Religious question, please help!?

Question

When a woman becomes a nun, is there a sacrament involved? What type of training/studying is involved?

Answer 1

Becoming a nun is not a sacrament in the Catholic Church. However there is a lengthy process and preparation involved. If the women is deemed a good candidate then she enters what is called the Novitiate which is like a trial period. During the Novitiate she acclimates herself to the customs and rules and prayer life of the order and further discerns if it is truly her calling/vocation.

She only takes her officials vows (poverty, chastity, etc) later.

When a nun takes her vows, there is a special ceremony and she wears a white wedding dress since she is becoming the bride of Christ.

Answer 2

Yes, there is a sacrament involved in becoming a nun. Just as men go through the sacrament of holy orders to become a priest, women go through the same sacrament to become a nun. The sacrament of holy orders is more of a process than any other sacraments in the church. With most orders, you start out as a postulant. This stage can last anywhere from 3 months to 2 years. This is a time of intense prayer and discernment both for the woman coming into the community and for the community itself. Both have to decide if this new person is a good fit. If at the end of the postulancy, it's decided that it is a good fit, the woman is given the invitation to enter the novitiate where she will live under temporary vows. The novitiate for most orders is a 2 year period of time where there is more study and more prayer. It's still very much a time of discernment for the novice, and it is a time where the novice studies the history of the order she is joining. She is taught all the practices of the order, she learns more about the rules governing religious life, she works in the monastery, she joins in all aspects of life of the fully professed sisters. At the end of the novitiate, she will continue to live under the temporary vows for an average of 2-3 more years before being given the invitation to make her perpetual profession of vows. Most of the training/studying involved deals with the doctrine and teachings of the church and the order. During the novitiate, she will also learn about any active missionary work that the order might do, or if in an order that does healthcare or education, she will learn about that side of the order. Most orders that work in healthcare or education require at least a bachelor's degree in the proper field before entering the monastic life.

Answer 3

Women who want to be a nun often start off with a calling. That is when they realize that they are suited for the religious life. Then, they contact the office of the Order they want to join. It's often the Order that is associated with their church.

Many women are given a year to three years to live among the nuns before taking their vows. This lets them know if this is the right path for them. Different Orders require different things.I knew a girl who wanted to join a cloistered order that valued silence. She didn't make it past six months and never tried again.

Once that woman is sure that this is what she wants, she takes her vows. The three common vows are Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience. I think this is done in a special mass, but I'm not sure. I know for a fact that priests are ordained in a special mass, but I don't know about nuns.

Once she takes her vows, she is a nun and stays in that Order. She follows the rules of that Order and wears their colors. Franciscan nuns wear brown, Poor Clare sisters wear blue, Dominican (that's an order, not where they're from) often wear white. Some Orders strive more for the poor, others for education, and others for medical needs.

Answer 4

My question to the woman would be "Why would you want to become a nun when that is not the purpose God made you for?"
I would have many more questions for her as well...in the hope that she would want to know what God wanted for her life from the Bible..and not from thinking what she is doing is something He would want her to do like a denomination says.

Answer 5

gee, i never looked into that.
i know there is a novitiate, with vows every year, before the final vows.
ask a preist...

Answer 6

pity her.... the church is ran by the devil.... you all sell your souls to easily...