The Many Captivities of Esther Wheelwright by Ann M. Little

Author:Ann M. Little
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2016-04-13T04:00:00+00:00

Soeur Converse Ursuline de la Congrégation de Paris, 1792, from Pierre Hélyot’s Histoire des Ordres Religieux et Militaires (Paris, 1792). This converse sister is not shown wearing the shorter sleeves and gown, compared with those of a choir nun, that would have signaled her station. Long sleeves would have made domestic chores like housekeeping, laundry, tending the infirmary, and barn work especially messy. However, the hierarchy of religious life is otherwise evident here, as she will wear forever the white veil of the novice rather than the black veil of the professed choir nun.

Wellcome Library, London

Because of their heavy workload, lay sisters were set apart visually from their sisters in the choir and reminded throughout their lives of their lower rank in the convent. Their habits were typically of a coarser fabric and hemmed a little shorter at the bottom and on the sleeves to facilitate their physical labor. They also retained the white veil of the novice rather than the black veil that professed choir nuns wore. Additionally, just as they did not teach, they were not permitted to say the Divine Office with the choir nuns, nor were they permitted to vote in the order’s triennial elections. Finally, while choir sisters were generally “promoted” from the title of Sister to Mother after twelve years of profession, lay sisters continued to be called Sister for their entire lives. In short, they were servants at a time and place where the privileges of class and rank were strictly observed. However, working as a lay sister in a convent offered several advantages that servants in secular homes did not enjoy, such as membership in a community, liberty from the sexual predation of men, and finally, a guarantee of care in sickness and old age. These were considerable advantages when we look at the much more vulnerable position of women workers, and especially servant women, in the rest of colonial North America. Considering that most of the lay sisters would probably have been destined for household service outside the convent, lay sisters were fortunate by comparison.57

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