Paris Blues:
Also, how do I know which kind to be? Poor clare, carmelite, etc? What’s the difference and what do they do?
Do you mind me asking your age? Or at least if you are a minor, or an adult?
There are many ways to distinguish orders and it is probably and endless list, but lets take some heavy hitters.
There are orders that are cloistered and orders that are not. Those that are cloistered have religious who live a life of silence. Now, each order may have varying degrees of silence. What is the importance of silence in such an order? Read this from a non-cloistered community that observes silence as much as it can. It’s lengthy, but try to understand the concept and then you can ponder if such an order is for you. Even lay catholics should strive for exterior and interior silence even if only for 15 minutes daily.
opusangelorum.org/English/Silence/Silence.html
Order who practice silence are often “contemplative” in their prayers, using a type of prayer called “mental prayer”. They study and follow the works of the great mystics of the church like St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross. An example is the Carmelites.
Lets shift to another area - habits. There are those that are more traditional in that they wear habits. I was in a Franciscan Order (left in novitiate due to illness) and they wore long habits. We did not have to shop for a job, rather it was handed to us by our superiors. It could have been a parish job, working in the kitchen,etc (and I’ll touch more on this in “obedience”. The habit goes to simplicity, humility, and in some cases a matter of making life inconvenient in cases where a habit could be uncomfortable. Why? Jesus was simple and humble and he lived a life of suffering. There are other sisters who wear no habits. Often times these sisters are “on their own” in finding work within a parish. I’ve known many of these and they literally have to find their own work. This is likely not true of all sisters without habits.
Obedience is a topic of interest to me and one I studied and prayed about intensely as I was in formation within that Franciscan community. St. Francis was very clear on obedience and is seen as a tool of the Holy Spirit. There are many accounts of it, such as those related to St. Faustina, for example, who was told by Jesus that when it came down to a conflict between what he told her and what her superior told her to do, she was to follow her superior. He would later put her to the test and she followed the orders of her superior. Ditto with Padre Pio when he was told not to say mass publicly or hear confessions for a time. He complied. These things are often a test of authenticity for sainthood or in confirming the validity of certain things. As a sister-to-be, I knew that when my assignment came, it would not necessarily be the path that I wanted. For example, I wanted to learn theology, but my superiors may have put me in the kitchen for the rest of my life or for a time. An act of obedience is an act of humility and anyone who takes a vow of obedience must be prepared to do things they do not want to do. A submission of one’s will over the will of the Lord with an understanding that He may test our resolve to live for him, and him alone. Sometimes the best way to test our resolve is to submit happily and without a grudge.
Obedience is not just an act of submission. It is the free choice to submit one’s will. The Lord appreciates Obedience out of fear or compliance, but he appreciates so much more when we make it a free choice to humble ourselves and accept what is before us.
I will let you read more from the previous site on Obedience because this article does an outstanding job. This applies not only to religious who take vows, but it is something every Catholic should be mindful of. One cannot profess trust in the Holy Spirit without acting out of trust to the Papacy and the Magisterium and it is not limited to ex cathedra statements as you’ll read here.
opusangelorum.org/English/Obedience.html
If you hit the “HOME” button of the above link, you will find a wealth of spiritual information. It is coming from Opus Sanctorum Angelorum - The Work of the Holy Angels, which is associated to the Order of Canons Regular of the Holy Cross (ORC). This particular order of the Holy Cross is a silent, contemplative, but not cloistered community and their website is a goldmine of spiritual advice. You will find more under the Circulars for Laity and others in that site.
Here’s something else you may want to view.
cin.org/vocation.html
I’ll post more later if you have more questions.
