Opera Omnia

INSTRUCTION VIII
THE NOVITIATE: TIME OF RELIGIOUS FORMATION
Follow the norms

According to the Instruction of the Sacred Congregation of Rites it is praiseworthy to use a missal when assisting at Mass; and, in view of sharing more closely in the Holy Sacrifice, to respond to the celebrant and recite with him those parts assigned to the people. This will greatly benefit our aspirants.
The novitiate is the most important period in the formation of the religious. It is understandable then why the legislation of Canon Law and the Constitutions is so detailed in this matter.
A person enters the novitiate not to discern his vocation but to follow it, by conforming completely to the rules of the Institute.

Art. 38. No house of Novitiate can be erected, nor can the Novitiate itself be

transferred from one house to another without the permission of the Holy See.
Art. 39. In so far as possible, the Novitiate must be separated from that part of the house where the Professed Religious live, so that, without a special reason and the permission of the Superior or of the Master, the Novices shall have no communication with the Professed, nor the Professed with the Novices. A separate place shall likewise be assigned for the Disciple-Novices. But, whenever possible, there should be a separate house for Cleric-Novices and Disciple-Novices.
Art. 40. Superiors must place in the house of Novitiate only such Religious as will give a good example of religious discipline, carefully excluding those Professed who need an amendment of life or who must suffer punishment for faults committed.
Art. 41. Strictly observing the prescripts regarding different types of impediments as set forth in articles 18-22, the right of admitting candidates to the Novitiate belongs to the major Superior.
Art. 42. A Master of Novices is to be appointed for the training of the Novices. He alone has the right and the duty of administering that training, and on him alone the governing of the Novitiate rests, so that no one, under any pretext, may become involved in these matters, with the exception of the major Superior, his Delegate, or Visitor. Notwithstanding this, in those matters which concern the government of the house as a whole, the Master as well as the Novices, are subject to the Superior.
Art. 43. The Master of Novices must be a Priest

at least thirty-five years old and at least ten years professed in the Society, reckoned from his first Profession. Moreover, he must be conspicuous for prudence, charity, piety, and religious observance so that he may worthily mould those entrusted to him, clearly discern their spirit, effectively prove them, and strengthen their will.
Art. 44. The Master of Novices is appointed or recalled from his office by the authority of the Superior General with the consent of his Council.
Art. 45. If on account of the number of Novices, or for some other reason it shall seem advisable, the Superior General with the consent of his Council can appoint an assistant to the Master and this assistant shall be immediately subject to the Master in those matters which concern the management of the Novitiate. He is to be a Priest at least thirty years old, five years professed, reckoned from his first profession, and endowed with all the other necessary qualifications for his office.
Art. 46. Both Master of Novices and his assistant must be relieved from all offices and duties which might interfere with the guidance and training of the Novices.
Art. 47. In every house of Novitiate there shall be appointed ordinary Confessors who shall live in that same house. In addition to these ordinary Confessors other Confessors are to be assigned in sufficient number that the Novices in particular cases may have easy access to them, nor is the Master of Novices to show any displeasure at their going to them. Furthermore, four times

a year, the Novices shall be granted an extraordinary Confessor to whom all must go at least to receive his blessing.
Art. 48. The Master of Novices and his assistant shall not hear the Confessions of their own Novices, except in particular cases where the Novices themselves for a grave and urgent reason may of their own accord request it.

The objective: the best religious

Principle: In consideration of the Congregation's future let us prepare the best religious from every point of view.
The education of the novice is preparation for religious life.
Experimenting how to live religious life, as undertaken in the novitiate, is the best guarantee of living it joyfully after profession.
The discontented religious will only be able to say: If I do not conform I am the only one to blame; I am not using the means laid down in the Constitutions.
Educate comes from educere [to bring out]; from a shapeless mass of marble an artist can chisel [bring out] a beautiful image of Jesus.
The Master of novices lives and works with them - Jesus chose the Twelve ut essent cum illo¹ - and, living among them, he represents Jesus himself as regards poverty, obedience, chastity, common life and apostolate.
Speech addresses the ear; reason persuades the mind; prayer instils prayer; life communicates life.
Candidates enter the novitiate good Christians to come out religious; there is a real transformation of mind, heart,

habits and desires. One's state of life is changed, for there are three states: the Christian, the religious, and the priestly.
It is the most important year of one's life.

