ARE THERE ANY REAL NUNS LEFT?   THERE CERTAINLY ARE!

 

 

 

I fell in love with my third grade teacher  when I was eight. Her name was Sister Bonavita ( or Good Life)  of the Holy Cross Sisters. She was small and dark and quick and wore a “head piece” of fluted white starch that surrounded her  face like a halo. Her eyes sparkled and when she smiled at me, I melted and would do anything for “ Sister.”  I would even erase the blackboard after school  hoping she  would  notice me.

 

She taught me and all the other dirty necked kids from Hell’s Kitchen tenements how to parse a sentence, how to do fractions, how to spell strange sounding words. She introduced us to the intricacies of fundamental poetry and the dynamics of history. She had us stand every morning  to say the Pledge of  Allegiance  to the flag strongly  accenting  the phrase  “ Under God.”

 

Most of all, however, she taught us the meaning of life and the value of sacred Honor. She made us proud to be Roman Catholics, with devotion to Jesus and warm love for His holy Mother.  We were wide eyed and dazzled as she told us stories of the long list of Saints we owned. The ferocious John the Baptist and Sebastian with all the arrows piercing his body, Ignatius of Antioch  telling Trajan,  the  pagan Emperor, in effect,  to  “ go jump in the lake..” and  Therese of Lisieux  and Bernadette of Lourdes. The list was endless.

 

We learned of the great power of Prayer and the marvelous love of God for us as He gave us the Holy Eucharist and constantly forgave our puny  little indiscretions  in the sacrament of Confession. The many  “Sr.Bonavitas”  gave us a  life plan and a life view of values and meanings which stayed with us ……I, at 82, recall with affection and eternal gratitude  the gift of the Catholic nun in my life.

 

Not surprisingly  the roughneck boys were enthralled with the Sisters, in general. As we were promoted to the next grade, we fell in love with our new Nun teacher, Sr. Maurice or Sr. Pascal or anyone who was that angel in the habit !!!!   It was usual for us to see Sister X as INFALLIBLE.  There was no infallibility beyond this one:  SISTER SEZ!!!!!  If Sister said something, it HAD to be so. There was no debate or negotiation.  Such totality held sway until about the eighth grade when our devotion swerved somewhat to the fascinations of basketball, the construction of model airplanes and - - - - of course - - - -  girls !!

 

The foregoing description was fairly much across the board. The huge variety of Nuns’ orders with different religious habits, cultures, charisms   contributed beyond words to the development of what became the greatest religious educational system the world has ever seen.  It was the NUNS who made the Catholic Church the significant power that it was.  Without the work of the teaching Sisters in the United States, the Church might have been just another  “ sect” instead of the populous and influential Church we became.

Religious Vocations were abundant and were often traceable to the wisdom and power of these phenomenal, angelic, beautiful women.

 

I, with hundreds of thousands of others, discovered the germinal wellspring of my own spirituality and theology with the help of the Sisters when I was the wide eyed, adoring, little urchin devouring their knowledge and their love. Later sophisticated and verbose explorations into the meaning of life were all built upon the depth orientation we received from the  “Sisters.”

  

What a way to spend one’s life if one wishes to  “ count”.

Isn’t this a real call from the Lord?  Isn’t this really serving others?  Isn’t this a unique and personal awareness of one’s personhood and that of others?

 

Something systemic, however, evidently has happened since my love affair with Nuns.  Where are the modern Sister Bonavitas? I don’t see them often! I am bereft!  In the 60’s and 70’s and 80’s the convents seemed to empty into the faceless mass of the population. Whole Congregations would undergo “ self development” with secular therapists and suffer an unbelievable exodus— While some sisters stayed and bravely confronted the dilution of their vocation with real Faith and Love, others became unbelievers and ardent foes of the Church they once loved. Some stayed as technical “ nuns” but pursued the route of the Marlboro cigarette, the Martini and the private apartment. And the occasional, dreary sexual affair (found also in confused clergy, male religious and  “ modern” hip young laity) dubbing it as a step in her personal growth!

 

One such sister consulted me after she had visited a First avenue type bar, clad in the blue jeans outfit, and had  flirted with a young fellow at the bar. When he made the usual  “ Pass” she angrily repulsed him with the devastating  remark : “ I am a Nun.”  His confusion, shock and scandal   are quite understandable. A far cry from my Sister Bonavita !

 

Or does this differ substantially from the other Sister whose

“ ministry” is to work   in a Travel agency booking  pleasure seekers  into Capri, Rio  or Fiji?

 

It is not surprising that dedicated young Catholic laywomen are not attracted by this type of personality or life style. The malaise has been spotted by the Modern young Catholic who goes to Mass daily, prays the Rosary,  does  innumerable  good works in the name of Christ  but who sees little difference between  her own Godly life and the  “liberated” lifestyle  of that modern nun.

Donna Steichen details the ugly and frightening items in her book UNGODLY RAGE !(Ignatius Press,  San Francisco)   Don’t read it  if you have  a queasy stomach .

