Diocesan or Religious Order?

[ble]

Hi everyone,

After a lengthy period of discernment; I’m still discerning… I have questions for my brothers and sisters who are discerning or have decided on their path. What makes you decide to be a secular religious versus monastic one? To me, being a priest or sister; you can help more people because you work directly with them. But being a monastic one, you spend most of your time in prayers in a monastery or convent.

My desire is to spend the rest of my life in a cloistered community, but there is a nagging behind me saying that I can be of much more use to the church being active in the community. I just spoke with a diocesan vocations directory and he told me about the needs of the church; which is very much dire needs. Then I visited a Benedictine Monastery; and could imagine that it is Heaven on Earth. It is isolated in the mountains and with such beauty that I would love to spend the rest of my life there in prayers.

If you can share with me the decision on why you went the path you did, that would help me to discern mine.

God bless!
Ben

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Hi everyone,

After a lengthy period of discernment; I’m still discerning… I have questions for my brothers and sisters who are discerning or have decided on their path. What makes you decide to be a secular religious versus monastic one? To me, being a priest or sister; you can help more people because you work directly with them. But being a monastic one, you spend most of your time in prayers in a monastery or convent.

My desire is to spend the rest of my life in a cloistered community, but there is a nagging behind me saying that I can be of much more use to the church being active in the community. I just spoke with a diocesan vocations directory and he told me about the needs of the church; which is very much dire needs. Then I visited a Benedictine Monastery; and could imagine that it is Heaven on Earth. It is isolated in the mountains and with such beauty that I would love to spend the rest of my life there in prayers.

If you can share with me the decision on why you went the path you did, that would help me to discern mine.

God bless!
Ben

Ben,
Not all religious are monastic. Friars can be active.

In my discernment it came down to community life. I have a desire to live in community and to pray in common with my bothers. I joined the Carmelites, which is one of the mendicant orders. We are, for the most part, active. We staff parishes, run retreat centers, have a shrine, and run (as well as teach in) high schools. Some of our men work at other ministries but we live in common. We do have a handful of hermits.

Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions.

 

[Provigil]

Ben.
What do you want to do? I was a Franciscan brother but we were always under obedience, you would have to go China since you are under obedience.

A Diocesan priest has more laditude. He can come and go as he pleases. They only promise the vow of chastity–they do not t ake the vow of poverty and t his is why they can own anything they want to. Their own cars, property, etc.

Now a religious Order priest cannot have anything in his name, not even a car. If you joined the Dominians, the title would come under The Povince of the Dominicans. You would always be under the vow of obedience and you would have to make a novitiate.

Living the life of a monk is very taxing. You have to be made for it. You have to understand they never leave, some have hermits in their community, and only certain hours can they talk. It is a beautiful life, but for me, I couldn not do it.

If you want to be more with the public than join a Diocesan Order or a religious Order that is not comtemplative.

It would be wise to your advantage to speak with a vocation director of your diocese

Good luck and may Almighty bless you in your decision.

If you want more help, email me personally.

In His Divine Mercy,
PROVIGIL

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Ben.
What do you want to do? I was a Franciscan brother but we were always under obedience, you would have to go China since you are under obedience.

A Diocesan priest has more laditude. He can come and go as he pleases. They only promise the vow of chastity–they do not t ake the vow of poverty and t his is why they can own anything they want to. Their own cars, property, etc.

Actually secular priests only make promises of chastity and obedience. They still have to go where their bishop tells them but the area is much smaller, only that of a diocese.

Now a religious Order priest cannot have anything in his name, not even a car. If you joined the Dominians, the title would come under The Povince of the Dominicans. You would always be under the vow of obedience and you would have to make a novitiate.

Its not all that bad. We do get an allowance and are allowed to own some things (depends pretty much on the order) but we do not own big things like cars or houses but we are taken care of.

 

[shuzo1189]

I kinda stumbled in (Or as my Spiritual Director would say “An act of Providence”) into the Dominican Order and found a Charism that meshed with my ideals in life almost perfectly. A Group of Intellectuals whose sole goal is the Salvation of Souls! They also love books…like really love books

I like the Dominican/Mendicant form of life, with one foot in the monastic and the other foot in the Secular. Its like you always have a place to fall back too and the world just quietly melts away, but never totally.

