Day 5: National Vocations Awareness Week!

Now... I know when I was a young Catholic (sigh) I really didn't know what the difference was between "Sisters" and "Nuns". I also had no idea that there were two types of consecrated religious life: contemplative and active. And in all actuality it isn't really two types, more of a sliding scale. All religious, must be engaged in both prayer and ministry - the difference comes in communities that put more emphasis on one or the other. An example of a primarily contemplative community would be the Trappists, who live in a cloister (enclosure) and spend most of their time in contemplation and prayer. An example of a primarily active community would be the Jesuits, who have more open living arrangements and spend most of their time in some ministry such as teaching or missionary work.

Now the traditional difference between a nun and a sister:


These terms are often used interchangeably, even by religious themselves. Generally speaking, a sister is a consecrated religious woman whose life is founded upon daily prayer and whose apostolate (work and/or ministry) may be outside of the convent she lives in. The term "nun" is typically used to refer to a consecrated religious woman who chooses to live with others in a cloistered convent. Her activities would not take her out of the convent, in general. A woman chooses to accept the call of the Lord into the cloistered life because she believes that He is calling her primarily to a life of contemplative prayer. She would engage in work within the convent, serving the needs of her sisters in community and may be involved in work that would help to support the community financially (ex. making altar breads or religious articles). Her apostolate or ministry is one of intercession. Her life of sacrifice and silence is understood as an expression of love for the Lord, and of reparation and intercession for the world.
-- from the Franciscan Sisters of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother website



You know what I do? Just refer to them all as "Sisters" and you can't mess up.

Now so that you might have a closer glimpse into the life of a contemplative nun, here is a video of an Investiture of a Contemplative Dominican Nun. We are blessed to be able to be allowed to witness this amazingly beautiful tradition, that is normally a private ceremony:



Beautiful stuff.