Locked up.
The Enclosure of Nuns.
The above photo is a Visitation Monastery speakroom from the 1960’s. Since the Second Vatican Council, several monasteries have taken down their enclosure grilles, while not a few have ceased to observe strict enclosure or wear traditional habits. Although there remain many monasteries that continue to do so; one of these is the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of Our Lady of Divine Providence, at Lake Elmo, Minnesota.
Since the Council, many of the cloistered orders that retain grilles, have modified them somewhat, while they remain more a decorative symbol of cloister, than a “protecting” fortification. The Council of Trent had imposed severe reforms concerning woman religious, requiring strict norms of enclosure. Grilles within most monasteries had to be double, and the openings small enough to prevent a woman’s hand extending through. In addition, the nun had to be accompanied by another nun when meeting outsiders, except in confession, and she had to wear an enclosure veil covering her face, unless the grille itself was curtained.
Feminists like to cite the regulations imposed by the Council of Trent as an example of the patriarchal supression of women, although grilles and walls of separation have always been intended to foster the contemplative life. (It should be noted that at the time, woman were considered the weaker sex, not only requiring protection from outsiders, but, as others have suggested, to prevent them from exercising their seductive, feminine wiles over men.) Nevertheless, these barriers were decidedly practical fortifications for the protection and safety of the nuns. Interestingly enough, the decrees and strictures of Tridentine Papal Enclosure eventually led to the formation of more “active” religious orders of women, known as semi-cloistered “sisters” - not “nuns” in the strict monastic sense.
Anyway - that’s about all I know about monastic grilles and veils. If you have ever lived in a cloistered monastery, it is not at all as mysterious or exotic as it appears to outsiders.
For those desiring a deeper understanding of the true meaning of cloistered life, you may want to read Verbi Sponsa, the Apostolic Instruction on the Contemplative Life and the Enclosure of Nuns.
July 26th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Nice picture.
July 26th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
I’m glad that Terry has mentioned more about the Carmelites in Lake Elmo.
Most local Catholics probably aren’t aware that there are Carmelites around here, if they have even heard of Carmelites; and fewer probably have heard of Lake Elmo. I used to live in Stillwater, so I have heard of the that community.
I’m toying with the idea of taking the most current Minnesota Catholic Directory and posting a list of all of the male and female religious orders around here with contact information.
It might be of interest to many.
And, although I am not qualified or able to judge any of these orders, I think that many of us have opinions about some of them.
Roughly speaking, most of us judge orders that do not wear religious habits as if they are “deficient.”
I don’t think that that is fair.
If I post a list, I would prefer to post the names of all with local houses.
What think you? Anybody, please!
July 26th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Funny thing. I accompanied a brother priest to a monastery of cloistered nuns this afternoon. The grilles had been taken down, leaving only a counter with large “Post Office” like windows in it. There was no sacred iconicity. Only an insignificant structure, inacapable of speaking to the heart, remained. The removal of grilles is a form of iconoclasm.
July 27th, 2007 at 9:56 am
Terry, Have you read the bio of Mother Angelica by Raymond Arroyo? There is a section in there about how Mother took the grille out for a while but then put it back in response to the reactionary elements in the convent who thought VII said more then it did. She did a similar thing with the habit.
July 27th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Cathy, I didn’t read the book but I knew that. Our Carmel here experimented with modified habits and quickly returned to the old habit as well. They never took down the grilles, or changed enclosure practices however.
July 27th, 2007 at 11:28 am
I find the grille to be a sacred thing, a holy reminder of the radical nature of enclosure. I’ve also read from the lives of saints who’ve lived behind them that this enclosure is joyful and not at all the cutting off that is repugnant to so many - as if a woman would chose a life of slavery. Women are behind a grille by choice, a joyful calling to belong only to God, being free from the burden of the world. We so seriously misunderstand…
July 27th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Some of my favorite authors of spiritual reading are Carmelites. And I am aware of the reasons for being strictly cloistered; that it is to keep the world out, etc. Yet I cannot avoid a feeling of claustrophobia when I think about living a life that severely strictured. To each her own!
September 20th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
The Council of Trent is not about suppression of the right of women religious. It was to protect them and to restore order to stop the abuses of men and women religious during that time. That is why St. Teresa of Avila reformed Carmel. She was inspired by this since in her Carmel during her younger years, Nuns lived in a huge monastery with 180 Nuns, rich Nuns have huge rooms with receiving area, cooking area and several seats so that she can entertain other nuns and a servant area where her servants are lodge. Nuns converse and gossips their time away with their friends, parents and relatives instead of following regular prayer time. Divine Office are still recited but it is very easy to obtain dispensation from the Superiors. Habits of Nuns differ according to their status, so it means the rich Nuns wears elaborate headress and multiple attractive folds while poor Nuns wears them simple, less elaborate and in poor quality.
There are also abuses of Superiors of Monasteries of Nuns and some scandal of Clerics and Religious alike.
The church performed its role to protect these women against these abuses and curtailed uncessary socialization and distraction which may result to scandal. I heard that in Dante’s book Divine Comedy has included a scandal of a Nun and Priest which is common that time.
Teresa ordered that in the choir grille, spikes are to be installed. In Manila Carmel (retaining the spikes where a person cannot reach them), the spikes are now removed but some of it are retained in a Carmel located in Poland.
My research work is focused on the History and Development of Cloistered Orders of Men and Women.
George