Short answers: clothes or underwear as appropriate, nightgowns or other sleeping clothes, and they can go to the beach, particularly when on vacation, according to the rules of their order.
Catholic nuns
Regulations for nuns' swimwear are far from universal. According to Sister Lorraine from Ask a Catholic Nun, a social media-based forum run by the Daughters of St. Paul, some cloistered nuns never swim at all, while those of other orders may choose to wear fairly modern suits.
Some nuns, especially those that live in colder climates, may wear regular clothing under their habits. Others may only wear a t-shirt and shorts. In hotter countries, nuns may even just wear underwear.
Each night, these nuns allow themselves no more than three hours of sleep. Their calling is an extreme one: to stay inside the walls of their convent and spend their days and nights in prayer and silent contemplation.
The nuns pray the Divine Office together in choir five times a day, spend an hour and a half daily in mental prayer, do spiritual reading for at least a half hour a day, observe silence except during Recreation which is after dinner and supper; and engage in a variety of work: maintenance of the monastery, gardening, ...
What does a nun earn? Nuns devote themselves to lives of poverty and simplicity. Unless they perform an additional job, such as working as a teacher or doctor, they do not collect a salary.
After joining the convent, nuns are limited to a great degree in their contact with the outside world. They can't always use cell phones, are only allowed to visit family certain times of the year and must share the use of items like cars with other sisters in the convent.
The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Latin: Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a Catholic religious order of cloistered monastics that branched off from ...
According to a recent study, less than 1% of nuns in America are under 40 and the average sister is 80 years old.
Retired nuns continue to serve through the ministry of prayer. A willingness to remain active reflects the years of busy lives they lived. Most will serve until they no longer can. Sisters are constantly praying for those in need, often taking turns on the hour during times of crisis.
The nuns in remote nunneries still use cloth pieces,” Anim Namgyel Lhamo, an Assistant Programme Officer with Bhutan Nuns Foundation, said. However, menstrual hygiene may start with sanitary pads, but doesn't end with it. Access to proper toilets, equipped with soap and water, is equally important.
Most people use the term nuns to refer to both nuns and sisters, but there are some significant differences. Nuns' lives are spent in prayer and work within their convent or monastery. Sisters are more active in the world, engaging in many different kinds of work, most often for people who are in great need.
For their enitre lives, their time will be divided between constant prayer and the work of the convent. Most do not read novels, see movies, or play sports. They do not hug one another and keep all physical contact to a minimum.
Many nuns cook and clean for male church leaders and perform other household duties. “Some of them serve in the homes of bishops or cardinals, others work in the kitchens of church institutions or teach,” says the magazine.
As nuns, sisters take three strict vows: chastity, poverty and obedience to God and their church. Nuns believe they are married to Jesus Christ, and some wear wedding rings to symbolize their devotion.
Some nuns, especially those that live in colder climates, may wear regular clothing under their habits. Others may only wear a t-shirt and shorts. In hotter countries, nuns may even just wear underwear.
Membership and vows
Temporary vows last one to three years, typically, and will be professed for not less than three years and not more than six. Finally, she will petition to make her "perpetual profession", taking permanent, solemn vows.
A woman who has been married and divorced must have her marriage annulled within the church, he said, and, if she is a mother, her children must be old enough to not be her dependents. Widows can become nuns but have different criteria, he said.
Catholic views on condoms. The Catholic Church's opposition to contraception includes a prohibition on condoms. It believes that chastity should be the primary means of preventing the transmission of AIDS.
But according to Sister Mary Ann Walsh of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, nuns have the same access to medical care as any other woman - and that includes access to the pill.
She told ABC News that nuns have the same access to care that every woman has, which includes the pill. "A nun goes to a doctor for her medical care, and if that medical care requires a certain kind of medicine then that medicine is prescribed," Walsh told ABC News.
Each sister can make monthly calls to family, write regularly and visit her family for two weeks each year. In addition to this, a sister's family may visit her at our Motherhouse two weekends each year. A sister can also write periodically to friends and receive letters from them.
Though there is no official canonical prohibition regarding the use of tobacco, the more traditional among the Eastern Orthodox Churches forbid their clergy or monastics to smoke, and the laity are strongly encouraged to give up this habit, if they are subject to it.
If nuns do "fall in love," what do they do? Yes, as a human and as a woman it is natural for a religious to fall in love with someone, or someone to fall in love with her.