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On Tuesday, members of the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa visited Thomas Aquinas College to meet with students who may be discerning vocations to the religious life. The community, founded by the Most Rev. Robert F. Vasa, Bishop of Santa Rosa (California), is dedicated to “communicating the beauty, goodness, and truth of the Catholic Faith in a spirit of joyful evangelization while living the fullness of the Church’s liturgical life.”

The Sisters’ visit to campus is one of an ongoing series of vocation talks that allow students to learn about various communities and spend time with their members on a personal level. “We don’t believe in recruitment,” said Sr. Mary Vianney, MSSR, during a presentation in the Dillon Seminar Room. “If someone is meant to be with us, that is a great blessing, but what is more important to us is if we can help someone find where God wants her to be, whether that’s another religious community, or whether that’s a holy marriage. It is an honor to be part of that.”

During her presentation, Sr. Mary Vianney, accompanied by Sr. Caritas Marie, MSSR, focused on what it means, as a religious woman, to be a daughter of the Church, a spouse of Christ, and a mother of souls. “This vocation changes our identity,” she explained. “We go from, hopefully, being a good and fervent Catholic to being a spouse of Christ, and it’s the vows that form this identity.”

The religious life of “prayer and contemplation” is joyful, she continued, “but there’s a lot of time for silence” — for which the College’s students are well prepared. “Your campus is the most peaceful college campus I have ever been on! I walked out and felt like I was at the monastery at certain points,” said Sr. Marie Vianney. “You are blessed. And then you walk in at other points and you see friends and all of that, so it’s not false, because it’s truly a college atmosphere. But it’s peaceful here. And it is a life of friendship in Christ.”

Historically about 10 percent of the College’s graduates enter the priesthood or religious life.