Traditionalist Volunteering/ Service Opportunities?

[ssa_fellow]

I’m just beginning to seriously looking into the wide land of “Catholic Volunteering” opportunities. There’s just so many options, that its a little overwhelming. Not to mention, of course, that I have to worry if an organization is orthodox or not.

Anyways, I wouldn’t mind finding something like this that is in the traditionalist world, if y’all know of any, I’d be more than interested!

What I Need:
Room and Board

What I would Prefer:
A Stipend would be helpful
To be located in the American South

What I would do:
Any kind of Catholic Volunteering. I’m only 22, and I have no college degree. So… I’m just looking for any basic kind of volunteering. Nothing that says “health care experience/ business experience, etc”. I’m willing to do any generic Catholic volunteering that they’ll let me do.

And, I’m posting this here, because I wonder if y’all would know of anything like this in a Traditional Catholic Parish, or Traditional Catholic Community or something.

Idk, does FSSP have any volunteering opportunities?

Are there any service opportunities that Traditional Catholics have? That’s the question.

 

[TimothyH]

Look to see if a monastery needs some manual labor done in exchange for room and board.

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia (Cistercian - OCSO) has a monastic guest program which will allow you to participate in the work and prayer of the monastery for 1 to 6 months. trappist.net/join-us/monastic-guest-program. There are very few things more traditional than Christian monasticism. I would warn you however, to bring a love of silence and to drop any attitude about what you think you must have in favor of trusting whatever God puts in front of you.

I personally guarantee that the man who exits the monastery will be a far different person from the one who entered it. It changed my life in only four days. timhollingworth.blogspot.com/2010/10/a-weekend-of-peace.html

-Tim-

 

[Sunbreak]

Here is a link to catholic organizations that want volunteers:
catholicvolunteernetwork.org/
You will have to do your own research as to how traditional or not the places are.

 

[ssa_fellow]

Look to see if a monastery needs some manual labor done in exchange for room and board.

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia (Cistercian - OCSO) has a monastic guest program which will allow you to participate in the work and prayer of the monastery for 1 to 6 months. trappist.net/join-us/monastic-guest-program. There are very few things more traditional than Christian monasticism. I would warn you however, to bring a love of silence and to drop any attitude about what you think you must have in favor of trusting whatever God puts in front of you.

I personally guarantee that the man who exits the monastery will be a far different person from the one who entered it. It changed my life in only four days. timhollingworth.blogspot.com/2010/10/a-weekend-of-peace.html

I have heard of this monastery before. I actually met a guy who had stayed there for 5 weeks on a silent retreat. I don’t know, I don’t feel called to go there, personally.

I really hope more people respond. I’m just at a place where I don’t know what to do with my life. I want to serve the Church, but I don’t know where to go to do that…

 

[ssa_fellow]

Here is a link to catholic organizations that want volunteers:
catholicvolunteernetwork.org/
You will have to do your own research as to how traditional or not the places are.

Yeah… I’ve been on this site a bunch. And, this thread is basically “my own research”…

… Idk, I’d much rather just someone recommend something to me, and I check out things that people actually recommend, rather than going through 100s of programs and wondering which ones to contact…

How am I ever going to know which one God is calling me to do?

P.S. Furthermore, I’m guessing a whole lot of opportunities aren’t on that website anyways.

 

[ssa_fellow]

bump. Look, I’m still trying to find some kind of a Catholic community or something which I could volunteer at. I just need to gather the most information about all the opportunities that I have, before I discern which one I should go to.

So, if any of you here have any ideas about that, they would be more than appreciated.

 

[SyroMalankara]

I’d like to bump this thread and like the OP’s question as well – I know there are some Eastern Catholic volunteering opportunities, and usually these are pretty orthodox… are you open to some EC options?

 

[Deo_Gratias42]

The diocese in which you live should have numerous volunteer opportunities available, as well as inter-faith charitable organizations (ie: food banks, soup kitchens, etc). I think you’re being far too hung up on “orthodox” and “traditional catholic” volunteering.

 

[OraLabora]

Look to see if a monastery needs some manual labor done in exchange for room and board.

The Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia (Cistercian - OCSO) has a monastic guest program which will allow you to participate in the work and prayer of the monastery for 1 to 6 months. trappist.net/join-us/monastic-guest-program. There are very few things more traditional than Christian monasticism. I would warn you however, to bring a love of silence and to drop any attitude about what you think you must have in favor of trusting whatever God puts in front of you.

I personally guarantee that the man who exits the monastery will be a far different person from the one who entered it. It changed my life in only four days. timhollingworth.blogspot.com/2010/10/a-weekend-of-peace.html

-Tim-

^^^This.

I’m presently out of work; I got laid off back in February from my IT job. I’m 56 and trying to discern “what next?”. I’m in no immediate financial danger, but am more worried about the effect on the soul of not working when I feel I still have much to give.

It’s not an easy discernment. My field is rather ageist. I fear I may never work in it again except perhaps part-time as a consultant. Though I’ve been enjoying my first summer off in a 34 year career so far, I’ve been going a bit stir-crazy. So at last month’s oblate retreat, I asked the monk who runs the monastery’s apple cider factory if he’d consider me if ever he’s short-handed.

Yesterday I got the call at very short notice as a postulant prospect was called to another task. I spent a couple of hours with two monks and another prospect adding blackcurrant to cider to make kir. We managed to produce 11 cases in 2 hours working as a team, one monk preparing the bottles that had fermented and inverted to remove the sludge from the bottom, myself adding the blackcurrant juice, the postulant capping and wiring the bottles and the other monk removing them from the work table to put in cases. It was the most satisfying work I’ve actually done in years, we began with a bunch of newly fermented bottles and ended up with 11 cases of cider ready to pack and ship; none of the endless churn of the modern workplace. The pay was crummy: I was given a bottle to take home , but it was a wonderful experience. We began and ended with a prayer, and after the prayer the monk running the factory gave us a round of of what we’d just produced as well as some delicious blackcurrant juice with ice; refreshing on a very hot day in the '90s.

It was work on a human scale, in a human manner and in the presence of God whose help we invoked. These two monks also had a great sense of humour and we shared several laughs in the process. I asked (jokingly as I know this monk rather well) if we had to talk in sign language like the Trappists. He shot back “oh those Trappists are so verbose; they say more with their hands than we do with our tongues”

The best thing is that the monk running the cider factory also runs the monastery gift shop and he’s got IT problems so he asked me to give him a hand with that, so I’ll at least be able to keep my hand in it and put something useful on my resumé.

You’re advice to “drop attitude” is spot on. Hand yourself over to God, do what’s asked in humble obedience, and I can guarantee one of the most liberating experiences in one’s life.

 

[ssa_fellow]

The diocese in which you live should have numerous volunteer opportunities available, as well as inter-faith charitable organizations (ie: food banks, soup kitchens, etc). I think you’re being far too hung up on “orthodox” and “traditional catholic” volunteering.

I think you’re probably right. I just sent an email to the Diocese. Hopefully they’ll get me in touch with someone who would know more about Catholic volunteering.

Look, I really just need something to be doing. And, I think the only thing that would motivate me would be directly working for some Catholic apostolate or something. I just don’t want to work at another secular job, they drain all my energy, and I just don’t believe in them.

OraLabora:

You’re advice to “drop attitude” is spot on. Hand yourself over to God, do what’s asked in humble obedience, and I can guarantee one of the most liberating experiences in one’s life.

I mean, at this point, I’m honestly fixing to go talk to as many priests as I need to, and if they give me a good opportunity of something to do, then I’ll do it. The Catholic Church has to have an answer to my predicament right?