May 17, 2016
A few years ago, I was asked to sit in on a class at Aquinas Institute of Theology about religious life and the vows, both for my own formation as I prepare for my perpetual profession, and in order to consider teaching the course when the current professor retires. The course was designed for novices of different communities, and that year the students were all women. As the professor and I were talking, she spoke to me of the lack of materials available on the topic. Of course, there are the massive volumes written by Sandra Schneiders over the last decade and other older sources from a variety of authors. But few women religious have written at depth about the vows in the last 10 years.