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Space is Limited ~ Discernment Program for those interested in Religious Life.
RELIGIOUS LIFE FOR WOMEN
Throughout our diocese and our Church, throughout history, women have answered the call to live in community, to gather for prayer, and to love God’s people in a special way.
They call one another “sister” and they mean it. Together they pray, support one another, and give service in an incredible variety of ways.
If you are wondering if the life of a religious sister might be for you, you will find an almost bewildering variety of ways to live out that vocation. Some sisters have one special work or ministry; others minister wherever there are needs. Some sisters live in convents and large buildings; others live in small houses or apartments. Some wear a recognizable religious habit; others dress as the people they serve.
Some sisters are visible in parishes and human service agencies; others live a more secluded life with longer periods of prayer.
If you are wondering about the life of a sister, you will want to talk with some sisters, gather information about religious communities, visit some sisters’ motherhouses or other residences, and certainly join with other searchers and discerners.
The next sections will help you. Welcome!
BECOMING A SISTER
FINDING A COMMUNITY
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONSWhat happens? How long does it take? Most religious communities have several stages by which one becomes a member:
INQUIRER A woman contacts a community vocation director, asks lots of questions, eventually finds that God is calling her to this specific community. She then moves through the application process, involving interviews, an autobiographical essay, physical and psychological screening, letters of recommendation, transcripts of study, and other steps.
CANDIDATE OR POSTULANT The woman begins her formal journey by spending one or two years “as though” she were a member of the community. She continues her ministry or study, lives with the community, and experiences community life “from the inside.” She meets regularly with a director and frequently takes advantage of special workshops or opportunities to grow in the spirituality of the community.
NOVICE The most sacred part of the journey. Here the woman, now known formally as a Sister, spends two years in intense prayer, reflection, study of the spirit and history of the community, and coming to know herself as God’s Beloved. Central to the novitiate is the study of the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience as the novice prepares for her first profession. Often novices are given the opportunity to experience some of the ministry of the community. The novitiate experience is the heart of formation as a Sister.
PROFESSION OF VOWS After her novitiate and an extended retreat, a novice professes her first vows and becomes a member of the community. These vows are ordinarily for three to five years, allowing the new Sister to continue her formation, study, and reflection. At the end of the period of temporary vows, the Sister makes final profession in the congregation.
Throughout her time of formation, the Sister is supported by members of the community and by regular retreats, recollection days, spiritual direction and spiritual reading, and a host of other opportunities to deepen her interior life.
FINDING A COMMUNITY
How do I know which community God is calling me to? One step would be to look at a number of websites to read about the spirit or “charism” of different communities. Be attentive to the inner attraction that you may have while reading. Email the vocation director or contact person from that community to find out more. You may want to even visit a community which interests you to meet them first-hand. Finding a community can be as simple as being attracted to those sisters who taught you or worked with you. It may take a bit longer if you have not had that kind of an experience. The RCDA Vocation Office is available to help you in your search. (rosemary.cuneo@rcda.org (518) -674-3818)
Here are some of the communities who minister in the Diocese of Albany and who welcome you to their web sites:
Daughters of Charity Vocation Director:
Sister Mary Frate,
D.C. DePaul Provincial House
96 Menand Road
Albany, N.Y. 12204-1499
maryfrate@yahoo.com
mfrate@dc-northeast.org
(518) 462-6430Website: www.dc-northeast.org
Sister Mary Frate, D.C.
Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine De Ricci
Vocation Director:
Sr. Susan Zemgulis, OP
Dominican Retreat and Conference Center
1945 Union Street
Niskayuna, N.Y. 12309-4799
suezop@hotmail.com
(518) 393-4169Website: www.elkinsparkop.org
Sister Susan Zemgulis, OP (left)
Little Sisters of the Poor
Upstate Representative:
Sister Frances MacKay, lsp
1 Jeanne Jugan Lane
Latham, New York 12110
lmdolsp@attglobal.net
msrcontancecarolyn@lspusa.org
(518) 785-4551Vocation Director:
Mother Mary Richard, lsp
110-39 Springfield Blvd.
P.O. Box 280356
Queens Village, N.Y. 11428-0356
mmnvtlsp@attglobal.net
(718) 464-4920Website: www.lspusa.org
Sister Frances MacKay, lsp
Sisters of Mercy Northeast Community
Vocation Representative:
Mary Hartnett, RSM
Mercy Center
310 So. Manning Blvd.
Albany, N.Y. 12208
mhartnett@mercynortheast.org
(845) 826-5915Vocation Minister:
Sr. Elaine Deasy, RSM
edeasy@mercynortheast.orgWebsite: www.sistersofmercy.org
Sister Mary Hartnett, RSM
Sisters of the Resurrection
Upstate Representative:
Sister Dolores Marie Palermo, C.R.
35 Boltwood Avenue
Castleton, N.Y. 12033
sdolorespalermo@yahoo.com
(518) 732-2226Vocation Director:
Sister Teresa Grace Baillargeon, C.R.
500 West Hartsdale Avenue
Hartsdale, N.Y. 10530
vocation@resurrectionsisters.org
(914) 949-4460
(914) 761-3300, ext. 221Website: www.resurrectionsisters.org
Sister Teresa Grace Baillargeon, C.R.
Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Upstate Representative:
Sister Marie Buonato, RSCJ
128 W. Lawrence St.
Albany, N.Y. 12203
buonatomt@aol.com
(518) 489-8280Vocation Director:
Sr. Nancy Koke., RSCJ
Duchesne House
10 Lesher Street
Roslindale, MA 02131-1108
nkoke@rscj.org
(617) 553-0270
www.rscj.org
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (Albany)
Vocation Director:
Sister Joan Mary Hartigan, CSJ
385 Watervliet-Shaker Road
Latham, N.Y. 12110
jhartigan@csjalbany.org
(518) 482-6255Website: www.csjalbany.org
Sister Joan Mary Hartigan, CSJ .You will also be helped by www.religiousministries.com. Go to the section on religious women.
Other helpful sites:
National Religious Vocation Conference www.nrvc.net
Vision Magazine www.visionguide.info
How old must I be to enter a religious community? Is there an upper age limit?
Communities differ in their entrance requirements. In general applicants are encouraged to finish high school and often to have a year or two of work or study experience. The upper age limit differs as well; applicants who are over 40 would do well to ask this question early in the discernment.
Why do some sisters wear religious habits and other wear ordinary clothes?
Again, this expression of religious life depends on the community. For sisters who wear religious habits, the habit is a sign, a witness to the sister’s consecration. Communities whose members do not wear habits see this choice as helping their members be one with the people they serve.The directives of each community are approved by the Church, which treasures the variety of charisms, ministries, and expression of religious life.
What do the vows mean?
Through the vow of poverty, a sister promises to depend totally on God’s goodness, to live a life of simplicity, and to work to help alleviate the poverty in which so many of God’s people live all over the world.Through the vow of chastity, a sister promises to love widely and inclusively, foregoing the joys of marriage and physical intimacy as a sign of her single focus on God’s love.
Through the vow of obedience, a sister promises to listen to God’s voice as it is expressed through the Church, through her community leadership, and through all the circumstances of her life and to respond as fully as she is able.
Can’t I serve God just as fully as a single person without joining a religious community?
Absolutely, and many women do. The call to a community is not “better.” It is, however, better for some women to respond in this manner. Their witness, joined with the witness of others, is communal and corporate; they support one another and take part in the history and traditions of the community.
BECOMING A SISTER
