The cloistered community life of contemplative prayer is not for everyone. But for Tara Hernandez, who actually spent time visiting cloistered communities in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, it is a life she is ready to embrace.

Come next week, this 27-year-old parishioner of Holy Cross Church in Moorpark will be the newest member of the Franciscan Poor Clare Nuns of Santa Barbara, a cloistered community that traces its roots to the 13th century. It is a decision that Tara has made after long hours of prayer.

From 'fleeting' to serious
A graduate of St. Rose of Lima School in Simi Valley, Tara attended Moorpark High School where, she recalls, she had "a fleeting thought" about religious life. Active as a lector and in teaching religious education, she later became a Eucharistic minister to the sick, and served on the Santa Barbara Region core committee for Theology on Tap for young adults, as well as participating in the monthly Young Adult Diners Club in Deanery 4.

But she also had designs on a career, and after high school attended Boston University majoring in computer engineering and math. An illness, however, brought her back home, where she enrolled at Moorpark College, earning an A.A. degree and planning to become a math teacher.

So what brought her to religious life?

"When I was in Boston, I hadn't gone to church much," she explains. "But after getting sick and coming home, I began praying and turning to God more and more. And I began to think of religious life again."

One day during confession, a priest asked her is she'd considered religious life. Some of the young adults she'd met at St. Paschal Baylon Church in Thousand Oaks asked her the same thing.

"I thought, 'They are seeing something here that I hadn't,' so I decided to pursue the possibilities."

A priest sent her to Sister Kathy Bryant, then sisters vocation director for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who periodically met with her at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, and also gave her a book, "Stir into Flame," about others' vocation journeys.

"I didn't know many sisters," Tara says, "but I started visiting religious orders --- actually, quite a few orders."

In visiting the orders, Tara found that "they all had beautiful lives. It was the Daughters of Charity who helped me figure out what I was looking for." The key was to seek a feeling of peace; that sense of peace would tell her where God was taking her.

She next took time "to step back for a while, and just concentrate on growing in holiness. That was really important."

Increasingly, Tara felt called to contemplative life and was drawn to the Poor Clares, with whom she had her first meeting in May 2008. She had also met with the cloistered Carmelites in Alhambra.

"The idea of cloister was scary, at first," Tara admits. "It's the unknown. But I was only going to find out if this was right for me if I just took the first step to go and do it."

She spent an overnight with the Poor Clares outside of the cloistered setting, a positive experience. "I felt good about their life; I wanted to stay."

'A different culture'
The monastic life, the cloistered life, is "like a different culture," notes Mother Clare, the head of the Poor Clares Monastery in Santa Barbara, located a block from the historic Santa Barbara Mission and established 80 years ago.

"And sometimes the problems of adjustment end up being not what we thought. Communications are so different, for one thing. We do not have e-mail, ipods or much of the electronic modes that so many are used to having. Most women have had a job and an apartment before coming here, and when they get here they must adjust to the lack of personal independence and instant communication they once had."

Communication with the rest of the world comes through various religious publications, mail and "word of mouth through people who call or write," says Mother Clare. "And we have wonderful riches here --- spiritual reading, tapes, CDs. Time in prayer. The people out in the world are starving for spiritual truths."

Prayer and divine office are the centerpieces of monastery life. The Poor Clares' work includes caring for the sick members of their community, corresponding with those asking for the sisters' prayers, and the work of daily life --- caring for home and garden, and recreation. "We are very busy," smiles Mother Clare.

The advantages to such a life? "The deep appreciation for this life of faith. The grace of God is powerful, and the women here realize they are living with people that have the same values."

The process for admittance into the Poor Clares begins with meeting and interviewing the inquirer, filling out forms, medical evaluations and obtaining recommendations over a period of several months. If there is a mutual "yes," the woman begins her first year, learning and living the daily life of prayer, with no vows taken. She is free to leave at any time.

After one year, she becomes a novice and moves more deeply into living the community life, a period that can last up to two years. The community itself is active in the discernment process. After that, the woman may take temporary vows.

Currently, there are 12 women in the Santa Barbara Poor Clares, ranging in age from 20s to 80s. Tara Hernandez will be the 13th.

Transition time
"The one thing that helps women with the transition," Mother Clare says, "is their awareness that God calls them to this life and gives them the desire in their hearts. When this happens, the other things don't matter much."

With her entrance into the Poor Clares now just days away, Tara believes that "I was ready for the change. In going through and emptying my apartment, it was nice to say, 'I can get rid of these things that I won't be needing and give them to people who will need them.'"

The youngest of three children, Tara says her parents have been supportive, telling her, "We want you to be happy."

To those who wonder if, or believe, they are drawn to a religious vocational life, Tara suggests the following: "Spend time in prayer, asking for God's direction. And don't be scared. Sometimes, cloistered life scares people. But St. Therese and St. Clare lived by this rule, the rule and path of life that, through their writings, gave so much to the world."

Ultimately, Tara believes, the purpose of cloistered contemplative life, as opposed to that of what many might call an "active, out-in-the-real-world" spiritual life, is actually the same.

"It's about wanting to be open to God's will. It requires the same virtues. We are all there to love and serve God."