84 – As I enter the church, his words are still ringing in my heart. But the emotions are not yet at an end. I walk along slowly, trying, as it were, to immerse myself totally in the atmosphere - so tranquil, and so gratifying. I stop near a column in the ambulatory, to study the facial aspect of the crucifix. In this way, I become aware of two white figures kneeling silently in front of the Holy Sacrament kept in the tabernacle found in the recess of the bell tower. Heedless of the surrounding world, they kneel there completely absorbed by their love for God - the Only, the Essential. I can feel the power of their prayer as it invades every fibre in my body, until touching my soul. Those brothers are praying for the world, and also for me. The church keeper brusquely interrupts this lovely moment. He must bar the access to the ambulatory; Vespers are about to begin.
85 – For nothing in the world, I would now deprive myself of a religious service at Sant’Antimo. I sit down on the front bench. Summoned by the usual brief strokes of the bell, the brothers hurriedly arrive to reunite themselves in the sacristy for the statio (a brief moment of silence and individual reflection before beginning the communal prayer). From there, various times during the day, for every day of their life, they enter the church in procession before the sung liturgy.
Vespers is the evening prayer of thanksgiving. It is a moment of intimacy with God - a moment enveloped and emphasised by the fading daylight. Chanting, prayer and light are still marvellously composed in one, just like at Lauds in the early morning, when the rays of the rising sun donate joy and warmth to the chant. The most awesome moment during Vespers is undoubtedly when the brothers intone the Magnificat in two alternate choirs. This prayer unites all the Christians to their heavenly mother, Mary, while praising God. ‘My soul magnifies the Lord… because He has looked graciously upon the lowliness of His handmaid’.
Vespers is over. The brothers have left the church, to go to supper. The faithful have also left the church. The abbey remains empty and silent, while the last traces of daylight slowly dissolve into darkness.