awyers Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 [quote name='Sr. Mary Catharine' post='1334255' date='Jul 18 2007, 08:15 PM']Creases are NOT a part of our habit, at least not for the friars or the nuns. In fact they were expressly forbidden in the nuns constitutions. I only recently learned about the style of habit of Nashville and Ann Arbor with creases and pleats in the skirt part and well, we don't consider that the authentic Dominican Habit! For us, it is like the Poor Clares, a very simple tunic style. One size fits all! There are seams at the shoulders and then it hangs and is caught by the belt. NO PLEATS! NO CREASES! Deo gratias! We'll have to look into steamers! We use the big pressers and it can be a lot of work. My only question would be how the scapular looks and obviously it looks fine for the Poor Clares.[/quote] I am just recently back from pre-postulant week with the SMME and I can say for a fact that their habits do not have any creases or pleats in the 'skirt part' since I helped wash them! The have a simple loose-fitting one piece tunic and the scapular is folded to form three crosses down the middle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmelitess Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 [quote name='be_thou_my_vision' post='1336706' date='Jul 21 2007, 06:58 PM']Under our habits, we wear a white t-shirt and a slip, and yes, those are clean. We get up to 7 white shirts and 3-4 slips, and like I said, we get to do laundry every week. So that stuff gets cleaned. And of course we wear clean undergarments. The Carmelite nuns in Terre Haute, IN bathe daily. When I was discerning with them, I asked that same question. I'm pretty finicky about hygiene, so all these questions were high on my list. [/quote] Thanks for being so specific! I, too, love to be clean and fresh every day. I know that every community is different, but it's such a relief to know that your community and the Carmel in Indiana practice good hygiene. : How great that you all have plenty of underclothes! I just hope all this is the same in communities in Italy.... God bless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
be_thou_my_vision Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 [quote name='Carmelitess' post='1336847' date='Jul 21 2007, 08:52 PM']Thanks for being so specific! I, too, love to be clean and fresh every day. I know that every community is different, but it's such a relief to know that your community and the Carmel in Indiana practice good hygiene. : How great that you all have plenty of underclothes! I just hope all this is the same in communities in Italy.... God bless![/quote] Haha! Yes, Italy could be a completely different story!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosamundi Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 [quote name='Cathoholic Anonymous' post='1336358' date='Jul 21 2007, 03:31 PM']Really?! I don't understand how the Tyburn can get away with washing their habits only twice a year. Especially as they're WHITE. And what if you're doing hard work in the house, like scrubbing floors? I don't see how being smelly and dirty adds anything to your devotional life.[/quote] The Tyburn Nuns wear black habits, with a white choir robe. I used to take part in the Night Adoration at Tyburn, we would meet the nun in charge of the adorers before we went up to watch, and I can say I didn't notice that her habit was as dirty or as smelly as one would expect it to be if it was only washed twice a year. Perhaps the rules have changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sr Mary Catharine OP Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 [quote name='Piobaire' post='1336838' date='Jul 21 2007, 10:40 PM']I am just recently back from pre-postulant week with the SMME and I can say for a fact that their habits do not have any creases or pleats in the 'skirt part' since I helped wash them! The have a simple loose-fitting one piece tunic and the scapular is folded to form three crosses down the middle.[/quote] I wonder if they changed because a former novice told me this. She said that the tunic part was cut separate from the skirt part and sewn together and that there were 2 pleats, front and back. It was the same habit as Nashville. Isn't there a crease down the front of the scapular vertically? That's what it looks like. Both the friars and the sisters have (had) that. The nuns just had the horizontal folds because the scapulars were folded and placed on the shelf, not hung. Once we began hanging our scapulars with the tunic there was no need for the folds. The only time you see folds is when someone gets a habit off the shelf and it hasn't been repressed yet! :-) thanks for filling us in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sr Mary Catharine OP Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 [quote name='rosamundi' post='1337311' date='Jul 22 2007, 07:53 AM']The Tyburn Nuns wear black habits, with a white choir robe. I used to take part in the Night Adoration at Tyburn, we would meet the nun in charge of the adorers before we went up to watch, and I can say I didn't notice that her habit was as dirty or as smelly as one would expect it to be if it was only washed twice a year. Perhaps the rules have changed.[/quote] Well, this was from a postulant who just left there about 2 months ago! