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billcu1
Guest
Isn’t there a prayer for discernment of whether or not you are to pursue or accept the vocation of single life?
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Phil_Marinus
Guest
Maybe there is, but single life is not for everyone… If I were single I would go crazy because I’d have no one to annoy…
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Bruised_Reed
Guest
This! Now I know marriage is my calling.Maybe there is, but single life is not for everyone… If I were single I would go crazy because I’d have no one to annoy…
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Christy_Beth
Guest
I am learning to accept my life for what it is right now. If God wants me to move into a relationship, then I know that he will do so. I’m not trying to be a lame brain here, just learning to accept what is, and trust in God enough to follow the path He has chosen for me.
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TiggerS
Guest
You could use a prayer from a Catholic vocations site on the internet, or you could write your own. You can also talk to God in your own words.
God bless your discerning
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Deo_Gratias42
Guest
I have a couple old school prayers/resources for this discernment, but I have to find it and I’m supposed to be studying for a final I have tomorrow. I’ll get it for you tomorrow.
Btw: are you male or female? Most of what I have is for women.
Btw: are you male or female? Most of what I have is for women.
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amsjj
Guest
If possible, I’d also love to see something for males. I’ve known some guys discerning.
many thanks!
amsjj
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Jesus, God and man,
imprisoned by love in Thy most holy Sacrament,
have mercy upon us.
ese Cristo con su Cuerpo, con su Sangre, con su Alma, y con su Divinidad,
prisonero de amor.
St. Justin the Martyr. He says ‘Jesus often said, “They who are near Me are near a fire”’.
many thanks!
amsjj
+++
Jesus, God and man,
imprisoned by love in Thy most holy Sacrament,
have mercy upon us.
- Blessed John Henry Newman, December 22, 1851
ese Cristo con su Cuerpo, con su Sangre, con su Alma, y con su Divinidad,
prisonero de amor.
- San Josemaría Escrivá, 1 junio 1974
St. Justin the Martyr. He says ‘Jesus often said, “They who are near Me are near a fire”’.
- Abp. W. B. Ullathorne, August 1st 1886
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enbell
Guest
I don’t think this comment is very charitableMaybe there is, but single life is not for everyone… If I were single I would go crazy because I’d have no one to annoy…
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Auntie_A
Guest
I am single, although I never chose it. I always thought I would marry and have children. I raised a lot of children who were not my own.
What did happen was that I noticed many women and men panic about wanting to get married and some of them seemed to want A man or woman rather than THE man or woman. Their marriages were based on desperation, impatience, and sometimes deception.
I prayed to God “Please find me the right guy. If you don’t, I accept the single life.” And so far, I am single and accept that this is where God wants me. I am open to any changes, though.
Some of my married friends, particularly women, say “You don’t want to be married; it’s awful.” Some keep trying to match me up. I’m open but want to make my own decisions about people.
I find it interesting when a young person wants to choose a single life. Mine chose me.
What did happen was that I noticed many women and men panic about wanting to get married and some of them seemed to want A man or woman rather than THE man or woman. Their marriages were based on desperation, impatience, and sometimes deception.
I prayed to God “Please find me the right guy. If you don’t, I accept the single life.” And so far, I am single and accept that this is where God wants me. I am open to any changes, though.
Some of my married friends, particularly women, say “You don’t want to be married; it’s awful.” Some keep trying to match me up. I’m open but want to make my own decisions about people.
I find it interesting when a young person wants to choose a single life. Mine chose me.
M
MidnightSun12
Guest
"For they who in such manner receive matrimony, as to shut out God from themselves, and from their mind, and to give themselves to their lust, as the horse and mule, which have not understanding, over them the devil hath power."
- Tobias 6
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Phil_Marinus
Guest
I don’t think this comment is very charitable
In what way?
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mcrts
Guest
I think a single life is great. I’m actually considering it.
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enbell
Guest
Maybe I misunderstood, it seemed like you were mocking sort of. If I was wrong, my apologies.
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vsedriver
Guest
I am single and didn’t choose it either. It was chosen for me when my husband decided he didn’t want to be married to me anymore.
Although legally divorced I am still married in the eyes of God and the Church. So I live a single life.
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Phil_Marinus
Guest
I was just curious as to how my comment was uncharitable ?
