Personal silent prayer with God.
After beginning the hour of mental prayer kneeling, the monk will often sit down, eyes closed and hood raised. If the chapel begins to make him sleepy, he will stand at his place in choir, facing the altar where Jesus silently speaks to his heart.
While the non-ordained monks make their mental prayer, the priests of the community go to their hermitages to offer their low Masses. Called a “Low Mass” to distinguish it from a sung, or “High Mass,” it is the priests greatest joy to offer Mass in the small chapel of his hermitage. Alone with God, but united with all in the Mystical Body, the priest lays out his humble vestments, fills his cruets with wine and water and heads to Calvary in offering the Sacrifice of the Mass.
As he pronounces the sacred words of consecration, Jesus Himself becomes really, truly and substantially present in the hands of the priest. The priest is joined in his hermitage with the celestial choirs of angels and the entire Church Triumphant. The suffering souls too, receive respite as the merits of Christ's sacrifice on Calvary are applied to the entire world. After finishing his offering of Mass and making a thanksgiving before the altar in his hermitage chapel, the priest departs the hermitage to join the rest of the community in the chapel.
At 7:25 the silence of the chapel is pierced with a knock. The monk who is assigned the office of cantor for the week says out loud “Kyrie Eleison,” with the choir responding appropriately. A lengthy prayer ensures, thanking God for His mercy while begging for the grace of an ever-deeper conversion of life. With Mental Prayer finished, another knock fills the chapel: it's time for Terce.