The Habit: A History of the Clothing of Catholic Nuns

This is a good book about the use of and thoughts behind the wearing and use of the Habit. The information is presented in an interesting way and is an easy read.

Religious communities in America (i.e., Catholic Religious communities) have struggled to find their identity for the last 2 decades; but of course, imitating modern culture in so many other ways, to arrive at such a point of confusion, they first threw out anything old, including wearing religious garb. I only wish that the religious sisters of today (the new, "improved" nuns) who threw out their habits would read this book. No, the habit itself does not make a sister a sister. No more than black clothes and a white collar make a priest a good priest. But when there's nearly 2,000 years of tradition involved... just maybe they should have "looked before they leaped." I thought this was a good book. Well-researched, easy to read, full of interesting points, and a good argument for nuns to put their habits back on (though the author doesn't go out of her way to make this point or beat anybody over the head with it). Regardless of what side of the debate people are on, I think the average Catholic should find this a fascinating, good book.

Definitely worth getting. There's a treasure of information, and one can learn a lot. A must for every Catholic's bookshelf.

"A Reader" complains that the cover depicts a "sister" rather than a nun on the cover, adding: "What a blunder!" Clearly "Reader" him- or herself needs to read a little harder. The book's introduction says: "I use the terms 'nun,' 'sister,' 'consecrated woman' and 'religious' interchangeably, although there are differences according to Church canonical law." (For the layperson, "nuns," strictly speaking, are members of religious orders, usually monastic, whereas "sisters" are members of religious congregations, generally working among the people.) It would be nice if the authors of such comments would take the trouble to look at the text as well as the cover, before rushing onto the Web to show us all how clever they are.

And not only a history of the habit, but a history of women in religious communities through the centuries. There is a great deal of information in the book, even though it seems to be meant as only an introduction. Both sides of the issue regarding the wearing of the habit today are presented. It is interesting to me that those communities that wear some sort of habit are the communities that are most likely to draw interested women. And yet, those women who belong to communities that don't wear a habit of any kind seem so dead-set against the wearing of a habit. Also, the book's illustrations are quite nice. The photos are a history in and of themselves.