§ 22

In my dream I had heard talk that once, not far from the river, was a Benedictine Monastery, and attached to it an Abbey. Save for a few remains of its cloisters, its kitchen, and a portion of its great dining hall, the monastery is gone. But the Abbey remains, as we have seen. Although vulgarised to a certain extent by barbarians of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it retains much of the simplicity and grandeur of the work of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Its nave now belongs to the people. It is there that the Hebrews and Moslems conduct their religious services. The chancel, its sanctuary and aisles are retained for Christian worship. In the nave, old mystery plays are reverently acted, and such noble old dramas as “Every Man” are produced. At Christmas, the incidents in the birth of Jesus Christ are acted, and many a primitive song of the shepherds is heard. These presentations keep that beautiful story vivid by bringing before the eyes of the people the mysterious events of 2,000 years ago. They form a tangible and visible link between those old days and these more complicated and less simple times.

A form of monasticism disconnected from hard and fast dogma is growing. Not ascetic, it is educational; in which it resembles the earlier forms of the old Benedictine orders. But as yet my spirit has only heard of this; presently it will be given access to its principles and working.