33: A MONASTERY FOR NUNS
We shall now give some brief instructions regarding the monastery for nuns adjoining the church.
The site for building this monastery will be chosen in conformity with the Agathean directives, and will of course be removed from the monasteries of monks and buildings of the regular clergy, but also from the canonical and clerical edifices in general, from collegiate churches, towers, public walls, ramparts, outposts, earthworks, the citadel and particularly high buildings, any of which might allow a view into the monastery. Where possible, the monastery will not adjoin a secular building, but will have an intervening space.
It will be far from piazzas, markets, shops, roads, where there is traffic of beasts of burden, wagons, vehicles of various kinds, as well as away from places where crowds come together, gather and where there is great clamor.
Again care should be taken not to locate the monastery in a secret obscure place, far from human contact. Neither should it be situated outside the city walls, or those of the town and the area in general, decreed unsuitable to the nuns’ monastery by the Council of Trent.
The places of the monastery, to be described individually and in detail below, according to their function, are as follows, beginning with those on the ground floor:
- Small chapter room [atriolum]
- Dining room, called “refectorium”
- Wine cellar
- Kitchen
- Calefactory [warming room:hypocaust]
- Washroom
- Workroom
- Portico
- Interior and exterior parlors
- Doors
- Rotae
- Bakehouse
- Laundry
- Tonsorium
- Administrative offices
- Food dispensary
- Pharmacy
Places on the upper floor
- Dormitory hall or dormitory cells
- Novitiate school
- Wardrobe
- Granary
Separate places
- Infirmary
- School for young girls
- Kitchen garden and garden
- Prison and place of retreat
- Interior and exterior place for Confession
- Temporary exterior lodgings for outside laborers
- Temporary lodgings for the priest-confessor
Small chapter room
The size of the room in which the nuns’ chapter meetings take place should be in proportion to the number of nuns, and should have benches on all sides.
It should not be oblong or narrow in form, but as square as possible, so that any exhortation or admonition that the superior may give can be readily heard everywhere. The lighting in the chapter room should be dim rather than bright and the room should be decorated with some kind of painting, especially in the part where the superior’s chair is located, meant to arouse pious feelings.
Refectory and wine cellar
The dining room, called refectory, should be in the location most convenient to the other parts of the monastery. It will be large enough so that not only all the nuns residing in the monastery at the time can be comfortably seated along the walls, but also those who are likely to be received into the monastery in the future, depending on its size and resources.
It will have at the head a decoration of sacred images, appropriately and piously painted. At the center of one of the side walls there will be a pulpit, from which spiritual reading can be distinctly heard everywhere. There will be windows on both sides to provide light. The wine cellar will be built below the refectory, and will also have windows set at regular intervals.
Another area should be set close both to the refectory and the wine cellar, so that the person responsible for the wine cellar will have a place to store bottles, earthenware vessels and other recipients for water and wine. Or, if possible, a small courtyard with a well can serve the same purpose.
Kitchen
The kitchen should be located as close as possible to the refectory so that the dishes can be handed through a window or a small passageway in-between to the nuns who serve in the refectory. The kitchen will be spacious and with a fireplace in proportion to its size, and a small stove where the food can be cooked.
The following rooms should be annexed to the kitchen: a small room for apportioning cooked foods; a small room to be used as pantry for daily food and provisions; a place for washing dishes, pots and food utensils; a courtyard with a well, separated from the rest; if movable wooden pipes are already being used to bring in water, then pipes of lead or wood, or of some other kind, can be fitted on to direct the water, when needed, to the washroom and the kitchen.
There should be another similar yard for chickens.
Washroom
The place with the vessel or water basin where the nuns gather to wash their hands before the tables are blessed, must be built not far from the refectory and the chapter hall, and in size will be proportionate to the number of nuns.
Here the washbowl, in marble, bronze or some other material, attached to the wall, will have as many spouts as the length requires. Underneath there will be a concave sloping drain, along which the water will flow elsewhere when it leaves the basin through holes.
Calefactory
The calefactory or warming room, which is called “hypocaustum”, is a room with a fireplace where the nuns can gather around the fire in winter to warm themselves. It can be built near the refectory and the washroom, and will be large enough to hold all the nuns. It will have a wide fireplace which can be built facing any direction whatsoever, or set against the wall, or built in the wall of the room, so that one can warm oneself wherever one is.
Workroom
The workroom in which the nuns gather at certain hours for handwork should be well lighted, without areas in the half-light. The light required for the work, either weaving, or embroidery or sewing, will come from all sides. It will moreover be spacious, and built so as to be as full of light as possible.
