Br. Daniel Bowen, O. de M. has been with the Order since entering as a postulant in August 2006. Recently, he completed his studies in Sacred Theology at St Charles Borromeo Seminary. Here is his inspiring vocation story:
Br. Daniel with his graduation class.
Growing up I attended my mother’s Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. When I was 13 I quit attending. My father approved since he himself did not practice a faith, he himself having an orthodox Jewish father who married a Methodist.
Throughout high school and university I debunked what little faith I had until I was unwittingly a secular humanist, going to God in prayer only when I was in trouble. I started dating a Catholic girl and went to mass and adoration with her. We broke up, yet something felt right about the Church and I entered RCIA in the fall of 1993.
Easter 1994 I was baptized, confirmed. Circa 1997 I fell away. Easter 2003 attended an Assembly of God Church and had a powerful experience of God. The summer 2003 attended a Teens Encounter Christ Catholic retreat and returned to the practicing the faith.
Br Daniel
Around 2004, I started discerning a call to the priesthood and religious life. August 2006 quit my job, sold or gave away my possessions and entered the Order of Mercy as a postulant and began studies at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. May 2013 completed my MDiv and MA at Saint Charles and now am awaiting to profess solemn vows and ordination to the transitional diaconate, and God willing priestly ordination after that.I currently am a Director of Religious Education at a Mercedarian parish in Le Roy, NY.
Josh LaPorte is a Postulant in Order. Here he answers questions about his childhood and vocation:
1) Tell us about your background? Where are you from? Where did you go to school?
Josh receives the shield of the Order.
I was born on July 18, 1989 in Suburban Detroit, in Sterling Heights, MI at Mt. Clemens General Hospital. I was adopted at birth. I grew up in the Sterling Heights area for the majority of my childhood until I was six years old when we moved to Rochester Hills, MI. We remained there for the rest of my life. We also have a vacation house in the north of Michigan.
My Father is a Certified Public Accountant working as a managing partner at an international firm called UHY advisors. He has been working there since college. My mother was and is still a homemaker. Prior to her being a homemaker, she was a practicing Psychologist.
I discovered my love for music when I was three and a half years old. It was then that I picked up my first violin and begin studies in music. I would find lots of success in that field of study, and pick up more instruments along the way, like percussion (drums, cymbals, etc.). I would study these privately until the age of 17.
I entered Montessori when I was five in September 1994 at Kensington Academy. I would make my first communion in April of 1998. I left Kensington Academy after completing the third grade in 1999. I would then continue studies at a private fine and liberal arts school in Auburn Hills, Michigan called Oakland Steiner where I would complete the rest of elementary and middle school. After that, I would be homeschooled for my freshman year of high school, and then complete the rest of my high school career at St. Mary’s Preparatory.
St Mary’s Prep School is strong Catholic Institution where I would begin discerning my vocation or exploring the possibilities of a vocation. We attended Mass in high school twice a week, and sometimes three times a week if it was a holy day of obligation. I would graduate there St Mary Preparatory School in May 2008. My crowning achievement was winning the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award.
After high school I started studies in philosophy at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Downtown Detroit. I remained there for 4 years until I finished discerning my call and entered the Mercedarian Friars.
2) When did you first start thinking about religious life and/or priesthood?
I started thinking of a vocation when I was a junior in High School during Mass.
The Shield was given to the Order by King James I 800 years ago.
3) How did you come to know about the Order of the BVM of Mercy? What drew you to this community?
I came to know about the Order of the BVM of Mercy and plenty of other orders through Vocation Placement Services on the internet. I was drawn to this community because of the way they live religious life and the Charism of order itself. The Mercedarians redeem those who are in captivity at risk of losing their faith.
4) Now that you are a postulant what is your favorite part of the Religious Life?
I enjoy as a postulant the community prayers, the common meal, and recreation time.
Fr Richard Rasch, O. de M. has been blessed to serve the Order in a variety of capacities from Prision Ministry to Pastor to Vicar Provincial. Here Fr Richard answers some question about his vocation story:
Fr Richard Rasch, O. de M.
So, Father Richard, could you tell us a little about your family?
I grew up in a Middle class family. My father was Lutheran. My mother was Catholic. Many times we would go to Lutheran Services at 8am & Catholic Mass at 12noon. Both of my parents were very faithful and devoted to church. They gave good example to us in living Christianity in their daily lives.
