Arched Interior Scene

Over time, the monastery grew and women of wealth and social standing entered the novitiate or as lay residents. Some of these new residents brought with them their servants and household goods, and lived within the walls of the monastery as they had lived before.

While outwardly renouncing the world and embracing a life of poverty, they enjoyed their luxurious English carpets, silk curtains, porcelain plates, damask tablecloths, silver cutlery, and lace sheets. They employed musicians to come and play for their parties.

By the mid 1800s, word that the monastery functioned more as a social club than a religious convent reached Pope Pius IX who sent Sister Josefa Cadena, a strict Dominican nun, to investigate. She arrived at the Monasterio Santa Catalina in 1871 and promptly began reforms. She sent the rich dowries back to the motherhouse in Europe, dis-employed the servants and slaves while giving them the chance to leave the monastery or stay on as nuns. She instituted internal reforms and life in the monastery became as other religious institutions.