Loneliness/Isolationīoth Sister John and Sister Miriam experience isolation and loneliness. Some of it is also self-inflicted, as in the case of the weekly Miserere, where the nuns undergo discipline in penance for themselves and those who can't or won't pray for themselves. Teresa suffered agonies with her constant illness, but for her it was transformational-through it she grew closer in her relationship to God. Constantly, the other nuns point her to Christ, who knew no peace and suffered agonies on the cross up till the bitter end. Yet the most important thread of suffering running through the book is the suffering of Christ on the cross as well as other saints like St. Sister John suffers from the bad migraines that accompany her visions Helen suffers over her absentee drunk mother, her grandparents' passing away, and more.
Helen suffering the jibes of her classmates about her running abilities the abused chickens in the cages of the poultry farm Helen and her grandfather went to, the suffering of the family whose teenage daughter was shot in the head, Sister Teresa slowly losing more and more of her memories.
This book is full of examples of suffering. In a way, Sister John has her own sacrifice to make: her life, or her visions? Suffering They do this to both to enter into Christ's sacrifices and to rid themselves of distractions from focusing on him. Not only that, they sacrifice access to the outside world and its entertainments: cell phones, movies, television, and more. As part of their vows, the nuns take a vow of poverty and simplicity. Nuns experience sacrifice on a daily basis. Even the resolution at the end of the book shows the completion of the idea of sacramentalism in Sister John's life, as she keeps the faith and returns to her duties. This theme can be seen repeatedly in the focus and contentment the nuns bring to their daily duties, whether in cases like Sister Miriam bringing breakfast to Sister John in the infirmary and preparing it for her, or Sister Priscilla turning every act into a sacrament, including things like emptying a pencil sharpener. Though their lives do not offer satisfaction in the worldly sense of material possessions and fame, for them the truth of Christ coming to earth as a man elevates the ordinary and makes it sacred. In this book, sacramentalism refers to the sense of the sacred or holy the nuns both experience and bring to their lives in the monastery.
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