Your Favorite Postulant Outfit

[Tridenteen]

JMJ
I would love a postulant habit like Mother Ann Seton's habit. I saw a religious order whose postulants wore that...bonnet, cape, and dress.

BTW--I loved "Bernie Becomes a Nun", great book <thumbs up>

[Margaret Mary]

[quote name='ksterling' date='09 August 2010 - 08:08 AM' timestamp='1281359325' post='2154584']
I'm going from having no opinion on habits since I never saw one in real life (pre-discernment) to being VERY opinionated. A friend of mine - whose hobby is browsing old bookstores, just gave me a a few books about the Maryknoll sisters including "Bernie Becomes a Nun" that she found at a sale of library books from a catholic school that was closing. I like the old postulant habit of the Maryknolls which, I understand, is very similar to that of most other communities pre-VII. I like the black (or blue is nice too) dress and little cape with a white collar and veil. I think the veil makes the outfit look like religious attire rather than a Catholic girls' school uniform, which is what I think the DSMME and Nashville postulants' outfits look like. A little veil would make all the difference.
[/quote]

I also think the veil a bonus as you don't have to worry so much about your hair

[Chiquitunga]

[quote name='MaterMisericordiae' date='08 August 2010 - 02:41 PM' timestamp='1281296473' post='2154206']
The postulant outfit for the Lockport Dominicans is beautiful and so humbling. I,too, love outfits that come with a veil.
[/quote]

[quote name='FutureNunJMJ' date='09 August 2010 - 07:11 AM' timestamp='1281355866' post='2154579']
I'm rather fond of the Lockport Dominicans' and the PCCs in Rockford:

[img]http://www.rockfordpoorclares.org/images/page-8_06.jpg[/img]
[/quote]

Yes, I love that one too .. the Lockport Dominican's (and btw, I love that picture from Rockford's old site of those cute little dolls! And yes, they have pretty postulant dresses too .. blue for Our Lady )

[img]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/dominicannuns/SJMPostulancy-2010070.jpg[/img]

[url="http://ldominican.xanga.com/"]http://ldominican.xanga.com/[/url]

[MithLuin]

[i]Quel chance,[/i] [b]Cherie[/b]! Very cool and a small world, yes. My sister is in Cresson She enters the novitiate this week, so I'd love prayers for her! (I also bumped the old thread on her order, so I don't have to hijack this one.)

I will add that when my sister was on home visits dressed like that (with the veil), people generally recognized that she was a sister, and would address her as such.

I can see why an order might not want a postulant (who hasn't studied the rule yet) to be representing them out in the world, though. The jumper outfits are clearly [i]not[/i] full-fledged nuns, and that's likely the intention.

Either way, postulancy is brief, so you soon get past that .

Edited August 9, 2010 by MithLuin

[vee]

I'm just curious if it's common that Orders or communities re use or do hand me downs with the postulant clothes, or is a new outfit sewn each time? I think I've read comments alluding to both practices. Sorry if it's a bit off topic.

Oh my answer to favourite outfit would be anything they let me wear since I think it'd be a miracle if I got that far!

[Chiquitunga]

[quote name='Tridenteen' date='09 August 2010 - 11:21 AM' timestamp='1281370864' post='2154642']
JMJ
I would love a postulant habit like Mother Ann Seton's habit. I saw a religious order whose postulants wore that...bonnet, cape, and dress.[/quote]

A lot of Carmels used to have it that way. [url="http://carmelsong.com/daughterCarmels.htm"]Here[/url] are some from a few US Carmels .. also [url="http://carmelsong.com/Davenport.htm"]here[/url] & [url="http://carmelsong.com/BettendorfCommunityin1948.htm"]here[/url]

[img]http://www.carmelsong.com/images/indymandj.jpg[/img]


I'm pretty sure St. Therese had one like this too, as in that book on her [url="http://www.amazon.com/Therese-Lisieux-Pierre-Descouvemont/dp/0802838367"][i]Therese and Lisieux[/i][/url], there are a bunch of pictures of her cousin Marie Guerin with a postulant dress like this, although the bonnet is a bit fuller (can't scan it for now, as I'm lending it out to a friend ) And here is Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity as a postulant! She has kind of a combination of a bonnet & veil


[img]http://i36.tinypic.com/2r3idqf.jpg[/img]

[vee]

[quote name='Chiquitunga' date='09 August 2010 - 05:27 PM' timestamp='1281392859' post='2154875']

And here is Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity as a postulant! She has kind of a combination of a bonnet & veil

[img]http://i36.tinypic.com/2r3idqf.jpg[/img]
[/quote]



um ok all I can say is if I had to wear that I'd be reeeeaaally grateful there are no mirrors otherwise I'd be constantly laughing at myself and if my family saw that..... they'd be

[TeresaBenedicta]

Or they could do it like the male Dominicans... and enter straight into Novitiate and habit!

