From the first of October to the beginning of Lent, the brothers ought to devote themselves to reading until the end of the second hour. At this time Terce is said and they are to work at their assigned tasks until None. At the first signal for the hour of None, all put aside their work to be ready for the second signal. Then after their meal they will devote themselves to their reading or to the psalms.
During the days of Lent, they should be free in the morning to read until the third hour, after which they will work at their assigned tasks until the end of the tenth hour. During this time of Lent each one is to receive a book from the library, and is to read the whole of it straight through. These books are to be distributed at the beginning of Lent.
Above all, one or two seniors must surely be deputed to make the round of the monastery while the brother are reading. Their duty is to see that no brother is so apathetic as to waste time or engage in idle talk to the neglect of his reading, and so not only hard himself but also distract others. If such a monk if found--God forbid--he should be reproved a first and a second time. If he does not amend, he must be subjected to the punishment of the rule as a warning to others. further, brothers ought not to associate with one another at inappropriate times.
Seasons of the heart do not always reflect the seasons of nature, and there is a winter of the heart. Every member of the Lay Cistercian movement, whether LCG or some other affiliation, faces a long dark winter in their lives at some point. Fr. Michael Cassagram put it best in his Formation Letter that we "must be obedient to the needs of the present moment." Sometimes that means looking after each other just like the
one or two seniors ... deputed to make the round of the monastery while the brother are reading.Instead of idle chatter being the problem, we should be ready to assist one another during their winter of the heart, alert to the needs of our brothers and sisters, not caught up in busyness of our own holiness.
May God bring us altogther to everlasting life.
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