STEUBENVILLE, Ohio–More than 100 religious communities and dioceses from across the United States and abroad will send vocations directors to participate in Franciscan University of Steubenville’s annual Vocations Awareness Day, which is one of the largest vocation fairs in the nation.

The event is to be held Oct. 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Finnegan Fieldhouse. Afterward, a 4:45 p.m. Mass in Christ the King Chapel is to be celebrated for those discerning religious life or the priesthood. It is free and open to the public.

Some orders attending include: Franciscan Friars of Renewal, Dominican Order of Preachers, Carmelite friars and nuns from California, Washington and Oklahoma, Benedictine monks, Marians of the Immaculate Conception, Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, School Sisters of St. Francis and sisters from Madrid, who are especially seeking Franciscan University education or Spanish majors to teach in Spain.

Franciscan Friars of Atonement Father Ken Cienik, director of the Pre-Theologate at Franciscan University, which is sponsoring the fair, says this program is a great opportunity to encounter “a wide variety of religious orders and dioceses at one time and to discern if one might be right for you.”

For more information, call 740-283-6495 or e-mail mailto:vocationday@franciscan.edu.