For our 40th anniversary, my husband and I had a family reunion. Not an easy feat as our seven children all live in different states. Our sixth child is a cloistered religious sister in the mountains near Tehachapi, CA so we rented a place close to her. She doesn’t travel, so the only way we could all be under one roof was in the monastery’s visiting parlor, pictured.
So writes Ana Braga-Henebry of Saint Thomas Aquinas parish in East Lansing during this National Vocations Week, November 1-7. Ana continues:
We are often asked about how we raised a child who chose a religious vocation. We did what most Catholics do: Mass on Sundays and Holy Days, sometimes during the week. Adoration, confession, altar serving. We were involved in parish activities, especially lector and music ministry. We had priests over for dinner and we visited religious sisters whenever possible. We read many books about the lives of saints. We also made sure to include priesthood or religious life as a future option whenever we discussed their plans. She visited a few communities in High School. We supported her discernment in many ways, from purchasing books that were recommended to her to getting airplane tickets for her discernment retreats.
I believe that sitting around the table for dinner every night, and family prayer at the end of the day were the best things we did to develop our faith as a family. The kids were invited to share who/what they wanted to pray for, which caused plenty of conversation, and to call on their patron saints. Our prayers and singing revolved around the liturgical year. We sang the Salve Regina after Sunday Rosary, and the Marian antiphons in Latin. We sang the O Antiphons before Christmas, the Regina Coeli during Easter season. Their friends would be over often, and they all enjoyed our lively and musical evening family prayer. Music was important when our daughter was discerning a community. The Norbertine Canonesses where she is now are contemplative—they are in chapel seven times a day, mass is sung, and they chant the Psalms.
Every summer my husband and I visit her, and the siblings and their families visit sporadically. We can write and receive letters once a month. The best thing is that we know she and her sisters are faithfully praying for all our intentions. We truly feel that although we miss her presence, our family has expanded, and that God has blessed us all through her vocation.