Bathing Customs In Communities

[HopefulBride]

[quote name='dominicansoul' timestamp='1317065732' post='2310558']
oh, i forgot to mention that at one dominican convent, there was a time limit, 5 mins to get in and out of a shower. Sometimes the water would NEVER heat up enuff in that short time. Cold showers became common for me... and I mean... bone-chilling cold showers...
[/quote]

ouch. 5 minutes!!! 5 minutes!!! I can barely wash and exfoliate my face in 10 minutes. However will I survive??

[faithcecelia]

[quote name='HopefulBride' timestamp='1317065963' post='2310562']

ouch. 5 minutes!!! 5 minutes!!! I can barely wash and exfoliate my face in 10 minutes. However will I survive??
[/quote]

Well, you won't be exfoliating!




Unless you are given a rough flannel.

[HopefulBride]

[quote name='faithcecelia' timestamp='1317066041' post='2310563']

Well, you won't be exfoliating!




Unless you are given a rough flannel.
[/quote]

No exfoliating? Not even once a week? Le gasp, le big gasp.

[brandelynmarie]

Most days I can be in & out of the shower, dried off & dressed in less than 10 minutes, so this may be a good thing! However, there are days when I need (want?) a more leisurely bath time....I'm going on a private retreat next week at St. Emma's & the sister who is in charge of it mentioned I will have a choice of shower or tub at the retreat house. She mentioned that the tub would be a good spot for meditation ( a good long soak!) . I think I may get spoiled there, lol.

[quote name='faithcecelia' timestamp='1317066041' post='2310563']

Well, you won't be exfoliating!




Unless you are given a rough flannel.
[/quote]

[faithcecelia]

[quote name='brandelynmarie' timestamp='1317066318' post='2310569']
Most days I can be in & out of the shower, dried off & dressed in less than 10 minutes, so this may be a good thing! However, there are days when I need (want?) a more leisurely bath time....I'm going on a private retreat next week at St. Emma's & the sister who is in charge of it mentioned I will have a choice of shower or tub at the retreat house. She mentioned that the tub would be a good spot for meditation ( a good long soak!) . I think I may get spoiled there, lol.






[/quote]


D'you know, earlier this evening I thought to myself that the only thing I would change about the guesthouse here is I would add a bath!

[brandelynmarie]

[quote name='carmenchristi' timestamp='1317065516' post='2310556']
We don't have any shower/bathing rules... everyone is responsible for herself. Of course if someone isn't very hygenically consciensious there would be some kind of encouragement/instruction in novitiate as to the european cultural norms of personal cleanliness. Most people are expected to know this when the enter the convent, however.
[/quote]


This sounds very reasoanable.

[brandelynmarie]

[quote name='faithcecelia' timestamp='1317066489' post='2310571']


D'you know, earlier this evening I thought to myself that the only thing I would change about the guesthouse here is I would add a bath!
[/quote]

That's too funny!


Psalm 51:7 Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow.

[Feankie]

Okay, but where are you going to find hyssop with winter coming on ?! I don't think any florists I know carry it, let alone know what it is

[GraceUk]

I'm still not convinced about the en suite bathrooms for Carmelites - solitude or not. And I don't think Saint Teresa would have approved!! But maybe cleansing with hyssop would be OK. On feast days only.

[Aya Sophia]

O my gosh this "bathing" thread is now "HOT" ! ! !

[Nunsense]

I don't think we should judge any community on how they structure things - either bathing or bedding because they all have their own reasons for what they do, and common sense is usually at the base of their decisions.

Faith says she felt 'horror' at the en suite bathrooms (not picking on you faith, just choosing an example) and yet she goes on to talk about taking her doona with her. This would be looked at negatively by some Carmels, where blankets are the norm. Then again, I was in one Carmel (Australia) where they had electric blankets in the winter. So we just have to accept that each community has its own norms.

[HopefulBride]

[quote name='nunsense' timestamp='1317080690' post='2310663']
I don't think we should judge any community on how they structure things - either bathing or bedding because they all have their own reasons for what they do, and common sense is usually at the base of their decisions.

Faith says she felt 'horror' at the en suite bathrooms (not picking on you faith, just choosing an example) and yet she goes on to talk about taking her doona with her. This would be looked at negatively by some Carmels, where blankets are the norm. Then again, I was in one Carmel (Australia) where they had electric blankets in the winter. So we just have to accept that each community has its own norms.
[/quote]

[brandelynmarie]

[faithcecelia]

[quote name='nunsense' timestamp='1317080690' post='2310663']
I don't think we should judge any community on how they structure things - either bathing or bedding because they all have their own reasons for what they do, and common sense is usually at the base of their decisions.

