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The Religious Calling
A religious vocation, which has the same foundations as a Christian vocation, is a reality of supernatural character. Therefore, the formation of a religious vocation must take into account the basic factors of the interior life. In the first place, vocational formation gives primary importance to the development of a personal relationship with God, teaching the religious to "live in familiar, constant, and intimate union with the Father through the Son and in the Holy Spirit." It makes the person a participant in the mysteries, the sentiments, and the way of life of Jesus, being with Him and sharing His mission and destiny until he comes to be His true disciple and a sign proclaiming His Resurrection. It cultivates the love of the Church as Mother and persuades the religious that, by means of his commitment to the Order, he is strengthening the bonds of ecclesial union. It nurtures a sincere love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, the beloved instrument of the Trinity, Mother of Christ, of the Church, and of the Order, model and protectress of the religious life. It makes all religious recognize and show themselves in their respective communities as active and living members of the Order. It inculcates the apostolic spirit, which by nature and by history pertains to the very being of the Order. Finally, the vocational formation, by means of all
these factors, configures the life of the candidate according to tradition
and Augustinian Recollect spirituality; it creates the necessary readiness,
permitting the Spirit to bring about the fruitfulness of our charism,
with which He inspired our founders and which has been intensely lived
by our most distinguished religious. Back to Entering the Community |