As actors, we try to dive under someone else's skin. For me this autumn, this has been the skin of Sister Agnes, the title character of Agnes of God by John Pielmeier.
Getting under someone's skin comes easier sometimes than other times. A nun educated in the disciplined world of the catholic religious order is more difficult to relate to than a modern girl living in a modern world - of course, cause I am also a modern gal. So how to get under that skin, that wimple?
Getting under someone's skin comes easier sometimes than other times. A nun educated in the disciplined world of the catholic religious order is more difficult to relate to than a modern girl living in a modern world - of course, cause I am also a modern gal. So how to get under that skin, that wimple?
I've been reading an autobiographical book, Through the Narrow Gate by Karen Armstrong, about a nun's experiences in the order. One of the chapters of the book is entitled "The Death I Have to Die". That is, in order to be one with God, you must empty yourself, die inside, so God can mold you into any form He sees fit. In practise this means leaving all the wordly deeds and thoughts and surrendering to the will of God as it is presented to you in the form of your superiors. This may be scrubbing the stairs you just cleaned the day before or eating something that makes you sick.
In essence the death Armstrong describes seems to be a quest for inner peace. For Armstrong, as probably for many of us, this is a daily struggle. In this sense, the death seems rather to be "a death you have to live", everyday.
Indeed, according to Armstrong, the actual death of a nun is, for the sisters, a reason to rejoice as one of their own has finally reached unity with God.
As for Sister Agnes, well... I can only hope this wordly gal can do justice to her living. We'll see about that at the end of November.
- Erna -
P.S. The photo is of a crypt of a former monastery located in the Aragonese Castle in Italy. The sisters of the order congregated here daily to pray amongst their late, decaying sisters. Another death you have to live.
In essence the death Armstrong describes seems to be a quest for inner peace. For Armstrong, as probably for many of us, this is a daily struggle. In this sense, the death seems rather to be "a death you have to live", everyday.
Indeed, according to Armstrong, the actual death of a nun is, for the sisters, a reason to rejoice as one of their own has finally reached unity with God.
As for Sister Agnes, well... I can only hope this wordly gal can do justice to her living. We'll see about that at the end of November.
- Erna -
P.S. The photo is of a crypt of a former monastery located in the Aragonese Castle in Italy. The sisters of the order congregated here daily to pray amongst their late, decaying sisters. Another death you have to live.