Answering The Call: Leah’s Story

Leah Burrhus will be blessed by Fr. Dat at the 4:30 pm Mass on June 16th. We invite you to read her vocation story and join us in prayer as she embarks on her journey of faith!

I remember intuitively knowing that God was an important part of my life as a child. Perhaps it was because the Catholic Church was such an important part of my family life. As a family, we went to Mass together every Sunday, took part in faith formation, and prayed before meals and at bedtime.

When I was about eight years old, I remember being strongly impressed by the story of the call of Samuel. I was in Mass one Sunday when I first heard this story and I was enthralled by it. It both confused and intrigued me. I paid more attention to that homily than I ever had before. I remember leaving Mass that day with a strong conviction that I should be open to hearing and obeying God's call in my life. 

I first started to hear the Lord calling me to the religious life when I was in eighth grade. Though I was very unwilling to admit that to myself at the time. I was sure I wanted to get married one day and have a family. I stubbornly continued thinking this way until my sophomore year of high school during the Confirmation process. As I searched for a saint to choose as my patron, I came across a quote from St. Therese of Lisieux that said, "I wish to spend my heaven in doing good upon the earth." When I read this, I felt as if she had offered me her hand to help me through life and help me reach heaven.

Being an avid reader, I decided to get my hands on her autobiography, The Story of A Soul. As I read that, my eyes were opened to the beauty of religious life. The beautiful gift that it is to be the bride of Christ in such a special way and to witness to the world about the unsurpassable goodness and love of God through the hidden life of a cloistered nun became more and more apparent to me. 

About a month after reading this life-changing book, I was at a band competition in Corpus Christi, Texas. The night before the competition we went to a mall nearby and I found a kiosk that sold Christian jewelry. I wanted a five dollar crucifix bracelet that was a really pretty deep blue color. I didn't want to untangle it from the rest, so I took the white one from the end and, inspired by the example of St. Therese, I said to myself, "White is the color of purity. This bracelet will be like my promise to the Lord to remain pure for Him in whatever way He calls me." 

Later that summer while doing research on religious orders, I stumbled upon a website for the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration (PCPA). As I read about their order and mission, I quickly realized that I felt like I was beginning to understand myself and my desires clearly for the first time in my life. It seemed like the life that I had wanted for so long but never had the words to express or even knew existed.

The first thing that attracted me to the PCPA order was their devotion to Eucharistic adoration. The PCPA charism is that of reparative thanksgiving, meaning we offer prayers of gratitude and adoration to Our Eucharistic Lord in reparation for our sins and the sins of the world. This charism is so beautiful because it is deeply rooted in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which of course is the memorial of Our Lord's Passion. 

Essentially, the cloistered Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration live in the spirit of the Mass, enfolded in the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus and united to Him in His work of redemption. Through perpetual adoration, we respond to Our Lord's call to "stay awake" and console Him by giving Him thanks for His saving love. There are many other beautiful aspects of the Poor Clare of Perpetual Adoration spirituality and discipline (for example, devotion to Our Lady under the title of Immaculate Conception, and the richness of our Franciscan heritage), but the call to adore Our Eucharistic Lord is, I believe, the kernel of the PCPA vocation.

It took me a couple of months to finally tell my family what was on my heart because I was so surprised about it myself (not to mention clueless), but when I did tell them, they were very supportive of me. My parents have always seen the beauty of the life that I am discerning in the cloister. They have given me every opportunity to pursue this desire that God has put on my heart - from driving me to vocations retreats, to flying me to Alabama to visit the Monastery, to just being willing to listen to me try to explain the call I have heard in my heart. I say try because that's really all you can do; there is so much wisdom and goodness in all of God's works and all of His words that we can never really exhaust or fully comprehend the Mystery that they reveal; namely, the Mystery of Christ.

My parish family has been very supportive of me as well. Fr. Dat has been willing to talk with me about my discernment. He has helped me to make clear and informed decisions to pursue this calling, encouraging me to take the leap of faith that is needed in every vocational decision in order to grow closer to God. The youth ministry program has also been helpful in encouraging me to follow the Lord wherever He calls me. Our incredible ministers, the volunteers, and my own peers have been shining examples to me of how to live a life for love of God and in service of our neighbors.