Category Archives: Resources

Men's communities, Resources

Opportunity to Join Study Group on St. John of the Cross

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Want to be guided throughout 2023 by the great master of the spiritual life, St. John of the Cross? Now you can do this with a never-before offered online reflection series led by Dr. Susan Muto and the Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality in the U.K. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engage with the spirituality of the 16th century mystic and writer under the direction of a world-renowned scholar,” said Fr. Alexander Ezechukwu, OCD, prior of the Oxford Carmelite Friars. “Participants will not only study St. John’s writings, but meet online on video once a month and interact with Dr. Muto,” Fr. Alexander said. The course is “The Sayings of Light and Love,” which is also the title of Dr. Muto’s forthcoming book on the spirituality of St. John of the Cross. “This is a perfect way to deepen one’s prayer life, draw closer to God and neighbor, and to sit at the feet of a great leader in Christian spirituality, Dr. Muto,” Fr. Alexander said. Dr. Muto is a leader in spirituality literature as well as executive director of the Epiphany Association, and dean of the Epiphany Academy of Formative Spirituality in Pittsburgh, PA. She is the author or co-author of more than sixty books on Catholic spirituality. The Centre for Applied Carmelite Spirituality (CACS) is the world’s foremost authority on applied Carmelite spirituality. It is a place of research and training that promotes the renewal and growth of the spiritual life, drawing on the rich resources of the venerable Carmelite tradition. The Centre strives to achieve this through retreats and structured study and training programs on spirituality from the Carmelite perspective. Its flagship program, the Spiritual Direction Formation Programme, is unique and has participants from all over the world. The Centre’s goal, whether through its in-person or online services, is to bring people to experience a life-transforming friendship with God through a lived experience of Carmelite spirituality that is authentic to its biblical roots. The CACS is located at the Carmelite Priory in Oxford, UK. The new course, “The Sayings of Light and Love,” consists of an online video meeting on the last Tuesday of each of 12 months. It will begin on Jan. 31 and will be led by Dr. Muto and a Carmelite friar. Participants will be sent 15 sayings of St. John of the Cross each month along with discussion questions.Participants are encouraged to meditate on the sayings and even record their reflections about them in a journal in preparation for each meeting. The Centre’s online programs have been very well received. A recent Advent online retreat attracted nearly 400 members. Its publishing house, which offers print, audio and video productions, is Teresian Press Publications. The core of Carmelite spirituality is a journey of the heart. One of the Oxford house friars has written that Carmelite spirituality is “like the exodus experience of God’s people and their meeting with the Lord in the wilderness.”  St. John of the Cross, along with St. Teresa of Avila, founded the Discalced Carmelite Order in the 1500s. They cooperated in forming a spirituality that appeals to friars and other consecrated persons as well as the laity. The online reading series is for anyone wishing to deepen their spiritual life, and grow to love God and neighbor more. Sign up for the course, “The Sayings of Light and Love,” at https://www.carmelite.uk.net/online-talks-retreats/sayings-of-light-and-love-series/

There is a charge for the program. Details can be found on the website.

The CACS is part of the Anglo-Irish province the Discalced Carmelites of the UK. Together with other provinces around the world, they belong to the worldwide Order of Discalced Carmelites, governed by the general curia.

News, Resources, Women's Communities

Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Host Liturgy of the Hours Workshop

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Called to Pray the Liturgy of the Hours

On February 26, 2022, the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, Manitowoc, offered a workshop on the Liturgy of the Hours to discerning women interested in learning to pray or to pray with more depth this beautiful daily prayer of the Church. The Zoom conferences commenced at 10 AM, 2 and 4 PM. They offered a variety of topics, presenters, and experiences. Each session began with the following prayer and the ritual of crossing the forehead, lips, and heart:

Lord, open our + minds that we may learn and understand this great prayer of your Church.

Lord, open our + lips that we may speak your Word and pray with zeal and attention.

Lord, open our + hearts that we may not only understand and speak but may integrate this prayer into our day-to-day life. We ask you to guide every thought, word, and action of this day to your greater honor and glory.

Amen.

