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What is a Vocation?
How do I know if I have a vocation to religious life?
What are some requirements?
Contact the Vocation Office

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A Sister of Mt. Carmel is ....
Vocation prayers
Links to other Vocations resources

vocation

"A profession , especially one for which one is specially suited or trained; an urge to undertake a certain kind of work." It notes that the word is dervied from the Latin word for "call, summons"

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The Documents of Vatican Council II tried over and over to put this calling into words:

"The gift of a religious vocation is rooted in the gift of baptism but is not given to all the baptized. It is freely given and unmerited: offered by God to those whom He chooses freely from among His people and for the sake of His people." (Perfectae Caritatis, par. 5)

Religious life is a form of life to which some Christians, both clerical and lay, are freely called by God so that they may enjoy a special gift of grace in the life of the Church and may contribute each in his or her own way to the saving mission of the Church. (Lumen Gentium, no.43)

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In another document the Sacred Congregation for Religious gave this defintion to vocation:

God calls a person whom He sets apart for a particular dedication to Himself. At the same time, He offers the grace to respond so that consecration is expressed on the human side by a profound and free self-surrender. The resulting relationship is pure gift. It is a covenant of mutual love and fidelity, of communion and mission, established for God's glory. (Essential Elements in the Church's Teaching on Religious Life, no. 5)

Be in Touch with Yourself.

St. Teresa of Avila teaches us that self-knowledge is the beginning of our path to know and serve God.

Be in Touch with God.

Authentic discernment flows from a life lived in union with God, from a familiarity with the ways of God, from a heart and mind shaped by the teachings of the Gospel.

• I pray to want to be united with God's will, whatever it may be.
• I spend time being present to the Spirit in quiet solitude.
• In a spirit of listening, I will to be open to the will of God as manifested in the circumstances of my life.

Use a Good Decision-Making Process.

In discerning, we need to have the necessary facts, to consider options in the light of Church needs, the Mission Statement and the Congregation Goals, as well as our own personal giftedness and sense of call.

Confirm Your Decision.

Our interior disposition, especially a sense of peace, as well as the feedback we receive from others involved in and affected by our decision are signs that we have judged rightly.

• be a well-balanced individual (spiritually, psychologically, physically, etc.)
  
• be mature, independent, able to live in community with other sisters, and bring to the group a richness that is life-giving
  
• have completed high school and at least two years of college (preferably, have completed college.) - or -
  
• have some training to perform a professional ministry
  
• have no obligations to minor children