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victrolatim
Guest
I have recently begun attending Mass at the local Carmelite convent. What is the difference between the nuns in brown with the black veil and those in white with the white veil?
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dans0622
Guest
Hello,I have recently begun attending Mass at the local Carmelite convent. What is the difference between the nuns in brown with the black veil and those in white with the white veil?
The white veil is for novices and temporarily professed sisters. The black veil is for those who have made solemn profession. As for “those in white”…I don’t know what that would be since no discalced Carmelite wears an all white habit. Maybe you are seeing the mantle (the outer sheet-like part of the habit that goes over the shoulders like a cape) but that is the same for everyone, whether they wear a black or white veil…
In other words, the only difference I know of between the habits of the nuns is that novices/temporarily professed sisters wear a white veil while the solemnly professed have a black one.
Dan
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victrolatim
Guest
Does the superior wear anything different than the other sisters?
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dans0622
Guest
No.Does the superior wear anything different than the other sisters?
Dan
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victrolatim
Guest
The reason I ask is that whenever I go, the same nun is always greeting people at the door to the chapel and sitting in the front pew during Mass (sometimes there is one other but the rest are out of view). I wasn’t sure if she was the superior or not and I didn’t want to be disrespectful by addressing her as “sister” if she was.
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Lormar
Guest
She’s probably an Extern Sister and not one of the cloistered nuns. Extern Sisters take care of the outside functions of the monastery and aren’t bound by the enclosure.The reason I ask is that whenever I go, the same nun is always greeting people at the door to the chapel and sitting in the front pew during Mass (sometimes there is one other but the rest are out of view). I wasn’t sure if she was the superior or not and I didn’t want to be disrespectful by addressing her as “sister” if she was.
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Mary_Estelle
Guest
The Sister in white could have been a nursing(nurse)sister and that was her “uniform of the day.”
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Lormar
Guest
Discalced Carmelite Nuns are not nursing nuns. They are cloistered contemplative nuns. They used to have “Lay Sisters” who did the menial work in the monastery. They wore white veils, but the order dispensed with them after VII.The Sister in white could have been a nursing(nurse)sister and that was her “uniform of the day.”
If a Carmelite Nun has a white veil on, that means she is a novice.
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dans0622
Guest
Hello,She’s probably an Extern Sister and not one of the cloistered nuns. Extern Sisters take care of the outside functions of the monastery and aren’t bound by the enclosure.
You are correct. It sounds like an extern sister. I had a thought about externs but didn’t know about their habits…I have only met extern sisters on one occasion and I thought they had a standard habit. But, I could be mistaken. It was years ago.
Dan
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