The clergy
It is hard to pinpoint just where the ambience of Mont St Michel begins to alter, but there is a definite change of feeling and mood as you ascend from the town towards the abbey. It is in part fostered by the architectural changes I have mentioned before and obviously also by the changing purpose of the buildings from commercial, to residential and finally to the three storied Marvel, centre of the mount. Somehow conversation becomes quieter and less intrusive. There are no signs requesting this, it simply seems to be a universal reaction to the space. I am not a deeply religious person myself, certainly not in a conventionally ecclesiastical way but here I finally understood the spiritual use of the word celestial. Mont St Michel is that – celestial.
At the door to the church a trio of a priest and two nuns were engaged in one of those hushed conversations - a certain indication that we were close to the entrance to the Abbey. Perhaps they are resident members of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem, the incumbent Catholic order resident on Mont St Michel. You will notice the careful reconstruction work on the masonry at the base of the pillars, and once again the splendid ironwork of the door hinges.
The main part of the tour was about to commence.
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