When did you first consider Religious life and/or Priesthood?
I think the first time I thought about it was in High school. I always had the desire to go to Catholic High School, but my Father could not see spending the extra money. So I went to a public school all my life. After that I went to community college for two years. After saving some money, I was able to enroll in a Catholic College, Niagara University, to complete my bachelor’s degree.
How did you first discover the Mercedarian Friars?
I first knew Mercedarian from Niagara University. There were several friars attending the University. At that time the Order had a house near Niagara Falls on College Avenue. Different times I would stop by to pray with the community while I was in college.
What are some of positions that you have held in community and how have you served the Order over the years?
I have been in a variety of capacities from taking care of youth to prison chaplaincy, to hospital chaplaincy, to being pastor, to superior, and, also, Vicar Provincial. I was Vicar Provincial of the United States Vicariate for 4 terms (12 years).
Fr Eugene, Fr Tim, and Fr Richard chat inbetween meetings.
What have been your greatest joys in Religious Life?
One of my greatest joys is preparing people to die. One of the hospitals that I was chaplain at was mostly cancer patients. I got to know the patients and their families’ real well. I ended up doing many of the funerals of these patients as well. Just being there with them and going through those difficult times was powerful. There are people that still keep in touch with me even now years later. I had their mothers or fathers funerals and they still remember me. They send Christmas cards each year. It amazes me. This is one of my greatest joys.
Another great joy is taking care of community service workers (those assigned by the courts, in lieu of, or in addition to, other criminal justice sanctions). My background is in a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and Criminal Justice. I have worked for several years as a Prison Chaplain. To me the prison and hospital suited me better personality wise and ministry wise.
Do you have any suggestions for those young men who are starting to begin to think about being religious and/or a priest?
The Holy Spirit will direct you where He wants you. Be patient with yourself and be patient with the community. The grace of God is there with you to guide you.
Scott Anderson is a man of his time. He has experienced the struggles that come from our society today, and found that Christ is the answer to all of them. Here is his story:
Our Lady of Mercy with baby Jesus playing with the shield of the Order
I grew up in a small town in the Midwest just outside of Chicago. I was sent to Catholic school for the first nine years of my education, during which time I had fostered a great love for the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Heavenly Mother; a relationship that would eventually ransom me from my own bonds sin.
A revert to the faith, I fell away from the Church during my high school years, due in part to the poor catechesis that I had received as a child and up into adolescence. In high school, I started searching for my faith, it wasn’t until four years later that I would be inspired to return to the Catholic Church. I began to instruct myself in the teachings of the Church, and quickly realized that all I had been looking for was right in front of me. During this time, I would greatly rely on the comfort and strength I had received from my devotion to Our Blessed Mother, in order to bring me back into full communion with the Church once more.
Scott with Br. Vincent at the Ordination of Fr. Scottston
Until I had begun the work of catechizing myself I had never known of the Church’s doctrines on the Real Presence, Holy Days of Obligation or Fasting outside of Lent; I had a poor understanding of the Sacraments as well, all of which are essential to our Divinely appointed position as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Despite the nine years of religious education that I had received, I was still ignorant in our most basic teachings. The poor evangelization of the people of God- which, so often, leads to the falling away from the faith- is all too common of a problem and I knew I had to find some way to dedicate myself to this cause. It was the Mercedarians’ great zeal for evangelization that inspired me to look deeper into this community. After experiencing their great reverence for the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the orthodoxy of their teachings, their love for the Virgin Mary and the great devotion they have for living out their Fourth Vow of Redemption- I knew I had to apply. After all, who else would vow death in order to save the faith of another?
I am now just beginning the next step in my discernment process and I am greatly looking forward to when I can fully dedicate my life to Jesus through Mary and the evangelization of His people.
Nicholas McLeod is preparing to enter the postulancy program in Philadelphia this Fall. Here is his story:
When I was in grade two my teacher asked us to interview the person who you wanted to be when you grew up. I interviewed my parish priest. That I think was the first sign of my call to the priesthood. I come from a family of six and I grew up near Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I moved to Toronto, Ontario when I entered grade 9 and then moved up to Ottawa to attend University where I graduated with a Bachelors of Commerce in Accounting and Management of People and Organizations.
