Serra’s Annual Vigils for Vocations

By Alex Duncan, President-elect of Serra International

 
The Vigil for Vocations was established by a group of Serrans in Scotland in 1989 and was adopted as an external program for vocations promotion by the Board of Trustees of Serra International in 2000. Since that time, the program has extended from the continents of North and South America to southern and eastern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Africa. We have witnessed growth not only in the number of countries, but also in the number of parishes that have become involved. Our 2002 survey indicated that some 2,000 parishes worldwide participated -- a great achievement. We hope that every Serra club and every district where Serra is present will encourage more and more parishes to participate in this essential Serran program of vocations promotion.

Over the past 10 years, the vigil has become a means of drawing attention to the Holy Father’s message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which is usually celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Easter. (In some countries, this is known as Good Shepherd Sunday; in others, Vocations Sunday.) Vigils are normally held on the Thursday or Friday preceding this day, thus emphasizing the Holy Father’s message and creating more awareness of the need for all the faithful to pray for a generous response to God’s call to become laborers in His harvest.

In recent years, the Board of Trustees of Serra International has met in the Vatican to discuss Serra’s work for vocations with the Congregation of Catholic Education and the Pontifical Work for Ecclesiastical Vocations to which Serra is aggregated. At those meetings, the Prefect of the Congregation, Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, has encouraged Serra to expand this program with a greater emphasis on the involvement of younger people.

Each year, in preparation for the vigils, Serrans are urged to meet with their chaplains, vocation directors, vocation commissions and youth commissions, and prepare suitable programs and support initiatives. Hosting the vigils has traditionally been at the parish level but active contact by Serrans with seminaries, religious orders, deaneries, dioceses, schools, colleges and universities always serves to increase awareness of and participation in the vigils.

The time span of the Vigil for Vocations varies from venue to venue. It is normally from 7:00 p.m. until 10:00 or 11:00 p.m., but in some parishes extends through until early morning. The content of the program also varies, from simple liturgies and periods of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with silent prayer, to a more extensive program involving selected speakers and a variety of vocation promotional events throughout the night. Commonly, vigils begin with the celebration of the Eucharist for vocations, followed by a small refreshment period during the night, and conclude with night prayer and the Holy Father’s prayer for vocations.

Because of the growing importance of this event in the Serran calendar, it is essential that our Vigils for Vocations reflect the Holy Father’s intentions and are conducted with the respect and dignity of a liturgical service. The ultimate reason for holding the vigils is to promote awareness among our fellow Catholics of the need for more vocations to ministerial priesthood and vowed religious life in our beloved Church. That message and sense of awareness must reach the home, the school, the parish, and the workplace. We must play our part in allowing the divine call to be heard; the Lord will do the rest.

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