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Link0126
Guest
underneath their head coverings?
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P
Pug
Guest
Yes, they wear a sort of comb in their hair that anchors the veil in place. Once their hair falls out from old age, I’m not sure what they do to hold it there. 
Maybe there are other methods besides the comb. I’ve only ever had the one sister show me now it is done.
Maybe there are other methods besides the comb. I’ve only ever had the one sister show me now it is done.
O
odhiambo
Guest
Yes!
They have their natural hair. I daresay they are free to shave it off should they feel so disposed
They have their natural hair. I daresay they are free to shave it off should they feel so disposed
J
Joannm
Guest
Some nuns have long hair. I remember once being at a conference where I was in the dorm with a nun who wore a habit. When she took off the veil in the evening her hair was past her shoulders. It took me a bit by surprise but she said in her congregation there were no rules about hair length and if she kept it long she wouldn’t have to get it cut so often.
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Joe_Kelley
Guest
Some 60 years ago a sister we knew told of getting a crew-cut because it was so hot with all that hair under her veil. A few days later she got sick and was hospitalized - without her veil of course.Yes!
They have their natural hair. I daresay they are free to shave it off should they feel so disposed
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LilyM
Guest
When I went through my twelve years of schooling, the sisters of the order I was taught by went through a few modifications to their habit, one of which was that the veil was no longer mandatory. Some of the older nuns chose to keep wearing it, and I kinda wish they all had.
In any event, all the nuns where I was at had short hair. It does get rather hot in the summer in these parts, so I don’t blame 'em for not kaving it longer.
In any event, all the nuns where I was at had short hair. It does get rather hot in the summer in these parts, so I don’t blame 'em for not kaving it longer.
C
CB_Catholic
Guest
My husbands’s aunt was a Sister who wore a habit and veil, and she used to come to visit every so often, and my mother-in-law would cut her hair and give her a perm. I don’t know why she got a perm, she wore a veil, but I’m thinking she probably took the veil off when she was at home, and since her hair was rather thin and scraggly, wanted to look at least look somewhat presentable to those she lived with.
She also like to wear housecoats when she stayed with my in-laws, and when I first got married it seemed rather odd to go visit and find Sis (that’s what we called her), sitting there in a housecoat and slippers, but I got used to it. If it was anyone other than immediate family, though, she would put on the habit and veil and look like a proper nun. We used to play cards a lot, for nickles. She was a shrewd player, as were the nuns that would accompany her when she came for a visit.
She also like to wear housecoats when she stayed with my in-laws, and when I first got married it seemed rather odd to go visit and find Sis (that’s what we called her), sitting there in a housecoat and slippers, but I got used to it. If it was anyone other than immediate family, though, she would put on the habit and veil and look like a proper nun. We used to play cards a lot, for nickles. She was a shrewd player, as were the nuns that would accompany her when she came for a visit.
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horselvr
Guest
Oh the title of this thread jogged my memory back to 1st grade and the Sister that I absolutely adored and still remember her to this day—Sister Marie Terese. She was such a gem and taught us this Hawaiian song that I still catch myself singing. I have no idea what it means.
Anyway, my brother (rest in peace) realizing how much I loved this Nun began telling me terrible stories about the Nuns at school. He turned out to be the best brother but oh what a snot he could be. He was in 7th grade and he and I would go to school together in the mornings. He told me that Nuns were not only bald as an eagle under the veil but that they really were not women and that they did not have breasts.
Imagine my little 6 yr old brain trying to understand this. He said that even though they ‘smiled a lot’ and were ‘kind of nice’ that they were really monsters under all that habit! and that I could ask anyone and that they would tell me the same thing. So, I did and I asked the Sister.
I told Sister Marie Terese what my brother said about the Nuns and she laughed long and hard over that one. She did assure me that she was actually a woman and not a monster.
My brother got a good talking to.
Anyway, my brother (rest in peace) realizing how much I loved this Nun began telling me terrible stories about the Nuns at school. He turned out to be the best brother but oh what a snot he could be. He was in 7th grade and he and I would go to school together in the mornings. He told me that Nuns were not only bald as an eagle under the veil but that they really were not women and that they did not have breasts.
