I agree with this too and that’s why I wear my habit almost everywhere.
Mother was interesting. When she first started out, around 1946, few people knew that she was a sister. She looked like other Hindu women. As more sisters came, it became obvious that this was a community, because they all wore the same sari. Originally, no one could tell, because the sari is not the garb that people identified with women religious.
Mother chose the sari because Jesus told her that he wanted an Indian congregation. In Hindu culture, women wear saris, but men do not. They wear white shirts and slacks. So her male Missionaries of Charity dress like Hindu men. If you see 10 of them together you quickly realize that they are all wearing the same white shirt and slacks. If one of them were alone on the bus with you, you would probably think that he’s just another guy or another Hindu man.
What made the sari famous was Mother Teresa’s work and life. Had it not been for that, we might have seen a woman in a sari riding the metro and though that she was just another Hindu woman. Today, we identify it with Mother.
Moving right along, the problem that you’re going to find with orthodox religious is when the laity tries to demand that religious wear a habit, behave in a certain manner, engage in certain ministries or not engage in others. I’ll explain why you (universal you) have a problem.
For centuries, the laity manipulated religious communities for their own purposes. One of the most common means was to withhold funds from them. For example, Teresa of Avila was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, because they had to leave the cloister to go to Mrs. X’s home and “comfort” her, because she was pregnant. The nuns had to move in with Mrs. X until the lady gave birth or even longer. This took them away from the life of solitude and prayer to which Christ called them. They were forced to do this, because they depended on donations from the laity in order to eat.
Lay people subverted and even bought the votes of religious during a chapter to get a relative elected abbot or abbess. There were laws that you could not open a religious house without the permission of the king.
In the USA, many of our schools and hospitals have struggled to stay alive and most have died out, because the state passes laws that we can’t follow, because we don’t have the money or because they are contrary to Catholic faith. In many places, Catholics vote for these laws, knowing that they will bring the end to Catholic institutions run by religious. Look at the number of Catholics that voted for a pro-abortion government, not only in the USA but around the world. Madrid, once one of the most Catholic cities in the world, is the abortion capitol of Europe. Religious can no longer run hospitals and clinics in Madrid. It’s illegal to deny abortion, contraception and sterilization.
Things got so bad that the Council of Trent had to pass what is called The Right of Exemption. It’s a law that prohibits that bishops and laity interfere with religious of Pontifical Right. Religious of Pontifical Right, such as my Carmelite brothers and me are protected from bishops and laity by the pope. We answer to him and no one else. Trent had to do this to keep religious life from being manipulated, bought and sold at the will of wealthy laymen and bishops. Trent even prohibitted bishops from entering a religious house without the permission of the religious. That’s how strict things had to get. These laws are still in the books.
Think of how it sounds to a young religious, like Br. David, when a bishop cannot tell him what to wear or even go through his front door without the permission of the Prior, but in the meantime a layman is making demands on what he should or should not wear. It sounds discordant. It begs the question. “Wait a minute, no bishop can tell me what to wear and a layman wants to do so?”
It’s a knee-jerk reaction that many young religious have, because they know that if they were talking to the local bishop, this would not be a topic of conversation. The most a bishop can say is that he wants you to dress according to the rules and constitutions of your community. He’s not over stepping his bounds in saying that. It’s like me telling your child, “I want you to obey your mom and dad.” I’m not making rules for your child. Beyond that, the bishop can complain the the superior, if the religious are not living up to what their statutes say.
I work for a bishop. He can go off on me if I don’t do the work. As fars my clothing is concerned, the only thing that he ever said to me when we first met was, “Is that your habit?”
I said, “Yes, Your Excellency. Is there a problem?”
He responded, “No. That’s fine.”
Then I said, “Would Your Excellency prefer that I wear a Roman collar, because I can do so, if you wish it?”
He said, “No. That’s fine.”
When you have these kinds of exchanges with Church authorities and then you come here and get TOLD what to wear and not wear, it’s a little disturbing.
Does this help?
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
I am so ashamed of having any connections with Spain…Ugh…my ancestors are rolling in their graves. Thank God they’re from Barcelona and not Madrid.