"Reflections on Receiving the Holy Habit"

The post below is from the Carmelite Sisters blog - the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles.

By: Sister Mary Louise, O.C.D.

Wedding dresses, graduation gowns, first communion clothing, prom gowns, these are all familiar these types of clothing as are the special celebrations for which they are worn. They help mark significant moments in life. Worn for a few hours, they are then packed away as precious reminders of an event that has passed. Last Sunday, March 16, three young women were clothed in beautiful garments as a way of marking a certain moment in their lives. The difference was that after a few hours these "gowns" were not packed away. But early Monday morning the young women again put them on.. and again Tuesday morning... and Wednesday...and they will continue to wear them for the rest of their lives. This is because we are not talking about satin and silk but the holy habit of Carmel.

What is the significance of the clothing that we as Carmelites wear? What does it mean to be clothed in the garment of our Immaculate Mother? The answer was clear in the Sacred Heart Chapel on Palm Sunday: conversion. But it wasn't so much that a message was preached, as that a conviction shared in a radical way by each sister was expressed verbally. It was a tangible experience of the presence of sisters who have persevered to the end in the life long struggle of conversion, of sisters with whom we have made it through another day, as well as sisters with arms outstretched eager to begin a life of continual striving for the perfection of charity. They have been approved to make their first vows and in a few months they will commit themselves to our way of life. Now their outward appearance matches the interior reality. Because as we greeted and congratulated the three brides-to-be, the radiant smiles on their faces bore witness to the treasure we have in our community: union in Christ. It was truly their special day, but I think each of us and all of us together took yet one more step closer to our Divine Bridegroom, led by the guiding hand of His Mother, the Queen and Beauty of Carmel. We congratulate Sister Maralisa, Sister Julianna, and Sister Marie Rachel. We congratulate you and we love you, our dear sisters!

Holy Habit Rocking the Boat "Downunder"

From the Sisters of Life - Love and Life Blog

Holy Habit Rocking the Boat "Downunder"
Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei (SV novice)

About 39 days ago I exchanged the very blue, and somewhat ambiguous Sister of Life postulant outfit, for the flowing folds of the holy habit and became one of eleven proud new novices. Needless to say, after walking the streets of Sydney, Australia for a week, there isn't a flicker of ambiguity about what I am about, and the powerful witness of the habit.
"You are the first Sister in habit I have seen in twenty-three years!" said one woman.
"Look mum, an angel." said one awe-struck five year old on the train.
"I just LOVE your robes...vestments...why your'e so young! Tell me, what ARE you?" exclaimed another Aussie.
The stares are unabashed, and the cellphones and cameras are snapping pictures at furious rates. At times you feel like a bit of a tourist attraction as a five minute walk in the city guarantees a strangers request for a picture with you. If this wasn't enough, (and I give my word this is a true account) I sat in transit on the bus sure that the stylish, blonde-haired, twenty-something, deep into the tunes of her i-pod would remain indifferent to me, her habited peer sitting a seat away. Low and behold, within five minutes she had removed her head gear and was inquiring about mine. With cordial curiosity and openess she asked question after question. I was the very first Sister she had ever seen. She grew more and more in awe as I accounted the essence of religious life, and described the great joy and freedom that embracing Christ's call to love Him with an undivided heart has brought my life, when I just a year ago, like her, was a bright-eyed young twenty-something with the world at my feet. Both equally delighted with the encounter, she bid me 'goodday,' with a smile and the Love and Life Site palm card in hand, hopeful to join us for the festivities and learn more.
No doubt the Holy Spirit is on the move and the Sisters of Life are being called in God's shuffles of witness and Providence. What a grace, what a privilege, to wear the holy habit and serve as public witnesses to Christ.

Importance of Religious Garb

Hat tip to Fr. Fred Byrne, OSB for posting this article.

By Father Damian J. Ference
Posted in U.S. Catholic Magazine

Emphases and (comments) mine - BW

Religious clothing allows Catholics to make a fashion statement about their faith, says a young priest who dons the wardrobe that the previous generation put away.

Like it or not, religious garb and clerical dress are making a comeback. This phenomenon can be hard to swallow for a generation of priests, religious, and laity.

It may seem that younger Catholics are attempting to undo all their hard work and are intentionally heading backward into a church that placed a greater emphasis on distinctions between the clergy and the laity, rather than celebrating the common priesthood of the baptized. Some have even accused wearers of religious garb of being insecure, out-of-touch, and intellectually second-rate. But today I find the youngest, brightest, healthiest, and most joyful consecrated religious and clergy seem perfectly at home in religious garb. What happened?

When asked how she reconciled her Catholicism with using violent, grotesque imagery, the great fiction writer Flannery O'Connor, herself a young Catholic who was often misunderstood, said: "To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large startling figures." It seems that the same philosophy is at work in the minds of young Catholics who are drawn to religious garb; they desire to communicate the gospel through sign and symbol to a world whose senses have been dulled. And if their clothing can help people to hear and see Christ, then it's a no-brainer.

The history of religious garb directs our attention to two important elements: identity and simplicity. Some religious orders pattern their habit on the garb of St. Anthony of Egypt (251-356), who most often prayed and worked in the desert and wore a simple robe with a thick leather belt. St. Francis of Assisi's garb looked like the cross when a friar stretched out his arms, and he added sandals and a cord with knots symbolizing the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Mother Teresa adopted the traditional dress of Indian women for the Missionaries of Charity. These three prominent examples were easily identifiable by their dress, which also pointed to the simplicity and poverty of Jesus.

Clerics, too, could be identified by what they wore. According to The Catholic Encyclopedia, the cassock and collar were responses to clerical extravagance. In the 13th century many priests were dressing like knights, with bright colors and ornate embroidery, so a mandate was issued that the cope of a cleric would be simple, ankle length, and buttoned closed in front. Thus the cassock was born. In the 17th century clerics would cover beautifully decorated collars with a white band to prevent wear and tear. The ornate collars caused scandal and were eventually forbidden, but the white protective band remained and became the Roman collar. Religious garb marked a person as a disciple of Christ.

The pastor at my first parish assignment was ordained in 1968, and he used to tell me stories over dinner of life before, during, and after the Second Vatican Council. In his seminary years the cassock was the dress code, and with the exception of recreation, the seminarian was expected to be in it. He often reminded me that he resented the fact that he had to put his cassock on to use the restroom in the middle of the night. I don't think he's worn a cassock since his seminary days, and I understand why.

Friends in religious communities also have told me about their orders' task of renewal after Vatican II. In terms of religious garb, the council stated that the religious habit was an outward mark of consecration to God and it should be simple, modest, and poor. The habit was to meet the requirements suited to the time and place and to the needs of the ministry involved, and, moreover, habits that did not conform to these norms were to be changed. For women's orders, some needed no changes, others simplified their garb, many modernized by sporting a simple veil, blouse, and skirt, and others opted to dress like the laity, as was the practice of their founder. Many of those orders that did away with religious garb thought it to be a good move since it was following the gospel mandate of not bringing attention to oneself. It was also thought that abandoning the habit would lead to greater approachability and help the religious focus on the internal life rather than being distracted by externals.

