Have you ever wondered what it is like to respond to God’s call? Many women experience a deep desire to consecrate their lives to Him, but don’t know where to begin. In the Congregation of Adorers, Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity, we accompany those who feel this restlessness through a journey of discernment, self-giving and love. Discover in this article the stages of the Adorers vocational process and how you can live a life consecrated to God and to the service of the most vulnerable women.

What is a religious vocation and how to discover it?

A religious vocation is a personal response to God’s invitation to live a life consecrated to Him. This choice is not made overnight; it is a process filled with prayer, reflection, formation, growth and faith.

What does it mean today to a Sister Adorer in the world?

Our identity as Adorers:

• It is within a charism rooted in Jesus the Eucharist. From this Eucharistic experience germinates and grows the Adorers’ mission: to adore Jesus the Eucharist continually; and to liberate and promote women exploited by prostitution or victims of other situations that enslave them.
• It has its origins in 3 moments in the life of St. Maria Micaela, our foundress. You can learn about them here.
• It has a history, built before us, handed down from generation to generation. Since 1856, for almost 170 years, we have gone along with the Lord, building a positive history of salvation, to the rhythm of continual adoration and liberation.
• It has a style characterised by the personality and charismatic experience of Micaela that could be called the Adorer’s way of life and characterised by: Love of the Eucharist, Pedagogy of Love, Family Style and acting as Educators.

We Adorers are:

• Women: Gifted with a particular inclination for all that is life, capable of engendering it and sustaining it every time we allow ourselves to be touched by love. From the sensitivity and mission that are proper to us, we feel in our flesh the violence that women suffer, and we commit ourselves to their defence and to the service of the culture of life and solidarity.
• Open: We Adorers open ourselves to God, to ourselves, to the community, to the women of our mission, to lay people, groups and institutions that work with and like us in favour of women, and to the Church. We open ourselves and insert ourselves in different cultures, welcoming, respecting and promoting their values.
• Called to be Eucharist: The reality from which we are and from which we look at the world is the Eucharist. It identifies us and builds us up; it impels us to incarnate its very essence in our lives.
• Consecrated: We personally and communally assume the gift of the call and its demands, expressing in our response our being Eucharist. We live consecration as a total option for the Lord. Inspired by the model of Micaela, we live the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
• Signs of mercy: The recognition of our own sin and wounds, taken up and healed by God’s mercy, helps to educate and form us as instruments of mercy for others. In the course of life, we embody the love of Jesus who becomes mercy, who welcomes, respects, listens, forgives and looks with tenderness.
• In the world: We feel the desire that our being-doing be meaningful in this world, that our being in it be committed. We situate ourselves in it with a look and attitudes of cordiality, tolerance, solidarity, gratuitousness and mercy.

The 5 stages of the vocational process of an Adorer Sister

The vocational process of a religious Adorer takes place in 5 stages of formation. Prayer, spiritual accompaniment, community life and the Adorers mission of Eucharistic Adoration and Liberation of women in contexts of prostitution, human trafficking and other situations of violence will be present throughout the formation process.

Did you know that formation in our Congregation includes intercultural experiences? Imagine what you could learn!

Here are the 5 stages of the Adorer vocational process, designed to help you discern and respond fully to God’s call.

1. Mutual Knowledge: The first step in the Adorer vocational journey.

This is the stage prior to initial formation, a time of mutual knowledge between the Congregation and you, a woman who feels called to consecrated life in the Adorer Family. This stage is for you to discern your vocational project and for the Congregation to know if you possess the qualities required to live the Adorer vocation. Here, you get to know the life of the sisters through a community of reference, you also have some apostolic experience and you may get to know other communities in the province where you are. It is a time to share your concerns and to receive orientation and in which you continue with your family life, studies, work, friendships…

Duration: Minimum 1 year, extending according to the needs of each person.

2. Prenovitiate: Discover your call and prepare for the Novitiate.

This is a period of preparation for the Novitiate and can be done individually or in a group, in a designated community. Its purpose is to deepen your understanding of the authenticity of God’s call and to clarify the motivations that lead you to it, accompanied by an Adorer.

Throughout it, you will contemplate the experience of encountering the Adorers mission, making direct day-to-day contact with the reality of the women we accompany in the projects of our Social Work.

Duration: Between 1 and 2 years.

3. Novitiate: A deep immersion in vocational discernment

The Novitiate is a time of deep discernment and spiritual preparation for your Adorers’ life. During this time as a novice, you will be accompanied by the mistress and the formation community where the Novitiate is located.

In the community, in contact with the mission, you will deepen your vocational experience, understanding the concrete implications for your own life of following Jesus in the way of Micaela.  This is a stage of initiation into theological studies and during the second year you will dedicate a special time to an apostolic experience outside the Novitiate, in another community. The Congregation has international or interprovincial Novitiates that allow for intercultural enrichment, appreciating the unity of the charism in the plurality of its expressions.

Duration: 2 years, extendable by 6 months.

4. Juniorate: Strengthening your vocation and your commitment to God.

This is a stage in which, as a Junior sister, you begin a period of strengthening and maturing in your vocation as a religious Adorer. It includes the time from the time of your first religious profession (temporary vows) until your perpetual profession. You then join an apostolic community in which you gradually take on new commitments and responsibilities and can undertake theological and professional studies. The aim of this stage is to prepare you for total consecration to God by following Christ in the service of the Adorer mission, so that it will be possible for you to give a free and definitive response at perpetual profession.

Before the end of this stage, the Congregation offers you an intense time of reflection and synthesis of the formation you have received and the life you have shared. During this formation, there is the option of participating in inter-congregational programmes to prepare yourself, completing them with specific themes of the Adorer’s own charism.

Duration: 5 years, extendable up to 9 years. Each year as a Junior sister you renew your profession of vows in the Eucharistic celebration, which is a reason for gratitude and awareness of God’s action in her.

5. Perpetual Vows: The definitive consecration as an Adorer Sister

This is the culminating moment of the vocational journey. With perpetual vows, you give your life to God in a definitive way as an Adorer, consecrated to Him in order to live the charism of the Congregation to the full. The formation of a religious Adorer never ends. Once the profession of perpetual vows has been made, there is a plan of ongoing formation which in our Congregation is divided by age and time of consecration.

How do you know if you have a religious vocation?

If you have ever felt a deep desire to give your life to God, perhaps this is your calling: Do you find joy in prayer and service, are you attracted to community life?

Talking to a sister or participating in a vocational experience can help you answer these questions.

Do you want to know more about the Adorers vocational journey?

Answering God’s call is an act of love and courage. If you feel this restlessness, you are not alone. In the Congregation of Adorers, we accompany you every step of the way to help you discern and live your vocation to the full. Find out if this is the life choice God has prepared for you.

If you feel called by the Lord, don’t ignore it. Write to us at comunicacion@adoratrices.com or visit our page on the Adorer vocation. We are here to listen to you!