This week’s “monastic wisdom” turns to a website offering helpful ideas and strategies to make it through the trying times of the pandemic. An additional simple suggestion: find a nice, warm spot to relax. In fact, the Benedictine tradition embraces this concept fully, in the time-honored availability of a “calefactory.” This medieval term subsists in modern monastic life, carrying warm connotations. A Google search of the term turns up a concise definition: “The calefactory was an important room or building in a medieval monastery in Western Europe. It was here that a communal fire was kept so that the monks could warm themselves after long hours of study in the cloister or other work.” Even if the modern-day monastery tends to come with central heating, the name of the room carries on, even in the absence of a fireplace. This monastery was constructed with an actual fireplace that remains quite active, particularly in the depths of winter. We noted last week that it recently served the very functional purpose of providing the place to prepare the ashes for Ash Wednesday, through the burning of palms from last year’s Holy Week. More often, its function is to gather the community in recreation, a monastic “firepit” of sorts.  

Relaxing in the calefactory in warmer weather!

Today, the designation “Calefactory” sounds like it could serve well as the name of a new restaurant chain, though a connotation of “calories” might put some off. In fact, as a unit of energy, the term “calorie” itself stems from the energy of heat, the heat required to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius. In our monastery, one may find both senses of the caloric: the warmth of the fire, and on occasion the presence of savory foods to accompany festive occasions, sacred and secular. The calefactory embodies the important cenobitic, Benedictine value of community and hospitality. As we enter further into the depths of the month of February, we may appreciate more fully its value. May you find your own calefactory!