Abstract
In the first two parts of his work, the author devotes himself to a statistical study of changes in the personnel of convents in Poland between 1945 and 1958 (number of postulants, number of professed, number leaving the religious life, lay brothers and clerics).
It would appear that the number of vocations among brothers in particular is diminishing, that twice as many leave as enter and that the brothers who leave outnumber the professed threefold.
In a third part, the sociological analysis attempts to grasp, at a conscious level, the motivation of vocations:
for priests, it is the desire for the apostolic life which predominates; for brothers, it is of a more monastic nature: to serve God.
The enquiry also reveals the social factors under the influence of which monks become aware of their vocations. The more noticeable features are:
the importance of the years of primary education,
the importance of the liturgy,
personal example and the activity of the Church,
the reputation of the chosen community.
Finally, enquiry at an individual level attempts to discover the way in which vocations arise: their difficulties, the cause of 'crises'. 46 % of clerics and 43% of brothers go through a crisis in the course of their lives.
The cause is to be looked for in the increasing influence of 'secular' life on the convents; this influence has a profound effect on the activity
and spirituality of religious, (the practice of obedience in particular). In conclusion:
1. The statistics create the impression not so much of 'crisis' as of modification in the recruitment of religious orders, (nuns are not taken into account in this study).
2. As for spiritual 'crises': these will find no solution unless the structures of the religious life adapt and accept postulants as they are, with all the implications of their modern mentality.