Nashville Dominicans, Fruitful Come And See

[ToJesusMyHeart]

So far, following their first (of two) Vocation retreats this year (the January one which I was blessed to attend), the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia are expecting 12 new postulants, but I am sure more will be added to that number after they have their 2nd yearly Vocation retreat in March.

 

There were 37 girls on that 1st retreat with me, and 12 of those are entering in August! Crazy! I never expected that many of those beautiful women to answer God's call so promptly! 

 

Thanks be to God. I'm sure they'll get at least 6-7 more girls from their March retreat and then maybe even some late-comers around May/June.

 

They are here right now visiting my school and when Sister told me that I was just so excited! It's crazy to me that 12 of those lovely women I met and spent 5 grace-filled days with will be baby postulants by August! 

 

I'm just so happy for all of them, and so overjoyed that the Sisters are here with me right now. Praised be Jesus Christ!

 

Over and out!

 

+JMJ

[FutureSister2009]

That is always beautiful to hear! But the thing that always troubles me the most is that there are so many girls interested in active life, while the cloisters are having such a difficult time getting Vocations. That's heartbreaking.

[EmilyAnn]

That is always beautiful to hear! But the thing that always troubles me the most is that there are so many girls interested in active life, while the cloisters are having such a difficult time getting Vocations. That's heartbreaking.

Don't forget that not all active communities are as fruitful as ones likes the Nashies/DSMMEs/SOL/etc. Also they are huge congregations whereas with cloisters there are more of them in smaller communities. 

I also think the cloister has been misunderstood in recent years, but this is changing. 

Edited February 19, 2013 by EmilyAnn

[FutureSister2009]

Don't forget that not all active communities are as fruitful as ones likes the Nashies/DSMMEs/SOL/etc. Also they are huge congregations whereas with cloisters there are more of them in smaller communities. 

I also think the cloister has been misunderstood in recent years, but this is changing. 

 

That is true. I can't describe what it is about the DSMMEs/NDs/SOL/Salesians but they make it all so appealing that it's hard to resist, especially with the Salesians over 14,000 in the world. Pretty remarkable. But how has the misunderstanding of the cloister been changing?

[EmilyAnn]

That is true. I can't describe what it is about the DSMMEs/NDs/SOL/Salesians but they make it all so appealing that it's hard to resist, especially with the Salesians over 14,000 in the world. Pretty remarkable. But how has the misunderstanding of the cloister been changing?

In my experience, more people (young people especially) are understanding the appeal and the beauty of the cloister, and its value in the Church. 

[FutureSister2009]

In my experience, more people (young people especially) are understanding the appeal and the beauty of the cloister, and its value in the Church. 

 

I agree with that. I think it is absolutely beautiful to live a life dedicated to prayer for the salvation of souls and for the world. I still think about the cloister sometimes but I'm not completely sure though.

[ToJesusMyHeart]

If they're called there, don't be sad. It is their vocation. Some are called to cloistered life, but most are not.

True dat. 

 

Cloistered life is an even more unique calling. But the few souls called to such a life bring abundant graces to the Church. All calls are equally beautiful. :)

[nikita92]

So please forgive my question JMH- how will you be using your college edu in the convent?

[domenica_therese]

That is always beautiful to hear! But the thing that always troubles me the most is that there are so many girls interested in active life, while the cloisters are having such a difficult time getting Vocations. That's heartbreaking.

I also think that -- while the call to pray for the Church is always pressing, especially in this day and age -- there is a particular need now for an active witness of young women immersed in the world, visibly living their lives for Christ. I know the ND's talk a lot about being an eschatological sign -- pointing everyone towards that for which we are all ultimately destined.

[ToJesusMyHeart]

So please forgive my question JMH- how will you be using your college edu in the convent?

I'm not sure if I understand what you are asking. Could you rephrase the question? 

 

As a general answer, I'll use the lessons I learn in college-- life lessons, spiritual lessons, and scholarly lessons--in the convent in whatever ways Jesus asks me to use them.

 

I'm not majoring in being a nun, but is there such a major? I'll use everything I learn here at school--be it from my geography degree or from my growth in the spiritual life--in the convent. 

 

I don't know if I used those hyphens correctly, so please excuse my ignorance if I used them wrong. :)

 

+JMJ

[Maggyie]

That is always beautiful to hear! But the thing that always troubles me the most is that there are so many girls interested in active life, while the cloisters are having such a difficult time getting Vocations. That's heartbreaking.

