benches on both sides of the chapter, if there are none already.
19. At two o'clock, the Sisters, being called by the truncheon, quickly assemble, barefoot, dressed in their cloaks and carrying their books, in a place near the chapter, and from there they go there without a cross. , two by two, the youngest first. On arriving, they make a deep bow to the altar and divide into two choirs, facing each other, the older ones closer to the altar; the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress occupy the first place in each choir.
20. The Sisters being thus arranged, the Sub-Prioress goes to the pulpit and makes a deep bow at the altar; she then turns to the Prioress, bows deeply and says: Jube, Domne, benedicere. The Prioress gives the benediction with these words: Evangelica leclio sit nobis salus et protectio, and the choir responds: Amen. The Sub Prioress gets up, joins her hands and begins: Sequentia sancti Evangelii, etc. ; to the words Sancti Evangelii, she does, as
the whole choir, the sign of the cross on the forehead, lips and chest; the Sisters respond: Gloria tibi, Domine. The Sub-Prioress then sings the Gospel Ante diem festum Paschae, which all the Sisters listen to facing the altar; the song finished, she made the bow to the cross and to the Prioress and retired to her place.
21. Then the Prioress leaves her place, makes a bow at the altar, chooses a Sister to help her and leaves the chapter with her to put on the necessary linen. The Sisters rise whenever the Prioress leaves or enters.
22. The Prioress and her companion take off their coats; the Prioress takes a very long towel, folded the width of a stole, which she must gird herself with after putting it around her neck and crossing it over her chest. She puts another large, long, apron-like towel in front of her and rolls up her sleeves. She takes a basin containing lukewarm water, puts an unfolded towel on her arm to wipe the feet, and returns to the chapter followed by her companion who carries a vase full of water to pour on the feet of the Sisters, and linens which she gives to the Prioress to change.
23. While the Prioress prepares herself in this way, the Sisters, arranged first in the chapter by rank of religion, place themselves in another order: those whose feet are to be washed stand first near the altar, six d one side and seven on the other; but the Sub-Prioress places herself at the head of her choir, near the altar, even though she is not among those whose feet must be washed; singers should never be of this number.
24. Everything being thus arranged, the Prioress kneels down and places the basin in front of the first of those whose feet she must wash, who is usually the Sub-Prioress or, in her absence, the oldest of the Sisters. ; the latter, rising a little, makes a half bow to the Prioress and presents her right foot to her; the Prioress washes him, wipes him with one of the towels that her assistant presents to her and kisses him; the Sister makes a second bow to the Prioress who moves on to the next, and so on to all those on the same side. So she leaves the chapter with her assistant to change the water and take other cloths to wipe the feet, then she comes back to finish the ceremony by those who are on the other side.
25. When the Prioress begins to wash the feet, the two cantors of her choir rise to begin in their places the antiphons of the Mandatum which the choir continues according to the order marked in the Manual; they sing throughout this ceremony, and those whose feet are washed join the others in singing.
26. When the washing of the feet is finished, the Prioress leaves the chapter, washes her hands with clear water, takes off the linen and puts on her cloak. His companion also resumes hers, and they both return to the chapter where they resume their places. The Prioress says Pater noster and the verses and prayers marked in the Manual.
27. At four o'clock, we say Compline according to the order marked in the breviary, without adding at the end Pater, Ave, Credo; then we sing the Darkness as the day before, only we add to the verse Christus factus is what is proper to this day. The cantors who intone the third antiphon of Lauds do not say: Ait latro ad latronem, but only: Ait latro.
28. The truncheon is struck at nine o'clock for discipline and examination.
29. The Sisters spend the whole night in front of the Blessed Sacrament, except for those whom the Prioress deems necessary to rest for a few hours.
30. Care is taken every year to provide the monastery as soon as possible with the holy oils consecrated on this day, and they are kept in the place intended, in a small silver vase enclosed in a leather case. The chaplain burns the holy oils of the previous year in the lamp which burns in front of the Blessed Sacrament, then he burns the wick and throws the ashes into the pool.
CHAPTER X
From Good Friday.
1. We hit a baton at five o'clock for Prime; [we strike a second knock] for the chapter that we hold at the end of Prime, and after the chapter we strike it again for the other Hours.
2. The altars remain bare as before. The cross of the great altar, which must be used for adoration, must be of wood and larger than the others; it is covered with a purple or black veil fastened with pins or clasps, so that it can be easily uncovered. The candles remain extinguished; they are only lit at the end of the adoration of the cross.
3. The large still veiled processional cross is held in the sacristy; it is discovered when the priest has discovered the cross of the altar.
4. The sacristan gives a folded tablecloth to put on the altar when the celebrant begins the service; she also provides a long rug, a purple cushion, and a white veil of purple silk; the sacristan arranges them in the church, in a suitable place, before the cross is uncovered.
5. She also prepares in the nuns' choir, on the ground, in front of the middle of the railing, a carpet, a cushion and a veil, as has just been said for the church; she puts a crucifix on it and covers it with a large black veil simply stretched out and not attached.
6. Provision is made, as far as possible, for there to be three ecclesiastics to sing the Passion.
7. A little before ten o'clock, the service begins, which is announced by two blows of the truncheon with the intervals usually observed when Mass is rung. After the priest's Communion, a blow is struck with the truncheon for Vespers.
8. If the Passion is preached in the morning, the service begins at half past eight; the sermon is given after the chanting of the Passion and before the monitions and prayers.
9. The Sisters take their place as at sung Masses; the four cantors stand at the desks to sing all that is of their office; desks should be placed so as to allow free passage for the adoration of the cross.
10. The Sisters are seated during the two prophecies, standing during the Passion and all the prayers; they bend their knees before prayers, at Flectamus genua, which is not said in prayer for the conversion of the Jews.
11. The choir sings the lines that follow the two prophecies. The four cantors begin the line Domine, audivi, and the Sisters of the first choir continue it; the cantors and the Sisters of the second choir say the second verse, and so on. The second line, Erïpe me, is sung in the same way.
12. After the prayers which follow the Passion and while the ecclesiastics prepare to uncover the cross, the nuns prepare to adore it.
13. They stand while the priest sings three times: Ecce lignum Crucis, and his ministers continue with him: In quo salus mundi pependit; they respond each time in the same tone as the priest, kneeling down: Venite adoremus; then they get up immediately, except for the third time when they remain on their knees until the Prioress has uncovered the cross.
14 The priest places the cross in front of the altar step and adores it; her ministers then adore her, then the deacon carries her down to a suitable place for the faithful to come and adore her.
15. After the priest has uncovered the cross, the Prioress, kneeling before the crucifix placed in the middle of the choir, uncovers it all at once, then she gets up and goes to the top of the choir for adoration. She advances barefoot and her hands clasped on the scapular, and genuflects three times with both knees in the middle of the choir: the first near the step of the altar, the second towards the place of the semainière, the third at two or three paces from the cross from which she goes, walking on her knees, kissing the feet of the crucifix; then she gets up, makes a deep bow to the crucifix and returns to her place.
16. When the Prioress has returned to her place and not before, the Sisters will adore the cross by rank of profession, beginning with the Sub-Prioress and the Elders. They observe the same ceremonies as the Prioress, but in succession so that one begins the first genuflection when the sisters who precede her do the second and the third. Each genuflection must not extend beyond the length of this verse: Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi, quia per sanctam Crucem tuam redemisti mundum.
17. When the Prioress discovers the crucifix, the four cantors go to their desks, and when she goes to adore the cross, the cantors of the first choir begin the song of the improper which is continued by the two choirs as it is marked in the Manual.
18. When one of the cantors goes to adore the cross, the Sub-Prioress has her replaced by another Sister, so that there are always four cantors in front of the desks.
19. We only sing the improper which is necessary for the duration of the adoration of the cross, either in church or in the choir.
20. The adoration finished, the sacristan places herself on her knees in front of the cross, lifts it up and carries it to the altar in the choir; then she removes the veil, the cushion and the carpet. We do the same in church and place the cross on the altar. From this moment until the evening, we salute the cross of the altar of the church by genuflecting and we cease all other salutation in the choir.
21. After the adoration of the cross, the Sisters kneel in front of the grid as for the ordinary Masses, and remain there until the priest has withdrawn from the altar.
22. When the procession of ecclesiastics has arrived at the altar, the subdeacon gives the sign to sing, and the four cantors begin the hymn Vexilla Regis prodeunt, which the choir continues. The Sisters also respond to the celebrant during the ceremonies of the Mass for the Presanctified. When the priests have retired from the altar, they say Vespers; during this time, the tablecloth is removed from the altar, leaving only the cross and the six candlesticks. The door to the tabernacle remains open and all the lights in the church are extinguished.
23. We say Compline and Matins as before, but in the third lesson we do not make a double inflection, because there is no Hebrew letter. We only make the usual inflection at the title, at all the dots and at these two words: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, then we make the trail at the last words.
24. In the evening, the truncheon is struck at half past eight for discipline and examination.
CHAPTER XI
From Holy Saturday.
1. The Church blesses on this day a new fire drawn from the stone; to this end, the sacristine passes to the exterior sacristy a lighter with tinder, a stove full of coals, tweezers, a few candles and matches, the stoup and the sprinkler, the censer and the shuttle.
2. She also prepares the paschal candle and, in a basin, five large grains of incense which must be placed there after having been blessed, a reed adorned with flowers arranged to carry a candle having three branches emerging from the same stem, finally, all the ornaments necessary for the altars and for the ecclesiastics.
3. The great altar is adorned with the cross, six candlesticks of the finest, but no flowers; we
put two facings on it, a white one below and a purple one above. This purple facing will be removed and the candles will be lighted for Mass towards the end of the litanies, while the ecclesiastics will dress in white vestments for Mass. We can then put flowers between the candlesticks.
4. At this time, the other altars are also adorned with white, if possible.
5. One hits the baton for Prime at the ordinary time; it is struck twice more at half an hour intervals for the service which begins immediately after None, that is to say around eight o'clock. The Sisters carry their missals and their Manuals there; they sing the Mass and all that precedes it. Four cantors are employed, except for the litanies, where there are only two.
6. Ecclesiastics perform externally the blessings and ceremonies indicated in the missal.
7. When the deacon sings Lumen Christi in progressively high tones, bending his knees and rising immediately, the choir also bends his knees and, having risen, responds in the same tone as the deacon: Deo gratias, and that by thrice.
8. While the deacon sings the Exultet, the Sisters stand facing the high altar; they are seated during the prophecies, bend their knees when one says: Flectamus genua, get up at the word Levate and remain upright, turned towards the altar, during prayers.
9. After the fourth, the eighth and the eleventh prophecy, the two cantors of the first choir begin the lines of which the choirs say the verses alternately. When the prophecies are finished and the priest prostrates himself with his assistants in front of the altar, the two cantors who have the best voice will kneel on their marks to sing the litanies, as it is indicated in the missal, it is that is to say that the singers say the entire invocation: Pater de coelis Deus, miserere nobis, Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis, and that the choir, also on their knees, repeats each time what the singers have said until in the last verse Christe, audi nos.
10. When the priest begins Mass, the whole choir rises; the four cantors come to the desks and begin the Kyrie solemnly and more calmly than the litanies, pausing between Kyrie and eleison.
11. The bells are rung during the Gloria in excelsis; but as a decree of the Sacred Congregation of March 21, 1609, following the Council of Lateran, confers on the cathedrals the prerogative of ringing before all the other churches, one will stick in each monastery to the custom of the places; however, whatever this custom may be, it cannot prevent the church bells from being rung during the Gloria. At the same time, we discover the images.
12. After the epistle, the priest sings Alleluia three times, raising his voice each time; the choir repeats Alleluia as many times and in the same tone as the celebrant; then the choir continues the verse Confîtemini; the first two cantors begin the feature Laudate Dominum, which is continued alternately by the two choirs.
13. The Gradual, the Credo, the Offertory, the Agnus Dei, and various ceremonies that are performed at ordinary Masses are omitted from this Mass.
14. The bell is not rung for Vespers, which is sung instead of the communion antiphon. The first cantor announces to the Prioress, who is in her stall, the Alleluia antiphon; the Prioress having intoned it, the two cantors of the first choir begin the psalm Laudate Dominum omnes gentes which the choirs continue alternately, then the whole choir repeats three Alleluias; then the celebrant intones Vespere aulem sabbati, which the choir continues; the first two singers intone the Magnificat; when it is finished and the antiphon repeated, the priest ends Mass and Vespers, and the choir responds to him as usual.
15. The general practice of the Church, with few exceptions, is not to give Communion to the faithful on Holy Saturday. The priests themselves do not communicate, except the celebrant; it therefore seems that the nuns should not receive communion on this day. If, however, in some monasteries there is authorization to communicate, the priest, for the communion of the Sisters, removes the ciborium from the tabernacle of the oratory and, after communion, he leaves it in the tabernacle of the high altar, of which he closes the two doors. If there is no communion, the Blessed Sacrament is put back in the tabernacle after Mass. If the Sisters had taken Communion, the bell would not ring for the examination until a quarter of an hour after Vespers, even when it was past eleven-thirty, to give them time to make their thanksgiving.
16. Compline is rung at four o'clock; they are sung and the Prioress performs the service. After Compline, the Grand Salve is sung as on the other Saturdays of the year.
17. Since the office on Saturday morning, the paschal candle, placed on a candlestick, remains at the corner of the altar, on the side of the gospel, according to the rubric of the missal. It is lit every day at conventual Masses, except those for Rogation and the Dead. For Vespers, it is lit only on the three feasts of Easter, the following Saturday called in albis, and every Sunday and feast day until Ascension, the day on which it is no longer used.
CHAPTER XII
From the holy day of Easter and Easter time.
1. At three o'clock in the morning, the three ordinary bells are rung at Matins solemn. The Sisters, dressed in their cloaks, assemble in the pre-choir and stand there; they enter the choir singing the antiphon Regina coeli, laetare, which is begun by the Prioress.
2. Matins and Lauds are sung entirely; the versiculars say together in the middle of the choir the verse of the nocturne. The antiphon Haec dies is always started by the Prioress.
3. After Lauds, [or after Prime if it is not possible to have a Mass so early in the morning,] the Sisters hear a Low Mass. They then prepare to make the procession; they wear the coats there, the Prioress does semainière and four cantors are employed.
4. Before leaving the choir, the Sisters sing standing, facing the Blessed Sacrament, the antiphons from the Manuel Exurge, Domine; Exurge gloria, and Regina coeli, which are begun by the four cantors. When they sing the hymn Aurora coelum, we leave the choir and we make the procession in the garden, if the weather allows it. The first station is made at the place where the sepulcher is represented, the second at the hermitage of the Blessed Virgin, the third at that of Saint Madeleine, the fourth before some picture of the Apostles, if possible, and the last at the choir. If the hymns and responses are not sufficient for the whole procession, they are repeated, and approaching the choir the cantors begin the Te Deum, the ringing of which is used for the Hours which are said after the procession.
5. None and the Conventual Mass are sung at regular time.
6. This morning being entirely spent in choir, there is no precise hour for mental prayer.
7. On the day and octave of Easter, the office has special rules marked in the breviary. The Haec dies antiphon is sung every hour of the week.
8. Throughout the Easter season, as on every Sunday of the year, the Church has the prayers recited standing, at the office, which are usually said kneeling.
9. During this same time, we add Alleluia to the antiphons and to the verses that are said at the beginning and at the end of the mental prayer.
CHAPTER XIII
Litanies of Saint Mark and the Rogations.
1. The Church orders to make processions and to sing the litanies of the saints on the day of Saint Mark and the three days of the Rogations.
2. According to the rubric of the missal, when the feast of St. Mark is transferred, one does not leave for it to make the procession on the same day; if, however, it arrives on Easter Day, the office is postponed after the octave and the procession is made on Easter Tuesday.
3. If several Masses are said in church on the day of Saint Mark and of the Rogations, it is more suitable and more in conformity with the missal that one of them be Rogations with purple ornaments, in spite of the feast that we celebrate.
4. The procession takes place in the cloister between the first and the second stroke of the Conventual Mass. The Sisters wear their coats there; the semainière, which is a weekday, performs the service with two cantors.
5. The cantors intone the antiphon Exurge. When the antiphon is finished, we kneel down and the cantors, also kneeling in the middle of the choir, begin the litanies. From the beginning until the invocation Pater de coelis Deus exclusively, the choir repeats the invocation sung by the cantors; we do the same from Christe, audi nos until the end. At the other invocations, the cantors only begin the verses and the choir continues: Miserere nobis, ora pro nobis, etc. One passes from one station to another only after the sign of the Prioress; it gives this sign as it is marked in the Manual.
6. This procession is not only of devotion, but of obligation; the Sisters who cannot attend must say in particular, on their knees, the litanies and the prayers.
CHAPTER XIV
From the Feast of the Ascension.
1. The Paschal candle is lit at the beginning of the conventual Mass; it is extinguished with these words from the Gospel: Et assumptus est in coelum et sedet a dextris Dei, and after Mass it is taken to the sacristy.
2. The Sisters assemble in the choir at noon and pray for an hour before the open gate, standing, as if watching Our Lord ascend to Heaven; the antiphons and orations are not said at the beginning or at the end of this exercise. When it is finished, we sing None.
CHAPTER XV
Feasts of Pentecost.
1. On the eve of Pentecost, the sacristan has two vestments put on the altar: red below and purple above. The purple facing used for the prophecies is promptly removed before Mass. The vestments of the priest should match those of the altar.
2. As on the eve of Easter, the Sisters assemble in the choir at eight o'clock, dressed in their cloaks; they are seated during the prophecies; standing, facing the altar, during prayers; finally on their knees during the litanies which are sung in the same way as on Holy Saturday.
3. Four cantors are employed for this office and only two for the litanies.
4. There are six prophecies; the lines are sung after the second, third and fourth, and the litanies after the sixth, as it is marked in the missal and in the Manual.
5. The Kyrie of the Mass is solemnly sung as on Holy Saturday, and the rest of the Mass as marked in the missal. During the Gloria in excelsis, but only after the intonation, the bells are rung.
6. On the day of Pentecost, Matins and Lauds are sung entirely; the two versiculars say together the nocturnal verse.
7. Terce is sung on the three feasts of Pentecost and, for this reason, None is sung only on the first day.
8. On the day of the feast and throughout the octave, at Tierce as at Vespers, the cantor announces the Veni Creator hymn to the week which begins it on her knees; the cantor herself immediately kneels where she is, facing the Blessed Sacrament; the choir also kneels. We only get up after the first stanza.
CHAPTER XVI
From the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament.
1. The sacristan adorns the altar and the tabernacle with their finest white facings and the church with hangings, if possible. If there are reliquaries on the altar, they are removed, or at least the relics are veiled during the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. During this same time, at least ten white wax candles are lighted on the altar; at the time of the exposition and the repositioning, the candles which are used for the elevation are still lit. The sacristan burns perfumes in pots, both in the church and in the choir of the nuns; she renews them from time to time, especially during Masses and offices, which takes the place of the incense given in other churches.
2. Tourières or any woman should not approach the altar during the exhibition; it would be good if persons promoted to Holy Orders then took care of the altar and if an ecclesiastic remained in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, watching also over the lights. The Prioresses will provide for this, if possible.
3. A Requiem Mass should not be said before the exposed Blessed Sacrament.
4. The Blessed Sacrament is exposed on the feast day and throughout the octave.
5. To regulate the hour of the exposition, it must be observed that, in the liturgical order, there is first the consecration, then the exposition. Every solemn exposition begins with a Mass which must, as much as possible, be sung. It is to this Mass that the host which is about to be exposed is consecrated; but if the exposition continues for several days, the host that is exposed is that which was consecrated on the first day; the exhibition is therefore, so to speak, continued, it is only interrupted by necessity.
6. According to these rules, the exposition takes place after the community Mass on the day of the feast, and after the Hours on the days of the octave.
7. The hour of the exhibition having come, the little bell is rung twice; the priest exposes the Blessed Sacrament and gives incense; he himself intones [or lets the singers intone] the first stanza of the Pange lingua which the Sisters pursue alternately in two choirs; the two versiculars say the verse Panem de coelo and add Alleluia to it; the priest says the prayer Deus, qui nobis sub Sacramento mirabili, and then he places the Blessed Sacrament on the throne. He does not then give a blessing.
8. All the time that the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, the gate remains open and the Sisters stand in the choir in adoration; we salute the Blessed Sacrament by genuflecting on both knees, according to the rules given in book III, chapter xii, and we do not salute the choir.
9. The exposition ends at six o'clock in the evening [or a little earlier, according to the custom of the monasteries]; the little bell was rung half an hour earlier to call the Sisters who might have left the choir; the litanies of the Holy Name of Jesus and the 1st Pange lingua are sung; the versiculars say the verse Panem de coelo to which Alleluia is added for the whole octave, and the priest says only the prayer Deus, qui nobis sub Sacramento mirabili, unless there is some reason to add more. others, then he gives the blessing in silence.
10. The Blessed Sacrament is still exposed in the churches of the Order for solemnities or public necessities, such as Indulgences and Forty Hours.
11. The chapel is then adorned as for the feast of the Blessed Sacrament; the facings of the altar must be white, even when the vestments of the priest are of another color on account of the feast day.
12. The exposition takes place after the Conventual Mass; yet at the Forty Hours, as at the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament, it only takes place after Mass on the first day; on the following days, it takes place after hours.
13. The rules given for the feast of the Blessed Sacrament are observed for all exhibitions; [however for the greetings of solemn feasts, the order usually kept in the diocese is followed in many monasteries]. Alleluia is added to the verse Panem de coelo only on the feast of the Blessed Sacrament, during its octave and at Easter time.
14. The exposition of the Blessed Sacrament takes place in the oratory in the same way as in the church; the hour of repositioning is not always the same and only the Tantum ergo is sung there; but the litanies of the Holy Name of Jesus are recited before the Blessed Sacrament, before the blessing, [at the beginning or] towards the end of the evening mental prayer.
15. When parishes or religious communities come in procession to the churches of the Order carrying the Blessed Sacrament, the chaplain, wearing a surplice and stole, unfurls a corporal beforehand on the altar and prepares the book which must be used by the priest to say the prayer; flowers are strewn along the path that the Blessed Sacrament must take, from the entrance to the courtyard to the altar.
16. When the procession approaches the monastery, the big bell is rung for two Miserere; the nuns quickly assemble in the choir and the chaplain, wearing a surplice and stole, goes to meet the Blessed Sacrament as far as the courtyard door; he is accompanied by three clerks dressed in surplices; two of these clerks carry candlesticks filled with lighted candles and place themselves near the Blessed Sacrament, the third carries the shuttle and stands near the chaplain. This precedes the Blessed Sacrament, continually incensing all the way to the altar, leveling the ground with the censer.
CHAPTER XVII
From the day of Saint Luke.
On this day, the anniversary of the establishment of the Reformed Carmel in France, all the monasteries make the procession marked in Book VI, Chapter X; but the convent of the Incarnation in Paris, which was the first to be founded and received, from its establishment, the concession of a plenary indulgence, uses a greater solemnity; this feast is celebrated there like those of the second class which have an octave, and the Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the church.
CHAPTER XVIII
From the Commemoration of the Dead.
1. On All Saints' Day, a black facing is placed on the altar under the day facing and this is removed towards the end of Vespers of the feast. The altar is left decked in black from Vespers for the Dead until the next day after Mass. The altars of the chapels are also adorned with black.
2. On the Day of the Dead, a funeral representation is prepared in the cloister, in the middle of one of the sides, on one of the graves; they set up an easel, cover it with a black cloth and place four yellow candles at the corners; a cross is placed at the head, and at the piecl a stoup with the sprinkler.
3. The Vespers of the Dead are sung after the second Vespers of All Saints; in the evening, the Matins of the Dead are also said after those of the day, at half past ten; the invitatory, the Venite and the Libera which follows the ninth lesson are sung there. The Office of the Dead is said according to the rules given in chapter xxi of this book.
4. On the day of the Commemoration of the Dead, Mass is sung and then the procession is made; we begin it in the choir and we say, instead of the ordinary Libera at the first station, the great Libera which is usually said after the High Masses of the Dead; the second station is made at the funeral representation; the responsory is said there with the prayer Deus veniae largitor for the nuns who died in the Order. The Prioress says the prayers; she always has on her right side the sacristan carrying the stoup and she sprinkles all the graves. When we arrive at the burial place of a Sister who died during the year, the procession stops, the two choirs turn towards each other and a De profundis is sung; the Prioress says the Kyrie eleison and the rest of what is indicated in the Manual following the responsory, then she says the prayer Absolve and throws holy water on the tomb.
CHAPTER XIX
From the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin.
1. On this day, Religious renew their vows; in the morning, after High Mass, the priest exposes the Blessed Sacrament in the oratory where the nuns assemble wearing their cloaks, each carrying a note containing the form of its renewal.
2. The Prioress will kneel before the Blessed Sacrament, make the sign of the cross and pronounce once, aloud, the formula of renewal which is the same as that of profession; then she prostrates herself, her arms outstretched, for the space of an Ave Maria, then she returns to her place. The Sub-Prioress then comes to renew her vows with the same ceremonies; she is followed by the other Sisters by rank of religion. When all have finished, they recite together the prayer Sanctissima, indicated in chapter xm of book VI.
3. Unprofessed novices do not attend this ceremony, but none of the professed nuns exempts herself from it if she is not completely detained by illness; she must not even, unless necessary, leave the oratory before the renovation is completed.
4. In monasteries where there is not yet an oratory, the renewal of vows takes place without the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, in chapter, before the altar, or in some hermitage of the Blessed Virgin.
CHAPTER XX
From the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin.
1. This office is said on holidays and simple feasts; we do not say it when we recite an office of nine lessons, nor on the eve of the Nativity of Our Lord, nor on the holidays of Holy Week, nor in the octaves of Easter and Pentecost, nor on Saturday when we do the Office of the Blessed Virgin. In these days, it is omitted from First Vespers, and on the eve of the Nativity, from Matins. When it is recited in choir, Matins and Vespers are said before those of the day, but the other Hours are said after those of the day. We say Prime after the Benedicamus Domino, before the reading of the martyrology. Outside the choir, it can be said by everyone at the appropriate time.
2. Prime once ended at the Benedicamus Domino; it is to recall this ancient custom that the Church retains the custom of reciting the Prime of the Blessed Virgin before the martyrology.
3. Whether we say the Hours of the small office before the great one, or whether we say them afterwards, we always begin the office which is said second after the Benedicamus Domino of the one who said it first; the verse Fidelium animae is said at the end of each of the Hours which is recited second. After that with which we end an office, we always say one of the final antiphons of the Blessed Virgin. At the end of Compline, we say Pater, Ave, Credo.
4. Although the Matins of the Blessed Virgin are said in the Church immediately before those of the day, they are recited in our Order after Compline, because of the late hour prescribed by our Holy Mother Teresa for the recitation of Matins.
5. If, on a holiday, Compline has been said before supper or snack, Matins and Lauds are said from the small office immediately after evening recreation; one enters the choir and one leaves it in silence without meeting in the pre-choir.
6. Before Matins, the whole choir being on their knees and facing the Blessed Sacrament, the one who presides begins the first words of the Ave Maria which the choir continues aloud.
7. The choirs, being turned towards each other, bend their knees at the first invitatory and at the last while the cantor says them and the choir repeats them.
8. We say while standing all the small office of the Blessed Virgin and we make a half bow to these words of the hymn of the little Hours: Maria, Mater gratiae, Mater misericordiae.
9. All the officers fulfill their duties at this office as at the canonical office, with this exception that they say everything from their stalls and only go to the middle of the choir for lessons. However, the semainière says in the middle of the choir the beginning of each of the small Hours and Compline, because she is then in this place to end the Hours of the great office.
10. The little Office of the Blessed Virgin is subject to particular rules; it undergoes modifications during Advent, the time after Christmas and Easter; during the week of the Passion, the Gloria Patri is not suppressed in the invitatory nor in the third responsory of the lessons; in Easter time, an antiphon is said after each nocturnal psalm, as in the rest of the year; a decree of the Sacred Congregation and the rubric of the Breviary prohibit the addition of Alleluias.
CHAPTER XXI
Of the Office and the Mass for the Dead.
1. Nuns of this Order are not obliged to say, either in choir or in private, the Office of the Dead prescribed by the breviary at the beginning of each month; but they are held to that of the Commemoration of the Dead and to the double offices prescribed by the Constitutions; if they have not been able to say these offices with the Community, they must recite them privately.
2. According to the Constitutions, when a nun dies, an Office for the Dead is said for her in her own monastery, and at her burial Mass is sung and a nocturne with three lessons; in the other monasteries, an Office for the Dead is said for her in the choir or in private, and the Mass is sung, if possible.
3. According to the usages of the Order, an unprofessed novice is given the same suffrage in her own monastery as professed nuns; but in the other convents only one nocturnal service is said for her, Vespers and Lauds with a low Mass.
4. When a Prioress dies in office, a second office is said for her in her own monastery with a High Mass.
5. Two full offices and two High Masses for the Superior are said in each monastery as soon as the news of the death is received. For the Visitors, we say an Office and a High Mass.
6. Each monastery also says an Office and a High Mass for its own Founder or Foundress, and only a Nocturnal Office, Vespers and Lauds with a Low Mass, for the Founder or Foundress of another convent. .
7. Nuns must still recite in choir nine Offices of the Dead in three triennia. The first three are said between the Epiphany and the Purification of the Blessed Virgin for the Brothers and Sisters of the Order; the next three between the octave of Easter and the Ascension for the fathers, mothers and relatives of living or dead Religious; the last three between the feast of Saint Michael and that of All Saints for founders, patrons, benefactors, confreres and those who had letters of confraternity, finally for servants and other people buried in churches or cemeteries of the 'Order. The Prioress chooses the days on which these offices are said, provided that they are not feast days.
8. The Sisters must do everything possible to say the services of the trienaries with the Community; but if they cannot, they are not bound to say them in particular.
9. They are still obliged to sing the Libera after certain Masses for the dead, as is said in book III, chapter xvn, § v, and to make processions for the Dead, the rules of which are indicated in book VI, chapter X.
10. Prioresses are not permitted to add anything to these charges and to have Offices of the Dead said for the seculars buried in the churches of the monasteries, unless they have founded the obligation. The Prioresses cannot accept these foundations without the consent of the Superiors, and until the latter have given their approval in writing, the convents must not and cannot be obliged to these offices.
11. All the Offices of the Dead are not said with the same ceremonies: that of the Commemoration of the Dead, the first of the two for the Superior and for the proper Prioress, that of the Visitors, of the Sisters who died in the monastery where it is said, the nocturne which precedes the High Mass of burial and the service of the own founders and foundresses, are more solemn. The nuns wear their cloaks there; the Prioress or, in her absence, the Sub-Prioress performs the office of weekly priest and only one prayer is said; four singers are employed, and they intone the antiphons and the psalms two by two; the antiphons are doubled; we sing Vespers, the Venetian with the Invitatory, the Libera after the ninth lesson and all the nocturne preceding the burial.
