While the presence of religious sisters in Catholic schools and churches has diminished over the last 100 years, the future of religious life in America shows signs of promise. Several women’s religious orders are attracting numerous young vocations, indicating a potential resurgence. 

Here are four such thriving orders in the United States.

The Sisters of Life

“The Sisters can give Christ because they have Christ. They have Christ because they love Christ, because they are consecrated to Christ and Christ is consecrated to them.”

– John Cardinal O’Connor, Founder of the Sisters of Life

The Sisters of Life are an active and contemplative community founded in 1991 by Cardinal John O’Connor. In addition to the three traditional vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the sisters of life make an additional fourth vow to protect and enhance the sanctity of life. Currently serving in eight dioceses, the Sisters of Life work to support women who are vulnerable to abortion. They offer retreats, minister to college students, and support women suffering from the aftermath of an abortion. This past August, ten women professed their final vows, their young faces glowing with joy as they joined the ranks of blue-and-white-dressed sisters who fight for life all across our country.

The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecelia

“How is it that a small and remote Congregation survived periods of crisis, near dissolution, and the changes brought about by the renewal of the Second Vatican Council? The answer in part at least is life within…The larger answer is not within our reach. It is related to the mystery of grace and God’s goodness.”

– The Nashville Dominicans, by Sister Rose Marie Masserano

The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecelia, or the “Nashville Dominicans” as they are fondly called, were founded in 1860 in Nashville, TN. The community has remained large and robust through the Civil War, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and the troubled period that followed the Second Vatican Council. The sisters teach over 15,000 students across America and the globe, accepting a healthy group of postulants every year, some as young as 18.

The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

“Consecrated persons are thus leaven that are able to create relations of increasingly deep communion, that are in themselves educational… they give an explicitly Christian testimony, through communication of the experience of God and of the evangelical message, even sharing the awareness of being instruments of God and bearers of a charism in the service of all men.”

– Consecrated Persons and Their Mission in Schools, 41

Founded in 1997, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist have blossomed from 4 founding members to over 140 in just 30 years. Answering John Paul II’s call for the new evangelization, these sisters embrace the centuries-old Dominican tradition and put a modern twist on it. Primarily teachers, the sisters have also developed Openlight Media, which offers tools for educating the hearts and minds of the child and the childlike. The average age of the sisters is 37, and their energy and faithfulness are helping to renew the Church day by day.

Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles

“It is [The Holy Spirit] who shapes and molds the hearts of those who are called, configuring them to Christ, the chaste, poor and obedient One, and prompting them to make his mission their own.”

– Vita Consecrata, 19

Founded in 1921, this group of Carmelite sisters was forced to flee from religious persecution in Mexico. They chose to make their new home in Los Angeles. With a unique blend of active and contemplative life, this group of religious attracts young vocations even to this day. The sisters offer retreats, teach in schools, and care for the elderly of the community. They accept applicants 18-30 years old and recently received an award from OneLife LA for their service to the elderly in the community.

Interested in learning more about the young religious sisters in the United States? Check out this website from the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious for more!