The Convent of the Heart Archives

The Cloistered Heart, Part 3: Spiritual Heartache

By maryrosekreger August 20, 2023Life After ConventFaith, God's Will, Hope, Interior Life, Life After Convent, Nancy Shuman, Spiritual Heartache, The Cloistered Heart, The Convent of the Heart, The Expansion, Writing LifeNo Comments

You said you have so long waited...for the convent of the heart. When I first found Nancy Shuman's book, The Cloistered Heart, I just kept saying to myself, "How does she know?" -Email message from Cora Brown, a Cloistered Heart

The Cloistered Heart, Part 2

By maryrosekreger August 3, 2023Life After ConventBride of Christ, Discernment, Life After Convent, Nancy Shuman, Parish Life, The Cloistered Hearts, The Convent of the HeartNo Comments

"Heart cloister can be lived by single or married persons, religious or clergy or lay, male or female. Because we carry our enclosure with us, we can be united in heart with God wherever we may be." - The Cloistered Heart Way of Life, by Nancy Shuman

The Cloistered Heart

By maryrosekreger July 25, 2023Life After ConventCall to Holiness, Cloistered Hearts, Community, Contemplatives, Discernment, Life After Convent, The Convent of the HeartNo Comments

Cora had assured me that twelve women were presently following this cloistered way of life. She’d also written that the Cloistered Heart was a “call” – something given to a person by God. Jesus, are you calling me to this way of life? I wondered.