12. The office said for a Sister who died in another monastery must be double; but if it is said in choir, it is recited without the solemnities indicated above, and the semainière which is on weekdays performs the office there.
13. The second Office for the Superior and the second for the Prioress are also recited without solemnity, but they are always said in choir. They must be double and, therefore, they must be said on the days when the rubrics prescribe that the Office of the Dead be double, that is, on the day of the funeral, and on the third, seventh and thirtieth days from the day of death or the day of the funeral. If they are said to be on other days, they can only be semi-double.
14. The nine offices with nine lessons are semi-double, and three prayers are always said there as they are marked in the Proper for each triennium.
15. It should be noted that the chanting and the prayers for the Dead are recited in a lower tone than the other offices.
16. On All Saints Day, according to the order of the Roman Breviary, the Vespers of the Dead are said immediately after those of the day, and the Vigils of the Dead after Lauds of the day. The other Offices of the Dead are said in full after Vespers of the day; the litanies of the Blessed Virgin are then delayed and said before the evening prayer, let the bell be rung for this purpose half a quarter of an hour before five o'clock. In Lent, these services are said during the hour of the lesson, that is to say at two o'clock.
17. The Office of the Dead is not said in Holy Week, nor in the weeks of Easter and Pentecost, unless the body is present.
18. The Roman Church prescribes the color black for the funerals of the faithful; therefore all the altars are covered with black on the day of the Commemoration of the Dead. The high altar is also covered with black on the death of a Sister of the monastery and every time the Office is said and the Mass for the Dead is sung, or even a low Requiem Mass is said, if it is conventional. We do not cover it for a private Mass, unless, in addition to this Mass, we celebrate the whole morning of the Requiem Masses. The tabernacle should never be covered in black, but in purple.
19. For secular people, one follows what is prescribed, using white for children and black for adults.
20. The Church leaves the Offices of the Dead imperfect; it suppresses there the small Hours, the second Vespers and the Compline, as well as the chapters, the benedictions, the Tu autem and the Benedicamus Domino; she has the Gloria Patri replaced by the Requiem oeternam which is usually said in two verses, but only takes the place of one at the end of the Venite and in the responses.
21. The two psalms Lauda, anima mea, and De profundis are always said at preces, except on the days of the Commemoration of the Dead and of the solemn burial.
22. The Venite is not said at the office of a nocturne, except when it is sung solemnly.
23. In offices and Masses for the Dead, the plural should always be used: Dona eis Domine, Luceat eis, Requiescant in pace, even when they are said only for one person; the singular is used only at funerals.
24. The two choirs are seated or standing alternately as at the canonical office; we say, the Requiem verse seternam standing like the Gloria Patri, but without bowing; the choirs sit during lessons and kneel during preces.
25. The weekly, whatever it may be, does not go in the middle of the choir to say the Pater at the beginning of Vespers and Matins: for these offices must absolutely begin, as the Ritual of Paul V prescribes; she goes there to say prayers and prayer.
26. She says the preces, beginning with Pater noster, on her knees, even at Easter time, but she says the prayers standing. For a Bishop, we say standing preces.
27. The cantors do not announce the antiphons at the offices of the dead, and if the office is double, they begin them themselves; they do not raise them, but the whole choir takes them up. They sing in their places the psalms and canticles; however, they always say in the middle of the choir the invitatory and the Venetian. At solemn offices, they also say the Requiescant in pace after the oration of Vespers and Lauds, and the Libera which follows the ninth lesson. They also follow the rules indicated in book IV, chapter v.
28. The versiculars also follow what is prescribed for them in the same book, chapter vi, and if the office is semi-double, they begin the antiphons.
29. The readers say the lessons and their verses in the middle of the choir; they go there early enough not to be on the way while the Pater is said. At solemn offices, the last three lessons are said, as at the canonical office, by the cantors and the semainière; at the other offices, the nuns say the lessons by rank of religion, beginning with the youngest and without distinction of the office they fulfil.
BOOK SIX of the reception of the sacraments, of prayer; and many other holy actions of religious life
FIRST CHAPTER
Confessions
1. Religious confess to the ordinary confessor twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday; if a feast on which the Constitutions require communion fell on one of the days on which the confessor must come, we would go to confession the day before.
2. Confessions begin at three o'clock and end before five o'clock. If some Sister, for a legitimate impediment, could not go to confession during this interval, she must not go to confession during prayer, but the next day after the Hours.
3. The sacristan takes care that people go to confession in order, as the Constitutions say. She calls the Sisters with the bell, one after the other, by rank of religion, starting with the youngest; she ensures that there are always two or three near the confessional, awaiting the exit of the one who is confessing, so that one succeeds the other without interval.
4. The Sisters cannot go to confession more than twice a week, neither to the ordinary confessor, nor to another, without the permission of the Prioress; they must not expand into useless speeches for confession and must not tell the confessor either their name or that of the Sisters.
5. The confessor too should take cognizance only of what pertains to the confession and conscience of the Religious.
6. The Prioress, as is more fully explained in Chapter IX of Book VIII, brings three times a year, according to the ordinance of the Council of Trent, extraordinary confessors approved by the Superiors.
7. At the time of extraordinary confessions, all nuns must confess to the person designated to hear these confessions. Those who had nothing in particular to say would make their usual confession to him, if they had no reason to refrain from doing so; but according to the ordinance of Benedict XIV (Bulle Pastoralis curae), they must at least present themselves to him.
8. When the confessor enters the monastery to confess a sick nun, he puts on the surplice and the stole in advance, covers himself with the barrette, and one observes for his entry all that the Constitutions order. .
CHAPTER II
Of fellowship.
1. Religious must communicate on the days marked by the Constitutions; but as, according to the same Constitutions, the Prioress can grant some other communions when the confessor has also permitted it, she will ordinarily allow the professed members of the chapter to receive communion every Thursday and Saturday, the young professed members every Thursday, and to novices on Sundays only, if special circumstances do not allow them to be granted it more often. [As the Church nowadays encourages more frequent Communion, it is customary in most monasteries to add one more Communion, both for professed sisters and for novices and postulants.] Confessors and Prioresses retain Moreover, the freedom given to them by the Constitutions in relation to the communions of Religious.
2. The sacristan must ensure that there are always consecrated hosts in the tabernacle. These hosts must be renewed frequently, that is to say every week; however, we could wait a few more days, but we should not delay more than a fortnight. The hosts that are consecrated must also be made recently.
3. It is also the sacristan who prepares the communion grid. She takes the keys from the Prioress's hand early; at the beginning of the first Mass, she opens the little communion window and passes through it a scarf of taffeta the color of the facing of the altar; if, however, the altar were adorned with black, the sash should be of a violet color, like the pavilion of the tabernacle. She hangs this scarf as much outside as inside; she puts on top a corporal the width of the small table and, on the corporal, the gilt silver plate.
4. She takes care that, during the communion of the Sisters, the doors of the choir are always closed to prevent the current of air from causing any host or particle to fall; on days of great feasts, she burns perfumes during this same time.
5. The nuns must communicate at the conventual Mass, after the communion of the priest.
6. When the priest has taken the holy ciborium out of the tabernacle, the Prioress, in his absence the Sub-Prioress, in the absence of both the sacristan, prostrates herself and begins the Confiteor in a lower tone than the ordinary recital. The whole choir pursues him equally prostrate and remains so until after the Domine, non sum dignus. The two Sisters who are to take Communion first place themselves near the gate before the Confîteor, in order to be there before the priest and not to keep Our Lord waiting. The sacristan stands near the large grate, carrying a stoup to present holy water to the Sisters; at the same time, she sees to it that the sails are properly lowered.
7. Nuns go to Communion according to their rank, hands joined under the scapular and eyes lowered; each one takes holy water, bows deeply while the one before her takes communion, kneels down and opens her mouth slightly to receive the Holy Host. She then withdraws two or three steps back to leave the passage clear, and again bows deeply towards the Blessed Sacrament.
8. After Communion, the Sisters line up on their knees in the stalls: the first who has received Communion is placed in the stall closest to the Communion gate, the second Sister in the second stall, and so on going up to the choir altar until this side is filled; then they go to the stalls on the other side, but starting at the top of the choir to avoid meeting with those who are going to take communion. The Sisters of the white veil do not stand in the stalls, but in front of the large gate.
9. After the whole community has taken Communion, the last, who must be the sacristan, or failing that, a professed nun from the choir, bows her head a little. If the priest does not understand this sign, the sacristan tells him in a low voice that there is no one left to take communion, [or else lowers the small curtain], then the priest removes the gilded silver plate, takes it away using the ring and see if there are any particles there. The sacristan, for her part, lowers the curtain of the small window and, after Mass or after her thanksgiving, she removes the corporal and the taffeta, closes all the doors of the gate and returns the keys to the Prioress.
10. If some Sisters have a legitimate impediment to attending the Community Mass, the Prioress can allow them to communicate at another Mass; then the sacristan begins the Confiteor, and all that has been said for communion at the conventual Mass is observed.
11. The Sisters must not, unless there is a great necessity, communicate before or after Mass; if, however, this case arises, the sacristan begins the Confiteor and the same ceremonies are observed as at Communion during Mass. The priest, being back at the altar, says the prayers marked with the ritual and ends with the benediction. -
12. When the nuns have to communicate, the sacristan lights, before the priest goes to the gate, the candle placed on the credenza; he precedes him with this candle and, if he can light easily without getting up, he kneels beside him during the communion of the nuns; he extinguishes the candle only after the priest has returned the ciborium to the tabernacle.
13. The sacristan always has a small tablecloth on the credenza for the communion of the faithful. When the nuns do not communicate, it is he who says the Confiteor, and he does not light a candle to accompany the priest. After Communion, he takes the tablecloth again, folds it, puts it back on the credenza, and if Communion has been given outside of Mass, he throws the water in which the priest has purified his fingers into the sacraire. It is possible, during the time of Masses, to tie the tablecloth to the communion table.
CHAPTER III
Of Confirmation.
1. The Prioresses, according to the ordinance of Saint Charles, will do their utmost so that the Sisters who have not been confirmed before their entry into the monastery, are confirmed before taking the habit, or at least before the profession. . They will first have them carefully instructed in the truths of the Catholic faith and prepare them to receive the sacrament of Confirmation.
2. The sacristan prepares for the Bishop a cope, a white stole and a miter; she has a little table set up in the church, between the credenza and the communion rail, covered with a white tablecloth; the vase containing the holy chrism, the pontifical, the crumb of bread, the ewer, the basin and a towel are placed there. They are also preparing for the Bishop, in front of the altar, a kneeler covered with a hanging and a cushion, and in front of the grille, an armchair. In the choir of nuns, one or more bands are placed in a basin, on the altar or on a small bench near the communion grid, for those who are to be confirmed.
3. It is desirable that Confirmation take place in the morning rather than in the afternoon, so that this sacrament is received on an empty stomach and that one can take communion at the Bishop's Mass.
4. When the Bishop enters the church, the sacristan rings the big bell; the nuns immediately assemble in the choir, carrying the cloaks and the large veils lowered. If the Bishop begins with Confirmation, they kneel in the stalls, the older ones closer to the Blessed Sacrament; the Prioress opens the gate and raises the curtain; the one who is to be confirmed stands near, on her knees, the main veil lowered if she has already received it. When the Bishop says Mass before confirming, the Community lines up as at ordinary Masses and then places itself as just said.
5. If the Bishop makes an exhortation, the Sisters hear it without changing places.
6. If, after having said Spiritus Sanctus, he sings the verses of the song of the Nuns, they respond to him, standing, facing the Blessed Sacrament, kneeling only when the Bishop confirms at the small gate and when he gives his blessing; if, on the contrary, he uses Roman chant or if he simply recites, they allow the chaplains to answer and stay on their knees, also in the stalls, facing the Blessed Sacrament. In either case, they themselves sing the antiphon Confirma hoc, Deus, while standing, turned in chorus.
7. The Bishop approaches the large gate to say the prayers; then he goes to the communion gate, and at the same time the Prioress leads the Sister from the big gate to the small one; she takes off her large veil and raises the little one to leave her forehead uncovered; she kneels beside her, serves as her godmother and tells the Bishop her name. The Sister receives on her knees, hands clasped under the scapular and eyes lowered, the anointing of the saint, chrism and a light blow; then she rises, makes a deep bow to the Bishop and retires. back. The Prioress, helped by a Sister, covers her forehead with a bandage, taking care not to touch the holy chrism; she lowers the small veil, replaces the large one, and brings the confirmed Sister back to the large gate where she remains on her knees, the veil lowered, until the end of the ceremony.
8. If there were several Sisters to be confirmed, the Sub-Prioress would lead the second from the large grid to the small, and the oldest, the third.
9. While the Bishop is washing his hands, the cantors begin the antiphon Confirma hoc, Deus, which the choirs continue standing, facing each other; they then sing the Gloria Patri, the choir the Sicut erat, then they repeat the antiphon Confirma that the choir is finishing. Then the Sisters turn to the Bishop's side and stand or kneel, as explained above. The Bishop, having said the prayers, ends the ceremony by giving his blessing, which everyone receives on their knees.
10. Six or seven hours after Confirmation, the confirmed Sister is brought back to the communion grid; the confessor or the chaplain takes off the blindfold and wipes his forehead well. This blindfold is burned and the ashes are thrown into the pool, along with the water and the breadcrumbs which the Bishop used to purify his fingers.
CHAPTER IV
From the sprinkling of holy water.
1. Holy water is sprinkled on Sunday morning before conventual Mass and every evening after Compline, except Saturday; it is done on this day after the great Salve which precedes mental prayer.
2. On Sunday morning, the sprinkling is done in the church by the celebrant, and in the choir of the Religious by the Prioress; in her absence, by the Sub-Prioress; in the absence of both, by the weekly.
3. At the last stroke of the conventual Mass, the nuns having entered the choir and the psalm Laetatus sum being finished, the Prioress goes between the two desks, but closer to the gate; she salutes the choir and kneels. The youngest nun in the choir, although a novice, carries the stoup and the sprinkler; she makes the same bows as the Prioress and kneels on her right, a little forward and facing her. The two or four cantors, depending on the solemnity of the Mass, stand at their desks and the Sisters at the stalls; the Sub-Prioress lines up with them until the Prioress has returned to her place.
4. The priest, kneeling on the step of the altar, begins the antiphon Asperges me or Vidi aquam depending on the time; then the choir and the singers rise; these continue two or three words and the chorus continues the rest; they resume Miserere or Confitemini which the chorus continues; they say Gloria Patri, and the Sicut erat choir; finally they resume the antiphon that the choir completes,
5. On Passion and Palm Sundays, they do not say Gloria Patri, but resume Asparagus me immediately after the verse.
6. When the priest begins the sprinkling, the one carrying the holy water font wets the sprinkler, kisses it and presents it to the Prioress whose hand she also kisses, then she remains in the middle of the choir, in the same attitude, holding the stoup somewhat elevated, at least until the Prioress has taken some holy water again.
7. The Prioress receives the sprinkler carefully so as not to throw holy water on the ground; she makes, being on her knees, even at Easter time, a small sign of the cross on her forehead with the end of the sprinkler, then she gets up and sprinkles the side of the choir where the most worthy are, in beginning with these [and ending with the cantor]; then she returns to the middle of the choir, wets the sprinkler again and sprinkles the other side; she sprinkles the one carrying the holy water font last and gives her the sprinkler; both make the prescribed bows to the Blessed Sacrament and to the choir, leave the middle of the choir, and the young Sister carries the stoup in its place. The Sisters make a bow while receiving holy water.
8. The Prioress does not say the verses and the prayer at the end of the sprinkling; this belongs to the priest, like the intonation of the Asparagus.
9. If the Prioress does not do the sprinkling herself, the hand of her substitute is not kissed when presenting the sprinkler.
10. The evening sprinkling is done by the semainière. This one stands on its mark, even on holidays; the Sister who is to present the holy water leaves her place at the end of the antiphon of the Blessed Virgin, takes the stoup, makes the prescribed bows and places herself at the right of the semainier, on the mark of the cantor. During the Pater, the Ave and the Credo, both stand or kneel like the choir; if you are standing, the Sister who carries the holy water font turns towards the Blessed Sacrament like the semainière; if one is kneeling, it turns like the choir.
11. During the sprinkling which follows Compline, all the Sisters, even the cantors, are kneeling in the stalls at all times; when the Prioress gives the holy water, the Sub Prioress lines up with the Sisters.
12. When the Prioress gives the sign to begin, the Sister who carries the stoup wets the sprinkler, kneels down if she is not already there, and turns to the semainière; then she presents the sprinkler and the stoup, as was said for Sunday morning.
13. The semainière, being on her knees, begins the antiphon Asperges me, Domine, which is not changed at Easter time and which is never sung in the evening; she makes the sign of the cross on her forehead with the sprinkler and sprinkles the side of the choir where the most worthy is, starting with this one; she then comes to the middle of the choir to take some holy water, then sprinkles it on the other side of the choir following the same order; last she sprinkles the one holding the holy water font. She makes a half bow to the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress, before and after giving them the holy water. The Sisters make a bow upon receiving it.
14. The choir continues the antiphon Asperges me, Domine; the first cantor alone begins the psalm Miserere, the choirs of which continue the verses alternately until the end of the sprinkling; this being finished, the Gloria Patri is said, then the first cantor resumes the antiphon Asperges me which the choir continues. If there is no Gloria Patri, she waits, to raise the antiphon, until the semainière has finished giving the holy water to the two choirs.
15. The semainière, having handed the sprinkler to her who bears the holy water font, says the verses and the prayer in the middle of the choir; then both of them, having made the usual bows, leave the middle of the choir and the young Sister returns the stoup to its place.
CHAPTER V
From the Saturday Salve Regina and the Angelus.
1. Every Saturday of the year without exception, even on the eve of Easter, the Nuns, according to the ancient custom of the Order instituted in the year 1042 by Saint Gerard, Bishop and Martyr, sing the Salve Regina before the evening mental prayer.
2. The prayer is sounded a quarter of an hour earlier, the space of a Miserere. The Nuns assemble in the pre-choir wearing their cloaks; they receive a small white candle from the sacristan, light it immediately and hold it between their hands joined on the scapular; they line up in two choirs and remain upright, turned towards the picture; at the sign of the Prioress, they enter the choir in silence in the usual order, with this exception that the semainière comes last, immediately before the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress; she places herself on her mark and the Sisters take to the stalls.
3. The semainière, having made the genuflection to the Blessed Sacrament and the salutations to the choir, begins in a high tone Salve Regina; she accompanies these words with a half bow, then she genuflects a second time and returns to her stall.
4. At these words: Salve Regina, the Sisters turn towards the image of the Blessed Virgin placed above the railing, and make a half bow, like the semainière; then they turn around in chorus and continue the antiphon with joined hands. They bow a second time at the word Salve and make the inflection at each point.
5. The versiculars sing the verse in the middle of the choir; the semainière also sings the prayer there, which she ends with the great conclusion: Per eumdem Dominum nostrum Jesum Chrisium Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnât in unitate ejusdem Spiritus Sancti Deus, etc.
6. The Sisters do not turn to the Blessed Sacrament during the verse; they bow during prayer; when they have answered Amen, they extinguish their candles and the holy water is sprinkled; then all say a deeply bowed Pater and Ave.
7. According to the custom of the Church, the Angelus is rung three times a day, as indicated in Book II, Chapter XVI. Each of the nuns, wherever she is, recites this prayer on her knees, except from Vespers on Saturday until after Compline on Sunday. At Easter time, the Angelus is replaced by the Regina coeli, which is recited standing up. When the Sisters are in the refectory when the noon Angelus is rung, the reader interrupts the reading and all rise. They say the Angelus standing, hands under the scapular; the waitress and those who dine on the floor say it on their knees, on days when they have to say they are in this attitude. [Such is the ancient custom of the Order; but Benedict XIII having granted to religious houses, by a decree of December 5, 1727, the privilege of gaining the indulgence by reciting the Angelus kneeling immediately after the meal, one would take advantage of this favor by saying this prayer after graces, before begin the De profundis to go to the pre-choir.]
8. Carefully guard the very ancient and special custom of the Carmelites of saying, after the Angelus at noon, the antiphon Tua est potentia, with the verse Fiat pax and the prayers Deus, a quo sancta desideria and Ecclesioe tuae. If the Community is reunited, the Sisters recite the antiphon aloud, the versicular says the verse and the semainiere the prayers, to which we answer Amen; but the sisters who are separated say these prayers in particular and in a low voice. When the noon Angelus rings during the refectory, we say Tua est potentia aloud at the end of graces [or following the Angelus, according to what has been explained above]. These prayers are always said in the same attitude as the Angelus.
CHAPTER VI
Mental prayer.
1. The Constitutions prescribe two hours of prayer a day: one in the morning after the Angelus, at five o'clock in summer and at six o'clock in winter; the other in the evening at five o'clock at any time.
2. As soon as prayer is sounded, the nuns abandon all other occupations and go straight to choir with great recollection and modesty. They kneel in the stalls, facing the Blessed Sacrament, the youngest closer to the gate. The Prioress, or in her absence the leader of the choir, begins the antiphon Veni Sancte Spiritus in a low tone, and the choir continues in the same way. The first versicular says the verse Emitte Spiritum tuum, the choir responds to it, then the Prioress says the prayers Deus, qui corda fidelium and Gratiam tuam. At the end of the hour of prayer, she begins the antiphon Sub tuum which the choir continues; the versicular says the verse Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix, the choir responds, then the Prioress says the prayers Protege, Domine and Ecclesioe tuse. In Easter time, Alleluia is added to the antiphons and their verses.
3. Immediately after the morning prayer, the Canonical Hours are said; after that of the evening, one goes in procession to the refectory.
4. The rules given for prayer have some exceptions: that of the morning is replaced by the offices which occupy the morning hours on the days of Christmas, Good Friday and Easter; that of the evening is also replaced by the office on the three days of Darkness. During this same time, the prayers at the beginning and at the end of the morning prayer are omitted. On Ascension Day, prayers are not said either at the time of prayer, which is done at noon.
CHAPTER VII
Of self-examination and what ends the day.
1. Our Mother Saint Thérèse prescribes in the Constitutions to make the examination of conscience twice a day: in the morning before dinner, and in the evening after Matins.
2. If she orders that each one do the morning examination at the place where she is, it is because, in her time, the new monasteries had too few nuns to go in procession to the refectory. This motif no longer existing, it is better to do the examination in choir; however, those who are necessarily busy in the kitchen or elsewhere do so briefly where they are.
3. The dinner signal serves for the examination; the Nuns enter the choir without ceremony, kneel in the stalls, their faces turned towards the Blessed Sacrament, the novices closer to the gate. We do not employ more than half a quarter of an hour in this examination, including the time to assemble, and we then go in procession to the refectory, as it is marked in the book VII For the evening examination , we give about a quarter of an hour.
4. After this examination, the Prioress has the point of prayer for the next day read; it designates the epistle and the gospel of the day, if there are any particular ones, if not some meditation on the mystery of time. When the Gospel is read, the Sisters do not rise, but listen to it on their knees and the reader also stands on her knees. The reading must not exceed the length of two Miserere, so that everything ends at about eleven o'clock.
5. The reading done, the Sisters go to the pre-choir and say the psalm Deus misereatur nostri. When the prayers are over, they kneel down and the Prioress gives the blessing by making the sign of the cross over the Community without saying a word; all then bow. The sign of retreat is given with the second bell, then they retire in silence to their cells.
6. A quarter of an hour after the retreat, the Prioress has the Sub-Prioress or one of the former nuns visit the cells to see if all the Sisters returned there; after this visit, the Sisters must no longer leave their cells unless there is a great need that they could not have foreseen.
CHAPTER VIII
Discipline.
1. The Constitutions order that one take discipline every Friday of the year in choir after Matins, the space of a Miserere and orations marked in the Manual; but in Holy Week, the whole Community takes it on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evening before the examination, the space of three Miserere, of the verse Christus factus est and of the Respice prayer. To this end, the bell is rung or the truncheon is struck on Wednesday and Friday at half-past eight, and on Thursday at nine o'clock. If in these days some Sister could not take discipline with the Community, not because of illness, but for a legitimate impediment, she would take it up again in particular during the same time and the same prayers.
2. The Prioresses may permit the use of the common pool in the choir every Wednesday, [or, according to the custom of the monasteries, Mondays and Wednesdays], except those between Easter and Pentecost. We take this discipline between the two strokes of Matins, the space of the two hymns Veni Creator and Ave maris stella, or a Miserere without prayer. Discipline is omitted when on the days destined to take it one must solemnly say Matins and wear cloaks; but that of Friday is not omitted; [we anticipate it] or we put it off until the evening of the party.
3. At the hour of discipline, the lights of the choir are removed; the Prioress begins the Miserere or the hymns indicated above and the Sisters continue them alternately. On Friday, the Miserere being over, the Prioress begins the antiphon Christus faetus est which the choir continues; then the semainer says aloud the verses and prayers of the Manual, which she must know by heart.
CHAPTER IX
Sermons.
1. The Prioresses will, if possible, have regular sermons in the church on the Sundays of Advent and Lent, on the feasts of Our Lord and of the Blessed Virgin, on those of Saint Joseph, Saint Elijah, of Saint Therese, of All Saints, of Saint John of the Cross and of the titular of the monastery, finally with the catches of habit and veil, but not with the profession. They can have a few more days preached, if they see fit.
2. The sermon is usually given after Vespers [or before the salutation]; in Lent, it is done at two or three o'clock if one preaches outside of Sunday.
3. The shutters of the windows of the choir are closed, except at the sermons on the taking of the habit and the veil, leaving only the one which is nearer to the grille ajar.
4. The nuns attend the sermon with the cloaks and large veils lowered. They kneel in front of the gate before it is opened and form three or four rows a little distant from each other, the older ones closer to the gate.
5. When the preacher approaches the pulpit, the gate is opened and the curtain is raised; the nuns remain on their knees until after the Ave Maria. They then sit down on the floor where they are, without stepping back or advancing.
6. When the preacher pronounces the holy names of Jesus and Mary or when he addresses the nuns and names them, each makes a half bow.
7. The Prioresses will take care that the preachers are suitably received, accompanied and thanked by some ecclesiastic on behalf of the convent; they will also see to it that the portreses make a fire and prepare other necessary things before and after the sermon.
8. [When there is a sermon in the parlor, the nuns attend with the large veils lowered, but without cloaks.]
CHAPTER X
Processions.
1. There are two kinds of processions in the Order: one of obligation and the other of devotion.
2. The processions of obligation are those of Candlemas, Palm Sunday, Easter, Saint Mark, Rogation Days, the feasts of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Saint Joseph, Saint Elijah, Saint Thérèse, the days of Saint Bartholomew and Saint Luke, finally those of the deceased, both on the day of their Commemoration and on Mondays of each week. At these processions, the Nuns wear their cloaks and people sing (except at those of the Dead, which will be discussed later); the big bell is rung and five stations are made: the first four stations are made in the cloister and the fifth in the choir, unless the Prioress orders otherwise. When there are only crosses at the corners of the cloisters, the Sub-Prioress has small altars erected there decorated with tables of piety for the stations of the Candlemas and Palm Sunday processions.
3. The Prioress presides over the Candlemas and Palm Sunday processions; she does semainière at those of Easter, of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, of Saint Joseph, of Saint Elijah, of Saint Thérèse and of the General Commemoration of the Dead, on November 2; four cantors and two versiculars are then employed. At the other processions of obligation, the semainière does the office and there are only two cantors.
4. The processions on the days of Saint Bartholomew and Saint Luke were ordained by the first Superiors to give thanks to God, the first for the establishment of the Reformation in Avila, the second for the foundation of the Reformed Carmel in France. On the day of Saint Luke, the litanies of the Blessed Virgin are sung, the hymn O gloriosa Virginum, that of Vespers of the Common of the Apostles, in honor of Saint Luke, and that of Saint Teresa; the latter two with the corresponding verses and prayers.
5. Devotional processions are those made for some extraordinary and passing purpose, such as for public necessities or to give thanks to God for a benefit received, or finally for some just and legitimate cause. Of this number is still that which is often done after Vespers on going to a hermitage.
6. At all these processions, the Prioress regulates the number of stations according to time and place; the ordinary semainière does the office, we don't wear coats, we don't sing and we don't ring the bell. If the Prioress wants us to make one of these processions with a solemn rite, we wear the cloaks and we sing; but only two cantors are employed and the semainière is not changed. The Prioresses should only introduce this solemnity with great reserve.
7. For the procession which can take place after Vespers, one goes to a hermitage dedicated to some mystery, to the Blessed Virgin or to the saint whose feast is celebrated. On going there, the litanies of the Blessed Virgin are recited, which the two cantors begin as usual; when the litanies are over, an antiphon, a verse and a prayer are sung in honor of the saint or the mystery. This procession is omitted during Holy Week, and whenever there is a sermon or the Office of the Dead after Vespers; but one does not fail, in these last two cases, to recite in the choir the litanies of the Blessed Virgin, according to the ordinance of the first Superiors.
8. The cross is always carried at the head of the processions and, near this cross, two candlesticks filled with white or yellow candles, according to the nature of the procession. The Sub-Prioress appoints one Sister to carry the cross and two young Sisters of equal size to carry the candlesticks. The one who bears the cross holds it with both hands and turns the crucifix towards the place where the procession is going; those who carry the candlesticks are placed at his side, at an equal distance from the cross; they hold their candles straight; the one on the right puts the left hand at the foot of the candlestick and the right hand at the knot which is in the middle; the one on the left does the opposite. These three Sisters never kneel and make no bow, even when leaving the choir; they leave the choir and the places of the stations only at the sign of the Prioress; they do not separate, and at the narrow doors the candlesticks pass in front of the cross. We always keep this order if the opposite is not marked in some particular circumstance, as with the catches of coat and veil.
9. If the prayers of the procession are said in the choir, the cross and the candlesticks are not carried there.
10. When bringing relics to the procession, there are two ways to do so. If the reliquary can be held in the hand, the one who presides over it walks after all the others, between two sisters holding lighted candles; if it is a reliquary that must be carried on a stretcher, this is supported by four Sisters who place themselves near the cantors, so that there are only these and three or four former nuns after the relics; four candles are then carried, two in front of the Relics and two after.
11. At the moment of beginning the procession, the Sisters who carry the cross and the candlesticks place themselves in front of the large gate, in the middle, and the two or four cantors on their marks; the other nuns stand in their stalls, carrying their books. All are standing, facing the Blessed Sacrament; if, however, the litanies are said, they are on their knees until the sign to leave. The Prioress gives a first sign at which the cantors begin what is to be said in the procession; a little later, she gives a second to leave the choir: the cross-bearer and her companions leave immediately and the nuns follow them, the youngest first; they genuflect in pairs in the middle of the choir and each go out by the door on her side, bowing to the Prioress as they pass near her. The cantors take their place in the rank of the old nuns, leaving only two or three behind them, and finally comes the prioress in the same line as the nuns on her side.
