Convent Wisdom
By Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita (Simon & Schuster, 2025)
Since I find inspiration in the devotion and ministry of women religious, I was drawn to Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita’s Convent Wisdom. I expected a spiritual self-help guide but discovered a complicated love note to Renaissance-era women religious. The book draws from the authors’ research on religious communities and documents the challenges in their studies and personal lives.
Garriga and Urbita approach their academic pursuits as a quasi-monastic endeavor. As they pored over research documents and student submissions while navigating existential dread and relational strife, the image of the cloister resonated with them. They discovered a “shelter within the narratives of our nuns.”
Across seven chapters, Convent Wisdom provides intriguing insights for contemporary readers. St. Catherine of Siena’s five stages of tears, the authors argue, offer a blueprint for processing personal grief. Venetian nun Arcangela Tarabotti, who connected her sisters’ sartorial creations with a wealthy customer base, can inspire an entrepreneurial spirit. Luisa de la Ascensión challenges a celebrity-obsessed culture to find the fruits of anonymity.
The text also examines some nuns’ fantastical abilities, such as bilocation, and highlights these women’s humanity and complexity.
Despite the authors’ deep affection for these nuns, at times they keep the spiritual implications of their lives at arm’s length, sidestepping deeper explorations into faith-based devotion. Where the authors politely decline the spiritual advances of their cloistered companions, readers can still receive their invitation.
With pop-culture references and witticisms, Convent Wisdom is a clever, engaging read. Whether you’re a student, a pop-culture savant, or a spiritual wanderer, you’re sure to find a kernel of wisdom in this book.
This article also appears in the June 2026 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 91, No. 6, page 36). Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
Image: Cropped from the cover of Convent Wisdom, Simon & Schuster
