The physical signs of enclosure were very strict when the community was founded in the seventeenth century, with a grille (bars) and a curtain in the church. This was an expression of renewal after the great reforming Council of Trent.
In the nineteenth century, the first English Bishop to have charge of the community would not allow the nuns to put up a grille in the church and parlour, because he said English people, even Catholics, then had no experience of nuns and they would be shocked.
Strict outward forms of enclosure were adopted again in the early twentieth century, with grilles in the church and parlours at Colwich. This Papal Enclosure was seen by the nuns as an outward expression of their Solemn Vows to God. At that time, the separation of nuns from the world was emphasised by the Church.
The Parlour is so called because it is a room in which nuns can talk to visitors.
In the past, there was a counter and a grille. Photo from the 1950s.
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The grille was taken down in 1967, and the counter was removed in 1994. Today, Mother Abbess Gertrude with a friend in the same parlour.
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Since the Second Vatican Council, in stages, the physical signs of enclosure have been removed. People can now come into the church to join the nuns for Mass, Divine Office and Benediction.
There was a grille in the Abbey Church, cuttting off the outer part, including the Sanctuary, from the nuns' Choir. Photo from the1950s.
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there is no grille or altar rail. |
Today, things are more welcoming for visitors. But a large part of the house and garden is still reserved for the nuns, and there are rules about who may enter, and for what reasons the nuns may go out.
The part of the house and garden that is private to the community is called The Enclosure. Visiting nuns can come in, also people who come to do a job, like engineers or doctors.
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SIGNS Your enclosure Is a sign of contradiction. A place of dependence on the majesty of God A place of poverty where richness is experienced A place of solitude which is a taste of the desert A place of silence in the midst of tumult A place of order where bells call to serve A place of peace in times of confusion A place of certainty in days of doubt A place of hospitality that welcomes the caller A place of flame to lighten the darkness A place of prayer which is the essence of being In this place we each find God and know that when for a while we lose him He is there waiting for our return. Chris McDonnell |
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