I really enjoyed the first episode, but I’m wary of making any predictions. I watched “God or the Girl”, A&E’s show about young men contemplating the priesthood, and my prediction was wrong for each and every participant.
Since this is a reality show, I’m sure they have ratcheted up the drama. I expect to be reading an expose at some point about how at least one or two of these women had already made up their mind one way or the other, but was recruited for the show to provide an interesting story.
On the recommendation of MissMossie, several years ago I read In This House of Brede. It’s a wonderful introduction for anyone interested in learning about the contemplative life, and is very much in line with ThelmaLou’s description of the petty, cranky, bitch, political relationships that develop in the convent.
I’m going to have look that one up. The book The Nun’s Story is wonderful. You really get a feel for the process of becoming a nun and what might motivate someone to consider that kind of life. I just found myself drawn into a world that is utterly unlike anything I’ve ever known or thought about before. It’s a very complex and insightful portrait. You are basically with this person from the second she steps into the convent. The movie has Audrey Hepburn and it is therefore fabulous but the book is equally good.
I agree – a fascinating, and informative, novel. I admit, though, to liking Noel Coward’s comment to its author, Rumer Godden: “Reading your book has made me totally determined never to become a nun”.
Watched this week’s epiode. Lots of drama from the ladies- most notably Claire trying to rat everyone out and then issuing a heartfelt apology that they aren’t on the same spiritual level as she is. I was somewhat unimpressed with the ladies, but the sisters continue to amaze. They are so level-headed and thoughtful, and it really is a delight to watch them.
My revised predictions: Claire is going to break down at some point, the legend she is in her own mind isn’t going to be able to interface with reality for long. Eseni seems to be closer to being on her way out. Christie is still a wild card for me-- if she can find an order that is compatible with her style, she may latch on to it. Francesca may or may not summon her inner strength, and it’s just too hard to tell right now (especially knowing this is all edited for TV.) Stacy is still a mystery.
Claire reminds me of the girls I went to HS with, the ones who knew they were going to be nuns. None of them ended up in convents. The couple of women who did end up there were complete surprises to us. Claire is too focused on what everyone else is doing and not paying attention to herself. She’s competitive in an environment where it doesn’t help her to be competing.
Stacy: yep, mystery to me. I’m betting on Francesca actually joining the convent and I’m not sure that Eseni won’t - but I also think that regardless of which direction Eseni goes, it’s not going to be an impulsive move. Christie is still a maybe either way for me. I’m not sure she’s going to find the kind of worship she wants in a convent.
I really like the nuns we’re seeing so far, and I like that this is showing the human side of nuns.
I didn’t see the show, never even heard about it. I’m extremey surprised (and not pleased) the Church would allow this to become a reality show.
That said, in an era when so few young men are joining the priesthood and even fewer young women are becoming nuns, I’m curious about the makeup of this incoming class.
A huge percentage of the young priests I see are EITHER:
Disturbingly Ultraconservative (I say this as a conservative myself)
Flaming homosexuals
African or Asian
Social misfits (men I couldn’t readily picture with a wife or kids, or in a “normal” job)
What are the demographics and leanings of these young wannabe nuns? Ethnically, politically, personality-wise, sexual orientation-wise?
I’m not sure I’d call it a reality show in how I think of them (there’s no competitions and such) - maybe a quasi-reality show, but that’s all in the eye of the beholder.
So there are Claire, Eseni, Francesca, Stacy and Christie.
4/5 of them are white. Eseni is the exception and is African-American. In general, I read them as middle to upper-middle class, but I’m not a good reader of that when I’m not dealing with someone face to face.
I don’t read any of them as anything other than straight, but again, that’s my bias showing in how I tend to read people. Eseni has/had (depending upon her decision, I suppose) a boyfriend, and I got the impression at least some of the others have in the past.
Politically, the only one I get a good read on is Clair. Absolutely very conservative. The others I could see leaning right or left, but I do assume more right leaning than left because they are all practicing Catholics.
Personality-wise, they all come across as incredibly normal. Young women you’d meet in Anytown, USA and not notice any of the things you mentioned.
