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MisterMarcus t1_ir9877i wrote

Reply to comment by Bubbly-Incident in TIL: Regina Hall (Brenda from the "Scary Movie" franchise) wanted and tried to become a Catholic Nun in 2010, but was rejected by the order. by euromonic

I must admit I'm surprised there's an age cut-off for religious ministry.

I'd have thought a more mature person, who's had more time to reflect on the decision, would be more likely to stay. Whereas a younger person has more risk of "Yeah I thought I wanted this but I really don't" quitting.

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TheNewGirl_ t1_ir9b788 wrote

Probably a rule created a long time ago to prevent old widowers from joining purely out of economic sense

They are required to house and feed you

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Garper t1_ir9i35y wrote

Need to retire? Not getting laid anyway? Enjoy your peace and quiet? Become a penguin!

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CensoryDeprivation t1_ir9tfw5 wrote

Hearing them called penguins always makes me think of Blues Brothers

Edit: here’s the scene. Kathleen Freeman is really great in this.

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mmmyesplease--- t1_ir9z66p wrote

Just saw her again in the ‘93 Hocus Pocus as the teacher telling stories about witches. Still the same all knowing condescension; love it!

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PublicSeverance t1_ir9jzl6 wrote

Age 45 for Sisters of Mercy.

The age limit is because after age 40 it is extraordinarily unlikely for most to complete the training and be a productive nun.

It takes about 10 years of training to become a Catholic nun.

Older candidates would be gently pushed into other ways to be involved.

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massivebasketball t1_ira0p9c wrote

What kind of training does it take to be a nun? And what is considered a productive nun, like what do they do

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Ponceludonmalavoix t1_ira3qm0 wrote

You need some real wrist dicipline to effectively slap someone with a ruler. Just like tennis, you can't just pick it up at 40 and become a world-class athlete.

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Gestopgo t1_ircc74g wrote

Back in my day I could slap a school aged kid over them there mountains....if only Mother Superior would have put me in the game!

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niamhweking t1_irb8yrx wrote

Same for the priesthood, it's 6 years minimum. Alot of it now is to give the person and the order time to really be sure it is the right decision. They don't want to rush anyone or ket anyone make rash decisions.

Depending on the order the nun is they can be in a teaching order, a missionary order etc, so there is training. Enclosed orders might be different but nuns that are out in the community, doing hospice care, working with those in need, certainly require training

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marmorset t1_ira1oqb wrote

Maybe for that particular order, but for Catholic nuns in general it's about five years. My daughter goes to Catholic school and two of the nuns are in their early twenties.

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bit_pusher t1_irabfd9 wrote

This is highly dependent on the order. For Benedictines I believe it is 5-9 years (postulancy, novitiate, and first monastic profession).

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marmorset t1_irac9va wrote

I knew a guy who used to be a monk. He had to take a vow of silence but every five years he could speak to the bishop. After the first five years he said, "The bed is hard." Five years later he said, "The food is cold."

On his fifteenth anniversary he said, "I quit."

The bishop said, "That's not surprising, you'd done nothing but complain since you got here."

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mmmyesplease--- t1_ir9ywmm wrote

Did it change? Unless has it always been an exception for widows with money? In history there are examples of older women “taking the veil.” Are their still exceptions for wealth?

Generally interested.

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Thewanderer212 t1_ira6k0w wrote

If you go back far enough monastic orders were exclusively for the rich outside of unique circumstances. You were expected to buy your way in unless you were an exceptional candidate and the monastery would sponsor you.

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Poj_10 t1_irb210g wrote

Not necessarily. There were two "types" of monks: choir and lay monks. The choir monks were usually priests (male monastic communities select which of them become priests) and would spend most of their time in the choir, literally singing the prayers of the community (big deal in monastic setting). These were usually the wealthier people and they were often physically separate from the lay members, who were not taught Latin (and thus couldn't sing in the choir) and were responsible for the physical upkeep and labor of the monastery. These usually went to members who did not have any familial status or wealth. So people could join, they just were often tasked with the manual labor and less glamorous jobs.

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Splarnst t1_irkepi6 wrote

>who were not taught Latin (and thus couldn't sing in the choir)

It’s not like you have to understand what you’re singing to sing it well?

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xX609s-hartXx t1_ir9q9t1 wrote

Those institutions really tend to keep a medieval mindset.

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Poj_10 t1_irb3ag8 wrote

It's less of them being mature and more of the fact that living in a community is really difficult and takes a lot of adjustment. People that are older (most communities are cut-off at 35, but it's not uncommon to go higher like 40-50) become a lot more comfortable with how they had been living their lives and being able to choose what they want to do most of the time. You literally take a vow of obedience as a nun, so it's a lot of adjustment that a lot of older people just can't make. Being a nun isn't just waking up early to pray and doing your teaching or ministry during the day. It's living a specific way of life that you can't really take a step away from.

I'm sure she had good intentions, but the community must have thought she just wasn't ready. Hard thing to see, especially for people that want that stability of life.

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CrieDeCoeur t1_irbdl8f wrote

I read that as "religious misery" and thought HEY someone is WRONG on the INTERNET

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scroll2022 t1_irazmrc wrote

Senior citizens don't have as much wisdom as medical problems.

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