Assistance please? Can you answer a few questions for my sociology paper?

[datingtrappists]

First, in advance I want to thank everyone for their answers.

Second, an explanation of what this paper is. I am taking a look at monasticism specifically, and Religious Life as a whole, as a subculture, aka a smaller culture with its own unique expression (ideas, language, actions, clothing… etc) that differentiates it from the larger culture as a whole, and yet remains, in some capacity, a part of the larger culture.

While I am really looking for answers primarily from those who are Religious, I do welcome answers from anyone who is kind enough to spend time to help me with this paper.

1. What is the primary purpose of your community, a “mission statement” if you will?
2. Are there any specific times of the day where the community comes together to pray or do anything that is specific to your community?
3. Is your community habited, and if so, what is the purpose of being habited?
4. Are there any specific words or gestures that is unique to your community?
5. Can you tell me a bit about the “initiation” of new members to your community, such as novitiate and postulancy?

I must confess another motive for doing this paper on the subject of religious life; the vocation that I have been discerning for the past year or so seems to have been put on the back burner, and I am hoping that writing about what I feel is God’s will for me will rekindle that flame again. I ask for any prayers for the grace needed to discern my true vocation and that I have the courage, humility, and obedience (especially the last two… I’m pretty prideful and stubborn) to answer God’s call in whatever that may be.

Again, thank you in advance for helping me out with this… Please feel free to post anything else you feel could be helpful.

 

[Sister_Rose]

1. What is the primary purpose of your community, a “mission statement” if you will?

1. The primary purpose of our Congregation is the glory of God and the sanctification of our members through the observance of the evangelical counsels, the Rule of The Third Order Regular of Saint Francis, and these Constitutions.
2. Our special purpose is the salvation and sanctification of the People of God in the spirit of our Franciscan Charism. By our service of love and compassion, we fulfill a mission of peace consistent with the needs of the Church and the people we serve. In harmony with our founding spirit, our Community Apostolate includes Health Services, Mission, Education, Prayer, and Suffering. Our primary commitment is to care for the sick and poor.

1. Are there any specific times of the day where the community comes together to pray or do anything that is specific to your community?

franciscansisterspeoria.org/schedule.htm
I don’t know if there is anything entirely unique in our prayers, but there are differences. You can see the prayer section for more info.

1. Is your community habited, and if so, what is the purpose of being habited?

Yes, our sisters wear a habit. Religious profess public vows and are supposed to give a public witness. Wear distinctive clothing identifies us to others, and helps to make the witness of our lives more visible. On a practical note they can help with poverty, since we don’t need as many cloths (I’m sure some of the sisters have habits that are as old as I am.) and they can help conquer vanity.

1. Are there any specific words or gestures that is unique to your community?

Not specific to our congregation, but to the Franciscan Order, “Pax et bonum” is a franciscan greeting. Also, “The Lord give you peace.” is greeting that St. Francis asked his followers to use.

1. Can you tell me a bit about the “initiation” of new members to your community, such as novitiate and postulancy?

See the pages in our Formation section

Hope this helps

 

[toknowservelove]

1. What is the primary purpose of your community, a “mission statement” if you will?.

Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament, Farmington Hills, MI–Dominican Cloistered Nuns
Mission Statement: We are cloistered: Intensely present at the heart of the Church, a communion of love for God and neighbor. **Dominican:**Sharing in the Preaching Mission of the Order by the witness of gospel living, entering into Jesus’ unceasing prayer to the Father by the celebration of the Liturgy, intercessory prayer and adoration fo the Blessed Sacrament. Nuns: Monastic and Contemplative; devoted to humble labor and diliigent study; pondering and living the Word of God in imitation of Mary.

1. Are there any specific times of the day where the community comes together to pray or do anything that is specific to your community?.

We follow an horarium which includes the following community prayer times: Office of Readings and Lauds, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline. We also have daily recitation of the Rosary, and of course, Holy Mass. In the novitiate, we have faith sharing each Saturday.

1. Is your community habited, and if so, what is the purpose of being habited?.

The purpose of the habit is to be a witness to the world that following Jesus through the evangelical councils of poverty, chastity, and obedience as a way to joy and personal fulfillment. The habit allows us to live simply.

1. Are there any specific words or gestures that is unique to your community?.

Probably all orders and communities have their customs and manners. In our community you kiss the scapular when you make a mistake. In certain formal ceremonies, you make the venia, which is lying prone on your right side; it is generally a show of obedience. Some other customs we practice are silence at meals with monastic reading, monastic fasting from Sept. 14 to Easter (that means no eating between meals and meals are simpler, there are exceptions on feast days and solemnities), extra days of abstinence from meat, and perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

1. Can you tell me a bit about the “initiation” of new members to your community, such as novitiate and postulancy?.

In our community there is a separation of the novitiate from the professed sisters. The novitiate has a separate dorm and a separate library/ computer/ meeting area. Novices interact with the professed sisters during work and recreation times. We all eat together.
Aspirancy is first. It usually lasts 4-6 weeks.
Postulancy lasts one year. You are in the novitiate, study, work, meet with the novice mistress once a week, and basically learn the life. Postulants wear black skirts and a white shirt.
The Novitiate is in two stages. Stage one you wear a white veil. The first year is the canonical year, with a greater withdrawal from the world. At the end of the second year as a novice, the person makes temporary vows and receives a black veil. This begins stage two as the novice continues to study, learn and enter more and more into the life. The fifth year is a year of integration, where the novice leaves the novitiate and enters more fully into the life of the professed sisters. Novices are gradually given more responsibilities, but the main purpose is to study theology, catechism, church and monastic history, etc… in order to have a firm foundation from which to continue when you are no longer a novice.

Hope that helps. For more information, visit our website www.opnuns-fh.org

I

 

[datingtrappists]

Thank you so much Sister Rose and toknowservelove for your help! I can’t even begin to express my thanks for your replies, nor can I express just how much I have enjoyed working on this paper. Yet, at the same time, it has been somewhat difficult since I’ve been cursed, it seems, with some impatience, as in I wish that I were ready to join the convent right now… Please pray that I am given the patience to endure these next few years as I am discerning not only my vocation, but how I am to live out that vocation.