First reading (Matins)
When the time of Matins has arrived, the sacristan shall rise and, coming into the dormitory, he shall kindle the lamps and make it (the room) light, and he shall strike for some time the bell, which is in the dormitory, if the prior or the sub-prior has not struck it. Afterwards, returning to the church, he shall rouse the clerics, so they may sound Matins. Upon hearing the sound of the bell, the brothers shall rise from their beds and make themselves ready. And made ready the juniors shall all stand before the steps of the dormitory, up to the time when, as by order of the prior, they shall march out of the aforementioned place with one of them carrying a lantern. And so, as one flock, they shall, two by two (i.e. two per file), come to the church in orderly manner. And passing by the altar of the blessed Mary Magdalene, they shall bow with their hoods thrown back, as they should always do; similarly upon entering the choir they shall bow in direction of the main altar. Then they shall go one by one to the places assigned to them in accordance with the Ordo.2 Next, facing the altar they shall say silently and intently the four prayers, which are called the Triple prayer. 3 And the person who holds the convent, shall strike his stall three times in three distinct intervals. At the sound of which the brothers shall bow; next, having taken their seats, they shall say slowly and in a lowered voice without pitch, fifteen psalms according to the usual order 4 , with the usual prayers and making three stops. Finishing these, they shall say the Lord's Prayer . And after the person who is in charge has given a sound in response from his stall, the weekly priest, arming his forehead with the sign of the cross, shall begin with Domine, labia mea ; the rest, arming themselves likewise with the same [sign of the cross], shall answer with Et os meum and so on. 5 Then they shall finish Matins in accordance with church custom, in which, depending on the appropriateness of the time and solemnity of the occasion, the melody of the psalms shall be sung to the end in a drawn-out voice and high, to the ability of the singers, taking breath in moderation at the end of phrases. 6