Habits Revisted

I absolutely agree with you sister. There are other ways to witness the consecrated life through the diverse gifts the Lord has given us (as you mentioned above) and to each community. That is one of the beauties of our universal Church.

My main concern about habits/cassocks etc. is when they are abandoned in order to “fit” into mainstream society or to makes others more comfortable. Or when people attached an idealogy behind those who chooose to wear them. As a seminarian coming of age without any knowledge of the idealogical battles that took place in the 60’s and 70’s in regards to religious garb, I simply want to be a witness to Christ. For me, wearing a cassock or clerics wherever I go is a part of that witness.

Ive heard and been a part of many stories of inspiration and encouragment in the faith because someone was wearing an identifiable clothing as a consecrated soul. Like an athiest convert who saw a Dominican sister in full habit, sitting peacefully on a bus. They didnt say a word to one another, but something about the sister attracted this young women and the image of her was burned in her memory. And as searched for Truth in her life, that memory lead her to the fullness of the Catholic faith.

Or picture this: A Franciscan Friar walks through a busy shopping mall and the people stop and stare at this strange, medieval scene. Without saying a word, people suddenly find themselves thinking of God and of the transcendent. For a split second, there minds thought of something greater then the %50 off at Macy’s.

Yes, the Christian drama is much more than simply wearing a habit or a cassock, but the grace that can work through it must be uniquely recognized. In our age where society wants all traces of God thrown out of the public square, a graceful sister sitting on a bus with her veil flowing in the wind, is a beautiful intrusion of light in our ever darkening world.

I get the same respect for the students in ordinary clothes as I did in a habit. When I go to a mall or out to a restaurant I don’t want people looking at me to see what I buy or eat. Can you imagine a nun in a full habit and veil sitting in a restaurant drinking a glass of wine! What would people think? Every sister wears a community ring and either a pin of cross of her community. I want people to hold the door for me because I am a person not because I am a nun in a full habit!

Sister Brigid,

I have no doubt you get the same respect from the students in habit or out-of-habit. But just coming from my experience wearing my cassock at youth and and young adult conferences, the response is OVERWHELMEING positive. When other catholic youth see other young people in habits or cassocks, it inspires them in their own faith and helps distingiush Catholics from other protestant denominations.

One of the dangers we face as a Church today, is our lost of identity. Ask your average catholic what sets them apart from other Christians, and I guarantee, most of them couldnt tell you.

Now dont get me wrong, im not assuming by donning on a habit is going to cure the Church’s ills, but something has to be said of the impact this public witness has on others, especially this culture we live in that is hyper sensitive to external appearances.

Maybe it’s an age thing, but when I was half the age I am now, I thought following things to the absolute letter was how one best lived one’s witness. (This was when I was first looking into becoming a Benedictine Oblate and professed Benedictine/Trappist life.) For instance, I was a strict vegetarian, because the Rule of St. Benedict said so. Older Benedictines gently cautioned me that holding a 1500-year-old document literally wasn’t always the best way of going about things. And I made a lot of people around me miserable for having a cheeseburger.

But as I got older, my vocation as an oblate changed…it’s something I’m less able to articulate, but it’s more a part of me. It’s not in the externals, but how my life is shaped to God’s Word and love. Like the Rule says, “Your way of acting must be different from the world’s way; the love of Christ must come before all else.”

I am delighted to have just discovered your blog! Having only recently started reading some blogs I was rather perturbed that most of the Catholic blogs I’d come accross were so super-conservative. Its good to know there’s something else.

For what its worth, here are some reflections on the habit issue from someone who wears a (relatively traditional) habit:

- There are very diverse expressions of different forms of religious life that have arisen in different historical contexts. To force all of them into a one-size-fits-all identity that makes up “a nun” is to greatly impoverish the richness of the Church’s tradition. Habits are traditional monastic attire but when Ignatius founded the Jesuits he explicitly departed from this (as well as other) monastic (and also mendicant) traditions. However, when women tried to do the same thing they were not allowed to but were forced into the one-size-fits-all model of “nun”. This is perhaps most starkly seen in the struggles around enclosure, which prevented new congregations of apostolic sisters from responding to their callings. (Interestingly enough, it also limited the ability of monastic women - Benedictines and Cistercians - to be true to their calling by identifying them with a sort of enclosure that is more appropriate for second order mendicants, but thats another story!)

