The devoted life: Student contemplates leaving CMU to become a nun


Sophomore Audrey Pottratz said she is determined to become a nun if that is God's will for her life. 

This weekend she had an interview with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville.

The Dominican Sisters are a Catholic order that study to become teachers in Catholic schools, where they teach normal classroom subjects and subjects of faith.

As part of the Dominican Order, Pottratz will not technically be a nun, but a sister. The terms are often used interchangeably by the public, but she said the difference is their way of life. 

"Nuns are cloistered. They stay in their monastery and pray, whereas the sisters work outside in the world in addition to praying a lot," Pottratz said. 

You can still refer to sisters as nuns, she said, because that is how they are referred to by mainstream society.

Pottratz's decision to become a sister began with her experiences in her hometown in Carmel, Ind. During her senior year, her high school employed some Dominican sisters as teachers. 

She said she admired the sisters, even though she never had the opportunity to take a class with one.

"People always assume nuns are so boring, like they pray all day, so they must be so sour-faced," Pottratz said. "(My school's nuns) were always so friendly and joyful, and that was the thing I couldn't get over — they were the funniest people I've ever met."

Pottratz said that kind of happiness was appealing to her. She wanted to experience what they had.

If she is accepted, she will quit pursuing a major in graphic design and instead take courses through Aquinas College in Nashville for an education degree.

At the St. Cecilia Motherhouse, she will also be taught the basics of religious life. 

Training ends after about 5 years. Then, sisters take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Then Pottratz could be sent anywhere to teach in Catholic schools.

Choosing CMU first

Her senior year of high school, Pottratz earned a full-ride scholarship to CMU through the Centralis program. She considered choosing a religious vocation, but said she decided to take the scholarship and see where CMU would lead her.

As she took classes, Pottratz said she became more and more certain that becoming a sister with the Dominicans was what God was asking her to do. She called up the vocation's director at St. Cecilia's last year, but she said they told her "to keep praying."

Pottratz said she realized she had been applying for the wrong reasons, because she had been feeling uncomfortable in her new college life.

"I realized I was just trying to run away, because it takes a whole year to get adjusted to college life, really meet close friends and grow in deep relationships," Pottratz said. 

This year is different. Pottratz had been plugged into the community at St. Mary's University Parish since her freshman year, but this year she started leading a small bible study through FOCUS, a St. Mary's ministry called the Fellowship of Catholic University Students.

"This extra year has been such a blessing," Pottraz said. "I've learned so much more about myself and how to talk about my faith."

She began to want to become a Dominican Sister not because she wanted an escape, but because she felt God was calling her to gain a deeper relationship with Him. 

Jackson junior Allie Slough is a friend and mentor of Pottratz. When she heard Pottratz planned to apply to become a Dominican Sister, she was overjoyed Pottratz had figured out what "God was calling her to do."

Slough said she chose to mentor Pottratz because she considered her "Teachable, available, has a contagious personality and is solid in her faith."

Since the fall semester, Pottratz has also been meeting with St. Mary's Father Thomas Held. He is Pottratz's spiritual director, an advisory position that people might request if they are considering life in ministry.

Held said he considers Pottratz to be a devoted servant of the church.

"She is just so joyful, so happy," Held said. "Her whole life is the church and prayer, but that doesn't prevent her from being fun. She has a real nice balance."

Personal sacrifices and vows

It takes a lot of sacrifice to become a nun, but Pottratz said it also reaps great rewards. 

She said her friends and family are what she will miss the most during the five years in Nashville. Pottratz will be able to see them minimally, as most contact will be limited to hand-written letters and rare phone calls.

"I think I will get five days to go home and be with my family every year," Pottratz said. "It is not like I'm dead to the world, it is just that those first five years are when you live in community at the Motherhouse. It's more of a time to grow in prayer and let go of worldly things."

Snapchat is another worldly comfort she said she is going to miss. However, there are things Pottratz is excited to experience while at the St. Cecilia Motherhouse.

"I would get 300 new sisters," she said. 

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