Porticoes
The porticoes will be simple, that is consisting of a simple order of columns or small piers, and unostentatious in structure rather than magnificent and sumptuous. These porticoes will be built in the form of a square.
Like the other places described above, they can have a coffered ceiling or some other wooden covering. However for durability, as well as precaution against fire, they should preferably be vaulted.
Cells for conversations
The cells for conversations [or parlatorium], both inner and outer, should be built in a place that is not remote and hidden, but in plain sight and close to the door of the monastery reception room.
The windows in the inner parlatorium will receive light from the interior of the monastery; those of the external parlatorium from the part facing outwards. Except for the window or windows specifically made for the conversations [locutory windows], care will also be taken that there be no other aperture between one parlatorium and the other.
Locutory windows
The locutory window will have a double iron grating, with a space of about twelve ounces between them. The grating will have firmly fixed bars set no more than three ounces apart.
There will also be a sheet of iron, not much wider than the window on all sides, which will be attached to the wall on the inner side, that of the monastery, and sealed with pitch, so that it touches the grating on the inside. It will contain numerous holes the size of a chickpea, about three ounces apart.
At the center there will be a small square window, measuring sixteen ounces square, closed with bolt, lock, and key.
On the inside the window will then be covered by a black cloth, stretched on a frame that can be opened.
In these monasteries where the rule in force is that the nuns shall in no way be seen from the locutory window, it will have a simple iron grating, will be covered with iron sheeting without the small window, and it will not be possible to open the cloth frame.
Wherever, because of the number of nuns, two, three, or more windows are required, they should be built in a single place or cell, if convenient, in the prescribed manner, but so that they are set in an orderly row, four or five cubits apart from each other. They can also be separated by partitions, as long as these have a window or opening from which every nun who is having a conversation can be seen by the others who are speaking at the other windows.
Nor shall a rotating turn [rota] be set up in any place for conversation except in one place, in an opening built specifically for that purpose.
Doors [Entrance doorways]
As is logical, only two doorways will be built in the monastery. One, called the reception door, will be for normal use, the other for beasts of burden, wagons and vehicles.
The reception doorway will be located in a place that is neither dark nor hidden, but will be clearly visible and convenient for all parts of the monastery. It will not be large and will have solid door valves, with two layers of planks. It will be closed by two bars or double bolts and locks with different keys. A small door will be set into the door valves. It will also be furnished with strong door panels, double bolts and locks with different keys, so that there is no need to open the large door for minor reasons.
In the door valves there will be a wicket, round or square, or of some other shape, but no larger than five or six ounces on all sides. It will have an iron sheet with tiny holes, no larger than a millet seed. Inside it will be covered by a thick cloth or a thin panel, which can be turned when looking out.
This door must be placed in such a manner that, when opened, the nuns inside cannot see the public street, with the view closed off by an intervening vestibule. Or the door will be opened at one side, and the view will not be directly into the monastery, but of a wall near the vestibule. The doorsill will be of marble or solid stone, and closely fitted to the door itself.
There will be solid jambs, tightly fitted to the door valves all along the sides, on either side of the door.
The various parts both of the door and of the small door must be compact and well joined so as not to leave even the smallest crack.
A small room should be constructed near the door, where the [doorkeeper nuns] portresses can do their work and are ready to answer those who knock. There will also be a rota nearby, which opens into the portresses’ cell or not far off.
The second or carriage doorway, should be built in a clearly visible place, and will be large enough to allow vehicles, carts and wagons to enter. It will have a stone or marble sill, as above, so that not even the smallest object can pass through. There should be no small door. It will be furnished with door valves, sturdy bars, double keys, of different kinds, like the others. Moreover there can be two sets of door valves, one inside on the side of the nuns, the other outside, on the public way. This doorway will be constructed in a part of the monastery convenient for access to the woodshed and the coal cellar, used for the kitchen, and the wine storeroom. Four or five cubits from this doorway, inside the monastery, there will be a gate of oak planks or of some other solid material, about three ounces apart. This gate should be as high as the top of the door and securely locked with bars, locks and keys.
Rotae
The rota, which is placed in the church, or near the door, or in another prescribed place, will be either of bronze or of wood, in which case it will be carefully lined with sheets known as “de tola” [Milanese dialect for tin]. It will be one cubit and eight ounces high, and one cubit wide, but at the opening it must be no wider than sixteen ounces. It will all be well joined and solid, so that in no place will there be a fissure, however small, through which one could look outside.
