Video Explanation Of The Habit

[Freudentaumel]

Isn't this sad? It is such a nice explanation and sometimes when she says thinks like "this was very beutiful", it almost feels as if she wishes she would wear it instead of the mannequin.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02AJK4n3-2U[/media].

[Hinter dem Horizont]

Ugh, why does she not wear the habit anymore? She speaks about it with such joy...

I'm sorry, I have no respect for religious that dress like civilians

[cmaD2006]

[quote name='Hinter dem Horizont' timestamp='1292084793' post='2192126']
I'm sorry, I have no respect for religious that dress like civilians
[/quote]

She deserves the same respect due to all religious, habited or not. There have been past discussions about the habit -- and the habit does not the nun make. For all we know she may be quite a saintly religious.

[linnie]

[quote name='Hinter dem Horizont' timestamp='1292084793' post='2192126']

I'm sorry, I have no respect for religious that dress like civilians
[/quote]


It makes me very sad that a person would be condemned for what he or she does or does not wear. someone once said something about judge not......

[OnlySunshine]

[quote name='Hinter dem Horizont' timestamp='1292084793' post='2192126']
I'm sorry, I have no respect for religious that dress like civilians
[/quote]

While I agree that religious should wear habits, I don't believe they should be treated with disrespect. They are in service to Holy Mother Church and Jesus Christ and, in my humble opinion, deserve respect. Remember, we cannot judge someone's soul based on what they wear. She could be a great and holy Catholic as far as we know.

[Hinter dem Horizont]

Yes, I know. I agree. I give her the respect required for all of the good things she may have done. And the fact that she is following the footsteps of Christ. However, I dislike the civilian clothing. She has supposedly "left the world". Yet, look at her clothes...

[Freudentaumel]

I think, especially considering the way she talks about the habit, we shouldn't assume that she (or many other habitless sisters) chose to get rid of the habit (except for some ultraliberal feminist sisters). Often they were told to "update to the time" by priests and bishops they respected. They were told, that if they adapted to the world, a new springtime would come upon the church.
They often are as much victims of the postconciliar upheaval as we are. I know of one sister who did not want to watch TV and was told that she must under religious obedience watch TV with the rest of the convent. She then left, as did many others, hurt and confused.
That is why I posted the video - to enable some understanding of what happened, not to look down on the sister.

[OnlySunshine]

[quote name='Hinter dem Horizont' timestamp='1292102191' post='2192178']
Yes, I know. I agree. I give her the respect required for all of the good things she may have done. And the fact that she is following the footsteps of Christ. However, I dislike the civilian clothing. She has supposedly "left the world". Yet, look at her clothes...
[/quote]

Unfortunately, this is true for many religious orders nowadays. Many have left the habits behind because of misinterpretation of what John Paul II wrote. What I always try to remember is that religious promise chastity, poverty and obedience to their order and to the Church. The order, itself, has written the rules governing its members' clothing, so if an order writes that its members have to abandon the habit, they have a duty to obey the constitutions. Fortunately, it seems that many religious orders are experiencing a revival of their older constitutions and readopting the religious dress/habit. I keep praying for a return, though I know that not all will change because of prejudice or injustice they received before. I have read several testimonies of women religious that say they felt persecuted at the hands of non-believers and felt they couldn't wear the habit safely. I wish they would remember what Christ said:

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first."--John 15:18

Keep praying for renewal to consecrated life!

[Hinter dem Horizont]

[quote name='MaterMisericordiae' timestamp='1292102831' post='2192190']
Unfortunately, this is true for many religious orders nowadays. Many have left the habits behind because of misinterpretation of what John Paul II wrote. What I always try to remember is that religious promise chastity, poverty and obedience to their order and to the Church. The order, itself, has written the rules governing its members' clothing, so if an order writes that its members have to abandon the habit, they have a duty to obey the constitutions. Fortunately, it seems that many religious orders are experiencing a revival of their older constitutions and readopting the religious dress/habit. I keep praying for a return, though I know that not all will change because of prejudice or injustice they received before. I have read several testimonies of women religious that say they felt persecuted at the hands of non-believers and felt they couldn't wear the habit safely. I wish they would remember what Christ said:

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first."--John 15:18

Keep praying for renewal to consecrated life!
[/quote]

Exactly. When I become a priest or a religious in the years to come I am not going to feel ashamed of people staring at me or despising me due to my religion and belief in God. Or feeling hatred due to my habit/collar. I will be honoured in that regard because those who believe are not going to have it easy. I have had many tests so far. And the more I am pious or faithful the more I will be tested.

