This term is applied to Religious who stay within a particular convent or monastery – the ‘enclosure’ – to pursue more effectively a life of prayer. They would usually only leave the enclosure for medical treatment or other exceptional reasons. This rule is intended to help the enclosed Religious be more easily protected from the distractions and attentions of the outside world.
Glossary – Anglican Religious Life Yearbook
- There is an outer enclosure—a defined space governed by law or freely chosen in love.
- There is the inner enclosure—a private space within the defined space, a cell only for the individual. Defined by either law or freely chosen in love.
- The enclosure of the heart is a place of meeting where only Jesus may enter—the place of free love.
The outer serves the inner. And all points to Jesus.
this solitary life 