Religious

Photo of Marty Barrack

The Call to Religious Life

The highest and best career decision a young woman can make is for religious life as a nun or sister in an order faithful to the Magisterium. Her teaching, her prayers, and her service are of incalculable value to the body of Christ. Nuns and sisters who go out into the world evangelize by the gift of their lives to Christ, which others can see. Cloistered nuns evangelize through prayer.

Religious life is for men as well. Religious brothers work and pray as religious sisters do for the greater glory of God. I emphasize women here because the dioceses so urgently need priests. However, a young man who senses a call to the religious life can profit as well by this guidance for women.

On March 25, 1996, Pope John Paul II issued his apostolic exhortation Vita Consecrata, on the consecrated life and its mission in the Church and in the world. May I encourage all who are discerning a vocation in the consecrated life to reflect prayerfully on the Holy Father’s words. That will take some time, but we should allow time for a decision with not only lifelong but eternal consequences. If God does have a vocation for us, perhaps, as we read and reflect, He will speak to our heart.

Young women considering a vocation should also read Verbi Sponsa, on the contemplative life and the enclosure of nuns, published on May 13, 1999 by the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life.

Faithful to the Magisterium

A young woman considering a religious order and making perpetual vows needs to be sure that the order is faithful to the Magisterium. The Catholic Church has more than a thousand years of experience with religious communities. Many orders formed around the time of the thirteenth century continue serenely in existence, dependent on the Holy Spirit’s guidance through the Vicar of Christ, and will probably continue for many centuries to come. But even new orders faithful to the Magisterium will be stable because they will continue to draw sustenance from the Holy Spirit’s guidance through the Vicar of Christ.

The young woman considering an order may well consider one in which joyfully consecrated women act enthusiastically in the name of the Church. I particularly emphasize joyful consecration as the mark of a faithful order. Branches firmly attached to the tree of life, the Cross of Christ, will receive through His Vicar the constant spiritual nutrition that they need. Suffering in union with Christ’s suffering on the Cross can be a great trial, but even in suffering an underlying joy can shine through. Mt 25:23 “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.” Jn 16:24 “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Jn 17:13 “But now I am coming to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

The Institute on Religious Life

The Institute on Religious Life is an excellent place to start.

The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious

The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR) is an assembly of major superiors who embrace a shared commitment to consecrated life as set forth by Vatican II. In October 1995 Pope John Paul II (and the Vatican Congregations for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life) designated the CMSWR as a canonically approved national association of Women Religious for the United States.

The average age of nuns and sisters in CMSWR orders is under 35 years, and they have abundant vocations.

The CMSWR national office mailing address is P.O. Box 4467, Washington, DC 20017. Their phone number is (202) 832-2575. Young women interested in religious life would do well to ask them for help in discerning the Holy Spirit’s call to religious life.

Miles Christi

For many years, while I was physically able to do so, I attended the Marian Catechist retreats, which were preached by Father John A. Hardon, S.J., and after he passed into eternity by Archbishop Raymond Burke, always with the support of the Miles Christi priests. These militantly orthodox young priests have as their mission the sanctification of the laity, particularly of college students. Young Catholic men considering the religious priesthood might take a look.

Miles Jesu

Miles Jesu (Latin: “Soldier of Jesus”) is not a religious order, but an ecclesial family of consecrated life. I invite my site visitors to consider this order because it promotes the canonization of Queen Isabel of Spain. The true story of the Spanish Inquisition has been buried under an avalanche of calumny that has greatly damaged the Church’s reputation. I’m glad to see an order with the courage to take up this cross, and confident that an order with that much courage would provide great spiritual support during this extraordinary age of salvation history.