The Master: formator of conscience

The choice of the Master of novices is one of the most serious responsibilities of major superiors.
His life must mirror solid virtue: a life of faith, hope and charity, love for the Institute and for the apostolate.
In fact his role is to mould the Pauline to a full awareness of himself.
Pius XII said that to mould a person's conscience is, generally speaking, the most serious duty of the educator.
Conscience means knowing how we act and live, before God and eternity. This means a conscience enlightened by upright principles; a love for truth; to experience the hand of God upon us, always; that we shape our eternal happiness or unhappiness with our own hands; to know how to govern ourselves; to experience responsibility for our own acts.
The educator must, little by little, fade from the scene, inasmuch as the religious has his conscience to guide him. If he needs the superior's eye on him to keep on the straight and narrow, he will not be formed. What is required is for conscience to remind him of the ever-vigilant eye of God.

When a religious is sent out to another house or goes on vacation and has a sense of right and wrong, he continues to live as if in his own community. Otherwise, 50 kilometres from the house he will have forgotten prayer life, poverty, obedience, scrupulousness, and commitments.

Three things are needed to form a good conscience:
1. Study. Necessary subjects are: The Religious State, the Constitutions, Religion and Liturgy, Church Music and Ceremonial; basic notions of Jesus Master, the Gospel, Queen of the Apostles, Saint Paul (a Letter).
2. Proof of truly loving God with all our mind, all our heart, all our strength; and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God. Thus there is complete detachment from the world and material things, from our own will, ourselves and our family. It leads to a complete giving of ourselves to God through the Congregation and the apostolate.
3. Training. This is to live already by way of virtue the type of life and the observance which after profession we will have to lead by vow. It is a test of our strength; thus there is an assurance that we will, or will not, be able to carry such a weight joyfully.
There has to be this experience of making good progress so that we can be sure of continuing to advance, in accordance with the greater commitments we shall assume as religious.

Integral formation

Religious formation must be integral. This means:
1. To deepen our faith on the scriptural and theological

principles of the religious state. Nothing vague or illusory! - a) If you would be perfect [Mk 10:21]. Jesus did not say If you want to be good; thus the net distinction between the Christian life and the religious life. A wonderful manifestation of the Most Holy Trinity, life [lived] fully in Christ, enriched with spirituality, a prelude to heaven, exquisite fruit of the redemption. God is the prime Founder. - b) There are those who for the sake of the kingdom of heaven have renounced all the pleasures of the flesh; let those understand who can [cf. Mt 19:12]; no greediness, no laziness. Now concerning the unmarried, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion [1 Cor 7:25], says Saint Paul. It is of faith that virginity is superior to matrimony. Saint Paul also maintains this. It is very helpful to read Pius XII's encyclical Sacra Virginitas. - c) Come and follow me said Jesus. This means not only to leave one's family; it means obedience as well, in imitation of Jesus' obedience to his heavenly Father. Factus oboediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis; propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum,² Saint Paul said of him. And Jesus said of himself: Quae placita sunt ei facio semper.³ It is a life of total sacrifice, complete consecration, in which the underlying intent is to fulfil that Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect [Mt 5:48], in line with what the Divine Master says.
2. Loving the paradoxical: poverty is the greatest wealth; chastity is the greatest love; obedience is the greatest freedom. Saint Thomas Aquinas says: Religious are those who consecrate themselves totally to God.
3. A life of prayer: the absolute basis of total union with God.

The sacrifice of the Religious is the most pleasing to God, after the Mass and martyrdom. Herein are to be found all the elements of sacrifice: offering, consecration, immolation, consummation of the victim.
The Christian gives the first fruits to the Lord, but keeps the tree; the Religious gives both the tree and the fruits. It is a tree planted by the stream of water that rises to eternal life.
Profession is the gift of our whole being to God through the Congregation. Our thinking must then be: I have nothing outside of my merits; I belong to the Congregation which can dispose of me as it wills. But I acquire inalienable rights: a right to the hundredfold in this life and paradise in the next life. I am therefore a candidate for holiness.

Our guarantee

The Institute has the approval of the Church; its highest superior is the Pope; there can be no greater guarantee than this; in other words, that the way is holy, it is suited to the times, and there are all the means of sanctification.
The more we die to self the more Jesus Christ lives in us. From this sepulchre of our self there springs forth, resuscitated, a new man.
Religious life is the governing and supernaturalization of the three concupiscences, placed then at the service of God, of holiness and the apostolate.
The supreme pontiffs, Saint Pius X and Pius XI, have stated, over and over, that the negative

signs, that is, no faults, are insufficient to promote people to clothing, novitiate, profession, or ordination. What are needed are positive signs: knowledge, proven virtue, love of God and of people's souls, the apostolate, ministry.

