Nun and monk quit celibacy to get married after being in love for 7 years

In today's dose of unusual news, we have a story of a nun and a monk, who quit celibacy to get married in the United Kingdom after being in love for seven years. 24 years after becoming a nun, Lisa Tinkler, who was known as Sister Mary Elizabeth, found love in a monk who had come to visit her convent as per the BBC. Read on to find out more about their story.

It all started with an accidental "brush of the sleeves". Lisa Tinkler had been living as a nun at a convent in Preston, Lancashire, belonging to the Carmelite Roman Catholic religious order, since the age of 19. In 2015, she met with Friar Robert, a Carmelite monk from Oxford who was visiting from a priory. Tinkler went to check if he wanted anything to eat. They were all alone and had never interacted before. She had simply heard him preach at mass during his visits to the priory.

However, when Robert got up to leave, their sleeves brushed accidentally and Lisa felt a spark. "I just felt a chemistry there, something, and I was a bit embarrassed. And I thought, gosh, did he feel that too. And as I let him out the door it was quite awkward," Lisa told BBC.

And behold! Robert felt the chemistry too and they both started thinking about each other. A week later, Robert sent Lisa a note asking her if she would leave the order to marry him. "I was a little bit shocked. I wore a veil so he never even saw my hair colour. He knew nothing about me really, nothing about my upbringing. He didn't even know my worldly name," she said.

Moreover, after receiving the note, Lisa disclosed her love to the prioress who was not happy at all. The prioress was a little bit snappy with me, so I put my pants and a toothbrush in a bag and I walked out, and I never went back as Sister Mary Elizabeth," Lisa recalled.

However, all's well that ends well. According to the BBC, Lisa and Robert are now happily married and live in a home in the village of Hutton Rudby in North Yorkshire. The transition was quite difficult for them, but now they don't regret the decision of leaving the Carmelites. Robert received a letter from Rome saying he was no longer a member of the Carmelite order.

Now, Lisa Tinkler works as a hospital chaplain and Robert has been made a vicar of the local church.