Daughters of St. Paul

[Marysheart]

Dominican soul, are you a nun? You sound like one. Bless you on your journey in God's will in your vocation. In his will is our peace.

[passerby]

Thank you all for your responses...I am finding them very encouraging and informative.

[krissylou]

I know these sisters well and can explain the age thing!

This is an international community and the international government has set an age limit of 30.  Americans have begged and pleaded to say that really doesn't work in our culture when the average age of marriage is in the late 20s to early 30s.  So far to no avail.

However, the national vocations director can approve a waiver of up to age 35.  Since the national vocations director has to approve all entrances anyway, effectively this means the age limit is 35.  (I have known someone who entered at 36 but that requires approval at a higher level.  But it can happen.)

I think when they say that come-and-sees are for people up to age 33 that's because discernment doesn't happen overnight and in order to enter by 35 you should be making first contact before then.

The sisters I know are at various levels of techy-ness.  If you're attracted to the general idea, specific skills in media are not a requirement for entry.

Different communities have different emphases in their spiritual life.  So the Benedictines are ALL ABOUT the Liturgy of the Hours.  Carmelites are ALL ABOUT mental prayer, etc.  Which means that isn't the only thing they ever do, but that's their big focus.  The Paulines are ALL ABOUT a daily hour of Eucharistic Adoration, which they call a "Visit."  That's in addition to a half hour of individual prayer, daily Mass, morning and evening prayer.  It's actually a pretty intensive prayer schedule for an active community.

They do get a steady stream of vocations.  In the years I've known them (since about 2010) they've had roughly as many final vows as funerals.  I've lost track of the exact numbers but it's pretty close.  Not many orders can say that!  The first sister I knew when she was a novice is making her final vows this summer.  Sniffle.  They grow up so fast!

If you're attracted to the Pauline charism but the media thing just isn't your bag you might want to consider the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master who are part of the same family but are more contemplative.  There are a couple other women's congregations too but they aren't in the United States.

(These weren't hostile splits, just as they developed a new apostolate they created a new congregation for it.  But everyone stayed friends.  I've never quite understood why the founder considered it so important to have separate congregations when after all there were plenty of orders that had some teachers and some nurses.  I guess he just loooooved Vatican paperwork.)

[kg94]

Hi, 

I was previously visiting one of the branch houses of FSP (Daughters of St Paul) in Malaysia. From what I know, their life varies from province to province, but what I can tell you is that the media apostolate is only a means of evangelisation through social communications. Many of the Sisters tell me they started door-to-door bringing books to people's houses and teaching them about the faith. Another interesting thing to note is they were "born in Adoration" and have a great love for the Blessed Sacrament. Their prayer life is rather 'wordy' compared to many other congregations I know, and they have their own set of prayer manuals and books etc. They're extremely gifted Sisters and I know they often meet in Rome during preparation for vows and for formation and other meetings. That is when one may meet the Sisters from the other provinces. The rest, I suppose is difficult to tell you until you've experienced their life in the physical reality (as in, you must experience it yourself to really know). 

God bless!

[dominicansoul]

On 5/15/2018 at 4:04 PM, Marysheart said:

Dominican soul, are you a nun? You sound like one. Bless you on your journey in God's will in your vocation. In his will is our peace.

I wish I was, but I had to give up religious life for serious responsibilities at home.  I am the sole care giver for my mentally ill brother.  

Its been a sacrifice.  My vocation story is kind of backwards.  I didn’t give up much when I entered the convent....I gave up everything when I left it...