12. Nuns keep their eyes lowered; they walk with an equal step, in two rows between which one leaves the width of the places where one passes, as long as it does not exceed three or four meters; each must be careful not to stray either in or out of the ranks and to always walk in the same line as her companion, about one meter from that which precedes her.
13. If, when passing through the gates, the first stop and are forced to go more slowly, the others stop and slow down in proportion, so that order and distances are never interrupted. Holy water is not taken during the processions; one does not stop at the Gloria Patri, but only makes a half inclination while walking; we stop at each station until the Prioress gives the sign to move on to another. When we return to the choir for the fifth station, the cross-bearer and her companions are going to replace themselves in front of the gate; the other Sisters enter each by the door on their side, genuflect two by two in the middle of the choir and line up in their stalls in the same order as before leaving. If there are any verses or prayers to be said, the officers will say them on their marks.
14. The Procession of the Dead takes place on Monday of each week, except in the octaves of Christmas and Epiphany, of the Blessed Sacrament, [of Our Lady of Mount Carmel since this octave is privileged], in the Holy Week, Easter Season and the week in which the Commemoration of the Dead falls. If this procession cannot be done on Monday, it is postponed to Tuesday or Wednesday of the same week, but never to Thursday, Friday or Saturday.
15. It is done at the end of None when we say all the Hours in a row, otherwise after Sext. It is only recited and coats are not worn; five stations are made: four in the cloister and the fifth in the choir. If the severity of the weather prevents going out into the cloister, the prayers that would have been said in the cloister are said in the choir. The bell is rung, as noted in Book II, Chapter XVI.
16. After the Benedicamus Domino of Sext or None, the Nuns leave the choir without ceremony and, at the entrance to the cloister, they arrange themselves in two choirs. [For better order, one can leave the choir in the usual way, but in silence, taking the cross and the candlesticks only at the entrance to the cloister.] The semainière goes alone, between the rows, in the middle, a soon after the cantors; she only says the Pater noster, after the responsories, when the Sisters have stopped at each station or arrived at the choir for the last. From the Pater to the end of each station, the choirs face each other.
17. If the nuns do not leave the choir, they remain in their places, standing and facing each other; the cantors and the semainière stand in the middle of the choir, always turned towards the Blessed Sacrament, and do not leave their marks until the moment of leaving the choir. In this case, the fourth responsory and its prayer are omitted.
18. After the procession, whether it is done in the choir or in the cloister, one of the cantors begins in a low voice the psalm De profundis, and the Sisters continue it by going to the front choir; the semainière says the verses and the prayer Fidelium marked in the Manual, and we end with the Pater.
19. When a procession comes from outside, all the candles on the altar are lighted, and if we are warned in advance, we adorn it a little more richly than usual. If the clergy accompanying these processions wishes to celebrate Mass in the monastery church, the appropriate vestments are prepared.
CHAPTER XI
Relics.
1. The Council of Trent expressly forbids the publication and display in churches of relics whose authenticity has not been recognized by the Bishop; the Prioresses will therefore not exhibit, either in the church or in the monastery, relics whose authentic ones are not in good order. If, however, we possessed some relic which was not in these conditions, but which had been revered from time immemorial, and that, moreover, nothing seemed contrary to its veneration, we could continue the old honors to it without further formality, except that it could not, however, be exhibited without the authorization of the Ordinary.
2. When one gives to the monastery some notable relic whose authenticity is well recognized, one wraps it with a taffeta if it is not already in a reliquary, one places it on the altar of the choir between four lighted candles , and she remains all day exposed to the veneration of the Sisters. If one gives a whole body or a large part of the body, or at least a bone of an arm or a leg, all the Sisters, dressed in their cloaks and their large veils and holding lighted candles, go receive this relic at the closing gate; it is solemnly conveyed to the choir with the ceremonies described in the preceding chapter for the processions and while singing the Te Deum. Those who carry the relic, having arrived at the choir, place themselves in the middle behind the cross-bearer. After the Te Deum, the appropriate antiphon and verse are sung, then the semainière says the prayer of the Saint whose relic is; then it is placed on the altar of the choir between four candles.
3. At the time indicated by the Prioress to hold the relic, the Sisters assemble in choir and carry it solemnly in procession with the same ceremonies, singing the litanies of the Saints to which are added in his rank the name of the Saint or of the Saint whose relic is. The station is made at a single hermitage where the antiphon, the verse and the prayer are sung, as we said above, and from there the relic is carried to the place where it should be kept.
4. The nuns cannot touch the bare relics without special permission which is only requested and which is granted only to arrange the relics and put them in the reliquaries.
5. Relics should be promptly locked up in shrines, lest dust or particles come loose. These reliquaries must be of silver, crystal, or at least of copper or gilded wood, [or carved wood]. If gold is given, the nuns can receive it: they must not be afraid of exceeding too much magnificence for the preservation of the bones of the Saints. The front part of the reliquaries must be lined with a crystal or a glass.
6. Before placing the relics in the reliquaries, they are blessed with the blessing marked in the second part of the Pontifical. One puts, on the part which must receive the relic, satin or velvet of the suitable color, then one places the relic there and one indicates beside the name and the quality of the Saint. If we put several relics in the same shrine, we would separate them in such a way that we could not confuse them. One puts seals on the reliquary of which one makes draw up the authentic one, and one cannot then leave these relics of their shrine without a special authorization; for the ecclesiastical Canons forbid it, as well as to raise the bodies of the Saints from their burial.
7. The authentic ones must be kept in the same cupboards as the relics, and the reception of the relic and the verification of its authenticity are entered in the registers of the monastery.
8. When a relic is to be exhibited, it is transferred from the cupboards to the altar in the choir by the Sister in charge of the relics, assisted by two other Sisters carrying lighted candles. All three kneel down before taking the relic, and the one who is to carry it begins the antiphon of the little office of the Blessed Virgin, Sancti Dei omnes, which her companions continue with her; then she intones the psalm Laudate Dominum de coelis or, if the distance is short, the psalm Laudate Dominum in Sanctis ejus, which she says alternately with the Sisters who carry the candles. When the relic is placed on the altar in the choir, all three again kneel and repeat the antiphon Sancti Dei omnes; that which is in charge of the relics says the verse Domine, exaudi orationem meam and the oration Omnes Sancti tui, quoesumus, Domine, nos ubique adjuvent, etc.
9. The relic remains on the altar, between two lighted candles. The time of the exposition being over, it is brought back to the cupboards with the same prayers and ceremonies, unless it is done in procession after Vespers, as was said in the preceding chapter. We then carry it back, reciting the litanies of the Blessed Virgin as usual, and when we have arrived at the hermitage, we sing the antiphon, the verse and the prayer of the Saint whose relic is.
10. On some solemn days of the year, the cupboards of relics are opened so that they can be seen and venerated, and two lighted candles are kept before them. One also lights two candles when, by extraordinary, one shows a relic to someone.
11. The Sacred Congregation of Rites permits the saying of the double office and the celebration of the Mass of a Saint on his feast day when one possesses an insignia relic of him, that is to say the body or the head. , or an arm, or a leg, or the part of the body which has been martyred, provided that it is verified whole.
12. The monasteries which have any of these relics expose them on the altar of the choir on their feast day, and they are carried in procession to their hermitage after Vespers, as has been said above.
13. All nuns must carry with them with great respect and devotion some relics contained in a small reliquary.
CHAPTER XII
Of some particular devotions of the Order.
1. The devotions of which we are going to speak are very old in the Order. It is not advisable to introduce new ones: because if, at the beginning, they are specific practices, they then become general and are a burden on the Community.
2. It is universal practice in the Order to recite after the last closing of the offices, in honor of some saints, certain memoirs composed of an antiphon, a verse and a prayer that the one takes from the breviary, as indicated in the last chapter of this book. The memoirs of the titular saint, of the Blessed Virgin and of Saint Joseph are said after Vespers; after Lauds, those of Saint John the Baptist and Saint Thérèse; after Compline, that of Saint Magdalene. These memoirs are said every day of the year, except the last two weeks of Lent and the four annual feasts; they are recited in a very low tone and on their knees, even at Easter time and on Sundays. The semainière, the cantors and the versiculars say everything from their stalls, kneeling like the choir.
3. It is also a general custom to recite the litanies of the Blessed Virgin after Vespers every day of the year, except during Holy Week. When the little memoirs have been recited, two cantors begin these litanies on their knees in the middle of the choir; they say the invocations and the choir responds to them: at the Sancta Maria, we get up and go in procession to a hermitage, as was said previously; otherwise, the entire litanies are said kneeling in choir. If one were sometimes prevented from reciting them after Vespers, they would be said half a quarter of an hour before the evening prayer.
4. Every day after the Hours, each nun goes in particular to visit the hermitage of the Blessed Virgin and another according to her devotion; we stop at each visit the space of a Miserere. On working days, you cannot visit more than two hermitages; on Sundays and feast days you can visit them all.
5. Every evening after Compline, all the Sisters return to choir, and each says in a low voice in particular a Veni Creator for those who have recommended themselves to the prayers of the Community that day, then the antiphon Sub tuum praesidium for those who are in imminent danger of death.
6. When the Nuns enter the parlor, they kneel down and whisper an Ave Maria to obtain from the Blessed Virgin that their conversation be useful to those who visit them and to themselves.
7. On Christmas Eve, at the usual wake-up time, instead of using the truncheon, the Sisters are awakened in this way: four nuns dressed in their cloaks go to the dormitory; one of them, having her hands covered with taffeta, carries a picture or a statue of the Blessed Virgin; two others sing a canticle on the birth of Our Lord; the fourth brings light to give to the Sisters in their cells. The two singing Sisters do not enter the cells; the other two, on the contrary, enter into each of them; the one carrying the Blessed Virgin presents her to kiss, which the Sisters do on their knees if they are already up.
8. The Stabat is sung every Friday in Lent. At the beginning of the lesson hour; it can still be done for a few more days if the Prioress finds it convenient. It must be remembered that there is no lesson hour on the last four days of Holy Week, nor in Lent when there is a sermon, and that this hour must then be employed at work.
9. Every month, the tickets of the Saint Protectors for the following month are distributed to the Community. Each Sister, in turn, prepares these tickets; she writes on each of them the date, the name of the Saint or of the mystery of the day, a virtue to be practiced, the special intention to which one should pray, and finally the name of an intercessor to whom one will have more recourse during the month. [Printed tickets may be used.]
10. On the last day of the month, she brings to evening recreation, in a basin strewn with flowers, the tickets she has prepared; immediately the Sisters kneel and the one who presides begins the antiphon Veni, Sancte Spiritus, which all the Sisters continue; then the Sister in charge of the tickets passes them in the rows and each takes out one, reads it and takes care to look at it from time to time during the month.
11. When there is no recreation, the Sister whose turn it is puts the basin containing the tickets on the altar of the choir, and each draws one before or after Compline.
12. In the month of December, the Sister in charge of the tickets for the month also makes tickets for Christmas; she indicates therein some particular service or homage that each must render to the Child Jesus. These notes are put in a basin at the hermitage of the Crèche, where each Sister goes to take them, as it was said in Book V.
13. On Palm Sunday, we distribute small paper crosses on which we write one of the sufferings of Our Lord. When the nuns are seated in the refectory for dinner and before the reading begins, five nuns, having their cloaks and large veils lowered, enter the refectory. One of them carries a large cross covered with a purple veil, two others stand at her side, each carrying a painting of the sufferings of Our Lord or of the Blessed Virgin; this painting is surrounded by greenery from which small crosses are hung; the other two Sisters follow singing the Stabat Mater. All five place themselves in the middle of the refectory and make a deep bow, except for the cross-bearer. This one remains in the same place with the Sisters who sing while those who carry the paintings go, each on their side, to present the crosses to the Sisters, starting with the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress. When the distribution is finished, they return to the cross-bearer, again make a deep bow with those who are singing, and leave, continuing the song until they have left the refectory.
14. On the day of the Ascension, the Sister in charge of the Saints of the month prepares the notes of the wills of Our Lord; she writes on each of them a virtue which the Savior leaves to be practiced in ascending to heaven. She puts the basin on the altar of the choir and each Sister draws a note when leaving the midday prayer.
15. At Pentecost, the Sister in charge of the Saints of the month cuts red paper and as if on fire, in the shape of tongues. She writes therein in letters of gold, on one side one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and on the other one of its fruits. At the beginning of the Hours, she places on the altar of the choir, near the Prioress, the basin containing these notes. When we started the Veni Creator at Tierce, the Prioress throws these notes on the floor of the choir [where we have prepared a carpet]; she comes first to kneel and take one, then the Sub-Prioress and all the Sisters come to take the same by rank of religion.
16. There are still some other devotions in use in the Order, but these are spoken of on the days when they are to be performed.
CHAPTER XIII
Follows the text of some prayers (in Latin: chapter omitted).
BOOK SEVEN : MEALS, RECREATIONS, OFFICE TABLES
FIRST CHAPTER
From the blessing of the table.
1. According to the Constitutions, we dine at ten o'clock from Easter until the Exaltation of the Cross on days that are not fasting, and at eleven o'clock on days that are fasting for the Order. We dine every day at eleven o'clock from the Exaltation of the Cross until Easter, even on Sundays. At Church fasts, dinner is served at half-past eleven at all times.
2. We fast on the eve of the Visitation, of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and of the Nativity, because all the eves of the feasts of the Blessed Virgin must be fasted in the Order. We also fast on the eve of the feasts of the Blessed Sacrament and of Saint Elijah, finally on the days of Saint Mark and of Rogation Days in places where the Church prescribes abstinence.
3. The supper or snack is always taken at six o'clock in the evening, immediately after the mental prayer.
4. The Sisters will each in particular wash their hands for meals, in the morning before the examination and in the evening before prayer.
5. The Community comes from the choir to the refectory, morning and evening, in the order marked in the third book, reciting one or more times, depending on the length of the journey, the psalm De profundis for all the deceased and in particular for the benefactors . Arriving at the refectory, the Sisters make a deep bow two by two to the table placed above the table of the Prioress, divide into two choirs and line up near the tables, the younger ones at the bottom of the refectory and the older ones near of the Board. They stand there, turned in chorus, until all are lined up; then the semainière says the verse A porta inferi in its place, and at the same time the Sisters turn towards the painting until the end of the prayer for the Dead.
6. After answering Amen, they turn around in chorus; then the Prioress, if she is not herself semainer, gives the sign to begin the blessing of the table. At this sign, the semainière says Benedicite, making a half bow to the Community, and the Sisters repeat Benedicite, also making a half bow; the weekly begins with one of the verses marked in the breviary, according to the time; the Sisters pursue it with the Gloria Patri and the Sicut erat without distinction of choir; the semainiere says the first Kyrie eleison and the choirs alternately say the other two; she says Pater noster, and the Sisters continue in low voices, deeply bowed. At the sign of the Prioress, all rise; the semainière says: Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, and the Sisters answer: Sed libera nos a malo. At the prayer Benedic, Domine, each one makes the sign of the cross over herself, and at these words: Et haec tua dona, the semainière makes it on the tables.
7. When we say: Et ne nos inducas in tentationem the reader comes to stand in the middle of the refectory, facing the blackboard; after the prayer Benedic, Domine, she turns to the semainière, bows, says: Jube, Domne, benedicere, and remains bowed until after the blessing.
8. When the reader begins Jube, Domne, all the Sisters turn to the painting. After the benediction, they sit down to table quietly and without confusion, and the reader ascends the pulpit.
9. When all the Sisters are seated, the Prioress or the one who presides rings the little bell to start the reading; about half a Miserere later, she rings a second bell to start the meal; only then do the Sisters unfold their napkins.
10. On certain feasts, the verses of the Benedicite are changed from first Vespers. At Christmas, they are changed the night before if the day before is a Sunday, otherwise at dinner on the feast day, and they are said until dinner on the eve of Epiphany inclusive. We begin the verses of this last holiday like those of Christmas, the evening before if it is a Sunday, if not at dinner on the day of the feast, and we say them throughout the octave. The last days of Holy Week, starting from Darkness, the tables are blessed as will be explained later. The Easter verses begin at dinner that day and end at dinner the following Saturday. Those of Ascension begin at dinner on this feast and are said for the last time at dinner on the Friday before Pentecost. Those of Pentecost begin at dinner on the eve of the feast, although first Vespers have not yet been said, because the office began in the morning at Mass; they are said for the last time at dinner on Friday in the octave of the feast, since Easter time ends on Saturday morning after None.
11. On the three days of Darkness, starting from Wednesday evening until dinner on Holy Saturday exclusively, we come to the refectory in silence. The Sisters make the bow at the board and line up against the tables as usual. [For the collation, we begin reading at the first sign; at the second, the Prioress rises and all the Sisters at the same time; then she silently makes the sign of the cross on the tables]. At Maundy Thursday dinner, the Prioress begins without kneeling the verse Chrislus factus is that the Sisters also continue standing; then they say the Pater in a low voice, then the Prioress makes the sign of the cross on the tables without saying a word. At dinner on Friday, the benediction is done as on Thursday, adding to the verse Christus factus is these words: Mortem autern Crucis, as one does at the office.
12. In these days, the reader does not ask for a blessing before reading and does not say Tu autem at the end.
13. From the dinner of Maundy Thursday inclusive to that of Holy Saturday exclusively, the bell is not used; the Prioress gives the signs at the beginning and at the end of the meal by knocking three times on the table with the handle of a knife.
14. On Good Friday, the Sisters sit on the ground and take only bread and water. They line up near the tables, one opposite the other; the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress place themselves on their side, immediately above the Religious. Each has near her a pitcher, a bucket and a knife; if any Sister, through illness or weakness, needs something other than bread, she is given what is necessary with the napkin, but she remains seated on the ground with the others and puts herself in the last place. The reader does not read from the pulpit; she sits down in the middle of the refectory, on a small straw chair, facing the painting.
15. On Holy Saturday, we say before the meal Vespere autem sabbati with the Gloria Patri, and the rest as usual.
16. The ancient custom of the Church was to eat only one meal on fast days; it was taken towards evening at supper time. It is because of this ancient custom that the breviary prescribes saying at dinner on fasting days the verse Eden pauperes and the blessing Ad coenam vitae aeternae. It does not indicate any prayer for the collation, the use of which was introduced little by little; the blessing of this meal therefore does not have a definite form common to all.
17. The custom of our monasteries is this: when we have come to the refectory for the collation in the same order as for supper and the prayer for the dead is finished, the Prioress and the Sisters will sit in their places and the reader ascends the pulpit. At the first ring of the bell, she said: Jube, Domne, beneclicere; the semainer, rising, replies: Divinum auxilium maneat semper nobiscum, and the Sisters reply Amen. Then the reader says as usual: In nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Amen, then she sits down and starts reading. At the second sign, the reader rises and says: Beneclicite; the semainer, also rising, replies: Largitor omnium bonorum benedicat collationem servorum suorum, accompanying these words with a sign of the cross on the tables; the Community responds Amen.
Chapter II
From the refectory reader.
1. The Rule of Saint Albert, in conformity with the ordinances of the Holy Fathers and of the Councils, prescribes reading during meals.
2. The lector is appointed from week to week by the Sub-Prioress and marked at the domestic office table.
3. At the end of the Benedicite, the reader asks for the blessing, as was said in the preceding chapter, and she goes up to the pulpit where she stands; at the first ring of the bell, she made the sign of the cross saying: In nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Amen, then she sits down and starts reading. She reads the title of the book and the chapter in a lower voice than the rest, but loud enough to be heard by the Sisters. When we begin a work, we name the title and the author, and each time we continue reading it, we say: Suite de tel livre.
4. The reader reads aloud, in a calm, clear and distinct manner, marking the punctuation well, in order to be fully heard by the whole Community.
5. The reading of the morning meal begins every day with an article from the Constitutions, except on Sundays and holidays.
6. On Friday, the whole Rule is read; if, however, a party fell on this day, we would postpone this reading to Saturday. [If there was still an impediment that day, we could anticipate it].
7. If any foundress or princess who could enter the monastery took her meals in the refectory, neither the Rule nor the Constitutions would be read in her presence.
8. Every evening, except on the Three Days of Darkness, we read in French, at the beginning of the meal, the Roman Martyrology; it is also good to read something every day from the life of the Saint whose feast or memory we are celebrating. We read the advice of Saint Thérèse every two months.
9. The reader must not read anything that has not been designated by the Prioress. This one chooses devotional books well purified of any error, new doctrine or thing contrary to good morals.
10. On Saturday, while the Sisters are folding their napkins at the end of dinner, the reader reads, from the pulpit, the tables for the choir offices and the domestic offices set by the Sub-Prioress. The Sisters who hear themselves named to some office make a half bow without rising.
11. At the last ring of the bell announcing the end of the meal, the reader stops reading and says: Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis, making a half-bow. In the days of Darkness, she omits these words as she omitted to ask for the blessing, as was said in the preceding chapter.
12. The reader immediately comes down from the pulpit and comes with the waitress to prostrate herself in front of the table three or four paces from the table of the Prioress; both rise when given the sign and retire to their places.
13. When the reader is absent, the one from the previous week replaces her.
14. There is another lector appointed for the second table, as will be told in chapter vii of this book.
CHAPTER III
Meal service.
1. The waitress is designated by the Sub-Prioress and marked from week to week on the office table.
2. At the first ring of the bell, it makes a deep bow in the middle of the refectory to the blackboard, kisses the ground and does not rise again until the sign of the one who presides; she then makes a second bow and puts a white linen apron in front of her.
3. She doesn't serve the soup, because the White Veil Sisters put it on the tables during the exam.
4. She receives from the provisional, through the service window, the portions of the Sisters and brings them to them on a small table. She first serves the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress, making a bow to each of them, then she continues the service by the side of the Prioress without bowing to any Sister; she then serves the other side in the same way, taking care to give each Sister what is intended for her from the kitchen. She observes the same order while serving.
5. Whenever she passes from one side of the refectory to the other, she bows to the board; she also bows before the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress when she passes by them. She sees to it that no Sister lacks what she must have and asks for it in case of need; if one of them arrives after the meal has begun, the waitress brings her what she needs.
6. If, after having served the portions, she has time left before serving, she sits on the ground near the service window to listen to the reading. She keeps this window always closed, except for the necessary time.
7. She serves dishes when the Sisters no longer need them; she does not take them to the service table, but by hand.
8. At the end of the meal, when the Prioress gives the sign to fold the napkins, the waitress takes a basket and a knife and picks up the leftover bread; after the second knock, the Community being up and ready to say thanks, the waitress comes and prostrates herself with the reader in the middle of the refectory, gets up at the same time as her and retires to her place.
9. When the Community has left the refectory, the waitress tells the Sister of the white veil who is cooking which Sisters have not had dinner, so that their dinner can be made ready. It is indicated in the chapter seen of this book what the waitress must do for the Sisters who dine after the Community.
10. On fasting days, the waitress does not serve in the evening. The provisional puts the collation on the napkins a little before the mental prayer; if it is cooked fruit that must be served hot, a Sister of the white veil puts it on the tables at the end of the prayer, as soon as the Angelus is sounded, so that everything is served before the Sisters enter the refectory.
11. In the absence of the waitress who is on weekdays, the one from the previous week replaces her,
CHAPTER IV
Of what to observe during the meal.
1. The Sisters must keep a religious and mortified dress in the refectory, remain very erect there, without leaning against the tables or against the walls, keep their feet hidden under their clothes, have their eyes lowered and not raise them. there is some noise. It is also necessary to hold the hands under the scapular at the beginning and at the end of the meal.
2. Before beginning to eat, each one kisses her bread and makes the sign of the cross over it. When the waitress presents the portions, the Sisters take what is more by hand, without making any choice and without looking at what is served to others.
3. None of the Sisters can ask for anything except bread and water; if something is missing from one of them and the waitress does not notice it, the Sister who is closest can provide it by showing the waitress what is missing, but she cannot give nor send what is served to itself.
4. One must remain silent during the meal. She who presides can only speak out of necessity and in a low voice; if the waitress or another Sister was obliged to say a few words, she would also do so in a low voice; but it is necessary, as much as possible, to express oneself by signs.
5. It is still necessary during the meal to avoid precipitation and slowness, to do your best to finish with the others, to be careful to dirty your fingers and your napkin as little as possible, and to leave very clean what you do not not eat his portions.
6. When a Sister enters the refectory after the beginning of the reading, she prostrates herself in the middle, in front of the board, and gets up at the sign of the one who presides.
7. If the Prioress comes late, she prostrates like the others, but does not wait for a sign to get up; if a Sister was with her, she would wait, before going to prostrate herself, until the Prioress was at table and could give her the sign to get up.
8. The Sub-Prioress arriving late in the absence of the Prioress, does what has just been explained for her.
9. When the Prioress, or in her absence the Sub-Prioress, enters or leaves during the meal, all the Sisters rise and bow to her passing.
CHAPTER V
Of the mortifications that take place in the refectory.
1. Mortifications in the refectory are left to the devotion of each nun and to the discretion of the Prioresses, in accordance with the Constitutions.
2. When a Sister has made a mortification in the refectory, she will kiss the scapular of the Prioress, and, in her absence, of the Sub-Prioress; in the absence of both, she does not kiss the scapular of her who presides.
3. When a nun has broken something or committed a notable fault, she comes, with the permission of the Prioress, to tell her story in the refectory. If she has broken something, she wears the pieces hanging around her neck. As soon as the Prioress is seated and before she has given the first ring of the bell, the Sister prostrates herself three or four feet from the first table, gets up at the sign of the Prioress and says her culpe on her knees; then she prostrates herself a second time and rises again at a new sign; she listens to the penance imposed on her, then goes to kiss the Prioress's scapular. If the Prioress is absent, her culpability is said before the Sub-Prioress with the same ceremonies; in the absence of the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress, it is not said.
4. There are no mortifications in the refectory from First Vespers until after Compline of the first class feasts or those of the second class which have an octave; however, it may be held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of Holy Week, although the office is solemn and of the first class. They are not made from Easter Eve, from dinner until after the octave of the feast, and from Christmas Eve until after Epiphany; As a general rule, there are no mortifications on Sundays, holidays, and on days of taking the habit, profession, taking the veil [and elections].
CHAPTER VI
Of thanksgiving and leaving the refectory.
1. When the meal is over, the person presiding rings the bell; immediately the Sisters fold their napkins, which is done in various ways: at dinner on days when we are not fasting, we reverse on the table the end of the napkin that we used, to put it back as we found before the meal; on fasting days it is folded in half down the middle, leaving it only half its width, then the end is overturned on the table. In the evening, either after supper or after snacking, we fold it up [or at least so that it takes up little space].
2. This done, the ringing is rung a second time: at this sign, all rising, answer Deo gratias to the reader, leave their places with modesty and without noise and line up in front of the tables in the same order as for the Benedicite. If some, arriving at the refectory after the others, had not finished their meal, they would not go out with the Community.
3. When the Sisters are lined up at the tables and the Prioress gives the reader and the waitress the sign to get up, the semainière begins the verse of thanksgiving which changes each time that of the blessing has been changed due to time; the whole Community pursues it and adds Gloria Patri and Sicuterat, without division of choirs. The semainière says the morning of ordinary days: Agimus tibi gratias; in the morning on fasting days and in the evening on non-fasting days, she says Benedictus Deus; the Nuns bow deeply during this prayer and respond Amen; then the cantor of the first choir begins the psalm that suits the time, and immediately the nuns come two by two, one on each side, beginning with the novices, in the middle of the refectory make a deep bow to the blackboard; they then go to the choir in procession, reciting the psalm in the usual way; if the psalm is short, we repeat it several times or else we complete the journey in silence. The Sisters who remain at the table, and even the Prioress, stand while the Community leaves the refectory.
4. Arriving at the choir, the Sisters genuflect in pairs to the Blessed Sacrament, then place themselves in the stalls, turned in choir; when the psalm is over, the semainer, remaining at her stall, says the first Kyrie eleison; the two choirs pursue the others alternately; she then says Pater noster and the other prayers of the breviary. The Sisters respond to him, [turning to the Blessed Sacrament during the verses]; they make a half bow at these words: Sit nomen Domini benedictum, and bow deeply while the semainiere says Retribuere. At the end, the Pater is recited in a low voice, the semainière says: Deus det nobis suam pacem, and when the choir has answered Amen, the one who presides gives the sign to leave the choir.
5. At this sign, the first cantor begins the psalm De profundis; the Sisters will genuflect in pairs in the middle of the choir and go to the pre-choir where they stand, facing each other until the end of the psalm. When the weekly begins the verses and prayers for the dead marked in the sixth book, they turn to the board. After the prayers, the Pater is said softly and then the Prioress says: Sit nomen Domini benedictum. All the Sisters make a half bow to these words and reply: Ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum. If the Prioress is absent, the one who presides gives the sign and the semainière says: Sit nomen Domini benedictum. We then go in silence to recess. Grace is thus said morning and evening with the changes ordered by the breviary.
6. At supper on Sundays from the Exaltation of the Cross until Easter, graces are recited in the refectory. The psalm Laudate Dominum, omnes gentes is said instead of the Miserere, and the De profundis and the prayers said in the pre-choir are suppressed. When the prayers marked in the breviary have been finished, the Prioress, or, if she is absent, the semainière, says: Sit nomen Domini benedictum, and the Community replies: Ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum; then the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress make a bow together at the table and go out first; if the Sub-Prioress was absent, the Prioress would make the bow and go out alone. The Sisters bow from their seats.
7. On fasting days, after the collation, the Sisters line up at the tables as usual and turn towards each other. The Prioress, or, in her absence, the semainière, says: Sit nomen Domini benedictum, and the Community replies: Ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum; then we go out as we have just said for Sunday supper.
8. The recipient or large portress reads once a week, on a day of fasting, after the evening collation, the alms received during the week. Before the Prioress says: Sit nomen Domini benedictum, she comes to the middle of the refectory and says: “The alms that Our Lord has given us, blessed be his Holy Name. Madame N... N... gave us..., etc.; you will commend her to God, please”. Then the Prioress designates a few prayers to be said for the benefactors, such as a Pater and an Ave, a Sub tuum or the hymn Ave maris stella, then she says: Sit nomen Domini benedictum. and we respond as usual; then the Sisters say in a low voice, on their knees and facing the painting, the prayers indicated. After that, the Prioress gives the sign; all kiss the ground, get up and go out in the usual way. If the Prioress wanted us to say a longer prayer that would take too long, she would indicate the appropriate time to say it.
9. On Holy Thursday and Good Friday, the Sisters line up as usual in front of the tables, turned in unison. The Prioress, without kneeling, begins the verse Christus factus est; the Community continues it, then the first cantor begins the psalm Miserere mei, Deus; the nuns make the bow in pairs at the table, go to the choir as usual, genuflect and kneel in the stalls, facing the high altar. After the psalm, to which the Gloria Patri is not added, the Pater is said in a low voice, then the Prioress recites the Respice prayer on her knees in the manner customary in those days; we say another Pater in a low voice and each leaves without any sign.
