Brother Gregory: Gene Two

Brother Gregory: Gene Two

Being the fictionalized story of Brother Gregor Mendel; monk, scientist and the discoverer of genetics.

How Mendel receives visitors and makes a fateful decision.

by

John Hulme

scholar

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014 John Hulme

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Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Afterword

About the Author

Footnotes

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Chapter One

Snow at St Thomas's

On the morning of February 9th, 1865, the monks of St. Thomas' Monastery awoke shivering. A snowstorm had moved into Brno overnight and was silently covering the frozen ground with a blanket of crisp white flakes. As was their daily practice, the Brothers came from their cold beds at 6:00 am and made their way into the Chapel for Mass. Leading the procession was Abbot Napp, closely followed by Prior Vaclav Sembera and the remaining office holders in strict hierarchy. The sacristan always preceded the precentor, and the cellarer had a higher honor than either the hospitaller or the infirmarer. Among the last to his devotions was Brother Gregory, who modestly kept to a back corner of the holy sanctuary and prayed quietly by himself.

At breakfast Abbot Napp surrounded himself with novices and pupils, who found it easy to be in his presence, when they had to opportunity, which was not often. Abbot Napp was a busy man. On orders from Rome the Archbishop of Prague had asked the Bishop of Brno to investigate the quality of the spiritual life in all the Augustinian monasteries located in Bohemia and Moravia. Bishop Schaffgotsche welcomed the opportunity to settle old scores with Abbot Napp. He had never forgotten the embarrassment he and his office had suffered when six rebellious monks [see footnote] from Napp's monastery had petitioned the Constitutional Assembly in Vienna. If it had not been for some timely information supplied by Brother Timothy... Bishop Schaffgotsche shuddered at the thought.

Now it was his turn [see footnote]. A list of pointed questions was sent to all the monasteries, especially St. Thomas's, asking them to justify their mission and explain how the Word of God was being delivered to their flock. Abbot Napp had sensed the Bishop's trap, and replied with a vigorous defense of the scientific objectives of his monastery and the role of his monks as teachers in the community. Unsatisfied with Napp's response, the Bishop had then made his visit to St Thomas's, bringing with him a determination to find fault wherever he could. This had been a visit that all the monks would remember for many years. When it was all over, the Bishop had written a scathing report in which he stated quite bluntly that Abbot Napp was over extended and held so many public offices that he was unable to devote sufficient attention to his main spiritual responsibilities and to the running of his monastery.

Napp was still fighting the fallout from this devastating attack and so had little time for his novices. This morning, however, was an exception, and Mendel watched the Abbot from the end of his table, while he ate his frugal breakfast. Napp, who enjoyed his meals no matter what the circumstances, engaged the youngest members of the monastery in hearty debate. That morning the topics ranged from politics to piety, and the conversation was lively. Brother Gregory, still recovering from yesterday's events, did not join in and retired quickly to his rooms. He did not want to get involved in politics and it looked like Abbot Napp would be too busy to devote much time to science.

The Augustinian monastery had been forced out of its splendid, central location during Emperor Josef II's attacks on the church in 1783. They had moved [see footnote] to a building on the outskirts of the city that had once housed Cistercian nuns. Unfortunately, the building and church were over 400 years old and in a serious state of decay. The expense of make the place habitable had left the once rich religious order quite bankrupt. Their money however had been well spent. Each monk was allotted spacious quarters which, depending on status, were usually two well furnished rooms.

Brother Matthew Arrives

Brother Joseph was already sitting by the fire when Mendel entered his quarters. The two men nodded to each other, but did not speak. Comfortable in their working relationship, they did not need to make small talk. Mendel went to his accustomed place at the table and pulled out the notes from yesterday's talk (see Part One of this story - also available on this web-site as a separate e-book). He wanted some time to go over them and find any additional weaknesses. Brother Joseph was not reading science. Heavy on his lap was an old German translation of Eusebius - History of the Church [see footnote] , an area of study in which Brother Joseph was something of an expert.

Their comfortable moments of study did not last long. A slapping of sandaled feet in the corridor and a perfunctory knock on the door announced the arrival of Brother Matthew.

"Dobre rano, hrachova, he said bursting into the room. Even with his poor knowledge of Czech Mendel recognized the words for 'Good morning' and the affectionate nickname 'pea soup' that Klacel had devised for him. No parish work today?"

This comment provoked a second grin from the monk at the table. All three were very aware that Mendel had no avocation for the pastoral life. On completing his theological studies in 1849, Mendel had been assigned duties as curate of the monastery parish, including the spiritual care of the sick in a nearby hospital. The conditions he found there had caused him great distress and, in a moment of weakness, he had fallen for yet another of Brother Matthew's crusades against 'the burial places of constitutional liberty'. After signing one of Klacel's petitions, he had fallen ill and had to be treated, at considerable cost, by the local Brothers of Mercy. From that time on Abbot Napp had recognized in Mendel a tendency to nervous illness, brought on by stress, and taken him away from the spiritual side of the monastery business.

I am too old to know everything, he announced to the room, waving one had in a grand manner. Aware of Klacel's debating tactics, Mendel and Lindenthal ignored him and continued trying to do their own studies. Unfazed, Brother Matthew continued, "Only the young think they know everything, by my age I know that I don't. He turned and addressed the two men directly. Deliberate university is the goal of all love and science. Remember that, I want those words carved on my tombstone."

Mendel sighed - he was not going to be allowed to study this morning. "You know that our Abbot hates your pantheistic Naturphilosohie," [see footnote] he said calmly, well aware that Klacel had been in trouble with the Catholic authorities more than once for trying to spread Hegelian ideas, in direct contradiction to the official faith.

Brother Matthew's Stomach

Brother Matthew shook his head violently, "Pomoc! Never mind that, he said, flinging his arms wide, I had breakfast with Brother Tatras this morning and I happened to mention that I had a craving for black pudding. It is only natural. My mother made the best black pudding in all of Moravia and I miss it sometimes. You know what he said?" Both brothers agreed they did not know what the imfirmarer had said to Brother Matthew.

He told me that my appetite was corrupted and inordinate, caused, he said, by an accumulation of phlegm in the stomach. He snorted, leaving no doubt as to his opinion of the Monastery's chief medical advisor.

And what did he recommend? asked Brother Joseph.

"He poked me in the stomach