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With which hand does a nun stir a cup of tea?
A while back, this question was sent to us from Paige who was doing a quiz supplied by her school during the holidays. “With which hand does a nun stir a cup of tea?” Being a dedicated coffee drinker, I did not have any basis from which to respond to the question. I did take a wild guess and responded that a sister or nun would probably stir the cup of tea any way she wanted to.
I never heard back from Paige so I don’t know what was actually considered the correct answer. As she noted, it is a weird question.
And yet I wonder … is there a correct way to stir a cup of tea? Did Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy, stir her cup of tea in a particular way? (Catherine McAuley is known for saying on her deathbed to her followers to “be sure to have a comfortable cup of tea for them when I am gone.”) Is there a correct tea-stirring methodology? If so was there a connection to holiness or nunliness?
If you know, please let us know! If you don’t know, but are the creative and humorous sort, make up a good response that will have us rolling our eyes or, better yet, rolling on the floor laughing.
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{ 12 comments }
Perhaps she stirs it with her left while placing a blessing on it with her right?
I am a tea drinker but not a nun, so I am just guessing here!
That is a good possibility, Willa!
As a daughter of Catherine McAuley I never heard which hand she used to stir tea! I do know that the reason she wanted them to have a cup of tea after she died was so that they would take time to grieve together. She was a wise woman and knew that after a loss we need the support of others.
As a nun who just had a cup of tea … I stirred it with my right hand. Of course that is my dominant hand…if Catherine was a righty I guess maybe she used her right hand also!
S. Julie, I think I may have found an answer for you!
Paragraph 2866 of __The Catechism of the Catholic Church__ (under the chapter “Conduct of Nuns and Religious Sisters in Mundane Issues”) reads:
The nun or religious sister is encouraged to stir her tea with the left hand. This allows for her to pour her cream with the right hand–the truly appropriate hand for cream pouring. She may also fetch and prepare her scone with the right hand, for it would be very inappropriate to use her left hand to fetch and prepare her scone. The scone and cup of tea shall remind the nun or religious sister that she is to break her morning fast before venturing into the world to be amazing and rock heartily.
Mmmmm … scone
Love it, Cody!
I asked Sr. Superwoman today and she said she never had to stir her tea because she would never have one unless someone else was making it!
Cody is pulling our leg just a bit here. The__Catechism of the Catholic Church__ ends with paragraph 2865. There is no chapter on the conduct of nuns in mundane matters. The real give away however is the pouring of the cream. As we all know, one never uses anything other than milk or lemon and perhaps a lump or two of sugar in ones tea.
Stirring is done with the right hand, starting with the spoon at the 6pm position, and gently moved to 12pm and back, two or three times, never touching the sides of the cup, lest a clinking or clanking sound be made, depending on the fineness of the porcelain. The spoon is then placed without a sound on the saucer behind and to the right of the cup. Never leave the spoon in the cup. Never lick the spoon and always sip, never slurp the tea.
Why the teacher asked what a nun would do, was because everyone knows that nuns use perfect etiquette at all times. It’s part of the job discription.
As a Sister of Mercy – I can honestly say – that Catherine McAuley would not worry about how to stir the tea. Her interest was that the sister enjoy the tea and it be “a comfortable cup of tea” So add the sugar and stir it around which ever way makes you comfortable and oh yes, please do drink it and be comfortable.
Well put, Julia. I think that since one ought to hold the saucer in the left hand, and (as you wrote) put the spoon on the right side of the saucer, that it would make sense to stir the tea with the right hand.
Sister Alison, this only makes sense if you are right-handed! I am left-handed, so would hold the cup in the right and stir with the left.
Sr Therese
“My Dear Sisters,” Catherine would say, “worry not which hand serves the tea, but only that the tea is served!”
I suspect she’d say the same regarding stirring.
SarahRSM
i think the whole issue is not with which hand the nun stirs the tea, but rather that nuns are a fantastic bunch of sturers (have no idea how to spell that). i am yet to meet on sister who does not enjoy a good laugh and/or stir!!!