about
eight o'clock
After dinner , the brethren retired to their cells and meditated until one o'clock , when their various duties were resumed , interrupted only in the case of those working indoors by the office of None at three o'clock . At a quarter to five the bell rang for tea . Simple silence was relaxed , and the brethren enjoyed their recreation until six-fifteen when the bell rang for a quarter of an hour 's solemn silence before Vespers . Supper was eaten after Vespers , and after supper , which was finished about eight o'clock , there was reading and recreation until the bell rang for Compline at nine-fifteen . This office said , solemn silence was not broken until the response to the _ dominus vobiscum _ in the morning . The rule of simple silence was not kept very strictly at this period . Two brethren working in the garden in these hot July days found that permitted conversation about the immediate matter in hand , say the whereabouts of a trowel or a hoe , was easily extended into observations about the whereabouts of Brother So-and-So during Terce or the way Brother Somebody-else was late with the antiphon .