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 CLOISTER

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CLOISTER

cloister proper was unknown, so much so that the nuns themselves used to go out, though always ac- companied (Aug., Epist., ccxi, P. L., XXXIII, 963).

In Europe, St. Caesarius of Aries (536) forbade women to enter men's monasteries, and even pre- vented them from visiting the interior part of a nun's convent (Regula ad monaehos, xi; Ad virgines, xxxiv, P. L., LXVII, 1100, 1114); so also St. Aurehus, who further forbade nuns to go out except with a compan- ion (Regula ad monaehos, xv; Ad virgines, xii, P.L., LXVIII, 390, 401). "The Rule of St. Benedict says notliing about the cloister, and even the Rule of St. Francis only forbids monks to enter convents of nuns. It is worth noting that other religious so far surpassed in severity the autliorizations of current law as to place their churches under cloister (Carthusians; see "Guigonis Consuetudines", c. xxi, P. L., CLIII, 681, 682), or to proliiljit the introduction of foods which the monks were forbitklen to use (Camaldolese). St. Gregory (P. L.. LXXVII, 717) in his letter (.594) to the Abbot Valentine (letter xlii or xl, bk. IV) com- plained that the said alibot used to admit women into his monastery frequently, and used to allow his monks to act as godfathers at baptisms, thus associating with the women who acted as godmothers. This last permission appeared to him more reprehensible tlian the former. In the middle of the fifth century (4.50- 56) an Irish council presided over by St. Patrick for- bade (can. ix) the religious and consecrated virgins to lodge in the same inn, ride in the same carriage, or frequently meet together (Hard., 1, 1791). About the same time, the Fourt li CEcunienical Council (451 ) sub- jected to the bishop's jurisdiction the monks who lived outside their monastery. In 517 the Council of Epao (a locality which has not been identified hitherto. See Hefele, "Conciliengeschichte", II, 681; Liiiung, "Geschichte des deutschen Kirchenreclits", I, 569, n. 2, identifies it with Albon, between Valence and Vienne; the "Mon. C!erm. Hist.": Cone., I, 17, referto Loning) prescribed measures (can. xxxviii) prohibiting any but women of known integrity or priests on duty from entering the monasteries of virgins {piiel- laritm — Hard., II, 1051). In the Constitution ("No- vella") 133 of Justinian I, irepl ixovax^iv, 16 or IS March, 539, we meet with a prescription which re- sembles much more closely our cloister. In the third cliapter the emperor forbids women to enter men's monasteries even for a burial service, and vice versa. In the Council of Saragossa (691) the Fathers assem- bled protested against the facility with which lay persons were admitted into monasteries (Hard., III. 1780). Next come the Council of Freising (about 800), which forbids either laymen or clerics to enter nuns' convents (can. xxi in the collection reproduced in the "Mon. Germ. Hist.: Capitularia Regum Fran- corum", I, 28), and the Council of Mainz (813), which forbids (can. xii) monks to go out without the abbot's leave, and which seems (can. xiii) to forbid absolutely all egress for nuns, even for the abbesses, except with the advice and peniiission of the bi.shop (Hard., IV, 1011, 1012). In the acts of the synods of 829 pre- sented to Louis!e Debonnaire, we find a measure to prevent monks from conversing with nuns without the bishop's peniiission ["Mon. Germ. Hist.: Capitu- laria", II, 42, n. 19 (53)]. The Second General Coun- cil of the Lateran (1139) forbade nuns to dwell in private houses (can. xxvi) and expressed the wish that they should not sing in the same choir with the canons or monks (Hard.. VII, 1222). The Third Council of the Lateran (1179) required a cause of clear necessity to justify clerics in visiting convents of nuns. We may add here the decree of Innocent III (1198) in- serted in the Dccretalia (I, 31, 7), which gives to the bishop the right to supplement the negligence of pre- lates who should not compel wandering monks to re- turn to their convents.

