a right to be merry Author:Sister Mary Francis P.C. This book was written by a Poor Clair to give us some idea of "what they do all day" (and we feel a little dizzy just reading about the amount they pack into twenty-four hours); why they do it, what the circumstances of their lives are, what the inside of a cloistered convent looks like, how it feels to get up in the middle of the night to chant... more » matins, about "recreation" - their sole entertainment, which consists of leave to talk for a short period each day. And she tell us why, in spite of what looks like an endless round of prayer and penance, they contrive to be so remarkably happy.
If you think secretly that this happiness must be of the somewhat hollow sort associated with "brave little smiles,: you will have learned better by the time you find Sister Mary Francis writing, "It's just as well our rule of silence does not forbid laughter."« less