Discernment Resources!

I know that when I was discerning about my vocation and was wondering if I might be called to be a sister, there was one thing that I desperately wanted but did not know how to find. What was it you may ask? Conversation with and advice from other young women who were discerning or who were in the early stages of religious formation. There was little to nothing available online at the time, and (as far as I could tell) I was the only young woman I knew who was thinking about being a nun. Processing my thoughts, questions, fears, and hopes about religious life would have been so much simpler, I thought, with more information or at least someone to share the journey of discernment with!

Fortunately for those who are currently wondering about religious life and/or discerning their own potential call to be a sister or nun, things have changed a great deal over the last decade! Quite a few resources have been developed, including blogs written by young women who are discerning, in formation, or newly professed sisters. What a great opportunity to learn about their experiences, to ask your questions, and to hear what the process of joining a religious community is like!

One place to read all about it is the website of Giving Voice, an organization of younger women religious. They have a collection of blogs here from some of their members who represent a sample of the variety of religious communities. I encourage you to visit this site, choose a blog or two to check out, and curl up with a good cup of coffee and tea some evening.

Meet (Some) Sisters Monday

For this week's edition of Meet-A-Sister Monday I'd like to introduce you to not one sister, but a community of them! Vocation team member Sister Mary Swanson, SSND has been working with the vocation ministers of other communities in the upper mid-west during the Year of Consecrated Life. One of these communities, the Benedictine sisters of St. Martin Monastery in Rapid City, SD recently shared with her this video about themselves. I thought that you might find it interesting to have a glimpse into their history and their present lives.

After watching the video, was there anything that jumped out at you - maybe something that you found surprising, interesting, or inspiring? What questions about religious life did it raise for you?

Foundress Friday

We love this painting of Blessed Theresa which was done by Franco-Peter Mpagi! Do you have a favorite picture of a family member? What makes it so special?

Throwback Thursday

Theresa wrote many letters over the course of her lifetime to the early sisters. Many of them were full of beautiful advice and encouragement! Who in your life encourages you?

Who We Are Wednesday

Do you enjoy history? For this edition of Who We Are Wednesday we would like to share with you our founding story as told on our international website, gerhardinger.org. Here is a preview:

The congregation of the School Sisters of Notre Dame came to life when God’s call found an answer in the hearts of people strong in faith, farseeing in vision, and courageous in action. The congregation continues today in the mysterious interaction of divine call and human response.

 

Our charism flows from our spiritual heritage, especially the gifts of St. Augustine, who formed a community to be of one heart and one soul in God, seeing in the Trinity the basis, source and goal of all community. It is in this spirit of Augustine that the first rules are framed.

Blessed Alix Le Clerc and St. Peter Fourier gave a new direction to religious life, insisting  that the ministry of furthering the interests of education be integral to the community which they founded and named it the Congrégation Notre Dame - Canonesses of St. Augustine. Alix and her companions pronounced their first religious vows on Christmas Day 1597 at Mattaincourt in Lorraine.

 
Though its roots lie deep in the past, the congregation traces its actual beginning to October 24, 1833, when Caroline Gerhardinger and two other women began a common religious life in Neunburg vorm Wald, Bavaria. Their action was inspired by an apostolic spirituality destined to shape their own lives and profoundly affect those of many others.

You can read the full history here!

Discernment Inspiration

If you answered this question honestly, what might it mean for the direction of your life? If you think that God may be calling you to consider religious life, can you trust God enough to believe that you will be ok if you start talking about it and looking at it up close?

Meet Sister Rose Cecile Espinos!

An early call - at age 6

Sisters Mary Kay Brooks and Rose Cecile Espinos (right)

 “My vocational call came at the very early age of six. While attending the St. Rose Preschool facility run by Italian Sisters of Providence in Chicago, school-age children also came for a summer program of crafts and fun. While the nursery children napped after lunch, the rest of us were kept busy with stories about the saint of the day or Bible stories followed by some activities. 
“On the feast of St. Claire, the sisters told us about the saint, her running away and becoming a nun and follower of St. Francis. I was much intrigued with the story and questioned what did one do today to follow St. Francis, who in turn followed Jesus. The sister responded, ‘Just come and we, the sisters, would show you.’
“After seriously considering her response for several days, I picked up my doll, my new red dress and walked to the convent to follow St. Francis and Jesus.”

