Eileen Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Hey ya'll! I've been reading around the phorum for a while now, but I've finally decided to take the plunge and create an account, so hello! I'm currently seriously discerning a call to the religious life as a Sister. The deeper my relationship with Christ becomes, the more I am drawn to a life totally consecrated to Him! While I'm excited to see where my discernment journey takes me, I'm pretty clueless on how to formally discern a vocation (especially with particular orders). I don't necessarily have a family member or friend that I feel would be good to approach at this point, and even though I've been browsing through certain order's websites and I have felt drawn to a few in particular, I don't know how or when to reach out to them. After praying about it and strengthening my faith life, I truly do believe that God may be calling me to be totally His! I'm just pretty unsure of how to go about pursuing it more seriously! Any and all advise, suggestions, and prayers would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopefulHeart Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Hi Eileen and welcome to Phatmass! My advice is pretty simple. Find an email address for the vocation office/director of a community that interests you, and send an email. Say a little bit about yourself (your age, where you live, if you go to school or work) and mention why you feel interested in that community. Many of the things you talked about in your post would be great to include in an email! After the first email, the vocation director may continue talking with you by email or phone, and she may later invite to come on a retreat. It's natural to feel a little self-conscious and nervous about making contact with a community, but be not afraid! Vocation directors are very understanding, and they want to help you discern. Plenty of other young women (including me) have been in your shoes. Remember that Jesus and Mary are always with you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bardegaulois Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Hello Eileen, and welcome. I endorse HopefulHeart's suggestion of contacting the order's vocations director. I'd add to it beginning to work with a spiritual director as well. These can be hard to find at times, but you can always ask the order you want to discern with if they could recommend a spiritual director--if they're geographically near you, that is. If not, you can always get in touch with your diocese's vocations director. Their primary job is getting young men into the diocesan priesthood, but experience tells me that they're always pleased to hear that someone within the diocese is discerning any sort of ecclesiastical vocation, and can usually give a ready recommendation to a nearby spiritual director. God bless in your journeys, and be assured of my prayers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrysostom Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Hello and welcome to Vocation Station! Join the discernment club. :D Both recommendations have been great, and I would add to bardegaulois' words about finding a spiritual director. I have found meeting with one to be very beneficial in keeping me on an even keel, as it were, through the changing circumstances of discernment and of life in general. In addition to keeping me on task spiritually, my spiritual director is a person I can trust to provide me with the detached and wise feedback I might need when making life decisions. Prayers for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Hello Eileen and welcome to Phatmass. I'm sure that you will receive sound advice to help you as you discern your future. Many prayers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sr Mary Catharine OP Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Welcome, Eileen! Going from wishful thinking to actually DOING something in response to the grace of a vocation doesn't have to be complicated or difficult! And today it is really easy to reach out to communities one is interested in! Almost all have a website or at least an email. If the congregation has an online form so much the better! :-) If not, just a short email saying that you believe the Lord may be calling you and are interested in knowing more about their community. Something like: Dear Sisters, My name is Eileen Smith/Jones/Brown (:-) and I am just starting to discern my vocation. I am interested in knowing more about your congregation's charism and mission. I hope to hear from you soon! Sincerely in Christ, etc. Make sure to send your contact info including an address! God bless you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marigold Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Welcome, Eileen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mags Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Hello Eileen, welcome! I will be praying for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eileen Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 Thank you everyone for all of the wonderful advise! It's incredibly comforting to find so many other people in similar places and others offering so much encouragement! As for finding a spiritual director, would ya'll suggest going through the diocese vocation director? None of the communities I'm particularly interested in are nearby, and I don't really know any individuals I'm close enough to to be very helpful. Also, is it okay if a SD isn't someone you know personally? AND for communities that offer Come and See/Vocations retreats, is it better to contact their vocations director prior to registering/attending or should I start by attending one? Sorry for all the questions! Even though I'm excited to truly discover what I'm being called to, it's a little daunting to try and figure out what to do next! Thanks again for all of the prayers and help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritasluxmea Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 4 hours ago, Eileen said: As for finding a spiritual director, would ya'll suggest going through the diocese vocation director? None of the communities I'm particularly interested in are nearby, and I don't really know any individuals I'm close enough to to be very helpful. Also, is it okay if a SD isn't someone you know personally? Unless you know your parish priest well or have a regular confessor you really like, Yes, that's a good place to go through. 4 hours ago, Eileen said: AND for communities that offer Come and See/Vocations retreats, is it better to contact their vocations director prior to registering/attending or should I start by attending one? If you can start by just attending one, I'd just attend one. However, for every retreat I've gone on to register for the retreat you have to talk to the director so you'll be talking to them first anyways! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sister Leticia Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 11 hours ago, Eileen said: As for finding a spiritual director, would ya'll suggest going through the diocese vocation director? None of the communities I'm particularly interested in are nearby, and I don't really know any individuals I'm close enough to to be very helpful. Also, is it okay if a SD isn't someone you know personally? AND for communities that offer Come and See/Vocations retreats, is it better to contact their vocations director prior to registering/attending or should I start by attending one? Some people prefer their SD to be someone they don't know personally. There can be a great freedom in having an SD you aren't likely to meet at parish events or kneel next to at adoration. There's always a risk of behaving a certain way - even subconsciously - if your SD is in the room. Other people prefer to meet with someone they already know - but it shouldn't be someone you know very well, as this will alter any friendship you might have or would otherwise develop. We've had women attending our Come & See weekends who we already know, or have already met with the VD - and others who have only got in touch when they saw the advert, so nobody has met them and we only know what they might have said about themselves in an email or phone call. Either way, though, it all starts with a potential discerner making contact... so go for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheresaThoma Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 22 hours ago, Eileen said: As for finding a spiritual director, would ya'll suggest going through the diocese vocation director? None of the communities I'm particularly interested in are nearby, and I don't really know any individuals I'm close enough to to be very helpful. Also, is it okay if a SD isn't someone you know personally? AND for communities that offer Come and See/Vocations retreats, is it better to contact their vocations director prior to registering/attending or should I start by attending one With finding an SD the vocations office would be a good start. Another suggestion would be to see if there is a Jesuit community close to where you are. The Ignatian spirituality is very helpful in discernment. Also PRAY! Ask God to send you an SD. And keep in mind that you may not mesh with a particular SD and that is ok. I met with a couple before finding my current SD. Before going on a retreat it can be nice to send the Vocation director a quick email. And remember just because you contact a community doesn't mean that you have to enter or even seriously discern with them When I was first starting out in discernment I would read about different communities and the for the ones that intrested me I would write to them. From there after writing or a phone call I would decide if I wanted to continue discerning there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathoholic Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Also, if you're into finding things online (by the way those amazing people up there have some amazing advice), you might want to consider the following sites: vocationnetwork.org vocation.com These sites will help you in your discerntment as well as making the next step and pointing you toward a discernment/spiritual director. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visitor Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 You may be interested in the Discalced Paulicrucian Nuns of the Primitive Observance, Order of St. Paul of the Cross. They are making a second foundation which is the first in the USA and they are from the 1991 reform strictly cloistered branch from the Passionists of Madrid, Spain. Now located under the auspices and ecclesiastical authority of the Diocese of Steubenville and have recently opened their new foundation and novitiate. website is www.opcrucis.org . They have had aspirants visiting and have made a building into their Monastery of the Bl. Martyrs of Daimiel. They are good friends with and similar to the two strict Carmels of Alexandria, SD and Hague, ND, i.e. chanting in Gregorian, strict monastic horarium and very personable Mother Foundress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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