What Made You Discern Becoming A Nun Or Priest

[Catholicterp7]

I had five great Aunts who were all Sisters in the same community in Canada. My Aunt and Uncle had a cottage on Ipperwash Beach that they would let my family use for our summer vacations. While there for a week we would always spend one day in London at the Motherhouse. I don't really remember a whole lot about them because my last great Aunt passed away when I was only seven years old. I do remember two things: walking into the motherhouse hanging on to a siblings hand and walking while looking up. The house had huge ceilings with pillars and beautiful art work. I also remember the chocolate ice cream It didn't matter what time we were there the sisters would always take us kids to the cafeteria for chocolate ice cream.
Being there and seeing the sisters in habit made an impression on me even at that young of an age. I always thought that maybe I'd become a nun but I really didn't understand what that meant. One day when I was about twelve I realized that God wanted me to not get married to a man. I still didn't really understand what that meant. It was right after that that I inwardly fell away from the faith. I was still doing all the right things but they didn't mean anything and I really didn't have a spiritual life at all. I also stopped going to confession. About a year and a half later I realized that I needed to go to confession but by that point I was so far from God's grace, because of a habitual sin that I hadn't confessed in over a year, that I couldn't make myself go to confession again. It felt like there was a physical force that was blocking me from going. I tried and tried to get back to the sacrament but couldn't make myself do it.
About another year and a half later in June of 2007 I went to a diocesan youth leadership camp (DYLC). It is a week long camp that not only helps you grow in faith but teaches you how to be a leader withing the church. Each day of the week had a different symbol. On Wednesday the symbol for the day was the cross. The day started with the stations of the cross and as we were praying it struck me that He suffered so much for me and what had I done for Him? Nothing really. I was very convicted and wanted to change but felt like I didn't know how. That night there was a chance for confession and, only by the grace of God and because of all of the prayers that were going up for me that week, I was able to go. Coming out of the confessional I felt so much joy. It really was the prodigal daughter coming home to her Father's waiting arms. I felt so much love and joy it was amazing. After confession I was alone in the chapel kneeling in front of the Tabernacle. All of a sudden it hit me "That's Jesus, I mean, I've always known that's the body blood soul and divinity of Jesus but oh my goodness, that's actually Jesus right there, and He wants me to marry Him?!?" That's when I first fell in love with Christ Crucified in the Eucharist and I haven't looked back since.
JMJ+

[Annie12]

For me it was my Parish Preist. He said I'd make a good nun.

[emmaberry]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1346174621' post='2475335']
But it appears I wrote the process of how I started discerning, rather than the reason. I wish I could say I heard a voice during Eucharistic adoration or while laying in bed one night, but much like Father Vincent Serpa, this is not so. Rather, it was simply a conclusion. I started looking into it, and I realized this was maybe where I was called. It's rather boring compared to others that have posted, but it's mine, so...
[/quote]
[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1346174230' post='2475332']
I seriously need to stop reading your posts. You always convince me to join the Carmelite Monks in Wyoming.
[/quote]

Carmelites in wyoming? I don't understand how the post is encouraging you to that-but hey, if you feel called, go for it!.. Or as I heard on a kid's show the other day, "Gopher it!"

[color=#222222][font=Helvetica Neue', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif][size=4][background=rgb(255, 255, 255)]About feeling 'boring,' don't. Many of the Saints agree that mystical experiences or consolations are for the weak. We all wish Jesus would appear and tell us what to do like he did with Saul. But Saul wasn't some special person, he was a great and hardened sinner. My point is that having a 'boring' call is a greater testament to your faith than having a voice or experience, because these are generally for the conversion of the weak and hardened.

I often lament the fact that I was so lost that only this type of phenomena would have changed my mind about being called to marriage. God must be extremely pleased with all those discerning who do it out of the goodness of their heart and genuine love for God, rather than blindly following an experience He has given them. [/background][/size][/font][/color]

Edited August 28, 2012 by emmaberry

[EmilyAnn]

I was in what would have been my last year of college (I extended for another year) and so I was doing a lot of thinking about my future. I realised that none of the plans I had were the right "fit" for me. They all seemed so empty and I wanted something more meaningful. God had worked in my heart to make me realise this at just the right time for when a documentary on young women entering religious life was showing (He does work in mysterious ways!). I watched it and these women said exactly what I felt. I cried and just knew in my heart that religious life was something I had to seriously consider.

