Dear Olga,

God often uses seemingly chance events, like reading the life of a saint, to speak to our souls. So, it is quite possible that he is putting the thought into your mind, preparing your soul for what he wants to ask of you in the future. Thirteen is not too young to know your vocation. I say know because obviously you still have a lot ahead of you, and God is the one who confirms our vocation after we have been generous to follow it.

What can you do at 13 about a vocation? One very important thing that you are already doing is to speak to your mom about it. That way the two of you can pray together to Jesus; you can offer yourself to him and tell him that your whole life is going to be to love and serve him in whatever way he wants. Try to be as faithful to him as possible, and try to bring others to him: pray for those who don't know him; learn your faith so as to be able to share it with others, especially girls your age; get your friends doing a variety of fun and constructive things together, like camps, projects, missions, visiting sick kids, etc... Make sure that as you grow up and some of your friends want to push their faith into the background, you don't follow them and instead of them influencing you, you influence them.

There are also high schools that are specifically for girls who feel a vocation to particular groups. If you want to look into this possibility more you can write me back and I will get you some information.

A spiritual director is a prudent person with a lot of common sense who knows his spiritual theology and is able to help you detect what God wants you to do, and can help you progress in your spiritual life. Many moms do count, but sometimes they like a second opinion!

God bless,