How to Discern a Religious Vocation.

5 Ways to Discern a Religious Vocation

Here are five things you can do to help discern a religious vocation by Fr. Paul Sheller, OSB, Conception Abbey Vocation Director

   *Take time daily for personal prayer
Prayer is the foundation to discern your vocation and deepening your relationship with Christ. You can listen best when you remove yourself from the things that distract us and compete for our attention (cell phones, the radio, computers, traffic, and other noises) and place yourself in an environment of silence so as to listen to God. The time spent in silence may be difficult, or even uncomfortable at first, but perseverance is key. God speaks to you in the stillness of your heart. Do not be concerned with asking yourself “what should I do, or what should I be thinking,” but desire above all to be in God’s presence and allow God to be the one who acts.

   *Celebrate the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist.
The Holy Spirit works powerfully when you approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation with humility and openness. Prepare for the Sacrament by making a good examination of conscience, and do not be afraid or embarrassed to confess your sins to a priest honestly.  This is an opportunity to trust more in God’s mercy than in your own sinfulness. You should get into the practice of going to confession frequently, at least once a month.

Certainly, you should be attending Mass every Sunday and on Holy Days of obligation, but it is very important for you to make an effort to attend Mass during the week when possible. Due to school and work schedules sometimes making it to daily Mass is not feasible. Whether you attend Mass during the week or not, you should take the time to prayerfully read and reflect on the Scripture readings from the day’s Mass. Christ speaks to us powerfully through the words of Sacred Scripture.

   *Find a Spiritual Director
Discerning the action of the Holy Spirit is much easier with the help of a priest or religious who can give sound spiritual guidance. Discerning your own motivations is difficult alone, and God’s action comes to light when you are able to express your intentions aloud to someone experience in the spiritual life. The spiritual director’s primary role is to listen to the movement of grace in your life. The foundation of this relationship must be in trust and honesty. Whenever you place your trust in your spiritual director, it shows humility and a sincere desire to see clearly God’s will in your life.

   *Contact the Vocation Director.
Almost all monasteries and religious communities have someone appointed as the Vocation Director. The role of the Vocation Director is to help you further listen to what God is calling you, to answer your questions, and eventually discern whether or not you are being called to the community. Beginning the dialogue is important because it can help alleviate your fears and doubts. It is important to dialogue with the Vocation Director, especially since he or she is a professed religious who lives the joys and challenges of the particular way of life each and every day. Vocation Directors often ask important reflection questions that you may not have considered, which can be tremendously beneficial in your process of discernment. After talking with the Vocation Director, he or she may invite you to visit the community for a personal retreat or as part of a “Come and See” weekend experience.

   *Visit the Religious Community that Attracts You.
Only so many questions can be answered on the Internet or addressed on the telephone, and at some point, you must experience firsthand the environment, encounter the community, and try the life (even if it is just for a weekend). Take the leap of faith, and do not be afraid to place your trust wholeheartedly in Christ. Before your visit, do not be weighed down with expectations of how you should feel or what you ought to experience. Simply be open and receptive to the Holy Spirit. It does not help to visit a community with an attitude that is closed off and says, “I’m just going so I can check this off of my list.” God’s grace is at work when you follow the Lord joyfully and cultivate praise and gratitude in your life.

Remember that there is no commitment or obligation when you initially explore religious life. It is a process of understanding how God is speaking to your heart. To explore your vocation is an exciting journey of faith.

Monasteries in Nigeria

THE ADDRESSES OF CATHOLIC MONASTERIES IN NIGERIA.

     *Order of the Cistercians(OCSO), Mount Calvary Monastery,
Awhum, PO BOX 698,
Enugu.
     *Holy Cross Monastery(OCSO),
P.O. Box 44, Illah,
Tel: +2348080533951, +2348035828913.
Email illahmonks@yahoo.com
        *Our Lady of the Angels - Cistercians Monastery Nsugbe.
P.O. Box 6976,
Onitsha.
Tel: +2348033359834.
Email:ourladyoftheangels2k2@yahoo.com

     *Teresian Carmelites(ODC),
PO BOX 3612, Enugu.

      *Order of St. Augustine(OSA), Augustinian Monastery,
PO BOX 1627, Jos,
Plateau.

      *Order of St. Benedict(OSB),
PO BOX 150, Ewu- Ishan,
Edo.