CHAPTER VII
From the second table.
1. The Sisters who, due to a legitimate impediment, were unable to attend the first table, such as the waitress, the reader, the provisional, the nurse and others, dine at the second table. On arriving there, they prostrate themselves in the middle of the refectory and get up without any sign, unless the Prioress or the Sub-Prioress is present. They stand [in front of the table, near their seats] and recite quite low in particular a Pater, an Ave and the Benedic antiphon, Domine, while making the sign of the cross over themselves; then they bow to the painting and sit down to table.
2. Each leaves the second table when she has finished her meal, without waiting for the others; she places herself in front of the table, near her place, standing, turned towards the picture, and says in a low voice for her graces: Agimus tibi, Retribuere, Pater, Ave, Requiescant in pace et Sit nomen Domini benedictum; then she leaves in silence. The White Veil Sisters only say Pater, Ave and Sit nomen Domine benedictum.
3. The Sub-Prioress appoints from week to week, on the office table, a particular lector for the second table. This reader goes straight up into the pulpit after the graces of the Community, and, without asking for a blessing, says: In nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Amen. Then she reads part of what was read at the first table, but never the Rule or the Constitutions. She only reads in the morning, and only for about a quarter of an hour. Then, without waiting for the sign to cease, [unless the Prioress or Sub-Prioress is present], she closes the book, says Tu autem and withdraws.
4. When the reader of the second table is absent, the one who filled this office the previous week replaces her.
5. There is no waitress at the second table the waitress at the first table serves the reader serves herself and finishes serving those who remained in the refectory at the exit of the Community the Sisters who come next serve themselves themselves and ask for their portions through the service window.
CHAPTER VIII
Of recreation.
1. The Constitutions have wisely given power to the Prioress to allow two hours of creation a day: one in the morning, after dinner, the other in the evening, after supper or snack.
2. Recreation usually takes place in the community hall or warming room; the Sisters do not speak until they have arrived at the place where she is to be, nor before there are three of them.
3. On arriving, each nun kneels down and says a low Ave Maria to offer herself again to the Blessed Virgin, asking her for the grace not to do anything in this hour that might displease her and move away from the prudence and sanctity of religious life.
4. Recreation is one of the hours of the day when there is more to be enjoyed in the practice of the virtues, particularly charity and the mortification of one's own judgment. This is the only time the Sisters communicate with each other; they must then show each other cordiality and mutual respect, approach each other with an affable face and make themselves agreeable to each other.
5. They will take care to employ part of their conversation in talk of piety, such as deeds of the Saints, reading of the refectory and other devout things which give holy joy and recreate the spirit without applying it too much. . They will abstain from relating apparitions of spirits and dreams, for these things inspire vain fears and uselessly occupy the mind.
6. The Sisters must take care not to speak too long, too loudly or several times together, to interrupt each other mutually or to show themselves stopped in their feelings; nor should they talk low between two or three, nor say things that they would not want everyone to hear. If the Prioress or the one who presides wants to say something to the Community, the Sisters stop talking to listen to her.
7. The nuns who are not at recreation cannot speak without permission outside the place where it is done, except in the kitchen while washing the bowls; but the Sisters of the white veil must not begin to speak until the Sister of the choir who comes to wash them with them has arrived; so they all say the Ave Maria on their knees and very low. The sick and those who, for some indisposition, are temporarily in the infirmary, can also talk together during recreation. If the portress and the other officers go to the kitchen or the infirmary during recreation, they speak only to say or ask for the necessary things.
8. Thirty bells are rung to indicate the end of recess; the Sisters should immediately stop talking and go to their jobs.
9. There is no recreation from Palm Sunday until Easter Day nor from Second Vespers of the Ascension until Pentecost Day; but we are nevertheless ringing the end of this hour as usual.
CHAPTER IX
From the domestic office table
1. The Sub-Prioress sets the table for the domestic offices every Saturday of the year without exception, even when the table for the choir offices is not changed. She puts the names of the Sisters on mobile tickets.
2. The Sub-Prioress does not give any office to the Prioress, not even that of zealot. She can give to herself that of zealot and the humble office, but no other. If the Prioress thinks it good that the office of cooking be given to the same Sister for a few months, and that of washing the bowls for only one day, the names of those who exercise them are not announced and it is not put not at the table.
3. The reader reads this table every Saturday at the end of dinner, immediately after that of the choir offices; then the table remains exposed, in the place that the Sub-Prioress has deemed suitable.
CHAPTER X
From the table to sweep.
1. In addition to the table for the offices of the choir and that of the domestic offices, the Sub-Prioress makes a third one indicating the Sisters who will have to sweep the different places of the house. It names not only the places of the monastery indicated here, but also all the others, except the offices and the hermitages which must be swept by the Sisters who are in charge of them.
2. The names of the Sisters are inscribed on mobile tickets; they are not changed from week to week, but only when the Sub-Prioress deems it necessary. We do not read this table in the Community, we just have to hang it on the warming room so that the Sisters can see the changes; moreover, if these changes are considerable, the Sub-Prioress notifies the Community; if she has only changed two or three Sisters, she notifies these in particular.
EIGHTH BOOK : ELECTIONS, CHAPTERS, VISITS, CONFESSORS AND PREACHERS
FIRST CHAPTER
Rules of the elections.
1. It is up to the Superiors to appoint the Religious who are to fill the offices in the new monasteries during the first four or five years of their foundation. They can also, in older monasteries and for some pressing need, establish Superiors for a few months without the Religious giving their votes.
2. When there are to be elections, it belongs by right to the Superiors to have them proceed, to attend them, to preside over them and to confirm them, even though they do not have the elective vote. They may also depute, to preside in their place at the elections, any ecclesiastic whom they deem capable; but then they grant to the deputy or retain for themselves the power to confirm the election, and designate the companion who will serve as his witness. The deputation must be given in writing.
3. Each professed nun of the chapter, [that is to say having three years of profession], has the right to active voice in the elections, if she has not been deprived of it by the Superiors; she cannot renounce it according to her will.
4. In order for a Sister to be elected legitimately and validly, it must be observed: 1° that the one who has fulfilled a charge can only be re-elected once in a row to the same charge, in the same monastery; 2° that the one who has been prioress cannot be elected sub-prioress at the same convent on leaving office; 3° that two Sopurs, or the mother and the daughter, or the aunt and the niece cannot be at the same time Prioress and Sub-Prioress, nor succeed each other immediately in these offices at the same monastery.
CHAPTER II
Notice for elections.
1. The Religious must not communicate their thoughts on the elections, nor write letters in common to the Superiors to ask them for this or that Prioress. They must also, after the election, keep their suffrage secret, and no one, the Prioress less than anyone else, must try to find out.
2. Although the Constitutions allow the freedom to give votes to others than those proposed by the Superiors, Religious should use this freedom only with caution.
3. The founders and persons of quality, whoever they are, have no part in the elections; Superiors and Religious should not pay heed to the demands they make on this subject, but make them understand that the choice of Superiors is too important for human considerations to be involved. It is necessary, if it is possible, to proceed to the elections without their being informed of it, in order to prevent the entreaties which they could make.
CHAPTER III
Of the election of the Prioress.
1. The Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the oratory, or in the absence of an oratory on the high altar, during the three days immediately preceding the election of a Prioress, that is to say for approximately forty hours. .
2. All the Sisters, capitulants or not, will often be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament during these three days, to call by prayer the grace of the Holy Spirit on the elections.
3. If one is forced to make the election secretly and there is no oratory, one does not expose the Blessed Sacrament until the night preceding the election.
4. One day before taking the votes, [or from the first day of the exhibition], the announcement of the election is made. To do this, the little bell is rung twice, as is said in Book II, Chapter XVI; the capitulants, dressed in their cloaks, assemble in front of the great gate of the choir; the Superior, wearing the surplice, the stole and the barrette, announces the election and proposes, [if he judges it opportune], as being able to be elected Prioress, three or four Sisters from the same convent or, if necessary , others of the Order. He determines the time of election, which is usually after Mass.
5. Immediately after the denunciation, the Blessed Sacrament is exposed [for the first, second or third time depending on the day on which the Superior came], and then the Religious go to their exercises.
6. The time of the election having arrived, the capitulants, dressed in their cloaks and their large veils, assemble at the grille of the choir whose curtains, shutters and wooden bars must be open. The sacristan puts white tickets in the choir, so that the Sisters can use them if necessary to write the names of those they want to elect.
7. The Superior wears the surplice, stole and barrette; the ecclesiastic who accompanies him, in accordance with the Constitutions, has only the surplice and the barrette. The Superior stands in front of the choir gate; the Prioress who comes out of charge kneels in front of him, gives him the keys of the monastery and goes to place herself in her religious rank. Then the Superior begins the Veni Creator and the Ave maris stella, which the choir continues. After these prayers, he approaches the gate, holding a box to receive the votes. The Sisters write their ticket, if they have not done so before, and come by rank of religion, starting with the first in the choir, to deposit their ticket in the box; at the same time, each raises her veil to be known. If there are sick, we observe, to take their votes, what is marked in the first chapter of the Constitutions.
8. The Superior, having moved away from the gate, spills the banknotes into a small basin and counts them [aloud] to make sure that there are as many as there are nuns; he faithfully notes on a piece of paper the names of those who have votes and the number of votes given to them, then he burns the notes in the presence of all.
9. For the election of a Prioress more than half of the votes of the capitulants are needed, and for her re-election three quarters; otherwise there is no result.
10. If no name unites the absolute majority, that is to say the number of votes required for there to be an election, the Superior, after having drawn the votes four times, says the names of the two Sisters who unite the most votes, and you can only give your vote to one of them. If the number of capitulants is even and the votes are divided by half, the votes are still drawn up to four times, and if the division still remains equal, the Superior declares to the Sisters that he will take the votes for the last times, and that in this turn the oldest by profession will win if neither of the two names has a majority. He then leaves the Sisters a few moments of prayer, then he returns to the gate to take the votes. He then makes it known whether there is a canonical election or whether, the division having remained equal, the oldest will have to be Prioress.
11. If one is in the case of making a re-election, and that after four ballots the one who has already served three years in office has not gathered the three quarters of the votes required by the Constitutions, one cannot no longer give him his vote, and the election is again carried out as if nothing had been done.
12. When a result is obtained, the Superior names aloud the one who is elected; the latter bows down, approaches the gate and kneels down. Then the little bell is rung twice, and all the nuns who have not taken part in the election come to the choir and place themselves against the stalls, one opposite the other, facing the gate, to hear from the Superior the confirmation of the new Prioress. The Superior makes a short speech, gives the keys to the newly elected and intones the Te Deum; the two choirs pursue it alternately, facing each other, and during its duration the great bell is rung.
13. As soon as the Te Deum has begun, the new Prioress takes the place of the one who preceded her at the gate; she stands there to receive obedience from the nuns. These come, beginning with the oldest, to recognize her as their Prioress; they kneel down and kiss his hand as a mark of their obedience; the Prioress in turn bows to each Sister and kisses her as a token of her affection. The Te Deum finished and the obedience rendered, the Superior says the verse Confirma hoc, Deus, and the other prayers indicated in the sixth book. The choirs then turn towards the high altar and remain so until the end of the prayers, except during the first prayer when they are deeply bowed. Then the gate is closed and the Prioress dismisses the Community.
14. [If on the day of the election of a Prioress, it is also necessary to make that of the Sub-Prioress and of the depositaries, the Superior has this done after the election of the Prioress and before rings to gather all the nuns.]
15. When the Superior has designated a Deputy to replace him in the election, the Religious place the large veil before him; this deputy has, for the announcement of the election, a companion wearing the surplice and the barette without the stole: he does, either on this day, or on that of the election, all that the Superior would have done himself; but if he does not have the power to confirm, he does not name the person elected, although she is present; he only declares to the Religious that there is an election and secretly makes known the result to the Superior. When the latter has sent the confirmation, the same deputy if he is still on the premises, if not the one who is designated, has the nuns assembled again in the choir and, [wearing the choir habit and the stole ], he informs them of the election of the new Prioress as well as the confirmation that the Superior has made of it; after which the nuns render obedience to the prioress.
16. If the elected Prioress is not in the convent, no ceremony is held after the election; but when she arrives at the monastery, the nuns, dressed in their cloaks and large veils, go to receive her at the door. When she entered, the first two singers intoned the Te Deum, which the Sisters continued as in processions. She was taken to the choir, where she took the ordinary stall of the Prioresses, while the Sisters lined up in their places. At the end of the Te Deum, the semainière says the verses and prayers indicated in the sixth book. The Sisters render obedience as stated above, except that the Prioress is in her ordinary stall and not near the gate. After that, all retire except the former Prioress, the Sub-Prioress and two or three other former Nuns who stay with the new Prioress to lead her where she wants to go.
17. In the event of the absence of the elected Prioress or in the absence of Confirmation, the one who presides returns the keys to the former Prioress and orders her to continue in charge until Confirmation or the arrival of the new Prioress, unless the Superior has ordered otherwise.
18. The Superior or the deputy who attended the elections writes and signs an act in the book of the convent.
19. When a Prioress, after three or six years, has finished her term of office and elections are not immediately held, she deposes herself.
20. This ceremony, [intended to maintain the regularity of the elections], takes place in the refectory, when people are gathered there for dinner. Before the Benedicite begins, the Prioress will kneel before the Sub-Prioress and give her all the keys of the monastery; the Sub-Prioress also receives them on her knees; then the Prioress places herself in the refectory and everywhere else in her religious rank, living among the Sisters as a simple nun, without interfering in any thing of the house. All the time that the Prioress remains deposed, the Sub-Prioress keeps the keys and it is to her that we render the honor and the obedience that we owe to the Prioress.
21. The next day, the Sub-Prioress, if she has not received any contrary order from the Superiors, returns the keys to the Prioress in the same place and with the same ceremonies. [The deposed Prioress takes over the government of the monastery, but it seems then that it is only provisionally and not. as true Prioress.]
22. If it happened that there was no Sub-Prioress in the monastery, or if, at the end of three or six years, the election was only delayed for about fifteen days, the Prioress would not step down. not in the refectory, but only on the day of the election before the Superior, as was said in n° 7 of this chapter.
CHAPTER IV
Of the election of the Sub-Prioress and of the depositaries.
1. At the election of a Sub-Prioress, one observes all that is done for the election of a Prioress, except that one does not expose the Blessed Sacrament and that one does not say the prayers. of the Forty Hours, that nothing be sung after the election, [but that only the Laudate be recited], and that the Sub-Prioress' hand be not kissed while kissing her.
2. For the election of a Sub-Prioress as for that of a Prioress, more than half of the votes of the capitulants are required.
3. If the one who is elected is present and confirmed, all the nuns, after the gate is closed, will kneel in front of her and kiss her; the Sub-Prioress is also on her knees.
4. If the election of the Sub-Prioress has not been confirmed, this ceremony is postponed until the confirmation has arrived. Then the Prioress announces the election and the confirmation to the Community, either at the chapter or at the pre-choir; the Sub-Prioress there renders the duty of obedience to the Prioress by kneeling before her and kissing her hand; the Prioress bows to her and kisses her, then all the Nuns kiss her one after the other.
5. If the elected Sub-Prioress is absent from the monastery, the Community will not go, at its own discretion, to receive her at the closing gate. The Sisters assemble in the choir and line up in the stalls, standing, facing each other; the Prioress, accompanied by three or four nuns, goes to the door of the convent to receive the Sub-Prioress; the latter comes to the choir, kneels in her stall, and, after having saluted and adores the Blessed Sacrament, goes to render obedience to the Prioress. The Prioress, standing in her stall, bows towards her and kisses her, then she leads her to the pre-choir where all the Sisters come to kiss her on their knees.
6. There must be four custodians; the Sub-Prioress is always the second, without it being necessary to elect her for this office, because, by an ancient custom, this is annexed to that of Sub-Prioress; elections are therefore only held for the first, the third and the fourth Depositary.
7. This election takes place at the choir gate; if it is done separately from that of the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress, it is not necessary for the Superior or the Deputy to wear the surplice and the barrette, nor for him to have a companion.
8. The Religious wear the large veils if the one who presides is not the Superior.
9. Whoever presides over this election proposes, [if he deems it appropriate], some of the nuns most capable of fulfilling the office of depositary; [the Veni Creator and the Ave maris Stella are said before the election], and the Sisters give their votes through secret notes. Election or re-election is by plurality of votes without requiring half. [After the election, the Laudate is said.]
CHAPTER V
From the chapter of culpes.
1. The Rule of Carmel, wishing to maintain the custom of public penance practiced in the primitive Church, orders that the chapter of culpes be held each week in which the Sisters recount, in the presence of the Community, their external faults. It should be noted that we must accuse only the faults that the Constitutions call manifest, with the external circumstances which aggravate them, and not the internal faults which must only be said in confession.
2. [The Rule again indicates to hold the chapter on Sunday; but as it leaves complete freedom to choose another day], it is an old and frequent practice to do it on Friday, before or after the conventual Mass; however, it can be postponed to another day and another time.
3. The chapter is not held in the octaves of Christmas, Easter and the Blessed Sacrament; nor is it done on solemn days when cloaks are worn at the office, nor during the Visitation. The Prioress must hold the chapter herself; if she is prevented from doing so, she cannot be replaced by the Sub-Prioress or by any other, unless, however, she is kept in bed for more than three weeks; in this case, she can have it held by the Sub-Prioress or - if she judges it appropriate - by another Religious. The one who holds the chapter in the name of the Prioress takes her place, but sits on the ground.
4. On chapter days, a wicker basket is placed on the altar, on the side of the Prioress.
5. When this exercise is rung, the nuns, dressed in their cloaks, assemble at the place where it is to be held, divide into two choirs and kneel, facing the altar, at some distance from the pews to hear the Prioress better; the elders place themselves about three or four feet away from the altar out of respect for the Prioress and for the Sub-Prioress, because a space must be left between their places and those of the Sisters. When the Prioress enters the chapter, the Sisters rise and bow as she passes, then return to their knees. The Prioress also kneels in front of her little straw chair; immediately the reader presents her on her knees with the book of the Constitutions so that the Prioress indicates what to read, then she returns to her place. The Prioress begins the antiphon Wind, Sancte Spiritus, which the choirs continue; the versicular says the verse Emitte Spiritum tuum et creabuntur, the choir responds: Et renovabis faciem terrae, and the Prioress says the prayer Deus, qui corda fidelium. Then all kiss the ground, then the two choirs turn towards each other.
6. The reader goes to the middle of the chapter, bows deeply to the Prioress and says: Jube, Domne, benedicere; the Prioress, standing, gives the benediction with these words: Regularibus disciplinis nos instructereignetur Magister coelestis. The Sisters answer Amen. The reader gets up and makes the sign of the cross, saying: In nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Amen; she then reads what has been marked for her from the Rule and the Constitutions. All are seated on the ground during this reading, except the Prioress who is on her chair. When the Prioress makes a sign to cease, the reader says: Tu autem, Domine, miserere nobis, and the Sisters having answered Deo gratias, she returns to her place.
7. When the Prioress, either before the culpes or at any other time, wishes to make an exhortation of devotion or general reproof, she says: Benedicite, then kneels down and kisses the earth; all the Sisters do the same and reply: Dominus; then the Prioress gives a sign, all rise and sit down again. If the Prioress says something after the particular accusations or otherwise, there is no more to say Benedicite or to kiss the earth.
8. When she reproaches the whole Community for a general fault, all the Sisters listen to her on their knees, although some are not guilty, and then they prostrate themselves until the sign to get up. If the reprimand is addressed to a single person, she kneels and prostrates herself alone.
9. At the end of the exhortation or the reading, the nuns come and say their faults in the order indicated by the Constitutions: first the novices of the white veil, among whom the lay sisters accuse themselves first, then the professed Lay Sisters, then the professed novices and finally the professed of the chapter, starting with the Sub-Prioress and the oldest. If any Sister had been deprived of voice and session, she would tell her faults after the professed novices.
10. The Sub-Prioress goes first, without companion, then all the Sisters come two by two, one on each side; however, if there are three Sisters of the same rank, such as three novices, three Lay Sisters, they all three go together to tell their story.
11. To say their faults, the Sisters come to the middle of the chapter, bow deeply towards the Prioress, kneel down holding their eyes lowered and their hands joined under the scapular; they kiss the earth and rise again at the sign of the Prioress. Then the oldest of the two made a bow to the Prioress and said her faults, beginning with these words: I say very humbly my culpe d'avoir, etc. When she has said all that she remembers, [or the Prioress has beckoned her to cease], she makes a second bow to the Prioress; her companion bows with her and begins to talk about her faults. When she has finished, both kiss the ground and get up at the sign of the Prioress.
12. If, after the accusation of the first of the two, the Prioress wishes to say a word of admonition or exhortation, or to have the zealot take it up again, the second awaits the end of the remonstrance or warning to say her mistakes. When speaking to the second, neither leaves her place until the Prioress has finished speaking.
13. If one of the two, being still in the middle of the chapter, remembers something of which she wants to accuse herself, she says: Benedicite; if the Prioress answers: Dominus, the Sister simply adds the omitted culp, otherwise she withdraws without saying anything more. Care must be taken not to interrupt the Prioress to ask her permission to tell her wrongdoings.
14. The Prioress gives the penance after the accusation of the last of the two Sisters, to both together if she wishes to give the same penance, otherwise to each her own. For slight faults, she can enjoin a few prayers, such as a Pater and an Ave, a hymn to the Blessed Virgin or other similar things; if the fault is notable, it gives penance in proportion as the Constitutions order.
15. After having listened to the penance, the Sisters go together to kneel before the Prioress, kiss her scapular and return in the middle of the chapter to make a deep bow to her; then the novices, if Sisters of their rank have to say wrong after them, go back to their places and wait until the last have finished to go out together, otherwise they leave the chapter immediately; the Lay Sisters do the same, then the professed novices and finally the Sisters who do not have a voice or a session. As for the Sisters of the chapter, they return to their places after having told their faults.
16. If the portress or another Sister comes to speak softly to the Prioress, the one who says her wrongdoings must stop until the Prioress is free to listen to her.
17. When a Sister comes late to the chapter, she kisses the ground in the middle and only gets up at the sign of the Prioress; if she enters during the reading, or when the Prioress speaks, or finally while a Sister says her crime, she waits to prostrate herself until the end of these things.
18. When the chapter is finished, the capitulants rise and remain standing, turned in choir. The first cantor begins the psalm Deus misereatur nostri, which the choirs pursue alternately; the same is said of the two other psalms indicated in the Constitutions. The weekday says Kyrie eleison and the other prayers one bows deeply during the Pater; we turn towards the altar for all the other prayers then we turn around in chorus when the one who presides says at the end: Sit nomen Domini benedictum. Then the Sisters make two by two, starting with the youngest, a deep bow in the middle of the chapter and leave in silence.
19. On Good Friday, the chapter is held at the end of Prime in a very special way, that the Sisters do not say their faults there; they line up as usual, but the Prioress sits down; she does not say the antiphon Veni Sancte Spiritus, and does not have a reading done; she says something about the mystery of the day, following her devotion, and strongly exhorts the Sisters to renew themselves in charity and to ask each other for forgiveness. After the exhortation, she kneels, facing the Community, says her faults, asks forgiveness in general from all her Sisters and kisses the ground; the Sisters kneel at the same time as her, prostrate themselves in the same way and get up when she makes the sign to them. After that, the nuns ask each other for forgiveness, in private and in a low voice, then they embrace each other so that if there is any cooling off between them, everything is erased and they remain in perfect charity; then they get up and leave the chapter.
CHAPTER VI
Of the zealot.
1. The Constitutions prescribe that there be a zealot charged with noticing faults, of making them known in particular to the Prioress and, with her permission, of publicly informing the Sisters of them in chapter.
2. The zealot is chosen by the Sub-Prioress; it is named on the domestic office table and changed from week to week. She must fulfill this office with discernment and prudence, bringing to it charity and leniency as well as care and zeal, having in view only the glory of God and the maintenance of rules, without letting herself be stopped by human respect. or lead by the natural inclination to censure the actions of others.
3. Although the charge of helping others in charity is attributed to the zealot, it is nevertheless permissible for all the ancient nuns to warn in charity of common or particular faults, in case of necessity, provided that it is by the order of the Prioress; they will then take care not to anticipate the zealot and not to speak if they see that she has something to say. The Sisters who do not have a voice or a session in the chapter, either because it has been withdrawn from them, or because they have not yet been admitted to the chapter although the three years since their profession have elapsed, are not not held capable of the office of zealots and cannot warn of faults. None can resume while she herself is on her knees to say her faults, because we can only speak then to accuse ourselves or to answer the Prioress if she asks questions.
4. The professed are only taken back after the departure of the Sisters of the White Veil.
5. To give a warning, it is necessary to be sure of the fault committed; it is also necessary that this fault be external and manifest and also that it be frequent, because it would not be appropriate to retake for a fault committed once and by surprise. One should only reprimand a Sister after her accusations, and abstain from informing her if she herself has accused herself of her fault or if the Prioress has reprimanded her. If the fault you want to point out is general, or at least common to the majority of the Sisters, the zealatrix warns of it at the most opportune moment; if the fault is peculiar to one or two, the zealot informs them after their accusations.
6. When the zealot or another Sister has permission to warn of a fault, she rises, and, standing, she turns to the Prioress and bows, saying: Benedicite. If the Prioress does not answer, the Sister sits down without saying anything; if she answers: Dominus, the zealatrix says: I help in charity my Sister, or my Sisters N. and N., and she simply adds, without length of words, without exaggeration, with gentleness, love and charity, the faults that she noticed; then she kisses the earth to humble herself for her own faults. The Sisters who have been warned also kiss the ground and all do not get up until the sign of the Prioress; the latter can add what she finds good to the words of the zealot.
7. The one who is reprimanded will receive the reprimand with humility and gratitude, without replying or apologizing, although the fault of which she is reprimanded does not appear to her to be such that she is reproached for it.
CHAPTER VII
From the business chapter.
1. The Constitutions indicate that the Prioress takes the advice of the depositaries in important matters, but they do not say that the advice of the other Religious should be sought; these, in fact, would not all be able to give advice and they could be distracted by the business that would be proposed to them. However, if things of such importance arise that the Prioress wants to warn the Community to encourage it to pray to God, such as the election of a Superior, the need to bring the Community out in time of war, etc. ., she can assemble the Sisters in the chapter to explain to them what she deems appropriate. The Nuns listen to the Prioress without speaking, unless she questions them. If they have something useful to communicate, they do not do so in front of the Community, but they whisper their opinion to the Prioress or wait until after the Chapter to speak to her about it.
2. For all other temporal matters, it is sufficient for the Prioress to resolve them with the Sub-Prioress and the depositaries; but if it is necessary to make a notable loan, an acquisition of annuity or other, the permission of the Superior is necessary.
CHAPTER VIII
From the Visit.
1. The Popes and the Councils have ordained that in all religious Orders monasteries should be visited from time to time in order to carefully examine their spiritual and temporal state, [Our Mother Saint Teresa, in her writing on the manner of visiting the monasteries, indicates that the Visitation was done every year.]
2. The announcement of the Visitation is made at the gate of the parlor by the Visitor who notifies the Prioress of the day and time at which the Sisters must meet in the parlor.
3. On the appointed day, the Visitor says Mass, which must be that of the Holy Spirit, if the office of the day permits; all the nuns attend and take communion there. After Mass, the little bell is rung twice; the Nuns, dressed in their cloaks and large veils, assemble in the parlor, and the Visitor goes there alone, wearing the surplice, the stole and the barrette. When the gate is opened, the nuns bow deeply to greet him, raise their veils and kneel to receive his blessing.
4. The Visitor declares the subject of his coming and exhibits his power, either verbally or by the reading of his commission, then he kneels and begins the Veni Creator, which the Sisters also pursue on their knees; he adds the verse Emitte Spiritum tuum and the prayer Deus, qui corda fidelium, then he sits down and asks the Sisters to sit down; he makes an exhortation on the arrangements that must be made for the Visitation and on the manner of proceeding with it; then he dismisses the Sisters. The Prioress alone remains in the parlor and gives the Visitor a list indicating the names of the Sisters by rank of religion, so that he can summon them successively.
5. The Visitor ordinarily visits the Blessed Sacrament before making the examination of the Religious; if he prefers to make this visit after his exhortation, or in the afternoon, or again the next day after Mass, he notifies the Sisters and determines the exact time; but if he postpones the visit to the tabernacle, he does not delay the examination of the Sisters on that account and begins it after the exhortation.
6. For the visit of the high altar, the windows of the choir are closed and the grille is opened; the nuns, dressed in their cloaks, kneel in front of the gate as at Mass.
7. Six candles are lighted on the high altar and a basin and cruets are prepared on the credenza so that the Visitor purifies his fingers if he touches the holy hosts, the humeral veil which he uses to give the blessing , and a stole for the chaplain.
8. The Visitor wears the surplice, stole and barrette; the confessor or chaplain of the monastery accompanies him in a surplice and carries a purse, a corporal, a purificatory and the key of the tabernacle; a third ecclesiastic [or a cleric], wearing a surplice, walks first carrying the censer and the shuttle; all three go thus to the altar where they kneel, the Visitor in the middle, the chaplain on his right, but a little behind, the third ecclesiastic still further back. The latter presents the chaplain with the stole which is on the credenza. After a short prayer, the chaplain rises, places the purificator on the altar beside the epistle, lays the corporal in the middle, opens the door of the tabernacle to leave the ciborium in sight, and returns to his place after having the required genuflections. He takes off the stole to help with the incensing which the Visitor does on his knees with three strokes of the censer; then the Visitor goes up to the altar alone, takes out the ciborium, opens it and sees if everything is correct and in order, that is to say if the ciborium is gilded inside, if it closes well and is covered with a suitable veil, if there are not too many patches; he asks the chaplain if care is taken to renew the hosts often, then he closes and covers the ciborium; he leaves it on the altar a little aside to examine if the interior of the tabernacle is clean, without any dust, if it is lined with a suitable material, if there is under the ciborium a corporal clean and well extended, if the tabernacle contains anything other than the Blessed Sacrament, if there is no hole through which any animal can enter, if the exterior door and that which opens onto the oratory close properly, if the key is golden. If he finds any defect, he immediately gives the order to remedy it, then he puts the ciborium back in the middle of the altar, says the verse and the prayer of the Blessed Sacrament, gives the blessing and puts the ciborium in the tabernacle. The chaplain closes the door, folds up the corporal and puts it back in the purse with the purificator. The Visitor and those accompanying him retire to the sacristy in the same order as they came to the altar.
9. When the Visitor makes incense, two cantors begin the hymn Pange lingua, which the choir continues; when he returns to the sacristy, the gate is closed and the nuns leave the choir without ceremony.
