Weaving a Tapestry: Loneliness, Spiritual Well-Being, and Communal Support

This book offers a paradigm of loneliness in relationship to spiritual well-being and communal support for women belonging to religious congregations. Many changes within religious life have had a profound impact upon community living, the nature of ministry, and the life styles of religious women. The author consults The Spiritual Well-Being Scale, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, and demographic data to provide a statistical analysis of the impact of spiritual well-being and communal support upon loneliness. She shows that spiritual well-being, for many, appeared to enable the individual to cope in loneliness, drawing on an intimate relationship with God. She also discusses the many transitions in religious life as a result of Vatican II and the uncertainty of how religious life will look in the future.