The Carmelite sisters may live in a "permanent sort of lockdown" but the Covid-19 pandemic has reached behind the monastery's high concrete wall to impact their daily life.

"We are very much in the same boat as everyone else right now in terms of adjusting to a new normal with its unprecedented realities and uncertainties," says Sister Catherine of Christ.

Most of the nuns' regular work at the Christchurch Carmelite convent has ceased.

The main source of income is the production of altar breads for many parishes in the diocese of Christchurch.

Other major works include the restoration of statues and various other forms of artwork - making cards and banners and painting candles for Baptisms and Weddings.

But now they are not making any altar breads.

Nor are the 13 sisters taking orders for other religious items to be made by hand.

"By our vow of poverty and trust in God's providence, this is not something we are worrying about," says Sister Catherine.

"It's amazing how quickly the human person can adapt."

"What we thought impossible and unimaginable a couple of months ago is now becoming a matter of right, how can we make this work with what we have?"

Like many other New Zealanders, the Carmelite nuns are diversifying to survive during the pandemic lockdown.

"One example is that the flour that is not being used for altar bread making is now being used to make our daily bread."

Christchurch Carmel was founded in February 1933, when seven sisters from Sydney Carmel sailed across the sea to begin the first contemplative monastery in New Zealand.

The monastery is situated on 2.4 hectares in Halswell, around 15 minutes from the city centre

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• carmelite.com
• Image: stuff.co.nz

Lockdown destroys nuns' business]]> 126758 https://cathnews.co.nz/2014/09/09/anglican-head-live-young-people-monastic-community/ Mon, 08 Sep 2014 19:07:07 +0000 http://cathnews.co.nz/?p=62837 The Archbishop of Canterbury is starting a new community of young people who will live with him in a monastic lifestyle at Lambeth Palace. The Tablet reported that the 16 young people, who are yet to be selected, with study, live and pray at the London palace from September, 2015. To be known as the Read more

"In the church, the [consecrated] religious are called to be prophets in particular by demonstrating how Jesus lived on this earth, and to proclaim how the kingdom of God will be in its perfection.

"A religious must never give up prophecy … Let us think about what so many great saints, monks, and religious men and women have done, from St. Anthony the Abbot onward.

"Being prophets may sometimes imply making waves." — Pope Francis, La Civilta Cattolica interview, September 2013.

"When there is no prophecy among the people, clericalism fills the void." — Pope Francis, daily Mass homily, December 16, 2013.

In an unusual, perhaps surprising turn of events, we now have a pope who speaks often and explicitly against clericalism: that is, against the erroneous assumption that the Catholic clergy are spiritually superior to the laity and automatically more important to the Church's mission.

This development is not wholly novel.

Past popes have also known that giving laypersons a second-class status causes paralysis, not healthy order.

The opposite of clericalism is not chaos, but responsibility: it means a Church in which all believers take responsibility for learning, living, and transmitting the faith.

The backlash against clericalism has spawned false solutions, however.

Some laypersons think they should oppose clericalism by taking on priest-like functions, or demanding access to ordination.

But this "clericalized" behavior feeds into the very error it opposes.

To overcome clericalism, we must recover some deep truths of faith.

Among these truths is the Catholic doctrine of the "priesthood of all believers," or the "universal priesthood."

Different from the ordained priesthood, but no less important, this is the share in Christ's priesthood which all the baptized possess.

Aspects of this universal priesthood are already implicit in Christian prayer and practice.

But many faithful seemingly do not grasp the importance of the priesthood of all believers, or they lack models for living it.

We need not invent new spiritual models to fill this gap.

Christian tradition already contains the resources for understanding and living this universal baptismal priesthood.

One resource is the monastic tradition. Continue reading

Sources

• The Catholic World Report
• Image: Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church