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1346174230' post='2475332']
I seriously need to stop reading your posts. You always convince me to join the Carmelite Monks in Wyoming.
[/quote]

Ignore her! Remember Quarr!

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='emmaberry' timestamp='1346184528' post='2475385']
Carmelites in wyoming? I don't understand how the post is encouraging you to that-but hey, if you feel called, go for it!.. Or as I heard on a kid's show the other day, "Gopher it!"

[color=#222222][font=Helvetica Neue', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif][size=4][background=rgb(255, 255, 255)]About feeling 'boring,' don't. Many of the Saints agree that mystical experiences or consolations are for the weak. We all wish Jesus would appear and tell us what to do like he did with Saul. But Saul wasn't some special person, he was a great and hardened sinner. My point is that having a 'boring' call is a greater testament to your faith than having a voice or experience, because these are generally for the conversion of the weak and hardened.

I often lament the fact that I was so lost that only this type of phenomena would have changed my mind about being called to marriage. God must be extremely pleased with all those discerning who do it out of the goodness of their heart and genuine love for God, rather than blindly following an experience He has given them. [/background][/size][/font][/color]
[/quote]

Well, it reminded me of your other post about how you know you are called to the cloistered life because you always have a longing to pray longer, and this inspired me to look into the Carmelite Monks in Wyoming again.

I can see what you mean, but do not lament it. You received a grace many people such as myself do not get. Even if you are right, still be happy with the fact that you had such a wonderful experience - and are called to such a wonderful and rare vocation on top of that.

[quote name='EmilyAnn' timestamp='1346185523' post='2475394']
Ignore her! Remember Quarr!
[/quote]

What's that? I can't hear you over the deafening silence of the Quarr Monks and their lack of being able to respond to email!

[OnlySunshine]

[quote name='InPersonaChriste' timestamp='1346160288' post='2475286']
I shook the hand of a Nashville Dominican.
[/quote]

And yet you still aren't a Dominican?

[EmilyAnn]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1346186748' post='2475397']
What's that? I can't hear you over the deafening silence of the Quarr Monks and their lack of being able to respond to email!
[/quote]

I'll set Mother Mistress on it immediately.

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='EmilyAnn' timestamp='1346188680' post='2475419']
I'll set Mother Mistress on it immediately.
[/quote]

I actually think the message didn't send. I'm not sure what their email is. It showed something that looked like an email on the website, but I don't think it is actually their email.

[emmaberry]

[quote name='EmilyAnn' timestamp='1346185523' post='2475394']
Ignore her! Remember Quarr!
[/quote]

Ignore her...remember...I got nothing.

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='emmaberry' timestamp='1346189389' post='2475432']
Ignore her...remember...I got nothing.
[/quote]

Ha ha ha. Well, the Franciscan Brothers Minor is the Community I have been seriously discerning with for eight months now, which is a world-record for me, so I think that is a pretty good sign. Perhaps I should remember them?

[Lil'Monster]

Well......I don't know what made me discern.....maybe it was at a Dsmme Retreat.......I think

[emmaberry]

[quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1346189617' post='2475434']
Ha ha ha. Well, the Franciscan Brothers Minor is the Community I have been seriously discerning with for eight months now, which is a world-record for me, so I think that is a pretty good sign. Perhaps I should remember them?
[/quote]

Yes! You could come celebrate Mass at the Roswell PCCs! Remember [i]them[/i].

[Kayte Postle]

Honestly speaking, The Sound of Music and the Sister Act movies....