Sister Anne Marie Lom explained the use of imagery and anthropomorphism in the Psalms and examples were given. Then, Sister Pamela Biehl traced the origins and development of the Liturgy of the Hours from early Christian times to the more recent format used after Vatican II. Some comments from the participants were:

“It was very helpful to understand the background and development of Liturgy of the Hours and recognize how we can incorporate some earlier elements of this prayer while we pray it today (i.e. lighting a candle)” and “having more background knowledge to the Liturgy of the Hours helped to create better appreciation for it.”

For simplicity, brevity, and clarity, a website was used to show examples of Lauds, Vespers, and Night Prayer. Participants offered their favorite sites/apps for praying Liturgy of the Hours.

A YouTube video explaining step by step the use of the ribbons and sections of the book Christian Prayer was shared.

https://aleteia.org/2017/06/08/a-beginners-guide-to-the-liturgy-of-the-hours/

At 2 PM, Novice Sister Mary Jane Schwartz and Temporary Professed Sisters Maria Guadalupe Martinez, and Cecilia Joy Kugel joined the group. They responded to each of these questions:

  1. Did you pray the Liturgy of the Hours before you entered? If yes, how did that happen?
  2. What struggles did you have learning to pray the Liturgy of Hours?
  3. What do you remember from the course on the Liturgy of the Hours that we shared last year?
  4. Any advice for those beginning to pray the Liturgy of the Hours?

Judging from the comments in the evaluations, this session was very helpful. Comments included: “It was so nice and helpful to get the newest sisters’ advice and learn about their struggles with the Liturgy of the Hours” and “I liked the multiple age viewpoints all the different Sisters provided.”

Another positive feature of the day was the attendance of Postulant Kathrine Logan and future Postulant, Michelle Ozuna.

The 4 PM conference included in-depth exploration of the daily Canticles of Simeon, Zachariah, and the Magnificat. Another valuable site was shared that connects the reader to commentaries of the Psalms and Canticles for all four weeks of the Liturgy of the Hours. These commentaries were begun by Saint John Paul II and completed by Pope Benedict XVI.

http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/psalter/jp2_b16_commentaries.htm

This session concluded with Vespers for the eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time led by Sister Pamela Biehl. Sister’s explanation of the rubrics for our prayer together, the artwork that drew our attention to the prayer and her prayerful layout of Vespers helped us to end with a true reverence for praying the Liturgy of the Hours.

All were grateful for a day full of learning and grace.

Speaker credentials:

Sister Pamela Biehl holds a MA in Liturgy from the University of Notre Dame and Sister Anne Marie Lom holds a MA in Applied Spirituality from the University of San Francisco. Visit the Community website:
fscc-calledtobe.org/

Resources, Vocations

Of Bells and Cells: The World of Monks, Friars, Sisters and Nuns

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The following is an interview with Cristina Borges, author of the book: “Of Bells and Cells: The World of Monks, Friars, Sisters and Nuns“

What prompted you to write a book for the young reader about religious life?

Once I was having a conversation with a teenage girl whom I knew was a practicing Catholic. I mentioned something about St. Therese of Lisieux, and I noticed by her reaction that she had never heard of her. I remember saying, “You, know the Carmelite saint, [etc]?” to which I received an even more perplexed blank stare. Here was this very nice young lady from a good Catholic family, who went to Mass every Sunday, and she had never heard of Carmelites or the Little Flower! I thought to myself, “How deprived! A Catholic not knowing what Carmelites are.” And through my mind, in a flash, passed all the wealth that religious orders and their saints have enriched humanity with. Right then and there I decided: “I’m going to write a book about religious orders for children!” But when I sat down to it, I realized I couldn’t begin writing about the history, charisms, saints, or spiritual and societal impact of the key religious orders without assuming some pre-knowledge of what religious life is. So out came a book about the basics of religious life.

It is beautifully illustrated …

Yes, and that is really a crucial factor. I wrote the text very deliberately in a simple and methodical way, having in mind that illustrations would do the work of bringing the text to life—that they would bring out the poetry behind the text and actually complement the meaning of the letter. I had set ideas of how each page should be illustrated and made some very rough sketches. But it took me 14 years to find the illustrator who understood what I was trying to do and had the talent and ability to execute it.

That was a long time!

