Dear diary,

This morning I woke up at the usual time( around 1 or 2 am). I got dressed into my brown tunic, my scapula, cowl(a hood), socks, and shoes, then headed off to the monastery’s first service. I always am very tired in the mornings, as you could probably imagine, but prayer is very important to my life as a monk to become closer to God.

After service, at about 3 am, I went back to bed, as did my other fellow monks. Oh, what a relief to get some more rest!

Then at 6 am, I was up again; getting washed up and ready for more prayers in church.

Then, finally, I went to get some breakfast at around 7 am. I appreciated the food of bread, cheese, and cider. It helped fuel me through the rest if the day, through all the hard work I had yet to do.

At 7:30 I was off to work in the monastery garden. What hard labour! Even though the task is always tiresome, I always remind myself that it is one of the other important parts of my life as a monk: to devote myself to work. I did this until 9 am when it thankfully ended.

By 9 am, I was back in church for prayers and hymns. I was so grateful for the break!

Then, I left the church at 10 am to enjoy the main meal of fish, bread, eggs, and vegetables. Another good energy enhancer to carry me on through the day.

After the meal, some other monks and I went to clean the buildings from 10:30 am to 12 noon. I must admit, it was not my favourite activity either!

Then, when we finished cleaning, we all went back to church for the midday services at noon. Ah, another relieving break!

During the time of 1-6 pm, I went to do more work, but thankfully not the kind of hard labour! On this particular day, I did teaching, writing, and I also continued on copying, illustrating, and illuminating a bible. I have been working on it for quite some time now, and I still have not finished it, but I know it will be a great way to show my devotion to the church and God.

Once I finished doing my work, I went with the other monks to the church again for the evening service. This was at 6 pm.

After that, we had a simple supper of soup at 6:30 pm. Finally, we had time to relax! I did have a few guests come to talk to me for spiritual guidance, but apart from that, I had a very enjoyable evening!

At 8 pm, the other monks and I went back to church for the last time in the day for the final service.

Then lastly at 8:30, we went to bed in the shared dormitory. It was so nice to get some rest after a long day’s work! As you can tell, I live a simple, hard life where I must take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Even so, it is very important to please God, and I chose this life so I could do that. Now, I need to get some sleep so I can be ready for tomorrow!