Which Discerners Will Enter a Convent?

[amensisterfriend]

Here's the place to predict which discerners will choose to enter a convent at the end of the series! 

 

A couple of episodes ago, I wouldn't have guessed that Christie would---she seemed like she just wanted to have a romantic relationship with Jesus rather than embracing the life of a nun---but last night's episodes changed my mind. 

 

So, as of now, I'm guessing that Christie and the tiresomely self-righteous but devout Claire will enter a convent. 

 

I'm guessing that Eseni, whose primary reason for being there seems to be that she's scared of being hurt the way her mother was by her father and who still (IMO) still seems way too torn about whether to continue her relationship with Darnell, won't enter one. Neither will the still comically immature though well-meaning Francesca. 

 

Stacy is the true wild card for me. I honestly couldn't begin to predict what the outcome of her journey will be, but I'm interested to find out! 

[TomGirl]

As I said on another thread, I feel like Claire is a red herring, the pious judgy one with the constant smirk but somehow I don't think she'll join up. I think she likes calling the shots more than she likes obeying. Just a hunch.

Edited December 10, 2014 by TomGirl

[leighroda]

Take anything I say with a grain of salt because I have no real experience with nuns, and moderate exposure to Catholocism... If I had to rank the to most likely to least this would be my rank

I actually think Stacey stands a good shot, she kinda is the middle ground between the two extremes of Claire/Christie and Francesca/Esani. To me she actually seems the closest to the nuns they visit, meaning she does not seem to judge the people they work with, she doesn't give me the impression that she's doing this because it's the thing to do. The sisters they have been working with have shown they have fun sides, and to me that kinda lines up with Stacey's personality.

Next I would say Christie, she definitly loves God and I can see her dedicating her life to this. She seems to also love people and serve them. I think her romanticizing Jesus is a little weird, but for the most part I think she's relatively level headed.

Claire, Claire, Clair... On paper she sounds great, she says and does the right things... Most of the time. But for me when her true colors do show, It speaks volumes to her in an actions speak louder than words sort of way. She seems very judgemental and im not sure how well that coincides with being a non.

Francesca is scared of her own shadow, I don't know how she functions outside of her house. I actually like her, because when she is not crying she seems like I fun person... But if you can't not talk to your mommy for 6 weeks when you are 21, I don't know what to tell you. Maybe when she matures a little she would be a good candidate but not now.

Esani is an obvious long shot, I put her last because as it's been stated she has not once acknowledged this is a calling or that she feels called. Aside from the Darnell drama she does not even strike me as being comfortable In the Catholic Church.

[GaT]

I copied this from the 4th show thread, I wrote this about Eseni

 

I don’t know why I noticed this, but in some of Eseni’s THs, her eyebrows have clearly not been waxed/tweezed for a while & it looks like she’s wearing no or minimum makeup. I think she may have chosen to enter a convent too & filmed the THs later on because they’re interspersed with ones with nicely shaped eyebrows.

 

I didn't notice her nails, but her look was definitely different, & I can't think of any other reason for the change.

[alt0233]

Money is on Claire, Christie and/or Stacey. Francesca might eventually, but she's way to immature now, and Eseni probably decided she could maybe one day be a nun after watching the Sound of Music or Trouble with Angels, but was never seriously considering it. I'm telling you, Trouble with Angels is basically a nun recruiting video - I totally wondered if I could be a nun after watching it as a pre-teen and teenager.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the decision of one of the three that I mentioned was that they know they want to be a nun but haven't yet found their order. In fact, that may be what they're doing with Claire - she'd already decided, so they picked her so that they'd have at least one who picked it at the end.

[Pepper Mostly]

Is Claire the one who's been doing discernments for ten years? What is her deal? She is definitely the most Holy Joe (or Josephine, should I say?) of the group--what is she waiting for exactly? If in ten years she can't determine that she has a vocation, then I'd guess probably not. I used to work in personnel placement, temp and permanent secretarial jobs. I've encountered more than one person who's been temping for years, says she wants a full time job, but bombs at interviews or cancels at the last minute, every time. She reminds me of them. Just make up your mind already. No one cares if you decide to be a nun or not. But it must be her way of making herself interesting--if she gives it up she's just another person. Or possibly even a failure. She'll probably just discern forever.

 

I was impressed by Christie's interactions with the residents--she seemed genuinely engaged and happy there. I wouldn't be surprised if she joined the sisters in Chicago, as she said she might. Sister Beth Ann was very tolerant of her dramatics, somehow I think she was a bit of a drama queen back in the day as well!

 

Eseni doesn't even seem to be very knowledgeable about her religion, I can't imagine her becoming a nun! Stacey seems to want a vocation very badly, but she still has something holding her back. And Francesca should run, not walk, home, find a good therapist, and start working on her anxiety issues.

[TomGirl]

Claire will only agree to join if they promise her she can be Mother Superior.

[TomGirl]

I think I may be alone out on this limb, but I'm wondering if the ending will be a surprise courtesy of the editing monkeys. Specifically, I'm thinking Claire might be a "no" and Francesca may be a "yes."

I know from other things I've read (both fact and fiction), and from people I've known personally, that the most outwardly pious and seemingly serene women are not necessarily suited for monastic life. Red flags for Claire, IMO, are 1) she's apparently already been discerning for so long and hasn't made a commitment, and 2) she seems to be more comfortable giving orders than getting them. A more charitable way of putting it might be that she seems more independent, and that can be hard to give up.

