I liked it. It was a lot of money for a short book, but I was glad to learn that someone reads the books so many ex-nuns write.
I've read several of the books Brian Titley refers to, and I think his characterization of the vocation surge in the postwar years is fair. His title, Into Silence and Servitude, sums up perfectly what happened to the idealistic girls who filled the novitiates in those days.
They were used as servants. During the years they should have been in college, they were dusting, vacuuming, waxing, scrubbing, scouring. They were abused spiritually, emotionally, financially, physically, sometimes sexually. They were made to keep silent, to avoid "particular friendships," and to distance themselves from their families. Their mail was read, and their occasional visits were monitored.
They were trained by brutal novice mistresses who had been chosen deliberately for their aloofness and their harshness. The aspirants, the postulants, and the novices had to be broken. The examples Titley provides are chilling. The BVMs of Dubuque, for instance, were not allowed to laugh.
Why were so many vocation pamphlets so dishonest? The priests who led the movement to lure candidates into convents made it clear to the nuns who carried out the recruitment efforts that they must conceal the truth about religious life. The students at the all-girl high schools who would be most likely to enter convents were not told what it would really mean to give up college, jobs, friendships, freedom. The nuns who were assigned to draw high school and grade school girls into religious orders were told how to attract their targets and how to bring around parents who were reluctant to allow their daughters to give up what they knew nothing about.
The brochures told prospective candidates that leaving the convent was no disgrace, but after entering they learned it was indeed a disgrace. They signed away any claims to money for the years of work they did, and they left with no money, no enrollment in Social Security, no letters of recommendation, and by the back door.
Why was it necessary to draw so many girls and women into religious orders? The parochial schools had to be staffed at little cost to the parishes.
There are many books by former sisters that illustrate the exploitation they were subjected to. Many may be found here at Amazon. Search for "nuns," "ex-nuns," etc. Here's a link to a novel about a young woman whose experience of religious life was typical:
amazon.com/Convent-Gerelyn-Hollingsworth-ebook/dp/B00BWUXCJ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502547074&sr=8-1&keywords=convent+hollingsworth
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Into Silence and Servitude: How American Girls Became Nuns, 1945-1965 (McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion Book 2) Kindle Edition
For many American Catholics in the twentieth-century the face of the Church was a woman's face. After the Second World War, as increasing numbers of baby boomers flooded Catholic classrooms, the Church actively recruited tens of thousands of young women as teaching sisters. In Into Silence and Servitude Brian Titley delves into the experiences of young women who entered Catholic religious sisterhoods at this time. The Church favoured nuns as teachers because their wageless labour made education more affordable in what was the world's largest private school system. Focusing on the Church's recruitment methods Titley examines the idea of a religious vocation, the school settings in which nuns were recruited, and the tactics of persuasion directed at both suitable girls and their parents. The author describes how young women entered religious life and how they negotiated the sequence of convent "formation stages," each with unique challenges respecting decorum, autonomy, personal relations, work, and study. Although expulsions and withdrawals punctuated each formation stage, the number of nuns nationwide continued to grow until it reached a pinnacle in 1965, the same year that Catholic schools achieved their highest enrolment. Based on extensive archival research, memoirs, oral history, and rare Church publications, Into Silence and Servitude presents a compelling narrative that opens a window on little-known aspects of America’s convent system.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMcGill-Queen's University Press
- Publication dateAug. 1 2017
- File size2579 KB
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Product description
Review
"Brian Titley's comprehensive use of historical records from several religious institutes and individual memoirs significantly extends the existing body of knowledge. Into Silence and Servitude is likely to become a standard reference on mid-century relig
"This is a well-researched, vividly written account of a cohort of women who had great influence on female life in America, and the forces which built their numbers and then led to their collapse." The Irish Times
"[Titley] is thorough in his review of relevant Church writings, and he writes with great clarity. The book is both informative and absorbing. My only quibble is that I could have done with more balance in the examination of nuns' experience of American c --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
"This is a well-researched, vividly written account of a cohort of women who had great influence on female life in America, and the forces which built their numbers and then led to their collapse." The Irish Times
"[Titley] is thorough in his review of relevant Church writings, and he writes with great clarity. The book is both informative and absorbing. My only quibble is that I could have done with more balance in the examination of nuns' experience of American c --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
Book Description
A critical examination of the recruitment and formation of American Catholic nuns during the final decades of convent expansion. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
About the Author
Brian Titley is professor emeritus of education at the University of Lethbridge and the author of several books including Dark Age: The Political Odyssey of Emperor Bokassa. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.
Product details
- ASIN : B074CPC5NL
- Publisher : McGill-Queen's University Press (Aug. 1 2017)
- Language : English
- File size : 2579 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 304 pages
- Customer Reviews:
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I am professor emeritus, the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. My six books explore power and how it has been exercised in different historical contexts. My personal website:
http://www.briantitley.com
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Bibliophile
4.0 out of 5 stars
Into Silence and Servitude.
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2017Verified Purchase
6 people found this helpful
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MovinOn
4.0 out of 5 stars
Former Aspirant
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2021Verified Purchase
The Aspirancy I attended closed down in 1968 so Titley's book was especially relatable to me. It broadened my understanding of what was happening at the time. I would have liked more but he said the information wasn't that easy to come by.
One person found this helpful
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jms333
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sharply focused
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2019Verified Purchase
And timely for those wondering why nuns have gone virtually extinct
One person found this helpful
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Centsible
5.0 out of 5 stars
Expensive!
Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2017Verified Purchase
Excellent literature review! Appealing to Academics, Religious, and the General Public. The cloistered lives of Nuns and Sisters was veiled in mystery for a great many years. Aspirants, Postulants, and Novices were ordered to refrain from sharing information about the practices, rules, and methods of formation they experienced with secularism, including family and friends. Mail outgoing and incoming was censored. Expressions of doubt, depression, and criticisms were flagged. Such letters were returned and the writer was instructed to edit and rewrite an upbeat correspondence. Visits by family and friends were few and far between. Candidates were instructed to portray a joyful countenance and treat the visits as opportunities to encourage piety and increased commitment to the faith and the parish to which they belonged. Those who entered the novitiate as well as the fully professed were told the could never go home again. Only the death of a parent was an acceptable excuse. In such a case, only two choices were permitted. Religious could choose to be with the parent when their parent died or attend the funeral. The couldn't do both. Particular friendships were strongly discouraged. I recommend highly the autobiography Nun, by Mary Gilligan Wong. Currently out of print, copies may still be purchased second hand on EBay. It is unfortunate for Catholic families that the opportunity to give their children a Catholic school education taught by Nuns is becoming increasingly out of reach for the reasons cited by the author.
4 people found this helpful
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