What is life like as a nun in a Norfolk convent?

Sister Theresa joined when she was a little older than Catherine.

Now 39, she has been with the community for almost 15 years.

“I had an inkling when I was about 18 that God was saying ‘You know, you could be a sister.’ And, at first, I thought ‘Oh no Lord, surely not,'” she explains.

“But the funny thing was when that thought came to me in prayer, I did feel a sense of joy, even though I was a bit scared.

“(But) I did feel happy. I thought ‘I need to explore this.'”

She went on religious retreats, meeting other young Catholics.

“The funny thing was, I initially went because a cute boy I knew was going, so there was a bit of an ulterior motive,” she says.

On retreats, she got to know herself better but still did not know many women who had chosen the life she now leads.

“I didn’t know if you could be happy as a nun. I knew people that were happily married, so that was the idea I was clinging to, really.”

A further retreat to Walsingham, a small village in north Norfolk and one of England’s holiest, helped make her mind up.