Sisters, nuns, aspirants, postulants, novices: What does it all mean?

[DameAgnes]

a helpful glossary of terms...

 

http://aleteia.org/2016/07/13/sisters-nuns-aspirants-postulants-novices-what-does-it-all-mean/

[Sr Mary Catharine OP]

Good, but the record of vows isn't sent to the Vatican but to the parish where the sister was baptized so it can be recorded.

Not all religious sign their profession on the altar. The Order of Preachers friars and nuns (sisters have a different thing) are expressly forbidden to. The book with the testimonial that one made profession is signed in the sacristy.

[Sponsa-Christi]

7 minutes ago, Sr Mary Catharine OP said:

Not all religious sign their profession on the altar. The Order of Preachers friars and nuns (sisters have a different thing) are expressly forbidden to. The book with the testimonial that one made profession is signed in the sacristy.

Just wondering, what's the story behind this?

[truthfinder]

16 minutes ago, Sr Mary Catharine OP said:

Good, but the record of vows isn't sent to the Vatican but to the parish where the sister was baptized so it can be recorded.

Not all religious sign their profession on the altar. The Order of Preachers friars and nuns (sisters have a different thing) are expressly forbidden to. The book with the testimonial that one made profession is signed in the sacristy.

A Carmelite profession that I attended, the sister didn't sign it on the altar - she stayed on the enclosure side.  She signed it, and then passed it through the grille and it was put on the altar for the rest of Mass. 

[Nunsuch]

Too many people tend to generalize based on limited evidence or examples. I fear that was the case with some of the specifics in this article. It makes the piece much less helpful than it might have been.

There are other glitches. Not all Benedictines are enclosed or strictly contemplative, but they are all "nuns." And some communities refer to what used to be called "postulants" as aspirants or candidates. 

One good thing is that Scalia notes that formation is lifelong, and not just confined to the period before final vows.

[Sister Leticia]

Really, the vows are made when they are said - "professed" - out loud and before witnesses and a designated superior who receives them on behalf of the congregation. Where and when they are signed isn't the essence of making vows. As in marriage, when a couple are already married - by what they say to each other - by the time they sign the register.

For the record, our vows formulas don't go to our parish baptismal records, but are kept within the Society's records - and a copy is kept by each sister.

[Sr Mary Catharine OP]

6 minutes ago, Sister Leticia said:

Really, the vows are made when they are said - "professed" - out loud and before witnesses and a designated superior who receives them on behalf of the congregation. Where and when they are signed isn't the essence of making vows. As in marriage, when a couple are already married - by what they say to each other - by the time they sign the register.

For the record, our vows formulas don't go to our parish baptismal records, but are kept within the Society's records - and a copy is kept by each sister.

I'm surprised this is still the case as the profession of vows being recorded with the baptismal record is so that if a religious attempts a marriage without dispensation the marriage is invalid. With the 83 code this is so for both simple and solemn vows. 

The different customs of orders and congregations are so different. 

[Sponsa-Christi]

32 minutes ago, Sister Leticia said:

For the record, our vows formulas don't go to our parish baptismal records, but are kept within the Society's records - and a copy is kept by each sister.

I was wondering about this, too. Baptismal records are important in terms of keeping track of whom is free to do what. (E.g., aside from marriage, what if a current member of the Society tried to join another institute?)

I'm wondering, did this custom date back to a time before members of your community were formally considered "religious"? 

[Sister Leticia]

I have no idea. It isn't something I've given much thought to, maybe because I haven't thought about marrying or joining another institute  All I know is that we sign three copies of the vows record: one is kept in the generalate's records, one in our provincial office and one by the sister. Whatever communication there might be with someone's parish of baptism doesn't involve sending them any of these copies of the vows formula.

But we were founded in clandestine circumstances just after the French Revolution: our first sisters made their vows in secret and they didn't publicly use religious titles for several years, so yes, maybe this is a custom deriving from that time. Maybe I'll have to ask around and find out.

[Sister Leticia]

Also, it's occurred to me that in some countries religious life is still clandestine, so it could be dangerous to send proof of a religious profession to a parish elsewhere in the country, in case it's seen by civil authorities. In other countries churches have been destroyed by arson or bombing or in an earthquake or tsunami, so all the records - of baptisms, marriages etc - would be destroyed. So something that's possible, and usual practice in a stable country might not be elsewhere.

[Sponsa-Christi]

13 minutes ago, Sister Leticia said:

I have no idea. It isn't something I've given much thought to, maybe because I haven't thought about marrying or joining another institute 

LOL! Don't worry, I didn't assume this, either.  I think it might be a canon lawyer thing to mentally run through all worst-case scenarios, no matter how likely or unlikely. (Rule of thumb: if it can happen, it probably has happened to someone at some point in the Church's history!)

17 minutes ago, Sister Leticia said:

All I know is that we sign three copies of the vows record: one is kept in the generalate's records, one in our provincial office and one by the sister. Whatever communication there might be with someone's parish of baptism doesn't involve sending them any of these copies of the vows formula.

