Monastics ought to be zealous for silence at all times,but especially during the hours of the night.For every season, therefore,whether there be fasting or two meals,let the program be as follows: If it be a season when there are two meals,then as soon as they have risen from supper they shall all sit together,and one of them shall read the Conferences or the Lives of the Fathers or something else that may edify the hearers;not the Heptateuch or the Books of Kings, however,because it will not be expedient for weak minds to hear those parts of Scripture at that hour;but they shall be read at other times. If it be a day of fast,then having allowed a short interval after Vespers they shall proceed at once to the reading of the Conferences,as prescribed above;four or five pages being read, or as much as time permits,so that during the delay provided by this reading all may come together,including those who may have been occupied in some work assigned them. When all, therefore, are gathered together,let them say Compline;and when they come out from Compline, no one shall be allowed to say anything from that time on. And if anyone should be found evading this rule of silence,let her undergo severe punishment.An exception shall be made if the need of speaking to guests should arise or if the Abbess should give someone an order. But even this should be done with the utmost gravity and the most becoming restraint.

As much as our bodies need water, our souls need silence. We live in a time of drought.

It is often a self-abusing drought. We can find silence. We can make it.

Instead many - most? - avoid silence. Many are uncomfortable with - even fear - silence.

Silence uncovers the self, naked and vulnerable to the world.

But it is also in silence that we may drink deeply of God's love.

The Conferences of John Cassian are available from the Order of Saint Benedict. Cassian provided a crucial link between Eastern monasticism, especially the Desert Fathers, and the foundations of Western monasticism.