32. THE CHURCH FOR NUNS
Having described the form of other churches, we now follow with instructions regarding the church for nuns. This church may be built so as to consist of a nave only and it will face east if the site of the monastery permits. Its size should be in proportion to the site; it may have either a vaulted or coffered ceiling and as for the rest, it will be built as has been prescribed above.
The high altar
There shall not be a main chapel, but a transverse wall, which divides the innermost part of the church from the outer one where the priest celebrates mass. The altar should abut this transverse wall, at the center of the wall, and will correspond in height, length and width to the regulations given for a high altar.
There will be three steps leading up to the altar, including the footpace: each step will conform to the prescribed measurements and form. The footpace will conform to the criteria previously provided regarding the construction of the high altar.
The window to be set above the high altar
A window will be set into the transverse wall, in view of the altar, from which the nuns can see and hear the Mass.
The window will be as wide as the altar and about two cubits high. The window ledge will be at least one cubit and ten ounces higher than the altar table. The window will have two similar iron grills, set about twelve ounces one from the other. The bars of each grill will be closely spaced, with no more than three ounces between them, and strongly joined together and set in so that they can not easily be pulled out or separated. On the inside the window will have shutters, with bolt and key. These can be opened sideways, or be raised with a pulley and rope.
The altar can have an arch over it, making the wall thicker [at that point], or else by constructing two small columns or piers not far from the wall, on which to support the vaulted or arched opening. These small columns will be at a distance of two cubits from either end of the altar.
If there is no vault, the altar will have a wooden covering or a canopy of silk or fabric, appropriately decorated, called capocoelium.
The window through which the sacred vestments are passed
In the transverse wall between the inner and outer church, on the side of the nuns’ sacristy, there will be an opening, with a rota through which the vestments needed for celebrating the Holy Mass may be passed.
The rota and the window will be about three cubits from the floor. The rota itself will be designed so that it will fit completely into the thickness of the wall, which in that point will be made thicker by applying extra plaster.
The window will be furnished with paired shutters on both sides, one set on the nuns’ side and one on the exterior. They will all be properly locked. The structure of the window and the rota will follow the prescriptions given below regarding the construction of the rotae in general.
The small opening for administering Holy Communion
On the other side of the altar, in the same transverse wall, there will be another small opening, decorated with pious sculpture and gilding, through which the nuns receive Communion. The window ledge will be flat and will be two cubits and sixteen ounces above the church floor. Outside the window will be one cubit, twelve ounces wide, and one cubit eighteen ounces high, [while inside it will be smaller, as explained below] so that, to the eye, it will appear wider outside, and narrower inside.
This aperture will exploit the entire thickness of the wall, one cubit deep, in such a way that inside on the nuns’ side [with the sides of the opening slanting back], the wall will be no more than two or three ounces thick. In this part of the wall, one cubit square, the small window, eight ounces high, and six wide, through which the sacred Eucharist will be given to the nuns, will be opened.
On its inner side the small aperture will have well made iron or bronze shutters, closed with a bolt and lock. On the outer side there will be somewhat larger shutters, which cover the entire opening, with lock, key and bolt.
On the church floor, directly under the small window, a small footstool will be set, eight ounces high, which can be covered with a carpet, for the priest to stand on while administering Holy Communion to the nuns. The footstool can be higher or lower, depending on the height of the priest.
On the inner side, where the nuns are, another footstool can be set, no less than two cubits per side, with a few steps leading up so that when the nuns kneel on it their mouths will be on a level with the small window through which they receive Holy Communion. No board obstacles must protrude from the wall, so that the nun receiving the sacrament will more easily be able to come close to the small opening.
The window for holy relics
In addition, another opening will be set on the exterior part of the wall, above the small window through which the Holy Communion is received. The holy relics, if there are any, will be kept here rightly and in order. On the inside this window will be sixteen ounces high and twelve wide, with an iron grate and clear glass, covered with silk and closed by door valves, so that the holy relics can be seen but not touched.
On the outside, facing the outer church, it will be made so that it can accommodate the reliquary containers and vases. It will have solid door valves, with three locks and three bolts, to be closed with three keys each different from the other.
The opening for the holy oil for the sick
Above the rota opening, an ambry will be built, according to the prescribed rules, to keep the holy oil for the sick. This ambry will open only on the outer side, facing the church, and will be furnished with solid door valves, a lock and key. Whenever there are no other relics in the church, except for those in the altar, this ambry will be set over the small window through which Holy Communion is distributed.
The altar steps
At a distance of six cubits from the lowest step of the footpace of the altar, three other steps, or more depending on the site and as the architect advises, will be built leading down into the central part of the church where the floor will be somewhat lower than where the altar stands. Iron railings will be set on the topmost step, as prescribed.
None of the steps are to be higher than eight ounces, or wider than twenty-four, and they will be built in a transverse direction to the church, or they will be as long as the opening in the iron railing.
The sacristy
A small sacristy will be built at the head of the church with an entrance within the confines of the railing. It will be used by the priest when removing his sacred vestments.
Care must be taken in building it so that there are no windows or rotae or other openings of any kind from which anything can be seen or heard in the nuns’ monastery. For this reason the lavabo, which will be built in the outer part of the sacristy for washing hands, should not have any pipes through which water can be received from inside the monastery, then to be emptied out elsewhere. There are moreover to be no structures of any kind above the sacristy to which the nuns can have access.
There will be an oratory and one altar for the priests to be used when they put on their vestments and a lavabo in the prescribed shape to wash their hands, which however is not to be set against the wall between the sacristy and the monastery. There will be a clothes press for storing the sacred vestments, and nothing else.
The chapels
There are to be two chapels in the body of the nuns’ church, one on the right and the other on the left and in the form prescribed, so that should it be necessary, more than one Mass could be celebrated at the same time.
The altar window
Care must be taken that the window above the altar, equipped with iron grating, be made in such a way that it is not possible to see the public street, especially if public functions are held there or if crowds pass by. Therefore a small atrium will be built in front of the door of the church, with a side entrance, and not opposite the church door. Or, if this is not possible, the entrance to the church will be at the side, as the architect sees fit, depending on the characteristics of the site.
The inner church
The inner church will have a nave only, without chapels. The floor will all be on the same level, and not elevated by steps in any part. It will however be one or one and a half cubits lower than the floor on which the altar is located outside.
Great care must be taken that the inner church, which is the nuns’ church, is not built near a public road. If the nature of the site makes this impossible, then there must be no windows on the wall facing the street, but light will come from the part adjacent to the monastery. It will be the opposite in the outer church, where the windows will open on the public street and not on the monastery.
The bell tower
The bell tower must be joined to the nuns’ inner church. Neither the door, nor the windows, nor even a crack will face the outer church.
The height will be in proportion to the church, but lower than what the structure and shape demand.
The ground floor will have a very solid vault. Here, or on one side, there can be a narrow small door through which to climb, if necessary, to the top of the tower. There will be no other entrances elsewhere.
The holes for the bell ropes will be small, so that nothing but the draw-ropes can pass through. The small door will be very solid, closed with two bolts, two locks, two different keys. The other levels can be of wood and will receive light from narrow grated windows.
The top, however, will have windows as customary
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