Steps to becoming a Sister

Before you enter . . .

Step #1 – Get in contact with us.

• Ask questions.
• Come visit.
• Have an e-mail or snail mail correspondence with one of the sisters.
• Talk to a spiritual director.
• Read about the wisdom in the Rule of St. Benedict.
• Come for a Benedictine Life Experience, or arrange a visit according to your schedule.
• Listen to your heart!
• Does this feel right to you?
• Do you find that praying the Liturgy of the Hours is meaningful to you?
• Do you have the relational skills necessary for living in a small community?

Continue your inquiry as you spend more time with us.

Step #2 – After you visit us, and are seriously discerning your call, express your desire to affiliate with us by contacting the vocation director or your contact sister. Entering the community is an important decision for you and for us, so we want to get to know each other better. During the affiliacy, your discernment will intensify as we commit to support you on your journey. You will be guided to learn more about prayer and the Benedictine life. This time of pre-entry contact may take a year. During this time, you may begin the application process to enter the community as a postulant.

The first three years of Initial Formation . . .

Step #3 – After you have been accepted, you move to the monastery and begin the formation program as a postulant. The purpose of the postulancy is for the woman and the community to mutually discern her fitness for monastic life in this community – is this the right place for you to seek God? It is a time for you to experience life as lived by the vowed members of the community, balancing work and prayer. It is a time of transition and adjustment in preparation for the novitiate.

Step #4 – The purpose of the canonical novitiate is for you to have the quiet and freedom to deepen your self-knowledge and knowledge of God, within the context of community life. It is a time for you to see yourself before God, without the roles and responsibilities that have shaped your self-image in the past. It is a time for studying Benedictine spirituality, supported by other theological disciplines, community, and a daily balance of work and prayer.

Step #5 – The second year novitiate gives you the opportunity to broaden your formation experience and discern your call to first monastic profession. In dialogue with the Formation team, your program of study continues along with work experience and continued spiritual growth.

Beginning your vowed life . . .

Step #6 – First Monastic Profession begins your time as a temporary professed sister, which may last from three to six years. Living the life of a professed sister with the support of the formation team, you grow in responsibility for your spiritual life, your ministry, and community life.

Step #7 – With Final Monastic Profession, you become a full member of Our Lady of Peace Monastery. Your life becomes part of the fabric of this Benedictine community.

The profession ceremony is a public liturgy in which you give yourself to God as you sign your vow document on the altar. This is the beginning of the rest of your life!



 

 

Know that the sisters are praying for you every step of the way!