THE CONGREGATION FOR INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE AND SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE

THE CONGREGATION FOR INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE AND SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE Founded by Pope Sixtus V on 27 May 1586 with the titleSacred Congregation for Consultations about Regulars, and confirmed by the Constitution Immensa (22 January 1588), the Congregation was joined in 1601 to the Congregation for Consultations about Bishops and Other Prelates. St. Pius X, by the Constitution Sapienti Consilio (29 June 1908) separated the two institutions again and, placing the Bishops under the Consistorial Congregation, made theCongregation for Religious autonomous. By the Constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae (15 August 1967) of Paul VI, the Congregation for Religious was named the Congregation for Religious and for Secular Institutes. The Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus (28 June 1988) of John Paul II changed the title to the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The Congregation is responsible for everything which concerns institutes of consecrated life (orders and religious congregations, both of men and of women, secular institutes) and societies of apostolic life regarding their government, discipline, studies, goods, rights, and privileges. It is competent also for matters regarding the eremetical life, consecrated virgins and their related associations, and new forms of consecrated life. Its competence extends to all aspects of consecrated life: Christian life, religious life, clerical life; the relationship is of a personal character and has no territorial limits; certain determined questions of their members, however, are remanded to the competence of other Congregations. This Congregation also can dispense those who are subject to it from the common law. Further, it is competent for associations of the faithful erected with the intention of becoming institutes of consecrated life or societies of apostolic life, and for Third Orders Secular. Since 23 October 1951, the Practical School of Theology and Law for Religious has been functioning at the Congregation and the review Informationes SCRIS (in several languages) has been published since May 1975. The Congregation is located in front of St. Peter's Basilica at Piazza Pio XII, 3 / 00193 Rome. Pertinent telephone numbers are: His Eminence the Cardinal Prefect +39. 06. 69884121 His Excellency Archbishop Secretary +39. 06. 69884584 receptionists +39 06. 69884128 and +39. 06. 69892511 FAX +39. 06. 69884526 E-mail: civcsva.pref@ccscrlife.va (Prefect) civcsva.segr@ccscrlife.va (Secretary) vati059@ccscrlife.va (information) INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE Religious institutes and secular institutes are the two main categories which constitute the state of consecrated life through profession of the evangelical counsels in the Church. Societies of apostolic life (can. 731.1) have canonical legislation which is in some respects similar to that governing institutes of consecrated life, though they form a separate category. Consecrated persons are lay persons or clerics who assume the evangelical counsels by means of a sacred bond, and become members of an institute of consecrated life (can. 573.2). Institutes of consecrated life are societies which are established and approved within the Church, and are governed by means of suitable Church legislation. Some of this legislation covers all institutes; some is proper to the individual Institute (Rules, Constitutions, Statutes). The intention of the legislation is to ensure that the consecrated life can be lived out in a suitable way (can. 576). Institutes of pontifical right are those erected or approved by the Holy See by formal decree. Institutes of diocesan right are those erected by Bishops and which have not obtained a decree of approval from the Holy See (can. 589). TheAnnuario Pontificio lists only the institutes of pontifical right. RELIGIOUS INSTITUTES The religious state is a public and complete state of consecrated life. As well as the precepts which are to be observed by all, religious observe the three evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience. They bind themselves to observe these by means of vows, which are either perpetual or temporary but renewed when they expire (can. 607.2). These vows are always public vows, i.e. recognized as such by the Church (can. 1192.1). This religious state requires fraternal life in community and also a degree of separation from the world in conformity with the character and purpose of the individual institute (can. 607.2 and 607.3). Some Institutes are called Orders: these are Institutes in which, for historical reasons or because of their character or nature, solemn vows are made by at least some of the members. All members of these orders are called regulars, and if they are women they are called nuns ("moniales").Other religious institutes are called congregations, or religious congregations. Their members are called religious of simple vows (can. 1192.2). The orders are older than the congregations. The Code of Canon Law calls some institutes "clerical": these are Institutes which, in accordance with the intentions of the Founder or by reason of legitimate tradition, are governed by clerics, assume the exercise of sacred Orders, and are recognized by the Church as clerical Institutes (can. 588.2). If the spiritual heritage of an institute does not include the exercise of sacred Orders then the institute is recognized by the Church as a lay institute (can. 588.3). In the Code of Canon Law, religious institutes are regulated by a general discipline. There continue to exist, however, different categories which correspond to varying forms which religious life has taken over the course of history. There follows a very brief historical note