WORLD LOCKED OUT

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3421, 18 February 1936, Page 2

WORLD LOCKED OUT

YOUNG WOMEN IN WHITE

CEREMONY OF HOLY VOWS.

Six young women in white knelt the other day in front of the altar of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour at Bulwell, a mining district of Nottingham, before taking the religious habit whereby they will become Sisters of the Roman Catholic Order of Poor Clares, whose convent adjoins the church. ..They will spend their lives in prayer and contemplation, their only communcation with the outside world being through a grille.

They are: Misses Darah Bell and Eileen Bell (sisters), Nuala„ Creagh, Sarah M’llwane, Margaret Kearns, and Lily Scott. They will not take their final vows for another year. During the probationary period they can return to the world by permission of the bishop, but afterwards only by permission from Rome. The service was taken by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Nottingham,Dr. J. M'Nulty, who two months previously “enclosed” the Convent of Poor Clares, the first of its kind in that part of England since the Reformation.

The probationers looked like brides. The sun fell upon their wreaths of orange blossom and on the hair which will soon be cut off. Each had two small attendants, also dressed as if for a wedding. Mass was said, and afterwards the bishop put a series of questions to the girls, addressing each as “Spouse of Christ.” Among the questions were: Are you a faithful Catholic? Do you enter religion of your own accord? Were you constrained or induced to do so against your will ? Do you enjoy good health? Are you disposed to obey in everything and to renounce yourself to the love of God ? Have you attained the requisite age? The girls, all of them Irish by birth or association, were then given new names, each of them including Mary. The bishop pointed out that so far from the community' being locked in, the world was locked out, the Reverend Mother beeping the key. The religious life was not an escape from the world, but a deliberate assumption of new responsibilities—not a running away from life, but rather an advance into the heart of the battle. The sisters were then conducted by the bishop and other clergy to , the doors of the enclosure. The six postulants carried lighted white candles, around which flowers were twined. They were followed by their little attendants, carrying wreaths of forget-me-nots, and their parents and other relatives, most of whom had come from Ireland. They knelt while Latin prayers were said, and then took a last farewell of their relatives. The enclosure doors were shut, and they had left the world behind them. The rich wedding garmets were put aside, and the probationers donned the habit of the Poor Clares. They also removed their shoes, and in future will wear only sandals.