Thus far we have surveyed the beginnings of the

present legislation. In 1298 Boniface VIII promul- gated his celebrated Constitution "Periculoso" (De Statu Regularium, in Vl°, III, 16), in which he im- posed the cloister on all nuns. According to this law, all egress is forbidden to them; only persons of irre- proacliablr' lifp are admitted to see the sisters, and tli;i( only whiii there is a reasonable excuse previously aj ipn i\ r, I ol I .y t he competent authorities. The bishops (in the coiivtnfs which are subject to them, as well as in those which depend immediately on the Holy See) and the regular prelates (in other convents) are charged to watch over the execution of these disposi- tions. The Council of Trent (Sess. XXV, De Reg. et Mon., c. v), confirming these measures, con- fided to the bisliops all responsibility for the cloister of nuns; it further directed that no nun might go out without a written permit from the bishop, and that outsiders, under pain of excommunication, might not enter without a written permit from the bishop or the regular superior, which permit might not be given except in case of necessity. St. Pius V, in his "Circa Pastoralis" (20 May, 1566), urged the execution of Boniface's law, and imposed the cloister even on the third orders. Shortly after, the same pontiff, in his "Decori" (1 Feb., 1570), defined the cases and the manner in which a professed nun might go outside of her cloister. In this connexion may also be mentioned the "Ubi Gratiie" of Gregory XIII (13 June, 1575), explained by the Brief " Dubiis " (23 Dec, 1581). The decree of 1 1 May, 1669, and the declara- tion of 26 Nov., 1679 of the Congregation of the Coun- cil, forbid religious men to see nuns, even at the grat- ing, except within the limits referred to above.

This legislation is still further confirmed by the Constitutions of Benedict XIV, "Cum sacraruni", 1 June, 1741, "Salutare" of 3 Jan., 1742, concerning the entrance of outsiders; "Per binas alias", 24 Jan., 1747, on the same subject; and the Letter "Gravis- .simo", 31 Oct., 1749, to the ordinaries of the pontif- ical territory on access of externs to the grilles, or gratings, through which they might communicate with cloistered religious; finally, by the Constitution "Apostolicae Sedis", 12 Oct., 1860, which passed sen- tence of excommunication on all offenders, and abro- gated all usages contrary to the Constitution of Pius V on the egress of cloistered nuns (cf. reply of Holy Office, 22 Dec, 1880).

The Apostolical constitutions about the cloister of regulars, and notably the exclusion of women, are all posterior to the Council of Trent. As regards the entrance of women, we have to quote: "Regularium ",

24 Oct., 1566, and "Decet", 16 July, 1570, both of St. Pius V; "Ubi Gratia;", 13 June, 1575, of Gregory XIII; "Nullus", § IS. of Clement VIII, 25 June, 1590; "Regularis Disciplina; ", 3 Jan., 1742, of Bene- dict XIV; lastly, the "Apostolicae Sedis" of Pius IX (1869), for the censures. Concerning the egress of religious, the reader may refer to the following con- stitutions: "Ad Romanum spectat", §§ 20 and 21, 21 Oct., 1.5S8, of Sixtus V; "Decretum illud", 10 March, 1601, of Clciiunt VIII (on the question of journeys to Rome); also the decree " Nullus omnino",

25 June, 1500, of Clement \"111 (for Italy).

V. Legislation in the Eastern Chirch. — In our historical survey we have already citeil the Greek .sources of legislation prior to the seventh century. In 603 the Trullan Council, so called from the hall of the [lalace at Constantinople where it was held, is more precise than those which jireceded it. The forty-sixth canon (Hard., Ill, 1670) forbade monks and nuns to go out, except during the day, for a necessary cau.se, and with the jirevious authorization of their superior; the forty-seventh canon forbade men to sleep in a convent of women, and vice versa. The Second Council of Nicaea (787), which Photius cites in liis "Nomocanon" (P. G., CIV, 1091), in its eighteenth canon forbids women to dwell in men's