[Rationale divinorum officiorum]

with charity for the daughters of Jerusalem, and so that all may see the sign of victory, saying, "Hail, salvation of the whole world, tree bringing salvation," lest at any time we should consign to oblivion the favor of God, who, to redeem the servant, gave up His only Son; let us imitate Him crucified. The cross is directed on high, through which the victory of Christ is signified; concerning this, it will be said where the consecration of the church is treated. Why the church is decorated on the inside and not the outside will be said under the treatise on paintings. The cloister original: "Claustrum", as Sicard, Bishop of Cremona, says in the Mitrale a liturgical book, he took from the chambers and guards of the Levites around the tabernacle, or from the atrium of the priests, or from the apostolic Solomon to his temple, from the orders. For the Lord commanded Moses not to number the Levites with the plebeian multitude, but to constitute them over the tabernacle of the testimony to carry and guard it; because of this command of the Lord, while divine mysteries are being performed, the clerics in the church stand segregated from the laity. Whence the Council of Mainz established that the part which is divided from the altar by the chancels should be open only to those singing, the clerics. Furthermore, just as the temple designates the triumphant church, so the cloister signifies the heavenly paradise, where there will be one heart and one soul in the love and will of God, where all things will be possessed commonly, because what one will have less in himself, he will rejoice to have in another; for God will be all in all. Therefore, the regulars, living unanimously in the cloister, rise to the service of God and, leaving secular things, lead a common life in all things. The diversity of workshops and offices in the cloister is the diversity of mansions with the diversity of rewards in the kingdom. For "In my Father's house there are many mansions," says the Lord. Morally, however, the cloister is the contemplation of the soul, where it receives itself when it is separated from the crowd of carnal thoughts and meditates only on heavenly things. In this cloister are four sides, namely: contempt of self, contempt of the world, love of neighbor, and love of God. Each side has its own order of columns. Contempt of self has humiliation of the mind, affliction of the flesh, humble speech, and the like. The base of all the columns is patience. In this cloister, the diversity of workshops is the diversity of virtues. The chapter house is the secret of the heart; concerning this, however, it will be said otherwise in the fifth part under this title and the first. The refectory is the love of holy meditation. The cellar is Holy Scripture. The dormitory is a clean conscience. The oratory is an immaculate life. The garden of trees and herbs is the collection of virtues. The well of living waters is the irrigation of gifts, which mitigates thirst here and will extinguish it entirely in the future. But the episcopal sees, which, according to the disposition of blessed Peter, were anciently consecrated in individual cities, as will be said in the preface of the second part, were dedicated by the devotion of the ancients not in memory of confessors, but for the honor of the apostles and martyrs, and especially of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Furthermore, we gather in the church so that we may ask there for the forgiveness of sins and insist on divine praises, as will be said in the preface of the fifth part. And where we may hear good or bad

judgments, and learn and receive the knowledge of God, and that we may eat the body of the Lord there. In the gathering of the church, women and men dwell separately, which, according to Bede, we have received as derived from ancient custom. Hence it was that Joseph and Mary left the child behind, because one thought He was with the other, whom he did not see with him. The cause of the division is that the flesh of man and woman, if they approach too closely, is kindled toward lust. Whence, since we ought to weep for our sins there, it is necessary that their incentives and carnal delights be avoided. The males remain in the southern part, the females in the northern or aquilonary part, so that it may be shown that the stronger saints ought to stand against the greater temptations of this world, while the weaker should stand against the smaller ones, or that the stronger should be shown to be in the superior place; for according to the Apostle, "God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to sustain." To this also pertains the fact that John saw the strong angel who placed his right foot upon the sea, for the stronger members are opposed to the greater dangers. According to others, men remain in the anterior part, women in the posterior, because the man is the head of the woman and therefore her leader. A woman ought to be veiled in the church because she is not the image of God, and because the prevarication was initiated through her; therefore, in the church, because of the reverence of the priest, who is the vicar of Christ, before him, as if before a judge, because of the origin of guilt, she should have her head veiled, not uncovered; nor for the same reverence should she have the power of speaking in the church before him. Of old, however, men and women assisted in the church while nourishing their hair, glorying in their uncovered heads, which was dishonest. What kind of speech should be had in the church, the Apostle shows, saying: "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." Whence one must abstain from superfluous words there, according to that: "Chrysostom: About to enter a royal hall, you should compose yourself in attire and gait; for the angels of the Lord are present, because the house of the temple is full of divine virtues, and the Lord to Moses, and the angel to Joshua: 'Loose the shoe from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.'" Lastly, it is to be noted that a consecrated church defends those fleeing to it who are guilty of blood, who have not committed crimes in it or against it, lest they lose their life or limbs. Whence it is read that Joab fled to the tabernacle and grasped the horn of the altar. Also, a non-consecrated church in which divine offices are celebrated has the same privilege. But the body of Christ taken by such people does not defend them, nor do those fleeing to it; both because this privilege is granted to the church, wherefore it is not to be drawn from another, and because that is the food of the soul, not of the body. Whence it frees the soul and not the body. Churches are moved from place to place for three reasons: first, by the necessity of persecutors; second, because of the difficulty of places, for instance because of the intemperance of the air; third, when they are burdened by the society of the wicked, and then with the counsel of the Pope or Bishop. Why, upon entering the church,