Welcome
The Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations is privileged to assist men and women to follow God's call to service in the Church through a life of consecration. We operate the St. Joseph Student Debt Relief Grant Program for religious life and the St. John Vianney Student Debt Relief Grant Program for the parish priesthood. These grants eliminate the delay many young people encounter as they struggle to pay off their student debts before they can enter religious life. A grant pays candidates' student loan payments while they are in formation for either religious life or the priesthood.
To date, we have given 55 people the opportunity to discern their vocation immediately rather than waiting many years and possibly getting ensnared by the tide of our culture. Forty-one of these individuals remain in formation with religious orders and at seminaries across the country. These men and women are learning to become preists, monks and brothers, and nuns and sisters and pray each day for the Church and for the world.
You can read about some of these men and women on our vocation stories page.
There are many more young men and women who would like to follow their call but are stymied by the debts they incurred to get a college education. Through our website, you can learn how you can help them as well.
News
Click here for our news archive ...
October 2008
We've revamped our website to provide better information to prospective applicants. We've also redesigned our application forms and they are now available through this page.
September 2008
The second issue of our newsletter is now available as a pdf download.
August 2008
When our summer application open period ended, we had received 29 applications!! This is evidence of the vitality of religious life in the United States. We thank God that so many young men and women are offering their lives to His service.
The annual loan payments of those 29 applicants comes to a total of $121,500.00! Because our fundraising efforts are still in the early stages, our board of directors was able to authorize only $10,000 worth of grants.
So while we are proud to have squeezed 7 new grants out of the available funds, we are saddened by the necessity of turning away the other 22 applicants who are equally qualified and ready to begin religious life but for their student loans.
We are particularly pleased to have issued our first grant under our St. John Vianney grant program for future parish priests. You can download a PDF of our award press release for complete details.
Milestones
(Progress of MEFV grantees)
»
On the Feast of All Saints,
November 1st,
Sr. Lauren became
Sr. Maria Teresa of the Sacred Heart
as she received the habit
of a Dominican nun
at the Dominican Monastery
of Our Lady of the Rosary
in Summit, New Jersey.
We posted Sr. Maria Teresa's
vocation story when she first entered the convent.
You can find it here.
»
On September 20th 2008,
Sr. Jennifer Raimo
(pictured above)
made her first profession
of vows with the
Sisters of St. John the Baptist.
The ceremony was at the parish church
near their convent in Bonx, New York.
We've added her vocation story to our site.
» On September 8th 2008, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Friar Anthony Serviam Maria made his first profession of vows with the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. The ceremony was held at the Friars' novitiate house in Griswold, Connecticut.
Fra. Anthony is pictured below with Fra. Terrence (also an MEFV grantee) who recently entered the novitiate.
Left:
Fra. Terrence
Right:
Fra. Anthony
