Monastero di S. Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi

One thing that I like about going to school in Italy is that we go on a bunch of field trips! Learning outside of the classroom makes a lot of sense to me. 

In my culture class, we've been learning a lot about saints and Catholicism. For our field trip, we went to a convent of cloistered nuns last Thursday! We met with three nuns. Two of them spoke only Italian and one spoke some English. Our professoressa translated for us. 

At the convent with my class [Photo Credit: Lisa Kaborycha]

One of the nuns told us that she had joined the convent when she was in her teens. Her parents had opposed her decision at first. However, then she got sick and her family came to her and they were reconciled. 

The one who spoke English was actually a nun-in-training. She looked like she was about 50, and she emphasized that she had had a full life. She said that she had traveled to many places and that she had many friends, some who still came to visit her. She looked at peace and like she was where she was meant to be. She did not wear a habit because she was not yet officially a nun. She had been there six months and eventually she will get voted in (or not). 

It reminded me of my sorority and the pledging process. But the idea of committing to live with the same people for the rest of my life is terrifying to me. But then, that is what people who marry do, too.

I shared my insight- that I'd decided I didn't want to join a convent- with my friend. Her response was, "You sure?" Why I befriend the most sarcastic people, I don't know. But I like it. 

Anyways, these were Carmelite nuns, and they were a cloistered order. That means that they do not leave the convent. If there was an emergency (like if one of their family members became deathly ill) then they could leave, but beyond that they stay in the convent. They spend most of their time in solitary Bible study, in prayer, in meditation, and in contemplation. There are other monastic orders that are not cloistered and that do things like go out and feed the homeless. So the nuns that are here chose this lifestyle purposefully.

There is church that connects to the convent, and it houses the body of Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi. I saw her and I was able to see her more clearly than any of the other dead saints that I've seen. Yep, she's dead alright. The nuns were saying that her body still does miracles. I'm skeptical about that. I think that that's something I'd have to see to believe.

A nun we met [pic from nuns' website]

If you want to know more about these nuns, they have a website (naturally): http://maddalenadepazzi.jimdo.com/

Be forewarned that the site is in Italian, so you may need to google translate the page.

It was cool to do something that I may never have gotten to do otherwise. The "I Will Follow Him" song from Sister Act may or may not have been playing in my head during the visit.

"I will follow Him, / Follow Him wherever He may go, / There isn't an ocean too deep, / A mountain so high it can keep, / Keep me away, away from His love..." ~ "I Will Follow Him" from Sister Act