How To Become A Carmelite Nun? Top 99 Best Answers

vocations

frequently asked Questions

How do I know if I’m called to be a Carmelite nun?

If you are asking yourself this question and reading this page, it is possible that the seeds of a vocation have already taken root in your heart. Admitting this is an important first step. Properly discerning a calling takes time, effort, and prayer, and you will need to make leaps of faith – you will likely never feel 100 percent sure. For responding to God’s call is an act of faith. Contacting a community, getting to know them and learning more about their way of life is a very important and helpful step in moving them forward.

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How long does it take to become a Carmelite?

As soon as someone makes contact, wants to make a difference with us, the journey begins.

After an initial meeting with the prioress and formators, an inquirer may ask to come back and stay in the guest apartment for a while. If she then wants to follow this up, the community could invite her to live with them in the community for a few weeks. We call that striving. Then, after a period of reflection, prayer, and discernment, the aspirant may ask to either return for another dwelling or to be formally inducted into the fellowship. This step is called a postulate and takes about a year. The postulant is free to leave at any time during this phase.

Towards the end of this period, the community appreciates the postulant’s sense of ease in life, and if she herself wishes to continue her discernment, she is invited to begin the novitiate. This is a time of intense discernment and preparation for the vows of commitment to God as a Carmelite nun, which will be known as temporary profession. The novitiate usually lasts two years and is a journey of self-discovery and living together with others in a small space. His focus is on developing a life of prayer, silence and solitude balanced by a joyful community life, according to St. Teresa of Avila. These practical aspects will help the novice understand what it means to submit to the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience in order to live as joyful and fulfilling as God’s plan for us. During this time the novice is free to leave at any time.

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Should the novice wish to profess Carmelite profession towards the end of these two years, she will formally request it. If the community agrees, they will then proceed and take the vows publicly for three years. Should the professed novice wish to leave profession during this period of temporary profession, she needs a formal dispensation.

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The total time of initial formation before final vows is currently about nine years.

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Is there an age limit?

We feel it is important to have some experience in a normal working life before joining Carmel, so we would not normally accept anyone under the age of 25. Our upper age limit is normally 50 years old, but there may be exceptions depending on individual circumstances.

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Do you accept new members from outside the UK?

As we live in a closed monastery and are a lifelong commitment, candidates must be able to meet UK Immigration requirements for long-term residency in the UK. We expect all non-British applicants to have obtained UK citizenship, permanent residency or a UK passport before approaching us.

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Do you accept married women?

Being married is not necessarily a barrier to entry into Carmel. It is important, however, that anyone wishing to enter should do so completely free of any obligations outside the monastery. If you have children or grandchildren, they should be your first priority, even when they are adults. It would be difficult for you to serve them inside a closed monastery.

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I have elderly parents who may need care in the near future. Can I still enter?

We think that the duty of care to our parents is very important and it is well known that Sisters take time outside of the convent to care for elderly or sick parents. Initial education is not a good time to do this, so we encourage anyone in this position to put their responsibilities first with their parents.

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Can I participate if I have personal debt?

Before taking solemn vows, Carmelite nuns must dispose of all personal belongings. Likewise, all personal debts should be paid off. If someone is making a serious effort to pay off their own debt before entering, we would consider that a good indicator of integrity and determination.

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Do I need special qualifications?

Education must be completed at least up to secondary level. Other than that, the only “qualification” you need is a sincere desire to discover God’s will for you. St. Teresa always looked for a “firm determination” and common sense in those attempting to enter her Carmel.

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Do I have to be Roman Catholic?

If you are attracted to our way of life but are not a Catholic, we still encourage you to get in touch and see if you would like to see the path forward with us. You should be aware that canon law requires anyone who joins a Roman Catholic religious order such as the Carmelites to have been a Roman Catholic for at least three years.

Can I still see my family and friends?

We voluntarily choose to live in seclusion to help us foster stillness, solitude, and a deeper awareness of the love of Christ who called us. This creates an atmosphere of prayer that testifies to God’s loving presence. Our families are welcome to visit once a month if they can, although in practice this is less common. If you have a longer journey, you can stay in our guest apartment for a few days. We do not visit our families unless there is a very serious need. Visits from friends are usually less frequent and shorter.

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Main Professions Page

The vocation story of Sr. Maria von Nazareth

Sr. Rosemary’s Vocation Story

The Vocation Story of Sister Thérèse

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Roman Catholic religious order

“Trappist” redirects here. For other uses, see Trappist (disambiguation)

The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Latin: Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally referred to as the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe[1], are a Catholic monastic order founded by branched off from the Cistercians. They follow the Rule of Saint Benedict and have communities of monks and nuns known as Trappists and Trappistines respectively. They are named after La Trappe Abbey, the monastery that gave birth to the movement and religious order. The movement first began with the reforms introduced by Abbot Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé in 1664, which later led to the establishment of Trappist communities and finally to the formal constitution as a separate religious order in 1892.

history [edit]

The order takes its name from La Trappe or La Grande Trappe Abbey in the French province of Normandy, where the reform movement began. Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé, originally the commentating abbot of La Trappe, led the reform. As abbot of commendations, de Rancé was a secular person who received income from the monastery, but was not a professed monk and had no other monastic obligations. The second son of Denis Bouthillier, a Councilor of State, he possessed considerable wealth and was destined for an ecclesiastical career as coadjutor bishop to the Archbishop of Tours. However, after undergoing a change in his life between 1660 and 1662, de Rancé gave up his possessions, formally joined the abbey and became its regular abbot in 1663.[2]

In response to the relaxation of practices in many Cistercian monasteries, de Rancé introduced a severe reform in 1664.[3] De Rancé’s reform focused primarily on penance; it prescribed hard physical labor, silence, a meager diet, isolation from the world, and abstinence from most studies. The hard work was part penance, part a way of keeping the monastery self-sustaining so that communication with the world could be kept to a minimum. This movement spread to many other Cistercian monasteries, which adopted de Rancé’s reforms. Over time, these monasteries also expanded and created new foundations of their own. These monasteries called themselves “Trappists” in reference to La Trappe, the source and origin of their reforms.

In 1792, during the French Revolution, La Trappe Abbey, like all other monasteries of the time, was confiscated by the French government and the Trappists were expelled. Augustin de Lestrange, a monk of La Trappe at the time, led a number of monks to build a new monastery in the ruined and unroofed former Carthusian charterhouse of Val-Sainte in the canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, where the monks later executed a monastery still stricter reform practicing the ancient customs of Benedict of Nursia and the first uses of Cîteaux. 1794 raised Pope Pius VI. Val-Sainte was given the status of abbey and Trappist motherhouse, and Dom Augustin was elected the abbey’s first abbot and head of the Trappist community. However, when the French invaded Switzerland in 1798, the monks were again exiled and had to roam different countries in search of a new homeland, until Dom Augustin and his monks of Val-Sainte were finally able to reestablish a community in La Fallen .[5]

In 1834 the Holy See formed all French monasteries into the Congregation of Cistercian Monks of Notre-Dame de la Trappe, with the Abbot of La Trappe being Vicar General of the Congregation. However, there were differences in customs between the dependencies of Val-Sainte and those of Notre-Dame de l’Eternité, an abbey founded by Val-Sainte in 1795. This led to two different Trappist congregations being formed by decree of the Holy See in 1847. These were called the “Old Reform of Our Lady of La Trappe” and the “New Reform of Our Lady of La Trappe”, the former being the Constitutions of de Rancé followed and the latter of the Rule of Saint Benedict combined followed the old Constitution of Cîteaux, except in some areas prescribed by the Holy See in the same decree.[5]

In 1892, the Trappist communities left the Cistercian order entirely and, with the approval of Pope Leo XIII, merged. With the approval of Pope Leo XIII. Merged into a new order called the “Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe” to achieve unity among the various Trappist observances of identity and spirituality as a distinct monastic community.[6]

In 1909 the Mariannhill Trappists were separated from the rest of the Trappist Order by decree of the Holy See to form the Congregation of Mariannhill Missionaries.[7]

One of the most notable Trappist theologians was Thomas Merton, a prominent author in the mystical tradition and a noted poet, social and literary critic. He entered the Abbey of Gethsemane in 1941, where his writings and letters to world leaders became the most widely read spiritual and social works of the 20th century. Merton’s widely read works include his autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain, New Seeds of Contemplation and No Man is an Island.

The first Trappist saint was Rafael Arnáiz Barón, a monastic oblate of the Abbey of San Isidro de Dueñas in Dueñas, Palencia. His distinguishing feature was his intense devotion to a religious life and personal piety despite the setbacks of his suffering from diabetes mellitus. He died of diabetes in 1938 at the age of 27 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1992 and by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. canonized.

