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Lauren Turner: Discerning the Call to Serve God as a Religious Sister

discernment · bridegroom · prayer · family · grace · interior silence · spiritual sisters & brothers

“I visited the convent and it felt like home.”

Lauren Turner, age 22, from Lancaster, Ohio received a phone call from the Vocation directress of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles calling to inform her that she had been formally accepted to the convent. All of the months of waiting, anticipating, and worrying had come to an end. This sparked the beginning of a new and exciting journey into her vocation; her life’s calling to become a Religious Sister.

Lauren is a senior Nursing major at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio who responded to God’s call to a religious vocation. When reflecting back over her journey of discernment over the last couple years, she sees God’s hand actually nudging her toward a religious vocation many years earlier.

“The actual call was quite recent, but in looking back, I see the Lord’s hand in this decision since I was 7 (the same age as her first Communion). I had a great desire to be close to the Lord.”

As a child, Lauren’s mother took her to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and to pray in front of abortion clinics. The Blessed Mother, especially Our Lady of Lourdes, has always had a special place in Lauren’s life as she and her family gathered together to pray the rosary. It was during this time that the seeds for her religious vocation were planted.

“I remember wanting to be so close to the Blessed Mother. Ever since I knew she held baby Jesus in her arms, I desired her embrace as well. I wanted her to be my Mother.”

During her senior year in high school, Lauren signed with Capital University to run track and pursue nursing. Her college path was set. However, God had different plans in mind for Lauren.

During spring break, Lauren visited Franciscan University of Steubenville with some friends to “just have a little fun.” While on campus, Lauren had the opportunity to attend a mass and was enthralled by the students’ passion and love for the Lord. While reflecting on the Mass, and when asked what she thought, Lauren responded with the words “I have to go here.” This response surprised even herself. She knew that this was the Lord speaking His words through her as to the next path she was to take in life. The Mass had moved her in a way that she could not explain. The Lord had captured Lauren’s heart.

Upon returning home, Lauren applied and was accepted to the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Her first years of college proved to be challenging as they do for most college students. But the Lord used this in ways that she did not understand to continue her self-knowledge through self-acceptance and in growing more deeply in her faith and love of the Lord.

“I became a totally different person. The Lord uses past experiences to form you into something new—to form you to Himself.”

During her sophomore year in college, Lauren was given the opportunity to study abroad in Gaming, Austria. She visited manyplaces filled with graces, including Rome, Assisi, Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje, and “every religious place we could get to.” It was in Austria where Lauren heard “the Lord calling my heart to be His bride.” She replied, “Okay Lord, my heart is yours. I will do this for love of you.”

Upon returning home from Austria, she had a spontaneous meeting with a Carmelite sister. It was this meeting where Lauren’s love for Carmel began. It was the relationship she had with this Sister and through her example that Lauren learned to integrate the Carmelite spirituality into her own life.

“This sister radiated Christ’s love so much to so many people. I wanted to do this as well; I wanted to be the Lord’s beacon of love.”
Even though Lauren would describe herself as out-going and people-oriented, she realized that she had contemplative longings.

“I was drawn to the depths of the Carmelite spirituality. I love the interior silence of the heart where the Lord can speak His words of love freely to each and every individual soul.”

Through God’s grace and the generosity of others, Lauren was able to travel to Los Angeles to visit the sisters for a week. She was able to live their lives-attending prayers, meals, daily duties, and recreation.

“From the moment I walked onto the convent grounds, I felt like I was a part of the family. I visited the convent and it felt like home.”

After returning home from her trip, Lauren requested for the papers to begin the process of entering the convent. At this point Lauren had still not told anyone of her religious vocation. However, the Lord decided that it was time for her parent’s to know.

“I was riding in the car with my mom one day and she said to me, ‘I feel like God has been preparing my heart for your vocation.’ “ Her mom had been on a retreat and had picked up a book spontaneously turning to a chapter entitled: ‘Parents with Children Discerning Religious Vocations.’ She said “she just knew.”

“I was a little nervous to tell my dad. His little girl’s heart had been given away. I wrote him a letter from Jesus asking for my hand in marriage. He was overjoyed and very supportive.”

Her family was very supportive of her vocation; her mom, a convert to Catholicism, had Methodist family members who encouraged and prayed for Lauren. Her father’s side of the family was just as excited as Lauren was that she was entering the convent.

How did she explain her decision to her friends? Most understood, but a few were not able to understand how she could “give up everything” and commit her entire life to serving God.

“It is not about what I am giving up; it is about what I am gaining. I will get to be a spiritual mother to so many souls. My spouse will be the Lord and I will be able to minister to others for him. He will be my bridegroom.”

Lauren will work as a nurse at the medical center run by the sisters. Nursing is just one of the apostolates there; the sisters also run schools and retreat centers in many different areas throughout the country.

The discernment process takes many years. Once in the convent, there is 9 months postulancy, 2 years novitiate, and 6 years of being temporarily professed: a total of 9 years before actually making final profession of vows. Lauren was privileged to witness a Final Profession of Vows in December 2007.

“The Profession was so beautiful. I could not help but picture myself on the altar. Hearing the sister make her vows made me want to tell the Lord that I will promise to be His bride, his spouse, forever and to speak to Him my promise of love and fidelity. I want to live faithfully to Him as He does for us. It will truly be my wedding day.”

When asked how a young woman today leaves the world behind to serve the Lord, Lauren says, “When you give everything up to serve and love Him, He gives it all back to you 100 fold in ways that you can not even imagine. He is constantly showering us with His gifts of love.”

She reminds all of us to respond to the grace that God gives us today. “If you look ahead to the future, you miss the grace He is giving you right now.”

Lauren acknowledges that spiritual brothers and sisters are critical on this journey with God. She is blessed with a very close friend who has shared her life in high school, in college, and at home. “She has been through it all with me.” She also has another friend who has walked this very journey with Lauren. She applied to the convent around the same time that Lauren did. They walked every step together and the Lord revealed His love to them even more when they were both accepted to their convents on the same day, February 2, the Feast of the Presentation. They were both presented to the Lord as His future brides.

“God gives you support even when you don’t ask for it. He surrounds you with those who will build you up and carry you to His arms where you can be very near to His Sacred Heart. He sends you angels so that you can walk in His footsteps-His way of love together.”

When asked about the role of the Sister in today’s world, Lauren unites the work of a Religious Sister with the vocation of all Catholic Christians.

“Everyone is called to serve the Lord. We are all called to be witnesses to His love and to share His mercy with the rest of the world. Religious Sisters are one example of that love.”