Being accepted into nursing school brought me immense joy, and I dedicated my heart and energy to this new path, feeling once again that I was fulfilling my calling. At this point in time, I was certain that I had found my vocation in nursing and had completely dismissed the possibility of religious life, believing it was not aligned with God's will for me. 

That was until I heard a homily preached by a Dominican friar on November 2, 2022, for All Souls’ Day. There was something about this homily that made me leave the church feeling so passionate about living my life for souls, and only for souls. I began to pray more and offer more sacrifices for the souls in purgatory. Perhaps it’s because the love of God and the love of souls go hand-in-hand that somehow my heart was opening up to Him and His ways again, without me even realizing it.
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Since the day I heard the homily, I kept hearing the words “dòng kín” (Vietnamese for “cloistered life”) deep within the silence of my heart. I brushed this off as a funny thought, but it persisted every single day for about two weeks. During these two weeks, I found myself engaging in conversations with various friends on topics unrelated to religious life. Interestingly enough, these discussions invariably shifted towards religious life.

Out of curiosity, I started researching cloistered Dominican nuns and ended up on the Archdiocese of Vancouver's webpage, looking at the link to the Dominican nuns in B.C. There was something inside of me that couldn’t stand being bothered anymore, so I finally clicked on the link and contacted the vocations director. However, I was still doubtful about this and, upon sending the email, made a small condition with God. I told God that the nun must respond to me within less than 24 hours, thinking that since nuns prayed all the time, they probably would not check their emails often. Then God turned the tables on me as the vocations director responded to me within 12 hours. I chuckled a couple of times when this happened and decided to play along with God a little longer. I met with the vocations director via Zoom, and by the end of the call, she told me I should consider visiting them to see for myself.

I thought there was no way this nun was telling me I might have a vocation to the cloistered life. Yet again, I thought I’d humour God by playing along with Him for just a little more. I booked a flight ticket to Squamish, B.C., in February 2023 to visit the Dominican nuns. I went with the thought that as long as I just go, maybe I could get God off my back about this whole idea of cloistered life.

I arrived on a Saturday by 2 pm, and I remember as I entered the chapel to greet Jesus, I felt a burden lifted off my shoulders. It felt as if I went someplace far away and finally came home. I initially ignored this feeling, thinking that wherever Jesus was, that was home. However, by 8 pm on that same Saturday, I walked back to my room thinking, “God, this is all I ever wanted, but I never knew that I wanted it.” As soon as I thought that I knew what God was asking of me.

I spent the time in the monastery by myself in silence, following the nuns’ schedule while also giving myself ample time for personal prayer and leisure in silence. Perhaps in the eyes of the world, living the same schedule day-in and day-out seems boring; but for me, each day brought about a new adventure with God, making life so fulfilling. Living the life in silence showed me that I can be hidden from the world, yet fully present and attentive to its needs. The silence in the monastery brought a fulfillment and satisfaction in my life in which I have never experienced before. So, when my visit to the monastery was coming to an end, I couldn’t bear to leave.

In obedience to God’s Holy Will, the guidance of my spiritual director, and the recommendation of the monastery, I did leave. Back in Calgary, I focused on finishing my studies in nursing school very diligently. I eagerly counted down the months and days until the time that I could finally enter the monastery as an aspirant. Although it was difficult at times with many temptations, it only solidified my conviction in following God’s will in discerning with the Dominican nuns.
Over the past couple of years, I encountered many different people in the hospital through my schooling and in the work I did with the Serra Club, and everything pointed back to my purpose: to offer myself as a living Holocaust for the sake of souls. I am very grateful for my past discernment with the Dominican Sisters in Houston and for the years spent earning my nursing degree, because it all showed me the need for prayer and that every sacrifice offered is very worthwhile for God’s glory and for the salvation of souls. I can say that everything started because of God’s generosity in being patient with me and even allowing me to play with Him along the way.

I never thought I would ever be called to the cloistered life, but God has a good sense of humour. As someone who desires to be His spouse, I should also have a sense of humour so I can play along with Him. I hope I can spend the rest of my life making God laugh by living the life that I initially thought was funny, offering every moment of it for His glory and for the salvation of souls. Most importantly, I hope that when the time comes, God will also say to me, “My love, what a good sense of humour you’ve got there.”