Faith says she felt 'horror' at the en suite bathrooms (not picking on you faith, just choosing an example) and yet she goes on to talk about taking her doona with her. This would be looked at negatively by some Carmels, where blankets are the norm. Then again, I was in one Carmel (Australia) where they had electric blankets in the winter. So we just have to accept that each community has its own norms.
[/quote]


I have absolutely no problem with you quoting my initial horror, however I think it is important to also mention that once I knew their reasonings and their thought processes I could completely understand why it would be considered appropriate in a new built Carmel.



Another poster (GraceUK?) said she thought St Teresa would disapprove. Thats an interesting one. I know here at NH, after a few very very good visitations, they are making a concious effort to avoid complacency and are tring to thing 'What would Teresa do' when considering changes they might make. St Teresa was a woman well ahead of her time, and we can only use the witty and subtle suggestions in her writings to imagine what she might have said had she been allowed to - as it is its a wonder her heavy and unhidden sarchasm was ever allowed to be published!

She was a fount of common sense too, and willing to make changes to her constitutions a number of times during her lifetime. She was also willing to to bend those constitutions demanded it (when she died she was on a errand of mercy, not founding a new monastery, for example). there are many, many ways to look at her writings and constitutions, and the rules contained therein, and to consider how she would have liked them interpreted today. We will never know, but providing careful consideration has been given, I believe we have no right to consider a community wrong for having made a carefully considered decision - whether to do with building, habit, food, enclosure, etc etc.

What would Teresa do? Personally I think she would have thought of her ideal, then worked that back to the closest she could get before she got loceked away, and had a jolly good laught about it in the process!

[Nunsense]

[quote name='faithcecelia' timestamp='1317106207' post='2310824']


I have absolutely no problem with you quoting my initial horror, however I think it is important to also mention that once I knew their reasonings and their thought processes I could completely understand why it would be considered appropriate in a new built Carmel.



Another poster (GraceUK?) said she thought St Teresa would disapprove. Thats an interesting one. I know here at NH, after a few very very good visitations, they are making a concious effort to avoid complacency and are tring to thing 'What would Teresa do' Awhen considering changes they might make. St Teresa was a woman well ahead of her time, and we can only use the witty and subtle suggestions in her writings to imagine what she might have said had she been allowed to - as it is its a wonder her heavy and unhidden sarchasm was ever allowed to be published!

She was a fount of common sense too, and willing to make changes to her constitutions a number of times during her lifetime. She was also willing to to bend those constitutions demanded it (when she died she was on a errand of mercy, not founding a new monastery, for example). there are many, many ways to look at her writings and constitutions, and the rules contained therein, and to consider how she would have liked them interpreted today. We will never know, but providing careful consideration has been given, I believe we have no right to consider a community wrong for having made a carefully considered decision - whether to do with building, habit, food, enclosure, etc etc.

What would Teresa do? Personally I think she would have thought of her ideal, then worked that back to the closest she could get before she got loceked away, and had a jolly good laught about it in the process!
[/quote]


Yes, I agree, I used the words 'common sense' because these are in the Rule of St Albert, but that is the same thing as you saying that once you understood their reasoning, you were okay with their decisions. I think that's the important thing - not to judge without knowing all the facts.

As for what St Teresa might have done in any situation - that's a tougher one. Even after reading all her letters, I can't say I know for sure what she would do in any particular situation, especially given her own time, place and situation is so different from ours. But she did indeed have a great deal of common sense, so I guess we can safely use that as a guideline. As one quote goes however, "Common sense is uncommon!"

[HopefulBride]

So this morning I jumped in for a quick shower. I skipped a step in my face washing/exfoliating routine which I think gave me an extra 3 minutes. I stepped out about 18 minutes later and I was very proud of myself I will try to aim for a ten minute one next time and see how I fare. lol

[brandelynmarie]

[quote name='Francis Clare' timestamp='1317075249' post='2310625']
Okay, but where are you going to find hyssop with winter coming on ?! I don't think any florists I know carry it, let alone know what it is
[/quote]





Oh, & didn't St. Teresa at one time order orange water to be placed in a courtyard fountain? I think the purpose was to bring refreshment to the sisters...

[i]A friend was once surprised to find St. Teresa gorging herself on a partridge, "What would people think?" she asked. "Let them think whatever they want," said Teresa. "There's a time for penance, and there's a time for partridge." [/i]

Edited September 27, 2011 by brandelynmarie

[HopefulBride]

What is this hyssop y'all keep mentionning?

[Little Flower]

Dominicansoul - what order are you in?

And although I won't make my decision based on it, I certainly hope whatever community I enter lets me shower every day! I don't care whether or not I can take a bath. I can't wash my hair in a bath properly anyway. maybe I won't need to though...

I really don't want to have to shave my head. I like my hair! and besides you can just stick a veil on it anyway. And then you still have your hair but people cant see it just Jesus!

[vee]

[quote name='Little Flower' timestamp='1317174216' post='2311292']
Dominicansoul - what order are you in?

[/quote]

She's a Carmelite.

my current bathing custom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSJQEl5vcAo