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PUBLISHED ) tjAT TT
TWICE A MONTH, f V UJj. JUL.
ATLANTA, GA., JANUARY 15, 1883.
a (ONE DOLLAR
JNO. b. \ A YEAR.
THE TKAPPISTS.
A Gloomy PInco Wlioro n Womnn Nev
er Enters.
Cor. Louisville (By.) Post.
“ Wall, you gist take that air road and
keep straight ahead, and, if you don’t git
stuck in the mud, yon'll git there afore
night,” said a countryman to me at the de
pot. And, I must say, I found the road
much better than I expected. On nearing
the abbey one's eyes are greeted by a large
and handsome brick edifice, four stories
high, with a cloud-reaching spire, vineyards,
gardens and an avenue of stately English
elms. I soon reach the “ Porter’s Lodge,"
and, in answer to my ring, Brother Tom
came and invited me to the sitting room,
saying, he would inform the guest master of
my arrival, - He was dressed, as all the
brothers of the order are, in a brown jeans
cassock and cowl, wi’h a scapular over his
shoulder down to his waist, which was en
circled by a leather belt, from which was
suspended a bunch of keys and a rosary.
a On the wall was a painting ,of St. Mary
Magdalen in the attitude of serious devotion,
with all the lines of sorrow, trust, humilia
tion and repentance depicted upon her sad
bat-beautiful face. The pallid and sunken
cheeks, the lustrous eyes^ with tears, and
• the hands clasped in agony and grief, are so
trnly represented on the canvass that it is
almost painful to behold. It was by one of
tho “old Masters.” Brother Tom had now
returned with Father Joseph, who was In-
troduced, and then retired. This venerable
s monk wore a white woollen cassock and cowl,
with a black scapular, made in the same
style as the brothers, which is the dress of
all the fathers of the order. He received me
kindly, and bade me welcomo at the home
of the Trappists. I explained to him my
mission, to which he replied: “The monk
does not care for the idle fancy of newspa
per notoriety. If yon hove come simply to
write about us, you may go away now; but
if you have come to visit us, we are glad to
see you and will do oil in our poor way to
entertain you.” I told him to consider mo
a visitor, and he told me to follow him.
“Over this rock no woman can enter,"
said he, when we were in the court—the
Porter Lodge. Thia forms the front of the
court, and is 220 feet long, twelve feet wide,
and fifteen feet high. It is divided into dif
ferent rooms for the guests of the abbey.
The court is tastefully laid out with trees,
shrubs and flowers. To your left is an
apartment for pet rabbits, and they have
quite a number, in a variety of colors. In
the center of the court is a beautiful statue
of the Blessed Virgin, mounted on a pedestal
surrounded by rosebushes and other flowers.
In a niche, in the fourth story of the main
building, is a statue of St. Joseph and the
- infant Jesus.
■'* I was next escorted into the waiting-room
when the holy father left me, saying he
would return when I, had finished my sup
per. The room is plainly furnished, with a
long table, on which were chess, dominoes
and other games. A brother entered, and
inquired what I would have for my supper.
I asked him if it was not diflicult for him to
fast and, at ihe same time, be surrounded by
eatables. He said he would tell me some
thing, if I would promise not to tell it to
the other brothers. “ Very often," said he,
“ I don’t eat anything for two and three days
during Lent. Two years ago, I did not eat
but one meal on every third day, and, dur
ing Lent, last year, only ate one meal every
fourth day.” “ And will you try next Lent to
eat onlv once in five days ? ” I asked. But he
replied that the abbot had forbidden him try
ing to ffist even three days out of four. The
monk'then said he must go, and walked out,
little dreaming that what he had said would
be read by the readers of The Pott. He soon
returned, and invited me out to supper,
which was a plain, good, substantial meal.
While I ate, a young brother read from an
old volume of the Catholic World. I recog
nized him as James Keene, a Philadelphia
silversmith I had traveled with about three
years ago; but, as neither of us were per
mitted to speak, of course the acquaintance
was not renewed. When I returned to the
waiting-room, I found Father Joseph wait
ing for me. He had on a white circular
cloak, with a cowl. Hs conducted me to a
room, bearing the name of St. John’s, and
with a graceful bow, said “Good-night," and
tottered off to the infirmary. It was with
the deepest regret I noticed that he was fail
ing fast, and I fear that too soon that voice
will be something of the past. He is Cor-
redia Collier a renowned opera singer, and
had made that same polished bow before the
footlights of the leading European and Amer
ican theaters.