- As a monastic I value the habit because it is part of our tradition and because I find symbols, bodiliness and the material world important in expressing our identity. However the real sign of monastic consecration is not the habit but the cowl, something that is not worn all the time but only in church or for formal occasions. I do get concerned when people are so identified with the habit that they cannot bear to be seen in anything else - I am the same person (with the same commitments) irrespective of what I am wearing! (In our community we do wear other clothes for work etc).

- While I am fully in favour of retaining the habit, I do have a problem with the veil with its suggestions of both the subordination of women to male authority and the bridal imagery that it conveys. I long for a habit that would truly express my baptismal-monastic identity without making me feel that I am somehow co-operating in something I don’t believe in! And I find it ironic in this regard that in some congregations of sisters the habit has been disgarded while the veil has been retained - I would have done it the other way around.

- Before entering, and when discerning etc, I also found it a pity that while male religious (generally, in my context) wore a habit they were not so totally identified with it that they wore it all the time, whereas for women religious it was generally an either-or option; they had either totally discarded the habit or else were totally identified with it to the extent that one could not imagine what they would look like without it. While I appreciate the habit, my religious and monastic identity must build on my human identity - I need to be seen as a human being (and a woman at that) before being seen as a monastic. (Again, I think that the veil plays a role here as our faces do tend to look very different with or without it).

- When I go out (which I don’t do very often) I sometimes wear my habit and sometimes don’t, depending on the situation and the practicality as this is something that our community leaves to the individual’s choice. I am not particularly convinced by the witness argument in respect to the habit: I don’t think that drawing attention to myself by wearing medieval dress is especially evangelical. But at the same time I also find it healthy to see a certain plurality in dress: I am pleased see people in traditional Islamic dress on the street because at least that ensures that not everyone is reduced to a neo-liberal,western consumerist “sameness”. Perhaps wearing the habit would have the same effect? But I think it depends on what message it conveys and that depends inevitably on the context and is not always clear for me. Is it really a witness or is it a counter-witness? I’m inclined to think that I would more readily wear it in public if I could wear it without the veil because I would then be less hesitant about the message it was conveying… but, that might be an illusion!

Just some thoughts, sorry for rambling on for so long, but its good to reflect on these issues!

Peace,
Macrina

Sister, religious women got the veil from married women!!! When nuns began to form active orders, they needed something to show that they were not available for marriage. One way to do that was to weae the garb of a widow, which many did. Another way, however was to take their ‘bride of Christ’ status in the most literal way possible, by wearing the garb of a married women, which included at te time a veil and wimple.

I definatly want to wear a veil, I have enough bad hairs days as it is, when I am a nun I dont want to have to worry that it is scaring people, becuase no one will see it!

One point that I found incorrect in the Time’s article was “Decreed unnecessary by Vatican II” Nope, wrong, never. Vatican II
encouraged modification of clothing for health’s sake and unity of heart. WHATEVER.

The world needs some kind of witness from everyone who has consecrated themselves to Christ. No matter what their state in life.
To that end I (a married woman) have bought 4 of the same exact outfit. I have always dressed simply. I have “junkers” to wear in the house.
When I go out I change. I also wear a 3 inch crucifix.

Alot of people stop and ask me for prayer, or just to talk. We are called to witness where we are, with the gifts that God has given us.

This “debate” will be eternal (literally). What I like about this blog is that there is no animosity. I wear what I wear because I sincerely believe that is what God asks of me. Let each do the same.

Greetings,

Regarding Sister Brigid’s post of 12/22: you would not wear a full habit to a restaurant for fear of what people would think if they saw you drinking a glass of wine? Hmmm. If this is “inappropriate” behavior for a nun in a habit, then is it not still inappropriate behavior for a nun NOT wearing one?

The habit is an outward expression of an inner reality, and it’s this inner reality or condition which dictates behavior. A habit, though not a requirement for holiness, can remind the wearer of “what’s inside”. If one IS a nun with or without the traditional habit (and I agree with this), then behavior appropriate for nuns would be the same in either case, would it not? As an example, should a nun go dancing in secular garb with a male friend because it would be inappropriate to do so in a habit? Or should a nun go dancing with a male friend at all?

I believe that your drinking wine in a restaurant while wearing a habit would not have been a source of scandal for most. I have seen nuns, priests and monks dance at folk gatherings in Europe. I have seen sisters sitting at sidewalk cafes sipping wine. All of them wore habits and no one was shocked at the sight. They were being human and taking simple delight in simple pleasures. I’ve seen habited nuns and friars bowling and enjoying rides at amusement parks! No one found these activities, while habited, to be inappropriate. Saints deserve some of the pleasant things in life as much as (if not more) than sinners do, do they not?

