Well the sisters I know are free to concentrate on God–no matter what you are wearing, that is a freedom that we have.
Hi again,
Regarding the sisters who do not wear habits, I did not mean to say they were obsessed with fashion. I understand that nuns try to dress simple and basic if they are not wearing a habit - it is not like I would expect to find them shopping for Gucci and primping like they were headed for the red carpet.
It is just that even when you dress simple, isn’t there still an element that is a little more concerned about how one looks then when one is covered? That is what I was trying to get at.
What I mean is this: I can sometimes dress really simply. My one friend has said she thinks I dress like a nun sometimes. But even when I dress very simple in a black skirt, a white top, black shoes, and pull back my hair, I still am aware of my appearance. I have to tuck my hair here and there, make sure my shoes are in line with the outfit, check myself in the mirror to make sure all is ok, etc. Not that I am saying any of this is a sin or something wrong in itself - but there is that element of still being in the world to it all.
Then I have to go shopping to find different skirts when some get old, find new tops, try things on, try to figure out if I like it or not, go to this store and that store, etc.
Sometimes I wish I could just cover my hair with a veil and wear a habit so that I would not have to worry about anything as little as possible. No concern over my hair, if I like the outfit I have on, etc. And never have to worry about going shopping for a new outfit because when my habit wears out, I just sew a new one
To me, it just seems soooo much simpler. Yes, nuns who dress simply are much simpler than many of us, but I just think the habit makes it the MOST simple.
The thing about Mother Teresa though is that she made that sari her habit. She chose a simple fabric, and created a habit which she and everyone else wear. She continued to wear the same design the rest of her life.
Thats the difference - in her order, like most I think, they only have two habits. That is it. One to wear while they wash the other. My one friend, when she became cloistered, took one pair of shoes, some underwear, and a very minimal list of items.
A nun in street clothes, however simple she may be, probably has more than two outfits. Probably a little closet of clothes and shoes. To me, the nun with just two habits and one pair of shoes is living much more simply and poorer than the one with a tiny closet of street clothes and probably more than one pair of shoes (which also may cost more money to have than two habits probably, but I cannot say for sure on that. But I would think it would.)
I just personally like and appreciate that level of simplicity. To me, that is really and truly “leaving the world” while living in it so to speak, and I have such an admiration for it. To have a tiny closet of clothes, however simple, is still not making that dramatic leap of renuncisation towards the spirit of the world, in my mind.
I totally agree contemplative sisters can be schismatic. I do not doubt that.
It is just that you tend to find that it is the sisters without the habits that tend to generally be the ones who try to mix beliefs. If you just surf around their websites, some mix different faiths, introduce Yoga, give massages - and you tend to find that less with the fully habited sisters.
If you explore different communities, you may discover that amongst the fully-habited sisters, the Catholic doctrine is generally very observable and very clear through their use of the traditions and their thinking.
You know you are in a Catholic Church because they still have kneelers, statues, stained glass windows, etc. When you talk to them, you can question them on where they stand and you can see pretty quickly where they are at.
Once I went to a “cloistered” convent and met with the mother superior. Just in the church I started to feel skeptical - the cloister had been broken, and instead was open with no grille.
When she met me, in a very modified habit, she did not meet me in the traditional parlor but sat at a table in a room with me. She was very nice, but within 5 minutes I knew her thinking was very liberal as she started saying “all these things are not important. You do not need this or that or the other, what for?” And she started criticizing the Spanish for keeping the traditions, even when I told her that I had just come back from Spain and the convent I had visited was overflowing with vocations. Hers was vocation scarce.
Like I said before, I am sure there are many good sisters who wear regular clothing. It may be easier for them to “stray” though, because in their circles there are probably more sisters with doubtful thinking. For example, I know with my friends when I was in college, if I said something heretical they would have called me on it for sure and I saw them call others on things when they leaned too far one way or the other.
Probably when one is more surrounded by those who want to mix religions under the guise of “tolerance” one can stray easier, because there is no one to call them out when they start straying because no one wants to be seen as “intolerant.”
I am not sure if this is making sense on what I am trying to say, so let me know what you think
And of course–you have the opposite accusation, that they are actually over concerned with fashion. I find pollycarp to be more right on this one, though I think she’s wrong when she says that they should try to look more attractive instead. The sister at my parish always wore a plain blouse, skirt, sweater, black shoes. She has shorter hair with very little “fuss” about it, and of course no makeup, and only religious jewelry such as the cross or miraculous medal. Its plain and maybe “frumpy” but very practical for the work that she does, which is to help run our Church and provide for our local poor and hungry. I don’t think she is ever a “slave to fashion” and I think she is reminded of her calling instead by the work she does for us, instead of what she is wearing.