Can a religious (not a nun) woman wear a habit?

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How about a white robe with a hood? Desert life, so…the less complicated my wardrobe is the better.
 
I know, that’s why I said it was a silly question. I could wander around in muck-lucks and a sombrero, so long as my life is right with God. Just thought I’d ask, though.
 
Absolutely! I was present at the ordination of a 59 year-old to the priesthood. And, look at Mother Miriam of the Lamb of God (formerly Rosalind Moss) who formed her own religious order.

As to wearing a habit, as an unaffiliated layperson, that might be a little too enthusiastic, and potentially misleading.

However: many orders have ‘third order lay faithful.’ Some of them may very well be allowed a 3rd order habit. In that case, it would be genuine, fruitful, and a blessing.
 
there is nothing wrong with norvus ordo, it is the Mass of the Catholic Church. millions of people attend globally. its tradition. Jesus is there as at any Mass.

have you taken the Sacrament of first Communion and the Sacrament of first confession / reconcilliation yet? We cannot share in the Eucharist until after we have the Sacramemts given to us by our clergy.

as far as cut off ages , put a post in Vocations for a list of who takes 33 year olds.
 
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yes, my Community has no cut off age, but people are vetted thoroughly as is to be expected by experienced formators. The lay members absolutely cannot wear the religious garb of those who become religious.
 
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why not? there is no legal statute in the US to prevent it

i would not wear habits or cloaks or priest’s collars or clothing;

but what if someone wanted to? a sin?; i’d’d’vve tended to think not
 
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are we in the secular world or are we members of the Communion of Saints.

i did not say it was a sin, but my community would expel a person who did this.

obedience is one of the vows people take
 
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i’d’ve liked to to think “we” are members of the “church militant”; struggling to slog our way to heaven

if some of our otherwise innocent outliers want to wear false religious garb & are not harming anybody,
 
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There are plenty of Novus Ordo Masses that are respectable, I know that. I prefer the Original ancient Catholic Rite over the new modern one. And to answer your questions: yes and yes. Thank you so much and God Bless.
 
i will pray for your vocation. You have options

The Church does not use the original ancient Catholic rite.

for more on that, there is an expert historian who has a thread up. that would be a great question for him.
 
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brian_custer said:
i’d’ve liked to to think “we” are members of the “church militant”; struggling to slog our way to heaven

if some of our otherwise innocent outliers want to wear false religious garb & are not harming anybody,
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One of the characteristics of the religious life is obedience. If a community forbids wearing a particular garb that is worn by a another part of the community, one must obey. One cannot be a religious without obedience.
 
Perhaps I should have chosen a better way of putting it. The Tridentine
Rite is the formalized, refined Mass of The Church. I think the original
Mass is, what…the catecombs? Different conversation, I think. Thank you
for your prayers😊. God bless you.
 
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heythere said:
I’m too old to be a nun, but that hasn’t stopped me from living like one. I live simply, take care of my Father, pray many (many, many, many…) times a day, go to church daily, never been married or dated (that’s not a nun-thing, I know), sew my own clothes, etc… I will one day, by God’s Grace, be living in the desert when Dad is called home and it is my time to be alone (I own a piece of land, there). And while I wish I could be a sister, I’m more than willing to live chastely and in prayer regardless. So…would it be offensive, or confusing, if I wore my own handmade habit? Silly question, maybe, but I thought I’d ask. Thank you and God Bless.

Note: I didn’t think this would be such a big problem. A silly one, maybe. I just didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes since nuns are a special and Blessed breed of women…probably shouldn’t have asked, really.
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A good question and what a blessed person you are to live a committed life for God.

As for wearing a nun’s habit, I would advise against it. More so in your situation where you are living a prayerful life. Just be yourself, not what you are not. It would only detract from the virtue that you already have now.

Not that you cannot wear any attire that you like but you are a person who should know better. If you are not a nun, why would you want to dress like one? It can be an object of unnecessary comment and ridicule too.

If it is decent dresses that you mean, you can always has your own design.

Probably an alternative, if you must, make sure the habit is not the same with any existing order for the nuns around your district. But that’s also pose another problem. Which order yours would be? That’s why it is better to stick to the original you.