I once saw a group of Russian Orthodox folks at a restaurant with their priest, celebrating his brithday. He was dressed in a full black robe or cassock, head covered, crucifix on his chest. They began their meal by making the sign of the cross in unison, then by softly singing a short hymn and “happy birthday” in Russian. This was a middle class establishment, not a posh eatery. Other diners were visibly moved, curious, etc. And Father in his traditional dress did not seem out of place among them.

I would be more “shocked” to know that priests and nuns exchanged their habits for secular garb in order to go out for a totally secular night on the town, and I’ve seen this done. Friars putting on jackets and ties to go to NYC for a night at Bachelors Three. (Am not saying that this is what YOU do, Sister Brigid! I simply feel that the habit - if worn - is more than a costume to be worn on certain occassions when one wants to set a certain mood or create a certain effect.

In the book “In this House of Brede”, Benedictine nuns at an English abbey lament changes made to their habits, saying, “We contemplatives have modified our habits so as to interact with lay people better. Non-cloistered nuns have given up their habits so as to do the work of laymen. Perhaps in time, laymen will turn to contemplation!” Not a quote pertaining to the habit per se, but to the way in which religious connect it to their identities as religious. There are nuns who are teachers and social workers. There are also teachers and social workers who are nuns. Not the same thing in my book. A nun or brother is not a layperson who has tacked spiritual niceities onto his or her lay identity. But we see this a lot. Religious folks who want to be lay people too and have it both ways.

Hans

Hi Hans. Thanks for your reflections on the habit. I think you raise a good point — I’m a nun whether I’m in habit or not. My nunness is not determinate by wearing or not wearing the habit. So, if I’m at a bar or playing some hoop I’m not going to hide who I am or pretend I’m not a nun. I also think that it can in fact be scandalous for some people to see religious doing things that are not religion-related. We all know that religious and priests are people like us, but sometimes we don’t let them be human.

Also, religious actually are lay people. We are not ordained. We are not members of the clergy. We are lay people. There are many different kinds of religious and their direct interaction with the “secular world” varies. (I write “secular” in quotes because while a legitimate distinction can be made between secular and sacred, too often we use the distinction dualistically to suggest that a thing can be only one or the other. Yet we believe that God made the world with all its worldliness. All creation is sacred … the secular too!) So of course religious will have “lay” characteristics … first because they are lay people and second because many of us live and move and have our being in the “secular” world. It does become a problem, however, if we deny our religious identity or somehow violate the lifestyle and mission of our religious community. But being a religious doesn’t mean one ceases to be a lay person in a predominantly lay world. Nor can we judge someone as less religious because of their involvement in the world.

Hi Anthony, Thanks for the message. I like what you said about not wanting to wear the habit for attention but to convey a message about religious life. I agree with you. Though not a habit-wearing nun myself, I don’t think I would have a difficult time adopting a uniform habit if it were simple (not made of a thousand pieces or parts that I cannot pronounce), “modern” (I don’t want to go medieval on anyone), sensible (e.g., I think we could find an economical cool-max alternative to the heavy wool serge for summer habits), and carried a message (I believe in simplicity of life, in following and witnessing to the Gospel, in serving people and all of creation). That being said, wearing a habit is not the custom in my congregation nor in many congregations. Since I belong to a community and this is not just about what I personally want, then I give myself to the wisdom of the community and how the Spirit has been leading us. I’m totally cool with that. I tell you though, aside from the message aspect of the habit, it sure would cut down on deciding what to wear on a daily basis!

AS A FORMER CARMELITE OF THE MOST SACRED HEART, GENERALATE IN ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIA, I CAN ONLY DREAM OF WEARING THE HOLY HABIT. I AM AN ASPIRANT OF THE SECULAR ORDER OF DISCALCED CARMELITES IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA. I LOVE BEING MARRIED TO MY HUSBAND. HE HAS BEEN A GIFT TO ME FROM GOD.

I HAVE RAISED MY CHILDREN I WANT TO LIVE A MORE SPIRITUAL LIFE NOW THAT THERE IS TIME. THE HOLY HABIT IS A BLESSING FROM GOD AND WAS A CONSTANT REMINDER AS TO MY GOAL IN THE LIFE OF RELIGION - UNION WITH HIM IN PERFORMING MY REQUIRED DUTIES AS PERFECTLY AS POSSIBLE WITH HIS GRACE.

