Sister Merry Peter Co-Mistress of Missions Destined to Wear the Veil I was destined to be a sister. At 14, while in Catholic school, the sisters made us take standardized career preference tests. When my results came back, Sister Clara, our 85 year old guidance counselor, called me in to ask why I "screwed up the results." She was as furious as I was dumbfounded to see my career option was "religious sister, nun," despite clearly checking MALE on the form. I got detention for a week, and the first glimpse of my true calling! Early Inspiration Growing up, my most inspiring teachers were sisters—remarkable women with unending patience, profound vision, and the "balls" to do the hard work while men often reaped the public glory. In Canada and the Eastern U.S., where I'm from, these sisters often came from working class families. Religious life offered them an escape from marriage to a rough and controlling husband and spirituality became their path to freedom, self-expression, and new horizons. I owe much to the witness of their journeys. Lost Nuns of Canada In the early 90s, while volunteering in the Toronto Lesbian and Gay Archives, I found some clippings about a defunct "Convent" of "Gay Nuns" instrumental in the city's early queer rights movement. Their memory had all but faded, but their story resonated with me. At the time, I was living in community, writing a Masters in Religious History, and working as a gay activist and journalist. As I wrestled with how these pieces fit together, I kept thinking about these disappeared Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, wishing I could have asked their advice. Faeries Make me a Nun That summer, some faerie friends convinced me to visit the Radical Faerie Sanctuary in Short Mountain, Tennessee, where I met a quixotic faerie elder who called himself "Mish." Bearded and prone to wearing taffeta, Mish was a great story teller who taught me much about the "fey way." During our visits, I confessed my obsession with the "gay nuns of Toronto" and, to my surprise, learned "Mish" was short for "Sister Missionary P. Delight," one of the founders of the original order in San Francisco. Through Mish, I discovered the Sisters were a "worldwide conspiracy." By the end of the visit, Mish became my mother, and sent me home to Toronto as a rookie nun called to reawaken the "lost Toronto mission." Over the next seven years, I embraced my vocation and, with bar bingo, street outreach, Pride marches, fundraisers, youth retreats, and stage shows, slowly grew into Sister Merry Peter. Merry celebrates the gift the faeries gave me in my Mother Mish and the power of their spiritual vision. (Merry meet, merry part, merry meet again is an old faerie blessing). Peter recalls my confirmation name, and the Apostle who served as a role-model for a confused, reluctant teenager with beatific visions. San Francisco Sister I left my missionary work in Toronto in 1999 and moved to San Francisco, home-base for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Some nuns were wary of a "rogue nun from the Provinces," but after six months back as a novice, they stood with me as I re-affirmed my perpetual vows to smash guilt and spread Universal Joy and became a black veil in the San Francisco Order. For me, San Francisco and the Bay Area are a magical place where the veil is thin between worlds and exciting spiritual journeys are possible. But such places attract resistance and many are pulled down into the cracks by drugs, bitterness, and loneliness. With all my sisters, I stand in the breech, guiding the lost back on the path to their truth and beauty. Our mission is to hold up a sparkling mirror which reflects the deepest JOY in all those we meet. I strive to live my vocation in many ways: bar ministry, darshan, public ritual; spiritual direction; outreach to queer youth, political activism, and grantmaking. On the Peninsula, I enjoy "guerilla sistering," supporting events "out of face" but identified in other ways as a Sister. I love when folks realize Sisters work outside the Castro! As a faerie nun, I cherish the San Mateo Coastline and the Redwood Forests and miles of trails. Missionary Zeal I first discovered my calling as a Missionary Nun and I remain close to my mother, Sister Mish (now Sister Iamosamadelite) and to Sister Clara Cumpassionata and the other divine sisters of the Missionary Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (MOPI) and to sisters across the West Coast, UK, Germany, France, Australia, and Latin America. Always proud of Canada, I hope to see sisters spreading from BC to the Prairies, up to Nunavut and down to Ontario, Quebec, and across the Maritimes. Currently, I serve and support the Order as Co-Mistress of Missions with Sister Mary Timothy Simplicity, and I encourage you to get in touch with us if you feel a sister stirring in your soul or sense a convent on your horizon. Please feel free to email us at . Scandalous Joy There are those who think my being a nun scandalous! But I say, in a world profiting from fear and shame, the only scandal is to deny the unique JOY and BEAUTY of anyone. With reverence for all the nuns who came before me, I continue their work outside the convent walls, free to liberate Universal Joy from limiting labels and creeds and to celebrate the unique beauty and truth in everyone. I only hope my makeup holds out a little bit longer! If you want to share your story, comment, or are in need of a Sister to support you, please send me an email through the Sisters' website. With indulgent gratitude and joy! Sr. Merry Peter, SPI « Return to Meet The Sisters page.