Convent

For other uses, see Convent (disambiguation).

The Convent of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, ancient house of Discalced Carmelites, in the Algarve, south of Portugal.

A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, of friars, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion. In modern English usage, "convent" almost invariably refers to a community of women, while "monastery," "priory" or "friary" are used for men; but in historical usage they are often interchangeable.

Technically, a "monastery" is a community of monastics, whereas a "convent" is a community of mendicants ("friary" specifying a male community specifically), and a "canonry" a community of canons [regular]. The terms "abbey" and "priory" can be applied to both monasteries and canonries and distinguish those headed by an Abbot from the lesser dependent houses headed by a Prior.

See also

• Abbey
• Christian monasticism
• Monastery

External links

• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Convent" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• Carmelite Monastery of the Sacred Hearts —- an example of a modern-day convent
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Convent" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.