From fantasy to clarity: Nun Run gives young women a real look at religious life

Watching young women go from wondering about religious life to actually living it for a few days, even briefly, changes them, said Father Marcus Knecht, chaplain for this year’s Nun Run.

The four-day pilgrimage in late July took about 18 young women from Omaha into Minnesota and Iowa, with stops at the Sisters of Mary, Morning Star in Ghent, Minnesota; the Missionaries of Charity in the Twin Cities; the Pro Ecclesia Sancta Sisters in Bloomington; the cloistered Carmelite Sisters of Our Lady of Divine Providence in Lake Elmo, where the group toured the rising skeleton of a new chapel; and the Sisters of the Society of Our Lady of the Trinity retreat house in Carroll, Iowa, on the way home.

For many of the young women, the trip was their first real stretch away from home, Father Knecht said, and that alone gave them new perspective.

Meeting sisters in person, rather than imagining convent life from a distance, moved the discernment from fantasy to something real, he said — for some, drawing them closer to a vocation, and for others, bringing clarity that religious life isn’t their path.

Both outcomes, he said, are graces.

Since 2009, Vicki Herout and Paula Bastian have been leading young women on visits to religious communities within traveling distance of the archdiocese. This year’s Nun Run was the longest, at four days, because of the distance covered.

The young ladies didn’t seem to mind the extended time, Bastian and Herout said. Stops at convents on the way there and on the way back helped break up the travel, Herout said.

And the variety of charisms, ministries and graces they experienced were well worth it, Bastian said.  The group even talked with hermits, priests and brothers living near the Carmelite Sisters in Lake Elmo. They prayed with the sisters they visited and ministered with them, making candles, baking, feeding the poor.

“I think the girls loved it,” Bastian said of the pilgrimage. “It went exceptionally well. The girls were very engaged. They had fun, but they came to listen to the sisters and to God.”

Bastian asked for prayers for religious vocations, especially for women. As she can attest: “Young ladies are still getting called.”

The first stop of the Nun Run was in Ghent, Minnesota, in a visit to the Sisters of Mary, Morning Star. COURTESY PHOTO

Nun Run 2026 participants pose with the Missionaries of Charity in Minneapolis. COURTESY PHOTO

The group visited the Carmelite Hermitage of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where they met cloistered Carmelite Sisters of Our Lady of Divine Providence, in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.

On their return journey, they met with the Sisters of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity at the order’s retreat house in Carroll, Iowa.

In Bloomington, Minnesota, they met with the Pro Ecclesia Sancta Sisters. COURTESY PHOTO