He is also a music composer of a high or
der, and it was he who jtaught Nellie Grant,
Minpie Sherman and many others of Amer
ica^ leading belles music before he became
a Trapplst. Ho once had a wife, two daugh-
ers anil a son. His wife died, and was soon
followed by her two daughters. His son is
now a Clerk in the Patent-office at Washing
ton. He told me about his past life in a
modest, unassuming way, claiming that he
was very happy now. As I write, a feeling
of loneliness steals over me. The gas burns
cheerfully, but that is all that is cheerful;
for silence reigns supreme here, with the ex
ception of an occasional toll of the monastery
bells, and the low, sad moan of the winds,
which makes me feel the more uncomfort
able, and convinces me that the life of a
Trapplst would require more moral courage
than I possess.
The rules of the order were first made by
St. Benedict, an Italian, born in 480. The
first monastery governed by his rules was
established by St Maurice, at Glausfeuil,
France. St Maurice established 120 houses
of the Benedictine order. As the order in
creased in numbers, wealth and influence so
came the not unfreqnent sequence—abuses
crept in, discipline relaxed, and, at last, the
original rule was modified. The Benedic
tines of the Abbey of Citeaux, in France, es
tablished a reform, and restored the rigid
order of the Benedictines, in 1100. From
this circumstar-cfjthe order since that has
been known as Cistercians. They erected a
number of houses.
The Abbey of La Trappe, in France, was
founded in 1140, and six years later entered
into the General Chapter. This chapter is
memorable in the annals of the order for
having been presided over by Pope Eugene
HI, who had been a monk, at Ceteaux,- be
fore his elevation to the Pontificial See.
The Cistercians became numerous and pow
erful, and again abuses manifested them
selves. A thorough reform was instituted by
Abbot Ranee, a Parisian nobleman, at the
Abbey of La Trappe, in 1700. His efforts to
restore the original austere rule of St. Bene
dict was successful. As the Cistercians are
a branch of the Benedictines, so are tho Trap
pists of the Cistercians. Though designated
as Trappists, they observe the original rule
of St. Benedict. They are a body of men,
who, by their own free will, are completely
cut off from communication and intercourse
with the outBide world. They devote them
selves to a life of prayer, penance, fasting,
contemplation, solitude, silence, manual
labor, and live subject to the will of their
Superior, and are members of the Catholic
Church. Notwithstanding the various polit
ical changes, the Trappists have survived
all.
Only two monasteries are to be found in
the United Sfistes—New Mellerary, near
Dubuque, Iowa, founded by a Trappist, who
came from the Emerald Isle in 1867, and
Gethsemane, where The Pott's lonely youth
is penning this article.
This Abbey was founded in 1848 by monks
from Mellerary, France. It is situated in
the southern portion of Nelson county, on
the New Hope & Bardstown turnpike.
Gethsemane forms a station on the Knox
ville branch of the L. & N. railroad, and the
abbey is one mile from there.
We enter the monks’ church, where I ob
tained a better view. Encircling the main
altar are pictures of the “Way of the Cross,”
and there are some other pictures in the
brothers’ choir, which were painted by the
old masters, that have been in the order for
hundreds of years. All the wood work in
the church is exquisitely carved, and its high
ceiling and stained windows help make it a
very handsome structure. Entering the sa
cristy, I was shown the “Abbot’s Crosier,"
or “Shepherd’s Crook. It is a piece of in
laid work or mosaic in wood. It is composed
of nothing but different piecss of wood bear
ing portraits of Jesus, Mary, St Benedict
and St Eutropius, with birds and flowers
and other fancy cuts. I doubt if there is a
piece of workmanship in America to com
pare with it Father Timothy devoted seven
years of his life to it The work of this rare
genius ornaments every altar in the building.
We next entered the graveyard. In a
niche back of the monk’s church is a large
and picturesqus shrine of the Grotto of
Lourds, with a statue of little Benedict
kneeling at the feet of the Blessed Virgin, aa
she says: "lam the Immaculate Conception.”
To your left is the grave of Mrs. Nancy Miles,
and by her side rest the remains of Mrs.
Mary Bradford, the only sister of Hon. Jef
ferson Davis, late President of the Southern
Confederacy. They were great benefactors
of the order, and on that account they were
permitted to be buried in the inclosure.
