ONE OF THE GREATEST SAINTS of our modern times first encountered his personal call to holiness through the witness of his father.
As a young boy, Karol Wojtyla, lost his mother at 9 years old, and so his father, Karol Jozef Wojtyla played a crucial role in forming him to be a “true worshiper of God.” His father lived a simple life of sacrifice and prayer in the aftermath of the premature deaths of his wife and older son. When Karol’s mother died, his father took him to a Marian shrine to pray for her soul. Decades later, true devotion to Our Lady would be a prominent trait of Pope John Paul II’s spirituality and pontificate.
Karol often saw his father constantly praying, even in the middle of the night. The witness of Karol’s father planted the first seeds of Karol’s priestly vocation. Karol recognized with gratitude that his father created a “domestic seminary” for him through his prayerful witness and example.
St. Therese of Lisieux also had a profound experience of being encouraged to grow in her faith and her call to holiness through the example of her parents and their instruction. She also lost her mother at a young age. Still, her father, Louis Martin, continued to guide his family in the faith by leading family prayer time, attending Mass regularly and taking his family to pilgrimages and shrines.
Louis made sure that Sunday was the Lord’s Day in their home, and the family would gather for worship in the parish, and they would rest and have leisure time. The environment in the Martin home was conducive for five of his daughters to discern and pursue a vocation to religious life. It was a great sacrifice for Louis, but he supported his daughters’ calling to enter into religious life, especially young Therese, who desired to enter the convent at age 15.
These two extraordinary saints of our modern age pursued their discernment of God’s will and entered priestly and religious vocations with the blessing of their parents. The holy marriages of the parents of these saints played a crucial role in fostering this encouragement. The gift of these two canonized saints whose vocations were nurtured in their homes is still resonating in the life of the Church today. Parents have the primary duty to encourage their children to be disciples of Jesus, following Him in the way that He is calling them. This includes being open to the call to priesthood and consecrated life for their children and by living an example of a holy marriage.
As the parents of these saints have modeled, this is lived simply but requires consistency. Cultivate your home as a domestic Church by engaging in daily prayer and reading Sacred Scripture. Read stories of the saints and watch positive media that support Christian values. Assure your children that they have great freedom to discern the possibility of a vocation to the priesthood or consecrated life. Befriend priests and consecrated men and women who can share their stories of discernment and the joyful reality of their lives. Pray for the grace to desire that your children fulfill their baptismal vocation by becoming great saints in whatever way is best for them. Take comfort in the fact that although it is a great sacrifice to surrender your children to God in this way, the Lord will provide and protect for your family’s needs.
Parents of priests often are welcomed into a parish and discover that the parishioners share their pride in their son. Parents whose daughters join religious orders have discovered that while they gave one daughter to God, they received a whole religious family in return and can find themselves having over 20 women call them “mom” and “dad.”
During this Vocations Awareness Week, parents are encouraged to examine their beliefs about encouraging their children to pursue a vocation to the priesthood or consecrated life. Bring to prayer any fearful thoughts such as, “I don’t want my child to be lonely” or “I’m afraid of losing my son or daughter.” Ask for the intercession of the parents of St. John Paul II and St. Therese of Lisieux, so you, too, may encourage your children to pursue holiness no matter where the path may take them. The world needs them to become great saints, and in so doing, your vocation as a parent will be a witness of holiness.