PERHAPS THIS SEEMS IDEALISTIC, BUT, IT IS SEEN BY THE MEMBERS OF HIS CHURCH AS AN OUTWARD SIGN OF THE DEDICATION OF HIS RELIGIOUS TO HIS CHURCH AND FAMILY. AS A LAY PERSON I CANNOT HAVE THE AWE AND RESPECT THAT SHOULD BE AWARDED TO A RELIGIOUS IF I DON’T KNOW WHO THEY ARE. A PERSON DRESSED IN SECULAR GARB WITH ONLY A SMALL PIN OR A CROSS ON A CHAIN AROUND HER NECK IS NOT RECOGNIZED AS A RELIGIOUS. ARE THEY EMBARRASSED TO SHOW WHAT THEY ARE AND TO WHOM THEY HAVE DEDICATED THEIR LIFE? I AM NOT. BUT, I CANNOT SHOW THE WORLD MY DEDICATION TO ANY THING.

I AM PROUD OF THE WEDDING RING I WEAR AND MY MARRIAGE OF 25 YEARS. BUT, WHO KNOWS WHO MY WONDERFUL HUSBAND IS? HOW CAN I SHOW MY DEEP AND UNFAILING LOVE OF HIM?

A RELIGIOUS HAS THE PRIVILEGE AND HONOR TO WEAR THE HOLY HABIT TO ALLOW EVERYONE TO KNOW OF HER LOVE AND DEDICATION TO HER DIVINE SPOUSE. THE HABIT ALSO ALLOWS THE WORLD TO KNOW THAT THEY CAN COME TO HER AND SEEK ASSISTANCE FOR THEMSELVES OR OTHERS BECAUSE SHE IS RECOGNIZABLE.

LIVING IN AN APARTMENT ALONE OR WITH ONE OR TWO OTHER RELIGIOUS DOES NOT ALLOW FOR SOMEONE TO WALK UP TO THE CONVENT DOOR TO SEEK HELP.
A YOUNG WOMAN WHO WANTS TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LIFE OF A RELIGIOUS HAS NO WHERE TO GO AND NO ONE TO ASK IF SHE CANNOT RECOGNIZE A WOMAN OF VOWS LIVING IN COMMUNITY.

WHETHER IT IS A VEIL, MODIFIED HABIT OR FULL TRADITIONAL HABIT, IF A RELIGIOUS IS PROUD OF HER MARRIAGE TO CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH WHY NOT LET THE WORLD KNOW ABOUT IT? WHY NOT MAKE ONE’S DEDICATION TO CHRIST SHINE AS A LAMP THAT DIRECTS HIS CHURCH TO HIS THRONE? I WHERE MY SCAPULAR PROUDLY AT MASS AND DURING OUR DAYS OF FORMATION AND THE MEDAL AROUND MY NECK AT ALL TIMES. ANYONE CAN APPROACH ME AND INQUIRE INTO MY VOCATION. CAN ANYONE KNOW TO BE ABLE TO APPROACH YOU?

SISTER PAULA MARIE OF THE SACRED HEART, OCDS
COMMUNITY OF ST. JOSEPH, PHOENIX, AZ.

I have read with interest the posts concerning a nun’s habit. When I was growing up, all nuns wore a habit and it was easy to tell who was and who was not a nun. The after Vatican II, some orders began to wear clothing that blended in with the rest of the world. I was teenager at that time, and I was disappointed by it all. Now as an adult, and much more mature in my faith, I find it easy to tell who is, (or in some cases who has been a nun), by the manner in which they carry themselves. There is a certain glow about them, a look of joy and peace that can only come from a relationship with God.

And Yes, it shows in the pictures I’ve seen of you, Sister Julie. May God continue to bless you and increase your ministry.

— Emily

Before I entered the formal discernment process I was certain that if I became a nun I would want to wear the habit. So certain, that despite feeling a call to this particular community I resisted because, as I told the vocations director, “I don’t like the way you dress.” I still struggle with this issue for all the reasons discussed above..I think sisters should be easily identifiable in the community…I don’t think people should offer to buy my dinner because they identify me…I like the idea of being a reminder, (and being reminded) that Christ’s love is active and present among us…I loath the idea of wearing pantyhose every day…and so on, and so on…while I go back and forth on this constantly, what I have come to appreciate consistently is the importance of recognizing diversity and trusting that with or without “the nun-suite” this calling is sacred. While before I felt resistant, today I feel blessed to be called to a community in which the wearing of the habit is discerned by each woman and her individual response to the voice of God in her heart is respected by her fellow sisters. One is not “good” and the other “evil”

Ok, I have come to this blog by chance and to the habit discussion by accidental “click”…but I do have some thoughts if you care to hear from a married guy-in-the-pews. I am also one of those rare breeds: a guy who majored in theology way back in the late 70s and worked in church affairs before it was “fashionable” to do so as it has become in these past few years.