10. After the visit to the high altar, there is a visit to the altars of the chapels of the whole church, to the casket where the holy oils are and finally to the sacristy outside. The chaplain, wearing a surplice, always assists the Visitor.
11. Voting takes place in the visiting room, with the gate open and the door closed; the Visitor wears the surplice, stole and barrette; he is seated and holds near him tablets or paper and ink to write what he judges about the depositions made to him. He keeps these tablets, either on him, or in a locked box, so that no one can see them.
12. The Sisters are ready to enter immediately one after the other, beginning with the Prioress and the elders. They wear the cloaks and not the large veils, but they lower the small veil more than usual. After having received the Visitor's blessing, they sit down, and if they have to deposit something for the general or particular interest, they do so with simplicity and uprightness, taking care not to offend charity. The Visitor, for his part, inquires particularly about what looks at the enclosure and asks what access one has to the parlors, to the confessionals and to the towers, what kinds of people enter the monastery, in what way, at what time and with what need.
13. After having heard all the Sisters in particular, he designates the day and the hour to hold the chapter and to visit the enclosure and the monastery. Ordinarily, the chapter is held in the morning and the visit to the monastery takes place in the afternoon, but the Visitor can postpone it until the following day.
14. The chapter of culpes must always take place in the parlor, unless there is an important reason which obliges it to be held in the monastery, which is very rare. The Sisters are called by the sound of the bell, and they assemble in the parlor with their cloaks and large veils, kneel before the gate which is to be opened, and raise their large veils. The Visitor is alone on his side and keeps the Rule and the Constitutions close to him. The reader approaches the gate to ask the Visitor what she should read, then she returns to her place. The Visitor kneels down and begins the antiphon Veni, Sancte Spiritus, which the nuns also pursue on their knees; the first versicular says the verse Emitte Spiritum tuurn et creabuntur; then the Visitor rises to say the prayer Deus, qui corda fidelium. After the prayer, the reader goes to the middle of the parlor and asks for the blessing, saying: Jube, Dornne, benedicere. The Visitor gives it to him with these words: Regularibus disciplinis nos instruere dignityur Magister coelestis, then he sits down and all the nuns also sit down as in the ordinary chapter. The reader reads standing, and then the Visitor pronounces a short exhortation, after which the nuns say their culpes, two by two, in front of the gate, with the same ceremonies as in the ordinary chapter, except that the youngest, both novices that professed, begin first, that each one kiss the ground after having said their faults and that the two Sisters, after having listened to the penance which is imposed on them, make a bow to the Visitor at the very place where they said their faults. The Prioress says her culpes the last and without a companion, on her knees in front of the gate like the other Sisters. All the nuns stand on their knees while she says her things and prostrate with her when she has finished. Neither the Prioress nor any other gives a warning in this chapter.
15. If the Visitor has found some considerable defect on which he deems it necessary to speak, he does so when the culpes are said and the Prioress has returned to her place; then the professed novices and the professed Lay Sisters are called, and the Visitor makes an exhortation to bring the Religious to renew themselves in the observance and in the perfection of their state. After the exhortation, the unprofessed novices are called in, and the Prioress begins the psalm Miserere mei, Deus, which the half-prostrated Sisters continue in two choirs. The Prioress begins the Confiteor, which all the prostrate Sisters continue with her. Then the Visitor says Misereatur et Indulgentiam, then the following absolution:
16. Si tenemini aliquo vinculo, vel aliquibus vinculis excommunicationis aut interdicti: in quantum se extendunt gratiae et privilégia Ordini vestro indulta, mihi commissa et vobis concessa, ego absolvo vos, et restituo vos sacrosanctis Sacramentis, Eeclesise communioni et unitati fidelium, in nominates Patris and Filii and Spiritus Sancti. Amen. Item, eadem auctoritate, ego dispenso vobiscum super irregularitate vel irregularitatibus, si quarn vel si quas contraxistis, et habilito vos executioni ordinum, et officiorum vestrorum. Item, eadem auctoritate absolvo vos ab omni transgressione Regulas et Constitutionum et Ordinationum et Admonitionum majorum nostrorum, et ab omni poenitentia oblita et neglecta, et ab omnibus aliis, de quibus consuevit fieri absolutio in consimilibus Capitulis vel solemnitatibus, ut sitis absolutse hic et ante tribunal Domini nostri Jesu Christi, habeatisque vitam aeternam, et vivatis in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Insuper concedo vobis Indulgentiam plenariam omnesque alias gratias quas possum, juxta privilegia Ordinis vestri, in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
17. Finally he announces the Plenary Indulgence that the Religious gain at the Visitation.
18. If the Visitor is to hold the chapter in the monastery, the sacristan prepares for the chapter a chair on each side of the altar, one for the Visitor who occupies the ordinary place of the Prioress, the other for her companion. The Prioress lines up with the Nuns, the first on her side.
19. At the appointed time, the chapter is rung; the nuns, dressed in their cloaks and large veils, go to the door of the monastery with the cross and the candlesticks. The Visitor must enter wearing the surplice and the stole and covered with the barrette, and be accompanied by an ecclesiastic of prudence and confidence, wearing only the surplice and the barrette; he is received with the ceremonies marked in chapter vm of book XI for the reception of bishops; moreover, the Prioress presents to the Visitor, when he has given the holy water, a small cross with a crucifix and the book of the Constitutions.
20. The nuns lead the visitor in procession to the choir singing the responsory Ecce sacerdos magnus, if he is a bishop; otherwise the antiphon Ecce fidelis servus, then the Te Deum. They genuflect as usual, place themselves in the stalls, standing, turned in choir, and all bow before the Visitor as he enters the choir. The Visitor kneels before the stall of the Prioress; the Prioress lines up near the most senior Nun on her side, and says in this place the verses and prayers marked in the Manual.
21. After the prayers, the Sisters kneel, and when the Visitor gives the sign, they kiss the earth, genuflect in pairs to the Blessed Sacrament, and go to the chapter in procession, in silence, without crosses or candles. , and followed by the Visitor. They make two by two, on arriving, the bow to the altar, then arrange themselves in two choirs facing each other as in the ordinary chapter of the culpes; they stand upright and make a half bow to the Visitor when he passes to take his place at the side of the altar. The reader presents him with the Constitutions so that he can mark what she must read, then she resumes her place. The Nuns keep the veil lowered, because of the Visitor's companion; they raise it only to confess their sins and receive penance. Everything else is observed as when the Visitor holds the chapter in the visiting room.
22, When the Visitor enters with his companion to visit the regular places, the Prioress will receive him at the door of the enclosure with two or three Nuns wearing, like her, the large veil and not the cloak. They first kneel down to receive the Visitor's blessing, then they lead him wherever he wants to go, always keeping the veil lowered, because of the companion, but using neither a bell nor any other warning.
23. The Visitor begins the visit by examining the closing door, then he goes to the choir and looks at the railings; he also sees those of the oratory of the Blessed Sacrament, the infirmary, the confessionals and the parlors, makes sure that there are not too many of them and does not suffer from any of them, under any pretext whatsoever , in secret places or for a particular person. He examines the towers, the interior sacristy, the relics, the offices, the cells of the nuns; finally he goes through the whole monastery, taking care if everything is in good order and conforms to the statutes and rules of the Religion. He looks for dangerous views and pays particular attention to everything related to the fence. During this visit, each nun stays in her cell or office; when the Visitor enters, she lowers her large veil and kneels to receive his blessing. When the Visitor has finished his visit, those who accompany him take him back to the door of the monastery.
24. After going out, the Visitor sees the accounts and hands him the Book of Visits, on which he writes and signs the act of the one he has just made.
25. Saint Charles prescribes, in his Synods, that the Visitors stop in a monastery of Religious only the time necessary to visit the offices and the cloister; that they do not then separate from their companion; that, if they are domiciled in the city, they do not sleep, during their Visit, in the contiguous houses with the monastery; finally, he forbids anyone to give them a present.
26. It is sufficient for Visitors to enter once on each Visit. They must take the information at the gate of the church or in the visiting room, and complete the Visit as soon as possible. They cannot employ there for more than a week.
CHAPTER IX
Opinion on preachers and confessors.
1. The Prioresses, with the advice and approval of the Superiors, choose the ordinary confessors of the monastery.
2. In this choice, it is necessary to consider not only the piety, the virtue, the capacity and the doctrine of those to whom one wishes to entrust these functions, but also their good reputation, which must be such that nothing can be done about it. oppose. Age must also be taken into account, but between two confessors
It is less necessary to choose the oldest than the one who most abundantly possesses the required qualities.
3. It is not appropriate to arrest a confessor for his whole life, because of the mobility of the human spirit: for one might find oneself committed to keeping a person who has become incapable of fulfilling this office, however so important.
4. If the Prioress deems it appropriate, she can sometimes grant a particular confessor to a Sister for a special need, provided that this confessor has all the necessary conditions. She must never pass over this point, either for a particular confessor, or for that of the Community, whatever entreaty the Religious may make to her.
5. Monasteries should not take care of feeding the confessor, but provide a sufficient pension for maintenance and food.
6. It is good that the Prioresses take care to provide instructions to the Religious, especially when they know men of God whose word can bear particular fruit. They should call only approved preachers who are at least deacons, as prescribed by the Holy Church, and who possess science, virtue and piety. Care must be taken to admit only those whose reputation and doctrine are beyond reproach.
CHAPTER X
Of the election of the local Superior.
1. Pope Alexander VII, by the Brief of September 26, 1661, ordered that each convent should elect its local Superior every three years, which Clement IX confirmed in these terms, by the Brief of September 26, 1667:
2. "We grant by the tenor hereof to each of the Monasteries of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of the Kingdom of France, "both to those who are presently erected, and to those who will erect themselves hereafter, the power to elect" from three to three years their particular Rector or “immediate Ordinary Superior”, who however “can be successively confirmed from three to three years, as many times as it will be judged expedient and necessary for the good government of the said Monasteries; We want this selection to be made by suffrage by the Abbess or Prioress, who for this purpose will have the prerogative of two votes, and by the Sub-prioress and the Religious depositaries of each Monastery respectively, and this in the term six weeks, counting from the service of this Ordinance and establishment for this first time, and thereafter, from the death, the transfer, or the vacancy of the office of the Rector who will be at any time. That if the said selection is not made in this term, the deputation of the Rector will then belong to the said Coelius Archevesque, and to him who will be at all times Nuncio of the Holy Apostolic See in the said Kingdom: To whom also, or to the local Ordinary as delegate of the said Holy See, will always belong the confirmation of the said Rector who will have been elected as it has been said at all times: Who can not in any way interfere with the functions of Rector or immediate Superior, without having obtained the said confirmation; On condition, however, that the said Rectors may never be elected successively and immediately from the same Body, College, Congregation, Society, Chapter or Community, under penalty of nullity and disobedience... We order and Regulate similarly, that in all elections of the Rectors or Immediate Superiors of each Monastery, in addition to the Prioress or Superior, who for this purpose will have the prerogative of two votes, the Sub Prioress, and the Depositary Religious, there will be two other Religious who will be elected by plurality of votes of the Community of each Monastery, who can and must give their vote.
3. In accordance with this Brief, the Religious make the election of the local Superior every three years in this form:
4. A few days before the time has come to elect a Superior, the Prioress notifies the Community and elects the two Sisters who must compete for her election and who are appointed electors. This election is done at the chapter by the plurality of votes. We begin with the recitation of the Veni Creator, then each Sister will carry in a box, placed for this purpose on the altar of the chapter, the note on which she has written the names of the two Sisters she wants to elect. The Prioress then counts the notes in the presence of the Sub-Prioress and the first depositary who serve as her witnesses. Those who have the most votes are elected, and the Prioress appoints them as soon as possible.
5. The office of electors lasts three years; if he had to proceed several times during this interval to the election of a Superior, the same electors should take part in it. If one of them died during these three years, we would wait to replace her until a Superior had to be elected.
6. The Prioress proposes in advance to those who are to take part in the election, two or three ecclesiastics of prudence, piety and doctrine on whom they can cast their votes.
7. The day of the election having arrived, those who are to take part gather together in chapter and invoke the Holy Spirit by reciting the Veni Creator hymn with the verse and the prayer.
8. The Prioress having announced that we are going to proceed to the election of a Superior, each one will bring
his ticket in a box placed on the altar of the chapter. Then the Prioress, having with her the Sub Prioress and the depositary to serve as her witnesses, opens the box, counts the notes and counts them.
9. Four votes are needed for an election. The result obtained, the Prioress makes known to the electors, but keeps it secret for the Community until she has obtained confirmation from the Bishop. Having had the act of election drawn up, she sends it to him for him to confirm and sign.
10. When Confirmation has arrived, the Prioress brings the Community together in Chapter, says the name of the elected Superior, and then the Te Deum is said. She also sends the act of election and confirmation to the Superior so that he can take cognizance of it, but this act must be returned by him and kept at the monastery.
BOOK NINTH : NOVITIATE, PROFESSION, AGGREGATION
FIRST CHAPTER
Of the admission and entry of postulants.
1. Before receiving a postulant, the Prioress must speak with her several times and seek information from reliable people, in order to know her vocation well and assure herself that she has the spirit, the qualities and the health required by the Constitutions. Moreover, before opening the door to her, she shows her to three or four of the wisest and most judicious Nuns, and, when she is satisfied with the person who presents herself, she asks the Superior's permission to enter.
2. The people we receive must be healthy in body and mind; we must not bring in postulants who are too young and too far from the time when they can begin their novitiate. Clement IX, by the Brief of September 26, 1667, forbids receiving any postulant before she is at least fourteen years old; even then, he only allows them to be received at this age for some extraordinary cause deemed important by the Superiors. This exception can be granted in particular for the daughters of founders. We cannot receive people who are too advanced in age, if they are not foundresses.
3. Hunchbacked or lame persons can only be admitted as benefactors, and they must bring a considerable dowry or some other great advantage.
4. One could not admit, even as foundress, a person who had some stain in her honor, nor a woman whose husband was still alive, even when he promised to embrace the ecclesiastical state, nor one who had unprovided children, unless these are in the hands of faithful persons on whom their mother can legitimately discharge herself according to God.
5. Nor can a benefactress be admitted to a person attacked by an incurable or contagious disease, nor one who has been affected by evil spells or has had special communications with persons infected with malignant possessions: for it would be to be feared that no harmful impression was left on her and she communicated it to others.
6. We never receive three sisters in the same monastery, if it is not for reasons so important that it cannot have any consequence, and in this case, there can only be two who have a voice in the matter. In the same way, one cannot receive the mother and the daughter in the same house if one of the two is foundress, or that one and the other are subjects so extraordinary that the monastery could receive a great advantage from it; but in any case, they must not be received at the same time, so that one of the two may be established in virtue and religious disengagement before the entry of the other. In the capitular deliberations, the mother and the daughter, the two sisters, the aunt and the niece cannot mutually give their votes.
7. A monastery should not receive a postulant whom it knows should enter another convent of the Order, [unless the postulant herself requests it for serious reasons], for this would be lacking in charity. that the monasteries owe each other; for the same reason, a convent should not send to another subjects which it judges not suitable for itself, [unless the reasons for which it refuses them are peculiar to it and the subjects seem to elsewhere have a good vocation].
8. If a person, after having worn the religious habit, is rejected from a monastery of the Order and is then received in another, he can never be sent, to remain there, in the one from which he went out.
9. It is a grave duty for the Prioress and for the Religious not to allow themselves to be drawn into the reception of subjects by human respect or material advantages; not only will they not admit incapable subjects, but also they will not fill the places of their monastery with subjects of mediocre spirit or virtue.
10. In monasteries which are not yet built and where the number of nuns is not yet complete, there is not much work, one must be content with two lay sisters for as long as it takes. possible.
CHAPTER II
Of the novitiate and the education of novices.
1. The novitiate is made up of all those who are trying out religious life or who are completing their formation in it, that is, postulants, novices in the white veil and professed women who have not another three years of profession. The place in which the novices meet to be instructed in the rules, ceremonies and all the other exercises of religious life, also bears the name of novitiate; the novices assemble there every day from the end of Vespers until three o'clock, unless some prayer is then said in community.
2. On one of the days of the week, other than that of the chapter, the novices tell their mistress in the novitiate, before the altar, their faults. They observe the same ceremonies as in the chapter, except that they do not kiss the scapular of their mistress, but only give her a half bow.
3. The progress one can expect from a religious soul depending on the first education she receives, the mistress of novices will make it a point of conscience to go to the novitiate every day to teach novices piety, virtue , the observance of the rules and all that it is
it is necessary that they be instructed, as the Constitutions indicate; if she could not preside over the novitiate, the novices would occupy themselves privately with reading for the entire prescribed time.
4. It is still the mistress who must prepare the novices for clothing, profession and taking the veil.
5. After the novices have made their profession, they are again named novices, regarded as such and subjected to the exercises of the novitiate for the space of three years, so that, under a more consistent direction, they may strengthen themselves in the practice of virtue. During these three years, they can have neither voice nor session at the chapter of the monastery.
CHAPTER III
Of the manner of requesting and granting the habit.
1. A few interviews on the grid cannot suffice to pass a certain judgment on a postulant; also after having received her in the monastery, her vocation is tested for the space of three [to six] months before being admitted to the habit. During this trial, the postulant wears secular clothes, [but modest in shape and color]
2. Superiors can, for some serious reason, order otherwise with regard to the postulancy; however, the habit should not be given to postulants before they have completed fifteen years of age, and they are not kept for more than a year without the habit, unless they are lay sisters, or daughters of founders who were received at fourteen.
3. As for lay postulants, the Constitutions require them to be without the habit for a long time, and as secular clothing could interfere with their work, they are given, during the postulancy, the outer tunic and headdress of Religion with a scapular half shorter than that of the Nuns.
4. When the postulants, either of the choir or of the converse, have completed the time of the postulancy, when nothing has been seen in them that could prevent the vesting, and when they have given manifest proofs of their vocation with the In the hope of a serious advancement, the Prioress obtained permission from the Superior to give them the habit, and proposed them to the conventual chapter.
5. The Prioress notifies the Sisters in Chapter, after the culpes and before the closing prayers, of the next request of the postulant; she explains to them with simplicity the good and the bad qualities of the subject she proposes, as well as the judgment she makes of it. She should not seek to influence the capitulants, but only to let them know the truth, so that each one remains free of her judgment and her voice. She asks the Sisters to reflect on this proposal and recommend it to God, who alone knows the depths of hearts and foresees the future. She had the chapter of the Constitutions on the reception of novices read and what Ribera related in one of the prologues to the life of Saint Thérèse, then the chapter ended with the customary prayers. The Sisters must take care not to communicate their feelings on the reception.
6. There is an interval of eight days between the proposal of the postulant and the request for votes. This time having expired, the nuns assemble again in chapter; after the culpes and before the prayers, the Prioress kneels towards the altar and begins the Veni Creator; the Sisters, also on their knees towards the altar, pursue him in two choirs; the Prioress then begins the Ave maris Stella, which continues in the same way, then we say the antiphon, the verse and the prayer of Saint Thérèse; after which all the Sisters rise to give their votes.
7. The Constitutions wanting that the voices be given secretly by white and black beans, we put on the altar two boxes whose lid is split, so that we can pass a bean through them without seeing those which are inside . One of these boxes is placed in the middle of the altar and the other at the corner.
8. The Prioress, holding a box containing as many white and black beans as there are capitulants, gives them a bean of each color; then each, beginning with the Prioress, comes to her rank to cast her vote. If she wants to receive the postulant, she puts the white bean in the box in the middle and the black one in the corner; if she wants to refuse it, she does the opposite.
9. All the votes being given, the Prioress, in the presence of the chapter, opens the box in the middle of the altar, shows the beans so that everyone can see if there is reception or not, and the reception or refusal remains stopped. . A voice more than half is sufficient for reception. If the postulant is received and we want to let her know the result the same day, we have her come immediately to the chapter to make her request; if, on the other hand, the Prioress wishes to postpone advising him to another chapter, the vote having been completed, the psalms and other prayers which are ordinarily recited at the end of the chapter of culpes are said.
10. When, by permission of the Prioress, the postulant comes to ask for the habit at the conventual chapter, she does so, either immediately after the votes have been cast, or in another chapter, after all the nuns have said their culpes and when they are still sitting on the ground.
11. She kneels in the middle of the chapter, kisses the ground, rises only at the sign of the Prioress, and, still kneeling, with joined hands, she says: “My Mother and all my Sisters, I very humbly beg you to do me the charity of receiving me into the holy habit of Religion, even though I am very unworthy of it; but I hope with the grace of God and the assistance of your holy prayers to do better in the future than I have done in the past. » After this request, she prostrates herself a second time and waits for the sign of the Prioress to get up. Then if the Prioress announces to her that she has been received, she comes to kneel in front of her and thanks her, then goes to thank each Sister in particular before leaving the chapter; in this case, the psalms and prayers at the end of the chapter are not said. If she is informed of her refusal or the delay of her vestment, she prostrates herself, listens to what the Prioress says, and leaves the chapter after having made a deep bow to her. After he leaves, the usual prayers are said. [If the postulant is refused, it is not necessary to bring her to the chapter; but she must be informed the same day, since she cannot remain in the monastery.]
12. When the votes have been drawn once, the decision of the chapter remains invariable, as will be said in the following chapter.
CHAPTER IV
Of the manner of requesting and granting the profession.
1. Religious profession being an irrevocable contract between God and the creature, the novice and the Religion, one cannot take too many precautions before admitting to it. The chapter must therefore carefully consider whether the novice, by the exercise of mortification, obedience, devotion and the other virtues, has made herself capable of passing to the firmness of the religious state, and of leave neither to herself nor to others the subject of useless repentance.
2. It is ensured by the baptismal certificate or by another certain testimony that the novice has the age required for profession, that is to say, seventeen years of age. It is also necessary that a whole year has elapsed since the taking of the habit.
3. If a novice is not fit to make profession after the probationary year, either because her temporal affairs are not completed, or because she has not made sufficient progress in virtue, or for any other cause, one must not, for these reasons, delay those who would have taken the habit with or after it.
4. The Prioress can and should dismiss a novice with whom she is not satisfied. The help of the chapter is necessary to accept, but not to refuse, and it would be very imprudent on the part of the Prioress to risk, by proposing it, the reception of a subject in whom she did not believe the required qualities.
5. Before proposing the novice to the chapter, the Prioress obtains permission from the Superior to have her make her profession and, according to the decree of the Council of Trent, she has her examined by the diocesan bishop or his delegate. The person who has made the examination draws up an act which is kept in the chest with three keys,
6. Towards the end of the year of probation, the novice asks three times for profession with the ceremonies indicated for the request of the vestment.
7. The first and the second time, when the Prioress has spoken on the subject of the request, the pretender rises, makes a deep bow to the Prioress and leaves the chapter. On the third time, if she is not received [and she has been summoned to the chapter], she does the same; if she is admitted, she will thank the Prioress and the Sisters, as we said for the reception at the taking of the habit, and we do not say the psalms and the prayers at the end of the chapter.
8. When the votes have been drawn, either for the habit or for the profession, the decision remains invariable without it being permitted to draw the votes a second time, although one then sees a change of opinion. throughout the Community or most of it. This does not prevent the Prioress from being able to dismiss her as freely as if she did not had not been received.
9. If, after a novice has been received into the Chapter, the Superior discovers that she is unsuitable for the Order, he may refuse and dismiss her, but neither he nor the Visitors have the power to do so. to receive a subject in which the Religious would not believe the required qualities.
CHAPTER V
Ceremonies common to the taking of the habit, to the profession and to the imposition of the veil.
1. At the taking of the habit and veil, the altar is adorned with white, unless these ceremonies take place on a Sunday, or a double feast, or the votive Mass that is said, requires another color. A coarse serge carpet is prepared in the middle of the choir, and near the railing, but apart, two candlesticks to place the candles of the Prioress and the novice when they have to leave them; four candles of white wax are lighted on the altar of the choir, and the stoup and the sprinkler are kept ready. Throughout the ceremony, the curtains and frames of the gate are open as well as the wooden bars; so are the window shutters, even during the sermon.
2. For the profession, one spreads in the middle of the chapter the carpet of serge, one prepares the sprinkler and the stoup, and two candlesticks to pose the candles there. We don't preach.
3. Four cantors are employed at these three ceremonies, which all the nuns attend, wearing cloaks and holding lighted candles; in the grips of coat and veil, they also wear the main veil lowered. They do not bow to any prayer, but they do so as usual at the Pater and at the Gloria; they are turned in chorus only during hymns, psalms, antiphons and responses, and when seated or deeply bowed.
4. If several novices receive the habit or the veil, or make profession together, what is in the singular in the prayers is said in the plural, and the priest or the Prioress repeats for each novice the blessings and the signs of the cross. The Prioress leads one of the novices, the Sub-Prioress the second, and the most senior Nun the third, but it is the Prioress who dresses them all.
CHAPTER VI
Of the taking of the habit.
1. On the day of the vestment, the sacristine passes to the exterior sacristy the robe and the coat which must be used by the novice, so that the chaplain of the monastery or another ecclesiastic may bless them in the morning, with the blessing marked in the Manual. . It should be noted that it is not only this first habit of the day of the vestment that must be blessed but all those that are given to the Religious.
2. It is an ancient custom of the Order to bring out of the monastery, before the ceremony, the postulants who are to receive the religious habit so that, still wearing that of the century and having complete freedom, they can see their parents. and confer with them. However, this outing should only last a few hours and not extend beyond the portieres' accommodation. The Prioress could suppress it if she considered it prejudicial or if the one who took the habit did not want it.
3. The clothing is done in the afternoon or in the morning, the sermon can be done at the beginning or at the end of the ceremony. When it takes place in the morning, the postulant hears Mass publicly in the church, on a prie-dieu covered with a drapery and a cushion; she holds a lighted candle [but she can place it near her on a candlestick during Mass]. When the ceremony takes place in the afternoon, the Sister hears Vespers in the same way.
4. After Mass or Vespers, and also after the sermon if it is done then, the postulant, still holding her candle, comes to the main door of the convent where all the nuns, after having gathered at the front choir, go in procession to receive it; the cross-bearer has an embroidered white taffeta on the hands. The Sisters line up in two choirs facing each other, the younger ones farther from the enclosure door. Those who hold the cross and the candlesticks stand even further away, their faces turned towards the door.
5. When the novice sets foot in the monastery, the cross-bearer, advancing with her two companions, presents the cross to her; the Sister kneels and kisses her; then the cross-bearer returns to put herself at the head of the procession to go to the choir. The Prioress comes in the last row, leading the novice by the hand; if there was another, the Sub-Prioress would lead her and make the penultimate row.
6. As we leave in procession, the first two cantors begin the hymn 0 gloriosa Virginum, which the Sisters continue, repeating it, if necessary, until all are placed in the choir.
7. On entering the choir, the Sisters carrying the candlesticks each pass through the door on her side, preceding the cross to which they quickly approach.
8. The cross-bearer and her companions place themselves at the end of the carpet which is in the middle of the choir; they make no bow, but stop for the space of a Gloria Patri; so if there is a door at the bottom of the choir, they go out to deposit the cross and the candlesticks in the fore-choir, otherwise they line up at the corner of the choir, between the stalls and the gate, and only come out. at the end of the prayer Deus, qui excellentissimae. In any case they return to the choir, each by the door on his side, with lighted candles, and place themselves in their stalls.
9. The other nuns, on arriving at the choir, genuflect to the Blessed Sacrament near the carpet, place themselves in the stalls, the older ones closer to the railing, and stand, turned in choir. The Prioress or any other who leads a novice, genuflects with her, accompanies her to the railing where she has her kneel, and returns to her stall.
10. If the novice does not leave the monastery, the nuns assemble in the pre-choir and enter the choir processionally in the order just indicated, singing the hymn 0 gloriosa Virginum.
11. When the novice is in her place, the hymn ceases to be sung, and the two versiculars sing in the middle of the choir the verse Orapro ea, sancta Dei Genitrix, to which the choir responds.
12. The priest who gives the habit, wearing the surplice and the stole, is seated near the grating on a high seat; he is assisted by another priest, wearing only a surplice, seated on a lower seat, the latter must have the font and the sprinkler close to him to present it to the officiating priest. This one,; after the verse, rise and say the prayer Deus qui exeellentissimae; then having sat down, he makes in a loud and intelligible voice the questions marked in the Manual; the novice responds in the same way.
13. As soon as the priest has said: Exuat te Dominus, etc., the Prioress leads the novice to the pre-choir or to an adjoining room; there, both place their candles on candlesticks; then the Prioress, helped by some Sisters, strips the novice of her secular clothes, and puts on her the dress, the coat, the cap, the small veil and the alpargates.
14. During this time, the priest blesses the mantle, the scapular, the belt and the great veil, which are on a small bench near the gate.
15. The choirs stand facing the grid during this benediction; then [we begin the psalm In exitu Israel and] we sit down until the return of the Prioress. When the latter has put on the novice and both have taken up their candles, she brings her back to the choir and makes her resume her first place, on her knees near the gate. The Sisters make a half bow to the Prioress as she passes in front of them.
16. The priest says the verses and prayers of the Manual, to which the Sisters respond, facing the Blessed Sacrament. After all the prayers, he says to the novice: Induat te Dominus, etc., and at these words: In nomine Patris, he makes the sign of the cross over her. Then the novice leaves her candle; the Prioress, having also left her own, dresses it successively with the sash, the scapular and the mantle, first presenting each of these parts of the habit to the priest, who makes the sign of the cross over the novice giving the blessings marked in the Manual.
17. The novice, dressed in religious vestments, takes up her candle and stands on her knees, her head bowed; the priest throws holy water on her, stretches out his hand over her and says the prayer Adesto Domine; during this time, the Prioress retires to her place and takes up her candle. After the prayer, the priest kneels in the same place, but facing the Blessed Sacrament, and begins the hymn Veni, Creator Spiritus. The Nuns continue it with two choirs; they are on their knees towards the Blessed Sacrament for the first stanza, and standing, turned in choir, for the others.
18. After the first stanza, the Prioress picks up the novice, leads her to the middle of the choir, makes her prostrate on the carpet with her arms outstretched and returns to her place. Before the novice prostrates herself, the Sister closest to the Prioress Square comes forward to take her candle, and does not give it back until the end of the ceremony.
19. After the hymn, the two cantors on the side of the Prioress say the first Kyrie eleison and the choirs alternately pursue the other two. The priest begins the Pater noster during which the Sisters bow deeply, then he says the verses and prayers to which the Religious respond, facing the Blessed Sacrament.
20. The prayers being finished, the Sub-Prioress, carrying the stoup and the sprinkler, goes to the novice at the same time as the Prioress; the latter silently throws holy water on the prostrate Sister, then she makes her get up by lightly touching her clothes, and leads her in front of the altar of the choir; the novice goes there with joined hands, kisses on her knees the middle of the altar, and then the hand of the Prioress.
