Nuns, generally known by most people as women of faith who have given up everything to serve the almighty. However, not all nuns stay in convents all day praying and doing pious works. Some nuns have stepped out to be more productive in society. From rapping to nuns that are now participating in scientific research, these nuns have totally changed the traditional definition of their name. Here is a look at the most unusual stories involving nuns you will find hard to believe.
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Modern Miracle
Sister Bernadette Moriau was diagnosed with chronic sciatica at the age of 27. The spinal sciatic nerve worsened, forcing her to end up in supportive equipment with a leg brace and corset. The condition affected her walking style, and this prompted her to seek conventional surgeries. For many pilgrims, the spring is known for miracles. Therefore, the 69-year-old nun decided to visit the shrine of Lourdes in the Pyrenees mountains, expecting a miracle of healing.
She returned to her parish in the North of France after the spring visit to the shrines. Somehow, after her visit, she pulled off the supportive equipment and walked just fine. She had allegedly heard a voice commanding her to remove the supporting equipment. Her healing was declared the 70th miracle of the holy shrines in 2018.
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Baby Trafficking
The Charity Missionaries use the commitment of Mother Teresa to charity as the inspiration for their mission. Mother Teressa died in 1997 but the many care centres she established in India continue to serve the needy in the society. The order also cares for pregnant, unmarried women. However, a report in 2018 shocked the world when the missionaries were implicated in the sale of four babies under their care. Only one was recovered and reunited with his mother. The recovered kid was allegedly sold for just $1,000.
Several shelters were searched, and the police closed one facility for unwed mothers. A nun and staff member were arrested in the process. The staff member confessed to having sold the child for $2,000 but failed to deliver the baby to the couple. The angry couple reported the matter to the police, who established that four more children had been trafficked. The charity organization later said they stopped facilitating adoptions in 2015, and even then, they never accepted money from adopting parents.
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The Possessed Nun’s Strange Letter
Isabella Tomasi joined Sicily convent at the age of 15. Her name changed to Sister Maria Crocifissa Della Concezione once she was accepted into Palma di Montechiaro which is a Benedictine order. Another sister visited Sister Maria’s cell in 1676 and found her on the floor. Strangely, the 31-year-old Nun’s face was smeared with ink, and she clutched a letter. For more than 300 years, no one has been able to read the contents of the letter. Sister Maria claimed that the Devil used her hand to write the letter. The only recognizable word was “Ohime,” meaning “Oh me.” It is interpreted as her attempt to refuse the Devil’s demands that she signs his letter.
With emerging technology, scientists fed the enigmatic markings of the letter into the cutting-edge code breaker in 2017, and the findings were fascinating. Sister Maria used unique vocabulary gleaned from Latin, Rubric, Greek, and Arabic alphabets in shorthand form to write the letter. Even after deciphering, the content of the latter was garbled. One sentence that made sense described the Holy Trinity, as a bunch of ‘dead weights.’
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The God Spot
Some researchers suggest that there is an unidentified brain region designed to communicate with God called a “God spot.” To ascertain the idea, 15 nuns aged between 23 and 64were used as subjects in testing in 2006. The process involved cloistered Carmelite nuns to think about the deepest spiritual and religious experience during the brain scan. Reliving the mystical moments resulted in the brain lighting up 12 places, but none is called the “God spot.”
The purpose of these areas encompasses body representation, emotion, and self-consciousness. The activities in these areas trigger the illusion of being with God. The caudate nucleus spot stood out; it is believed to activate the feelings of affection, parental love, and happiness. Seems there is no actual God Spot after all but it was still great of those nuns to try and prove it.
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The Unique Conservation Project
A peculiar salamander lives in Mexico, only about 100 remain in the world in a lake in the Patzcuaro area for which the species is named. The salamanders are related to the endangered axolotl species and the convent is credited with having saved the species through conservation for the last 150 years. Twenty-three nuns take turns living in groups of three to four at the salamander breeding facility to ensure a regular supply of freshwater and organic earthworms. The nuns ensure the convent salamanders are the genetically viable and healthy breed which is why they have kept the species alive all these years. It is quite strange but still good of the wonderful nuns.
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Nuns Mapped Stars
In 1887, 56 scientists from 19 nations were engaged in a project to map the entire night sky. The process that involved counting stars on 22,000 photographic plates; it was one of the biggest scientific studies of its time. The project was divided among various institutions, including the Vatican Observatory. The women were hired and managed by the male project managers at a minimum wage, and the Vatican was no exception. Four nuns were recruited in the Vatican.
The four nuns mapped the location and brightness of more than half a million stars. The names of the four nuns that worked on the project were found in 2016 by a Jesuit priest who was studying the Vatican archives. They were named as Sister Emilia Ponzoni, Concetta Finardi, Regina Colombo, and Luigia Pancheri. At least they got the credit for their priceless contribution to science.
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The Nun Of Amorgos
The oldest monasteries in the world are in Amorgos, a rustic island off the coast of Greece, where the buildings are full of monks and one nun. The story behind the Nun is unusual. Sister Irini never reveals her real name, and little facts are known about her past life. She first visited Amorgos as a tourist over 35 years ago with her family. When the children were grown, and her husband died, Sister Irini took vows in 2001 and returned to Amorgos, settling in a long-abandoned monastery which she renovated. One of the most striking features there is the garden she single-handedly created. The Nun’s green oasis boasts frescoes and over thirty fruit trees. She is the only Nun on Amorgos and receives visitors in her monastery all year-round, including the monks who live at the Hozoviotissa monastery.
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The Weed Nuns
There was a sisterhood that grows cannabis in Northern California. Although they are not affiliated to any order, they still take vows to live on a compound, pray, and work together. They adopt the dressing habits of nuns, planting crops, and promoting women empowerment. They claim affiliation to the Sisters of the valley order that supports socialism, female empowerment, and healing properties of marijuana. The strain established on the firm is regarded as hemp, retaining the healing properties CBD.
The self-styled nuns enjoy smoking joint, which they consider to have healing properties but cannot cause anyone to get high. The Sisters have established a successful business with annual sales of more than $1.2 billion.
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The Romsey Braid
Gravediggers working in the Romsey Abby, Southampton in England in 1839, found a casket under the floor. The casket housed a braid of hair resting on an oak carved pillow. The pieces of scalp clung to the hair in some places. The gravediggers cited that the only other remain was a finger bone, which turned into dust the moment the coffin was opened. The contents of the casket were taken to the lab for analysis to study the identity of the person.
The potential candidates were two nuns that lived at Romsey: Saint Ethelflaeda and Saint Morwenna. The research findings revealed that the person died between 895 and 1123, matching both women’s lifetimes, and the hair belonged to an individual that consumed a lot of fish. The braided hair could only have belonged to a nun because the monastic villagers lived on meat and not fish. Romsey had always been a refuge for nuns although the true identity of this one is yet to be discovered.
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The Karate Nun
Nuns are not restricted from participating in sports activities. One of the most reckoned is a nun with a black belt for her karate moves. Sister Kate Costigan is one of the two nuns across the world that holds a black belt in karate. She rides a motorbike in remote regions of Tanzania, promoting the fight against HIV/AIDS. The no-nonsense Irish nun of the Sisters of Ola order uses a motorbike to travel to the remote areas to provide medical services to the communities. On a normal day, it would be difficult to identify her as a nun because she doesn’t look like one.