Monastic life[ edit ]

Trappists, like the Benedictines and Cistercians from whom they descend, follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. “Strict observance” refers to the Trappist goal of following the rule to the letter. They take the three vows described in the Rule (ca. 58): constancy, fidelity to the monastic life, and obedience.

Trappist monks pray Terce in Pertapaan Rawaseneng, Indonesia

Benedict’s command to reduce conversation to a minimum means that Trappists generally speak only when necessary; therefore, it is strongly discouraged to talk senseless. Contrary to popular belief, however, they do not take a vow of silence.[8] According to Benedict, language disturbs a disciple’s calmness and receptivity and can tempt one to exercise one’s own will instead of God’s will. Statements that lead to unfriendly amusement or laughter are considered evil and are forbidden.[9] A Trappist Sign Language, one of several monastic sign languages, was developed to make speaking unnecessary. Meals are usually taken in contemplative silence while Trappists listen to a reading.[10]

In contrast to the Benedictines and Cistercians[11][12], the Trappists completely dispense with meat when it comes to “four-legged animals”.[13] They generally live as vegetarians, with their diet consisting primarily of vegetables, beans, and grain products, but they sometimes eat fish.[13][14]

A Trappist novice reads at his desk

A Trappist novice kneels on the cross

Although each monastery is autonomous and may have different rules, in general the stages of entry into Trappist life can be described as follows:[15]

Candidate/Observership: Candidates or observers visit a monastery and consult with the vocation director and/or superior to help them discern their vocation. They are usually asked to live in the monastery for a short time, at least a month.

Postulancy: The candidates live for a few months as postulants in the monastery, they are led by the director of novices.

Novitiate: Postulants are clothed in monastic habit and officially accepted as members of this order. Novices are still managed by the novice director and progress through this phase for two years.

After the novitiate, novices may take temporary vows. They will live through this phase for three to nine years in order to deepen their studies, to practice the Gospel in a monastic way and to integrate into society.

Upon completion of the previous level, professing members can take perpetual vows for life.

Goods and services produced[ edit ]

In the 48th chapter of the Rule of Benedict it says: “For then they are really monks if they live by the labor of their hands.”[16] According to this rule, most Trappist monasteries produce goods which are sold in order to generate income for the monastery.

The goods produced range from cheese, bread and other foodstuffs to clothing and coffins. Their best-known products are Trappist beers.[17] These are a unique category in the beer world[18] and are praised for their high quality and taste.[19] These monasteries brew beer both for the monks themselves and for sale to the general public. Trappist beers contain residual sugar and live yeast and, unlike traditional beers, get better with age.[20]

The Trappist monks of Tre Fontane Abbey raise the lambs from whose wool the pallia of the new metropolitan archbishops are made. The Pope blesses the Pallia on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul; The metropolitan archbishops receive these pallia in a separate ceremony in their home dioceses from the hands of the apostolic nuncio, who personally represents the pope in their respective countries.

The monks at New Melleray Abbey in rural Peosta, Iowa, make caskets for themselves and for sale to the public.

Cistercian College, Roscrea, an all boys boarding/high school in Ireland, is the only Trappist school in the world and one of only two remaining monastic secondary schools in Ireland.

organization [edit]

Cistercian monasteries became more widespread, with many founded outside of Europe in the 20th century. In particular, the number of Trappist monasteries worldwide has more than doubled in the last 60 years: from 82 in 1940 to 127 in 1970 and 169 at the beginning of the 21st century.[21] In 1940 there were six Trappist monasteries in Asia and the Pacific, only one Trappist monastery in Africa and none in Latin America.[21] Now there are 13 in Central and South America, 17 in Africa, and 23 in Asia and the Pacific.[21] In general, these communities are growing faster than those in other parts of the world.[21]

During the same period, the total number of monks and nuns in the order decreased by about 15%.[21] There is an average of 25 members per congregation – less than half of what it used to be.[21] As of January 1, 2018, there were 1,796 Trappist monks[22] and 1,592 Trappist nuns[23] worldwide.

Abbot General[ edit ]

Sébastien Wyart, 1st Abbot General of the Trappists between 1892 and 1904

The Abbot General and his Council reside in Rome and are generally responsible for the affairs of the Order.[24] The current Abbot General is Dom Bernardus Peeters of Koningshoeven Abbey in the Netherlands.[25] Every three years, the Abbots and Abbesses of each branch meet in the Mixed General Assembly, presided over by the Abbot General, to make decisions about the welfare of the Order.[24]

1892-1904: Sébastien Wyart 1904-1922: Augustin Marre 1922-1929: Jean-Baptiste Ollitraut de Keryvallan 1929-1943: Herman-Joseph Smets 1943-1951: Dominique Nogues 1951-1963: Gabriel Sortais 1964-1974: Ignace:4-19 Ignace4- 1990: Ambroise Southey 1990-2008: Bernardo-Luis-José Oliveira 2008-2022: Eamon Fitzgerald 2022-present: Bernardus Peeters

List of Trappist monasteries and monasteries[ edit ]

As of 2018 there were 168 Trappist monasteries and monasteries.[26]

See also[edit]

May 11, 2007— — Tonight, in the darkness, an ancient ritual will begin, as it has done every night for nearly a thousand years. Barefoot and in utter silence, the Poor Clare Sisters of Roswell, N.M. will rise from their beds, put on their robes and begin to pray for your soul.

Each night, these nuns allow themselves no more than three hours of sleep. Her vocation is extreme: to stay within the walls of her monastery and spend her days and nights in prayer and quiet contemplation.

They are among a small number of nuns in the United States who live in seclusion, meaning they interact with the outside world only out of necessity.

There are only 1,412 nuns out of 66,608 sisters in the United States. They take four final vows: chastity, poverty, cloister, and obedience, and they observe a rule of silence.

Throughout her life her time will be divided between constant prayer and the work of the monastery. Most don’t read novels, watch movies, or play sports. They do not hug and keep any physical contact to a minimum. Most of them rarely, if ever, see their families.

These are not the nuns with whom we are familiar, so-called apostolic nuns, who teach or minister to the poor. These sisters spend their days in silence and isolation, eschewing not only the outside world but often everything that gives them pleasure, no matter how small.

They have sacrificed everything of the world in order to concentrate fully and without distraction on praying to God.

In the Convent of the Poor Poor Clares, the ferocity of self-denial practiced by the nuns is impressive. Not a word in the aisles, not a whisper at breakfast, which is eaten standing in memory of the Israelites on their way to the promised land.

The Order of Poor Clares began in the Middle Ages as a movement against the increasing worldliness and laxity of the Church. Every crumb of the sisters’ food, such as the two small pieces of bread and the cup of coffee they have for breakfast, must be eaten. The work is always done in constant, silent prayer, whether it’s sweeping floors or preparing a simple lunch.

There is stillness in the garden and stillness in the halls. Sign language is used when they need to communicate, and the sisters have hand signals for everything from “time” to “temptation”.

Not everyone is cut out for the kind of sacrifice this life demands. Those who are, Sister Terrasita explained, are “called to be mothers of all souls in the world.”

At night they sleep, although they wake up in the middle of the night to continue their prayers. The late Rev. Mother Mary Frances said that sin loves the color of the night.

“More people die at night than during the day, so we are very conscious at this midnight hour. It’s dark and quiet and people are dying. You are going before the court of God. And so it is wonderful that people, that we will only meet in eternity, that we pray for them.”

Young women are still called to this prayer, unbroken since the Middle Ages.

The order of the Cistercian Abbey of Mount St. Mary’s in Wrentham, Mass., like Poor Clares, was also founded in the Middle Ages.

“2020” was convented over a weekend when seven young women considered abandoning the material world and choosing the contemplative life of the sisters at Mount St. Mary Abbey.

What is it about this meager life that would cause these seven women—students, professionals who had relationships with men—to give up families, jobs, or home ownership?

Christine Curran, 28, once worked as an editor for a Washington magazine. “I think it’s just a feeling of wanting more. Careers sound wonderful, [but] the more I think about things like that, it still doesn’t capture enough of that feeling for me. It’s like you want to indulge yourself in a deeper way.”

Katherine Whetham, 24, a Boston College theology student, said: “Honestly, I have no other choice. I feel that. There’s nothing else I know about failure, it’s worth the risk. I am sure. I hope God is sure.”

But Whetham is also very similar to other young women her age. “Your habit is really great. I like black and white. It’s easy. That’s the cool thing about it. I like simple clothes. I’m pretty monastic.”

The call to the monastic life must be strong to lure women like this away from the joys of the world – from new clothes and music to sex, families and children. But will they give up their lives to go behind these walls?

To find out, watch “2020” on Friday at 10:00 p.m. EDT as Diane Sawyer explores life behind the walls of a closed monastery.

