Double Vow Ceremony Franciscan Sisters Of The Eucharist

[maximillion]

 

 

wonder why they don't just abandon it entirely.

 

 

LOL, yes, I must admit I thought the same.

[Richard Belcher]

As far as I can see there has been 13 posts with very little congratulations or happiness for the Congregation, and tons of unbridled criticism and vail hatred, get a grip people, you are sounding very habit proud. Most communities would avoid discerners like that like the plague. We have these sisters here in my community and they were a presence and a good influence.

[veritasluxmea]

Should have said that on my first post- Congratulations to the sisters, and the community! 

[Deus te Amat]

o.O

 

If you don't like the habit, don't join the community.

 

If you're not in the community, you can't change the habit.

 

So why all the fuss? Let's have a little detachment here.

 

These are beautiful sisters. God is using them to bring His love to the world. They faithfully serve their Beloved. Let us rejoice for their continued growth!

[Fr. Antony Maria OSB]

I have to say I am very happy to see that the FSE's have had two professions! There are two of these sisters at my seminary, and they are wonderful, beautiful witnesses of what it means to love others as Christ loves and to love Him above all else. They give me a lot to reflect on and strive toward in my own vocation as a religious and (God willing) priest.

 

Regarding the habit comments, I can only echo Dta: it may not appeal to some people, but the thing is it is a religious habit and they are wearing it. They are a witness by their very presence to the love of Christ for the world, and that is the true source of beauty for any and all religious habits. What could be more beautiful than that?

 

 

Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?

~Matthew 6:28-30

[Credo in Deum]

All this fuss over veils is making my trigger finger mighty itchy. If I don't start seeing some more posts congratulating the FSE, I might just go on a thread closing spree.

[Richard Belcher]

I live fairly near their west coast convent. What I like about them, is that they work with the resources they have and the communities they are in to improve things. They are very much faithful religious, but they promote their faith through not spectacular showy works but everyday hard working community work and neighborly spirit. When practically no other community in the American church was growing, including the Nashies,  they were, Not stupendously fast, but they were growing. Congratulations!

Edited August 18, 2014 by Richard Belcher

[maximillion]

I have to say they look as radiant as anyone could......the joy is obvious.

[Thijs]

as long as they are on a habit, orthodox and apostolic..these sisters more prayers and vocations..

 

I'd rather have them than the fully habited sisters of the SSPX or any sedevacantist and even better that  Sr Joan Chittister and those old and dissident ones.

 

I have great admiration for those sisters not in habits; think about the Apostles of the Interior Life or those with out veils like Servants of God's Love, Society for the Devotion of the Scared Heart, Missionary of God's love sisters or the Community of Our Lady of the Walsingham. 

 

What can I say? They are doing an awesome job

[maximillion]

I am only going to post once more here but I need to have my say.

 

I am not into supporting a conversation habits/no habit, veils/no veils, HOWEVER, if you are going to have a habit, have one that looks something halfway good. We all know this world puts a store on the externals, that's why there is a multi billion fashion advertising industry.

 

SO if you walk around wearing something that looks like a throw back to 60's widows weeds...............

 

 

Of course what is more important is the work they do and the witness they give, that goes without saying. But if the work you do and the witness you give are elegant, contemporary and pleasing to people as well as God, so much the better, since this world does set store by externals.

[Richard Belcher]

But what possible business is it of yours? Do you go up to people on the street and tell them how dowdy they look? This is really the equivalent of that. Very rude to say the least.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Richard Belcher

[puellapaschalis]

I don't think, though, that commenting on whether a veil is practical or beautiful is quite the same as accosting someone on the street and offering an unflattering opinion of their dress. If habits were absolutely out of bounds for any kind of comment, they would never be developed, simplified, made more (or less) practical, and so on.

 

I read Maximillion's point to be that there are standards which habits must attain. Some extremes off the top of my head: a bikini would not be suitable, nor would a clown suit. But there are cultural, fuzzier standards too, and because they are fuzzier people often need to talk about them in order to clarify the issues.

 

There is no perfect habit. But there is room for discussion. It is our business because we're part of the Church whose Lord is working through these habits. No, it's not likely that any of us here will be in a position to make effective decisions about habits, but the (road to) understanding should not be denied anyone.

[Richard Belcher]

 

SO if you walk around wearing something that looks like a throw back to 60's widows weeds...............

 

 

So this wasn't insulting...

 

Edited August 18, 2014 by Richard Belcher

[Sister Marie]

I read Maximillion's point to be that there are standards which habits must attain. Some extremes off the top of my head: a bikini would not be suitable, nor would a clown suit. But there are cultural, fuzzier standards too, and because they are fuzzier people often need to talk about them in order to clarify the issues.

There is no perfect habit. But there is room for discussion. It is our business because we're part of the Church whose Lord is working through these habits. No, it's not likely that any of us here will be in a position to make effective decisions about habits, but the (road to) understanding should not be denied anyone.

I have to disagree with you here. There are standards. Who sets them? The community in their general chapter with the approval of the church of their constitutions. Individual priests and lay persons do not have any reason to be a part of the discussions about what the standards are for habits or how a religious community implements those standards. God can work through anything, including a habit, but I think he prefers to work through the women wearing them. We are not a habit-we are human beings -religious women. You are a part of the church but you are not a part of the community so you don't get a say in what we wear. If the church desired the opinions of individuals on a community's habit, they would have provided a forum for that communication to happen. However, they rightfully left the matter to the religious women capable of deciding what to wear as a group.

See paragraph 17 of Perfectae Caritatis for the standards for a religious habit- Poor, becoming, simple, modest, meet the needs for health and the apostolate. That provides a very wide umbrella under which women religious are free to decide as a community what to wear. That is the standard.

It's fine to have a preference or to admire beauty but to suggest that anyone outside the community and their lawful superiors has any right to set the standards for wearing a habit is incorrect. Ask any sister why her community wears what they do and you will receive a long, well thought out answer that calls into account the availability of materials, cost, the variety of body types that must look appropriate, health issues that came up with past versions, community preference, spiritual and charism symbolism, and the comfort of the sisters in wearing appropriate attire in their ministry. You will probably also hear about all the committees, meetings, fittings, discussions, and compromises that finally make a habit.

Now let's get back to celebrating this community. One thing is for sure - no one will mistake them for another community! May God bless them with more generous women who are seeking the Kingdom instead of worldly beauty.

[puellapaschalis]

I agree that my wording was sloppy above in some respects, and I certainly do not hold that laity should be involved in actually determining what a habit should consist of. But going from there to 'You may not even comment' on the appearance of a habit strikes me as being overly defensive. To insist that people shut up their thoughts within themselves and not share them (appropriately) can be damaging.

 

The question of whether the Lord reaches through the habit or the (wo)man wearing it is a 'two sides of the same coin' situation. Certainly the habit doesn't do much preaching (directly) when it is hung up in a closet. Certainly it is the religious wearing the habit that carries out the apostolate (and in some cases do so in street clothes). But the habit is a sign of the religious' consecration, and can spark a response to Christ when all of he (wo)man that was seen was his or her back walking down the opposite side of a crowded street.