Back From Retreat With Ssew

[Kateri89]

I'll give details if anyone is interested but for right now I posted a video on youtube with pictures of the grounds and retreat center.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJPoIlGglwM&feature=youtu.be

[TheresaThoma]

When are we not interested in the details of a retreat? lol!

Do share!

 

I love the slideshow! What song did you use for the music? It is really pretty

[Guest Allie]

Out with it!! :bananarap:

[Kayte Postle]

"Tell me more, tell me more, was it love at first sight?"

[Kateri89]

So first, I'll mention that while I was there I wore my Imagine Sisters shirt and then told them all about it and gave them the website so I hope that they utilize it to increase vocations to their order.  I also talked up phatmass  :bananarap:

 

I had a chance to talk to the vocations director, the novice mistress, a couple of postulants, a novice and some professed Sisters.  Since I was the only vocation discerner there, there was a lot of focus on me.  I tend to like to fade into the background but I got over it quickly.  The Sisters were very nice and very welcoming.  I found out that there are a total of 24 Sisters including 4 postulants.

 

I already knew that their apostolate was retreats and catechesis but what I didn't realize is that the Sisters do more of the behind-the-scenes work than anything else.  They do all the prep work for retreats, i.e. cooking, yard work, running the bookstore, etc.  There are only a handful of Sisters who go to schools once a week to do sacrament prep classes and still only a handful who give catechesis talks sometimes.  No doubt the work around the convent takes a lot of time and is very important; I just had a misconception of what they do.  They also told me that they pray about 5-6 hours a day which seems to make them a little more contemplative than some of the other contemplative-active communities I looked at.

 

In a way, I almost felt like I was visiting a monastic community because of their lifestyle.  Like I said, they did make me feel very welcome and the accommodations were really nice.  At the end of the retreat though, I just didn't know if that was the community for me.  As a matter of fact, while I was in prayer two different thoughts kept running through my mind: Sisters of Life or marriage.  At this point, I have learned not to trust myself in what I interpret as divine inspiration because I was wrong about the Nashies and these Sisters.  I'm planning on visiting the Sisters of Life this year if possible and if I do feel pulled to that community then I will speak more with Sr. Antoniana.

 

Otherwise, I may have to more seriously discern marriage.  I still have to consider this retreat a success though because even discerning that it wasn't the right fit helps narrow it down.  So that just about sums it up.   :unsure:

[Kateri89]

Oh and I got to go to mass yesterday at Our Lady of Angels chapel (the tiny little chapel that they show on EWTN for daily mass).  The chapel is only right down the street from the SsEW convent.  So in the slim chance that any of you were watching the early morning mass (around 8 a.m.) I was there wearing a green dress   :saint2:   That was a beautiful experience.  I was sitting right next to a large family and there is a dress code sign at the entrance to the grounds that says that shorts, mini-skirts, etc are not permitted.  Everyone there was dressed conservatively and nicely which was a breath of fresh air.

[ToJesusMyHeart]

Full of holy envy that you got to attend mass at the EWTN chapel! 

 

And it sounds like you had a great retreat. You did progress in your discernment, even if in ways you didn't really expect. :) Keep on keeping on! 

 

I'm going to visit the SOL for my 2nd visit May 21-27. Maybe I'll see you there? 

 

+JMJ

Katie

[Kateri89]

Full of holy envy that you got to attend mass at the EWTN chapel! 

 

And it sounds like you had a great retreat. You did progress in your discernment, even if in ways you didn't really expect. :) Keep on keeping on! 

 

I'm going to visit the SOL for my 2nd visit May 21-27. Maybe I'll see you there? 

 

+JMJ

Katie

 

I'd love to but I didn't think they had any retreats then.  Is that just for you specifically since you're seriously discerning with them?  I kind of wanted to go to the young women's retreat May 17-19 but it's wait list only, plus I'm trying to get that weekend off from work because there will be a local Walk for Life that I'm volunteering at.  I really want to go to a Come and See though because if I understand correctly, they take the retreatants around to see the different apostolate work that they do and it would be great to talk to other young women discerning.

