sun!’
Well, that certainly brought the colour back to his cheeks. His eyes were bright with adoration. I could only hope that a few weeks with us might calm him - perhaps by mixing with some of the other young men in the novice house would bring him back down to earth. But I seemed to have discovered what was ailing my new young friend and what had brought him to seek solace at the foot of Saint Edmund’s tomb: Terror of his own humanity.
Chapter 6
AN OLD ENEMY RETURNS
Strictly speaking Eusebius wasn’t my responsibility at all except in the general sense that the health of everyone within our walls was the concern of the abbey physician. But he did have a physical problem which required my attention and to this end I had a quiet word with Brother Nigel, the fraterer, to see if the boy might benefit from a diet richer than we monks are normally used to, just until he built up his strength a little. Nigel was sympathetic to my request but asked me to clear it first with the prior since the dietary regime was another one of those areas covered by Herbert’s precious rules. I’d had a feeling he might say that. I agreed to try but frankly after the fiasco in the chapterhouse any suggestion coming from me would probably get short-shrift from Prior Herbert. I therefore decided to put off approaching him for a day or so to allow muddied waters to settle and hurt pride to heal. When I did see him I would need all my powers of charm and delicacy to plead the boy’s case and no doubt Herbert would enjoy every squirming, wriggling moment of it before refusing - doubtless with much heart-felt sorrow and regret.
In the meantime I got on with my regular rounds of sewing wounds, setting bones, easing bowels and letting blood. I saw no more of the de Gray family who I imagined if they hadn’t already left the district soon would, although I was surprised that baby Alix hadn’t been baptized in the abbey church before leaving. Being one of the blessed sacraments, baptism is essential if a child is to be protected from everlasting damnation should the worst happen and it did not survive its first few months of life. The latest thinking on the subject is that the souls of those infants who die without being baptized do not go to Purgatory like everyone else since they have had no opportunity yet in their brief lives to have committed personal sin. But they are guilty along with the rest of us of original sin – that offence against God perpetrated by Adam and Eve and which devolves upon everyone simply by dint of being human. It is thought, therefore, that their souls go instead to somewhere called limbus infantium - or Limbo of the Infants - a place at the edge of Hell where they suffer no physical torment but are denied seeing the face of God, which is punishment in itself. This state is similar to, though distinct from, limbus partum - or Limbo of the Patriarchs - which is reserved for those Old Testament Fathers like Noah and Moses who lived before the advent of Christ but who nevertheless died in special friendship with God. Limbus partum is a place milder than Purgatory for their souls to repose until Christ comes to redeem them. Dead infants, on the other hand, can avoid Limbo altogether by the expediency of being baptized while still alive. Given this simple precaution I was surprised that the de Grays had not taken advantage of it.
All this I would have liked to discuss with Prior Herbert given the opportunity, but unusually he seemed tied-up with abbey business and was out of circulation. Though not an entirely regrettable state of affairs in itself, his inaccessibility was becoming something of an inconvenience. I did try once or twice to get in to see him but each time I failed either because he was too busy or was not in his office when I called. After my third failed attempt I began to wonder if this unavailability wasn’t deliberate and frankly I had better things to do than keep trudging back and forth to his
Well, that certainly brought the colour back to his cheeks. His eyes were bright with adoration. I could only hope that a few weeks with us might calm him - perhaps by mixing with some of the other young men in the novice house would bring him back down to earth. But I seemed to have discovered what was ailing my new young friend and what had brought him to seek solace at the foot of Saint Edmund’s tomb: Terror of his own humanity.
Chapter 6
AN OLD ENEMY RETURNS
Strictly speaking Eusebius wasn’t my responsibility at all except in the general sense that the health of everyone within our walls was the concern of the abbey physician. But he did have a physical problem which required my attention and to this end I had a quiet word with Brother Nigel, the fraterer, to see if the boy might benefit from a diet richer than we monks are normally used to, just until he built up his strength a little. Nigel was sympathetic to my request but asked me to clear it first with the prior since the dietary regime was another one of those areas covered by Herbert’s precious rules. I’d had a feeling he might say that. I agreed to try but frankly after the fiasco in the chapterhouse any suggestion coming from me would probably get short-shrift from Prior Herbert. I therefore decided to put off approaching him for a day or so to allow muddied waters to settle and hurt pride to heal. When I did see him I would need all my powers of charm and delicacy to plead the boy’s case and no doubt Herbert would enjoy every squirming, wriggling moment of it before refusing - doubtless with much heart-felt sorrow and regret.
In the meantime I got on with my regular rounds of sewing wounds, setting bones, easing bowels and letting blood. I saw no more of the de Gray family who I imagined if they hadn’t already left the district soon would, although I was surprised that baby Alix hadn’t been baptized in the abbey church before leaving. Being one of the blessed sacraments, baptism is essential if a child is to be protected from everlasting damnation should the worst happen and it did not survive its first few months of life. The latest thinking on the subject is that the souls of those infants who die without being baptized do not go to Purgatory like everyone else since they have had no opportunity yet in their brief lives to have committed personal sin. But they are guilty along with the rest of us of original sin – that offence against God perpetrated by Adam and Eve and which devolves upon everyone simply by dint of being human. It is thought, therefore, that their souls go instead to somewhere called limbus infantium - or Limbo of the Infants - a place at the edge of Hell where they suffer no physical torment but are denied seeing the face of God, which is punishment in itself. This state is similar to, though distinct from, limbus partum - or Limbo of the Patriarchs - which is reserved for those Old Testament Fathers like Noah and Moses who lived before the advent of Christ but who nevertheless died in special friendship with God. Limbus partum is a place milder than Purgatory for their souls to repose until Christ comes to redeem them. Dead infants, on the other hand, can avoid Limbo altogether by the expediency of being baptized while still alive. Given this simple precaution I was surprised that the de Grays had not taken advantage of it.
All this I would have liked to discuss with Prior Herbert given the opportunity, but unusually he seemed tied-up with abbey business and was out of circulation. Though not an entirely regrettable state of affairs in itself, his inaccessibility was becoming something of an inconvenience. I did try once or twice to get in to see him but each time I failed either because he was too busy or was not in his office when I called. After my third failed attempt I began to wonder if this unavailability wasn’t deliberate and frankly I had better things to do than keep trudging back and forth to his
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