The years immediately following a church council tend to be disorienting. The post-Vatican II years were no exception. In the '60s even Father Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was wearing a tie, if that gives any indication.

In a U.S. Catholic interview last year, Father Ronald Rolheiser said, "I don't think wearing a collar in public converts anybody. A lot of people in my generation don't feel that public witness should be in anyone's face." (Perhaps wearing a collar or habit in public hasn't converted anyone on the spot, but I am sure that it has led to conversations and conversions. The same can not be said of priests and religious walking around in lay clothes. When you see a religious brother or sister walking down the street in a habit it will cause some kind of reaction in EVERY person that sees them. The same person in lay clothes will cause no reaction internally or externally.) Reflecting on all that Rolheiser's generation has gone through, such a reaction is predictable. However, it has been more than 40 years since Vatican II. Now is the time for memories to be healed, purified, and reconciled, to move into the new millennium with a fresh perspective. As Benedict XVI stated in his first homily as pope, "The church is alive and the church is young!" (Amen.)

Generation X and millennial Catholics have never experienced a pre-Vatican II church and don't carry around the baggage of the previous generation when dealing with the issue of religious garb. (Yes! This is very true. As a post VII Catholic I can only agree that I have none of the baggage that many of the baby-boomer Catholics have. The same is true for most all of the young men and women entering religious communities and seminary today.) Habits and collars are not oppressive or clerical, but courageous, especially in the post-scandal era. As a matter of fact, the first time I ever wore my cassock at a youth gathering at my first parish, the young people thought I looked like Neo from The Matrix. Rigid seminary formation was the last thing on their minds. (Wanting to wear a cassock does not mean that a seminarian or priests wants to go back to some time in the Church they never knew, it could be as simple as they like the way it looks. I can't tell you the number of times I've heard people imply that they have an agenda. I assure you they don't. They just like them - period.)

A great blessing of Vatican II was a greater awareness of the importance of sign and symbol. Miniature baptistries have been replaced by large baptismal pools (OK, I'll admit, I'm not a huge fan of the waterfall jacuzzis being installed in many churches today, but what does this have to do with habits?), the holy oils have been given a more prominent place in glass ambries, paschal candles are to fit the size of the church, and even the principal host consecrated at Mass is to be big enough so that all can see it (Here I must comment. I greatly dislike the dinnerplate hosts. There may be other reasons, but it would seem that these host came about from bad theology. The idea that a small celebrants host is a sign of clericalism or lacking in symbolism is simply faulty. The introduction of hosts that must be broken and divided in order to somehow enhance the idea of "one bread, one body" seems to be more about eating the same host as the priest - that we are no different from the priest - than it does about being one body. If that were the case we would need one enormous host that had enough pieces for everyone. Obviously this notion has limits. In the meantime large fractured hosts only increase the chance that particles of the Body of Christ are falling to the ground. A small celebrants host is big enough to be seen. Besides, did Our Lord not say something about those who have not seen, and still believed?).

If being a visible, sacramental, and incarnational church is so important, doesn't it follow that religious garb has an important contribution to make as well? Young people think so. (And so do the folks who create the annual poster promoting the religious retirement fund, which consistently depicts elderly sisters in religious garb.) Unfortunately, many religious communities miss this crucial point, and they are going extinct in part because of it.

Today's youth live in a culture that forces them to say something about who they are and what they believe. The tattoo and body-piercing craze gives perfect witness to this condition. It's even hard to find a young person wearing a T-shirt that doesn't have words, numbers, or images on it. This is why more Catholic youth are wearing crosses, medals, and devotional bracelets. It should come as no surprise that younger Catholics would rather see priests in clerics than clothes from J. Crew and would rather see sisters in a habit than a pantsuit with a lapel pin. They want priests and religious to be recognizable, just as police officers and firefighters are recognizable by their uniforms.

Now I'm not suggesting that every priest and religious must live in their religious garb, although I have great respect for those who do(ditto). I dress down when I am in the rectory, on my day away(I don't ask this of the author of this article, but in general, what is a day away from the Priesthood or Religious Life? Somehow I can't envision the Cure of Ars dressing down on his day away- if he took a day away.), as well as when I exercise, but I have never seen the need to change out of my clerics when I am engaged in activity that isn't strictly pastoral. I have never been embarrassed to be recognized as a Roman Catholic priest. Sure, I have been persecuted at times because of my clothing, but the gospel tells us that such is to be expected. I can't begin to count the number of times I have heard Confessions, anointed the sick, or simply reminded someone that God is not dead precisely because I was wearing my clerics.

The John Paul II and Benedict XVI generations have been accused of wanting to wear religious garb in order to bring attention to themselves. I am sure that in a few situations this is true. Unfortunately, in every way of life there are folks who love attention, honor, and power. For the majority of young Catholics, however, this simply isn't the case.

They desire to bring attention to Christ with their whole lives, including their wardrobe. These young people want to be part of something greater than themselves. And they are willing to give up their lives to do so. They want to imitate saints like Anthony, Francis, and Teresa in their love of Jesus and service of the community. And yes, even in their dress. They want their habits to manifest their being.

So, in the spirit of the late Flannery O'Connor, the next time you see a young priest dressed in his Roman collar and you feel that he is shouting at you, or you judge a religious in her medieval habit to be a large startling figure, well, maybe that's the point. A thank you may be in order.

By Father Damian J. Ference, a young priest from the Diocese of Cleveland. He is currently a graduate student in the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

"Judges: German ban on head-scarves includes nuns' veils "

I'm torn: is this a good thing or a bad thing? On one level it's good that there are actually nun/sisters in Germany that are wearing habits in public schools and they're being persecuted for it(who would've thought?). Of course the bad part is the fact that there is such a limitation on religious freedom in modern Germany. My what we take for granted.

From EarthTimes.com

Mannheim, Germany - A law which prohibits Muslim women teachers from wearing head-scarves in a German state's public schools also forbids Catholic nuns from wearing their veils in regular classrooms, judges said Wednesday. The administrative tribunal of Baden-Wuerttemberg state set out the position in a detailed written judgement, two months after ruling verbally that a woman convert to Islam, aged 58 at the time, could not teach in her scarf.

The south-western state has a law that bans "exterior expressions of religious confession." Germany has been split on the scarf issue, with some states tolerating teachers in scarves and others sacking them if they refuse to teach bare-headed.

The judges in the city of Mannheim interpreted the ban on religious dress as applying to all religions, whether to nuns and monks in habits or to male Jewish teachers wearing the kippa.

The law expressly exempts Catholic religious who teach Catholic doctrine classes in public schools, and the judges said three nuns in the state who teach other subjects had personal exemptions that would not apply to any other sisters in the future.

"'Fashion show' aims for religious vocations"

From Catholic World News

Lublin, Apr. 10, 2008 (CWNews.com) - More than 20 male and female religious orders participated in an inaugural "fashion show" of religious habits at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.

