Nuns of Cloister

Ok. I had to look up the word "cloister" in English just to write this blog. Anyway, I have a short story on our quick visit to Lerma on the way home. Lerma is a town north of Madrid that has a huge palace and monastery that define the old part of the town and the nuns of cloister have a bakery there. Let me describe the experience.

We enter the side of the monastery and there is a menu with words I have never seen. I'm in line and everyone is buying their cookies/bizcochos/pastries at the wall where there is a round-a-bout shelving system. I get to the wall and you can't see the lady on the other side, but she has a sweet, and young voice. As I don't know what I'm buying, we ask her to explain what each item is, on the 2nd shelf. Mind you, I still don't know what "cloister" means in Spanish. We tell her we are interested in buying "mostachones" and she tells us the price. I'm confused, but Manu saves the day and puts the money down on the first shelf and tells her that we have put it down because otherwise she has no idea. She turns the shelf around, picks up the money, then turns the shelf again to give us our change.

I noticed that this was a weird system and it would be a lot easier if we could just see the lady because facial expressions can help you a lot. I mentioned to Manu once we got outside that "wouldn't it be better if they had a little window so you could more quickly finish the transaction? I wanted to tell her that but I decided not to."

Manuel looks at me, a bit horrified, and repeats to me - "but Sara, they are in cloister!"
Sara - "Yes you said that but what does that mean?"
Manuel - "That they have dedicated their life to the monastery and never leave / see others."

Good thing I didn't open my mouth.


Some more info: Cloistered nuns observe "papal enclosure" ^[9]rules and their monasteries typically have walls and grilles separating the nuns from the outside world. The nuns rarely leave (except for medical necessity, or occasionally for purposes related to their contemplative life) though they may have visitors in specially built parlors that allow them to meet with outsiders. They are usually self-sufficient, earning money by selling jams or candies or baked goods by mail order, or by making liturgical items (vestments, candles, bread for Holy Communion).

Easter Processions

Easter processions here are rather interesting. We managed to go to the ones in Bilbao, Burgos, and Madrid. Of course, these are really long processions so we just hang out long enough to see the virgin or Jesus and then we go get dinner.

The first thing that shocked me was the religious brotherhoods wear robes and caps that make them look like KKK to me. It really scared me at first and I had to make sure I could translate that image into a positive one. The picture above is a good example. In any case, here are some quick, interesting tidbits about Easter processions:

1. Usually one brotherhood is responsible for the procession on a given night (this goes on for the whole week). The other brotherhoods are in the procession too but they aren't holding the relics.

2. Depending on where you live and what the tradition is, the brotherhoods might be carrying the relic on their shoulders (imagine 12 guys underneath and on the sides). In Bilbao for example, the really heavy statue with San Juan had wheels below it and the brotherhood still carried it but did not have the entire weight to carry. However, the virgin was carried directly on the shoulders for hours.

3. Apparently in some pueblos, the brotherhoods aren't in charge of the procession and rather people PAY money to carry the virgin on their shoulders. I was told that in this case, the town has an auction and people pay thousands of Euros to have this pleasure.

4. In Madrid we even saw a guy who had his feet chained and was barefoot. Ok, now for me this is sacriligious considering it's still cold outside!!! Manuel explained to me that in this case, most likely this person was a prisoner (not for a serious crime) and they have let him free in Easter week / forgiveness and all that jazz. So he has to walk the procession barefoot and chained.