I write a lot about late vocations around here — most deacons, after all, become deacons later in life — but a post earlier this week about the diminishing number of nuns and monks prompted this e-mail from one woman:
I think it would help if religious orders themselves did not exlude some of their best vocations on the grounds of age.
Formerly, it was not that unusual for a middle-aged person to experience a call to religious life after a more active secular career. There are many examples among the saints! And that was in a time when life-spans were shorter, and people matured at an earlier age than is true in our culture.
Now, most orders won’t even consider anyone over the age of 35. This may be due to economic fears, which is, in my opinion, a pretty bad reason to exclude vocations. It probably isn’t even a valid reason: Many middle-aged people have retirement savings, which would prevent them from being a burden to a community as they age, and could even alleviate the current problem of supporting elderly nuns and monks who have been in religious life since their 20’s.
In my own case, I am currently needed to care for a handicapped parent. I firmly believe that this is what God wants me to do. But when I am no longer needed there, I would love to enter a comtemplative order. Fat chance. I’m 51 years old.
People like me (and there are lots of us) end up trying to follow an individual adaptation of a contemplative religious rule. We won’t show up in the statistics. We probably won’t get the spiritual guidance that we would have if we could actually be in a regular order. Nor will we have the support of a like-minded community, which can be a huge problem – not all contemplatives are called to be hermits!
Pray for vocations . . . and pray for vocations to be accepted.
I sent out an SOS to a favorite blogger pal who follows these sorts of things, and she kindly sent me several links, which I passed on to the woman who wrote me.
If you know a woman who is interested in religious life and thinks she’s too old, the links below might be a help. These all accept late vocations:
Daughters of Our Mother of Peace
Visitation Nuns of Philadelphia
Remember: better late than never!
Read Previous Post
