§ 82.
The day-hours were said every three hours,
as their names imply—prime at the first, terce at the
third, sext at the sixth, none at the ninth. In summer
prime was followed in Benedictine and Cistercian
houses by chapter. This began with the versicle
Pretiosa ('Right dear in the sight of the Lord is the
death of His saints') which preceded the martyrology
or account of the saints commemorated on the day:
this was followed by the necrology, or list of the dead
to be remembered, and by a chapter of the rule with
a sermon or commentary. The work of each monk
was allotted for the day, and the meeting closed with
clamationes or individual complaints, public confessions
and corrections by the head of the house.
The interval between chapter and terce was occupied
by the monks in work in the cloister or in their
various offices. Terce was followed by the chapter
mass, during which at Durham half the monks in
priest's orders said their private masses. The other
half said their masses during high mass, which was
sung about an hour after the chapter mass and
immediately before sext. During this time, no food
was taken. Bread soaked in wine (
mixtum) was
allowed to those whose strength was hardly equal to
the long morning. In the Premonstratensian order,
where, as in Augustinian houses, the chapter mass
seems to have been sung immediately after prime,
and chapter was followed after an interval by terce,
the
mixtum was distributed after terce to the infirm
and the novices. All spare intervals were filled by
work, and silence was rigorously maintained, all
necessary conversation taking place in the parlour.
