Should religious wear the traditional habit?

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I voted yes. I believe those called to live a consecrated life should show they have given up worldly pleasures for the sake of the heavenly kingdom. Wearing habits, at times, is also a source of humility. A priest at my parish used to aways wear his habit in public. Shortly after the sex abuse scandal he stopped wearing his habit in public. I didn’t speak to him personally but I heard he stopped wearing it because he didn’t want to be ‘humiliated’ or ‘verbally attacked’ in public.
 
First of all I think it’s only fair to inform you about your options. There are two organizations in the USA for women’s communities (something that’s unique to this country). If you are in another country then I’m sorry, but I only know about how it works in the USA.

CMSWR: cmswr.org/

LCWR: lcwr.org/

Vocation organizations: relforcon.org/7_related.htm

When I first began my discernment process, I thought the same that you did – people should be able to choose to wear the habit, but I didn’t want to wear it. I think in part it was due to not wanting my faith to be so blatantly obvious (I don’t like to stand out in the crowd), in part not knowing the history behind the reason for wearing the habit, and in part because I had never seen a nun/sister wearing one (as far as I can remember), except on TV or movies. I did not want to be the only one in my community to wear a habit, especially due to the communal nature of the garment in the first place. I didn’t realize how many vibrant and growing communities wear the religious habit.

A friend informed me about the two organizations, so I did some searching on the Internet to find out more about them. Here are the relevant links that returned from a Google search on [CMSWR LCWR]:
Code: 
 [vci.net/~inmanmj/catholic/lcwr01.htm](http://www.vci.net/%7Einmanmj/catholic/lcwr01.htm)
catholicworldnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=6382

freerepublic.info/focus/f-religion/1196899/posts

lifesite.net/ldn/2004/aug/04082306.html

splendoroftruth.com/curtjester/archives/005352.php

After reading articles like these, the fruits of the LCWR don’t look too good. Their organization is involved in political lobbying (which in itself is not wrong), but some of their communities support causes such as abortion and homosexual activity. These are obviously heterodox teachings. I would urge strong caution when considering any communities that belong to their organization, since I would guess that the LCWR would have some type of jurisdiction over their communities, not to mention what member dues might be involved (I don’t know, just guessing).

The majority of US female religious communities (in my understanding) belong to one of these two groups. The CMSWR requires that all member communities have all of their sisters wearing some type of religious habit, so by simple deduction, those who do not wear the habit do not belong to the CMSWR. Some smaller communities that are not well established yet (or for some other reason) may not belong to either organization. For example, there are a number of communities listed at the Institute of Religious Life (religiouslife.com) that are not part of CMSWR even though they wear the habit and are orthodox in their faith and life.
CONTINUED….
 
Now for the history of the religious habit… (mostly based on what I learned from the book I cite at the end)

Ever since New Testament times (and perhaps even before then), people who consecrated their lives to God wore a different type of outfit. Take John the Baptist, the first monk. He wore clothes made of camel’s hair, something that received special mention in the Bible. I also heard about a mention of special clothes for a group of women, but I couldn’t find that reference. I will let you know if I find it. Even in the first centuries and all throughout, religious took on special clothing that somehow set them apart.

Around the Protestant Reformation (and later the French Revolution) was the time when numerous religious orders stopped wearing the habit, mostly since they were forced to wear other clothing, many of their convents or monasteries were destroyed, and they faced terrible persecution. Some continued to wear the habit beneath their clothes.

After these events, new orders arose that took on the clothes of widows of the day or that of the poor, so that they could be free to minister to the poor, sick, or needy without open persecution. However, they still typically had some type of consistency in appearance so that it was like a uniform for the group.

Some cloistered communities continued wearing the habit, despite pressure, and some nuns even suffered death by guillotine rather than give up wearing their habit. Why? To them, giving up the habit was equivalent to giving up their vows.

There is also an amazing trait of the religious habit that is like nothing else. It is something of a fascination and a reminder of the Catholic faith – a living sermon. St. Francis of Assissi “preached” the gospel simply by walking through town with his community, all wearing their religious habits.

Anyway, there is a great book you can read that chronicles the history of the religious habit. I challenge anyone who does not think nuns should wear the religious habit: read this book and see if you still have that opinion!
Code: 
 Elizabeth Kuhns, [ The Habit: A History of the Clothing of Catholic Nuns](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385505892/qid=1114321230/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/102-1011481-4576943?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

    You can listen to a great interview of the book's author on EWTN’s “The World Over”. Go to [ this site](http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/seriessearchprog.asp?pgnu=2&SeriesID=-6892288) and find the one from 4/30/2004.
May God bless you in your discernment.
Lily628
 
what kind of poll is this?? yes or no? how about some intermediate choices? it’s like the media. you can’t submit the plll untill you answer all the questions. bleah!!!
 
