VOCATIONS &DISCERNMENT
Lord, please grant more Holy Priests & Religious. Amen.
There are many options to choose from. We listed a few.
Find out what’s right for you!
Diocesan Priesthood of Honolulu
Our Honolulu seminarians spend their first four years at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon, majoring in philosophy with courses foundational to their future studies in Sacred Theology. The funding for college education is the responsibility of the college seminarian. At the end of college seminary, a man can expect to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy.
In lieu of college seminary, our men who already have a bachelor degree would enter into the seminary program as Pre-Theologians at Saint Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, California, undergoing an abbreviated two-year philosophy curriculum at cost to the Diocese of Honolulu; again attending courses designed to prepare them for future studies in Sacred Theology.
The Priestly Fraternity
of Saint Peter
The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) is a clerical Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right, canonically erected by Pope St. John Paul II in 1988. Their priests serve in apostolates across the world, with the faithful celebration of the traditional Mass and Sacraments (Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite) at the center of their charism. The members of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, nourished through the spiritual riches of the Church’s ancient Roman Liturgy, strive to sanctify the seminarians, religious and faithful entrusted to their pastoral care.
The Fraternity has chosen St. Peter as their special patron in order to express their gratitude, filial love, and loyalty to the Supreme Pontiff. With more than 300 priests and 150 seminarians from 30 countries, the Fraternity serves in over 130 dioceses on 5 continents. International headquarters are located in Fribourg, Switzerland and North American headquarters in the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Fraternity seminarians receive training at one of two international seminaries: Priester seminar Sankt Petrus in Wigratzbad, Germany (for German and French speakers) and Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska (for English speakers).
Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest
The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right whose goal is the honor of God and the sanctification of priests in the service of the Church and souls. Its specific aim is missionary: to spread the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ in all spheres of human life. Our work is carried out under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception, to Whom the Institute is consecrated. The Institute was founded in 1990 by Monsignor Gilles Wach and Father Philippe Mora in Gabon, Africa, where we still have missions. Today, the motherhouse and international seminary of the Institute is located in Gricigliano, in the Archdiocese of Florence, Italy.
Recognizing the importance of a deep harmony between faith, liturgy, life, and the power of beauty in attracting the human senses to the things above, an integral part of the Institute's charism is the use of the traditional Latin Liturgy of 1962 for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the other sacraments. Great care for a solemn liturgy, complete fidelity to the doctrine of the Church and the Holy Father, and awareness of the central role of Grace, especially Charity — these are essential elements of the Institute's spirituality, which is drawn from its three co-patrons, St. Benedict, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Francis de Sales. Our motto, taken from St. Paul, is "Live the truth in charity." The Institute operates in more than fifty places in twelve countries, where our priests focus on the care of souls in many different ways. To assist our priests in their apostolic work, the Institute also has clerical oblates. In 2004, a community of religious sisters was canonically established to aid the priests in their mission through prayer and apostolic work.
Benedictines of Mary Queen of Apostles
United with Our Lady at the foot of the Cross, the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles seek above all else, a life of union with God in prayer as guided by the Rule of St. Benedict.
Totally consecrated to the Queen of Apostles, we take Our Lady’s hidden life at Ephesus as an inspiration for our own. We seek to be what she was for the early Church: a loving and prayerful support to the Apostles, the first priests, and daily offer prayer and sacrifice for the sake of her spiritual sons.
Our community first began under the aegis of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter in 1995, in the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania. We were originally called the Oblates of Mary, Queen of Apostles to indicate the offering of ourselves to the Benedictine family and we had consecrated ourselves to Our Lady, and offered ourselves to her service. We began following a monastic horarium as laid out by St. Benedict in his Rule, chanting the traditional Divine Office in Latin as prescribed.
In March 2006, we accepted the invitation of Bishop Robert W. Finn to transfer to his diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri. We were established as a Public Association of the Faithful with the new name, “Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles”. By the grace of God and through the fatherly solicitude of Bishop Finn, we were raised to the status of Religious Institute of Diocesan Right on November 25, 2014. September 9th and 10th of 2018 saw the erection of our priory to an Abbey, the consecration of our Abbey Church, and the consecration of Mother Abbess Cecilia as our first abbess. On April 28th of 2019, seven intrepid sisters left the Abbey to establish the our first daughter house, the Monastery of St. Joseph in Ava, Missouri where they have extended our order and mission.
Discalced Carmelites California - Arizona Province
In 1924, two Carmelite friars from Ireland established our first permanent foundation in California at St. Thérèse Parish in Alhambra. Following this initial foundation, several others followed:
St. Thérèse Parish, Alhambra, CA (1924)
El Carmelo Retreat House, Redlands, CA (1952)
House of Prayer, Oakville, CA (1955)
Carmelite Novitiate, San Jose, CA (1959)
St. Cecilia Parish and Institute of Spirituality, Stanwood, WA (1989)
Carmelite House of Studies, Mt. Angel, OR (1999)
Prior to the 1924 California Foundation, Discalced Carmelite Friars working in Mexico—originally from Catalonia, Spain—fled to Arizona to escape persecution. Their first foundation in Arizona was at Winkelman in 1912. The friars founded Holy Family Parish in 1913 in Tucson, Arizona. Then, another parish was founded in Tucson which still remains under the pastoral care of the friars today:
Santa Cruz Parish, Tucson, AZ (1919)
In 1964, the Catalonian Carmelite friars in Arizona affiliated with the friars in California. In 1983, we officially became the California-Arizona Province. Our jurisdiction includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, and Utah.
