The World’s Last Beguine

[Chiquitunga]

What a vocation, wow! http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21576632-marcella-pattyn-worlds-last-beguine-died-april-14th-aged-92-marcella-pattyn  May she rest in peace! :pray:

 

[Chiquitunga]

http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/videozone_ENG/1.1604111

 

[Spem in alium]

What a vocation indeed! Thank you for sharing :)

[maximillion]

Amazing! May she RIP with her eternal Bridegroom.

[Lil'Nun]

Wonderful. I had never heard of the Beguines. I would have found their way of life very attractive, Such a shame they no longer exist,

[maximillion]

you could start them up again.

[Lil'Nun]

I don't think I have the qualities necessary to be a founder. But I wish someone would start this again. It sounds as if it were a wonderful vocation.

[truthfinder]

I think the Beguine life would be more amenable to just be started up - considering the whole reason behind them were that they were to be somewhat outside the canonical purview while still living a life of prayer and work - and this work had to pay for their living, not be bolstered in any way by a diocese.  Vows did not factor into their lifestyle (maybe later into their history - I can't remember). 

[NonNovi]

We still have a lot of beguinages. Just come here and start again :-)

 

Hey, I have been in the beguinage they show in the video!

Edited May 2, 2013 by NonNovi

[Lil'Nun]

Stop tempting me! Unfortunately I cannot relocate to Belgium as i have caring responsibilities here. But I am curious, surely the Beguines had some form of official standing in the church to be permitted to wear the habit? I thought that was only permissible under certain, very prescribed, circumstances?

[krissylou]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6-FSc3CpQI

 

 

(I'm sorry, it had to be done ...)

[Lil'Nun]

I found this: https://sites.google.com/site/wwwbeguinesofmercyca/home

So I am a bit confused as to whether this really was the last Beguine. Admittedly I am tempted to find out more but there is this,

http://www.tyburnconvent.org.uk/index2.html

and also this,

http://www.visitationmonastery.co.uk/

not to mention this,

http://www.boarbankhall.org.uk/

and not forgetting this,

http://www.servidoras.org/

 

Currently on my short list. I am hoping one of these will be the convent I finally discern with.

 

;)

 

 

 

[Gabriela]

I'm pretty sure I heard of a beguinage in California or somewhere else on the West Coast. No idea where I'd find that again, though... I'm just sayin' I don't think it's as rare as people think. (I mean, it's rare, but not totally non-existent.) And given the state of the marriage pool today, I could see this coming back into style. Wildly.

[Gabriela]

What a vocation, wow! http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21576632-marcella-pattyn-worlds-last-beguine-died-april-14th-aged-92-marcella-pattyn  May she rest in peace! :pray:

 

That's a really beautiful story, and beautifully written. I especially felt my heart tugged when she cried at all her rejections—even so many years after.

 

But I don't like the way they suggest a war between the sexes. "Men's Latin"? Pleez.

[BarbTherese]

New Advent "Beguines and Beghards" makes interesting reading, although the final paragraph had me scratching my head - not at all in the style of the body of the entry - and not at all in the style of New Advent generally:  http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02389c.htm