Nd Vs Dsmme

[ToJesusMyHeart]

Can someone please explain to me what is going on with the St. Hasa Perm stuff?

[Pax_et bonum]

Can someone please explain to me what is going on with the St. Hasa Perm stuff?

It's an anagram of Phatmasser. People were complaining about tags again. There was a thread in Open Mic.

[loveletslive]

i've spent time with both communities on retreat/at professions at have close friends in both communities. i'd say nashville is definitely more reserved if i can give the community a personality trait, and dsmme are way more out there being like "hi y'all lets be friends! and come visit!" dsmme seem more overtly vivacious, i think because they are so much younger than nashville and have less final professed sisters and no sisters in an infirmary or anything.

 

my friend in nashville has commented about her community being less visible in the media/social media/etc because they "don't need to advertise" because the community is so established and i feel a bit more reserved in their "recruiting" if you will of young women and the application process, which was one of the reasons my friend liked nashville more than ann arbor...that and God was clearly calling her to nashville :)

[ToJesusMyHeart]

i'd say nashville is definitely more reserved if i can give the community a personality trait

 

I agree. More...calm? Reserved/Calm are good descriptive words I think. 

 

 

and dsmme are way more out there being like "hi y'all lets be friends! and come visit!" dsmme seem more overtly vivacious, i think because they are so much younger than nashville and have less final professed sisters and no sisters in an infirmary or anything.

 

Yes, this. And that they are specifically and deliberately focused on media because part of their charism is the New Evangelization, whereas that is not a part of the ND charism because the Holy Spirit has not asked that of them.

 

To explain it, I sometimes say that the dsmme really like to use exclamation points...but the NDs are more of a calmer type...using periods instead of "!!!!!!!!!"

 

my friend in nashville has commented about her community being less visible in the media/social media/etc because they "don't need to advertise" because the community is so established

 

Spot on!

 

 

 

 

and i feel a bit more reserved in their "recruiting" if you will of young women and the application process, which was one of the reasons my friend liked nashville more than ann arbor...that and God was clearly calling her to nashville  :)

 

Yes, the way the two communities handle vocations is very different. The dsmme's advertise and recruit a ton more than the NDs. The NDs prefer to let young women come to them, rather than actively seek out women to join them. It is also for this reason, among many others, that I feel very attracted to the NDs. :)

Edited February 2, 2013 by ToJesusMyHeart

[FutureSister2009]

I don't know how to say this but my fear with the DSMMEs is that girls are just attracted to them because of how friendly the Sisters are but they aren't completely prepared for Convent life. And then they could end up leaving. I could be totally wrong but that's what has happened to me before. I never lived in a convent exactly but I know it's not fun and games 24/7.

[Guest brandy_jo]

I don't know how to say this but my fear with the DSMMEs is that girls are just attracted to them because of how friendly the Sisters are but they aren't completely prepared for Convent life. And then they could end up leaving. I could be totally wrong but that's what has happened to me before. I never lived in a convent exactly but I know it's not fun and games 24/7.

 

 

I believe they help you discern that during the application process..

[ToJesusMyHeart]

I don't know how to say this but my fear with the DSMMEs is that girls are just attracted to them because of how friendly the Sisters are but they aren't completely prepared for Convent life. And then they could end up leaving. I could be totally wrong but that's what has happened to me before. I never lived in a convent exactly but I know it's not fun and games 24/7.

 

I would be interested in knowing how many girls enter and how many girls stay until their vows.

 

For the SOL about 8/9 remain in the convent, and for the NDs it is about 17/19. 

 

Does anyone have numbers on the dsmme?

[jruss]

dsmme seem more overtly vivacious, i think because they are so much younger than nashville and have less final professed sisters and no sisters in an infirmary or anything.

 

I think this highlights a big difference in the community.  The Nashville Dominicans have been around for more than 150 years and have so much history and heritage that is a part of the community.  The sisters speak so highly of all of the sisters who came before them, and of all of the hardships they endured.

 

My daughter (in the novitiate) also absolutely loves the infirmary sisters and so she helps out in the infirmary a lot.  She loves to "sit at their feet" and learn from all of their lived experience, shower her love on them and be present at their deaths and funerals.  She also loves the fact that these holy sisters spend most of the day praying for the sisters out in the apostolate.  Some of these sisters were even borders at St. Cecilia's when it still housed high schoolers

 

So the history and the experience of the so many retired sisters (and prayers of the deceased sisters) is certainly not present at DSMME. 

 

 

 

 

[dominicansoul]

The ND and the DSMME are vastly different communities.  I've been a member of both. :)  Like JRuss said above, the ND have a legendary heritage.  The DSMME are at the beginning of theirs. :)  It was exciting and a blessing to experience both communties.   One you feel like you are being handed a torch to carry on, the other, you are "lighting" the torch...

 

 

[dominicansoul]

Oh my... :blush:   I'll have to pray to the Holy Spirit to put it all into words.. I have done a bad job speaking about my experiences with both communities, because how can you really describe such a profound mystery with mere words??  

 

For now I will say it was a privilege, one that I will never forget, nor will I ever take for granted that the Lord called me into both communities when He did.  The spiritual journey, the many beautiful souls I encountered, the graces, the tough lessons, the immense joy (even amongst some hardships and pain), the depth of God's Love He allowed me to encounter in both places---all will remain with me for the rest of my life... 

 

 

...you young women discerning only see the outside but just wait until you enter!  You have not seen nor heard nor can it really be explained to you what living the "religious life" truly is!   :)

 

 

[mantellata]

ND and DSMME are obviously going to have a lot of similarities as far as charism goes --- they are after all Dominican - the principal charism of both.

 

A particular "flavor" of Dominicans might be a better way to put it.

 

I would be careful about trying to tie that flavor to individual Sister personalities (there are reserved DSMMEs... they just make less noise) ;)  or to tie that flavor to a particular apostolate - after all they have the same apostolate.

 

It's a little "je ne sais quoi" that as many have said, is best understood by visiting the communities.  Finding the "fit" and "family".

 

Also - visiting the community websites are a great way to get an initial "sense" of the charism.  Both communities have a section on charism on their sites.  Why not compare and contrast them?

 

 

[veritasluxmea]

The only genuine way to understand the difference both communities, and how they feel to you, is to visit. The Nashville Dominican's Jesu Caritas retreats are open for everyone, and so are the DSMME's vocational weekends. 

[veritasluxmea]

Also, from what I can tell, the DSMME do have a higher dropout rate- but that's not unusual for new communities. It can take over 50 years before a community finally settles down and becomes "stable".  So if you're discerning with a young community, it's something to keep in mind. 

[Cantantibus]

I know the ND's really well and unfortunately I have never met any DSMME in person, but I know about them from Imagine Sisters and their facebook page. The ND's definitely appear more reserved on their facebook page, website, and their newsletters, but wait until you meet them in person! While prayers and the house in general are quiet, most of them can be very loud, talkative, lively, and/or funny. Just the other day I was talking with a few of them and we all ended up laughing our heads off from planning a prank.

 

Both orders are fantastic and I don't think there are major differences between them.