Silence

This is one of the brothers preparing to dress in his white tunic for services in the church. The brothers do take a vow of silence, as the sign reminds them. They are allowed to talk about the work at hand if necessary, otherwise there is no conversation. They take their meals alone in their cells. On Sundays, however, they do share a common meal and they are allowed to talk to each other. I love that everything in this photograph is "high key" with the exception of the brother dressed in the dark tunic.