Just a personal opinion. Forget it if you disagree with it.

God bless.
 
The original Eucharist - the Last Supper.

Cloisters usually posts in Vocations. She is prob right up with orders who take over 30s. I am in Aus. I have no idea if the rules are the same. But if you want to wear a habit, some orders do, some don’t. Mine are Monks and Nuns. They wear grey with a black scapular -full length one- over the top of the grey garment. And veils for the Nuns.
 
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Habits are clothing denoting separation from the world, poverty, membership in a particular community or institute (usually, although for hermits there are exceptions). They are officially “given” by the Church and aren’t supposed to be self-assumed. Habits are the “property” of their communities. It is wrong to dress up in habits and clerical clothes because it is taking advantage of the patrimony of others that one does not have a right to unless one is part of the clergy and/or consecrated life. Sure, in the USA you probably won’t get prosecuted for wearing a habit/clerical clothes but we aren’t just citizens of a country, we are also Catholic and are morally obligated to respect the property of Catholics.

The OP is taking care of their “father”. This is praiseworthy. However, in doing this, by default the OP is not alone and interacts with another for caregiving. That is NOT hermit-life, which requires strict withdrawal from the world in silence and solitude. ONe cannot do responsible caregiving to another individual in silence and at a distance (solitude). Caregiving is close and demands interaction and generally requires speaking and spending time together. There is no reason why a devout person can’t continue to pray, do caregiving, etc. as a layperson and reach holiness. No need to dress up - dressing in a habit as a layperson doesn’t make a person any holier and it sends the wrong message that a person is what he is not. Perhaps when caregiving responsibilities are over and the person is living independently it will be a new stage of life for vocational discernment. But, the laity are called to the same holiness that clergy and consecrated persons are. I encourage the OP to savor their status as a child of God and to take the time to study the virtues, learn the ways of deep prayer from the saints, etc.
 
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There was a thread on here some months ago involving some lady from a parish who went around in a habit but then happened to mention to somebody that she “wasn’t a nun”. While some people said it was her business and she could wear what she wanted as long as it was decent, quite a few posters were disturbed by someone who wasn’t a nun wearing a habit, because they felt it was either deceptive, or a misuse of a nun’s habit by somebody not entitled to wear it. In addition, if your habit is the same as an actual order, the order probably wouldn’t appreciate it, as somebody else said.

So, while you probably wouldn’t get into any trouble with the law over it, you may well have issues with other people’s reactions if you’re in a habit and they find out you’re not a nun.

Having said that, I think it depends a lot on what you mean by a “habit”. If you mean the skirts-to-the-floor, long veil type habit, then, that’s definitely nun-wear. However, I’ve seen a lot of orders in the modern era wear something that’s more like a plain, dark blue/brown/black knee-length dress or jumper or skirt and blouse. with a short little veil and a pectoral cross. It’s kind of hard in my opinion to tell a woman that she’s not entitled to wear a plain knee-length dress and a short veil and that those fairly ordinary clothing items are “reserved for nuns”. If you wanted to just make or have made a few of these simple dresses/ jumpers/skirts and wear them, with or without a head covering, that might be an alternative.
 
The vocation of Consecrated Virgin is renewed now. There are several in my area, however they don’t wear a nun’s outfit. Check with your local diocese to see about this vocation.
 
While I’d agree that simple skirts/dresses are fine, to wear a veil or hood is inappropriate because, again, a veil is bestowed by a Church authority. That is the sign of a person belonging to an official form of consecrated/dedicated life in the Church. It misleads people into thinking the person is actually living a consecrated life form. Look, I’m a consecrated Bride of Christ and I will not wear the religious veil because a) my bishop did not give me a religious veil but a bridal one since the Rite no longer gives us veils for everyday use, and b) I am not bound by law to poverty and separation from the world which the religious veil signifies. I don’t really care what people in other religions do- like the Amish, I care about what is appropriate in the Catholic Church, and in the Catholic Church lay people dress like ordinary lay people! I am not lay, but my vocation does not permit me to pretend I’m religious or a hermit by wearing clothes that can mislead people into thinking that I am one.
 
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