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Dose Your Hair Have To Be Long To Be A Carmelite Nun?


carmelite15

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carmelite15

i just wanted to know if my hair have to be long to be a carmelite nun? and if it dose have to be long how long dose it have to be?

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VeniteAdoremus

I'm quite sure that the sisters will welcome you no matter what your hair length.

The cutting of the hair is a beautiful tradition, but it's not essential :)

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[quote name='VeniteAdoremus' post='1915431' date='Jul 9 2009, 08:09 AM']The cutting of the hair is a beautiful tradition, but it's not essential :)[/quote]

This is one of my favorite traditions :) ...I remember talking to one of my future Sisters about it and she beautifully describe how on the day of the reception to the habit, the new novices leave the chapel to be clothed in the holy habit and that is when their Angel cuts their hair...it is beautiful, and it is exciting to think that soon I will be learning the name of my Angel!! :saint:

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VeniteAdoremus

Dame Julian told me about when her hair was cut... it was after Great Silence started, so they couldn't talk, and she just sat and saw it fall all around her :)

I love how your Angel cuts your hair! (I probably wouldn't be made an Angel only for that reason. I'd cut your ears off.)

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puellapaschalis

It would be so many levels of brilliance if my angel cut my hair. We'd be giggling all the way through it, she'd be apologising for cutting my ear off and I'd be apologising for moving so much (because of the giggles) that my ear got cut.

But I think it might be the Novice Mistress who does it....

Edited by puellapaschalis
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The superior does it at OLAM. Rev. Mother hasn't been well enough to do an investiture for a couple years (actually the last ceremony she was able to go to was my entrance... :) ). But she loved it. She'd draw it out. Make sure everyone could see the sister's hair. There was one sister who had never cut her hair... I think it was down to her knees almost... she had fun with that one! Take her time. Chuckle a lot. :hehehe:

She did the same reading the scroll. Make it REAL suspenseful. haha.

Sr. Catherine was hysterical. She'd talk to you while she was doing it, making you laugh. (the mic was off so no one else could hear except the seamstress helping her) She kept tripping over me. She kept saying, "I'm going to give you a real nice cut, so you won't have to go back and fix it." :lol:

Of course it was still pretty funny looking and uneven... But I left it for a couple of months before I had someone fix it, because it made me chuckle in the morning. Of course the last time I cut it, I did it myself and I totally hacked it off. Looked terrible. :lol_roll:

Edited by zunshynn
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VeniteAdoremus

I don't think my congregation does anything about hair cutting... I'll probably ask to have my mum braid it before the veil goes on :)

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puellapaschalis

[quote name='VeniteAdoremus' post='1915651' date='Jul 9 2009, 06:28 PM']I don't think my congregation does anything about hair cutting... I'll probably ask to have my mum braid it before the veil goes on :)[/quote]

I was told that they don't, no. Possibly the hair helps keep it on (along with the ears).

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One thing that surprised me was how long it took me to get ready in the morning as a postulant, just because I had to figure out how to put my hair up. (How the sister who had hair down to her knees did it I can't even fathom.) Then when I got the habit, I was thinking with so many more pieces of clothes it would take me forever to get ready, but it actually only took about 7 minutes to get ready because I had very little hair to worry about! Who would have thought it would make such a difference!

Now I have to think about my hair again. Don't like that.

I :love: the PCPA habit, by the way.

How long of a postulancy do Carmelites have these days? And do they recieve their name at entrance or investiture now?

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InHisLove726

[quote name='zunshynn' post='1915744' date='Jul 9 2009, 01:36 PM']One thing that surprised me was how long it took me to get ready in the morning as a postulant, just because I had to figure out how to put my hair up. (How the sister who had hair down to her knees did it I can't even fathom.) Then when I got the habit, I was thinking with so many more pieces of clothes it would take me forever to get ready, but it actually only took about 7 minutes to get ready because I had very little hair to worry about! Who would have thought it would make such a difference!

Now I have to think about my hair again. Don't like that.

I :love: the PCPA habit, by the way.

How long of a postulancy do Carmelites have these days? And do they recieve their name at entrance or investiture now?[/quote]

It depends on the order, but it's about 6 months to a year of postulancy.

Their religious name is always received when they receive the habit and become a novice. :)

Edited by InHisLove726
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Lilllabettt

[quote name='InHisLove726' post='1915945' date='Jul 9 2009, 04:17 PM']Their religious name is always received when they receive the habit and become a novice. :)[/quote]


Are you sure? I thought Annie (nunsense) received her name in religion when she entered ...

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InHisLove726

[quote name='Lilllabettt' post='1915964' date='Jul 9 2009, 03:34 PM']Are you sure? I thought Annie (nunsense) received her name in religion when she entered ...[/quote]

Annie's case was special because she's been in formation before with another Carmelite order. ;)

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Thomist-in-Training

[quote name='InHisLove726' post='1915984' date='Jul 9 2009, 03:49 PM']Annie's case was special because she's been in formation before with another Carmelite order. ;)[/quote]

Are you sure? I thought too that it had been mentioned before that some Carmelite monasteries give names upon entrance even for first-timers. Definitely when I asked a nun how many in their Carmelite monastery, she told me "13" or whatever and I asked "Is that 13 professed, or altogether?" and she said "Definitely altogether!" and said something I forget exactly what stressing that especially among Carmelites, sisters in formation are still [i]very [/i]much considered to belong to the Order and to the monastery.

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puellapaschalis

If I remember correctly, nunsense first entered at Wolverhampton, and also received her new name upon entrance there.

What about St. Theresa of the Andes? Of course the only things I know about her life was what I saw on the youtube videos, so I'm not going to claim real knowledge based on that :)

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InHisLove726

[quote name='Thomist-in-Training' post='1916000' date='Jul 9 2009, 04:10 PM']Are you sure? I thought too that it had been mentioned before that some Carmelite monasteries give names upon entrance even for first-timers. Definitely when I asked a nun how many in their Carmelite monastery, she told me "13" or whatever and I asked "Is that 13 professed, or altogether?" and she said "Definitely altogether!" and said something I forget exactly what stressing that especially among Carmelites, sisters in formation are still [i]very [/i]much considered to belong to the Order and to the monastery.[/quote]

I don't believe I've seen a Carmelite order that gives out religious names except in special cases. I know some of them might call the new postulant "Sister" but they usually attach it to her birth name. This is usually only amongst the cloistered orders.

The Carmelite orders are very close knit by what I've witnessed. Any time a Sister has to leave because of illness or discernment, it creates disappointment amongst the community. They pray for each other and become family to one another, so I am sure that's why the Sister you are speaking of included everyone in her count--postulants, novices, and professed.

Edited by InHisLove726
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