Discerning with the Daughters of St. Paul

Find the necessary light before the tabernacle,
and the grace of perseverance
through the universal mediation
of the Virgin Mary.
-Blessed James Alberione

 


Vocational discernment is a process that the young woman and the community enter into together to arrive at a clear understanding of the Lord’s call and a free choice on the part of the young woman.

With the assistance of the vocation director, a young woman receives:

  • encouragement to embrace her own life and the lives of others as gifts of God;
  • the challenge to follow Christ the Master and fan into flame a passion for announcing the Gospel;
  • accompaniment so she can discover the signs of her specific call to  consecration and mission, and embrace it freely and joyfully;
  • support to open herself to the plan of God to see if she may be called to share in our Pauline life and charism.

Every religious vocation is born and develops in the Church and for the Church, and reaches the fullness of love through the charism unique to the religious institute to which the person is called. Our vocational discernment process serves the Church so that the gifts bestowed by God on his people might find a generous welcome, and the Church might effectively carry out her service of evangelization. Click here for more information about how to discern.


After a young woman has spent time in prayer and discernment with the vocation director and has grown in her knowledge of the community by visiting and working alongside the sisters, she may wish to apply for entrance into the postulancy program of the Daughters of St. Paul.

The application process is a time of deeper discernment that is carried out in stages, both on the part of the young woman and on the part of the congregation of the Daughters of St. Paul. In the process, the young woman will be invited to write an autobiographical sketch. After this autobiography has been submitted and the young woman has been advised to continue with her application, she fills out a questionnaire about her life and her health, submits school transcripts and continues speaking with the sisters of her desire and aptitudes for religious life.


Although not required for entrance, the candidacy program may be recommended for those who have completed the admissions process but for various reasons (for example: payment of debts, completion of education, etc.) are not able to enter the postulancy program immediately.

Candidacy may be lived at home or in one of the local communities of the Daughters of St. Paul. It seeks to put the young woman in closer ongoing contact with the Congregation through:

  • personal understanding of her call from God
  • studying and reflecting on various aspects of the Pauline charism
  • experiencing the apostolic work of the community as much as possible
  • personal accompaniment by a sister to continue the journey begun

There is no established length for the candidacy. Each person is considered with her own personal and unique gifts, situation, and circumstances, and is advised accordingly.


When the Congregation and the young woman agree that she may indeed be called to be a Daughter of St. Paul, she is admitted into postulancy.

Entering the postulancy requires that a young woman is:

  • Single
  • Catholic
  • Between the ages of 18-30
  • In good health

The following qualities are essential in helping her develop as a Pauline sister:

  • Deepening awareness of being called by God
  • Sufficient psychological maturity and self-awareness
  • Desire and ability to grow spiritually
  • The will to offer herself to God in religious life through a free choice
  • Desire and affinity for the mission of communicating Christ through the media
  • Healthy habits in using the media
  • A character that is open, generous, sincere, and available
  • The desire to live as a member of a community and the ability to collaborate with others

"She who possesses knowledge, who has the intellectual gifts and will power, a tremendous capacity to love, a spirit of self-sacrifice, an ardent desire for holiness, and a consuming thirst for souls—let her come with confidence to the Daughters of St. Paul. She can spend herself completely in the Pauline apostolate…while her horizons stretch out before her, ever broader and more beautiful." - Blessed James Alberione, Founder

The discernment journey continues after entrance: Becoming a Daughter of St. Paul. 





FAQ   
 

How do you know you are called to become a sister?   

God works individually with each one of us, so every sister would probably answer this question differently. If you asked a happily married couple: “How did you know it was him?”, or “How did you know it was her?”, no two answers would be exactly the same. Each sister’s vocation story is also unique....

 
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