21. After this, the two cantors of the first choir intone the psalm Ecce quam bonum; they say half of the first verse which the two choirs, facing each other, finish together. The other verses of the psalm are said by the four cantors, alternately with the verse Ecce quam bonum, which all the Sisters repeat together. We repeat the verses of the psalm as many times as necessary, and we only say the Gloria Patri at the end.
22. At the beginning of the psalm, the novice, led by the Prioress, goes to embrace the Sub-Prioress, then all the Sisters, recommending herself to their prayers. The Sisters embrace him in turn without speaking. If there are two novices, the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress lead them to embrace the Sisters, each beginning with the first of her choir.
23. The Prioress returns to her stall near the gate, and has the novice placed beside her, to whom her candle is returned. The two cantors of the first choir begin the chanting of the psalm Deus misereatur nostri; the Sisters follow him by going two by two to the pre-choir in the usual way, but neither verse nor prayer is added.
24. [An act of the taking of the habit is drawn up; it is signed by the novice, the Prioress and the Superior.]
25. If one is forced to give the habit in secret to a postulant, one keeps closed the door of the church, and only one trusted priest performs the ceremony. If an absolute necessity obliges to give it still more secretly and in the monastery, the Prioress performs the ceremony at the chapter, saying herself the blessings that the priest would have said, except those of the clothes which must necessarily have all been blessed at the advance by an ecclesiastic, and the Sub-Prioress does what the Prioress would have done to the choir. This should only be done very rarely, in case of absolute necessity, and with the express permission of the Superiors.
26. If a postulant, who has fallen seriously ill and is in danger of death, wishes to die with the habit of the Order, the Prioress could, for her consolation, give it to her in her bed, in the presence of the whole Community, with the ordinary prayers, omitting, however, what the patient cannot do. But if the patient comes back to life, her clothing will be considered null and void, and when the time has come to solemnly give her the habit, the chapter will deliberate on her reception as if she had never worn the habit of the Order; if she is received, the priest will give her the habit with the ordinary ceremonies.
CHAPTER VII
Of the profession.
1. For profession, the altar of the chapter is solemnly adorned; the sacristan has the relics of the monastery exhibited there, and it is adorned with four candlesticks with their candles. On a small bench near the step of the altar, on the side of the Prioress, are placed the belt, the scapular and the cloak of the novice, and on the same step, on the side of the Sub-Prioress, the holy water font and the sprinkler. The chair of the Prioress is in its usual place, and two candlesticks without candles are placed near them to place those of the Prioress and the novice when they have to leave them.
2. The novice writes in advance and signs with her hand the formula of her vows, and she marks on the back of the paper the day, month and year of her profession. If the novice does not know how to write, we write for her and she signs at least with a cross. She carries this paper with her on her way to the chapter.
3. Profession is always done in the morning. The Sisters are called there by the sound of the bell; all assemble in the choir, dressed in their cloaks, and range themselves on their knees in the stalls, holding a lighted candle in their hands. At the sign of the Prioress, the cantors on their knees intone the hymn 0 gloriosa Virginum, then the whole choir rises: after having genuflected, the Sisters go in procession to the chapter, continuing the hymn and resuming it, if necessary. The Prioress comes in the last row with the novice who has no sash, scapular or mantle, and holds in her hand a candle larger than that of the other Sisters.
4. The nuns make two by two, in the middle of the chapter, a deep bow to the altar, and divide into two choirs facing each other, the former closer to the altar. The novice kneels at the corner of the step, and the Prioress goes to the first place of her choir. After the hymn, the two versiculars say in the middle of the chapter the verse Ora pro ea, the choir responds, and the Prioress says de its place is the oration Deus qui excellentissimae; then she sits down, after having given her candle to the oldest Sister on her side, who places it on the candlestick; the novice also leaves her candle and kneels before it; the Sisters kneel near the altar and remain thus until the Te Deum. Then the Prioress questions and exhorts the novice, as is noted in the Manual.
5. After the last questioning, the novice approaches the Prioress, holding open between her joined hands the paper on which her vows are written; she places her hands in those of the Prioress and pronounces three times, in a loud and intelligible voice, the formula of her profession:
“I, Sister N..., make my Profession and promise Chastity, Poverty and Obedience to God Our Lord and to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the authority of the Archbishop (or Bishop) and our legitimate Superiors, according to which they are established on our Order, in conformity with the Briefs of our Holy Fathers the Popes, and make this Profession according to the primitive Rule of the Order of Mount Carmel, which is without mitigation, and this, until the dead. »
6. The Prioress then says: Immola Deo sacrificium laudis; the nuns add, addressing themselves to the professed: Et redde Altissimo vota tua. Then the new professed, placing in the hands of the Prioress the formula of her vows, said: Vota mea Domino reddam, etc. If there is more than one novice to make profession, the Prioress, after the first novice has said Vota mea, repeats the questions and the rest to each of the others, and, when all have finished, she rises, joins hands and says: Deus qui te (or vos) incepit in nobis, etc., and the other prayers to bless the newly professed or to bless them all with a single benediction.
7. These prayers finished, the Sub-Prioress dresses the novice still on her knees with the sash, the scapular and the mantle. The Prioress touches each piece while saying the prayers and blessings, to which the choir responds Amen.
8. If there are several professed, they are clothed successively with the same prayers, and then the elders give them their candles; then the Sub-Prioress presents the sprinkler to the Prioress with the usual kisses of the hand. The Prioress sprinkles the professed or all the professed together in the shape of a cross, that is to say once in the middle, then to her left, finally to her right; then she returns the sprinkler to the Sub-Prioress and says the oration Dominus Jesus Christus, after which she receives the sprinkler again and throws holy water a second time in the shape of a cross, saying ln nomine Patris; but this time she gives holy water to each one separately, while saying the words only once. Then, having returned the sprinkler, she begins the Te Deum aloud; all the Sisters rise, turn in chorus and continue the hymn alternately; the Prioress takes back her candle, but the novice gives hers to the most senior Sister, then she is led by the Sub-Prioress to the middle of the chapter, where she prostrates herself on the carpet with her arms outstretched; it remains so until the end of the prayers which follow the Te Deum. If there were several novices, the senior sisters would lead them and they would prostrate themselves next to each other.
9. During the Te Deum, the big bell is rung.
10. After the Te Deum, the cantors [on the side of the Prioress] say the first Kyrie eleison; the choirs say the other two alternately, then the Prioress says Pater nosler with the verses and orations marked in the Manual; then she approaches the mat, receives the sprinkler from the Sub-Prioress who presents it to her wet without carrying the stoup, and throws holy water on the professed a third time; after which the Sub-Prioress makes her stand up, leads her on her knees to kiss the middle of the altar, then, also on her knees, the hand of the Prioress. From there, she leads her to embrace all the Sisters, starting with the oldest on the side of the Prioress; embracing them, the professed begs them to pray to God for her. During this ceremony, the psalm Ecce quam bonum is sung, as on the day of the vestment; then the candle is returned to the newly professed, and when the psalm is finished, the chapter is left without ceremony.
11. One writes in the convent book which is kept in the chest with three keys, the act of profession in which one transcribes all the formula of the vows, adding the day, the month and the year in which they were pronounced, as well as the name, age, country of the professed and the name of her parents. She must sign this act as well as the Prioress, the Sub-Prioress and the two depositaries. If she does not know how to sign, she makes a cross, one of the depositaries signs for her and writes below the cross: "I, Sister N..., at the request of my aforementioned Sister N... who does not know not write, I have signed for her this profession as a deputy for this purpose of Our Reverend Mother Prioress, in witness whereof, I have undersigned with my own hand; then she puts her name.
12. If, despite all the precautions that had to be taken before profession, there was, after it was made, a certain knowledge or at least a serious doubt that the professed was not of the required age for that the profession was valid, the professed would be obliged to renew it. This renovation would be done in the presence of the Community, without any other ceremony than the pronunciation of vows. We would write in the book of professions this new act, its causes and the new proofs of age that we had ignored.
13. If a novice should fall ill to death in the year of her probation, and she beg with great insistence to make some kind of profession before she dies, she might be granted the grace to make simple vows conditionally. These vows do not commit the Order; also, in the event that the novice recovers and where she is judged incapable of living in Religion and observing the rules, the Order could dismiss her as freely as if she had not pronounced a vow, and herself in would remain unobstructed. If, on the contrary, the conditions required were found for her, she would be proposed to the chapter and made to make her solemn profession in the prescribed time and form, in order to make her commitment certain and definitive.
CHAPTER VIII
Of the imposition of the veil.
1. The veil is only given to new professed in the morning. If the Office is double, the Mass of the day is celebrated; if it is semi-double, the Mass of the Holy Spirit or that of the Blessed Virgin is sung, or another according to the devotion of the one who takes the veil. The celebrant adds to the prayers of the Mass those which are marked in the Manual for the newly professed. During Mass, the veil is placed on the altar, in a silver basin.
2. The sermon is given at the end of the Mass or the ceremony.
3. All the Sisters assemble in the pre-choir and enter the choir in the same order as in the vestments, singing the hymn Veni, Creator Spiritùs. After the hymn, the priest who is to celebrate the Mass says the verses and the prayer marked in the Manual, then the Mass is solemnly sung.
4. The new professed receives Communion at Mass, which she hears on her knees in front of the large gate, her face uncovered; she holds a lighted candle in her hand [or places it near her on a candlestick]. During Mass, a large curtain is drawn behind her so that the other nuns are not seen.
5. After Mass, the Sisters stand in their stalls, facing the Blessed Sacrament, the large veils lowered, and the Prioress opens the curtain. [If the sermon is then given, they hear it in the middle of the choir as usual, and then return to the stalls.]
6. The priest, wearing a cope, blesses the veil beside the Epistle in the form prescribed in the Manual.
7. Immediately afterwards, the cantors from the side of the Prioress begin, in their stalls, the responsory Amo Christum which the Sisters continue, turned in choir. During the responsory, the celebrant approaches the large gate, accompanied by the deacon who carries the basin with the veil.
8. After the responsory, the priest turns to the professed and intones the antiphon Veni, sponsa Christi, which the nuns continue. The singers of the first choir then begin the psalm Exaudiat which the two choirs sing alternately, then the priest takes up the antiphon Veni, sponsa Christi which the choir completes, after which the priest says over the newly professed: Dominus sit tibi adjutor, etc. At the same time, the Sisters turn towards the Blessed Sacrament.
9. The Prioress leads the one taking the veil towards the middle of the choir, four or five paces from the gate, so that she can sing the antiphon Suscipe me, Domine; then the Prioress leaves her candle [as well as the professed], and leads it to the communion grid, where the priest goes at the same time with the deacon carrying the basin and the veil. The Sister being on her knees and her head bowed, the priest puts the veil on her head, so that he covers her face, saying: Accipe velum, etc. The Prioress attaches the small veil and places the large veil over it. The priest then returns to the large gate, and the Prioress, having taken up her candle [as well as the professed her], leads the latter to the middle of the choir, four or five paces from the gate where she sings standing: Posuit signum in faciem meam . The Nuns continue in the same tone: Ut nullum, etc., and during this time the Prioress leads her back to the large gate where she kneels; the priest says over her the prayers and blessings marked in the Manual, and gives her his own blessing with these words: Benedictio Dei omnipotentis, etc.
10. At this moment, the priest, turning towards the Blessed Sacrament, intones the Te Deum, which the choirs continue facing each other. At the same time, the professed gives her candle to the Sister who presents herself to receive it, as we said at the taking of the habit, and, led by the Prioress, she goes to prostrate herself with her arms outstretched on the carpet. of serge. The Prioress returns to her place.
11. At the end of the Te Deum, the two cantors of the first choir sing the first Kyrie eleison, the choirs take up the other two alternately, then the priest says the verses and the prayers to which the choirs respond, facing the Blessed Sacrament. The prayers finished, the Prioress [leaves her candle,] approaches the carpet towards the head of the prostrate Sister, receives the sprinkler from the Sous. Prioress sprinkles her and professes her, then, lightly touching her clothes, she makes her get up and leads her to the altar; the Sister, on her knees, her hands joined, kisses him and the Prioress's hand; the latter returns to her stall, leading the veiled professed, and has her placed beside her; both then take up their candles, and the nuns come out of the choir singing the psalm Deus misereatur nostri, without adding any verse or prayer at the end. If the father and mother of the professed, or one of them, are in the church, the Prioress, before leaving the choir, leads her to the gate to receive their blessing.
12. [An act of taking sail is drawn up; it is signed by the novice, the Prioress and the Superior.]
CHAPTER IX
Founders.
1. "The spirit of retreat which this Order professes has established the custom of being difficult to admit many foundresses into the monasteries, and it does not appear that Saint Thérèse received more than one in those she founded, and when the necessities of the monastery make it necessary to receive more than one, and one cannot dispense with doing otherwise, great care must be taken that this does not affect the peace of the convent, the regularity and retirement meditation.
2. “It has always been the practice not to admit foundresses whose life was not exemplary in the world; the Spanish Mothers were very severe on this point and declared that one should never receive those who were not persons of virtue and piety and whose fame had no spot. » (Letter from Father Gibieuf to our monasteries, August 8, 1846)
3. The reception of a foundress requires the permission of the superiors and the consent of the chapter. Before taking the votes, the Prioress must make known, in general, the services that the foundress offers to render to the Community, and the privileges that the latter would grant her in return (old manuscripts).
4. The first Superiors gave advice on the admission of foundresses, which monasteries always follow. It should however be observed that, nowadays, one could only very rarely stop at the sum of twenty thousand francs indicated formerly; it was then the equivalent of three or four ordinary dowries, and it is to this last indication that we must stick; it can apply to all times, the figure of the dowries changing at the same time and in the same proportions as the value of the money,
5. The abbesses and nuns of other Orders should not be received as foundresses, nor enjoy the privileges of these, even when they have permission from Rome. Our Mother Saint Thérèse having forbidden to receive them as nuns, we cannot admit them in another capacity, because that would cause the same damage, and it would be to act against the intention of the saint by suppressing a rule laid down by her.
6. The foundresses, according to approved usage in France, may enter and sleep in the monastery they have founded, but they may not bring anyone with them; their right is personal, they cannot give it up or relinquish it in favor of another; likewise it is not hereditary and dies with the person who acquired it.
7. The door should not be opened to the foundresses nor recognized as such, until their contract has been concluded in good form and ratified by the Superiors.
8. Although the foundresses who live in the monastery are not nuns, they must not speak to any of the Sisters without the permission of the Prioress; moreover, those who enter and leave must speak to the Sisters only in the presence of a third person; the Prioress can except from this general rule one Sister, or two at the most; she herself chooses those whose communication could be useful to the foundress.
9. Married foundresses should never put on the religious habit, even for one hour; but widows can wear it.
CHAPTER X
From the aggregation of the towers.
1. It is not the custom of the Order to pledge to keep the portreses out all their lives, and one should not make such engagements which can be harmful to the monasteries. However, as these must not lack charity towards those who serve them, one can, for a very important reason and on the advice of the Superior, associate a tourière. [It should also be noted that, nowadays and in certain provinces, it would be almost impossible to have trustworthy portières without aggregating them, which one should only do, however, with great caution.] One takes for the aggregation of the portreses the votes of the nuns as for the profession of a novice, and the act of reception is written in the book of professions in this form:
2. "On the day..... of the month..... of the year.... the chapter having first put into deliberation and given the votes to Sister NN to remain a portress outside this monastery, the said Sister N. is obliged and given for all the time of her life in the service of the monastery in the said capacity of tourière without wages, and the convent is obliged to provide her with food, clothing, lodging and everything what she may need, healthy and sick, if she did not fail to be wise, faithful and obedient to the Religion. »
3. This act will be signed by the portress, the prioress, the sub-prioress and the depositary.
BOOK TENTH : COMMUNION OF THE SICK, EXTREME UNCTION AND FUNERALS
FIRST CHAPTER
Of the communion of the sick.
1. The ceremonies to be observed for communion in devotion and for communion in viaticum being more or less similar, we will speak of them in this chapter without distinguishing between them.
2. Prioresses should be careful to provide Holy Communion to the sick. If the Sisters are kept in bed for a long time without being able to go to the gate, they are made to carry Holy Communion every fortnight or three weeks; [it is possible, however, with the permission of the Superior, to make them communicate more often;] the sick themselves must ask for this grace with humility and submission.
3. It is above all necessary to watch very attentively for the administration of the holy viaticum, in fear of being surprised and of letting a Sister leave this world without receiving it; however, it is necessary to wait for the appropriate moment, that is to say when it seems that the patient is really nearing her end, and that she could hardly receive the Holy Eucharist if we were to delay any longer. If, after having received the holy viaticum, the patient survives in the same danger of approaching death and she wishes to take communion again, the Prioress will not fail to satisfy her desire, provided that there are seven or eight days of 'interval. [At the approach of death, however, one can easily obtain permission to have the Holy Viaticum received at shorter intervals. would be exposed by vomiting to reject the Holy Host.
4. When Holy Communion is to be brought to a patient, the nurse takes care that the room is clean and in good order.
5. She prepares or has prepared by the sacristan, in the most suitable place, a small altar decorated with a facing and one of the tablecloths of the church, hanging on the ground at the sides; she places there a crucifix between two candlesticks garnished with candles, a white purse with a corporal and a purificatory; the altar is sprinkled with flowers and some perfume is burned which cannot harm the patient. Near this altar, place a small table covered with a very white tablecloth or napkin, and place a basin with cruets containing water and wine, or simply a small vase with water, to purify the fingers of the priest, a Manual for his use, and finally the stoup and the sprinkler. The patient's bed is covered with a large white linen, and when she takes communion, the sacristan [or the nurse] puts on her chest one of the tablecloths used in the church for communion.
6. All the places through which the Blessed Sacrament must pass are sprinkled with flowers and greenery, as much as the season permits.
7. The nurse deploys the corporal early with linen gloves, lights the candles, and has everything else ready for the time of communion.
8. The sacristan prepares for the choir the humeral veil, the bell and the candles for the nuns.
9. Twelve strokes of the little bell are rung twice to call the nuns. All the Sisters [or only those designated by the Prioress if there is any reason not to gather the whole Community] assemble promptly in the choir, dressed in their cloaks and large veils, and carrying their Manuals. They kneel in the stalls, divided into two choirs, the older ones closer to the gate. The sacristan distributes to them small tapers or candles whose smoke cannot disturb the patient; she then opens the communion grid. At the same time, three or four nuns go to the closing door to receive the priest.
10. While the nuns are assembling, a cleric lights in the church two candles from the altar and the one ordinarily used for communion; then an ecclesiastic, wearing a surplice and a stole, goes to the altar, accompanied by the clerk who carries the purse. He unfolds the corporal, takes one or two hosts more than there are sick, puts them in the little ciborium, purifies his fingers, and waits for the moment to take it to the communion rail. While he is making these preparations, another ecclesiastic, also wearing a surplice and stole, goes to the closing gate, accompanied, if possible, by a third ecclesiastic in a surplice, if not by a cleric who wears the humeral veil, if he has not already been prepared for the choir.
11. After the priest has arrived at the choir and has said a moment of prayer, the one who serves him puts the humeral veil on him; if there is no cleric or deacon, the priest puts it on himself; then the ecclesiastic who is outside brings him the Blessed Sacrament, preceded by the cleric carrying a lighted candle, then returns to the altar, folds up the corporal and returns to the sacristy. The cleric may then extinguish the altar candles.
12. The priest, having received the ciborium, covers it or has the cleric cover it with the ends of the humeral veil, then he rises and begins the psalm Miserere mei, Deus. When he rises, the Sisters kiss the ground; [they may, however, omit it, because of the difficulty of doing so with the candles and large veils, and since they only leave the choir to accompany the Blessed Sacrament]; they rise, holding their candles in their hands, and, continuing the psalm, they come out of the choir two by two, without genuflecting, except if they go out by the door near the gate. A sister walks first, ringing from three to three verses of the psalm a little silver bell, if there is one; the priest walks last, preceded by the cleric, who continually incenses the Blessed Sacrament by walking sideways and grazing the ground with the censer. If one cannot have an ecclesiastic or a cleric, one does not use a censer, but the sacristan carries some smoking perfume.
13. We repeat the psalm once or twice, if necessary.
14. Arrived at the infirmary, the Sisters kneel by order, the younger ones farther from the patient; if the room were small, only a few elders would enter it, always taking care to leave the passage clear to the priest. The latter, on entering the patient's room, said: Pax huic domui, and the nuns replied: Et omnibus habitantibus in ea, then he placed the Blessed Sacrament on the corporal lying on the altar, and adored it. kneeling without opening the ciborium. He sprinkles the sick woman with holy water and then all the Sisters, saying Asparagus me, Domine, then he returns to the Blessed Sacrament, genuflects, and, turning towards the sick woman, says the prayers of the Manual to which the Sisters respond. These prayers over, he genuflects a second time and approaches the patient to find out if she wishes to be reconciled; if she wishes, the priest hears her and absolves her, otherwise he only makes her say the Confiteor, and if she cannot, the Sisters recite it for her; he then says Misereatur et Indulgentiam, and makes him make the profession of faith by reciting the Creed; if she cannot recite it alone, the Sisters say it with her until the end. After that, the priest opens the holy ciborium and observes what is prescribed for the administration of holy viaticum.
15. After giving Holy Communion, he purifies his fingers and the sick person is made to take this ablution, or else they throw her into the pool or into the fire; he then says what is marked in the Manual.
16. The priest, after having said a few words of consolation to the patient, exhorts her, if he deems it appropriate, to ask for Extreme Unction, then he begins the psalm Laudate Dominum de coelis, and reports to the choir the most Blessed Sacrament. The Sisters precede him by continuing the psalm; they still keep their candles lighted, maintain the same order as when coming to the infirmary, and kneel in the stalls as before leaving the choir. Arrived at the gate, the priest says the verse Panem de coelo praestitisti eis, and the rest marked in the Manual, and the nuns answer him; he gives them the blessing in silence with the holy ciborium, then he puts it back through the communion window into the hands of the ecclesiastic who brought it to him. Then three or four nuns take him back to the door of the monastery. The ecclesiastic who is outside must have unfolded the corporal, and caused the candles to be relighted at the altar, before taking back the ciborium, which he returns with the hosts to the tabernacle.
17. [If there is only one ecclesiastic, the most common and best practice is for the priest to place the holy ciborium on the table of the communion grid, or better still on a small altar covered with a tablecloth, a corporal, and garnished with two lighted candles. This altar is placed inside the grating, so that the priest can close the little communion window after placing the holy ciborium on this altar; he then goes to the closing gate with the clerk who accompanies him. This one wears the humeral veil, and puts it on him before he takes the holy ciborium to go to the infirmary. On his return, the priest places the holy ciborium again on the small altar, then he returns outside to pick it up and put it back in the tabernacle.]
18. If one is in a hurry to give holy viaticum at night and one can only have one priest, this one [can follow the order just indicated or, if time is short] , he goes with the Blessed Sacrament to the door of the monastery, accompanied by at least one person holding a lighted candle; the nuns will receive him at the entrance of the monastery, and take him in procession to the infirmary in the order indicated above. When one is thus forced to give viaticum during the night, the Prioress can appoint a certain number of Sisters to attend this ceremony, without interrupting the rest of the whole Community.
CHAPTER II
Of Extreme Unction and the Assistance Due to the Sick.
1. Extreme Unction should only be given to the sick when they are in danger of death; however, one should not wait so late for them to lose consciousness; we must do our best to make them receive this sacrament when they still have a free spirit and can draw from it a more abundant grace. We must also give Extreme Unction to those who fail by their great old age to the point that we can fear death, because then old age becomes an illness. We must not omit giving this sacrament to the sick because they no longer speak or do not have the use of reason; it is enough that there is still life for it to be necessary for them to receive it.
2. When Extreme Unction is to be administered, the infirmary is prepared as for Holy Communion, and the blessed candle is also placed on the altar, on the right side of the cross. They also put on a small bench, near the altar, six little cotton balls in one dish and a piece of breadcrumbs in another, an ewer full of water with a basin to wash the hands of the priest, and a towel to wipe them off.
3. The Sub-Prioress rings the bell to assemble the Community in choir; if, however, Extreme Unction must be given during the night, the truncheon is used to awaken the Sisters, or else only a few are awakened, if the Prioress finds it better.
4. The nuns assemble in the choir with their cloaks, their large veils and the Manual, in which they take care to mark and anticipate what they will have to say; they kneel in the stalls, the old ones closer to the gate, meanwhile the priest, wearing the surplice and the violet stole, comes to the closing door with his assistant; three or four nuns will receive him and lead him to the choir.
5. When he enters, all rise, bow to him, and immediately return to their knees; he approaches the small gate to receive from another priest, who has remained in the church, the vase of holy oils covered with a purple veil, [if he is alone, he must have put the vase in the forward on the small communion window]. The sign is given and all the Sisters kiss the ground; [one can however exempt oneself from it for the good order, because of the large veils and the departure of the procession]. The priest begins the psalms Beatus qui intelligit and Voce mea ad Dominurn clamavi, indicated in the Manual; the Sisters pursue them alternately during the journey and repeat them if necessary. We go to the infirmary in this order:
6. A Sister, carrying the stoup and the sprinkler, walks first; then comes the cross-bearer between the two Sisters who hold the candlesticks: the cross that is then carried must be small, so that it can be presented to the patient and made to kiss her. The priest, carrying the holy oils, walks after the cross; all the nuns follow him two by two, the youngest first. They do not genuflect at the Blessed Sacrament, unless they go out through the door which is near the gate.
7. If the infirmary is too small for all the Sisters to enter, the youngest remain outside where they say the prayers with the others; otherwise, all kneel in order in the infirmary, the older ones closer to the patient. The priest, on entering the room, says: Pax huic domui, the Sisters reply: Et omnibus habitantibus in ea; then he places the vase of holy oils on the altar, gives the patient the cross to kiss, sprinkles it with holy water three times in the shape of a cross, that is to say first in the middle, then on his left, finally on his right, and also sprinkles the Sisters and the infirmary, saying Asperges me, Domine, with verses and prayers. He addresses a few words of consolation, instruction and hope to the sick woman, if time permits, and he warns her to ask forgiveness from the Prioress and the Sisters. The sick person does it humbly, and when the Prioress answered her in the name of the Sisters that all is forgiven her with a good heart, she says the Confiteor; if she cannot, the Sisters recite it for her, but she tries at least to say Mea culpa by beating her chest; the priest then says Misereatur et Indulgentiam, and bestows upon him the indulgence of the Order.
8. The Sisters then begin in a low tone the seven penitential psalms with the litanies, and during this time the priest, standing before the sick person, says: In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, extinguatur, etc. .
9. He then confers the sacrament of Extreme Unction; two Sisters serve him, one holding the book on the right side, the other the blessed candle on the left side; his assistant holds before him the vase of holy oils.
10. The nurse, or another nun, stands at the side of the patient and gently arranges the places to receive the anointing.
11. It is necessary to anoint the eyes, these being closed, above the eyelids, the ears inside or at the bottom on the flat part, then the nostrils, then the top of the lips with a single anointing, the mouth being closed, finally the inside of the hands and the top or bottom of the feet at will.
12. If the patient can, she responds with the others to the form of each of these anointings.
13. If it is in doubt whether the patient is alive or dead, the anointing is done with this conditional form: Si vivis, per istam sanctam unctionem: etc.
14. The anointings finished, the vase being covered and placed on the altar, the priest rubs his hands with crumbs of bread and washes them. The bread and the water he used are thrown into the fire, and the cotton balls are burned and the ashes are thrown into the pool or into the fire.
15. The priest continues with the Sisters the psalms of penance and the litanies, [unless it is deemed appropriate to shorten it so as not to tire the patient,] and he says the verses and the prayers which follow.
16. Finally he sprinkles the patient in the manner indicated above, with these words: Benedictio Dei omnipotentis, etc.
17. Holy water is left in front of her and also a cross so that she can look at it, adore it, and kiss it according to her devotion.
18. Some Sisters, chosen by the Prioress, stay in the infirmary to pray for the sick person. The priest, having taken back the holy oils, returns to the choir with the other nuns who keep the same order as when they came and recite the psalm Miserere.
19. Arrived at the choir, they get back on their knees as before leaving, and say a few short prayers for the patient. The priest, having ironed the holy oils through the communion grid, [or, if he is alone, having placed them on the small table of this grid], is escorted back to the door of the monastery, and, after the sign of the Prioress, the Sisters retire without ceremony.
20. If the priest, on arriving at the infirmary, notices that the patient is at the end of her life, he omits all the prayers and immediately begins the anointings. If he fears he will not have time to finish, he makes a single anointing on the forehead with the formula that embraces all the members; then, if life is prolonged a little, he repeats each of the anointings in particular and says all the prayers he has omitted.
21. If the patient dies before he has finished all the anointings, he immediately interrupts himself and says the Subvenite.
22. [If Extreme Unction were to be given at the same time as Holy Viaticum, the stoup and a small cross would be placed in the infirmary in advance; the priest would give the vase of holy oils to the ecclesiastic who accompanies him to carry it in an inconspicuous way, or, if he was alone, he would put it in advance on the small table of the communion grid , where the sacristan would take it to carry it to the procession under her scapular. To go to and from the infirmary, one would keep the same order as if one carried the Holy Viaticum only.]
23. After Extreme Unction, the Prioress takes great care that the patient is never left alone, and when it is time to make the recommendation of the soul, the confessor and the nuns are called in to perform this last duty. the dying, whom the Sisters no longer abandon until death, if the Prioress does not have them removed.
24. If the prayers of agony are made during the day, the Sisters are called by ringing twice, at an interval of one Ave Maria, five or six strokes of the small bell; if it is the night after the retreat, the truncheon is struck, unless, for some particular reason, the Prioress no longer deems it appropriate to have only a few Sisters awakened.
25. The prayers made for the dying Sisters are marked in the Manual, as well as the manner of assisting and exhorting them.
26. Before the patient loses the use of her senses, the lit blessed candle is placed in her hands, and she holds it for a little while, during which time we help her to produce acts of living faith, of hope. and charity. It is to excite us to perform these acts that the Church blesses candles.
27. When nuns or tourières are in danger of death, the confessor of the monastery, or another ecclesiastic endowed with powers and chosen by the prioress, gives them the sacraments, assists them at death and performs their burial. The Prioress has for this, according to the ordinary practice of the Order, general permission from the Superiors.
CHAPTER III
Of the first duties to be rendered after death.
1. When the dying woman has breathed her last, the prayers begun are stopped, the Prioress closes the eyes and the mouth of the deceased, then the nurse raises her head and extends her feet; [but it is good not to be in too much of a hurry to touch the body after death].
2. The priest takes off the violet stole, puts on the black stole which the sacristan must have brought in advance, and says in a mediocre voice the responsory Subvenite, Sancti Dei, which the Sisters continue, always remaining on their knees; he then says Kyrie eleison with the verses and prayers of the Manual. If there is no priest, it is the Prioress who says these prayers. At the same instant, the death signal will be given with the large bell, as explained in Book II; if, however, a nun dies at night, this signal is given only in the morning, after having sounded the prayer.
