MONKS' BEHAVIOR DURING THE MEAL
The monks' behavior at mealtime is described in a compilation
of monastic customs which was written toward the end
of the eighth century, and appears to have been held in such
esteem by Benedict of Aniane that he proposed to promulgate
it by attaching it to the capitulary of 817.[156]
As the hour of the meal approaches, upon completion of
the divine service, the monks wait in the choir, softly singing
psalms. At the first sound of the bell, they walk to the
refectory in order and, after having washed their hands,
salute the cross with their faces turned east. When the bell
rings again they kneel, say a verse, and recite the Lord's
Prayer. Then the prior blesses the monks, the brothers
take their seats at the table, each at his proper place, and
thereafter they remain in complete silence.
The boys are not seated separately, but are intermixed
with their elders, two at each table.[157]
In Corbie the boys
took their meals standing opposite their teachers.[158]
"If
anyone does not arrive before the verse, so that all may say
the verse and the prayers together and all at the same time
go to the table . . . he shall be corrected once and a second
time for this. If he still do not amend, he shall not be
allowed to share the common meal; but let him be separated
from the company of the brethren and take his meal alone,
and be deprived of his allowance of wine, until he do penance
and amend."[159]
The food is served from the kitchen, beginning at the
lower end of the refectory, near the kitchen, where the
most recently admitted monks are seated and ending with
the abbot at the upper, eastern end of the hall. When the
bell rings a third time, the abbot blesses the bread and
breaks it, and the brothers, after blessing each other in
turn, begin to partake of their food. The lector ascends the
pulpit and commences his reading.
When the time comes to serve the wine, the cellarer
motions to the server, and immediately upon this signal the
junior brothers rise from their seats and fill the cups for
the monks.[160]
In carrying out this task they lower their
heads, first to the Cross, then to the abbot, and finally in
a circle to all of the brothers, whereafter they return to
their seats.
If there is anything the brothers need as they eat and
drink they must supply it to one another, so that no one
shall have to ask for anything. Should need arise, nevertheless,
that something must be requested, it must be done
by a sign rather than by speech.[161]
When all the food is
eaten, the reader stops his recitation, the brothers say a
verse, rise from the table—the left-hand choir first, the
right-hand choir next, and the abbot last—singing the
fiftieth psalm. They enter the church in this manner, "bow
to the Gloria," say the Lord's Prayer, and then proceed to
the chapter "silently, as befits the time."[162]