The event’s organizer, university chaplain Father Andrzej Batorski, SJ, described the show-- which attracted the Jesuit, Capuchin, and Divine Word Fathers as well as Poor Clare nuns-- as a “little provocation” meant to draw young people closer to consecrated life.

During the event, organizers explained symbolic aspects of religious apparel. Among the show's sponsors were the Polish bishops' committee on vocations, university president Father Stanislaw Wilk, and the Northern Poland Jesuit province.

In related news, the Polish Bishops’ Committee on Vocations reports a 10% drop in new female religious vocations from 2006 to 2007 and a 5% decline in new male religious vocations over the same period.

The same report noted a connection between diocesan priestly vocations and past service as altar boys. In the Katowice archdiocese, 90% of seminarians indicated that they had previously served as altar boys.

U.S. Dominican nuns turn heads, spread God's love to youths in Sydney

By Dan McAloon
Catholic News Service

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- Everywhere they go in Sydney, the three Dominican nuns from Tennessee keep turning heads. Dressed in their distinctive white habits and black and white veils, the sisters stand out in the crowd.

At Sydney Harbor, where the tourists fix their cameras on the iconic Opera House and bridge, the arrival of Sisters Anna Wray, Mary Rachel Capets and Mary Madeline Todd gets everybody's viewfinders swinging in their direction.

The reaction of local residents in Belmore, the multicultural suburb where they are staying, is similar. The Vietnamese baker and his wife tell them of the kindness of Catholic nuns to war orphans in their homeland. The older people in the street stop to reminisce about the nuns who taught them at school. The "hijab"-wearing Muslim women, at first surprised at the sight of the nuns' veils, smile broadly with the recognition of the love of a common God.

"You're making our neighborhood a different place," the Lebanese shopkeeper told them. And when his customers ask if he has seen the strange new nuns about, the shopkeeper boasts: "Yes, of course! They are my friends!"

The nuns are in Sydney at the invitation of Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher, World Youth Day 2008 coordinator and fellow Dominican. Normally they would be at home teaching, but their motherhouse in Nashville has sent delegations to assist with preparations for each World Youth Day since Denver was the host city in 1993.

"It's part of our apostolic mission to spread God's love to the youth of the world," said Sister Anna, 28, noting that as Dominicans their lives are balanced between "contemplation and action."

"Wherever we are, we live by our values. Our founder Dominic was about taking God's word into the world and influencing people. We have a capacity to be adaptive, you could say. We know that people won't listen to us unless we are clearly living what we preach," she said.

A colleague at the Sydney Archdiocese describes the three as a "breath of fresh air about the place."

While Sister Mary Madeline is working as an assistant to Bishop Fisher, Sister Anna works with the liturgical committee and Sister Mary Rachel helps plan the youth festival.

As the July 15-20 World Youth Day events approach, there are still myriad details to be finalized in time for the arrival of the pilgrims. More than 125,000 are expected to arrive from overseas for the event, including 38,000 from the United States.

Sister Mary Rachel, 32, said that despite the 20-hour flight from Los Angeles, pilgrims from the U.S. won't be disappointed.

"They will find a beautiful, friendly city. People here are very generous because many are migrants and they know what it is to be the stranger," she said. "And for the pilgrims there's the special grace of being in the presence of the pope and in experiencing the beauty of the universal church."

"All Catholic life is a pilgrimage, and every experience teaches us something new," added Sister Mary Madeline. "I think the people of Sydney will be very surprised by how many pilgrims are ready to make that journey for Christ and celebrate their life in communion."

Sister Anna, a Dominican novice, has her own pilgrim story to tell of the influence World Youth Day had in calling her to religious life.

"Being in Rome for World Youth Day (in 2000) really was a catalyst for my entering religious life," she said. "I had no intention of being a sister then, but I did hear the offering of the church and the Holy Father, 'Do not be afraid to live the Gospel directly.' And that is something I have tried to do ever since."

"Nun can stop these teachers"

"Nun can stop these teachers"

Parents praise St. Francis school education

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer Gallup Independent

GALLUP — For parents like Cindy Vargas, St. Francis of Assisi School is “a little miracle” on West Wilson Avenue.

And for Vargas, much of what makes St. Francis such a good school for Dylan, her son in first grade, are the Catholic sisters who work there as teachers and teacher’s aides.

Vargas was one of three parents who talked with the Independent recently about their appreciation for the sisters and the school. She was joined by Marisa Hutchinson, the mother of sixth-grader Danielle and first-grader Gabriel, and by Mellissa Aparicio, also the mother of a first-grade son named Gabriel.

In light of the much-publicized struggles and failings of the public school system, the three local moms wanted to spotlight some positive attention on what they believe are eight strengths of St. Francis — the four sisters of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph from Mexico and the four Rosarian Dominican sisters from the Philippines.

In fact, St. Francis School is even unusual in the Diocese of Gallup because 80 percent of the school’s teachers and teacher’s aides are Catholic sisters. All the other schools in the diocese, like many Catholic schools across the country, have higher numbers of lay teachers because of declining numbers of women entering religious orders over the last several decades. According to Sister Rene Backe, diocesan superintendent of Catholic schools, only two sisters teach at St. Anthony in Zuni and St. Michael Elementary School in Arizona, four are at St. Bonaventure in Thoreau and at St. Michael High School in Arizona, and Sacred Heart in Farmington and St. Joseph in San Fidel only have one sister each. The St. Michael schools also have three religious brothers as teachers.

And unlike many contemporary Catholic sisters who dress similarly to women in the larger society, the sisters at St. Francis are unusual in that their distinctive habits reflect their more traditional and conservative religious orders.

That traditional background seems to reflect what Vargas, Hutchinson, and Aparicio were searching for when they went looking for a school to educate their children.

Vargas, a product of Gallup’s old Cathedral School, was taught by sisters and believes she received a high-quality education.

“I wanted my son to grow up that way,” she said. Vargas said she has been pleased with the academics at St. Francis, adding that her son began reading while enrolled in his pre-K4 class.

Hutchinson and Aparicio, who both moved to Gallup because of their husbands’ jobs, transferred their children to St. Francis after being dissatisfied with their first schools in Gallup. Both mothers said their children tested as gifted but weren’t being academically challenged in their former schools. In contrast, they said, the sisters at St. Francis are good at providing challenging assignments rather than just extra busy work. They have also been pleased with the small class size and the resulting individual attention for each pupil.

According to Mary Peretti, a secretary at the school, St. Francis currently has 100 children enrolled from pre-K3 to sixth grade, with the average class size of 12 pupils. Peretti is somewhat of an authority about St. Francis: she and her siblings attended there up through the eighth grade, she taught there for 18 years, all her children have attended St. Francis, and now her grandchildren are enrolled.

Although not Catholic, Hutchinson said she is also happy with the religious instruction in the school. Originally from Florida, Hutchinson said her church background is with the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Noting that “God has been taken out of everything” in American society, Hutchison said she is OK with her children learning Catholic beliefs and prayers. “It’s still Christianity,” she said.