I try not to mock, um… well maybe only some,but not you…
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Phil_Marinus
Guest
It is always sad to see a good person cast aside because they did not come up to someones expectations … I hope things come good for you.I am single and didn’t choose it either. It was chosen for me when my husband decided he didn’t want to be married to me anymore.
Although legally divorced I am still married in the eyes of God and the Church. So I live a single life.
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vsedriver
Guest
with God’s grace I know I will survive. My greatest pain is for my young adult sons. People do not realize the pain a divorce puts on the children no matter what their age. If you love your children how could you do this to them?
O
odile53
Guest
Given the number of single Catholics, who are single either by chance or by choice, it’s surprising that the Church is so relatively quiet on the subject. They are a huge and largely untapped source of time, talent, and treasure.
My old fourth grade teacher, Sister Mary Claire, rest her soul, had this comment that always stuck with me: “God has a vocation in mind for each person. Sometimes people choose the wrong vocation. It’s not a sin if they do, but they would be much happier in their state of life if they chose the state in life that God had in mind for them.”
That requires a tremendous amount of self-knowledge, reflection, and prayer. It requires a real honest assessment of one’s strengths and weaknesses as a person, a knowledge of one’s personality, how one interacts with the world at large and people in general and in particular.
If you are seriously attempting to discern a vocation to the married, single, ordained, or consecrated states in life, I would heartily recommend making an Ignatian retreat: Much time is devoted in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola to discernment of a vocation in life.
And yes, the single life is a vocation (which might be subject to change.) It is the only vocation which can be changed at any point without dispensation, by the way. I was single until I was 42 years old, and it was not by default. I was a professional dancer with New York City Ballet, and I spent much of the non-performance season (summertime) working with underprivileged youth, usually in New York, and one memorable summer, out on the Rosebud Reservation. I attended daily Mass, and prayed the Liturgy of the Hours. Nowadays, family responsibilities preclude daily Mass, but I do get to Mass a few times a week (and feel cheated when I can’t.) Additionally, I was active in my parish, worked in the bread line in a neighboring parish, traveled, both when touring with the company and on my own, completed my bachelors in performing arts at Fordham, and had a host of friends in my old neighborhood in Chelsea. I was deeply honored and thrilled when a fellow dancer who was converting to Catholicism asked me to be her RCIA sponsor (a few of my old posts have references to the misadventures of Odile and Roz during that seven month period.) We would study the catechism together backstage during rehearsals when we weren’t actually dancing, we’d high-tail it from Lincoln Center after Saturday night performances to catch the 11:30 PM (you read that right) Mass at St. Malachy’s (once we were in a rush and threw on our parkas quickly, Roz forgot to take off her swan headdress from the performance,) and we got to a few regional shrines, such as the Shrine of the North American Martyrs and St. Anne de Beaupre in Quebec. I actually had a ball.
I was able, believe it or not, in the world of theater, to lead a chaste lifestyle. Today’s hypersexualized society has it all – backward, as far as I’m concerned. Nonmarital sex isn’t freedom, it’s a strange sort of enslavement–a few of the trappings of a marital relationship without any of the benefits or safeguards. Women and men who decide to get sexually involved without the benefit of matrimony sell themselves way short, in my opinion, and are setting themselves up for a lot of unnecessary heartache. I read somewhere once that God didn’t write the last seven of the Ten Commandments for His benefit–He wrote them for our benefit and happiness! And believe me, committing to a chaste single lifestyle is a great way to weed out the losers and users!
Actually, the work schedule of a professional ballerina pretty much leaves little room for much else: You’re up at dawn, warming up at home, across town and in class by 8 AM, rehearsal in the afternoon, probably a performance in the evening, and you get to go home and collapse. You have to squeeze in such things as housework and paying bills. That doesn’t leave much time for a romantic relationship. Depending on how sore and tired you are, sometimes it doesn’t even leave much time for a shower (eeewww—forget the image of a dancer being “dainty:” After a performance, we smell as bad as any professional athlete after a game—pretty gamy, in other words!)
I can think of many professions which would lend themselves well to a single lifestyle: Medicine, law, any of the creative and scientific endeavors, for example.
St. Paul said it well when he mentioned that a single person can devote their life to the Lord: It isn’t necessary to take formal vows to do that. You can consecrate yourself to God through your daily work in life: That is the concept behind St. Jose Maria deEscriva’s institution of Opus Dei.
