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MacBeth
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I've seen the Sisters of Life rollerblading!
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MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
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momwise
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My mom came from a small town with very few Catholics and of course there was no CCD, no school, youth group, etc. Every summer a couple of sisters would come and stay with them to teach the 2 or 3 families...I don't know what order but there were sisters who would travel around and teach Catholic children during the summer as missionaries. They stayed at the house and after the work of the day was done, they would go down to the church hall and roller skate or borrow the bikes and ride around, and my mom remembers them laughing and singing and joking all the time. They were very young.
Here's an interesting article about the distinction between a nun and a sister.
We did a homeschool group trip to the Benedictine convent of St. Walburga (when it used to be in Boulder) and we saw a couple of the nuns doing their farm duties in overalls with a simple white sort of tunic or apron over all. Also, The Little Sisters of the Poor are still in habits. Their Mullen home for the poor elderly has huge, beautiful grounds with a large statue of Mary and every May we are invited there to have Mass, a May crowning and picnic on the grounds. It is one of the best attended field trips of the year and one of the few opportunities for homeschooled dc to talk to sisters.
BTW, the Dominican nuns MaryM mentioned above sponsor a Here I Am Lord Vocation Conference for teens and young adults. Dd went last year and was surrounded by happy, laughing nuns in habits all day! I recommend attending something like this for your teens (there are also brothers and priests all over the place) because all the religious were very friendly and down to earth, spending all day just talking to kids from their booths and roaming around, even eating mingled with the attendees. Dd and her friend were so impressed with how funny and interesting they were.
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
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MacBeth
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Speaking of Nuns on Wheels . This article describes what must have been some sight to see!
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MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
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krgammel
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I am BLESSED to have a dear friend who is a nun.
In fact, she is God Mother to both of my sons.
She is always in her habit. As a matter of fact she has been known to "hunt" in a camo habit. She is serious about feeding the poor and I believe she gets a buck every deer season.
Check her out in the photo collages on her website.
The Society of the Body of Christ
+Kristen
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JennGM
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I forgot about the Sisters of St. Joseph. I love their ministry!
I considered a religious vocation for a long time. Some of the books I read as a teenager I would highly recommend. They aren't only for those who want to be nuns, but as inspirational reading to see how nuns live, but are still alive, vibrant, loving and funny.
Shepherd's Tartan by Sister Mary Jean Dorcy, O.P.
My Beloved: the Story of a Carmelite Nun by Mother Catherine Thomas
Catch Those Little Foxes by A Carmelite Nun
A Right to be Merry by Mother Mary Francis (and all her other titles).
Most of these are out of print, except Mother Mary Francis.
I have one more, but the title (and the book) escapes me right now.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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marihalojen
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I love the wonderful pictures! My sister collected pictures like these at her dorm and surrounded her mirror with them, my favorite was a group of sisters at a zoo with elephants - getting sprayed, of course, and laughing! So joyful!
MaryM, thank you for the links! I've tried a bit of searching too and found one in Ft Lauderdale, I think Sisters of St. Joseph, Jenn! We do get off the rock to Ft. L alot for the airport, so that has some good possibilities. Now, if we were in Tampa - wow! Tons of listings on that coast!
I never knew that there was a difference between a nun and a sister, I learned something new today. 
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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cvbmom
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I have a great-aunt who is a Sister - 75 years in her order now. I told her that I appreciated the fact that she still wears her veil as my daughter could easily identify her. She tells me that the younger sisters in her order give her trouble at times for wearing it still. She has been asked if she feels holier than the rest of them because she wears it. I was appalled at this!
oops, baby crying...sorry to cut it short
Christine
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MaryM
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JennGM wrote:
Shepherd's Tartan by Sister Mary Jean Dorcy, O.P.
My Beloved: the Story of a Carmelite Nun by Mother Catherine Thomas
Catch Those Little Foxes by A Carmelite Nun
A Right to be Merry by Mother Mary Francis (and all her other titles). |
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And a couple picture books which have positive portrayals of sisters.
Sister Anne's Hands which is included in Catholic Mosaic.
Snow Day
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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JennGM
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marihalojen wrote:
| I've tried a bit of searching too and found one in Ft Lauderdale, I think Sisters of St. Joseph, Jenn! We do get off the rock to Ft. L alot for the airport, so that has some good possibilities. Now, if we were in Tampa - wow! Tons of listings on that coast! |
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Jennifer, I first fell in love with the Little Sisters of the Poor, or Sisters of St. Joseph when reading a book called Joseph the Just Man by Rosalie Marie Levy, printed by the Daughters of St. Paul. It's OOP, copyright 1955. But it has some great stories from these sisters. They beg for their food, and since they take care of the elderly, they beg for special things for them. When they want something, they put their request or something like it at the feet of the statue of St. Joseph.
