Enclosed religious orders

Exam ( from late Latin clausura, shutter ', claudere, close ' ) denotes the defined, the Order members -only zone, the Order of the member leaves only with the prior permission of his superiors. Outsiders are allowed in this area only under certain conditions temporarily enter ( for example, when it comes to religious candidates, doctors or artisans). This part of the monastery serves as a place of retreat and reflection for members of the Order and symbolizes the replacement for the desert as a habitat of the early hermits.

1566 Pope Pius V issued the Apostolic Constitution Circa pastoralis, which prescribed " papal " exam for communities of women with solemn vows strict, so called. According to the Instruction of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life on the Contemplative Life and the Enclosure of Nuns ( Verbi sponsa, 1999) applies the papal conclave today only for contemplative living woman religious, such as the Carmelites or the Poor Clares.

For exam include dormitory ( dorm ) or cell passage and cells, refectory ( dining room ), chapter house ( meeting and reading room ), cloister and choir.

Exklaustrierung

Exklaustrierung or exclaustration means that a member of the Order no longer living within the exam. The Order member is exempt from community life and is not tied to the exam regulations. The Exklaustrierung is no exclusion from the orders which, however, often goes to the outlet member of a religious in solemn vows, a longer period of Exklaustrierung advance. The - or that is still member of the Order and tied to the religious vows, but live outside of the Convention.

Exam is also an inner attitude, the withdrawal and detachment from outside influences and focus on a goal.