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designed no doubt to put the stranger at his ease, and we duly responded with polite laughter.
    Herbert then concluded his introduction: ‘Brother Eusebius will be staying with us for a while and I hope you will welcome him into our family in the usual way.’
    At this there was a general murmur of agreement among my brothers and many went up to the stranger with “smiles and tears of joy in their eyes” as befitted such a welcome.
    I should just mention here that there is nothing unusual in having a guest religious from another order come to stay at the abbey. Monks often spend time away from their own houses and for a whole variety of reasons: For study or reflection, or simply to give the man a break from his normal routine. The monastic life, though rewarding in so many ways, is not an easy one. Some men, especially the young, find the discipline difficult. It is often the first time in their lives that they have been away from their families and homes. And however welcoming we may be, a house composed entirely of men with no female around to soften the corners of our harsh masculinity can be very intimidating, especially for a boy brought up at his mother’s side.
    There can, however, be a very different reason for such a visitation to Saint Edmunds. We are occasionally asked to host men whose behaviour has been, shall we say, problematic . Far from being intimidated by their new lives, such men are themselves disruptive to it. I speak here of those who are lucky - or perhaps unlucky - enough to have been granted visions that are denied to the rest of us. Often these sensitive souls - Euphorics as they are called - are apt to behave in ways not entirely conducive to communal living. They may, for instance, cry out to God at inappropriate moments – during the singing of the office, say, or at night. Small communities of a dozen or so men find it difficult to accommodate such unsettling behaviour and the monk concerned is sent away to a larger house such as ours which has the space and numbers to absorb such unsettling behaviour without restraining it.
    Of course, the cause of such disruption may be nothing to do with spiritual sensitivity but something else entirely. I well remember the unfortunate incident a year or two back when Gaspard, our pet billy-goat which used to have free range of the cloister, one night got into the dormitory while the monks were asleep. What with the late hour when the mind is at its most susceptible, one or two of our more sensitive brethren reacted badly to the invasion. To be fair, it was the height of the Interdict when nerves were already frayed and we were feeling somewhat cast adrift in a Godless world. In the terror of the midnight hour when all manner of evil stalks the land, they glimpsed the horns and the cloven feet, felt Gaspard’s beard and hot breath on their cheeks and came to the inevitable conclusion. The eviscerated remains of poor Gaspard were discovered next morning strewn across the cloister garth. To this day some of my brothers still maintain that the Devil was vanquished that night.
    That being said, there are genuine religious sensitives and such men are to be venerated and cosseted. Often a period away from their own houses and the guide of a sympathetic chaplain will still their troubled minds and give them the strength to return to their communities refreshed and repaired in body and soul. If not then they may decide to move on, perhaps to a different order or possibly out of the cloister altogether. I wondered if this young man was one such.
    The business of the day concluded we awaited the Verba mea which marked the end of Chapter for today and we could all return to our daily tasks. But then Prior Herbert held up his hand once more for silence.
    ‘Brothers, before we disperse there is the small matter of our customary discipline at this hour.’
    Oh dear, I’d feared as much. That smirk on Herbert’s face when we spoke earlier - someone was for