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'young Nuns' Tv Program


marigold

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[quote name='faithcecelia' timestamp='1319629948' post='2327210']


Erhmmm, not sure about some of what she says, seemed to start well and go downhill to my mind. Maybe thats because I know that nuns cry - I cried a year almost before I entered and the 2 since I left, the postulant after me cried for the whole of her postulancy almost non stop, and a former prioress apparently cried for a year! Nuns also lived social lives before entering - I know a prioress who spent the '70s getting arrested and who proudly introduced me to people who got arrested with her! I know nuns who have co-habited, who have been married. Nuns who have been top lawyers and nuns who have been hippies!!! Nuns also have very varied family backgrounds, and from experience that actually makes little difference to who makes it to final vows. I know of atheist families who support their nun relative and 'good Catholics' who refuse to accept at all. There is no stereotype at all.

Thankfully, the documentary was far less judgemental!
[/quote]

I hadn't picked up on that... interesting point. I just thought it was funny and quite insightful, but I guess it is a little judgmental... *shrug*

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somethingfishy

[quote name='i<3franciscans' timestamp='1319645955' post='2327305'] *sigh* I wish I lived in England.
[/quote]

Eh, no you don't. :/

I found myself getting a bit irritated at the posh girl. She had such a self-centered, world-revolves-around-me attitude toward the whole thing -- even toward the lovely Dominicans. And dreaming of being a nun when you were four does not count as "discernment."

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Can I be terribly superior - I thought she was just plain undecided yet didn't realise it. Er...being open to marriage or the convent is NOT discerning a life of religion, it is being open to His Will. Good, but different.
And I thought Clara would have some difficulties too, she was so very close to her family. I hope they both find what God really wants of them. Seeing SMC, even just briefly, was great.

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[quote name='maximillion' timestamp='1319651996' post='2327349']
Can I be terribly superior - I thought she was just plain undecided yet didn't realise it. Er...being open to marriage or the convent is NOT discerning a life of religion, it is being open to His Will. Good, but different.
And I thought Clara would have some difficulties too, she was so very close to her family. I hope they both find what God really wants of them. Seeing SMC, even just briefly, was great.
[/quote]

My thoughts exactly.

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i<3franciscans

[quote name='somethingfishy' timestamp='1319647979' post='2327320']

Eh, no you don't. :/

I found myself getting a bit irritated at the posh girl. She had such a self-centered, world-revolves-around-me attitude toward the whole thing -- even toward the lovely Dominicans. And dreaming of being a nun when you were four does not count as "discernment."
[/quote]
I just saw the part about the CFRs... and I was wondering what the rest was like... I wonder no more.

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somethingfishy

[quote name='i<3franciscans' timestamp='1319653257' post='2327358']
I just saw the part about the CFRs... and I was wondering what the rest was like... I wonder no more.
[/quote]

The part with the CFRs was my very favorite bit!

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IgnatiusofLoyola

If anyone hears of any way that those of us in the U.S. could see this documentary, PLEASE speak up. I know that are a number of us who would very much like to see it. Thank-you!

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[quote name='maximillion' timestamp='1319651996' post='2327349']
Can I be terribly superior - I thought she was just plain undecided yet didn't realise it. Er...being open to marriage or the convent is NOT discerning a life of religion, it is being open to His Will. Good, but different.
And I thought Clara would have some difficulties too, she was so very close to her family. I hope they both find what God really wants of them. Seeing SMC, even just briefly, was great.
[/quote]

I think this is spot on. When anyone enteres, there are things we struggle most about leaving behind. For me it was very much friends I missed and not my family at all. I was very much the 'Catherine' and not the 'Clara' (though I am far from posh!).

I think the programme showed well that however much we may desire someting, we are not always ready for it - in this case, nither of the women were, but one recognised it before entering (remember the NM had said that if she said she was definately feeling ready, then she would report that back to the community) and the other after being there a few months.

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IgnatiusofLoyola

[quote name='Lisa' timestamp='1319654979' post='2327372']
Iggy, I've looked everywhere. Nada so far.
[/quote]

Thanks for trying.

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[quote name='IgnatiusofLoyola' timestamp='1319654877' post='2327371']
If anyone hears of any way that those of us in the U.S. could see this documentary, PLEASE speak up. I know that are a number of us who would very much like to see it. Thank-you!
[/quote]


I don't have a dvd recorder, but will ask my family. That might work on your pc then? I'll try.

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[quote name='faithcecelia' timestamp='1319629948' post='2327210']


Erhmmm, not sure about some of what she says, seemed to start well and go downhill to my mind. Maybe thats because I know that nuns cry - I cried a year almost before I entered and the 2 since I left, the postulant after me cried for the whole of her postulancy almost non stop, and a former prioress apparently cried for a year! Nuns also lived social lives before entering - I know a prioress who spent the '70s getting arrested and who proudly introduced me to people who got arrested with her! I know nuns who have co-habited, who have been married. Nuns who have been top lawyers and nuns who have been hippies!!! Nuns also have very varied family backgrounds, and from experience that actually makes little difference to who makes it to final vows. I know of atheist families who support their nun relative and 'good Catholics' who refuse to accept at all. There is no stereotype at all.

Thankfully, the documentary was far less judgemental!
[/quote]

Having read it again I think perhaps she was talking about the stereotypes that TV producers play up to in order to create drama in a documentary, not stereotypes about what type of lady becomes a nun... So Clara the 'close-knit family girl' is juxtaposed with Catherine the 'socialite girl' ... am I right in thinking this?

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[quote name='marigold' timestamp='1319664302' post='2327438']

Having read it again I think perhaps she was talking about the stereotypes that TV producers play up to in order to create drama in a documentary, not stereotypes about what type of lady becomes a nun... So Clara the 'close-knit family girl' is juxtaposed with Catherine the 'socialite girl' ... am I right in thinking this?
[/quote]


I think that, of course, the producers would have wanted 2 different types of women, of course. But it was the bloggers very negative attitude to Catherine that got to me - aside from a refined accent, there was noting actually about her to suggest she was negative towards the idea of living with 'lower class' woman, as she seemed to suggest.

I hope both the womwn find their correct paths in life, and it may well be that that is in religious life, but they both realise they need t mature and become more sure of their decision in order to do it properly - quite possibly Clara will take longer as homesickness is far harder to deal with than stopping going clubbing! :hehe2:

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The big difficulty for anybody embarking on religious life is that the reality is rarely exactly how we imagined it would be. No matter how many live-ins and visits we may have had, the fact of entering for real is bound to feel different. I suspect that Clara had loved her visits so much that the permanent separation from her lovely family came as more of a shock than she'd anticipated. If she does decide to return to the abbey at least she'll be ready for that next time. I thought both the young women were doing exactly the right thing - they were walking in faith, listening to the good advice of those sisters with more experience and willing to be guided by people able to help them make good decisions. A liking for nightclubs and make-up doesn't make anybody a bad bet as a future religious. As I remember it, Jesus wasn't against topping up the wine at a party and helping things go with a swing :hehe2:

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