Wearing The Habit And Heat

[Sister Marie]

I love the sunburn comment and agree completely!

 

I wear a modified habit and we have a lighter summer habit.  Obviously, its still much more than what most people wear in the middle of the summer.  I think that the first few hot days of each summer are the worst, but then my body acclimates to the heat and the layers of clothing.  It isn't comfortable all the time, but it also isn't unbearable.  We don't have air conditioning everywhere in our convents either and we try not to use it as often as possible (poverty).  I agree that it is something to offer up but for me personally, the connection with poverty is very meaningful too.

 

I think of all the people who can't afford to buy clothes for each season.  Our society is used to having an outfit for every occasion in their closets but they forget that for some people - they wear what they have and they don't take it off if its too hot for fear they won't get it back.  I think of the people, especially vulnerable children and elderly who don't have someone to look out for them, who don't have money for air conditioners in their hot apartments.  I try then to live in solidarity with them instead of focusing on my own discomfort.

 

There is also something about being physically uncomfortable that makes you feel alive.  I know that sounds weird but it gets you in touch with the human condition in a way that you otherwise miss in the hustle and bustle of our world.  I think its the fact that it becomes okay to not have everything in order, to maybe not look as nice being hot and sweaty, to not feel 100% - but to still continue living!  It is a countercultural way to live and there is something spiritually therapeutic about it.       

[Pax_et bonum]

I ended up visiting the PSSC on one of the hottest weekend of last summer, and they don't have air conditioning! We drank plenty of (tepid tap) water, Mother moved the holy hour to later in the evening, all the windows were open in hopes of a breeze, and I was sent to the basement with a postulant to work since it was cooler down there. Another visit last summer, we were working getting the friary ready for the brothers to move it, and Fr. David Mary was wearing brown sweatpants under his habit which seemed like that would be rather warm. But whenever we weren't working inside, we were outside in the shade for meals and prayers, and the breeze helped keep us cool. <--Probably not that useful a contribution except to say that communities have ways of keeping cool enough that no one suffers heat strokes or anything dangerous.

 

A kind of related question, how do sisters get enough vitamin D? (I'm really deficient.)

[Spem in alium]

Yep, quite painful.  I couldn't sleep on my back for a while.  :(

 

Strewth. My sister once got very bad sunburn on her legs. She was wearing a knee length skirt, but when she sat down it would come up above her knee. It had a frilly hem and so the edge of the burn was wavy.  

 

 

There is also something about being physically uncomfortable that makes you feel alive.  I know that sounds weird but it gets you in touch with the human condition in a way that you otherwise miss in the hustle and bustle of our world.  I think its the fact that it becomes okay to not have everything in order, to maybe not look as nice being hot and sweaty, to not feel 100% - but to still continue living!  It is a countercultural way to live and there is something spiritually therapeutic about it.       

 

Wow. I agree completely. What a beautiful statement :)

[DiscerningCatholic]

I met the DSMME in Kansas last year. It was the last week of June, and Kansas is hot, hot, HOT (it was 104 several days). I asked them, "Don't y'all get warm in your habits?" And Sr. Mary Magdalene laughed and said, "Well, here's the thing. If it's hot out, you're gonna sweat, no matter what you wear, so it isn't really worth complaining about. Plus, at World Youth Day, all of the people who were passing out were the people who had on tank tops and shorts. Also, if you go to the Middle East, everyone in the desert is wearing tunics and turbans and whatnot. So really, the more covered you are, the better off you are in the heat, even though you might sweat. Plus, it's not like our habits are solid black, so that helps." :nun:

[dominicansoul]

I met the DSMME in Kansas last year. It was the last week of June, and Kansas is hot, hot, HOT (it was 104 several days). I asked them, "Don't y'all get warm in your habits?" And Sr. Mary Magdalene laughed and said, "Well, here's the thing. If it's hot out, you're gonna sweat, no matter what you wear, so it isn't really worth complaining about. Plus, at World Youth Day, all of the people who were passing out were the people who had on tank tops and shorts. Also, if you go to the Middle East, everyone in the desert is wearing tunics and turbans and whatnot. So really, the more covered you are, the better off you are in the heat, even though you might sweat. Plus, it's not like our habits are solid black, so that helps." :nun:

 

I need to tell you the story of when the motherhouse lost electricity....

[DiscerningCatholic]

Oh my. Well, in Florida, we can go for weeks without power in 90+ degree weather with rain or 87% humidity...

