ACE provides a number of prayer resources and opportunities to our participants and graduates that may be discerning a vocation to the religious life. Below you will find information on some of those offerings, as well as stories of ACE grads who are currently living out their call to religious life.
For more information, please contact Fr. Lou DelFra, C.S.C., at or 574-631-1798.
Vocations Curriculum
To Make God Known, Loved and Served is a vocations curriculum offered as a free download. The intent is to provide these resources to grade school teachers and catechists to assist them in their efforts to help students come to a deeper appreciation of the Church’s vision of vocation. It is the hope that through engaging this curriculum the students themselves will begin to consider God’s call in their own life.
This curriculum was developed as a collaborative effort of the Office of Vocations of the Congregation of Holy Cross' United States Province of Priests and Brothers and the Alliance for Catholic Education and received the Imprimatur from Most Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades, Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend. The material can be downloaded to use for individual lessons or downloaded, printed and assembled into resources for ongoing use.
Annual Vocations Retreat
For the past 9 years, over the Christmas break, ACE has sponsored a Vocations Retreat for any current and former ACE participants - men and women - who are considering a call to religious life.
This year, the ACE Vocations Retreat will include a pilgrimage to France, to some of the foundational heritages of our Catholic faith, as well as the birthplace of the Congregation of Holy Cross. In addition to our Pilgrimage to Paris, Chartres, Mont-Saint Michel, and LeMans, where Blessed Basile Moreau founded Holy Cross, the retreat will include talks on discernment, men's and women's religious life, and the priesthood. The retreat will also feature time for one-on-one spiritual direction with members of the retreat team.
Women's Discernment Day of Reflection
This July, we held our first Women's Discernment Day of Reflection. ACE teachers and graduates joined us on campus at Notre Dame for presentations, prayer, and one-on-one time with over a dozen professed sisters from various women's religious congregations. We look forward to continuing to offer this Day of Reflection each summer.
Holy Cross Men's Discernment Night
Each summer, ACE teachers who are discerning a call to the priesthood and/or religious life, especially in the Congregation of Holy Cross, gather at the Log Chapel and Old College (Holy Cross' on-campus seminary) to take part in prayer and a barbecue and to discuss their vocation with Holy Cross religious. We look forward to offering this evening of prayer, fellowship, and conversation about priesthood and religious life each summer.
