http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/...1558292,00.html

I was at the assisted living center run by the Augustinian Sisters, and i chanced upon this article in Time Magazine.

SHALOM

I read this a little bit ago, it was very interesting, Sr. Julie, whose blog they mention in the article, ha written several peices on it this one is back from when it first came out and this one is a little more recent, if anyone is interested.

I accually think someone may have posted this a little bit ago, let me see....

OH thanks for sharing, I had not read this before!

I remember that article it's pretty cool news. and heartening

I posted about this on my blog.

Yes! I can't understand why so many communities abolished the habit. I am much more attracted to Orders who have retained it, so I'm always puzzled when I read about communities who decided to scrap their habit in order to make themselves more appealing.

I agree, the habit packs a whole lot of tradition of you know charism and mission and all that.

But as you have it, there were many religious congregations that never took a habit, they merely dressed in the common dress as those they served. Bl. Mother Teresa took on the dress of those she ministered too, and St. Francis dressed as a common begger, there was really nothing special in the way those friars dressed.

In the excitement of renewal, some congregations may have seen that their founder had no habit to begin with until the local bishop gave it to them. They may have jumped too far in their thinking, but their reasoning wasnt altogether unreasonable i think. I don't think any order scrapped the habit to make themselves more appealing, some did it thinking it was in the spirit of their foundress.

However, as the bright young women admit in the article, the habit is a suitable witness for our times. When tossed in the closet, a radical public witness is necessary. I mean how far can we go to say how much we love Jesus

SHALOM

But when Mother Theresa took the sari, and St. Francis the beggars garb, all of the friars and sisters wore the same thing. Now adays most orders just wear normal lay clothes, with a tiny litttle pin or cross. The funny thing is, most of the time I can tell who is a nun, and I am always almost right, so why dont they just wear the habit?

At the church I attend in the summer ( Our Lady of Good Voyage ) there are two old Srs. of St. Joseph. One of them ( Sr. M) still wears the full habit. Even though she is now old and not too slim, she still looks beautiful in the habit, like a bride of Christ. She is a visible witness, and I have known people who have went up and talked to her just because she was a nun. The other sister ( Sr. S) doesn't wear the habit, and she looks like all the other older Itailian ladies at the church ( they all seem to sit together) and you would never know that she had sedicated her life to Christ. I dont know either of these nuns very well ( other then polite conversation and my mom's stories) but whenever I had doubts about my vocations, Sr. M was always the one I would think of going to, even though the sisters are equally nice. I think it inspires people, seeing the habit.