​I continued to grow in faith through the Mass and spiritual direction from my parish priests. I joined the CWL, which had Bible study and women who lived the faith through the feasts and devotion to the Saints. We met weekly and talked about the Mass, the Liturgical year, the Saints, the Bible; basically, it was an experience of being catechized as an adult. The Mystical Rose Charismatic Prayer Group in Kelowna, where I lived, had Life in the Spirit seminars. I was prayed over and received a deeper inflow of the Holy Spirit. After that, we had weekly charismatic prayer groups where I experienced healing and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is the foundation of my seeking to follow Christ.

When the time came that my friends were dating, I started to think about marriage, but I had given myself to Jesus when I was 14. I spoke to my parish priest who was my spiritual director at the time, asking for his advice. He said that I had been very young when I had made that gift of myself, not knowing the full implications, and he advised me to date. I tried dating young men, but none of these men were who God wanted me to be with. 

My spiritual director at the time advised me that I might have a vocation to be a Religious Sister. Since I was a teacher, I had school breaks that allowed me to visit various orders of Sisters. I stayed for short times with both apostolic and cloistered Sisters of many communities, but did not feel at home with any of them. My spiritual director advised me to speak to the Bishop of our Diocese, and the Bishop told me to write down a detailed description of what God was asking me to live. Then I made private promises to God to live my Christian life in a dedicated manner.

After my grandmother died, I no longer had any commitments that would keep me in Kelowna. My friend Jean was also searching for where God wanted us to be. She wanted to check out Madonna House in Combermere, Ontario. I did not know anything about that apostolate, though I had met them in Regina, Saskatchewan, many years before. We went to Madonna House, and I never left. The moment I got off the bus, I knew that I was home. My journey of faith led me to become a Staff Member of Madonna House, and I stayed for over a decade. My friend Jean left after a week and became a Sister of Charity.  

Catherine Doherty, the foundress of Madonna House Apostolate, was a great influence in my spiritual life. She had good insight into the souls of the members and guided them well in following the Lord. I am so thankful for the gifts that God gave me there. I learned how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours in the community, to integrate spiritual reading into my life, and to pray for the needs of others. Fr. Francis Martin gave us Scripture classes. Fr. Wild, who was my spiritual director, led me deeper into contemplation and meditation. Jean Fox, the women’s director, taught me about living in community in a spiritual way, how to deal with anger, frustration, and other interpersonal issues. I learned how to repair books, bake bread, make yogurt and cheese, type on a typewriter, spin wool into yarn, and basic drawing techniques. Because of the various departments in the community, I learned different skills that were of great benefit in my future life.

It was time for final promises, and Catherine Doherty and my spiritual director discerned that I was not called to live permanently in the Madonna House community. Catherine sent me out from Madonna House to live in the world as both a contemplative and active person. The only resource I had was a stack of resumes that I could use to find a job. She also advised me to look into consecrated life as a virgin living in the world. So, I came to Calgary, where my father lived in a seniors’ home. I could not find any work or a place to live. In my desperation, I went to the cathedral and prayed to the Lord, asking Him to take care of me. Then, by His providence, God pointed me towards a businessman who had a job for me, and this man also helped me find a place to live. I ended up working for him for about seven years.

During this time, I heard about a group of consecrated virgins living in the United States, and I visited them. I was not prepared, however, to move to another country and give up my Canadian citizenship, which would have been required for me to join them. I continued to live my promises to the Lord that I had made at Madonna House: Poverty, Chastity and Obedience in my state of life. Because of my love for St Francis’ teachings, I became a Secular Franciscan. Each step has brought me into a deeper understanding of who God has called me to be. Nothing is hidden from Him. Now I hear His Voice within me. He is calling me to be a Consecrated Virgin living in the world for the Diocese of Calgary. 

This is what I have learned: when you are trying to discover where God wants you to be, you need to determine what is most important. It is prayer, which includes a time of listening to Him, reading the Scriptures, which is a time of Him speaking to you, and spiritual direction for wise guidance. In all these ways, God will answer your question about who He wants you to be. 

What do candles and Consecrated Life have in common? The faithful of St. Albert the Great Parish who attended the 5 pm Mass on Sunday, February 2, 2025 certainly know.

