Communities Accepting Candidates Over 50

[Sister Rose Therese]

We have had a lot of inquiries from older discerners over 50. Do you know communities that accept candidates over 50? Perhaps even ones that have and will make exceptions for those over 50.

[Alycin]

Here is a list of communities from the IRL website that accept older vocations:

[url="http://www.ascjus.org/"]Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus[/url]
[url="http://religiouslife.com/vocsearch/search.phtml?view=d&my_id=49&criteria=d"]Auxiliaries of the Blessed Sacrament[/url]
[url="http://religiouslife.com/vocsearch/search.phtml?view=d&my_id=31&criteria=d"]Carmelite Nuns of Ancient Observance, Monastery of St. Therese[/url]
[url="http://carmelnet.org/christoval/christoval.htm"]Carmelite Nuns, Monastery of Our Lady of Grace[/url]
[url="http://www.carmelitesisters.com/"]Carmelite Sisters for the Aged & Infirm[/url]
[url="http://www.carmelitedcj.org/"]Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus (Central Province)[/url]
[url="http://www.carmelitedcjnorth.org/"]Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus (Northern Province)[/url]
[url="http://www.carmelitedcj.org/"]Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus (Southwest Province)[/url]
[url="http://religiouslife.com/vocsearch/search.phtml?view=d&my_id=22&criteria=d"]Carmelite Sisters of the Eucharist[/url]
[url="http://www.laconfranciscans.org/"]Daughters of St. Francis of Assisi[/url]
[url="http://www.daughtersofstmaryofprovidence.com/"]Daughters of St. Mary of Providence[/url]
[url="http://religiouslife.com/vocsearch/search.phtml?view=d&my_id=115&criteria=d"]Discalced Carmelite Monastery of Divine Mercy and Our Lady of Guadalupe[/url]
[url="http://religiouslife.com/vocsearch/search.phtml?view=d&my_id=67&criteria=d"]Discacled Carmelite Nuns[/url]
[url="http://www.heartsawake.org/"]Discalced Carmelite Nuns (a different one)[/url]
[url="http://religiouslife.com/vocsearch/search.phtml?view=d&my_id=166&criteria=d"]Discalced Carmelite Nuns (yet another)[/url]
[url="http://www.carmelnuns.com/Danvers.html"]Discalced Carmelite Nuns, Monastery of Danvers[/url]
[url="http://www.religiouslife.com/w_ocd.phtml"]Discalced Carmelite Nuns, Monastery of Our Lady & St. Joseph[/url]


(Leaving work now, will finish this in about 30 minutes. )

[hoosieranna]

[url="http://consecrated-life.org/over_45.htm"]http://consecrated-life.org/over_45.htm[/url]

(over 45, lists maximum age for congregations)

[Veritas]

+

Seems to me there are some cloistered Dominican communities also... Perhaps sister MC can help us?

[Alycin]

Okay, I took a little longer than I thought I did.

The rest of my list can be obtained by going [url="http://religiouslife.com/vocsearch/search_characteristic.phtml"]here[/url] and then choosing "women's vocations" and checking the box for "accepts older vocations."

[Stacey]

Are you just compiling a list of those in the USA or other places too?
Here in Britain most communities will either accept or consider over 50's.
and i know for certain that we do here - St Mary's Abbey, Colwich, and that the
Tyburn congregtion does - they have 9 houses over the world including Latin America and Canada, as well as Europe. I think all of the English Benedictine Congregation communities do, if that's any help. Pax Sr Marie-Therese.

[shortnun]

Visitation Sisters are usually open to "older" vocations. That's the only community I haven't seen mentioned so far here.

[Sister Rose Therese]

Thanks to you all.
The list isn't for myself, our vocation director was looking for communities, I guess to refer older candidates to.
That IRL filtered list is somewhat unreliable.
The was one community that has an age limit of 55. But then there are some that have an age limit of 35. So it kind of depends on what each community considers an older vocation. When communities make exceptions for age, they usually have a leeway of a few years. 15-20 difference probably wouldn't be considered.
I didn't know though that most of the communities in England don't have age limits. That is very interesting. I would love to find out how that works for them.

[the lords sheep]

I do not believe that the Carmelites DCJ accept women over 35 or so. They may be willing to work on an individual basis, however, but I am not sure....

[stlmom]

Many of the active Benedictine Sisters consider candidates in that age range. If looking for Benedictines who wear the habit, check the Olivetan Benedictines in Arkansas, the Benedictine Sisters of St. Mary's, PA, and the Benedictine Sisters of Canyon, Texas.
The Olivetans currently have quite a few "50-somethings" in formation, with pictures on their updated website.
There is another Benedictine community in Texas, The Benedictines of Starr County, who are engaged in pro-life work. I think they also consider older vocations, but I'm not sure of an age limit.

[jkaands]

[quote name='Sister Rose Therese' post='1456805' date='Feb 6 2008, 09:31 PM']We have had a lot of inquiries from older discerners over 50. Do you know communities that accept candidates over 50? Perhaps even ones that have and will make exceptions for those over 50.[/quote]

Sister Rose, do you mean that your community has had a lot of inquiries from discerners over 50? (I'm sorry that I don't know what community you are in).

I assume that your community does not consider discerners in this age range. Do you know what (general) sort of community these discerners are interested in? Active, contemplative, habited, non-habited?

[jkaands]

[quote name='Nadezhda' post='1456829' date='Feb 6 2008, 10:11 PM'][url="http://consecrated-life.org/over_45.htm"]http://consecrated-life.org/over_45.htm[/url]

(over 45, lists maximum age for congregations)[/quote]

This website hasn't been updated for over two years. I think that there are many other congregations accepting older candidates than are listed here.

[jkaands]

[quote name='Alycin' post='1456880' date='Feb 6 2008, 11:47 PM']Okay, I took a little longer than I thought I did.

The rest of my list can be obtained by going [url="http://religiouslife.com/vocsearch/search_characteristic.phtml"]here[/url] and then choosing "women's vocations" and checking the box for "accepts older vocations."[/quote]

I am skeptical about the accuracy of this website. It doesn't have a good search engine for searching websites in general, and under so-called 'older vocations', it lists the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, who say in their website under 'Qualifications":

" Age 18-30, Exceptions Sometimes Made". It is known that this group has many young candidates.

I think it would be most fruitful for a would-be candidate to do most of the searching herself for an appropriate community; to decide on the sort of charism and types of work she is interested in, examine her interests, abilities, background and aptitudes, and then search the websites for what is listed under qualifications, and to look at photographs of the community and candidates, if there are any. If a group has a full, young novitiate and lots of inquiries from young people, it probably won't be accepting older candidates. If another group doesn't mention its age range and appears to have mainly older members and only a few in formation, or has older candidates, then it may indeed consider an older candidate.

The list of possible communities is probably a lot longer than listed for 'older vocations' by referral websites.

[Sister Rose Therese]

Now that you say that, about the Benedictines, there are Benedictine sisters nearby who accept older candidates.
I am with the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, and yes we do get a lot of inquiries from older women, some even in their 70s. Usually through Vision Vocation guide, or the web site or guide to religious ministries. I think that because so many womens communities have age limits here, that are initially just looking for communities willing to accept them. Often in intial inquiries, they aren't decided on what kind of community they want. Also, for the most part the older women are as concerned about the habit as the younger ones. So I guess just a mixed list. I guess the only thing I would like to limit are communities that aren't in line with Rome, you know like those trying to be priests or those who deny the validity of vatican II.

[DameAgnes]

more links at <a href="http://deacbench.blogspot.com/2008/02/better-late-than-never.html">Deacon Greg's Bench</a>