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A matter of habit
The Nuns in my Community wear Habits. Fine. Long, brown outfits; white veil
for those in "initial formation", black veils for those committed for life.
Why wear Habits at all? Some Nuns don't, some do. It is obviously about sign value
and symbolism - especially since the styles which once simply represented an identification
with the poor, have now become so outmoded as to indicate difference more than
anything else. Anyone seeing us now is much more likely to think, "Oh, a Nun",
than, "there's a poor person". I guess that's OK too.
What did worry me was another, subtler message that seemed to be implied by an
entire Community wearing the same gear, all day every day. Did this symbolise
a blurring of individual identity? After all, if all Nuns look the same, does
that mean that each one just takes on a rôle every time she puts on her
clothes in the morning, and no-one ever really gets to know her as a person?
The assumption here of course, is that "you are what you wear", and that having
the optimum choice is the only way to make a statement in the non-verbal language
of appearances. In some ways I agree with this, but there are other assumptions
at play. For instance, what's to say that a Nun doesn't have any choice, just
because she chooses the same thing every day for years on end?! Also, I wonder
just how much freedom the ordinary person has, when there's pressure to wear fashionable
styles so as to feel acceptable?
The best answer to my question about individuality came only after actually having
worn a Habit myself for some time, living with my Sisters in Community. To my
surprise, I began to realise that, exactly because we all wore the same kind of
dress, it was only possible to identify a person by actually looking at her face!
I was taken aback, because it means that others have to look at my face too, and
somehow there's a certain vulnerability in that. I'm not the shoes I wear; nor
can I hide behind a hairdo. (Incidentally, a veil is the best treatment for
a bad hair day that I've ever come across!) Now I find myself being known
for who I am, and masks are at the minimum. In this sense, the Habit is a very
good symbol for the quest of Contemplative Religious life, even if an unexpected
one.
Sr. Marie Tania, Ormiston Carmel
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