two in the morning
Some of the brotherhood , discovering him to be a boy of excellent parts , instructed him to read and to write ; and perceiving the readiness with which he acquired these arts , they sought also to initiate him into all the learning of the age , and to bring him up for their order . To facilitate and complete his instructions , they had him admitted amongst them , as a _ convert _ or lay-brother . But , though the talents of the shepherd boy caused him to be regarded as a prodigy by all within the monastery , from the Lord Abbot down to the kitchener and his assistants ; yet , with Patrick , as with many others even now , gifts were not graces . He had no desire to wear the white cassock , narrow scapulary , and plain linen hood of the Cistertian brethren ; neither did he possess the devoutness necessary for performing his devotions seven times a-day ; and when the bell roused him at two in the morning , to what was called the _ nocturnal _ service , Patrick arose reluctantly ; for , though compelled to wedge himself into a narrow bed at eight o'clock in the evening , it was his wont to lie awake , musing on what he had read or learned , until past midnight ; and , when the _ nocturnal _ was over , he again retired to sleep , until he was aroused at six for _ matins _ ; but , after these came other devotions , called _ tierce _ , the _ sexte _ , the _ none _ , _ vespers _ , and the _ compline _ , at nine in the morning , at noon , at three in the afternoon , at six in the evening and before eight . These services broke in on his favourite studies ; and , possessing more talent than devotion , while engaged in them he thought more of his studies than of them . Patrick , therefore , refused to take the monastic vow . He `` had heard of war , And longed to follow to the field some warlike lord . ''