Seven times a day, from seven in the morning until nine in the evening, the monks and nuns gathered for short prayers. They sang, recited texts from the Bible and prayed. These short services, held every third hour, had strange Latin names: matutin, laudes, ters, sext, non, vesper and completorium. In prayer, the monks and nuns gathered strength to get through the day’s work.
Many monks and nuns gave medical care, or did gardening, teaching or book copying. Some monks were craftsmen, some nuns were good at sewing or embroidery. They often had visitors who needed to speak to someone or who wanted help in religious matters. The work of the day was over before six in the evening, when everyone gathered to the vesper. After vespers, one could spend time together with each other or read a book. At nine o’clock, the day was finished off with the completorium.