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From:
Subject: Magdalen Consecrates (long again, sorry)
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 17:02:07 EDT


Hello Elizabeth and members of the listserv

I will copy your questions and respond after each.

1. Please give us the definition of "Magdalen consecrates".

Answer: The Magdalen Consecrates (sometimes referred to as the "Sisters
Magdalens" in the French words from Angers, France ) associated with the Good
Shepherd (GS) Sisters can never be real professed Sisters or Nuns. They only may
take voluntary simple "vows" as a consecrated, or promised woman as part of
the Magdalen Community. These women do not fit the criteria for becoming a
woman religious according to the foundress (see the next paragraph).

I found it interesting that they are referred to by the Sisters as
"sisters". The term "sister" is meant in a filial attitude, but not as an officially
professed Sister.

The foundress started the Magdalens in honor of a girl who came to the
convent as a "Preservate" (an innocent female child of 12, not sent because of a
crime). This girl could never be professed as a GS Sister because she had been
a ward of the convent. The girl was so dedicated that Mary of St. Euphrasia
had the Magdalen Consecrates community created for this type of person. Anyone
who had been a preservate, inmate, or penitent in a GS home could not be
professed, but could be clothed and take voluntary, simple vows. I have some of
the Magdalen Consecrate short biographies in my possession.

There is an Order of Sisters of Saint Mary Magdalene that are not associated
with the GS Sisters that are from another group. Totally unrelated, not part
of the GS.

My information comes directly from the St. Louis Good Shepherd Sisters. The
Magdalen Consecrates live apart from the regular GS Sisters and apart from
the GS Contemplative Sisters. They share the same building, but do not
interface. I did not speak with the Consecrates. They spend seven hours in prayer and
several hours of meaningful work every day.
I did converse with several of the Contemplative Sisters and I noted that
they still wear a head veil.


2. I have not heard that term used in regards to the Magdalen nuns. The
Magdalens were consecrated women in the sense they took the vows of poverty,
chastity and obedience.

Answer: They cannot be Sisters or Nuns because their background included a
disqualifier, such as illegitimacy, illness, criminal past, or having been a
former penitent, inmate, or preservate (there is a list of these too long for
this email). They can be consecrated and wear the attire of the Carmelites
and ST Theresa as established by the GS foundress, but cannot be a professed
Sister.

3. Perhaps it is a newer term.
Answer: The term has been around since the early 19th Century, but many
people here in the USA had trouble understanding the difference between
consecrated, contemplative, and apostolic women religious. Many groups use the terms
synonymously (I must admit that I did too until this trip when the
explanations were given). Some people even throw in "cloistered".

I note that there is a difference between Sister and Nun. ( A recent
revelation to me, too). It has to do with the vows and their need to be renewed
periodically. It refers to simple vs solemn vs perpetual vows. While I was at the
convent, one Apostolic sister came in from the missionary world especially
to renew her vows. There was a celebration.

Sisters are more apostolic (out in the world or missionary with perpetual
vows, but can be contemplative staying at the convent) and Nuns are more
contemplative usually with solemn vows (made permanently, often remaining in
cloister, enclosed).

The Good Shepherds are Sisters, not Nuns. The GS are either Apostolic or
Contemplative, but an individual cannot be not both. The official name of the GS
is Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd.

4. Several people who were on this list and other lists were told the
records do not exist.

Answer: I know that the GS were fanatic about record keeping. That was a
prime directive from their foundress. This is how the early Sisters used the
information to learn how to work with girls...by learning from the experiences
of other Sisters. I only saw a few historic records of girls where I
researched.

The main girls' records are not kept or stored by the GS. The records are
too large. They are housed with the diocese records which are kept at a
different place altogether. I have not been there (at least not yet). All records
have been dispersed between the St Louis diocese and the New York diocese. I am
not sure how the records are stored by the three remaining schools.

5. May I ask when you started your research?

Answer: I began my official research in 2002, but I had been gathering info
since the early 1990s. I have been collecting oral histories of GS sisters
and girls AND Ursuline Sisters (OSU) and girls. The girls are now aged 55 to 90
years. Fascinating stuff. This all goes into my dissertation.

6. My interest lies in the community from its inception onwards.

Answer: Mine, too. I was not raised Catholic, but I had an interest in the
systems for developing our girls and helping them seek their identities. I saw
a distinct contrast between the girls placed in a convent school because
their parents had money versus the girls who were dumped or consigned to the GS
by the judicial system.

I hope I shed some light for those on the list. Please understand that it is
not my intent to come off like a smarty-pants, but to share my recent finds.
It may help a seeker find the person being sought. I welcome questions
because it forces me to organize my enormous stack of notes.

take care
nancymarie




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