Inside, on the monastery side, it will have an iron hook or a small firmly attached bolt, to close it. It must not be possible to turn it from the outside, unless the nuns inside have released it. On the inside it will be closed with solid panels, bar, lock and key.
Bakehouse
The bakehouse will be built as far as possible from the dormitory and the wardrobe, to avoid danger of fire.
The flour storage will be built nearby, in a higher or lower place, or in some other convenient site. A storeroom for screens, sieves and other equipment needed in processing flour will also be built, unless the storeroom can easily contain them. There will also be a third room where the bread will be made, where in other words the dough is mixed and left to rise: this will be well closed on all sides. Annexed will be a well and a small oven with a cauldron.
In the front part of the oven there will be an opening a cubit in size through which the live charcoals and embers are thrown into the ditch built under the vault of the oven itself.
In the upper part of the oven there will be a small vaporarium, known in the vernacular as “la stufetta”, which could be used for various purposes.
In building the bakehouse the site where dry wood and other materials for lighting the fire are kept must be kept in mind.
Laundry
The laundry must be close to the garden or vegetable gardens in order to spread the washed wet laundry in an open sunny place. If there are no gardens, a raised structure will be prepared, access to which is by steps, with a suspended “portico” [porch, Lat. porticus pensiles] at the top with upright and transversal rods or poles, from which the garments, blankets, linen, bed linen etc. can be hung to dry in the sun.
This structure will have a good exposure, but will be low enough so that it is impossible to see outside the boundaries of the monastery. If there is no room to build the laundry on the ground floor of the monastery, it can easily be located beneath it.
The laundry will be fairly large, with a floor in brick or some other material. There will be a well, from which to draw water by means of a pulley, that is a type of wheel for drawing water known as “la tromba”. There will also be stone basins for water, and small ovens with cauldrons [furnulos clibanosve cum ahenis]
A deep capacious ditch will be dug beneath this site, into which the water spill will flow. The coal cellar from which the fuel is taken to heat the cauldrons must also be nearby.The place for washing hair [tonsorium]
It will be convenient to place a room where the nuns can wash their hair, the couriceum or tonsorium, near the laundry. In it there will be a fireplace, a small stove, a cauldron on the stove to make lye and a receptacle for the dirty water.
Administrative office
A highly convenient and luminous place in the monastery should be chosen for the administrative office. The nuns’ superiors will gather here in a well-built room to examine or conduct the affairs of the monastery.
A wooden structure subdivided into cabinets and bookshelves, all specifically labeled, will be placed around all the walls of the room to keep in good order the monastic account books, first drafts, records of assets and debits, archives, documents and public deeds pertaining to the monastic rights, as well as coffers for money and other objects of the kind.
The room will be closed with two keys, the same number of locks, two bolts and extremely solid double doors.
Food dispensary
We have already spoken about the pantry set aside for daily food. But instructions are also required regarding the food storeroom where the yearly provisions of wheat, pulses, oil and other edible supplies are kept and from which they are taken as needed.
This storeroom should be built in an isolated site; it will be thoroughly covered with stucco or plaster, so that there is not the slightest crack anywhere through which rats or mice might get in.
The room will have boxes, bins, baskets and all kinds of containers, each in its own place. It will be closed with a double lock and two different keys.
Pharmacy
The monastery may have a pharmacy for its own use. Even though not all kinds of medicine will be found here, those simple remedies, easy to prepare and which serve to cure or alleviate sudden attacks of illness, should be kept here.
The pharmacy should be located as far as possible from the church, the workplace, and in general from all parts of the monastery which should not be bothered by noise. The many mortars in a pharmacy, where herbs are pounded and medications are prepared, together with the frequent conversations, make it anything but silent.
The pharmacy must not be too hot, but rather cool.
Inside it will be divided by vertical partitions, either set into or attached to the walls, and separated from each other by a fixed space, between which horizontal shelves, resting on solid supports will be set. All the apothecary jars will be arranged in order on them and in certain repositories.
Annexed to the workroom will be a small room where the distilled water and other jars with ointments or medications are kept. This small room will supplement the storage space of the workroom if need be. There will be another cool room in which the herbs and distillation jars are kept, as well as a bit of charcoal. A fireplace will be built in one of these rooms.
There will also be a small basin from which water will flow into a ditch below.
It would be very useful for the pharmacy if it could have a courtyard and well of its own. Otherwise it can be built near a well.
Thus far we have discussed the lower parts of the monastery. We will now move on to the upper parts.
