This may come as a shock to some people, but not all women entering religious life are doing so to take the places of priests in parish ministry (snarkiness:off). Seriously though, these photos below show us what true, beautiful, noble Catholic women can do and are doing. Those orders of religious women which embraced counter-charisms in the 60’s and 70’s are dying off very quickly, among them the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Sisters of Mercy, and several others like them. It’s truly unfortunate, seeing as how they were founded by saintly women who wanted to genuinely help the Church through their ministry. However, those orders which stayed true to their charisms, orders like the Carmelites, Dominicans, Franciscans, etc. are stable in most areas, and some of these groups are actually growing. The truly remarkable growth is being seen in women’s religious orders springing up with the same kind of charisms as men’s orders like the Society of St. John Cantius, the Institute of Christ the King, the Fraternity of St. Peter, etc.
Pray for our nuns, the new, the old, the lost, the loyal. They all need our prayerful support and, should the need arise, a sharp whack on the knuckles when they start parading around the sanctuary.
Please note: I am NOT advocating the striking of nuns with rulers and/or other wooden instruments. So if you go and do something stupid, don’t put off the blame and say, “But Gen told me to!” No, Gen did not.
Tags: Orthodoxy at Work, Vocations
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