VOA标准英语2011-Younger Catholic Women Get into the Habit

Over the last few decades, the Catholic Church in America has struggled to fill the ranks of its clergy¹. The average age of the church's serving priests and nuns² is 70 and still rising. But some Catholic orders in the United States are successfully attracting new members, called postulants.

Diving deeper into faith

At an order of Dominican sisters in the State of Tennessee, nearly a third of the sisters are under 30 years of age.

St. Cecilia's in Nashville, Tennessee looks and sounds much as it has since its founding 150 years ago. Cloister³ bells toll⁴ the hour and habited sisters gather for daily devotions. But there's also something new - the laughter and eager voices of young women studying to become Dominican sisters.

 

 

St. Cecilia's hasn't seen this many new postulants in decades. The current batch⁵ of first-year students represents 10 percent of the entire order, according to the convent's spokesperson, Sister Catherine Marie.

"There are 270 of us and our growth of late has been rather extensive. This year we had 27 young women enter. Last year it was 23. Great blessings⁶ to us."

Sister Catherine believes the young women are diving deeper into their faith in reaction to what's happening in the rest of society. While interest in spiritual matters remains⁷ high in America, involvement in organized religion is falling. She notes the Dominican Order was founded during an equally turbulent social period and stresses sacrificial service to others.

"There was a whole lot going on in the world that was irreligious. And yet from this emerged an idealism and a wholehearted desire to give of self."
 
VOA - M. Osborne
Sister Zandra Man was drawn⁸ by the pleasure the sisters appeared to take in their work as well as the opportunity to serve children.
The attraction

That desire is what drew first-year postulant Sister Zandra Man into the order. She was attracted by the pleasure the sisters appeared to take in their work and in their apparent devotion to serving children.

"It was very easy for me to choose the Nasvhille Dominicans because they're so happyand they're a teaching order too, and working with children," says Sister Zandra. "That's always been a very attractive thing for me."

Sister Zandra was also intrigued⁹ by the full, head-to-toe white habits worn by the Nashville Dominicans, a traditional form of dress no longer practiced by many Catholic orders.

From campus to convent

As a student at the University of Sydney, Sister Kelly Edmunds was also struck by the impression their habits made.

"Just to watch them walking down the main boulevard of campus wearing their habits, it was just such a powerful witness. I had friends in engineering who knew I was Catholic, so they would say to me ‘Who are these nuns on campus?' And so it was a really great witness to me of the power of religious life."

Second-year novice¹⁰ Sister Victoria Marie also made the leap from the campus to the convent. She completed a degree in civil engineering, but discovered along the way that people were more interesting than roads or bridges.

"It was a big shift in my life to go from utility to relationship, from ‘What am I going do?' to ‘Who am I going to be for the Lord?'"
 
VOA - M. Osborne
Postulants spend a lot of time in devotions, the classroom and doing chores but they also venture outside to exercise and enjoy the outdoors.
Daily life

A postulant's day isn't all work and prayer. Sister Kelly says she's surprised by how much time she's gotten to simply enjoy life.

"There have been a lot of fun moments just to be outside and enjoy the beauty of the world and creation. So we play a lot of sports, we go for walks, just enjoy each other's company outdoors."

Still, postulants do spend a lot of time in devotions, in the classroom and doing chores. And Sister Victoria admits it can be a little overwhelming,

"For a couple weeks after I entered I thought, ‘I just want to lay on the couch for the day, and I don't think they do that here.' You know, when comes the part where I get to lay on the couch?"

Sister Kelly doesn't think her spiritual awakening¹¹ is unique. She believes the entire Catholic Church is in a period of renewal¹².

"It's just a really great, a springtime for the church I suppose," she says. "And there's a lot of hope and a lot of life."

There won't be any shortage of opportunities for these women to serve. The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia are active in Australia and across the United States, where they teach more than 13,000 students in 34 schools.

1 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

2 nuns   

n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ah Q had always had the greatest contempt for such people as little nuns. 小尼姑之流是阿Q本来视如草芥的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Nuns are under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. 修女须立誓保持清贫、贞洁、顺从。 来自辞典例句

3 cloister   

n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝

参考例句：

• They went out into the stil,shadowy cloister garden.他们出了房间，走到那个寂静阴沉的修道院的园子里去。
• The ancient cloister was a structure of red brick picked out with white stone.古老的修道院是一座白石衬托着的红砖建筑物。

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

5 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

6 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

10 novice   

adj.新手的，生手的

参考例句：

• As a novice writer,this is something I'm interested in.作为初涉写作的人，我对此很感兴趣。
• She realized that she was a novice.她知道自己初出茅庐。

11 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

12 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。