 

If I'm being honest with myself, this would be the order I'm most likely called to (assuming I'm called to religious life) because their apostolate is something I'm very passionate about.  I've liked other apostolates but theirs is something very near and dear to my heart.   :proud:

[ToJesusMyHeart]

I'd love to but I didn't think they had any retreats then.  Is that just for you specifically since you're seriously discerning with them?  I kind of wanted to go to the young women's retreat May 17-19 but it's wait list only, plus I'm trying to get that weekend off from work because there will be a local Walk for Life that I'm volunteering at.  I really want to go to a Come and See though because if I understand correctly, they take the retreatants around to see the different apostolate work that they do and it would be great to talk to other young women discerning.

 

If I'm being honest with myself, this would be the order I'm most likely called to (assuming I'm called to religious life) because their apostolate is something I'm very passionate about.  I've liked other apostolates but theirs is something very near and dear to my heart.   :proud:

Well, I'm going by myself for a few days but then more girls will join me for a "serious discernment" retreat. They have their Come and See retreats, which anyone interested in them can attend, and then they have these "discernment retreats" which is for girls who are really serious about entering with them. 

 

But yes, the Come and See is FABULOUS. They take you all around NYC and show you their Sacred Heart of Jesus convent in Manhattan (the holy respite where pregnant mothers live with the nuns) and you hear testimonies from women who have had abortions and who received healing from the abortion guilt and pain from attending the healing retreats that the Sisters run. 

 

It was great. Highly recommend it. :)

[Kateri89]

Well, I'm going by myself for a few days but then more girls will join me for a "serious discernment" retreat. They have their Come and See retreats, which anyone interested in them can attend, and then they have these "discernment retreats" which is for girls who are really serious about entering with them. 

 

But yes, the Come and See is FABULOUS. They take you all around NYC and show you their Sacred Heart of Jesus convent in Manhattan (the holy respite where pregnant mothers live with the nuns) and you hear testimonies from women who have had abortions and who received healing from the abortion guilt and pain from attending the healing retreats that the Sisters run. 

 

It was great. Highly recommend it. :)

 

Well I emailed Sr. Antoniana asking her if I could speak with her and mentioning that I'm still interested in the order.  If she remembers me from last November then we can pick up where we left off.  I suppose it's possible that she'll invite me to the retreat you're talking about and if that's the case I'll really try to come but if not, I'll have to wait until the next Come and See retreat.  Although it would be cool to meet another PMer in person  :bananarap:

[cmaD2006]

...but what I didn't realize is that the Sisters do more of the behind-the-scenes work than anything else.  They do all the prep work for retreats, i.e. cooking, yard work, running the bookstore, etc.  There are only a handful of Sisters who go to schools once a week to do sacrament prep classes and still only a handful who give catechesis talks sometimes.  No doubt the work around the convent takes a lot of time and is very important; I just had a misconception of what they do.  They also told me that they pray about 5-6 hours a day which seems to make them a little more contemplative than some of the other contemplative-active communities I looked at.

 

In a way, I almost felt like I was visiting a monastic community because of their lifestyle.  

 

:) Your description is spot-on.  I visited them years ago (a very long time ago...) and I couldn't nail it, but I thought it wasn't precisely what I was looking for.  Your description is what I experienced as well.

 

Now to caveat -- they are a great community, but like with every community not every community is for everyone (even if it is a great community).  So -- still was worth a look-see. 

 

Besides it does help narrow down the discernment :).

[DiscerningCatholic]

Oh and I got to go to mass yesterday at Our Lady of Angels chapel (the tiny little chapel that they show on EWTN for daily mass).  The chapel is only right down the street from the SsEW convent.  So in the slim chance that any of you were watching the early morning mass (around 8 a.m.) I was there wearing a green dress   :saint2:   That was a beautiful experience.  I was sitting right next to a large family and there is a dress code sign at the entrance to the grounds that says that shorts, mini-skirts, etc are not permitted.  Everyone there was dressed conservatively and nicely which was a breath of fresh air.

 

THAT CHAPEL IS SO SMALL. They manage to make it look huge on the broadcast, but even when I was eight, I just looked around the chapel like, " :blink: How is it possible that it's so small?!"