When thinking about selling shoes, religious sisters might not exactly be top of mind. Between their vows of poverty and their commitment to dressing simply, it’s fair to say that they are not your typical ambassadors of the fashion industry. But on July 11, the sandal brand Birkenstock released an ad featuring a stop-motion animation of a charming wool figurine adorned in a black-and-white Catholic sister’s habit. And people loved it.
In the short video, posted on Instagram, the little sister pulls up her long black tunic to reveal black Birkenstock sandals on her feet before playing a round of hopscotch which ends with a backflip. On the next slide, Birkenstock posted an image from one of their older advertisements: a black-and-white photo of six women religious in habits, holding hands and laughing, each wearing the brand’s sandals. Above them, a line of text reads: “Get into the habit.”
In the weeks following, the video has received nearly 24,000 likes. In the comment section of the post, hundreds of comments mention their own observations of religious sisters in Birkenstocks. There are even a few sisters themselves commenting on their love of the shoe.
While the idea of a religious sister as the subject of a shoe advertisement might seem novel, the positive attention the ad received seems to be part of a bigger trend, one emphasizing the often-underappreciated lives of women religious. The internet is calling it “Nun girl summer.”
In truth, “Nun girl summer” began months before summer even started. A widespread interest in religious sisters took off earlier this year, when clips from the Dominican Sisters Open Mic podcast went viral.
The podcast is a product of Openlight Media, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, which offers “educational and inspirational media that seeks to open hearts and minds to the light of Christ.”
Viewers fell in love with host Sister Miriam Holzman’s style of engaging with her fellow Dominican Sisters, who joined her on the podcast to talk about “all things Dominican.” As it turns out, that includes not just spirituality and service but also their intellectual pursuits and hobbies.
When fellow Dominican, Sister Mary Bethany shares that her favorite game is ultimate frisbee, Sister Miriam exclaims, “Sister, and you are so good at that!”
In her affirmations to her fellow sisters of “Sister, yes!” Sister Miriam’s voice has that beautiful, bright tone that only comes from talking while smiling. The phrase has caught on with social media users both in and out of the Catholic sphere. As The New York Times put it in a March 26 profile, fans of all sorts “find themselves mesmerized by the sisters’ soothing timbres and unrelenting positivity.”
The data proves this to be true: Clips from their podcast, posted on Tiktok, boast up to 7.3 million views and over 940,500 likes as of July 28. Comments read “Sisters, this is the podcast I never knew I needed. Your voices are SO calming,” and “Teach me your ways sister.”
The trend of nuns going viral has extended beyond the Dominican Sisters Open Mic this spring—the N.B.A. finals put the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco in the spotlight as they cheered for the San Antonio Spurs. Over the last few months, Catholic sisters have suddenly been…everywhere.
This sudden boom in interest and affection for these women may come as a surprise. According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, a non-profit research center at Georgetown University, the number of religious sisters in the United States has drastically and consistently declined in the decades since 1965, when vocations in the United States peaked. Because of their shrinking numbers, their presence in public life might also have been minimized. But now, sisters like the Dominicans and the Salesians (who represent a range of ages and racial identities) are shedding light on the powerful way these women represent the church and live out their faith.
And it’s not just these specific women’s personalities that have gained popularity—it’s also their way of life. The Wall Street Journal reported that convents in New York City, many of which traditionally offer guest rooms for lay women to live in community, are seeing long waitlists from applicants. Part of the appeal seems to be the lower cost of living.
One TikTok user, @katie_cornelia, who was quoted in the Wall Street Journal, lived with nuns at Sacred Heart Residences and, later, St. Mary’s Residence during her first year in New York City. She shared on TikTok that it was a “ten out of ten positive experience” for the affordable rent and clean, safe environment. “Nuns are awesome.”
But it’s not just a way to cut costs on rent. Convents in Europe also advertise opportunities for women to stay for weeks or months at a time to make important decisions, engage in contemplation or write their academic dissertations.
Cauline Grant blogged about her experience staying at a convent in Segni, Italy while discerning whether to pursue a master’s degree: “It forces you to slow down and really look at yourself—really reflect.” By the end of her two week stay, she wrote, “I definitely felt called to something.” She wasn’t sure if that was religious life, graduate studies or a closer relationship with Christ, but living with the sisters left her with a “warm fuzzy feeling” and a desire to discern.
As the term “Nun Girl Summer” has become popularized online, it’s come to represent an attitude towards life—informed by the spirit of women religious, but not exclusive to them. A HuffPost article from July 14, titled “The Next Hot Trend Might Just Be ‘Nun Girl Summer’” lists out the four rules for living with this mentality, which include being profoundly present, logging off, sticking to routines and building capacity for real relationships.
It’s not hard to see the appeal. These women are clearly intelligent, hardworking, humorous and joyful. They treat themselves and each other with dignity and respect. They speak beautifully about their faith and their vocations—as well as their education, careers, hobbies and relationships.
As young Catholic women, it is inspiring to see sisters using their platform to spread positivity and have meaningful conversations about faith, vocations and relationships. It reminds us that religious sisters have historically had an important role to play in spiritually and theologically nourishing the church (see female doctors of the church St. Teresa of Ávila, St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Hildegard of Bingen; mystics St. Gertrude the Great and Julian of Norwich; missionaries St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and St. Teresa of Kolkata and many more for inspiration). We are grateful to have women of our own time to look to as sources of spiritual guidance and examples of faith (not to mention models of great conversational skills).
But it also seems clear that you don’t have to be a certain gender—or even a certain religion—to look to these sisters as role models for how to live. (And it really doesn’t even have to be summer!) It seems clear: “Nun girl summer” is for everyone, in any season.
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