Visitation Sister Susan Marie will take calls during "Cyber Discernment Week."
To celebrate National Vocations Awareness Week, a Visitation Sister will answer questions about spirituality and vocations by email, chat and telephone Jan. 14 – 18.
Go to the Chat
The event is called “Cyber Discernment Week,” and it will be hosted by Sr. Susan Marie Kasprzak, a Visitation Nun at the Order’s Second Federation in the U.S.A. Sr. Susan Marie will offer her counsel each day throughout the week, from 9 AM to 11:30 AM (EST) and 1:30 to 4 PM (EST) to answer questions about such topics as following the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales, finding one’s vocation in life, experiencing monastic living, and responding to one’s daily challenges. Phone calls made outside of that time will be returned.
“People we talk to are on all spiritual levels and walks of life, and it often surprises me how I can bring the spirituality of our co-founder, St. Francis de Sales, to bear on a person’s situation,” said Sr. Susan Marie recently.
Extension of “Living Jesus Chat Room”
Sr. Susan Marie, who was interviewed by EWTN host Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J., on the network’s “EWTN Live” program last May, has been hosting a weekly “Living Jesus Chat Room” on the Visitation’s Second Federation website for almost two years. Each Sunday night at 7:30 PM Eastern Time, a lively online discussion between Sister and various participants can be seen in real time.
“There are many Catholics out there who struggle to draw closer to God,” Sister said. “Some are very knowledgeable in their faith; some are not. They often need an encouragement or some directive to help them in their progress,” Sister said.
The Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary was founded in 1610 by St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal in Annecy, France, “to give to God daughters of prayer, and souls so interior that they may be found worthy to serve His infinite Majesty and to adore Him in spirit and in truth.” A blog of Salesian spirituality with frequent posts can be found on the Sisters’ Second Federation Website.
Five Monasteries with Outreach
The Second Federation of the Visitation consists of the five monasteries in the United States, four of which sponsor schools and one which serves as a contemplative presence to the economically disadvantaged. (The First Federation consists of Papally-enclosed communities.) The Sisters sponsor high schools for girls in: Georgetown, Washington, D.C.; St. Louis, MO; Minneapolis, MN; Mendota Heights, MN and an elementary school for girls in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Men and women age 18 and up are invited to contact Sr. Susan Marie during that week. At that time, Sister will be responding to emails sent to srsusanvhm@aol.com. Or you may visit the “Living Jesus Chat Room,” or call Sister at (718) 745-4452. The event will be publicized by Vocation Promotion, which serves religious communities by providing internet-savvy know-how to assist communities’ work of promoting vocations.