While I was scanning this story about the Nashville Dominicans, this graph jumped out at me:

There are 23 postulants this year at the Motherhouse of Nashville’s Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. It’s the largest group of new nuns in training in the United States.

The article goes on:

While many religious orders in the United States are declining, the Nashville Dominicans are flourishing. Most of the new sisters are in their 20s and want to be traditional nuns — wearing full habits and living in a convent. They say that life as a nun offers more than the secular world could ever give them.

The new sisters, known as postulants during their first year, are a diverse group. Sister Maria, from Pennsylvania, is 17 and straight out of high school. One, a nurse of Vietnamese descent, came from Sydney, Australia. Another sister is from the Ivory Coast. Others are from Ohio, Michigan and other Midwestern states. One is from Knoxville. Three were engineers before coming to the convent.

They love Pope Benedict XVI and the retired nuns at the convent, as well as Christian rock bands Third Day and Jars of Clay. And they’ve left everything behind — families, friends, careers, even their iPods, cell phones, laptops and Facebook accounts — all for the sake of Jesus.

“God showed me that everything I longed for in my heart was here,” Sister Angela said. “My vocation was a romance with the Creator.”

Take a gander at the rest of the article. H/T to Roman Catholic Vocations.

PHOTO: by Shelley Mays / The Tennessean