3. When the prayers are finished, the priest is led back to the convent door and the nuns retire, with the exception of those designated by the prioress to bury the deceased [According to current law, one cannot bury and in the coffin before a doctor came to certify the death], and of a few others who pray beside her, reciting in a low voice the psalms and other prayers for the dead.
4. The body is washed, if necessary, or at least the face, hands and feet, then the deceased is put on the tunic, the robe, the belt, the scapular, the mantle, the the hat and the veil; she is then placed in the coffin of the monastery, [or better in that where she is to be buried], with her face uncovered, her feet bare and her hands joined; a small cross is placed between the hands with the crucifix turned towards the face, and a crown of flowers is placed on the head; you can also sprinkle the clothes with flowers.
5. The coffin should be a little high off the ground; it is placed on trestles covered with gray serge. The sacristan puts at the head of the coffin, on a bench, a cross with the crucifix turned towards the deceased: this cross should not be the one used for processions. A candlestick garnished with a lighted yellow candle is placed on each side of the cross, and the stoup and the sprinkler are placed at the foot of the coffin. The body thus remains in the infirmary until it is transported to the choir.
6. In the fore-choir, the sacristan prepares the processional cross, a black veil or sash to cover the hands of the one who is to wear it, and white candles for the nuns.
7. In the choir, she places on the altar, adorned with black, four yellow candles; she prepares, four feet from the great gate, trestles covered with serge, to place the coffin on, and four candlesticks garnished with yellow candles to place at the four corners; moreover, it arranges a curtain of black fabric which must hide the Community in the choir while the grid is open.
8. At the church, the sacristan adorns all the altars with black, and puts six yellow candles on the main altar.
9. Before transporting the deceased to the choir, the six candles of the high altar and the four of the altar of the choir are lit.
10. About three or four hours after death, or only after the Hours if death occurs at night (as soon as possible after the doctor's visit), the bell is rung to call the Nuns to the front -choir; all assemble there with their coats, and from there they go to the infirmary. The cross-bearer walks first; the two Sisters who accompany him do not carry candles, because they must take those who are in the infirmary; the others follow two by two, without singing or reciting anything, and holding an extinguished candle; the Prioress comes last.
11. When one arrives at the infirmary, one removes the cross which one had placed at the head of the coffin, and the cross holder is placed in the same place, between the two Sisters who come to take the candlesticks; all three are turned towards the deceased, as well as the image of the crucifix. The nuns light their candles and line up around the coffin, divided into two choirs, the younger ones closer to the cross; the Prioress stands at the feet, alone, having near her a Sister carrying the sprinkler and the stoup which were at the foot of the coffin.
12. The Prioress begins in a mediocre tone, without singing, the antiphon Suscipiat which the two choirs continue together, then the two cantors on the side of the Prioress begin in the same way the psalm In exitu Israel de Aegypto, which the two backing vocals continue alternately. The antiphon Suscipiat is repeated, after which the Prioress begins the second antiphon Chorus Angelorum, and the cantors the psalm Dilexi quoniam; the antiphon Chorus Angelorum being repeated, the Prioress says Pater noster, then, continuing the rest in a low voice, she goes around the coffin throwing holy water three times on one side and three times on the other; when she passes in front of the cross, she makes a deep bow; returned to her place, she said: Et ne nos inducas, with the verses and the prayer marked in the Manual.
13. The prayer being said, the four cantors begin aloud the response Libera me, Domine; at the same time, they begin to ring the bells and go to the choir. A Sister, carrying the stoup and the sprinkler, walks alone first; the cross-bearer comes next between the two Sisters who carry the candlesticks; all the Sisters, holding their lighted candles, follow two by two, the youngest first; finally come the four Sisters carrying the deceased; the Prioress alone follows the coffin.
14. On entering the choir, the Sister who carries the stoup places herself a little to the side, between the grating and the prepared trestles; the cross-bearer and her companions go directly to the gate and turn, like the image of the crucifix, towards the body that is brought; the Sisters range themselves in the stalls, turned in choir; finally the porters lay the coffin in the prepared place, four feet from the gate, the feet of the deceased towards the high altar, and they go to their places. Then the cross-bearer and her companions come and place themselves at the head of the deceased, the crucifix still turned towards her, and the one who bears the stoup places it at the foot of the coffin. The Prioress places herself at the feet of the deceased, a little to the side, to say the prayers; when they are finished, the Sisters extinguish their candles, then the Prioress, the cross-bearer and her companions retire to their stalls.
15. At the same moment, the sacristan places on a bench, at the head of the deceased, a cross having the image of the crucifix turned towards her, and two candlesticks with two lighted yellow candles; the four candles which are at the corners of the coffin are also lighted. The Prioress causes four [or at least two] nuns to stay with the deceased, dressed in their cloaks and large veils; they stand on their knees, two at the head and two at the feet, then the curtain is closed to hide the other nuns; we then open the frame of the grid and the wooden bars,
in order to leave in view the deceased and those who keep her. These recite psalms in a low voice, which they end with the verse Requiem aeternam instead of Gloria Patri. The Prioress takes care to have them changed from time to time.
16. The Prioresses must be careful to ensure that the deceased Sisters return without delay the suffrages indicated in Book V. They will have Low Masses celebrated, and, if possible, a High Mass on the very morning of the death; Above all, they will not fail to have an entire Office for the Dead with nine lessons said, before the burial, and another solemn nocturne, with the body present, before the High Mass at the funeral. They will also take care to promptly inform the other monasteries of the death of their nuns, in order to procure for them the votes which are due to them.
CHAPTER IV
Preparations for the funeral.
1. The nuns must be buried in the aisles of the cloister, as we said in the first book.
2. The gravedigger is called early to make a grave four or five feet deep, and care is taken that in the grave the face of the deceased is turned towards the East.
3. The burial should not take place until twenty-four hours after the death, unless the state of the body requires otherwise; in any case, we must first take all the necessary assurances of the death of the Religious.
4. The Prioress can call, for the burial, the ecclesiastics whom she judges appropriate; they must not be more than twenty nor less than five. The Manual, however, allows for only three, which is often more practical for monasteries.
5. The sacristan prepares, in addition to the ordinary vestments for Mass, those which ecclesiastics must wear to enter the monastery: the alb, the stole and the black cope for the celebrant, the dalmatic and the stole. without maniple for the deacon, the tunic also without maniple for the subdeacon, and surplices for the other ecclesiastics. She also prepares the cross and the candlesticks, the stoup and the sprinkler, the censer and the shuttle that the ecclesiastics will have to carry, finally candles for those who do not fulfill their functions.
6. If the burial and, therefore, the entrance to the monastery were not immediately preceded by the Mass, the deacon and the subdeacon would only wear surplices.
7. Six yellow candles are lit on the main altar and four on the altar in the choir during the service and the High Mass.
8. When the burial takes place on the morning of a Sunday or a double feast or equivalent, a single solemn High Mass may be sung from
Requiem, but you can't say bass. During this Requiem Mass, the altar is adorned in black and yellow candles are used, which are removed after the service.
9. On days of non-celebrated semi-double offices, one may, on the day of death and that of burial, say a greater number of Requiem Masses and leave the altar adorned in black all morning.
10. Burial should not be performed on the days of Easter, Pentecost and other solemn feasts of the first class; it is better, if possible, to postpone it until the next day to join the Mass with the burial, but we would not stop saying several Low Masses of the day for the rest of the deceased.
CHAPTER V
From the funeral.
1. When the nocturne and the Mass have been sung, and the hour of burial has come, the bell is rung to call the nuns to the pre-choir; at this signal, the cross and the two candlesticks which are at the head of the coffin are removed, the nuns who are near the body in prayer are removed, and the large curtain is opened. All the Sisters, dressed in their cloaks and large veils, assemble in the pre-choir, receive lighted candles, place themselves in the usual manner and await the sign to enter the choir.
2. During these preparations, four of the Sisters go to the door of the monastery to receive the ecclesiastics, who enter wearing their vestments. The first two carry the censer and the stoup; then come the sub-deacon with the cross, and the acolytes carrying the candlesticks; the other ecclesiastics follow two by two, with candles; the celebrant comes last, having the deacon on his left.
3. When they arrive at the pre-choir, the Sisters lower their veils and, preceding the clergy, they enter the choir two by two, the youngest first; they range themselves upright in the stalls, facing each other, the older ones closer to the gate. Those who carry the censer and the stoup place themselves towards the feet of the deceased, on the side, the first on the right and the second on the left, turned towards the altar; the cross-bearer and the acolytes put themselves at the head; the ecclesiastics line up on the sides leaving enough room for the celebrant, who places himself at the feet, to walk around the coffin with the deacon.
4. The officiant begins absolutely and aloud with the prayer Non intres in judicium cum servo tuo: after which the singers intone the responsory Subvenite which the choir continues, as marked in the Manual. Towards the end of the responsory, the incense bearer approaches the deacon and presents him with the open shuttle; the deacon, in turn, presents it to the celebrant asking for the blessing of the incense: the celebrant blesses the incense and puts it three times in the censer. One does not kiss the hand of the priest, nor the end of the chains of the censer.
5. When the choir has finished the last Kyrie eleison, the officiant begins aloud the Pater noster which the Nuns continue in a low voice, but without bowing because of the ecclesiastics who are in front of them.
6. The officiant receives the sprinkler from the hand of the deacon who passes to his right side; he salutes the cross, then the altar, and, still having on his right the deacon who holds the edge of his cope, he goes around the coffin and sprinkles the body three times on each side; passing in front of the cross, he bows deeply and the deacon bends his knee. Returning to his place, he returns the sprinkler to the deacon, receives the smoking censer from his hand, and, having saluted the altar, but not the cross, he goes to incense as he did the sprinkling. When he returned to the foot of the coffin, he joined his hands and said: Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, then the verses and prayers marked in the book that the deacon holds open before him.
7. The same rules are observed for the two other responses Memento mei, Deus, and Libera me, Domine, and the choirs always remain turned towards each other.
8. The last prayer being finished, the cantors intone the antiphon Chorus Angelorum; then four of the Sisters approach the coffin to remove it, and we go to the place of burial through the front choir. You leave the choir in the same order as you entered it, except that the Prioress and one or two Sisters follow the coffin which is carried behind the clergy.
9. The Sisters continue the antiphon and the psalms that the cantors begin, and the bell is rung from the time the procession leaves the choir until the burial is completed.
10. When one arrives at the place of burial, the Sisters are divided into two rows and on two sides, according to the layout of the place; the cross-bearer and the acolytes place themselves at the place where the head of the deceased will be; the celebrant and those assisting him place themselves at their feet; those carrying the body lay it near the pit, its face turned towards the East. The nuns then cease to sing the psalms, or at least only complete the one which has been begun; they repeat the antiphon Chorus Angelorum, and the celebrant recites the prayers marked in the Manual; at the end, he throws holy water, first on the body and then on the pit, then he incenses them in the same way. After that, the Prioress lowers the veil of the deceased to cover her face, removes the crucifix she was holding in her hands and puts in its place a small wooden cross without Christ; then those who carried the body change the beer, [if this change is necessary and it could not be done before Mass], and put it in the coffin made expressly for the deceased. This coffin must be of wood; as soon as it is closed, it is lowered into the pit by those called for it; the celebrant sprinkles it with holy water and incenses it once more, then he forms the sign of the cross on the earth with the shovel which he takes from the hand of the deacon, and throws earth on the body which is then completely covered.
11. As soon as the body is covered, the celebrant moves away a little, and, having the ministers ranged before him and his face turned towards the pit, he sings the prayer Temeritatis quidem est and the following ones. After these prayers, the cantors, also facing the pit, begin aloud the antiphon Clementissime Domine, which the nuns continue; when they arrive at the words: Domine, miserere, they sing them very gravely and devoutly and they all kneel down, which the officiant and his ministers also do.
12. After the antiphon, the celebrant, still on his knees, says aloud: Pater noster; the Nuns pursue in a low voice; then the celebrant, rising with his ministers, says: Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, with the verses and prayers which follow.
13. The nuns get up at the same time as the celebrant; when the prayers are finished, the candles are extinguished, except for the two which accompany the cross, and the nuns return to the choir, two by two, the youngest first, calmly reciting the psalm Miserere mei, Deus, to which is added, if need be, the De profundis, and these psalms end with the verse Requiem aeternam. The Sisters arrange themselves in the stalls as usual and remain standing until the celebrant says at the altar of the church: Pater noster.
14. While the nuns go to the choir, the clergy leaves the monastery and goes to the church; the celebrant stands in front of the high altar, with the deacon on his left and the other clerics behind him. When the nuns have finished reciting the psalm begun in the choir, he says aloud: Pater noster, and kneels down with his ministers; the nuns also kneel, facing the Blessed Sacrament, and continue the Pater in a low voice. The officiant, se. rising alone, said aloud: Et ne nos inducas in tentationem and what follows; after the prayer, he gets down on his knees again and says the Pater again in a low voice, then he returns to the sacristy with all the ecclesiastics. Then the Prioress gives the sign and the nuns come out of the choir saying the De profundis.
15. In monasteries where one does not have the privilege of burying in the enclosure, one leaves the choir in the same order as if one went to the place of burial. Near the closing door, the cross-bearer and the acolytes turn towards the deceased who are placed on trestles, and the nuns turn towards each other. The Prioress lowers the veil of the deceased, changes the cross she holds in her hands, then the coffin is closed, as stated above. Then the closing gate is opened, the secular porters enter to take beer, the clergy precedes the body and accompanies it to the cemetery. A cross must be carried between two candlesticks in front of the coffin, and a stoup to sprinkle the grave.
16. The door being closed, the Nuns return to the choir in the order indicated after the burial. It seems fitting that they remain there in prayer until the return from the cemetery, or at least until it can be assured that the burial is complete; they recite in common, in a low voice, the psalms and the prayers that must be said near the grave.
CHAPTER VI
From burial during Holy Week and on Easter Day.
1. When a funeral is held on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of Holy Week, the whole Office of the Dead and a High Mass are said in the choir. If the burial takes place on Holy Thursday or Saturday, only a nocturne is said in an oratory or in the chapter, but no Mass can be said; in such a case, the priest begins the office which concerns him with the prayer Non intres in judicium, and all the rest is done as in ordinary times, until the body is buried.
2. Burial bells cannot be rung from Gloria in excelsis on Maundy Thursday until Holy Saturday. One covers or one discovers the cross according to whether it is covered or exposed to the church.
3. If one is forced to bury on Good Friday, one places the body in the ground reciting only a few responses.
4. When, because of holy days, the funeral cannot be solemnly performed, it is performed after Easter with the same solemnities as if the body were present, except however for the differences indicated in the ritual.
5. On Easter Day, we do not bury until evening, unless there is a pressing need; the Office of the Dead is not said, but only the funeral prayers.
CHAPTER VII
What to observe in case of plague or epidemic.
1. If a monastery were attacked by the plague, one would conform to the following ordinances made on this subject by Saint Charles, in his Fifth Provincial Council.
2. If the number of those who are struck or suspected is so great that there is obvious danger for the whole monastery, the healthy ones are removed to a suitable place, and they do their utmost to ensure that the office divine and the other exercises of religious life are not interrupted. No secular should enter the lodgings of either the healthy or the sick.
3. It is to be hoped that the suspects will take care of the sick, as much for charity as to prevent the entry of seculars. If there are no suspects or if these are too weak to treat the others, it is desirable that the healthy expose themselves voluntarily for the sick, thus producing that act of charity which Our Lord calls sovereign in the Gospel, and which is, according to Saint Thomas, a kind of martyrdom.
4. If the sick cannot be cared for by the nuns, it is necessary to look for some secular women of good life, [or better nuns dedicated to the care of the sick]. Physicians and surgeons should stay with them only as long as necessary and with the permission of the Superior, as is usually done in the monastery.
5. As soon as a nun is attacked by the plague, she is made to confess and she is given Holy Communion in viaticum and Extreme Unction; if she is only suspect, she is made to confess and also take communion if she is fasting; if the next day one discovers the illness of the contagion, one makes her take communion again, but in viaticum, and one gives her Extreme Unction. The sacraments are administered to him by the priest destined to render these duties to the sick, or by another who has the charity to do so.
6. If a nun dies of the plague, the monastery must have a special cemetery blessed in a remote place where this nun and all those who die of the contagion can be buried without danger to the sane. A cross is planted in the middle of this cemetery, which is surrounded by a wall or another separation.
7. Those who die of contagion should not be buried less than twelve hours, nor more than twenty-four hours after death; the priests destined for this pious duty perform the burial, at which what is possible of the ceremonies of the Church is observed.
CHAPTER VIII
Of the burial of seculars in churches or in the cloisters of monasteries.
1. Burial in the churches of the Order should not be easily agreed. The Prioress can only grant this favor to persons of great merit to whom the monastery has notable obligations, or to those who have the right of burial in the churches of the Order or in one of their chapels. The servants of the monastery are buried in the church.
2. No one should be buried under the altars or under their steps; the Sacred Congregation of Rites forbade it by the decrees of September 6, 1593 and June 11, 1679.
3. When a tourière dies, her body is exposed instead of her dwelling in a coffin raised on trestles and covered with a mortuary sheet. At the head of the coffin, on a small bench, is placed a cross between two candlesticks garnished with lighted candles, and at the foot a stoup with a sprinkler. The ecclesiastics of the monastery, or those designated by the Prioress, will raise him from this place and take him to the church for burial. The principal of them does the office, being dressed in the surplice, the stole and the cope; the others are clothed according to their functions. These ornaments are furnished to them by the sacristan.
4. When the body enters the church, the nuns must be assembled in the choir whose gate is opened. They are dressed in their cloaks and large veils and hold lighted candles; they thus sing the antiphons and the psalms of the funeral, during which the big bell is rung.
5. When the body of a secular person is brought from outside to be buried in the church or in the cloister, the priests of the monastery, and others appointed by the Prioress, go to the first door of the convent to receive the body. and bury it.
6. If the relatives of the deceased, to make the burial more solemn, urged the monastery to have the clergy of the cathedral church conduct the body and perform the service and burial, such permission could be granted.
7. When a parish priest brings the body of a secular person to be buried in the church of the monastery, he must bear witness that this person died a Christian and received the sacraments; if the parish priest forgot to say so and the ecclesiastics of the monastery were not sure of it themselves, they should find out from him.
8. Only the foundresses and the benefactors can be buried in the cloisters of the monasteries, as we said in the first book.
9. The body is first taken to the church and exposed there; then the ecclesiastics of the monastery and others, according to the choice of the Prioress, lead him to the conventual door where the Nuns will receive him in procession and in silence, dressed in their cloaks and their large veils, and carrying lighted candles; they line up in two choirs facing each other, the younger ones farther from the door. The clergy precedes the body and enters in the same order as for the burial of the nuns; but one does not carry the censer if the place where one is to bury is blessed. The body having entered the monastery, the cantors begin the antiphon ln paradisum which the nuns continue, and at the same time they go straight to the place of burial, preceding all the clergy.
10. The big bell is rung from the entrance of the body until the end of the burial.
11. The cantors begin the antiphons, psalms and canticles marked in the Manual, and the nuns continue them.
12. Arrived at the place of burial, line up as at the burial of the Religious, and when the Sisters have finished singing, the celebrant blesses the grave in the manner indicated in the Manual.
13. The celebrant throws holy water on the body and on the grave, then he incenses both (one does not however incense for adults if the cemetery is blessed), and immediately one descends the body; the celebrant gives him more holy water and incense, then he throws earth on it in the shape of a cross with the shovel, and those who made the pit finish covering it with earth.
14. The celebrant says aloud: Pater noster, and then: Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, with the verses and prayers that follow. After that, the ecclesiastics are led back to the door of the monastery, and, the sacristan having taken up the candles, the nuns retire without ceremony.
CHAPTER IX
Of the burial of children who died before the age of reason.
1. When a convent grants burial in the monastery to the daughter of one of its founders or benefactors, who died after baptism and before the age of reason, the nuns receive the body at the door like that of secular benefactors. When the body has entered the monastery, the cantors begin the antiphon Sit nomen Domini benedictum, which the nuns continue with what is written in the Manual; at the same time, they leave to go straight to the place of burial.
2. At the end of the prayer, the cantors begin the antiphon Juvenes et virgines, then the psalm Laudate Dominum de coelis, which the nuns continue. During this psalm, the celebrant throws holy water on the body and on the pit, then he incenses both; then the coffin is lowered and covered with earth. At the end of the psalm, the cantors repeat the antiphon Juvenes et virgines; then we say Kyrie eleison, then the celebrant says the Pater noster which we pursue in a low voice without kneeling, and finally the verses and the prayer marked in the Manual.
3. The ecclesiastics are escorted to the door of the monastery. The sacristan takes up the candles, and the nuns retire without ceremony.
4. It is not necessary to ring the bell at these funerals; the coffin can be covered and adorned with flowers and fragrant herbs. The priest wears only the surplice and the white stole.
eleventh book : OF THE CLOSURE
FIRST CHAPTER
Of the obligation of the fence.
1. The Church has laid down, in several Councils, the rules of enclosure, and pronounced a sentence of excommunication against the Religious who violate it.
2. We designate by the name of enclosure the space in which the nuns must limit their residence; the Religious who actually and materially crosses this space, violates a commandment of the Church in a serious matter, which constitutes a mortal sin, and she falls into excommunication in fact and without delay, without it being necessary for the Superiors declare her excommunicated.
3. The short space she crosses outside the enclosure and the shortness of the time she stays outside, does not exempt her from mortal sin or excommunication.
4. If she willingly consents to go out, or if, wishing to go out, she is forcibly prevented from doing so, she sins mortally, but is not excommunicated.
5. All nuns, whether of the choir or of the converse, are obliged to the cloister; they can leave it only with the permission of the Superiors and for the reasons explained in chapter x.
6. Religious who do not make solemn vows do not incur these sentences of excommunication; however the diocesan Bishop can bring the same canonical penalties lataessentiae against the violation of the rule enclosure.
7. The novices who would leave the monastery without leave from the Superiors would not sin against the enclosure, but would interrupt their novitiate.
8. A postulant should not go out during her three months of probation in secular habit.
9. Observing the enclosure does not only consist in not leaving the cloistered space, but also in not allowing anyone to enter it, except in the cases and with the precautions indicated later in this book. There should therefore be no place, either in the church or between two doors, whose entrance is common to religious and seculars, and into which they enter either at the same time or one after the other: for s If there is an enclosure, seculars cannot enter it, and if there is none, access is forbidden to nuns.
10. When the enclosing wall is breached and the opening is wide enough and low enough for an outside person to pass through without a ladder, there is no longer a fence until the breach is repaired . It is then necessary to make an intrenchment inside which stops the seculars, and which it is not allowed for the Religious to cross. If this separation cannot be made, it is necessary to close the doors of the house which give entrance to the place whose wall is open, and to consider these doors as the limit of the enclosure. Those who would assume the contrary, men or women, and the Religious who would allow it, would fall into the censures incurred because of the breached enclosure, according to what is explained in the chapter seen.
11. Active and passive access to gates and towers is not against the fence; however, if we do not observe the conditions of which we will speak in the following chapters, it diminishes its perfection and deprives the souls of much profit.
12. Superiors, as well as prioresses and nuns, must have great zeal for the cloister, and see to it that it is exactly guarded.
CHAPTER II
On the use of grids.
1. The choir gate should never be used as a parlour, and it is not even permitted to say a word there. The gate of the infirmary must not be used as a visiting room either. Saint François de Paule established the use of this last grid so that the sacraments could be given to the sick without entering the enclosure; but he wants it to be exclusively reserved for this use, and forbids, under pain of excommunication, to use it for any other.
2. The foundresses cannot have private parlors or chapels that take their place.
3. Several Councils forbid eating and having recreation at the gates, in the towers and in the parlors, which Saint Thérèse wants us to observe inviolably. It is not permitted to sing there or to make people sing there for any subject whatsoever, except for the postulants who must be received as nuns, to know if they have a voice.
4. It is not permitted to give or receive anything through the gate. Saint Charles even forbids, in his Synods, to give alms by the gates and by the towers, and orders that the monasteries entrust the alms which they want to make to pious persons or to the administrators of the hospitals. Our Order entrusts this care to the tourières outside, who must discharge it with prudence; this does not however prevent the portress from being able, by order of the Prioress, to give alms by the turn to a person who secretly asks for it.
CHAPTER 111
Access to the parlor, the opening of the gate and letters from the nuns.
1. The Superiors would uselessly close the doors of the cloister if they allowed too free access to the parlor; Saint Jerome, like all the masters of the spiritual life, says that any intercourse between nuns and seculars is suspect if it lasts too long and if it is not really necessary.
2. The Congregation of Cardinals orders that the parlors are always closed. It has always been the custom of the Order that the porters take care to hold them in this way and that they keep the keys.
3. Saint Charles, in his second Provincial Council, forbids Religious to receive visits from seculars on feast days, Sundays, during Advent and Lent, and at all times during divine services, except by great necessity. This commendable custom has always been observed in the Order; moreover, it is customary in our monasteries not to go to the parlor when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, during mental prayer and during the midday silence. One must never speak to seculars during the time of the great silence, that is to say from Compline until after Prime.
4. No visitors should be permitted in winter after five o'clock in the evening, except on business which cannot be postponed.
5. Popes and councils limit conversations in the visiting room to half an hour; Cardinal de Bérulle has made an express ordinance for this to be observed in the Order, except when the people who come to visit the Sisters are not from the city itself, or when their visits are rare, or when it is necessary to deal with 'very necessary business; but even in these cases permission from the Prioress is required to prolong the interview beyond the ordinary time.
6. The Sovereign Pontiffs and the Councils forbid speaking without obvious necessity to people of bad character, or defamed, or too worldly in their speeches. Saint Thérèse herself exhorts her daughters, in the Constitutions, to rarely see people who do not like to talk about God, and to "hurry up promptly." »
7. The Prioresses cannot lead the Community to the gate of the parlor to see anyone, except the Diocesan Bishop, the Superior and the Visitors. She can also take him there to receive the blessing of some prelate.
8. It is forbidden to make recreations, to sing and to eat in the parlor, as we said in the preceding chapter.
9. Religious should never go to the parlor more than three together. If a layman had several relatives he wished to speak to, one would wait until the first had left before the others entered.
10. In accordance with the decrees of the Councils of Mâcon, Nicaea, Seville, and according to the Synods of Saint Charles, the Religious must always be accompanied in the parlor by another Religious who is called a third, who sees and hears everything. what is happening. The third is chosen and designated by the Prioress.
11. If one speaks to seculars in two places close to each other, a third is not enough; each of the nuns speaking separately must have a third. If two Sisters are requested by the same people, they cannot serve each other as a third party; a third is needed who, not speaking, exercises this office.
12. Sisters, aunts, nieces and first cousins cannot serve as mutual third parties.
13. Our Mother Saint Thérèse allows, in the Constitutions, to open the gate in certain circumstances (that is to say to open the shutters and the curtains in order to see without veil through the gate). She gives this permission for the father, the mother, the brothers and the sisters. The same is done with regard to mothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, but not to fathers-in-law and brothers-in-law, unless their eminent virtue or their benefactions give them titles to a privilege.
14. Our Mother Saint Thérèse still allows us to open the gate to a few people with whom we would have a legitimate reason to do so. The interpretation of this last point having raised some doubts, Father Gibieuf declared that the gate should be opened to Bishops, Superiors, Visitors, princes and princesses of the blood, founders and foundresses. [This privilege is also granted to generals of the Order.] It is also open to postulants who ask to be received; you can see them five or six times before they enter.
15. Permission to open the gate to bishops, princes and princesses of the blood is limited to their person alone and does not extend to those who accompany them. Openings are only opened to founders in the monasteries they have founded, unless they have rendered notable and unusual services to the Order that this case remains very rare. The foundresses who have established a monastery can speak to the nuns from the open gate in all the convents; but if they did not start a monastery, they can only see the nuns of the one to which they made their donation.
16. When a Nun speaks to the open gate, she does not approach it until she touches it; she neither gives nor receives anything through this gate, and she only opens one shutter if she can thus be easily seen by the people who speak to her. It is not enough for the third party to hear what is said, it must also see what is happening.
17. If a very close relative is allowed to see a Nun, which is rarely done and only happens once or twice in life, the Nun and the third person both go to the parlor, dressed in the coat and mainsail; the third opens the gate, raises the curtain and says an Ave Maria during which the Sister lifts her veil; the interview lasts only the time to make this prayer and takes place in silence; immediately afterwards, the tertian lowers the curtain and closes the gate.
18. Saint Charles, in his Synods, forbids nuns to write in secret without the permission of the Prioress, as well as to open their letters themselves and read them before the Prioress has read them. Our Mother Saint Thérèse made the same prohibition in her Constitutions. [For letters to Superiors, the Sisters close them themselves and deliver them directly to the door. The latter has a serious obligation to send these letters and to deliver the replies to the Sisters, without giving any knowledge of them to the Prioress, who has the same obligation not to question either the portress or the Sisters on this point. ]
CHAPTER IV
Of some duties of the porter.
1. The doors are like guards placed at the entrance of the house of God to prevent that nothing of the world enters there; they themselves should receive nothing from it, but be so full of God that they fill all those who approach them with it, and so dead to the world that what they learn from it does not touch them and is erased from their minds. like a shadow that disappears without leaving a trace. They should show neither curiosity nor levity nor impatience, but speak with gentleness, wisdom and deference, having regard to the different conditions of the people with whom they have to deal, without ever familiarizing themselves with any.
2. The porters only stop with people who come to ask for the nuns for the time necessary to learn what they want and to receive them properly; if they find themselves obliged to stay there for more than one Miserere, they ask the permission of the Prioress and are accompanied by a third party. After having received a request, they bring back the answer themselves, except when it is only a question of sending to the visiting room; they then lead there through the portieres outside.
3. When a person has finished talking on the lathe, the portieres ask him to enter another room so that the lathe always remains free and that we do not hear what is being said there; they make him come back to it when the portress brings the answer.
4. When the portress is requested by her parents or by other people she knows, she receives their messages as she does with everyone else; then she will take permission from the Prioress to speak to them and, if she obtains it, she will ask for a third to accompany her to the tower or to the parlor.
5. The portress cannot converse with the people who are in the parlor, except to make a message as she would on the turn.
6. She must not report anything she has learned on the tour and keep secret what is entrusted to her. When she goes to send a message, either to the Prioress or to a Sister, and she does not find them alone, she speaks to them softly so as not to be heard by the others.
7. The doorwoman must not sing at the turn, nor in any other place where she can be heard from outside. The shutters of the tower must always be closed on the side of the portieres and that of the Nuns, out of time to speak there. The door never leaves the tower, even for a moment, without closing the shutter and taking the key which she always carries with her; she does not speak to her companion when it is open.
8. She must not speak to the lathe without the bedroom door being closed and the lathe shutter open, for one must never speak through it.