A day in the life of a nun

Quote: C N Trueman “A Day in the Life of a Nun”

historylearningsite.co.uk . The History Learning Page, . July 31, 2022.

Catholic religious community

“O.C.D.” forwards here. For other uses, see OCD (disambiguation)

The Discalced Carmelites, officially known as the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (Latin: Ordo Fratrum Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo) or Order of the Discalced Carmelites (Latin: Ordo Carmelitarum Discalceatorum; abbr.: OCD), is a catholic mendicant order with roots in the hermitic tradition of the desert fathers and mothers. The order was founded in the 16th century after the reform of the Carmelite order by two Spanish saints, Saint Teresa of Ávila (foundress) and Saint John of the Cross (co-founder). Discalced comes from Latin and means “without shoes”.

The Carmelite order from which the Discalced Carmelites branched is also referred to as the Carmelites of the Old Observance to distinguish them from their Discalced offshoot. The third order of Discalced Carmelites is the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites.

background [edit]

The Discalced Carmelites are brothers and nuns dedicated to a life of prayer. The Carmelites live in closed (closed) monasteries and lead a fully contemplative life. The Carmelites, while pursuing a contemplative life, are also committed to promoting spirituality through their retreat centers, parishes and churches. Lay people known as secular orders follow their contemplative call in their daily activities. Veneration of the Virgin Mary is a Carmelite characteristic and is symbolized by wearing the brown scapular.[1]

Carmelites trace their roots and name to Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. There, in the 13th century, a group of European men gathered to lead a simple life of prayer. Their first chapel was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and they called themselves the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.[2]

The Muhraka Monastery on the top of Mount Carmel near Haifa in Israel is a historic Carmelite monastery. The monastery stands on the spot where the prophet Elijah is said to have lived and fought against the Baal prophets.[3]

The first Carmelites were pilgrims to Mount Carmel who settled there in solitude. These early hermits were mainly lay people who lived lives of poverty, penance and prayer. Between 1206 and 1214, St. Albert, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, brought the hermits together on Mount Carmel into a community. At their request, he wrote them a rule expressing their own intent and reflecting the spirit of pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the early church of Jerusalem. They were also inspired by the prophet Elijah, who was associated with Mount Carmel. Elijah’s words appear on the coat of arms of the Carmelites: “I was jealous with zeal for the Lord God of hosts” (IKg 19:10). Around 1238, within fifty years of obtaining their rule, the Carmelite hermits were forced by the Saracens to leave Mount Carmel and settle in Europe.[4]

founding [edit]

A combination of political and social conditions prevailing in Europe in the 14th to 16th centuries – the Hundred Years’ War, the Black Plague, the Reformation and the revival of humanism – adversely affected the order. Many Carmelites, and even entire communities, succumbed to contemporary attitudes and conditions diametrically opposed to their original vocation. To deal with this situation, the rule has been “softened” several times. Consequently, the Carmelites bore less and less resemblance to the first hermits of Mount Carmel.[5]

Saint Teresa of Avila considered the return to the authentic vocation of Carmel to be the surest path to prayer. A group of nuns, gathered in their cell on a September evening in 1560, and drawing inspiration from the primitive tradition of Carmel and the Discalced Reform of St. Peter of Alcantara, a controversial movement within Spanish Franciscanism, proposed a to establish a monastery of an eremitic nature.

In 1562, with few resources and often fierce resistance, St. Teresa managed to establish a small monastery with the austerity of desert solitude in the heart of the city of Ávila, Spain, combining hermitage and community life. On August 24, 1562, the new monastery of St. Joseph was founded. The Rule of St. Teresa, retaining a distinctly Marian character, contained strict prescriptions for a life of constant prayer, protected by strict enclosure and sustained by the asceticism of solitude, manual labour, perpetual abstinence, fasting and fraternal charity. In addition, Saint Teresa envisioned an order devoted entirely to poverty.[5]

Working in close collaboration with St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross founded with Anthony of Jesus on November 28, 1568 the first Discalced Carmelite monastery in Duruelo, Spain.[6]

The Discalced Carmelites were recognized by Pope Gregory XIII’s decree Pia Consideration[7]. established on June 22, 1580 as a separate province of the Carmelite Order. By this decree, the Discalced Carmelites continued to report to the prior general of the Carmelite order in Rome, but otherwise differed from the Carmelites in that they could elect their own superiors and write their own constitutions for their common life. The following Discalced Carmelite Chapter in Alcala de Henares, Spain, established the Discalced Carmelite Constitutions in March 1581 and elected the first Discalced Carmelite Provincial, Fr. Jérôme Gratian, OCD. This office was later translated into that of Superior General of the Discalced Carmelites.[8]

The Carmelite charism[ edit ]

Discalced Carmelites from Argentina

Poland Monastery of the Discalced Carmelites in Czerna

The heart of the Carmelite charism is prayer and contemplation. The quality of prayer determines the quality of community life and the quality of service offered to others. For the Carmelite, prayer and contemplation are not a private matter between the individual and God, but are to be shared with others, since the charism is given to the whole world. Therefore, there is an emphasis in the Order on the ministry of teaching prayer and providing spiritual guidance.[9]

For a Carmelite, prayer is inspired by the teachings and experiences of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross as well as the saints who followed in her footsteps such as Therese of the Child Jesus and guided by the Holy Face, Elizabeth of the Trinity, Teresa of the Andes and martyrs such as Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Père Jacques and the Sixteen Martyrs of Compiegne. Fraternity, service and contemplation are essential values ​​for all Carmelites.

When the Carmelites were forced to leave Mount Carmel, they changed their practice from hermits to monks. The main difference is that the brothers are called to serve God’s people in an active apostolate. Some congregations were created for a specific work, but the Carmelite Order seeks to respond to the needs of the Church and the world, which it believes vary with time and place. Many brothers work in institutions such as parishes, schools, universities, retreat centers, prisons and hospitals. Each individual brother will serve in roles based on the perceived needs of the people with whom he lives and his own special talents.[9]

Every day is marked by silence for prayer. In addition to the daily celebration of the full Liturgy of the Hours, two hours (one in the morning and one in the evening) are reserved for silent prayer. Communities should have no more than 21 members. The brothers practice a broad field of study.

Bishops[edit]

Living bishops (4 archbishops, 18 bishops) [ edit ]

Deceased bishops (7 cardinals, 14 archbishops, 52 bishops) [ edit ]

Communities of Carmelite tradition[ edit ]

See also[edit]

References[ edit ]

Carmelites, one of the four great mendicant orders (those orders whose poverty, both corporate and personal, made it necessary for them to beg for alms) of the medieval Roman Catholic Church. The origin of the order can be traced back to Mount Carmel in north-western Israel, where around 1155 a number of pious men, apparently former pilgrims and crusaders, settled near the traditional Elijah well. Their rule was between 1206 and 1214 by St. Albert, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and 1226 by Pope Honorius III. The monks hoped to continue the way of life of the prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel, whom early Christian writers portrayed as the founder of monasticism.

The early Carmelites were hermits: they lived in separate cells or huts and took vows of silence, seclusion, abstinence, and austerity. Soon, however, the losses of the Crusader armies in Palestine made Mount Carmel unsafe for the western hermits, and by 1240 they were making their way to Cyprus, Sicily, France and England. The first general chapter (legislative assembly) of the Carmelites was held in England in 1247 under St Simon Stock, and the order was adapted to the conditions of the western countries to which it had been transplanted: the order transformed from an order of hermits into one of the mendicants . In this form, the Carmelites established themselves throughout Western Europe and became popular as an order very similar to the Dominicans and Franciscans. The first Carmelite institution was founded in 1452.

Of all the movements in the Carmelite Order, that of St. Teresa of Ávila initiated the reform by far the most important and far-reaching in its results. After almost 30 years in a Carmelite monastery, she founded a small monastery in Ávila in 1562, in which a stricter way of life was to be observed. Teresa’s Order became the Order of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns (O.D.C.). Despite much opposition and difficulty, St. Teresa succeeded in founding not only monasteries but, in collaboration with Juan de Yepes (later St. John of the Cross), a number of monasteries that followed this stricter observance. The aim of the reform was to restore and emphasize the rigor and contemplative character of the original Carmelite life. Because Reformed Carmelites wore sandals instead of shoes and stockings, they were called Discalced or Barefoot Carmelites to distinguish them from the older branch of the order. In 1580 the Reformed monasteries became a separate province under the prior general of the order, and in 1593 by papal act that province became an independent order.

