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 CARTHUSIAN

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CARTHUSIAN

the Fathers is chanted to the solemn tones of the nocturn-Iessons. On these days also there is a com- mon recreation with talking in the cloister for the solemnly professed, but only on Sundays for all. Once every week, the monks go out for a walk to- gether, during which they converse. This is known as the Spatiamentum and usually lasts about three and a half hours.

During the great monastic fast, which lasts from 14 Sept. to Ash Wednesday, except for Sundays and feast days, dinner is an hour later, and supper consists of a glass of wine and a crust of bread ne potns noreat (Statutes). During Lent, Vespers are sung before dinner, which is not till midday and supper is as above. Meat is never allowed on any account, though, in a case of life and death, the monk may, if not solemnly professed, be dispensed. Once a week there is a fast on bread and water and during Advent and Lent, on Fridays and on certain vigils lactieinia are forbidden.

The Carthusian wears the ordinary monastic habit in white serge, but the scapular which is joined by bands at the side and has the hood attached to it, is known as the " cowl ". The long flowing garment with wide sleeves, which usually bears this name, is used only by the deacon at high Mass. No beard is worn, and the hair is shaved except for a narrow strip round the head. Novices wear a black mantle and their cowl is short and unjoined. The postulancy usually lasts one month, the novitiate one year, at the end of which simple vows are taken; the solemn vows are taken four years later.

The lay brothers live an entirely cenobitical life, and are occupied in the servile work of the establish- ment. Their habit differs only slightly from that of the fathers. After two years postulancy and noviti- ate, the lay novice becomes a donne, wearing a brown habit, but takes no vows. He may remain always in this condition, but it requires eight more years to be- come a solemnly professed lay brother. The lay brothers and donncs, collectively known as the Fam- ilia, are under the procurator, and have their own chapel, chapter-house, and refectory. Their Office consists of a large number of Paters and Aves. They attend the night Office, conventual Mass, and Ves- pers, on Sundays and feasts, but usually only the first part of the night Office.

III. Organization. — The prior of the Grande Chartreuse, who is elected by the monks of that house, is always the general of the order. He wears no insignia, but is the only one in the order who re- ceives the title of "Reverend Father", all other re- ligious being known as "Venerable Fathers". The general chapter, which consists of the visitors and all the priors, meets annually, and receives the resigna- tions of all the superiors of the order including the general. These it reinstates or removes at will. Its ordinances have the force of law, but do not become permanent unless twice renewed. The visitors, who are appointed by the chapter, make a visitation of each charterhouse every two years, to enquire into its condition and reform any abuses. The first general chapter of the order was held by St. Ant helm in 1 1 12, and in the year 1258 its powers were confirmed by Pope Alexander IV. To the wise ordinances of this body and to its series of distinguished generals the order owes its claim nunquam rejormnta quia nvnquam de.jormata.

The prior of each house is, in strict law. elected by the professed monks of the community, if there are four present who have been actually professed l«'i that house or who arc original founders. Nowadays lie is generally appointed by the father general ami the chapter. The prior is assisted by various officials. These are the vicar, who takes the prior's place in rase of necessity, the procurator, who is cut rusted wit li ( he temporal administration and the care of the lay brothers, the coadjutor, who looks after guests and

retreatants, the antiquior, who takes the vicar's place, the sacristan, and the novice-master.

IV. Development. — From its very nature the or- der grew slowly. In 1300 there were but 39 monas- teries, but during the fourteenth century 113 were founded, extending as far as Silesia, Bohemia, and Hungary. During the Great Schism there were two generals, but both resigned on the election of Alexan- der V in 1409 and the order was once more united. During the fifteenth century, 44 charterhouses were founded and in 1521 there were in all 206, but dur- ing the sixteenth century 39 were destroyed by the Reformation and only 13 founded. In 1559 a foun- dation in Mexico was projected but fell through owing to the opposition of the King of Spain. Writ- ing in 1007 Le Masson says, "We number about 2,500 choir monks and 1,300 lay brothers and donncs, giving an average of a dozen Fathers and eight or nine lay brothers to each house". Between 1600 and 1667, 22 monasteries were founded, and then no more till the nineteenth century. The order entirely es- caped the scourge of commendatory superiors. Jo- seph II suppressed 24 houses, and in 17S4 the Spanish Government compelled its charterhouses to separate from the order.

The French charterhouses were less infected with Jansenism than most of the ancient orders. Owing to the energy of the general, Doin Antoine de Mongef- fond, only thirty monks out of a total of over 1,000, and those mostly belonging to the Paris house, ulti- mately refused to sign the "Unigenitus". These fled to Utrecht. At the outbreak of the Revolution there were 122 charterhouses, which were nearly all sup- pressed, as the French armies swept over Europe. In 1816 the monks returned to the Grande Chartreuse. The Spanish houses were suppressed in 1S35; the Port-Dieu in Switzerland, which had escaped the earlier storm, in 1847; the monasteries in Italy for a second time during the course of the Risorqimento; and the restored French houses as a consequence of the Association Laws of 1901.

V. Present State of the Order. — In 1900 the monks possessed eleven monasteries in France and nine in other parts of Europe. The French houses are now empty and four new or restored houses have been opened in Spain and Italy. The following is a list of the charterhouses existing at the end of 1907. In Italy: Farneta, near Lucca, recently repurchased and occupied by the general and the convenhis Cartusiw; Pisa; Florence, where the monks are merely custo- dians of a national monument; Trisulti, near Alatri; La Torre, in Calabria; Vedana, in the Diocese of Bel- luno; La Cervara, near Genoa, recently repurchased. The Procura of the order at Rome. In Spain: Monte Allegro, near Barcelona; Aula Dei, Peiiaflor, near Saragossa; Miraflores with its splendid royal tombs; the liqueur is made at the Casa de los Cartujos, Tarra- gona. In England: Parkminster. in Sussex, is the largest charterhouse in the world, with thirty-six cells and 3,166 feet of cloister. It now contains the com- munity of Notre-Dame des Pres, Montreuil. as well as its own. In Switzerland: Yal-Sainte in Canton Fri- burg. In Germany: Ham near Dusseldorf. In Aus- tria: Plettcrjack, founded in 1403, abandoned 1595, and since rebuilt. In Belgium: the printing works belonging to Montreuil are now at Tournai. There are 300 solemnly professed monks. 35 junior professed, and l"i novices, making 350 choir monks, of whom about 20 are not ye1 priests; also about the same total of lay brothel's, lay novices, and ilonnis. The badge of the onlcr is a globe surrounded by a cross and seven stars, with the motto "Stat crux, dum volviturorbis".

The famous liqueur is a secret manufacture, in vented by the monks in the nineteenth century, as a means of subsistence, to take the place of the broad acres lost in the Revolution. The large proceeds, after assist ing to pay for the maintenance of the vari-