The Internet has become a useful recruiting tool for the Dominican Sisters of Mary in Ann Arbor, Mich.

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Since the 1960s, Roman Catholic convents have seen a steep downturn in women seeking the religious life. To find recruits, leaders of the Dominican convent are contacting women by e-mail, the Detroit News said.

Sister Joseph Andrew Bogdanowicz, vocation director at the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, in Ann Arbor, said e-mail is "an apostolate we didn't expect."

"But now," she told the News, "it's become so all-encompassing. If I'm not traveling or giving a talk, I'm e-mailing."

And having success, the newspaper said. While the bulk of the messages are from women seeking advice regarding the convent, the sisters have welcomed 73 postulants and novices, who are now studying before taking their final vows, the News said.

Young women who join the convent enter a hard life -- compared to contemporary U.S. life styles. The program lasts eight years and ends with vows of chastity, obedience and poverty. That includes no longer using e-mail, the News said.