V.13.1
THE CEMETERY
There are fourteen burial plots, each 6¼ feet wide and 17½
feet long.[452]
They are identified by the distich:
Hanc circum iaceant defunta cadauera fr̄m̄
Qua radiante Iterum. Regna poli accipant'
Around this [cross] let rest the dead bodies
of the brethren
And through its radiance they may attain again
the realm of heaven
The death and burial of a monk was a matter of intense
concern to the entire community, as may be inferred from
the moving descriptions of the last hours of the monks
Wolo, Ratpert and Gerald in Ekkehart's IV Casus sancti
Galli or the latter's poetic account of the death of his teacher
Notker Labeo in his Liber Benedictionum.[453]
An English
consuetudinary of the end of the tenth century, the Regularis
concordia of St. Dunstan, describes the share which
the community had in the death of one of its brothers as
follows:
When the sick brother feels his strength ebbing, he makes this
known to the convent through the master of the infirmary. Whereupon
the priest who celebrates the morning mass, accompanied by
his attendants, will administer the holy eucharist. Preceded by
monks carrying candles and incense, the entire congregation visits
the sick, chanting the penitential psalms, the litanies of the saints,
and the prescribed orations. Then the sick receives his last unction,
yet only on the first day; thereafter he receives the communion.
If he recovers his strength the daily visits stop. If his condition does
not improve, the visits are continued to the end.
When the patient [begins] his death struggle, the sounding board is
rung so that all can come together to be at his side in this extreme
moment. Immediately the prayers of the commendation of the
soul are said, the Subvenite, sancti Domini and the sequence prescribed
by the Ordo commendationis.
Upon expiration those who are in charge of this task will wash
the body and wrap it into its proper clothing, i.e., his shirt, his
cowl, his gaiters, and his shoes, whatever is customary in the order
to which the deceased belongs. If he be a priest, in addition, the
stole will be placed upon his cowl, if this seems appropriate. This
being done, the body is carried into the Church to the chant of the
psalms and the ringing of the bells.
If death comes at night before dawn or matin and there is time
for all the preparations necessary for burial, he will be placed into
his grave that same day, after the celebration of mass and before the
brothers take their meal. Otherwise, brothers will be designated to
watch in groups over the body during this day and the night which
follows. Psalms will be sung without interruption until the body is
rendered to the earth. After the burial the brothers return to the
Church, chanting the seven penitential psalms for the deceased.
They complete the psalms lying prostrate before the holy altar.[454]
