Differences between Sister and Mother Superior
Vicki Quade has created two distinct nun characters for you to enjoy.
SISTER
In Late Nite Catechism, there is the Sister character. She's an old-fashioned,
pre-Vatican 2 nun who still dresses in the old, formal habit.
Sister lives in the convent attached to St. Bruno's parish. She's the last nun there.
She is never referred to in the show by name, only "Sister." She has a small bedroom, a small kitchen, and a little living room. That's her whole apartment inside the convent. She still teaches religion, not at the local Catholic school, which has closed, but she's loaned out to a neighboring school. She's not so comfortable there, but it's better than nothing.
Sister wears the full-dress habit. She prefers the habit, because when she was young, the habit was considered really cool. Typically frustrated in her dealings with Father Murphy, tonight she is stuck teaching the catechism class that he's supposed to be teaching. The people in the audience are here to attend the class. They have to attend this Catechism class in order to receive a certificate that will allow them to be a baptism sponsor, a godparent.
Sister is about 65 years old. She uses humor as a teaching tool and is alternately a strict disciplinarian and a warm, loving nurturer.
MOTHER SUPERIOR
Vicki Quade interviewed two members of the Sisters of St. Joseph, TOSF, to learn information about how a Mother Superior would operate. Some characteristics of Mother Superior are based on Sister Mary Stephen Grzelinski, with input from Sister Dorothy Pagosa.
She appears in the comedies Put the Nuns in Charge!, Sunday School Cinema, Saints & Sinners, and Mother Superior's Ho-Ho-Holy Night.
Mother Superior Mary O'Brien is the head of the Little Sisters of What Would Mary Wear, an order of nuns that are the religious equivalent of What Not to Wear. She's the youngest member of the order, which is how she became Mother Superior.
Mother Superior travels the country helping parishes with their pageants, with special holy day celebrations, and to help advertise her book series: So You Think You're a Catholic.
Her background: before becoming a nun and working her up through the ranks to head her order, Mother Superior was a tradesman. She was a cook, kitchen help, learned carpentry, attended beauty school, and learned how to fix the convent car. She's a jill-of-all trades.
They needed her at the convent because she could do anything: cook dinner, tune-up the car, rewire the electricity, and put in a closet where needed. And she could keep the nuns looking trim and proper.
Now she puts all of her skills to work a traveling consultant. Her fees go back to the convent to help the retirement needs of her order, which is very small. She stays in touch with her mother house using her cell phone and lap top computer.
When Mother Superior is in town, she stays in the school's convent, if there is one. Otherwise, she is put up usually at a Super 8 or other hotel chain. The archdiocese doesn't splurge on her. She's usually never invited for dinner at the rectory.
Mother Superior wears a black jumper as a sort of modified habit, and she still wears a small veil.