New from Britannica New from Britannica In 1889, in Victorian London, mail was often delivered 12 times a day, from about 7.30am to 7.30pm. See all the good facts

Both orders suffered badly from the French Revolution and the oppression of Napoleon and the Liberal governments of the 19th century, but have since been restored in most of Western Europe and the Middle East, Latin America and the United States. The original order (Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel; White Friars; O.Carm.) is primarily concerned with preaching and teaching. Active in parishes and foreign missions, the Discalced Carmelite Fathers (Order of Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel; O.C.D.) have developed into a primarily pastoral and devotional order. Both branches were important promoters of Marian devotion. In addition to the monastic nuns, numerous congregations of active sisterhoods, Third Order Carmelites, have recently been founded, dedicated to teaching, nursing and other charitable work.

After more than 60 years, the Diocese of Erie will close the Carmelite Monastery on East Gore Road.

The diocese’s communications director confirmed that the Carmelites are preparing to close the convent of the Holy Family in Erie.

This comes in response to a document released by the Vatican in 2018 that provided new guidance for religious communities. The director of the monastery says there are not enough members to stay open.

The Diocese of Erie released the following statement:

“I can confirm that the Carmelites are preparing to close the Erie-based Holy Family Convent. This comes in response to Cor Orans, a 2018 document released by the Vatican that offers new guidance to contemplative communities. There aren’t enough members in Erie’s monastery to keep it open. It is impossible to say how important the presence of the Carmelites was for our region. We will provide more information on the situation as details are finalized,” said Anne-Marie Welsh, communications director for the Diocese of Erie.

You can find more information about the Carmelite nuns and the monastery here.

BURLINGAME, Calif. — Sarah Jane Bradley was an unmarried “spiritual but non-religious” professional in her early 30s with a rowdy group of friends and a startup when she moved from her community home to a convent.

A bunch of friends went with her.

They called the project Nuns and Nones, and they were the “Nones” — progressive millennials, none of whom were practicing Catholics. Intended as a pilot project, the unusual roommate situation at the Sisters of Mercy should last half a year.

The idea was spearheaded by Adam Horowitz, a 32-year-old Jewish man, and the pilot program was led by Judy Carle, a 79-year-old Bay Area Catholic Sister of Mercy. Horowitz and his friends heard the call for a road trip to visit intentional communities. They considered how to live a radical activist life, a life of total dedication to their cause. They were trying to find out who was already doing this, and when Horowitz spoke to a minister, he remembered. The answer was nuns.

“These are radical … women who have dedicated their lives to social justice,” Bradley said. “And we can learn from them.”

Times are hard for the sisters too. The median age of a Roman Catholic nun in the United States is nearly 80. Convents across the country are closing. The number of nuns in the United States has plummeted from 180,000 in 1965 to less than 50,000 today. Sisters pass leadership to lay people in Catholic hospitals and schools. Some have even begun to speak of their mission complete here in the United States.

At the same time, millennials are the least religious group of people in the United States – only about 27% attend weekly church services. Young women who seek a life of good works without the burden of a man can now do so without Catholicism.

But for small pockets of the young, urban and progressive, the monastery calls. Her radical politics took her around and back to the Catholic Church.

THE MILLENNIALS ARE COMING

Millennials came with Subaru. The sisters had prepared small rooms for the women and men in the wing where they originally housed novices but are now used for retreats. Each room had a double bed, a small wooden table, a chair and a Bible. The sisters also made them an office with specially selected sacred art, including a painting of Moses, because some of the Nones were Jewish.

The sisters were not sure what exactly the young people wanted to know about them and the first meeting was a shock.

“I was stunned and said to the other sisters, ‘You’ll never guess what millennials want to talk about: the vows,'” said Sister Patsy Harney. “Everyone laughed. It was like a joke you know?”

But millennials were anything but serious.

Harney found a book on the vows—poverty, obedience, chastity—that she had bought but never read.

“I saw [a person] sneaking around with their phone to take a picture of the cover and the next time I saw it, Sarah had read it and it was covered in sticky notes,” Harney said. “Millennials looked at it like this was the glue. They were looking for the secret sauce of how we do it.”

The sisters began to see that millennials wanted a roadmap for life and rituals rather than a belief system. On one of the first evenings, Sister Judy Carle said, one of the young people casually asked the sisters, “So what is your spiritual practice?”

“That’s the first question, not ‘What do you believe?'” she said, noting that the specifics of belief have been so important throughout history that people have waged wars over them.

“So many of the millennials would say, ‘I’m looking for rituals. I’m looking for rituals that work in my lesbian community or social justice, or I need rituals for that other thing,” Carle said. A young woman wanted rituals so much that she started going to mass every morning.

FOR THE SISTERS

Nuns and Nones now operates groups in about a dozen cities, including Grand Rapids, Michigan, Minneapolis, New York City and Boston. Groups of sisters and millennials meet regularly in each location. (The sisters are colloquially known as nuns, although that term technically refers only to the monastic women who do not work in outlying schools or hospitals.) The just-completed pilot stay in California is the first attempt at cohabitation.

Wayne Muller, a Santa Fe, N.M. minister, was the one who originally suggested to Horowitz that it might be worth exploring a partnership between millennial activists and sisters. He was surprised at how well the activists took up the program and how quickly they began to see the sisters as comrades.

“It’s like, ‘There’s a Pope you know; they’re in his rolodex, and it’s always a he — and do you guys agree with that?’” Muller said in an interview.

That these young progressives – who work as community organizers, artists and social workers – are finding answers in the Catholic Church comes as a surprise to them too. Many of the young people say they see monastic culture as an almost separate, rebellious force, little related to the Catholic Church – although of course it is an integral part of the Church.

And this church hardly seemed like a place for young progressives. In recent years, the Church has found itself in an ongoing crisis over sexual abuse and systematic cover-ups.

For Muller, Nuns and Nones is also partly a real estate story. Relocating young people to convents can help the sisters keep their belongings despite rising costs of residential care. The young people are given low-income housing in exchange for helping to take care of the sisters.

Muller said another benefit for young activists is that they learn how to avoid burnout by studying the sisters who made social change a lifestyle.

“The call itself is very similar,” Muller said. “The sisters have been doing radical work for social justice for ages.”

CHASTITY, POVERTY, OBEDIENCE

The Nones, many of whom said they felt overwhelmed by life’s choices, were drawn to the discipline and thought of sacrifice. A life of chastity was particularly appealing to her.

“I began to see that chastity was an invitation to a ‘proper relationship,’ and not just a question of celibacy,” Bradley said. “In a Me Too era, we need proper relationships. We need to know what it means to respect a person’s person and to respect one’s person and to be a channel for love instead of ego needs.”

Bradley co-founded an adult learning support community called Open Master’s, which includes a program for those interested in religion called Alt*Div. She doesn’t plan on being celibate, but she wants a little infusion of chastity.

“It’s about deciding what price we are willing to pay for the world we want to live in and the life we ​​want to live,” Bradley said.

Millennials began to reconsider other vows. The vow of poverty is about resource stewardship and shared prosperity, they said. But obedience as a concept was difficult.

“It sounds like it’s about taking orders, but the nurses helped me see that it’s about preparing the heart for dialogue and a deep inner listening to the truth,” Bradley said. “The vows have opened that portal where you can really see how countercultural these sisters’ lives are.”

The sisters’ days are full. Many begin prayer at 6:30 a.m. in chapel and then work on the large hospital network their order has established or their affordable housing program, which serves 152,000 people nationwide. Millennials had more flexible working hours.

“I was jealous,” Carle told millennials one morning. “Our lives go further and sometimes faster. Yours was more of what I would call a retreat-type experience.”

GOODBYE, FOR NOW

On the night the Bay Area residency ended, the sisters and millennials gathered in a circle around a small altar. Sisters and millennials wrote and read poetry to each other. And they sang one of the sisters’ chants: Sacred is the Call. Awesome, the trust. Cultivate the sacred, cultivate the sacred.

When millennials moved out in mid-May, they scattered across the country again. The Sisters of Charity will of course remain in the convent.

Some of the sisters are now answering a call to go to the US-Mexico border for an extended stay. You plan to work with asylum seekers. The Nones might come too if they’re up for it.

Photo by The New York Times/DAMIEN MALONEY

Sister Janet Rozzano, Sister of Mercy, at the Mercy Center, was part of the program that matched nuns with millennials for a six-month trial. Since then, Nuns and Nones has had groups in nearly a dozen cities.

Religion on 06/15/2019

dietary law

Christian vegetarianism is the practice of adhering to a vegetarian lifestyle for reasons related to or arising out of the Christian faith. The three main reasons are spiritual, nutritional and ethical. The ethical reasons may involve a concern for God’s creation, a concern for animal rights and animal welfare, or both.[1][2] Likewise, Christian veganism does not use animal products for reasons related to or arising out of the Christian faith.

