Change of habit.
Posted by Terry Nelson on Mar 13th, 2008
The above painting is of Margaret of Austria, taken from Jeffery Smith’s blog, Roving Medievalist. Doesn’t she look like a nun? Throw on a black veil for going outdoors, and it is a nun’s habit. It was also fashion in her day.
Fashion has changed for royalty and commoners alike, but some people think women religious should continue to dress in medieval costumes. (You know consecrated women religious - sisters - are different from nuns, right? Indeed, I do like to see nuns in traditional habits and choir mantles.)
Just a personal reflection.
March 13th, 2008 at 6:23 am
There’s a difference between consecrated women religious & nuns? So are the Sisters of Mercy from Drogheda, Ireland, who staff our school NOT nuns? We’re down to 2 now; one wears a short veil, the other doesn’t. Both wear navy blue or black skirts & feminine blouses. But are the *not* nuns??? I think Sr. Rosario & Sr. Laurentia would be surprised to hear that.
March 13th, 2008 at 7:02 am
Oprah had a fashion make over show yesterday—- and all the women chosen had “let themselves go” and wow, they were certainly transformed with expensive clothing, shoes, hair color and cuts—
but their situations “before” fascinated me: they “let themselves go” meant they wore jeans and tennis shoes or sweats everywhere.
There is something lacking in the fashion department in middle- income America, but I’m not sure where it began or what caused it—feminism? (because it has nothing to do with money, fashion can be found cheaply with imagination)
Elena might be able to pin point what the problem is, but there seems to be a loss of the sense of feminine beauty and artistic expression in clothing.
But not among young women. It seems as American women age, they lose heart and give up on themselves. Is that because people give up on them? Has God? No–but maybe they feel that way?
Sorry if this is off topic, but when I looked at the Dominican singing sister on the other A-R I noticed her androgynous attire and wondered what had happened to her beautiful habit and then thought of how fashion has changed for women…..
March 13th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Nuns take solemn perpetual vows and are cloistered, sisters take simple vows and engage in various apostolic works.
March 13th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Yes, SF, there is a loss of the sense of feminine beauty. I think that a lot of it is a backlash to the sordidness of society. People retreat into a puritanical extreme.
As for the nuns’ habits, the Vatican council gave permission for nuns to modify their habits, if necessary. But the Church did insist that habits continue to be worn. The veiling of consecrated women goes back to the early church and symbolizes their role as Brides of Christ.
March 13th, 2008 at 9:52 am
I like jeans; they’re comfortable and go with anything. I have no fashion sense or imagination, and I’ve gotten less vain as I age. Also, with 8 kids in 17 years, I’ve worn 5 different non-maternity sizes, so I have 1 or 2 pairs of jeans in each size, and a bunch of shirts and sweaters that will fit me in a range of sizes. My husband doesn’t mind, so I don’t care who else thinks I’m unfeminine.
March 13th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
If I am modest and clean that’s good enough for me.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I’ve thought a lot about the habit during my discernment, and while I know that 200 years ago and older, the habits we see sisters and nuns wearing are derived from different time periods.
Like Elena mentioned above, I want to be ‘veiled’ and to be physically and spiritually recognized as being set apart for God, and only for God.
It’s a personal decision.
March 14th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
This is a great picture.