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.