Work begins again at 2:00 and usually continues until 5:00 in the afternoon, when a bell rung three times marks the beginning of another hour dedicated to personal reading and prayer, or to personal tasks such as the washing of one’s clothes.

...the last community prayer of the day...

At 6:30 begins the evening prayer, the last community prayer of the day, during which the singing of Psalms is followed by a reading from one of the New Testament letters (all of which are read over the course of a year).

Dinner follows the prayer and is accompanied by conversation. In order to provide an opportunity for conversation among members of the community and guests, the community does not have a single large dining room. Instead, brothers and sisters eat together with guests in smaller dining rooms and, in each room, everyone talks around a single table.

At 8:00 the grande silenzio begins, a time for personal meditation in one’s room, the personal recitation of compline and rest.

Hospitality calendar