Twenty-three-year-old identical twins Katherine and Hannah Geiger always planned their lives side-by-side. This changed, however, when they realized God was leading them down different paths. This year, Katherine, who works for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, is marrying her fiancé, Ben, while Hannah, a schoolteacher, is entering her first year of discernment with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecelia in Nashville, TN.

“[My faith] has meant being open to the Lord’s will,” said Hannah. “Knowing that in the middle of things looking confusing or different than I thought, He is constant and steady.”

The Geiger twins lived with examples of both vocations in their Catholic home—through their parents and older brother Father Chris Geiger. They were able to witness the beauty in each vocation and recognize the possibilities when it came to living their lives for God.

“My faith is something that requires everything of me,” said Katherine. “It has to be a conscious choice to invite the Lord into whatever is going on. There is no part of my life that is too small for Him to want to be a part of.”

She first felt the call to marriage while working at a family summer camp in 2019. She had dated Ben for only a short time and spent the entire summer apart from him. “I know this is what He has asked me to do, to enter into what’s good and hard about being a wife and mother,” said Katherine.

She explained that there was never a sudden moment when she knew she was supposed to marry Ben. Instead, God revealed more to her each day as the couple’s relationship grew. “It was a slow work that the Lord did, but there was never a doubt,” said Katherine. “His Grace was affirming that every step of the way.”

Hannah’s vocation was foreshadowed by her first encounter with sisters at a retreat during high school.

“I was so drawn to them,” said Hannah. “I thought that their life was so beautiful.”

For several years, though, Hannah did not give much thought to her vocation, then she attended a conference (at which Katherine met Ben) where God made clear that she needed to discern religious life. Like most young girls, she grew up planning to get married and was not at first very open to religious life.

“The Lord [made it] so obvious what His will was by working through and changing my desires,” said Hannah. “A vocation is what we’re made for and how we’re supposed to get to Heaven. The one who knows that best is the Lord.”

Both Katherine and Hannah found the sacraments helpful in discerning their vocations. Going to Mass, Adoration, and confession enabled them to hear where God was calling them.

“Peace always came in front of the Blessed Sacrament,” said Katherine. “If [the struggle] wasn’t answered, there was peace and consolation.”

The twins also found that having spiritual direction and a Catholic community to build them up encouraged them in their discernment.

Once she enters the community, Hannah will only correspond with her family through letters; she is allowed to write Katherine twice a month. “I have a lot of hope because every sister I have met has said that the relationships with your family become so much deeper and closer because of the nature of your communication,” said Hannah.

While they are not sure what that communication will feel like once they enter their vocations, Katherine and Hannah will always have a special bond as twin sisters.

“Whatever is next is better because it’s what we’re being called into,” said Katherine. “It will be hard, but it will be better because God is not stepping back from us or abandoning us.”

This article appeared in the August 2022 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.