Keeping the Faith - Dominican Sisters of Mary on Oprah (with videos)

Opray ^ | February 11, 2010 | Lisa Ling

[NYer]

Imagine if you were asked to give up your career, possessions, sex life and the possibility of ever having children. It's a way of life many women worldwide gladly accept in order to serve God.

There are more than 60,000 Catholic nuns in the United States, with 750,000 worldwide. As nuns, sisters take three strict vows: chastity, poverty and obedience to God and their church. Nuns believe they are married to Jesus Christ, and some wear wedding rings to symbolize their devotion.

Their traditional clothing is called a habit, which consists of a white cap, veil and long tunic. Nuns consider this their wedding dress.

Not all nuns live the same lifestyle. Cloistered nuns rarely leave the confines of their monastery and pray up to 12 hours a day. Some sisters choose an independent path, which means they live alone, go to college, pursue careers and don't wear a habit.

Oprah Show correspondent Lisa Ling is no stranger to exploring different ways of life. She's traveled to the Congo, reported on North Korea and gone inside a prison. Now, she's going where she's never gone before—inside a convent.

The nuns of Dominican Sisters of Mary, a thriving convent outside of Detroit, invited Lisa to spend the night. Just under 100 nuns live at the convent. The average age of a sister is 26; the youngest sister is only 18.
When she arrives at 5:30 p.m., Lisa says she expects to find the sisters in prayer. Instead, they're playing cards and Scrabble!

Watch as Lisa experiences her overnight stay.

At 7 p.m., a bell signals the call to nightly prayer. The first 15 minutes are conducted in complete silence. A procession follows, with nuns lined up from youngest to oldest. "At the end of this, it's silence," Sister Joseph Andrew says. "The sisters go and they either study, or if there's duties to be done, [they do those]."

At 10 p.m., the sisters have profound silence. "That means absolutely no talking and everyone should be in her cell," Sister Joseph Andrew says.

The 100 cells, or bedrooms, of the convent are cloistered, which means no one is allowed in. An exception is made for Lisa and the cameras.

The rooms are free of possessions. "We don't really have a lot of things, and that's a part of our vow of poverty," she says. "Our time is given to God and to people."

Bedtime is also the only time of day a nun does not wear her habit. "We always say it's kind of like a woman's wedding ring. It says someone loves me. Someone has claimed me as his own," she says. "And of course we would say that's Christ."

At 5 a.m., a bell rings to rouse Lisa and the sisters. Twenty minutes later, everyone's at morning Mass. "We live in a culture where we're bombarded with so much noise and so much insecurity," Lisa says. "This was actually a very peaceful night's stay that I had."

Watch a day in the life at the convent.

At 7 a.m., everyone heads to breakfast. All meals are eaten in silence. There's no time to linger as the sisters attend to their daily jobs—cleaning, teaching and whatever else is needed to keep the convent running.

Lisa then sees Sister Joseph Andrew use something she never thought she'd see at the convent—a BlackBerry! "Wherever I go, I grab my prayer books and I grab my BlackBerry," she says. "If a young woman is really looking at this [life], she immediately wants to know is there a family spirit here."

Every day after lunch, the sisters get some exercise. Their favorite activities? Field hockey, soccer and basketball. "They obviously always have to wear their habits. They just pull them up a little bit and put their sneakers on," Lisa says. "Let me tell you something, these sisters are competitive."

It can take up to nine years to become a nun. Women who have just joined the convent are called postulants. These sisters-in-training don't yet wear a veil. "When you're a postulant, [it's] the first year you enter," Sister John Dominic says. "The idea of a postulant means 'to ask.'"

The next step after being a postulant is to become a novice. It's a time of study, and novices can be identified by their white veils. "We're right now in what's called canonical year," novice Sister Maria says. "It's a year that you spend really entering more fully into the life, focusing more in prayer, and you're trying to really avoid as many distractions as you possibly can."

Once sisters have taken their final vows, they wear a black veil. Mother Assumpta, one of the founders of the convent, has been in this life since age 17. She says she never feels that she missed out on other experiences like having children. "I think every woman is called to be a mother, you know, physically," she says. "But God called me to this, and this is what I want to be—a spiritual mother."

Sister Mary Judith, now 26, joined the sisterhood at age 21. "I was really at a crisis point in my life. I had been in college for three years, and prior to that I grew up in northern Saskatchewan on an Indian reservation, so I encountered a lot of suffering, drugs," she says. "I was looking to be filled, and I felt empty. But it's interesting because I wanted to save the people I saw drowning, but I was drowning myself."

