Where Have All the Habits Gone? :: CNA

Very interesting article!

In part:

Many if not most Catholics see the precipitous post-conciliar decline in the vitality of religious orders in general, and the abandonment of the habit in particular, and assume it is a matter of post hoc, ergo propter hoc; after this, therefore because of this. The Council Fathers, however, would most certainly disagree with such an assessment.

"The religious habit, an outward mark of consecration to God, should be simple and modest, poor and at the same becoming. In addition it must meet the requirements of health and be suited to the circumstances of time and place and to the needs of the ministry involved." (Perfectae Caritatis - Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life – 17)

Clearly, the Council Fathers never envisioned the religious habit going away; they simply made recommendations for its adaptation and continued use in the ever-changing circumstances of the modern world.

A good example of what they had in mind might be evidenced by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent De Paul whose large starched white cornettes, (remember the Flying Nun?) beautiful though they were, would be impractical in many of today’s high-tech hospital environments where patients are often surrounded by an elaborate web of IV lines, machinery and wires. The order has since adopted a simpler and far more workable headpiece.

See the full article:

Where Have All the Habits Gone? :: CNA

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