I had rejected my Catholic faith in High School, but when I saw a video of what abortion did to pre-born children I knew that I was pro-life. So in University I co-founded the pro-life club on campus and who were my fellow members, but Catholics. So in second year one of them asked me to go on a retreat with them. I went, and it was there that for the first time I experienced adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. I could not help but fall to my knees and I made my first real confession. Once I had opened my heart back to God, his call once again reached my ears. He wanted me to work for him.
I searched for orders but I was not satisfied with any of them, until I found the Mercedarians. What first drew me to them was their progressive view of liturgy. I loved that they celebrated the extraordinary form of the mass and offered the ordinary form so reverently. When I heard the story of St. Peter Nolasco and the Saints of the order, I knew that this is where I belonged.
St. Raymond Nonnatus in particular caught my attention. As a full time pro-life activist in Canada with the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform I feel that God is really calling for me to minister to the pre-born child, who is dehumanized, killed and experimented on both in United States and Canada. St. Raymond–the patron saint of the pre-born–demonstrated the courage and self-sacrifice that every pro-lifer must have in order to save children from being decapitated, dismembered, and disembowled through abortion. He continued to speak the Gospel of Christ, even when his lips were padlocked shut. In the same way we have to speak the Gospel of life, even when we are silenced and persecuted for it.
If I could sum up the Mercedarian mission in one word it would be re-evangelization. St. Peter did not seek to ransom anyone, he sought out specifically Christians who were losing their faith because of their captivity. I am excited to participate in that mission to give my life for the freedom of those enslaved by ignorance, despair and other captivities which are causing them to lose their faith. St. Raymond, Ora pro nobis.
Mercedarian postulant, Scott McLeod tells his journey from living in the world for himself to striving for holiness as a seminarian:
Scott strums the guitar
I was raised in a suburb north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My family was only modestly Catholic, so when I got to college the practice of the Faith was not something immediately pressing on my conscience. This changed sophomore year, when a friend challenged me on my living the faith and started what would turn into a conversion.
While this wasn’t something that took place all at once or without a significant fight, it was a deep change in both lifestyle and outlook. Now, I struggled not to live my own life, but to live the life of Christ in me. This is a challenge, of course, but with the eyes of Faith, it is the only rewarding way for a Christian to live. I started serving Masses and volunteering with the Pittsburgh Oratory and the Pitt Campus Ministry around this time.
By serving Masses, I grew closer to the liturgy and the worship of the Church and fed an already growing desire to for more complete consecration to God and a life focused and centered around the Sacraments and the example of the Saints. By the end of college, I had also begun to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, which became an important part of my dailyprayer life and also my discernment.
I visited several mendicant orders, even volunteering with onefor a summer, but eventually found that the combination of community life, Marian devotion, liturgical life, and (most importantly) redeeming charism of the Mercedarians attracted me in a unique way. If Christ came among usin order to redeem us, what greater imitation of Christ can a religious offer than the imitation of His redeeming mission?
Peace in the Lord Jesus! My name is Vincent. I am 23 years old, from the greater Philadelphia region in Pennsylvania, and a postulant with the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy.
Vincent prays in the Chapel at the Mercedarian House of Studies
I was born into a strong, Catholic family where I have been blessed with the biggest grace of life, the Catholic Faith. From an early age, my relationship with Christ surrounded the Mass and the frequenting of the sacraments. It was here that the Lord placed a deep and joyful desire on my heart to serve Him at the altar and among the Communion of Saints, the Church. But it wasn’t until I went through several – and ongoing! – conversion experiences in my life that I began to muster up the fortitude to cooperate with His grace to say “Yes!” to the only Person Who really matters, Our Lord Jesus Himself.
I began to foster devotions to the saints: to become better friends, with Jesus, Mary, my guardian angel, St. John Vianney, St. Therese of Lisieux among others. However, an experience with illness left me questioning mortality, “why am I truly here?” I needed to re-commit to the Lord God, and Our Father in heaven. After traversing through the downright frightening, existential experiences of college, I learned something about the virtue of perseverance. But, there was yet incompletion inside.
A friend told me about the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes. He urged me – and it was Christ in him – to “Come and see.” Thus I met the Friars of the Blessed Mother of Ransom, and from Day 1, the Lord prepared my heart to receive the resonant joy of accepting that He wanted me to discern my vocation, with others of the same mind and heart, here. Finally, the Lord broke through: “Vincent, why do you stand here idle all day? – Do something!”
Dear Jesus, we give you our hearts and pray to do what you ask of us. Then, whatever happens, is Your Holy Will, for we trust in You!