Each monk’s grave ia covered with myrtle,
and his name in religion is painted, in white
lettqrs, on a black cross. At the foot of each
grave is a small stool, where the monks often
go to pray for their departed brethren. When
the monk diei, “no useless coffin encloses
his breast;” but, wrapped in his circular,
with the cowl drawn over his 'face, as he
li.-ed, buried to the world, so is'ae placed
under the sod. The -monks do not dig their
own graves, as is generally believed. When a
monk dies, the sexton immediately opens
another grave to constantly remind them of
death. To your left is the shrine in which
is Interred the remains of Baron do Hodi
mont, a Belgian, who spent the latter part of
hia life at the home of the Trappist. His
only surviving heir was Emma, a bright-eyed
little miss that recalls tender recollections of
boyhood days. She went West, and I lost
. sight of her. Among the handsome'’dona
tions of this gentleman to the Trappists is a
the grist and saw-mills and carding maehine
which he rebuilt some years since, when
theirs were burned.
The next was the dormitory, where each
monk has an iron cot, and is partitioned off
from his fellows by some heavy fire-brick,
Aa in death, the monk always sleeps with his
clothes on, and, in three minutea’ time from
the tap.ot the bell, whether it strikes 1 or 2
o'clock in the morning, he is expected to be
in the church. Their regular time to arise
is 2 o’clock, and on feast days from one to
two hours sooner, but never later. Itiato
these apartments, on every Friday evening,
they retire and scourge themselves with a
cat-o-nine-tail(arope with nine knotty strings
hanging from It), in honor of ,the scourging
of our divine Saviour. I then followed the
Holy Father to the kitchen, where four
large boilers are used to cook their meal,
which consists of a vegetable diet. Except
by a physician’s prescription, a monk never
tastes meat of any kind. No fish, eggs, but
ter or lard is used in cooking. No stimu
lants, not even tea, coffee or tobacco in any
shape, are used.
Next was the dining-room. For each monk
is a tin-plate, a wooden fork, and spoon.
From September 14 to Ash Wednesday, the \
Trappist only eats one meal a day; at 2:30'
p. m. During Lent, this meal is two hours
later. From Easter Sunday to September
24, they eat two meals, the first at 11 and the
second at 6 o’clock. They are free from all
diseases of the stomach, and it is claimed
that they live from ten to fifteen years long
er than the people in the outside world. The
number of very old men in this order bears
testimony to this fact.
There are sixty monks in this monastery.
The habit worn by the monk was the or
dinary dressof the people of the fifth century.
The Trappists observe perpetual silence.
They never speak to each other unless in
presence of the abbot.
One of the inmates was at one time a re
porter on a Paris daily, so I was informed.
The monks own 1,800 acres Of land, 900 of
which are in a high state of cultivation. The
cheese manufactured by the monks is said
to be very fine. Large quantities of it is
shipped.to your city. Only two Americans
belong to the order. One is from Selma,
Ala., and the other from Philadelphia.
The members of this community are of va
rious nationalities: French, German, Swiss,
Italian, Irish and Belgians.
In the center .of the inner court ia a cis
tern and well together. From one pump
you can-draw rain water, and from tho other
well water. » . ...
Their library ia well filled with Latin,
French and English books. In it I found an
old Bible, printed in Lyons in 1532. The
typo is very clear, and the paper on which it
is printed is very heavy.
By ancient rule of the order, the wife of
the ruler of the nation is the only woman
who will be permitted to go through the
abbey. Tho Trappists pay much attention
to raising fine stock. Their barn is one of
the most novel in the State. They have a
small engine that outs up all the feed, and
small cars that carry it to the proper places.
The Trappists have a school, at which
young men living in this section can obtain
first-class education, free of charge, or a
person can go there and work to pay his
board, and be edu. .vrfed free, or by paying a
a small sum for hi* hoard, he can receive a
free education. 11 was the abbot’s desire to
have a similar school for girls, and he erect
ed the academy of the Mount of Olives, bnt
the sister who took charge of it, for some
cause or other, gave it up.
The world’s product of silk is estimated at
$-100,000,000, and something over 600,000 op
eratives are employed in this jndustry.
Franco leads with 170,000 operatives and a
product of $240,000,000. According to the
report of Mrs. Wyckoff, 44,440 persons are
employed in the United States in the manu
facture of silk, and the total value of the pre
duct is $34,410,463, • thus producing about
eight per cent, of the total production of the
world.
In the census returns of 1870 oleomarger-
ine does not appear. Bv the census bulletin
just issued the amount made in the United
States in 1880 reached a value of nearly $7,-
000,000. \