Orders For Late Vocations

[Guest ideagirl7]

Does anyone have any recommendations on vibrant and orthodox communities for women that accept late vocations? I am 42 and it presents many obstacles to finding ones!
Thank you!
+M
Michele

[BarbTherese]

This blog entry may hold interest for you, especially in the comments after the entry.
[url="http://anunslife.org/2007/08/15/becoming-a-nun-after-40ish/"]http://anunslife.org/2007/08/15/becoming-a-nun-after-40ish/[/url]

[edwardrochester789]

[url="http://www.scceast.org/"]http://www.scceast.org/[/url] The Sisters of Christian Charity accept women over 40. There is currently a novice around that age, as well as two others who are college age. Beautiful order!!

[Luigi]

Of the contemplative orders:

- the Trappistines ([url="http://www.mississippiabbey.org/Blog"]http://www.mississippiabbey.org/Blog[/url]) - a recently clothed novice at Our Lady of the Mississippi is a widowed & retired philosophy prof), and Santa Rita in Arizona had a widowed member (she died a couple of years ago)

- the Visitations ([url="http://www.visitationmonasterymobile.org/HTMLcode/NewNovice.htm"]http://www.visitationmonasterymobile.org/HTMLcode/NewNovice.htm[/url],
[url="http://www.visitationmonasterymobile.org/HTMLcode/SisterSusan.htm"]http://www.visitationmonasterymobile.org/HTMLcode/SisterSusan.htm[/url]) - the monastery in Mobile, AL has two widowed novices

- Benedictines - no links to provide proof, but I believe a number of them accept late vocations.


I don't know much about active orders, but others on the board will.

[OnlySunshine]

[quote name='ideagirl7' timestamp='1314660418' post='2297144']
Does anyone have any recommendations on vibrant and orthodox communities for women that accept late vocations? I am 42 and it presents many obstacles to finding ones!
Thank you!
+M
Michele
[/quote]


The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/111"]Carmelites in Christoval, TX[/url] accept women in their early 40s.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/162"]Carmelites of Terre Haute, IN[/url] accept women up to 45.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/10"]Little Sisters of St. Francis[/url] accept women to 45.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/3"]Sisters of St. Rita[/url] accept women until 50.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/19"]Sister Oblates of the Blessed Trinity[/url] do not have an upper age limit.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/36"]Visitandines of Snellville, GA[/url] do not have an upper age limit.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/81"]Visitandines of Toledo, OH[/url] accept women until 50.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/78"]Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows[/url] accept women until 45.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/2"]Carmelites of Danvers, MA[/url] accept women until 48.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/52"]Sisters of St. Francis of the Immaculate Heart of Mary[/url] have no upper age limit.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/20"]Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne[/url] accept women until 50.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/119"]Oblates of the Sacred Heart of Jesus[/url] accept women until 45.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/401"]Carmelites of Erie, PA[/url] discern each individual carefully with no set age limit.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/388"]Sister Adorers of the Precious Blood[/url] accept women until 50.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/87"]Poor Clares of Jamaica Plain, MA [/url]accept women until 49.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/166"]Carmelites of Alexandria, SD[/url] do not have an upper age limit.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/57"]Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis[/url] accept women until 49.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/384"]Olivetan Benedictines[/url] accept women until 50.

The [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/16"]Sisters of Christian Charity[/url] accept women until 45 (and sometimes until 49).

The [url="http://www.corpuschristicarmelites.org/formation.html"]Corpus Christi Carmelites[/url] do not have an upper age limit.

The [url="http://www.daughtersoftheimmaculata.com/DI/Vocations.html"]Daughters of the Immaculata[/url] do not have an upper age limit.

The [url="http://www.cmswr.org/member_communities/LSJM.htm"]Little Sisters of Jesus and Mary[/url] accept women until 50.

Hope this helps!

[GraceUk]

I found this site. I know the information is out of date by a few years but I thought I would post it anyway.

http://anunslife.org/2007/08/15/becoming-a-nun-after-40ish/

[Thijs]

[b] [url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/user/9546-matermisericordiae/"]MaterMisericordiae[/url] thanks for posting some orthodox orders..[/b]


I would like to add:

1. The Eudist Servants Of The Eleventh Hour
It accepts women between the ages of 45 and 65, single, widowed, or divorced; founded by Mother Antonia Brenner

[url="http://www.eudistservants.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1"]http://www.eudistser...ntpage&Itemid=1[/url]

2. Daughters of Mary, Mother of Our Hope
Sister Rosalind Moss. They don't have age limit

[url="http://www.motherofisraelshope.org/"]http://www.motherofisraelshope.org/[/url]

3. Disciples of the Lord Jesus
vocations up to 40 years old
[url="http://www.dljc.org/english/index.cfm?active=1"]http://www.dljc.org/...ex.cfm?active=1[/url]

4. Sisters of st. John the Baptist

[url="http://www.baptistines.org/csjb5.htm#Membership"]http://www.baptistin....htm#Membership[/url]

5. you can try also Sisters of Jesus Our Hope

[url="http://www.sistersofjesusourhope.org/index.html"]http://www.sistersof....org/index.html[/url]