One story told about some of the male residents requested some beer. So the men would put their empty beer cans in front of the statue to remind him of their need. A priest came by and asked the Mother Superior why the cans were, so she told them. On the way back to the rectory on the subway, the priest startling chuckling about the story. The stranger next to him asked to share the joke, so the priest told him. It turned out the he was the Vice President of a beer company, and he saw that the old men would never want for beer again. And he was true to his word.
The book is easy reading, and your daughter would enjoy it. It sparked a devotion to St. Joseph for me.
Some other books to add to the list, all out of print, but keep your eyes open:
Those Whom God Chooses by Barbara and Grey Villet (photo story)
Bernie Becomes a Nun another photo story (she left, though)
With Love and Laughter by Sister Maryanna, O.P.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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marihalojen
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Marianna and I saw Sisters! In Habits!!!
We made our own little pilgrimage yesterday to the mainland and found a Pauline Bookstore staffed by lovely and gracious sisters. While we were browsing (for hours   ) the store filled with laughter as three Missionaries of Charity came in. I thought Marianna was going to faint! We had just watched Olivia Hussey portray Mother Theresa last week and here in real life were women who might have known her.
It was a great day!
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~Jennifer
Mother to Mariannna, age 13
The Mari Hal-O-Jen
SSR = Sailing, Snorkling, Reading
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MaryM
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That is really cool, Jennifer. I remember this thread from earlier and know how excited you and Marianna must be.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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lapazfarm
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Very cool! So many blessings for Marianna this week!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
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mimmyof5
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I so wish we had recognizable nuns/sisters in our area. I do not believe my girls have ever seen a sister/nun in habit. The few sisters in our area do not wear habits, they don't teach at the schools (none of parish schools have any religious teachers). Mostly, they seem to be on a mission to further feminism. They offer classes on women in the church, liturgical dance, that type of thing. This is so sad.
My husband and I grew up in the same town and both attended Catholic schools at the same time. We've discussed the fact, that sadly, we don't have warm, wonderful memories of the sisters that taught us. Mostly we had lay teachers, but there were a few sisters. As I look back as an adult I remember them as cranky, unhappy and not at peace. My husband also has the same memories (we shared the same sisters as teachers).
I wonder now if this was due to the time period we went to school. Late 60's and early 70's. Right at the time when everything was changing. They entered the convent when nuns and sisters wore habits, had a defined role (teacher, nurse, etc.) Then everything changed, and I feel they were huge changes. These upheavals must of caused them to suffer. My husband remembers one sister in particular. When they left school in May she was wearing her full habit and they called her Sr. (name she took - don't remember now). When they returned in Sept. she was dressed in regular clothes and told the children to call her Sr. Clarissa, her real name. She left teaching shortly thereafter. I had a sister in high school who became very upset with me when I told her I wanted to be a wife and mother. She told my dad that I wasn't fulfilling my potential.
On the other hand, there is one sister I remember very well. Sr. Noel. My 10th gr. English teacher. I loved her. She was kind, caring, humble, happy and peaceful. I thought she was ancient. Looking back she had to be in her 70's; she was definitely older than any of the other sisters. She still wore her full habit and seemed untouched by all the changes.
Growing up I had no inclination or feelings towards a religious vocation. I think a lot of this was because of the example that was set for me. So while I would love for my daughters to know some nuns, I haven't sought out any of the few that are left in our area because, honestly, they seem more intent on furthering the role of women in the church than serving God. So, I try to find books or films that depict the traditional nuns. While unfortunately the sisters I had in school didn't do anything to foster a vocation in my life, when I saw the movie In This House of Brede, I fell in love with the religious life. In fact, I started corresponding with two different orders and was making plans to visit one when I met my husband. And now I'm doing exactly what I told Sr. Josephine in high school was my goal in life - being a wife and mother.
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CathinCoffeland
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Alice that story is so funny- we have a "modern" sister at our parish and my usually talkative dd wont talk with her.
we went to chicago last year and went to a local monestary where there were a bunch visiting nuns- young ladies in full habit from Poland.
dd was so excited and ran up to them chattering and talked thei ear off...they kept laughing because she kept refering to them as "real" nuns.
i personally have always felt that the lack of habit reveals a holding back form God so to speak. perhaps our little ones pick up on this.
maggie
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mommylori
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when we go to the latin mass there are always several nuns in full Habbit. And monks in the long brown robes, it is very neat!
Also did you know there is a waiting list for girls who want to be nuns and wear the full habit! We had a girl last year join and had to be aprroved, they had several girls trying to get in but ony 5 openings, so the whole church was very excited when she was choosen. It's sad huh, It's like seeing priest wearing a collar.
Lori
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Kristen in TN
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We use to live in Front Royal, VA. Once a year at Christendom College they had a vocations fair. We always took the children just to be exposed to all those religious. For a few years we went to a mission church in Washington, VA (Little Washington). My husband went with the men and some older boys of the parish out to DC to work around the Sisters' of Carity's home. Then they would bring those people out to the country for a day where Mass would be said and then a picnic and hayride at a local's house and the Little Flowers would serve everyone.
