For many years, the Diocese of Spokane’s Quo Vadis Days has been a growing summer tradition for high school-aged boys. This summer marks a new chapter for the Office of Vocations, as a girls’ iteration of Quo Vadis Days, called Beloved, successfully launched for the first time.
The desire to host a vocational camp for girls has been a long time in the making. There had been similar retreats to fill these desires in the past, yet they lacked the whole summer camp experience the boys received. After ongoing conversations from last year’s Vocations Summit and the previous years’ Vocations Workshop, volunteers and Vocations committee members sought permission to lead a women’s camp in accordance with the men’s.
They collaborated with the Office of Vocations and seminarians to develop programming that meets the needs of young women, selecting the branding, and ensuring the presence of religious sisters as joyful witnesses to consecrated life. Throughout their time at camp, the youth experienced all the joys of summer in Washington, from ultimate frisbee and s’mores around a campfire to swimming in the lake. The days were also filled with prayer, talks, adoration, confession, Holy Mass and song. Priests and seminarians were present at both Quo Vadis Days and Beloved to assist with the Sacraments and prayer. There were also moments for campers to meet with a priest, seminarians or a religious sister to ask any questions and learn about their vocations.
Always held at a lakeside camp in Stevens County, 49 boys attended Quo Vadis Days from June 24 to 27, and 33 girls from June 27 to 29 this year. The camps have become not only an exciting space for conversations about the priesthood, marriage, and religious life, but also a platform for youth to learn how to pray, discern, and understand the universal call to holiness that Jesus invites all people into as his disciples.
