Brides Of Christ T V Mini Series - Video Clip

[AccountDeleted]

I don't know how many of you ever saw this TV mini series. It was an Australian production and I haven't seen it since it first appeared on TV so many years ago but stumbled across this clip on youtube and decided that I am going to get the DVD from the library and watch the series again. It dealt with life in a Catholic girls school during and after Vatican 2, and all the changes for both the girls and the nuns. It shows the teacher nuns going through a lot (some of them changing habits etc) at the time, although there isn't a lot of that in this clip.

To the best of my recollection, one of the school girls actually ended up entering the convent (in the show) in the last episode, and it was a surprise, but I can't even remember who it was now!

This is just a clip but in it you see the Reverend Mother in a modifed habit (and another nun) while some of them are still wearing the full one. It also shows corporal punishment (spanking some girls with a ruler) which was prevalent in a lot of Australian schools at the time, even in public schools (my sister used to get 'caned' on the legs) before laws changed to prevent this kind of punishment.

Anyway, I thought some of you might like the nun scenes. I think there were 6 mor more hour length episodes but can't remember. Looking forward to watching it all again - those were very strange and interesting times.

By the way, in the beginning of the clip the girls are looking up canon law on divorce because the mother of one of the girls is getting a divorce and this was scandalous in those days. The nun thinks they are reading something dirty.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQgHCQh2sJE&feature=related[/media]

[faithcecelia]

I remember seeing this, goodness it was years ago! Might look up more though and have another look.

Edited December 21, 2011 by faithcecelia

[AccountDeleted]

I have been watching some of it on youtube but the person who posted it there was more concerned with showing scenes from specific actors rather than doing it chronologically, and they didn't seem particularly interested in the lives of the nuns, which I would like to see again. As I watched through the different scenes though, I came across this one which I found interesting because at the end it shows the community having their last Chapter of Faults (which most communities have discarded these days). It made me think of how hard things must have been for those going through all the changes after Vatican 2, especially religious.

In the opening of the scene the Reverend Mother is accepting the resignation of a teacher that she had been attracted to, so it is doubly hard for her to say goodbye. I can't wait to get the DVD so I can see it again from start to finish!

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_I9xkxX6CE&feature=related[/media]

[Strictlyinkblot]

I remember watching this with my mother years ago. It was very well done, showing both the good and the bad as I remember.

[MarieLynn]

I actually bought the complete series of 'Brides of Christ" after it was shown on TV. Readers Digest offered this mini-series for quite a reasonable price, a few years back.

It brought back a lot of memories both good and bad, about how things were in the 60's, and how some of the older sisters resisted the changes (Habit and the Latin Mass).

[HopefulBride]

Now I want to see the full vid. Anyone know where I can find it?

[AccountDeleted]

[quote name='HopefulBride' timestamp='1324495206' post='2355252']
Now I want to see the full vid. Anyone know where I can find it?
[/quote]

For those in Oz then you can either get it from the library (most libraries will do a transfer from another library if they don't have it, and I am sure most do as I live in the country and my library has it - I reserved it since our own copy is currently out) or the ABC shop online or the ABC shop in shopping malls.

For those overseas, I suggest googling Brides of Christ DVD ABC and see what comes up on places like Amazon. It is an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) production - TV mini series, six 1-hour episodes.

[andibc]

Why would anyone want to watch this series? From the little bit on the video clips, it seems that the writers imaginations focused on the worst possible aspects of religious life.

[AccountDeleted]

[quote name='andibc' timestamp='1324516388' post='2355548']
Why would anyone want to watch this series? From the little bit on the video clips, it seems that the writers imaginations focused on the worst possible aspects of religious life.
[/quote]

Well, it has been a long time since I watched the series but from the clips I can see that the production values and the acting are both very good (some religious movies have terrible acting and/or production). And the stories are basically based on what happened during a time of change and distress for a lot of Catholics. Perhaps the conservatives are painted as a little rigid and inflexible, but I think that also shows why some of the changes were so hard for a lot of them at the time, and why some of the changes may have gone too far too fast, as a reaction against rigidity and inflexibility.

I don't think this series is any worse than any other one, and better than most. This one attempts to deal with the very human failings of Catholics (including religious) during a time of stress and crisis in the Church. Both extremes are seen, the 'move-too-fast and throw things out' liberals and the 'rigid, almost mean' conservatives. The clips that have been posted on youtube are not representative of the whole six hours of the series - they are some fans obsession with Russell Crowe and with Philip Quast. The whole series dealth with a lot of issues, including divorce, teen prgnancy (I think), emerging sexuality, Viet Nam war, changes in religious life etc. It was set around 1966 and covered that period very well. If you don't want to see it, fine, but it is silly to condemn based on a few clips on youtube take out of synch and focussing on male stars!

[MarieLynn]

Nunsense you got it in one!!

The trauma of that era was very real - I know only too well how it affected the Order I was once part of, throwing out the things that for decades religious held dear to, traditions that had been handed down through the generations of sisters gone before us, and then suddenly it was all discarded almost overnight. We were always expected to show absolute obedience to our Superiors, even if we secretly felt they were in error, then suddenly we were told to think for ourselves, and use our 'common sense'. We were all confused, where did we draw the line? I agree that in some cases change was made too fast, and a culture of 'lets make change for change sake' did prevail in some instances

When some of the Saints were struck off the "Roll", we who had had a great devotion to some of these saints, were left in limbo. Where was our Patron Saint now? Who do we ask to intercede for us?

I personally loved the Latin Mass, when it went into the English translation, even tho' the Mass wasn't changed, I felt it lost something in the translation. I was not a radical thinker, but some of the changes did not make sense at the time,

Our Habits changed too, we went from a very traditional habit, to quite a modern one for the times. Suddenly sisters had legs as the hemlines rose, and hair as we lost the coverings from around our faces, necks and heads, and our hair was covered by a short veil with a white headband rather than the long heavy one we had been used to. A few of the older sisters found it quite hard to adjust, but we younger ones took to the habit change as a duck takes to water. That point is illustrated perfectly in the series.

andibc, watch the series in its entirety, and then if you still feel the same at the end of it , then that is fine, but don't condemn it until you have at least watched it and have an informed opinion.

[AccountDeleted]

Thanks MarieLyn. One of the scenes on youtube show them taking down a statue of St Philomena, and the Sr who was obviously named for her is almost in tears. The superior tries to tell her she will 'find another saint' and with a cry from the heart she says, "But she was MY saint!" So many changes made for reasons that not many understood. People used to obedience were suddenly being asked to be obedient to something completely unreasonable (to them) while at the same time being told to think and use their common sense!! The contradiction must have been almost unbearable for some of them. No wonder so many Catholics fell away and so many religious and priests left - none of it made sense to them. It took a great deal of faith for those who did hang in there, and even for those who did stay, the changes didn't stop and over time, even some of them got lost along the way. The Church (and society) have been trying to recover from that era ever since!

I think this series at least shows that it wasn't an easy time for anyone.