Lou Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 Hi all! I'm a long time reader, first time poster on this forum. I've been discerning a Cistercian vocation for about a year now and was wondering if there was anyone on here discerning a Cistercian/ Trappistine or Benedictine vocation and wanted to chat through anything or vent some queries or troubles together. Happy discerning, Lou. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonella Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 You have a message from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamb Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 I'm not discerning with the Cistercians any more, but I emailed back and forth with them (the ones in WI) for a very long time. Sr. Mary Benedicta is extremely helpful, and even continued to be so after I told her I thought I was called somewhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou Posted June 10, 2017 Author Share Posted June 10, 2017 Oh great! That's so great to know. Any top tips from your time with them? May God guide you in your vocation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamb Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 3 hours ago, Lou said: Oh great! That's so great to know. Any top tips from your time with them? May God guide you in your vocation. Gosh! I took a look at all my old emails from her and there are so many of them! What kind of tips are you looking for? Facts about their daily life? About monastic life in general? Discernment advice? The big questions for me were about fasting and family visiting. Families can visit once a year for a couple of days. They fast on all Fridays of the year outside of Christmas and Easter, and abstain on all Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and every day in Lent. If you email them, they will mail you a packet with some information. I don't know what your state in life is, but the suspicious monastery mail I started getting was a good way to break the news to my family that I was discerning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou Posted June 11, 2017 Author Share Posted June 11, 2017 5 hours ago, Lamb said: Gosh! I took a look at all my old emails from her and there are so many of them! What kind of tips are you looking for? Facts about their daily life? About monastic life in general? Discernment advice? The big questions for me were about fasting and family visiting. Families can visit once a year for a couple of days. They fast on all Fridays of the year outside of Christmas and Easter, and abstain on all Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and every day in Lent. If you email them, they will mail you a packet with some information. I don't know what your state in life is, but the suspicious monastery mail I started getting was a good way to break the news to my family that I was discerning! That fasting info was so helpful! Thank you. I've already done the suspicious mail gig! Haha glad someone else was on my wavelength! Ive visited a Cistercian monastery and done a live-in but I've never been given an information package? That sounds really interesting? I just came to understand the customs and practices by living them: which only works if you're ever onservant which I'm quite sure I failed at many times! Also the community I visited, some of them wore different coloured belts? I don't know if that was just happenchance (black or brown!!) or if there was a reason? Maybe you could shed some light on that?! Ehmm what else?! If anything else comes up in your mind that was helpful for you, I'd love to hear it! Do they have younger nuns in WI? Thanks so much for going through all the emails! That must have been interesting to see how your vocation has unfurled since then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NadaTeTurbe Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 I'm not a lay cistercian lay, but spending a lot of time with a group (although I'm not called to a monastic vocation). What do you want to know ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamb Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 13 hours ago, Lou said: That fasting info was so helpful! Thank you. I've already done the suspicious mail gig! Haha glad someone else was on my wavelength! Ive visited a Cistercian monastery and done a live-in but I've never been given an information package? That sounds really interesting? I just came to understand the customs and practices by living them: which only works if you're ever onservant which I'm quite sure I failed at many times! Also the community I visited, some of them wore different coloured belts? I don't know if that was just happenchance (black or brown!!) or if there was a reason? Maybe you could shed some light on that?! Ehmm what else?! If anything else comes up in your mind that was helpful for you, I'd love to hear it! Do they have younger nuns in WI? Thanks so much for going through all the emails! That must have been interesting to see how your vocation has unfurled since then! I guess some monasteries send packets and others don't. I've gotten packets from both the Cistercians in WI and the Trappestines in VA (I didn't do much more than an inquiry with them). I sometimes brainstorm any question I can think of and ask the vocations director, even ones that may seem irrelevant. You'd be surprised what you can learn... I once learned a lot about a charism just based on a discussion about windows! I don't know about the belts. My guess is that it's just whatever is available? I believe the community in WI is young and thriving. Actually, I just pulled up the website and saw this article under "news" http://www.valleyofourlady.org/newspg.1 of4.html Have you seen it? It looks really helpful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou Posted June 12, 2017 Author Share Posted June 12, 2017 23 hours ago, Lamb said: I guess some monasteries send packets and others don't. I've gotten packets from both the Cistercians in WI and the Trappestines in VA (I didn't do much more than an inquiry with them). I sometimes brainstorm any question I can think of and ask the vocations director, even ones that may seem irrelevant. You'd be surprised what you can learn... I once learned a lot about a charism just based on a discussion about windows! I don't know about the belts. My guess is that it's just whatever is available? I believe the community in WI is young and thriving. Actually, I just pulled up the website and saw this article under "news" http://www.valleyofourlady.org/newspg.1 of4.html Have you seen it? It looks really helpful! Yes, I've gotten apostolic vocations packages in the past but never one from a monastic order! I think they're helpful mostly! Sometimes brainstorming is great but other times it's too difficult! It's true though! You can learn a lot from just little things! Yes I saw that article the other day! It's super lovely. They look like a happy and healthy community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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