Any young woman, between the ages of 18 and 30, who desires to be a Sister of the Most Holy Soul of Christ is invited. An exception may allow a woman who is over 30 to be admitted.
There are four steps of religious formation
1. Candidacy
In the formation of candidates, special consideration is devoted to further religious training and deepening of the spirit of faith and especially to know the goal and spirit of our Congregation. There is no established length for this stage of formation. The duration of candidacy is determined by the Superior General depending on age, education and the religious preparation of the candidate.
2. Postulancy
The deepening of religious knowledge started in the candidacy is continued in the Postulancy. At the same time, gaps in education are filled in and there is training in manners for Community life. The Postulancy also acquaints the candidate with our Community and provides a general preparation for domestic and apostolic work. This stage facilitates a gradual transition from secular life to life in the novitiate. It lasts at least six months and should not exceed 12 months.
3. Novitiate
The Novitiate is the basic period of our religious formation. In this stage, the novice is involved in developing within herself a rich human personality to help her become firmly established in the Divine life, familiarizing herself with spirituality and the work of the Congregation. She is initiated into the essential and basic demands of the religious life, especially the practice of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience. The Novitiate lasts two years.
4. Juniorate
The Juniorate is the time of temporary vows that are renewed each year for a period of five years or longer depending on a sister’s readiness to vow perpetually. In this stage the junior professed sister continues her spiritual, apostolic and academic formation. During this time she strives for ever greater union with God, a deeper understanding of her vocation and love for the spirit and tradition of our Community, and to an ever fuller maturity. The junior sister is sent out to various convents to take up work proper to the Congregation. Upon completion of the Juniorate, the sister will spend the last month under the direction of the mistress in proximate preparation for the perpetual profession, which involves a very significant act – the full and irrevocable gift of self to God and the Congregation.
5. Perpetual Profession
The religious profession, which the sisters are bound to by vows to the practice of the evangelical counsels, is a complete gift of self to God. As Christ is indissolubly joined to the Church, so the sister, by making her perpetual profession, seals her bond to her religious family and with the Divine Spouse of her soul, so that with the psalmist she seems to call out joyfully:” I shall enter Your house with burnt-offerings and fulfill what I have vowed to You, what my lips have uttered” (Ps 66:13). “I will fulfill my vows to the Lord before all His people.” (Ps 116:1)
