The Community Table [antikvár]

s. 'aint Benedict of Nursia ( ?48o-547) is generally regarded as the father of the western monastic orders and the Patron Saint of Europe. In his Regula (Rule) originally intended for only a small commtin-ity of monks in Italy, he laid down ground rules which have been followed to the present day by monastic orders throughout the world. The period we now refer to as the early middle ages saw the expansion of monastic orders generally, and the Benedictine Order in particular. At the same time missionary work became increasingly important, and a European social order started to establish itself, modelled upon the "order" inherent in Saint Benedict's rule. The Benedictine Regula provides a secure framework for the everyday life of the community: the recital of the Divine Office, the Lectro Divina (spiritual reading), work in the fields and services offered by the brothers to each other. The Regula also contains rules governing those aspects of life which are not strictly related to the monastic routine. He knew that every community, even one devoted to the service and veneration of God, had members with faults and weaknesses. Looking after these weaker members is the most important duty of the abbot, who, as his name suggests (from Abba = father), is the father of the community, the pater familias in a gathering of human beings where there is no discrimination of any kind and where everybody is accepted. This father is responsible for maintaining discipline and order, for the quality and size of clothes as well as for ensuring that the family has enough to eat and drink. M. ;als, sharing the simple food and drink that are served on the common table, are given great importance in Benedict's philosophy and in the Regula. The communal table is something sacred; in monastic life second only to the chapel. Meals, which are taken together, are preceeded and followed by prayer, and avoidance of these is an offence against the community. At the same time, banishment from the communal table for sins committed elsewhere is considered a serious punishment in the Benedictine community, and those so punished cannot lead a psalm or prayers in the chapel either. The only ptmishment more severe is to be banned from the chapel; if this happens the individual is left completely alone, prevented from participating in the two most important community events: the divine office and the communal meal. Meals are made sacred not only by the prayers offered before and after them, but also by the spiritual reading that takes place while they are in progress. The reader is always a brother whose qualities set him as an example to the whole community. The same brother starts his week's service asking all in the commtmity to pray for him in the Sunday chapel. It is this reader who most manifestly represents the connection between the chapel, the holy reading and the dining hall. Dining halls in the monasteries have been called refectories from the earliest times. The latin word refectorium suggests that this is the place where the members of the commimity of monks regain the physical strength lost during work and long sessions of praying and chanting psalms, and where they also get nourishment for the mind. In monasteries built to a design similar to that of mediterranian houses, with a cloister and a square inner garden, the refectory opens from the same corridor as the church and chapel, or chapterhouse as it came to be called later, and in most existing buildings this is where the refectory is to be found. Considering the major importance Benedict placed upon meals and the refectory, it is not surprising that throughout the Middle Ages the dining halls of the monasteries were built in an artistic manner; indeed some are of outstanding artistic quality.