About 2 weeks ago,the Mercedarians welcomed 3 new postulants to the formation progarm. The following is the vocation story of one of the postulants, Tu Pham:
Tu Pham
I was born in a small town South Vietnam. My family was devoutly Catholic during my childhood, and my grandfather made a point of developing good habits of Mass attendance at a young age. I moved to the United States when I was 21 years old.
At the time that I moved to the United States, there was new legislation regarding immigration for person over the age of 21. This meant that I had to go through an immigration interview—an idea that filled me with great fear. Thankfully, my grandfather sent me a letter of encouragement that instructed me to pray to Mary for her assistance. I took his advice and prayed slowly with my heart. After doing this for two months, my interview came. By this time, I was able to face the interview without fear or worry, confident in my hope. I was allowed to stay in the country.
After this, I began my real journey to God through Mary. We all have different paths, but a similar way to God through doing ordinary things with a great depth of love. I began to attend Mass regularly. Soon, I also felt the beginnings of a deep desire to become a religious brother. I talked to my parish priest and was given a few different opinions and ideas about communities to visit. One priest, knowing my great devotion to the Blessed Virgin, told me that I should visit the Mercedarians in Philadelphia because of their similar devotion.
In the end, I chose to become a Mercedarian because I saw in the Order a place for my great Marian devotion. In addition to this, the common respect and love amongst the brothers is a wonderful and attractive aspect of the Mercedarian life.
As a postulant, Michael Bowes composed his vocation story. He is now a novice in LeRoy, NY. Here is the second installment of his journey to the Mercedarians:
Br Michael and Br Josiah on their investiture day.
During my discernment with the Mercedarians I found a holy spiritual director who helped guide me on my journey. Father Jack Fullen. He passed away shortly before I made my second visit with the Mercedarians.
In the weeks leading up to my first visit I asked Father Jack how I could see God working in my life and what kind of signs He would give me if this was the right place.
Father Jack explained to me the slight difference between the natural and the supernatural worlds and how they work together. He told me that sometimes God lifts the veil between these two dimensions and we are given a quick glimpse of God putting the puzzle pieces together to lead us to Him. I didn’t really understand Father Jack at the time, but I would soon experience a first-hand glimpse of God’s hand in my life.
I made my first visit to the Mercedarians in March 2010 and had a wonderful time.
On my last day I spent an hour in the chapel praying and asking God for direction. I felt He was inviting me to apply and I decided to ask for an application.
As I was getting up to leave, I felt rather bold and asked God for three signs that this was indeed the place He wanted me enter.
I know we shouldn’t ask for signs, but after so many disappointments with previous communities and vocational discernments I wanted to be sure this was the place.
One of the signs I asked for was that I would receive confirmation from an outside source not associated with the community. What little faith I had! And what a surprise God had in store for me.
All three signs were mere days from being answered.
Sign #1
When I arrived home, I told my Mom over dinner about the monastery and how excited I was with everything I saw and experienced.
Mom asked me where the novitiate was and I told her Le Roy, N.Y. Mom inquired further if the Mercedarians there were called “the Fathers of Our Lady of Mercy.”
I told her no, that she must be mistaken and confusing the name with another religious order.
Mom insisted that there was a group in Le Roy called “the Fathers of Our Lady of Mercy.” I was sure she was confused.
To settle our argument she told me to hang on for a few moments while she went upstairs to get something. She returned carrying a card and handed it to me. I flipped over the card to discover the signature of the Mercedarian Vicar Provincial, Father Richard Rasch.
I turned over the card and looked at it: It was a mass card. I slowly turned and looked at Mom and asked her where she got the card from.
“I have been having Masses said for you through this group since you were born,” she told me.
My knees wobbled and I felt like my legs had just turned to jelly. Here was my big sign!
For 29 years, Mom had been having Masses said for me through the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy and neither of us had realized this was the same order I was now in application with.
Sign #2
A few months later, as I waited for the council to vote on my application, I had another confirmation from God regarding this order.
I was helping my Mom move books she had brought home from my late grandmother’s house. One of the piles I was attempting to move toppled over and the books cascaded across the floor.
One book spun out of the middle and slid into my mom’s foot. It was faded tan and ragged with age.
Mom bent down and picked up the book. Her eyes lit up and she let out a slight gasp. She opened the first page and then asked me to come over and look at what she found. The name of the book was “The Magnificat” and it was published by the Mercedarians.
