Enclosed religious orders
Enclosed religious orders are religious orders whose members strictly separate themselves from the affairs of the external world. The term cloistered is synonymous with enclosed. In the Catholic Church, enclosure is regulated by the code of canon law, either the Latin code or the Oriental code, and also by the constitutions of the specific order. It is practised with a variety of customs according to the nature and charism of the community in question. This separation may involve physical barriers such as walls and grilles, with entry restricted for other people and certain areas exclusively permitted to the members of the convent. Outsiders may only temporarily enter this area under certain conditions. The intended purpose for such enclosure is to prevent distraction from prayer and the religious life and to keep an atmosphere of silence.
An enclosed nun of the Order of Saint Clare
Discalced Carmelites convent of Santa Teresa de Jesús in Buenos Aires. Through the grille one can view into the choir.
Monks of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (the Carmelite monks)
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. It is usually composed of laypeople and, in some orders, clergy. Such orders exist in many of the world's religions.
The Priory of St. Wigbert is a Lutheran monastery in the Benedictine tradition
Francisco de Zurbarán's painting of a Mercedarian Friar, Fra Pedro Machado
Ebstorf Abbey continued as a Lutheran convent in the Benedictine tradition since 1529