Now I tell you this hoping you’ll keep in mind the concept was from me as a first grader.
There was something different & special about going to St. Mary School. As a newbie to a parochial school, there were no words to express it from a child’s mind. Parental instructions to a child were simple & direct back then: be a good girl/boy, sit still, don’t wiggle and don’t talk back, EVER! That would pretty much get you through the day.
Concepts about church & religion were brief & vague. Words used were ‘holy, blessed & special’ and there were all sorts of visual aids to support this belief system. Pictures of angels, Mary & baby Jesus with long flowing robes with flowers and bright light. Church also had the beautiful stained glass with light streaming in around the very same holy figures with statues galore! WOW!
To me, the nuns fit the same description as the holy figures that surrounded us. Nuns moved with a silent swiftness. From the convent to the school to the church, all the veils & layers of fabric swishing over the ground with only the occasional ‘click’ of beads. Heads were always bowed with humbled eyes. Hands were in prayer or folded within their billowing sleeves. They were wondrous!
This was something a kid didn’t see at home everyday. This was truly special.
I thought they were a kind of angel, but a teaching angel. They floated everywhere they went except they didn’t have clouds. Then one day my beliefs were shattered. I saw a shoe! It was black with laces & a heel! Two shoes! Nuns had feet! They were real people! I was shocked. How could this be? I was sure they floated everywhere. They were that special.
Well, it’s been more years than I care to name, but I will always think of them as floating.
It is with great affection that I choose to keep this image in my mind, my floating nuns. J
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