St Thomas's Monastery library was the best in Moravia. Books dating back as far as the 15th and 16th century were cataloged by subject on rows of exquisitely carved Baroque bookshelves under an ornate and painted ceiling. Perhaps unique in church libraries, the books on theology were outnumbered by books on science, a trend encouraged and reinforced by Abbot Napp and his predecessor. When every they could, the Monastery;s Abbots acquired literature on everything from Natural History to Geography.
Stacked in one corner of the main library room was a pile of forty-three books that had been donated by Franz Czermak early in 1863. Brother Matthew was the librarian, a post given to him by Abbot Napp in the hope that it would keep him out of trouble, but Brother Matthew was an irregular guardian of this knowledge and had not yet got round to placing these new books in the appropriate order on the shelves.
Brother Timothy, however, only took a few moments to locate the volume for which he was searching. Near the bottom of the pile he pulled out a German translation of Darwin's The Origin of Species that had been published in Stuttgart in 1862. This he carried to a nearby table, and started to read.
Within minutes he had found what he was looking for and leaned back in his chair with the nearest he ever came to a smile on his face. Staring at the painted ceiling, he thought for a moment then picked up the offending volume and went in search of Prior Sembera. He did not have to look far, the good Prior was hard at his duties in his office, a well appointed room directly off the Chapel.
"Brother, I wonder if I might have a moment of your time?" Brother Timothy asked, standing in the doorway. The Prior never closed his door, hoping perhaps that his fellow monks would come to him for council; they rarely did. Brother Timothy's sudden appearance shocked him for a moment, but he recovered swiftly and waved him in.
"Of course, of course, what can I do for you?"
Brother Timothy sat down in a well apollstered chair, placed Darwin's book on the desk and looked serious.
"I need your advice and guidance on a delicate matter," he said looking directly into the soft gray eyes of the Prior. "as you know, Bishop Schaffgotsche is very concerned about the spiritual decay here in our Monastery. He feels we devote too much time to secular matters and not enough time to our religious duties. His visit and his subsequent report make that clear."
Prior Sembera sighed in agreement. Among all the monks of St Thomas's, Prior Sembera was, perhaps, the most devoted to God. On his shoulders fell the vast majority of those duties necessary for the outward observance of the faith, and he alone had not objected to the Bishop's desire to bring the Monastery closer to its original purpose. In this he was constantly thwarted by the teaching and scientific leanings of most of his flock.
"Indeed, indeed, I feel we are in danger of slipping too close to heresy," he admitted.
"Which is why we must be especially on our guard," Brother Timothy went on. "We must not give the Bishop any further excuse to criticize our performance, or lead him to believe we are straying too far from the word of God."
"You are right," said the Prior, crossing himself in a reflex action.
"That is why I need your advice and guidance," continued the monk, "it has come to my attention that our library contains works of discredit, one in particular that comes close to saying that God did not create all men and all things living on this earth. It is a scientific tract, but, even so, the Bishop would not be pleased if he found we were harboring, and even favoring, atheistic ideas."
Sembera reacted with a frown, "It has long been our Abbot's policy to allow a wide range of books in our library, but none that go against God."
"Oh, no," Brother Timothy hurried to reassure him, "I have found nothing that could possibly be put in that category. It is more ..." He allowed his voice to tail off as if in doubt as to what to say next.
"Yes?" the Prior encouraged him.
"It is simply," Brother Timothy appeared to be looking for the right words, "well, this book contains ideas that I know the Bishop would find offensive." He indicated the work by Darwin. "We must be careful that such ideas do not become associated with our Monastery, or we may well bring down the wrath of the Bishop on our heads once more."