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Searching a deeper meaning: What a jaded single mom
learned when she dropped everything to become a nun
JOE O'CONNOR, NATIONAL POST STAFF | 14/09/13 4:01 PM ET
More from National Post Staff
Jane Christmas says she thought about becoming a nun in her teens. "It felt like a call to me," she says. Christmas has written a book about the decision entitled
And Then There Were Nuns: Adventures in a Cloistered Life. "When you are in a place of silence you can start hearing yourself think."
Republish
Reprint
Peter J. Thompson/National Post
Jane Christmas is a burnt out former journalist, a jaded former publicist, a twice-divorced and now thrice married single mom. She is
smart, and funny, and engaging, and she is also a 59-year-old woman who chucked her life, as she knew it, overboard, to see if she
had the right stuff to become a nun.
Yes. A nun, in the 21st century, where nuns in a Western cultural context are viewed by many as relics from another age, touched by
abuse scandals (the Magdalene laundries in Ireland, residential schools in the Canadian North) and bereft of new recruits.
Consider this: The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University surveyed 368 Catholic mother superiors
in the United States in 2010. They found that only 79 women “professed perpetual vows” in 2010.
Meanwhile, in Canada, the Grey Nuns, long an influential presence in Quebec, sold their sprawling convent, which takes up an entire
city block in Montreal, to Concordia University a few years back because there weren’t any nuns left to live in it.
The sisterhood, it seems, is nowhere to be seen.
Related
Crisis of sisterhood: ‘Radical’ U.S. nuns clash with Vatican doctrine guardians
Vatican blasts U.S. nuns for pursuing ‘radical feminist themes’
Pope pulls plug on monastery with dancing nuns
Why would anyone want to become a nun? Enter Jane Christmas, and her fascinating new book, And Then There Were Nuns:
Adventures in a Cloistered Life.
Ms. Christmas, in a black floral print dress with a silver crucifix dangling from her neck, is sitting at a corner table in an Italian
restaurant in midtown Toronto. She is drinking a water with two lemon wedges. Peeking over her left shoulder is a classic movie
poster featuring a leggy blond bombshell striking a very un-nun-like pose.
The aspiring sister attributes her decision to enter the convent to the voices in her head.
Or rather, a single voice Ms. Christmas refers to as The Voice. It kept elbowing its way into the internal conversations we all have
about work, kids and life. But this Voice was different. Persistent. It never shut up.
“I took early retirement from my job [in communications],” Ms. Christmas tells me. “And my soul just seemed to be so sapped, and I
was sick of living my spiritual life underground.
“You can’t talk about God today without people saying anyone who believes in God must be nuts or is infantile — or else talking about
God makes people feel so uncomfortable that they will say, ‘Let’s go shopping.’
“But I had thought about becoming a nun since I was a teenager. It felt like a call
to me.”
(Spoiler Alert: The call led to stints in four convents — three in the U.K., one in Toronto — over an 18 month span, and a decision that
marriage to her longtime partner, Colin, and not God, was her preferred course.)
What Ms. Christmas discovered in cloistered life were sisters of all shapes and sizes. Some had been in abusive relationships with
men. Some were gay. Most were straight and most, like Ms. Christmas, were
accomplished middle-aged career women searching for some deeper meaning in
life.
The sisters did not wear make-up but they did talk about sex, prayed for the
success of their favourite sports teams, dropped F-bombs, drank beer on Canada
Day, listened to classic rock and helped the sick and the poor.
Anglican sisters, as opposed to the Roman Catholic nuns — Ms. Christmas
dabbled in the religious life of both camps — offered a tastier buffet-style meal
selection (including vegan) and were open-minded to an aging divorcée answering
Jane Christmas: “You can’t talk about God Peter J. Thompson/National Post
today without people saying anyone who
believes in God must be nuts or is infantile.”
the call. One Roman Catholic sister on the Isle of Wight scolded Ms. Christmas for being “too old” to play at being a nun.
“Since when was there an age limit on becoming a nun?” Ms. Christmas says.
‘It sounds psychotic, but when you are in a place of silence you can start hearing yourself think.
You can hear the voice of God’
Most of the nuns, however, were nice, or at least at peace with themselves, while many were almost timid about the outside world of
hustle bustle, a shyness exemplified by the ham-handed job the Anglican sisters at St. John the Divine in Toronto demonstrated
when hosting a garage sale.
“They put everything out back instead of out front, which isn’t the way to make any sales at a garage sale,” says Ms. Christmas.
