“We have a surprise for you!” Sister Mary Bethany announced to an excited group of high school girls.
For the first time in more than a year, the 88 campers at FIAT days vocations camp witnessed the newly gilded and refurbished statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the National Shrine Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes July 20. As the girls congregated on the field to pray the Angelus under Our Lady’s gaze, a refrain of “Hail, Holy Queen” arose in celebration.
The retreat kicked off July 17 at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., with Mass celebrated by Bishop Michael F. Burbidge followed by a barbecue with the campers and their families.
Over the course of the five-day overnight camp, religious sisters from around the United States gathered to introduce campers to different religious orders, encouraging them to open their hearts to a potential call to religious life. While pondering the camp’s theme, “Do this in memory of me,” the campers listened to religious talks, competed in sports tournaments and meditated during the daily “silent retreat.”
First time camper Dominique Muggeridge, a parishioner at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fredericksburg, said that FIAT days helped her grow in fellowship with like-minded, Christ-centered young women.
“I love the silent retreats we have,” Muggeridge said. “It’s really beautiful and really peaceful and gives you a lot of time to focus and pray.”
Muggeridge initially learned about FIAT through her older sister, who attended the camp twice. During the week, she enjoyed talking with the religious sisters and was interested in learning more about their vocation stories.
After a morning of talks and a holy hour July 20, the girls prayed, journaled, meditated and went to confession during their “silent retreat” before daily Mass.
In his homily, Vocations Director Father Michael C. Isenberg urged campers to never allow fear to create barriers between themselves and Christ. “The beauty of the spiritual life is that little by little, he chips away at these barriers, all of these fights that we have in our hearts,” Father Isenberg said. “And he begins to say, ‘Let me show how I love you.’ ”
After daily Mass and praying the Angelus, the campers gathered for lunch, where they celebrated the birthdays of two campers. They then spent the afternoon competing in the final rounds of their sports tournaments.
The sisters came from around the United States, including Ohio; New Jersey; Pennsylvania; Washington, D.C.; St. Louis; Nashville, Tenn.; and Annandale.
Sister Clare from the Capuchin Sisters of Nazareth in Pennsylvania shared that her call to the religious life came at a very young age. “I thought, ‘If I can be married to Jesus, that’s what I want to do,’ ” Sister Clare recalled. After wrestling between her desire to join the cloistered Carmelites and God’s call to join the Capuchin order, she joined the Carmelites, yet was not content. After returning home to recover from a serious illness, she accepted God’s call to join the Capuchin Sisters of Nazareth and received the name of St. Clare.
While Sister Clare had always embraced her religious vocation, other sisters’ stories were not as straightforward.
For Sister Laura Agnes from the Apostolic Sisters of St. John in New Jersey her faith journey differed in that initially she avoided the call to religious life. When she was 10, she attended a girls’ camp in California run by religious sisters, where one of the sisters reminded the campers, “Sometimes God does call people to give everything, not just a little bit here or there, but their whole heart.” Sister Laura Agnes said that she felt a strong call in the moment: “Yes, you.”
Yet it would not be until many years later that Sister Laura Agnes would embrace this calling and join the Community of St. John. She said that she enjoys seeing young women ask questions about the religious life and open their hearts to discernment.
Camper Lucy Evich, a parishioner of St. Theresa Church in Ashburn, said that FIAT days helped her to know Our Lord better, because, “You get to spend so much time with him, and the sisters give you all of this advice on how to grow closer to him.” Evich said the dynamic of the camp appeals to both spiritual and sporty girls: “There are so many girls who all share the same faith, and everyone is so nice.”
“Don’t be afraid to look into your heart and everything that you have, your deepest desires, and even your gut feeling, what is within you,” Sister Laura Agnes advised the campers. “Jesus is never, ever going to go against that. He planted so many beautiful things in us that he’s growing and taking care of. Everything that he’s put in us, he’s going to use in different ways for his kingdom.”
