麻豆约拍

Lauren Laverne meets three women who trained to become nuns at St Mary's Convent, Ascot in the 1970s.

In December 1972, shortly before Christmas, Stephanie de Laszlo entered the Novitiate of St Mary's Convent in Ascot. She was to be joined by Jane Livesey and Anna Brennan - three young women embarking on a life of contemplation and prayer within the Congregation of Jesus.

But their lives did not all follow that quiet path - since then two of the women have left the Congregation, while the third became its worldwide leader. Today one of the three is a lawyer and one joined the police force before becoming a member of an enclosed community of Benedictine nuns. Which of them chose to leave religious life altogether and why did one go back after several years on the outside?

In this programme the women speak about their faith with clarity and wry humour. They look back on the decision they made to enter religious life and how their resolve was tested in the intervening years. They reflect on the challenges they experienced both inside and outside the convent and how they negotiated the forks in the road along the way to personal understanding and contentment.

Producer: Paula McGinley
Editor: Eleanor Garland.