Ever wonder how cloistered nuns deal with matters outside the cloister? In many cases, such matters are taken care of by members of the religious community who are known as extern sisters.
Sister Hildegard referred to extern sisters just the other day on a post I wrote about lay sisters. I thought I’d clarify by explaining in a bit more detail what an extern sister is in the Catholic tradition.
Extern sisters are not the same as lay sisters as described in the earlier post. Extern sisters belong to cloistered communities that observe strict enclosure. These sisters are full members of the community, having all the rights and privileges that all the sisters share. What makes them different from the cloistered nuns in their community is that part of their task within the community is to relate to people and the world outside the cloister. They express the charism of the community in their active lifestyle while the cloistered nuns express the same charism through their contemplative lifestyle. These “outdoor sisters” are not under strict enclosure so that they can interact with the outside world (e.g., go grocery shopping, contract service work for the monastery, relate to church folks and pilgrims, etc.).
Sister Mariam, ocd, of the Carmelites of Saint Thomas Monastery helped me better understand the vocation of extern sisters. She wrote to me telling me a bit of the origin of extern sisters in the Carmelite tradition:
Because of the strict enclosure, it was always necessary to have some lay person outside who would look after the Chapel, and do some of the necessary liaison work between the nuns and the outside world. This is still the position in many monasteries, particularly in Spain. However, in France, in the 1700’s (I think) these lay persons were allowed to make simple vows and wear a religious habit, distinctive from the cloistered nuns. With the development of time, they were fully incorporated into the Carmelite Order, and special legislation was made for them. It is a unique sort of vocation, very suited to those who feel called to a life of deep prayer, and service to others, but not to the strict enclosure of cloistered nuns. We even have two “Blessed” who were extern Sisters, who belonged to the community of Compiegne, martyred during the French Revolution.
Visit the website of Sister Mariam’s community, Saint Thomas Monastery in Auckland, New Zealand, for a good description of the vocation of an extern sister today.
Are there any extern sisters or brothers reading who would like to tell us a bit more about their vocation? We’d love to hear from you.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
My cousin is a member of the Carmelites in Jefferson City MO and my uncle comes into the convent to help them with repairs and run errands for them. I’ll have to ask if they have an extern sister. Thanks for blog Sister
Hi Deborah, Thank you for writing. Not all cloistered communities have extern sisters and rely solely on lay people like your cousin to help out.
In my recent comments I failed to say that the majority of monastic contemplative cloistered communities do not have extern sisters. In most contemplative communities all of the nuns share in one way or another in those activities which require contact with those coming into the monastery or which require leaving the enclosure on behalf of the community. In our house a sister is in charge of supervising the cook, planning menus and grocery shopping; we take turns going to the post-office to pick up mail; those who drive generously provide transportation for sisters who do not drive and need to visit the doctor or have a medical test; and the bursar shops for or orders any other supplies we need for the house. Always these sevices are considered in terms of the primacy of our prayer – communal and personal – as well as the needs of the work we do in the monastery to support ourselves financially (sewing capes for the Knights of the Holy Selpulchre and habits for Redemptorist priests and brothers). Incidently, we do all our own cleaning and employ only a cook for six days a week, one meal a day, and a very part-time handiman. I think we do pretty well considering that we have three sisters over eighty and three in their late seventies out of a community of ten.
When I was young, I grew up down the street from a Dominican Monastery. They had 2-3 externs and what wonderful woman. One was a dear friend of mine over a 15 year span. She inspired me, encouraged me and was such an influence in my life. I never met a more lively woman, nor such an empathetic one. Visitors to the monastery just loved her and sought out her advice and prayers. She always prayed at 1500, for an hour, and when I watched her pray, I know that all would be well in the world. She died in 1976, and since then I can still feel her presence in my life. I am so lucky I met this extern, and am sad to see it that there are not many left.