Recruitment

Abstract

The above extract from a recruitment brochure produced in the 1940s is typical of the message the teaching religious disseminated among young people in an attempt to woo them to join their ranks. In such material, as well as in the message communicated orally from the pulpit and through Catholic schools, a particular notion was promoted regarding how prospective members would know if they were being invited by God to join a religious order. Essentially, this was a notion that, for whatever reason, God only spoke directly to individuals in very exceptional situations, as the Bible says he did to Saint Paul on the road to Damascus. All others had to be prepared in order to be alert to less direct signs that they were being “called.” To this end, it was common to encourage Catholics from a young age to contemplate notions of being altruistic for religious reasons and to consider the possibility that when such notions entered their minds, the origin might be God attempting to influence the path of their lives. The church engaged in this practice through four main avenues, namely, through the regular work of the clergy, through the circulation of printed material relating specifically to vocations, through the schools, and through special recruiting agents. Each of these avenues will now be considered in turn, particularly in relation to recruitment to religious orders of teaching brothers.

If you have a vocation, our Lord is offering you a life of happiness greater than you ever dreamed of, happiness that will never fail. The pleasure the world promises you will never content your heart.¹