Habit?

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In my area I rarely see nuns in habits. Nuns who have worked within my parish have not warn habits. Is this normal, for as long as I can remember I have rarely seen a nun in a habit. I thought that this was one of the changes from the time of Vatican II. What do others notice, is it really that odd for nuns not to wear habits?
 
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e-catholic:
In my area I rarely see nuns in habits. Nuns who have worked within my parish have not warn habits. Is this normal, for as long as I can remember I have rarely seen a nun in a habit. I thought that this was one of the changes from the time of Vatican II. What do others notice, is it really that odd for nuns not to wear habits?
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It’s actually certain Orders that still require a Habit others almost prohibit the wearing of a Habit.
 
I think it depends on the orders and their charism. Also, I can’t help but wonder if it is an unnecessary financial expense to wear something so particular, when the money could be better used to help the poor or care for the retired religious. They aren’t very practical. However, I do think they look incredibly professional. Kind of like the spiritual equivalent of military dressage.
 
I love habits! We have a patient who is a Daughter of Mary, Mother of Mercy (DMMM). They have the most beautiful blue habits and veils. Then there’s the Felicians who teach at a nearby high school who still wear the brown habit. I love seeing them in public, they are practically revered by everyone!
 
It doesn’t really bother me that they don’t all wear habits, but I think it would be nice to have some way to identify them when they are in an official capacity.

A priest often wears a roman colar when he is not at Mass, other times he wears street clothes. Whenever there is a function at Church our priest wears a colar. If you see him on his day off he isn’t wearing one. I think that it would be a nice thing to have something similar for nuns.
 
One of the best things about being in South America for the last several months is that the nuns still wear habits - and veils - here.

One of the Vatican II documents called for the orders to make adjustments to their habits in order for them to be more practical. In true “spirit of Vatican II” fasion, many orders took that to mean they could do away with them all together.

In the 70s, our school-teaching nuns had a nice, practical habit. It was basically a grey shirt dress with a simple modified veil.

On one of Mother Angelica’s shows she (or one of her substitutes)was interviewing some sisters. They were relating the kind of questions they received from young women who were discerning a vocation. One quesiton they get asked a lot is about the habits. This generation of young nuns-to-be isn’t really interested in a religious community that goes incognito. They are proud of their committment and want to be associated with orders that wear habits.
 
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kmktexas:
One of the Vatican II documents called for the orders to make adjustments to their habits in order for them to be more practical. In true “spirit of Vatican II” fasion, many orders took that to mean they could do away with them all together.
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I have not heard of any order that has “done away with habits all together.” A habit is a uniform for a nun. They have merely adopted as dress, different articles of clothing which are easier to find in stores, which don’t require special stores, and are more affordable, not to mention easier to get aorund in. The new habits are not as distinctive, but habits are still very much a way of life for nuns.
 
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serendipity:
I have not heard of any order that has “done away with habits all together.”
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The Sisters of the Precious Blood, at least the ones that run the Maria Stein Center in Ohio (still a very good place to visit, by the way) have “done away with habits all together.” It’s explicitly mentioned in one of their museum displays.

Anyways, it’s not really difficult to recognize a nun: just look for the hideous polyester pantsuit and 70’s haircut. Benedictine sisters are especially easy to spot.

Scott
 
Ours wear red dresses, earings, and say they have no use for the Church as institution since their “church” is the people. If you ever want a test of your faith, come to Orlando. You’ll have it bashed within and outside the Church.

Thank God we still have one priest here that wears a cassock and biretta. He’s also known for having some Latin here and there. I’m proud to have stood up for him and the faith in the local newspaper after a “pro-abortion Catholic” bashed him in the Orlando Sentinel before the elections.
 
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serendipity:
I have not heard of any order that has “done away with habits all together.” A habit is a uniform for a nun. They have merely adopted as dress, different articles of clothing which are easier to find in stores, which don’t require special stores, and are more affordable, not to mention easier to get aorund in. The new habits are not as distinctive, but habits are still very much a way of life for nuns.
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Well in Houston hardly any of the nuns wear habits. A habit is a little more than a uniform. It is supposed to be distinctive enough that the woman wearing it is recognizable as a member of a religious order. We have some Sisters of Charity here that wear habits and an order of sisters (not sure the name) from the Phillipines but all the other wear non-distinctive street clothes.

