How do you address a nun?

*Sigh* I read this as "How do you UNDRESS a nun?"

Sister, for a nun, or Mother for a senior nun

Typically nuns do not use a surname, e.g., Sister Mary Smith, Mother Theresa Heinz

Sorry I could resist.

ETA: A good reference - http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/d003rpHowToAddressClergy.html

If you've never met her and you're addressing her in writing, I'd call her "Sister Firstname."

Deccydiva said:

This may seem an odd question, but I live in a strongly Catholic Country where it is taken very seriously, but I am not a member of that faith. I sought details of my local writing group and was given the following:
Sr (first name) (surname) tel:xxxxxx
I assume the the title means she is a nun, but in my approach how do I address her? Sister (first name)? Sister (surname)? Just "Sister"?
I haven't met her before and don't want to be seen as ignorant.

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Okay, um truthfully, I'm not that sure. I'm Catholic and went to a school that had Salesian nuns that lived on school property and taught some classes; we called most of them by their first names.

There are two ways I look at this. Firstly, It maybe more appropriate if you call her Sr last name, because you don't know her, and it would be more formal. But then on the other hand she maybe wished to be called by her first name which is most likely a Saint name, which she chose when she entered the church, and she would take this name very seriously.
So I suggest her first name, with Sr at the front. i.e. Sr Sarah.

Thirdly, don't worry too much, she's a women of god, so I doubt she would be to angry if you - a non Catholic, didn't know how to address her.

I hope this helped.

aadams73 said:

*Sigh* I read this as "How do you UNDRESS a nun?"

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Start with the wimple, but don't get into bad habits.

Don't nuns have given names? Like Sister Augusta or Sister Immaculata or something? I only know from reading Maeve Binchy, but I didn't think they used surnames.

qwerty said:

Don't nuns have given names? Like Sister Augusta or Sister Immaculata or something? I only know from reading Maeve Binchy, but I didn't think they used surnames.

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Not always. It depends on the order and how common the name the nun had in the first place was. My aunt had her name changed to Paula because I'm sure you can imagine how many Marys there were.

To answer the question, it's generally Sister (first name). I can't off the top of my head think of any Sister Smiths I've ever met.

aadams73 said:

*Sigh* I read this as "How do you UNDRESS a nun?"

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Reminds me of an E-mail my friend sent me...

Vacationing Priest

Two priests decided to go to Hawaii on vacation.

They were determined to make this a real vacation by not wearing anything that would identify them as clergy.

As soon as the plane landed they headed for a store and bought some really outrageous shorts, shirts, sandals, sunglasses, etc.

The next morning they went to the beach dressed in their 'tourist' garb.

They were sitting on beach chairs, enjoying a drink, the sunshine and the scenery when a 'drop dead gorgeous' blonde in a bikini came walking straight towards them.

They couldn't help but stare.

As the blonde passed them she smiled and said 'Good Morning, Father ~ Good Morning, Father,' nodding and addressing each of them individually, then she passed on by.

They were both stunned.

How in the world did she know they were priests?

So the next day, they went back to the store and bought even more outrageous outfits.

These were so loud you could hear them before you even saw them!

Once again, in their new attire, they settled down in their chairs to enjoy the sunshine.

After a little while, the same gorgeous blonde, wearing a different colored bikini, taking her sweet time, came walking toward them.

Again she nodded at each of them, said 'Good morning, Father ~ Good morning, Father,' and started to walk away

One of the priests couldn't stand it any longer and said, 'Just a minute, young lady.' 'Yes, Father?'

'We are priests and proud of it, but I have to know, how in the world do you know we are priests, dressed as we are?'

Lifting her sunglasses, she replied, 'Father, it's me,

Sister KATHLEEN

If you don't know the first name and are just passing a nun on the street or something, just "Sister" is fine too. "Hello, Sister," "excuse me, Sister," that sort of thing.

If you want to add a bit of entertainment with your learning experience, I reccomend watching "Sister Act."

Deccydiva said:

Thanks for the replies folks, now I just have to remember not to mention that I write erotica.

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Now she tells us!

Deccydiva said:

Thanks for the replies folks, now I just have to remember not to mention that I write erotica.