As far as Francesca, I know most viewers (or at least most posters here) find her the least likely and least suited for sisterhood, but I do wonder about a couple of things. First, the very fact that she's so easily frightened and anxious might be because she IS seriously considering this life. As many have said, "It's only six weeks, get a grip!" Maybe she's really NOT viewing it as just six weeks, but as an actual first step. I know, I may be grasping here!

Another thing I've noticed about Francesca is that once she gets past her panic attacks, she really does seem to enjoy the various activities. She also shows some unexpected spunk at times (e.g. walking away from Claire during that preachy "meeting") and when she called her mother in tears after visiting the elderly, it seemed to me that her concern was more for her mother (who is dealing with an elderly parent) than herself.

I know, I know. My last thought is that the powers that be (including the producers, the sisters at the convents, etc.) may want to show that you can have fears and meltdowns and still have what it takes to be a sister. Conversely (Claire) that you can look like a perfect fit but not be one. Maybe it's not so much that I THINK this will be the outcome as that I HOPE it will be.

As for Stacy, Christie and Eseni, the only one I feel pretty sure will NOT join up is Eseni. She's probably there to represent the "running away from real life" candidate. The other two are wild cards to me.

OK, I'm done, mock me all you want! Can't wait for tonight!!!

[GaT]

I'm still thinking Eseni is going to join, she seems like the least likely to me.

[TomGirl]

It's just like the bachelorettes with You-Know-Who as The Bachelor, isn't it? (Am I going to hell for that?)

Edited December 16, 2014 by TomGirl

[TomGirl]

Well, I couldn't have guessed more incorrectly if I'd tried, could I? No surprise twists after all, more like what you saw was what you got. Still, I found the last episode very satisfying, and it seems like all the women made good choices, at least for this point in their lives. It's a long process and the outcomes are not guaranteed, but all seems well for now.

Stacy was my favorite in the first episode and remained my favorite in the end. She just seems like an incredibly nice, kind, straightforward person. I'm glad she decided not to follow Christie after all - that had "wrong reason" written all over it.

Sure would be intersting to see a 6-month or one-year follow up!

[GaT]

Well, it looks like Eseni fooled me with her eyebrows. 

[Pepper Mostly]

No surprises there, but I agree, a satisfying ending. Christie seems very happy with her choice! And Claire--well, if she joins a small sisterhood, its that much more easy to distinguish herself, rise to a position of stature, and be more than just a face in the crowd. The Mother looked quite young. Claire can be a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

 

Eseni didn't join? I was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you! The moment she refused to hand over her phone in Kentucky was the clincher. "no way I'm giving the sister my phone until I talk to Darnell". Sweet tapdancing Jesus, girl. Newsflash, nuns don't have boyfriends. If you can't go a day without talking to yours, you are probably not cut out for this life, I'm just sayin.

 

Stacey was the most interesting to me. I'd be curious to know what she finally decides. I really like how honest she is with herself.

[Bella]

I started wondering if I was reading Claire backwards, so to speak. Maybe her hard, overbearing edge came because she hadn't found the right place and it made her tense. (When stressed, Francesca sobs on the phone to her mom, Eseni has to call Darnell, Claire rubs everyone the wrong way, etc.) Once Claire found her spot, in Kentucky, she relaxed and softened considerably. And maybe that's the "real" Claire, the one we saw in Kentucky.

 

Or maybe she grew during the process in ways we couldn't see because Francesca and Eseni were getting disproportionate air time. Had the most dramatic discerner been Stacey with her Boyfriend Jesus, maybe there would have been more time to devote to Claire's internal journey.

 

Or maybe she's an overbearing bitch and will never change. I don't know. I'm just tossing out an alternative POV.

[technorebel]

It's just like the bachelorettes with You-Know-Who as The Bachelor, isn't it? (Am I going to hell for that?)

 

It would've been a killer ending if surfer dude Jesus had shown up with roses (I'm probably going to hell with TomGirl).

[SpaghettiTuesdays]

Here's the place to predict which discerners will choose to enter a convent at the end of the series! 

 

A couple of episodes ago, I wouldn't have guessed that Christie would---she seemed like she just wanted to have a romantic relationship with Jesus rather than embracing the life of a nun---but last night's episodes changed my mind. 

 

So, as of now, I'm guessing that Christie and the tiresomely self-righteous but devout Claire will enter a convent. 

 

I'm guessing that Eseni, whose primary reason for being there seems to be that she's scared of being hurt the way her mother was by her father and who still (IMO) still seems way too torn about whether to continue her relationship with Darnell, won't enter one. Neither will the still comically immature though well-meaning Francesca. 

 

Stacy is the true wild card for me. I honestly couldn't begin to predict what the outcome of her journey will be, but I'm interested to find out! 

Bingo. This was my prediction as well.

[Nidratime]

This was a very interesting program. I hope they try it again with five new women. And, I wouldn't mind an update on what happened with these women ... or should I say these three women and the two girls.

[Globegrl]

Neither of the two who chose to enter convents have become nuns.  Claire never entered the Kentucky convent and Christie entered for eight months and then withdrew herself.