Religious Orders for Nurses

The following are examples of communities that accept nurses with vocations to religious life.

Sr. Mary & Sr. Camille (Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne) with Sr. Callista Roy at NACN-USA Summit in Cape Cod, 6-8Oct2017

Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne
600 Linda Avenue
Hawthorne, NY 10532
(845) 745-1319

Sister of Life
38 Montebello Road
Suffern, NY 10901
(845)-357-0258

Religious Life

The Institute on Religious Life (IRL) promotes and supports the growth, development, and renewal of the consecrated life—particularly vowed religious life—as a gift to the Church and an evangelical witness to the world.

Third Order or Secular

Third Orders signify in general lay members of religious  orders, i.e. men and women who do not necessarily live in community and yet participate in the good works of some great order. St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), one the of Doctors of the Church, was a Third Order Dominican. A few are listed below:

Secular Institutes

The Catholic Church established Secular Institutes as a form of consecrated life in 1947 for people who wish to combine the contemplative and the apostolic life while living in the world. Secular institutes provide members with a community of like-minded people who put God first in their lives and everything else second.
There are over thirty secular institutes in the United States, each having its own rule and lifestyle, period of formation and ongoing animation.

Consecrated Virgins

“The custom of consecrating women to a life of virginity flourished even in the early Church. It led to the formation of a solemn rite constituting the candidate a sacred person, a surpassing sign of the Church’s love for Christ, and an eschatological image of the world to come and the glory of the heavenly Bride of Christ.

Consecrated Widows

The vocation of consecrated widowhood is a way of life for consecrated widows that differs from religious life. It allows them to remain at the heart of their families, who need their help and presence in a real sense, yet still enables them to consecrate their life to Jesus. At this point in time, the Latin (Roman) Catholic Church has not re-established the Order of Widows/Widowers in its Canon Law. The Canons for the Eastern Catholic Churches do allow for the consecration of widows and widowers.  In the Roman Catholic Church, dedicated widows or singles who desire to live a Catholic, Roman/Latin Rite, Franciscan life together with a community of like-minded women, while living in the secular world in their homes may discern a vocation to The Family of Jacopa Association, a public association of the Christian Faithful in the Diocese of Steubenville.

Public Associations of the Christian Faithful

The Church recognizes the work of the Holy Spirit among the faithful, inspiring various joint efforts to promote the Christian life, in general, and to promote specific aspects of our life in Christ, for example, the Sacred Liturgy, Catholic education, works of charity and Christian witness in the various fields of human activity and endeavor. The faithful are, in fact, encouraged to form associations among themselves for the sake of living the Faith more deeply and spreading the Faith to others more effectively.

LourdesA Public Association of the Christian Faithful composed of volunteers, laity, clergy and religious, who lovingly serve the Immaculate Conception and her pilgrims both in the Sanctuaries at France and back at home through living and sharing the Gospel Message of Lourdes. Member of the Pilgrimage Medical Leadership Team accompany pilgrims with a variety of special needs providing supportive care to ensure they enjoy a comfortable, safe and meaningful pilgrimage experience.