Vargas and Aparico, who are both Catholic, said they were attracted to the school’s emphasis on faith-based education. “I’m learning things about the Bible that I didn’t even know by reviewing the lessons,” said Aparico.

The women believe that faith-based approach positively influences relationships between pupils and between parents. Through working on classroom projects and school fundraisers, Aparico said she has come to view the other mothers in the school as her sisters. Vargas credited the teachers as fostering that caring atmosphere among parents.

“They bring the quality of compassion and Catholicism,” agreed Principal Mary Ann Frank.

The eight sisters also bring an international flavor to the school. Having teachers from Mexico and the Philippines helps broaden the children’s cultural understanding, said Hutchinson, who added that her daughter has loved performing the traditional Mexican dances she has learned from her teachers.

“They’re in a multi-cultural school,” agreed Aparicio. She said she’s been pleased that her son has been exposed to both Spanish and the Filipino language of Tagalog while in school, and she doesn’t believe the teachers’ foreign accents have hindered Gabriel’s English reading and writing skills.

Other parents in Gallup may not share that same view. According to Frank, a first year principal at St. Francis, some parents have voiced concern about English being the sisters’ second language. Some parents may not consider the school as an educational option because of that factor, she said, and also because of its “across the tracks” location.

An additional challenge the school faces, Frank said, involves the immigration status of the four Filipino sisters. Although the sisters are working in the U.S. legally, she explained, a paperwork snafu from a few years ago is threatening their ability to stay in Gallup. Frank said she hopes someone will be able to help solve the problem before the end of the school year.

Frank expressed appreciation for the parents’ support, particularly the “dogged persistence every month” by those parents who organize fund-raiser after fund-raiser to help support St. Francis. The aging school, which has a lot of maintenance issues, is not funded by either the Diocese of Gallup or the St. Francis parish, she explained, but rather seems to survive on “lots of grace and support.”

Bring Back Men in Black

By Father Damian J. Ference
Posted in U.S. Catholic Magazine

Religious clothing allows Catholics to make a fashion statement about their faith, says a young priest who dons the wardrobe that the previous generation put away.

Like it or not, religious garb and clerical dress are making a comeback. This phenomenon can be hard to swallow for a generation of priests, religious, and laity.

It may seem that younger Catholics are attempting to undo all their hard work and are intentionally heading backward into a church that placed a greater emphasis on distinctions between the clergy and the laity, rather than celebrating the common priesthood of the baptized. Some have even accused wearers of religious garb of being insecure, out-of-touch, and intellectually second-rate. But today I find the youngest, brightest, healthiest, and most joyful consecrated religious and clergy seem perfectly at home in religious garb. What happened?

When asked how she reconciled her Catholicism with using violent, grotesque imagery, the great fiction writer Flannery O'Connor, herself a young Catholic who was often misunderstood, said: "To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large startling figures." It seems that the same philosophy is at work in the minds of young Catholics who are drawn to religious garb; they desire to communicate the gospel through sign and symbol to a world whose senses have been dulled. And if their clothing can help people to hear and see Christ, then it's a no-brainer.

The history of religious garb directs our attention to two important elements: identity and simplicity. Some religious orders pattern their habit on the garb of St. Anthony of Egypt (251-356), who most often prayed and worked in the desert and wore a simple robe with a thick leather belt. St. Francis of Assisi's garb looked like the cross when a friar stretched out his arms, and he added sandals and a cord with knots symbolizing the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Mother Teresa adopted the traditional dress of Indian women for the Missionaries of Charity. These three prominent examples were easily identifiable by their dress, which also pointed to the simplicity and poverty of Jesus.

Clerics, too, could be identified by what they wore. According to The Catholic Encyclopedia, the cassock and collar were responses to clerical extravagance. In the 13th century many priests were dressing like knights, with bright colors and ornate embroidery, so a mandate was issued that the cope of a cleric would be simple, ankle length, and buttoned closed in front. Thus the cassock was born. In the 17th century clerics would cover beautifully decorated collars with a white band to prevent wear and tear. The ornate collars caused scandal and were eventually forbidden, but the white protective band remained and became the Roman collar. Religious garb marked a person as a disciple of Christ.

The pastor at my first parish assignment was ordained in 1968, and he used to tell me stories over dinner of life before, during, and after the Second Vatican Council. In his seminary years the cassock was the dress code, and with the exception of recreation, the seminarian was expected to be in it. He often reminded me that he resented the fact that he had to put his cassock on to use the restroom in the middle of the night. I don't think he's worn a cassock since his seminary days, and I understand why.

Friends in religious communities also have told me about their orders' task of renewal after Vatican II. In terms of religious garb, the council stated that the religious habit was an outward mark of consecration to God and it should be simple, modest, and poor. The habit was to meet the requirements suited to the time and place and to the needs of the ministry involved, and, moreover, habits that did not conform to these norms were to be changed. For women's orders, some needed no changes, others simplified their garb, many modernized by sporting a simple veil, blouse, and skirt, and others opted to dress like the laity, as was the practice of their founder. Many of those orders that did away with religious garb thought it to be a good move since it was following the gospel mandate of not bringing attention to oneself. It was also thought that abandoning the habit would lead to greater approachability and help the religious focus on the internal life rather than being distracted by externals.

The years immediately following a church council tend to be disorienting. The post-Vatican II years were no exception. In the '60s even Father Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, was wearing a tie, if that gives any indication.

In a U.S. Catholic interview last year, Father Ronald Rolheiser said, "I don't think wearing a collar in public converts anybody. A lot of people in my generation don't feel that public witness should be in anyone's face." Reflecting on all that Rolheiser's generation has gone through, such a reaction is predictable. However, it has been more than 40 years since Vatican II. Now is the time for memories to be healed, purified, and reconciled, to move into the new millennium with a fresh perspective. As Benedict XVI stated in his first homily as pope, "The church is alive and the church is young!"

Generation X and millennial Catholics have never experienced a pre-Vatican II church and don't carry around the baggage of the previous generation when dealing with the issue of religious garb. Habits and collars are not oppressive or clerical, but courageous, especially in the post-scandal era. As a matter of fact, the first time I ever wore my cassock at a youth gathering at my first parish, the young people thought I looked like Neo from The Matrix. Rigid seminary formation was the last thing on their minds.

A great blessing of Vatican II was a greater awareness of the importance of sign and symbol. Miniature baptistries have been replaced by large baptismal pools, the holy oils have been given a more prominent place in glass ambries, paschal candles are to fit the size of the church, and even the principal host consecrated at Mass is to be big enough so that all can see it.

If being a visible, sacramental, and incarnational church is so important, doesn't it follow that religious garb has an important contribution to make as well? Young people think so. (And so do the folks who create the annual poster promoting the religious retirement fund, which consistently depicts elderly sisters in religious garb.) Unfortunately, many religious communities miss this crucial point, and they are going extinct in part because of it.

