Apostolate vs Charism

[Carson]

Hello! I would love some advice if you have the time.

Here's the deal: I LOVE Dominicans. I love their dedication to study and learning, their devotion to the rosary, and their deep connection to the Eucharist. I've been blessed with the opportunity to pray with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia and talk to a few of them. It was wonderful! 

Theres just one problem- I'm not sure if I'm called to teaching. I feel much more of a desire to work with the poor. I particularly love the apostolate of the Sisters of Life. 

If God is calling me to be a Dominican, I know that he will give me joy in being a teacher, but how do I know? Do you have any advice?

[Nunsuch]

Not all Dominicans are teachers. There are many Dominicans involved in a variety of ministries, from health care, to social justice, to activism, to pastoral ministry. Some congregations, such as the Nashville Dominicans and the Ann Arbor sisters, tend to work almost exclusively in a single corporate ministry such as education (there are Dominicans in health care corporate ministries, but not in those congregations). You perhaps ought to look more broadly at other Dominican congregations--such as the Springfield Dominicans, and the Mission San Jose Dominicans. And don't forget the Hawthorne Dominicans, who work with the dying. In other words, while there may be much that appeals to you about the Nashville congregation, it's not your only Dominican option.

[Carson]

41 minutes ago, Nunsuch said:

Not all Dominicans are teachers. There are many Dominicans involved in a variety of ministries, from health care, to social justice, to activism, to pastoral ministry. Some congregations, such as the Nashville Dominicans and the Ann Arbor sisters, tend to work almost exclusively in a single corporate ministry such as education (there are Dominicans in health care corporate ministries, but not in those congregations). You perhaps ought to look more broadly at other Dominican congregations--such as the Springfield Dominicans, and the Mission San Jose Dominicans. And don't forget the Hawthorne Dominicans, who work with the dying. In other words, while there may be much that appeals to you about the Nashville congregation, it's not your only Dominican option.

Thank you for this! I honestly have no idea why I thought Dominicans only teach. I guess I just assumed since I rarely hear about Dominicans other than the Nashies and the ones in Ann Arbor. (Besides the cloistered ones!) 

[Nunsuch]

There are so many Dominican communities. They range from very traditional (Nashville, Ann Arbor) to very progressive (Sinsinawa, Adrian), and everything in between. Here is a site that has links to a number of the active congregations. You might want to spend some time looking at some of the others.  Good luck.

http://www.domlife.org/Links/LinkstoBranches.htm [You'll notice that Ann Arbor isn't here. That's because when this site was put together a year or two ago they were not officially affiliated with the Dominican Order. I've heard that has changed in very recent times, but I don't have documentation for that. You'll see that Nashville IS listed, so it is not a "political" thing.]

[Julie]

Ann Arbor wasn't affiliated with the order before?

[TheresaThoma]

It sounds like you are on the right track with Dominicans! One thought that helped me when looking at communities is to ask myself if the apostolate were to change or God Willing I would reach an age where I had to retire from the active apostolate would I still feel called to the community. Which then leads you back to the charism. For me if I love the charism is a bigger factor than apostolate. Obviously the two are very much connected but as you can see with just the Dominicans there is a wide variety of apostolates within the Dominican charism. Obviously if you don't feel at all called to the apostolate then you probably aren't called there. However I do know of at least one Nashville Dominican that said before becoming a Sister she had never really thought of herself being a teacher but now she loves it. 

(And not to complicate things further but there are some communities out there that have a Dominican type charism but are not strictly speaking Dominicans.)

[andibc]

Julie, they have always been Dominican and several of their chaplains have been from the Dominicans of the Eastern Province.  The link she provided above is an association that a group joins if they want to.  It's not what makes a community recognized as Dominican. 

[Nunsuch]

I understand that is not what makes one a Dominican. But the AnnArbor community was not officially affiliated with the Order. As I said, it may be now--I've heard that, but don't remember where. 

[truthfinder]

15 minutes ago, Nunsuch said:

I understand that is not what makes one a Dominican. But the AnnArbor community was not officially affiliated with the Order. As I said, it may be now--I've heard that, but don't remember where. 

I know I've read it too. It's just like the Lockport Dominicans are not officially affiliated. 

[JessicaKoch]

3 hours ago, truthfinder said:

I know I've read it too. It's just like the Lockport Dominicans are not officially affiliated. 

Lockport are and they are listed on the Dominican site: http://www.domlife.org/Links/NunsLinkPage.htm

They are a WONDERFUL small community!

They have the TLM and have all their prayers in Latin, they say the Dominican Rite hours also.

[A Yearning Heart]

Ah, Dominicans. Where do I begin? I am very drawn to this Order.

If it's a question of not being sure of an apostolate, give it a try in a small way. For teaching, you could try volunteering for a catechism class for a term or helping out with RCIA at your parish; for something caring oriented, you could try volunteering to regularly visit residents at a nursing home, etc. I think the Sisters of Life have a large list of laity that help their work...

Another thought for apostolate. Not every religious in a Community is involved with it as there are always going to be cooks, cleaners, carers, etc, and for other more specific jobs, such as lawyers, muscians, it probably depends much on your talents and skills.  Besides what you bring to a Community, you'll always have something to new to learn, so it may not be a question of what I can or can't do, just that I can't do that yet, but am willing to learn (and most importantly, be willing to be taught). Prayer also underpins every apostolate: with those retired in Community often spending time in prayer to support the Apostolate of active members. Also, don't forget that the apostolate of fully contemplative Orders IS prayer (as St Therese notes, the contemplative life is the heart of the Church).. 

For affiliations and belonging with the Order (at least Dominicans). My understanding is that a Community may start as a mission from the Mother house (but its still a part of the original community, so is still a part of the Order). A Community may also start from within a diocease, with the backing of the Bishop, so is like starting a new Community. For these new ones, I  think I read somewhere that affiliation has to do with how many life long professed members there are.  Once a community reaches a certain number of professed, they prove their stability, longevity, living the Dominican way of life and vocations, they can apply to be affiliated with the Dominican Order. That's just my understanding though; I'm sure there are more on the Phorum who know a) if this is correct, and b) can add more detail.

[Thijs]

For discerners with much maturity, patience in a start-up community and perseverance, you may look at the Community of the Ressurection which is associated with Dominicans also

[truthfinder]

5 hours ago, JessicaKoch said:

Lockport are and they are listed on the Dominican site: http://www.domlife.org/Links/NunsLinkPage.htm

They are a WONDERFUL small community!

They have the TLM and have all their prayers in Latin, they say the Dominican Rite hours also.

Good to know, because the last I heard they had not yet been affiliated. 

[AveMariaPurissima]

According to the May 2015 issue of Mater Eucharistiae (the DSMME's newsletter), the DSMME received full aggregation to the Dominican Order in December 2014.

[Sponsa-Christi]

17 hours ago, Nunsuch said:

I understand that is not what makes one a Dominican. But the AnnArbor community was not officially affiliated with the Order. As I said, it may be now--I've heard that, but don't remember where. 

I think the Ann Arbor Dominicans were just established as an official religious community fairly recently ("upgraded" from a public association of the faithful), so that could explain things, too.

The Dominican Sisters of Bridgeport might be worth checking out, too: http://www.dominicanvocations.org/ They run a girls' high school in New York City, but I think they're very open to discerning other apostolates on a case-by-case basis with individual Sisters. (FYI, though, while they might look "liberal" from the website, these Sisters love the Church, are completely orthodox in their theology, and take prayer and community life very seriously.)