Following the encouragement of Pope St. John Paul II to spread the Gospel through missionary efforts, our Province established a Mission in East Africa:
Carmelite Mission, Jinja, Uganda (2002)
In 2008, this foundation obtained the status of a House of Studies and still continues to form Discalced Carmelite Friars today.
The Discalced Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
St. Elias Monastery
Rocky Mountains, Colorado
and
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Monastery
Appalachian Mountains, Pennsylvania
The Ancient Charism: The Order of the Discalced Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel observes the ancient Carmelite charism according to the original, unmitigated Rule of St. Albert and the contemplative religious life that flourished in the “Holy Deserts” of the Discalced Carmelites.
The Spiritual Heritage and Observance: St. Albert addresses the Rule to St. Brocard “et caeteris eremitis” (“and to the other hermits”) living on Mount Carmel. “Eremitical,” comes from the Latin “in eremis”: living in the wilderness or desert. “Eremitical” life does denote, being apart from secular affairs in order to attain to God, but it does not necessarily imply a radical and total exterior solitude from other members of the same religious family, one’s fellow spiritual soldiers on the same battlefield. This ancient Carmelite life in its original eremitical form does not denote a scattered collection of independent individuals, as is the case in a laura of hermits but rather a true religious community observing an eremitical form of monastic life, with a strict religious observance and a traditional religious formation. Therefore, according to the Carmelite tradition, community life and solitude are harmoniously integrated so that the soul is exercised in the virtues and progresses towards a profound communion with Our Lord and Our Lady in the presence of the Triune God. This contemplative religious life, when faithfully observed, is profoundly conducive to contemplation, progress in the stages of the interior life, and the attainment of authentic union with God…and the profound happiness consequent on that union. For those who have the aptitude, call, and desire, Anchorites in the Discalced Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel have the ability to observe a greater measure of solitude than the rest of the hermits, like the Carmelite communities on Mount Carmel and in the Discalced Carmelite “Holy Deserts”.
Our Lady and Carmel: This ancient contemplative Carmelite charism imitates the contemplative life of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is very intimately and deeply joined to her and with her in her essential “work” in the heart of the Church, united to Christ’s most essential work on the Cross, adoring God and saving souls. Therefore, the Carmelite is not only to be devoted to Our Lady, but rather is deeply consecrated to her and is to be clothed with and to put on Mary so as to “put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27) entirely and perfectly.
Religious and Priestly Formation: According to the Carmelite tradition, the Discalced Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel emphasize separation from the world, mental prayer, intellectual formation, and sacred study in the service of contemplation and the sacred liturgy. The intellectual formation follows the rich heritage of the Carmelite saints, the Fathers of the Church, and St. Thomas Aquinas, whom Carmelites have traditionally called “Praeceptor Ordinis Nostri” (“The Teacher or Instructor of our Order”). This religious life is not something that is accessible only to a man who is already proficient or perfect in the interior life or of more advanced age, knowledge, and experience. Rather, the most important element in a religious vocation — including a vocation to this traditional contemplative religious life — is a commitment of the will and a docility to God and His appointed instruments in religious formation and observance. In this community, these instruments for one’s growth and sanctification include: a solid structure of religious obedience; an integrated and unmitigated observance of prayer, work, recreation, and rest; the continual exercise of sincere fraternal charity; the practice of penance according to the wisdom and prudence of the saints for healing the effects of original sin and personal sin; study of Sacred Scripture, sacred theology, and the writings of the saints and spiritual masters; sacred chant and a rich liturgical life. Those hermits who are called also to be religious priests in the community complete an extensive course of studies. There is also the possibility to live as a Lay Brother in the community.
Traditional Principles of Vocational Discernment: As St. Thérèse said, “all is grace”. Most essentially, the religious life is ordered to the removal of the obstacles of divine grace and the active application of all that is conducive to its growth and perfection in the soul: we are to labor and God is the One Who grants the growth. Proper discernment should keep in mind the primary role of divine grace in one’s vocation and sanctification, and prayerfully consider how grace has operated in one’s soul and to what form of life that grace seems to be attracting the soul with a supernatural motive. Discernment based merely on natural motives — as would incline to that which is worldly or comfortable for our fallen nature — would be listening to the world or one’s passions rather than to the Spirit of God and the exhortation of the saints and the Church. This community’s specific charism corresponds to the vocation of a soul that is imbued by God with a particular attraction — by grace — to silence, solitude, mental prayer and contemplation, penance, beautiful Liturgy, sacred study, fraternal charity, and manual labor. These are the principle means for the hermit, as a brother or priest, to attain that holiness and perfection in charity, which constitute the finality and end of his vocation in the religious state, and allow him to fully realize the consecration of his soul begun in Baptism, not only in Heaven, but also in some measure on earth. A steady and deep attraction to those particular means of sanctification could be signs of a divine call to this form of religious life and this charism. According to the spiritual authority of the spiritual masters and doctors of the Church St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Francis de Sales, and St. Alphonsus Ligouri, a candidate should reflect on the nature of a vocation as: a simple, sincere decision, relying on divine grace, to embrace and observe all that a particular religious order and heritage, which was inspired by the Holy Ghost in the Church, does, according to its Rule, Constitutions, and time-proven customs, for the glory of God, the perfecting of the consecrated soul in union with Him, and a special service to the Church. That firm decision, under the influence and attraction of grace, along with the physical aptitude for the observance, is a vocation: it is that deep in God’s grace but that simple in the will responding. This traditional perspective and approach to a religious vocation and discernment helps preserve an honest and proper discernment from the corruption of the modern psychologically confused and self-absorbed culture.