I was somewhat obsessed with nuns from an early age, no idea why exactly especially since I grew up in a luke-warm methodist/agnostic family. I would often find myself saying, "I think it would be really razzle dazzle to be a nun". During my sophomore yr of HS I started to desperately look for protestant communities (of course I had no luck), and during my senior year in HS I painted a self portrait of myself as a nun...(even though I was still very anti-catholic at this point). Then when I started attending mass with a friend my second year of university, I realized three things. 1) I not only wanted to, but [b][i]needed[/i][/b] (with every fiber of my soul) to be Catholic, the Church was where I belonged and what I was made for, 2) That suddenly that silly notion of "I want to be a nun" was a reality that I could pursue. and 3) That the "silly notion" was never that, but a calling from the Lord.

edit: silly emo-cons never work for me....

Edited August 29, 2012 by Kayte Postle

[PhuturePriest]

[quote name='emmaberry' timestamp='1346202296' post='2475497']
Yes! You could come celebrate Mass at the Roswell PCCs! Remember [i]them[/i].
[/quote]

The Franciscan Brothers Minor are actually in Fort Wayne, Indiana. They do, however, have cloistered Poor Clare Nuns that are a part of their specific Community.

[ChristinaTherese]

I started discerning in a way long before I even considered becoming Catholic. (And, as an aside, I'd love to quote a whole ton of you just because your stories line up so well and/or I just like them, but I'm afraid that that would make my post monstrous. So I will refrain. Now, to get back to the story. Or, at any rate, to begin it.) I guess it started shortly after I was baptized at the age of eight. I read a lot of missionary stories, partly for school, but partly because I just really liked them. The men and women in those stories had given up so much for God, and I began to feel a very strong call to be one of them. I thought, and told my parents as much (at something like the age of nine or ten, I think), that "Jesus/God [I don't know which I said] wants me to be a missionary." My parents reacted by looking at me and saying something to the effect of "You?!? You can hardly say one sentence straight to someone you know and trust! You'd never survive as a missionary." That made sense, so the idea was shelved. Besides, I don't think I'd really liked the instances where I read of woman (¿women?) missionaries that I admired taking on positions of authority and such, like standing as a judge for the people. So, as I said, the idea was shelved for a while, until I was sixteen.

When it came back, I was still pretending to be Protestant. Pretending, I say, because a few months before I'd finally found someone else who agreed with me about salvation and discovered that it was the Catholic view, right around the time of God's call returning I stopped receiving communion at our church, shortly thereafter I defended Purgatory (Do not, I repeat, do not, pick on one person in particular and force them to agree with you due to how brilliant your logic is. If you don't like Plato doing that, why should you? (Okay, so I only read Plato over a year later. But it was still less than kind.)) to my Protestant Sunday school class (While pretending to not be sure about it. But the teacher was talking about Catholicism and he was wrong.), and I was altogether becoming quite Catholic in my theology. (And if you're confused about where I am, don't worry, I am too. Allow me to go back a couple of sentences (and far too many nested sentences (This is an example of a nested sentence. (I promise, I won't demonstrate any more.))) to find my place and see what I was saying when I launched into explanation.) So, as I said, I was still pretending to be [s]Catho[/s] Protestant. My brother had taken me to a monastery (Mount Angel Abbey! Fantastic place. ) near our home at the end of the summer. I already had an odd way of daydreaming and making up stories about all sorts of things, but for some reason I decided to make up stories about me being a nun after that. It seemed like such a wonderful thing, but I passed that off as probably just something all Catholic girls want, like wanting to be a princess. (Right now is the time to ask why I referred to myself in the group of "Catholic girls", to which I have no answer. We are now moving on.) Then my brother told me that his girlfriend thought that I'd be a good nun. Hm. That made me think more. Then over the course of the next while, I kept being kicked by people (who I had seriously either never seen before or had seen only once) asking if I was discerning or something else coming up.

I could probably go on, but I'd have way to many nested sentences, and this is probably way too long (which I can't see, due to the box I'm typing in), and you didn't ask for everything just for a decent statement which I have by now given far more than, and because it's still in process (id est, I'm kind of not much of anywhere anyway right now, and I just want to get back to college so I can talk to Father again).

Anyway, that is my answer. And some of why I'm currently thinking I'm probably called to be a contemplative nun.