My vocation

[LoveZoe11]

Hi Pham,

I have been discerning my vocation for almost five years now. I resently thought that I had discerned out of religious life. 

I have a wonderful job and I love what I do. I could teach for the rest of my life and be perfectly happy. 

However, even though I thought I had discerned out, I still find myself drawn to monastic life. There are two communities that I have gone on retreat with and feel especially drawn to: the Trappist of Wrenthum MA and the Visitation nuns of Tyringham MA.

Should I go on more visits? Does this mean I've not fully discerned out?

Any advice would be helpful and thanks for listening.

Zoe

[Lou]

Dear Zoe,

it's so wonderful that you're happy in your life now teaching. That's a great place to be. If you begin discerning again, it's great to know that you have something you're happy doing! If there's a small niggle you should probably check it out. Going to visit Wrentham could be worth doing. Trappist life isn't easy but by visiting you would know what's right. Their vocations director is very helpful, as is the Abbess. Their discernment programme is thorough and they will be very helpful in helping you discover what the right thing to do is.

VDs rarely want people to come knocking who are "unhappy" on their path, so knowing of your joy in teaching will help them to understand your search or your attractions to monasticism. Emailing the VD and telling the truth about your feelings could be great. It's all in God's timing and perhaps his timings wasn't right a while back when you discerned. Why not email a VD saying what you've said here: that you thought you had finished discerning monastic life but you're not fully at peace- would they mind chatting to you about it. They could maybe schedule a phonecall. 

The two communities you've mentioned are so different! Well as regards their Office, I guess not so much, but Trappist life is physically demanding. The Visitation nuns (from a video I watched not long ago- Reel to Reel on YouTube) were founded originally for women who were not suited to Trappist/ Benedictine dispositions. Perhaps think about your abilities and desires for your life in God and then reach out to the communities.

i know more about Trappist life myself, feel free to PM me or ask on the forum any specific questions you might have. Antonella often posts too and she could add something about Trappist life too! 

No harm can come from sharing your feelings and prayer with someone trained in accompaniment and vocational discernment. Emailing or ringing Wrentham seems like a good idea! 

 

[Luigi]

You're happy teaching - good on ya'!

You're drawn to monastic life - good on ya'!

You mention Visitation and Trappist monasteries. 

You don't mention what level you teach - primary, middle, high school, or postsecondary, but... it seems to me that you might be able to combine your two attractions - teaching and monastic life.

Some Visitation monasteries have schools - the Georgetown monastery in Washington, DC comes to mind. They've got a fancy new web site, which I was unaware of until I went looking for you, so thanks for that! https://gvmonastery.org/ 

The Brooklyn Visitation also has a school: http://brooklynvisitationmonastery.org/ministry/

A number of Benedictine monasteries have schools, too. I know Rockford, Illinois does, and I think St. Scholastica's in Kansas does, and Ferdinand, Indiana.

Just a thought. f

[JHFamily]

Some people just never know until they try it out.  

[DameAgnes]

Pursue it. If you don't you will always wonder. This way, you'll KNOW.

[beatitude]

When you say that you've been discerning for five years, what do you mean by that?

Personally I think something is amiss when I hear that someone has been discerning for years. It's often a fear of taking the plunge, a hope that maybe God will send down some stone tablets with clear instructions if they hang about long enough. Remember that postulancy and the novitiate are part of your search - you don't have to be 100% certain that you will live and die in that community in order to ask to enter it. When you ask for entrance, you are just asking to try. That's all. It shouldn't be as intimidating as it seems to us. And as DameAgnes says, if you have this recurrent desire but you don't try, you'll never know. You will not get your answers just from making visits.