What is it Like to be a Nun?

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7violinS

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There maybe a possibility of me choosing this way of life. I don’t know much as to what they do and would like to know the requirements and lifestyle associated with them. Do they still maintain friendships and and things like that or are they secluded and work behind the scenes? I may sound a bit silly but I really do not know what they do besides helping people. Can they marry? (I’m pretty sure this is a no but just want to clarify) Are there any other vocations for women besides being a nun?
 
This will all vary tremendously according to the kind of Order.

Chastity means that there is to be no relationship above the relationship with Jesus the Bridegroom…

Apply that to all relationships and see what you think?

Your first course of action needs to be to read about different Orders, then to visit and meet and talk with as many as you can.

something you will delight in whatever you decide then…
 
This is what I was wondering, too. I think I’m being called to be a nun, but I had a few questions.

Do all nuns have to wear a habit/wimple? I get heat-sick easily (someone suggested I go up north) and I’m afraid the wimple or headdress (or whatever it’s called) would cause feedback on my hearing aids. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind wearing some sort of nun clothing, but I also don’t want to rule out a vocation automatically just because of this concern.

Can nuns read/write books and be a librarian?

Can nuns alternate between actively helping in the community, writing/crocheting, and praying? I don’t want to join a convent that does soley one or the other, I like a little bit of variety.

Thanks!
 
Hi, as I have said in my post on postulancy, I’m discerning a vocation as a Poor Clare.

Could anyone who has discerned, been a postulant etc, please share their experiences and answer these questions on what life is like.

For example I know this sounds silly but do religious orders have communal baths/showers or do you have privacy? Is washing done communally? Are postulants given work in the convent/monastary to teach humility?

Thanks.

Sara.
 
most orders welcome young women who are discerning a vocation to join them for a week or so to experience communal life, and to get answers on these types of questions. Contact the order you are interested in and ask about such a program.
 
7violinS said:
There maybe a possibility of me choosing this way of life. I don’t know much as to what they do and would like to know the requirements and lifestyle associated with them. Do they still maintain friendships and and things like that or are they secluded and work behind the scenes? I may sound a bit silly but I really do not know what they do besides helping people. Can they marry? (I’m pretty sure this is a no but just want to clarify) Are there any other vocations for women besides being a nun?
Click to expand...
I had wanted to be a nun when I was younger but have passed the age I believe for such things. However, you can also look at being an oblate if you don’t want to make such a full commitment. Benedictines for example comes to mind. There are others here is a link to one I am considering myself. Good luck in your decision. 🙂
saint-faustina.com/Who_are_we.php
 
:highprayer: Holly Potter

No,not all nuns wear a full religious habit.In some communities the sisters wear the full habit,some a modern version and some of the sisters no religious habit at all.What I mean is in one religious order the members have a choice in what they wear.I would prefer a habit,as it would be cheaper in the long run than having to go out and buy clothes like any laywoman.

Yes sisters can read and write books and they can be librarians.If you check out the website for ebay,and type in nun books under
search,you will find books written about and by nuns.My Beloved to me,was written by Mother Catherine Thomas,O.C.D.
about being a Discaled Carmelite nun.

Yes the sisters have recreation time where they can crochet ,paint,play music,etc. as well as have work time.
My great aunt Sister Mary Generose,S.S.N.D. and some of her fellow retired sisters in Elm Grove Wisconsin made various things which they sold in a religous gift shop the sisters ran.

The Daughters of St.Paul have book stores and publish books,do art work and other things with the media.Check them out.

Sarah Jones, I can’t recall what kind of bathroom the sisters had when we visited my great aunt.It’s probably like the bathrooms in your high school gym I imagine.
Yes I’m sure the postulants and novices have chores to do as well as the other sisters.
In the old days some orders had lay sisters.These were sisters that did the house work .etc. They didnot recite the Divine Office like the choir sisters and there were other differences.Sometimes there was even a slight variation in the religious habit as well.
Go to www.newadvent.com and at the Catholic Encylopedia,search for lay sisters for more info.
 
