Into silence and servitude : how American girls became nuns, 1945-1965 / Brian Titley.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Titley, E. Brian, author.

Series:

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; 79.

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of religion. Series two ; 79

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Convents--United States--History--20th century.

Convents.

Girls--Religious life--United States--History--20th century.

Girls.

Girls--Religious life.

History.

United States--Church history--20th century.

United States.

Church history.

Genre:

Church history.

History.

Physical Description:

xvi, 281 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Kingston ; London ; Chicago : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2017.

Summary:

"Much has been written about prominent nuns and the institutions they built, but there is little on the decision to enter a convent or on the training that followed. In Into Silence and Servitude secular historian Brian Titley examines the experiences of young women recruited into Catholic religious sisterhoods during the two decades of convent expansion that followed the Second World War. Overwhelmingly deployed as teachers in the Church's schools, the nuns' wageless labour reduced costs and made Catholic education more affordable. The Church adopted a more active approach to recruitment at this time in order to expand its teaching force of nuns as baby boomers filled its classrooms. Recruitment involved identifying suitable girls in Catholic schools and encouraging them to validate their religious vocations in formation programs behind convent walls. Tactics of persuasion, derived from a growing body of field-tested ideas, were directed at the girls--and at their parents too if they were unsupportive, which many were. Convent formation programs--aspirancy, postulancy, and novitiate--presented recruits with unique challenges. Although expulsions and withdrawals punctuated each formation stage, the total number of nuns nationwide continued to grow until reaching a pinnacle in 1965, just as Catholic schools achieved their highest enrolment. The book concludes with an analysis of the unexpected collapse of the convent system after 1965. Based on extensive archival research, memoirs, oral history, and obscure Church publications, Into Silence and Servitude presents a compelling narrative that opens a window on little known aspects of America's convent system."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 Brides of Christ... and Why So Many Were Needed 9

2 Seeking "Convent Material" 36

3 Called or Chosen? 54

4 What If Parents Objected? 83

5 Aspirants: Secluded from the World 103

6 Postulants: "Moving Backward in Time" 124

7 Novices: Under the Gaze of the Zelatrix 146

8 Postscript to 1965: Longing for the Fleshpots of Egypt? 175.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-267) and index.

Other Format:

Titley, E. Brian. Into silence and servitude.

ISBN:

9780773551411

0773551417

OCLC:

981934837