Purpose and Mission We exist to provide financial assistance to women who must repay student loans in order to pursue their religious vocation with the Daughters of Mary Immaculate.
Q & A Why is this fund needed?
Canon Law requires that a person be "debt free" before they enter religious life.
Educational debt is the largest obstacle preventing women from joining a religious community.*
The average student graduates with over $30,000 of educational debt.*
Many women delay entering formation in order to work and pay off their student debt for 4 or 5 years.
Why do the Marianist Sisters not pay for student debt?
The Marianist Sisters, like many religious communities, cannot afford to take on debt because of the increasing costs of health care.
What debts does the fund cover?
The fund will provide up to $25,000 per candidate to pay student loans during the candidate's formation process.
*From Georgetown University's Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate 2014 Annual Report
Listen to the Sharing Our Marianist Stories podcast episode "We're All in This Together: Marianist Sisters Vocation Fund"
Marianist Sisters are an invaluable part of the Catholic, Marianist Family. Like Mary, they bring Christ into the world to animate the Church and transform society. Marianist Sisters build communities, educate for justice, and form people in faith. As we look toward our Catholic, Marianist future it is critical that we read the signs of the times and insure women can discern religious vocations so future generations can be blessed by their gifts. This is integral not only to the Marianist Family but also the local and universal church. To insure a future graced by Marianist Sisters, lay and religious are working together to tackle educational debt--the largest obstacle preventing women from joining religious communities—by forming the Marianist Sisters Vocation (MSVF).
MSVF invests in the future of the Marianist Family by defraying education debt for women discerning their vocation. Annually, we fundraise $25,000 to make the minimum monthly payments of educational debt for women in formation with the Marianist Sisters.
Lay and religious pool their resources together and make it possible for women to move forward with their Marianist vocation. Together we help women to redirect their lives and enter the pre-novitiate to begin their formation process. With your tax-deductible contribution, you can invest in the future of the Marianist Family by helping us reach our annual goal of $25,000 and make a lasting difference in the Catholic church and our Marianist Family.
