This is wonderful. You capture so many awesome pictures of monks, nuns, friars in Rome! I never knew there were so many left...and all young.
This is a magnificent Franciscan Order of sisters...and I'll bet they are not hurting to badly for vocations!
I told a story before of one of my friends recently visiting Rome for afew months, and deliberatly sought out cloisters, convents, motherhouses, friaries...with the purpose to see for herself if there really were any true Catholic religious left in Rome...because there are hardly any left in the USA. She came back both happy and sad. Happy because she DID find on the streets of Rome, in St. Peter's Square, in religious houses alot more faithful communities than she thought she would find. Nuns in the "old fashioned 1950's habits", and several groups of friars of new Orders in full habits, beards, AND the monastic tonsure or crown! Some are new Franciscan groups of friars, others are new groups whose habits she couldn't place. Two she didn't recognize were from Italy, and 1 from Spain. But she found literally dozens of cloisters, convents, friaries and Churches still filled with faithful, traditional religious who wore the old style habits (even if most used the Novus Ordo) but some also had the Tridentine Latin Mass as well. She also came home alittle sad, because she also saw so many burnt out, tired looking aged priests in their late 50's, 60's and 70's wearing sloppy clerical slacks and shirts, or lay clothes with a gold cross on a suit coat lapel. She could pick out hundreds of very aged white haired stooped habitless nuns shuffling thru St. Peter's Square, or on buses, of strolling to churches. She talked to some of them and found out that these misguided aged women belonged to once great Orders--- the Religious of the Sacred Heart, the Cabrini nuns, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, the Cenacle Sisters(Religious of the Cenacle), the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Religious of the Assumption, and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. Now all aged women in either lay clothes, or the rather ridiculous looking unimpressive grey, black, or brown short skirts, white blouses, and shoulder length matching veils. Funny thing was she said all the "old habited nuns" ....like your pictures...were all young. The traditional friars were all young. But the lay clothes priests and nuns were all very old....most looking past 65-70. More and more I think it is a sign (I hope anyway), that the updated Catholic Church of Vatican II is fading away along with those who supported it, while the true, traditional Roman Catholic Church (and Mass), is slowly but surely coming back.
This is wonderful. You capture so many awesome pictures of monks, nuns, friars in Rome! I never knew there were so many left...and all young.
ReplyDeleteThis is a magnificent Franciscan Order of sisters...and I'll bet they are not hurting to badly for vocations!
I told a story before of one of my friends recently visiting Rome for afew months, and deliberatly sought out cloisters, convents, motherhouses, friaries...with the purpose to see for herself if there really were any true Catholic religious left in Rome...because there are hardly any left in the USA.
She came back both happy and sad. Happy because she DID find on the streets of Rome, in St. Peter's Square, in religious houses alot more faithful communities than she thought she would find. Nuns in the "old fashioned 1950's habits", and several groups of friars of new Orders in full habits, beards, AND the monastic tonsure or crown! Some are new Franciscan groups of friars, others are new groups whose habits she couldn't place. Two she didn't recognize were from Italy, and 1 from Spain. But she found literally dozens of cloisters, convents, friaries and Churches still filled with faithful, traditional religious who wore the old style habits (even if most used the Novus Ordo) but some also had the Tridentine Latin Mass as well.
She also came home alittle sad, because she also saw so many burnt out, tired looking aged priests in their late 50's, 60's and 70's wearing sloppy clerical slacks and shirts, or lay clothes with a gold cross on a suit coat lapel. She could pick out hundreds of very aged white haired stooped habitless nuns shuffling thru St. Peter's Square, or on buses, of strolling to churches. She talked to some of them and found out that these misguided aged women belonged to once great Orders--- the Religious of the Sacred Heart, the Cabrini nuns, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, the Cenacle Sisters(Religious of the Cenacle), the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Religious of the Assumption, and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. Now all aged women in either lay clothes, or the rather ridiculous looking unimpressive grey, black, or brown short skirts, white blouses, and shoulder length matching veils. Funny thing was she said all the "old habited nuns" ....like your pictures...were all young. The traditional friars were all young. But the lay clothes priests and nuns were all very old....most looking past 65-70.
More and more I think it is a sign (I hope anyway), that the updated Catholic Church of Vatican II is fading away along with those who supported it, while the true, traditional Roman Catholic Church (and Mass), is slowly but surely coming back.
What ever happened to the tradition among nuns of walking in two's, or at least small groups.
ReplyDeleteUsually when you post, it's only 1 nun we see.
I think it used to be traditional for nuns to go out in pairs or more. Not alone.