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The lay-brothers choir
(7/8)
Artist's impression of Cistercian lay-brothers in their
choir
© Cistercians in Yorkshire
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The lay-brothers
choir occupied three or maybe four bays, but with the demise of
the lay-brothers in the mid-thirteenth century, their stalls were
removed and replaced gradually by a series of chapels, since the
increased number of ordained monks and a greater demand for prayers
from benefactors meant that additional altars were required. Whenever
the lay-brothers celebrated their Hours
in the church they would have occupied inward-facing wooden choir
stalls, similar to those used by the monks. The seniormost amongst
them was seated nearest the altar for Mass
and the Hours, but this order was reversed for the grace after dinner.
The rood screen which separated the lay-brothers half of the
church from the monks half had a central door that allowed
for some contact, but otherwise maintained the division between
the two communities. There may have been an altar against the rood
screen where the lay-brothers received Communion,
rather than proceeding to the High Altar. The lay-brothers celebrated
their Hours in silence whenever they were in the church and the
monks would have been scarcely aware of their presence. Whilst the
lay-brothers would have heard the monks chanting the offices they
would have seen little of what transpired beyond the rood screen.
Like the monks the lay-brothers had two entrances
to the church. During the day they used a door in the west front,
which probably also served as a processional entrance; at night
they probably entered through a covered pentise that ran from their
dormitory to the church via the western range.
[Take
a tour of the reconstructed church]
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