A signed document is different from the notification that's given to a baptismal parish. So it might perhaps be that in your community the baptismal parishes are indeed notified, just not in a way that would not be as highly visible as signing a vow document. 

And for those who aren't familiar with the inner workings of a parish office---parishes generally don't keep literal baptismal certificates on file---rather, there's record books where notations can be added. When someone needs a baptismal certificate, the parish creates a new paper document with the updated information included. That's why when people are getting married, usually they're asked for a baptismal certificate issued within the past six months.

22 minutes ago, Sister Leticia said:

But we were founded in clandestine circumstances just after the French Revolution: our first sisters made their vows in secret and they didn't publicly use religious titles for several years, so yes, maybe this is a custom deriving from that time. Maybe I'll have to ask around and find out.

 I know the French Revolution is usually seen as the occasion for the development first precursors of secular institutes, with the idea being that members of these groups would live a modified religious life, but in an "unofficial" structure which wouldn't cause problems with the civil authorities. So maybe a similar line of thinking was also true for the founding Sisters in your community---that could be an interesting piece of history to uncover. 

[Nunsuch]

Anyone interested in learning more about the history of Sister Leticia's RSCJs should DEFINITELY read Monique Luirard's "Society of the Sacred Heart in the World of Its Times, 1850-2000." It is one of the best histories of a religious congregation I've ever read--and I've read literally hundreds. It was recently translated into English, and is available on Kindle for under $10 US. It is an excellent read, and very carefully researched and developed. [The paperback in English, on the other hand, is $35.76.] It tells the story from the death of the foundress to 2000, and covers so much. It explains their charism, spirituality, community life, ministry--and does not avoid difficulties. Excellent!

[katherineH]

I'm sure this was difficult to write considering each community's unique practices.  The RSM for example are allowed to put the letters after their name once they become a novice, which contradicts what she said in the article. A nice primer though!

[Sr Mary Catharine OP]

Thanks for the heads up about the RSCJ's. I've always had a love for St. Madeline Sophie Barat and St. Rose Philippine. The RSCJ's have an amazing history.

 

[DameAgnes]

Perhaps the piece needs a disclaimer: all or none of this may be correct, depending on each community.... :-)

Interesting stuff.

[Sr Mary Catharine OP]

16 hours ago, Sponsa-Christi said:

Just wondering, what's the story behind this?

It was never our custom until the 20 years or so when we used the Roman rite of profession while waiting for ours to be updated and approved. The new rite says, "numquam vero super altare". So, there you go. Perhaps there were some "abuses" where the signing was taking "center stage" and not the profession itself. Up until Vat. II profession was usually in the chapter hall and can still be done there but it is preferable within Mass. 

[NadaTeTurbe]

Speaking of this kind of ceremony... 

I think I once read that there was Vatican directive (in canon law ? or other document ? @Sponsa-Christi  ), that the ceremony of entrance to the novitiate should be discreet, not a "Big" thing. Is that true ? I can't remember where I read it. 

[Sponsa-Christi]

4 hours ago, NadaTeTurbe said:

I think I once read that there was Vatican directive (in canon law ? or other document ? @Sponsa-Christi  ), that the ceremony of entrance to the novitiate should be discreet, not a "Big" thing. Is that true ? I can't remember where I read it. 

Answering off the top of my head without going to look anything up, in volume II of the "Rites" book there is a sort of generic ceremony for reception into the novitiate (though, like profession ceremonies, there is a lot of freedom given to individual communities to incorporate their own traditions and customs). The rubrics suggest that the chapter hall is the most appropriate place for reception into the novitiate, and I believe it does say that it's not supposed to be incorporated into a Mass.  

Also, the rubrics in the generic rite for first profession seem to envision the habit being given at first profession rather than at the beginning of novitiate. 

Going back to reception into the novitiate, the rubrics say that the ceremony is supposed to make clear that the novitiate is a time of continued discernment, and that nothing should be incorporated into the ceremony "which would seem to diminish the freedom of the novices" (I'm quoting that from memory, so that might not be perfectly verbatim, but it's something close.) My thought is that perhaps a big deal, wedding dress-wearing, "wedding"-type ceremony might seem to diminish the novices' freedom, since that might make the prospect of discerning out feel like "divorcing Jesus" instead. 

[truthfinder]

Just a couple random thought popped into my mind when reading Nada and Sponsa's last posts. 

1 Entrances into the novitiate seem to be all over the place when it comes to how much ceremony there is - the community I study had a great ceremony for the reception of their novices

2 For quite some time, the Carmelites who profess their final vows privately in the chapter room and only the veiling was done for the "public" but even then it might only be the family. Veiling might even take place a couple weeks after final vows.

3 Part of the reason we have some cool nun pictures from various places is because authorities wanted to make sure women were not being held against their will in the convent, so they would go out of the convent, get their picture taken and then return, all to prove they wanted to take vows. 

[Pax17]

Point #3 is interesting...never thought of it, but it makes sense.