And Then There Were Nun
Seriously...
BBC
4.1 • 885 Ratings
🗓️ 25 July 2017
⏱️ 31 minutes
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Summary
What is life like for nuns and monks today? With a lack of new blood coming into the traditional monasteries and convents, Bishop Martin Shaw supports some of these aging communities in their painful final days as they are forced to leave their homes. His role as an official visitor, is also to receive the vows of any new nuns and monks joining religious orders, and to hear the concerns and complaints from each community. Sister Giovanna, Sister Clare and Brother Samuel, who are all from different religious communities, recount what life is like for them today. They also share their experiences of dedication over the years - from that first day in the chapel and hearing Gregorian Chant to outside keeping bees and pigs in the orchard, from teaching young children in inner cities to supporting the bereaved in hospitals. We get a glimpse of life in this unique and rarefied world of devotion and commitment, and hear how these communities have changed over the decades. Bishop Shaw has also witnessed these changes, but although monastic life as it has traditionally been lived is unlikely to survive, there are signs of new religious life beginning to emerge within the Church.
Produced by Luke Whitlock.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This was an impregnable fortress. The only way you get out was in a wooden box. |
| 0:05.0 | The controversial maximum security prison impossible to escape from. |
| 0:09.0 | And one of the duties of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.0 | The IRA inmates who found a way. of a political prisoner is the escape. |
| 0:12.5 | The IRA inmates who found a way. |
| 0:14.5 | I'm Carlo Gableer and I'll be navigating a path |
| 0:19.5 | through the disturbing inside story of the biggest jailbreak in British and Irish history. |
| 0:25.0 | The narrative that they want is that this is a big achievement by them. |
| 0:28.5 | Escape from the maze, listen first on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:34.0 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:40.0 | Hi, I'm Riana Dylan. |
| 0:42.0 | Welcome to Seriously. In today's story, we're stepping inside a world that can often seem closed off, a little secretive and unknown to outsiders. Inside are communities steeped in |
| 0:57.2 | tradition but that are unlikely to survive in the same form for much longer. |
| 1:02.0 | These are the stories of people who in the same form for much longer. |
| 1:08.0 | These are the stories of people who have dedicated everything they have to their faith. Well, I was 39 when I came to be a nun. |
| 1:14.0 | People like Sister Jervana. |
| 1:16.0 | She joined the convent in 1970. |
| 1:19.0 | I got to know the sisters because they came to give us talks at our church. |
| 1:26.3 | But with so few people joining traditional monasteries or convents now, |
| 1:30.5 | can they continue? |
| 1:56.4 | This is and then there were none. In the last 10 to 15 years, certainly in the Christian religious communities, in whether it's Roman Catholic or Anglican or whatever, |
| 1:59.4 | are in fact dwindling. There are exceptions to that. I'm Bishop Martin show and |
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