Which leads me to wonder – did the Church allow this? “The Church” is one thing, and an order or a convent in financial trouble is another, and a sizable donation may have swayed some Mother Superior somewhere. Wonder what the local bishop thinks of all this?
Also, gotta wonder if a young woman who really does think she has a calling would agree to have the whole discernment process play out on commercial television. EWTN, maybe, but even then I’d be suspicious.
Well, you gotta admit that the orders come off looking really good here. If they are looking for ways to stay relevant and dispel myths, this seems to be a good one.
For you young women, I think there is some value for them in the setup. They get to experience different orders, which wouldn’t be a part of a normal discernment. If they stay, they’ll probably still go through a full discernment in private. This show is more like speed dating for potential nuns.
Really enjoying this – they really managed to find a good array of types for their quintet.
And yeah, Claire’s definitely tone-deaf on social interactions. Loved that the nun she went to to rat out the twerkers basically said don’t be a tattletale.
I’ve been watching this online, because I don’t have cable – but they’ve got the third episode locked (cable subscribers only). Any guesses as to why they did that after two eps? I’m liking it enough to watch it, but definitely not enough to pay for it.
twicks - They lure you in with a free first taste and then they have you hooked. You’ve got the nun monkey on your back!
They showed two eps back to back this week. The girls had qualms about going to the Chicago inner city, working with the homeless and the mentally disabled. Darnell came to get Eseni, and she almost went with him, but told him she needed to time to figure this out. The girls had to beg food for the soup kitchen, going into food vendors and ask for donations. One of the girls who isn’t Francesca, Claire or Eseni thinks she wants to join the Carmelites in Chicago. But as she came to that decision it was time to go to the next convent, in Kentucky.
Alas, they have sadly misjudged my level of interest. I’ll check back later and see if they’ve unlocked the two eps that are up, but otherwise I’ll have to catch this when it comes out on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
I’ve been intrigued by this since I began seeing the commercials, but haven’t watched yet. It really doesn’t surprise me a lot that the church would agree to this; in the main I think of a lot of people in the church feeling we don’t have anything to hide. Come see how we live! Give God a try! It’s win-win. They might actually recruit some people, if they see what it is actually like.
I went to a Catholic college and had quite a few nuns as professors, as well as priests. It was no big to me, as I’d been surrounded by them all my life, but it was the first time I’d related to them as an adult (or as much as you are an adult in college; of course college students certainly believe they are). At any rate, since they were all Ph.Ds., and thrived in academia, perhaps they weren’t exactly mainstream Religious. But what I was found so wonderful was that they were people! Imagine that. And I (am guessing) that’s what this show will reveal.
Oddly, where I went to college, there were also professors that might as well have been nuns; spinsters, these ladies were, leading by all appearances, very nun-like, celibate (I assume) lives.
Also: it was true, at least a few years ago, that there has actually been a resurgence of people entering convents and the priesthood. I attend the cathedral at my diocese and we get troops of seminarians run through all the time; in fact, it’s been the same at every parish I’ve belonged to in this city. I’m seeing more and more priests and nuns, not less.
Ellen Cherry - My diocese has about 20 seminarians and roughly the same number of postulants at the Dominican convent. The bishop and the Mother Superior sort of have a rivalry going to see who can have the most vocations.
Anyone else still watching? Last night was the end of the 6-part series and the girls made their decisions.
Spoiler space
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So Christie and Claire chose to continue on with their discernment. I’m surprised that Claire chose a non-contemplative convent. I did notice that her displays did seem much reduced, although she couldn’t help but make a production out of asking to stay in KY. I was surprised at how opposed Christie’s father was at first, but he has a point. Although it’s not like the nuns entering as postulants are required to stay.
I was impressed at how much Francesca seemed to mature in those six weeks, but I wonder if being back in her family will infantilize her somewhat. Eseni ran back to Darnell, but hopefully gained some peace and insight. Stacy is still pretty “out there”, but since my dark horses came to the communion rail first, I’m putting off predicting.