Could You Help Me A Little?

[Sister Rose Therese]

Hello Agnes,
Glad to have you here.
[quote name='agnes88' post='1874303' date='May 24 2009, 12:09 PM']Hi, everyone! I just completed my 10 posts in order to post in here!

As the title says, I am new to discerning and don't know what I'm doing. Reading your stories has been so inspiring to me!

Some things make me nervous and concerned, and I'm hoping you can help me out a little.


1. I don't know any female religious, and sometimes I doubt that any actually exist! Of course I look on the websites and see them, but that's all. I hear a lot about former nuns who left, discerners who can't find a fitting order, people who go through postulancy and leave... Are there happy sisters and nuns out there? I know some orders have lots of new, young vocations. Are these young women staying in and taking their perpetual vows? I need some reassurance. [/quote]
Yes, we exist.
And Yes, there are happy nuns and sisters out there!
And yes there are young women who are entering and taking their perpetual vows. I'm hoping to make mine August of 2010.
You should check around in your area to see if there are any general vocation fairs, camps, or youth conferences that have sisters. So you can see for yourself.

[quote]2. My spiritual director suggested I get in touch with a couple of orders of interest this summer. How do you go about this? What do you say when you contact them? I haven't been a practicing Catholic for two years yet (I don't come from a religious family and only started practicing in college), so I know I am not looking to enter right away.[/quote]
If you're just starting to look, you may want to see about attending an event like I just mentioned first, or just looking on-line yourself. If you sign up for one of the vocation sites (the ones that send your information to different communities) before you have an idea what you are looking for you'll be buried alive in mail.
If you do find some that really strike you as interesting, just send them an email and say you'd like to learn more.
[quote]3. Can you guys maybe give me some advice at looking at orders? I've found so many that look good, but I don't know if any of them fit me very well, if you know what I mean. I am trying to go where God leads me, but I don't know if I'm particularly good at following Him.

I like that the Dominicans say they "contemplative and share the fruits of their contemplation." That appeals to me a lot! The Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist look wonderful wonderful wonderful, but when I looked at their daily schedule, it seemed a little too packed full. I'd want more quiet and more time to pray than that!

I also love the idea of perpetual adoration. I do a daily Holy Hour now, and that and daily Mass are the center of my day. Since I love adoration and prayer, it seems that I should look at contemplative orders, but I don't really feel comfortable with the idea of a cloister. Also, I was reading the thread on unusual hygene practices... and that made me a little nervous! I want a simple and sparse lifestyle, but I don't know if I'm ready for washing out of a bucket!

I want to be mostly out of the world, but I also want to be able to get up and help people in the world directly. I would love to teach people and maybe kids about Christ and the Church, and I also want to pray a lot. Is there anything like that out there?[/quote]
It can be tough when you first start looking at these things. I think your other respondents have recommended some good websites to find orders.
I remember feeling attracted to many different things myself. The cloisters, perpetual adoration, missionary and charitable works... We're attracted to them all because they are all good. However, we are limited creatures and can't do everything. Personally, I knew it was going to be a Franciscan order that I would enter. Some in our community knew it would be a nursing apostolate, but didn't know what order. You may eventually find something like that becomes clear for yourself.

[quote]Do you have any advice?


Thank you all so much!!! I'm sorry this is so long!


Agnes[/quote]
Keep going to daily Mass and making your Holy Hours! Don't panic, God will guide you.
You might want to try praying a novena to St. Therese of Lisieux. She's not the patron saint of vocations for nothing.
God bless you.
Sister Rose Therese

[Hilde]

Unfortunately I'm only able to select US and Canada, so they might not want anyone from outside America. Weird.

I really wanted to take that test though.

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='Hilde' post='1901432' date='Jun 25 2009, 06:42 PM']Unfortunately I'm only able to select US and Canada, so they might not want anyone from outside America. Weird.

I really wanted to take that test though.[/quote]

Maybe you could just select "US" or "Canada"? I wish I remembered the test better, but perhaps it could at least be of some help to you?

[AbsconditaInDeo]

[quote name='agnes88' post='1874303' date='May 24 2009, 01:09 PM']3. Can you guys maybe give me some advice at looking at orders? I've found so many that look good, but I don't know if any of them fit me very well, if you know what I mean. I am trying to go where God leads me, but I don't know if I'm particularly good at following Him.

I like that the Dominicans say they "contemplative and share the fruits of their contemplation." That appeals to me a lot! The Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist look wonderful wonderful wonderful, but when I looked at their daily schedule, it seemed a little too packed full. I'd want more quiet and more time to pray than that!

I also love the idea of perpetual adoration. I do a daily Holy Hour now, and that and daily Mass are the center of my day. Since I love adoration and prayer, it seems that I should look at contemplative orders, but I don't really feel comfortable with the idea of a cloister. Also, I was reading the thread on unusual hygene practices... and that made me a little nervous! I want a simple and sparse lifestyle, but I don't know if I'm ready for washing out of a bucket!

I want to be mostly out of the world, but I also want to be able to get up and help people in the world directly. I would love to teach people and maybe kids about Christ and the Church, and I also want to pray a lot. Is there anything like that out there?

Do you have any advice?[/quote]

I would really recommend e-mailing Sr. Joseph Andrew, OP (sjab@sistersofmary.org) of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. She can really help you with discernment and help you find a good order that may be a good fit for you. She has helped me A LOT with my discernment and I can't thank her enough for how much she's helped me. She is absolutely wonderful and very wise, and also very funny! Also, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist are a very good, traditional Community that's bursting at the seams with vocations. I really recommend that you look into them. They're dominicans and they're mostly teachers. They teach in elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. They're in Ann Arbor, MI and they have a holy hour everyday (they are very devoted to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Mother, hence the name Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist). Check out their website (www.sistersofmary.org).

You'll be in my prayers!