Nuns Wear Dresses With Crosses Around Their Necks
A decision by a congregation of nuns to dress in civilian clothes almost a decade ago is still not fully accepted by laypeople in Myanmar.
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| Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions wearing traditional clothing |
The Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, who mostly work in Pyay diocese, decided to discard their habit in favor of the traditional Myanmar longyi (sarong) and blouse in 2000 to better integrate with the people they serve. However, their decision to wear civilian clothing is still being viewed with mixed feelings by laypeople. Mary Ann, 65, a parishioner of St. Francis Church in Pyay diocese, said, "Although youths can accept them as nuns without the habit... I still want them to dress like nuns as they are not ordinary people. They are people who have dedicated themselves to God." Geraldine Zin Mar Lwin, 40, a laywoman from St. Paul´s Parish, also in Pyay diocese, agreed. "We don´t want them to dress like ordinary people as they are Religious." She conceded though that it is more practical to wear civilian dress as "the weather is very hot and humid throughout the year." However, U Aung Kywe, 52, said that "by their good example and loving service, the majority of the people in Pyay diocese now accept them as nuns even though they wear civilian clothing." Explaining her congregation´s decision, Sister Noreen Htun, 62, said that wearing local dress helps nuns integrate better with people, and makes it easier for the nuns to "approach them and work with them."
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| A nun (left) treating a man with leprosy |
In 1986, she started to wear a brown longyi and the traditional long-sleeve blouse while still wearing her veil. She said that when she "attended formation courses in Bangladesh and India," she saw nuns from her own congregation "wearing their own cultural dress." Four years later, the longyi became the norm in her congregation, except for nuns over 60 years of age. Another nun, Sister Rita Phyo recounted an incident in 1998 when they went to work in Rakhine State, where most of the people are Muslims. "At that time we were still using veils and some people thought we were Muslim women," she recalled. Soon, local superiors decided to do away with the veil "and from 2000 all our nuns began wearing the local civilian clothing -- longyi and blouse," she said. The only item which distinguishes them as nuns is a cross they wear around their necks. However, the change to civilian dress was not without problems. Sister Christine May, 40, recalled how five years ago when they attended a religious course in Yangon, nuns from another congregation thought they were postulants. "Not only laypeople but also nuns treated us differently," she remarked. Father David Ba Thein, 55, director of Pyay diocese´s Karuna Social Service agency said local priests prefer the nuns to wear their veils, at least during Mass. In his view, priests "can distinguish who they are" when they wear their "uniforms."
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| An Our Lady of the Missions nun (right) meets with Buddhist nuns. |
Mother Euphrasie Barbier founded the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions in 1861 in Lyons, France. The nuns came to Myanmar in 1887. Most worked in mission schools but after the government´s nationalization policy in 1962, they began helping priests in parish work, especially in Pyay diocese. They also began poultry farms, fisheries and vegetable plantations to support their work among orphans and poor rural children, run student hostels, and work with youth and women. They care for HIV/AIDS patients together with nuns from St. Joseph Congregation and look after leprosy patients in collaboration with the Baptists. They also care for displaced children near the border with Thailand. There are presently 64 nuns in 12 convents in Pyay and one each in Yangon archdiocese and Mawlamyine diocese. Worldwide, there are more than 1,000 nuns. Many in other countries also wear civilian dress.
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Source: https://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/2009/08/13/nuns-wearing-civilian-dress-evoke-mixed-reactions&post_id=50786
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