SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — In the summer of 1965, eight Carmelite nuns arrived in Springfield to begin a life almost entirely hidden from the city around them.
They came from a Carmelite monastery in St. Louis, moving into a new brick monastery on 15 acres along Highway M, near what is now Republic Road. For several weeks, the public was invited inside. Then the doors shut.
On Aug. 14, following a solemn enclosure ceremony attended by hundreds, the women retreated behind the monastery walls. From then on, visitors could speak with them only through a grille…