As a former nun, I have to say my experience of 20 years in the convent bears no resemblance to convent life portrayed in the movie “Novitiate.” I feel the public should know how far from actual convent life this movie strayed.
Read Jack Petro’s review of “Novitiate.”
Though it is true, life in a Catholic convent is a unique experience with numerous rules of silence and deprivation; it is by no means dark and joyless as portrayed in the film. There is a line between truth and fiction, not easily detected except by nuns or former nuns.
The writer, producer, director, Maggie Betts, tried to re-create life in a cloistered convent where members lead a prayerful life devoted to God while removed from the distractions of the world. I give Betts credit for her research, but I believe she missed the mark.
Cloistered communities normally limit the number of members, sometimes as few as 12 and sometimes applicants must wait for a member to die before being accepted. It is not believable that Cathleen, an unbaptized teenager in the film, was accepted.
The convent depicted in Novitiate looked to have at least 100 members including numerous new postulants. Cloister means enclosed. Orders of teaching or nursing sisters could number into the thousands, but not cloistered communities whose mission is prayer.
In an interview, Betts has said she identified with girls who struggle with relationships and with experiences of intimacy in their youth. Her film is an effort to re-create the coming of age of girls drawn to a loving God.
There were numerous sequential errors in how a young girl becomes a nun. The film exhausted the “bride of Christ” image with dramatic scenes of the girls wearing wedding gowns. A bridal or white gown worn symbolizes a life change when receiving the black robe and veil. In a bizarre scene far from any nun’s reality, the girls danced around an evening bonfire dressed in wedding gowns chanting giddily, “I am married to God. Jesus is my husband.”
Young women have ample time to adjust to the life and determine if they are suited for it. Contrary to the movie, no vows are on Reception of the robe and veil. It is common to wait three to five years before final vows.
In Betts’ script, the lead actor struggled to understand her sexuality, which resulted in a conflict with her fantasy of how it should feel to love God. The young teenage postulant confused a love of God with feelings of a physical relationship. A feeling she could never realize which led to doubting her vocation.
A second story line throughout the film addresses changes in women’s convents brought about by documents of Vatican II. The strict Mother Superior’s anger and rejection of the new directives perhaps accounted for her almost sadistic treatment of the girls. She was not a realistic superior.
I realize artistic license and dramatic purpose are common in films, but on this subject, I prefer not to leave the impression with moviegoers the Blessed Rose Convent is true to convents in general or cloistered convents in particular.
Due to publicity on my 2014 memoir, Monastery to Matrimony, an executive producer from the film contacted me to be a consultant on the set of Novitiate filmed in Nashville. The story line seemed similar to my own life, so I accepted. My job description included teaching the young women proper religious decorum and various Catholic practices.
I objected to inaccuracy in parts of the script, however, my consultation was not readily accepted. As a result, I asked my name not be in the credits as technical adviser.
Many of the women who left their convents in the 1960s live in The Villages. Many of us formed a club and meet once a month sharing a commonality of convent experience.
Mary Ann Weakley, author of Monastery to Matrimony, is a resident of The Villages.