Pescetarianism was widespread in the early church among both clergy and laity.[3]

Among the early Judeo-Christian Gnostics, the Ebionites believed John the Baptist, James the Just, and Jesus to be vegetarians.[4][5][6][7][8][9]

Several religious orders of various Christian churches practice pescetarianism, including the Benedictines, Franciscans, Trappists, Carthusians and Cistercians.[10][11][12] Various church leaders have advocated vegetarianism, including John Wesley (founder of the Methodist Church), William and Catherine Booth (founder of the Salvation Army), William Cowherd of the Bible Christian Church, and Ellen G. White of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 13][14][15][16] Cowherd, who founded the Bible Christian Church in 1809, helped found the world’s first Vegetarian Society in 1847.[17]

Organizations such as the Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA) are working to promote the concept.[18]

Additionally, many Christians may choose to practice vegetarianism or veganism during Lent as a fasting offering.[19][20]

Biblical support[edit]

Christian vegetarianism has not been a common dietary choice throughout church history. However, some [who?] have argued that “there is a long tradition of vegetarianism in Christian history.”[21] The two most prominent forms are spirituality-based vegetarianism (in which vegetarianism is embraced as an ascetic practice, or as a means against the sin of gluttony, in the hope that the person will be drawn towards God) and an ethical vegetarianism (where it is embraced for ethical reasons; for example those dealing with the treatment of non-human animals) . Christian ethical vegetarianism (or veganism) usually entails a commitment to the normative claim that (at least some) Christians should be vegetarians. For this reason, Christian ethical vegetarians often provide biblical justification for their position. While there are biblical passages that support ethical vegetarianism, there are also passages that seem to imply that eating animals is morally permissible.

Old Testament[edit]

One of the most important passages for Christian vegetarians is the creation account in the book of Genesis.[22] After creating human beings, God addresses them in chapter 1, verses 1:29-30 as follows:

God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, to everything that breathes life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was.

In this passage, God prescribes a plant-based diet not only for humans but for all non-human animals that live on land. Christian vegetarians and vegans point out that it was in this creation – where all creatures ate plants – that God then declared “very good” in verse 31.[23][24] Furthermore, the fact that God’s original creation was a vegan creation indicates that God intended all of His creatures to live that way.[25] This idea – that God intended all His creatures to eat plants – is sometimes supported by the statement that the vision of the peaceful kingdom in the Book of Isaiah 11:6-9 indicates that God will one day restore creation to such a state of being universal vegetarianism:

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fattened cattle together, and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear will feed, their young will lie down together; and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The suckling child will play over the otter’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand to the adder’s burrow. You will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Some Christian vegetarians [who?] have suggested that this eschatological view provides reasons for adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet here and now. Additionally, it has often been pointed out that the dominion given to humans over nonhuman animals in Genesis 1:26–28 must be understood in light of Genesis 1:29–30, which mandates a plant-based diet for all creatures. Genesis 1:26-28, as acknowledged by Christian vegetarians, was often used to justify eating animals.[26] But that’s a mistake, they suggest. Once it is recognized that humans are given dominion over creation, and that in the next verse humans are prescribed a plant-based diet, it becomes clear that dominion should be understood in terms of stewardship or servanthood: humans are called to rulemaking in that sense that they should be cared for and sought to prosper as a good sovereign would seek the prosperity of his or her empire.[27] In a survey of the scholarly literature on the relevant Hebrew terms, Carol J. Adams lists governing, ruling, tending, caring, tending, and guiding about as possible ways of understanding dominion, noting that the common feature of these concepts “is their goodness “.[28]

The first chapters of Genesis are, of course, only the beginning of the biblical story. And just as there are passages that can be cited for Christian vegetarianism or veganism, there are passages that suggest that eating animals is morally permissible. The most problematic passages for Christian vegetarians are those that contain explicit permission to eat animals. Genesis 9:3–4 is the first such example. In this verse, God tells Noah and his family that animals will now be their food, although they are not to eat animal flesh that contains blood. [Genesis 9:3-4] This new situation – that of humans eating animals – is then taken for granted in much of the biblical narrative. Leviticus 11 records that God gave the Israelites rules about what types of meat could be eaten, implying that certain types of meat were acceptable. During the Exodus from Egypt, God commanded all Israelites to slaughter a lamb and eat it, establishing the Passover as an enduring tradition to commemorate that God saved them. [Exodus 12:24]

Some Jewish and Christian vegetarians have tried to downplay the importance of these passages. It was implied, for example, that God’s permission for Noah and his family to eat meat was only ever intended as a temporary permission and was given because all plants had been destroyed as a result of the flood.[29] Others do not interpret the permission given to Noah and his family in Genesis 9:3-4 as carte blanche to kill animals for food, because “no matter what you do, you can never remove all the blood from the flesh of a slaughtered remove animal”. , but as an invitation to seek dead animals and eat them if any are found.[30][31][32] However, these approaches are pressured by the sheer number of passages that seem to presuppose the legitimacy of eating animals and the normality with which meat-eating is treated.

Another approach to these texts is to suggest that because of human sinfulness, God has reluctantly allowed animals to be eaten. In other words, God allowed humans to eat nonhuman animals as a concession to the fallen condition of mankind.[33][34] Richard Young raises the possibility that both the introduction of animals into the human diet and the use of animals for religious sacrifices were concessions to a fallen humanity used to dealing with humanity where it was.[35] This approach allows the Christian vegetarian or vegan to take all biblical testimony seriously, while maintaining God’s preference for peace and shalom in all creation.

Other passages relevant to the practice of vegetarianism are number 11, where the Israelites are fed up with manna, a foodstuff that “the rabbis of the Talmud claimed […] had the flavor and aroma that the eater used to eat time of eating”[ 36] and which was probably not an animal product. Manna was given to the Israelites by God, but they complained and wanted meat instead. [Numbers 11:4-10] They were condemned for this, although God yielded and gave them meat, which then made them sick. [Numbers 11:32-34] Because of their lust, the place where the incident occurred became known as Kibroth Hattaavah.[36]

A donkey temporarily given the ability to speak showed Balaam more than signs of sentience. [Numbers 22:21-33]

Some people believe that the book of Daniel also specifically promotes veganism as empowering. Daniel expressly refuses the king’s “meat” (paṯbaḡ, Strongs no. 5698[37]) and instead asks for vegetables (zērōʿîm, Strongs no. 2235[38]). For example, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah reject foods considered unholy by their faith (they eat foods sacrificed to pagan gods) rather than meat itself, although “at the end of ten days their faces appeared more beautiful and fatter in the flesh than all the children that ate the part of the flesh of the king.” [Daniel 1:15]

Philo says that the Essenes “more ruthlessly than all others in the worship of God […] do not sacrifice animals […] but see fit to consecrate their own hearts as a worthy sacrifice”. They claimed that the sacrifices “defiled” the temple.

The Christian Vegetarian Association of the United Kingdom maintains that in no instance is the word “meat” used in the authorized versions of the Old or New Testament solely in relation to animal food (e.g. “meat”). The CVA states that when the first English translations of the Bible were made, the word for “meat” meant food in general. When a particular type of food was referred to, it was referred to as grist, flour, or grain.[40]

According to CVS, examples of New Testament words translated “flesh” are: broma (“that which is eaten”/usage: 16 times); brosimos (“edible”/usage: 1 time); brose (“act of eating; that which is eaten, sustenance; food of souls/usage: 7 times); prosphagion (“anything eaten with bread; spoken of boiled or fried fish”/usage: 1 time); Sitometron (“a measured portion of grain or food”/Usage: 1 time); Trapeza (“a table with food on it, a place to eat”/Usage: 1 time); Trophy (“Food, sustenance”/Usage: 13 times ) ; phago (“eat, eat, eat, devour, consume”/Use: 3 times).[41]

New Testament[edit]

Arguments for Christian vegetarianism[edit]

Christian vegetarians and vegans often invoke the ethic embodied in Jesus that called people to imitate by championing a distinctly Christian vegetarianism. First, Jesus opened up the kingdom of God, but his kingdom did not involve the exercise of power, as people tend to think. As Andrew Linzey argues, the power of Christ is “the power to serve.”[42] Humans are called to have the same mind that was found in Jesus Christ, i. H. the mind to exercise power in service. [Philippians 2:5-9] And by looking at the life of Jesus, it is possible to get an idea of ​​what service means. Sarah Withrow King writes that Jesus “loved the unloving. In first-century Palestine, the unloving were women, children, the sick, the poor, Roman soldiers, zealots, lepers, blind, outcasts” and so on.[43] ] But today, the unlovable animals should include those nonhuman animals raised for food in systems that prevent them from thriving and lead to their (often painful) deaths.