Sister Mary Judith says she removed herself from the situation by going to college. While away volunteering at Thanksgiving, she received a call that a close friend had been shot back home. "It kind of just put me face-to-face with my life. [It] wasn't just a joke or just having fun," she says. "I needed to find a direction."

Sister Mary Judith says she turned to God. "He made it very clear to me that if I wanted to be happy, I had to give my whole life to him."

Sister Francis Mary, now 26, says she received the calling when she was 22. Though she was baptized Catholic, Sister Francis Mary says she wasn't particularly religious. In fact, she thought she was meant to marry her serious boyfriend, who was also Catholic.

All of that changed when her boyfriend invited Sister Francis Mary to see his own sister take her vows to become a nun. "Something within me changed," she says. "All of a sudden, I knew that Christ wanted me for himself. And it was mind-boggling. I was afraid."

Eventually, she had to tell her boyfriend of her new life plan. "We both cried," she says. "He was really shocked at first, but then again he was extremely supportive and I am so grateful to him."

As it turns out, God had plans for her boyfriend as well. "God takes care of everything," she says. "He's going to be ordained a priest the same year I make my final vows."

There is much more. You can continue with her story at this link.

[NYer]

YOUTUBE VIDEOS

---

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

[NYer]

There’s a LOT of material to view and being cubicle bound, I have not had the opportunity to watch any of these videos. Did any one of you actually watch Oprah the other day?

[ottbmare]

Wow. How beautiful. Thanks for posting this, I never watch Oprah so I would never have known about this if you hadn’t posted.

[notaliberal]

Oprah kept focusing on their celibacy.

[NYer]

"We live in a culture where we're bombarded with so much noise and so much insecurity," Lisa says. "This was actually a very peaceful night's stay that I had."

Of course!! For us lay people, there is no need to move into a convent; one can easily adopt many of these practices at home, as well. In so doing, you will find yourself liberated.

[NYer]

Oprah kept focusing on their celibacy.

That's not surprising. In Oprah's 'world', sex is part of daily life.

[stuartcr]

To those that aren’t celibate by choice, I’m sure it’s a very focal point. One of the reasons we exist, is to reproduce, and for an extra bonus and incentive, God made it extremely pleasurable.

[trisham]

I have watched Oprah since 2001, and then only for about a week while I was recovering from surgery. :)

[marshmallow]

To those that aren’t celibate by choice, I’m sure it’s a very focal point. One of the reasons we exist, is to reproduce, and for an extra bonus and incentive, God made it extremely pleasurable.

The only people whom I know of who aren't celibate by choice are video game addicts, those who suffer from severe acne and prison inmates in solitary confinement at maximum security jails.

What are you talking about?

[stuartcr]

As I’m sure you could see, I was responding to the comment about Oprah focusing on their celibacy.

[A.A. Cunningham]

In Oprah's 'world', sex is part of daily life.

In Oprah's 'world', sex without commitment is part of daily life.

[marshmallow]

As I’m sure you could see, I was responding to the comment about Oprah focusing on their celibacy.

No, I couldn't see.

Suggesting that the celibate life lived by the sisters was not embraced "by choice", makes no sense.

[KYGrandma]

A friend’s daughter is one of the nuns. They are very supportive of their daughter’s choice. I am in awe of their devotion.

[stuartcr]

OK

[SuziQ]

As it turns out, God had plans for her boyfriend as well. "God takes care of everything," she says. "He's going to be ordained a priest the same year I make my final vows."

He is an awesome God!!

[AliVeritas]

Thanks.

[SuziQ]

One of the reasons we exist, is to reproduce, and for an extra bonus and incentive, God made it extremely pleasurable.

Yes, it IS pleasurable, but it's not everything, and even folks who are married do without sex from time to time.

When people enter the religious life, I believe God rewards them by giving them the strength to channel those sexual desires into more of an overarching love for God's people, and willingness to serve Him by serving them.

[stuartcr]

Of course it’s not everything, but it certainly isn’t unnatural for sex to part of a persons daily life.

[SuziQ]

Oh, sexuality is a wonderful thing, and the Church teaches that it's a precious gift. But not everyone is inclined to be sexually active, and some can find that they can channel those urges into different productive activities to the point where they are more asexual than anything else. I don't think there is anything wrong with that, it's just the way those folks have decided to live their lives; in service to God, and others, and denying themselves one small activity of their being, though it's only WE who think of it in terms of denial; they certainly don't.

I've know many celibate religious men and women throughout my life, and with one or two exceptions, they have been happy and quite well-adjusted.

[stuartcr]

My comment was in response to #4, not a critique of the nuns.