[DameAgnes]

It does seem wrong that the guys can go right into novitiate and habit while the girls have to postulate. But then again, I think I understand that. The girls have the biological draw of motherhood, and I would bet that the additional year of discernment does help focus on whether one really is called to that, afterall.

As to outfits. I think the Benedictines of Mary have the best postulant gear.

It's totally Nun-y and not obviously postulant-y
[img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/TheAnchoress/BenedictinesofMaryNovicesandPostulant-1.jpg[/img]

And I love the full skirt.


http://kansascatholic.blogspot.com/2009/08/benedictines-of-mary-queen-of-apostles.html

Edited August 10, 2010 by DameAgnes

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

[quote name='vee8' date='09 August 2010 - 06:17 PM' timestamp='1281395864' post='2154906']
[img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/mellow.gif[/img]
um ok all I can say is if I had to wear that I'd be reeeeaaally grateful there are no mirrors otherwise I'd be constantly laughing at myself [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/caption_yes.gif[/img] and if my family saw that..... they'd be [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/rotfl.gif[/img]
[/quote]

Perhaps if overzealous Carmelite types keep Sister Librarian awake at night with their ecstacies, they will be required to wear this postulant habit. After all, an entire chapel has been set aside with stone walls and a thick door (far away from the monastery) for this precise purpose.

BTW--The requirement to wear this postulant habit would be in addition to the gluing to the Sister's cell wall a picture of St. Thomas Aquinas or St. Ignatius of Loyola for each infraction of this rule. Walls, ceiling, whatever. Sister Librarian takes her sleep very seriously. Silent ecstacies are permitted as long as they are not discussed at Recreation within hearing of Sister Librarian.

[MithLuin]

[b]vee8[/b] - My sister got a hand-me-down postulant habit. But then, the order has a novice one year ahead of her, so it was easy to coordinate a hand-off, so to speak. I imagine if they were very different heights or if the timing didn't work, they'd just make a new outfit. For the larger orders, that have whole classes of new aspirants, they probably would need to make some new outfits!

[MarieLynn]

[quote name='MithLuin' date='10 August 2010 - 04:00 PM' timestamp='1281409243' post='2155000']
[b]vee8[/b] - My sister got a hand-me-down postulant habit. But then, the order has a novice one year ahead of her, so it was easy to coordinate a hand-off, so to speak. I imagine if they were very different heights or if the timing didn't work, they'd just make a new outfit. For the larger orders, that have whole classes of new aspirants, they probably would need to make some new outfits!
[/quote]


Yes so did I. I think that it was more the norm rather than the exception that the postulant habits were "recycled" I remember the one I had had very wide side seams, but only a narrow hem, (I was very tall) while others in the group had a huge hem, and side seams. And our "wedding dresses" for our Clothing ceremony were recycled as well, otherwise it would have been a great expense for my parents to have to provide . I think the Order just let out, or took in the sides, and either let down, or took up the hem as the case may be.

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

[quote name='LadyOfSorrows' date='08 August 2010 - 02:30 PM' timestamp='1281295844' post='2154203']
Well I couldn't find a picture of that one, but I love the postulant outfits for the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church! They're blue and white with a white veil. Very Marian. [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif[/img]


[img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs257.snc1/10416_156995451862_542951862_3264280_4690663_n.jpg[/img]
[/quote]

I like the veil--it's a simpler version of the veil our professed Sisters will wear, but perhaps if it were all blue perhaps that might work. If the postulant veil were all white, it might get mixed up with the novices, and I think the blue stripe should only be for professed. (In the Order of the postulant in the picture, professed Sisters wear MUCH more elaborate veils than what we are planning. They also wear tight wimples that look very impressive, but also look tight, uncomfortable, and one more thing to clean and press (not to mention spill things on).

But am I the only one? To me, this postulant outfit looks great on this young woman, but looks JUST like a girl's school uniform with a veil!

