Nun 101: Nuns vs. Sisters

+LDM

When I first started discerning religious life, I had SO many questions. There were so many things that I had never heard about, never considered, and tons of things I didn't understand. So, I'm hoping maybe someone will read this and be helped. If nothing else, I can remember the beautiful things I've learned.

First Lesson: Nuns vs. Sisters

These are nuns.

These are sisters.

As you can see, it's not easy for most people to tell the difference by simply by looking at a picture. If you can tell the difference, you deserve a gold star. You may all now be thinking about all of habited women you know--are they nuns or sisters?

Let look at it...
1. Nuns are women consecrated to the Lord that serve in a spiritual apostolate.  They take solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. For example, the nuns above are from the Handmaids of the Precious Blood. They offer their prayers, works and sacrifices for the sanctification of priests. They spend the majority of their day in prayer, and stay within the convent.

2. Sisters are women consecrated to the Lord that serve in a physical apostolate. They take simple vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. For example, the sisters above are from the Sisters of Life. They work with expectant mothers in crisis, pray at places like Planned Parenthood, and work in the Office of Life in the Archdiocese of New York. They spend a great deal of the day in prayer, but also leave the convent to do their work.

Both vocations are wonderful (one isn't better than the other!). All women religious, whether nuns or sisters, are called "Sister" when speaking to them. They are both Brides of Christ, and belong to the Lord, it is just a difference of how they serve Him. As a sister once put it to me, "as a Bride of Christ, you are consecrated to Him, and through that every act becomes an act of love to God--whether it is sweeping the floor, or in Eucharistic Adoration. It is all for Jesus."

A lot of people use nun/sister interchangeably, and that is okay. Even traddys need not worry about this one. There is a difference, and it can be helpful for those discerning to know. But everyday people will most likely use the term "nun" for both.

Get out there and be traddy!

PS...fun fact. The "Nuns on the bus" campaign should have been called "Sisters on the bus". There weren't any nuns on the bus. Some may question if there were any sisters, but that is a question for another day.

Imagine Sisters Movement

+AMDG

Something I really enjoy is seeing pictures of sisters "in their element". Meaning, praying, serving people, playing football in habits, hanging out, etc. It really fosters the realization that sisters are REAL PEOPLE.

The first time I ever felt the call to discern religious life was when I was on a Mission Trip in North Dakota and by a huge stroke of grace I wound up by myself in a convent for a night. I got there incredibly late, and the sisters had already gone to bed, so I assumed I probably wouldn't meet them. In the morning we found out that the sister's school had cancelled class due to snow. I walked out of the bathroom to find two very young sisters running around the convent screaming there was a snow day. They began to make a big omelet breakfast and were talking about playing cards. Suddenly, it hit me. Sisters are real people. I am a real person. And I think the Lord might call me to be this type of real person.

Naturally I freaked out at first, but thanks to a very holy priest, I started to discern religious life. Three years later, I'm still not exactly sure where the Lord is leading me, but I can look to that moment as the beginning of being open to thinking about religious life.

Now, why am I blabbering on and on about this? Because Imagine Sisters is a really neat organization that helps women become more open to discerning religious life. They have a bunch of really neat pictures on their Facebook page of authentic, beautiful sisters just being. They are also making a movie (a la Fishers of Men) about religious life that promises to be beautiful, along with other great resources. In other words, worth your time.

They have a website, Facebook page, and a blog. Lots of good stuff!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ImagineSisters?ref=ts
Website: http://ImagineSisters.org/
Blog: http://imaginesisters.org/blog/

And...here's a nice little video talking about vocations and Imagine Sisters.

Now, get out there and be traddy!

Traddy Tuesday: Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles

Another beautiful day in Minnesota, another beautiful order to look at!

Today's community is the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles.

These sisters are absolutely beautiful!  I haven't met any of them, but I think you can tell just by reading their website and looking at their pictures.

They are a Cloistered community with constitutional enclosure--this means that they are able to leave the cloister to run important errands as well as attend special Masses and ordinations.  Other than that, cloistered means that they remain in within the walls of the cloister.  Yes, they can still go outside, as the cloister is usually a gate around hermitages or the convent.