No matter. They knew how to laugh. They told dirty jokes, such as: A nun is in her room taking a bath. There is a knock at the door.
“Who is there?” says the nun. A voice answers. “The blind man.” The nun says, “Come in.” The blind man opens the door takes one
look at the nun and says: “Nice t–s.”
Aside from the shenanigans there was prayer and penetrating silence. It was a “lonely” feeling, says Ms. Christmas. And yet it made
her think. Not about her to-do list, but about those things that get buried deep.
Ms. Christmas was raped in her 20s. She knew the culprit. He is still out there. But she never told police and never really talked about
it. In her quest to become a nun she was able to deal with the emotional elephant she had been lugging around for 30 years.
“It sounds psychotic,” she says. “But when you are in a place of silence you can start hearing yourself think. You really can hear the
voice of God. You can deal with your troubles.”
“And now I’m OK. I can talk about the rape. Finally.”
And that was her great takeaway from convent life; the gift sisterhood gave to her by giving her the mental space, and a place, to
figure things out.
Nuns with their bikes at St. Augustine convent in Toronto in 2010. “Nuns serve a great need,”
Jane Christmas says.
Dave Chan for National Post/Files
Convent life isn’t all rosary beads. Dr. Fran Fisher is a former Roman Catholic nun and the author of a very different book: In the
Name of God, Why? Her book examines sexuality and the sexual repression of women in the Catholic faith. She characterizes
entering a convent as running away from real life.
“There will always be holy people who devote themselves to God,” she says from California. “But it boggles my mind why any woman
would walk into the doors of a Catholic Church, let alone become a nun.’’
But don’t go telling Jane Christmas that nuns don’t have a place in modern life. In fact, she argues, they might just be the balm we all
need to silence our noisy, complicated inner-selves.
“Nuns serve a great need,” Ms. Christmas says. “People think, ‘You pray all day? What a joke.’ They don’t see being a nun as a valid
job, because we don’t put value on it.
“But it is incredibly valuable. Modern sanctuaries are important.”
National Post
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HardConsent
•
2 months ago
Uh, the punchline is...... " Nice T*^s - where do you want the blinds!
that explains the joke much better
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alexinfinite
•
2 months ago
"The aspiring sister attributes her decision to enter the convent to the voices in her head"
"But this Voice was different. Persistent. It never shut up."
I really, really hope that this voice is a metaphor.
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Caesar J. B. Squitti
alexinfinite • 2 months ago
With psychiatry telling people that 'these voices' were mental illness its no wonder there are no more nuns on the streets,
and what we do find in the streets is a testament to the failure, the corruption of the field of psychiatry...and no we are not
all equal sillies.
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BrianDavion
Caesar J. B. Squitti • 2 months ago
thats cause typically if you hear voices it IS a mental illness
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Thomas Zychowski
BrianDavion • 2 months ago
Religion is a mental illness. If she heard the voice of a dog she would be locked up now that she hears God,
well it's okay we determined that, that particular delusion is normal.
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Fr_ Tim
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BrianDavion • 2 months ago
Brian: Unless you are living in a perfect state of zen, present 100% of the time to the immediate moment and
nothing more, then you're listening to voices in your head... just like the rest of us. In fact, I'll wager a weeks
wages that you're listening to that little voice yourself right now as you are coming up with the perfect
rejoinder to my point. Does that mean you're suffering from mental illness? No. It simply means that you are a
sentient, self-aware being, capable of contemplating things that exist outside yourself through an inner
socratic process conducted with words entirely within the privacy of your own head.
God help you if you don't hear those voices, for that would be a sign of significant brain injury or impairment.
Fr. Tim
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KDR1979
Fr_ Tim • 2 months ago
Fr. Tim:
I think you make a serious mistake, or else have misunderstood, this point. You speak about Brian's
comment that if you listen to the voice in your head it means you are "sentient, self-aware being capable of
contemplating things that exist outside of yourself."
Fair point. But crucial difference: in this story, and elsewhere, it's clear this is YOUR VOICE and the person
you're having a dialogue with is yourself.
Now, if you're having a dialogue with god you are, presumably, talking to an outside voice. The same is true
with those suffering from schizophrenia -- they think the voices are someone else, so "other force" telling
them to do things, yelling at them.
So, what's the difference? How do you tell which voice is "god" and which is a voice caused by
schizophrenia?
