Category: Vocations

Norbertines vested, professed in Paoli, PA

daylesford abbey santc.jpgOn August 27, 2012, the Abbot of Daylesford Abbey in Paoli, PA, vested two secular priests in a traditional rite as novices of the Norbertine Abbey.

The video digest of vocation story of Father Herb Sperger being vested with the Norbertine habit can be viewed here.

Father David Driesch gives us his vocation story on the occasion of being vested as a novice at the same ceremony as Father Herb.

On August 28, 2012, Brother James Garvey professed first vows as a Norbertine. His narrative can be seen here.

Saint Norbert and all Norbertine saints pray for the novices!

If interested, here are two very brief posts on Saint Norbert here and here.

Religious life 2012: Profession of vows, entrances and ordinations

Heilengkreutz monks.jpgThe promise of the hundredfold of the Lord is evident in the lives we lead; how we live our Baptism ought to be evident and with those who have responded to the Lord’s call to follow Him more closely in the Christian life in which we live more intensely by through the consecrated life.

As Pope Benedict said, 
It is no less challenging to follow Christ today, It means learning to keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, growing close to him, listening to his word and encountering him in the sacraments; it means learning to conform our will to his. This requires a genuine school of formation for all those who would prepare themselves for the ministerial priesthood or the consecrated life under the guidance of the competent ecclesial authorities. The Lord does not fail to call people at every stage of life to share in his mission and to serve the church in the ordained ministry and in the consecrated life (48th World Day of Vocations, 2011).

Calling of St Matthew detail Caravaggio.jpg

The key words for us ought to be “to follow,” “to keep our gaze,” “listening,” “conforming,” and “encountering.” The crux is, to whom do we belong? Of course, I would hope that we could easily say that we belong to Christ and to His Church. But we know that while we may honestly believe this fact, it is not so every day. We say one thing but we don’t always follow and keep our gaze on the Lord. May this be our prayer and our work today!
This is the third year that I have surveyed, in representative manner, some of the US monastic communities and religious orders who have had members profess simple and/or solemn vows, new members who received the habit or have receive ordination to the Order of Deacon or Priest. While the numbers may be sobering, the point is not about numbers as much as to recognize the many testimonies of grace, the rich living of the offer God has made to our sisters and brothers to love and serve Him in religious life. Corrections welcome.


Monastic life
monks
  • St Vincent’s Archabbey: 4 profess simple vows; 4 profess solemn vows; 2 ordained deacons, 2 ordained priests
  • St John’s Abbey: 2 monks make a profession of solemn vows; 3 professed simple vows
  • St Benedict’s Abbey (Atchinson, KS): 1 monk solemn vows, 3 received as postulants, 1 postulant in Brazil
  • Belmont Abbey (Charlotte, NC): 1 novice entered; 2 monks profess solemn vows
  • St Martin’s Abbey: 1 entered as a novice
nuns

Continue reading Religious life 2012: Profession of vows, entrances and ordinations

Nuns… pray for vocations

Sr Lauren Funk and Sr Mary Dominic Linden Monastery.tifI was reminded earlier today of a need to pray for vocations to the contemplative life. A former colleague of mine recently entered Dominican life as a cloistered nun at Saint Dominic’s Monastery in Linden, VA. It is a traditional monastery of nuns, a very young of women who make a sacrifice to pray for us and the needs of the world. The postulant, Sister Lauren (left) is seen with a veteran nun, Sister Mary Dominic.

Pray for vocations.
As an aside, the Huffington Post had this special article with pictures of those who “thought” they had a vocation. One actually did pursue a vocation as a Benedictine nun at Regina Laudis Abbey (Bethlehem, CT), Mother Dolores Hart.

Congrats on your ordination

Stuart Meyer Deacon Ordination.jpgA friend in England, Stuart Meyer, was ordained to the Order of Deacon for service in the Archdiocese of Southwark (in the UK) this past Saturday Archbishop Peter David Smith. Southwark is an archdiocese just outside  of London where, according to statistics in 2010 the population is 86% Catholic.

Deacon Stuart was an ordained member of the Church of England for many years until he entered into full communion with the Church of Rome. He desired to serve the Lord and the Church as a Catholic priest and did the studies required. The new deacon does not belong to the Anglican Ordinariate, but to the Archdiocese of Southwark.

We offer our congratulations to Deacon Stuart Meyer and pray that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saints Lawrence and Stephen continue to guide. Pray for Deacon Stuart as he prepares for priestly ordination and for vocations to the Catholic Church in England.

A different view women of religious today

In the Catholic press this morning there is a story about the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma using the language of faith versus the language of politics for life, ministry and vocation. All this clap-trap with the LCWR and who’s on what side or not is a bit over the top for several reasons (which I won’t get into right now). Read what the Sisters of Mercy of Alma have to say –they give a more balanced view.

A blessing of a priest

New Toronto priest blesses child May 2012.jpgThe late spring months have a few notable celebrations: the continuation of the Easter Mysteries like the Ascension and Pentecost, Corpus Christi, Mother’s and Father’s Day, and priesthood celebrations. Nothing moves the heart spiritually, that is, than witnessing the blessing of a newly ordained priest. Here a newly ordained priest of Toronto bestows God’s blessing on a little one…

Pray for Mary’s intercession for priests….

Prime Minister Cameron’s former girlfriend became a Benedictine nun

Laura Adshead.jpgOne of the US’s monasteries of Benedictine nuns is getting a lot media attention lately. Regina Laudis Abbey (Bethlehem, CT) is now recognized by the European Catholic press for a story written by Mauro Pianta for the Vatican Insider, “U.S.: Cameron’s former lover becomes cloistered nun.” Mr. Pianta tells of the UK’s Prime Minister David Cameron’s former very beautiful girlfriend who found her vocation in the American abbey after a conversion in her life. Sister John Mary known in history as Laura Adshead left the world to follow Christ. Let’s note, however, Sister John Mary has been at the Abbey for four years, now. So this story is not exactly new, but it is good to know that smart women still follow the Lord’s call.

The original story online at The Daily Mail reveals the story better.

Recently, Regina Laudis has been in the press due to Mother Dolores Hart’s new documentary “God is the Bigger Elvis.” Mother Dolores will receive the 2012 Christopher Life Achievement Award on May 24th for a film that works to “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.”

In the soil of our heart God first planted the root of love for him



Today, the Holy Father announced his Good Shepherd Sunday missive on vocations. Singed on 18 October 2011, Benedict wrote this letter for the 49th World Day of Prayer for Vocations that’s celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday. The Pope’s message is exactly what I was trying to teach to the RCIA people yesterday: God’s love is total and our love for Him needs to be an icon –that is, mirrored– to the world. His theme this year is: Vocations, the Gift of the Love of God. A few paragraphs of the text follow:

Good Shepherd icon.jpg

In a famous page of the Confessions, Saint Augustine
expresses with great force his discovery of God, supreme beauty and supreme
love, a God who was always close to him, and to whom he at last opened his mind
and heart to be transformed: “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever
ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was
outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged
into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with
you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they
would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my
deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed
your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted
you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your
peace.” (X, 27.38). With these images, the Saint of Hippo seeks to
describe the ineffable mystery of his encounter with God, with God’s love that
transforms all of life.

Continue reading In the soil of our heart God first planted the root of love for him