Generally, a woman must be at least of college age and pursuing a college degree or a career.  She must be growing in her decision-making, responsibility, and independence. Becoming a member means becoming acquainted with a community's members and spirit, and allowing oneself to be known by the community.  Then through a mutual decision, the woman is invited to make vows.

Sisters are women of the Church able to discover the needs of the people and flexible enough to respond to them.   Originally, most sisters were in education and hospital work, but the variety of ministries has expanded to include ministry to the sick and dying, to the grieving, the divorced and the alienated; to the homeless, the hungry, the refugee, the runaway and the addicted, to name only a few.  There are groups of sisters founded as missionaries.  Most communities provide opportunities for service in other countries and cultures, as well as locally.

A sister is a Catholic woman who desires to share her life with others in community and to minister to God's people.  She is a woman whose needs, hopes and desires are much like any other woman's: a need to love and be loved, a need for support, a hope to be someone worthwhile, a desire to share her gifts with others.

She may be a musician, a social worker, a drug counselor; she may love to cook, to write poetry, to ski. But what binds these sisters together is their desire to share their lives with each other in community and to serve God and people in a variety of ways.

After a day's work, these women share in the tasks of keeping up a home: cleaning and cooking, shopping and budgeting.  Their most important sharing is that which goes on all through these activities: a sharing of themselves, of their joys, pains, failures and successes.

All of who they are, individually and together, is brought before the Lord in prayer.  Each sister sets aside daily time for prayer in solitude, her way of centering her life on the Lord, receiving Christ's strength and love for her.  Praying as a community, the sisters offer worship and praise to God and express together their dependence on God.

A sister chooses to deepen her baptismal commitment by making three vows.  By living her vow of poverty she hopes to show that before God she is poor, an that the gifts and talents she has received from God are to be shared with others.  The vow of celibacy constantly reminds her that God alone is the center of her life, and that she must also love others deeply, yet non-possessively.  Through obedience she promises to listen for, and to follow the will of God in her life, to be open and available to be sent where she is needed.

Sisterhood - Opportunities for Service

Sisterhood - Stepping In

Sisterhood - Links to Communities