"Then cried Blessed Benedict again:-"'If thou wilt serve the Lord, make haste, for He hath called thee these many times,' and so saying passed from my sight.
"Brethren, I went forth as one bewildered, and made haste to the Church lest peradventure I should find Him; but the lamps burnt dim and all was silent. Then I turned aside and went out into the night, and it was very dark, with no sound but the wind in the forest trees.
"My heart was a-hungered, and I sought in cloister and garth; and as I hasted to the gate I cried aloud, even as she cried who sought Him in a garden - 'They have taken away my Lord.'
"At the gate I stayed me, and besought the Lord for a sign; and lo, in the darkness one came and led me by the hand away from the gate, across the garth and up the dormitory stair, nor loosed me until I passed within where the Brethren lay sleeping, and the chamber was bright with exceeding radiance.
"I found myself by the pallet of my dear son Robert: his face was wet with tears; and as he lay I saw upon his shoulder the mark of many stripes.
"Again, one took my hand and led me from one to another of our Brethren, and on every face lay the shadow of a great need, but in every face there was somewhat of the Christ; and the lesson burnt in my heart.
"Then One came swiftly and laid healing hands on the boy Robert; but I fled, for I might not see Him; and I awoke sore troubled - ay, and the trouble is on me still.
"My Brethren, I can but tell the vision as it came to me. Great is the rule of Benedict, our Father, and in it stripes, grievous and many as our sins, have their rightful place; but mayhap we forget that love, and love alone, should strike. Ay, and I mind me how Prior Stephen, my Father, said that to be monk a man must learn before all things to hunger and to love. Love should draw the water and build the fire, till the field and attend the sanctuary; and hunger we should cherish in our hearts, hunger for righteousness and for the souls of our brethren, for this is the hunger of God.
"Men come over lightly to the Lord's work; and lo! pride and emulation, jealousy and discontent, spring up and thrive, and the end is shame and confusion.
"I speak as to my children; it is in my heart that the Lord is at hand: let us see that we love while there is yet time."
Then he turned to the novices and stretched out his hands to where they stood amazed, and it may be ashamed - not after this manner was Brother Adam wont to rebuke them.
"And ye, who are, as it were, the babes of our Order, give heed to your ways, neither bring unwilling hands to this service. Better far go forth, yea, even to death, than mock the Lord with froward feet and a heart that is full of vanity. Remember the sacrifice which Cain offered and the Lord rejected, for he gainsayed the voice of the Lord and disobeyed His Commandment; wherefore the wrath of God fell upon him.
"I who speak now, speak in love; give ear to my words, and let fear befriend you; for the coming of the Lord is as a thief in the night, and lo! stripes bitter and many await that servant whom the Master finds sleeping."
Then the Prior, having made an end of speaking, raised his hand to bless, and went forth in silence; and no man stirred in his place, for they knew that the Lord had spoken and were afraid.
