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🇦🇷 Argentina /Culture & Society

“What do these women do behind closed doors?” Life between prayer and work in a cloistered monastery

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Sixteen nuns live at the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary’s monastery in Pilar, Argentina, including six who are still in formation.
  • Their days begin around 5:20 a.m. with personal prayer, morning prayer and Mass, alongside work in the kitchen, garden and other parts of the monastery.
  • The nuns say cloistered life does not mean ignoring the outside world, which they follow so they can pray for it.

“We never feel confined,” María Gabriela says from behind the grille at the Monastery of the Visitation of Holy Mary in Pilar. The grille separates the nuns from relatives and visitors in the room where they receive guests.

The question of what women do inside a cloistered monastery answers itself as visitors move through the two-hectare grounds. In the choir, nuns pray from open books while one plays the organ. Elsewhere, a sister rehearses on a psaltery, an old stringed instrument. In the kitchen, others work around a table. Outside are a vegetable garden, paths, a Marian grotto and the community cemetery.

We never feel confined.

· María GabrielaShe described life in the cloistered monastery from behind the grille in the visitors’ room.

Sixteen nuns currently live at the monastery, the Order of the Visitation’s only house in Buenos Aires province. The community maintains a direct relationship with the monastery in Río Cuarto, Córdoba, which began as a foundation of Pilar. “It is like a child of ours,” says María Fátima, the current mother superior.

Six of the 16 women are still in formation. Becoming a cloistered nun takes years, as both the candidate and the community discern whether the choice should become permanent. The stages are marked partly by changes in appearance, from uncovered hair to the habit and white novitiate veil, then temporary vows and finally solemn profession. At that point, the women take permanent vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and receive the black veil.

It is like a child of ours.

· María FátimaThe mother superior described the monastery in Río Cuarto, which began as a foundation of Pilar.

The day begins around 5:20 a.m. with an hour of personal prayer, followed by lauds, the morning prayer, and Mass. María Fátima says they know many people are waking to go to work at that hour and try to pray ahead of them, preparing the way.

For María Gabriela, seclusion does not mean turning away from events outside the monastery. She compares the Church to a body in which one part carries out its mission visibly and another remains hidden. “The contemplative life is like the heart. It cannot be seen, but it is pumping,” she says. Some of the nuns follow current events and news so they can pray for the world. The order will mark 150 years in Argentina on September 8.

The contemplative life is like the heart. It cannot be seen, but it is pumping.

· María GabrielaShe explained how the nuns understand their hidden role within the Church.
About this summary

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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