Stage 6: Consistent Peace - Stage 6 of discernment can be associated with the period of the novitiate. This woman has been in monastic formation for two to four years and has grown tremendously in faith, prayer, knowledge, and generosity.
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Stage 5: Monastery Discernment - Stage 5 can be associated with the time of aspirancy (sometimes called pre-postulancy) and postulancy, the first two to four years of monastic formation.
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Stage 3.5 - When In Doubt…: A woman sometimes reaches a point of discernment where she simply does not know what to do next. She is between stage 3 and stage 4 and seems to have reached a stalemate.
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June brought two young women to attend our vocation retreat.
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Stage 4: Discernment Shift - A woman in this stage is moving quickly towards surrender and resignation to the will of God.
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Stage 3: Assessment Period - A woman in stage 3 realizes that this attraction to religious life will not go away, even though she has tried to avoid it.
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Stage 2: Latency Period - A woman in stage 2 has now been thinking about religious life for some time.
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I thought I would share with you the 7 Stages of Discernment that Fr. Brett A Brannen talks about in his book To Save A Thousand Souls: A Guide to Discerning a Vocation to Diocesan Priesthood.
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Last weekend, we welcomed three young women to the monastery for a few days of prayer and discovery as they learned about discernment and the Passionist life.
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Our recent October Vocation Retreat brought four wonderful young women from all around the US to St. Joseph Monastery.
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Some of our younger Sisters were recently discussing the process of vocational discernment, and how at times they felt they'd never discover God's plan for them. Someone even comment that she once felt like she belonged to an "Order of Perpetual Discerners."
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As we enter the last few days of Advent, the spotlight shines on Mary, the privileged daughter of God who was first to receive the Son at His coming into this world. Among the Gospels read at Mass this week, we hear the story of the Annunciation to Mary, her Visitation to her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, and Our Lady's hymn of God's glory, the Magnificat.
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As the season of Advent progresses, it draws us not only into silence, but into a spirit of wonder. There is a certain natural wonder we encounter, even among those who approach Christmas in a more secularized manner. Think of the amazement and delight so evident in children as they admire the trappings of the season.
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Advent is undoubtedly a time for silence, even if the lived reality of the season is often far from this ideal. As the liturgy recounts for us the centuries of Israel's wait for the promised Messiah, we are invited to join the vigil. There is a sense of hush, of the silence and stillness of midnight while we long for the first blush of the "dawn from on high to break upon us" (Lk 1:78)
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Entering Advent, we find ourselves before a banquet of spiritual riches. In the liturgy and practices of the season, the Church seeks to help up prepare ourselves to encounter Christ anew. It is a time to recall His coming as an Infant in Bethlehem, to look forward to that final glorious coming upon the clouds, and to receive Him as He desires to be present in the small, daily moments of our lives.
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