This community is a fairly new one--started in 1995 with the FSSP, and transferring to the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in 2006.  I'm not sure exactly how many sisters are in their community, but it doesn't look very large.

One of their apostolates is vestment making. They sew vestments for priests. Awesome. A priest that celebrates the TLM in my area said he buys all of his vestments from these sisters and they are amazing.  I got a close-up look at some of them and they are beautiful. From their schedule, it appears they do a lot of manual labor and prayer as well--both good things!

One of my favorite lines on their website is "We do not go on 'home visits' as the convent is our home, but families are allowed to visit ..." A tough reality, but it is so true.

Their website has a lot of information and is really beautiful.  I recommend taking a look at it! And...if you have a soon-to-be-ordained priest who needs a gift, look at their shop!  They use really quality materials, so it's on the spendy side, but it's for Mass, it should be nice!

Check out this picture. Nice!

Traddy Tuesday

+LDM

Happy Tuesday! We are almost to Lent!  Awesome.
Today seems like a good day to start something.  Like posting traddy religious communities.  As someone discerning the religious life (and a hardcore traddy), I thought it was SO hard to find good solid communities. It turns out once you get into the circle a little bit, you find a ton.  So, I want to share them.

The first community I want to share is the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus.
These women are SO beautiful.

The Handmaids are a baby community in the Diocese of New Ulm.  Can I get an Amen for awesome religious communities in Minnesota? They were formed in the heart of Mother Mary Clare in response to Bl John Paul II's call for the new evangelization.  Their apostolate consists of serving and praying for priests in whatever way they can.  Some of the sisters teach CCD, help out in the Catholic school, sing in the church choir, and do sacristan work.  Hold on, I just want to mention these women can SING!  They sing the most beautiful Litany to the Sacred Heart of Jesus I've ever heard in my entire life.  Anyway, their life is centered around the Eucharist. They pray two holy hours a day (on the wooden floor, no kneelers!) and have a prayer day once a week.  My friend from a different community fondly calls the Handmaids the "Oreo sisters" because they wear a black habit with white scapular and white veil.  Mother Mary Clare said that their habits are a reflection of the priesthood.  No, they don't want to be priests. At all.  But, they desire to serve the priesthood, and their habits reflect that.

So, why do I love these sisters?
-They are absolutely faithful to Holy Mother Church.
-They love the Eucharist.
-They love Mary.
-They have a hardcore prayer life. Hardcore.
-They are so incredibly joyful. Not just happy, but joyful.
-They're a smaller community (8 Sisters + 1 Postulant)
-They have a great love for tradition.  They don't attend the TLM, but they are incredibly focused on bringing out and educating the truth of Vatican II, not the fluffy junk.

These sisters have had an incredible year!  In August they moved into a new convent right in New Ulm next to the Cathedral.  Bishop Levoir gave them his middle school.  Oh yeah, something I forgot to say...the Handmaids live off Divine Providence. Awesome.  They turned an old school into a beautiful convent for practically nothing, the Lord provided tons of super generous people.  It's still a work in progress, but it is gorgeous.

So, I'm sure all of the women want to join now. Haha.  Okay, maybe some of the women want to visit them and check them out.  You want the website. Well, they don't have one.  Ha!  I think that makes them even traddier! But....they do e-mail people. And...it just so happens they have a Come and See in the near future.

Wow. Isn't that nice?
I'm not sure you can read that.
Don't worry, I'll tell you.

March 23-25, 2012
3:30 pm Friday to 1:00 pm Sunday
Young women 18-30

Dying to go?
Email Sr. Regina Marie, ACJ at handmaids1@gmail.com
You won't regret going.
If nothing else they are just a super beautiful community.

Oh yeah, my bragging right to the Handmaids.  My best friend is their postulant!

So...get out there are be Traddy!  Have a great week!


Update:
The Handmaids now have a website!  If the front page picture doesn't depict religious life, I'm not sure what does.  Check it out here