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Who are the Daughters of St Paul and what do they do?
We are women who have been consecrated by God to himself that he might send us to proclaim to the world the unfathomable riches of the mystery of Christ. The Church and all of humanity living today, ask us to be women capable of communicating life, of sharing and of giving love and hope. They ask us to be women who know God and know how to present God to the world with all the communications possibilities of the third millennium. In the global network that envelops the world and with the infinite possibilities of surfing the net, we are sent to proclaim the Good News of a God who for love became a servant of humanity. We believe this God is still capable of astonishing us, of breaking communications barriers, of urging us beyond the frontiers of our small horizons, of enkindling love, of building peace.
In the midst of an ideology of the marketplace and consumerism, the Daughter of St. Paul is called to be “evangelical life,” without accepting wealth as being central, or the free market as being dogma. We believe that the Word of God can still take flesh in a new culture, in a new era of history.
What makes the Daughters of St. Paul different from other women religious?
The identity of a religious congregation develops from its founders, charism, history and the ways in which its members have responded to the needs of people throughout the years.
The Pauline charism and mission is seen distinctively in:
An authentic and profound experience of Jesus, impelling each sister to transmit and communicate Jesus to others; a mission that is a commitment to humanity by cooperating in the transformation of society and of the world by returning to God through contemplation and through a communication that not only announces salvation, but confers it, using the means of communication and becoming the “power of God for the salvation of all who believe” (Rm 1:16); an attentiveness to dialogue with others, with men and women of other cultures, languages, and religions.
Do Daughters of St. Paul all work in one type of ministry or can they do different things?
As a Daughter of St. Paul communication is not just something we do, it is who we are. How we each carry out our mission as communicators widely varies, depending on the needs of the people and the signs of the times, a sister’s talents and preparation, the needs of an apostolate that is multi-faceted and yet interconnected. We all work together to announce Jesus to this world.
One sister may manage a book center while another may give presentations as an expert in media literacy. Another sister may serve in the editorial department and still another as a designer for our Pauline publications.
One sister may travel a great deal, meet people individually at exhibits, and present Contemporary Christian Music nights or workshops in parishes on Scripture or prayer, while another may stay at home creating content for our websites, writing books, or composing and recording music.
Actually, you never know what you will find a Daughter of St. Paul doing. Throughout her life, a sister will do many different ministries and discover gifts she never knew she had. But whatever she does, the goal of her life is to live Jesus and to give Jesus to the world.
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The more radical our commitment to Christ, the more surely will there come into being that apostolic community of consecrated persons willed by the Founder which lives the demands of the Gospel, radiates the spirit of the Beatitudes, and announces the message of salvation with total dedication.
Constitutions
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What vows do the Daughters of St. Paul make and what is specifically Pauline about the way they are lived?
The Daughter of St. Paul lives the evangelical counsels (or vows) of poverty, chastity, and obedience in a way that is largely communicative. Our vocation is to be the likeness of God’s Son, Jesus. Therefore, our consecrated Pauline life calls us to live always more in Jesus, and like him to live “a different way,” to live obedience to God, love in relationships, poverty in the mission; to live in a way that removes every barrier and builds communion to reach the dream that has always been in the heart of God: “that they all may be one.”
The vows lead us through a movement of self-emptying in poverty, trustful and total abandonment in obedience, and free gift of self in love.
Chastity
Consecrated celibacy for the Kingdom of God is a free gift of the Father. To live the evangelical counsel of chastity means setting forth to follow Jesus, who, by his total gift of self, made the Father’s love visible and concrete. In order to announce the presence of Christ in the world, we seek to live transparent lives in a love that is creative. Living consecrated celibacy in this way, we become free from false absolutes, live in openness before the truth, enjoy a unified life, and makes ourselves available for service and self-giving, with the strength to live, to witness to, and to announce the gospel values in life.
Obedience
Consecrated obedience means entering into the great mystery of God’s love, shown most clearly on the cross. Evangelical obedience brings us, like Jesus, into God the Father’s plan of salvation. To bring the Father’s plan to fulfillment is only possible if we offer our contribution, our life, our decisiveness, our freedom, with joy and generosity. With the evangelical counsel of obedience, we welcome the saving mission of Jesus into our life, and with him we place ourselves at the service of the Church for the announcement of the Gospel. The Pauline mission requires that we put all our energies together, linking our work and activity to that of our sisters in mutual and organic dependence.
Poverty
Consecrated poverty is a total abandonment of one’s life into the hands of the Father. This implies living in trust, the key to all human and spiritual growth. Evangelical poverty is the deepest face of the consecrated life, because in surrendering every security and every support, it puts all trust in Jesus. It leads us to an ever deeper acceptance of one’s own smallness, and total trust in the Father. To communicate in the truth and in love, the counsel of poverty asks us today more than ever to live the truth of ourselves, daily abandoning attitudes of superiority, of indifference, of inflexibility, of competition—because these close the way to communion. Pauline poverty demands great trust in Providence and great courage in facing new challenges with the heart of Paul, spurred by the sole desire of opening fresh paths to the Gospel.
