Mary

[mary wimberley]

How old is to old to enter a religious community?

[deusluxmea]

depends on the community. 

[sr.christinaosf]

Canon law and the directives of the congregation will give guidelines.

Take care,

Sr. Christina M. Neumann, OSF

https://ourfranciscanfiat.wordpress.com

[John Paul]

 

Can. 643 §1. The following are admitted to the novitiate invalidly:

1/ one who has not yet completed seventeen years of age;

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P24.HTM

Then just like above it also varies between communities. I think most are 18.

[mary wimberley]

John Paul,  Do you know the oldest age a person can be admitted?

[truthfinder]

5 minutes ago, mary wimberley said:

John Paul,  Do you know the oldest age a person can be admitted?

There is no canonical regulation about being too old.  If you look at some of the other threads in this phorum, especially the one that lists recent monastery news, you'll see older people being accepted.  Male communities are a bit better at this than female, but there are some out there.

[Luigi]

Marmion Abbey (Benedictine monks) recently admitted a novice in his 60's. 

Mepkin Abbey (Trappist monks) recently had a man in his 60's make first vows. 

The Dominicans friars (Central province) have accepted at least one man with grown children. And I know of a woman who joined a Dominican congregation after her child was grown. 

The Visitation monasteries on Mobile, AL and Bronx, NY have accepted women who are widows with grown children and (probably not yet grown) grandchildren. 

But I'm not sure that these older vocations just walked in off the street, as it were. These individuals probably had some relationship to the community before applying for entrance. 

Most of the websites I see indicate that orders are interested in applicants between 20 and 35 years old, but some will make exceptions depending on individual circumstances. 

[Nunsuch]

Most communities these days will accept people up to 40 or 45. Exceptions can also be made. The more traditional communities tend to want younger candidates, because they are considered more easily "formed"--others, however, appreciate candidates with more education, experience, maturity, etc. But they may also accept younger women.

A community with which I am familiar has a sister in temporary vows who was a tenured professor at their college when she entered. Another sister was in her late 40s when she entered, but she had worked with the congregation in a professional capacity when she discerned a call to enter. Another sister is RE-entering (she left as a temporary professed many years ago), and will take first vows on December 8 at the age of 60. They also have novices in their 20s (and one in her 40s).... In all cases, these women had at least a B.A. degree. The older ones had MAs or PhDs, while the younger women are working on such degrees in their formation years. This is not uncommon.

 

[Luigi]

12 hours ago, Luigi said:

Marmion Abbey (Benedictine monks) recently admitted a novice in his 60's. 

Mepkin Abbey (Trappist monks) recently had a man in his 60's make first vows. 

The Dominicans friars (Central province) have accepted at least one man with grown children. And I know of a woman who joined a Dominican congregation after her child was grown. 

The Visitation monasteries on Mobile, AL and Bronx, NY have accepted women who are widows with grown children and (probably not yet grown) grandchildren. 

But I'm not sure that these older vocations just walked in off the street, as it were. These individuals probably had some relationship to the community before applying for entrance. 

Most of the websites I see indicate that orders are interested in applicants between 20 and 35 years old, but some will make exceptions depending on individual circumstances. 

I mistyped. The Visitation monastery mentioned above is not actually in Bronx, NY. It's in Brooklyn. http://brooklynvisitationmonastery.org/ Thanks to DeusLuxMea for catching the error. (I relied on my memory rather than checking the web site - the old memory ain't as reliable as it used to was.)

Edited November 29, 2017 by Luigi

[JMJ 2017]

There is a new order called the family of jacopa, I believe that is the correct name. They are focused on widows and helping them. The family of jacopa is located in or very close to Steubenville university in ohio.  They also consider women with late in life vocations. I hope this helps. 

[Sister Leticia]

This is helpful if Mary (or another older discerner) lives in the US.

Elsewhere...? Here in the UK we have a small congregation called Mater Ecclesiae, founded about 40 years ago precisely for older vocations. At the time it was founded most other other congregations rarely accepted older vocations, and formation programmes were geared towards younger people. But in the last 20+ years many have accepted candidates in their 40s or even 50s, and formation programmes have become more flexible. Even so, ME will accept women older than the upper age for many other communities, assuming sufficient health and so on.

[Yaatee]

It is now so common for all congregations to accept older candidates that I think that it is the rule rather than the exception.  The most popular habited communities such as Dominicans of St. Cecilia and DSMME (Mother of the Eucharist) won't, but they are now in the minority.  I think that the best thing for potential candidates is to  FIND OUT, and ASK members of the community in general.  And I wouldn't necessarily rely on the opinion of a member; I would ask, via a direct (and polite) question , the folks in charge.  I also think that establishing a relationship with a community that interests you is a good idea; you can get to know them and vice versa.  You never know.