Vocation Retreat – June 9-11, 2023

Did you miss this year’s retreat?  Consider coming for an individual retreat, or sign up for our bimonthly Vocation Newsletter to learn more about our Dominican life and be informed of upcoming vocation events.

Could God be calling you to become a cloistered Dominican nun?  We give ourselves to Jesus through Mary in a consecrated life of community, liturgical and private prayer, study and work, animated by zeal for souls, at the heart of the holy preaching of the Dominican Order.  Our monastery keeps Eucharistic Adoration and Perpetual Rosary, and a love for our tradition of Dominican chant in Latin. As Dominican nuns, we are devoted to keeping the Word of God in our hearts so it may bear fruit for the salvation of souls.

Who can attend: 

  • Are you a single, practicing Catholic young woman between the ages of 16 (or junior in high school) and 26? (Must be of good physical and psychological health and also a US citizen.)
  • Are you considering a religious vocation?  (Are you drawn to a life dedicated totally to God and the salvation of souls?  Are you asking, “O Lord, how can I dedicate my life to You?”)
  • Would you like to learn more about our community in particular?

When and Where:

The Vocation Retreat will run from 4:30 pm on Friday, June 9, through 11:00 am on Sunday, June 11 (Central Time) at the Dominican Monastery of St. Jude (143 County Road 20 East, Marbury, Alabama [click for map]). We can also arrange transportation from the Birmingham or Montgomery airports if needed. Deadline: Please contact us by June 1, 2023, or earlier if possible so we can plan ahead!

What:

During the retreat weekend, we try to provide an initial taste of our Dominican monastic life:

  • Monastic: Stay outside the cloister in the monastery guest house, and experience reading at meals and some other monastic practices.
  • Contemplative: Enjoy time for silent prayer, reflection, and Eucharistic Adoration.
  • Liturgical: Participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and join in chanting the Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) in Latin and English.
  • Marian: Take a “Half-Hour of Guard” in our daily vigil of Eucharistic Adoration and Perpetual Rosary.
  • Study of Sacred Truth: Hear conferences by a Dominican friar and the Dominican nuns on the religious life, discerning one’s vocation, and the Dominican monastic life.
  • Community: Enjoy recreation with the other retreatants, and an evening of Vocation Stories with the nuns.
  • At the Heart of the Holy Preaching: Catch a glimpse of what it means for the nuns to offer God their life of prayer for the salvation of souls, at the heart of the mystery of Christ, at the heart of the local and universal Church, and at the heart of the apostolic preaching of the Dominican Order, witnessed to especially at this retreat by the presence of one of our Dominican friars.

The retreat also includes an opportunity for sacramental Confession, and a chance to be enrolled in the Angelic Warfare Confraternity (dedicated to chastity according to one’s state in life).

If you know someone who may be interested, please share! May Our Lady guide you and keep you!


How to get to know our community better right now:

Look over our Daily Life page and explore our website.
Listen to us sing Dominican chant; or learn about the Stages in Formation in becoming a Dominican Nun.
Read our fictional Vocation Letters Series.