Do Nuns Wear Pajama pantaloons?

[ToJesusMyHeart]

[quote name='truthfinder' timestamp='1353994431' post='2517510']
The title reminds me of two books by an apologist (can't remember the name) which were called something to the effect of Did Jesus have a last name (or middle name)? and Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons? They were cute and humorous titles that caught the attention so that the 'meaty' parts would be read.
[/quote]

I have both those books. Both are golden. Very influential in my own reversion.

[OnlySunshine]

[quote name='truthfinder' timestamp='1353994431' post='2517510']
The title reminds me of two books by an apologist (can't remember the name) which were called something to the effect of Did Jesus have a last name (or middle name)? and [b]Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons[/b]? They were cute and humorous titles that caught the attention so that the 'meaty' parts would be read.
[/quote]

It's funny you should mention that book because when I made my reversion to the Church 5 years ago, I sought out books to read so I could learn about my faith and that was one that I bought. I learned so much from it that I passed it on to my dad for Christmas last year.

[BarbTherese]

[quote name='MaterMisericordiae' timestamp='1353987182' post='2517395']
My former community posted a small story about this last year. They were teaching catechism classes and one of the young students came out and asked them if they wear their habit to bed. It's a very cute story:

[url="http://www.carmelitedcjnorth.org/pages_ministries/ministryevents/do-you-sleep-in-that-too.html"]Do you sleep in that too?[/url]
[/quote]

Cute little story about some very cute children and childlike curiosity. I liked the question : "What would they do to you if you decided to wear something else?". Thank you very much for sharing it, I have a big smile on my face and will still be smiling I know when I am outside in the heat watering the garden.

Certainly since the changes with V2, conventual and monastic life has become available to 'the outside'. Prior to V2 (and my experience only) it was very secretive often and one entered quite 'blind' unknowing in details as to what lay ahead and what one would wear to bed and of what would the bed be comprised could be a couple of concerns perhaps. All that has changed and with it people are very curious about religious life and all the details. This is a good thing to my mind. No reason whatsoever for secrets.
I dont see why what a nun wears to bed has to be upsetting and it probably comes from projecting one's own concepts around night attire more than anything else. Tell em what one wears to bed and then let it be. I think a book along the lines of the OP could be entirely tasteful and educational, enlightening, and even if written also in a light vein in places. I read a book years ago I came across in a public library. It was written by a female journalist who intereviewed "nuns who stay" at the time when many were leaving. It was at times a quite serious work, and at times very funny due to the humour of the nuns interviewed and their joyous sense of the funny and absurd including the concepts of 'outsiders' or those inexperienced in the life.

Good ol Google. I am not sure, but I think this is the book that I found in the library [url="http://www.nunsunveiled.com/reviews.html"]http://www.nunsunveiled.com/reviews.html[/url]
It is certainly written by a female journalist and in very good taste and is well written according to a couple of reviews I read on the site.

Edited November 27, 2012 by BarbaraTherese

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='Catholicterp7' timestamp='1353977098' post='2517293']
I did not mean to offend anyone at all. I'm really sorry that this happened! I know from personal experience that there's a lot of things that people wonder because there is an element of mystery (and no, I'm not thinking that the mystery should be taken away! I know there's an element to it that can't be explained to anyone) to the vocation and I think that for women who don't see Sisters very often (such as myself) it can be really hard to start discerning because of so many questions. I was hoping it would be a book that is humorous but with a touch of seriousness to it. I think it's really important for people to understand that those who are living the consecrated life in any form are actually people and do feel attraction to people and do miss their family and friends. I am planning on leaving it totally up to the various Sisters discretion if something is too personal to be shared. I have so much respect for these women and I would never want to offend any of them!
Like I said, I'm really sorry some of you were offended.
JMJ+
[/quote]

I honestly think people are perhaps being [s]a little[/s] way over-sensitive about this. There's nothing wrong with answering tough questions on how you cope with being away from family and things like that. It doesn't take away the mystery, it reassures people that Nuns and Sisters are indeed people that lead normal lives. You don't literally mean that you will answer everything in the title, it's just an eye-catching title. I say go for it.

