Evan was wearing his coat and tie, which he hoped would be sufficient credentials for the preoccupied nuns to assume he should be there. In the reception area and in the hallways, he walked past several of the sisters, mostly middle-aged and wearing traditional black-and-white habits. In recent times when other orders were seen more often in street clothes, he’d heard the Carmelites wore their habits faithfully. They called their manner of uniform dress their eschatological witness, meaning it advertised their mission in the world and their role in it. Today, these nuns walked swiftly and quietly with their heads down. Evan wasn’t sure whether this behavior was the norm for their order — or whether the shock and grief of the fateful morning had them longing to be not only meek but also inv
