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Discerning a religious vocation
(see
Retreats for retreat
info)
Each person has a specific calling, a unique vocation. Our constant
prayer is that God will make His will clear to those who are searching.
We are happy to help in any way with your discernment process, although
most important is to ask God to help you know your vocation.
What's the first step?
Go to daily Mass, if possible, pray before the Blessed Sacrament, and
go frequently to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Choose a few prayers and
be faithful to reciting them daily as you seek to know God's will.
The following is an example of one such prayer:
Come Blessed
Mother.
Come Holy
Mother.
Come Mother of
God.
Come and walk
with me
As I walk
towards the cross,
Where your
Holy Son, Jesus,
Waits for me
with open arms.
Stay with me;
hold my hands and
Pray for me as
I walk this walk towards Jesus.
Keep your
mantle of protection around me.
Pray that I
would be Holy.
To do my
Father's will.
I love you
Jesus.
I love you
Father.
Pray for me my
Blessed Mother.
Lloyd Ram,
2003
(See also a prayer
to St. Joseph at the bottom of this page)
What is a nun?
One saintly woman writes:
A nun is a diamond with many facets. She is a woman in love with
God. She is a saint in the making. She is a creature in search of her
Creator, a pilgrim of the Absolute, a song, a flame, the Spouse of the
Crucified, the garden of the Father, the delight of the Holy Ghost. She is
Mary's companion, Martha's helper. She is all those, and more.
-Catherine de Hueck, Dear Sister, Chapter II
What is the way to holiness?
...the way is so simple. It is the way of the Holy Ghost; of Mary,
His Spouse; of the Holy Trinity; the way of love. Love that knows love's
Source and daily goes to be filled to the brim, so that it may spill over;
so that it may spend itself in service and sacrifice for others; and,
having spent itself, go back to be renewed, to spend itself again,
gloriously, passionately, constantly! This is how I see the life of a
human soul through the span of time allotted by its Maker.
- Catherine de Hueck, Dear Sister, Chapter IX
Prayer to Saint Joseph to Know One's
Vocation
O Great Saint Joseph, you
were completely obedient to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Obtain for me
the grace to know the state of life that God in his providence has chosen
for me. Since my happiness on earth, and perhaps even my final happiness
in heaven, depends on this choice, let me not be deceived in making it.
Obtain for me the light to know God's Will, to carry it out faithfully,
and to choose the vocation which will lead me to a happy eternity.
Click
here
for a brief list of recommended books.
Crucifix at Most Holy Mother
of God Catholic Church in Vladivostok, Russia
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Additionally, I sought for
something to love, for I was in love with love. There was a hunger
within me from a lack of inner food which is none other than Yourself my
God.
Confessions of
St. Augustine
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I have sought You with all
my heart: let me not stray from your commands.
Psalm 119
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Mary is the bearer of an indelible youthfulness
and beauty that never wanes. May young people have increasing confidence
in her and may they entrust the life just opening before them to
her....Look to Mary to see how to respond to Jesus' call.
Pope John Paul II
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We are wise if we do not try in isolation, with
everyone acting for himself or herself, to build the purely private
house of our own individual life. It is our wisdom to build the
joint house with him so that we ourselves become his living house.
Pope Benedict XVI, The Yes of Jesus
Christ
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And to all of those who suspect that they may
have this possible personal vocation, I say: pray insistently to receive
the needed clarity, but then reply with a joyful yes.
Pope John Paul II
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