A clear vision of religious life

Sisters Ann Carol Kaufenberg and Rose Cecile Espinos (back row, right)

“To my surprise, the sisters who responded to my request told me I needed to wait until I was much older. I insisted that’s not what Sister originally told me and refused to return home. Of course, the Sister Superior informed my parents that I was at the convent and needed to be taken home. My parents did arrive and with many tears all around, I returned home. 
“Years elapsed before I reentered to ask for entrance, with a much better idea of what religious life was about, not to the Italian sisterhood, but with the School Sisters of Notre Dame who taught me in grade school. 
“What is following Jesus is an ongoing call which I continue to live out, discovering what it means for me daily.”         - Sister Rose Cecile Espinos

Lenten Wisdom from our Foundress

TBT, SSND Comes to America

Do you enjoy researching your family history? Below is a copy of the School Sisters of Notre Dame's arrival in England on June 28,1847 before continuing to the USA. Next to the Yellow start is Theresa Gerhardinger, Foundress of the School Sisters. Next to the red star is Caroline Friess.

In 1847 only 14 years after the congregation was formed Theresa and five sisters one of which was Caroline Friess traveled to America where they would begin to establish mission schools for immigrant children. In 1848 blessed Theresa appointed Caroline Friess General Vicar of the order in North America, she was only 26 years old. 

A Unique Global Responsibility

"Believing that our international presence gives us a unique global responsibility, we address urgent needs of our time, particularly those of women, youth and those who are poor."

The School Sisters of Notre Dame live and minister in 34 countries around the world. This reality compels SSNDs, communally and individually, to act and to speak up for matters of justice, peace, and the integrity of creation. Yesterday, for example, the sisters here in the United States were active in calling their local Senators (SSNDs live all over the US!) regarding a series of bills concerning Human Trafficking. Two of the bills being proposed in the Senate fly in the face of the AM-SSND Corporate Stance on Immigration Reform and/or fail to address the community's commitment to end Human Trafficking. An essential component of being a School Sister of Notre Dame is being engaged in the world so as to help bring about the reign of God, characterized by  "that oneness for which Jesus Christ was sent." (You Are Sent, Constitution of the School Sisters of Notre Dame)

Meet Sister Lucy Nigh!

Sister Lucy Nigh, SSND, is one of the six women who serve as vocation directors for the School Sisters of Notre Dame in North America. She shares her own vocation story in the video below.

Discernment Inspiration

Looking Back at National Catholic Sisters Week 2015

  

What did you learn about who sisters are, what they do, or what their life is like over the course of this week? Did you meet a sister?

Be Brave!

Discerning takes courage and trust in God. It requires us to be open to the possibility of God inviting us to something we may not originally have chosen, or to something that makes us nervous at first glance (for whatever reason). Discernment requires enough humility to recognize that we may not always choose that which is best for us or will make us most truly happy.

SSND Delegation at UNCSW: Taking it Home

From left: Sister Eileen Reilly, SSND UN-NGO representative; Sister Kathy Jager, teacher at Institute of Notre Dame (IND); Micayla Wilson, IND student; Caitlyn Lowry, student at Notre Dame High School (NDHS); Corey Fletcher, IND student; Mariajose Ortiz, NDHS student; Linda Pham, NDHS student; Sandy Montgomery, NDHS staff; Allison Moser, NDHS student; and Anthony Smith, NDHS teacher.

Motivated to do more

The high school students and teachers with the delegation from the School Sisters of Notre Dame have finished their week at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women inspired and motivated to take the messages and calls to action they heard home to their schools and communities.

All have committed to building on the momentum from their experiences. Their plans call for holding meetings with their classmates,incorporating new perspectives into their curriculum, collecting library books for a school in Africa and becoming moire involved in local and national campaigns for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

Next week, the SSND delegation will include students and faculty from Notre Dame of Maryland University, who will attend sessions addressing current challenges and opportunities related to the implementation of the  Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which was adopted 20 years ago by 189 member states meeting in China for the Fourth World Conference of Women. The Beijing Platform provides a roadmap for the achievement of gender equality, guiding the global struggle against constraints and obstacles to the empowerment of women around the world.

Where is God Calling You Day 9

This week (March 8-14) Sisters in the United States will be celebrating National Catholic Sisters Week. In hopes of encouraging Vocations throughout the World the School Sisters of Notre Dame will be praying a Novena for an increase in vocations and for young women in discernment. We invite you to also spend the next 9 days praying about where God may be calling you.

“Because God first loved us, we respond in love.” May our longing for the oneness of all in God and our reaching out to be the presence of God’s love, be a source of hope to the world. We pray for a welcoming spirit that invites those who have the gifts to serve and collaborate with us."

-Vocation Ministry Team

View the Video, Because We Love God, for a short reflection on being open to the call of God in your life.

O Holy Spirit, enlighten me, 

Strengthen me, 

So that I shall understand 

And Know my divine call, 

Who I am, 

What I should be.

And what I must do,

As well as the means 

By which these ends

My be accomplished.

Amen 

 (Blessed Theresa of Jusus Gerhardinger

Foundress of the School Sisters of Notre Dame)

HOW IS GOD CALLING YOU?