What obstacles can I expect to entering?

What obstacles can I expect?


Very few are the number who have entered religious life without having to overcome some obstacle. Perhaps one not so graphic as Jane Francis de Chantel's son throwing himself across the doorstep so that she would have to step over him to go to the convent, but painful difficulties arise nonetheless. The fact that a thing is difficult does not mean that it is not to be done. Once you have thought it over, prayed about it, and reached a conclusion that you ought to do it, then you should act without further hesitation or delay. You must put your faith in God, for as St. Thomas says "they who enter religion trust not to stand in their own strength but in the aid of the power of God."

What are these obstacles?

They generally fall into three categories: the world, the flesh, and the family.
The first thing you hear is usually "You're too young to know your own mind yet," "Wait a while and go to college first," or "have a little taste of the world, you don't know what you are giving up." These are only worldly temptations to avoid a better life. What is so noble and uplifting about the world and society that we should "taste" it? Do they mean partake of immorality, get drunk, take drugs? Hardly, but if they mean simply have fun then they are presupposing wrongly that there is no fun, entertainment or pleasure in the convent.

What an offering to give God the leavings when there is not much left of our life but a decrepit frame, yet that is all that worldly people feel is fit for God and that they are doing Him a favor besides. Can you suppose that God would choose out of all the world the homeliest, the dullest. the most unfit to be His bride? He would be a poor Judge to take for the holiest service the castoffs of the world. Certainly a girl should take ample time to decide, but ample time does not mean to wait until there is no other prospect but to be an old maid.

If God is calling you to the religious life follow that voice as soon as you are certain of the calling. Do not delay. The very fact that God calls you now means that He wants you now. If He wanted you later on the call would come then and not now. We might rather pity those who are not called to religious life, for though the world may grant them pleasures and honors it cannot keep them from sorrow, affliction, and loss. Those in convents are saved much of the suffering that the world doles out to its followers.

The second obstacle can be the candidate's own pride, vanity, love of ease, or lack of piety. Those who enter the convent are no different from other mortals. They have just surrendered themselves to His love. True it will be difficult, but then He is there with us urging "Learn of Me for I am Meek and Humble of Heart." "The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away."

The truth remains that God selects enough souls to carry on His work; unfortunately lack of piety makes them deaf to the voice of God, and love of finery and pleasure renders them blind. If you would see the world with eyes twenty years older, you would see misery and unhappiness in places where now you see but bliss.

The major obstacle to most candidates, however, is their family. It is most natural to want our parents' blessing, and many parents, unfortunately, work on the sensitive natures of their children, appealing to their goodness and filial piety to keep them home. If a girl is drawn to the love of Christ and prefers it to the love of man, is it a kindness to thwart it? Rather is it not ignorance or selfishness, or perhaps a mistaken idea of the girl's happiness?

To such a girl I would give this advice: if you are not yet old enough to leave your parent's custody then pray and wait until you are of age. If you are of age, then, recall the words of Christ: "A man's enemies shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." Make up your mind whether you will obey God or man!

Since this is a most important and difficult decision. I will call to your attention the advice of other competent and holy people, St. Teresa of Avila, who was no weakling, confessed that at the moment of leaving her parents she suffered so much she felt only death could be worse, and vet she left. The holy doctors of the church unanimously teach that a parent's permission is not necessary to follow a religious vocation. Our Lord gave us His own example by remaining in the Temple without Joseph and Mary's permission. Finally. here are the words of St. Jerome to Heliodorus on this very subject:

"I invite you: make hast. You have made light of my entreaties, perhaps you will listen to my reproaches. Effeminate soldier! what are you doing under the paternal roof? Even though your nephew entwine his arms around your neck: even were your mother, with streaming hair, to show you, through her rent garments, the breast that nurtured you: even though your father were to throw himself across the threshold of your house, step over the obstacle and with unquivering eye, rush to take your place beneath the standard of the Cross. Lo, your sister presses you in her arms: your attendants, your grandmother, your tutor exclaim: 'Wait a while until we are dead. bury us before you go’: love of God and fear of hell easily break all chains. Oh soldier, all spangled with the flowers of Jesus Christ! Blessed retreat where one enjoys familiarity with God! Brother dear, what are you doing in the world which is so far less than you? Do you fear hardship? What athlete was ever crowned without a struggle? It is my love for you, Oh brother, that has urged me to say these things to the end that on judgement day you may share the glory of those who now live amid the rigors of penance.

