Does anyone know what you have to do to become a nun?

Question

I have always been curious...

Answer 1

turn your back on the scriptures and pledge allegiance to a man that sits on athrone of lies...ie the pope

Answer 2

You read about different religious orders. Visit a few. Think about it. Then if you find one that you think feels 'right', you make application. If accepted you will be a Postulant for a short time. Then you discuss how you are doing and if you still want to continue and the community also has to decide to allow you to continue, you then become a Novice. Later you are a Junior and eventually a Life Professed. You can leave at any time up to your Life Profession. After that you are bound to the monastery for life. The whole process of Postulant to Life Professed takes several years. You might thing of it as a very long 'engagement'. You are become not only a follower of Christ, but a member of a family, a community. It is by mutual agreement.

Religious are not only in the Roman Catholic church. There are Religious Orders in the Episcopal church, the Lutheran, and Orthodox as well.

Also you want to think about if you want to be in a mendicant order (serving the people) or a contemplative order (living a cloistered life). This depends on your personality. And as the person above me said, they do like you to have your education first. You must be of sound mind, good health, over 18 and had some experience in the world, so you understand what you are leaving behind.

By the way, in the Episcopal church a divorced woman can be a nun. I know some that are divorced and have grown children.

Answer 3

The first thing you should be is Catholic. If you are already Catholic, than you are on the right track. If you are not Catholic, than you will need to look into converting to Catholicism.

Nuns need to be unmarried. In the Catholic church this means that you should be both unmarried now and never married before. The Catholic church does not recognize civil divorces and obtaining a divorce from the Church is not easy. You can become a nun however, if you have been married in the past and your husband has passed away.

While the Catholic church does frown upon pre-marital sex, a woman can become a nun if she is not a virgin (as long as she has not married).

If you meet these standards; Catholic and unmarried/undivorced; you are free to become a nun.

Your next step will be to decide what order you would like to join. Nuns have groups that are called orders. Each order has its own set of rules that dictate how the nun of that order can act. The rules for each order may decide how a nun can dress, whether the nun can own property and what causes a nun may pursue. Choosing an order is very important. While all orders of nuns require that you take a vow of chastity, the level of strictness varies from order to order. While some people may feel that wearing a habit is an important aspect of being a nun, others may feel that the habit is outdated. Once you have found an order that matches your beliefs, you will b able to join if you meet all the criteria for that order.

Once you have joined, you will go through a training period. This is a period of time where you will be able to learn the ways of that particular order. It is also a period of time to ensure that you truly wish to become a nun.

Answer 4

1. Be Catholic or convert to Catholicism.
2. Get a college degree. Many religious communities like applicants to have at least a bachelor's degree before they take their vows
3. Look for an order whose work interests you. Benedictine sisters, for instance, work in education and service ministries.
4. Contact the vocation director at the community you choose. Spend some time there and ask plenty of questions.
5. Move in for a year or two while you're still studying or working outside
6. Go through the novitiate, or training period, which may last another year or two.
7. Take temporary vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. Depending on the community, these vows may last from one to nine years.
8. Take your final vows. If you made good on your temporary vows, you're ready for the religious life.

Answer 5

If you are Catholic you apply to the order you are interested in. They will tell you what they require. Most will correspond with you, then have you come out for a weekend or such. They will interview you, speak to your priest concerning you, and decide if you should be accepted into their novitiate. Most have a short period when you are called a Postulant. During this time you decide and they decide if you have a vocation to their particular order. I have known several women who had to research more than one to discover where they were called. God bless and guide you.

Answer 6

depends on what kind of nun you want to be - different religions and different churches have different rituals...

this is for buddhist nuns:
http://www.fpmt.org/imi/firstletter.htm

a tryout:
http://www.vocationsplacement.org/

extreme nunnery:
http://www.poorclares.org/discern.html

and one more:
http://www.thesisters.org/meet_becominganun.html

FYI to all those who say you have to be catholic - you do not: "The term "nun" is applicable to Roman Catholics, Eastern Christians, Anglicans, Jains, Lutherans, Buddhists, and Taoist, for example."

Answer 7

You have to put on a habit and hitch-hike to the nearest convent.

Then you kneel on the front porch until they deign to bid you in.

At the entrance ceremony you must shed tears of apparent bliss and contrition.

How can bliss and contrition possibly coexist at a time like that? You must try.

Answer 8

http://www.poorclaressantabarbara.org/

http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-i-become-a-catholic-nun.htm

Answer 9

don't know for sure. But I sure can tell you what it takes to not be one.

Answer 10

dont have sex...ever....thats why i couldnt be one in the end,