[BarbTherese]

[quote name='cmariadiaz' timestamp='1292087100' post='2192137']
She deserves the same respect due to all religious, habited or not. There have been past discussions about the habit -- and the habit does not the nun make. For all we know she may be quite a saintly religious.
[/quote]

Amen to the above.
[quote][b]Luke Ch12[/b][u][/u] "[22] And he said to his disciples: Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat; nor for your body, what you shall put on. [23] [22] And he said to his disciples: Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat; [b]nor for your body, what you shall put on[/b][quote][b]nor for your body, what you shall put on[/b]. [/quote]. [23] "[/quote]

The above are some instructions to us from Jesus about discipleship....and yet so much concern for and anxiety about what religious may be wearing. Charity which is the first and primary rule of our Faith asks that we give to every person respect - for one only and all really is vanity except to Love The Lord Our God and our neighbour as ourselves.
We can have a personal preference for religious in habit and I do too, but no reason to be uncharitable and judgemental towards religious in secular clothing. I know both in habit and in secular clothing. All special people and dedicated religious. The Spirit blows where He may and God's Ways can be not our ways at all, although sometimes we think that they should.
It is very sad to see fellow Catholics speak very negatively about those who have given up all to follow their vocation and Christ - and simply because of what they wear. It does not build up, but tear down I think. Religious Life is a very special Grace from God without which it would be impossible to live the life and this alone should be cause for much respect indeed.

God bless - Barb

[Lilllabettt]

One thing about the Church these days is that catechesis is lacking in some areas. One of these areas is religious life.

Not every person in consecrated life is called to wear a habit.
The Sisters of Charity, for example, do not live in convents, do not make perpetual vows, do not go through novitiate, do not call anyone "mother," do not belong to a congregation or order, but a "society," and are not required to say any part of the Divine Office. Their founder, St. Vincent de Paul, did not want them to have a habit.
The founder of the Marianists did not want them to have a habit.
The Missionary of Charity Brothers were forbidden by MotherTeresa from wearing a habit.
The Missionary of Charity Sisters' "habit" is the common dress of women in India.
The Sisters of St. Ann were meant to wear a sari without a head covering
The Missionaries of the Holy Trinity were founded to wear a dress and pin -no veil

The late Holy Father John Paul II himself gave specific permission for certain communities to go without a habit, because it was more in keeping with the wishes of the founder

Mother Teresa made things the way she did because she said Jesus wanted Indian Sisters, not European Sisters.
St. Vincent told his Sisters: Your convent will be the house of the sick, your cell a rented room, your chapel the parish church, your cloister the city streets or the hospital wards.”
The Missionaries of the Holy Trinity were founded to fit into "modern" American culture.

so it really depends on how the Holy Spirit inspired the founder, if certain consecrated persons are called to wear a habit or not. For example, the big beautiful cornette of the Sisters of Charity ... was beautiful. But after Vatican II they did as they ought, and gave it up, because the Church wanted them to return to the origins of their charism, and their founder did not want them to wear a habit, but dress as seculars.

[Chiquitunga]

I know a dear Dominican Sister who was one of the last in her congregation to stop wearing the habit, which she felt pressured into not only from her community but also from ordinary lay people she told me She is still 100% orthodox in everything though, and loves the Traditional Latin Mass. She has taught me a lot. So my point is, as the others have said "don't judge a book by its cover"

By the way, this is a beautiful presentation of the habit by this Sister. I especially love the veil they put over their faces after receiving Holy Communion! They still do this in many Carmels too ..

[Antigonos]

It would seem to me that wearing some kind of simple, distinguishing clothing, whether it be a full habit, or a modified one, would be much more efficient and comfortable than simple "civilian clothing". As a nurse, when I worked in hospital, I wore uniform, of a standard color [although the style could vary], and it was sent to the hospital laundry, freeing me from managing my work wardrobe. For a religious, this would give more time to devote to spiritual matters. Now I'm in a job [outpatient clinic] where I wear street clothes, and this requires not only more bother, it requires considerable expenditure in order to be presentable at work. From what I gather, most habited religious have about three changes of habit, one being worn, one in the laundry, one for holidays, and maybe an old one for wearing for heavy work [gardening, painting, kitchen, etc]. Same shoes every day. It's just not possible to look decently attired and groomed in street clothes with just three or four changes of outfit.

I would also think that, however hard one works at one's interior spiritual life, the external symbol of a particular mode of dress would be an added aid. I've had children in schools where they wore uniform, and in schools where they did not, and there's no doubt that in the former, there were less distractions caused by fashion and competition, and the kids concentrated more on the things that mattered when there was uniformity.

But, having never been with sisters either in or out of habit, I could be quite wrong.