In response to some requests to hear more about my last post, I'll be picking up where I left off but first, I need to contact the friend who copied some photos for me as they were organized as as a PDF which Blogger does not recognize and so cannot be used here as originally intended until the format is changed.
For those of you interested in the book I discussed briefly in my last post, it is titled Lonesome Calling by Angela Tougas Pihlman. I've by now read several books by nuns, most of whom began as aspirants as young as fifteen during their high school years, typically in the late 1940s to late 1950's prior to what is known as Vatican II. which changed the lives and expectations for nuns in many orders in the United States.
I am currently reading another book of the same ilk by Renee Therese Dearborn who also left her order, had a family and eventually became a psychotherapist and writer. I plan to read the memoirs of two nuns who remain with their orders. All of these women take many positive experiences and opportunities for growth from their time in religious orders and none are angry, bitter or ashamed of themselves. While one lamented her inability to be the perfect nun in her eyes, she readily admits that this idea sprang from her youth and lack of life experience as well as a lack of understanding of the demands of religious life. This brings up an interesting point which is that women, regardless of vocational choice. often feel pressured to be "perfect," placing impossible demands upon themselves and often mirroring the unrealistic expectations from those closest to them or from the world at large. This far exceeds the bounds of a blog post and has instigated research, books, debate and discussion in diverse arenas.
So, why, you wonder, do I read these? Perhaps as an homage to the Sisters I knew as a kid, in attempting to understand aspects of their lives I wasn't privy to then and to know just a bit of what they saw and lived through in 90 or more years on the planet, among other things.
Thanks for your interest and comments.
7 comments:
Sometimes we like what we like and there needs to be no explanation.
Happy Reading!!!!
I used to work with a former Jesuit priest who had left but still practiced religion, married to a former nun. Also on staff was another former Catholic nun, now married and pregnant. They all felt they'd entered too young, and had left when they matured. That was the policy in the pre Vatican 2 days, to catch people young before they got distracted by "the world". I had 12 years of Catholic schooling, long family history in that religion.
I also knew quite a few nuns who'd entered at 15, stayed professed and now as middle aged women seemed to me very immature, certainly not knowledgeable about the lives of the children they taught and their parents.
Nowadays I know a few Anglican nuns who all entered much later in life, after demanding professional lives, and I think they're much better grounded in everyday experience as well as the life of their community.
One of them is the conduit for my knitting ministry, passing on my output to an agency addressing the medical and physical needs of a homeless population. She also has a healthy attitude to my work, reminding me to enjoy the process!
Yes, women have been and are still, imo, held to a different standard. My husband had two maternal aunts who were nuns in CA. They were quite progressive. He had an uncle who was a priest and left. He married a former nun. I have no personal experience with either priests or nuns but I can see how these books can be interesting, since it's about more than that.
I well understand your interest. One of the bloggers I follow used to be a nun. And yes, she has written a memoir. Prayer Wasn't Enough by Dee Ready.
"women, regardless of vocational choice. often feel pressured to be "perfect," placing impossible demands upon themselves and often mirroring the unrealistic expectations from those closest to them or from the world at large" A HUGE yes to this!
I am fascinated with all of this E. I had 12 years of Catholic "education" though I have written before about the incredible nuns who taught me, some with Phds. I agree on their innocence on the ways of the world and their striving for perfection as evidenced by the prayers we had to say.
I referred your last recommendation to my ex-nun friend and she is riveted on her Kindle. She carries a huge amount of shame and has never told her children she was a nun. Shame runs so very deeply in us Catholics. Ex or not.
XO
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