little question on titles

[MarysLittleFlower]

This is something I know very little about. What is the difference between, for example - Mother Superior and Prioress? does it depend on the community? when do you use which title? And in general what type of "jobs" (for lack of a better word) are there in a community? (such as Novice Mistress... that's all I know :)). This is something I'm very ignorant about so any info would help.. thanks!!

[Starets]

Mother Superior is simply the superior of the community. Prioress would be used if the monastery is a Priory and she is the superior. Also if the monastery is an abbey and she is second-in-command then she would be the Prioress. Aside from Novice Mistress there would usually be Cellarer (business manager). There's also cooking, cleaning and maintenance work to do. There might be a gardener as well, or farmer if there is a lot of land. There would be a sacristan as well. There's certainly no shortage of work to do!

[Nunsuch]

It also depends on whether you are talking about an active or a contemplative/cloistered community. Different titles would be used. For example, many communities today have a "formation director" instead of a "novice mistress" (this would be especially if they have one person in charge of both candidates/postulants and novices). Many communities today would have a "treasurer" instead of a "cellarer." And most would have Councillors. 

Almost every community gives information on those in leadership on their websites, so that would be another way of finding out what a particular house or community calls their "officers."  

[MarysLittleFlower]

Thank you! I realized I don't even know the difference between a priory and an abbey. What is the difference?

[Luigi]

It's complicated, but... 

An abbey is a monastery that is fully independent unto itself. If it's a monastery of men, the person in charge is an abbot (from the Hebrew "abba" = "father"). If its a monastery of women, the person in charge is an abbess (the feminine form of abbot, but it doesn't mean "mother). 

Now. (Are you taking notes?) If an abbey has enough personnel that they decide to self-replicate, they send four-five-six of their members to the new location. This is usually termed "a dependent priory." The person in charge of the dependent priory is call a prior (man) or prioress (woman). As the dependent priory becomes more stable (income, vocations, whatnot), it's status is changed to "independent priory." The person in charge retains the same title. And eventually, when it's fully able to take of itself, the community is raised to the status of abbey, at which point the monks/nuns elect an abbot/abbess. 

And then the process repeats itself, throughout all time and geography. 

 

And that is how Catholicism will conquer the world. (Say "Amen" somebody!)

[Antigonos]

Mother Superior is simply the superior of the community. Prioress would be used if the monastery is a Priory and she is the superior. Also if the monastery is an abbey and she is second-in-command then she would be the Prioress. Aside from Novice Mistress there would usually be Cellarer (business manager). There's also cooking, cleaning and maintenance work to do. There might be a gardener as well, or farmer if there is a lot of land. There would be a sacristan as well. There's certainly no shortage of work to do!

​Starets, good to hear from you!

[He is Risen!]

The community that I was in (Franciscan) had a community servant (superior over everything), she had an assistant called a vicar, a treasurer, a vocations director, and novice mistress.  This was for the whole community.  Each individual convent (6-8 sisters per house) had a head of the house (local servant) and she had a 2nd (local vicar) a portress (answered the door and checked answering machine etc) a refectorian (kitchen needs other than cooking), a cook, a sacristan (setting up the chapel),a laundress (we had 2 per house to split up the work) a gardener, a begger, a sister in charge of maintaining the van, (no special name for her, haha), a librarian, and we would split up cleaning into areas assigned to each sister.  All positions rotated but some rotated faster than others.  The big jobs for the whole community and the local servants rotated about every 4-5 years (can't remember exactly) and the smaller jobs rotated about every 3 months.  Some things we did together like washing dishes because that was our recreation and other things were done by seniority (like driving unless that sister didn't want to or have a license, then it would go to be the next senior) There was also a choir director for when we had a special occasion like vows when we would have a separate choir other than everyone singing together.  Oh and we would also rotate leading prayer at each convent.  Whew!