Note {114} — VIII. MONASTICISM

There were eight services to be held every day. The night service was called vigils and was held some time between midnight and early dawn, perhaps as early as 2 A.M. in summer, and as late as 4 or 5 in winter. The first service of the day was called matins. It followed vigils after a short interval. It was supposed to begin about daybreak, which is also an indefinite expression and not a clearly fixed moment. The service of prime began with the first period of the day, terce with the third, sext with the sixth, and nones with the ninth. Vespers, as its name indicates, began toward evening. Completorium, or compline, was the last service of the day and took place just before the monks went to bed.