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosamundi Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 [quote name='Sr. Mary Catharine' post='1337399' date='Jul 22 2007, 04:33 PM']Well, this was from a postulant who just left there about 2 months ago![/quote] Eurgh! Although I can honestly say I didn't notice any, um, fragrance that one would expect if the habit was only washed twice a year - but then I was an Adorer, not a postulant so would obviously not be as familiar with the monastery's ways as she would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathoholic_anonymous Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 [quote name='Sr. Mary Catharine' post='1337399' date='Jul 22 2007, 04:33 PM']Well, this was from a postulant who just left there about 2 months ago![/quote] A couple of years ago I considered writing to Tyburn for some vocational information. I am so glad I didn't. I bet they wouldn't have included that in the leaflets. Funny how little things put you off. Like wanting to be clean. What does it achieve to wash your habit only twice a year? I don't see the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sr Mary Catharine OP Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 (edited) [quote name='Totus Tuus' post='1336654' date='Jul 21 2007, 05:18 PM']The PCPAs in Hanceville (which are the nuns you probably see through EWTN) have two habits Having [i]brown[/i] habits helps keep the appearance of cleanliness even when they're kinda dirty. However, aprons are a BIG must - the seamstresses at OLAM stress the use of aprons during all work periods![/quote] Yes, but how is it that stains manage to get onto your habit EVEN with an apron on or that food 10 feet away somehow manages to get onto your sleeve! Or that a DIRTY habit doesn't attract more stains but a CLEAN habit on the FIRST day, does! These are the real mysteries of monastic life! BTW, we wear "tunicelles" (Little tunics) under our habit and we change those everyday or almost everyday. And we have plenty of undergarments and stockings to change every day, too. We don't have personal wash but a community wash. However, should you need to get something washed before the washday you can always do it. When I first go the habit we had a puppy and she would ALWAYS run up to me and jump up on me with her paws full of mud! I was always getting permission to wash my habit between washes! Now, I see a stain and I say, "Oh well!" Edited July 22, 2007 by Sr. Mary Catharine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lioness For Christ Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 [quote name='Sr. Mary Catharine' post='1334950' date='Jul 19 2007, 03:45 PM']I think some OCD monasteries still use wool and others don't. It's so expensive! That's the problem. We had to wear wool (no less than 51%) up until the 70's but they changed that in the constitutions because wool was no longer the fabric of the poor but of the rich![/quote] A ha! I thought there must have been a reason they don't look like wool now! And I totally forgot how hard it would be to clean them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puellapaschalis Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Quickly butting in: there are now two postulants here The latest entered this morning, it was super! She was at Tyburn in London for a while but left and came here. Meanwhile, the other postulant is getting ready for her clothing next month. There is MUCH discussion about veil lengths and so on.... PP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stlmom Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Related to hygiene problems with the older habit style were those starched headbands that veils were pinned on-- the sisters who taught me said that perspiration would collect behind the headband and over the forehead, causing a lot of skin breakouts--yuck--I think the headband veils are a lot healthier in climates where you have to contend with heat and humidity. I wonder how the PCPA's manage this living in the South? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totus Tuus Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 (edited) [quote name='stlmom' post='1338464' date='Jul 23 2007, 10:25 AM']I wonder how the PCPA's manage this living in the South?[/quote] A little purgatory on earth The poplin guimpes can breathe ok, actually. The plastic in other parts of the veil doesn't breathe well though. While it is hot, it doesn't cause break-outs for the sisters, that I know of. The most annoying part is not being able to itch the top of your head : Edited July 23, 2007 by Totus Tuus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sr Mary Catharine OP Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 [quote name='Totus Tuus' post='1338790' date='Jul 23 2007, 07:43 PM']A little purgatory on earth The poplin guimpes can breathe ok, actually. The plastic in other parts of the veil doesn't breathe well though. While it is hot, it doesn't cause break-outs for the sisters, that I know of. The most annoying part is not being able to itch the top of your head :[/quote] But don't they have A/C down in Hansville? Here up north we don't have that except in certain places of the house and this is only recent AND we only put it on when it's unbearable. Our new postulants are all from the south and so they are finding the heat up here in the North difficult to adjust to w/o central air! However, God is merciful and this summer has be DELIGHTFUL. Today is actually COLD! Thank you, dear Lord! BTW, these veils are exactly cool, either. It's all closed up and there is plastic although some of us use the plastic mesh for needlework. The old coif was open in the back but the headband area got very dirty and Sr. Maria tells me that her's would actually split. The neck of the guimpe would also get very yellow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totus Tuus Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 [quote name='Sr. Mary Catharine' post='1339047' date='Jul 23 2007, 09:18 PM']But don't they have A/C down in Hansville?[/quote] Yes... It can be hot inside and outside Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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