6. Sisters of Our Mother of Divine Grace

[url="http://www.sistersmdg.org/"]http://www.sistersmdg.org/[/url]

7. The Community of The Epiphany

[url="http://www.epiphanycommunity.org/Home_Page.php"]http://www.epiphanyc...g/Home_Page.php[/url]

if you are attracted to orthodox and faithful vocation that does not wear a habit or had a distinctive type of habit

1. Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart

[url="http://www.sacredheartsisters.com/whoweare/indexwhoweare.html"]http://www.sacredhea...exwhoweare.html[/url]

2. Servants of God's Love

[url="http://home.catholicweb.com/servantsofgodslove/index.cfm"]http://home.catholic...slove/index.cfm[/url]

and Sisters of St Rita I think is dying, it badly needed vocations

Edited August 30, 2011 by MichaelKoenigTalidong

[Aya Sophia]

[font=verdana, geneva, sans-serif]Golly my, [u]third[/u] post on PM! If I keep this up, I’ll be able to start my own thread soon! Here’s another tome, this one in response to ideagirl7's question about communities accepting older applicants:[/font]

[font=verdana, geneva, sans-serif][b]I “second the motion” regarding the Visitation (the Visitandines)[/b] as their Order was founded specifically for women who could not, whether because of age, infirmity, lack of physical strength or some other such reason, live the life of the other, older monastic Orders which, at the time, to one degree or another, were austere. This means the Visitation, in receiving older women, is [u]true to their charism[/u], making the “age” thing something wholly positive and special in the Visitation. It doesn’t, I must add, mean that only older women apply. Women of all ages have always and continue to enter the Visitation (for one ex., the current Superior at the Mobile Visitation - a transfer from Tyringham, elected Superior at Mobile in the last couple of years - entered at 17!) [/font]

[font=verdana, geneva, sans-serif][b]If you have a Carmelite “bent”[/b] (dare I say, who hasn’t? ! ) there is and always has been a beautiful “cross pollination” between the Visitation and Carmel. As you may know, the foundress of the Visitation, St. Jane de Chantal, wished to be a “daughter of Teresa” but had a dream in which St. Teresa informed her that she would have “daughters of [her] own.” A famous instance in more recent times, of course, is that of St. Therese being formed in the Visitation before entering Carmel, thereby bringing the Visitation with her, in her person, into Carmel. So, Carmel has been “in the bones” of the Visitation from the beginning and a Visitandine having an attraction to Carmel as always been and continues to be quite the norm.[/font]

[font=verdana, geneva, sans-serif]As is always the case,[b] communities of any given Order have much in common but each has a unique, unrepeatable character.[/b] I have visited three Visitation Monasteries in the U.S. and liked them all BUT I must sing my joy over one in particular: my most recent, longest and, by far, most meaningful visit was to the Mobile Visitation [url="http://www.visitationmonasterymobile.org/Novitiategrows.htm"]http://www.visitationmonasterymobile.org/Novitiategrows.htm[/url]. I love this place and these Sisters to pieces! At the risk of being indiscreet or over the top, I would like to say: I think something special is going on here. It is a community with stupendous (by American standards) history, having been founded in 1833 and now there is a quiet (things seem always to happen quietly in the Visitation – not in great flashes of fire or thunderbolts but in the hidden recesses of the heart where the peace of God abides) renewal going on. Shall I call it the “Mobile Spring”? Imagine a community with such a history, such solid foundations [u]and[/u] with the Holy Spirit infusing new life into it, gently (as is the Visitation way) restoring the beauty of its youth and drawing it onward toward its fullness. The Sisters have no email or internet access of any kind. Their website provides a fax number so first contact with them would be by snail mail or fax.[/font]

[font=verdana, geneva, sans-serif]Wishing you blessings and peace in your discernment . . . [/font]

[FutureSister2009]

I expect to be in a Convent long before I hit my 30s

[cmaD2006]

[quote name='FutureSister2009' timestamp='1314715975' post='2297501']I expect to be in a Convent long before I hit my 30s[/quote]

I thought the same way when I was 24, but as scripture says

"[color=#008000][b]For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the LORD.[/b][/color]
[color=#008000][b]For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts[/b][/color]."
Is 55:8-9

[Chiara Francesco]

OVERSEAS: Carmel of Kirk Edge, Sheffield: [url="http://www.kirkedge.org.uk/index.html"]http://www.kirkedge.org.uk/index.html[/url] - VERY traditional Carmel
Photos from relics of St. Therese visit:

Poor Clares of Ireland: [url="http://www.poor-clares.com/"]http://www.poor-clares.com/[/url] - links to the communities and their individual websites
Some videos of the PCs Galway: http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=DLYPWLNX#alertbar and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWEEYisn4IE

Waldron Visitation nuns, UK: [url="http://www.visitationmonastery.co.uk/index.html"]http://www.visitatio...o.uk/index.html[/url]
-------------

Rockville Visitation: [url="http://www.sistersofthevisitation.org/"]http://www.sistersofthevisitation.org/[/url]
an article on an older vocation they took: [url="http://www.catholicvirginian.org/archive/2011/2011vol86iss17/pages/article8.html"]http://www.catholicv...s/article8.html[/url]

