The Cloistered Nuns and the True Meaning of Isolation in a Covid-19 World
FEBRUARY 6, 2020
Many years ago, when I became sensitive to the voice of the spirit and in my quest to give meaning to life, I read about the lives of the Cloistered Nuns, or Carmelites as they are called, and their lives of industrious presence even in the silence and concealment within the walls of a convent that they could never leave except for emergencies and medical attention.
Covid-19 and the subsequent need to isolate from others in society has brought a whole new meaning to living without the social interactions that we have taken for granted in our everyday lives. The negative impacts of such isolation on our mental health and related issues of addiction, depression, hopelessness, and despair across every sector of our society but especially the young, old and marginalized, have highlighted the need for a reassessment of our internal mental and spiritual capacity to deal with such emergencies.
This article is about my experience of meeting the Suore (Nuns) di Clausura Carmelitane Scalzate (discalced or without shoes) of Crotone, Italy and the highlights of my correspondence with the Mother Superior there about their spiritual path. I also rely on their book that was published in 2015 to celebrate thirty years of history of the convent and key aspects of the guiding principles that governs their everyday lives.
I believe that there is something to learn for all of us on how they are able to master their internal world in such a way that they can remain happy and enthusiastic about the future, while remaining isolated in their convent. I hope their amazing journey of the spirit can help those of you who are having difficulty navigating the isolation of Covid-19, like it has helped me during my time of need.
The Location
The monastery rises in the open countryside on a promontory upstream of Capocolonna, the easternmost tip of Calabria where one of the oldest and largest Greek temples still has one column left standing. Throughout the space from north to south the nuns can contemplate the expanse of the Ionian and every day, at dawn, can admire splendid auroras over the sea, one different from the other. To the west they see in the distance the profile of the Sila mountains: there the sun sets.
My first visit
The first time I visited the convent, it was with my cousin who lived in the neighboring city of Crotone, less than half hour drive from the convent. He was kind enough to drive me there with his wife. As we entered the parlor with those iron bars, I had the feeling of having entered a prison and it saddened me, but when the sisters entered, something changed in the air. They instilled a feeling of peace and serenity, a pleasant atmosphere that seemed almost surreal to me. We met a reality that was unimaginable for us; sisters who fight every day, with the weapons of prayer and love.
The sisters do interact with the world almost on a daily basis and between their hours of work, contemplation and prayers, do engage with visitors of every age, sex and social class who ask questions and listen attentively to their words of wisdom and inner clarity.
I was utterly amazed by their presence and glowing energy that seemed to envelope all those present. When I had a chance to speak, I remember telling them that I had come from Canada to visit my family and I appreciated the opportunity to be there. I just wanted to listen and I asked the mother superior if she was ok if I called her and spoke with her on the phone as I did not know if I would be able to go back before returning to Canada. She smiled and gave me the convent phone number and e-mail address. After all, they may be behind the walls of a convent, but were fully immersed in the spirit and its ability to reach out to those in need.
The Cloistered Nuns engaging with visitors…
When I got home, I could not wait to read their book and some of the quotes below are extracts from correspondence with people who received spiritual, emotional and mental help and who wrote to thank them. At these times of Covid-19 and beyond, as you may feel helpless and imprisoned in your own fears and doubts, let these words resonate in your heart and in your mind as a promise for a better future.
On life’s true priorities and being really free
”You taught me that you are free even if you are "in prison". You helped me free myself from the chains that were leading me into an abyss. You are not confined just because you are closed in four walls ... that is not the worst confinement ... but that in which your detention is made up of chains that you yourself have tied to your hands, not knowing that the key to free yourself is within you, in your heart, in your life, in your love.”
“You are there to demonstrate the simplicity of life and the richness of spirit that can coexist in those who rely on what is really the reason for our existence. You are there and you don't have the money God to chase our many false material needs that suck us into a vortex of unnecessary needs but which we imagine fundamental and not postponable for us.”
”All false needs that worry us and make us run after them, since they even appear to us as primary, like the things that really matter in life. Finally, they then lead us into an idea of generalized poverty, when our society today is absolutely not so at its foundations. Today the world is in dire need of your prayer and your example of simplicity of life.”
On their spiritual path and guiding principles
“It is therefore not from the outside that we enter history, but from within our lives, both communal and personal. It is not the multiplication of a "showing ourselves" (especially applicable in today’s youth in society with the need of social media likes and engagement, to validate their being and role in society) and not even the ostentation of our concealment that makes our being there effective but the personal and community acceptance of a path of conversion that discloses the depths of the ego, there where God meets our human path and inhabits it and leads us to feel every person dear to our life. It is exactly this being a little pilgrim in the night that makes us united with every human heart in search of its creator.”
On the question of being sheltered in a convent
“We are not women who have arrived in port by now, sheltered from the storms of existence and the risks of navigation. Far from it. The small craft of our life, is continually invited to leave the beaches where she is tempted to anchor and to set sail in the great sea of discernment of God's plan for history.” In other words, most often, the solutions to our problems lay just outside of our comfort zone.
On the power of the spirit to elevate us from our loneliness, and to shelter us from the rough sea of life
“And it is not an enterprise of lone navigators at the mercy of personal projects. Not doing it alone (we need each other) is a guaranteed result for those who try individualistic routes. The success of the crossing does not lie in the guarantee of a calm sea (in life as in a convent), but in the safety of an anchor planted off the coast (the anchor that is God even in the rough seas of life) of the will of God and his faithfulness in love. We add, with a look of sympathy and tenderness for our world which, with its provocations and questions, "forces" us to be true and to open our gaze more and more every day, to recognize, experience and testify right now that God is all in all.”
My second visit
There are only 13 nuns in this convent and they come from all regions of Italy. The small number was set by their founder as a reflection of the communal spirit of the Apostles. Their stories of a spiritual calling and conversion are as varied as they are amazing. I was lucky enough to be able to visit them a second time only a few years ago with the priest and congregation of the church from the neighborhood where I grew up in my hometown of Italy until the age of 17 when I emigrated to Canada.
The nuns were just as lively and sharp-witted as ever, a testament that only the freedom of the spirit can allow us to manifest the individuality within each one of us. This time a busload of people were there with me and I stayed in the back taking some pictures, contemplating on their lives and what we could learn from them.
For those who want to learn more about the Cloistered Nuns of Capocolonna, here is a YouTube video about their amazing history and spiritual journey. Unfortunately it is only in Italian but at the end of this blog article below, there is a link to a YouTube video in English for a glimpse into the life of a Cloistered Nun.
Conclusion
I feel blessed for having had this experience and I am providing a link to a YouTube video (yes, they are social media savvy) where you can watch and get a glimpse into the life of a cloistered nun, and listen to their amazing story of faith and journey of life that hopefully can be an inspiration to all of us during these challenging and difficult times we live in.
