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Vocation: Discernment

As a young woman, Jeanne Jugan realized that God had a plan for her life, and yet for many years she had no idea exactly where he was leading her. She confided to her mother, “God wants me for himself. He is keeping me for a work which is not yet founded.”

Years went by before Jeanne saw the unfolding of God’s plan, but when God revealed her mission, she followed it with her whole heart. If she were here today, Jeanne would offer this advice to anyone discerning their vocation:

  • Pray often, asking God to reveal his will and to help you know yourself better.
  • Find a church or chapel that has Eucharistic adoration and set aside time each week for silent adoration.
  • Live a sacramental life: attend daily Mass whenever possible and take advantage of the sacrament of Reconciliation.
  • Read Scripture and other good spiritual books such as the lives of the saints, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, classics of the spiritual life, etc.
  • Find a spiritual director who has a good understanding of the consecrated life.
  • Visit a religious community.
  • Commit to some form of service to God’s people, especially the poor.
  • Spend time with friends who are also serious about their faith, and who will support your desire to grow spiritually.
  • Spring into Service Program: Our live-in service program is open to college-age Catholic women who wish to experience our life and mission firsthand over an extended period of time. Week-long experiences are possible during fall, winter or spring break. LEARN MORE

Click here to learn more about upcoming discernment events.

Formation Process

Formation is a process of progressively taking on the mind and heart of Christ and the spirit of Saint Jeanne Jugan.

Single, Catholic women 18-40 years of age who love God and wish to serve the poor may be considered for entrance into our formation program. A significant amount of contact with a community of Little Sisters  and the elderly is essential to the discernment process.

Those over 40 who desire to share in our life are encouraged to consider membership in the Association Jeanne Jugan.

Read more about the Association Jeanne Jugan

Initial discernment

A young woman visits one of our communities and spends time with the Little Sisters in prayer and service. She may volunteer on a regular basis, participate in our Spring into Service live-in program, or work as an employee in order to experience our life and spirit up-close.

Formal discernment

More time spent with a community of Little Sisters and a formal live-in experience in one of our Homes give a young woman exposure to our life in its fullness – prayer, community and mission.

Pre-Postulancy

A candidate takes the first step by leaving home and moving into one of our Homes, where she participates in the life of the community while pursuing opportunities to round out her spiritual and human formation, under the direction of a Little Sister formator. The purpose of these first months is to confirm the candidate’s desire to follow Christ as a Little Sister and her ability to live in community in the humble service of the elderly.

Postulancy

A further period of discernment, spent under the direction of a Little Sister formator, which helps the congregation and the postulant to verify her ability to progressively assume the demands of our vocation of humble service. The postulancy begins in one of our Homes and concludes with several months spent in the novitiate.

Novitiate

The novitiate is a fixed two-year period of prayer and study during which the novices are initiated into the radicalism of following Christ as his spouse, according to the congregation’s charism and apostolate. In an atmosphere of trust and openness, the novices direct their generosity toward the total gift of themselves to the Lord in faith, humility and love.

Each year the novices spend several weeks in one of our Homes to gain direct experience of our mission and help them to understand the unity between our prayer life and our daily activities. The novitiate culminates in profession of the vows of chastity, poverty, obedience and hospitality for two years. Our U.S. novitiate is located in Queens Village, New York.

Temporary Vows

Each new Little Sister is sent out on mission to one of the Homes of the congregation, where she participates fully in our life. This period includes an additional year of doctrinal formation, called the Juniorate, and the possibility of further training in the care of the elderly. At the completion of their first two years of vowed life, the young Little Sisters remake their vows, usually for an additional three years.

Second Novitiate

Before pronouncing perpetual vows, each Little Sister spends a year of “second novitiate” at our motherhouse in France. The spiritual formation received during this international year helps the Little Sisters to acquire the spiritual maturity needed to commit themselves definitively to their vocation as Little Sisters of the Poor.

This time also offers each one the grace of living where Saint Jeanne Jugan spent the final years of her life. During this time, each Little Sister becomes more penetrated with the attitudes of our Mother and the spirit of our religious family.

The second novitiate culminates in perpetual profession, after which each Little Sister may be sent anywhere in the world!

Continuing Formation

In order to assure creative fidelity to her personal vocation, each Little Sister pursues a personal program of ongoing formation throughout her life. Ongoing formation begins with the first call from the Lord and ends in contemplating him face to face.

“Joyfully undertaken and faithfully lived, this gift of ourselves – which embraces our whole existence – enriches the life of the Church. A vocation is a call which the Lord, always faithful, renews for us until the end of our life … By his grace, we will always better understand its full significance and will respond to it with deeper maturity and greater love, for the greater glory of the one and undivided Trinity” (Constitutions).

Click here if you would like to speak to a Little Sister about your discernment and/or our community.