ITS DUAL ROLE: CONVERSATION WITH
VISITORS & WASHING OF FEET
Between the Cellar and the southern aisle of the church lies
the Parlor, a long rectangular room that serves as exit and entrance
to the Cloister, where the monks may engage in conversation
with their guests, and where the washing of the
feet takes place (exitus & introitus ante claustrū ad conloquendum
cum hospitibus & ad mandatū faciendū). The parlor measures
15 feet × 47½ feet and is lined entirely with benches. It
is the only legitimate place of contact between the monks and
the outside world. It is here that, with the permission of the
abbot or prior, they may meet with friends or visiting
relatives. Here, also, they perform one of the most venerable
Christian services, the so-called mandatum. Keller[254]
translated
the phrase ad mandatū faciendū mistakenly as "the
place where orders are given to the servants," and some of
the later commentators of the Plan inherited this error.[255]
Mandatum is "the washing of the feet" and refers to an old
monastic custom, based upon the example set by Christ
himself, when before the Last Supper he humbly washed
the feet of his disciples, admonishing them to fulfill his
"new mandate" (novum mandatum)[256]
by perpetuating this
rite. The custom has a long Biblical tradition and was widespread
in eastern countries, where owing to the general use
of sandals, the washing of the feet was from the earliest
times recognized everywhere as a courtesy shown to
guests. In the hot climate of the Mediterranean countries,
with their dusty and often rain-soaked roads, to offer water
to a guest for his feet was one of the duties of the master of
the household, and in certain areas was even the equivalent
of a formal invitation to stay overnight.[257]
Often this
service was rendered by slaves, occasionally by the daughter
or wife of the owner of the house.[258]
Common both in the
Jewish and the Hellenistic world, the custom of washing
feet was taken over by the Early Christian and became an
integral part of the monastic tradition.