When I went and visited the seminary, there was plenty of privacy for showers. You would have a private shower, use a robe and have a private place with a door, to change.
I am sure for women it is similar.

Not like the Navy which in my experience was pretty primitive. Of course the Navy is not about humility, virtue or privacy, but efficiency.

God Bless
Scylla

I am not sure if any of the nuns who have done away with the habit have done so with permission. I would like to see if anyone can enlighten me about this.
 
I was in the convent for 2 years and there were seperate stalls for the bathtubs. I do not remember any showers there at all. Although the one in Sudbury was a nurses residence. The one in Ottawa was the Mother House…same set-up. We were never allowed to have any communal bath doings…as one is learning chastity…and that included our own bodies…
 
HollyDolly said:
In the old days some orders had lay sisters.These were sisters that did the house work .etc. They didnot recite the Divine Office like the choir sisters and there were other differences.
Click to expand...
I don’t mean to be off-topic, but wasn’t the division between lay sister and choir nun eliminated during the Vatican II reforms? I seem to recall reading in a book that many Cistercians felt cheated of their vocation when they could no longer serve as lay brothers.

Okay, to get this back on topic…
The Carthusian order, which is probably the most austere religious order in the Church, still maintains the distinction between cloister nuns(who spend almost all of their time in their cell) and converse sisters (who maintain the monastery). But both may participate in the Divine Office.

You can read about a typical day in the life of a Carthusian nun
chartreux.org/en/nuns/day.html

chartreux.org/index.php

But I am sure that the live of nuns in other orders are different! :yup:
 
i studied in a cattholic school where nuns run the school. they wear religious habits (which i liked most)… when i went to the university, i met many nuns of different orders. while some are fully covered excpet their face, some show part of their hair, some don’t wear stockings, some wear sandals, some wear shoes, some even wear ordinary clothes (they told me it’s easier or more comfortable for people to interact with them if nuns look like ordinary but decent individuals), some go out while some don’t - they just stay in a convent for the rest of their lives praying; people could see only their pinky finger and nothing else… (i’m not sure if it’s true though)

it’s interesting to read about the mission-vision and activities of the different orders… they have their own purpose and reason in doing so, just like the way you want to live your life - like working with people, teaching, giving healthcare, writing/researching, just praying, etc. if you have finished your degree before entering, they might give you the chance to practice you skills and abilities… nuns form orders who have schools can do a lot of things… they can even travel…
 
I entered a Benedictine monastery when I was 19. My friends all asked me what it would be like. I always answered, “I have no idea what it’s actually going to be like, I just know it’s where God wants me.” And He did want me there, but only for a couple years. Then He made it clear to my heart that it was time to leave.

The bathrooms – this is an important question by the way, were all over the building. Some were like public bathrooms with separate stalls. Some were private, just one toilet in the room, and the door locked. We had both showers and bathtubs. They were all completely private, as chastity is part of the rule.

We looked like nuns in “The Sound of Music.” That was our tradition and our choice.

Everyday life was joyful and rich. That community is a contemplative order which means praying some six hours a day. The rest of the day is filled with work for the community. That could be preparing meals, doing laundry, painting religious artwork, embroidery (that was my thing), doing stained glass, running the gift shop, making communion hosts, tending the farm animals, and on and on and on. In truth, I did just about everything during the time I was there.

As for humiliation, well, adjusting to religious life was difficult enough. We didn’t need any additional tasks to humiliate us. We postulants did it all ourselves. I remember standing in line to process into the chapel for Vespers, when the oldest nun in the community came up to me and starting tugging on my skirt. In my haste, I had accidentally tucked the hem of my skirt into my tights. Not the best look for a chaste nun on her way to chapel.

There is such a huge variety in the ways of life and the ministries of each community. When I was searching, I visited with many communities, went on retreats, talked with my school chaplain (though not a Catholic college, there was a priest on campus), and prayed, prayed, prayed. When I find the right community, I just knew that I knew that I knew that this was the one for me.

You’ll know. Give your heart completely to your vocation, whatever it is, as this is God’s plan for your eternal happiness.

Gertie
 
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