When Emma Atkinson told her father that she wanted to be a cloistered Carmelite nun, he thought it was a fleeting desire.

The Carmelite nun sat on the opposite side of a table with her friend. A cloistered nun is a woman who has taken religious vows and lives a life of seclusion, typically within a monastery or convent.

Most people would think that life inside the cloister is tough, especially since contemplatives, who committed themselves to ...

These Carmelite convents were established throughout Europe, with nuns devoted to a cloistered life based on the original rule of Saint Albert, which emphasized solitude, silence, prayer, and fasting.

On Feb. 2, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Bishop James Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, celebrated a ...