The Benedictine Monks
Even before the first rays of daylight permeated the cloister, the medieval monk would rise and silently enter the oratory of the church, the darkness pierced by candle flames, the silence broken by footsteps. Taking the places assigned to them by rank, the monks would begin chanting Nocturnes, praying for God to renew the day. Medieval monks lived an exacting life. From two in the morning to seven at night, the monk's day consisted of solemn prayer, contemplation, reading, and physical labor. (1) Though there were many religious orders to which a monastic might attach himself, one of the first and most enduring was the Benedictine. The Benedictine monks were a very important part of medieval Catholicism. St. Benedict was born into a wealthy family in Nursia, Italy, in the 5th century. As a pious man, he sought to escape the corruption of the world around him by becoming a hermit with Romanus, a monk who admired his devotion, in the mountains of Subiaco. As his renown grew, he was asked by the monks of Vicovaro to be their abbot and Benedict reluctantly agreed. But as a strict authoritarian, Benedict had his own ideas on how an abbey should be run. The monks were so displeased by his austerity that t
Through complete renunciation of sexual love, chastity allowed for an exclusive "mystical" love of God. And most importantly, without the giving of the vow of stability, there would be no monastic community. The monk must "observe [Christ's] teaching in the monastery until death." A monk promised to stay in the monastery all of his life, assuring the community's perpetuation. (2) Benedict developed his monastic concept on the ideas of St. Antony and Pachomius. Antony lived in the 3rd and 4th centuries and gave up his riches to live the life of a hermit in the desert and mountains of Egypt. By his example, many followers took up the eremitic life, occasionally referring back to his authority for spiritual guidance. Each Benedictine monastery or abbey was designed to be autonomous and was run by an abbot (from "abba", meaning father.) An abbey in "embryo" is a priory run by a prior. (In an abbey, a prior is the second-in-command to the abbot.) The next level of hierarchy was the Abbot Precis who oversaw many abbeys and recommended policy and changes. Above him was the Abbot Primate in Rome, the head of all the Benedictine houses, the intermediary between the houses and the Pope. Any edict that came from the Abbot Precis, Abbot Primate, or, of course, the Pope, was to be obeyed absolutely. (2) Because each line of this hymn began one note higher than the last, it was easy to remember both the tone and its title. ("Do" was later substituted for "Ut," and "Ti" added for the seventh note of the scale.) This system enabled composers to indicate music arranged for several voices--the beginning of harmony. (4) (2). http://www.whiterobedmonks.org/osbbro.html Guido, a Benedictine monk of Pomposa, Italy, (990-1050) taught singing in this manner, but with such ability that it aroused envy among his fellow monks. Appointed by Bishop Theobald to teach in the cathedral school of Arezzo in Tuscany, he gave music lessons on a medieval monochord (forerunner of the clavichord, and an ancestor of the piano). Presently, he began to write notes on musical lines to show the tune's tones. (4)
Some common words found in the essay are:
Ages Roman, St Benedict, Divine Office, Arezzo Tuscany, Regula Rule, Middle Ages, Nursia Italy, Benedictine Monks, Greek Roman, Thanks Guido, st benedict, middle ages, written music, benedictine monks, 4 guido's, allowed meat, rank monks, gregorian chants, staff lines, read rule,
Approximate Word count = 2195
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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