As we celebrate the special “double feasts” of Triumph of the Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows (September 14-15), we at St. Joseph’s are giving thanks for another “double” blessing: our two newest postulants!
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In the latest edition of the Western KY Catholic (the diocesan newspaper for our Diocese of Owensboro), our own Sr. Bethany Marie was featured! Sister sat down for an interview with WKC reporters in early August, to discuss her vocational discernment and the wonderful way God led her to a monastery in her own hometown of Whitesville.
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Among the most colorful “nun myths” are those that have to do with our lives of penance and self-denial. Popular imagination throughout the ages has painted a grim picture of the deprivations in store for any young woman unfortunate enough to find herself in a monastery.
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Discernment of a religious vocation is both a beautiful and a challenging experience— for the discerner, of course, but also for his or her parents. Even the most supportive mom and dad in the world can find themselves with a lot of questions and heartache. Will I ever see her again? Does he know how hard it will be? Is it wrong of me to be sad? Who can I talk to who will understand what I’m going through?
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February 2nd, the Feast of the Presentation of Lord, is also the World Day for Consecrated Life … Here at St. Joseph’s, we have even more reason than usual for celebration this year: on December 18th, our Aspirant Holly officially entered the monastery!
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Many a young woman who is feeling the call to religious life has struggled with the thought of giving up marriage and children. Very often she feels torn between a deep desire to belong to God and an equally deep desire to be a wife and mother. Can the two possibly be reconciled?
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With the Christmas season coming around, worry about this “Nun Myth” may be on the mind of many parents and family members of cloistered religious. While most people are making plans to travel home for the holidays, the families of nuns know that they will always be missing one member around the table.
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“Sisters, you sounded like angels at Mass today. Do you need a music degree to enter here??”
“I don’t think I could be a nun… I can’t carry a tune in a bucket!”
“Is there a vocal audition as part of the application process?”
Perhaps the most pithy refutation comes from one of our Sisters shortly before she entered the monastery in the early 1960s. In response to the young man who told her “You’re too cute to be a nun,” she shot back, “Do you think God only deserves ugly ones??”
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As we mentioned in our previous post, Aspirant Hannah has now officially entered the monastery! On May 31st, she knelt at the enclosure door with her parents for the simple but beautiful entrance ceremony.
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While most people would not phrase it so bluntly, this assumption lies at the root of many critiques of contemplative life. After all, isn’t it like being on a “perpetual retreat,” detached from the cares of the world, dreamily unconcerned about anything but one’s own growth in holiness?
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“Are you sure you want to enter a monastery? You have so much to offer the Church and the world!”
“How could someone as beautiful and intelligent as yourself want to lock yourself away for life?”
“What a waste!”
This third “nun myth” is more than just a myth — it can actually be one of the Devil’s insidious ways of blocking a religious vocation! Like many other misconceptions, it seems quite reasonable at first glance: the religious life, especially the cloistered contemplative life, is a very high calling, and it would seem that only those who have reached a considerable degree of holiness should even be allowed to consider such a vocation.
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“I don’t know … you just don’t seem like the ‘nun type.’ You’re so outgoing! Isn’t it the quiet, shy, pious girls that usually enter a cloister?” This very common myth sounds at first like a “no-brainer.” It seems quite reasonable to assume that those who are called to a life of silence, solitude, and prayer would all be introverts.
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The Solemnity of Our Lady’s Assumption is always a beautiful day in our community, but this year we had the added joy of witnessing Sr. Frances Marie renew her temporary vows for another year. This renewal is particularly special because, God willing, next year will be Sister’s definitive commitment to Jesus Crucified through perpetual profession!
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What could be better than celebrating the Solemnity of St. Joseph, in the Monastery of St. Joseph, during the Year of St. Joseph? The foster-father of Christ is also our beloved spiritual father, and he has provided for us in so many ways. We wanted to share with you some of the special “gifts” he gave us on and around his feast this year …
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With the help of some masks, social distancing measures, and a lot of sanitizer — we were able to welcome five young women in person to our October vocation retreat!
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God is in control, and He can somehow pull together all the crazy threads of our lives into a beautiful tapestry. My life has been one long series of seemingly unconnected events that the Lord – often completely without my awareness! – has guided in His mysterious way to bring me here to St. Joseph’s Monastery.
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During Evening Prayer on July 9th, the Passionist feast of Our Lady of Holy Hope, Aspirant Abbey officially entered St. Joseph’s monastery!
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We all knew something was afoot when Aspirant Abbey entered the chapel one day with a smile bright enough to dazzle the casual observer.
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