Parents of Religious

[OLAM Dad]

[quote name='zunshynn' date='Feb 20 2006, 01:22 PM']

Hey OLAMdad... sorry to bug you again, but may I include that post as part of my project for school? I think it'd be another cool perspective to include, if that's alright with you.

Pax Christi,
Jen 
[right][snapback]892822[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]
Which post? The one where I called PCPA2Be to task for insulting magnificat?

Absolutely!

[HisChild]

[quote name='zunshynn' date='Feb 21 2006, 10:32 AM']I'm ing my own thread, but I thought I'd celebrate because this is the first topic of mine that's ever been pinned and I'm quite proud of it. So !

Back to the topic.
[right][snapback]893766[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]


What does being pinned mean?

[HisChild]

[quote name='OLAM Dad' date='Feb 21 2006, 11:14 AM']Which post?  The one where I called PCPA2Be to task for insulting magnificat?

Absolutely!
[right][snapback]893805[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]


Oooooh, he's so mean!

[OLAM Dad]

Olam mom here.
Rambling follows.

I don't know much about these kinds of posts. So excuse my ignorance if it shows.

Lauren has left several things in her room, which she hoped we would find. She wrote notes in old notebooks to us, pinned prayer requests on her wall, and left files with recent letters to Jesus and even wrote a vocation story. Can you imagine finding these things every couple of weeks? It is hard and yet so incredibly beautiful.

I have a beautiful daughter, in whom I can truly say, has surpassed me spiritually. I am proud but fight that because she did not like us advertising her vocation to the world. People would ask me, "aren't you so proud of your daughter?" Or, "why didn't you tell us, you must be one proud parent?" Of course, I also get "Why?" "Wasn't she smart enough to go to college first?'...

God's call, God's timing. She really was and is Totus Tuus for her beloved Christ. It somehow reaffirms to me my hearts desire for the children. But then on the flip side you want it to be their's and totally their decision. I think it was for Lauren.

As a homeschooling mom for the last thirteen years, I have wrestled with the issues of school, peers, and maybe too much religion, Well, for the things I did to an extreme, I did apologize to the two oldest. The years of graces have also shown me that you can't take the health of your child's soul to lightly. Ask Ray Gaurendi. But it is so funny how Our Lord either affirms you or slams you. Lauren, of all people is still wanting me to make sure that the children are in safe environments or going to adoration hours. Is she an extremist? She's a very happy one then.

I should probably say Sister Lauen, not Lauren. I sent her and the externs Valentine presents(Godiva chocolate, holy cards I made, pink hot chocolate, and some homemade cookies). It is so much fun to dote on them. I think she enjoys the gifts and she knows we are thinking of her. I think of Madeleine, when they say in the cartoon, "but most of all, we love our butter". For Sister Lauren, but most of all, she loves her coffee. Her one addiction. My husband gets a kick out of mailing bags and bags of it to her. I think Mother Vicar is inspiring her to cut down. We'll have to think of something else he can send the externs.

Sometimes I miss her and I get choked up. Sometimes I see the mess in the secular world and am glad she is where she is . But I know she is sacrificing. And I know it is beautiful and hard for her. And I know she is in love with Christ. All of these things at the same time go through my mind.

When Sister Lauren was around eight years old, my husband and I went through a kind of pilgrimage back to our faith. I fell head over heels in love with the faith. And God's timing was so perfect. I would read the novels of the saints to the girls and we fell in love with St Therese. St Therese sent us two gifts on the same day. Imagine that. Lauren dressed up as her on All Saint's Day that year and from then on I could picture her being a nun. So could she. The rest is history.

But she still grew into an alien we call the dreaded TEENAGER! She had her awful teenage moments where I was ready to ship her off to India, far far away, (Lauren and I) but I guess she turned out okay. Her passion for the pro-life movement, her desire for Adoration hours, and her love for her siblings grounded her and made me interiorally very glad she was my daughter. Even when she was being the alien TEENAGER.

Now I'm very happily,
Sister Lauen's Mom

[HisChild]

Oh that's such a beautiful story, OLAM Mom. Thank you so much for sharing it. I praise God for you each day, that Sr Lauren has such wonderful and loving parents.

God bless you.

(soon to be Sister) Denise

[Marieteresa]

That was so wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing!! Its good to hear from you both! I am so happy that I got a chance to met all you guys! Okie Iam going stop gushing!

In JMJ

[magnificat]

Thanks for the post! It's always great to hear the parents' perspective. Hope you keep posting!

[brandelynmarie]

What a blessing Sister Lauren has in her family! Thank you for sharing "Mom"! And we always enjoy the postings of OLAM Dad too...It helps us all so much out here...Pace e bene, Brandelyn

[OP_MOM]

[quote name='OLAM Dad' date='Feb 21 2006, 10:23 PM']Olam mom here.
Rambling follows...Sister Lauen's Mom
[right][snapback]894411[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]

Hello Olam Mom! :

It was such a treat listening to you describe life as the mother of a young woman who has found such delight in Jesus. I can understand fully everything you said.

Sr. Marjorie left behind a number of things too. One in particular was an expandable file full of her artwork and writings. I had no idea that she had accumulated so many things. To date I haven't been able to open the file. Part of me feels like an intruder. The other part of me knows that I won't walk away without tears.