Imagine my little 6 yr old brain trying to understand this. He said that even though they ‘smiled a lot’ and were ‘kind of nice’ that they were really monsters under all that habit! and that I could ask anyone and that they would tell me the same thing. So, I did and I asked the Sister.I told Sister Marie Terese what my brother said about the Nuns and she laughed long and hard over that one. She did assure me that she was actually a woman and not a monster.
My brother got a good talking to.
J
JReducation
Guest
The question actually has validity. There are communities of nuns that shave their hair.
This custom was not part of communities of sisters. Sisters were tonsured. That is, their hair was cut very short at their investiture, but not shaved.
Nuns cut it at the investiture and later would run the clippers through it and cut down to a military cut. They did this because their male counterparts, the monks, shaved their heads.
Sisters did not shave their hair, because their male counterparts, the friars, never shaved our heads, until the late 20th century. We had a little bit of hair cut off at the crown of the head. We did not wear the corona, contrary to images of St. Anthony and the early friars.
The reason for the difference was that sisters did not always wear monastic habits. Many congregations of sisters wore the common dress of the widows or peasant women of the time. This did not always cover their hair. Gradually, some of these habits evolved so that the hair was completely covered.
Take for example, Elizabeth Ann Seton. Her hair was never covered. She wore a widow’s cap. She wore long hair, which was braided and knotted behind her head. Gradually, the bonnett got bigger, the hair got shorter and you could no longer see it. No one really knows why this happened.
In my own Franciscan family, the Third Order Regular Sisters did not have a monastic coif. They wore a tunic with a chord and a veil. As centuries passed, they gradually adopted the Benedictine look: the white coif with the black tunic and black veil with the white Franciscan chord. Obviously, they had to cut the hair shorter for the sake of hygene.
The nuns did clip their hair down to a peach fuzz, but not the sisters.
The custom died out during WW II. Superiors directed the nuns to let their hair grow. Often the nuns had to move to avoid the Nazis. They would take off their habits and put on street clothing. They had to do the same thing in Mexico after the revolution declared it illegal to wear a habit in public. After the crisis was over, many communities of nuns never returned to the shaved head. In places such as the US, the habit was not an issue, nor was safety an issue. Most American nuns continued the practice, but not the sisters… Most sisters never shaved their hair. It was about as short as the Beatles, if you remember them.
OK, I’m dating myself.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
This custom was not part of communities of sisters. Sisters were tonsured. That is, their hair was cut very short at their investiture, but not shaved.
Nuns cut it at the investiture and later would run the clippers through it and cut down to a military cut. They did this because their male counterparts, the monks, shaved their heads.
Sisters did not shave their hair, because their male counterparts, the friars, never shaved our heads, until the late 20th century. We had a little bit of hair cut off at the crown of the head. We did not wear the corona, contrary to images of St. Anthony and the early friars.
The reason for the difference was that sisters did not always wear monastic habits. Many congregations of sisters wore the common dress of the widows or peasant women of the time. This did not always cover their hair. Gradually, some of these habits evolved so that the hair was completely covered.
Take for example, Elizabeth Ann Seton. Her hair was never covered. She wore a widow’s cap. She wore long hair, which was braided and knotted behind her head. Gradually, the bonnett got bigger, the hair got shorter and you could no longer see it. No one really knows why this happened.
In my own Franciscan family, the Third Order Regular Sisters did not have a monastic coif. They wore a tunic with a chord and a veil. As centuries passed, they gradually adopted the Benedictine look: the white coif with the black tunic and black veil with the white Franciscan chord. Obviously, they had to cut the hair shorter for the sake of hygene.
The nuns did clip their hair down to a peach fuzz, but not the sisters.
The custom died out during WW II. Superiors directed the nuns to let their hair grow. Often the nuns had to move to avoid the Nazis. They would take off their habits and put on street clothing. They had to do the same thing in Mexico after the revolution declared it illegal to wear a habit in public. After the crisis was over, many communities of nuns never returned to the shaved head. In places such as the US, the habit was not an issue, nor was safety an issue. Most American nuns continued the practice, but not the sisters… Most sisters never shaved their hair. It was about as short as the Beatles, if you remember them.
OK, I’m dating myself.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
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