Perhaps you are a woman of middle years who has considered the possibility of a Visitation Vocation. Maybe you are younger.
You may have made a retreat in our Monastery, or seen our website. Perhaps you saw one of our Sisters on EWTN.
In any case, how do you proceed to discover if you have a vocation to the Brooklyn Visitation Monastery?
First, call us, or e- mail us! We’d be happy to talk with you, or correspond.
Second, pray to find a good spiritual director, if you are not yet speaking with one. A Director is the most essential guide to your vocational discernment, even more than we are at first, because objectivity is most necessary as you glean the Holy Spirit’s workings in your soul. You will need to meet monthly for 6 months so the Director can confirm to you and us that you have a good probability of a cloistered , monastic religious vocation.
If you want to make a retreat with us, we will set one up- for first-timers it will be a PRIVATE retreat, not a discernment one. Please provide a reference from a priest, Sister or spiritual director for the first retreat.
After that you may begin discernment retreats, after an interview with the Vocation Directress.
Meeting monthly with your director for 6 months and making as many retreats as possible in that time frame, given your geographic location, should give you a sound sense of the spirituality and daily life of our community and it will give us a sense of your possible vocation.
After 6 months, if your spiritual director sees good signs of a possible vocation, the director can send us a vocational reference letter stating this strong possibility.
At this time, there will be paperwork to prepare: such as an application form, spiritual autobiography, health form, obtaining of sacramental certificates, and statements of your financial freedom from debt.
The community will have been praying for you during this entire process, and based on each individual’s situation, we can prepare to set an entrance date after this point.
May Jesus guide your heart to His as you discern your Visitation vocation!
