A monastery is where monastics live. The sisters begin their day with hour-long prayers at 6 a.m. and pray six more times each day. Their evening ends in prayer at 8 p.m., and the nuns remain silent until the next morning's prayers. The sisters' days are not all work and no play. Becoming a full-fledged member of the monastic community takes almost five years.
Aspirants first visit the monastery, spending about a week with the sisters.
Some aspirants decide on their first visit that the monastic life is not for them. Those who remain interested spend a six-month probationary period at the monastery as a postulant. They were willing to accept me at 58. Sister Cortinas said she always had wanted to become a nun, but instead got married and had children. She later divorced her husband, who has since died.