 

What happened to turn some loving nuns into raging, shrill   “Destroyers”?  What happened to that beautiful and joyous commitment to teach eager kids? Where did all that unbelieveable sweetness go?  Or, more mysterious, whence this anger and rage, the discourtesy, even this viciousness?

 

Did they tire of their truly noble vocation?  Did they want greater sharing in that elusive entity called  “Power”?  Did they want to be priests?  And God forbid, did they want to be men? Did they forget the meaning of Deut. 22,5 on Design?

 

Br. John Mark Egan of the Congregation of Christian Brothers and psychologist extraordinaire, when asked why he “ didn’t go all the way and become a priest” replied:  “ Then I couldn’t be a Brother.”  To such an intelligent and profound Christian as Br. Egan, God has special and equal roles for all of us.  To be a Brother is TO GO ALL THE WAY, if you are Br. Egan and called to that state. If you are Sister Bonavita, this is likewise going all the way.

 

Even without knowing the causation of the sad demise of the religious sister vocation, one cannot help but get impressions of the result of the so-called Progress. Of course, the first item to go was the habit. While I am quite aware that the “ habit doesn’t make the monk”, there is something more than the external here.  There is a profound spiritual dynamic at work ! But there was a mad dash to collect what they thought was a classy wardrobe.  Gone was the beauty and mystery of the religious habit. Now all the new nuns looked like Eleanor Roosevelt. They forgot to consult a fashion expert. A local nun in our parish area who was of a bulky physical frame and Slavic background dashed into what she thought was a ravishing outfit. She asked one of the local priests his opinion of how she looked.  One look and he said:  “ You look like a stewardess on Aeroflot.”

 

Yes--- it was a cynical, pessimistic perception. I had multitudes to join me in the Anvil Chorus who formed the laudatores temporis acti  ( praisers of the past time ).  But with a bolt from the Holy Spirit  I was rescued  through the intercession of my favorite Cardinal,  John J. O’Connor, the deceased  Archbishop of my native New York.

 

Through a most fortuitous and providential “ working” of the Holy Spirit, I became the weekly confessor at a convent of the Sisters of Life who were founded, under God, by his Eminence to protect and defend the most precious of all gifts……life itself. Though only  ten years in existence, they number already over 40 of the most dedicated, intelligent and professional nuns I have  met in my long life!  While most of the “ liberated” communities of Nuns are sadly withering away with little hope of  attracting  recruits, the Sisters of Life are  ALIVE with classy, enthusiastic young postulants and novices!  Why is this?

 

Of course, they wear a most attractive habit  that makes them all look like Ingrid Bergman in  “ The Bells of St. Mary’s.” Did they hire a professional and savvy designer?  Or was it some kind of subtle maneuver of the Holy Spirit?  Profoundly, the habit symbolized something very important. It fairly shouted to an unbelieving world—without using a word----that there is a Lord of all, that these women freely choose to follow Him in magnificent self giving through real poverty and real chastity and real obedience.

 

The Marlboro route with the Martini and the apartment was open to them ( to say nothing of the married state) but they opted with  great courage, generosity and  true gaiety to be a Sister of Life.

Their backgrounds include roles such as engineer, nurse,

Psychologist, computer graphic designer, financial planner and many others. They did not “ back into” religious life. They CHOSE it as the most attractive dimension for THEM.

 

Why are they so successful?  Under God, because they have a mission so powerful and so fundamental to EVERYTHING that it appeals universally. Doesn’t everyone have a right to a shot at life? Even unborn babies?  Has Thomas Jefferson become  meaningless if he states that ALL men are created  with an inalienable  right to life? Has the mission of the Nazi doctor experimenter,  Mengales, really  taken over our thinking when we can view the old and  infirm as useless and disposable?  The Sisters of Life are succeeding because they work with energy and clarity as they Proclaim the spiritual  ( need I say American) basic values!  And they invite (by their example of sparkling eyes) other women to give themselves  to a meaningful, loving,  Christlike way of Life.

 

But like all Christians, they have to carry the crosses of physical fatigue, frustration  and ingratitude. They have to live with the painful dimension of  “ being taken for granted” and the other travails of being human. They take in, practically off the street, young women ( mostly minority types) who are pregnant and unmarried  but who decide to allow their babies to live. These young women, almost children   themselves, are cared for and educated and fed and loved and directed to a better way of life.

This is noble and difficult. But these Sisters of Life do the difficult and noble thing because they are REAL  nuns. Cigarettes and Martinis don’t factor in here easily.

 

Obviously, there are many religious communities around the country and the world of which I am unaware. I know of Mother Teresa and her holy community. I know of individual nuns in the dying communities who do marvelous Christian work  ( in  religious or secular garb). I speak mostly from a very limited human experience perspective. After all, I am a dinosaur of 82, creaking and stiffening all day long.

 

 All I know is that I was verging on cynicism and pessimism and the Sisters of Life  have given me a hoist up the scale of “ WOW”.

God bless them and my buddy Cardinal O’Connor and all hail to the Holy Spirit.