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Community Of Our Lady Of Walsingham


Thijs

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the sisters have first profession and an aspirant..
..and there's a guy who is going to start his postulancy as well

check out their facebook page

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I know a lot of thought went into that habit, which is designed to reflect both Carmelite and Marian spirituality (a scapular, but in blue rather than brown). The scapular has a hood that they flip up for prayer, in reflection of the eremitical aspect of their Carmelite spirituality.

COLW are a very vibrant and faithful community with a much-needed mission and beautiful apostolates, and it saddens me that the very first question about them would deal with their habit. Not an expression of happiness that they have a new aspirant, not good wishes for Sister Teresa's first profession, just sadness that Sister Teresa won't be wearing a veil. They have a distinctive religious habit, what more are people going to ask for? If they wore a veil, would we be getting a tape measure out and trying to decide if the veil were quite long enough? It's lucky that they're not dressing to please an audience on the Internet, really.

Sr Faith discerned with this community before entering Carmel the first time and I have also had contact them. If you live in the UK (and even if you don't!) I wholeheartedly recommend them. Their mission is to help people with vocational discernment, so even if you aren't called to their community, they will pray for you and offer good guidance. They have a website with good discernment resources on it too.

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Not to harp, but there are more things to discernment than externals. I had a difficult time getting past non-habited orders or ones that didn't fit my narrow definition of what a habit should look like. Thankfully, that's all in the past. There are some beautiful orders out there that don't wear the habit and they do great service to the Church. I mean no offense. :)

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[quote name='MaterMisericordiae' timestamp='1347911816' post='2483381']
Not to harp, but there are more things to discernment than externals. I had a difficult time getting past non-habited orders or ones that didn't fit my narrow definition of what a habit should look like. Thankfully, that's all in the past. There are some beautiful orders out there that don't wear the habit and they do great service to the Church. I mean no offense. :)
[/quote]

According to Father David Mary it is okay to not discern with Communities because they don't wear habits: [url="http://franciscanbrothersminor.com/FBM/Discernment_Part_XII_Making_a_%22Habit%22_out_of_it.html"]http://franciscanbro..._out_of_it.html[/url] Of course not wearing a veil isn't the end of the world, but it has an important meaning behind it and I would question why they didn't wear a veil.

Edited by FuturePriest387
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[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1347912477' post='2483385']
According to Father David Mary it is okay to not discern with Communities because they don't wear habits: [url="http://franciscanbrothersminor.com/FBM/Discernment_Part_XII_Making_a_%22Habit%22_out_of_it.html"]http://franciscanbro..._out_of_it.html[/url] Of course not wearing a veil isn't the end of the world, but it has an important meaning behind it and I would question why they didn't wear a veil.
[/quote]

Just because a religious says something doesn't automatically make it true. Especially in this case.

I have heard only wonderful things about this community and it's unfair to judge them purely because they do not wear a veil.

Edited by EmilyAnn
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I'm so glad this community is getting vocations! From what I have learned about them they are a wonderful community. Prayers for Theresa as she makes her first profession!

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Mary's Margaret

If we had written off everyone through our history who didn't dress "appropriately", our beloved Church would be much the poorer for it. If it's a thread on the pros or cons of this or that, have a hayday, but when someone is trying to share news of a good and holy community could we please speak of the stuff that matters...and do so kindly. Perhaps we could think about how our comments would make the original poster feel and use that as a guide.

Edited by Mary's Margaret
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I began a similar thread for Sr Theresa, not realising that this thread already existed. With that said, I hope that people don't feel the need to answer my request for prayers for her in the way that this sincere and kindly attempt to do the same thing by MichaelKoenigTalidong has been answered, namely by hijacking a celebration and turning it into a critique of the people with whom Sr Theresa has been called by God to spend the rest of her life.

Thanks are due to Michael for drawing attention to this wonderful event, and also to the people above who pointed out the inappropriateness of the response; apologies to Michael for duplicating your intent, but with hopes that my own thread might still be an opportunity for people to actually celebrate rather than denigrate. I had hoped to bring Phatmass to Sr Theresa's attention, but right now I'm not sure that's a good idea.

People have the right to express their opinions, obviously; but is the announcement of a profession really the place to start yet another debate on religious dress? A word to those who are considering consecrated life: knowing when opinions should be expressed and when they should be kept to ourselves is an important skill in community life - just because you think it doesn't mean you need to say it.

Please pray for Sr Theresa and COLW and their mission.

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[quote name='EmilyAnn' timestamp='1347914094' post='2483396']
Just because a religious says something doesn't automatically make it true. Especially in this case.

I have heard only wonderful things about this community and it's unfair to judge them purely because they do not wear a veil.
[/quote]

I am in no way judging them. I am sure they are a fantastic Community. I simply question why they have no veils.

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[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1347921561' post='2483458']
I am in no way judging them. I am sure they are a fantastic Community. I simply question why they have no veils.
[/quote]

No where is it written that a community must have a veil. Habits are one thing, veils are another.

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[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1347912477' post='2483385']
According to Father David Mary it is okay to not discern with Communities because they don't wear habits: [url="http://franciscanbrothersminor.com/FBM/Discernment_Part_XII_Making_a_%22Habit%22_out_of_it.html"]http://franciscanbro..._out_of_it.html[/url] Of course not wearing a veil isn't the end of the world, but it has an important meaning behind it and I would question why they didn't wear a veil.
[/quote]

Like I said in my original post, just because one person doesn't feel called to discern with a community, it doesn't mean the community is bad. Religious are not infallible. I respect them, but they have opinions just like the rest of us. :)

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