If you reply that your "internal" voice, and god, are the same -- I would counter that either someone thinks
they are god (a sign of insanity). Or, if god speaks and talks in your own inner voice, then how do you know
it's god, and not just you?
It's like the anecdotal experiment: ask a Christian what god's voice in their head sounds like and they will
invariably describe their own voice.
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alexinfinite
KDR1979 • 2 months ago
And of course Tims comments only serve to reinforce those few who do hear voices in their heads to buy into
that delusion.
"Oh it is normal!"
No. It's not. I know people who have mental illnesses and his comment comes uncomfortably close to
legitimizing them not doing anything about.
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Charles_BCCA
Fr_ Tim • 2 months ago
Are you suggesting that all the Priests molesting children had a brain injury or Devil made them do it. BTW
where did you come up with all this rubbish anyways?
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alexinfinite
Caesar J. B. Squitti • 2 months ago
I really don't care how bad you think psychiatrists are or how many incompetent ones are out there. IF YOU HEAR
VOICES IN YOUR HEAD THAT ARE NOT YOURS YOU NEED HELP. It's called schizophrenia and it's a serious
condition. It's as simple as that genius
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Fr_ Tim
alexinfinite • 2 months ago
Alex: Please consider this response I offered to Brian. It may help you to reconsider your shouted declaration.
---------------------------Brian: Unless you are living in a perfect state of zen, present 100% of the time to the immediate moment and
nothing more, then you're listening to voices in your head... just like the rest of us. In fact, I'll wager a weeks
wages that you're listening to that little voice yourself right now as you are coming up with the perfect
rejoinder to my point. Does that mean you're suffering from mental illness? No. It simply means that you are a
sentient, self-aware being, capable of contemplating things that exist outside yourself through an inner
socratic process conducted with words entirely within the privacy of your own head.
God help you if you don't hear those voices, for that would be a sign of significant brain injury or impairment.
Fr. Tim
Fr. Tim
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alexinfinite
Fr_ Tim • 2 months ago
Like I said, I hope the voice she is referring to is a metaphor. And sitting around talking to yourself is
something anyone can do, of course if you think it's someone else talking to you then there's a problem. If
she thinks she's being psychically contacted by some other creature than she's lost it.
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Mahou Shoujo
alexinfinite • 2 months ago
Your qualifications to diagnose mental disorders would be? Or do you have experience with the affliction?
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alexinfinite
Mahou Shoujo • 2 months ago
Truce over then? I'm not interested in what you say and anyone with any sense doesn't bother responding to
or addressing you. You literally have nothing of value to ever say or add to any conversation and yet you
insist on posting and responding constantly.
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Mahou Shoujo
alexinfinite • 2 months ago
Why did you bother replying? Your valuable opinion is wasted on the likes of me, as your demonstration of
intelligence is infinitely small.
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alexinfinite
Mahou Shoujo • 2 months ago
Just two last comments so my stance is clear. You are useless to the conversations that take place here
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Mahou Shoujo
alexinfinite • 2 months ago
Thank you, and your contribution is worth twice mine.
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Thomas Zychowski
Caesar J. B. Squitti • 2 months ago
I peed myself a little laughing so hard. Priceless comment.
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JWG1954
alexinfinite • 2 months ago
I doubt the voice was a metaphor. It appears that Jane Christmas is a little "off" but still I hope she figures out her life.
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Freethinker II
JWG1954 • 2 months ago
At 60+ she is past the point of dealing with her reality... she is far to invested in the 'WOO'.
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parliament
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2 months ago
Well there then. She's had another life experience and got a book out of it.
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west77
parliament • 2 months ago
Yes. It sure seems commitment isn't one of her strengths.
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dave
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2 months ago
Married 3 times & now getting Nun
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Freethinker II
LOLOLOL
dave • 2 months ago
LOLOLOL
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Cascadia President
2 months ago
•
Best of luck Jane. In life, we all make choices and most are happy with them. When you are not happy with it, change it. I
commend you for that....and yes, "Nice T**s! Where would you like the blinds hung?".
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Guest
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2 months ago
•
A delusional, self-serving, fraud.
Thanks to the National Post for yet another secular media story highlighting the exquisite defacement of the true, spiritual, Christian
community in Canada by
ego-centric nitwits who can't even grasp that, for those with true Faith, a Christian's "story" is not about THEM, but about devotion
to God and others.
That the Post would stoop to such an obvious, perverse, exploitation of the mentally ill and the morally vacuous however is,
indeed, stunning, shocking and obscene.