The book was put in the back burner on and off. In the meantime, I asked different religious I knew to go over the text, and was given some wonderfully helpful input, and even correction. One of them was Fr. James Downey, O.S.B., of happy memory. In fact, he had been an officer of the Institute on Religious Life. When I told him about my predicament of not finding the right illustrator, he suggested I just use photography. That certainly was not what I had in mind for the book! A couple of years later, though, I gave in and decided to go ahead and use photographs. At least the text would be made available. So, as a first step, I contacted a Benedictine superior I knew and asked him if I could have a photograph of his monks. The unequivocal answer came back immediately: “No, … but I know an illustrator.” And that was Michaela Harrison. God’s ways are not our ways, nor his timing, ours. She would have been too young when I first drafted the text. Michaela took my sketches and ideas and copiously multiplied and expanded on them. Her drawings just carry this unction. I could not be happier.

Let’s talk a little bit about the text. You mentioned you deliberately wrote in a methodical, straightforward way.

I didn’t want to make it age-specific. Over the past decades, or even the last century or so, we have gradually dumbed down the human mind by underestimating the capabilities of children, their capacity to understand and internalize concepts and ideas. Things have to be made “digestible.” And the threshold has been pushed further and further to the point where now we think of 30-year olds as being “young” adults! That certainly was not the case for most of the history of humanity. St. Alphonsus Liguori attended Law School at age 16, and that wasn’t anything extraordinary for his time.

So the text is simple and very methodical. It begins by discussing what vocation is in general, and then it goes into the religious calling and how someone goes about becoming a religious—from discernment, through postulancy, novitiate, to profession. In this context, I have a section on the importance of the religious habit, and another on the vows, or three evangelical counsels. Then the main text closes with an explanation of “what religious do,” that is, what they are about, how they go about their day. Here I explain the contemplative and active life. Finally, there is an explanation of the priesthood and the difference between a religious and a secular priest.

And how about your original intention of writing about the main religious orders?

I may someday get to that, if I ever have the time. But for now, at the end of the book I have a substantial appendix on certain religious orders—those that are represented in the several illustrations in the book. Here I provide some of the history of the order, a little of the charism, and mention a saint of that order, mostly the founder or foundress. And I was blessed to be able to have a faithful member of each order review the pertinent text. Even the Carthusians in Vermont were good enough to do that!

How can people get Of Bells and Cells?

It is carried by EWTN Religious Catalogue and by Vianney Vocations. Or people can simply search online, on Amazon or other outlets. There is also a Czech version of the book, as well as French and Portuguese versions. People can visit www.stbonosabooks.com for the titles of these translated versions and then search for them online. There’s a Spanish translation in the making but I do not know when that will come out.

Any parting thoughts?

I should say that the reason I was touched so deeply by the lack of knowledge of that teenage girl was that I too had known nothing about religious orders or saints. In fact, I knew nothing about Catholicism. I practiced no religion until I was about her age. And even though I went to Catholic schools, this was in the 70s and 80s, and I had learned nothing of any substance. It was only years later that life led us to begin discovering the treasures of the Faith, and this was largely through reading the lives of the saints and church history. And then we started frequenting a Carmelite monastery for Mass. We benefited so much from the nuns’ prayers, and also from the short little counsels at the turn, or the parlors through the grill. A whole new, rich, life-filled world opened up to my soul.

Christendom was built upon religious life in so many ways, but I need not preach to the crowd. Two parting thoughts, though. When Roman civilization was crumbling, St Benedict went to seek God in a cave. Then St. Gregory the Great picked up the thread of civilization and Benedictines built Christendom.  At the height of the Terror in France, it was the martyrdom of the Carmelites of Compiègne that brought the carnage to an abrupt end, in ten days. And so forth throughout history.

Religious life, particularly contemplative, is the hidden lungs of Christian civilization. I hope this little book does a little something to increase awareness of this necessary treasure.

News, Resources

“Home Again: A Prayerful Rediscovery of Your Catholic Faith”

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Behold, I make all things new (Rev 21:5)

It does us all good to refresh, renew, and rediscover what it means to be human, to be a child of God. In this new book by Fr. John Henry Hanson, O.Praem., he shows you how to come “home” through a prayerful revitalization of your faith in God’s plan for you by recalling its incredible beauty and depth. 

“…if people are still people, and the world operates according to all the patterns Ecclesiastes says it does, with sunrise and sunset, rivers flowing to the sea, and the birth and death of all living things (cf. Eccl 1, 3), we should look deeper for an inner renewal caused by grace. Change without grace, renovation without interior renewal, is spiritually worthless. The thing remodeled, so to speak, remains what it always was. The most important kind of regeneration isn’t outward or skin-deep but takes places in the hidden depths of the soul.” 

