A First Class Ticket to Silent Sisters

The refashioning of religious ideals that elevated the practice of silence to the highest constellation of Christian virtues confronted the Cluniacs with an unexpected challenge. In cloistered communities that sometimes numbered hundreds of monks, the cultivation of a strict and reverential silence conflicted with the fact that some form of communication was necessary for the operation of the abbey and the orchestration of its rituals.

Rather than relinquish their ideal of silence as an essential virtue, the monks of Cluny created a silent language of hand signs that enabled them to express their needs without recourse to any verbal exchange. - Silence and Sign Language in Medieval Monasticism, introduction

The Abbey of Cluny (emphasis, second syllable) was a lighthouse for medieval monasticism. Cluniac monasteries sprouted across Europe, following the Benedictine rule. This primarily took place around the year 1000, but there has been a renaissance of Cluniac ideals in Wellesley College.

The Sisters of the College have fully embraced the ideal of Silence. Silent Hours are put in place during the Final Masses of the Year, where poor nuns seeking to relieve their Piety with a Sandra Bullock movie are shouted at by the Superiors. Many eat alone in dining halls, seeking to cleanse their souls from the racket of incessant chitchat. And of course, most communication never takes place between a nun and another nun.

No, the Sisters use their own system of nonverbal communication: First Class. While somewhat developed from sign language, First Class allows the Sisters to talk to one another without braving actual human contact. First Class allows one to communicate with professors, administrators, even Cell Mates. The Sisters do all this communication without straying from their True Calling, homework.

Many Sisters, however, find that this religious ideal of True Calling hurts in a deep place. These Sisters keep First Class open all the time, and long to hear the Ding! of the mailbox. The Ding! is the sound of another Sister, or Monk, or Superior, reaching out across the vast emptiness of the Internet to communicate with her. It is not unheard of for Sisters to go a little mad in the head, and hear phantom Dings! where there is no real Ding!.

The Mothers Superior have cried an end to First Class, and are upgrading the nonverbal communication systems to Zimbra and Sakai, systems that vaguely suggest African roots and are more appealing than the bourgeois First Class. The Medievalist knows, however, that you may change the sign language, but you can't keep the Sisters from communicating.

Nonverbally.