In response to my post about the movie Nun of That, Sister Louise O’Rourke, PDDM, sent me a link to a video she created following a 2-week intensive course of video production in 2004. Sister Louise is a Catholic sister of the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master based in Ireland.

Sister Louise’s goal in creating the video was to challenge the stereotypes of young people toward religious and vice-versa. I think she did a great job. Sister notes that not only is she a real sister, but she did all her own stunts! Also, she notes to ignore the 1st minute of the video as it was the first video exercise she had to do.

Excellent job, Sister Louise! Thank you for sending this. You show that nuns are real people who are dedicated to God and who live and minister as film producers or ninjas while at the same time being contemplative, relevant, joyful, smart women of faith.

Catholic nuns today often have many, many different careers throughout their life. We have a saying in our IHM Congregation that comes from one of our founders, Louis Florent Gillet: “I desire to be everywhere when I see so many needs.” This spirit pervades all that we do, and often means that we end up doing many different kinds of things throughout our life.

Sometimes we take on a ministry because our congregational leaders (superiors) ask us to consider it. Other times we become aware of a need and are inspired to address it. We pray and talk it over with our nuns and decide together what to do. Many nuns also experience what you do in terms of having a passion (e.g. promoting literacy, caring for the sick, catechizing young people) and entering the job market to find a position in which we can minister.

My nuns are no exception to having multiple careers or callings throughout their religious life. I’d like to introduce you to my Sister Margaret Chapman, IHM, who currently serves as president of Compassionate Companions, Inc. in Michigan. Here’s her story.

P.S. This interview is a result of my Nun Questions post.
Your Questions. IHM Sisters respond.

Sister Anne Crane, IHM, joins us today. This is one of the videos that I took when I was home in Monroe. You’ll hear a bit of partying in the background as this video was taken during “pub night” at one of our IHM gatherings. Sister Anne responds to one of your Nun Questions.

What books are you reading now?” (from Marquis and others)

In this video Sister Anne talks about three books (listed below) which are different in themselves but which are connected by a common theme of “girls growing up”.

The three books that Sister Anne reviews are as follows:

• Run: A Novel by Anne Patchett
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

Sister Anne Crane, IHM, is a Catholic nun belonging to the Immaculate Heart of Mary congregation. Sister Anne recently retired from Saint Edward’s University where she was a Professor of English. She lives on our IHM Motherhouse campus in Monroe, Michigan.

Today we are blessed to have Sister Theresa Milne, IHM, with us. This is one of the videos that I took when I was home in Monroe. Sister Terry responds to one of your Nun Questions.

What particular spiritual practice is most important to you in your walk with the Lord and why?” (from deerose)

In this video Sister Terry talks about the simple prayer of saying “yes” and “thank you” to God.

The two books that Sister Terry mentions are as follows:

• Abandonment to Divine Providence by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
• Thank God Ahead of Time: The Life and Spirituality of Solanus Casey by Michael Crosby

Sister Theresa Milne, IHM, is a Catholic nun belonging to the Immaculate Heart of Mary congregation. Sister Theresa lives at our IHM Motherhouse in Monroe, Michigan.

Of the many questions that you folks asked of my IHM Sisters
(see Nun Questions) this one was one of the more difficult ones.

Have you ever experienced something that made you re-evaluate your vocation? How did you overcome that experience? (from mjpss)

It is a very good and important question, but I wasn’t sure that anyone would want to spontaneously answer the question — let alone on video camera! I think it’s a question that many people have on their minds, especially as they consider a vocation to religious life.

I am happy to say I was proven wrong because one of my IHM Sisters did step up and take this question on. I’ve watched this video at least a dozen times and am still blown away.

Sister Candyce Rekart, IHM, is a Catholic nun belonging to the Immaculate Heart of Mary congregation. Sister Candyce is a clinical psychologist ministering at Clinica de Salud Mental Inc. in Puerto Rico.

Thank you so much for your participation in the call for Nun Questions. The response was overwhelming. Here’s what’s been happening since you submitted the questions.

Since I’m in Monroe at my IHM Motherhouse attending meetings important to the life of our congregation, I thought I’d ask my Sisters if they would like to participate in A Nun’s Life by responding to questions from visitors about a variety of topics ranging from their favorite place in the world to their vocation. I took each question (some had to be edited a bit to fit on an index card) and posted them on a board in our IHM Motherhouse. Last night the meetings gave way to “pub night” (organized by the very talented Barbara, Marilyn, and Karin whom you’ll see later in a rare video interview about what it’s like to work for nuns). During the pub we invited Sisters to check out the huge board with all your questions posted and to take a question and respond on camera.

I am enormously grateful to these women, my Sisters, for participating and offering their experience and wisdom. Now, the videotaping was all me and definitely a work in progress. For example, you’ll hear some ambient sound coming from the pub party-goers who were playing Wii, singing, and having a great time.

Here is the first Sister who stepped up to respond to one of your questions. The question comes from Deerose: “Do you believe there are any prophets living today? If so, who is it and why do you think of this person as prophetic?” Sister Joan Mumaw, IHM, responds. Joan is currently ministering as the Vice President of our IHM Congregation. She has spent many years ministering in Africa and is a leader in addressing the issues around the global pandemic of HIV AIDS.

You are in for a treat today! A few weeks ago, my IHM nun Sister Maxine interviewed a Catholic sister from India. Sister Sabitha is a Sister of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ who was studying here in Chicago for the past two years at Catholic Theological Union where Sister Maxine also studies.

I’m pleased to show you this interview because the best way to learn about religious life and Catholic nuns is to see who they are and what they are doing.

Now this was our first attempt at videotaping and editing movies, so please bear with us!

Sister Sabitha returned to India shortly after this video was made. She and her congregation have just finished Chapter (big congregational meetings that all religious communities have), and now she’ll be headed home to work with the novices. Blessings to you, Sabitha! We miss you.

In my unending search for nun-related videos (recently rekindled by Pamela who found 20/20’s episode on cloistered nuns on YouTube), I discovered this short film: “Nun More Deadly”. It is a very clever film noir detective movie.

Here’s my favorite quote from the detective who temporarily loses his ability to form hardboiled similies:

There was something about the nun I didn’t like. Something shifty. No nunness. None nunnish. Unnunlike. A certain nunlessness about her.

“Winner of the audience award for best Irish short at the Cork International Film Festival, the award for best fiction at the Sligo Short Film Festival. and the Tiernan MacBride award for best Irish short at the Galway Film Fleadh.”