For our prior article, Sister Teresa Obsessed, here. For Trappist monastery, unique music, here.
For a real article, Austria, "Plot to free nuns," NYT, here.
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By [Your Name]
JASPER, Mo. — The front steps of St. Mary’s Convent still creak the way they did in 1885, when the first sisters arrived from St. Louis in horse-drawn wagons. The whitewashed clapboards need painting, and the bell tower leans slightly to the east. Inside, the scent of lemon oil and hay mingles in the hallways — a reminder that, these days, the sisters’ most faithful congregation might be found in an arena.
At its peak in the 1950s, St. Mary’s was home to 35 nuns who taught at parish schools and tended to patients at the county hospital. Today, there are just four sisters left, all in their eighties. But instead of retiring quietly, they have become unlikely local legends: rodeo clowns.
“We didn’t want to fade away,” said Sister Agnes Marie, 84, whose pink habit fringe and painted red nose have become familiar sights on the Missouri and Arkansas circuit. “We show people that joy is a vocation, too.”
An Unlikely Second Act
The sisters’ unlikely second act began five years ago, when a parishioner brought them to a county fair rodeo. “One of the bulls bolted toward the stands,” recalled Sister Bernadette, 82, “and without thinking, Agnes just ran into the ring with that big old blue tarp. The crowd roared. The next week, someone called and asked if we’d do it again.”
Now, the “Holy Rollers,” as they are affectionately known, travel most weekends from March to October, performing at small-town rodeos across the Ozarks. Their routines blend slapstick and scripture with pratfalls and parables. They can emerge from a clown barrel quoting St. Teresa of Avila.
“It’s not just just the laughs,” said Sister Bernadette, who handles wardrobe, pyrotechnics, and what she calls ‘spiritual risk assessment.’ “It’s about looking Death in the face, and then honking your clown horn twice for Jesus.”
Diocese Uncertain
But their antics have not been universally praised. A spokesman for the Diocese of Springfield–Cape Girardeau, Paul Reilly, said that while the bishop “deeply respects the sisters’ creativity,” he remains concerned about their safety and the financial strain of maintaining the convent. “We’ve discussed transitioning them to a retirement facility where they can receive the care they deserve,” he said, “but they have made clear they are not ready to hang up their boots.”
Local supporters, however, see things differently. “Those sisters are the best ambassadors we’ve got,” said Tom Jennings, owner of the Jasper Feed & Tack Shop and a longtime parishioner. “They’ve brought more people back to Mass than any sermon I’ve heard in years.”
At a recent rodeo in Harrison, Ark., the grandstands filled early for the evening’s most unusual act. As the announcer introduced “four women of faith with the fear of God — and not much else,” the crowd cheered. A cowboy in the stands tipped his hat. “These gals got guts,” said Dale Reeves, a lifelong Catholic and rodeo fan. “If faith can move mountains, I reckon it can distract a bull for eight seconds.”
A Prayer Before Unsaddling
After the final ride, the bulls were led back to their pens, and the sisters knelt briefly in the dust. “Every rodeo’s a kind of prayer,” said Sister Agnes. “The crowd doesn’t always know it, but we do.”
Back home in Jasper, the convent glows softly in the dusk. The sisters’ laughter carries across the yard. They wash the dust from their habits and hang them to dry — ready for whatever miracle the next week brings.
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Write in the style of a New York Times human interest piece. You are covering a small convent in a small city in Missouri, which was founded in 1885. At its height in the 1950s, there were 35 nuns there. They worked in nearby hospitals and in teaching. Today, in 2025, there were only four nuns left and they are all over 80.
There have been serious concerns that the convent is not valuable and not financially stable. The bishop of the diocese was interested in moving the nuns to a nursing home. However, The nuns have developed active and successful second careers as rodeo clowns, touring several states such as Missouri and Arkansas, but spending as many nights per year as possible in their home convent. Use quotations from the nuns, longtime supporters of the convent, a public relations official of the diocese, and catholic rodeo fans.