[MarysLittleFlower]

I spoke with the Sisters of Reparation (http://www.sistersofreparation.org/) about this when I was visiting them last month and they said that it's just a sacrifice that they offer to make reparation for the sins of humanity, especially the sins of immodesty. Sometimes, people think it's okay to dress immodestly just because it's hot outside. The Sisters did acknowledge how hard it is for them, and how sweaty and gross they get in the summer while working outside (in the garden, mowing grass, woodwork, etc), but the suffering is a worthwhile sacrifice for reparation to the Sacred Heart. 

 

so beautiful!

[MarysLittleFlower]

It really makes me wonder if I'd be able to handle it.  I don't tolerate heat well at all.  :(

 

Me neither..

 

I was thinking about how Our Lord must have had to face really hot/cold temperatures as well, so maybe that's something we can join to His suffering.

The human body acclimates. When I was in Texas they called 60 degrees coat weather. Whereas in Minnesota I know people who would wear shorts at that temperature.  Honestly, when the thermostat hits extremes you will feel uncomfortable regardless of what you wear or don't wear. Really hot feels really hot and really cold feels really cold. 

 

That said ... if you enter religious life you should brace yourself to "put up" with a lot. In that life you're supposed to avoid even expressing preferences let alone actually pursuing them. Our culture encourages us to be assertive and work towards what we want ... so its difficult.  Its easier in the very beginning, then after awhile it gets really old ... and then after a time (longer or shorter!) it gets easier again ...  but the whole thing requires supernatural grace, that's for sure.

great point!

 

It's the way women dressed for centuries, in the Muslims countries but also in Europe. Neither Scholastica nor St. Clare nor any of the other foundresses really "invented" their habits - they simply adapted the exsting clothing of women in their culture.

 

If you look at Renaissance paintings, you'll see that all the women wear floor-length dresses and usually a head covering, too. BTW, most men floor-length clothe & head coverings as well.

 

Clothing isn't just about heat/warmth. It's also about protection. If you're working in the garden, you probably need to protect your legs against thorns, kneeling on rocks/mud, bugs, etc. Most farmers in most countries have worn a full outfit of clothes all day. Clothing also protects "outsiders" from the sun - go to a ball game and you'll notice people putting handkerchiefs on their heads if they haven't worn their team caps.

 

I met an old guy a while ago - his father had been a farmer in the Midwest. He told me his dad wore his long underwear 365 days out the year. This would have been back in the days before air conditioning.

 

that's true, people have dressed this way for centuries and millennia. Even in places like Southern Italy where it gets really hot in the summer.

I love the sunburn comment and agree completely!

 

I wear a modified habit and we have a lighter summer habit.  Obviously, its still much more than what most people wear in the middle of the summer.  I think that the first few hot days of each summer are the worst, but then my body acclimates to the heat and the layers of clothing.  It isn't comfortable all the time, but it also isn't unbearable.  We don't have air conditioning everywhere in our convents either and we try not to use it as often as possible (poverty).  I agree that it is something to offer up but for me personally, the connection with poverty is very meaningful too.

 

I think of all the people who can't afford to buy clothes for each season.  Our society is used to having an outfit for every occasion in their closets but they forget that for some people - they wear what they have and they don't take it off if its too hot for fear they won't get it back.  I think of the people, especially vulnerable children and elderly who don't have someone to look out for them, who don't have money for air conditioners in their hot apartments.  I try then to live in solidarity with them instead of focusing on my own discomfort.

 

There is also something about being physically uncomfortable that makes you feel alive.  I know that sounds weird but it gets you in touch with the human condition in a way that you otherwise miss in the hustle and bustle of our world.  I think its the fact that it becomes okay to not have everything in order, to maybe not look as nice being hot and sweaty, to not feel 100% - but to still continue living!  It is a countercultural way to live and there is something spiritually therapeutic about it.       

 

that's really beautiful, about it being an expression of poverty and being in solidarity with the poor, and also giving up the desire for comfort :)

[maximillion]

Yes, you do acclimatise.

Even though Normandy weather is not so incredibly different to England, I  was born in the NE of England and there was a bout a 5 degree difference in temp all year round. The first summer  I was in the habit I found haymaking a  bit onerous, but Mother let me leave off our under-habit. In 1976 when there was heatwave and drought across Europe we did the farm work in our under-habits (which were white as opposed to the brown habit), then were permitted to leave off our long stockings (cotton, thick white) then even our caps. I was still a novice so my shorter work veil was white.

