Editing Carthusians (section)

== Charterhouse ==
[[File:Cella monaci.jpg|thumb|left|Garden of a cell at the [[Certosa di Pavia]]]]
The monastery is generally a small community of hermits based on the model of the 4th-century Lauras of Palestine. A Carthusian monastery consists of a number of individual "cells", usually small houses, each with a small garden, built around a cloister. The individual cells are typically organised so that the door of each cell comes off a large corridor or [[cloister]] inner wall.

The focus of Carthusian life is contemplation. To this end, there is an emphasis on solitude and silence.<ref name=trans>{{cite web|url=http://transfiguration.chartreux.org/index.htm|title=Charterhouse of the Transfiguration|access-date=13 June 2016|archive-date=6 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206212421/http://transfiguration.chartreux.org/index.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Carthusians do not have [[abbot]]s—instead, each charterhouse is headed by a [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|prior]] and is populated by two types of monks: the [[choir monk]]s, referred to as [[hermit]]s, and the lay brothers. This reflects a division of labor in providing for the material needs of the monastery and the monks. For the most part, the number of brothers in the Order has remained the same for centuries, as it is now: seven or eight brothers for every ten fathers.<ref name=voc/> Humility is a characteristic of Carthusian spirituality. The Carthusian identity is one of shared solitude.<ref name="Zak" />

===Musical practice===
Similar to the tradition of the [[Byzantine Rite]], Carthusians eschew the use of musical instruments in worship.<ref>{{cite web |last=Op de Coul |first= Thomas |url=http://www.cartusiana.org/sites/default/files/Op%20de%20Coul_Carthusians-in-Oxford-Music-Online.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109211321/http://www.cartusiana.org/sites/default/files/Op%20de%20Coul_Carthusians-in-Oxford-Music-Online.pdf |archive-date=2021-11-09 |url-status=live|title=Carthusians in Oxford Music Online |publisher=Open Publishing |date=12 March 2015|website=cartusiana.org |access-date=22 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Musical Instruments – Questions & Answers |url=https://www.oca.org/questions/parishlife/musical-instruments |access-date=2022-12-13 |website=oca.org}}</ref>

===Choirmonks===
[[File:Christus carthusian.jpg|thumb|Carthusian monk depicted in [[Petrus Christus]]'s painting ''[[Portrait of a Carthusian]]''.]]

Each hermit, a monk who is or who will be a priest, has his own living space, called a cell, usually consisting of a small dwelling. Traditionally there is a one-room lower floor for the storage of wood for a stove and a workshop as all monks engage in some manual labour. A second floor consists of a small entryway with an image of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary (Catholic)|Virgin Mary]] as a place of prayer and a larger room containing a bed, a table for eating meals, a desk for study, a choir stall, and a kneeler for prayer. Each cell has a high-walled garden wherein the monk may meditate as well as grow flowers for himself and/or vegetables for the common good of the community, as a form of physical exercise.<ref name=Zak/>
[[File:Plan.chartreuse.Clermont.png|thumb|right|A typical Carthusian plan: Clermont, drawn by [[Eugène Viollet-le-Duc]], 1856.]]

Next to the door is a small revolving compartment, called a "turn", so that meals and other items may be passed in and out of the cell without the hermit having to meet the bearer. Most meals are provided in this manner, which the hermit then eats in the solitude of his cell. There are two meals provided for much of the year: lunch and supper. During seasons or days of [[fasting]], just one meal is provided. The hermit makes his needs known to the lay brother by means of a note, requesting items such as a fresh loaf of bread, which will be kept in the cell for eating with several meals. Carthusians observe a perpetual abstinence from meat.<ref name=trans/>

The hermit spends most of his day in the cell: he meditates, prays the minor hours of the [[Liturgy of the Hours]] on his own, eats, studies and writes, and works in his garden or at some manual trade. Unless required by other duties, the Carthusian hermit leaves his cell daily only for three prayer services in the monastery chapel, including the community Mass, and occasionally for conferences with his superior. Additionally, once a week, the community members take a long walk in the countryside during which they may speak. On Sundays and solemn feast days a community meal is taken in silence.<ref name=hugh/> Twice a year there is a day-long community recreation, and the monk may receive an annual visit from immediate family members.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Carthusian way|url=https://chartreux.org/moines/en/the-carthusian-way/|access-date=2024-03-10|website=chartreux.org}}</ref>

===Lay brothers===
There have always been lay brothers in the charterhouse. When Bruno retired to the Chartreuse, two of his companions were secular ones: Andrew and Guerin. They also live a life of solitary prayer and join in the communal prayer and Mass in the chapel. However, the [[lay brothers]] are monks under a slightly different type of vows and spend less time in contemplative prayer and more time in manual labour. The lay brothers provide material assistance to the choir monks: cooking meals, doing laundry, undertaking physical repairs, providing the choir monks with books from the library and managing supplies. The life of the brothers complements that of the choir monks and makes the fathers' lives of seclusion possible.<ref name=Zak>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wwSQBAAAQBAJ&dq=Carthusian+choir+monks&pg=PA48 McNary-Zak, Bernadette. ''Seeking in Solitude'', Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2014] {{ISBN|9781606089699}}</ref>

During the brothers' seven-year formation period, some time is given each day to the study of the Bible, theology, liturgy, and spirituality. They can continue their studies throughout their lives. All of the monks live lives of silence.

The Carthusians do not engage in work of a pastoral or missionary nature. Unlike most monasteries, they do not have retreatants, and those who visit for a prolonged period are people who are contemplating entering the monastery.<ref name=trans/> As far as possible, the monks have no contact with the outside world.

Carthusian nuns live a life similar to the monks but with some differences. Choir nuns tend to lead somewhat less [[eremitical]] lives, while still maintaining a strong commitment to solitude and silence.