about each type of Institute in order of the date of their foundation. Canons Regular, who combine the clerical office and state with the observance of community religious life and the evangelical counsels, have their origin in the communities of clergy which lived with their bishop. It was St. Augustine who, at the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth centuries, gave this form of religious life its most characteristic features. Monks, from a historical point of view, were the first religious to live in community. In the first half of the fourth century, the desert areas of northern Egypt were populated by colonies of hermits, whose sayings (dicta) were gathered together in the Apophthegmata Patrum. Some of these hermits gathered around themselves groups of disciples, and gave rise to the Pachomian cenobitical communities, characterized by a strong, and sometimes harsh, discipline. During the fourth century in Asia Minor, cenobitic life developed under the guiding influence of St. Basil, based on the notion of community as the Church and Body of Christ. In the west, monasticism appears with many variations in most countries during the fourth century. From the eighth century on, however, Benedictine monasticism prevailed. Although, as time went on, the priesthood and different forms of apostolic work were frequently joined to the monastic life, monasticism as such does not necessarily require the priesthood or any individual apostolate. Monastic organization is not centralized, with each abbey and conventual priory being autonomous (sui iuris). This means that the local superior (abbot, prior) has wider powers and less dependence on a superior general (if there is one), and each house will have its own novitiate. Modern monasticism is of five main types: two western (Benedictine and Carthusian) and three eastern (Pauline, Antonian, and Basilian). The Mendicant Orders started in the early part of the thirteenth century. Their name comes from the corporate poverty which they practice in addition to individual poverty, which means that the Institutes as such cannot possess anything. Circumstances have required that this severe poverty be mitigated to a greater or lesser degree for almost all the orders. In addition to poverty, the mendicants have another common characteristic, namely, combining religious life with various forms of priestly, apostolic, missionary, or charitable ministry. Another feature common to the mendicants, introduced by them and then subsequently handed on to later forms of religious life, is the centralization of government with a single general superior having wide powers, and also a division of the Institute into provinces. Clerks Regular appear in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. They make the religious life the foundation of their priestly apostolate. They adapt religious life to the changing needs of the times, though without making it less strict. At the end of the sixteenth and in the seventeenth centuries, Clerical Religious Congregations appear in the Church. Some of these are pious associations of clerics; later, associations of laymen started up. These live in community and have no desire to become true religious orders. In addition to dedicating themselves to their own sanctification, they are also dedicated to the apostolate and to works of charity. At the end of the seventeenth century, Lay Religious Congregations appear. These are communities of lay persons dedicated principally to teaching children (education and catechesis) and young adults. Other areas of concentration include the care of the sick, the imprisoned, the unemployed. Usually their own members may not become priests; some of them, however, allow some members to receive priestly Orders in order to function as chaplains to the lay community. Since the middle of the nineteenth century, the majority of lay religious communities have been communities of women. SECULAR INSTITUTES The historical origins of these institutes go back to the end of the sixteenth century, even though their juridic recognition as a state of consecrated life approved by the Church took place only on 2 February 1947, with the Apostolic Constitution Provida Mater Ecclesia. Christians consecrated to God in Secular Institutes follow Christ by undertaking to observe the three evangelical counsels by means of a sacred commitment, and they dedicate their life to Christ and to the Church, by devoting themselves to the sanctification of the world, particularly by working within the world (can. 710). The word "secular" is meant to underline the fact that the persons who make profession in this state of consecrated life do not change the status they have as in the world, and they continue to live and to work in the midst of the people of God in the normal conditions of their own social setting (can. 711; can. 713.2) according to the secular style of life which is proper to them. Secular institutes may be clerical or lay, male or female. SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE Societies of apostolic life, called in the 1917 Code of Canon Law "societies of men or women who live in common without vows," are defined by can. 731.1 and 731.2 in the 1983 Code of Canon Law as follows: "Comparable to institutes of consecrated life are societies of apostolic life whose members without religious vows pursue the particular apostolic purpose of the society, and leading a life as brothers or sisters in common according to a particular manner of life, strive for the perfection of charity through the observance of the constitutions. Among these there are societies in which the members embrace the evangelical counsels by some bond defined in the constitutions. St. Philip Neri can be considered the father of men's Societies of Apostolic Life, as we now know them, and St. Vincent de Paul of women's Societies. Societies of Apostolic Life can be clerical or lay, male or female.

