Thijs Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 Former girlfriend of Prime Minister David Cameron who also previously battles drug addiction professes first vow as a nun in Regina Laudis Monastery.
Sister Leticia Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 Thank you for sharing this. I'm a bit confused, though. The article says she entered in 2008 - which would mean an 8 year noviciate! (And yes, it says first vows, and she's wearing a white veil) But the article is dated October 2016, and refers to St John Paul II, so it must be recent. I had a hazy memory of reading about Sr John Mary ages ago, so I did a bit of googling. There was a lot of publicity about Laura Adshead/Sr John Mary in 2012. Much of it was sensationalist stuff, making much of the fact she and Cameron went out together for a year, and the fact that she'd partied and been into drugs. It seemed to be a by-product of the documentary about Dolores Hart. But then I read this article, dated May 2012, which refers to her father dying a week after she made her vows - so I'm wondering if she made her first vows in 2011/12, left, and has since returned? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10803023 Either way, may God bless her!
truthfinder Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 I have the same question as Sister Leticia - I've heard that there formation is significantly long (and I wonder if it can actually be canonically legal). Another nun there also had a lengthy formation and professed final vows just a couple years before - same sort of thing: a novitiate that was 6-7 years and then another 7 years of temporary vows before profession. Anyone know for sure?
NadaTeTurbe Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 In some benedictine monasteries, the nuns receive the Consecration of the Virgin a few years after perpetual or first vow (I'm not sure). Maybe it's that ?
Pax17 Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 I believe the sisters in this community receive a cream colored veil at first profession...it can be hard to distinguish from a white veil in photos.
He is Risen! Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 The article said that the community allowed her mother's ashes to be scattered on convent grounds. I thought scattering was a no-no for Catholics? (cremation ok but scattering no) Did this change? (don't mean to debate, just wondering)
Sister Leticia Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 (He is Risen: briefly - the article which refers to her father's ashes is dated May 2012. The Vatican has recently issued something about scattering ashes, but this article predates that. But - Sr John Mary is a convert, so it's likely her parents weren't Catholics, and therefore not bound by Catholic rules.) If somebody else has also had an incredibly long novitiate then maybe the article I posted was confused - they assumed she'd made vows because she was in a habit, but maybe she'd only been clothed a week before her father died?
truthfinder Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 1 hour ago, Sister Leticia said: (He is Risen: briefly - the article which refers to her father's ashes is dated May 2012. The Vatican has recently issued something about scattering ashes, but this article predates that. But - Sr John Mary is a convert, so it's likely her parents weren't Catholics, and therefore not bound by Catholic rules.) If somebody else has also had an incredibly long novitiate then maybe the article I posted was confused - they assumed she'd made vows because she was in a habit, but maybe she'd only been clothed a week before her father died? I'm not sure - in the article you posted, she had a black veil, but in the recent update on the Regina Laudis website, she is back to a cream/white veil
John Paul Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 5 hours ago, NadaTeTurbe said: In some benedictine monasteries, the nuns receive the Consecration of the Virgin a few years after perpetual or first vow (I'm not sure). Maybe it's that ? They day before this posted I looked up Fr.Prokes and got an article about this community and went on their website and in the website Somewhere it says they do the Consecration of the Virgin. I am not sure when though.
Egeria Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 Even in more, um, mainstream Catholic monastic communities it is not unknown to get around the limitation of the canonical novitiate requirement by letting the novice (canonically) become an (internal) oblate for a time and later resuming the novitiate. It's also not unknown for novices or juniors who normally wear a white veil to wear a black veil if they have to go out, or for a particular reason. FWIW, although the whole thing strikes me as unusual to say the least, but then they are a rather unusual community... Oh, and I'm pretty sure that the consecration of virgins would only be after solemn vows.
Sister Leticia Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 2 hours ago, truthfinder said: I'm not sure - in the article you posted, she had a black veil, but in the recent update on the Regina Laudis website, she is back to a cream/white veil Yes, she does, but in all the other articles from around the same time, there was the same photo of her in a white veil - possibly taken from the documentary http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9235051/David-Camerons-ex-girlfriend-joins-nunnery.html But I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds it "unusual"!
truthfinder Posted January 12, 2017 Posted January 12, 2017 25 minutes ago, Egeria said: Oh, and I'm pretty sure that the consecration of virgins would only be after solemn vows. I think I came across some where that consecration can be done at the same time as vows or after.
Sister Leticia Posted January 13, 2017 Posted January 13, 2017 Sorry - I should have been clearer: part of the same ceremony, but after she's pronounced her vows.
Spem in alium Posted January 14, 2017 Posted January 14, 2017 I recently saw the documentary in which Sr John Mary featured. I was struck by what she shared and have been thinking about her. What a blessing for their community!
Thijs Posted January 17, 2017 Author Posted January 17, 2017 On 1/12/2017 at 11:40 PM, Sister Leticia said: Thank you for sharing this. I'm a bit confused, though. The article says she entered in 2008 - which would mean an 8 year noviciate! (And yes, it says first vows, and she's wearing a white veil) But the article is dated October 2016, and refers to St John Paul II, so it must be recent. If I remember it right, Sr John Mary is still having his therapy from smoking addiction (dunno about the drug addiction) from her aspirancy to novitiate. REgina Laudis has longer formation period and it is not for fainthearted. Their vocations has had to have much maturity (not really in age; intellectual, psychological, emotional) before they can enter into the community. One nun is a professor of medicine and a clinician in Yale.
NadaTeTurbe Posted January 17, 2017 Posted January 17, 2017 How it is possible to have longer formation period than what the Canon Law allow ?
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now