Another thing I discovered in Sr. Marjorie's room (the one she shared with three other sisters) was behind her dresser, where when she was little, she'd drawn a rough mural of her favorite subject - cows. In her absence, her sisters lovingly finished painting it for her.

In spite of our crowded quarters, Sr. Marjorie managed to find the solitude she needed to pray. Underneath our basement steps, she cordoned off a little private area, filling the space with statues and pictures of the Blessed Mother and Jesus. She would bring the books she used for spiritual reading down to that shabby little place and spend hours alone with Him. There were times that her siblings teased her about her desire to be holy. But no amount of teasing could deter her.

That little shrine still stands untouched. It's only inches from the pool table, the television and the boom box - but it's a world of its own - a little piece of heaven here on earth. No one makes jokes about it anymore.

One of these days I'll find the courage to open the box that is so full of Sr. Marjorie. Until then, I'll just be happy knowing that it is there.

God bless you Olam Mom. You are a very special person!

[shortnun]

Beautiful OP_MOM, thanks so much for sharing part of Sr. Marjorie with us.

[OP_MOM]

People often ask me if Sr. Marjorie’s vocation to the religious life could be attributed to anything for which my husband and I could take credit. For the most part we can make no claims. There was nothing extraordinary about her upbringing. Like most Catholic parents, we made sure that attended weekly PSR classes, attended weekly Mass and periodically made the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Sr. Marjorie attended public schools and was exposed to the same things as every other kid in school.

Recognizing the similarity of our parenting to that of other Catholics, the only point I can make is that Sr. Marjorie was clearly called by God to become a nun.

Sr. Marjorie is the sixth of nine children. During her adolescence, in contrast to most of my other kids, who balked at limits that were placed on them – things like one-piece swimming suits, PG movies etc., Sr. Marjorie always accepted them without so much as a question.

As a mother, my knowledge of religious orders was limited to what I had seen during my school years. Unfortunately those years occurred during a tumultuous time in the Catholic Church when many religious were leaving their vocations. Some of them defied Catholic teaching and led others to do the same.

The result of my experience left me with a negative bias that I have carried with me most of my adult life. It was not until Sr. Marjorie began looking into religious orders that I came to realize the extent to which religious orders had stabilized. I should have realized that God would take care of his church.

Again I must make the point that had it been left up to me, Sr. Marjorie probably wouldn’t have ever known the religious life was an option.

God calls us in spite of the obstacles we put in His way.

[brandelynmarie]

[quote name='PCPA2Be' date='Feb 19 2006, 08:33 PM']

Hey Michael,  (sweet Smile)


[right][snapback]892199[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]


Oh no! Not again! : Brandelynmarie

[zunshynn]

OLAM Dad,

how did Sr. Lauren tell you that she was going to become a nun? How did she tell you OLAM was right for her?

I'm scared to tell my mom that I feel called to contemplative life....

[OLAM Dad]

[quote name='zunshynn' date='Mar 15 2006, 09:04 PM']OLAM Dad,

how did Sr. Lauren tell you that she was going to become a nun? How did she tell you OLAM was right for her?

I'm scared to tell my mom that I feel called to contemplative life.... 
[right][snapback]912961[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]
Sr. Lauren's experience won't help much with your situation I'm afraid. When she was 7 she said that she wanted to become a nun. What 7 year old doesn't want to be a nun? It's like a 7 year old boy saying that he wanted to become an astronaut. So more than anything, her mother and I were just wondering when she would announce that she DIDN'T want to become a nun. We thought that puberty would be the big test for her and to some extent it was, but never so much that she ever said that she had changed her mind.

Starting at about 12 or 13 she started more seriously discerning her vocation. She is a good writer and was attracted to the Daughters of St. Paul, partly because we have a friend who is one. So she started with them. She submitted some articles to My Friend Magazine and eventually became a 'junior editor' for the magazine. She started attending their summer program when she was 13 or 14 (I don't recall) and went to it for four years.

Oops, I've kind of gotten side tracked here, sorry. To make a long story short she never did (obviously) decide to not become a nun.

Regarding OLAM, she never told us that OLAM was for her; she didn't have to. We were close enough to her discernment to make her needing to tell us unnecessary. She was discerning several communities (DSP, SSEW, and OLAM) and had visited several others. One by one the different orders just dropped by the wayside until the only one left was OLAM. A couple of years ago some close friends of ours who just happen to work for EWTN took her to Hanceville for a visit. She visted there, felt at home, and based on what everybody had told her and what God was telling her she never questioned it.

Jen, obviously you will eventually have to tell your mom and it won't be easy. Don't keep her in the dark about your feelings. If your telling her your plans is a huge shock to her then you aren't communicating enough with her. It's going to be hard enough for her to accept it even if she knows is coming. Don't surprise her. Besides, if she knows it's coming anyway, you can tell her anyway you wish. You can even just sit her down give her 'the look' and say, 'You know what I want to talk to you about, don't you Mom?'. At which point, providing you've dropped enough hints, she will probably just start crying.

Edited March 16, 2006 by OLAM Dad

[benedictaj]

Heya heres a lovely article thats actually on my favourites on the computer - but I thought that all the cloistered nuns-to-be and perhaps their parents, may like to read it. It is about a fathers perspective on his daughters vocation to be a Poor Clare.
[url="http://www.wf-f.org/03-2-PoorClares.html"]http://www.wf-f.org/03-2-PoorClares.html[/url]