Vocation Story
Brother Carmen Ciardullo CM
Calling
When I was 14 a desire to give myself to the Lord entered my mind. At first this desire occurred now and then. However, as time went by, it became more and more frequent. To me the desire was odd ... to give myself to the Lord ... but not as a priest. The only thing I knew were priests and sisters. I never heard of a brother. Never knew there were brothers who lived in community.
This desire ... to serve God ... was through the giving of my talents to the Lord ... my ability to fix cars, to cook, to build electronic equipment. These were the things I wanted to do, but priests never did these things I told myself. Why would God give me such a desire to serve Him? There must be another way of life ... a life that is special like that of a priest or sister. But what?
Each Monday after school I would stop at Mary’s Central Shrine for one of the services. Since thousands of people would visit the Shrine on Mondays for the Novena services, the Shrine was packed with people. If you wanted to attend a service you would need to gather in the basement of the Shrine and wait until the earlier service was over. Then you would climb the side stairs from the basement to main part of the Shrine were the service took place.
It was during that waiting period in the basement I had the time to look over a pamphlet rack. In doing so, I came across a booklet on brothers. As I mentioned earlier, I never heard of a brother and so this booklet caught my attention. I began to read the booklet ... and what I read about brothers was the answer to my prayers ... to give myself and my talents to the Lord to serve Him and His people. It was like someone turned on a light in a dark room.
I remember placing the booklet back on the rack. And as I turned around I saw a priest standing near the rear of the basement ... just watching the crowd gathering for the next Novena. I simply went up to him and said, “Father I want to become a brother.” His response was as simple as my request. He said to me, “Go up to 500 Chelten Avenue and see Father Lawlor.
As all Vincentians in the Eastern Province know ... 500 Chelten Avenue is a magic address ... it’s St. Vincent’s Seminary and our Motherhouse in Philadelphia. And so after the Novena service ... in honor of our blessed Mother ... I did go up to 500 Chelten Avenue. The rest is history. I have been a Vincentian brother for over 50 years.
Ministry
Over the years as a Vincentian brother, my ministry varied to some degree. My first few years as a brother I cooked, worked at carpentry and gardening at the various seminaries the Vincentians managed in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. However, when I was in my late 20s, the Vincentians gave me opportunity to complete my college and focus on a degree in Chemistry education. It’s funny. When I entered the Vincentians, going to school was not my “thing.” 
As a matter of fact, if I knew I was going to teach, I would have never joined the Vincentians!
But God works in strange ways ... and teach Chemistry, I did ... 18 years at the high school level at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey and almost 10 years at the college level at St. John’s University, Jamaica, New York. During those years I was involved not only teaching chemistry but in the development of micro chemistry experiments for poor schools ... schools that did not have the resources to perform traditional chemistry experiments in their science courses.
Advice
The advice I would give to a young man interested in pursuing a vocation as a Vincentian brother or priest would be:
First. Prayer - Spend time with the Lord. Ask Him to help you sort things out. And don’t be afraid to seek help from Our Blessed Mother. 
She’ll be there batting for you.
Second - Get as much information about the Vincentians as you can. Read, ask questions and share your thoughts with Vincentians. Discernment days are great opportunities for this. Check out our Vincentian Vocation website. It offers loads of information.
Third - Listen to your heart ... and your mind. Look at your talents and your abilities. If they tell you “Yes, I can do it!.” That’s a good sign from God calling you to the Vincentians. Listen to your heart. If that desire to serve the Lord keeps coming back again and again. That’s a good sign from God calling you to the Vincentians.
Fourth - Visit a Vincentian Community house and meet the Vincentians. They are a great bunch of guys ... young and old. Who knows ... one of those Vincentians may lead you to your “500 Chelten Avenue” to becoming a Vincentian.
Carmen Ciardullo, C.M., Vincentian
