Promulgation of the Carta Caritatis
Abbot Stephen Harding presents the Carta Caritatis to the assembled monks of Cîteaux Abbey, a foundational document that will establish the organizational structure and spiritual principles of the Cis
Setting
The chapter house of Cîteaux Abbey, a rectangular stone hall with vaulted ceilings and simple wooden benches arranged in rows. The space is austere yet dignified, with tall narrow windows allowing filtered daylight to illuminate the parchment-strewn table at the center.
Characters
Stephen Harding
primary
A gaunt man in his late fifties with a deeply lined face that speaks of years of asceticism. His piercing blue eyes are framed by thin silver brows, and his hands bear the ink stains of frequent writing. His posture remains upright despite his age, with a scholar's slight stoop from years bent over manuscripts.
Bernard of Clairvaux
primary
A gaunt man of 29 years with intense blue eyes that burn with spiritual fervor. His pale, almost translucent skin is stretched taut over high cheekbones, giving him an ascetic appearance. His hands are delicate yet strong, frequently clasped in prayer. A prematurely receding hairline exposes his high forehead, with the remaining dark brown hair cut short in the monastic tonsure.
Senior Monk
secondary
A gaunt elderly man in his late 60s with a deeply lined face and sparse white hair forming a monk's tonsure. His pale blue eyes are slightly clouded with age but retain sharp focus. His hands, prominently veined, show signs of arthritis but move with practiced precision. He stands with a slight forward stoop from decades of manuscript copying.
Junior Monk
secondary
A slender youth of approximately 18 years, with a pale complexion and closely cropped brown hair in the tonsure style. His wide, brown eyes reflect both reverence and nervous energy, with a faint dusting of freckles across his nose from rare moments spent outside the abbey walls.
Scribe
background
A thin, middle-aged monk with a slightly stooped posture from years of bending over manuscripts. His hands are ink-stained, and his sharp eyes are accustomed to meticulous work. His short brown hair is tonsured, and his face bears faint lines of concentration.
Dialog
Stephen Harding
Brethren, this charter we present today - 'Carta Caritatis' - is not merely parchment and ink, but the very embodiment of our vow to seek God through poverty, labor, and most especially through the bond of charity that unites all Cistercian houses.
Bernard of Clairvaux
As the vine tendril clings to its stake, so shall our daughter houses cleave to this rule - not by compulsion, but by love's own gravity.
Stephen Harding
Let none say we innovate recklessly, for as Solomon wrote: 'There is nothing new under the sun.' What we codify here is but the ancient Rule of Benedict purified, as gold refined sevenfold.
Bernard of Clairvaux
Pater Stephen speaks truth - this charter is our plumb line against which all future generations shall measure their straightness.
Stephen Harding
Therefore let it be proclaimed throughout Christendom: wherever our white-robed brothers gather, they shall be as one cloister under God's providence, bound by these articles of mutual care.