A nun should be addressed as "Sister" by anyone of any age. The superior of a religious house of nuns is addressed as "Reverend Mother."
NUN: In general, all women religious, even those who are more properly called sisters. While both Nuns and Sisters are addressed as "Sister," there is a distinction made in the Catholic Church which is generally not made by the public.
A religious sister (abbreviated Sr. or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to prayer. Both nuns and sisters use the term "sister" as a form of address.
Most people use the term nuns to refer to both nuns and sisters, but there are some significant differences. Nuns' lives are spent in prayer and work within their convent or monastery. Sisters are more active in the world, engaging in many different kinds of work, most often for people who are in great need.
apostolic women religious. The words “sister” and “nun” are used interchangeably in common speech, even amongst sisters, to describe women religious in the Catholic church. "Sister" is an all-encompassing term that applies to anyone any woman who takes vows in a religious order (including nuns).
Nuns consider themselves part of a sisterhood; however, tonsured nuns are usually addressed as "Mother" (in some convents, the title of "Mother" is reserved to those who enter into the next level of Stavrophore).
Typically, a woman has been a nun for many years before becoming an abbess. In the Catholic church, the male superior of monks is called an abbot.
A woman who wants to become a Catholic nun, for example, must be at least 18 years old, be single, have no dependent children, and have no debts to be considered.
Conventionally, across various church denominations, only unmarried women are admitted to the fold as nuns. Around 250 nuns are part of the church, which follows Orthodox traditions, and the outreach may increase that number.
For their enitre lives, their time will be divided between constant prayer and the work of the convent. Most do not read novels, see movies, or play sports. They do not hug one another and keep all physical contact to a minimum. Most of them rarely, if ever, see their families.
After Vatican II and beginning in 1969, Sisters were allowed to return to their baptismal names. Today, a novice may choose to either keep her baptismal name or take a new religious name.
Q: What is a group of nuns called? A: According to Oxford Dictionaries, a group of nuns is known as a superfluity. Although the term is now rarely used to refer to nuns, it is sometimes used to refer to an excessive amount of something.
Usually a Sister chooses her patron and title because that Saint or mystery in the lives of Jesus and Mary has particular significance for her. We all take the name of Mary first, in honor of our Blessed Lady. We may also choose a second name and a title, or just a title alone.
The nuns at the Quidenham Carmelite Monastery, in the depths of the Norfolk countryside, have dedicated themselves to a life of silent prayer. They don't speak, except during short work periods, recreation time in the evening and during mass, when they sing and pray aloud.
Capitalize Sister, or Mother if applicable, before a name: Sister Agnes Rita in all references if the nun uses only a religious name; Sister Mary Ann Walsh on first reference if she uses a surname.
Vow of Chastity (or Celibacy)
The vow of chastity, or celibacy, means that Catholic nuns and sisters do not marry or engage in romantic behavior or sexual acts of any kind. This vow frees her from the demands of an exclusive human relationship so that she can give all her love to God and through God to all people.
A woman who has been married and divorced must have her marriage annulled within the church, he said, and, if she is a mother, her children must be old enough to not be her dependents. Widows can become nuns but have different criteria, he said.
The average age of a Roman Catholic nun in the United States is close to 80. Convents around the country are closing. The number of nuns in the United States has collapsed from 180,000 in 1965 to fewer than 50,000 today. Sisters are passing leadership at Catholic hospitals and schools to lay people.
A dowry is generally required, of which the community receives the income only, until the death of the sister, and the fruits of their labors belong entirely to the congregation.
But they say the numbers are small - just like the dwindling population of nuns itself. The fact is, sisters - known also in Catholicism as women religious - have abandoned the habit, much as Catholic women have abandoned the religious life since the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s.
The nuns pray the Divine Office together in choir five times a day, spend an hour and a half daily in mental prayer, do spiritual reading for at least a half hour a day, observe silence except during Recreation which is after dinner and supper; and engage in a variety of work: maintenance of the monastery, gardening, ...
The length of time that a prospective candidate remains a postulant may vary depending on the institution, or the postulant's individual situation. Among active religious institutions, it typically lasted 4–6 months. At present, many monasteries have a candidate spend 1–2 years in this stage.
Contrary to popular belief, cloistered nuns are not required to be constantly silent. Although they remain silent for the majority of the day, the sisters are allowed to speak at specific times and also use their voices when they sing and pray.