Today's youth live in a culture that forces them to say something about who they are and what they believe. The tattoo and body-piercing craze gives perfect witness to this condition. It's even hard to find a young person wearing a T-shirt that doesn't have words, numbers, or images on it. This is why more Catholic youth are wearing crosses, medals, and devotional bracelets. It should come as no surprise that younger Catholics would rather see priests in clerics than clothes from J. Crew and would rather see sisters in a habit than a pantsuit with a lapel pin. They want priests and religious to be recognizable, just as police officers and firefighters are recognizable by their uniforms.

Now I'm not suggesting that every priest and religious must live in their religious garb, although I have great respect for those who do. I dress down when I am in the rectory, on my day away, as well as when I exercise, but I have never seen the need to change out of my clerics when I am engaged in activity that isn't strictly pastoral. I have never been embarrassed to be recognized as a Roman Catholic priest. Sure, I have been persecuted at times because of my clothing, but the gospel tells us that such is to be expected. I can't begin to count the number of times I have heard Confessions, anointed the sick, or simply reminded someone that God is not dead precisely because I was wearing my clerics.

The John Paul II and Benedict XVI generations have been accused of wanting to wear religious garb in order to bring attention to themselves. I am sure that in a few situations this is true. Unfortunately, in every way of life there are folks who love attention, honor, and power. For the majority of young Catholics, however, this simply isn't the case.

They desire to bring attention to Christ with their whole lives, including their wardrobe. These young people want to be part of something greater than themselves. And they are willing to give up their lives to do so. They want to imitate saints like Anthony, Francis, and Teresa in their love of Jesus and service of the community. And yes, even in their dress. They want their habits to manifest their being.

So, in the spirit of the late Flannery O'Connor, the next time you see a young priest dressed in his Roman collar and you feel that he is shouting at you, or you judge a religious in her medieval habit to be a large startling figure, well, maybe that's the point. A thank you may be in order.

By Father Damian J. Ference, a young priest from the Diocese of Cleveland. He is currently a graduate student in the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Priests becoming too worldly, Vatican prelate says

From Catholic World News:

Rome, Feb. 15, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The prefect of the Congregation for Religious has lamented that many Catholic priests are neglecting their duties under the pressure of conforming to secular culture.

In a February 14 interview with the Italian ANSA news agency, Cardinal Franc Rode said that priests today tend to be less obedient to the Church and more responsive to the world. He cited reluctance to wear clerical dress as a symptom of this trend.

“A drift towards bourgeois values and moral relativism are the two great dangers that weaken religious life," said the Slovenian cardinal. "The biggest problem today is the climate of secularization-- present not only in Western society but also within the Church itself.”

Cardinal Rode said that young people continue to hear God's call to a vocation in the priesthood or religious life. But he suggested that a lax model of priestly or religious life is not likely to encourage vocations. As evidence the cardinal pointed to the young Catholics who are attracted to contemplative life in highly disciplined religious orders. "They are attracted because it is a radical life choice," he said.

__________________________

The picture below is of the Jesuits at their "conclave" as they recently came together to elect their new minister general. Look hard. Not a clerical collar in sight. Why I wonder? Do the Cardinals come "dressed down" like this to elect the Holy Father (rhetorical question)?

Contrast that picture with the one below of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal...

Or this one of a group of Priests from the FSSP...

Or this one of the Holy Father with Cistercians of Heiligenkreuz in Austria...

You tell me which picture(s) more readily says "radical life choice"? This is not to say that the Jesuits have not made a radical life choice, or that other orders and even diocesan Priests that choose not wear clerics have not made a radical life choice, but the outward visible sign is simply not the same.

I can certainly attest to the fact that most young men, that I speak with any way, are not attracted to a model of the priesthood or religious life (at least not in the United States) wherein it appears to be a life of relativism, comfort and worldliness. From the outside looking in, many young men see priests and religious that seem to be doing "whatever they want". In their dress, in their lifestyles, in the Mass, in their homilies, in their teachings, etc. - they see moral relativism and they are not attracted to it. A young man that is attracted to a counter cultural life of orthodoxy, deep spirituality, poverty and simplicity finds it hard to reconcile with some of the Priests and Religious he sees today.

House Cassocks of the Seminaries in Rome

J.P. Sonnen posted this picture on his blog, Orbis Catholicvs, along with the information that these are seminarians from the Urban College in Rome. While many of the other seminaries in Rome have abandoned their unique house cassocks, the Urban College has not, and requires them to wear it until they are ordained a deacon.

Too bad the North American College has, from what I understand (could be wrong) almost entirely abandoned the house cassock. Although some time ago, I read that some seminarians were trying to bring it back. A little google search and low and behold I found this photo of a seminarian at the North American College in his house cassock:


And then I found the post below on The Commonplace Book of Zadok the Roman giving an explanation and description of the house cassocks of different seminaries in Rome:

Let me explain - currently in Rome the normal black priest's cassock (or soutane) is the seminarian's most formal outfit. Whilst it is everyday dress for some of the congretations, in general the diocesan seminaries in Rome reserve the cassock for altar service or attendance at certain lituriges and for formal occasions. Depending on the stage of formation and the custom of the particular seminary the every-day dress of the seminarian is either the Roman collar or lay-clothes. The Roman diocesan regulations specify that clerical dress is only required of seminarians after they have gone through the ceremony of 'Admisssion to Candidacy' which normally occurs a few months before dicaconate ordination. An exception to this is the practise of the North American College which insists that all its seminarians go through 'Admission to Candidacy' before they arrive in Rome to begin their theological studies. This, it seems, is a throwback to the now-defunct Italian practice of performing 'Admission to Candidacy' early in seminary formation becuase this exempted Italian seminarians from compulsory military service.
However, until the 1970s, the cassock was not the formal wear of the seminarian, but his everyday uniform and unlike today, most of the older Roman Colleges had their own distinctive style of cassock. Now, alas, it seems that only the Scottish, the students at Propaganda Fide and (on special ceremonial occasions) Americans retain the older dress. Consulting the 1900 Handbook to Christian and Ecclesiatical Rome by Tuker and Malleson and an old edition of Georgina Masson's classic Companion Guide to Rome we find the following descriptions of the seminarian dress of yore:
Seminary of the Diocese of Rome Purple Cassock and soprana with pendant strings and no sash.
Pontificio Provincale Pio Black cassock, violet sash, a full cloak
Vatican Seminary Dark purple cassock with cromson bindings and buttons, one crimson string decorated with the papal arms, buckle shoes
Capranica College Black cassock, black soprana of shiny cloth, stings, no sash, shoes with silver buckles
Propaganda Fide Black double breasted cassock, red pipings and buttons, scarlet sash and strings (photo at left)

Germanic College Scarlet Cassock, black sash, scarlet soprana with pendant strings (Masson notes that they had the nickname 'gamberi cotti' or 'boiled lobsters' and that their distinctive dress was imposed due to their reputation for uproarious behaviour)
Greek College Blue cassock, red sash and pipings, blue soprana with strings - out of doors: a black soprana with wide sleeves
English College Black cassock and soprana, black strings and no sash

