I recently attended the Dominican Western Province Come and See Weekend down in Oakland. I’ve been discerning a vocation to the priesthood for quite some time, but now I’ve finally decided to do something about it. The Dominicans seem like a very solid order of priests, and their way of life appeals to me, but I’m still not sure what God wants for me. I plan to visit some different religious orders in the near future.
Is anyone else discerning a vocation to the priesthood? If so, what orders have you looked at and what did you think about them? How does one even decide where to go once you have figured out that God wants you to be a priest?
I would suggest that you take the two questions separately.
- Am I called to the priesthood?
- Am I called to religious life?
I always make this suggestion, because priesthood and religious life are not the same thing. For example, I noticed that you referred to the Dominicans as an order of priests. They’re not really an order of priests. They are an order of brothers. Their proper canonical title is the Order of Brother Preachers, hence the OP after their name. That’s how the get the label, friar. It’s just bad Latin for Fater. They are a brotherhood, many of the brothers or friars are priests, but not all.
The distinction is important. Christ can call a man to be a priest and not call him to religious life. These men remain secular men. They either joine a diocese and are known as diocesan priests or they join a society of priests such as the FSSP, SSPX, Maryknoll, Vicentians, Sulpicians, Institute of Christ the King and others. These groups do not make vows. They remain secular, but they are priests. However, they are not part of a diocese. They are bound together in the same society for the purpose of the society, whatever that may be. Every society has a different purpose. For example, the Maryknoll Society are a missionary society of secular priests.
You can also ask yourself, whether Christ is calling you to the consecrated life. This is the life that is lived in a religious order or a religious congregation. Orders and congregations are both made up of consecrated men. They are not consecrated by the priesthood. They are consecrated by the vows: obedience, poverty and chastity. These are typically referred to as religoius institutes or religious communities.
Religious communities are classified in three groups:
**Monastic: ** The Benedictine family is the largest. It has many branches: Benedictines, Cistercians, Camaldolese and Trappists. There is also the Carthusian family. They are hermits who live in a common compound, but alone.
**Mendicant: ** The Franciscans are the largest family. There are over 100 branches of the Franciscan Order. There is also the Carmelite family, with two branches: O’Carm and OCD. The Augustinian family consists of the original Augustinians, Augustinians of the Assumption and Dominicans. St. Dominic never wrote a rule for his friars. They follow follow Augustine. Mendicants combine monastic traditions such as the Liturgy of the Hours, intense community living, silence, contemplation and other disciplines with an active apostolate outside of the religious house. The members of the mendicant orders are all friars. Friars can be clerical (ordained) or non-clerical. The difference between each mendicant order is on the focus. The Franciscans focus on absolute obedience and poverty. The Carmelites focus on contemplation and priestly ministry. The Augustinian family, including the Dominicans, focus on knowledge and preaching.
**Clerks Regular: ** this is the largest group of religious men with many congregations and several orders. The Jesuits are the largest group of clerks regular. There are also Salesians, Redemptorists, Passionists, Fathers of Mercy, Trinitarians (not the friars), and several hundred other congregations. Clerks Regular are usually congregations of priests with some brothers. Their focus is not on community life as is the focus of the monks and the mendicants. The focus of the clerks regular is apsotolic work. This can be preaching, teaching, healthcare, service to the poor, missionary work, parish work, etc. They have some community activity, but they live in community to support each other in their ministry, unlike the friars and the monks who live in community as brothers and for whom community takes precedence over ministry to the laity.
I know that this is a lot of information, but that’s the breakdown of religious lfie for men. You may feel called to be both priest + religious or just priest or just religious. There are three options for males. Women, obviously, can be religious, but not deacons or priests.
If you do not have a spiritual director, I woudl get one and talk to him about how you see yourself serving God and the Church. He may be able to point you to some communities to look at. A good spiritual director will usually point you to communities that match your gifts. The idea is not that you force yourself to adopt the Dominican, Franciscan, Salesian or Maryknoll spirit. That would be be contrary to God’s will. The idea is that you have gifts and you enter a religious community or a society of priests or a diocese becaues you have the natural gifts for that particular setting. Then what you do is not force yourself to accommodate and adapt, but you learn how to use your gifts in that setting and it feels smooth.
The best way to know that you belong is when you spend time with a group, either religious or secular and you get that feeling that says, “I’m home.”
I hope this is helpful to you and to others.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
We use terms such as compound or campus to describe the physical setting and community to describe the relationship between the people.