Emmaberry's Pcc Countdown

[AnneLine]

Emma, I'm curious....

 

Obviously the PCCs wear the traditional habit -- but even those are sometimes modified a bit.

 

I've seen old pictures of what I believe were PCCs with a different style of white headgear.  Some photos show almost a strip OVER the chin (almost like aforehead cover, but on the chin area--was this modified after Vatican II?

 

 

It appears also on this holy card for St. Collette...

 

 

 

 

and then some of them seem to have much more white material over the shoulders, almost like a capelet of some sort. The pictures you posted recently (here is one) of some of the historical photos seem to show the bigger coif/guimpe.  I'm just curious....

 

 

 

 

And it looks a lot more like what the Welsh Poor Clare Colettines currently wear... and would explain why their habit looks different... 

 

 

 

Do you know what the story is?

[ChristinaTherese]

I just posted the second (and last) poem critique thread: http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/topic/126047-another-poem-question/ Could you take a look?

 

Edit: Oh, wow.... I'm using this as a surrogate PM area apparently....  :tomato:

Edited December 19, 2012 by Christina Thérèse

[emmaberry101]

I just posted the second (and last) poem critique thread: http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/topic/126047-another-poem-question/ Could you take a look?

 

Edit: Oh, wow.... I'm using this as a surrogate PM area apparently....  :tomato:

Done! :)

 

Emma, I'm curious....

 

Obviously the PCCs wear the traditional habit -- but even those are sometimes modified a bit.

 

I've seen old pictures of what I believe were PCCs with a different style of white headgear.  Some photos show almost a strip OVER the chin (almost like aforehead cover, but on the chin area--was this modified after Vatican II?

 

 

It appears also on this holy card for St. Collette...

 

 

 

 

and then some of them seem to have much more white material over the shoulders, almost like a capelet of some sort. The pictures you posted recently (here is one) of some of the historical photos seem to show the bigger coif/guimpe.  I'm just curious....

 

 

 

 

And it looks a lot more like what the Welsh Poor Clare Colettines currently wear... and would explain why their habit looks different... 

 

 

 

Do you know what the story is?

 

Hi AnneLine! Hmm I cannot comment on the larger cappa(esque) white piece, except that each Monastery is autonomous, and this extends to habits, so each community interprets what the habit of their Monastery is to look like-assuming there is a habit, of course! So maybe there is some debate over whether St Clare's habit had the capelet.. Or it could be that it was the French habit "trend" and was brought forth by St Colette,

 

Found this to explain the chin covering:

 

THE RULE OF ST. CLARE AND THE CONSTITUTIONS FOR POOR CLARE NUNS OF THE REFORM OF ST. COLETTE 

 

CHAPTER II 

 

Of the Quality of the Habit and of the other Garments. 

 

That this be the better observed at all times and by all the Sisters in their Convents in every place, we decree that all the Sisters shall so adjust their kerchiefs, that the forehead, both cheeks and the chin shall be for the greater part covered, so that their faces may be in no wise entirely seen. 

 

 

Yes, I believe it was done away with in Vatican II.. Just for fun, here is a picture of Mother Francis with the chin covering:

 

Edited December 19, 2012 by emmaberry101

[AnneLine]

Thank you!    I have been curious for years, and you have satisfied my itch!

 

And I love the early picture of Mother Mary Francis!

 

It's interesting that she comments in the introduction to the reprint of A Right To Be Merry on the habits now being a dashing 7 inches shorter... but says nothing about the daringly bared chins!  ;)

 

It does look more practical now, and as St. Teresa might have said regarding what she did to the habits of the O.Carm. Friars when she designed the Discalced Carmelite Friars habits--what is left is enough for modesty, and yet is poor.   But it also explains what is going on with the Welch P.C.C.s - they simply have left the longer white guimpe in place.

 

(If you don't know what I am talking about regarding St. Teresa and the re-designed Discalced Carmelite Friars' habits, here's a picture of the O.Carm. and O.C.D.friars' habits -- you can see how much St. Teresa removed from the friars' cowls and mantles!!!!)

 

Order of Carmelites' habits:

 

 

 

 

Discalced Carmelite friars' habits:

 

 

 

 

O.Carm. habits with mantles:

 

 

 

 

 

Discalced Carmelite friars with mantles:   

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2012 by AnneLine

[emmaberry101]

Thank you!    I have been curious for years, and you have satisfied my itch!

 

And I love the early picture of Mother Mary Francis!

 

It's interesting that she comments in the introduction to the reprint of A Right To Be Merry on the habits now being a dashing 7 inches shorter... but says nothing about the daringly bared chins!  ;)

 

It does look more practical now, and as St. Teresa might have said regarding what she did to the habits of the O.Carm. Friars when she designed the Discalced Carmelite Friars habits--what is left is enough for modesty, and yet is poor.   But it also explains what is going on with the Welch P.C.C.s - they simply have left the longer white guimpe in place.

 

(If you don't know what I am talking about regarding St. Teresa and the re-designed Discalced Carmelite Friars' habits, here's a picture of the O.Carm. and O.C.D.friars' habits -- you can see how much St. Teresa removed from the friars' cowls and mantles!!!!)

