Why don't we care about the lack of Mary's
Growing numbers of educated Italian women are throwing away their high heels and lipstick and opting for the austere life of nuns in closed convents.
A surprising 550 women in Rome chose to withdraw to cloisters this year compared with 350 two years ago, it emerged at a conference organised by the Vicariate of Rome and Italy's Union of Mother Superiors (Usmi).
Most of the country's 7,500 cloistered nuns have traditionally come from regions such as the Marches, making the sudden rise in the city of la dolce vita even more surprising.
Until recently, most women entering closed convents in Rome were third world immigrants with little education. Now the recruits are all Italians with university degrees.
"They are realising that what the world has to offer to them is not all it is made out to be," said Sister Pieremilia Bertolin, the secretary general of Usmi.
"They are starting to reason with their heads and not just believing the messages advertising throws at them." [Source]
This is pretty interesting, though it should be no surprise. All the promises of a materialistic culture are always unkept and ultimately unsatisfying. Though it doesn't keep us from endlessly trying again that perhaps the next time it will work. We keep telling Rocky that this time we are going to pull that rabbit out of the hat.
I had been thinking recently about how we react to the reduced numbers of people answering to their vocations. Most progressives groups talk about this problem of the shortage of priests and and coming up with the solution of married and women priests. I have noticed though that there is never any talk about the shortage of those answering calls to the religious life. Priest in the U.S. are now at 73 percent of the level as 1965. Religious brothers and sisters are now at 35 percent of the 1965 level. [Source Data]. The bigger crisis really concerns religious life and yet all the talk is mainly focused on vocations to the priesthood. Religious life is open to both sexes and yet there is still a major decline. Unless you want to advocate for male sisters and female brothers for progressive argument consistency sake. Why has there been no call to open up religious life to the married to solve these problems? Or do they recognize that a married life would get in the way of those religious who are purely contemplatives? This is not to say that all of us can't become contemplatives cooperating with grace since we are all called to holiness, just that those with less distractions and more time for prayer can do more to hold up the Church. I had wondered why progressives seem to not be concerned about the decline in religious life and then I realized that we are all guilty of this to some extent. Think of a vocations program and we pretty much associate this with only priests and not for also those vocations to religious life, single life, and marriage. Contemplatives in many ways are the furnace that run the Church. We so easily forget that St. Terese is a patron saint of missionaries even though she lived a hidden life in a convent. We always focus so much on physical activity. We see the actions of priests via the sacraments, but do not recognize the effects of the prayers of those in religious life. Why do we not recognize the signs of decline in the Church without seeing that one of the reasons is the lack of the prayers holding it up? Of course not all orders are pure contemplatives, but the best ones are grounded in contemplation first. Blessed Mother Teresa has her order spending at least an hour each day before the Blessed Sacrament. She use to say that when she would get really busy she would have to then spend two hours instead.
There has always been a Martha/Mary dichotomy where we see Mary as doing nothing and not that she has chosen the best part. Secular life sees contemplative religious as a wasted life and we are in danger of doing the same. This is not to let ourselves off in praying for the Church. We can all do our part, but let us add prayers for an increase answering of the call to the religious life.
Known as 
You made some great points. I have heard more than one time from folks of the "the Church is a social worker" variety point out that they loved the good works that Blessed Mother Teresa did, but you could keep the prayer life stuff. That attitude betrays a niavete regarding not just Blessed Mother Teresa, but all faith filled people who do good work: Their work is a product of their prayer life and all of that is a product of the Grace of God.
...and if you're just going to be a social worker (the model of religious life and priesthood pushed by so many today,) why not just be a social worker?!?? Why give up marriage and family life? Unless, of course, the vocation is really so much deeper and more beautiful than that... The orders and dioceses that really "get it" on this point are the ones that are flourishing with vocations.
I think you're onto something important - the decline in religious vocations (which, of course, is very uneven across orders) shows that its not a male/female problem. I'd like to read something fairly detailed about married oblates. I know something like that exists around the Cistercians at Conyers, for instance.
Just as Jesus becomes a "prisoner of Love" in the Blessed Sacrament for our sake, so cloistered monks and nuns become prisoners of His Love by freely embracing a cloistered life of prayer, first for the sake of God's glory, then for the whole world.
Pray for all those called--that they may be like the good soil in the Gospel parable and bear fruit a hundred fold.
Pray for those raising children in the world today--that in holy Catholic families God may find the good soil to plant the seed of His call.
Mother Theresa said, "We are not social workers; we do it for Jesus." That statement was a real turning point in my faith and my life.
"We are not social workers; we do it for Jesus."
Reminds me of something our pastor said when people started to applaud the choir: "They are not here to entertain you, they are here to offer praise to God".
I met a guy once who was new to our parish. he said in disgust that he had called the parish office to volunteer in some capacity and they wanted him to sign up for an hour of adoration at the perpetual adoration chapel. Huh@ he wanted to DO something.
Wonder what kind of volunteering he had in mind?
Thanks for this reminder.
I've always thought that we'd have no crisis in priestly vocations if we who are parents lived our marriage and our parenthood as the vocation it is. Our children would see us responding to the call daily and know that expectation in their own lives.
So often we talk about people who "have a vocation" as if only some people have a calling.
Reading recommendations for points raised:
(1) The Soul of the Apostolate (TAN) or Inner Strength for Active Apostles - How to Win Souls Without Losing Your Own
By Dom Jean-Baptist Chautard
A brilliant book.
Sorry the 2nd book reference ommitted the fact that its from Sophia Institute Press
I second "The Soul of the Apostolate." Outstanding book.
Years ago, I mentioned to a co-worker- a practicing Catholic- that a friend of mine was going into religious life in a contemplative community. He asked , "What do they do ?"
I responded, "They pray."
His reply: "Well, of course they pray, but what do they do ?"
I explained that prayer is what they do, and got the astonished reply, "They still have those ?"
Jeff, thanks for the plug for our way of life! It is so necessary for the Church today because the Church is essential contemplative.
We are all called to be contemplatives but that is not the same as the monastic/contemplative life. Even prayer is not what we DO! We don't really DO anything (sure we are human so we cook, clean, do websites, study, garden, weave,etc.) That's not what our life is about. We are called to BE. To be simply at the feet of Jesus, to offer our lives as a complete holocaust and to let the Lord do with us whatever he chooses. Prayer is something that is done in us.
It's the most humbling thing in the world! Why me? It's sheer love but love that demand we give nothing less than our total selves.
It's also the most freeing life in the world! IF one is called to this life one finds that the world out there is very small and the world in the monastery is a vast as the heart of God.
I've noticed, with joy, that any new vocations we have are from Orthodox Catholics who are really excited to serve God. I myself have been wondering if I am called, and am still discerning. Please pray!