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west77
Guest • 2 months ago
I agree in part. Four convents split between Catholic and Anglican faiths in 18 months only to marry her 3rd husband shows
the woman to be a flake. Her indignation when a nun told her she was too old for the cloistered life also reflects a degree of
entitlement. So yeah, delusional and self-serving - absolutely - but the fraud she is committing is against herself.
I don't mind the Post running these stories though. Most people can see through this pap.
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Guest
west77 • 2 months ago
Noted.
Acknowledged.
My concern regards the alleged assumptions that are made by 'most people' when Christianity in Canada is
attacked by those who clearly seem to have no connection to the true meaning of Christianity in the first place.
Yes, this woman's delusion should be obvious here to anyone who has the most fundamental concept of Christian
theology.
But, if so, why didn't the National Post's 'journalist' quickly recognize that?
And where were his editors on this story?
Still on summer vacation?
This piece should never have been printed.
Not because it is offensive - which it is.
But because it is untruthful and fraudulent with respect to Christianity and Christian values.
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Milty Boulter
Guest • 2 months ago
I would then say that stories of sexual abuse by clergy are "untruthful and fraudulent with respect to
Christianity and Christian values", according to your opinion.
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passerby1969
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Guest • 2 months ago
I don't get why you found this story so negative. Here is a woman who is searching for something. The time at the convent
gives her time. She speaks positively of being in a convent and the nuns there.
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Guest
passerby1969 • 2 months ago
Are you a Christian?
And, if so, what denomination?
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Avatar
ve6
•
2 months ago
this woman is a class A flake.
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Milty Boulter
ve6 • 2 months ago
Hmmm, a rating system for flakes? How do you determine the scoring?
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Mahou Shoujo
ve6 • 2 months ago
qra..--..
• Share ›
Avatar
Uncle Screwtape
•
2 months ago
nun=cheap labor=$$
I bet there are quite a few businesses out there who would love a virtually free labor force, major tax exemptions, low overhead, no
stock, and pure income.
Pretty nice!
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Mahou Shoujo
Uncle Screwtape • 2 months ago
That's what they have interns for, get a couple, interns are both fun and profit. They are suckers for "experience".
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Guest
Mahou Shoujo • 2 months ago
Your inability to deal with facts is mildly amusing, please ramble on.
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Mahou Shoujo
Guest • 2 months ago
Repetitious as an altar boy reciting responses, how long were you an altar boy?
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Milty Boulter
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Uncle Screwtape • 2 months ago
Yeah, but they get free room and 'bored'.
• Share ›
Avatar
Freethinker II
•
2 months ago
Did anyone posit a self absorbed 'flake' at any point in the discussion so far?
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Uncle Screwtape
Freethinker II • 2 months ago
About 4 hours after you did!
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Uncle Screwtape
•
2 months ago
"a burnt out former journalist, a jaded former publicist, a twice-divorced and now thrice married single mom."
==================================
Confused, directionless, 59 years old.... now the silly git wanders into a convent and she's a nun.
This must be what it takes to be a chirstian!
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Mahou Shoujo
Uncle Screwtape • 2 months ago
Whereas to be an atheist a simple deficit of brains or lobotomy is all required. Atheists wander into all sorts of things, bump
into others and become vapid.
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Freethinker II
Mahou Shoujo • 2 months ago
If only you had something to contribute other than your vitriol and hate.
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Mahou Shoujo
Freethinker II • 2 months ago
It supplements your presumption and distortions.
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Didi Mao
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2 months ago
Jane has explored life in both Catholic and Anglican religious orders and written a book. She has not seriously applied to any
religious order, nor does she seem likely to.
I suggest that she explore next the women priest movement. She might enjoy that. Women need to demand equal participation
and status in church life. They do not enjoy such now and the church will be a broken thing until they do.
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Milty Boulter
Didi Mao • 2 months ago
Especially when the Virgin Mary is considered by many to be the "Mother of God".
• Share ›
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disqus_LP4CEpMR6K
•
2 months ago
I had the Grey Nuns as teachers in my early yrs .....and they were mentally abusive to me and others! Horrible people!
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Milty Boulter
disqus_LP4CEpMR6K • 2 months ago
They seem to have had an inexplicable innate meanness, which could possibly mean that they were abused as a child, and
used the nunnery as an escape mechanism.
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disqus_LP4CEpMR6K
Milty Boulter • 2 months ago
In my case anyway it was because we were Irish English Catholics!!
• Share ›
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