[carmenchristi]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1354005590' post='2517608']


I honestly think people are perhaps being [s]a little[/s] way over-sensitive about this. There's nothing wrong with answering tough questions on how you cope with being away from family and things like that. It doesn't take away the mystery, it reassures people that Nuns and Sisters are indeed people that lead normal lives. You don't literally mean that you will answer everything in the title, it's just an eye-catching title. I say go for it.
[/quote]

I agree. And posing important questions about attraction obviously dosnt mean that you are going to tell the story of sr x who ran away with he milkman. It is an opportunity to speak about the vow of chastity in a positive way, and tell about how the exclusive relationship with The Lord carries a person through human temptations. It's a way of talking about celibacy as something chosen for love, not just the typical it means you can't get married and have a family etc.

[mantellata]

I never had an issue with questions that are as the two above posters mentioned. I've been focused around the "what do you wear to bed, and are you allowed to go to the bathroom". Mentioning that I disagree and that I find the book title in poor taste is a different from being offended. I'm not sure that either nunsense nor I were "offended".... if anything - attempting to rescue you before you "offended" others.

Sadly - there are many "in the world" who a) do not ask the question as a 3rd grader would - but as a means to titillate b) I got asked this sort of question as a religious ad nausium. c) our culture is poorly formed (particularily those my age and younger) into thinking that any curiosity is worth probing. Hence the "lack of taste". d) A certain amount of privacy is warranted here. IMO

Finally - in my former community, questions about night attire and such were always considered in bad taste. We always responded graciously to such questions (as Sisters are wont to do) but I know that in general many if not all were annoyed that so many people felt that it was any of their business.

Again - I'm not talking about some of the other questions presented which could make for a very good book. I'm just thinking that some of them push beyond personal boundaries. I wouldn't walk up to a police officer and ask him what he wore to bed, or a priest.. or some other stranger. Yet Sisters will have this be the first question after a "wow are you a real nun?".

[BarbTherese]

I think the curiosity may come from the fact that nuns in habits are always without exemption in habit at all times whenever seen in some sort of public place. Some wonder whether perhaps a form of habit is worn for sleeping too I suspect; hence the question re night attire.
I think probably people have no curiosity whatsoever about what say a fireman or policement etc. may wear at night, simply because they do not wear their uniforms at all times without exemption. Hence a support for my first statement.

Edited November 27, 2012 by BarbaraTherese

[Nunsense]

I still think the idea of prying into nun's personal lives is in poor taste but I understand that not all will agree with me. Our society has lost any sense of personal privacy and even the words 'poor taste' don't seem to apply to much any more.

Nuff said from me on this topic as I can already see it becoming too personal with psychological jargon like 'projecting one's own concepts' being thrown around to those who don't agree.

[carmenchristi]

I do agree that the question about being allowed to go to the bathroom is in poor taste. Is it possible that the pajama issue is a cultural one? Ad es. In Italy it is taboo to change shoes in front of people. Maybe for you, pajamas are a delicate issue while for us they are not? I'm not sure, just throwing the thought out there.

[maximillion]

I agree with BT, I think because we all know that Religious (male/female, nuns/sisters) who do wear habits wear them all the time, there is a curiosity not pertaining to others 'in uniform' who clearly wear the uniform for work....in a way that is the difference between work and vocation.

Some of the questions I was asked while a habited nun.

Do you have ears? (From a small child, who had first walked all the way round me, scrutinising very closely).
Do you have periods?
Do you get time off?
Is your mail censored?
Do you get paid by the Church?
Can any priest come in the Enclosure? (Actually this was a statement 'I suppose any PRIEST can come in the Enclosure' from a disgruntled parent who wanted to inspect where her daughter, newly arrived for Entrance, was to sleep).
Do they shave your head?
Are you allowed to be naked in the bath?
Do you ever eat sweets/chocolate/what you fancy/chips (fries)/meat/ashes? (Details of what we ate and did not eat were a constant question in the parlour.)
Do you whip/lash yourself/kiss the floor/mix bitter herbs with your food/get hot in that get-up?
Do you ever have fun?
Are you allowed to laugh?
Do you ever go on a bus?
Who does your laundry and cooks your meals? (A misunderstanding about 'praying constantly' - this was taken to mean we were on our knees 24/7 in chapel.)
Can you come out if you change your mind?

