Vocations

Is God calling you to the Carmelite life?

A woman who is considering life in our monastery must ask herself:

Do I have a thirst for God and a thirst for souls?
Do I desire to live a hidden life with great faith?
Do I desire to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
Am I between 20 – 35 years of age?
Have I completed high school?
Have I experienced at least two years of college or work experience?
Do I have good health?
Do I have a willingness to learn, the ability to accept correction and a sense of humor?

After meditating upon these questions…

“I am ready to contact the
Carmelites of Port Tobacco!”

Please click here to contact us

“I am not ready for religious life, but would like to discern further at home.”

Begin frequenting the Sacraments and avoiding sin
Get involved in Catholic activities and cultivate friendships with those involved in their Catholic Faith (put yourself in a good atmosphere)
Get involved with volunteer charity work which will increase grace, love and your desire to serve
Reading: Ask for recommendations for reading material. Good spiritual reading allows the Holy Spirit to nourish the soul. There is nothing you need more than His guidance regardless of what vocation you follow.

A woman with a white cloth over her head sitting at a table in a restaurant, watching through large glass windows at a man and woman near a bicycle outside.

Things to consider:

God is faithful. Anyone who comes to Him in sincerity with a desire to know Him better and love Him deeply, will be able to do so – as Jesus says: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” (John 14:23) This explains the Carmelite life in a pretty precise way. This is what has drawn the women of the past; many have become canonized saints and many more have passed through this life known only to God. The promises of Jesus in the Gospel still draw women today. Intimacy with God is not out of reach. He has offered it and promised it. To live the life of a Carmelite is to seek this life with God in this world and the next. Being good friends of Christ, we take His interests as our own. He wants all men to be saved and so we pray and do penance for that intention.

Sounds difficult? Not really. St. Augustine said, "Where there is love there is no labor, or if it be such it is a labor that is loved." Love makes all things easy. This is where it is so important to get to know the Lord. Once you know Him you really cannot help but love Him.

Loving God is not out of reach. He has given the first invitation, "Come to me all who labor and are burdened and I will refresh you" (Matthew 11:28) and "Whoever abides in love remains in God and God in him." (1 John 4:16) There are many more invitations from the Lord in scripture.

The need to discern and pray to know one’s vocation:

The harvest is ripe and the laborers are few. The Church needs those who pray as well as those who teach and preach. Ask God to give you His grace and insight to know and courageously follow His leading and His will for you. Are you discerning a vocation to our Carmel? Please click here to contact us.

If you do not feel called (to a religious vocation) then say a prayer for someone who is called and is resisting - like the rich young man in the scripture. This young man walked away from the Lord and scripture says "he was sad." Did his burden of many riches make him sad or his lost opportunity? Scripture says Jesus loved him so we wonder if he was sad at this missed opportunity to follow him. Join us in our daily prayer for vocations:

Daily prayer for vocations

God of mercy, joy of the saints, you set the young heart of Saint Teresa of the Andes ablaze with the fire of virginal love for Christ and for his Church;
and even in suffering made her a cheerful witness to charity.
Through her intercession we ask that young women will answer your call
to a vocation to the Carmel of Port Tobacco.
May following this grace bring them to your friendship and zeal for the Gospel to be spread throughout the world. Amen.

Stages of Formation:

Close-up of a bronze sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus, with a green leafy background.

Aspirancy: An aspirant should contact the Prioress or Mistress of Novices and begin a conversation to determine if the Lord is calling her. Once this has been established, the process of entering the Order can begin. Aspirancy is the first step which could be over a period of a year. We allow a “live-in” period up to three months to experience the life. She would wear a simple brown dress and join the nuns in all their prayers and community activities. If this goes well she leaves the monastery to tie up her worldly affairs and enters the monastery as a Postulant – we would say she is serious about wanting this way of life.

A woman dressed as a nun with glasses, a white head covering, and a brown habit, smiling in front of a brick fireplace.

Postulancy: The Postulant is under the Mistress of Novices and begins to learn about our life, our saints and the teachings of the Church. She attends the novitiate classes and partakes in some of the work of the monastery. After a year as a postulant the aspirant would be given the religious habit. At this point she formally joins the Order and she is called a Novice.

A woman dressed as a nun, smiling, wearing glasses, in front of a beige brick wall with a yellow window frame.

Novice: During the time in the Novitiate the novice is still under the direction of the Mistress of Novices. They have formal classes in Carmelite History, Scripture, Liturgy and other subjects appropriate to the development of person seeking consecration to God.

Woman wearing a black graduation gown with a white headscarf and a floral wreath on her head, standing outdoors in front of a wooden fence and trees.

First Vows: After a period of at least two years the Novice is allowed to make Profession of Vows – Poverty, Chastity and Obedience for a limited time. We call this Temporary Profession. Because it is such a serious step, the Church in her wisdom, gives her time to live the vows to make sure she is physically and psychologically capable of this way of life.

A woman dressed as a nun with a black veil and white habit, wearing a flower crown, standing in front of a yellow wall with a framed painting of Jesus Christ in the background.

Solemn Vows: At this step a woman gives herself to God with a promise for life. The Religious Profession is the binding of two hearts – the Sister and God. A quote from Cardinal Sarah is apropos, “When someone gives oneself to God, God returns the gift a hundredfold...It is the free, joyous offering of our natural potentials. If it is lived out in intimacy with Christ, then far from creating any frustration in the sister, the gift of self develops our ability to love and expands it to the dimensions of Christ’s heart.” (The Day is Now Far Spent) A religious entirely dedicated to God, becomes free to love all her brothers and sisters with a chaste love.