There are 12 comments.

1. Thatcher
   Percival

   May flights of angels sing her to her rest.

2. Coolidge
   Patrick McClure

   What an absolutely amazing explanation of suffering. Theologically sound and simple to understand.

3. Inactive
   Nanda Panjandrum

   Percival (View Comment):

   May flights of angels sing her to her rest.

   You beat me to it, Sir Percy!

4. Member
   Manny

   I was thinking of doing an in memorial post on her passing. You beat me to it, She. That was a nice article but I think there’s an error in there. It claims Sister Wendy was a Carmelite, and that was what I had always thought. But the Los Angeles Times obituary claims she lived at a Carmelite monastery but was in fact technically a hermit. Yes, there are actually hermits in this day and age. She lived apart and by herself.

   In the early 1970s, she was released from her vows as a Sister of Notre Dame and changed her religious status to “consecrated virgin,” with the blessing of the Vatican. From then on, she was not a member of any religious order but continued to wear a homemade black habit, a variation on the one she wore as a Sister of Notre Dame.

   Asked once to explain her choice, she said, “I am a nun. I will always be a nun.” She had spent more than 20 years in a convent, perfecting the ways of religious life. As a hermit, she did not feel the need to belong to any particular order.

   The Carmelites offered her a home on their property and took care of her for the rest of her life. They delivered her meals to the unheated trailer where she slept on the floor, surrounded by towers of art books. She in turn contributed most of her income to the convent.

   She really had a charm to her presentations. I kind of blushed sometimes when a nude was in front of her but really my concern for her sensitivity was unnecessary. The obituary has this little anecdote.

   For all of her unique features as a commentator, it was Beckett’s ease in describing nude paintings that most confounded her viewers. Standing before a double nude portrait by modern British painter Stanley Spencer, she observed, “I love all those glistening strands of his hair. And her pubic hair is so soft and fluffy.”

   I didn’t mean to titillate with that, and I apologize if it offends anyone, but I thought that captured her personality to a tee!

   Eternal rest grant unto Sister Wendy, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. We thank you for the blessing of her time here on earth.

5. Reagan
   She

   Post author

   Manny (View Comment):

   I was thinking of doing an immemorial post on her passing. You beat me to it, She. That was a nice article but I think there’s an error in there. It claims Sister Wendy was a Carmelite, and that was what I had always thought. But the Los Angeles Times obituary claims she lived at a Carmelite monastery but was in fact technically a hermit. Yes, there are actually hermits in this day and age. She lived apart and by herself.

   In the early 1970s, she was released from her vows as a Sister of Notre Dame and changed her religious status to “consecrated virgin,” with the blessing of the Vatican. From then on, she was not a member of any religious order but continued to wear a homemade black habit, a variation on the one she wore as a Sister of Notre Dame.

   Asked once to explain her choice, she said, “I am a nun. I will always be a nun.” She had spent more than 20 years in a convent, perfecting the ways of religious life. As a hermit, she did not feel the need to belong to any particular order.

   The Carmelites offered her a home on their property and took care of her for the rest of her life. They delivered her meals to the unheated trailer where she slept on the floor, surrounded by towers of art books. She in turn contributed most of her income to the convent.

   She really had a charm to her presentations. I kind of blushed sometimes when a nude was in front of her but really my concern for her sensitivity was unnecessary. The obituary has this little anecdote.

   For all of her unique features as a commentator, it was Beckett’s ease in describing nude paintings that most confounded her viewers. Standing before a double nude portrait by modern British painter Stanley Spencer, she observed, “I love all those glistening strands of his hair. And her pubic hair is so soft and fluffy.”

   I didn’t mean to titillate with that, and I apologize if it offends anyone, but I thought that captured her personality to a tee!

   Eternal rest grant unto Sister Wendy, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. We thank you for the blessing of her time here on earth.

    

   Thanks @manny, a nice comment, and I appreciate the extra insight.

    

6. Coolidge
   Douglas Pratt

   Patrick McClure (View Comment):

   What an absolutely amazing explanation of suffering. Theologically sound and simple to understand.

   I think I’ll use it this Sunday. Too good not to share.

7. Member
   Weeping

   She: “God never sends suffering. Never. It is never ‘God’s will’ that we should suffer. God would like us not to suffer. But since the world brings suffering, and since God refuses to use His almighty power and treat us as foolish children, He aligns Himself with us, goes into Auschwitz with us, is devastated by 9/11 with us, and draws us with Him through it all into fulfillment. This is a high price to pay for our human freedom, but it is worth it. To be mere automatons for whom God arranges the world to cause us no suffering would mean we never have a self. We could not make choices.” — Sister Wendy Beckett

   Very well said. I agree with her.

   I had never heard of her before; thanks for sharing.

8. Inactive
   Nanda Panjandrum

   Sr. Wendy was the kind of believer I aspire to be: committed without being pushy; aware of the True, the Beautiful, and the Good; pure without prudishness; world-wise without being weary, or becoming wary. May she now drink fully at the fountains of Elijah! Thank you, @She!

9. Coolidge
   SkipSul

   I remember sometimes catching her on TV. She was always charming.

10. Member
    Weeping

    I ran across this offer in my email today. Sharing it here in case someone might be interested in it.

    Sister Wendy: The Complete Collection (DVD)

11. Inactive
    Nanda Panjandrum

    Weeping (View Comment):

    I ran across this offer in my email today. Sharing it here in case someone might be interested in it.

    Sister Wendy: The Complete Collection (DVD)

    Appreciate this, @weeping! Thank you!

12. Member
    Weeping

    Nanda Panjandrum (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):

    I ran across this offer in my email today. Sharing it here in case someone might be interested in it.

    Sister Wendy: The Complete Collection (DVD)

    Appreciate this, @weeping! Thank you!

    You’re welcome, Nanda!

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