Allow yourself to be reminded that God is a lover Whose very desires for you will lead you directly to fulfillment and everlasting joy. The author hopes for you to live the resounding cry:

“My story must flow from Him, and return to Him.” 

You can order this book from Scepter Publishing.
1 (800) 322-8773

General interest, Resources

“The True Spouse of Jesus Christ”: A Classic Book Reissued!

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The Ideal Book for Every Religious Community Is Back

A review by Trent Beattie

I keep an old, dilapidated copy of a Catholic literary classic that has helped me tremendously over the years. So impressive was this work that, despite having been written most especially for nuns, I used it in 2010 as one of the sources for a little book of short meditations called Saint Alphonsus Liguori for Every Day.

It was certainly a step in the right direction to get some of the tremendous wisdom of the Redemptorists’ founder out to the general public in a compact format. However, I was disappointed that the entirety of the old source book—The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, also known as The Nun Sanctified—was not currently in print. Despite its title, not only can women religious profit from the book, so can men religious, priests, and single or married laypeople. Because of its far-reaching value, I lamented for a long time how the only copy I knew of was falling apart.

Last year, though, my “book of lamentations” transformed into a “book of consolations” as I learned that Refuge of Sinners Publishing, located in southern Indiana, was currently printing it!

There appears to be no better way for anyone—but especially a religious sister or brother—to delve more deeply into the ascetical teachings of Saint Alphonsus than through The True Spouse of Jesus Christ. This 700-plus page masterpiece contains sound doctrine on, among other topics:

  • the desire for perfection;
  • the value of obedience to the rule and superiors;
  • charity in thoughts, words, and deeds;
  • humility of the intellect and of the will;
  • the immense benefits of Marian intercession;
  • the joy found in penance and resignation to God’s will;
  • the necessity of mental prayer;
  • patience in sickness and in spiritual desolation,
  • and dealing with scruples.

The wisdom in The True Spouse of Jesus Christ comes, not only from Saint Alphonsus directly, but also from other Western saints and Eastern ones, both men and women. From hermits to bishops, hundreds of years’ worth of thoroughly Catholic teaching is being passed along to readers again. Saints Basil, John Chrysostom, Augustine, Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, and Francis de Sales are among the many whose advice rings true for the one who desires to do what is most pleasing to God.

Saint Alphonsus arranges the vast array of holy advice amid his own. Here is one such example, where the “Most Zealous Doctor of the Church” assures those uncertain about the dispositions of divine providence:

It is certain that all [God’s] arrangements are intended for our good. Our Lord said one day to Saint Gertrude: ‘With the same love with which I created man, I ordain for his good all the prosperity or adversity which I send him.’

It is easy to forget that God does not judge us on the outward results of our actions, but on the good will behind them. Saint Alphonsus says the first mark of determining whether our actions are truly done for God is to meet material failure with equanimity of soul. When we have done the right thing but do not obtain the desired result, we should not be upset. He says:

…when your undertaking has not been successful, you are not disturbed, but remain as tranquil as if you had attained your object. This will certainly be the case when you have acted only for God, because when you see that He has not wished to crown your efforts with success, neither will you wish it—for you know that He demands an account, not of the success or failure of your undertaking, but of the purity of your intention.

Founder Statue at St. Peter’s in Vatican City

Purity of intention will determine not only our final destination, but, assuming we cooperate with grace in at least the most basic way, the precise part of Heaven we inhabit. This is one of the great advantages of religious life, according to Saint Alphonsus, who thought that getting to Heaven was incomparably easier to do in a convent or monastery than in the world, saying:

I hold as certain that the greater number of the seraphic thrones vacated by the unhappy associates of Lucifer will be filled by religious. Out of the sixty during the last century [the 1600s] who were enrolled in the catalog of saints or honored with the appellation “Blessed,” all, with the exception of five or six, belonged to the religious orders.

Saint Alphonsus also taught that a foretaste of Heaven is possible in this life…

To be a good religious and to be content are one and the same thing; for the happiness of a religious consists in a constant and perfect union of her will with the adorable will of God. Whoever is not united with Him cannot be happy, for God cannot infuse His consolations into a soul that resists His divine will.

