Discerning a Vocation
God knows us better than we know ourselves. He has a plan for our lives, a plan which if we follow it can bring us great joy and bring joy to the lives of others. Part of the mystery and joy of our lives is seeking to discover God’s plan for us.
Understanding Carmel
Inquire about a Vocation
If you sense the Lord may be calling you to respond to His love for you by making the complete gift of yourself to Him in Carmel, please feel very welcome to contact us. Each candidate is welcomed and accompanied through the discernment process with deep respect for her dignity and uniqueness.
In general, candidates should be between 20 – 40 years of age, possess good general physical and psychological health, have completed Year 12 studies or its equivalent, be free of any financial debt or other obligations, be living a committed Catholic life of prayer and frequent reception of the Sacraments and desire a life of prayer, in service of the Church, lived in strict enclosure.
Or contact:
Mother Teresa Benedicta, OCD
Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
7 Cambridge Street
Launceston 7250 Tasmania
AUSTRALIA
Phone: 03 6331 3585
“Ask Him that His will be done in you. Love Him intensely, as He deserves to be loved.”
Stages of Formation
If you feel called to a life a prayer in the Carmelite tradition the discernment process begins in earnest when you contact a monastery and continues throughout a number of years of initial formation within the monastery. Discernment is always a two-way process made by both the person discerning and the community the person feels called to, that takes time and follows set stages.
Aspirancy
The Aspirancy, which must last at least 12 months and not more than two years, is the time in which the candidate begins to understand more deeply the nature of the Carmelite vocation while continuing her work or studies while living in the world, and the community begins to discern whether there are good indications of a call from God to Carmel and if the candidate has the qualities needed to live the life.
“I have been captured in the loving nets of the Divine Fisherman…”
“O God, you are my God, for you I long…”
—Ps 62:1
I will lead her into solitude and speak to her heart…
—cf. Hosea 2:14
Postulancy
If during the Aspirancy both the candidate and the community believe the candidate may have a vocation she will be invited to apply to enter as a postulant. The postulancy is a time of transition from living in the world to living within a religious community in which the postulant learns more about the life by participating in community prayer, life and work while living in the novitiate and undertaking studies to deepen her understanding of the charism. The postulancy lasts for a minimum of twelve months.
“Become like a child and lay your life with all the searching into the Father’s hand.”
Novitiate
Towards the end of the postulancy the postulant may be invited to apply to become a novice. The novitiate begins with the rite of initiation into religious life in which the candidate is given the habit of the Order and her religious name. The purpose of the novitiate, which lasts two years, is to allow the novice to deepen her understanding of the spirit of the contemplative Teresian Charism and interiorise it while coming to know and experience its demands through study, prayer, work and community life. In the second year of novitiate she will make a study of the vows in order to prepare herself for temporary profession of the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.
“Our only preoccupation should be to know Jesus so that we can love Him.”
“To be near God is my happiness…”
—Ps 72:28
“My vows to the Lord I will fulfill before all His people.”
—Ps 116:18
Temporary Profession (Juniorate)
The time of temporary vows lasts at least five years. During this time the young professed continues her formation, made in the novitiate for at least two years, in order to deepen her practical understanding and knowledge of the Teresian way of life and the vows in order to interiorise their demands and prepare herself for the definitive consecration of solemn vows. At the end of five years the candidate may be invited to request admission to Solemn Profession.
“O my Christ whom I love! Crucified for love! Would that I might be the bride of Your Heart!”
Solemn Profession
At the end of the time of temporary vows a Sister may be admitted to Solemn Vows. This is the final and definitive commitment in which vows are made for life. In preparation for Solemn Vows the candidate will carefully consider her calling to follow Christ by professing the evangelical counsels, and she will likewise reflect on the obligation of living them with a constantly renewed fidelity according to the Carmelite ideal set forth by St Teresa.
“Make your heart free by the faithful fulfilment of your vows; then the flood of divine love will be poured into your heart until it overflows and becomes fruitful to all the ends of the earth. The eyes of the Crucified look down on you - asking, probing. Will you make your covenant with the Crucified Lord anew in all seriousness? What will you answer him? “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
—St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
“There is one thing I ask of the Lord; for this I long.
To live in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life.”
—Ps 26:4
Ongoing Formation
Solemn Vows is but the dawn of a lifetime of ever deepening gift of self to God in love for the sake of the Church and the salvation of the world. In imitation of St Teresa and in accordance with the wishes of the Church formation continues after Solemn Profession through the living of the life and practice of the virtues, through private study and formation given in community, in order to enable each Sister to reach the full flourishing of her vocation both humanly and spiritually.
“Holy Mother Teresa always wanted to enrich and deepen her knowledge of God so that she could respond more generously to the gift of his presence and action in the soul.”
“My vocation is love.”
—St Therese
Listening, learning, and conquering fear.