February 2 is an important feast day in the Church’s liturgical calendar, the 40th day after Christmas when we celebrate the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. This day, also known since the Middle Ages as Candlemas Day, begins with the blessing of the candles as we celebrate Jesus the Light of the World.
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In 1997, Pope St. John Paul II also dedicated this day as the World Day for Consecrated Life. He wrote that the purpose of this day is “to help the entire Church to esteem ever more greatly the witness of those persons who have chosen to follow Christ by means of the practice of the evangelical counsels” [of poverty, chastity, and obedience] as well as “to be a suitable occasion for Consecrated persons to renew their commitment and rekindle the fervour which should inspire their offering of themselves to the Lord” (St. John Paul II, 1997; Ordo 2024-2025 p. 61)

At St. Albert the Great Parish, over 40 of the Religious and Consecrated persons in our Diocese were present with Bishop McGrattan to celebrate. What a joy it was to carry a lighted candle as the Religious and Consecrated processed with the Bishop, singing “Christ be our Light”! This was a truly significant action in the liturgy because Jesus Himself calls those vowed to this life “to show that the Incarnate Son of God is the eschatological goal towards which all things tend, the splendour before which every other light pales, and the infinite beauty which alone can fully satisfy the human heart.” (Vita Consecrata 16)
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Our Bishop in his homily, beautifully explained the origins of this feast day and how it relates to the Consecrated Life in the Church.  After the homily the Religious and Consecrated Communities renewed their vows. “The counsels, more than a simple renunciation, are a specific acceptance of the mystery of Christ, lived within the Church.” (Vita Consecrata 16) Bishop McGrattan invited everyone to pray for the Religious and Consecrated men and women present who then stood together and renewed their vows to the Lord.

Not only did we feast together at the Table of the Eucharist, but we broke bread together with a great variety of food at the reception! The generous parishioners hosted this delicious feast with an opportunity to rejoice together and enjoy each others’ company. This was truly a day of joyous celebration!
 
On behalf of the Religious and Consecrated of our Diocese, the Assembly of Women Religious, and the Renewal Team for Religious, thank you to the Salvatorian priests, parish staff, all who had a role in the liturgy, and parishioners at St. Albert the Great parish for making us welcome and offering us a life-giving and beautiful celebration of the Feast of the Presentation and World Day for Consecrated Life. We are filled with gratitude! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

Written by Br. Michael Perras, OFM, and Sr. Dianne Turner, OSE. Photos: Victor Panlilio, for the Diocese of Calgary.

Notably, a candidate for Consecrated Virginity with the Diocese, a Franciscan Sister, and the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception were present for much of the time. The Dominican Sisters and Polish priests beautifully sang the Liturgy of the Hours in the early morning. The Seeds of the Word community along with some dedicated others covered the night hours from midnight on. The Precious Blood Sisters, being a cloistered community, joined instead from their monastery chapel. It was truly an opportunity to rest spiritually in the Lord and to join with others in asking Him for more vocations.

Prayer for vocations involves all of the faithful. As Pope Francis said,

“I invite you to listen to and follow Jesus, and to allow yourselves to be transformed interiorly by His words, which ‘are spirit and life’ (Jn 6:62). Mary, the Mother of Jesus and ours, also says to us: ‘Do whatever He tells you’ (Jn 2:5). It will help you to participate in a communal journey that is able to release the best energies in you and around you. A vocation is a fruit that ripens in a well cultivated field of mutual love that becomes mutual service, in the context of an authentic ecclesial life. No vocation is born of itself or lives for itself. A vocation flows from the heart of God and blossoms in the good soil of faithful people, in the experience of fraternal love.

Did not Jesus say: ‘By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another’ (Jn 13:35)? Let us dispose our hearts therefore to being ‘good soil’, by listening, receiving and living out the word, and thus bearing fruit. The more we unite ourselves to Jesus through prayer, Sacred Scripture, the Eucharist, the Sacraments celebrated and lived in the Church and in fraternity, the more there will grow in us the joy of cooperating with God in the service of the Kingdom of mercy and truth, of justice and peace. And the harvest will be plentiful, proportionate to the grace we have meekly welcomed into our lives.” (Source: news.va, From the Vatican, 15 January 2014)

​Written by Sr. Dianne Turner, OSE, Assistant Vocations Director, Diocese of Calgary. Photos courtesy of Sr. Dianne.