Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/50583
by Shauna McClure eir pumpkin bread has become quite famous through the years. (City Councilmember Tom LaBonge is one of their best customers.) Customers come from as far as Utah and Arizona to buy large quantities (especially around the holi- days) to give as gifts to friends and family. e nuns operate a gift shop selling their candy and bread year-round as well as religious and hand-made gift items. From the first week of November through December their Christmas Boutique offers a large assortment of handmade Christmas items. ere are eighteen nuns living at the monastery, and their average age is well over seventy. e day starts before five in the morning and ends with lights out at around nine in the evening. e prioress Sister Mary Raymond, who is elected by the community, assigns each nun to work neces- sary for the daily living of community life. According to Sis- ter Mary Pia, the nuns seek God by observing the purely contemplative life, withdawing from the world by enclosure and silence. ey work diligently, study the scriptures and pray in purity of conscience and the joys of sisterly concord, "in freedom of spirit." Silence is observed throughout the day and evening, except for an hour of daily recreation. Although they are not out-and-about in Hollywood, the troubles of the community and the world is at the center of their prayers. e nuns read the newspaper every day to keep abreast of current affairs. ey are registered voters and take their civic responsibilities very seriously. "Hollywood is al- ways on our minds and in our hearts." A completely different type of Catholic community also ex- ists in Hollywood, and the contrast between the silent, cloistered lives of the Dominican nuns and the Immaculate Heart Com- munity is profound. Rooted in Catholic tradition, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary came to Hollywood and founded both Immaculate Heart College (now the campus of the American Film Institute) and Immaculate Heart High School. When Vatican II issued new directives in the 1960s, the sisters followed the guidance of Pope Paul VI and reviewed their internal structure and proposed changes in how they worked, prayed, and lived. is led to a dramatic showdown with Car- dinal James McIntyre, the Archbishop of Los Angeles, who staunchly opposed all of the sisters' proposed changes, leading to the order of the removal of all Immaculate Heart Sisters teaching in Los Angeles diocesan schools. McIntyre presented the Community with an ultimatum: either conform to the stan- dards of traditional religious life or seek dispensation from vows. It was during this turbulent time during the 1960s and 1970s, that the IHC's Sister Corita Kent gained interna- tional fame for her vibrant seigraphs. She ran the Art De- partment at Immaculate Heart College unti 1968 when she left the Order and moved to Boston. In the end, ninety percent chose to dispense from their vows and reorganize as a non-profit community organization, the Im- maculate Heart Community – a voluntary lay community. Al- though the process was by all accounts painful and difficult, the vision of the women who left the congregation has not only sur- vived but today provides new and exciting models for renewal for the faithful – for Catholics and those from other faiths – and Novice Mistress, Sister Mary Pia, behind the cloister's iron grill. especially for women. e 'rebel nuns' blazed a trail of vibrancy and inclusiveness that is still reflected today with a membership of 165 Christian women and men – both married and single – with a diversity of culture, church affiliations, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Although their goals are similar, ICH approach could hardly be more different to that of the cloistered nuns. IHC works as an integrated part of the community, advocating for the marginalized, and for social and economic justice. e bold vision is evident through projects like the Kenmore Resi- dence, a residential home for senior residents of the ICH com- munity, Blythe Street Project, a community organizing collaboration that helps economically disadvantaged and immi- grant residents, and the Corita Art Center on Franklin Avenue. Some say the purpose of religion is to take personal con- trasting experiences of faith and bring them together through a shared language. Just as Hollywood is growing and evolving, religions can evolve and grow through a col- lective experience. As part of the experience we call "Hol- lywood", it's good to know that regardless of religion Hollywood is keeping the faith. DH WINTER 2011 / DISCOVER HOLLYWOOD 49