Why Did All The Juniorates Close Down?

[stlmom]

Some 40 years ago, I was an aspirant in the tradition of those times, from the age of 14 to 16, and lived at the motherhouse of the sisters who taught me in parochial school, whom I loved dearly. In retrospect, I have a very mixed assessment of the experience. It may have been conducive to testing a vocation with that single, specific community, its apostolate and charism. It did not expose the aspirant to the possibility of contemplative life, other charisms and apostolates.
When an adolescent girl is considering religious life, she should have access to unbiased vocational spiritual direction, due to her relative immaturity and lack of knowledge at that stage of life about how many forms of religious life exist. I would not favor a return to this form of discernment.

If anyone has specific questions about my experience, I would be glad to answer in a private message.

[das8949]

Are ypu currently still in an order?

[das8949]

[quote name='TeresaBenedicta' timestamp='1304035683' post='2234395']
It's the same with my future community as well. The Junioriate is for those who have made their first profession and are spending the next three years in study.
[/quote]


I have a question but first will respond to the topic. When I entered in the 60's we had a high school - Notre Dame where the Aspirants lived during the school year. In Jan of their senior year they became postulants and lived in the novitiate but went over to the academy for classes.

My question, Have some of you entered more than one community?

[krissylou]

My impression, and I may be wrong, is that in "the old days" it was overwhelmingly common that if you were going to be a teaching Sister you entered the community that educated you. Or if one community ran your elementary school and another one ran your high school, there were two communities in the running.

So, if the Franciscans ran your school, you became a Franciscan. If the Dominicans ran your school, you became a Dominican. Or School Sisters of Notre Dame. Or Sisters of St Joseph. Or ... you get the idea. And yes, sometimes God's call comes through circumstances like that. But when that pattern is nearly automatic, I question how much "discernment" is happening.

And, I have also heard that formation now is MUCH more rooted in the distinctives of your own tradition. Postulants and novices learn a lot more now about the heritage of their own particular charism than they did in the 1950s. This may not be universally true, but I hear that the pattern is pretty common.

And yet while you may be a fourth-grade teacher (or whatever) in all sorts of communities, there SHOULD be subtle but really important differences between being a fourth-grade teacher as a Franciscan or a fourth-grade teacher as a Dominican etc etc etc.

I can imagine a young girl having a call to religious life. I CANNOT imagine a young girl (and seriously, for a high school aspirancy we could be talking about age 14 or so!) being able to intelligently discern between Dominicans and Franciscans etc etc etc. You don't know yourself yet.

Discernment now is very very different -- and there can be a "paralysis of analysis" but still it seems to me that seeking out a "match" among various orders and communities is a very very good thing. I cannot imagine how being on a fast-track to a particular community at SUCH a young age would help that.

[cmaD2006]

[quote name='DarleneSteinemann' timestamp='1304051721' post='2234473']
I have a question but first will respond to the topic. When I entered in the 60's we had a high school - Notre Dame where the Aspirants lived during the school year. In Jan of their senior year they became postulants and lived in the novitiate but went over to the academy for classes.

My question, Have some of you entered more than one community?
[/quote]

I entered postulancy with two communities, and left twice (two entirely different circumstances). I was also a candidate with a third community but discerned that I shouldn't continue into postulancy with that particular community.

[LaPetiteSoeur]

[quote name='krissylou' timestamp='1304089682' post='2234591']
I can imagine a young girl having a call to religious life. I CANNOT imagine a young girl (and seriously, for a high school aspirancy we could be talking about age 14 or so!) being able to intelligently discern between Dominicans and Franciscans etc etc etc. You don't know yourself yet.

Discernment now is very very different -- and there can be a "paralysis of analysis" but still it seems to me that seeking out a "match" among various orders and communities is a very very good thing. I cannot imagine how being on a fast-track to a particular community at SUCH a young age would help that.
[/quote]

I read somewhere (maybe here?) that the order God has planned for you usually seems like a "perfect fit." If the Juniorate was more like a "discernment house" or something run by different communities or dioceses, it would be better, I think, than a specific "order" house.

