I read that Marie-Louise Habets, (the nun who the story was based on), and Kathryn Hulme, (who wrote the book), lived together in a lesbian relationship until Hulme's death.
Does anyone know if they continued to practice Catholicism or how the church felt about that arrangement? Was that a factor in Habets' leaving the convent?
Marie-Louise Habets, the real-life inspiration for the Sister Luke character, joined the Resistance, then worked in displaced person camps. At one of these camps, she met Kathryn Hulme, the book's author. The two women became friends, moved to Arizona, and then to Hawaii.
This is true. I recall being really surprised at this new information, after it was the subject of either a Time or Newsweek magazine story back in the 1970s.
It was about their life together and the interesting way in which they met. And it was clear they considered themselves a couple, even though back in those days, even in the early 70s or so, not a big deal was made about it by the subjects involved, nor by the magazine writer. It was handled discreetly, because it's just how it was done then. Labels were never affixed or people put into PC categories, unlike now when every person has to be classified ad inifinitum.
Can't remember all the details of the story and it was not salacious in any way, but just informative as to what happened to the writer and the subject so many years later.
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I saw the movie a few days ago, I did not know it was based on a true story.
shareHence, the "struggle" she alluded to and others did as well. You can not surrender to God, if you surrender to something else.
Can you fly this plane?
Surely you can't be serious.
I am serious,and don't call me Shirley
The film did not portray her struggles in that way.
What I felt was the dehumanization she experienced at every turn. Every small moment she felt humanized, connecting with people, she was made to feel guilt, or worse, have those tenuous connections severed. And she couldn't voice such accusations. All she could do was walk away.
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When animals forage, is it for grocery, hardware or medicine?
Whatever a person's struggle is, God will not take that as an excuse, from rejecting salvation. The Bible says, we see God in nature, and he has imprinted on our consciousness.
Can you fly this plane?
Surely you can't be serious.
I am serious,and don't call me Shirley
When the real you comes out and says what you think, and not what God is alleged to say and not what the Bible is interpreted to say, only then can we have a real conversation. I'd rather hear what you have to say, even if we disagree. There's no point for me conversing with, for me, a nonexistent God. Nor should I converse with the Bible. Clearly you do not. All you do is quote chapter and verse.
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When animals forage, is it for grocery, hardware or medicine?
A Christian, and God's holy and inspired written word, are interwoven. His word is truth. It is a part of what is discerned, and understood.
Can you fly this plane?
Surely you can't be serious.
I am serious,and don't call me Shirley
[deleted]
The Nun's Story is based on a 1956 novel by Kathryn Hulme. Hulme wrote the book based upon the experiences of her friend, Marie Louise Habets of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary, a Belgian nurse and an ex-nun whom she met while working with refugees in post-war Europe. Zoe Fairbairns’ article The Nun’s True Story tells the story of how Habets’s story became Hulme’s bestseller and how the two women became partners and shared a home and a life for nearly 40 years. In 1960, Hulme and Habets moved to the Hawaiian island of Kauai, where Hulme continued to write, with Habets’s support and assistance. They grew tropical fruits, bred dogs, rode horses, had friends to stay, gave talks, and socialised among the other Kauai expats. They remained Catholics, and Hulme continued her involvement with the work of the mystic G. I. Gurdjieff. Anyone who, inspired by the integrity, rebelliousness and self-assertion of Gabrielle van der Mal, goes to the Hulme papers looking for signs of Habets as a religious or sexual revolutionary, will search in vain. Habits was socially conservative (though tolerant) and a staunch admirer of nuns, her one regret being that she herself was not strong enough to remain one. If she and Hulme had any criticisms of the Catholic Church or convents, they kept silent. If they were aware of or interested in women’s liberation or lesbian/gay liberation, they show no sign of it, though clearly they lived openly as a couple, and were acknowledged as such by friends and business associates.
http://www.zoefairbairns.co.uk/nunsstory.htm