A Sewer went out to sew…

Reflection by Sr. Jess

Many people are often surprised to hear that we sew our religious habits (garments) in house. And yet – upon learning that some of us do exercise the homesteading / pre-modern skill of sewing – they often shake their heads in approval – as if they would have expected nothing less of such medieval-dressed people! It is true that our fashion has not changed in 800 years. In fact, we intentionally modeled the design of our habit after St. Francis’ own garment which is on display in Assisi. Thankfully, our habits get replaced before they are as patchy as his!

This spring has required a lot of habit-making. It is as if everyone in the community coordinated the expiration dates of their habits! I do exaggerate, of course. The real reason that we have so many to make is because our three Postulants are approaching the next stage in formation called novitiate, when they will require two habits apiece! We are grateful to a guest seamstress who has been helping to fill the orders.

A point of instruction for our audience: there are a few stages in the life of a habit of a Franciscan of the Eucharist of Chicago. The first stage is called “The Nice Habit”. Everything about The Nice Habit requires capital letters to address it – it is pristine, and to be worn only when giving a formal talk or going to a formal event. There are no patches, no holes, and no worn hem on The Nice Habit.

Then… once The Nice Habit has been through the washer enough times, or you accidentally wore it while painting, it gets demoted to the work habit. The work habit is probably the preferred habit of the Franciscan – it is well-worn, so it is a little more comfortable. The material “breaks in” similar to a well-loved pair of jeans. It has patches around the belt area and probably the hem, as well as developing unique wear patterns according to the thermodynamics (moving patterns) of the particular Franciscan. It feels like your every-day, let’s-get-to-it habit. You don’t have to think about changing superhero-style into worse clothes when a delivery pulls up or when the freezer breaks and you gotta go throw out the nasty leaking trays of food RIGHT NOW – you are ready to go. If anything tears, if anything spills (you are almost always guaranteed yogurt or avocados on your habit the first day you wear it anyways!), you can rest at ease, and send it through the wash or to Franciscan Sewing Services (in house and free of charge!).

And finally, once a work habit has been run into the ground, or once your Nice Habit gets demoted to the work habit – your well-worn habit becomes your garden-laundry-day-extreme-manual-labor-only habit. This habit has patches on top of patches, and probably has the hem replaced for the second time. The color has faded to a light medium brown – long gone are the days when it used to match coffee and dark chocolate. It is cozy and smooth almost to the point of pajamas. And at a certain point, it finishes its days when it is deemed “unwearable” or too thin, and is retired.

To circle back to our original intent – we are delighted to be working away on fitting garments for our young Sisters-to-be! The other components of the habit that they will receive on their Investiture Day include a simple cord for a belt and a white veil. The veil is identical to our professed Sisters’ veils in size and style, other than the color. White is a traditional veil color for novices. Our veils are intentionally pointed at the bottom, to mimic the Capuchin-styled large hoods of the Brothers. In this way, we show the complementarity of men and women sharing our Franciscan charism.

Please keep our newest novices in your prayers as they embark upon these next two years of intensive formation. We will have a blog post with more highlights from their entrance into Novitiate on May 5th up soon!

Visit here to learn even more about the meaning behind the various elements of our community’s habit.