 

One thing to keep in mind, is that many (perhaps most) of the girls who enter the popular communities like the NDs or SMMEs in any given year will not reach the novitiate. While many of these women realize they are not called to religious life at all, others will glean from the experience that they are called to cloistered life instead of active! Truly it's not a zero sum game.

[FutureSister2009]

One thing to keep in mind, is that many (perhaps most) of the girls who enter the popular communities like the NDs or SMMEs in any given year will not reach the novitiate. While many of these women realize they are not called to religious life at all, others will glean from the experience that they are called to cloistered life instead of active! Truly it's not a zero sum game.

 

That's true. I had mentioned in another thread about the NDs and the DSMMEs that I was curious to know how many girls enter who are aware that it's not always fun and games. I had to learn that as well.

[domenica_therese]

You know, at first I was actually turned off from the ND's precisely because they were so big. I didn't want to join a "fad," or join because they were thriving, as if "Oh, lots of people are joining there, they MUST be good!" were a legitimate reason to pursue a vocation. :P The more I got to know them as a order though, the more I realized that they're not a fad; they're just, as I said, so profoundly necessary. I've been reading some lately about the early days of the Dominican order, and man, they just had vocations in droves. St. Dominic would preach and BAM! 20 new postulants the next day! It kind of made me realize that what's happening with the ND's and DSMME's is how things should be. It's not a bad thing at all to join a convent and then leave. It's not necessarily an indication of immaturity on the part of the person joining. When I talk to my seminarian friends (I have quite a few because of Totus Tuus) and ask them how the seminary is going, they always emphasize that they don't know if they're supposed to be a priest yet: they're still discerning. All they know is that God is calling them to be there at that moment.
 

While many of these women realize they are not called to religious life at all, others will glean from the experience that they are called to cloistered life instead of active!

 
This is definitely true. And even if they glean they're not called to religious life at all, as long as they were there with that order attempting to follow God's will to the best of their ability, they will glean a bountiful spiritual harvest from it! 
 
I think that many people are so fearful of discerning because they see it as such a drastic thing, where you enter an order and you're sealed away forever (or at least that's how I saw it at first); but even when you enter there's still discernment. It's something I still have to remind myself of because I'm at the point where this is now something I want -- not something I feel obligated to do -- so I just want to be done discerning and enter a convent! But then I realize that to enter a convent is just the next step in discernment. I think it's wonderful that the Dominicans are breaking down barriers by their vivacity, and their witness is encouraging people to take that plunge.
 
(Note: I'm not implying they admit people without due scrutiny)
 
They're going to be at my college tomorrow and Thursday!  :w00t:  :nun2: Edited February 20, 2013 by domenica_therese

[domenica_therese]

There were 37 girls on that 1st retreat with me, and 12 of those are entering in August! Crazy! I never expected that many of those beautiful women to answer God's call so promptly! 

As a very slow discerner, this is always what gets me. What spurred me to move on from just "discerning discerning" was the immediate, enthusiastic leap of a friend of mine -- who always had all the boys she wanted whenever we went two-stepping -- into the process of discernment as soon as she heard a call. She had a spiritual director, she was going to go talk with the nun on campus, and she was contemplating dropping out to join an order over the summer, etc. I'd heard that call 2 years before, and all I'd done was google and make a bookmarks folder.

Granted this friend now has a serious boyfriend who she will probably marry, BUT maybe God just needed her to discern for a little bit to push this lazy moss-gatherer into action :P

So, for someone to not just take serious ownership of the call once heard, but to act on it so unreservedly, is incredibly inspiring to me. I found it even a little bit over-whelming when I was on my Come and See with them last May. People were talking about getting applications and entering together, and I was just like "What the what?" 0.o I wonder if I would have had the courage to do so had I been floating "free" after graduation, and I really don't know. I just know that such a response is not what God was asking of me then -- or now.

[Kateri89]

First of all, I love the Nashville Dominicans  :love:  Second of all, I know that orders like the Benedictines of Mary, Pink Sisters, etc. seem to be gaining a lot of new members.  Granted, I don't think the Benedictines of Mary are cloistered but neither of the orders I mentioned are active orders.  And I should note that if discernment were as easy as picking an order based on their habits, I would've joined the Pink Sisters a long time ago  :dance: