Peruvian Nuns Share Cloistered Life

Sister Consuelo, right, eats breakfast every day at 8:15 a.m., after waking up at 5 a.m. and attending the morning prayer and daily Mass. As a cloistered nun, each hour of her day is devoted to Christ; the nuns meditate and think about God even during their recreation time.

Sister Trinidad carefully fills a container with rose cream that she and her fellow nuns have made. The nuns of Santa Catalina Monastery in Arequipa, Peru, make such handicrafts in order to support themselves. The goods are sold in the tourist section of the monastery, which has been in the heart of the city for 400 years.

The nuns of the monastery make the unleavened bread for the local cathedral.

The nuns of the monastery make the unleavened bread for the local cathedral.

A nun prays the rosary, which includes 53 recitations of the "Hail Mary." The nuns of Santa Catalina Monastery are particularly devoted to the Virgin Mary and look to her for support and guidance.

Sister Heidi Marjorie in her room. As the youngest member of the cloister, she's still adjusting to a nun's life.

Novice nuns pray in a private chapel within the living quarters of the monastery.

Sister Consuelo de Jesus concentrates on her Bible study, or Lexio Divino, during silent prayer in Santa Catalina Monastery's chapel. The nuns gather five times a day for prayer, the methods of which vary from singing, to chanting, to reciting the rosary.

Sister Heidi Marjorie receives communion during morning Mass.

Sister Heidi stops to ask Mother Superior Isabel a question. There are several stages to becoming a Dominican nun; after initial inquiry, where the candidate communicates with one of the nuns from her home in order to decide whether becoming a nun is the right vocation for her, she moves onto Aspirancy. Heidi is currently in this second stage; she has lived in the monastery for 3 months. The purpose of this stage is to ensure that she likes her new life and will continue to be committed to it.

Sister Heidi carries chairs from a storage area to a larger room where all the women can sit together to make soap. The nuns consider Santa Catalina a community within itself; in an effort to replicate the fact that outsiders must work for a living, the sisters devote themselves to religious labors daily.

Sister Heidi focuses on meditation and Bible study after the group reading. The nuns get to know the Bible very well as it is one of the few books they are allowed to possess while living in the monastery.

Nuns make rose cream , which will later be sold in the tourist section of the monastery. The profits from such handicrafts help support the nuns.

A nun mops the floor in the dormitory area of the monastery.

The nuns of the monastery make the unleavened bread for the local cathedral.

The nuns of the monastery make the unleavened bread for the local cathedral.

Sister Consuelo de Jesus walks back to the private part of the monastery after morning Mass.

Sister Heidi adjusts the veil on a statue of the Virgin Mary and Jesus.

Sister Heidi leaves her weekly class -- she's not yet a full nun, and she and her fellow novice nuns meet weekly with a local priest who comes to the cloister.

Sister Consuelo walks toward the monastery's chapel.

Sister Consuelo de Jesus.

Sister Heidi, the youngest member of the cloister, is one of the only nuns who knows how to use a computer. She does their accounting. The computer is not connected to the internet.

The sisters conduct choir practice.

Sister Heidi walks to the dormitory area.

Sister Heidi Marjorie studies her choir book.

Sister Heidi Marjorie does a reading in the sisters' private chapel.

Twenty-three nuns live a cloistered life behind the walls of Santa Catalina Monastery in the heart of Arequipa, Peru. These nuns of the Dominican Order spend their days divided between prayer and religious labors, including making the host for the Basilica Cathedral and creating handicrafts. While the oldest active nun, Sister Consuelo de Jesus, has been a member of the cloister for 61 years and the youngest novice, Sister Heidi Marjorie, has lived with the order for a mere three months, both women have devoted their lives to God through service and prayer.

White City Stories was built in partnership with Charlotte Sister Cities and UNC-Chapel Hill to educate North Carolinians about the lives of their Peruvian counterparts. I had the opportunity to travel to Peru’s second largest city to shoot this story and to build an audio slideshow for the site.

The site was chosen as one of Time Magazine’s 50 Best Web Sites of 2007.