 

Order of Carmelites' habits:

 

 

 

 

Discalced Carmelite friars' habits:

 

 

 

 

O.Carm. habits with mantles:

 

 

 

 

 

Discalced Carmelite friars with mantles:   

 

 

 

Yes, that is interesting! I think it may be due, in A Right to Be Merry, to the fact that I think she may have been saying, "Hemlines are a dashing four inches from the floor (saves on the mending)" so there she was not speaking about change, as their hemlines have always been ankle-length (never to the floor because of the bare feet!), so maybe the chin covering was not mentioned because she was not talking about changes in that particular section? Though she does go on to say that in the wake of Vatican II, the Poor Clare habit was already updated in that nothing was starched, you could see both ways when crossing the street, etc, etc. :lol:

 

So you are right that she does not mention the chin covering-maybe it was done away with before Vatican II? 

 

After a google search, I was wrong-Vatican II did abrogate it:

 

 

During the time of St. Colette, peasant women wear kerchief that covers their chin and it was adopted as part of their habit and at the same time set apart from those Poor Clares who have not accepted the reform.

 

Mother Mary Francis, PCC, bless her soul, belongs to the Poor Clare Monasteries that originates from the Reform of Holy Mother St. Colette.  Before Vatican II, she used to worn the same kerchief.  They abrogated the use of Kerchief after Vatican II.

 

 

More pix of the "chin" habit: :P

 

[beatitude]

Not to hijack your thread, Emma, but I wanted to share with you some stuff from a very beautiful PCC community in Wales. I came across them the other day. They have got some lovely reflections - and funky cartoons of nuns! It's also a very light-hearted look at PCC life:

"One of the most distinctive features of our day is that we go to bed twice every night, which has the slightly distressing corollary that we get up twice too."

 

Anyway, I thought you'd appreciate it. :P

[Eowyn]

Not to hijack your thread, Emma, but I wanted to share with you some stuff from a very beautiful PCC community in Wales. I came across them the other day. They have got some lovely reflections - and funky cartoons of nuns! It's also a very light-hearted look at PCC life:

"One of the most distinctive features of our day is that we go to bed twice every night, which has the slightly distressing corollary that we get up twice too."

 

Anyway, I thought you'd appreciate it. :P

 

I love Poor Clares - they have the best sense of humor.

[emmaberry101]

Not to hijack your thread, Emma, but I wanted to share with you some stuff from a very beautiful PCC community in Wales. I came across them the other day. They have got some lovely reflections - and funky cartoons of nuns! It's also a very light-hearted look at PCC life:

"One of the most distinctive features of our day is that we go to bed twice every night, which has the slightly distressing corollary that we get up twice too."

 

Anyway, I thought you'd appreciate it. :P

 

Thanks for posting beatitude! Oh, it's not hijacking at all! This thread has become more of a surrogate Poor Clare thread than a countdown, really.. My fault on that! Yes, these Poor Clares do have an especially funny website. I love it! :love:

 

I love Poor Clares - they have the best sense of humor.

 

:like:

Edited December 19, 2012 by emmaberry101

[AnneLine]

Or perhaps God is hijacking your thread along with your life.... poverty means you give up everything.... including Phatmass threads.... and place them at the feet of your Beloved...

 

What is a phatmass thread, head of hair and shoes... given Whom you will be receiving......

 

That is the Welsh Poor Clare community I was thinking of, Beatitude, when I posited my questions last night.  I love some of what is in their archives, by the way --- and this Sister's story reminds me that Mother M. Francis was not the ONLY PCC Poet....

 

 

 

In silence slip away

May self, in silence, slip away,
as does the tide outgoing
and is lost
within the vastness of the sea;
to leave behind the clean, smooth sand
unmarred by footprints,
pure and chaste and infinitely simple:
until the tide of God's own love returning
sweeps in from off the ocean, breaking
and obliterating
all that is not perfect in this image
of his Son
until the clean, clear sand is covered,
made anew by wave on wave
of love
which is the Spirit.
 

(Sr. Miriam Judith, PCC....)

 

Read more, and her story.....

 

http://www.poorclarestmd.org/witnesses/sister/judith.html

 

Edited December 19, 2012 by AnneLine

[emmaberry101]

 Poem of the Day

 

The Lover

 

Pain is a terrible lover

sudden and wild in his courting,

demanding,

importunate, savagely tender.

 

Pain is a terrible lover

knowing nor margin nor measure,

commanding

unspaced, reserveless surrender.

 

Pain is a terrible lover

and who shall rebuff his attendance?

understanding

This lover courted the Word, encompassing splendor.The Lover

 

-Mother Mary Francis, PCC

 

 

 

 

 

These may have already been posted on VS, but they are so gorgeous (DSMME, to clarify):

 

 

Edited December 19, 2012 by emmaberry101

[emmaberry101]

O Antiphon for yesterday (And yes I am ashamed! ): O Adonai

O Antiphon for today: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)

 

 

Advent Poem of the Day

 

Advent Summons

 

Lady, what songs are bending

The tall grasses of your mind,

What secret music whispers down your veins,

What waxleaf ponderings, O Virgin Mary,

Waken our little shouts of expectation?

