Lesbian Nuns (6 of ???): Postulancy, together.

From “God Was an Innocent Bystander”, byJean O’Leary (with Jan Holden) (1966-1971; 233-234):

Sister Jackie and I were postulants together. We took the same courses, worked together in the Villa, and lived on the same floor in the dorms. Talking, always talking, we explored our innermost feelings. The energy between us was amazing. She was my opposite – quiet and introspective. She was my first love.

After months of building, our affair finally began with a backrub. We were in a classroom when the convent bells chimed Vespers. The building around us was silent and empty. Everyone was in the chapel in prayer. We should have hurried there ourselves. Jackie and I looked at each other as we listened to the bells. Neither of us moved. She spoke softly, answering the question I’d asked before the bells. Her voice seemed to fill the room. The end of her sentence finished our conversation. I watched her face, so strong and intelligent, her eyes mysterious, passionate, their distance muted. She stood finally and touched my shoulder. I looked straight ahead as she massaged my neck. We were drawn so tightly together, invisibly held by the emotion between us. When she paused, I turned and gently pulled her to the seat beside me. I could hear her soft breath and feel her pulse as I touched her neck. Magnified in the silence of Vespers, the tension between us exploded in our first kiss.

. . .

Lesbian Nuns (5 of ???): Yep.

From “South American Lawyer in a Cloister”, by Maria Cristina (1963-1975; 213-214):

Another difficult practice was flagellating ourselves alone in our cells every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The two flagellation devices were called the minor and major disciplines. The small one was supposed to hurt but not show anything on the skin. The other one was heavier and sometimes drew blood. The disciplines were to be used on the buttocks and legs...

The purpose of flagellation was to dominate our sexuality. But sometimes when I hit myself I awakened my carnal desires. When our carnal or sensuous side was aroused we had to explain what had occurred to the Mother Superior. It was difficult for me to share with her because I felt guilty and ashamed. I knew that as a woman there were moments when my sexuality was there. This flagellant device did arouse my feelings, and it was hard for me to control them. By obedience to the Rule, I had to use that device on myself every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There was no escape.

Many times masturbation, which was forbidden by the Rule, happened. I had to confess, in front of the community, ‘Last night I had impure thoughts and impure manipulations.’ I felt guilty and remorseful, and I requested heavy penance, which was granted. Heavy penance was self-inflicted flagellation, which sometimes aroused me again. It was a cycle, especially right before or during or after my period. We also had belts with small crosses to wear around my arms, thighs, and waist. Those small crosses caused a lot of hurt. Some days, doing this penance was quite helpful and rewarding for me in trying to achieve perfection.

. . .

Lesbian Nuns (4 of ???): South America

From “Finding My Way”, by Mary Brady (1956-1970; 200-201):

Then I was asked to go to South America. I accepted eagerly, hoping the challenge of the missions would end this unhealthy preoccupation. But it was there I met Beth. It was Christmas morning 1968, after Midnight Mass, when she first came to my room. Beth was my superior but only two years older than my thirty years, and we knew each other from the novitiate.

“I wanted to see if you were all right,” she said, looking a little flustered. She sat beside me on the bed and put her arm around my shoulder. I can still see the dimly lit room, the tan bedspread, the Sacred Heart Statue on the nightstand. She began stroking my back, then held me against her breast for what seemed like a long time. I was afraid to breathe. She was warm and soft, and before I went off to sleep I was in love again.

A week later she retired early, not feeling well, and I took a tray to her for supper. We talked, and when she finished eating, she asked me to lie beside her on the bed. Ignorant and shy, I never initiated such moves, but was only too glad to accept an invitation. I lay down and she held me, stroking my back, her hand running thrillingly under my pajama tops and eventually even under the bottoms. I grew excited and confused, but it felt so good I didn’t want to ruin it by asking questions.

After that I contrived to visit her room almost every night. The caresses grew more intimate, and she taught me to touch her in ways she liked. At last I had found what I’d been needing all those years...

. . .

Lesbian Nuns (3 of ???): Eva, and more.

From “Revolving Doors”, by Coriander (1962-1968; 187-188, 191):

I taught sixth grade that year; Eva taught first. She had a wonderful rapport with her students. I was lucky if there weren’t dogfights in the aisles. Life was tough, but not at all like it used to be. I was loved, and I knew it. Each evening I crossed through the bathroom into Eva’s room, and she read to me. We sat very close on the bed, her arm around me, while I listened to stories like The Little Prince or The Wind in the Willows. Sometimes we lay down for awhile before I went to my bed. Before long my initial feelings of affection became desire. The night Eva asked if she could put her hand on my breat, I was only too ready to comply. From there we went in the direction of least resistance, and finally I had to admit that what we were doing was sexual...

I left the convent in 1968 because its walls had become a prison... It’s painful to remember my blunders as I tumbled back into the world. I had no idea how to dress. My attempts at dating led me into bizarre situations. More than once it was a priest who offered to purge me of my virginity...

It took me over a month to find the Lesbian community in Boulder... The little bit of doubt I kept to myself was dispelled when I feel in love with a woman from Oregon who called herself Gnome. The night we first kissed was a full moon in September. There was no holding back the night we made love. My body responded with natural ease, and in my heart I knew I had finally come home to myself. Women’s music was never the same after that. All of a sudden the words were really about me. I had joined the club, declared myself a dyke. Gnome had to restrain me in public. I was sixteen again and in love.

. . .

Lesbian Nuns (2 of ???): Gina.

From “Fresh Starts” by Betsy Snider (1964-1967; 100) -

Gina was a year older. During my postulant year, I was frightened of her and avoided her as much as possible. However, when I became a novice, she and I were in charge of a group of children during summer day camp. We spent much of the summer together. We began giving each other massages. During my postulancy, I gave frequent massages to other postulants. It was all fairly innocent. However, Gina liked to give naked back rubs, using oil and powder. I found it exciting and terribly disturbing. Throughout the winter, we continued to meet alone, go for long walks together, eat together, and spend much of our free time in each other’s company.

. . .

Lesbian Nuns (1 of ???): Silence.

All of these posts will be from the legendary Lesbian Nuns: Breaking Silence, edited by Rosemary Curb and Nancy Manahan (Naiad Press, 1985).

This post is from “What Silence Does This Book Break?” by Nancy Manahan (1966-1967 [=years in religious life]; xxxvi-xxxvii):

At the Maryknoll novitiate, I confessed my religious doubt to my postulant mistress, Sister Rita Anne. She suggested I talk to Johanna, an older postulant and an articulate convert to Catholicism. Johanna and I debated the creation story, original sin, indulgences, and papal infallibility. Perhaps I never saw the light because I didn’t want our meetings to end. I didn’t know I was in love with her. I only knew that the chapel vibrated when she walked in, and my stomach lurched when she knelt soundlessly behind me. I longed for her touch.

As assistant infirmarian, Johanna visited me when I was hospitalized for spastic colon and ulcer symptoms. In my misery, I held to the end of her long grey scapular for comfort. Even then, I was afraid that others would see us and KNOW. I knew that what I felt for her was wrong. Home from the hospital, I remember lying on my stomach after the Profound Silence bell, my pajama tops unbuttoned down the back, waiting for her. She came in silence, warmed the cream in her hands, and touched me. I hardly breathed through the whole backrub.

. . .

!!! EL TIEMPO DE LOS SWEEPS A LA BLOGA !!!

Other media venues do Shark Week, but aqui at la bloga, we do:

A SERIES OF POSTS ABOUT LESBIAN NUNS!!!!