Strictness in admission

Exclude the secretive and the parasitic; likewise, the unenthusiastic and the lukewarm, those who instead of pulling their weight stand by and watch those who toil.
The story is told that while Saint Francis of Assisi was assisting at the Chapter of the so-called Mats, he saw another chapter where devils were studying how they could get noble and refined men, people used to easy living, into the Order.
Read the exhortation of Pius XI where he says to superiors: Be strict. A harsh word, but a love-filled word, because only strictness can satisfy true love, a love worthy of the Friends of Our Lord. A certain strictness especially when it is a matter of the discipline that keeps life alive, for without such discipline, life can still survive, but it will be labored, enfeebled and indolent…. His Holiness was referring not only to the strictness of discipline in general, but above all and in a very special way to strictness in accepting postulants. If people were to remark that there is too much strictness the Pope authorizes us to reply that it is he who wants it this way, because from his position and with his responsibilities he can see the need; even more since God has granted him a rather long pontificate and he has acquired great experience in this field.
If, in fact, the desire is to safeguard the splendor of the religious life, there is a need to be strict, especially as regards vocations,

for the grace of God aids but does not destroy human nature. And so there remains the need for struggle which in religious life is greater. Therefore one needs to stave off the danger that unsuitable persons infiltrate a religious family, for not only will they be of no advantage, but they will, rather, pose an obstacle, a hindrance, and be the cause of defects. It is not exaggeration but experience which tells us that in groups of people, even small ones, almost inevitably there are defects. Not that a religious family must cut back, since there is a need rather to increase its members, but it must see that they are all top quality, outstanding soldiers. Something that is difficult but necessary. It is a fact that when many people gather, their good qualities, especially their exceptional qualities, are not aggregated, but each one retains his own; while, contrariwise, deficiencies and bad qualities are aggregated and consolidate.

Conditions for a happy outcome of the Novitiate

Three conditions are necessary for a successful outcome of the novitiate, and to achieve permanent results:
1. A good preparation during Probation. The aspirant must have decided to persevere; kept his baptismal innocence or at least acquired it anew through penance, reparation and a firm resolve; have a love of prayer; shown docility to allow himself to be formed; given total input, removing every obstacle to grace.
2. During the year of the novitiate, the novice is to maintain an internal and external solitude. Every thought, all reading, concerns, visits, and excessive letter writing must be eliminated.
Let him enjoy prayer, experience God; let him learn to speak with

him; let him make room for the Holy Spirit in all his faculties; let him lead a life of joy with the guardian angels.
Let every day be marked by good victories.
3. After the novitiate. There is not to be a brusque return to the life lived beforehand. Superiors are to consider the newly professed member in another light: he is a person who is consecrated to God, one who has to be helped to put into practice his resolutions. There is to be a suitable environment; he is to be lovingly cared for; let it be for him a continuation of the novitiate.
For his part let the newly professed member choose his confessor; be open with his spiritual guide; conserve his recollection; consider himself as the new man who has to grow right up to the fullness of Christ.
4. A particular preparation is needed then for perpetual profession. Such preparation consists in religious observance and a more enlightened and determined decision.
For the brothers there are the apposite two years of preparation. For the clerics there is the practical year and the first year of the theology course.

Novitiate for Paradise

Following perpetual profession there is the novitiate which prepares for eternal profession at the gates of heaven.
Thus there is the transition from a naturally good life to the Christian life; from there, on to the religious life; and then on to the heavenly life. It is a profitable journey, a marvellous goal: happiness without end.
Saint Bernard writes: The religious leads a more virtuous life,

the falls are fewer, the return to God more eager, the journey more secure, the outpouring of grace more frequent, the peace deeper, more serene his death, shorter his purgatory, loftier his place in heaven.
Louis Veuillot wrote to his daughter, a nun: I assure you that the thought of having a daughter who is a religious gives me great consolation; it both humbles me and comforts me. What a beautiful lady she has become that little scamp Lulù. How beautiful and majestic she is. She will be among the privileged band who follow the Lamb… and yet she is always my daughter; and I have adorned her dress with some of that splendid embroidery which will last for ever.