Had to leave religious life due to health

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sbmp

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I’m just wondering if there is anyone out there who has suffered the same thing as me.
I was a religious sister in temporary vows and was not invited to renew my vows for health reasons. I am devastated and trying to figure out God’s will for me. I have given myself to Him and have a religious heart, but now I am living at home with family that has their own trauma and I long to be home with my Sisters!
 
Jesus,our Lords peace be whit You.
I had to stop going to church due to panic-atacks and depression,but that not mean that my reliogus life wos over. I can pray,I can talk to people I know when I am out whit my dog,and in the end of the summer God made me find this site,and since I also have a call to priesthood (I married,stupid thing to do,whit a call to priesthood and I did divorce,1994) but I can’t become a priest anymoore,but God obviesly wanted me to use my call,and I can do so by this site ansvering uestions. So keep Your faith strong,God will help You,I offer one Hail Mary for You.
 
Dear SBMP,

My thoughts and prayers are with you. I had to leave the Priesthood because of mental illness and it was a difficult road for me to hoe. But take heart and be patient, God will lead you in the direction you need to go. May I suggest that you find a good spiritual director and give things some time. Peace to you!
 
I can understand your situation. I did not formally enter religious life, but I was very close at one point, however, when I went to work in the apostolate before I entered, I was having very bad panic attacks and had to sleep all day at the convent to prevent them. It was awful. I was supposed to be there 6 weeks, but I only ended up staying for 3 days.

I tried discerning with other orders, but since I have a history of depression and anxiety disorder since 1999, no order is open to my discernment. It was hard at first because I felt like God was somehow teasing me by giving me the desire and not letting it be used, but I quickly discovered that I did not have a religious vocation because I asked Him to take away the desire if I was not called. He did so starting in December 2009. By March, I was not in the least bit attracted to religious life and so I decided to keep discerning but I knew the outcome. I finally ended my discernment in August this year. I am now looking at married life or single life.

Maybe God is using your illness to bring you closer to Him so you can learn trust and abandonment. I know it has to hurt being in one place that you thought you would stay forever and then being cast out into the world, but I believe that God has something in store for you in the future that is beyond your imagination or expectations. Stay strong in prayer and ask Him to lead the way. I’ll be praying for you!
 
Fear not and do not despair for I am sure our Lord has other plans for you guys! Continue to serve our lord and the church in different ways! :)) My thoughts and prayers are with all those who leave the seminary or religous life because of whatever reasons. 🙂
 
I am so sorry for your situation. I know it must be hard to experience this kind of rejection, but I’m sure they did it for your own good.

I didn’t realize that you could be turned down from being a religious due to health. I mean I knew if it was serious then of course but for minor things too, I didn’t know.

All things happen for a reason for those who trust in God. My path has been changed so many different times that I felt lost. I realized God was leading me where He wanted me to go but I kept taking detours.

Have faith and don’t give up. Look into joining a Third Order so you can still have a community to lean on.
 
This happened to me too. It is very painful. I remember I felt a fish out of water … I really thought the experience would kill me. I cried every day for an entire year. But now, I am able to see how it was an opportunity for me to grow in knowledge, of both myself and God. You may feel that you will never be happy again, but I can only promise you that it does get better.

Remember that it does not matter where you are, what you are wearing or who you are living with - how Jesus thinks of you has not changed. You are the same person to Him. That relationship, which is the core of true sanctity, is yours forever and will follow you to the ends of the earth wherever you go.

May Our Lady be a true mother to you in this time. I promise you, it will get better.
 
sbmp said:
I’m just wondering if there is anyone out there who has suffered the same thing as me.
I was a religious sister in temporary vows and was not invited to renew my vows for health reasons. I am devastated and trying to figure out God’s will for me. I have given myself to Him and have a religious heart, but now I am living at home with family that has their own trauma and I long to be home with my Sisters!
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I have been told that health reasons are not a valid reason for denial of vows.

I am concerned with this as I am in temporary vows and have been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer that has metatasized to my lungs.

Now if there are certain health requirements for the ministry, maybe, I don’t know but as I said I was told that they can not be the only reason one is denied.

Maybe one of our other religious how posts here that has been involved in formation and as a superior might know more.

I will ask the person who told me this more about it and see if there are Canons from Canon Law on this.
 
My SIL was a cloistered Discalced Carmelite for many years, until serious health reasons, coupled with the severe austerity of life in the cloister, forced her to leave. She received a dispensation from her vows from Rome a few years later. It has been almost twenty years and after the first few miserable, heartbreaking years, she found her calling again… she went to college, received a Master’s Degree in Spanish and is teaching ESL classes along with Spanish classes at the local college. She has become a mother to her widowed brother’s three children (the oldest was seven when their mother died) and homeschooled them and helped with my son’s schooling as well. While she has been asked to marry by a couple of men, she has not felt the call to married life, content that she is where God wants her to be, that He knew that her brother’s children would need her (she left the religious life BEFORE her brother had even married.)

So, hard as it may be to see, God does have a plan and we must be open to His will, as painful as it may seem. The hard part is accepting it when we don’t know what it is. She often tells the children the story of her life, so they can see that even when things seem to be all wrong, trusting in God and doing His will is always the best way to find happiness.

My prayers are with you!
 
ByzCath said:
I have been told that health reasons are not a valid reason for denial of vows.

I am concerned with this as I am in temporary vows and have been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer that has metatasized to my lungs.

Now if there are certain health requirements for the ministry, maybe, I don’t know but as I said I was told that they can not be the only reason one is denied.

Maybe one of our other religious how posts here that has been involved in formation and as a superior might know more.

I will ask the person who told me this more about it and see if there are Canons from Canon Law on this.
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This is so painful…I know! I was in the convent (a very traditional one back in '69)…I was in 2 years, the second year taking postulant and novice courses. But I was told that if I did not get rid of my stuttering, I would have to leave. Mother General’s assistant kept hackling me and being, well, just mean about it that it caused a lot of stress. I had to leave…it was a long road. But these were very good years for me…and if I had to do it again, I would have joined another community. I was very young…just 20 coming out…

I am happily married for 36 years yet I still feel the call. The Lord is calling me, it seems, to the discalced secular order.
My heart is united with yours in prayers for whatever God will decide in your case…
 
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