This book was more than 30 years old. Inside, we found notes written in pencil with dates. One of the notes was written on Dec. 25, 1980 – when I was just 3 months in the womb. Mom had said this novena to St. Raymond Nonnatus, who is the patron saint of the unborn and is one of our great Mercedarian saints. She dedicated me to him before I was born.
Apparently this book ended up on my grandmother’s shelf, where it sat untouched for 29 years until that perfect moment that God chose to reveal it to us. has everything planned out for us and He reveals these things in His own time.
Sign #3
On June 2, 2010, I was accepted into the Mercedarians and on Aug. 20, 2010, I entered the postulancy.
In the months leading up to my entrance I was tormented with second thoughts and questions if this was really what I was supposed to do.
You would think with all the confirmations I had, there would be little doubt in my heart.
It was not so.
I did doubt and I wondered if I was going to be missing out on a family by entering religious life. My fears and doubts were quickly quelled as I felt God tell me about the family that I was going to be a part of. I was soon going to have more brothers, sisters, and fathers than I could ever have imagined. This message was a welcome sign. It helped me surmount a persistent stumbling block.
I find that God gives me sufficient grace to live a holy and celibate life for him. I unite myself with Jesus and I ask the Blessed Mother to keep me pure in mind, heart, and body. In doing so, I do not find the struggle with the celibate life to be difficult.
On September 15, 1987, Blessed John Paul II reflected on his call to the Sacred Priesthood here’s what he had to say:
Blessed John Paul II
I am often asked, especially by young people, why I became a priest. May be some of you would like to ask the same question. Let me try briefly to reply.
I must begin by saying that it is impossible to explain entirely, for it remains a mystery, even to myself. How does one explain the ways of God? Yet, I know that at a certain point in my life, I became convinced that Christ was saying to me what he had said to thousands before me, “Come follow me!” There was a clear sense that what I heard in my heart was no human voice, nor was it just an idea of my own. Christ was calling me to serve him as a priest.
And you can probably tell, I am deeply grateful to God for my vocation to the priesthood. Nothing means more to me or gives me greater joy than to celebrate Mass each day and to serve God’s people in the Church. That has been true ever since the day of my ordination as a priest. Nothing has ever changed it, not even becoming pope.
Pope John Paul II, Los Angeles, September 15, 1987
Br. James Chia, O. de M. came to America searching for the American Dream, but he found that he had a vocation to one of the most ancient Orders in the Church. Here is his story:
Br James will make his Solemn vows June 29th.
Praise to Jesus Christ – now & forever! I come from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, MALAYSIA, & from a family of 17 children. My father & mother had a total of 11 children – eight boys & three girls. My father had 6 children – three boys & three girls from his first marriage. Growing up as a young boy, God has been gracious to my family. I grew up in a family that has its ups & downs – like any other family. However, we always look out for the others – always putting others ahead of our own individual needs. My late aunt (†1996) who was my mother’s younger sister was Sr. Mary Catherine in the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (FSIC) in Kota Kinabalu. Another of my aunt who is my mother’s oldest sister is Sr. Mary Therese of the Child Jesus in the Discalced Carmelite Order in Kota Kinabalu. Praised be to Jesus, this May also marks my aunt’s Diamond Jubilee as a Discalced Carmelite Nun! Then, there is one of my older brothers who is a Brother of Mercy of Mary Help of Christians (FMMA) in Singapore. Being the youngest is not easy since nothing you can do that the brothers & sisters do not know! They have been there & done that, so to speak! In addition to providing me with many holy Religious as role models, God has provided me with many holy Priests while in Kota Kinabalu especially the Mill Hill Missionaries (MHM) that left their home for an unknown place called Sabah where they heard of rumors that people in this place lived on trees & that there were headhunters everywhere! Yet, these MHMs said “Yes Lord, send me!” Then, there is my former Pastor, Fr. Peter Ma, at Stella Maris Parish in Kota Kinabalu who was a patient & caring Priest. Fr. Peter Ma is now retired staying at St. Mary’s Church in New York City. He was the former Pastor of Transfiguration Church located at Mott Street in New York Chinatown. So, Religious & Priestly Life is not new to me when I heard God calling me to serve Him as a Religious & Priest. St. Bernard of Clairvaux once said: “I heard God calling me & I am here to check it out!” I continue to hear God calling me & God continues to call me.