If a religious finds it difficult to actualize resignation to God’s will, possibly the missing link is mental prayer. Merely reciting the divine office or other vocal prayers will not bring all the graces necessary for one’s own circumstances. Familiar conversation with God is foundational, according to Saint Alphonsus:

If you see a tepid religious, say that she does not make mental prayer and you will say the truth. The devil labors hard to make religious lose the love for mediation, and should he conquer them in this, he will gain all. St. Philip Neri used to say, ‘A religious without mental prayer is a religious without reason.’ I add: She is not a religious, but the corpse of a religious.

Even for active orders, mental prayer is a staple, and this can be seen more extensively in The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, which is one reason I would assert that it, too, is also a staple. It does not matter whether a community specializes in education, healthcare, or contemplation, nor does it matter whether the community is Byzantine Catholic, Roman Catholic, or any other rite.

Saint Alphonsus said that “A single bad book will be sufficient to cause the destruction of a monastery.” The opposite is also true: A single good book is sufficient to make a monastery thrive—and The True Spouse of Jesus Christ is probably the one most likely to make this happen. Thanks God for such a blessing being available once again!

Trent Beattie is a freelance writer whose articles have appearing in periodicals such as the National Catholic Register, Catholic Digest, and The Latin Mass. He has authored two books: Fit for Heaven (Dynamic Catholic) and Scruples and Sainthood: Accepting and Overcoming Scrupulosity with the Help of the Saints (Loreto Publications) and edited three others: Saint Alphonsus Liguori for Every Day (Paulist Press), Finding True Happiness (Dynamic Catholic) and Apostolic Athletes (Marian Press).

How to get a copy of The True Spouse of Jesus Christ

Rose Michna, the general manager of Refuge of Sinners Publishing, has put into effect a ten percent discount for any religious community ordering The True Spouse of Jesus Christ—and any other books from Refuge of Sinners for the first time— before May 1, 2020. The code— 10%WELCOME2020 —can be entered in online orders, written in mail orders to Refuge of Sinners Publishing 5271 E Mann Road  New Pekin, IN 47165, or mentioned on phone orders at 812-967-253.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discernment, General interest, Liturgical Year, News, Reflection, Resources, Saints, Vocations, Women's Communities

New IRL Affiliate Alert: Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa!

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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too… It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s Faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.”  ​
​- Pope Benedict XVI, concerning the venerable liturgical rites of the Church

We at the IRL are happy to announce a new community added to our roster: Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa!

The Superiors of the Marian Sisters previously belonged to another religious Traditional order, however at the gracious invitation of Robert F. Vasa, Bishop of Santa Rosa, California, they founded a new community “to make visible the invisible reality of God’s love in the Diocese of Santa Rosa.”

As Marian Sisters, they live and love at the heart of the Church.  Their spirituality can be described as Ecclesial, Eucharistic, and Marian.  This is, in part, lived out through their charism of living the fullness of the liturgical life of the Roman Catholic Church – they participate in both the Ordinary Form (Novus Ordo) and also the Extraordinary Form (traditional Latin) in their chapel several times a week and provide the choir for the Extraordinary Form High Mass at the Cathedral each Sunday.

Since their founding, the community has grown and its active apostolates have expanded.  Committed to the spread of the faith in the Diocese, every Sister teaches the Faith in some manner.  While some are formal classroom teachers, most of the Sisters exercise the charism more broadly through children’s catechesis, faith formation groups, retreats and camps, and any other way in which God’s will is made manifest.

Called to a life of total consecration to Christ and His Church, the Sisters take the Blessed Virgin Mary as their inspiration and model and dedicate their time and talents completely to the service of God and neighbor.

The Constitutions of the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa  were approved and canonically erected the community on January 4, 2012.

 

 

Cloistered life, Consecrated Virgins, Discernment, General interest, News, Pro-life, Reflection, Resources, Saints, Vocations, Women's Communities

New Website Alert: Poor Clare Colettine Nuns of Corpus Christi Monastery in Rockford, IL

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In the Fall of 2017, a seminarian for the Diocese of Rockford, Jack Reichardt began exchanging letters with Poor Clares Mother Abbess, Mother Maria Dominica, PCC, in order to obtain permission and discuss building a new website for the local monastery, home to twenty professed nuns.