Scots College Purple cassock with crimson sash, buttons and pipings. Black soprana with pendant strings (photo at left)

Irish College Black cassock with red piping, no sash, black soprana and strings
French College The first college to abandon collegiate dress for the priest's cassock, no sash
Lombard College Black cassock, violet sash, soprana and strings
Seminary of SS. Peter and Paul Priest's dress with a black sash
Belgian College Priest's dress with a black sash edged with red
North American College Double-breasted black cassock, blue pipings and buttons, crimson sash, pendant strings
South American College Black cassock with blue edgings, blue sash, black soprana and strings
Maronite College Black cassock, soprana and strings
Bohemian College Black cassock, maroon sash edged with yellow
Armenian College Black cassock with red pipings, out of doors: black coat with wide sleeves
College of St Boniface Black cassock with yellow pipings, black soprana with black pendant srings lined with red
Polish College Black cassock and soprana with green sash
Spanish College Black cassock with blue sash, round black cape with vertical blue pipings
Candadian College Priest's dress and no sash
Ruthenian College Blue cassock, soprana with strings, orange sash

Note - the Soprana was a long sleeveless coat, often with two long strings or streamers hanging from the armholes to signify the state of tuition. The 'sash' is also known as the fascia or more colloquially the 'belly band'.

Habits = Vocations (It's really not that simple, but habits are certainly a part of the equation)

The post below was written by Stephen Hand for his blog "The Bride and the Dragon".





Every Religious Order That Has Left Off the Habit is Dying; and Coversely...

This Could be Called 'Don't Kick the Habit' Week At This Site;
Following up on the previous post...

I never met a (real) nun I didn't feel inspired by, though (especially when young) I'm certain the feeling was not always mutual, but that would have been my fault, not theirs. I wish I could apologize to some nuns for some of my bratty behavior as a kid. We didn't mean anything by it; we were just, well, idiots, as the Sisters seemed to understand.

When I was young (and I am 'only' 55 today) nuns seemed to be everywhere, in the schools, in the hospitals, on the busses and trains... living works of mercy.

Doubtless we do not see more today because vocations are down in much of the intoxicated secular West, especially after the Council with all the irresponsible interpretations that followed in its wake, but isn't it also because many who are consecrated to Jesus Christ in religious Orders do not wear their religious habits anymore? I find this heartbreaking.

While not doubting their dedication and calling in many cases since they only followed the herd, it must also be said habitless Sisters blend into all crowds, if not the woodwork. And that's the problem; it's part of the reason that many Religious Orders began dying. Young women can hardly aspire to something they cannot see.

Now look at those Orders which are growing today and almost invariably we find these are nuns who have not abandoned the habit.

Visible signs. How the world needs them in our time. Visible signs of purity as an ideal as opposed to the fashions and vanities of this world. How we all need to be reminded this still exists in our day.

The Church, while encouraging modesty for all, has never insisted like Islam that all women "belong" in burqas. But we have seen so many girls and women exchange beauty---real beauty (Juiet beauty) which is always aligned to purity, simplicity and modesty---for crass, vile confomity, for--God save us-- "sexiness". Young women today have been degraded and violated by lust-filled money grubbers who take their purity and keep the money. They hardly know anymore that Christ, His Mother and the Saints offer a higher way. It's another reason we need visible signs: to inspire, to remind us all that this life is not all there is.

Many young women I have talked to confess there is something sublime in this visible sign of consecration. They are tired of feeling inadequate because they don't always want to appear "the fox," and they are tired of apologizing for wanting to be real. They miss the noble ideals of sweetness, purity, consecration, and the possibility of contemplating Something higher than themselves and endless media images.

But who will understand in today's world where women are encouraged to exhaust and degrade themselves to look "hot" like the anorexic "babes" on TV?

Nuns. Nuns should understand.

But what if these nuns can't be seen, and are thus unknown because they have unwittingly conformed to the awful sameness of the present age? Many young women in their deepest hearts would love to be brides of Christ but hardly know that such a transcendent alternative exists anymore.

Vatican II allowed an optional modification of the nun's habit and veil for health and climate's sake (the cloth maybe, the style a little, but certainly not a complete rupture with their Order's past, see pics here)---it never encouraged its abandonment.

Haven't we as the Church let young women down in thinking Sisters should become just more of the same? Everyone---all of us!--- need to see vocations and purity again! Especially men! Then, with such visible signs everywhere again, all women are more likely to be respected as they should be---and that should not surprise us. Every time we see a nun in the Habit we are reminded that this world is not all there is, that God is far from "dead" (what an oxymoron and nonsense!). God only "dies" in dead souls.

99% of all the stories about those mean, ugly, sexually frustrated crows we see dished out in Hollywood in our time are pure bunk, nasty vile propaganda perpetrated by the enemies of the Church (1). I know. I was there. Nuns are beautiful ---in the most sublime sense possible.

More on "Traditional" Vocations

From The Catholic Herald

The return of the tonsure, wimple and soutane

With the quiet support of the Pope, France is seeing an explosion of traditional religious communities, says Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis

We are often told that the Church has to modernise, because the young, especially, can no longer relate to its teachings. It is sometimes even suggested that we should be grateful for a decline in vocations to priesthood: could this not be a sign from the Holy Spirit that the age of the laity is finally dawning?

This eagerness to make a virtue out of a necessity finds its most radical conclusion in a booklet entitled Church and Ministry published in the Netherlands by a group of Dominican academics. One of them, Fr André Lascaris, recently explained his thesis in the Tablet.

Numbers of vocations to the priesthood in Holland are plummeting, and according to Fr Lascaris there is “no hope of a remedy for this situation”. Apart from his own remedy, of course. His proposal is clear and simple: “In the absence of ordained priests, lay persons should be allowed to celebrate the Eucharist.” He adds: “Whether they be men or women, homo or heterosexual, married or unmarried, is irrelevant.”

The beauty of all this, according to Fr Lascaris, is that it is “based on the statements of the Second Vatican Council, and on publications of professional theologians and pastoral experts”.
Did the Second Vatican Council really say that? Are we really supposed to believe that the Holy Spirit deliberately manufactured a crisis in vocations, just to make way for the establishment of a new age of laity?

Of course, we laity have an essential role in the Church’s evangelisation. We have the awesome responsibility of carrying the message of Jesus Christ to our contemporaries who are searching. If falling vocations force us to acknowledge this, and to act on it, then the Holy Spirit will indeed have brought much fruit from any current crisis.

But perhaps Fr Lascaris’s Brave New Church of feminists concelebrating Mass in rainbow-coloured jilabas is not the only remedy to declining numbers of priests. A beautifully illustrated new book on the religious life in France suggests that there might be another solution. Reading the two books side by side you might be forgiven for assuming that the authors belong to two completely different religions.

If the photographs in Les communautés traditionnelles en France are anything to go by, then just across the Channel there lies a whole rich seam of Catholic religious life that is young, vibrant and growing.