Philly Visitation nuns: [url="http://www.visitationuns.org/"]http://www.visitationuns.org/[/url]
article: [url="http://www.sjuhawknews.com/2.7300/nearby-visitation-convent-has-witnessed-st-joe-s-history-1.1013212"]http://www.sjuhawkne...story-1.1013212[/url]

Dallas Carmelites: 1990s Carmel: website by friends of theirs: [url="http://www.dallascarmelites.com/"]http://www.dallascarmelites.com/[/url]

Carmel of Erie, PA: [url="http://www.eriercd.org/carmelites.asp"]http://www.eriercd.org/carmelites.asp[/url] - a 1990s Carmel
IRL page: [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/401"]http://db.religiousl...irl.nsf/org/401[/url] - NOTICE the Belated Vocations part: [i] "[b][font=Verdana][size=2][color=#6260A1]Belated/late vocations explanation[/color][/size][/font][/b]:[/i]
[font=Verdana][size=2][i]God calls precisely when He calls—Vocations blossom according to God’s perfect timing. Some sisters have been called in the midst of successful professional careers, as were the first Apostles."[/i][/size][/font]

Carmel of Jefferson City, MO: [url="http://db.religiouslife.com/reg_life/irl.nsf/org/398"]http://db.religiousl...irl.nsf/org/398[/url] - they DO consider older vocations - the IRL is a little confusing about belated vocations - says no than yes on individual basis - but they DO.

Carmel of Armstrong Canada: [url="http://www.carmelspall.org/Home.htm"]http://www.carmelspall.org/Home.htm[/url]


Poor Clare Colettines Minooka, IL: [url="http://www.poorclaresjoliet.org/"]http://www.poorclaresjoliet.org/[/url]
article: [url="http://www.bradenton.com/2009/03/07/1274264/poor-clare-nuns-embrace-an-arduous.html"]http://www.bradenton...an-arduous.html[/url]
photos: [url="http://www.chicagotribune.com/search/dispatcher.front?target=multimedia&Query=nuns+minooka"]http://www.chicagotr...ry=nuns+minooka[/url]

Poor Clares St. Louis, MO: [url="http://www.poor-clares.org/stlouis/st-louis.html"]http://www.poor-clar...s/st-louis.html[/url]
Video of profession:
article: [url="http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=18534"]http://www.catholic....ry.php?id=18534[/url]

Edited August 30, 2011 by Chiara Francesco

[faithcecelia]

I you fancy the UK, most of the UK communities (excepting some Benedictines and one or two newer communities) would not consider early 40s a 'late vocation'. Even COLW, which had originally said 18-35, accepted a 42yr old postulant (and a friend from my home parish!)

[OnlySunshine]

Here is an amesome resource for women of "late" vocations:

[url="http://consecrated-life-org.maritzia.com/orders-in-the-us/communities-accepting-women-over-45/"]http://consecrated-l...-women-over-45/[/url]

ETA: This has some good links, but has not been updated in quite a while.

Edited August 30, 2011 by MaterMisericordiae

[Chiara Francesco]

[quote name='MaterMisericordiae' timestamp='1314735945' post='2297594']
Here is an amesome resource for women of "late" vocations:

[url="http://consecrated-life-org.maritzia.com/orders-in-the-us/communities-accepting-women-over-45/"]http://consecrated-l...-women-over-45/[/url]
[/quote]

This site is pretty good but has not been updated in a while as many communities are either no more (like Mobile Carmelites and Wheeleing Visitation sisters, etc.) or some of the listed orders/communities mentioned do NOT take older vocations so you have to check them out and then many who do take older, aren't on the list.

Also, I have found many orders who say they have a age limit that once I wrote them DID and WOULD consider older vocations. Just write the ones you feel attracted too and see what they say.

Several communities on the post I did above I found out they'd take older, despite a posted age on their website.

Of course GOD has much to say in this! I've written to several orders who did take older vocations (friends who were told and/or entered) but when I wrote they said "no". Just God's way of directing you away from here He doesn't want you!

So don't be scared away from posted age limits. Though some orders are stuck to their limit but I found a lot not to be.

[OnlySunshine]

[quote name='Chiara Francesco' timestamp='1314736633' post='2297601']

This site is pretty good but has not been updated in a while as many communities are either no more (like Mobile Carmelites and Wheeleing Visitation sisters, etc.) or some of the listed orders/communities mentioned do NOT take older vocations so you have to check them out and then many who do take older, aren't on the list.

Also, I have found many orders who say they have a age limit that once I wrote them DID and WOULD consider older vocations. Just write the ones you feel attracted too and see what they say.

Several communities on the post I did above I found out they'd take older, despite a posted age on their website.

Of course GOD has much to say in this! I've written to several orders who did take older vocations (friends who were told and/or entered) but when I wrote they said "no". Just God's way of directing you away from here He doesn't want you!

So don't be scared away from posted age limits. Though some orders are stuck to their limit but I found a lot not to be.
[/quote]

Yeah, I was going to post an edit on it because I was clicking some of the links and most of them are broken.