Christian vegetarians also emphasize the importance Jesus placed on peace[44] and inclusion[45]. From these and other aspects of Jesus’ attitude towards others, ethical principles are worked out which, according to Christian vegetarians and vegans, lead to a vegetarian or vegan way of life. Sarah Withrow King sums up the point as follows:

Aware of the suffering and pain endured by animals that are raised and killed for food, knowing the immense waste of natural resources and the resulting impact on our fellow human beings and the rest of creation, and recognizing that meat is essential for diet is not a necessity for the vast majority of Westerners, why should we continue to participate in a system that dishonors God’s creation and perpetuates violence on a truly phenomenal scale?[46]

Difficult passages[ edit ]

Luke 24 Jesus eats a fish [ edit ]

Jesus eating fish [Luke 24] and telling his disciples where to catch fish before he cooks it to eat [John 21] is a common theme in Christian ethical vegetarian and vegan scriptures. Jesus ate fish and is considered entirely without sin, indicating that eating fish is not a sin. The Bible does not specifically say that Jesus ate meat other than fish, and Webb cites the fact that no lamb is mentioned at the Last Supper as evidence that he did not.[47]

According to Clough and King, the fact that Jesus ate fish (and possibly other meat) only shows that eating some meat is sometimes permissible in certain circumstances, but that practices in the modern, industrialized farming system (such as the mass killing of male day-old chicks from laying hens) make the consumption of meat from such farms morally problematic[48][49]

Andy Alexis-Baker has turned to biblical scholarship to argue that biblical passages often call for nuanced interpretation and to be wary of wooden literalism. For example, he cites the work of Gerald O’Collins, SJ, who suggests that there are differences between the way Luke describes this appearance in Luke 24:41-43 and in Acts 1 and a tension between Luke 24:41 –43 and 1 exist Corinthians 6, preventing us from reading this verse literally.[50]

Vujicic explains this passage by invoking a so-called synoptic principle.[51]

Acts 10 – Peter’s Vision [ edit ]

In the tenth chapter of Acts there is an account of a vision given to the apostle Peter. In this vision, Peter is shown a large cloth lowered from heaven at its four corners. The leaf is said to contain animals of all kinds, and Peter then hears a voice (which he interprets as a command from God) saying, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” [Acts 10:13] Peter refuses and the voice says, “What God has made clean you shall not profane”. [Acts 10:13]

Christian vegetarians and vegans claim that this passage is not about what animals you can or cannot eat, but about who the gospel is for.[52] According to Laura Hobgood-Oster, “It seems that the vision is not about eating animals, but about showing hospitality to all people. While animals in sacred texts are often real animals and should be treated as such in this particular case, it appears that in Peter’s vision animals symbolized human categories that exclude other humans from fellowship.”[53]

Sarah Withrow King writes that God uses this vision to remind Peter that he is to “break down barriers of fellowship and be reconciled with those from whom we have been separated, to advance the kingdom of God on earth… the vision is one of radical inclusion”.[54] John Vujicic agrees with King, noting that Peter did not eat anything after receiving the vision. But, writes Vujicic: “In the leaf were also so-called CLEAN animals. Peter would have at least some sheep or cattle could choose and kill, but he didn’t.” According to Vujicic, the reason Peter didn’t just pick up and eat a clean animal was because Peter was actually a vegetarian.[51] Peter is said to have entered the apocryphal pseudo- Describing Clementine sermons as a vegetarian.

Mark 7 Jesus declares all food clean [ edit ]

Most Christians claim that Jesus’ teaching in Mark 7 [Mark 7:5-21] shows that Christians can eat whatever they want, that dietary choice is a matter of “Christian liberty” and that therefore vegetarianism or veganism could never be obligatory for Christians.[55] Christian vegetarians and vegans counter that the point of Jesus’ teaching in Mark 7 is that his followers should concern themselves with the status of their hearts, which is “our relationship with God, with one another, and with affected the world”.[56]

Early Christianity[edit]

New Testament[edit]

Vegetarianism seems to have been a point of contention in some early Christian circles, particularly in Rome. In the Bible’s New Testament, the Apostle Paul explains that people of “weak faith” “eat only vegetables” [Romans 14:1-4], although he warns both meat eaters and vegetarians to “stop judging one another.” when verse 13 is about food and “it is not good to eat meat” in verse 21. Paul also said, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will give up the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things that demons are taught by them. Such teachings come from hypocritical liars whose conscience is seared like a hot iron. They […] command […] abstinence from certain foods.” [1 Timothy 4:1-3] According to the Christian Vegetarian Association, Paul was not referring to vegetarianism, which they say was not an issue in those times but to the practice of not eating meat from the meat market for fear that (like the problem with Daniel above) it would be sacrificed to an idol. 1 Corinthians 10:19-29][52] “Therefore, if meat [brōma, Strong’s #1033,[57] ‘anything g uses as food'[58]] make my brother angry, I will eat no meat while the world endures, lest I offend my brother.” 1 Corinthians 8:13

Patristic evidence[ edit ]

In the 4th century, some Judeo-Christian groups claimed that Jesus himself was a vegetarian. Epiphanius quotes the Gospel of the Ebionites where Jesus has a confrontation with the high priest. Jesus chastises the leaders, saying: “I came to finish the sacrifices and feasts of blood; and unless you stop sacrificing and eating flesh and blood, the wrath of God will not depart from you, just as it came upon your fathers, the wilderness that craved flesh and was filled, and was filled with putrefaction, and the plague she consumed.”[59]

According to Lightfoot, “The Christianized Essenes […] condemned the slaughter of sacrifices on grounds quite different from those asserted in Hebrews, not because they were superseded by the Atonement, but because they are inherently repugnant to God; not because they have stopped being right, but because they were never right to begin with”.

Other early Christian historical documents note that many influential Christians during the formative centuries of Christianity were vegetarians, though certainly not all. The Sermons of Clementine, a second-century work said to be based on the teachings of the Apostle Peter, states: “The unnatural eating of meat is as environmentally harmful as pagan devil worship with its sacrifices and its unclean feasts through participation in it a man becomes a blackhead of devils.”[60][citation needed] While the Didascalia itself does not advocate vegetarianism, it records a group of individuals who believed that they “should not eat meat and said that a man must not eat anything that has a soul.”[61]

Although early Christian vegetarianism appears to have been downplayed in favor of a more “modern” Christian culture, the practice of vegetarianism appears to have been very widespread in early Christianity, both among leaders and among the laity.[3] Origen’s Contra Celsum quotes Celsus commenting on vegetarian practices among Christians with whom he had contact.[62] Though not a vegetarian himself and vehemently opposed to Christians being required to be vegetarians, Augustine nonetheless wrote that those Christians who “abstain both from meat and from wine” are “without number.”[63]

Churches and movements[edit]

Historical developments[edit]

Followers of the Gnostic sect known as the Cathars practiced pescetarianism as early as the Middle Ages.[64] The Bible Christian Church, founded in 1809 by the Reverend William Cowherd, was vegetarian.[15] Cowherd was one of the philosophical forerunners of the Vegetarian Society.[17] Cowherd encouraged members to abstain from eating meat for the sake of moderation.[65] Cowherd stressed that vegetarianism is good for health, while eating meat is unnatural and likely to provoke aggression. He was later reported to have said, “If God had willed us to eat meat, it would have come to us in edible form [like the ripened fruit].”[17]

Seventh-day Adventists present a health message that recommends vegetarianism and expects abstinence from pork, shellfish, and other foods forbidden in Leviticus as “unclean.”[66] A number of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, including Joseph Bates and Ellen White, adopted a vegetarian diet in the 19th century, and Ellen White reportedly received visions of the health benefits of a vegetarian diet.[67] More recently, members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in California have been involved in research into longevity because of their healthy lifestyle, which includes maintaining a vegetarian diet.[68] This research was included in an article by National Geographic.[69][70] Another denomination of common origin, the reformist Seventh-day Adventist movement, advocates vegetarianism as part of the fellowship, with many of its members also being vegan. Typically, however, these Sabbatarian pro-vegetarian Christian communities do not require “vegetarianism as a test of community.”