My old fourth grade teacher, Sister Mary Claire, rest her soul, had this comment that always stuck with me: “God has a vocation in mind for each person. Sometimes people choose the wrong vocation. It’s not a sin if they do, but they would be much happier in their state of life if they chose the state in life that God had in mind for them.”
That requires a tremendous amount of self-knowledge, reflection, and prayer. It requires a real honest assessment of one’s strengths and weaknesses as a person, a knowledge of one’s personality, how one interacts with the world at large and people in general and in particular.
If you are seriously attempting to discern a vocation to the married, single, ordained, or consecrated states in life, I would heartily recommend making an Ignatian retreat: Much time is devoted in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola to discernment of a vocation in life.
And yes, the single life is a vocation (which might be subject to change.) It is the only vocation which can be changed at any point without dispensation, by the way. I was single until I was 42 years old, and it was not by default. I was a professional dancer with New York City Ballet, and I spent much of the non-performance season (summertime) working with underprivileged youth, usually in New York, and one memorable summer, out on the Rosebud Reservation. I attended daily Mass, and prayed the Liturgy of the Hours. Nowadays, family responsibilities preclude daily Mass, but I do get to Mass a few times a week (and feel cheated when I can’t.) Additionally, I was active in my parish, worked in the bread line in a neighboring parish, traveled, both when touring with the company and on my own, completed my bachelors in performing arts at Fordham, and had a host of friends in my old neighborhood in Chelsea. I was deeply honored and thrilled when a fellow dancer who was converting to Catholicism asked me to be her RCIA sponsor (a few of my old posts have references to the misadventures of Odile and Roz during that seven month period.) We would study the catechism together backstage during rehearsals when we weren’t actually dancing, we’d high-tail it from Lincoln Center after Saturday night performances to catch the 11:30 PM (you read that right) Mass at St. Malachy’s (once we were in a rush and threw on our parkas quickly, Roz forgot to take off her swan headdress from the performance,) and we got to a few regional shrines, such as the Shrine of the North American Martyrs and St. Anne de Beaupre in Quebec. I actually had a ball.
I was able, believe it or not, in the world of theater, to lead a chaste lifestyle. Today’s hypersexualized society has it all – backward, as far as I’m concerned. Nonmarital sex isn’t freedom, it’s a strange sort of enslavement–a few of the trappings of a marital relationship without any of the benefits or safeguards. Women and men who decide to get sexually involved without the benefit of matrimony sell themselves way short, in my opinion, and are setting themselves up for a lot of unnecessary heartache. I read somewhere once that God didn’t write the last seven of the Ten Commandments for His benefit–He wrote them for our benefit and happiness! And believe me, committing to a chaste single lifestyle is a great way to weed out the losers and users!
Actually, the work schedule of a professional ballerina pretty much leaves little room for much else: You’re up at dawn, warming up at home, across town and in class by 8 AM, rehearsal in the afternoon, probably a performance in the evening, and you get to go home and collapse. You have to squeeze in such things as housework and paying bills. That doesn’t leave much time for a romantic relationship. Depending on how sore and tired you are, sometimes it doesn’t even leave much time for a shower (eeewww—forget the image of a dancer being “dainty:” After a performance, we smell as bad as any professional athlete after a game—pretty gamy, in other words!)
I can think of many professions which would lend themselves well to a single lifestyle: Medicine, law, any of the creative and scientific endeavors, for example.
St. Paul said it well when he mentioned that a single person can devote their life to the Lord: It isn’t necessary to take formal vows to do that. You can consecrate yourself to God through your daily work in life: That is the concept behind St. Jose Maria deEscriva’s institution of Opus Dei.
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TiggerS
Guest
We are! A fire of Infinite, All Embracing, Faithful and Abandoned Love and Mercy!
T
TiggerS
Guest
I really laughed when I read the quote to which you refer i.e. “If I were single I would go crazy because I’d have no one to annoy”I don’t think this comment is very charitable
What on earth makes a person think that those with a single vocation can’t and don’t have people around them to annoy?:egyptian: Although I did think it was a joke, not a serious statement. As do those in both religious and monastic life who can annoy each other. I am sure even those in eremitical life (hermits) annoy themselves rather often. Don’t we all, or am I under a complete delusion!
Certainly, being a single person in lay secular life under private vows myself, I am a frequent annoyance to myself and sometimes go and have a cuppa with someone to lay off myself for a while- and annoy my neighbour
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