More young women grabbing their rosaries for convent life

MISHAWAKA, Ind.--It's a nationwide trend and it's happening right here in Michiana. More and more young women are foregoing the temptations of night life and men and grabbing their rosaries instead.

It's a path for twenty some year old girls that will never end in a break-up.

"It was a lot of back and forth,” said Janet Hilger who joined a convent two weeks ago. “I actually was dating for a while before entering."

More and more young girls are opting for a relationship with the best man of all: Jesus Christ.

“I'm 27 years old and when I was 25 is when I really strongly felt the calling towards religious life,” said Anna Hoefer, joined convent two weeks ago.

She’s not alone. Many of the new sisters remember back to high school- a time where they pondered their life paths.

“I'm 26 years old and I started having thoughts about religious life in high school,” said Hilger.

These are the sisters of Saint Francis of Perpetual Adoration. Their lives are now in sync, but they came from very different places.

"At the beginning of high school I wanted to be an interpreter,” said Sylvi Pultorak, joined convent two weeks ago.

But now she's interpreting prayer, and her fellow sister no longer needs her checkbook.

"I was working as an accountant in a big-four accounting firm in Indianapolis," said Hoefer.

Sister Hoefer used to manage finances, but now she's working towards taking a vow of poverty.

"I think it'll be hard. I was talking about it with my mom before and she said ‘I think it's something that you grow into.’”

They didn't always plan to be here but say they couldn't deny the calling.

“It was a spark. It planted the seed,” said Pultorak.

"Everything kept going right, I was promoted at work, continued to love my job, but I just knew that there was something missing,” said Hoefer.

So she followed God's direction and ended up here, with five other new sisters, who make up the biggest incoming group in 40 years.

"It is very exciting to be a part of the biggest class,” said Hilger. “I knew that here it was one of the biggest classes but I didn't know it was a trend nationwide."

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