The Word of Wisdom is a dietary law given to adherents of the Latter-day Saint movement (also known as Mormonism), stating that “also the flesh of the beasts and fowls of the air . . . should be used sparingly,” and that ” it pleases [God] that they should not be used, only in times of winter or cold or famine”.[71] Unlike injunctions against tobacco and alcohol, observance of this portion of the Doctrine and Covenants has never been made mandatory by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the largest Latter-day Saint denomination. Many LDS Church leaders have expressed their views on the subject of meat, but since Joseph F. Smith became Church President in 1901, the emphasis on abstaining from meat has largely been abandoned.[72] According to an official church publication, “[modern] methods of refrigeration now make it possible to preserve meat at any time of the year.”[73] As recently as 2012, official church spokesman Michael Otterson stated: “The church has also encouraged the Restricting meat consumption in favor of grains, fruits, and vegetables.”[74] Notably, the LDS Church owns and operates Deseret Ranches in central Florida, which is one of the largest cow calf operations in the United States.[75]

Some members of the Religious Society of Friends (also known as Quakers) practice vegetarianism or veganism as a reflection of peace witness and extend nonviolence toward animals.[76] Historically, the early vegetarian movement had many Quaker promoters. Some ranter groups—nonconformist Christian groups that existed in 17th-century England—were vegetarian.

Roman Catholic monastic orders such as the Carthusians and Cistercians follow a pescetarian diet. Carmelites and others who follow the Rule of St. Albert also maintain a vegetarian diet, although under this rule of life the elderly and sick are permitted to eat meat.

Christian anarchists such as Leo Tolstoy, Ammon Hennacy, and Théodore Monod extend the Christian principles of compassion and nonviolence through a vegetarian diet.[77][78][79]

Contemporary movements[edit]

The Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA) is an international, non-denominational, Christian vegetarian organization that promotes responsible stewardship of God’s creation through a plant-based diet.[80] The CVA produced the film Honoring God’s Creation in 2006.[81]

Sarx is a UK-based organization that aims to “empower Christians to become champions of animal causes and to live peacefully with all of God’s creatures.”[82] Sarx publishes interviews with Christian vegans and vegetarians on its website and offers people the opportunity to speak in churches across the UK on issues such as Christianity and veganism, animal welfare and faith, creation and animals.

CreatureKind is an organization that exists “to encourage Christians to recognize faith-based reasons for caring about the welfare of fellow animal creatures used for food and to take practical steps to respond.”[83] It was founded by David Clough, Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chester, and is directed by Clough and Sarah Withrow King, an American author and Associate Director of the Sider Center at Eastern University. CreatureKind is creating a course for churches to help church groups think about how Christians should respond to and treat animals.

Catholic Concern for Animals (CCA) is a charity that calls on Catholics to “cherish and care for all of [God’s] creation.”[84] CCA has been promoting a vegetarian/vegan diet as a way of caring for creation, particularly animals, for “many years”.[85][86]

The group Evangelicals for Social Action has suggested that a vegan diet is a way to demonstrate Christian love and compassion for farm animals, arguing specifically that such a consistent pro-life ethic looks like.[87]

Christian Vegetarians and Vegans UK is an organization trying to promote a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle in the UK church.[88]

Partial fasting and temporary abstinence

Eastern Christianity[ edit ]

During Lent, some Christian communities, such as Orthodox Christians in the Middle East, practice partial fasting, eating only one light meal a day.[89] For Strict Greek Orthodox Christians and Copts, all meals during these 40 days are prepared without animal products and are essentially vegan.[89] Unlike veganism, however, abstaining from animal products during Lent is meant to be a temporary and not a permanent way of life.[90]

Eastern Orthodox laypeople also traditionally abstain from animal products on Wednesdays (because according to Christian tradition Judas betrayed Jesus on the Wednesday before Jesus was crucified) and Fridays (because it is believed that Jesus was crucified on the following Friday) as well as during the four major Lents of the year: Great Lent, the Fast of the Apostles, the Fast of the Dormition, and the Fast of the Nativity. Lay Catholics traditionally abstain from animal meat (sometimes required by law, see Fasting and abstinence in the Roman Catholic Church) on Fridays and during Lent before Easter, some also practice Wednesday abstinence out of private piety. Fish is not considered proper meat anyway (see pescetarianism, although the Eastern Orthodox only allow fish on days when fasting is reduced, but meat is still not allowed). Für diese Praktiken sind “Tierrechte” keine Motivation und positive Umwelt- oder individuelle Gesundheitseffekte nur ein Mehrwert; der eigentliche Grund ist die Ausübung von Abtötung und einer gewissen marginalen Askese.

Orientalisch-orthodoxe, ostorthodoxe und ostkatholische Mönche verzichten das ganze Jahr über auf Fleisch, und viele verzichten auch auf Milchprodukte und Meeresfrüchte. Durch Gehorsam gegenüber der orthodoxen Kirche und ihren asketischen Praktiken[91] versucht der orthodoxe Christ, sich von den Leidenschaften oder der Neigung zur Sünde zu befreien.[Zitieren erforderlich]

Westliches Christentum [ bearbeiten ]

Fastenabendessen, zubereitet gemäß der im Daniel-Fasten festgelegten Diät: Diese besondere Mahlzeit umfasst Spaghetti mit schwarzen Bohnen, Quinoa und gemischtes Gemüse aus Gurken, Pilzen, Mikrogemüse, Rucola und Babykarotten.

Im westlichen Christentum wird das Fasten während der vierzigtägigen Fastenzeit von vielen Kommunikanten der katholischen Kirche, der lutherischen Kirchen, der anglikanischen Gemeinschaft, der methodistischen Kirchen und der westlichen orthodoxen Kirchen begangen, um an das Fasten zu erinnern, das Christus während seiner Versuchung in der Wüste begangen hat. [92] Während einige westliche Christen während der gesamten Fastenzeit fasten, werden Aschermittwoch und Karfreitag von bestimmten christlichen Konfessionen im Westen als besonders wichtige Fastentage innerhalb der Fastenzeit hervorgehoben.[93][94] In vielen westlichen christlichen Kirchen, einschließlich derjenigen der katholischen, methodistischen und baptistischen Tradition, haben sich bestimmte Gemeinden verpflichtet, während der gesamten Fastenzeit das Daniel-Fasten durchzuführen, in dem die Gläubigen die gesamten vierzig Tage lang auf Fleisch, Milchsäure und Alkohol verzichten die liturgische Zeit.[95][96][97][98]

Nach kanonischem Recht sind Katholiken verpflichtet, am Aschermittwoch und an allen Freitagen der Fastenzeit, einschließlich Karfreitag, auf Fleisch (definiert als sämtliches Fleisch und alle Organe von Tieren, mit Ausnahme von Wassertieren) zu verzichten.[99] Aschermittwoch und Karfreitag sind auch Fasttage für Katholiken im Alter von 18 bis 60 Jahren, an denen eine Hauptmahlzeit und zwei Halbmahlzeiten ohne Zwischenmahlzeiten eingenommen werden.[99] Das kanonische Recht verpflichtet Katholiken auch, an den Freitagen des Jahres außerhalb der Fastenzeit (mit Ausnahme bestimmter Feiertage) auf Fleisch zu verzichten, sofern nicht mit Genehmigung der örtlichen Bischofskonferenz eine andere Bußhandlung ersetzt wird.[99] Ausnahmen sind aus gesundheitlichen und notwendigen Gründen wie Handarbeit und Nichtanstößigkeit als Gast zulässig.[99] Die Einschränkung des Fleischverzehrs an diesen Tagen ist lediglich ein Akt der Buße und kein religiöser Widerspruch gegen den Fleischverzehr.[99] 1966[100] hat die Konferenz der Katholischen Bischöfe der Vereinigten Staaten den Ersatz eines anderen Buß- oder Wohltätigkeitsakts zu einer Option für gewöhnliche Freitage in ihrem Hoheitsgebiet gemacht.[99] Nach der vorherigen Abschaffung stellte die Katholische Bischofskonferenz von England und Wales mit Wirkung vom September 2011 das Erfordernis des fleischlosen gewöhnlichen Freitags für ihr Territorium wieder her.[101] Ein weit verbreiteter Irrtum ist, dass Papst Gregor I. (der von 590 bis 604 regierte und auch ein kanonisierter Heiliger ist) erklärte, Kaninchen seien kein Fleisch. Dies ist offenbar eine Verfälschung eines Manuskripts, in dem der heilige Gregor von Tours eine Person (die ebenfalls krank und möglicherweise nicht katholisch war) beschrieb, die während der Fastenzeit einen Kaninchenfötus aß.[102] Die Regeln werden weitgehend ignoriert; Eine Umfrage aus dem Jahr 2016 ergab, dass nur 62 % der US-Katholiken angaben, Fleisch am Freitag während der Fastenzeit zu meiden.[103]

Ein Handbuch für die Disziplin der Fastenzeit beschreibt die folgenden lutherischen Fastenrichtlinien:[104]

Fasten Sie am Aschermittwoch und Karfreitag mit nur einer einfachen Mahlzeit am Tag, meist ohne Fleisch. Verzichten Sie an allen Freitagen in der Fastenzeit auf Fleisch (blutige Speisen) und ersetzen Sie es zB durch Fisch. Eliminate a food or food group for the entire season. Especially consider saving rich and fatty foods for Easter. Consider not eating before receiving Communion in Lent. Abstain from or limit a favorite activity (television, movies, etc.) for the entire season, and spend more time in prayer, Bible study, and reading devotional material.[104]

It is the practice of many Lutherans to abstain from alcohol and meat on the Fridays of Lent;[105] a Black Fast has been historically kept by Lutherans on Good Friday.[106][107]

In Anglicanism, the Book of Common Prayer prescribes certain days as days for fasting and abstinence from meat, “consisting of the 40 days of Lent, the ember days, the three Rogation days (the Monday to Wednesday following the Sunday after Ascension Day, which is also known as Holy Thursday), and all Fridays in the year (except Christmas, if it falls on a Friday)”:[108]

Methodism’s principal liturgical book The Sunday Service of the Methodists (put together by John Wesley), as well as The Directions Given to Band Societies (25 December 1744), mandate fasting and abstinence from meat on all Fridays of the year (except Christmas Day, if it falls on a Friday).[109][110]

See also[edit]

References[ edit ]

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The hard-drinking Catholic priest, glass of whiskey in hand, is a well-known stereotype that Hollywood consistently captures and backs up with real-world examples. But for most people, the idea of ​​a nun with a drinking problem is inappropriate.