 

[ble]

Ben,
Not all religious are monastic. Friars can be active.

In my discernment it came down to community life. I have a desire to live in community and to pray in common with my bothers. I joined the Carmelites, which is one of the mendicant orders. We are, for the most part, active. We staff parishes, run retreat centers, have a shrine, and run (as well as teach in) high schools. Some of our men work at other ministries but we live in common. We do have a handful of hermits.

Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions.

Thanks Bro. David. Although I prefer to spend my times in prayer, the Lord seems to gift me with many talents. I wonder if I join a Benedictine Monastery, that some of those talents will be unused. If I join the order, I can help run retreat centers and be a gardener, something I like to do as well.

I’ve sent out a lot of requests in the past; to Franciscan orders, to Carmelite orders, etc… and I mainly get replies back from Benedictine orders. I’ll be going on several Benedictine retreats in the future so hopefully the Lord will let me know if the Benedictine charism would be for me.

Cheers,
Ben

 

[ble]

Ben.
What do you want to do? I was a Franciscan brother but we were always under obedience, you would have to go China since you are under obedience.

Hello Provigil,

Thank you for your reply. The three vows that you take as a religious are what drawns me to research a religious life. I would have no problem with any one of them. The life of a hermit fascinates me, although I don’t think I can life as one. I’ve read the biography of Fr. Charles de Foucauld and am very impressed with his life.

There is a Franciscan Brother that helps out at our church. He’s the only Franciscan in San Diego that I know off, and he’s amazing at what he does; which is to collect and distribute food/supplies tot he poor.

I’ve asked my diocesan vocations director to connect me with a spiritual director but I’m still waiting for a reply; priests in San Diego are so busy, they have very little time for anything else. My joining them will help ease part of the burden… that is something I’m also considering. I went to a vocations Mass and breakfast this morning at the diocesan vocations office and there were 12 men there considering a vocation. I was worried that there were just one or two; but that helps put me at ease if I were to decide to join a religious order.

God bless!
Ben

 

[ble]

Its not all that bad. We do get an allowance and are allowed to own some things (depends pretty much on the order) but we do not own big things like cars or houses but we are taken care of.

Bro. David,

May I ask what examples of things you can own? I have a small laptop that I carry with me everywhere I go that has my daily meditations, notes, journal entries, Bible readings, games (can be deleted), musics, pictures… I wonder if that is something an order would let a member keep? I don’t mind giving it up for an order if I’m required to do so, but it is very much part of my life.

God bless!
Ben

 

[ble]

I kinda stumbled in (Or as my Spiritual Director would say “An act of Providence”) into the Dominican Order and found a Charism that meshed with my ideals in life almost perfectly. A Group of Intellectuals whose sole goal is the Salvation of Souls! They also love books…like really love books

I like the Dominican/Mendicant form of life, with one foot in the monastic and the other foot in the Secular. Its like you always have a place to fall back too and the world just quietly melts away, but never totally.

Thank you for sharing some information on the Dominican Order. I’ll look it up as well on my search. One of the order that I spoke to is the cloistered Cistercian/Trappist Order that has both feet in a monastery, far away from civilization. I’m also drawn to that too… I think I need to narrow down where I want to go and soon because I’m not getting any younger.

Cheers,
Ben

 

[Friar_David_O.Carm]

Bro. David,

May I ask what examples of things you can own? I have a small laptop that I carry with me everywhere I go that has my daily meditations, notes, journal entries, Bible readings, games (can be deleted), musics, pictures… I wonder if that is something an order would let a member keep? I don’t mind giving it up for an order if I’m required to do so, but it is very much part of my life.

God bless!
Ben

Most of us have laptops or computers of some type. Mainly what we brought in with us when we joined or were given to us as gifts from friends/family. We also own what we buy with our allowance. I have many books, religious, philosophical, fiction, history, and others.

What you say you have you would be allowed to keep. During the novitiate your access to a computer would be a but more limited.