She receives the black veil, but continues to live in the novitiate under the direction of the Novice Mistress. By this profession the Sister is implanted and rooted is the monastic life so that she may prepare for her total consecration to Christ in the Dominican Order. ~ Constitutions of the Nuns of the Order of PreachersĪt the end of the two years novitiate, the novice makes her temporary profession of vows for three years. During her two years as a novice, the young woman continues to grow in her Dominican vocation especially through attentiveness to God’s presence, willingness to learn from the Novice Mistress, and charity and self-sacrifice in daily life.īy our profession we dedicate ourselves to God, following Christ and leading the gospel life in the Order, so that our baptismal consecration may achieve its effect more completely.

The next step in formation is the novitiate, which begins when the postulant receives the Dominican habit and her new religious name. She begins to “let go” of the attitude of the outside world as she gradually learns and interiorizes the practices of the monastic life. During this time the postulant lives in the novitiate and participates in the novitiate schedule. Postulancy and Novitiateįormation proper begins with the postulancy, which lasts one year. If she perseveres in this way of life, her entrance to the postulancy will be her definitive departure from the world. Once she receives her letter of acceptance, she settles her affairs in the world in order to try her vocation as a Dominican nun. If the aspirancy has confirmed her vocation so far, she formally requests to enter the monastery as a postulant. At the end of this time the aspirant returns home.

Living in the novitiate, joining in the novitiate classes, and participating in the prayer and common life of the community helps the aspirant to make an initial evaluation of this vocation, while also allowing the community to get to know her better. The residential aspirancy is a 3-4 week stay inside the enclosure.

~ Constitutions of the Nuns of the Order of Preachers We think of the application process as having three parts: application, residential aspirancy, and formal letter of request.ĭiligent inquiry should be made first of all as to whether the aspirant is truly seeking God. It is at this stage that the aspirant begins her application process, with the intention of entering the monastery as a postulant. This period of the young woman and community getting to know each other is known as the aspirancy, and lasts at least a year before entrance to the monastery as a postulant.Īt a certain point, the young woman and the community may feel sure that this is where God wants her to try her vocation. If the young woman desires to consider our vocation more deeply, and we think she would make a good candidate, then we continue getting to know each other by writing back and forth, and by another longer visit to the monastery. You may also find helpful our fictional Vocation Letter series following a young woman’s discernment and formation.

Whether a young woman decides to continue discerning with us or not, a personal retreat at the monastery is always a time of many graces, helping the young woman learn more about how God may be leading her. After a getting to know her a little bit, if it seems like a visit would be worthwhile, we invite her to come to the monastery for a weekend. Our life attracts her, so she contacts the Vocation Directress, introduces herself, asks any questions she might have, and inquires if she can come visit. Young women attend a Vocation Retreat First StepsĪ young woman finds out about our monastery from a priest, a Sister, or a friend, or perhaps by searching online.

Dominican nun habit