The sisters in an alcoholism treatment program housed in an old convent in St. Mary Magdalen Parish near Pico and La Cienega boulevards are shedding these prejudices with the same zeal that some nuns had in the late ’60s to shed theirs shed habits.

The facility, called the Center for Renewed Life, houses a mix of nuns and non-spiritual women who spend six months to a year overcoming addiction. The center for 1 1/2 year olds, south of Beverly Hills, is the first of its kind for sisters in Southern California and is believed to be the first in the nation to mix convalescent nuns with lay women.

Led by Sisters of the Holy Faith, a congregation based in Dublin, Ireland, the center is directed by Sister Ada Geraghty.

“I was told by someone, ‘It’s okay to drink for a priest, but not for the sisters,'” Geraghty said. “That’s the general attitude. Our traditional image and role has always been one of perfection, holiness and self-denial. But we are exposed to the same diseases as the rest of the population.

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“If we had cancer or diabetes, it wouldn’t be a problem to admit that,” she said. “But because it’s alcohol, it’s seen as a moral issue. It is the equivalent of admitting that you have fallen from grace or that you are a weak person.”

Geraghty, 50, speaks from experience. She is a recovering alcoholic whose drinking problem developed during her 10-year tenure as the principal of a New Orleans school. Four times she completed a month-long inpatient treatment program for her addiction, she said, and four times she relapsed.

In fact, she said, the rate of relapse among nurses after treatment was worryingly high. And so Geraghty set out to create a program tailored to the unique needs of nuns.

“I relapsed because I didn’t want to do the (follow-up) support program,” said Geraghty, who earned certification from UCLA’s year-long chemical addiction program, followed by an internship at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital’s Exodus Recovery Center. “And there has been a collective denial in the community (religious and secular) that sisters have a drinking problem. Finally, after 10 years, I finally had enough of the pain (and attended regular recovery meetings).”

The tendency in religious life to isolate and be non-confrontational and self-sacrificing under the guise of service to others helps and encourages alcoholic behavior, Geraghty said. The problem, she said, is compounded by the nuns’ complicity in mutual denial of an issue.

Treatment at the Center for Renewed Life is conventional in many ways and is based on a standard 12-step recovery program. It includes group and individual psychotherapy sessions, a medical assessment, community living, prayer, and a follow-up plan.

But there are some key differences. Although most inpatient treatment programs last a month, this one lasts at least half a year. To ensure proper aftercare, the center’s staff go into a sister’s order to teach their fellow sisters and superiors.

And by bringing nuns and lay women together in a treatment program, Geraghty says, nuns learn from non-minister women honesty about their addiction, how to ask for help, and how to stop sublimating one’s feelings and needs. All of the sisters at the center, ranging in age from their mid-30s to their 60s, have emotional problems stemming from childhood sexual, physical or psychological abuse that they are only now facing, Geraghty said.

Sister Mary, who asked not to give her full name, is from a religious order in Ireland. Sitting in a Spanish-style pink-on-pink convalescent home living room, she spoke about her battle with alcoholism and her childhood memories of her father’s alcohol-related violence and abuse. Although the Catholic Church had never banned alcohol, she said she was only exposed to it when the church liberalized its rules for nuns in the late ’60s.

“There wasn’t much joy in the convent back then,” says Sister Mary, who is in her late 40s. “It was all so bleak. So I got into the habit of going out with friends and family and quietly topping up my glass when no one else was doing it. I deceived myself about the amount I drank, had power outages and couldn’t remember getting to bed.”

After drinking to excess in a hotel one night, Sister Mary said the police pulled her over for erratic driving. They forced her to spend the night in a nearby convent and called her superior, who confronted her the next day. After a treatment program in Dublin, Sister Mary resumed her professional life in Ecuador, where she lived without a support program.

Shortly after, she began drinking wine, beer, and later liquor from a bottle kept in a medicine cabinet. She was reported back to her superior and sent to the Center for Renewed Life. She said she will not be allowed to return to her religious community unless she faithfully attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings after her recovery.

If there is one factor that seems to have coincided with the number of clergy seeking addiction treatment, it is the passage of the reforms of Vatican II (1962-65) that modernized the Catholic Church. Coupled with the conversion of the Mass from Latin to colloquialism and the opportunity for nuns to break their habits and mingle regularly with lay people, there has been an increased exposure to alcohol for all clergy at church and social gatherings.

Before the Second Vatican Council, Geraghty said: “Alcohol was not available to us. . . . Sisters who were genetically predisposed to alcoholism would never have known about it before the rules changed.”

The center receives no funding from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles or Catholic charities, Geraghty said. It works with funds that come from private philanthropists and from its own fundraising efforts.

David L. Murphy, director of the Exodus Recovery Center at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital, is the center’s medical director. He said the treatment is based on the premise that alcoholism is a disease and that to a large extent it is inherited – a theory strongly supported by studies involving twins and adopted children.

“Alcoholism runs in families,” he said. “Scientists don’t deny that there are social, cultural and environmental factors, but a big factor is genetics – the inherited ability to become addicted.”

Father Terry Ritchie, a priest who heads a drug abuse ministry for the archdiocese, said there are no reliable studies tracking the incidence of alcoholism among clergy. But Ritchie, who has worked with alcoholic clergy for 17 years, said his work suggested the rate was comparable to that of the general population. (The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence puts the average rate of alcoholism in the general population at 1 in 10.)

Sister Kathleen, a Dominican from the San Jose Mission who lives at the Center for Renewed Life, spoke of the shame that women religious feel about their problem. Following treatment for bulimia, Sister Kathleen, who said she had been drinking excessively for about five years, was advised to seek treatment for alcoholism.

“It was a big shock to me,” said Sister Kathleen, a teacher who has been on the program for five months. “I just couldn’t admit it. I just wanted to maintain this image that I’m a good sister and I’m in control. People have certain expectations that sisters don’t drink and that we rely on our God to solve all our problems. I drank mostly outdoors and the other sisters noticed but said nothing. There is a charity among sisters. . . the average sister wouldn’t face anyone else.”

At a recent weekly group session, psychotherapist Kristine A. Kepp sat in a circle of 12 women, six of whom were sisters. The sisters sat on the overstuffed furniture as if afraid they were taking up too much space–hands clasped in their laps, feet together and flat on the floor, and eyes downcast. The lay women looked more relaxed, arms draped over the backs of the sofas and legs crossed. During the two-hour session, each woman had the opportunity to share her feelings and struggles with sobriety.

Sister Nora, a school teacher in her 60s, said: “I am so grateful to have the freedom to share my brokenness with these (non-spiritual) ladies and to let them see that we are only human and not one step ahead of them are . It’s nice to know that I’m surrounded by all these nice people and that I won’t shock them by having something to say. There’s no need to run.”

Rhonda, a lay participant who asked not to use her real name, replied: “It was really hard for me to get into a convent full of nuns. I thought, “How am I supposed to deal with my past here (being an alcoholic since I was 14)?” My idea of ​​nuns was that they had a special contact or connection with God. But what I found were these really beautiful women and I was really struck by their humanity.”

Even after months of treatment, Director Geraghty said, participants continue to encounter myths and stereotypes that have bound sisters for years.

“It’s hard to shake off the old training,” she said. “We didn’t think much of ourselves before. It was yourself last and others first, go it alone, stay isolated and sweep it under the rug. The old idea was to love God and love your neighbor before yourself. When in truth the commandment is: ‘Love God and your neighbor as yourself.’”