I think the habit is a great witness and it inspires us to realize that some Catholics have dedicated their entire lives to the service of Christ’s Church. I reverted to Cahtolicism while in college and when JPII was elected so it was a time of a lot of post-Vatican II confusion. Our campus had religious of all sorts and theological poles. By and large (but not infallibly) I learned via experience that the habited religious were generally faithful to Church teaching and law while the lay-clothes ones were generally speaking to be foudn among those agitating for change of doctrines and discipline, so as a young college guy I came to trust and rely upon the habited ones as I began my journey of learning how to live as a Catholic guy. I dont’ know if this generalization still applies or not after 28 years.

In college I taught CCD with a group of sisters who did not wear a “habit” but I guess it was more a modern uniform (all wore modest modern style clothes of various kinds but all same color, no veil, badge of their order pinned over heart) and they were AWESOME. They were founded without a habit because they came from then-Communist East Europe and they adopted the common color-scheme lay clothes uniform once they got to the USA in the 50s. Here are some thingas I learned from them about this issue:

1. The Church (Vat II, implementing documents, follow-up documents, decisions of Holy See offices for religious, etc.) does require religious to wear a visible form of clothing that is in someway different from regular secular clothing and visibly identifies a religious as such. This does not mean the medeival garb only. It seems to me that simply putting a cross and chain or a pin on lay clothes does not do this. Many maried people wear crosses visibly and especially young people today do so. I think that religious who enjoy the modernity and freedom of movement of secular clothes might learn from the above community how uniformity of color and style (even without a veil) and with a large distinctive emblem really does shout “nun!” (LOL) to those who come into contact with them.

2. There are vowed institutes approved by the Church for both men and women who complimentary lifetsyles reflect BOTH sides of the issue: those who wish a consecrated-public-witness lifestyle in RELIGIOUS INSTITUTES and those who wish a consecrated-silent-witness lifetsyle in SECULAR INSTITUTES. So as a layguy in the pews and who who has witnessed (sometimes horribly) the habit-battle since 1978…I do not understand why the controversy remains. I mean the options are already out there. Both kinds of groups are REAL consecrated persons blessed and approved by the Church. And I have learned that an institute can CHANGE its canonical status with majority vote of the membership and appoval of the Church (for example, from public-wintess religious to silent-wintess consecrated seculars). I have friends in BOTH forms of concecrated life and BOTH are very beautiful ways to serve the Lord and his people.

3. VOCATIONS are harmed people stop choosing them when a lifestyle is not lived as it should be according to the mind and heart of the Church. This is certainly ltrue about marriage. After decades of contraception and no-fault divorce couple cohabitate by the majority and IF they marry (at least out here in CA) its civilly and mainly so that they can get medical coverage etc. I think the same holds true for priesthood, religious life and secular institute life. If people cannot see the public witness of religious which IS first of all by habit before they get to know the nun or see the good works done then who will choose it? Who will choose what is not known to be available as a choice? And the same for secular institutes…why choose a silent-witness consecrated secular vocation IF religious are living that form in a quasi-public manner? I mean do you thnk most people even know a consecrated secular lifetsyle vocation exists? I think “secularized” religious life harms the genuine secular institute vocation.

Well thats mu 2 cents. Thanks for reading.

oops forgot the website for first part of my blog.

http://www.lcwr.org/

I came across this interesting discussion while searching for sources of fabric for the habits of a new order of sisters based in Africa. Initially, I asked the question of several sisters of various orders in the US. Some wear a habit and some don’t and their opinions on the habit are mirrored on this page.

The African order I am trying to assist needs white and light blue cotton, I am told, and that is all I know. I would like to know of a source for bulk fabric to supply to them. I assume that a fairly durable cotton blend would be best, for ease of care. I would love to hear back from anyone who has helpful information.

I have worn the veil and also have chosen not to. Because I belong to an international order, most of the members wear a unified habit with veil. I am called to increase faith and love using any and all means. My experience has been when people meet me with a veil, they will behave differently with me. Without a veil, they are more their everyday selves. We then have fantastic conversations once they realize that I am a religious sister. I think I reach more people without a veil but being honest about who I am. Thank you so much for this outlet!