In addition to youthfulness and success, there are two other common features that unite the communities featured in this book. One is that they all have the extraordinary form of the Roman liturgy – the “traditional” rites liberated by Pope Benedict XVI’s recent Motu Proprio – as the heart and foundation of their spirituality. The other is that many of them long enjoyed the steadfast, if unofficial support, of a certain well-placed cardinal in Rome. His name was Joseph Ratzinger.

There is no gain without pain and most of these 18 communities have at some stage suffered from misunderstanding and prejudice. Before the Motu Proprio there was often intense pressure from unsympathetic ecclesiastical authorities to abandon all adherence to the “old rite”. But when the going was particularly rough, the abbots, prioresses and rectors of these institutes were sustained by the knowledge that they had an influential friend in Rome – a friend who is now reigning as Pope Benedict XVI.

Every pope has to be father to the whole Church. But looking through this book it does appear that the current incumbent of the See of Peter has a particular affection for his children of the traditionalist movement. On one page there is Cardinal Ratzinger swathed in full Tridentine pontificals, processing into a traditionalist seminary in Bavaria; on another he poses with tonsured monks in their cloister in Provence; elsewhere, we find him presiding at a conference promoting the traditional liturgy at the Benedictine Abbey of Fontgombault.

Another indication of papal approval can be found in this book’s enthusiastic preface by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, one of the Pope’s most loyal collaborators and head of the Vatican’s Ecclesia Dei commission, which is charged with looking after traditionalist communities in communion with Rome. Cardinal Castrillon makes no excuse for this book’s coffee-table format. “Go and teach all people,” Jesus said to his disciples; in order to do this effectively in the modern world, says the cardinal, we need to make good use of images.

Looking at these particular images it is not difficult to understand just why the Pope and his right-hand cardinal have invested so much hope in these communities. Whether it is Solemn Vespers in a great baroque abbey, or low Mass celebrated on a rock in a clearing for scouts, the liturgical celebrations depicted in this book are all beautiful and dignified. The average age of the monks, nuns, friars and priests and seminarians is also remarkably young. According to Cardinal Castrillon, this should not surprise us. The message that these communities pursue is the message of Jesus Christ. This message is eternal, and therefore forever young.

These intriguing photographs invite us to enter into another world. Despite the obvious challenges implicit in a daily life circumscribed by rules and traditions, the subjects of these communities look remarkably happy. The text often talks of sacrifice and self-surrender, but the pictures show young faces that are smiling and
laughing.


It would be foolish to allow glossy photographs to carry us into the realm of romanticism. No doubt the world, the flesh and the devil pose as many challenges to the religious life as they ever did. But there are no signs in this book of any of those particularly modern crises that seem to have dogged Catholic religious life in recent decades.

There is certainly no hint of any crisis of clerical identity. These young clerics do not rely on jeans or Che Guevara T-shirts to make them feel connected to the youth; rather, it is the authenticity of their life that seems to make that connection. We see seminarians effortlessly skiing through the alps in long black soutanes, while nuns in crisply starched wimples gather hay in the fields outside Marseilles. At the high point of the traditionalist calendar – the annual Pentecost pilgrimage to Chartres – thousands of young pilgrims walk behind priests, monks and friars on the three-day march from Paris. Carrying crosses and banners, they all look very glad, and proud, to be Catholic.

Neither is there any evidence of a decline in vocations. The story of the Benedictine convent of Jouques is typical. Since its foundation near Aix en Provence in 1967 this community has attracted so many vocations to its novitiate that it has been necessary to open daughter houses elsewhere in France and in Africa to house the overspill.

Two of the Jouques nuns have also been commandeered to live in a convent in the grounds of the Vatican, as a result of a request made by Cardinal Ratzinger before his election to the papacy. The 55 young nuns who remain in the mother house in Provence have become famous for their angelic singing of the daily office in Latin. At harvest time they can be found negotiating combines around the stony fields of their farm.

The monks of Le Barroux, north of Avignon, still wear the corona – the full monastic tonsure depicted in medieval woodcuts and books of hours. After humble beginnings in a caravan in 1970 this community now worships in a mighty abbey church which the monks built themselves in the form of a Romanesque basilica. In the early hours of the morning, this building hums like a holy beehive as the many priest-monks celebrate their private Mass at side altars, served by novices and lay brothers. The extensive choirstalls here are now so full that this monastery has been able to spare a detachment of young monks to found a daughter house not far from Toulouse.

All of the institutes featured in the book are run on strictly traditional principles. But this does not make them old-fashioned. Rather, it gives them a timelessness that many young people are finding increasingly attractive. Some of the communities are contemplative, but many are active. A good example is the Institute of Christ the King. From its picturesque Renaissance villa outside Florence “The Institute” has gradually grown into a global conglomerate. In addition to serving parishes in France and America, it also runs several missionary stations in Africa.

The Regular Cannonesses of the Mother of God, meanwhile, maintain a fine balance between the vocations of Mary and Martha. It is through contemplative adoration of the Blessed Sacrament that they gain the spiritual energy required in their work of educating young girls and tending the old and the sick. Their convent at Gap has grown rapidly in numbers in the last couple of years, attracting young girls from all over France.

The recent Motu Proprio confirms what these communities have known all along: that the traditional Mass never was, and never really could be, abrogated. In his explanatory letter accompanying this decree the Holy Father stated that the extraordinary form of the liturgy is not just for an older generation that found innovation difficult to cope with. He wrote: “It has been clearly demonstrated that young persons, too, have discovered this liturgical form, felt its attraction and found in it a form of encounter with the Mysteries of the Most Holy Eucharist particularly suited to them.”

Perhaps Pope Benedict had a copy of this book open on his desk while he composed this letter. A huge percentage of those in these pictures look as if they would be far too young to remember anything of the liturgical upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. Most of them look as if they were born after the introduction of the Missal of Pope Paul VI in 1970.

Venez et voyez says the cover of this fascinating book, quoting the words of Our Lord: “Come and see.” It is an invitation not to be declined. If there is really a crisis in vocations, Les communautés traditionelles en France might contain the seeds of a solution that is challenging, attractive and, in its own way, really rather radical.

Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis is a writer and
journalist

La Nef, Hors-série N° 20, Av: Les communautés
traditionnelles en France is available from www.Amazon.fr

Hat tip to Good Jesuit, Bad Jesuit for finding this article

More About Habits

Habemus Papam posted this over at Adam's Ale...

THIS IS BECOMING A HABIT

Have you ever walked down the street and noticed a policeman, fireman, doctor, or even a priest? You probably noticed them because of what they were wearing. What I find most disheartening is what you TYPICALLY don’t see while walking on the streets are habited nuns. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there are some nuns roaming about, however, you would never know. I thought nuns, like priests, are supposed to be a visual representation to the world, show they are married to the Church, and are giving up their life to serve it. It marks their life as a living witness and shows their detachment from vanity and greed. I, along with many others, believe that nuns should wear the full habit.

