Editing Carthusians (section)

===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.