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Vowed Membership

The search for God is the essence of the monastic program of formation. Particular care is given toward fostering holistic attitudes pertaining to physical, cultural, intellectual, social, professional, emotional and spiritual development as the new entrant is welcomed into monastic life.

It is essential that the welcoming program include discernment of the personal gifts, talents and goals of the prospective monastic, and whether these can flourish in the cenobitic lifestyle.

The core of such a program is found in the words of the Rule of St. Benedict.

"Listen my daughter, faithfully incline the ear of your heart." (RB Prologue). Such discerning listening releases the power of the Spirit upon both the community and the new member to discern God's will concerning her monastic vocation.

The prospective monastic journeys through the various stages of incorporation into the Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh. She moves from a discernment process to a resident experience with the community. She will spend six months to two years in the Postulancy before entering the Novitiate. Successfully completing her Canonical time, the woman becomes a temporary professed member of the Benedictine Sisters. During this time, the new member will enter more deeply into the experience of monastic vowed commitment, and fuller integration in ministry. After a minimum of three years or more, the woman may request to become a perpetually professed member of the Benedictine Sisters of Pittsburgh.

Perpetual profession of monastic vows is not the end but the beginning of her monastic journey. Each day she will continue to "seek God" and to "faithfully incline the ear of her heart."

For further information on vowed membership, contact Sister Shelly Farabaugh, our vocation minister.