Male Religious Congregration/Institute in Nigeria

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE VOCATION DIRECTORS ADDRESSES OF THE APPROVED RELIGIOUS CONGREGATION IN NIGERIA. THEY ARE AS FOLLOW:

 * Society of Jesus(Jesuit)

5L, Agusto Close,

PO BOX 223,
Surulere, Lagos state.
Email: vocations@jesuits-anw.org
Office Line: +2349071773535
Mobile Line: +2349099746952.
OR

PO BOX Tn 1911,

Teshie-Nungua Estate,
Accra, Ghana.
Tel: +233546148897.
OR
PO BOX 1054,
Cape Coast, Ghana.
Tel: +23333219148.
OR
PO BOX 2683,
Monrovia, Liberia.
Tel: +2310880414280.

 *Vincentian,
PO BOX 3356, Ugwuaji Rd,
Maryland Layout, Enugu.
OR PO BOX 126, Ikot Ekpene,
Akwa Ibom state.

 *Congregation of the Holy Ghost (Spiritans)Southwest Province,
PO BOX 10023, Benin city,
Edo state. -for aspirants that reside in southwest.
OR Congregation of the Holy Ghost(Spiritans), Southeast Province, Spiritan postulate,
PO BOX 1560, Akabor, Imo state. -for aspirants that reside in the southeast.

 *Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate,
PO BOX 430, Orlu,
Imo state.

 *Redemptorist,
PO BOX 29585, Secretariat PO, Ibadan,
Oyo state.
Email: redemptoristvocationsofnigeria@yahoo.com

       *Oblates of St. Joseph,
2, Hendrickse Street, PO BOX 30725, Bodija, Ibadan,
Oyo state. OR
St. Mary's Catholic Church,
38, Ire- Akari Estate Rd, Isolo, Lagos state. OR
St. Joseph's Seminary,
KM 8, Old Lagos Rd, Opere Village,
PO BOX 30725, Secretariat PO,
Ibadan, Oyo state.

 *Capuchin Franciscan Friary,
3-3 Junction, PO BOX 7559,
Onitsha, Anambra state.

 *Claretian Missionaries,
14/16, Ahmadu Bello Way,
Victoria Island, Lagos.
Email: Judomigba@yahoo.com

  *Oblate of Virgin Mary,
PO BOX 7754, Secretariat,
Ibadan, Oyo.

  *Oblates of Mary Immaculate,
PO BOX 494, Jos,
Plateau.

  *Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
PO BOX 3, Ogbere- Ijebu,
Ogun.

  *Franciscan Friar of Immaculate, Marian House, Mother of Perpetual Help,
PO BOX 25, Ijebu Igbo, Ogun.

  *Society of the Sons of Mary, Mother of Mercy, Loretto House,
PO BOX 1660, Umuahia, Abia.

  *Dominican(OP),
St. Dominic Priory,
PO BOX 44, Yaba, Lagos.

  *Salesians of Don Bosco(SDB),
Don Bosco Centre, Oke Odunwo,
PO BOX 397, Ondo.

 *Missionary Sons of Blessed Tansi (MST),
 6 Pius Ogbuagu Street, Uga,
Anambra state.
OR PO BOX 80,
Enugu.

   *Order of Carmelites frair,
P O BOX 143,
Nsuka,
Enugu state.
OR
Alara Village Ologuneru, Eleyele Eruwa Road,
GPO box 4735 Dugbe,
Ibadan.

  *St Joseph, Josephite of Murieldo,
25 Road P, Olubadan Estate,
Ibadan Oyo state.

   *Oblate of the Virgin Mary
PO BOX 23, 910101,
Suleja, Niger state.
Tel: 08036015024.
E-mail address: omvafrica@yahoo.com
omvvacationsnig@gmail.com

    *Society of the Mary Mother of Peace.
Our Mother of Grace, Solitude,
Umuchukwu,
PO BOX 2793, Akwa,
Anambra State, 420001.
Tel: 08076826894.

   *Sons of our Mother of Peace.
PMB 7071 Umuahia,
Abia state, 44001.

Tel: 08035376630.

 
   *Vocationist Fathers,
Our Lady of Divine Vocations,
PO BOX 227 Oparanadim, Ekwereazu,Ahiazu,
Imo state.
OR
3, Arigidi Close, off Arigidi Street,
Old Bodija, Ibadan.
OR
   Vocationist Fathers and Brothers House,
Inn Ido Village, BOX 7518, Ibadan.

    *St. Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart,
Plot 2, Block 12 Oba Akinyele Street, Agodi GRA,
Ibadan.

    *Society of St. Paul
31, Rotimi Williams Ave.,
Old Bodija,
GPO 19220, Dugbe,
Ibadan.

    *Servants of Charity,
Don Guanella Centre,
7, Oladunni Ayandipo Street,
New Bodija, Ibadan.

    *Congregation of the Sons of Immaculate Conception (Conceptionist),
Blessed Luigi Maria Mouti Community,
26 Ishielu Street Independence Layout,
Enugu State.

    *Saviourites Formation House,
 1, Saviourites Avenue,
New GRA, Trans-Ekulu,
PO BOX 2157, Enugu.

    *Somascan Fathers,
Somascan Fathers Formation House,
1A Lugard Avenue GRA , Enugu.
Tel: 08137921599.
E-mail address: germanettor@gmail.com

    *Franciscan Frair(Capuchins) OFM,
Eleyele, BOX 38681, Dugbe,
Ibadan.

     *The Pallottine Community Mbaukwu,
PMB 5021, Awka, Anambra State.
Tel: 08038147629.
E-mail address: info@pallottine.org.ng
website address: pallottine.org.ng