The number of inquiries into the Sisters of Bon Secours, who have their U.S. headquarters in Marriottsville, “shot up” from 199 in 2007 to 263 last year, the Catholic Review reports. Sister Patricia Dowling, vocation director for the international congregation of women religious, credits the use of Web sites, blogs and the social networking sites Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

“It’s good to take advantage of the technology because we’re trying to increase the visibility of religious and priests,” Dowling tells the archdiocesan newspaper. “We’re planting seeds and getting the word out that the religious life and the priesthood is alive and well. You can’t choose what you don’t know about.”

The information appears in a story about Patricia Dooley, a 51-year-old former journalist who entered the Sisters of Bon Secours last week.

“I felt at home with the sisters,” Dooley says. “I decided, I’ll take the step until God is no longer asking me to move forward. I never felt like I was to stop.”

Eight women have joined the sisters in the last five years, the Catholic Review reports. The have ranged in age from the early 30s to the late 50s.

“People of all ages are exploring the religious life,” Dowling says. “Older women are discovering that even though they have done it all, they still have a lot more to give and are searching to use their gifts in different ways.”