 

Our thoughts have lumbered down a treeless highway,

Have sputtered their heavy loftiness, have wept

Their protest. Now we hear the distant birdcall

Oh, dimly! but the woods have heard it well:

The stars are singing in their stupefaction,

The giddy little hills are clapping their hands.

 

But, Lady, what songs sway

The supple grasses of your thoughts,

What secret music whispers down your veins?

 

Glorious things are said about this city

Where the small citizen, Christ, moves in the lanes

Of so-brief arteries comfort. But what songs

Drift though this templed alabaster town?

 

We see the windows lighted, Virgin Mary,

City of God, by every hymn we raise

With chipped and broken voices; and our feeble

Vision guesses sacred silhouettes.

 

But when the little Seed fell in the furrow,

The warm and perfect furrow of your heart,

Tell us what pure songs stirred your delicate wonder,

What secret music whispered down your veins. 

 

-Mother Mary Francis, PCC

 

 

 

Or perhaps God is hijacking your thread along with your life.... poverty means you give up everything.... including Phatmass threads.... and place them at the feet of your Beloved...

 
What is a phatmass thread, head of hair and shoes... given Whom you will be receiving......
 
That is the Welsh Poor Clare community I was thinking of, Beatitude, when I posited my questions last night.  I love some of what is in their archives, by the way --- and this Sister's story reminds me that Mother M. Francis was not the ONLY PCC Poet....
 
 
 
In silence slip away

May self, in silence, slip away,
as does the tide outgoing
and is lost
within the vastness of the sea;
to leave behind the clean, smooth sand
unmarred by footprints,
pure and chaste and infinitely simple:
until the tide of God's own love returning
sweeps in from off the ocean, breaking
and obliterating
all that is not perfect in this image
of his Son
until the clean, clear sand is covered,
made anew by wave on wave
of love
which is the Spirit.
 
(Sr. Miriam Judith, PCC....)
 
Read more, and her story.....
 
http://www.poorclarestmd.org/witnesses/sister/judith.html

 
:love: I love it. Thanks AnneLine! I have gotta do a more in-depth look through their archives. Like Roswell, they have a very expansive site, which is awesome!

 

 

Also, are you sure you're not a poet? Those first lines of your post had me almost tearing up!  :cry:

 

Edited December 20, 2012 by emmaberry101

[AnneLine]

Emmaberry wrote:  Also, are you sure you're not a poet? Those first lines of your post had me almost tearing up! :cry:

 

Awww... that's sweet.    :kiss:

 

I think Mother M. Francis and I share the same muse.... she as a cloistered nun under vows of enclosure..., me as a secular. a married woman... and yet God has enclosed us both in His love... the vocation really doesn't have to be that different... it is just the externals that are different, don't you think?

 

Poets and/or contemplatives are Summoned by Spirit and then are put back down when the Spirit is done with us.   And then we do some housework.  Nuns and laity alike.....

 

Which reminds me... time to go finish getting ready for the carpets to be cleaned tomorrow.....  I wish I were HALF as good a housekeeper as I suspect St. Anne Line was... if you haven't checked her story, Emma, you owe yourself that before you leave....  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Line

 

How are your parents and family doing with being at peace with your vocation by this point, Emma?  It can be really hard for them, and I am holding them in my heart in a very special way these days...

 

OK, now I REALLY got to go... the Carpets are Calling me!!!

 

 

 

 

[nikita92]

St.Anne Line is a hero! My brother's b-day is May 4th. ;)

[emmaberry101]

O Antiphon of the Day: O Key of David

 

For the "Advent Poem of the Day" from now until Christmas Eve, I have posted Christmas at Greccio, A Christmas Play in One Act by Mother Francis, PCC (click on picture for link). If anyone "clicks" before I am done editing the images (for better readability), my apologies! 

 

 

 

 

Emmaberry wrote:  Also, are you sure you're not a poet? Those first lines of your post had me almost tearing up! :cry:

 

Awww... that's sweet.    :kiss:

 

I think Mother M. Francis and I share the same muse.... she as a cloistered nun under vows of enclosure..., me as a secular. a married woman... and yet God has enclosed us both in His love... the vocation really doesn't have to be that different... it is just the externals that are different, don't you think?

 

Poets and/or contemplatives are Summoned by Spirit and then are put back down when the Spirit is done with us.   And then we do some housework.  Nuns and laity alike.....

 

Which reminds me... time to go finish getting ready for the carpets to be cleaned tomorrow.....  I wish I were HALF as good a housekeeper as I suspect St. Anne Line was... if you haven't checked her story, Emma, you owe yourself that before you leave....  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Line

 

How are your parents and family doing with being at peace with your vocation by this point, Emma?  It can be really hard for them, and I am holding them in my heart in a very special way these days...

 

OK, now I REALLY got to go... the Carpets are Calling me!!!

 

Thank you, she is an amazing Saint!

 

And Nikita: May 4th is very close to my birthday-your brother is so lucky to be born on that feast, not to mention in Our Lady's month. :saint:

[nikita92]

Awesome!