If you enter aren't you committed to stay?

But if you enter aren’t you committed to it?


Do not ever think that upon entering you have taken an irrevocable step, and that the doors will be locked behind you and you will be forced to stay. There is a saying in the convent that it is as good to get rid of a bad candidate as to receive a good one.

The candidate will go through a long period (about six years) of testing, rather like a long engagement before marriage. But unlike marriage she has a chance to live and try every facet of her future life to see if she measures up or wishes to remain in it forever. The doors are open to her at any time. If her Superiors feel in that period that she does not have a vocation (and they often do) to their community or religious life, they will tell her so, and send her back to the world.

If however, she makes her way through these periods of postulancy, novitiate, and temporary vows and is allowed by her Superiors and the Church authorities to profess her final vows, then there can no longer be any question. She has, indeed, a vocation.

It is perhaps the only state in life where a person can reach such an absolute decision. What other state offers such a chance to try it first, and so much guidance along the way by proven professionals"? What other state in life offers itself to the applicant in small steps, allowing for a chance to acclimate, knowing that the world of religious is so far different from the worldly one left behind?

How do I know if I have a vocation?

If you have the desire to be a religious does that mean that it is your vocation?


The desire is only one of the three parts of discerning a vocation. It is only natural that if God wishes a particular person to be a religious. He would also give them the necessary qualifications of mind, health. and character that are necessary to live a religious life. This is the second step to discerning a vocation, for even though the desire may be there, if the qualifications are not, then the person does not have a vocation.

By qualifications here, we are not referring to degrees in education or medicine, but things like average intelligence,emotional stability, maturity equal to age, physical well being, a sense of humor, etc.

Nor should you be afraid to apply to an order that teaches (for example) if you don't have a high schoolor college diploma. Not every member of a teaching order teaches, nor does every member of a nursing order nurse. Sisters with other talents are needed to run the convents and free the teachers and nurses for their duties. If you like a particular community, apply and let the Superior judge whether you are the type of material their religious order needs.

Who is the best judge of your vocation?


The candidate herself is the only judge as to whether she has the willingness to become a sister, but only the Superior of the order she joins is a competent judge as to her qualifications.

Can a girl be sure that she has a vocation?


Now the candidate is at the crossroads—she has the desire. and a community is willing to accept her. The first two steps to discerning her vocation are complete, there is only one thing left for her to do if she wishes to be sure she has a vocation and that is enter.

Prayer will not make her sure, nor advice from parents or confessors, nor waiting a year or two. Living the life is the only sure way.

Looking in from the outside is not the same as being inside and living it. Here she will have ample tests made of her character by her superiors. and here she will find many ways to test her willingness to serve Christ.

Is the call from God an actual voice?

Is the call from God an actual voice?


This "call" from God is not necessarily an actual voice. It appeals to the heart and not the ear. It is best described as a desire to serve Our Lord in a better way than we are serving Him now, much like the desire of the young man in the Gospel. Our Lord's call to the heart He has captivated and wants to possess varies with the facets of His own Wisdom considering each human's own unique personality. The calls are infinitely varied: some distinct and overpowering, others like a whispering breeze that must be carefully listened to to be discerned. Some hear the call from childhood and only wait until they are of age, others receive it suddenly. Some are drawn quietly, others hesitatingly. This last is attracted and repulsed also. They desire to make the sacrifice but tremble at the cost.

What is a vocation and is it wrong not to follow it?

What is a vocation?

The word "vocation" means calling. God calls us to perform a certain work for which He has fitted us. Long before the world was made, each of us existed in the Mind of God. Long before we existed in our mother's womb He knew us and already had prepared a certain work for us in life. To that end He bestowed on us the necessary gifts. Hence a vocation does not mean a career or calling that we pick out for ourselves according to our likes and dislikes, but fulfilling the vocation that God has selected for us. There is only one consideration here, and that is the Holy Will of God.

Is it wrong not to follow your vocation?

