|
| 
Sister Wendy Beckett (born February 25, 1930) is a South-African-born British art expert, consecrated virgin and contemplative hermit who became un unlikely celebrity during the 1990s, presenting a series of acclaimed art history documentaries for the BBC. Born in South Africa, she was raised in Edinburgh, Scotland and became a nun in 1946 in the order of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She was sent to England to begin her novitiate and studied at St. Anne's College at Oxford where she was awarded a Congratulatory First. Outside her academic studies, she lived in a convent that maintained a strict code of silence. After attending a teacher's training college in Liverpool and earning a teaching diploma in 1954, she returned to South Africa to teach at the University of the Witwatersrand. Health problems in 1970 forced her to abandon teaching and return to England where she went to live on the grounds of a Carmelite monastery. She spent many years translating Medieval Latin scripts before deciding to pursue her favorite subject of art in 1980. Obtaining Papal permission to become a Consecrated Virgin in 1970, Sister Wendy's order arranged for her to live under the protection of the Carmelite nuns at their monastery at Quidenham, Norfolk, in the east of England. She leads a contemplative lifestyle, and currently lives in a van on the grounds. Besides receiving the Carmelite prioress and a nun who brings her provisions, she dedicates her life solely to monastic solitude and prayer, but allows herself two hours of work per day. The present work was published by ST PAULS, London to celebrate the Year of Saint Paul.
Reviews
|
|
