Questions concerning Victorian convents

[indri]

Assume, for the sake of it, that I know very little about organised religion. All my memories of Sunday school involve colouring in Joseph's coat.

So how long would one spend in a convent before one could take holy orders? What might the preparation involve? Could anyone point me towards a URL or book on life in mid-Victorian nunneries? My google skills seem to be failing me tonight and I want to get back to the writing.

Comments

[makd.livejournal.com]

In a previous incarnation, I studied for the convent. Granted, it was (typically for me) a different type of Order, but, the process was similar to that of other Orders.

Usually, it's one year as a Postulant, 5 years (It can be as little as two, depending on the Order) as a novice, then, at the close of the period of the novitiate, one declares Holy Orders in an elaborate ceremony.

Of course, I was a pre-postulant - which means that both they/I were considering Postulancy, but I recall The Process fairly well. That was in 1964. Don't know what has/hasn't changed, since, as I said, it was in a previous incarnation. Not that person anymore.

[indri]

So Dru would would have been in the convent for years after her family's death before Angelus killed her. That suggests three possibilities.

1. Angelus spent several years tormenting her.
2. Angelus killed her family, left her alone for some time and then came back to kill her.
3. Angel was wrong about her being there long enough to take holy orders.

it was in a previous incarnation. Not that person anymore

I'll admit to being surprised :) Mind you, another friend of mine trained to be a priest for a while before giving it up to become an sf writer.

maybe one of these would help...

[eac.livejournal.com]

No luck online, but these books might be useful (found either in the library of congress’ catalog or through Amazon)

Relatively recent:

Elizabeth Rapley. A Social History of the Cloister: Daily Life in the Teaching Monasteries of the Old Regime. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2001.

Fire & Roses: The Burning of the Charlestown Convent, 1834 by Nancy Lusignan Schultz

Clear, Caitríona, Nuns in nineteenth-century Ireland. Dublin : Gill and Macmillan ; Washington, D.C. : Catholic University of America Press, 1988, c1987.

Barbara Walsh, Roman Catholic Nuns in England and Wales, 1800-1937: A Social History. Irish Academic Press (January 1, 2002)

Magray, Mary Peckham. The transforming power of the nuns: women, religion, and cultural change in Ireland, 1750-1900, New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Contemporary accounts:

Eva Mary, Mother, 1862-1928. Community life for women, by Sister Eva Mary, with introduction by Boyd Vincent. Milwaukee, Young Churchman Co., 1905.

Cusack, Mary Francis, 1829-1899. The nun of Kenmare; an autobiography.
Boston, Ticknor and company, 1889.

Miller, Neva Pinkham. Behind convent walls, Newcomerstown, Ohio, 1924.

Richardson, Eliza Smith Mrs., The veil lifted; or, The romance and reality of convent life. Boston, H. Hoyt [1869]

Re: maybe one of these would help...

[eac.livejournal.com]

(I'm avoiding doing work; can you tell?)

[makd.livejournal.com]

Another possibility? The ME writing staff didn't know The Process. ;-)

[rahirah]

You might ask jwaneeta; she used to be a nun.

[rahirah]

In this life, even. *g*

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

Stranger things have happened. I know of one small parochial elementary school in Westchester County, New York, that produced three unrelated science fiction writers within roughly a six-year span.

[http://users.livejournal.com/peasant_/]

:: bounces up and down with excitement ::

Yes! Yes!

I've always assumed it took him years to torment her properly (but not too many given his short attention span). I've always wanted to read a fic which really considers the tormenting in mental terms, not just the puppy-nailing ones, and by George if you are writing that fic then I can't think of anyone better qualified! Write! Write!

(Is this the one you want me to beta? :: bounces some more ::)

[indri]

Sadly, given other ME historical gaffes, this is the most likely scenario. But one perseveres :)

Re: maybe one of these would help...

[indri]

Perhaps :)

But that's a tremendous-looking list. The Walsh and the Richardson look like good places to start.

Is this an area you're interested in yourself or were you simply flexing impressive information-search skills?

[indri]

Thank you, I will.

[indri]

Aaaaaah!

It's supposed to be a quick post-NFA piece with flashbacks. And then I stupidly thought about it too hard. Or, you know, just a little.

I'm sending you an email about this to pick your brains a bit and have a bit of discussion. I considered posting it here, but then I'd spoil my entire reading audience for the story and not just my beta.

Re: maybe one of these would help...

[indri]

Looks like I can pick up the Walsh at least from the university library. That should get me started.

Re: maybe one of these would help...

[eac.livejournal.com]

A little of both: I'm generally interested in the 18th and 19th century English speaking world (English because I'm lazy and not very good at languages), but also just wanted to see what I could find.