Ave Maria University |
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Life in the Program
WOMEN'S DISCERNMENT PROGRAM
Ave Maria Women's Discernment Program is dedicated to helping young women to grow spiritually in community with other women. Every human person is called to hear and respond to God's voice in their lives, and the Discernment Program endeavors to help a young woman in recognizing and responding to God's call, whatever it may be.
"And in the midst of all life's contradictions, we search for life's true meaning. We wonder and ask, Why? Why am I here? Why am I alive? What must I do? None of you is alone in posing these questions."-Pope John Paul II (The Meaning of Vocation)- |
Pope Benedict XVI identifies the need to respond to
God's call as coming from love:
"We have come to believe in God's love: in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction."
(Deus Caritas Est, 1)
The Pope also says that God's love raises important questions about who God is and who we are. A young woman in the Discernment Program is encouraged to grow closer to God in love and in prayer. In this way, she can better discover her vocation and respond to this call with love.
What is daily life in the Discernment Program like? How is it different from living off the floor?
One of the women who has participated in the Discernment Program commented, "We still take the 
same classes as everyone else, we're involved in the same activities and sports, and we eat in the same cafeteria. However, there is a sense that it's more ordered: we rise in the morning to pray together, we attend Mass, we have our weekly meetings, retreats, etc. So we spend a lot of time with each other which helps in building a community, and living in a community is crucial in discernment."
The women that wish to live on the Discernment Program Floor commit themselves for a complete semester to live the following requirements:
- Praying of Lauds in community
- Attend the weekly formation meeting
- Participate in the weekly discernment Mass
- Monthly meeting with the Director of the Discernment Program
- Participate in the activities that are organized for the Discernment Program throughout the semester.
- One outing and the Silent Retreat will be mandatory.
The Women's Discernment Program has 3 levels of commitment:
1- Affiliate. A woman who regularly participates in one or more of the Discernment Program activities and who would like to enter to form part of the program. She is not obligated to participate in the daily activities of prayer or in the formative activities that are organized. The Affiliates can incorporate themselves throughout the semester as Associates in the Program.
2- Associate. A woman who commits herself to live the minimum required commitments in order to form part of the Discernment Program. A woman can continue as an Associate for 2 years.
3- Committed. A woman that has already been in the Discernment Program for at least a semester as an Associate and is faithful to the daily life of prayer of the Liturgy (Lauds, Vespers, Compline), Rosary, Mass, at least half an hour of personal prayer, frequent confession, regular spiritual direction, active participation in the activities that are organized in the Women's Vocational Discernment Program.
A woman who has already discerned her vocation can remain in the Discernment Program until she finishes her studies here at the University.
Please Contact the Women's Discernment Center for more information