The New Nuns

They are all in habits. The habit-less, defrocked orders are swiftly dying, as one article points out. (Via The Western Confucian) As previously mentioned on this blog, I spent a few years in my late twenties and early thirties discerning religious life in a cloistered Carmelite monastery. People make fun of the classic film The Bells of Saint Mary's, for the fanciful depiction of nuns in a pre-Vatican II Church, which many people claim never existed. Yes, there were all kinds of things that were not as they should have been.

The film, however, does show the very real clash of personalities that is and always has been typical of running a parish. And I have had the privilege of getting to know nuns who were quite similar to the Ingrid Bergman character, both old and young, women who were attractive, funny, bright, and strong-willed, who could have done anything in the world they wanted. They chose to become brides of Christ, to live in austere poverty, shut away from the world, mystically bearing the burdens of the Church. They stood with Mary at the foot of the Cross. They were truly brides, in love with Jesus. Anyone could learn how to be a good, loving spouse from being around those nuns. It is a blessing that there is a resurgence of young, traditional women religious. They will change the Church and the world. Share