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How much time do you get to pray?
We believe that “prayer is the energy of life, the joy of the heart. Prayer is needed by all announcers of the Word, for all communicators.” Without prayer we would be unable to do mission. Eucharistic prayer is the center of our day: Mass, or the Eucharistic celebration, and an hour of Eucharistic adoration daily, which we call “the Visit to Jesus.” Our life and our mission spring from the contemplative reading of the signs of the time and the Word of God. Scripture is the privileged book for our daily meditation and personal prayer with which we start each morning.
In prayer we bring the needs of the world to Jesus in the Eucharist and receive from Jesus what we are to give to the people we meet. Our Founder often told us that the privilege of participating in this mission was so great we should “do our apostolate on our knees.” The community gathers daily to pray morning and evening prayer. We deepen our spiritual awareness and our discipleship of the Master through spiritual reading, study, and an atmosphere of recollection and silence.
What do you do for fun?
Daughters of St. Paul do many things for fun. We enjoy each other’s presence at meals each day, but our hobbies and interests are widely varied, reflecting the various aspects of our culture and apostolate. From crocheting to movies, internet surfing to reading, playing musical instruments to creating Flash Programs for the internet, long walks in nature to crossword puzzles, the sisters enjoy each other as well as time alone. Our free time is meant to be a time when we relax, enjoy each other, improve our understanding of the culture in which we live, and grow in personal freedom and integrity. In it’s most authentic sense, free time is a time for “re-creation.”
How often do you get to see your family?
Postulants have three weeks each summer to spend at home with their families. Professed sisters have two weeks of vacation, a week of retreat together at our St. Thecla retreat house and a week of ongoing formation every year. A sister may choose vacation time at home or in one of our communities in the Province. In general, all holidays are spent with the community. We celebrate holidays together with our community because these are especially meaningful community times.
Why become a sister? People can do everything sisters are doing without committing themselves to religious life.
It is true that the work women and men religious do in the Church and in the world is also done by men and women who are not vowed religious. The value of religious life, however, is not found in what we do or accomplish, although our mission is an integral part of our life. The essence of religious life is our total gift of self through consecration—this is what makes it a radical and perpetual gift to the Church.
With profession a sister orients her entire person, life and history to bringing about the Reign of God. With her vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, she publicly takes on a particular stance toward the fundamental coordinates of human existence: material goods, sexuality, and power.
Through her living of these vows she constructs an “alternative world,” the world of the Gospel—the kingdom of God where there is endless forgiveness; where material goods are gifts to be shared; where each pours herself out in the service of others and in a transparent, life-giving love; where the last are first, the poor are rich, the excluded are reverenced as Jesus himself.
This is the world religious aspire to create with their lives. They live into being this world on a twenty-four hour basis. They say to the people living today, to those who make the decisions that impact the lives of millions and to those who can barely scrape together a living: “This world announced by Jesus is a real possibility. If you want to live with hope, live the way of Jesus.” They witness against the Prince of this World’s version of a hopelessly divided human race and proclaim that our hope lies in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and that universal peace in the Reign of God is possible. They seek to announce that the Savior of the World has come that all may have life and have it to the full (cf. Jn. 10:10).”
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Who can be a Daughter of St. Paul?
A young woman who wants to be a Daughter of St. Paul needs to:
- Desire to offer herself to God in the religious life through a free choice
- Be attracted to and have an aptitude for the mission of the Daughters of St. Paul
- Form healthy habits with regard to the means of social communication
- Develop a character that is open, generous, sincere and available
- Desire to live as a member of a community and to collaborate with others
- Have good physical health and a sufficient degree of spiritual and psychological maturity
- Be between the ages of 18-30.
How long does it take to become a Daughter of St. Paul?
The years of initial formation are important years for a young woman because they are a vital process by means of which she grows in Pauline discipleship and becomes ever more conformed to Christ, following the example of St. Paul. There are several stages in this process. Generally we know a young woman at least a year before her entrance. During that year there is much contact between her and the vocation director as well as visits to one of our communities.
The Postulancy is the first stage of religious formation and generally is a two-year period followed by two years of novitiate in which a woman studies more deeply the life and mission of the Daughters of St. Paul. At the end of novitiate, the young woman pronounces her first vows which are renewed annually for five years.
During the Juniorate the young sister is more fully immersed in our life and mission, dedicating her time, energy and life to the cause of the Gospel, and she furthers her spiritual, apostolic, and doctrinal formation so as to be equipped to carry out the mission of the Daughters of St. Paul.
With perpetual profession the young woman enters into a covenant of love that creates a new and definitive bond between herself and God, as well as with the Church and the congregation.
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What should I do if I am interested in becoming a Daughter of St. Paul?
The first thing to do is to inquire. Contact the vocation director by phone e-mail or mail. Set up a time to talk in person or on the phone.
Sr. Margaret Michael, FSP vocations@paulinemedia.com
In your conversation, she will provide you with information that will help you in your discernment. As you begin to know more about the Daughters of St. Paul and the process of discernment you can decide together what would be the next best step as you look at a religious vocation.
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