There are loads more. Remember these are gleaned from 14 years in the cloister with parlour duties on all big feasts, and LOADS of questions from parents of girls who were visiting or arriving for entry to the Postulancy. (I was Zelatrix for a short while).
In all honesty I have to admit that on occasion the most 'intrusive' of questions was asked with perfect desire to know and understand.
However, I still stand by what I said in my first post on this topic, too many of these questions can be answered in to many different ways depending on the community, IMO.

[i<3franciscans]

[quote name='ToJesusMyHeart' timestamp='1353982871' post='2517352']
When I visited the Sisters of Life a few weeks ago, one of the girls on the retreat asked this exact question about bedtime clothing. She asked in front of all of us, it was a group gathering (about thirty women). I believe she phrased it something similar to "What do you wear to sleep?"

The answer, as given to us by the postulant director, was--quite simply--"pajamas."

(...shocking, right!?!?!!)
[/quote]
I knew a sister who tried to pull off bright pink satin pjs and Uggs when she first entered, but they told her that the sisters generally are "quieter" pajamas.

[mysisterisalittlesister]

Mary brought jeans to wear as pajamas when she entered

[JMJ/M&M]

I was in the Convent years ago & we did have to ask permission to go to the bathroom (as a sign of humility). We wore nightgowns w/long sleeves & when it was cold wore some of our day underclothes over or under them. We accepted it as totally "normal". Our mail was censored (incoming & outgoing). No problem....
We were only allowed to takes a bath 2xs a week & w/a specified amount of water used in the tub; no showers. But we did take our clothes off to bathe. I knew a Sister in another community where they took only showers but had to keep on a coverall. When they complained to the Bishop, he told them they were lucky & that another community in the Diocese had to put blueing in their bathwater....I can tell you one thing: Those were the happiest years of my life! None of that killed any of us!
Go for the goal: Jesus Christ & His Holy Service....

[mantellata]

The above to me sounds like an abuse and over institutionalization ... and I'm usually pretty inclined towards communities with plenty of monastic practices and a well observed Rule. Do you mind my asking what level of approbation the community had? (Public association, Diocesan, Pontifical?) Was this pre-Vatican II?

[OnlySunshine]

[quote name='JMJ/M&M' timestamp='1354047273' post='2517818']
I was in the Convent years ago & we did have to ask permission to go to the bathroom (as a sign of humility). We wore nightgowns w/long sleeves & when it was cold wore some of our day underclothes over or under them. We accepted it as totally "normal". Our mail was censored (incoming & outgoing). No problem....
We were only allowed to takes a bath 2xs a week & w/a specified amount of water used in the tub; no showers. But we did take our clothes off to bathe. I knew a Sister in another community where they took only showers but had to keep on a coverall. When they complained to the Bishop, he told them they were lucky & that another community in the Diocese had to put blueing in their bathwater....I can tell you one thing: Those were the happiest years of my life! None of that killed any of us!
Go for the goal: Jesus Christ & His Holy Service....
[/quote]

I don't think I could enter a community that required that a member ask permission before using the restroom. That's not obedience -- that's manipulation and degradation. Using the bathroom is a necessary function of the human body and not something we can control. Controlling a person's use of the bathroom is abuse according to American Psychological Association.

[url="http://nospank.net/couture3.htm"]Using the Bathroom is Your Right, Not a Privilege![/url]

[JMJ/M&M]

It was a Congregation of Pontifical Rite present all around the world. It was Pre-Vatican 2 but the same practices continued for years even after Vatican 2.
Now they have gone in the other direction; probably the "swinging-pedalum" syndrome...

