help me, obi-wan flist

[mickeym]

In a monastery (and would a monastery ever be called an Abbey?)... what would the title be for the brother/monk who performed doctor-duties? I know it, but it's hovering just out of reach.

Comments

[copracat]

Infirmarian?

[miafeliz.livejournal.com]

Off the top of my head, I think Abbeys and Monasteries can be two different things, but I think the term is also used interchangeably these days like nun and sister. All nuns are sisters, but not all sisters are nuns. You can have either nuns or monks living in either. Now all monks will likely be called brother, but some of them may be priests. They'd likely have someone who can do some basic medical duties (they could even have a doctor join the community) but often medical care is tended to off site. And the brother who did those duties would still be likely called brother. The brother in charge is called Abbot.

There is a Trappist Monastery in KY. called The Abbey Gethsemanei. http://www.monks.org/ One of its monks, Thomas Merton, was a prolific writer.

(You'd think being Catholic I'd have known this stuff but I learned a lot when I created a priest character for my novel.)

If you need more help, holler.

if father dad says it, it's gospel

[nrrrdy-grrrl.livejournal.com]

My dad went to seminary for a year not long ago (don't ask) and he confirms that an abbey is he same as a monastary and that "Infirmarian" is, indeed, the correct term for a monk who ministers to the sick.

[rainbow.livejournal.com]

a christian monastery is an abbey if it's under the jurisdiction of an abbott or abbess. if it's under the jurisdiction of a prior or prioress, it's a priory. if it doesn't have either, it's just a monastery.

[fufaraw]

Cadfael?

::performs self-ass-kicking::

Sorry. I'd go with Infirmarian, and it is capped, as is Almoner, Abbot, etc.