A call to religious life usually develops over time, after considerable discernment and life experience. Most women don't "know for sure" that they are called to the life until after they've lived it for a few years! Here are some ways you can begin a discernment journey with us:

• Method #1: The Volunteer Approach
  Together with the other branches of the Missionary Cenacle Family, we sponsor the Missionary Cenacle Volunteer Program. One week, summer, and year-long missions are available to qualified Catholic adults. Serving as a volunteer can be a way to serve God in places of desperate need, while at the same time gaining insight as to whether the missionary lifestyle really calls you.
  
• Method #2: The Missionary Cenacle Family Approach
  You can find out if there are any members of our spiritual family in your area by contacting anyone on the Contact page of this site. Attending lay gatherings, Missionary Cenacle workshops or social events, or meeting for conversation with any member of the Missionary Cenacle Family is a simple way to begin learning who we are and if our charism attracts you.
  
• Method #3: Formal Discernment
  Our formation process has five stages preceding perpetual vows, and one can leave at any point for any reason before arriving at the time for final commitment. Canon law requires at least three years in temporary vows, and that doesn't even include the stages of education and discernment that come first!
  
  It is OK to begin the process of entering a religious community without being completely sure it's what you really want! Doubts are normal and human and even necessary. If you wait until you're totally sure, you may never get ANYTHING done in this life!
  
  Our stages of discernment and formation are:
  
  • Informal Contact: You meet with the vocation director and connect by phone or mail for a few months or a few years
    
  • Vocation Placement: You live and work with sisters in a local missionary cenacle for about a year. You experience our daily life without burning any bridges.
    
  • Candidacy: For 5 to 12 months, you live with other candidates and a director in a cenacle set aside for formation. There are classes as well as part-time ministry experiences.
    
  • Novitiate: You live in a formation cenacle with other novices and a director, for up to 18 months. This stage includes periods of formal instruction, prayer and retreat experiences, and extended mission experiences away from the novitiate house.
    
  • Temporary Vows: For 4 to 6 years, you live and work full time at a mission. Each year you discern whether or not to request the renewal of your vows.

It's not just about WHAT we do.......
it's WHERE, HOW and WHY we do it!