Is It A Must For Nuns To Cut Their Hair

[IgnatiusofLoyola]

14 hours ago, John Paul said:

After the hair is cut during the novitate ceremony do you still get it cut every couple months?

John Paul--The answer, of course, is "Yes." Since hair grows, Religious Sisters/nuns who wear their hair short under the veil need to cut it at regular intervals.

How this is done varies by Community. A Sister might cut her own hair or it might be cut by another Sister. How often hair is cut also varies by Community, and probably even by individual. If I were a Religious Sister/nun, I'd need my hair cut fairly often since my hair grows very fast. However, I also know people whose hair grows VERY slowly and might need it cut only once or twice a year.

BTW--Hair cutting as part of the novitiate ceremony also varies a lot by Community. I know of a couple of Communities (who wear their hair short, and showing at the front of the veil) who cut the hair before (not during) the actual novitiate ceremony. I've heard of others who make only a small token cutting of the hair during the ceremony, and and then cut it shorter in private afterwards. (For one Community I heard of that did this, families/friends were invited to the Clothing Ceremony and because the Sisters wore their hair quite short under the veil, the Community didn't want to upset the families. Sometimes the parents were more upset about the thought of their daughter with very short hair than the new novice was.) Other Communities cut off more than a token amount of hair during the clothing ceremony itself. In yet another variation, for at least one Community I've heard of, the hair isn't cut at clothing, but at first profession.

I suspect that if we listed twenty different Communities here, we would find twenty different customs regarding when the hair was cut, how long the hair is worn, how often hair is cut, etc. etc.

[sr.christinaosf]

Cut it when it starts getting long and starts sticking out from underneath the veil.

Just did mine last week in the back.  I have another sister cut my bangs, though.

[Spem in alium]

7 hours ago, sr.christinaosf said:

Cut it when it starts getting long and starts sticking out from underneath the veil.

Just did mine last week in the back.  I have another sister cut my bangs, though.

So you all cut your own hair? I would do that too (at the moment I go to a hairdresser or we have a friend of ours, who is a hairdresser, come to the convent and cut our hair for us) but as I don't wear a veil (yet) any mistakes I'd make would be plainly visible!
Cutting my own hair reminds me of when my younger sister decided she wanted a fringe, so cut her own hair. She was eight years old or thereabouts. It was absolutely terrible (she gave herself a very uneven 2cm fringe) which thankfully has been immortalised in her school photographs. 

And back to nightgowns/pyjamas, last month I bought myself a rabbit onesie. It's very warm to sleep in.  

[Nunsuch]

In many (most in the US) communities, hairstyle is up to the individual, and veils aren't worn, or are optional. This is also true in many contemplative as well as active communities.  Of course, this is merely an incidental dimension of religious life....

[Chantelle]

How does it feel being a Postulant, and getting your hair cut into Sisterhood?

[Postulant Christina]

In my community most sisters have short hair because it's easier to maintain, especially since we wake up so early for prayers, the less time spending on your hair the better  Most sisters right before investiture cut their hair short to keep the monastic tradition, but it is her choice. We have one sister who has longer hair as long as her veil keeps her hair covered. I think I will have my hair cut shorter when I receive the habit because I want to keep the monastic tradition and also it's just easier to have short hair.

[dominicansoul]

On 2/8/2016 at 11:29 PM, dominicansoul said:

I received a tonsure, without realizing i needed permission to do something like that.  The others in the novitiate who witnessed me getting a tonsure told others in the novitiate (cos they thought it was pretty cool i did that.)  St. Dominic is my spiritual father so I wanted a tonsure like his.  So I shaved my hair but the top, and put a little tonsure in there in his honor.  

When Sr. JA got a whiff of what happened, she and Mother approached me and asked if i had received a tonsure at my head shaving, and I said yes.  Their reactions were quite different than what I expected.  lol.  >.<

I wanted to clarify on the superiors reactions.  I meant to say Sr JAs reaction was as I expected (she was laughing hysterically) while my Mothers reaction was a major convent face palm.  

 

Point is, each community's veiling is unique to them and the cutting or shaving of ones locks has some meaning and shouldn't be taken too lightly.  

[vee]

I have long hair and for the time I was a postulant I just braided it.  If I had made it further they would have cut it shorter as per custom. 

[dominicansoul]

I can cut ur hair for free vee

(Using a lawnmower)

[vee]

Just now, dominicansoul said:

I can cut ur hair for free vee

(Using a lawnmower)

 no way!  

[sr.christinaosf]

It's  a must for me right now - you can see tufts coming out from underneath my veil.  It's high time I get the scissors out!

[Swami Mommy]

Wow!  What a great skill to have to offer a community if one attends a haircutting school in advance!  

 

[sr.christinaosf]

It doesn't take a hair-cutting expert - no one else sees the back much; maybe other sisters late in the evening.  

[Lucy MVGG]

When I entered religious life in the 70's we wore a veil and because I have very fine wispy hair keeping my long hair was easier for me. I wore it in a braid pinned up under my veil. 

[Lily May Gath]

Sorry to bump and old thread, guys... I once read something somewhere from something like a Rule that referred to monks/nuns brothers/sisters having their hair cut so many times a year at around feasts and festival times. I was with a Benedictine Community last week for Holy Week, and one Brother said he was on Barber duty, and next day everyone had had a haircut... Can anyone tell me where I saw this referred to? Is it somewhere in the Rule of Saint Benedict? Or have I seem something in a customary or directory somewhere? I guess it was Benedictine of Dominican, but can't remember... Help...

[sr.christinaosf]

St. Claire got her hair cut when she embarked on her new life, but I'm personally not aware of any rule within the Franciscan movement. 

I cut mine when it starts coming out from under my veil cap.

[Mhairi]

I agree it is an individual choice for many. For my friend who wears a veil, it is a case of a community friend who is a hairdresser and comes every 8 weeks or so to cut the sisters’ hair. She always asks for a short cut but one decent enough to manage with if she was suddenly admitted to hospital. She says her veil stays on much better when her hair is short and is thankful when the hairdresser comes! 

[Antigonos]

I think it's worth remembering that, until very recently, grown women didn't sport short hair, and indeed, "putting up one's hair" was a sign that a girl had become a "woman", just as boys exchanged short pantaloons for long trousers.  Wearing one's hair loose was also customary for unmarried women; after marriage, depending on the time period, hair was either completely covered or some kind of cap was worn.  During illnesses which had high fevers, hair was cut to relieve "the pressure" on the brain, too.

So, having let your hair grow for years and years, cutting it off was a significant event.  Nowadays, there's much less symbolism.  But for those orders who wear the traditional wimples and veils which don't allow for a single strand to be seen, it's much healthier to keep the hair very short, otherwise it can begin to fall out, as the closed-in condition and the weight of the layers of cloth on the head are not conducive to keeping hair follicles healthy.

[gloriana35]

 It never ceases to amaze me that the oddest of topics undergo continuous resurrection for 10 years. 

[Pax17]

I think the oddest topics are the ones in which people have the most curiosity.  When I was a kid in the 60s, one of the first things I heard about religious sisters from Catholic schoolmates was that "Sister doesn't have any hair."