Convent-made delicacies, a Christmas favorite, help monks and nuns win fans and pay the bills
Associated Press
1 / 14
Nun Maria de Jesus Frayle, 24, holds a tray with fried Christmas figures at the Mothers Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament convent in Mexico City, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. It's the fortnight before Christmas and all through the world's Catholic convents, nuns and monks are extra busy preparing the traditional delicacies they sell to a loyal fan base even in rapidly secularizing countries. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)A volunteer, wearing an apron which reads, "Pray and Work" in Latin, waits for customers to sell cakes made by cloistered nuns, at a market at the Reales Alcazares in Seville, Spain, on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. It's the fortnight before Christmas and all through the world's Catholic convents, nuns and monks are extra busy preparing the traditional delicacies they sell to a loyal fan base even in rapidly secularizing countries. (AP Photo/Laura Leon)Customers buy marmalades and cakes made by cloistered nuns, at a market at the Reales Alcazares in Seville, Spain, on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. Most monasteries have to be financially self-sufficient. Many in countries like Spain have to maintain not only an aging, shrinking cohort of monks and nuns, but also monumental, centuries-old buildings, said Fermn Labarga, a professor of church history at the University of Navarra in Pamplona. (AP Photo/Laura Leon)Handmade sweets made by the cloistered nuns of the Monjas Minimas monastery are displayed for sale at the door of a church in Jerez de la Frontera, southern Spain, on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. It's the fortnight before Christmas and all through the world's Catholic convents, nuns and monks are extra busy preparing the traditional delicacies they sell to a loyal fan base even in rapidly secularizing countries. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)Customers browse marmalades and cakes made by cloistered nuns at a special market at the Reales Alcazares in Seville, Spain, on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. It's the fortnight before Christmas and all through the world's Catholic convents, nuns and monks are extra busy preparing the traditional delicacies they sell to a loyal fan base even in rapidly secularizing countries. (AP Photo/Laura Leon)Handmade sweets made by the cloistered nuns of the Monjas Minimas monastery are displayed for sale at the door of a church in Jerez de la Frontera, southern Spain, on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. It's the fortnight before Christmas and all through the world's Catholic convents, nuns and monks are extra busy preparing the traditional delicacies they sell to a loyal fan base even in rapidly secularizing countries. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)From left, nuns Alejandra Jaime, 39, Maria Ines Maldonado, 76, Maria Auxiliadora Estrada, 59, and Patricia Marin, 28, store fritters with Christmas figures in clear plastic bags for sale at the Convent of the Mothers Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament in Mexico City, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)Nun Maria Ines Maldonado, 76, carries a tray of corn husks stuffed with shredded chicken and salsa verde at the Convent of the Mothers Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament in Mexico City, Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)Pestios, honey-coated pastries, are cooked by the cloistered nuns of the Clarisas convent in Carmona, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. It's the fortnight before Christmas and all through the world's Catholic convents, nuns and monks are extra busy preparing the traditional delicacies they sell to a loyal fan base even in rapidly secularizing countries. (AP Photo/Laura Leon)Nun Maria de Jesus Frayle, 24, left, puts her head inside a pot to smell the food held by Abigail Lopez, 29, at the Convent of the Mothers Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament in Mexico City on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)From left, nuns Maria Auxiliadora Estrada, 59, Maria Ines Maldonado, 76, Patricia Marin, 28 and Maria de Jesus Frayle, 24, attend morning Mass in the chapel at the Convent of the Mothers Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament in Mexico City, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)Nun Carmen Maria Maldonado, 78, left, sits next to her sister Maria Ines Maldonado, 76, as they stuff corns husk with shredded chicken and salsa verde at the Convent of the Perpetual Adorers Mothers of the Blessed Sacrament in Mexico City, Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)Nun Veronicah Nzula, 47, from Kenya, carries cakes after taking them out of the oven at the Clarisas convent in Carmona, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. It's the fortnight before Christmas and all through the world's Catholic convents, nuns and monks are extra busy preparing the traditional delicacies they sell to a loyal fan base even in rapidly secularizing countries. (AP Photo/Laura Leon)Pestios, honey-coated pastries, are kneaded before frying by the cloistered nuns of the Clarisas convent in Carmona, Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. It's the fortnight before Christmas and all through the world's Catholic convents, nuns and monks are extra busy preparing the traditional delicacies they sell to a loyal fan base even in rapidly secularizing countries. (AP Photo/Laura Leon)
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved
Nun Maria de Jesus Frayle, 24, holds a tray with fried Christmas figures at the Mothers Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament convent in Mexico City, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023. It's the fortnight before Christmas and all through the world's Catholic convents, nuns and monks are extra busy preparing the traditional delicacies they sell to a loyal fan base even in rapidly secularizing countries. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)