Can you still become a Nun?

Question

How do you go about it?
What are the wages like?
What prospects are there to get promoted through the ranks up to Mother Superior?
Do you still have to shave your heads under the habits?
And how celibate do you have to be?

All answers appreciated. Thankyou and God bless.

Answer 1

You need to study and apply to orders and show the stuff you are made of.

Wages are low, but great bennies.

Like professional sports, the higher you go the more competition. It's tough to be on top.

No. Most nuns today do not wear habits.

Pretty celibate, especially if you sign up.

You sound like you don't have the right stuff. Try something else. Your questions seem like you'd be better off being one of the worldy feminists that climb the corporate ladder. Forget the habit. wear a scarf around your neck and an intimidating suit to strike fear in the men around you. Vote for Hillary too.

Answer 2

If you want to know God, you don't have to be a nun.
The apostles of the bible had wives and it is said that Jesus also had a partner. Being Holy doesn't mean you have to stop having sex!
The wages in a monastry are non-existant. People don't become nuns for the wages. It is usually because they want to lead a religious-contemplative life.
You don't get promoted to mother superior, it's usually something that comes with age and spiritual maturity.
Who knows what lies under a nun's habit? Probably alot of hair!!
Most nun's can probably handle the celibate life because they don't placed much importance on sex to begin with.
They are more spiritually oriented.

Answer 3

I spent some time with Benedictine nuns. They don't wear habits and are very freethinking. Other orders are more strict in regards to dress and how they live (some are cloistered). From what I was told, nowadays nuns are pretty much expected to have a college degree of some kind and to have had some life experience before they will be accepted as novices at all. The old idea of sending a girl to be a nun at 16 or whatever is not happening now. They want women who already know what "real" life is and are making this choice for the right reasons.

Answer 4

Any woman who is not married and doesn't have dependent children may become a religious sister. (Some are widows with grown children, you see.)

First you pray to see if this is your vocation, then you find a religious order that you like, apply and see if they will take you in. There are MANY different orders; some specialize in works of charity, others teaching, others nursing, etc., etc., etc. If they take you, there is a year or two as novice before your first profession of vows. This is the point at which you receive your religious name (either chosen by you and approved by your superior or bestowed upon you by your superior), and also in many orders, the habit. (Some orders have done away with habits; others give it to the novices with a different kind of veil or coloring to denote novitiate.) After first profession, it is 4-8 years (depending on the order and your own personal formation process) before you make your final profession of vows. Went to one a few weeks ago -- it's way cool.

Wages are generally very, very low if you are paid by the order. I know sisters at one of our diocesan orders make $24 a month. One of the sisters went from making $48,000 a year as an accountant to making $24 a month -- but she's much happier. Some orders, such as the Benedictines, have a philosophy that their sisters (and brothers) hold jobs in regular industry, so their pay is based on competitive wages. There is a Benedictine sister where I live who turned a ramshackle house for elder care into one of the nation's premier rehabilitation hospitals, and she surely made a five-figure income the whole time she was doing it.

As far as becoming Mother Superior, this is handled in different ways by different orders. Some order vote for their superiors, so the way to gain that role is to serve your sisters with diligence and love. Other orders have a system in which the bishop appoints the superior, or the out-going superior appoints her successor. In either case, being an example of true devotion to the Lord and tireless service to others would be good practices to develop.

The shaving of the head ceremony is part of some religious orders but not all. Under the veils, I imagine many sisters find short hair to be most practical.

You have to be completely celibate after you've taken a vow of chastity. And if you are a true Catholic and unmarried, you'd have to be celibate anyway, because sex outside of marriage is a big no-no.

By the way, there are what is called "third-order" religious life situations, too. In a "third-order," you can marry and have a regular job/income but you are still living according to the philosophies of a particular religious order. There are third-order Franciscans and Benedictine Oblates, for example. There is also "total consecration" for women who want to continue to work and live on their own but be consecrated to God.

The person above who said you can't ever see your family after final profession is not quite right. Most sisters can and do see their families on a regular basis (at one of our dicoesan orders, there is a monthly Sunday afternoon gathering with families). However, if you became a cloistered sister, totally removed from the outside world, then you cannot see your family but one or twice a year, and generally there is a screen of some sort between you. There are a number of cloistered orders all over who devote themselves to prayer.

Answer 5

Of course, where do you think nuns come from? It's not like they can reproduce after their own kind. :-)

Seriously, here's a summary that I assume is correct:

http://www.ehow.com/how_138305_become-catholic-nun.html

As for "how celibate," are there varying levels? Anybody who really feels God is calling them to be a nun should want to be celibate. If God has not at least given you a desire to be celibate, then I think that's a pretty good indication He does not want you to be a nun.

Mind you, I don't think the Catholic system of priests and nuns is Biblical ... just saying what the requirements are. Feel free to contact me directly if you'd like to talk more about this.

Answer 6

You don't have to be a nun to serve God. I think that God can use us better out here, where we can be witnesses unto Him. What good is it when a nun lives in a convent and nobody sees the sacrifices that she does for God ? How can that possibly help God ??? God wants us to minister to people by them watching us living a life, that is holy unto Him. I don't see no witnessing going on that is hidden. I know that you are thinking"God sees it". But He needs us to bring the rest of the unbelievers to Him in these last days, do you understand ???
Salvation is not only for us , it is for everybody. I really think that the whole concept of being a nun is useless. Yes, God will let you into heaven , but when He ask you how many people have come to the Lord through you, what will be the number ???

Answer 7

1) Yes - There are nuns all over the world.
2) Find an order that interests you.
3) Don't go into it for money.
4) No, you don't need to shave your head.
5) You must be chaste. Since you are not married, you cannot have sex. (Celibacy is the wrong word to use.)

Answer 8

Please read the link below, it will explain it to you, also once you are a Nun you still get to see your family and even have holidays with them, my sister is a Nun and we see her twice a year, you dont have to wear a habit anymore and tobe promoted, you have to be very dedicated to God and your work

Answer 9

People still become Nuns. Talk to a Priest or Nun to get the answers. Read your Bible to become more familiar with the God you serve. You can't read it too much.

Answer 10

I would speak to the priest at your church. The point of being a nun is giving up all of your earthly possesions, so the idea of a "wage" is contradictory. Maybe you could speak to some of the sisters at your church and decide if dedicating your life to God is for you or not.