[BarbTherese]

What I meant by "projection one's own concepts around night attire" is that if a person feels that questions about night attire are in poor taste etc., then they probably project that on to others - that they are asking a question in poor taste. We all probably project now and then and no drama. I tried to point out that the person asking may not be 'coming from' poor taste and merely perhaps curious as to whether some sort of special night attire is worn in religious life consistently since religious in habit are consistently in habit during daylight hours - or some other motivation not necessarily coming from poor taste. We are all 'coming from somewhere' (education, experience, possibly cultural influences etc.) and we are all different, unique and one off creations of God - never ever to be repeated as are our various circumstances. "In essentials unity, in non essentials diversity - and in all things Love". A third read of Pope Benedict's "Jesus of Nazareth" has granted me far more internalized understanding than I ever anticipated. An amazing book! Be this as it may, I remain consistently a faulted, weak and in need of Mercy creation. "Why is it that it is not the good that I want to do that I find myself doing and what can save me" [from myself - brackets mine]. Nothing but the Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ" (St Paul)
Another poster did point out and it still can apply that sometimes a "night toque/wimple" is worn at night after receiving the habit. Some other religious orders may have other types of requirements re night attire and probably there are many differences indeed between religious orders on the nightwear score. Other than this, personally I am not uncomfortable with a question about what I wear at night dependant of course on circumstances in which the question is asked.
A religious I know shared that the religious habit and wimple at night caused her to have migraines, which ceased when the religious habit was modified and the night wimple ceased. How she persevered all those many years with almost daily migraines including at night and early morning is amazing - Grace. It witnesses to me that she clearly has indeed (and always has had) a vocation to religious life. She is now professed over 50 years (final profession). She was consistently called upon by her active religious order for quite complex long terms assignments mentally and sometimes it must have been emotionally as well.
Reading these forums I have been totally amazed at all the information that is available re religious life including details of the lifestyle itself - and how open many discussion about the way of life are in fact. I think this is quite positive and a good. I was too afraid (and probably courtesy of very strict pre V2 family and education) to ask almost any questions at all prior to both times I entered. I took it for granted when I entered in my forties that the way of life would not be as it had been in my teens. I was very wrong.

Edited November 27, 2012 by BarbaraTherese

[mantellata]

[quote name='JMJ/M&M' timestamp='1354054190' post='2517892']
It was a Congregation of Pontifical Rite present all around the world. It was Pre-Vatican 2 but the same practices continued for years even after Vatican 2.
Now they have gone in the other direction; probably the "swinging-pedalum" syndrome...
[/quote]

Yikes. Well coming from this side of Vatican 2 I would be inclined to say reform was desperately needed. Perhaps it is why the pendulum swung as far as it did? Nowadays - any Bishop who wouldn't want to get in trouble with the Vatican would never dare to over-reach his bounds regarding something as trivial as how to shower. I am glad that you didn't feel you have any hard feelings regarding what you endured. Martyrdom to be sure!!


[quote name='BarbaraTherese' timestamp='1354056805' post='2517916']
What I meant by "projection one's own concepts around night attire" is that if a person feels that questions about night attire are in poor taste etc., then they probably project that on to others - that they are asking a question in poor taste.
[/quote]

Or we simply believe there is a certain objectivity to the situation itself (whether cultural or otherwise) and leave the intentions of the asker to God.

[DiscerningCatholic]

[quote name='maximillion' timestamp='1354043174' post='2517753']
Do you have periods?
Do you get time off?
Is your mail censored?
Are you allowed to be naked in the bath?
Do you whip/lash yourself/kiss the floor/mix bitter herbs with your food/get hot in that get-up?
Do you ever have fun?
Are you allowed to laugh?
Can you come out if you change your mind?
[/quote]

Kids are the best. LOL "Are you allowed to laugh?" xD

[BarbTherese]

[quote]Or we simply believe there is a certain objectivity to the situation itself (whether cultural or otherwise) and leave the intentions of the asker to God. :)[/quote]

 

Motivation or intentions of another always ideally left to God - man indeed has appearances only, while God knows the heart, and what appears and the actuality can be diametrically opposed...........mea maxima culpa! :)

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2012 by BarbaraTherese