Here in TN it is different, but like Janet, we are about 1 1/2 hours from the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament. We have seen more priests and brother there than we have sisters or nuns. We even picked up a few hitch-hiking brothers one day! That was so cool. We are also not too far from Cullman, AL where the Benedictine priests have a prep-school and the Ave Maria Grotto. One day while waiting for my Mom to get there we met a wonderful sister who was some kind of Fransciscan in a habit. She was married and a mother of 6 who had lost her husband. She was wonderful to talk to and wonderful with the children.
We are not far from Nashville either and we were going to goto the Dominicans' place for our Anniversary, but somehow got lost (as we usually do in Nashville.)
One of the things I love about traveling to shrines is that there are usually religious hanging around. Thank you for starting this thread. It is definately food for thought.
God bless,
Kristen in TN
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Angel
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I went to a Catholic elementary school in a small town in TN and was taught by the Dominican sisters of Nashville, whom Jenn mentioned. If we got there too early in the morning, we would have to wait in the living room of the convent. All the Sisters wore full habit. We would listen for their clicking heels and the clacking swing of their rosary beads as a sign that we needed to stop talking and act like we had been working. Our principle's name was Sister Mary Eileen. She was from Chicago. She used to get SO MAD at us when we goofed off and didn't live up to our potential that her face would turn purple while she lectured us. One day my friend and I came on Saturday to help at the convent, and we couldn't believe how nice she was; she even gave us Cokes!
For our 6th grade class trip, we visited the Motherhouse in Nashville. Hundreds of nuns! Nuns playing basketball, digging in the garden... we had Mass in the chapel, and I was chosen to read. I remember the Motherhouse as being very beautiful -- they had 4 or 6 grand pianos in one of the halls, I think -- but as a kid made to do math and grammar by nuns in habit, I think the nuns playing basketball made more of an impression on me than anything else.  However, I never realized how much seeing these nuns formed my expectations of what nuns *should* dress like until we moved here to NY and met nuns in street clothes wearing earrings. (I have to admit that I was scandalized a bit by the earrings, I don't know why; it just seemed to make a big difference!)
At our new church (we've found a more orthodox parish), we do occasionally see nuns in habit at Mass. The Poor Clares run a nursing home in the area and have come to speak to the congregation. I am sure my dd would love to meet and speak with a nun -- I, of course, never got to actually *speak* with them, even though I was *taught* by them, which is sad -- but she has told me before that she doesn't want to be nun because she wants to be a mother. So she's settling for trying to be a saint instead .
--Angela
Mom to 3+2 
Three Plus Two
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1floridamom
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When my mom first joined the Church (I was in 3rd grade), we belonged to a church that had two nuns on staff. They never wore a habit, but they had such a different presence that was very comforting. Sr. Elaine read at my wedding. She made a strong, loving impression on me.
Blessings,
Monica in FL
dh Steve, Sean (9), Ethan (8), Emily (5), Kylie (22 mos), and Ashley (7 mos)
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JennyMaine
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I live in central Maine, and the area is about 70% unchurched, and only 10% Catholic. We do have a Catholic hospital about 20 miles away, which is administered by nuns in modified habit. At least they are recognizable as nuns, and when my father was dying we spent much time talking with them. The kids, of course, just flock to them the instant they appear!
As a church employee, I also had the experience of dealing with a very liberal, feminist nun -- even her habit couldn't hide the darkness of her heart. That was a very difficult and eye-opening experience for me.
Our local Catholic school is administered by two nuns. No habit, just a blue suit. (It was weeks after joining that parish before I even realized they were nuns.)
My daughter thinks she has a vocation to religious life, and I pray she does. Thanks for all the resources you listed.
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--JennyMaine, Mom to Catherine (17) and Sam (15) "The countenance is a reflection of the soul. You should always have a calm and serene countenance." -- Therese of Lisieux
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MrsKey
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If you ever have occasion to travel to or through northern Alabama - you must put the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament on your list of places to see. This is the Shrine built by Mother Angelica (what an amazing and Godly woman).
There are several Catholic guesthouses on the road leading to the Shrine and the Our Lady of Angels Monastery. The conventual Mass (the nuns' Mass) is at 7 AM. It is so worth rising early for.
While the nuns are cloistered so you don't get to see them (except for the extern sisters and some postulants who participate in the Mass in the public area of the chruch) you can hear them singing and during reception of Holy Communion you see them approach the reredos (sp).
It is so uplifting and spiritual calming to see them and to be in their presence.
My daughter has, since the age of 6 felt called to be a religious. She chose St. Clare of Assisi as her patron saint at Confirmation (she was confirmed at age 7 when we converted). So we drive for an hour to Mass at the Shrine every Sunday so she can be near the sisters that she wants to join some day.
It is amazing. I wish more religious orders would wear full habit - I truly believe that such devout and orthodox praxis fosters vocations in a way that nothing else does.
Pax Christi,
Carole
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Nuns