Habits in the “old days” didn’t require any special stores. They were mostly made by nuns of the orders themselves - sometimes older nuns who were no longer working as teachers, nurses or whatever.

Someone else was trying to make the case of expense but any parent of grade school kids can tell you that school uniforms are cheaper than regular clothes in the long run. If is works for growing kids, it is even more cost effective for an already grown woman.

Unless your job involves horseback riding or climbing trees, there isn’t anything “easier to get around in” about sloppy pants than a nice dress.
 
I have not heard of any order that has “done away with habits all together.” A habit is a uniform for a nun. They have merely adopted as dress, different articles of clothing which are easier to find in stores, which don’t require special stores, and are more affordable, not to mention easier to get aorund in. The new habits are not as distinctive, but habits are still very much a way of life for nuns. Wow! This certainly is not true here! We have Benedictines, Sisters of St. Joseph and School Sisters of Notre Dame in our parish. None wear a habit of any kind.
 
I miss the habits. I grew up going to Catholic school and the nuns all wore habits. Now my children are going to school and there are no nuns. There is still one in town but you would never know it.

I have kept in touch with my favorite teacher from that time and she doesn’t wear a habit now either.

I disagree with the thought that not wearing them is no big deal. A habit, like a collar, is a symbol of one’s dedication to God. It is good to see dedication like this in the world.

Thank God for letting us live in this time.

ybiC,
Trevor
 
I think that the Sisters quit wearing them because they didn’t want to get into any bad habits. :rotfl:

Sorry.
 
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JimO:
I think that the Sisters quit wearing them because they didn’t want to get into any bad habits. :rotfl:

Sorry.
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Do I even have to tell you that that was bad!! For some reason only known to God, I did laugh.

You should start a thread, only bad jokes allowed.

ybiC,
Trevor
 
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smn:
The Sisters of the Precious Blood, at least the ones that run the Maria Stein Center in Ohio (still a very good place to visit, by the way) have “done away with habits all together.” It’s explicitly mentioned in one of their museum displays.

Anyways, it’s not really difficult to recognize a nun: just look for the hideous polyester pantsuit and 70’s haircut. Benedictine sisters are especially easy to spot.

Scott
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Our Benedictine sisters wear habits, entirely practical for their work and our desert climate, black skirts, long white blouses, black shoes and stockings, veils. Benedictine houses are independent, although each daughter house belongs to its mother house, there is no overarching worldwide governance other than loosely structure meetings. What is true of one monastery does not apply to all. I am considering dying my short hair green, getting pierced ears and a tatoo. Since I work with children, and live in a hot climate I generally wear shorts and T-shirt (our winter Texan uniform) with a cotton jumper over it, with my Benedictine cross, so many people call me “Sister”. I fear I will spend a long time in purgatory for impersonating a nun.
 
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EddieArent:
I’m proud to have stood up for him and the faith in the local newspaper after a “pro-abortion Catholic” bashed him in the Orlando Sentinel before the elections.
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God Bless you!
More of us need to be this brave.
 
I am reminded of a story told me by a priest friend. He was talking to a nun (sans habit) who complained that she wasn’t getting the respect and deference she used to get when she was younger. His response? “Well you’ve changed packaging, how is anyone to know that you are a nun? It’s like you took Coca-Cola and put it in a plain aluminum can without a label.”

Habits are an important witness to the world and a “sign of contradiction” in our sex-crazed culture. They symbolize a woman’s renunciation of the values of the world and of her gift of herself to God and the Church. The nuns without the habit are like those who place lamps under bushel baskets. The young women who are joining the orders nowadays have no interest in living just like everyone else except for a little vow of celibacy that maybe only their close friends may know about. What is the point of joining an order if you can accomplish basically the same thing without having to take the vows? Instead, they want to make a **radical **witness for Christ through the example of their lives. What better way to “preach the gospel, using words only when neccessary”? If you go the websites of the two major groupings of nuns in the US, the LCWR and the CMSWR, you will notice immediately the difference. I don’t need to tell you which group is attracting vocations and which one is drying up. I’ve linked them below.

www.lcwr.org

www.cmswr.org

Let the nuns speak for why they wear the habit:
cmswr.org/spiritual_reflections/habit.htm
 
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