Typical Day
Sister Nancy Catherine Mary Margaret Sara Jessica O'Reilly—"Sister Nancy" as everyone calls her—wakes up early at 5:00AM—not to the sound of abbey bells tolling, but to her alarm clock. Being a modern nun, Sister Nancy lives in a tiny studio apartment in Chicago and commutes to work. She's pretty sure that Hildegard von Bingen would have done the same thing if it had been an option back in ye olde dayes.
Unless it's Casual Friday (source).
Flicking through her clothes, Sister Nancy's hands bypass the stereotypical black habits that many nuns used to wear—and that some still wear today. Still in her twenties, Sister Nancy is not yet one of those nuns.
She pulls out a conservative wool sweater and a pair of black professional pants. It's exactly the sort of upscale outfit any ordinary company employee would wear, except the CEO of her company lives in Rome and wears a really big hat.
Grabbing her keys off the kitchen table and dashing to the car at 8:30AM, Sister Nancy drives to Chicago's St. Xavier University. She took a vow of poverty, not of public transportation, and her cheap-o vehicle fits her stipend.
While on her way, a fast-moving vehicle on the freeway comes dangerously close to her front bumper, then honks at her while it cuts her off. For many people, this would elicit a round of swears, curses, and other profane blasphemes. Not Sister Nancy. Instead, she says a little prayer of thanks that she wasn't hurt and hopes the driver gets safely to wherever they're going (and not in a sarcastic way, either).
By 9:00AM, she's walking into the Office of Institutional Advancement, where she works full-time. After a few minutes of the kind of water cooler chatter you'd find in any office setting, Sister Nancy heads to her desk, boots up her computer, and gets to work like anyone else.
Her day is filled with social work. Nancy believes very strongly in the power of her church to do good rather than just preach good. And Nancy does it real good—like at 10:00AM, when she's on the phone with a local business leader and gets him to agree to sponsor a food drive on the college grounds. Score one for philanthropy.
When lunchtime comes around at 12:00PM, Sister Nancy bows her head quickly to pray, eats the stroganoff she made last night, and then finds a quiet corner in the office where she can reflect on herself and pray for others in her life. At first some of Sister Nancy's co-workers looked at her strangely, but they've since gotten used to it. After all, the college does have the word saint in the title.
Nancy leaves the school around 4:00PM so that she can make it to the women's bible study group that she facilitates. This is about as much socializing as Nancy does in one day—which is a lot more than her brother gets via his video game obsession. She may have accepted a life of poverty and chastity, but he's the one still living in their parents' house.
After the bible group ends at 6:00PM, Sister Nancy meets with some of the other sisters in her order for a group dinner and prayer session. They always invite nuns from other orders to join them—it's a great way to build bridges and bring together a diverse chorus of viewpoints.
It also helps to fill the space—the few nuns who turn up to these dinners wouldn't be enough for a Last Supper painting. There just aren't as many nuns or monks as there used to be.
Sister Nancy blames television.
Feeling rejuvenated after an evening with her fellow sisters, Sister Nancy retires to her apartment. Getting ready to settle in at 8:30PM, she writes a letter to her parents. She tells them the usual and asks how they are. She could just email them if she wanted to, since there's no rule against it; but, as in all things, Sister Nancy prefers the simpler way.
She lights a candle and prays before bed. As she prays, she reflects on what she's accomplished today and how she can do better tomorrow. She speaks her prayers out loud and finishes by blowing out the candle before climbing into her small, forever twin-sized bed.
Another day spent in service is done. Sister Nancy can't wait to do it all again tomorrow.