Three freedoms intervene in the salvation of a soul: the freedom of God who grants grace as He wills, the freedom of each soul which can accept or reject that grace, and the freedom of each of us to be an instrument for good as regards other souls in a greater or lesser degree according to God's will. Now suppose that someone is called by God to cultivate a particular portion of His vineyard as a religious and she failed to respond to that call. What will become of those souls who might have been saved through her work? Think then of the terrible responsibility each vocation enjoins. A specific work destined by God from eternity awaits you. If you do not do it, it will remain undone. The evil of missing your vocation lies not so much in failing to correspond with God's greater graces, but rather in refusing to help those souls that may need your assistance. That is one of the reasons for the paltry number of religious vocations. God calls as many or more than He ever did, but the prevailing selfishness of this generation makes them heedless to any Will but their own—regardless of the consequences to the world.

Isn't it heartless to renounce your family like that?

Isn’t it heartless to renounce your family like that?

It isn't considered heartless when a girl does it to marry. Some people think that those who renounce the world and family are heartless, but, on the contrary, it is because they have such a great heart that they go to the convent. So for the love of Christ these specially chosen maidens leave their families only to find that in Christ they can love them more than before and the parents in turn find that of all their children the ones in Religion are the only ones that will ever be truly theirs forever. They leave the world only to find that from morning to night they spend their lives in preparation or service to it, and the world becomes richer and nobler for their presence. They leave their riches to find that all their needs are met and untold spiritual wealth pours out before them. They leave their own will behind to find a sure knowledge of the Will of God and a secure Guide unknown to seculars. They leave the promise of marriage and children to find the ecstasy of Christ's love from a pierced Heart, secure in the knowledge that the servant is not greater than the Master, and in Him they rejoice to find that "many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that hath a husband."

Isn’t this a special type of girl then?

St. Teresa of Jesus said "If the love of God takes hold of a woman's heart who can tell what a great saint she will become?" These girls who enter are no different than their peers. They also love life, liberty, and luxury, but their love of Christ is stronger still, for a love that does not include service and suffering is not real. She hears the voice of her beloved saying to the young man "what doth it profit a man to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul." And to her own heart, "If thou wilt be my disciple, deny thyself, take up thy cross and follow Me." The vast majority of those in the convent have much in common with that Gospel youth. Like him they have had their moments of weakness, guilt, even mortal sins, but they have soon surrendered to the solicitations of His Love.

Considering the Samaritan woman after her conversion Abbe Landrieux said "A woman is worth twelve apostles preaching from the housetops." Through one woman's zeal a whole town came to rejoice Christ's Heart, but He was saddened also. He saw that there would be few apostles to continue the Samaritan woman's missionary work. Hence those words with the haunting note of sorrow for those who can hear it: "The harvest indeed is great but the laborers are few." For the religious Christ is the only reality, the constant Companion who makes all things possible. He is her Friend, her Beloved, her Spouse. He will not be outdone in generosity, nor will He wait until He clasps His spouse to His Sacred Heart in Heaven to give her sweet tokens of His acceptance. All lives are short, but the life of a religious is full. Can you say your life has been a fruitful harvest or just a meaningless gesture?

Why do women go to the convent?

Don’t women go to the convent for other reasons too?

A woman should not go to the convent: for security, because of an unhappy romance, because she is over thirty and unmarried, because she prefers to pray than to work, because she is worn-out or melancholy, or because she has some physical or mental handicap and her parents want her settled in life. True, convents offer a stable and secure life. True, an unhappy romance may lead to a vocation by pointing out the Will of God. Yes, it is good if the candidate likes. to pray, but be warned that it is no place for the lazy, for the work is hard and abundant. True, many convents take handicapped people (usually depending upon the type and degree) but there is no room for the melancholy.

Then, why does a woman go to the convent?

For one reason and only one reason—the love of God. We are not talking here of a general attitude, but of something very special and intimate. Her love for Christ is as profound, and passionate as the love of any woman who has been tenderly courted and wed. She is so consumed by a love stronger than human love that the thought of marriage to any other besides Christ becomes impossible. It is a love totally disinterested to the point that to be His bride she will make any sacrifice: her possessions, her will, her parents, sisters, and brothers. This love must be there to make all the trials and sacrifices of religious life bearable.