Since I am not going to be a professed Sister anyway (unless some saint catches me and forces me to convert), I may decide not to be a postulant at all. I haven't decided what to call myself--more than a "tertiary," and I'm not sure "oblate" covers it since I will be a full member of the community. We may have to come up with our own terminology like "Secular Sister" or "Super Important, Incredibly Wise, Irreplaceable, Totally Awesome, Secular Sister." (If that doesn't sound humble enough, we could compromise and only use my full title in my initial profession ceremony and at other important times, and the rest of the time it would be "Secular Sister" with the full title simply understood by all--or else.) [img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/rotfl.gif[/img] After all, diocesan priests are respected even though they do not belong to religious orders and are considered "secular" (not that I am comparing myself to a priest). For myself (and Krissylou, if she agrees) I'm thinking of a variation on novice habit--white habit, blue scapular, white veil, but without the cape--sort of a permanent "capeless" novice. (With the addition of a PPC blue, full coverage, work apron to wear in the refectory because I'm a sloppy eater.) And, I will make "promises" not vows. Then the rest of you can come up with whatever postulant outfit makes you happy, although it should be a variation on PPC blue and white. (Not that I will hold back on my opinion or feel free to nix something totally ugly or that requires a lot of ironing or upkeep.)

Sister Infirmarian (Linnie) can use the Secular Sister habit or come up with whatever habit makes her happy and is practical for a nurse, since she will also be a Secular Sister, but living outside the community. Or, if she wants, she can be an oblate, although for some reason I don't like the word "oblate." I think it makes me think of the children's book by Dr. Seuss "Bartholomew and the Oobleck." The oobleck was green, icky, sticky stuff, very difficult to clean off a habit of whatever color.

I will still go to classes with postulants, and then novices, but will perhaps stick to a simple entrance ceremony with promises, and renewal of promises on some regular basis, but without a lot of hoopla (well, except for maybe a party afterwards with lots of cake, ice cream, and pastries.) That way, all the rest of you can first be postulants, and then wear wedding dresses for your clothing as a novice--if I wore a wedding dress, I'd feel like a noob. You can decide if you want to enter together, or singly on a feast day special to each of you. In some orders, you are a postulant for only six months, so we can discuss that option.

[Chiquitunga]

[quote name='LadyOfSorrows' date='08 August 2010 - 02:21 PM' timestamp='1281295314' post='2154200']
I personally was really attracted to the one that was worn by St. Teresa of the Andes in the movie on her life! I believe she had a white veil and a cape. I'll try to find it.
[/quote]
Here she is! This is by far my favorite one too! (and my favorite movie!!)

[center][left][img]http://i34.tinypic.com/15xmjd5.jpg[/img]


[img]http://i34.tinypic.com/29c83yq.jpg[/img]
[/left]

[/center]And here it is real life! They did such a wonderful job trying to be true to her life in that movie. Most of it was filmed on location too, like the different homes she lived in with her family .. and the actual monastery she was in, which is now a museum .. pictures [url="http://www.panoramio.com/photo/4440942"]here[/url] and [url="http://www.fotolog.com/losandes_chile/48770049"]here[/url] and a [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJsbVBB_EJo"]little tour[/url] of it on youtube (not the best quality, but very neat to see!)


[left][img]http://i35.tinypic.com/2hd8cxw.jpg[/img]
[/left]

A lot of Carmels still have postulant dresses like this too .. Okay, to be continued! ...

[LadyOfSorrows]

[quote name='DameAgnes' date='09 August 2010 - 07:59 PM' timestamp='1281401953' post='2154970']
It does seem wrong that the guys can go right into novitiate and habit while the girls have to postulate. But then again, I think I understand that. The girls have the biological draw of motherhood, and I would bet that the additional year of discernment does help focus on whether one really is called to that, afterall.

As to outfits. I think the Benedictines of Mary have the best postulant gear.

It's totally Nun-y and not obviously postulant-y
[img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y125/TheAnchoress/BenedictinesofMaryNovicesandPostulant-1.jpg[/img]

And I love the full skirt.


[url="http://kansascatholic.blogspot.com/2009/08/benedictines-of-mary-queen-of-apostles.html"]http://kansascatholi...f-apostles.html[/url]
[/quote]


I officially have a habit crush on the Benedictines of Mary.[img]http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/public/style_emoticons/default/love.gif[/img]

PS- the postulant looks like the novice just said something shocking!

Edited August 10, 2010 by LadyOfSorrows