Lily,

I came across the book, Elizabeth Kuhns, The Habit: A History of the Clothing of Catholic Nuns, this Friday (04/22/05) and its very cool. I was happy to come across a book which gives the historical background of the habit; I had been in search of a book like this one for a couple of weeks now. I also find it cool that you recommended this book yesterday in your post. Thanks also for the post which puts clarification on my faux pas in using the words conservative & progressive. More study needs to be done on my part - thanks for the help in the distinguishment between orthodox and heterodox too. I will also take advantage of the links you provided in your previous posts to aid in my study.

God Bless,
Melanie
 
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melaniem75:
Lily, I came across the book, Elizabeth Kuhns, The Habit: A History of the Clothing of Catholic Nuns, this Friday (04/22/05) and its very cool. I was happy to come across a book which gives the historical background of the habit; I had been in search of a book like this one for a couple of weeks now. I also find it cool that you recommended this book yesterday in your post.
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Wow, that’s a great God-incident! 😃
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melaniem75:
Thanks also for the post which puts clarification on my faux pas in using the words conservative & progressive. More study needs to be done on my part - thanks for the help in the distinguishment between orthodox and heterodox too.
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Don’t worry about it :). I only recently learned the distinctions myself, and have made the same mistake many times.
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melaniem75:
I will also take advantage of the links you provided in your previous posts to aid in my study.

God Bless,
Melanie
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I am so glad if even you benefit in some small way. May God bless you and guide your discernment!
Lily628
 
**Wonderful ,bringing this out to dicsuss and vote on, I do hope those called to religious life read these post.Mother Angelica made the decision yrs. ago to have her order return to the original habits, the result was awesome for the growth of the order, they are over flowing. I see the wearing of the habits as an outward sign of an inner committment, being seperated from the world, this I beleive it inspires the religious to a deeper call in Jesus Christ ,to strive for Holiness ,that is prime purpose ,deeper holiness makes for greater use by Our Lord as instruments of prayer and a non verbal evangelization .When I was young to see a Nun ,was to see a represenative of Heaven ,also an instant reminder to me ,this world was temporary. As a member of the body of Christ ,I want to tell my sisters ,those who are out having protest to have more “power” in the Church ,and that woman should be “priest” , I say shame on you , My hero as a NUN is St. Theresa of Avila, and I am sure that is what she would tell you. Woman,have greater roll then you realize in the body of Christ in the world, Mary our Mother ,for example bore our Lord, woman only can have children and to bring more Priest into the world, she walked with Him at calvery ,supporting Him, seeing her gave Him strength to perservere. Jesus did not wash the feet of woman, so there is the answer to that. If your in an order , your job is to give strength to the Priest , and prayer for their Holiness , for without prayer we are without weapons to fight Evil. One more statement I have on this , reform is a step forward in Holiness for an order, reform is not becomming more like the world,modern , womans lib etc. If the orders do not Reform , move ahead in holiness , you will see even less truely called by God to those orders and you will get what your sowing, the wrong kind ,those who’s ears are hearing the whispers of the evil one, to be more powerful in the world, God’s whispers are to be Holy, little , and less esteemed by the worldly. My heart aches for the loss of reverence and prayfulness from the represenitives of Jesus and Mary in the world. I am a woman ,and to old to do much,except tell you what I see. I use the name ElijahsSpirit ,one cause my Heart is only for God , and my mouth is in this world and I have no problem using it for God’s honor in this world. Truth is sometimes hard to bare,but it will set you Free ,Please Religious of God , be our Light to Holiness ,our guide to Living in Spirit and our example of what this life is ,a prepration for eternal life, get on the narrow path ,so others can find it ,and find their way HOME. In Christ Jesus , Ellen **
 
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Shinobu:
I saw an interview on EWTN with a young woman who wrote a book about Nuns. When she was asked why many younger woman are choosing religious communities who still wear the habit she said that she believed it was because many young people want and desire a return to the traditional way. I would have to say that I feel that way exactly.
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As a young women waiting to enter the religious life, I agree compleatly! The order I feel called to wears the habit- the real traditional ones…and that is something that is very important to me…

I can’t wait!

Jade
 
I say YES:thumbsup: , I find SISTERS all the time that I did not know were in a religious order because of the secular clothes that they wear.
their particular HABIT, is the same as a uniform for them as it is for the police, military, etc… , it demands the proper respect due for their office as well as makes them identifiable & accountable:cool:
(priests included)
 
I know three girls who went to the Catholic college I attended for a year and two (if not all) of them are joining an order with the habit. The college is Benedictine College benedictine.edu and it’s next to a Benedictine abbey; there’s a monastery across town. The monks wear robes and they currently have at least six novices. I’m afraid that the nuns will die out before they figure out that women want the habit. I used to think “if I were a nun I would be sweating all day so I’d want to wear normal clothes” but at BC, there were two orders of nuns who had students there while I was there. Both orders wear the habit. They were fun to talk to and they helped me realize that nuns are real people (I had almost no experiences of being around nuns before college) and they can live just fine with the habit. I would love to have a rosary hanging from me so I could pray it whenever I have time during the day. I love seeing nuns in habits, especially at church . . . they are a living witness of the faith! If I were in trouble and I needed someone religious to talk to (and I didn’t need Confession), I would much rather go to a sister in a habit than try to figure out who is a nun because they don’t wear habits. That’s my two cents.

