What does a nun do all day?

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, ...

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How many hours do nuns sleep?

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.

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What do nuns actually do?

Nuns take vows that vary by faith and order, but often involve dedicating themselves to a life of poverty and chastity. Some nuns devote themselves to prayer, while others, known as religious sisters, serve their community by helping the poor, teaching in schools, or providing health care.

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How long do nuns last?

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.

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Are nuns allowed to have periods?

Nuns, being childless, generally have no break from periods through their lives.

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Ask a Nun Series - What do you do all day?

16 related questions found

Why can't Catholics use condoms?

As traditional Catholics see it, using condoms is wrong, even as a prophylactic against disease, because they prevent conception. Life, from the moment of conception to death is, Catholics believe, sacred. Only God can terminate life.

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What do nuns do during menstruation?

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.

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Can nuns fall in love?

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.

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Do nuns get paid?

The salaries of Nuns in the US range from $24,370 to $69,940 , with a median salary of $41,890 . The middle 60% of Nuns makes $41,890, with the top 80% making $69,940.

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Why are nuns so happy?

Nuns enjoy the benefits of positive emotions because their daily prayers lead them to feel love, joy, and compassion.

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Are nuns always celibate?

Aspiring nuns and monks are required to reject private property, marriage and biological family ties. Celibacy – abstinence from sexual relations – is implicit in the rejection of marriage and procreation and has always been central to the monastic ideal.

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Do nuns have phones?

You must take a vow of obedience, which means you commit to following the faith and your religious leaders. You may be required to take a vow of silence. You must wear modest clothing when not wearing your nun's habit. Catholic nuns, as decreed by Pope Francis, are not allowed to use smartphones or social media.

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What do nuns wear to bed?

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.

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What do nuns do when they retire?

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.

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Do nuns go silent?

They don't speak, except during short work periods, recreation time in the evening and during mass, when they sing and pray aloud. Their hymns sound sweet as twenty-odd women – ages ranging from 33 to upwards of 80 – sing in harmony, and their prayer is deep and heartfelt.

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What is the average age of a nun?

According to a recent study, less than 1% of nuns in America are under 40 and the average sister is 80 years old.

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How long does it take to become a nun?

The process takes anywhere from nine to 12 years to complete, from the exploratory phase to final vows [source: Handmaids of the Precious Blood]. The entire process of steps to making a lifetime commitment is called formation [source: Global Sisters Report].

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What do nuns do with their money?

Stipends that nuns receive from dioceses or outside employers are sent to their motherhouses or convents. The money is then parceled out to sisters who work and those who cannot work.

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Do nuns use pads?

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.

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Is a nun higher than a sister?

In ordinary conversation, the terms "nun" and "sister" are used interchangeably. Both nuns and sisters are addressed as "Sister." In popular culture, the term "nun" is often more widely accessible and immediately understood to refer to women who have professed the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

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Are nuns allowed to smoke?

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.

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Can nuns be on birth control?

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.

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Can nuns take birth control?

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.

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Why do nuns stay silent?

Why do nuns not speak? They go about their day in absolute silence save for prayer and two brief recreational periods, talking only when necessary. The Sisters take vows of obedience, poverty and chastity, dedicating their lives to communing with God and praying for the outside world.

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Do Catholics allow oral?

A man's orgasm is always tied to his fertility, so, therefore, the Church states that oral sex that would end with a male orgasm outside of sexual intercourse is not permissible.

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