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Two Mules for Sister Sara?

OH MY GOSH!! I just remembered. I used to be babysat by a nun. She was so most lovely lady ever! I called her Sr. St. Therse.

I remember in my early days getting the odd whack on the knuckles by wooden ruler wielding nuns, then the absolute horror of High School manned by Irish Christian Brothers, who made nuns,..well look like nuns.

Talk about a zero tolerance mentality, military boot camp was a stroll in the park after having survived these guys.

In all fairness, they did teach me one very important life-lesson, might is right.

Sister <Firstname> is always fine; Mother <firstname> is she's in a senior position. But if she signs herself Sr Something, you can call her that. The only double-names I recall was a Sister Mary Patrick. I guess it was, as someone mentioned, because of the number of Sister Marys around.

My husband has an aunt who is a nun. She's called Sister <first name>, but when we write to her, it's Sister <first name> <surname>.

I used to work with a nurse who was a sister. We called her by her first name, just like any other nurse. It was only if you read her ID badge did you find out she was a nun. It was great fun when we got the monthly rotation of baby docs (residents) in and then they'd fall all over themselves when they found out she was a nun.

(adapted from one of my favourite movies)

It saddens and hurts me that the writers whom I taught to believe in the Ten Commandments have come back to me with filthy mouths and bad attitudes. Get out... And don't come back until you've redeemed yourselves...

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Alice.S said:

Reminds me of an E-mail my friend sent me...

There were two nuns.. ​

One of them was known as Sister Mathematical (SM), ​

and the other one was known as Sister Logical (SL) . ​

It is getting dark and they are still far away from the convent. ​

SM: Have you noticed that a man has been following us for ​

the past thirty-eight and a half minutes? I wonder what he wants. ​

SL: It's logical. He wants to rape us. ​

SM: Oh, no! At this rate he will reach us in 15 minutes ​

at the most! What can we do? ​

SL: The only logical thing to do of course is to walk faster. ​

SM: It's not working. ​

SL: Of course it's not working. The man did the only ​

logical thing. He started to walk faster, too. ​

SM: So, what shall we do? At this rate he will reach us in one minute. ​

SL: The only logical thing we can do is split. You go that way and I'll go this way. He cannot follow us both. ​

So the man decided to follow Sister Logical.​

Sister Mathematical arrives at the convent and is ​

worried about what has happened to Sister Logical. ​

Then Sister Logical arrives. ​

SM: Sister Logical! Thank God you are here! ​

Tell me what happened! ​

SL: The only logical thing happened. The man couldn't follow us both, so he followed me ​

SM: Yes, yes! But what happened then? ​

SL: The only logical thing happened. I started to run ​

as fast as I could and he started to run as fast as he could. ​

SM: And? ​

SL : The only logical thing happened. He reached me. ​

SM : Oh, dear! What did you do? ​

SL : The only logical thing to do. I lifted my dress up. ​

SM : Oh, Sister! What did the man do? ​

SL: The only logical thing to do. He pulled down his pants.​

SM: Oh, no! What happened then? ​

SL : Isn't it logical, Sister? A nun with her dress up can run faster than a man with his pants down. ​

And for those of you who thought it would be dirty, ​

Say two Hail Marys​

​

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A priest told me this joke.

The college I went to was at one point strictly Catholic, but not when I attended. My journalism professor was a nun - Sister Catherine. She was also one of the coolest people on campus.

I taught with nuns and I'm a good friend with one of them (she's one of the more liberal-minded). My cousin is also a nun. Most have reverted back to their baptismal names and surnames, such as Sister Patricia O'Donnell. Most don't wear habits, just a wedding ring on their left hand ring finger and maybe a small necklace with a cross on it. Or a pin.

Just call her "Sister." They also don't mind if you don't know they're nuns and mistakenly call them by their first name or "Ms.O'Donnell." You won't be chastized.

We have several orders of nuns living in this parish and none use the term "Mother" anymore for the head nun. They'll refer to her as their "Superior" and call her "Sister (Whatever)."

Unless people want to start wisecracking about imams and synagogues, can we put a stopper on the anti-Catholic jokes? It's starting to grate.