In a small room just steps away from one of London's busiest underground stations, four women sit together in casual clothes. Ranging in age from 27 to 90, they ask aloud for British students to do well on their exams, peace in South Sudan and a missing local girl to be found safe.

As soon as they fall silent, one rushes out to make sure their dinner doesn't burn, and the rest joke and laugh as they leave the unassuming chapel and head to the kitchen.

These are the faces of a modern British convent.

"Most of what you think you might know about religious life is probably wrong," said Michelle Langlois, originally from Winnipeg, who became a novice in Britain in 2014.