Many people think that nuns having sexual urges is a sin itself. If they get urges, do nuns have sex? There’s a lot of speculation surrounding this topic. So let’s set the record straight.
Let’s talk about what becoming a nun looks like, if they have urges, and how they deal with them if they do.
The Celibate Life of Nuns
Becoming a nun isn’t as easy as many people might think. The popular media kind of made us think that you can simply walk into a monastery and become a nun. That’s quite far from the truth. Entering a nun order is much more complex, and it involves special requirements and a set of rules to follow.
Every order is different. That’s why young women are encouraged to seek the order that aligns with their commitment the most. Some nuns take the vow of poverty, while others need to dress a certain way at all times. No two orders are the same. However, most of them have some similarities.
All nuns have to take the vow of chastity, which is what people first think of when they think of celibacy. Other requirements include being single, not having dependent children, and even having an education. There are a lot of steps to becoming a nun, and it takes many years to do so. Even your first vows last only a certain number of years before you take your final vows.
The life of nuns includes prayer, community work, learning about all things theology, reading the scripture, etc. It’s not about praying all day. Nuns do so much more than that.
Falling in Love and Sexual Urges
Humans are designed to fall in love and have sexual urges. It’s the same with nuns. Taking the vow of celibacy — or any other vow, for that matter — doesn’t mean that these feelings will simply go away. That’s not the case at all.
In fact, nuns are even encouraged to fall in love. This is especially the case when they’re on the road to becoming a nun. This is because if they can’t feel love towards another human, how will they be able to feel love towards God? However, the important thing is not to act on those feelings.
Nuns give the example of marriage. When you’re married, it’s all too possible to fall in love with someone else. What ruins your commitment is acting on those feelings. It’s the same with being committed to God. Also, it’s no different when it comes to sexual urges. It’s completely natural for them to have it. Still, all they have to do is not act on them.
Knowing this, being a nun isn’t so bad, especially because not all people want to receive sexual gratification whenever they feel an urge. That means that nuns have specific ways in which they deal with these urges.
Dealing With Sexual Urges
When it comes to dealing with sexual urges, nuns have to find different ways to suppress them. Masturbation isn’t an option; in fact, it is forbidden. Why? Well, it’s still a type of sex or sexual gratifications. As we know, nuns shouldn’t indulge in that or act on those kinds of feelings.
So how do they deal with urges? Some say that a splash of cold water does the trick. This helps bring you back to the reality of things and ground you. Nuns have to be masters of mindfulness above all, which means they have to know how to steer themselves away from entertaining feelings they shouldn’t have.
Other nuns claim that dedicating themselves to their work and prayer is what helps them cope. The life of a nun is actually quite busy and fulfilled. This means that they don’t have the time to indulge in anything they shouldn’t. If they find the time, they should turn to God and help themselves through prayer.
There aren’t any other specific ways of dealing with urges. We assume that each nun has a way that works for her best.
What Happens When They Give in to Their Urges?
At the end of the day, nuns are human too. It’s all too possible for them to end up engaging in sexual activities and later regretting it. The sexual abuse of nuns is, sadly, another thing that can happen. In either of those scenarios, a nun breaks her vow of chastity. So what happens next? It depends on the religious order she’s a part of.
Every order has its own rules and regulations. That means that a nun would have to sort things out within her order before things move higher up the religious ladder. Being removed from the order is the last resort. Nuns usually discuss the issue and try to find the solution. In this case, that would mean that the nun would never do such a thing again.
To be removed from the order, a nun would have to do something that’s majorly sinful. We assume that — even though the Bible offers a set of rules — the nuns are the ones who decide if the act itself was sinful enough for them to lose a member.
Conclusion
Nuns, much like other people, have sex drives and even fall in love. All they have to do is not act on their sexual desire. They have certain ways in which they suppress those urges and remain faithful only to God.