The upper quarters of the monastery: first, the cubicle hall or dormitory
At the beginning we listed the upper parts of the monastery. Among these, the most careful attention and thought is to be given to the cubicle hall, known as the “dormitory”.
One of the first things to consider in choosing the site is that it is not subject to unhealthy air. It should face a direction where, depending on the climate, the air is not heavy or thick, and there is no wind to the contrary.
The site must not be subject to any servitude, as might be the case if one could see inside from some outer part, or if a wall or outside building obstructed light to the monastery windows. Nor should it be possible to look outside from any part of the dormitory.
In line with the criteria followed in building the lower part and the number of nuns, there will be three or four dormitories, one on each side of the cloister. The width and length of each dormitory will depend on the size of the floor below.
At either end of the dormitory light will be let in by rather large windows, six or seven cubits from the floor. These windows will be firmly barred and have clear glass, but in such a way that the upper part can sometimes be opened to allow air to circulate. Should there be need of a small window or two on the long sides of the dormitory, they will be put in only on the part overlooking the cloister.
Each dormitory will be subdivided into small cells, each five or six cubits square, and separated from the others by thickly woven mats or stretched lengths of fabric or curtains.
However if the dormitories are not common halls (as the ancient institutions seem to indicate) and real cubicles, separate and distinct, are built, they should be systematically arranged on both sides of a central passageway and if possible form a square. They will not be spacious, but about seven cubits per side, just large enough to contain a cot. They will be simply and humbly constructed, without any painted decoration.
Each one will have only one small window, and a small door, which will not close with a lock and bolt, but with a type of latch, known [in Italy] as an “alzapiede” or droplatch, attached to the door so it can easily be opened from outside by pulling a string. There will be no fireplace of any sort.
Should it be necessary to build these cells much larger, every precaution should be taken so that there will be enough space for at least three, or more, beds, as the superiors should deem fit, but never only two.
Caution should also be taken that no windows are built from which one can look out beyond the monastery limits.
If it is necessary to have a window in a cell, or in some other higher place, from which one might look out over the vegetable gardens, or the neighboring places, then the window will have the most solid iron grating everywhere. Outside, at a distance of one and a half cubits, a transenna, a marble or sheet-iron barrier, with holes one ounce apart, will completely cover the window and be solidly set into the wall.
But for no reason whatsoever is a window, regardless of size, to be opened overlooking the public way in either the lower parts, or in the upper parts of the monastery.
The dormitory halls, whether they are common quarters or divided into individual cells, are to be built so that they can only be reached by one staircase, or at the most two. Once the doors and entrances of the monastery are closed there will then be no other entrance or possible way to enter or ascend to these halls.
Latrines
The latrines should be erected in a place separated from but near the dormitory. They should have a certain kind of seat and each one, separated from the others by a partition, will consist of a small space in which the nun can go without being seen by others. The entire latrine area must not only be enclosed, but also without cracks, so that nothing can be seen, and it cannot emit foul odors.
Site of the novitiate school
The novitiate or schoolroom where the novices live should be built in a location separated from those places frequented by the professed nuns. The site should be spacious and situated so that it receives good air. It will be enclosed, with its latrines and all other facilities suitable for its functions.
Wardrobe
The communal wardrobe will be built in a sunny airy place, with windows on both sides. Only woolen garments will be kept here.
All around it will have wardrobes five or six cubits high, carefully arranged and separated, each with compartments that are as high as the nuns’ habits are long.
There will be an open longitudinal porch outside the wardrobe door. Iron brackets will be attached to the wall, outside, not too close to each other. Poles or rods will be placed across them so that clothes can be hung up and beaten at specific times.
A room for keeping linen garments and all the linens must be annexed to the wardrobe, unless there is enough space in the wardrobe to contain the linen chests and wardrobes, separated from the rest.
However, if possible, it is best to have this room separate from the wardrobe.
There must then be a third room, also with wardrobes on all sides, in which blankets, mattresses, and other furnishings of the kind, and the fur garments, arranged in orderly fashion and separated, are to be kept. This room however will be built in a cold rather than a sunny site.
Granaries
The granaries will be built near the [monastery] door. The stairs leading to them will be clearly visible, and with strong doors, each of which closed with a double key, lock and bolt.
Infirmary
After having described the lower and upper parts of the monastery, still to be dealt with are the places and living quarters which must in some way be kept separate from the monastery. First of all we will discuss the infirmary.