-

A while back, at the recommendation of my parish priest, I went on a “Where Are You Going” retreat that the diocese was putting on. The retreat was up at the seminary and I felt very uncertain about going, as this would be a step in the right direction for discernment of a religious vocation. I still went, afraid as I was, and put myself into the unknown. While there, we had the chance to talk to some of the sisters, habited and non-habited. Sitting down at the table, I chatted with some non-habited nuns. They told me they were Dominicans I was excited and let them know that I would be heading off to Nashville to visit the Dominicans there. (The Nashville Dominicans are a habited order.) Once I opened my mouth they got up from the table and vanished. My reaction was one of dismay and hurt. Are you kidding me, because I mentioned the name of another order that wore habits I was unworthy of their attention?

-

After they vanished, I wanted to run and start questioning them. What made them not want to wear the habit? Were they ashamed? Did they think they were giving up too much of themselves? If so, I guess they didn’t realize what it meant have a religious vocation. I believe if you had this type of vocation you would take pride in the spirit of your order and what you have been called to do and want to make that known to the world. Wearing the habit is a sacrifice, to be recognized as a spouse of Christ, to be connected to tradition, to humility, and to a life centered on Christ.

I had a friend that just received the habit from The Sisters of Life. She had sent a letter and told me about receiving the habit and her experience wearing it. She said receiving the habit was one of the best moments of her life. She exclaimed how beautiful and how much deeper she was drawn into Christ’s warm embrace. AMAZING!! She said the first time she wore the habit while in the Bronx, where her order is located; she received some of the weirdest stares. At first she mentioned that it was a bit uncomfortable, she was not sure how to even move in it and of course it made daily work much different. But what I gathered from her letter was that she embraced the habitat as a new piece of her, a visual piece that gave no questions about what she was doing with her life. She didn’t need to tell people what she believed or what she did; they could see it first hand.

-

I am a firm believer in the fact that part of the reason younger girls are not joining religious orders is that many of the orders are not wearing a habit. If you take a look at thriving orders, they are all wearing habits, they live in community, and have taken the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. At a time when the entire world is in chaos, young adult women are finding solace in these vows and in an order that upholds a tradition. Most of the new orders springing up do not have a common chrism, they do not live in community, and they do not wear a habit. It angers me when I hear that the Church traditions are not important to these new orders. I often wonder if they feel that by organizing a new order that is more lenient and to their liking they will bring in more vocations. If that is the case, what are they giving up, what does the act of laying ones live down for Christ mean to them? It apparently means little to nothing. Not that these orders aren’t doing good things and helping people, but this is not what an order should be, it should be sacrifice and discipline. Mary, Mother of the Eucharist is a newer order that has girls knocking down their doors to enter. They are a great order that is centered on their vows, wears a habit, lives in community, and cares greatly. However, if you know anything about their history, you will find that they branched off from the Nashville Dominicans who have been around for hundreds of years. This I believe is an exception to the rule of new orders. I feel there is much work to be done with newer orders examining their place in the world and if the Church is really calling for more orders to spring up instead of valuing the orders that we have now.

-

I hope and pray that with the new Bishop in the Cleveland diocese, he will reaffirm the tradition that the Church upholds and put some focus on women’s religious orders. There are a vast number of girls looking to answer God’s call and would like to stay in the Cleveland diocese, yet they feel they won’t find a home. Please pray for the increase of vocations for orders that are staying close to their roots of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Wearing Habits

No question, wearing a habit, cassock, or clerics for that matter, is a clear witness to the world of a life lived for Christ.

Two stories.

Watching EWTN morning Mass one day, one of the Friars was preaching, in part, about wearing the habit. He talked about visiting a convent of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration in the Southwestern U.S. with several other Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word (MFVA). He told how they were in a restaurant eating, and as they would, they forgot about the fact that they were dressed a bit differently than the normal customers. He went on to say that at some point their young waitress came out and said, "everyone wants to know, what are you guys?" The friar answered fairly succinctly, satisfying her curiosity as she went back to the kitchen to relay the answer. A little while later she came back and asked more questions like, what is a "Franciscan"? Several rounds of questioning later, she said she didn't "know God". At that moment, one of the lay brothers answered immediately "You may not know Him, but He knows you, and He loves you!" The Friar preaching the homily jokingly said in his homily, "man, why didn't I think of saying that!"

The Friars may never know what will become of that young woman, or the other employees that were asking questions of them, but one thing is for sure - No habits - probably no conversation about the Love of God.

Second story. A few weeks ago a young man came into my office to talk about vocations. What was driving the beginning stages of his discernment? He had been visiting the Grand Canyon, and ran into, all of people, Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (they have a friary in New Mexico). He spoke to them, and it got the wheels turning. Weeks later he's in my office asking all the right questions. Again, no habits, and this story doesn't happen.

Ask any religious that wears a habit and they probably have a dozen stories just like this. I'll never believe the relativist idea that "I don't need to wear a habit, my habit is living my life according the gospel." Maybe, but you'll never be a visible witness, to someone driving by, of a truly counter cultural life. "They're uncomfortable to wear" - I'm glad Christ didn't say the same about "wearing" His humanity when it became "uncomfortable", and give it up for "casual wear".

Restoration of the Full Benedictine Habit?

Fr. Stephanos, OSB, has this post on his blog:

"(Restoration! Yes, but only to pose for a photograph!) SAINT BENEDICT, MONKS, SHARP OBJECTS, ALCOHOL"

St. Benedict died on 21 March A.D. 547. Back in the sixth century, monks wore knives at the belt like everyone else. The knife was a multi-purpose tool for both eating and working. At some point during the one and a half millennia since the life of St. Benedict, monks discontinued the wearing of a knife.How cool it would be if the Benedictine habit still included a knife at the belt! Make mine a Ka-Bar! Actually a short medieval dagger would be more in keeping with the habit.Here’s what St. Benedict had to say about monks and knives.

Chapter 55: On the Clothes and Shoes of the Brethren.... And in order that this vice of private ownership may be cut out by the roots, the Abbot should provide all the necessary articles— hooded garment, tunic, stockings, shoes, belt, knife, stylus, needle, handkerchief, writing tablets— that all pretext of need may be taken away.

Chapter 22: How the Monks Should Sleep.... Let them sleep clothed and girded with belts or cords, but not with their knives at their sides, lest they cut themselves in their sleep.Whenever St. Benedict expressly prohibits or discourages something, I’m sure he does so because he finds it necessary. From experience.Here’s something similar.

Chapter 40: On the Measure of Drink.... We read it is true, that wine is by no means a drink for monks; but since the monks of our day cannot be persuaded of this let us at least agree to drink sparingly and not to satiety, because "wine makes even the wise fall away".- - - -

Fr. Stephanos writes more about the Clothing of Monks...
Click HERE for it.

Next Generation of Religious Sisters...

Time magizine has a decent article on today's religious sisters. It is worth the read, particularly if you are a young woman discerning a vocation to religious life.

Hat tip: American Papist