Finally meeting at the Monastery in January, Reichardt and Mother Dominica decided that the site should serve two purposes:

  1. To appear to an audience of those women who may be discerning a call to the consecrated life as a Poor Clare nun, and
  2.  To appeal to the faithful who would like to visit with the Poor Clares in prayer.

Having taken a web design course while in high school, Reichardt wanted to put his hobby to use and build something worthy of the Poor Clares that reflected their “beautiful life, that is chaste and pure and prayerful” where people could find out more about their history, life, and vocation.

Click here: Poor Clare Colettine Nuns of Rockford, Illinois | JMJ+FCC

In gratitude for his hard work, one of the sisters offered the following remarks:

“[Jack’s] deliberation and prayerfulness impressed us very much, and his competence to create a site that is simple but beautiful and which effectively reflects our way of life has been crowned with success. We are grateful to him and to all those who contributed!”

 

Cloistered life, General interest, Pro-life, Reflection, Resources, Vocations

The Vanishing American Adult and the Religious Life

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Senator Ben Sasse has written a new book called The Vanishing American Adult. I highly recommend it, especially for those of us concerned about the future of religious life in America. The book is a diagnosis and prognosis of the current situation of the youth in America. He doesn’t lay blame on American kids but mainly their parents for protecting them from challenges that will help them become adults.  Adulthood is not just a biological stage but something to be earned. In the past, it  was what we all needed to learn, whether or not we liked it. This is not the case anymore. Our culture endorses prolonged adolescence, upholding baby 40-year-olds.

Adults are responsible and virtuous as good citizens and members of the Church.  They make tough decisions and take responsibility for their decisions. They are not passive but active. Senator Sasse’s book is important for those of us concerned with Religious Life because becoming a religious takes the virtues of an adult, putting away childish things. With the vanishing of the American adult, the Republic will not only suffer but also the Church, especially religious life.

Pray for parents. It is difficult to raise children in today’s culture of the vanishing adult. Unlike any time in history, the culture is raising kids more than the parents, undermining parental authority. Parents should be supported and encouraged to actively raise their children into the virtues. Senator Sasse gives some helpful advice on what he and his wife are doing for their children. Read his book and take his advice.

Buy the book here. 

Cloistered life, General interest, Liturgical Year, Men's communities, News, Papal Address, Reflection, Resources, Women's Communities

Tuesday, November 21, 2017 – World Day of Cloistered Life

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On November 21 (the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple), the Church will celebrate World Day of Cloistered Life, also known as “Pro Orantibus” Day, which is a Latin phrase meaning “for those who pray.” This is an important ecclesial event for all Catholics worldwide to commemorate the hidden lives of consecrated religious in cloisters and monasteries.

We celebrate this day because the contemplative life is a gift from Almighty God to us all — all the world benefits spiritually from the prayer and sacrifice of these dedicated and faithful souls, even when we may not know it. On this day, the faithful are encouraged to reach out to the cloistered and contemplative communities in their diocese, through prayer, encouragement, and material support.

Please click at the link for more info and for resources: //www.cloisteredlife.com/news/pro-orantibus-day/

Discernment, News, Resources

Parents of Vocations Forum

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The Kissel family with Sr. M. Gemma, FSGM

One of the little talked about issues surrounding religious vocations is the impact it can have on the parents of a young man or women entering religious life. The process of discernment can be challenging enough but  it is often complicated by the reaction of the parents.

Even in the most supportive of families, the thought of your child entering religious life can bring heartache, questions, sorrow, puzzlement and even anger—the whole gauntlet of emotions. Since religious communities are quite invisible in our culture, parents today typically do not have an aunt or uncle who is in religious life and thus a level of comfort and familiarity with the vocation. They have many questions, and understandably, want the best for their children.

The Blessed Mother & St Joseph present Mary to the Temple

That is why Tom Kissel developed this new website—to have a forum where parents can ask questions, share experiences and network. Tom’s only daughter is in an active Franciscan community (The Sisters of St Francis of the Martyr St. George) so he is familiar first-hand with the path that parents walk along with their son or daughter and the stages of grief and joy.

The website has just been launched but do not hesitate to jump on and participate in this much-needed initiative in the Church.

Please visit parentsofvocations.com to join the conversation!