Nuns And Swimming

[dymphnamaria]

Seriously, those 3sisters with their habits on swimming on the beach

 

http://www.lomography.com/magazine/locations/2011/06/26/have-you-ever-seen-swimming-nuns

 

 

[mysisterisalittlesister]

The CFRs swim in their habits. I recall one CFR telling my friend "we don't go in far, unless we want to die or something" :p

[savvy]

 

When I was with the Jerusalem sisters, they went swimming, since once a week they have a desert day, so sometimes they go out of the city, to hermitages, where they swim in the lake, since nobody is around there.  They do wear a swim suit, mostly one-piece. I was surprised, when they asked me if I had brought one, because they were going to swim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[be_thou_my_vision]

We wore whatever suits we brought to the convent (I had a black one-piece). The Sisters have an above-ground pool that is "cloistered" with a wall around it. Only Sisters use the pool. It was fun and relaxing to go to the pool in the evening during the summer time. They have terrible humidity up there. We had so much fun!

[FFI Griswold]

Ave Maria!

 

When I was a postulant we would go on hikes in the forests, and on occasion, in a vacant part of a river we would jump in with our habits. It would be a little awkward, yes, but such is the cost and privilege of wearing the holy habit of Our Lady at all times. Ave Maria!

 

fra John Paul

[nikita92]

I wonder if any of them have taken CPR ??

[John Paul]

The /Order of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary swim in full habit but they do take off their rosary beads.When they visit family on vacation when no other community members are around they will go to the store and buy a T-Shirt and Swimming Trunks.

[He is Risen!]

The community I was in would swim every once in a blue moon.  We would change into our work habits, exchange our veils for  bandanas, and leave off the rosary.  It was always done in relative private (rural lakes etc.) I remember also taking on a slip and slide once and occasionally running through the sprinklers at a nearby cemetery (when no "civilians" were around, haha)

[NadaTeTurbe]

I don't want to sound harsh to the communities who do it, but swiming in full habit seems both unnecessary dangerous and disrespectful. 

I nearly die by drowning years ago. I was swimming in a dress in a lake. An unexpected flow took me by surprise and I could not resist with the weight of my (little !) dress. Fortunately, there was a boat not far from me, but when they save me, I have passed out and I still have consequences from it. Swimming is fun, it's not safe. 

[MarysLittleFlower]

Personally I don't feel comfortable with swim suits and I believe beaches should not be mixed gender- if I were a nun I'd think that way even more strongly... I don't mind giving up swimming though.. I don't swim anyway. If I were swimming in a habit I'd want it to be a private beach and I'd probably just go in to my knees so its safe... Maybe this seems extreme to many but its what I've come to think and I don't really feel attached to swimming... I like looking at lakes / sea though very much

[veritasluxmea]

I think I've heard that the Nashville Dominicans that they might swim in a private lake or something, they just do what He Is Risen! did. Keep their hair covered and wear modest clothing. 

I grew up swimming and even did swim team in middle school, but around age 14 I just stopped liking it. Never had a bad experience, I still swim occasionally (although I prefer to just wade) and I love skurfing, paddleboarding and all that, but I just don't like the actual swimming part. I do it cause I need to, kind of like walking across the yard to get something. 

So if I was a sister I just wouldn't swim, period, unless I really had to. Wouldn't bother me. 

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

Swimming can be dangerous, especially in the ocean, but it can also be both relaxing and very good exercise. And, for older Sisters, exercising in a warm pool could be good for their joints and overall health.

Still, a separate swimming pool for the Monastery would not fit with the vow of poverty for many/most? Communities. And, the question of modesty is an important one. Yet, wwimming in the habit, even in a pool, can be dangerous (as Nada pointed out) because of weight of most fabrics in water.

One innovation in recent years is new fabrics that are light enough for swimming, but yet don't cling. For example, on the Lands' end Web site, there are a number of styles of swim tees for women that can be worn both in and out of the water. (There are also several styles of swim skirts that are both stylish and much more modest than most swimsuits.)

So, if a Community wished to swim (for example, there was a lake near the Monastery or they had access to the private pool of a benefactor) a Community would now have the option of creating "swimming habits" that are as modest as normal habits, but much safer because of the light fabric. (Many Communities already have "alternate habits" for special purposes, for example, special work habits and veils.) And, as others have mentioned, the Sisters could wear swimming caps in place of the veil.

I doubt that the invention of new fabrics for swimming is going to make any big changes in whether Communities swim or not, but it's nice that these fabrics now exist, so that swimming could be a possibility for Communities who might wish to swim while wearing their habit.

 

[truthfinder]

 

Still, a separate swimming pool for the Monastery would not fit with the vow of poverty for many/most? Communities. And, the question of modesty is an important one. Yet, wwimming in the habit, even in a pool, can be dangerous (as Nada pointed out) because of weight of most fabrics in water.

 

There have been several communities to have swimming pools. Sometimes the money is donated for that express reason. Some public pools will have women's hours which they could also take advantage. And if they were still concerned about modesty, they could always try and adapt a burkini (maybe add a cross for clarification  ). 

[Graciela]

When i was a teenager, I visited a community of teaching sisters in their convent on the ocean in R.I.  I had not considered the issue of  swimming. When the Superior asked if I wanted to go for a swim, I was surprised. (The community wore a modified habit and veil.)  Soon she appeared in sneakers, robe and a black great-grandmotherly one-piece swimdress and off we went to the beach for a delightful dip and conversation.  Very matter of fact- it was a private area of beach on their property.

IMHO there is a lot of scrupulosity in this dangerous custom of swimming in a full habit- and a complete lack of basic common sense.  Do these sisters/nuns who wear the full habit to swim also try to bathe or shower in clothing out of their over-scrupulosity. In fact this was an old custom in Carmelite monateries-one took a bath in one's chemise (undertunic).

I think that St. Teresa of Avila might laugh- didn't she say about potential candidates "we can teach them to pray, but if they have no common sense, we cannot give it to them." 

[emma8201986]

I think swimming habits is silly as well.  You can buy many nice bathing suits that don't leave everything on display.  There was an episode of the Sisterhood where one of the nuns went swimming with the discerners in a very nice one piece with a skirt and a swimming cap.Just for fun, I started to google "modest" and before I got any further "swimwear" came up.  Here's one website http://hydrochic.com/modest-swimsuits.html

Personally, I enjoy swimming and hope that I will be able to continue if I am accepted to the community I plan to apply to.  I haven't asked this question yet - too many others that are more serious.  I wonder if sisters swim on home visits - you wouldn't even need a swim suit, just a tee shirt and running shorts!

Funny coincidence, Graciela, my mom is from CT and used to go to Westerly, RI in the summer.  She remembers very clearly in the 1960s walking up the beach from Misquamicut and seeing a group of women in one piece swimsuits and bathing caps.  They were sisters from a house owned by a community (she doesn't remember which) who used the house in the summer.  Clearly, they went swimming.  It wasn't even private as anyone can walk below the high tide mark.