What is the difference between monastic and cloistered

Female Material Clausura Those parts of the convent to which the nuns have access are all within the cloister, the choir not excepted. Here the law recognizes no neutral territory. If the convent church be public, the nuns cannot go into those parts accessible to the people. Further, the building should be so constructed that neither the sisters can look outside their enclosure, nor their neighbours see into the court-yards or gardens at the disposal of the sisters.

See also the Letter of 7 Dec. Formal Clausura Obstacle to Egress. Under no pretext may the sisters go outside their cloister without a legitimate cause approved of by the bishop. Such is the legislation of the Council of Trent Sess. XXV, De. Pius V. Without keeping rigorously to this enumeration, we may say that an analogous necessity is always required in order that the bishop may accord the permission.

The nuns who transgress this law incur an excommunication reserved absolutely to the Holy See "Apost. Sedis", see. Obstacle to the Free Entrance of Outsiders. The law is much more severe for female than for male houses; in fact, even women are rigorously excluded from the cloistered parts. The penalty affects all those, and only those, who have reached the age of reason. Hence, in spite of the general terms of the law , it seems probable that the sister who should introduce a child under seven would not incur the ecclesiastical censure.

This regime, however, admits of exceptions; corporal or spiritual needs demand the physician's or the confessor's presence, the garden must be cultivated, the building kept in repair. Hence general permissions are given to doctors , confessors, workmen, and others. The confessor of the nuns has this permission in virtue of his office, so also the bishop who must make the canonical visitation , and the regular superior.

If the convent be under the jurisdiction of regulars, outsiders who need to enter the cloister probably require only one permission, that of the regular superior, except where custom requires also the permission of the bishop or of his delegate St. Benedict XIV , Lehmkuhl, and Piat, basing their view on the jurisprudence of the congregation of the Council, hold that the bishops permission is always required.

This permission, whether coming from the bishop or from the regular superior, should be in writing, according to the wording of the law ; but an oral permission is sufficient to avoid the censure St.

We may follow the opinion of St. Alphonsus loc. It should be observed that girl-boarders are subject to this legislation. Hence the solemnly professed nuns who wish to occupy themselves with the education of the young must be provided with a pontifical indult. However, cloistered nuns are not absolutely forbidden all intercourse with the outside world.

They may of course receive letters; they may also receive visitors in the convent parlour, provided that they they remain behind the grating, or grille, erected there. For such visits a reasonable cause and a permission from the bishop is usually needed. The permission, however, is not required in case of those who, by virtue of their office, are obliged to have relations with a convent , viz. Except in Advent and Lent , relatives and children are permitted once a week. The conditions for a visit by a male religious are very severe; according to some authors he can only receive permission if he is a blood relation to the first or second degree, and then only four times a year.

Further, although an irregular visit on the part of a lay person or secular priest does not constitute a grave a fault, any visit without leave is a mortal sin for the religious. Such is the severity of the prohibition contained in the decree of the Congregation of the Council, dated 7 June, However, the conditions commonly required for a mortal sin must be present.

For that reason some eminent theologians do not think there is a mortal sin if the conversation does not last for a quarter of an hour C. It should be noted, at the same time, that certain usages have mitigated the rigour of the laws here mentioned.

In Spain , for instance, the permission of the diocesan authority is never asked for making such visits. And of course the law itself affects only convents where the inmates pronounce solemn vows. Institutes with simple vows only Generally speaking, in a convent or monastery where there are no solemn vows there is no cloister protected by the excommunication of the "Apostolicae Sedis" ; further, women cannot make solemn vows except in a convent which has the clausura.

Sometimes, however, this papal clausura is granted to convents of women who make only simple vows. Except in this case the institutes of simple vows are not subject to the laws above-described.

As a matter of fact, the only female convents in the United States with either solemn vows or the papal clausura are those of the Visitation Nuns at Georgetown , Mobile , St. Louis, and Baltimore. See Bizzarri, "Collectanea: Causa Americana", lst.

X, page , and the decree , page The fifth convent mentioned in the decree , Kaskaskia, no longer exists. The same is true of Belgium and France , with the exception of the districts of Nice and Savoy. In these countries, therefore, the nuns forming part of the old religious orders have only the cloister imposed by their rules or by such vows as that of perpetual enclosure taken by the religious of St. It is worth noting that this vow , although it forbids the inmates to leave the cloister, does not forbid them to receive people from outside.

They are not, then, acting contrary to their vow which they admit secular persons to the inside of their convents. But in countries where the absence of solemn vows exempts convents of women from the papal enclosure, the bishop , whom the Council of Trent Sess.

Reply, "In Parisiensi", 1 Aug. In the institutes of simple vows , there is nearly always a partial cloister which reserves exclusively to the religious certain parts of their convents. This partial cloister in the nuns' convents has been committed to the special vigilance of the bishops by the Constitution, "Conditae", 8 December, , second part, and, if we may judge by the present action of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, the clausura in this form tends to become obligatory on all such Institutes.

See "Normae" of the Congreg. Reasons for this legislation This legislation has for its principal object to safeguard the virtue of chastity. The religious consecrates his person to God , but he is not on that account impeccable in the matter of chastity; indeed, his very profession, if he does not live up to his ideal, exposes him to the danger of becoming a scandal and a source of the gravest harm to religion.

To this principal reason inculcated in the Constitution "Periculoso" of Boniface VIII may be added others; for instance, the calm and recollection necessary for the religious life. The Church has therefore acted wisely in forestalling such dangers and protecting those who aim at leading a perfect life; and for this the external rigour is certainly not excessive. Moreover, this external rigour as, e. The more perfect form, however, is undoubtedly better adapted to the mystic life.

Sources of the existing legislation Religious orders Male There is no pontifical constitution of universal application which prohibits the egress of the religious.

The only written law that might be invoked is the decree of Clement VIII "Nullus Omnino", 25 June, ; and it would be difficult to prove that this Constitution is binding outside of Italy.

Hence, this element of cloister results partly from usage, partly from special laws. A constitution of universal hearing was projected at the Vatican Council "De Clausura", c. Female Here the Apostolical Constitutions abound. Followers 0. Reply to this topic Start new topic. Recommended Posts. Kayte Postle Posted July 4, Posted July 4, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options Join the conversation You can post now and register later.

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