PART II

THE ENCLOSURE OF NUNS

9. From the beginning and in a unique way, monasteries devoted to the contemplative life have found the enclosure a proven help in the fulfilment of their vocation. (⁵³) The particular demands of separation from the world have thus been received by the Church and canonically ordered for the benefit of the contemplative life itself. The discipline of enclosure is therefore a gift, for it protects the foundational charism of monasteries.

Every contemplative Institute must faithfully maintain its form of separation from the world. Such fidelity is fundamental for the life of an Institute, which really endures only as long as it remains rooted in its original charism. (⁵⁴) For this reason the vital renewal of monasteries is essentially linked to the authenticity of the search for God in contemplation and the authenticity of the means which foster that search, and it must be considered genuine when it restores its original splendour.

It is the duty, the responsibility and the joy of nuns to understand, maintain and defend, firmly and intelligently, their special vocation, safeguarding the identity of their specific charism from any attempt to alter it, whether coming from within or from without.