Some dioceses have discernment houses for guys, hs graduates. Maybe someone could start one for hs graduates who are female. At 14, I may have thought "O, being a sister. That's interesting." But I've grown so much in the later years. I knew NOTHING about my vocation as a hs freshman.

Sorry about the scrambled feel to this post. I"m a bit today.

[TeresaBenedicta]

It's only been recently that men/women spent a lot of time discerning [i]which[/i] order to enter. Ever since transportation & communication has increased, so too has the discernment of specific communities. In the past, if one felt the call to religious life, they would enter whichever order they were familiar with... whether that be the one in their town/close by or one that family members had connections to.

I don't think that's necessarily wrong or harmful. I think times have changed a bit and since the selection is wider, so to say, it's good to spend time discerning "where". I also don't think it's bad if a child grows up with a particular community around and then chooses to enter with them, without looking elsewhere. I also think that when one is 14/15/16 years old, one can recognize attraction to particular orders... I don't think it's wrong to say at that age "I think I'm called to religious life and I love these sisters who have taught me, I'd like to live with them and pray with them and continue to discern."

[MithLuin]

Philadelphia had some generic houses of discernment for young men and young women. The diocese opened up rectories that weren't being used and allowed young adults to live there for minimal rent and under basic community rules. Meaning, they had to share responsibilities for cooking and cleaning, and also prayed morning and evening prayer together.

Here's the article: http://cst-phl.com/four-discernment-houses-promote-community-p658.htm

I do not know if any of these are still in operation. Fr. David Engo has begun a new religious community out in Indiana, and Dave Sao is no longer living in one of these communities. But certainly, some young people who were in the process of discerning took advantage of this opportunity before entering religious life or the seminary.

I think this was a great idea, and certainly other dioceses should consider something like this. I also know of religious orders that have houses of discernment for those who have not yet entered, but are maybe taking classes before doing so. None of these are for 16 year olds, though.

[carmenchristi]

Well... I suppose if the program is well-rounded it could possibly be benificial, but I tend to disagree. As much as people can argue that "life experience" isn't important (and I thought that way too before I entered the convent), it is actually very important. I was going to say especially for active orders, but really for both active and contemplative orders. Not saying that too much "life experience" is necessarily a good thing, but I've noticed that some sisters that entered very young were missing some links that other sisters who went to college (even just for a year or two) had an advantage with.
Strictly in my opinion, these juniorates are a bit out of the natural order of things. When one is young he/she should be with his/her natural family and learn how to live [i]that[/i] vocation, even if it is just a temporary one. Then when the time is right, one can do a more objective discernment.
Like I said... just my opinion...

[MarieLynn]

[quote name='carmenchristi' timestamp='1304110219' post='2234749']
Well... I suppose if the program is well-rounded it could possibly be benificial, but I tend to disagree. As much as people can argue that "life experience" isn't important (and I thought that way too before I entered the convent), it is actually very important. I was going to say especially for active orders, but really for both active and contemplative orders. Not saying that too much "life experience" is necessarily a good thing, but I've noticed that some sisters that entered very young were missing some links that other sisters who went to college (even just for a year or two) had an advantage with.
Strictly in my opinion, these juniorates are a bit out of the natural order of things. When one is young he/she should be with his/her natural family and learn how to live [i]that[/i] vocation, even if it is just a temporary one. Then when the time is right, one can do a more objective discernment.
Like I said... just my opinion...
[/quote]

Actually you are right about 'life experience'. Not long after the Order that I entered closed their Juniorate, the postulant age also went up to 20, as there were too many young girls leaving the Order, and they felt that by raising the entry age to 20, they would attract a more mature postulant, one that had some, yes,- life experience.

While I still think that there could be a place for 'aspirant houses', maybe they should be of a different form than they once were. We were treated as postulants,- absolute obedience, lectures, the Grand Silence, recreation etc,- so that when I entered I experienced exactly the same 'disciplines' as I had as a Junior. The only difference appeared to be I swapped my blue "junior' uniform for the black cape and veil of the postulant!