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Are You Scared of Nuns?
There are quite a few convents around my part of north London.
In Enfield, you can often see nuns out and about despite it being a dying vocation. Until recently, there was a convent just off Barnet High Street with an imposing sign stating “Admittance strictly on convent business only”. It is a sign of the times that this convent has now been developed into flats.
As a child, I once mistook a couple of nuns sitting on Southsea sea-front eating ice cream sandwiches for witches. They looked like the witches in my story books — long black gowns, elderly and although their hats didn’t look quite right they ticked enough boxes for me to stand by them, pointing and shouting back to my dad: “Look Dad, witches!”. They were not amused. Clearly my father was, as he has retold the story many times since.
It was their clothing that made me think them witches, it made them stand out and look different.
Yet, should we fear nuns by what they wear? They wear full-length gowns (although some orders now sport shorter skirts) and cover their hair. They aren’t offending anyone, far from it — their whole…