my Mother my Confidence,
Corinne
cora.dashjr.org/sell.html

P.S. The calendar “Nuns Having Fun” is great!
 
http://www.fssp.org/objet/Wigratz05.jpg
My parish is served by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP). FSSP priests and seminarians wear a complete cassock at all times. I’ve even seen pictures of camp outs and hiking trips with the priests in cassocks. And when I still worked at our local mall, there was one of my priests, walking into one of the stores wearing his cassock. (In fact, we was picking up some black socks from that store 🙂 ) I feel that it sets them appart in a way that shows you that this person has dedicated himself to our Lord. And like others have said, they are instantly recognizable in times of need (and all of our priests in my parish are always willing to set aside what they are doing if someone is in need.) I feel the same way about all of the religious orders (male and female) that still wear traditional habits.
 
It is said that religious should wear a habit in order to be a sign of contradiction to the world, that they are in the world but not of it, they they are wholly devoted to Jesus. If those are the reasons why they should wear a habit, then all Christians should wear a habit, for we are all called to be in the world but not of it. We are all called to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. Whatever our vocation in life, we are all supposed to be wholly devoted to Jesus – “Love the Lord your God will all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” I see the habit’s purpose not so much as to be a benefit for the world which sees it but for the one who wears it. To them it serves as a sign, a reminder that they have devoted their life to God in a unique way, that they have renounced the holding of material possessions in this life, just as I would imagine a wedding ring and children serve as a reminder to those who are married of their vocation of laying down their life for their spouse.
 
My aunt Lucile Forrest was a nun (Sister Margaret she was called), with traditional habbits. She, when asked about it would be as proud as a Marine in full uniform. She was proud of her love and union with Christ. She wore it for so many years, untill she was very old. Then they took the habbit away. She became quite introverted my father told us, so sad without her habbit. She felt vulnerable, naked in a sense. She felt the world was kind of ashamed and wanted them to join in on the everyday life and not be noticed. How dredful to do this she would say. She would say that she felt like she had her uniform stripped from her…like having an honourable discharge. With in a year or two of this, she weakened and passed away, letting all know, she was going to get her habbit back, even if she had to climb the stairs to heaven and go through the pearly gates, but she was sure she’d get it back.

Her sorrow is felt by my family over the loss of the habbit, and i still, after all these years, wish it to be brought back!!!
 
Yes, they should. I’m all for traditionalism as long as it’s in line with Vatican II.
 
“I say: rejoice to be witnesses to Christ in the modern world. Do not hesitate to be recognizable, identifiable in the streets as men and women who have consecrated their lives to God and who have given up everything worldly to follow Christ. Believe that contemporary men and women set value on the visible signs of the consecration of your lives. People need signs and reminders of God in the modern secular city, which has few reminders of God left. So do not help the trend towards ‘taking God off the streets’ by adapting secular modes of dress and behavior yourselves!” Pope John Paul II
 
I know they must be uncomfortable but I love to see nuns in the old habits. It takes me back to my childhood more than half a century ago. Nuns were very respected in their habits. They looked like Mary and that commanded respect before they even spoke a word. It was a silent witness to their faith. Everyone treated them with respect, even non-catholics. If you would like a comparison, look at a photo of Mother Angelica in the more modern dress that she wore for a while and compare it to the Old habit that she went back to. Big difference. These days you could pass a nun on the street and never even know it.
 
All have you have stated very eloquently why the religious should wear their habits, so I really won’t add too much more. But isn’t it funny that the need to be distinquishable from others as a way of transmitting a way of life or one’s station in life is so profound in humans? Haven’t you noticed that even the Crips and the Bloods “wear their colors” with pride I might add, a misguided pride notwithstanding, but a pride nonetheless. And what’s even more telling is that they’re willing to fight for their colors if someone “disses” the red or the blue, whatever the case may be. Furthermore, they’ll even go so far as to take an oath to die for those colors. Imagine that, the gangmembers care so much about their outward identity and the colors which they choose to represent themselves to the world that they’ll die for them. What is it about distinguishing ourselves in that manner creates in us a desire to be a martyr for our cause? Now think of today’s habitless nuns. Could it be that their just blending in with the rest of us is the cause for their seemingly lack of zeal, their seemingl lack of fire, their seeminly unwillingness to defend the faith? These habitless nuns don’t seem to have the passion for their colors the way that gang members have for theirs. Is their a connection between taking a stand outwardly with one’s dress and the manner in which one defends the faith? Do we see any habitless nuns being martyrs? Dying for their colors? Or are they just lukewarm in their lay clothes, content to just have Jesus in their hearts?
 
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