The infirmary, that is the place where the sick or convalescent nuns are cared for, should not be built inside the monastery, but a bit further from the door of the reception room. The site must above all be healthful.
The infirmary will consist of lower and upper parts. There will be a dining room about twenty cubits long, and proportionately wide, a kitchen, a pantry, a laundry, a courtyard with its own well, a woodshed, a portico, two or three cells on the lower level, of medium size, which contain each three beds, and have a fireplace, either one apiece or one shared by two rooms. In the upper level there will be four or six moderately large cells, also with a fireplace and separate latrines, as described above.
If there is room for a small garden for the infirmary, it would be well to have one. The enclosure, with only one entrance, will be closed by a single door.
Site for the education of young girls
In monasteries where it is permitted to educate young girls, under the custody of the nuns, living quarters will be constructed for them where they can live separately from the nuns. Every structure will be separate, except for the church. The living quarters will consist of the following parts: a small hall with fireplace, a pantry, a courtyard with well and a small portico, a woodshed, two cubicles on the lower floor; in the upper part, one or more rather large dormitories, each containing at least three or four beds, or more, but no fewer. There will be only one door to the building. Where possible it will be useful to have a garden.
Monastery gardens
The nuns’ vegetable gardens must not be extensive because of the many risks of violating the clausura. Since large tracts cannot be easily surrounded by walls the following should be done: that on the side of the monastery where there would be an opening and view for the general public, a space of one hundred cubits or a bit more on each side will be enclosed all around by walls one cubit and eight ounces thick and no less than sixteen cubits high, calculated from the ground up.
It shall not be desirable to exceed the above allotted space of one hundred cubits square, even if the gardens can be easily enclosed, since they would be too large to be cultivated by the nuns or the resident lay sisters and it would be necessary, against the rules of clausura, to bring in farmhands or workers from outside to cultivate and plant.
No cuttings or other plants, vines, or trees of any kind are to be planted inside, close to the walls, nor outside, unless they are at least six cubits distant. No large trees are to be planted in this plot of land at the back [of the garden] but rather low sparse bushes. No woodpiles or straw or haystacks are to be made. No shed, nor hut, even the tiniest, is to be built.
The ground will not be used for growing hay or as a meadow, but only vegetables, medicinal and kitchen herbs are to be grown and nothing that is not essential.
If water runs through the garden in a ditch or a channel, caution must be taken that this conduit is well covered with stone or cement for a distance of about six cubits from the place where the water flows into the garden, calculating both outside and inside. The opening through which the water enters at the beginning of the stone or masonry covering, and the other opening at the end of the covering, where the water goes out, will be furnished with iron gratings on both sides. The same will be done at the other end of the garden where the water flows out.
The conduit itself can be made without grates if it is covered for the entire length of the garden property through which the water flows. If it is necessary to channel the water either for irrigating the gardens or for the laundry, this can be deviated wherever needed through small holes, and then be rechanneled to the conduit.
Prison and place of retreat
Monasteries should have, as they once did, a strong prison in which to incarcerate any nun, depending on how serious the offence is, who has strayed from discipline and behaved badly.
The prison will be far from the public road and likewise from neighboring buildings, and should more specifically be located on the inside of the upper floor of the monastery, remote from the places where the nuns go and gather.
It will be secure and well built of timber with a solid vault and have a small window one cubit square with strong bars, high up on the wall, through which a little light comes in. It will have a small entrance with two sets of doors. There will be a tiny window in the upper door, closed with a double lock and double bolts. It will also have shackles, as suggested in the old rules, and iron manacles, to chain the imprisoned nuns if need be.
The prison will have no fireplace, and no opening except for a latrine, with narrow pipes.
The place of retreat will be not far from the prison and will be freer and more comfortable than the latter. Here the nuns, separated from the others, will occasionally do salutary penance for lesser sins.
The place to hear the Holy Confession
So far we have described the parts of the monastery. Now we will deal with the adjoining places. First of all care must be given to the place where the nuns go to confession.
This place, at a short distance from the church, will have a second room, adjacent on the outside, where the priest confessor can hear their confessions.
The inner room, where the nuns confess, will be on the ground floor so that there will be no need of a staircase, and it will have a good floor or a vault below, so as to prevent cold or humidity. It will be far from noise of any kind and built in all its parts so that the nuns cannot be heard by anyone except the priest confessor. The room should be about six or seven cubits square.
The priest’s cell, equal in size and form, will be built adjoining [the above room], on the outside.