9. Nuns can only enter and speak on the tower by permission of the Prioress, and when they say they have this permission, the portress must go to the Prioress herself to inquire, but with the delicacy of charity which testifies that it acts thus for the accomplishment of its own duty and not out of mistrust.
10. The portress must always be present at the tower when a nun speaks there; no Sister can put anything in the tower or take anything that goes through it, even if it were for her. The portress herself receives everything that comes in and only gives it to the Sisters after having taken it to the Prioress; likewise, she does not spend anything outside without having learned the intentions of the Prioress.
11. When the Prioress speaks in turn, the doors come out of respect.
12. When a Sister has permission to go with a third party, either to the garden, or to another place where workers are locked up without third parties, the portress first inquires of the intentions of the woman.
Prioress, then she gives the keys to the Sister and her companion who return them to her as soon as possible.
13. It is up to the door to open and close the enclosure door and keep one of the keys; she also keeps the keys to the parlors, as is said in chapters iii and vi of this book.
14. As her office obliges her to take care of the enclosure, she must visit the gates of the choir and the parlor every evening to make sure that they are well closed; she also visits the gate of the infirmary chapel when Mass has been heard there.
15. She must sweep the parlors, the towers and the confessionals.
16. The portress cannot bring out the portresses or any person without the permission of the Prioress; she must watch over the portreses, know their duties well and recommend that they fulfill them.
17. Portières are forbidden to let men enter their rooms; nor can they allow the parents of the Sisters who receive the habit or the veil to prepare dinner in their accommodation. They must not invite anyone to have a meal or even a collation, without an urgent necessity and without the permission of the Prioress, for the contrary would be a source of abuse; themselves, if they are invited to eat in the houses where they go, will excuse themselves with modesty.
18. The portieres close the great gate of the yard in winter a little before sunset; they pass the keys to the door after Compline with those of the doors of the church, the chapel of the infirmary, the parlors and the confessionals outside.
19. Inside, the portieres close the gates of the gardens and courtyards every evening, as the night progresses, in winter at five o'clock and in summer at a quarter past eight. At all times, they close the doors of the cloisters and dormitories a little before Matins and place the keys in the hands of the Prioress; after the retreat, they take to the cell of the Prioress all the keys to the outside which have been passed to them by the portieres, and also those of the tower, of the parlors, of the confessionals inside, of the oratory of the Blessed Sacrament, of the offices which have doors in the cloister, finally courtyards and gardens.
20. The doors open in the morning the doors which they closed in the evening; after waking up, they go to take the keys from the cell of the Prioress and they open the dormitories and the cloisters, but they wait for daylight to open the doors of the courtyards and the gardens; they never leave any keys to the doors, but they keep them in the lathe room.
CHAPTER V
Of some duties of the sacristan relative to the lathe and the railings.
1. The tour of the sacristy is reserved for church service only. We can't talk about it
than to the ecclesiastics, to the sacristan and to the tourières, and that only as far as the sacristy is concerned; if it is necessary, out of deference, to say a word to the ecclesiastics, one stops with them as little as possible.
2. If a priest, after saying Mass, asks the sacristan to let him speak to some nun, [she humbly asks him to address the Grand Tour]; she can, however, undertake to inform the Prioress; but if it is not a question of a person of consideration or that she is not afraid of making the wait too long, she will warn the portress who makes the message and returns the answer to the person who asked for it.
3. It refers to the grand tour to deliver the alms that are brought for the Masses that are said; she does the same when ecclesiastics ask for the honorarium due to them for the Mass they have celebrated.
4. The sacristan may not use the lathe to deal with the workmen in matters which she has permission to have done for the church or for the sacristy; she can give or receive nothing by the same turn as the ornaments and the other things necessary for the daily service of the church and which one cannot do without; if flowers are presented to her for the Blessed Sacrament, she sends them back to the grand tour, [because she cannot directly receive any new object, it must have been previously presented to the Prioress by the portress.]
5. The first sacristan must speak very low at all times in the sacristy and in the tower; she must
keep many of the Portiere's rules, such as speaking modestly, being discreet, only telling the Prioress what she learns from outside, or telling others only with her permission , to observe the hours of great silence, to abstain from singing, finally not to say a word to his companion while the shutter of the tour is open.
6. The second sacristan does not speak in turn.
7. The sacristan always carries the key to the turn with her and only leaves it open as long as necessary; she leaves the key at the door of the communicatory only during the two Masses attended by the Community, and she returns it to the Prioress after the conventual Mass; she also returns the key to the great gate when she opens it in the absence of the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress. When the Blessed Sacrament is exposed, she does not leave the key in the gate even though it is open, but she can keep the key until the Blessed Sacrament is locked up in the tabernacle.
8. She carefully cleans the small choir screen once a week, and the large one once a month. She should only enter the confessionals to confess.
9. In the evening she puts iron bars behind the shutter of the tower and closes the door of the sacristy; after Matins, she puts the keys of the tower and the sacristy back in the cell of the Prioress, and goes to pick them up there in the morning, before prayer.
CHAPTER VI
From opening the closing gate.
1. We said in the first book that there must be only one closing door; that, for greater security, a second similar door should be placed inside the monastery, at a distance of 3m,30 to 4 meters from the first; finally that these two doors each close with two keys: one of these keys is kept by the Prioress, the other by the door.
2. The Prioress must always carry her key with her; the door, not being able to carry hers, which is much bigger, locks her in a box or cupboard, the key of which she always carries with her.
3. We pass through the tower everything that can enter it, because we must open the closing door only by absolute necessity, and only for the time necessary. It is only opened in the presence of three Sisters, namely the portiere and two thirds appointed by the Prioress. The latter entrusts her key to the oldest of the two third parties who can only keep it for the time necessary to open it; if it is necessary to introduce workers who remain for some time in the monastery, she brings them back to the Prioress and goes to take them back when they have to be taken out; she does the same for the confessor, the doctor and the surgeon; finally, she can only keep this key for about a quarter of an hour without special permission.
4. The doorwoman should not entrust the opening of the door to another, but open and close it herself. For this, the first third gives him the key of the Prioress; the door, however, can only have it precisely in time to open and close, because the two keys must not be in the hands of a Sister without her being accompanied.
5. The three Sisters in whose presence the closing door opens must wear their large veils lowered, as well as their dresses and their sleeves, observe complete silence, but see and hear what is happening, remain standing, not reach out to get something, don't leave the door, don't let anyone touch them, if it's their own mother, and don't let anyone in without permission.
6. If it is necessary to bring in several carters or porters who only arrive one after the other at half an hour intervals, the door must be closed during this time, because it must not be open only during the passage of those entering or leaving.
7. If, while the door is open, other things are passed than those which the Prioress has given permission to bring in, the Sisters can receive them, but they leave them near the door until the door is open. informed the Prioress.
CHAPTER VII
Entry of seculars into the monastery.
1. The Sovereign Pontiffs and the Councils have made bulls and decrees by which they strictly forbid all sorts of persons, of whatever age and condition, to enter the monasteries of the Religious without legitimate permission. and without obvious necessity, under penalty of mortal sin and excommunication in fact and without delay. These penalties, it is true, are incurred only when the cloister is papal; but they make it clear what importance the Church attaches to enclosure and how much she wishes it to be strictly observed; they also make one understand the seriousness of the fault one would commit by failing to do so. It is appropriate to recall that the Bishop could impose censures latae sententiae on the violation of the cloister.
2. This must be carefully considered, not only by seculars who enter, but also by Superiors who give permissions without necessity and by Religious who admit them out of human respect, for both of them, not observing the rules of the Church, fall into the precipice of sin and censures, if they have been carried. Superiors and Religious must therefore inform themselves carefully of the Church's intentions in order to conform to them.
3. It must first be considered that, according to the Constitutions of the Order, there is only legitimate cause for bringing seculars into the monastery when the necessary things cannot be done without their assistance, which must be hear also of the entrance of the burdens that the nuns could not carry.
4. Secondly, it should be noted that the Prioress should not open the door to anyone unless she has written permission from the Superior. It is enough, however, that he gives it each year in writing in a general way for the confessor, the doctor, the surgeon and the workers whom the monastery cannot do without.
5. It should be noted on the first point, that it is not permitted to bring someone in to teach works to the Sisters; those who are received to be converse learn before entering the things which they must know and which are not taught in the monastery.
6. Nor could seculars enter the enclosure, if it were only a question of lending objects to friends which would have to be removed by workmen.
7. The door should not be opened to workers who would like to take the plan of the monastery, or examine its structure for the service of the religious houses of other Orders or of the seculars. The fence only allows entry for things necessary to the monastery itself or to those of the same Order.
8. Only necessary workers can be brought in; the contractor of the buildings must answer for the fidelity of those whom he introduces. Care must be taken that those who enter do not bring their children with them unnecessarily, under the pretext of bringing tools or something else, because, in this case, they could not exempt themselves from censorship. The nuns must inform them of this.
9. The entry of doctors and surgeons, in the form of a simple visit, without need, is prohibited.
10. The tourières themselves can only be introduced into the monastery to supply the entry of a worker, and then the same precautions must be taken towards them as towards other seculars.
11. Burdens should only be brought into the enclosure by tradesmen, and not by people seeking the opportunity to visit the monastery.
12. Even if we meet, to do the necessary work, people as knowledgeable as the craftsmen themselves, although not making their state of it, we should not use them, because some scandal could result from to see people come in and go out who do not practice any art or trade; that moreover, familiarity with these people is more dangerous; finally, because it would give the opportunity to open the door to all sorts of people of either sex, either to paint oratories or decorate altars, or to graft, or for any other work useful to the monastery .
13. On the second point, that is, concerning the necessary permissions for the entry of seculars, it should be remembered that the general permission of the Superior is not sufficient on unusual occasions.
14. If, therefore, it is necessary to bring an exceptional person, such as an expert or a friend heard into the buildings, in order to prevent some notable danger in the monastery, special permission must be requested from the Superior.
15. If it is necessary to bring in workers for the use of any monastery of the Order, special permission must be obtained from the Superior; that which he gives each year is not enough, because it is no longer a question of the usefulness of the monastery itself, but of that of another. Moreover, one can only open to let take model of all the monastery or a principal part of the building, but not to copy decorations of tables or similar ornaments.
16. Saint Charles orders, in his Synods, that one does not make enter the enclosure before the rising sun and that one makes leave before the setting sun; there is no exception except for the confessor, the doctor and the surgeon, and that in a notable necessity.
17. The door should not be opened on holidays to workers who wish to take measurements or prepare the work for the following days.
18. Sixtus IV wants those who enter a monastery to always be led by two of the oldest nuns, that they speak only to themselves and that in front of their assistants, that they do not sleep in the monastery and that they are never offered food there.
19. According to this ordinance of Sixtus IV, only older Sisters should be employed as thirds, for it would obviously be unwise to send young Sisters with the workers, and even more the postulants who have not received the habit. Close relatives can no more serve together as third parties in the supervision of the workers than they can mutually serve as third parties in the visiting room.
20. The thirds are appointed by the Prioress; they must always see the workers and they must see and hear each other mutually. Sixtus IV orders, and Saint Charles does the same in his Synods, that when the workers are on the roofs or in other places of the monastery where it would be inopportune, dangerous or harmful for the third parties to be near them, they put themselves in a place where, always with their face turned towards them, they see what they do, where they go and who speaks to them, in order to report to the Superior. The practice of our Order is that, if the assistance of these two Religious seems too difficult to obtain, we try to lock up the workers so that they cannot go through the house, nor speak to other Sisters only to those designated for this.
21. When there are men locked up without third parties in the garden or elsewhere, no nun can go there except with the permission of the Prioress and with a third party. Both ask for the key at the door, do not separate from each other while this key is in their hands, and return it promptly when they no longer need it.
22. If we must measure in the monastery the wheat that we bring in, we must introduce with those who carry it a portress or some other servant to help in the measurement; likewise, when wine and coal are brought into the cellar for porters to bring, a servant must also enter to conduct them, for it is not appropriate for the nuns to do so themselves.
23. Only the oldest of the third parties can talk to the workers. The Holy Fathers teach that you should not ask them for news, but rather use restraint in their conversation.
24. Saint Charles, after several Popes, ordered that the nuns always have their faces covered with their veils when meeting people who have entered the monastery, which confirms the use of the Order. If the nuns cannot pass somewhere without being seen, they must either avoid this passage or wear their large veils lowered.
25. The ordinance already quoted lastly forbids ever presenting food to those who enter the monastery; if then confessors, physicians and surgeons were
occupied too long with the sick Sisters, they would have to be taken out to take some food, then brought back.
26. The workers, again according to Pope Sixtus IV, can eat the things they have brought into the enclosure. They must choose for this a place far from the passage of the Nuns so that they do not see them; but if it is the monastery that feeds them, they must be taken out to eat outside.
27. It is not only forbidden for nuns to receive seculars in the cloister; Saint Charles, in his first council, still forbids them to take charge of any deposit, nor to keep in the monastery silverware, titles, papers, furniture, money, jewels, precious stones and other things of importance; this must be observed in the Order, as Fr. Gibieuf points out in his circular letter of the year 1646. monastery would have very great obligations, it could not be done without written permission from the Superior.
CHAPTER VIII
Of the Entrance of Bishops, Superiors, Confessors and Ecclesiastics, and Religious of the Order.
1. When the diocesan bishop comes to visit a monastery, he does not bring with him any secular person, but only two or three ecclesiastics at the most who follow him everywhere, and he does not allow them to be separated even slightly from his presence.
2. To receive him with dignity and order, the sacristan spreads a carpet in the choir, on which she places a kneeler and a cushion. The Sisters, dressed in their cloaks and large veils, assemble at the conventual door and divide there into two choirs facing each other; the oldest are closer to the door, the Sisters who hold the cross and the candlesticks are the furthest away and have their faces turned towards the door; the Sub-Prioress carries the stoup and the sprinkler.
3. As soon as the Bishop has entered, the nuns, except those carrying the cross and the candlesticks, kneel down, facing the prelate, to receive his blessing; then the Sub-Prioress gives the stoup to one of the ecclesiastics who presents the sprinkler to the Bishop. The latter gives holy water to the nuns, and then he is led in procession to the choir, singing the responsory Ecce sacerdos magnus and the psalm Laudate Dominum, omnes gentes, or Memento Domine, David, which are begun by the cantors and continued by the nuns
4. On arriving at the choir, the Sisters genuflect to the Blessed Sacrament, then line up in the stalls, stand there and bow to the Bishop when he passes. He places himself in the place that has been prepared for him, and the Prioress says from hers the prayers marked in the Manual for the reception of prelates. During these prayers, the Religious turn to the Blessed Sacrament.
5. When the prayers are over, the Prioress, accompanied by two nuns only, leads the Bishop to the places he wishes to visit; but neither she nor the nuns raise their veils, because he is accompanied by ecclesiastics.
6. The other nuns remain assembled in choir during this visitation, which only takes up one morning or one afternoon.
7. After the visit, those who have accompanied the Bishop kneel down to receive his blessing.
8. The ceremony just described is usually observed only for the first entrance of the Bishop, or in some exceptional circumstance.
9. The Holy Council of Trent has abrogated the privilege which some bishops used to celebrate Mass in the cloister at certain meetings; this is why they cannot enter either for this purpose, or to give the sacrament of Confirmation, or to dress, or to profess or take the veil of the nuns. This defense is in express terms in the Synods of St. Charles; the Council of Trent also forbids keeping the Blessed Sacrament within the cloister.
10. When it is necessary to consecrate the church of a monastery, the Bishop can enter beforehand to arrange around the church the necessary passage. This space can be closed with boards or other things to prevent the seculars from going beyond it; indeed, they must not, even in consideration of the dedication, enter the enclosure, neither during the ceremony, nor before, nor after. If the enclosure is papal, this defense is under penalty of censorship carried by the bull of Gregory XIII.
11. Superiors themselves cannot enter enclosure without an urgent necessity.
12. The one who visits the monastery can enter the enclosure only once in each visit; he must stop there only as long as necessary and have with him a clergyman who accompanies him.
13. Ecclesiastics, however dignified, cannot enter the monastery simply to visit and comfort the sick; the subjects which give them legitimate entry and for which the Superior gives general permission in writing each year, are the administration to the sick of the sacraments of Penance, Eucharist and Extreme Unction, and the assistance of dying women at 'end. [It may also happen that a Sister who has been ill for a long time, without being in danger, needs to speak to the Superior.]
14. Urban IV and Saint Charles in his Synods say that the priest can enter alone to make the recommendation of the soul to a dying Sister, but he must be assisted by a priest or a cleric to give the Viaticum and the 'Extreme Unction.
15. The confessor must never come in at night, except to confess a sick person in urgent danger, give her Viaticum and Extreme Uncle, and help her to die well. This regulation must be exactly kept in the Order.
16. Some ecclesiastics can also enter to attend the burials of the Sisters, as it was said in chapter v of book IX; but care must be taken that those invited are known and approved in the diocese, and that their number does not exceed fifteen or twenty.
17. It is not the custom of the Carmelites to grant entry into the cloister to nuns of other orders, nor even to those of the mixed Rule of the Order. Nor should it be granted to the Religious of the Reform of Saint Thérèse who are not of the Congregation of France, unless it is for important reasons approved by the Superior, and with his permission.
18. Finally, that the Religious seriously consider that the decretal of Gregory XIII formally excommunicates, when the cloister is papal, both seculars who enter without necessity, and the Religious who receive them, even when the Superiors would have permitted this entry; let them understand once again the capital importance of closure and the seriousness of the fault that one would be committing by violating it.
CHAPTER IX
Of the Entrance and Reception of the King, Queen and Princesses.
1. The king, following the custom of France approved by the Holy See, can enter monasteries and lead there a small number of princes and lords. The Prioress will beg His Majesty to take only three or four.
2. The queen and the daughters of France may, according to the same privilege, enter and sleep in the monastery. They can enter with the number of women that suits them, but never with any men. The queen, however, can bring with her the sons of France; however the Prioress will beg her to keep only three women for the night; the girls of France retain only two.
3. The sons of France enter the monastery only with the king or the queen.
4. Princesses may only enter with written permission from His Holiness; it is necessary, moreover, that this permission has been accepted by the Superiors, and also by the Religious assembled in the Chapter. Princesses can never take more than three wives with them or sleep in the monastery, although their permission is more extensive.
5. Permission from Rome is only accepted for princesses of the blood, for those to whom the Order has very special obligations, or for princesses whose husbands are provincial governors. Permissions in the latter two cases should only apply to a particular monastery. If a princess obtained from His Holiness a general permission to enter all the monasteries of any Order whatsoever, the Carmelites would not accept it: for their custom is to receive only a permission given specially for their Order.
6. When the king and queen enter the monastery for the first time, two kneelers and two cushions are prepared in the choir, under which a carpet is spread. The little bell was rung twice to summon the nuns; these are assembled in the fore-choir. dressed in their cloaks and their large veils, and from there, they will receive Their Majesties with the ceremonies marked in the preceding chapter for the Bishops, except that one does not wear a stoup and that one does not kneel at the door.
7. At the moment when the king and queen, or only one of them, enter, the responsory marked in the Manual begins and the nuns go in procession to the choir. After the response, they sing in two choirs the psalm Deus, judicium tuum Regi da. When the Sisters are lined up in their places in the choir and Their Majesties are at their kneelers, the Prioress recites the verses and prayers from her stall. The nuns turn to the Blessed Sacrament at the end of the psalm, and remain so until the prayers are finished.
8. The prayers being finished, the Prioress takes with her five or six nuns to lead the king and his retinue wherever he pleases to go. They will have all their sails lowered, even in the presence of the king, if he does not order otherwise. Nevertheless the Prioress and the others lift him up while talking to him.
9. While the king remains in the monastery, the whole Community remains assembled in the choir, without anyone being able to leave, except for absolute necessity, and in this case, she is accompanied by another Sister who don't leave her.
10. During this same time, four nuns are employed for the service of the tower; the portress with a companion stays there and answers them, and the two other Sisters do the messages together.
11. These precautions being taken, if any lord separates himself from the company of the king, he is allowed to go into the house alone, without any nun accompanying him.
12. One of the keys of the convent door is given to the captain of the king's guards and the portress keeps the other, so that no one can be introduced into the monastery without the captain of the guards and the nuns being present.
13. This door is opened only by the command of the king and with the consent of the Prioress, to admit ladies to whom one wishes to grant this grace, and in this case the portress will open it, accompanied by the three nuns who are in turn with her.
14. If the king or queen asks for a collation, the Prioress has it brought by two or three nuns taken from among those accompanying her.
15. This snack should not be sumptuous, but on the contrary feel like a hermit. They never serve meat, but only two or three dishes of fruit and one or two dishes of jam “for the respect of Their Majesties”. No lady or princess is allowed to give snacks in the monastery either to the king, or to the queen, or to others: for the monasteries are places of penance in which one should not seek or find the satisfaction of the meaning, but to see and learn the practice of the virtues and particularly of mortification.
16. As has been said, the king and queen are only received with these ceremonies on their first entry; it would, however, be done a second time if they only returned after an interval of several years; but in the monasteries where they often enter, the Prioress and the Sub-Prioress, assisted only by four or five nuns, go to receive them at the closing door wearing their large veils without cloaks; they lead them to the choir to greet the Blessed Sacrament, then to the places where they please to go.
17. When the queen enters without the king, some differences are observed, because there are no men in the monastery; the Community does not remain assembled in the choir, the nuns can be each in their cells and go alone in the house, but always with the large veil lowered. They can also show the monastery to the ladies to whom they would have allowed to speak. The keys to the door remain in the hands of the Prioress and the portress; the latter only opens the closing door with the permission of the Queen and the Prioress, but she does so only with the assistance of the nuns.
18. Only nuns designated by the Prioress or with her permission can speak to the ladies, and always with a third party.
19. If a Sister met a lady in the house who asked to speak to some Nun, she would lead her in silence to the door of the tower and call the portress; she would go and take the Prioress's permission, notify the requested Sister and give her a third party, without which she could not speak to a secular.
20. While the queen is in the monastery, the offices are closed; the nuns always keep the large veil over their heads, which they lower when a secular woman enters their cells; but if you speak to them, they answer no one. They go to the choir as usual for services and prayer.
21. If the Queen hears Vespers or Compline, the Nuns do not sit down out of respect for Her Majesty, and keep their veils lowered because of the people who are present. They only raise it if the queen commands it.
22. The monastery is informed of the exit of the king or queen by tolling ten or twelve strokes on the small bell, so that the nuns who speak to the ladies lead them promptly to the door to leave; at the same time, two of the nuns who have been appointed to speak to the seculars, take care to seek out those who are in the monastery and lead them to the door, so that none remain after the king or queen leaves.
23. When one of the daughters of France or a princess who has permission to enter arrives at the monastery, it suffices for the Prioress to go and receive her accompanied by the portress and five or six nuns whom she chooses; she greets with a deep bow the princess who enters and leads her where she wants to go. We lift the veils when she is alone, and not otherwise. When the Princess has brought in ladies with her, the Nuns who are with the Prioress conduct and entertain them, having their veils lowered; no Sister can speak to them unless she has been appointed for this purpose by the Prioress; if any lady wanted to speak privately to a nun, the prioress would have to allow it, and in that case there would always be a third party.
CHAPTER X
Legitimate causes for which nuns can come out of the enclosure.
1. The Church does not allow the door to be opened to one or more Religious except to prevent the ruin or the notable damage of the Community, or else the absolute non-observance of the Rule, or even to help to maintain, to increase or to reform the Order.
2. A Religious can therefore be removed when it is judged that she cannot stay longer with the others in a monastery, without great danger or a notable scandal for the Community, and that it cannot be done to her. correction as necessary.
3. The Fellowship can be brought out to avoid great peril, such as war, pestilence, or fire; but the case must be so serious that it puts the lives of the nuns in obvious danger.
4. Nuns may never leave the cloister, for any reason whatsoever, without the written permission of the Superior, and such permission is invalid unless given for any of the aforesaid causes.
5. If, however, the accident of war or fire happens so unexpectedly that one cannot warn the Superior, one must not leave out, because necessity has no law, and one must presume that the will of the Superior is that a manifest danger be avoided; the Prioress, in this circumstance, gives permission. If it is necessary for the Community to remain outside for some time, the Prioress immediately notifies the Superior, because the knowledge of the cause belongs to her; it may happen that the motive which seemed legitimate to the Prioress is not judged such by her, and then the Community would be obliged to return to the cloister.
6. If after a conflagration there remained in the monastery sufficient lodging for the Sisters to be able to be there in safety, they would be obliged to retire there.
7. When a contagious disease or another serious accident forces the nuns to leave the monastery, they are obliged to live in seclusion and in regularity in the secular houses where they retire.
8. No Religious may go out for any illness whatsoever, or for any other cause where it is only in her own interest or that of a single Sister; the Superior cannot, in this case, give him permission, because this cause is not legitimate.
9. The Carmelites must not agree to leave their monasteries to reform those of other Orders; Saint Thérèse and her daughters never did this in Spain, and experience has shown in France that this is detrimental to our Order. The Carmelites are established in the Church to honor God through the exercise of the contemplative life; they make a profession of solitude, and must shun affairs that make noise and shine.
10. A postulant can go out the day she takes the habit; yet he is not permitted to go anywhere in the city; she retires only to the quarters of the portieres, and from there she goes to the church for the ceremony.
CHAPTER XI
What nuns must observe when they go from one monastery to another.
1. We will speak in this chapter, not only of what relates to closure in the travels of the Religious, but also of all the observances that they must keep outside their monasteries.
2. The nuns, when going from one convent to another, must be accompanied by a virtuous woman of good repute, and also by an ecclesiastic. [This last point doesn't always seem necessary these days when travel is so fast.]
3. They must travel in a closed carriage or a litter, and not allow the ecclesiastic who accompanies them, nor any man, even their own brother, to get into it with them. If they travel by boat, they retire to a cabin and separate themselves as much as possible from the seculars.
4. They do not deviate from the straight path without the express permission of the Superior, who should grant it only rarely, and for reasons so useful and so important that they cannot open the door to abuse.
5. They put on their coats and sandals when getting in and out of the car, and when they go to Mass.
6. They always wear their large veils lowered, except when they are alone before the secular who accompanies them. In the roads, they are allowed, as a necessary relief, to open the doors and raise their veils, but they must be careful to lower them or draw the curtains when they see passers-by. When they enter towns or villages, they close the doors and the curtains and lower their veils, so as not to be seen and to see no one.
7. They must communicate on the first day of their journey, before leaving the monastery.
8. Every morning, after getting into the car, they say the Itinerary, a prayer marked by the Church for travellers.
9. They hear the Mass of the ecclesiastic who accompanies them every day, in the church nearest to the place where they stay; on the days on which they receive communion, they confess to him in church. If this church was that of a convent whose nuns begged them to enter the parlor, they should apologize; but if someone came to speak to them at the choir screen, they could say a few words there.
10. They take care to do two hours of prayer in the car, one in the morning and the other in the evening; they make the examination before dinner and observe the great silence of the night and that of noon; at other times, they only talk to each other about what is necessary, and that in a low voice; when they entertain those who accompany them, it must be things of God or useful subjects. They have an hourglass to measure the time of their exercises and, if there are several of them, a bell to announce them. They say Matins in the evening, after arriving at the place where they are to spend the night.
11. They keep the fasts of the Order if they are not exempted from it by a current illness or a notable inconvenience; but they can, if need be, have a snack in the morning and supper in the evening. They should not allow hotels to serve them a quantity of food or expensive things; but they are careful to practice mortification and regularity as in the monastery, as much as possible. Nothing should appear in them that does not conform to what should be expected of the daughters of the Blessed Virgin and of Saint Thérèse. Those who would be forced to eat fatty foods in the monastery should not do so while travelling. Likewise, they must wear their tunics, even when a legitimate subject dispenses them with them at another time.
12. When they arrive at the hotels, they retire alone to their rooms with the secular who accompanies them. The latter herself receives what is brought to the nuns, to prevent anyone from entering where they are; if someone wishes to speak to them for something necessary, they answer the door, standing up, and shorten the interview as much as possible. None of the nuns is ever left alone with a stranger; another nun, or at least the secular who accompanies them, must be present.
13. The ecclesiastic who travels with them should not enter their rooms any more than the others, except by absolute and evident necessity.
14. The nuns cannot leave their rooms except by necessity, and even when they are two together, they must be accompanied by the secular who has come with them.
15. If, before entering the room or after leaving it, they are obliged to speak to a few people, they take care to do so with great restraint and modesty, and to end promptly.
16. They do not sleep in the beds, but on them, and they have them covered with white sheets, because these beds serve all kinds of people.
17. Throughout the journey, however sick or infirm they may be, they never leave their clothes outside the monasteries; they only take off their scapular and put on the one they wear at night, with a white veil.
18. The secular who accompanies the nuns must sleep in their room, and there must always be light at night.
19. They go to stay in hotels rather than with private people, unless there is some obligation to do otherwise, because one is freer in hotels to collect oneself and follow one's exercises of piety, than in private houses where one is obliged, out of gratitude, to give time to the conversation of those with whom one is lodged, and to allow the mistress of the house and her daughters to enter the room for this purpose. [Nowadays, however, things have changed, and it will often be more proper to stop at a convent or the home of a pious person than at a hotel.]
20. When the Religious arrive in the monasteries of the Order which are on their way, they kneel before the Prioress as soon as they have entered and present their obediences to her; before going anywhere in the house, they should pray to be taken to the choir to adore the Blessed Sacrament.
21. All the time they remain in the monastery, they obey the Prioress, keep the observances of religious life as if they were there forever, and do not speak to any of the nuns in the monastery, unless the Prioress asks. send them some for this purpose.
CHAPTER XII
What the Prioress must observe when she goes to visit a monastery she is having built.
1. When a Prioress has a monastery built and she has no one outside who knows how it should be built, the Superior can allow her to go out to give orders to the workers.
2. In this visit, the Prioress is always accompanied by two nuns also authorized to go out, and also by a secular person of good reputation. The two Sisters are always close to the Prioress and do not separate from her, for any matter whatsoever. All three are still keeping their sails lowered. If the place is remote at all, they don't go there on foot, but in a closed car.
3. They should only stay out of the fence long enough to see what the workers have done and explain to them what they have to do. They must also avoid meeting seculars, except those whom they would have asked to come to give their opinion on the difficulties of the building. If by chance they meet other people they know, they only greet them in passing, without stopping or speaking with them.
4. These outings, although sometimes necessary, must be rare, and they must be motivated by important things and which can only be explained on the spot to workers who have not seen the monasteries of the Order. The number of these visits can be limited to three or four until the building is completed.
5. The Prioress should only go out for the construction of an entire monastery, or at least a considerable part; never for small repairs or for work to be done in the lodgings of ecclesiastics or that of tourières. If she finds a person to whom she can give her orders and explanations for the work of the monastery and who is able to transmit them to the workers, she must use this person to avoid leaving the enclosure.
END