In December 1989, I came to Philadelphia to further my study in Electrical Engineering Technology at Temple University. My family chose Philadelphia because I have two elder sisters in Philadelphia & they did not want me to be too far from the watchful eyes. When I finished my studies in 1994 I returned to Kota Kinabalu & worked there until 2001. In 2000, my application for US Immigrant Visa was approved & I “immigrated” to US in 2001 in search of my American Dream! All I wanted was to marry a beautiful girl & have many children since I come from a large family. I stayed with my elder sister & her family in Yardley, PA, as I did while studying at Temple University. I got involved with my “new” Parish named St. Ignatius of Antioch & was quite active. God surrounded me with a group of good Catholic friends – men & women. They encouraged me to look into vocation together with my Spiritual Director, Fr. Louis Kolenkiewicz. Fr. Kolenkiewicz asked me once: “James, if God is to call you, what will you say & do?” I replied that I would say “Yes” & check it out (i.e., make the first step forward). I looked into the Congregation of Mission (i.e., the Vincentians) & the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy (i.e., The Mercedarians). Some time later, I still hear God calling me & I am here to check it out! At this point, I can truly say that I am discovering the American Dream that God has in store for me! May the Most Holy Trinity be served with greater fidelity & be praised always in His Church!
Here Br. Scott Brentwood, O. de M. tells his vocation story which leads him from a small Virginia town to becoming a friar in an Ancient Order.
Br Scott will make his Solemn Vows in June.
I spent my early years in the mountains of Virginia in a little corner of the world that still maintains a unique atmosphere of tranquility and lack of modernization all along the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had everything from trees to open fields – as rustic as one can get – but a community that was very aware of its codependence on one another. Everyone knew everyone, and the stereotype of “small town life” very much applied. The best comparison I can make is Mayberry from the Andy Griffith Show…which is actually a 20 min. drive from where I lived.
Being in the “Bible-Belt,” faith was a very strong and present reality of every day life. Everything started and ended with a prayer, and even when prayer in school was no longer permitted, the students still said them without the prompting of the Administration. The Catholic presence, however, was VERY small and almost non existent. In my house, religion was important, but not too important. We were not as religious as other families, but I would not say it was lacking. We said our prayers before and after meals as well as before we went to bed, but it was not a major part of my growing up.
I began to consider a vocation to be a priest when I was fourteen. I was working at a government institution where the government distributes alms etc. to people who are poor. Before I worked there, I thought most people only abused the program. I thought they did not need the help but took it because it was available. When I worked there, I discovered that this was true. One time, however, I helped a family that really needed help, and afterward I tried to find a way to help others in more than just material ways. At the time I did not know about the religious life, and my only real understanding of priestly life was that of the Diocese. When I was seventeen, I decided I would pursue a priestly vocation. I talked with the Vocation Director for the Diocese in Virginia. He told me that the Diocese does not accept anyone until they have finished at a university. I went to Old Dominion University. It is a large university of 30,000 students. I made many friends, and some of these friends also wanted to pursue a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. When I learned about the religious life, I felt that this mode of life was what God wanted for me. I liked the idea of living together with others who wanted to work for the same cause. I looked into different religious congregations, but I did not find any that I wanted to join.
During the last year at my university, a friend of mine visited the Mercedarians. When he returned, he told me I should visit them. I said no. I did not want to spend more time looking at congregations because I had looked at them before and did not see any that I liked. That September, a hurricane came to Norfolk, the city of my university. Everyone was evacuated from the university. My family was eight hours away, so it was impossible for me to go home. I asked the same friend if I could stay with him in his apartment downtown. He said I could stay, but he was leaving to be with his family. I stayed in his apartment alone. The electricity died the first day, and the only activities I could do were study Biology, Pray, and look at the walls. I spent more time looking at the walls than I did studying or praying.
My friend visited many different communities. When he visited the communities, he always took cards of their saints etc. so he could remember to pray for the communities. He would put them in the edges of other pictures. When I was looking at these images, the images for the Mercedarians seemed different. I thought I would call them and ask some questions I had. I did not want to visit because the closest house was in Philadelphia, and Philadelphia was eight hours from my university by car. When I called, I asked many questions. I was happy with the answers. I visited the next November. I returned to Philadelphia the next January before returning to my university. For my break in the spring, I returned to Philadelphia to complete the testing necessary for the application. I graduated from my university in May, and entered the Mercedarians in August.