In the wall that is common to both these rooms or cells used for confession there will be a small window a cubit high at the most and about sixteen ounces wide, in proportion to the height. There must be no way in which this small window, well equipped with iron grates and an iron plate with tiny holes, and a black cloth fastened over it, can be opened.
In the same wall there can be a rota, half the size of the others descried above. to pass the priest what he needs. This rota will be solid and well built, as prescribed for the other rotae.
Confessor’s lodgings
Lodgings will also be built, located between the outer door, which opens onto the public street, and the inner door, which opens onto the cloisters. They will consist of two rooms, one below and one above.
The priest can use these lodgings when he needs to stay overnight so that he will be ready to administer the sacraments to any nun who may be seriously ill. These lodgings will have a fireplace, a latrine, and whatever is needed, but no rota, and no window from which one can look or converse with any pretext whatsoever. He will have no other rooms except these two, to keep at bay any occasion for conversation or contact, and no other additional space, however small.
This way there will be fewer, or no, occasions and conveniences to stay there, unless absolutely necessary.
These criteria are also to be followed in building the lodgings below.
External lodgings for servants and temporary farm help
Lodgings for the temporary farm help and the nuns’ servants will be built in the same intermediate space.
These lodgings will have two or three cubicles, but no rota or locutory opening. It would not be a bad idea if these lodgings could be somewhat at a distance from the monastic building, so that not even the roofs would touch.
Living quarters of the lay sisters
The criteria to be followed in building the living quarters for unprofessed lay sisters, located beyond the cloistered confines, is that they open and close towards the inside, that is on the side of the nuns. In order to do this it might be useful to follow the recommendations below.
In the same intermediate place outside the cloister confines, living quarters will be built to accommodate as many lay sisters as the monastery will probably need. These living quarters will have all the indispensable parts, that is a common dormitory, kitchen, well, woodshed, and other useful and appropriate places. But care should be taken in building the living quarters not to have any window in the exterior wall, which overlooks the public road, nor any hole or smallest crevice. There is to be only one doorway, built near the monastery enclosure wall, wherever it may be.
In the enclosure wall there will be a hole of about six ounces through which a wooden bolt (pole) of the same thickness (as the wall) will be passed. Pushed across and inserted into the opposite wall for a short distance, it will securely close the doors of the entrance.
At the other end of this bolt (pole), which is on the nuns’ side, there will be a key with a lock that can easily be opened and closed by the nuns inside.
If it is impossible to use the transversal pole to close the door, it will be easy to use a bolt that is perpendicular, rather than transversal, to the door opposite the hole, resting on the top of the valves, and closing them tightly.
In these dwelling quarters, on the monastery side, there will be a small window, no larger than five or six ounces, equipped with a sheet of iron with tiny holes, from which the superior can call the lay sisters and check to see that they are inside when the door is closed. And from here the lay sisters, when they are preparing to go out, will ask for her blessing and permission.
A few precautions to keep in mind in building the monastery in general
Above all, in building the monastery extreme care should be given to the enclosure, so that the entire site wherever it may be, whatever its size, be enclosed on every side with proper and solidly built walls.
They will be at least twenty-four cubits high, except for the garden walls, for which measurements have been given above. They will be a cubit or somewhat more thick, but not less.
The outer walls will have no chimneys set into them but they are not forbidden on the inner walls, projecting from the surface. There will moreover be no windows, or small windows, or cracks, or fissures through which the slightest glimpse could be had.
In building the individual parts of the monastery which serve the entire community, such as the refectory, the chapter room, the infirmary, the dormitory, the calefactory, the place for washing hands, the workroom and others, but above all the interior of the church, it is important not to disregard, but to be particularly careful that all these places, in which the nuns generally gather in goodly number, are spacious enough to comfortably accommodate not only all the nuns already there, but all those who are likely later on to be received in the monastery, in view of the quantity and the accession of resources and charitable endowments.
But the greatest precaution of all to be taken is that in no outer locutory room, in no lodgings of the priest confessor or of the temporary farm workers and servants, in no external part of the monastery, in no building constructed externally should there be an upper room, to which the nuns have access. Nor should there be any higher room in the inner parts to which outsiders have access, for any reason whatsoever.
Care must also be taken that all the entrances, vestibules, narrow passages and places of this kind to be found in the monastery are brightly lit and visible, and are not dark or in the half-light.
Lastly, there will be a holy picture, piously depicted in every part or corner, entranceway, staircase, and in the reception room of the monastery.
(a) Collins, p. 240.
(a) Dentro ciascuna porta delle chiese Parochiali…
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