 

We had no hot running water in the night noviciate and I really appreciated my strip wash in lovely cool water after the work periods in the sun. I also learned lots about the privilege of being able to turn on a tap and have running water, since our plumbing broke one year and we hand pumped and hauled all our water for about 10 days from the well in our grounds.

Boy do I remember that!

 

One unfortunate aspect was that we tended to do all the heavy common work in the mornings and devote afternoons to lectio and meditation, private prayer etc, so by about 2pm there was a healthy aroma around the place from the sweat of earlier work.

 

Yes, we were encouraged to offer every little bit of discomfort, and at times of excess heat Mother would give the knock at breakfast and add 'For the Souls in Purgatory' or some other dedication for which we offered the privations of the day. She always came up with a new one!

 

One note.....when one is covered up in hot weather and sweat, the sweat collects on the fabric then evaporates slowly against the skin...this is a more efficient cooling method than wearing skimpy clothing and is the reason people from the middle east etc rarely feel the effects of the heat whereas, yes, people in shorts and tank tops will faint.

[Strictlyinkblot]

On my first visit to my community I got very dizzy one of the days. I had slept for too long in the afternoon and hadn't drank anything for about four hours. Being Irish I wasn't used to the heat and forgot to get a drink before Vespers. My head started spinning and I had to sit down for the whole Office. I was a little embarrassed. Funnily enough the hardest thing I found about the heat was my feet swelling. My community wear knee socks all the time so that's probably what I'll find the toughest to deal with.

[graciandelamadrededios]

The Pink Sisters in the Philippines has this custom of walking very slowly.  I observed one aged Superior who has this very distinct slow walk and she looked very recollected.

 

The American Pink Sisters could not understand the Filipina Sisters way of walking and doing things slowly but when one of them was sent to the Philippines for Formators Meeting, the Americans immediately understood why. 

 

This Sister who participated the Formators Meeting commented that she has never walked very slowly in her life!

 

There are certain ways of doing things to adapt to the heat particularly in the Tropics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DameAgnes]

You're just hot and yes, it is a penance and no, it's not always easy! For me, it is having my head covered more than anything. I guess I've got a lot of hot air!

You do get used to wearing a lot of clothes and after awhile "forget" what it is like wearing only a shirt and shorts, or skirt, etc.

 

I think that aside from the reparation aspect the habit is such a gift to wear and so much a part of you that one really can't imagine not wearing it!

For us, we wear a blue cotton tunic for garden work and a white cotton veil. But we still wear a cap and stockings! :-)

 

I'd rather be outside in the heat than inside sometimes. We don't have a lot of A/C, just in the choir and the community room. There are few other places that have it like the soap room so we like to be in those places, too!

 

We are prudent and make sure the sisters drink plenty of fluids. When it gets really hot everyone is advised to go slow and do their work in the community room if possible.

 

Sister, do you wear stockings in summer? No sandals and bare legs?

[juchu]

It will be my first summer in the habit, but some spring days have given my a tiny taste...

Yes, it is hot and we do not have a "summer version", as I have seen at other communities which have shorter sleeves, but we can adapt of what we wear under the habit, for example we can really go without socks in the sandals, etc. which almost all sisters do and which helps a lot.

 

But I find that I really need to at least wear a T-Shirt underneath to change more often, because of the sweat - we give our habit to the laundry once a week (if there is an emergency we have a third old habit to use in case you ruin your habit while the other one is still in the wash...)

I know communities who give their habit only to wash every 2nd month.... For this I would really have to turn into a Saint...

[Sr Mary Catharine OP]

For some reason it is a particular custom of Dominican Nuns that we wear stockings all the time. Before our constitutions changed in 1970 we weren't allowed to wear sandals. Dominicans wore shoes! It was a theological statement going back to the time of St. Dominic! The Cathars said that the gospels said SANDALS and the Council of Montpelier said that all Catholic priests/preachers, to show their orthodoxy were to wear shoes because it is the Church that hands down the interpretation of the scriptures! 

In the canonization process of St. Margaret of Hungary the writer glossed over her penances (which were extreme!) but marveled that she wore STOCKINGS to bed! What kind of stockings were they I ask!

 

Probably in some monasteries the sisters are free not to wear stockings in the warm months. There is no legislation on it so there is freedom for each monastery to do as they wish but Summit wears stockings in the summer at least now.

 

We can wear sandals anytime.

 

We only wash our habit every 2 weeks. But we change our little tunic and other clothing as often as needed.

[DiscerningCatholic]

Yeah, I was wondering, how many habits do you have? I remember Sr. MM saying something about having "a few habits."